John 8 · The Lantern

And Iesus went vnto mounte Olivete

And he [Papias] relates another story of a woman, who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is contained in the Gospel according to the Hebrews. These things we have thought it necessary to observe in addition to what has been already stated.

The Mount of Olives designates the height of the Lord's benevolence and mercy, for in Greek "mercy" is called oleos, and an olive plantation is called oleon, and also because anointing with oil usually soothes weary and aching limbs.

After having treated of the origin of the doctrine of Christ, the Evangelist here considers its power. Now the doctrine of Christ has the power both to enlighten and to give life, because his words are spirit and life. So first, he treats of the power of Christ's doctrine to enlighten; secondly, of its power to give life (10:1).

and erly in ye mornynge came agayne into ye temple and all the people came vnto him and he sate doune and taught them.

Jesus made his way to the Mount of Olives to announce that the peak of mercy consists in himself. He came again at daybreak to the temple to signify that, as the radiance of the New Testament was beginning, that same mercy was to be disclosed and presented to the temple, namely, to his faithful ones.…The Lord's sitting suggests the humility of his incarnation through which he d…

"And at dawn he came again to the temple." Diligence is noted in this, that he came at dawn; Wisdom six: "She anticipates those who desire her, so that she may show herself to them first," and Proverbs eight: "Those who watch for me in the morning shall find me." It was also public: whence he says: "And all the people came to him": Luke twenty-one: "All the people came early in…

Christ's return to the temple is described as being early; thus he says, and early in the morning he came again to the temple. This signifies that he was about to impart knowledge and manifest his grace in his temple, that is, in his believers: "We have received your mercy, O God, in the middle of your temple" (Ps 47:10).

And the scribes and ye pharises brought vnto him a woman taken in advoutry and set hyr in the myddes

The Jews, it says, brought a woman, possibly a prostitute, to the Lord, to test him, and they said, "Master, this woman has just now been caught in adultery. In the law of Moses it is written that any woman caught in adultery should be stoned. What do you say?" That is what the tongue said, but it did not acknowledge the Creator.

But while these kind and simple persons are full of admiration at our Lord's discourse, the Scribes and Pharisees put questions to Him, not for the sake of instruction, but only to entangle the truth in their nets: And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in…

Then (v 3), our Lord wards off his opponents. First, we see him tested, so that he can then be accused; and secondly, he checks his accusers (v 6b). As to the first, the Evangelist does three things: first, he mentions the occasion for the test; secondly, he describes the test itself (v 4); and thirdly, the purpose of those who were testing our Lord.

and sayde vnto him: Master this woman was taken in advoutry even as the dede was a doyng.

Moses in the lawe comaunded vs yt suche shuld be stoned. What sayest thou therfore?

And this they sayde to tempt him: that they myght have wherof to accuse him. Iesus stouped doune and with his fynger wrote on the grounde.

What did this indulgence signify? Grace. What did that hardness signify? The law given on stones. Therefore, the Lord was writing with His finger, but now on the ground, from which fruit could be received. However, whatever is sown on stone does not sprout, because it cannot send down roots.

The ground denotes the human heart, which yieldeth the fruit either of good or of bad actions: the finger jointed and flexible, discretion. He instructs us then, when we see any faults in our neighbours, not immediately and rashly to condemn them, but after searching our own hearts to begin with, to examine them attentively with the finger of discretion.

The Evangelist reveals the malicious intention behind those who were questioning Jesus when he says, They said this to test him so that they could accuse him.

And whyll they continued axynge him he lyfte him selfe vp and sayde vnto them: let him yt is amoge you wt out synne cast the fyrst stone at her.

What answer, then, did the Lord Jesus make? How answered the Truth? How answered Wisdom? How answered that Righteousness against which a false accusation was ready? He did not say, Let her not be stoned; lest He should seem to speak against the law. But God forbid that He should say, Let her be stoned: for He came not to lose, what He had found, but to seek what was lost.

So when they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up.

It was at their insistence that Jesus gave his sentence; and so the Evangelist says, As they persisted in the question, he stood up and said to them: Whoever among you is without sin, let him be the first to cast a stone at her. The Pharisees were violators of the Law; and yet they tried to accuse Christ of violating the Law and were attempting to make him condemn the woman.

And agayne he stouped doune and wrote on ye grounde.

