On John (frag.) 1 part 2/5

wherefore, seeing the wolf, they fled, leaving the flock as prey to the beasts, in no way grieved over those peoples whom they saw being destroyed by the devil, the spiritual wolf.

By 'his own sheep' he means those who at that time believed from among the Jews and had come to know, through the benefits done to them, their own shepherd.

Just as, he says, it is evident that he knows and is known by the sheep, so too the knowledge of the Father toward the Son and of the Son toward the Father is established by direct sight.

And he establishes the two persons, in order to show that he himself was not the Father.

And what he said, not long after he did, having offered himself as a ransom on behalf of all.

As God foreknowing, he says this concerning the people from among the Gentiles, as being about to be joined to Israel; and then he said it by word, but afterwards it came to pass in deed, and he made one holy Church of his out of both.

He himself was the one who formerly invisibly shepherded Israel; but since Israel in time fell into destruction through impiety, it was needful that he himself also come in person to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, so that, besides his other benefactions, he might, by giving his own life for the salvation of the sheep, display the disposition of a good shepherd.

And concerning the passion he discourses thus, teaching that this comes to pass for the salvation of the world, and that he does not come to it unwillingly.

He then speaks of the tokens of the shepherd and of the hireling, and shows that he himself holds sway just as the Father does, inasmuch as he is shepherd and the sheep are his own.

Speaking loftily, then, in the parables he overshadows the saying, so as not to give a manifest handle to his hearers.

'Not now,' he says, 'does the Father love me, but always, before times eternal; only, since by the Father's good pleasure I give myself up to death, this pleases the Father.'

For not by necessity, but willingly he came to the passion, and he had authority to raise himself from the dead.

Senseless is he who says that the body of Christ was soulless and that the Godhead was in place of a soul;

for it is senseless to conceive of a passible Godhead, whereas the soul is passible.

And they say the Godhead of the Son is passible for this reason, that they may show him less than the Father.

'Yet even of the Father,' he says, 'we find the phrase My soul, by which,' he says, 'we understand the Godhead of the Father.'

Those who had slipped into the depth of evils said that he who freed us from the tyranny of the demons had a demon;

but those who were a little sober convicted those men, saying that these were not the words of one possessed by a demon.

...of the truth, and they put forward the recovery of sight of the blind man.

They kept the Feast of Dedication, not as though the temple had now been built, but because on that day Zerubbabel completed the temple.

Inasmuch as it was winter, the crowds were gathered in the portico, among whom was also Christ.

The unbelievers, being convicted by the facts and holding their opinion in doubt, asked as those in doubt.

Knowing that, because of his having often spoken, he was not believed, he brings forward the works as availing more for proof than words;

for they ought indeed to have believed his words on account of their God-befitting character and the practised virtue of his life;

but since they thrust these aside through an excess of senselessness, they ought at least to have accepted the testimony from the works.

These men were estranged from the flock by their own wickedness, not having been willing to receive his God-given teaching.

He says that the appropriation of his own sheep came about on account of obedience, just as, on the contrary, the estrangement came about on account of disobedience.

To those who follow on account of ready obedience he gives eternal life, and promises security with respect to the future.

The Father having given all things into the hands of the Only-begotten, the Father also adds his own protection for the security of the sheep;

for the end of the care of both is one.

He says that he is one with the Father according to essence, not according to hypostasis, and that he is equal to the Father in all things;

for he numbered two according to hypostasis, himself and the Father, especially by which he said 'we are.'

Seeing them exceedingly enraged, reminding them of the things he had done, he sought through kindness to bring them to a sense of the benefaction and to make them cease from their anger against him.

By what they say, on the one hand they accept the works as having been well done, but on account of the words they were indignant, supposing him to blaspheme, because he who raised the dead and healed the blind called himself the Son of God.

If the Israelites were called gods, although they were not holy men, merely because they were Israelites, you revile the one who shows by works that 'I am God' and who does not boast in bare words in mere speech alone;

for it would have been fitting, even if I had not shown this by works but had only said it, that you should not be indignant, since the Law too calls men gods;

moreover, I have also the testimony from the works.

Wherefore plainly impious are those who say, 'You blaspheme by calling yourself the Son of God.'

Gently the Lord answers in return, saying: if, while naming God as Father, I were not doing works like the Father's, by which I showed that I am the Son of God, you would have, he says, what is on our part; but as it is, even if you do not believe me when I speak, yet at least through the works let yourselves be put to shame, that the Father is in me and I in the Father.

