Chapter XXXI.
Immediately the Evangelist adds, saying: And no one dared to question him any further, saying: Who are you (John 21:12)? Because those who ate and drank with him saw him as both true man and true God; not, however, that he was one God and another man, but that he was one and the same Son of God and Son of man; for he was known as a man and worshipped as God, fulfilling what the Lord himself had prayed, saying to the Father: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). Therefore, it is worthy and very worthy that the flesh of man be brought into heaven, whose inhabitant God deigned to be: nor can it be seen that man has been made an inhabitant of heaven contrary to his merit, whose sheath the Spirit, who is God, did not disdain. Therefore, it was just that the body, in which God deigned to dwell and visit the earth, through which he became a partaker of ourselves, should be led to immortality and placed in heavenly abodes. So where should the habitation of God be, if not in the kingdom of God? And where is the kingdom of God, if not in the heavens where we all shall be, with His aid and support, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (I Cor. XV, 53); so that all flesh may see the salvation of God (Isaiah XL, 5), and recognize that He is the redeemer and savior, who struggled with Jacob (Genesis XXXII, 24), who was the strength and helper of Jacob, who, in his voluntary suffering, which was prefigured by that struggle, blessed those who crucified Him and prayed for them, saying: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke XXIII, 34), confirming also what He had foretold through David: While they approached me, who ate my flesh, I, however, prayed (Psalm CVIII, 4). Therefore, the Word is not consumed but the flesh is: it is the flesh, not God, who is spirit, that is eaten. You, he says, who pursue me, have scourged me, have spit upon my face, have crucified me: nevertheless, I challenge you to repentance: For I do not desire the death of the sinner, but only that he may turn away and live (Ezek. 18:32) . This is confirmed by the blessed Apostle, who says: And you, when you were once alienated and enemies to your mind in evil works, hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death (Coloss. 1:21 and 22) .