(Tract. xxxiii. 5) Having with the weapon of justice smitten them, He deigned not even to look on the fallen, but averted His eyes: And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

This is like our Lord; while His eyes are fixed, and He seems attending to something else, He gives the bystanders an opportunity of retiring: a tacit admonition to us to consider always both before we condemn a brother for a sin, and after we have punished him, whether we are not guilty ourselves of the same fault, or others as bad.

Jesus continued to write, and again bending down, he wrote. He did this, first, to show the firmness of his sentence, "God is not like a man, who may lie, or like a son of man, so that he may change" (Num 23:19). Secondly, he did it to show that they were not worthy to look at him.

And assone as they hearde that they went out one by one the eldest fyrst. And Iesus was lefte a lone and the woman stondynge in ye myddes.

When we speak to these men in this way, they not only are not willing to detract at all from their severity but also become enraged at the truth. They say in answer: We are men; will the dignity of our sex sustain this affront, so that we become like women in paying the penalty for our sins if we have relations with women other than our own wives?

The more guilty of them, perhaps, or those who were more conscious of their faults.

The effect of his justice is their embarrassment, for on hearing this, one after the other departed, both because they had been involved in more serious sins and their conscience gnawed them more: "Iniquity came out from the elder judges who were seen to rule the people" (Dn 13:5), and because they better realized the fairness of the sentence he gave: "I will go therefore to th…

When Iesus had lyfte vp him selfe agayne and sawe no man but the woman he sayde vnto hyr. Woman where are those thyne accusars? Hath no man condempned the?

If you [the bishop] are not merciful to the penitent, you sin against the Lord God because you have not been persuaded, nor have you believed our Savior and God by doing what he did for that sinful woman whom the elders set before him and went away, leaving him to pass sentence.

"But Jesus, raising himself up," in which the fifth point is noted, namely the merciful liberation of the accused woman. And because mercy runs together with justice and is not against justice, the Lord asks her about condemnation and accusation. Therefore he says: "Woman, where are those who accused you?

Then (v 10), he shows that Jesus did not abandon mercy, but gave a merciful sentence. First, Jesus questions the woman; then forgives her; and finally, cautions her. Jesus questioned her about her accusers; thus he says that Jesus rising up, that is, turning from the ground on which he was writing and looking at the woman, asked her, Woman, where are those who accuse you?

She sayde: No man Lorde. And Iesus sayde: Nether do I condempne the. Goo and synne no moare.

Man, therefore, is cleansed of his sin, and rises again by the grace of God though he has fallen, and abides in his first position, according to the above-cited authorities. Let him see to it that he sin no more, that the sentence of the Gospel may abide in him: "Go, and sin no more."

Let them take heed, then, who love His gentleness in the Lord, and let them fear His truth. For "The Lord is sweet and right." Thou lovest Him in that He is sweet; fear Him in that He is right. As the meek, He said, "I held my peace;" but as the just, He said, "Shall I always be silent?" "The Lord is merciful and pitiful." So He is, certainly.

Jesus forgives her; and so it says, Then Jesus said: Nor will I condemn you, I who perhaps you feared would condemn you, because you saw that I was without sin. This should not surprise us for "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (3:17); "I do not desire the death of the sinner" (Ez 18:23).

Then spake Iesus agayne vnto them sayinge: I am the light of the worlde. He that foloweth me shall not walke in darcknes: but shall have the light of lyfe.

For no one was able, either in heaven or in earth, or under the earth, to open the book of the Father, or to behold Him, with the exception of the Lamb who was slain, and who redeemed us with His own blood, receiving power over all things from the same God who made all things by the Word, and adorned them by [His] Wisdom, when "the Word was made flesh;" that even as the Word of…

He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He is again persuading them on all sides to aim at hunting after what is profitable, and to desire rather to be led by His appointments, than to choose to follow their own unlearning and bereave themselves of everlasting life.

The Evangelist has presented Christ as teaching; now he shows, first, the power which this teaching has to give light, and secondly, what Christ himself said about it (v 13).

The pharises sayde vnto him: thou bearest recorde of thy sylfe thy recorde is not true.

What He had before said, these men bring forward as if it had been specially asserted. What then doth Christ? To refute this, and to show that He used those expressions as suitable to them and to their suspicions, who supposed Him to be a mere man, He saith, "Though I bear record of Myself, My record is true, for I know whence I come." What is this?

As if our Lord Himself were the only (one that bore) witness to Himself; whereas the truth was that He had, before His incarnation, sent many witnesses to prophesy of His Sacraments.