He shows that it lay in his own authority to be seized;

for behold, being in their midst, he did not permit them to seize him, although those men wished to do this.

For this reason he came to this place, that through the place he might remind men of the words of John, which he spoke concerning him—which, having done, he benefited many.

And remembering the words of John, which he spoke concerning him—that he was the bridegroom and the lamb who takes away the sin of the world, and whatever else—they necessarily believed in him.

On account of the practice of godliness, the sisters—being true sisters—when their brother Lazarus had fallen sick, sent to the Lord, saying:

'Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick';

for the Lord too loved him, as a God-fearing man.

For he foresaw that the raising of Lazarus would be spoken of throughout the whole inhabited world, through which the Son was glorified together with the Father.

And he loved them on account of their chaste and God-fearing manner of life.

Having had experience of the cruelty of the Jews, the disciples were afraid to go away into Judea, lest they should suffer the same things again.

He teaches that one must always, every day and hour, do good to men;

and then too he encourages them, that they will undergo nothing dreadful, having with themselves the light of the world, in which those who walk do not stumble;

for those who walk in the darkness of ignorance stumble, not having the light of truth.

He as God spoke concerning the sleep of death, but the disciples as men supposed that he was speaking to them concerning the sleep of the body;

wherefore they also said this as though it were profitable.

They said this, thinking that he spoke concerning bodily sleep.

Having plainly spoken of the death, he rejoiced, knowing that the condition of the dead man would greatly profit the disciples unto faith;

for if he had been there while he was still sick, being moved by entreaty he would have healed him and would not have wrought the great miracle of the resurrection.

Thomas said these things, expecting that, going there at once, they would stone them and kill them.

By however much the time after the burial ran on, by so much the more marvelous was the deed of him who raised him.

And he mentioned the nearness of the place, in order to show that many of the Jews went out to comfort the sisters of Lazarus.

Martha, then, goes out, having heard of the Lord's coming, not having communicated it to her sister, because of the wish that the coming be kept hidden from the Jews who were present, as being enemies of Christ and persecuting him;

but she utters words of little faith.

Having forgotten her mourning, Martha ran to the Lord, but Mary, not knowing this, remained in the house.

Being persuaded that, if the Lord had been present, Lazarus would not have died, neither did she doubt concerning the benefaction that was to come.

Since he had promised indefinitely, not adding that Lazarus would now rise, Martha reasonably answered thus, speaking of the last day, on which the general resurrection of men takes place.

To all who believe he promised life, but especially concerning the one set before them he made his word.

This he says: that those who have undergone the common death of the body will be raised again;

but everyone who believes will not undergo the destructive death, the death of eternal torment.

Through the answer Christ wishes to demonstrate the proven quality of the woman's choice;

and she not only confessed him Christ and Son of God, but also as coming into the world, in order to show that Christ came as a good thing not for Israel alone, but for the whole world.

And she confessed him not only Christ and Son of God, but already says also 'coming into the world,' so that from this she might show that he pertains not to Israel alone, as formerly, but rather has now been sent forth by the Father as a common good for the whole world.

Mary, having received a joy equal in weight to the grief over her brother, through hearing that Jesus had come, postponing everything, ran to him—which was a token of her faith toward him.

Mary, by running, gave the Jews the supposition that she was running to the tomb, in order to weep there;

but there she found the Lord, where Martha too had met with him.

Having a sisterly mind as well, she used the same words, holding a faith concerning the Teacher that ran together with her sister's, although they met the Lord at different hours.

Having troubled himself and prepared his power by the readiness of his spirit for the task before him, he spoke with deep feeling.

And by 'he was deeply moved in spirit' the evangelist signifies, making clear the voluntariness of his purpose;

for he shed a tear and endured bodily weariness, undergoing the sufferings not unwillingly, but commanding them upon the body by his authority;

for men's tears are shed not when we wish, but being natural passions of the body we undergo them unwillingly; God, however, is not so, but doing all things by authority, will use the same power even against his enemies.

He said this not in ignorance, but in order that, from the inquiry, he might rouse the crowds present to behold the miracle, on the pretext of pointing out the place, and that many might believe.

He wept out of sympathy with those who wept, certainly not over the dead man whom he was about to raise.

The Jews supposed the tears to be a symbol of his love toward the departed;

wherefore they said these things, and remembering the miracle concerning the blind man, they debated among themselves how he had allowed Lazarus to die.

Those men, then, were seeking the lesser thing, but Jesus did the greater;

for it was not the same thing to make Lazarus not die as to raise him from the dead, since, had he raised him while sick, the ungrateful could have referred the recovery of health to nature in the disease—which cannot be said in the case of one risen from the dead.

Having braced himself for the miracle before him, he came to the place with deep feeling.

And though able to open the cave even without human action, he permits those present to do this, so that, perceiving the stench, they might be assured that he had not only died, but was already filled with odour.

Inferring from the interval of days that it was sufficient to dissolve the body of the dead man, she said this.

And the glory of God is shown not from the sequence of things that come to pass according to nature, but from the working of wonders, in things accomplished beyond nature, beyond hope.

The glory of God is shown from the working of wonders, in things accomplished beyond nature, beyond hope.

When, therefore, the stone had been removed and the cave opened, Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:

'I thank you, Father, that you have heard me.'

But I think that he called it 'great' because it was divine and was spoken with the God-befitting authority, and not on account of the loudness and ringing of the voice.

On account of the unbelief of the Jews, he not only gave life to the dead man, but also caused him, bound hand and foot, to come forth—which itself too was a very great miracle;

and lest anyone should say that, as a friend, he had feigned death and came forth when he called him;

for it was a sign nearly equal to the resurrection, that one bound should walk.

So that the ungrateful might have nothing to say, he commanded them with their own hands to loose the bonds of Lazarus, in order that even unwillingly they might bear witness to this.

Being overcome by the miracle, they believed; but the Jews, going away, told the chief priests what they had seen.

They had such hardness that, while confessing his signs, they nonetheless plotted concerning his destruction, on this account alone, out of immeasurable wickedness thirsting for murder against him.

This they said, since it came about that those who believed straightway confessed him as king also, and the Romans set upon them as rebelling;

and on this account they underwent an uprising, suffering irreparable things at the hands of the Romans.

And he foretold what was to come, not as partaking of prophetic virtue, but on account of his having laid hold of the priestly dignity.

And he said it not knowing what he spoke, nor understanding the economy of the matter;

for he, on the one hand, was inciting his hearers to the plot against the Lord, but, on another contemplation, the matter was being accomplished—the Father having given himself as a ransom for all, and having died not for the people alone, but also for all the Gentiles who had believed.

And this the evangelist interprets through what follows.

And he calls those of the Gentiles who believe 'children of God.'

Just as he himself said through the prophet:

"They have laid against me an unlawful charge."

For he was unbearable to them even merely by appearing.

Now the Passover of the Jews was near—not the Lord's Passover.

For observe always what is said: not even where they stood did Jesus keep the feast, but he opened up unto the great Passover that which was made flesh and adorned.

And many from the countryside went up to purify themselves.

And the chief priests and the Pharisees gave a command, that they should arrest him.

When he had arrived there, Lazarus and his sisters received him—not merely as the one who had raised him from the dead and called him back again to life, but above all as a teacher of godliness and a savior of human souls.

Lazarus received him not merely as the one who had raised him, but as a teacher of godliness and a savior of souls.

And when supper had come, Martha, serving with her own hands, ministered, knowing that he was the very one who had been received as a guest by Abraham.

And the evangelist necessarily makes mention of Lazarus, in order to show that, having risen from the dead, he lived on for a long time and did not—appearing to men suddenly like a phantom—die again at once, but remained, eating and drinking and doing the things customary to men.

And when the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment, there was symbolically displayed that which was destined to be accomplished spiritually before long;

for immediately after the Passion, the whole inhabited world, like a great house, was filled with the ointment of the fragrance of Christ.

Thus by the perceptible thing that spiritual reality was foreshown;

for when his body had been pierced like an alabaster jar, the fragrance of knowledge filled the whole world.

Becoming ever more diligent concerning the teachings, and having continually heard the words of the Savior, she knew clearly that the time of the Passion was now at hand; therefore she anointed him with the ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, that by this she might display the symbol of his coming burial on our behalf.

And not only this, but also that she might be able to receive the blessing that comes from the touch of his feet;

for she did not give this away, the very thing by partaking of which she herself was benefited.

Being diligent concerning the teachings and continually hearing the Lord's words, she recognized that the time of the Passion was now at hand;

therefore, as a symbol of his coming burial, she anoints him with the ointment and wipes him with her hair, that she might receive the blessing from him.