The Evangelist mentions three things that Jesus says about himself. First, I am the light of the world; secondly, I am going away (v 21); and thirdly, if any one keeps my word, he will not see death forever (v 51). The first thing he said was, I am the light of the world; and this troubled the Jews.

Iesus answered and sayde vnto them: Though I beare recorde of my selfe yet my recorde is true: for I knowe whece I came and whyther I goo. But ye cannot tell whece I come and whyther I goo.

The Jews then answered, "Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true." Let us see what they hear; let us also hear, yet not as they did: they despising, we believing; they wishing to slay Christ, we desiring to live through Christ. Let this difference distinguish our ears and minds from theirs, and let us hear what the Lord answers to the Jews.

Therefore He also answers them according to their craftiness. Let it be so, that I Myself bear witness of Myself. Although in reality it is not so, but I have three witnesses – My Father, My works, and the Scripture, as was also said above (John 5:33, 5:36, 5:37, 5:39). Let us suppose that I Myself bear witness of Myself.

Next (v 14), our Lord rejects their opposition: first, by the authority of his Father; secondly, by answering their rejection, which arose concerning his Father (v 19). The opposition of the Jews arose from a certain conclusion which they drew: and so the first he shows that their conclusion is not true; secondly, he proves that his own testimony is true (v 14b).

Ye iudge after ye flesshe. I iudge no man

"Ye judge after the flesh." As to live after the flesh is to live badly, so to judge after the flesh is to judge unjustly. "But I judge no man. And yet if I judge, My judgment is true." What He saith, is of this kind; "Ye judge unjustly." "And if," saith some one, "we judge unjustly, why dost Thou not rebuke us? why dost Thou not punish us?

As if to say: Ye judge untruly, according to the flesh, thinking, because I am in the flesh, that I am flesh only, and not God.

Then (v 15b), he shows that his testimony is true, and that it is false to say that he alone is bearing witness to himself. Because mention was now made about judging, he shows, first, that he is not alone in judging; and secondly, that he is not alone in bearing witness (v 17).

though I iudge yet is my iudgmet true. For I am not alone: but I and the father that sent me.

When … [Jesus] declares that he is not alone and uses these words, "but I and the Father who sent me," does he not show that there are two—two and yet inseparable? Indeed, this was the sum and substance of what he was teaching them, that they [i.e., Father and Son] were inseparably two.

Then, as if someone were to say: "If we Jews judge unjustly, then why do You not punish, why do You not condemn?" He says: "I did not come for the purpose of judging. I now judge no one; and if I do judge, My judgment is true, and if I wished to judge, you would be condemned.

Yet, I will judge at some time, because "The Father has given all judgment to the Son" (5:22). And then, my judgment is true, that is, just: "He will judge the people with justice" (Ps 95:10); "We know that the judgment of God is according to the truth" (Rom 2:2). This shows that his judgment is true. He gives the reason for its truth when he says, because I am not alone.

It is also written in youre lawe that the testimony of two men is true.

For why, when He had said, "I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me," and, "The testimony of two men is true," did He not hold His peace, instead of adding, "I am One that bear witness of Myself"? It was evidently to show His independence. And He placeth Himself first; "I am One that bear witness of Myself." Here He showeth His equality of honor.

Or it is as if He said, If your law admits the testimony of two men who may be deceived, and testify to more than is true; on what grounds can you reject Mine and My Father's testimony, the highest and most sure of all?

Then (v 17), He shows that he is not alone in bearing witness. He does not defer bearing witness, as he does his judging. Thus he does not say, "I do not bear witness." First, he mentions the Law; secondly, he gives his conclusion (v 18).

I am one yt beare witnes of my selfe and the father that sent me beareth witnes of me.

"I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me." Therefore, because it is written in your law that the witness of two men is true, receive our witness, lest ye feel our judgment. "For I," saith He, "judge not any man; but I bear witness of myself:" I defer judgment, I defer not the witness.

Do you see the equality of authority, and how He presents Himself as equally trustworthy as the Father? He would not have dared to say this if He were lower in dignity than the Father and were not equal to Him and Consubstantial.

If, therefore, the testimony of two or three is true, my testimony is true, because It is I who bear witness to myself and the Father who sent me who bears witness concerning me: "I have testimony that is greater than that of John" (5:36). But this does not seem to be to the point.

Then sayde they vnto him: where is thy father? Iesus answered: ye nether knowe me nor yet my father. Yf ye had knowen me ye shuld have knowen my father also.

It is necessary, though, to know that heretics consider clearly from this that the God whom the Jews worship does not be the Father of Christ; for if to the Pharisees worshipping the creator, they say, the Savior said, “You neither know me nor my Father,” it is clear that the Father of Jesus, being different from the creator, the Pharisees did not know, nor did those in Jerusal…

They said therefore unto Him, Where is Thy Father? In this too most especially may one, I deem, and with good reason cry out against the stolidity of the Jews, uttering that word of the Prophet, Behold O foolish people and without heart.

Next (v 19), we see the question arising about Christ's Father. First, the Evangelist mentions the question asked by the Jews; then Christ's answer; and thirdly, he intimates the security of Christ. The question which the Jews had for Christ was about his Father, where his Father was. They said to him: Where is your Father?

These wordes spake Iesus in the tresury as he taught in the temple and no man layde hondes on him for his tyme was not yet come.

The Evangelist would not have added these words were it not to convey something useful.… Whenever it says "these are the words that he spoke in such and such a place," you will discover a reason for the addition.…The treasury was a place where coins were contributed for the honor of God and the support of the poor.

Or thus; Christ speaks in the treasury; i. e. He had spoken in parables to the Jews; but now that He unfolded heavenly things to His disciples, His treasury began to be opened, which was the meaning of the treasury being joined to the temple; all that the Law and the Prophets had foretold in figure, appertained to our Lord.

The Evangelist shows the security with which Christ answered when he says, Jesus spoke these words in the treasury. We see the first from the place where he taught, that is, in the treasury (gazophylacium) and in the temple.

Then sayde Iesus agayne vnto them. I goo my waye and ye shall seke me and shall dye in youre synnes. Whyther I goo thyther can ye not come.

Someone might say to this, "If He said this to those persisting in unbelief, how can He say to such, 'You will seek me'?" For often seeking Jesus is good, somehow the same as seeking the Word and truth and wisdom.

The connection of these words is such, that they might have been spoken at one place and one time, or at another place and another time: as either nothing at all, or some things, or many may have intervened. Note: sin is in the singular number, your in the plural; to express one and the same wickedness in all.

After our Lord showed his special position with respect to light, he here reveals the effect of this light, that is, that it frees us from darkness. First, he shows that the Jews are imprisoned in darkness; secondly he teaches the remedy which can free them (v 22).

Then sayde the Iewes: will he kyll him selfe because he sayth: whyther I goo thyther can ye not come?

(Tract. xxviii) They take these words, as they generally do, in a carnal sense, and ask, Will He kill Himself, because He saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come? A foolish question. For why? Could they not go where He went, if He killed Himself? Were they never to die themselves? Whither I go, then, He says; meaning not His departure at death, but where He went after death.

"The Jews therefore said." Here the second point is touched upon, namely, on account of the Jews' doubt, the exposition of the threat. For they doubted concerning what He had said: "Where I go, you cannot come": therefore they say: "Will He kill Himself, because He says: Where I go, you cannot come?" Augustine: "Foolish words, altogether full of senselessness.

Then (v 22), he treats of the remedy which can set them free from the darkness. First, he gives the remedy for escaping the darkness; secondly, he shows the efficacy of the remedy (v 31).

And he sayde vnto the: ye are fro beneth I am from above. Ye are of this worlde I am not of this worlde.

"Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself?" What then doth Christ? To remove their suspicion, and to show that such an act is sin, He saith, "Ye are from beneath." What He saith, is of this kind: "It is no wonder that ye imagine such things, ye who are carnal men, and have no spiritual thoughts, but I shall not do anything of the kind, for, "I am from above; ye are of the world…

And Who was before the world, whereas they were of the world, having been created after the world had begun to exist.

Then (v 23), he proposes the remedy for escaping from the darkness. First, he mentions his own origin, and then theirs; secondly, he concludes to his point (v 24). With respect to the first, he distinguishes his own origin from theirs in two ways. First, because he is from above, and they are from below. Secondly, because they are of this world, and Christ is not.

I sayde therfore vnto you that ye shall dye in youre synnes. For except ye beleve that I am he ye shall dye in youre synnes.

This, then, is to be believed, according to Plato, though it is announced and spoken "without probable and necessary proofs," but in the Old and New Testament. "For except ye believe," says the Lord, "ye shall die in your sins." And again: "He that believeth hath everlasting life." "Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." For trusting is more than faith.

For a thing, anything whatever (I have begun as it were to dispute, and have left off inquiring. Perhaps I wish to speak what I have heard. May He grant enlargement to my hearing, and to yours, while I speak);-for anything, whatever in short be its excellence, if it is changeable, does not truly exist; for there is no true existence wherever non-existence has also a place.