And the house's being filled with the scent was a symbol of the fragrance that, after Christ's Passion, would be diffused throughout the whole inhabited world;

for when the body of Christ had been pierced like an alabaster jar, the fragrance of knowledge filled the world.

He said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was bent on his love of money.

And the Lord bore with him as he stole what belonged to the poor, until he should also receive from him the proof of his betrayal.

The Lord does not rebuke the disciple for rebuking the woman on account of his own thievery, wishing by great long-suffering to bring him to shame;

for he had reproved him from the beginning, since he knew.

But if another evangelist says that all the disciples uttered this, we say that both all of them and this one said it, but the rest not with the same disposition.

And for this reason the Lord, as was fitting, entrusted to him the stewardship, so that, having from the money-box sufficient satisfaction for his desire, he might not say, "I committed the betrayal out of love for money"; and he bore with him and did not accuse him, thereby removing his every excuse.

Through the woman's intention the Savior teaches clearly that the dispensation of the ointment became a symbol of his burial,

which seems to be the final favor shown to one who is about to depart;

for when one is able, one does good to the needy if one so wills.

[One may] ask how the separation of the soul occurs, and where it goes, and who are those that convey it.

After this the chief priests deliberated everything like madmen, thinking that by killing Lazarus they would also destroy the faith of those who came into contact with him.

The crowds, paying no heed to the rulers, although they saw them murderous, ran to meet Christ, glorifying him not as a man but as a heavenly king; and by what they said, they fulfilled David's prophecy.

And if the evangelist says nothing else of what the preceding evangelists said was spoken or done at this entry, one need not be surprised;

for, on the whole, having set out to tell what was omitted by the others, he abridges those things which by the sequence of his narrative he is of necessity relating concerning Lazarus.

His sitting upon the colt lay within his own choice;

but the multitudes' shouting and crying out such an acclamation was no longer up to him, but lay within the power of those who acclaimed him;

for if they cried out moved of their own accord, they showed by deed the fulfillment of the prophecy and became witnesses of the truth.

But if, impelled by his invisible power, they offered the doxology, then too they furnished a token of his divine authority.

That he might fulfill the prophecy, he sat upon the donkey; but since it was possible for anyone who willed, sitting upon a donkey, falsely to ascribe such a prophecy to himself, by the very fact that the crowds—whether willingly or by Christ's invisible power—came to acclaim him, they showed the prophecy to be spoken of him.

From the wonders which he performed they knew that he was the Christ, but after his resurrection they obtained firmly the knowledge concerning him from the testimony of the Scriptures.

From this, then, one can know that the crowd did not believe without discernment, but some saw, and others heard from those who had seen, that he raised Lazarus.

Considering the gain of those who believed to be a loss, the Pharisees said these things.

As the report spread everywhere, Greeks too then came.

Among whom they approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida, saying:

"Lord, we wish to see Jesus."

And Philip communicates it to Andrew, and both refer it to the Teacher.

And Jesus answers them, saying:

It was necessary that the redemption through the Passion should first take place, which, having endured it for our sake, he rose;

and when, after the resurrection, he was glorified by all as Son of God, then also those of the Gentiles were to be illumined by the preaching.

He used the example set before him, wishing to signify the multitudes who were destined to be benefited through the Passion.

If, then, even the Son of God had not willed to descend from his own dignity and endure death, he would have remained alone in his own glory;

but now, having for the sake of his love toward us submitted to suffer in the flesh and having risen, he raised up all men together with himself.

Having therefore made manifest the gain from his own Passion, he exhorts also those who believe in him to despise death.

Having made manifest through what was said the gain from the Passion, he exhorts also those who have believed in him likewise to despise death;

for he who wills here to spare his life for a little while procures destruction for it in the age to come; but he who is unsparing of it in the present and despises the life in this world secures for himself the incorruptible and everlasting life in the age to come.

He who has despised the life in this world will inherit the incorruptible life in the age to come.

And he exhorts them to follow him, imitating his manner of life and emulating the virtue of his conduct.

And he would say to me that everyone who at any time acts according to the word of God serves the Word and ministers to the Son of God and follows him, doing nothing irrationally;

for many of the impious walked about with him and followed him, that they might ensnare him by a word or be able to lay hold of some saying of his.