Then (v 24), he concludes his point. First, he explains what he said about their deprivation; secondly, he points out its remedy (v 24b). We should note with respect to the first, that everything in its development follows the condition of its origin. Thus, a thing whose origin is from below naturally tends below if left to itself.

Then sayde they vnto him who arte thou? And Iesus sayde vnto them: Even ye very same thinge yt I saye vnto you.

I have many thinges to saye and to iudge of you. But he yt sent me is true. And I speake in ye worlde those thinges which I have hearde of him.

They understode not that he spake of his father.

Then sayde Iesus vnto them: when ye have lyft vp an hye the sonne of man then shall ye knowe that I am he and that I do nothinge of my selfe: but as my father hath taught me even so I speake:

In accordance with which, Christ Himself says: "Then shall ye know that I am He and that I am saying nothing of my own self; but that, as my Father hath taught me, so I speak, because He that sent me is with me." This also amounts to a proof that they were Two, (although) undivided.

Christ spent long time dwelling with the Jews, and speaking in every synagogue, so to say, and addressing them every sabbath-day and, setting before them often and ungrudgingly profitable teaching, was continually inviting them to the illumination through the Spirit, and verily He saith, in that He is God by Nature and Very, I am the light of the world; but they thinking most f…

Here, for the first time, Christ foretells how they are to come to the faith, which is the remedy for death. He does two things: first: he shows what will lead them to the faith; and secondly, he teaches what must be believed about himself (v 28).

and he that sent me is with me. The father hath not lefte me alone for I do alwayes those thinges that please him.

I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for His name, I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as my fellow-servants. For it was needful for me to have been admonished by you in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering.

Herein He shows clearly that He interprets the Counsel of God the Father, Himself having none other than is in Him (how could He?

So that we do not think that the Son was sent by the Father in such a way as to be separated from the Father, he teaches, thirdly, that they must believe that he is inseparable from the Father when he says, he who sent me, the Father, is with me, by a unity of essence: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" (14:10).

As he spake these wordes many beleved on him.

"As He spake these words, many believed on Him." When He brought down His speech to a lowly strain, many believed on Him. Dost thou still ask wherefore He speaketh humbly?

I said that the listeners were more captivated by humble speech. The evangelist hints at this as well. "As He was saying these things," he notes, "many believed in Him." He was saying "these things," that is, words that were humble and seemingly unworthy of His glory.

Then when he says, Because he spoke in this way, many came to believe in him, he shows the effect of his teaching, which is the conversion of many of them to the faith because they had heard Christ's teaching: "Faith comes by hearing, and what is heard by the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).

Then sayde Iesus to those Iewes which beleved on him. If ye cotinue in my wordes then are ye my very disciples

and shall knowe the trueth: and the trueth shall make you free.

And in Alcibiades he calls vice a servile thing, and virtue the attribute of freemen. "Take away from you the heavy yoke, and take up the easy one," says the Scripture; as also the poets call [vice] a slavish yoke.

And since some of His former supposed disciples had departed, He therefore says to those who have now believed: "Although those have departed, yet if you abide in My word and faith, you 'will know the truth,' that is, Me, for 'I am the Truth' (John 14:6).

But it is a greater thing to know the truth, since this is the end of a disciple. And our Lord also gives this to those who believe; thus he says, you will know the truth, the truth, that is of the doctrine that I am teaching: "I was born for this, and I came for this, to give testimony to the truth" (18:37); and they will know the truth of the grace that I produce: "Grace and…

They answered him: We be Abrahams seede and were never bonde to eny man: why sayest thou then ye shalbe made fre.

"We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man." And yet if they must needs have been vexed, it might have been expected that they would have been so at the former part of His speech, at His having said, "Ye shall know the truth"; and that they would have replied, "What! do we not now know the truth?

They laugh at the promise of our Saviour, rather they even take it ill, as though they were insulted. For that which has no share at all of bondage, how will it need (he says) of One Who calls us unto freedom, and Who gives us a something over and above what is in us already.

Next (v 33), he shows that the Jews need this remedy. First, he amplifies on their presumption in denying that they need any such remedy; secondly, he shows in what respect they need this remedy (v 34). The presumption of the Jews is shown by their disdainful question: They replied: We are of the seed of Abraham, and we have never been the slaves of anyone.

Iesus answered them: verely verely I saye vnto you that whosoever committeth synne is the servaunt of synne.