But to the disciples who follow in the footsteps of his virtue and divine conduct, he promises from that very point a dwelling in heaven;

for "where I am," he says, that is, in heaven, "there my servant also shall be."

And not only does he promise the gift from himself, but he also pledges the honor from the Father.

He exhorts the disciples to a virtue like his own and promises them the dwelling in heaven, pledging not only his own honor but also that from the Father.

Here he used human and more lowly expressions, showing by these that he truly shared in human nature;

or perhaps, foreseeing the fall of the unbelieving and the coming estrangement of those who were for the time being reckoned to be his own household, he was troubled, sparing that thankless generation;

for it was not from fearing death, as some suppose, that he endured the so-called trouble;

for he was not ignorant of the reason why he made his coming to us, as he showed close at hand by saying, "For this cause I came unto this hour";

for if he were troubled through fear of death, how could he have taught others to despise it, saying:

"Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul."

Being therefore about to lay hold of the experience of the things foretold, he called upon the one who had sent him for this very purpose.

And those who heard a voice strange to our customary speech necessarily had their understanding in doubt.

He utters lowly things as a man, showing that he truly became an unchangeable man like us, even if, beholding the fall of the unbelieving and the estrangement of those who seemed to be his own, he was troubled;

for it was not from fearing death that he who became man for this very purpose said this.

"For this cause I came unto this hour," that I might endure the dispensation of the Passion;

for he who exhorted the disciples to despise death did not shrink in cowardice from the Passion.

For he glorified him as his own Son, having declared him Lord of all creation;

and now again through the resurrection from the dead.

That is, the saying "Glorify me" means: "Through the resurrection from the dead make me glorious to men";

for this also the Father promised through the voice.

Having heard a strange and unfamiliar voice, they disputed about it; and wishing to remove their ignorance, he reveals the mystery of the things being dispensed by God.

For there was taking place a judgment of the world, with all men standing as it were on a razor's edge and being tested through faith and unbelief: some being made God's own, and others being constituted as enemies.

And the ruler of this age was justly cast out, the dominion of the devil—which he had acquired through deceit and disobedience and the sin of men—being torn down through the Lord's conduct and beneficence and long-suffering;

for since the devil puts forward his own deceit and men's transgression—from which death also came—as his own defense when judged, claiming that he ought to have such men under himself, in the same way the Lord too, being delivered up by him to death though sinless, showed that he had not justly brought man under himself;

for it was not because men were sinners that corruption was brought upon them, but on account of the devil's envy at the beginning man sinned.

Since therefore Christ became man and did not sin, yet the devil again brought death upon him as upon a sinner, he was rightly condemned as unjust and for the time fell from his dominion; and the man who was under him was also redeemed.

Since he was about to accomplish the redemption through death and through the cross to draw all things to himself, he said this.

"You die and save all"—while the Law says that the Christ remains forever—being ignorant that he would be led like a sheep to the slaughter.

But when, having been slain, he rises, then he no longer dies, but remains forever.

For there was still but a little time between the Passion and this discourse.

And he calls himself light, as one who through the gospel teaching illumines souls.

It is possible that "darkness" should mean also the condemnation of the impious in the age to come, as he said more plainly elsewhere concerning the one who had no wedding garment:

"Cast him out," he says, "into the outer darkness;

there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Those who believed not only were illumined by the recognition of the light, but also became and were named light.

He hid himself not because of cowardice, nor making himself wholly invisible, but he withdrew profitably, that he might seem to grant them leisure for examination of what had been said;

for thus, being brought to reflection and accurately weighing his words together with his deeds, they were able to come to a perception of his dignity—if indeed they were willing fairly to consider the matters.

For even though he most certainly foreknew their unbelief, nevertheless he did what was on his part out of love for mankind.

He withdraws not because of cowardice, but giving them leisure for the examination of what was said.

For even though he knew their disobedience, nevertheless he does what is on his part out of love for mankind.

Not as though any necessity led them to this, but according to what each of them had chosen for himself.

And perhaps, since their preceding lawlessness had made them worthy of hardening, they were undergoing this by a just judgment, paying the penalty for their former and still-present impiety;

for Isaiah, foreseeing their unbelief, prophetically said what would come to pass:

"In hearing you shall hear and not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive"—rightly ascribing to them the cause of the madness and the blindness.

And the evangelist, knowing accurately that the unbelief which God had foreknown would by all means proceed into actuality, added the cause, namely that they could not believe, because Isaiah said:

"He has blinded their eyes";