He does not call mammon Lord when He says, "Ye cannot serve two masters; "but He teaches His disciples who serve God, not to be subject to mammon, nor to be ruled by it.

This is what he means: The subject of what I am talking about is not corporeal bondage. I want to talk to you about real freedom. In one instance a master, at his discretion, drives away from the house a servant in whom he sees an evil will and subjects him to any punishment he considers to be appropriate. But … no master drives away his son from the house.

Our Lord ignores their presumption and shows them that they do need the remedy he mentioned. First, he mentions their slavery; secondly, he treats of their freedom (v 35); and thirdly, of their origin (v 37). He shows that they are slaves, not in the physical sense they thought he meant, but spiritually, that is, slaves of sin.

And the servaunt abydeth not in the housse for ever: But ye sonne abydeth ever.

But why when speaking of sins doth He mention a "house"? It is to show that as a master hath power over his house, so He over all. And the, "abideth not," is this, "hath not power to grant favors, as not being master of the house"; but the Son is master of the house. For this is the, "abideth forever," by a metaphor drawn from human things.

"The servant," He says, "does not abide in the house," that is, does not have the authority to bestow anything, since he is not the master of the house, but the son is the master of the house and abides in the house. He calls authority a "house," just as in another place He calls dominion a "house," saying that "in My Father's house there are many mansions" (John 14:2).

Then (v 35) he considers their liberation from slavery; for since all have sinned, all were slaves to sin. Now the hope of liberation is held out by the one who is free of sin, and this is the Son. Thus he does three things with respect to this.

If the sonne therfore shall make you fre then are ye fre in dede.

But again, those who assert that He was simply a mere man, begotten by Joseph, remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience, are in a state of death having been not as yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving liberty through the Son, as He does Himself declare: "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." But, being ignorant of Him who from the…

So then, those priests of yours, being slaves, had no authority to forgive sins. But I, the Son, abiding in the house, that is, having authority and independent sovereignty, the Master of the house, shall grant you freedom, because all things are Mine, and I am of equal power and equal authority with the Father. When I set you free, then you will be honored with true freedom.

The Son has the power to free us; so he adds, If therefore the Son frees you, you will be truly free: "We are not the children of the slave woman, but of the free, by whose freedom Christ has freed us" (Gal 4:31).

I knowe that ye are Abrahams seed: But ye seke meanes to kyll me because my sayinges have no place in you.

It is also possible for one who happens to be the [biological] seed of Abraham by diligence to become his [spiritual] child. And it is possible, by neglect and poor stewardship, for one to cease to be his seed. There was still hope for them, however, to whom the saying was addressed.

Having clearly shown and demonstrated that their boast of being descendants of Abraham is utterly empty and devoid of any good, Jesus says this so that they might seek the nobility that is true and dear to God.… But how is it that we who are made of earth and "formed from a piece of clay" can be called relatives of the Lord of all, as Paul says, … "God's offspring"?

Then he considers their origin (v 37). First, he gives their origin according to the flesh; secondly, he inquires into their origin according to the spirit (v 37b). He traces their origin in the flesh to Abraham. I know that you are sons of Abraham, by carnal origin only, and not by resembling him in faith: "Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you" (Is 51:2).

I speake that I have sene with my father: and ye do that which ye have sene with youre father.

(tom. xx. in Joan. s. 7.) This is proof that our Saviour was witness to what was done with the Father: whereas men, to whom the revelation is made, were not witnesses. (tom. xx. 7.) Also another reading has; And do ye do what ye have heard from the Father. All that was written in the Law and the Prophets they had heard from the Father.

Because He Himself, Who is the truth, was begotten of God the Father, to hear, being in fact the same with to be from the Father.

In Deuteronomy (c 18) we read that a prophet who speaks, as coming from the mouth of the Lord, things that the Lord did not say, should be killed. So, lest the Jews say that he should be killed for speaking from himself, and not from the mouth of the Lord, he adds, I speak of what I have seen with my Father.

They answered and sayde vnto him: Abraham is oure father. Iesus sayde vnto them. If ye were Abrahams chyldren ye wolde do the dedes of Abraham.

Those who fasten on to one of Abraham's works, such as the statement "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for justice," think that this is what is referred to in the command, "Do the works of Abraham." Even if it is conceded to them that faith is a work (which would not be conceded by those who accept the saying, "Faith without works is dead," as authoritative, nor…

O great unlearning and mind withered unto unbelief and looking to only wrangling! For while our Saviour Christ consenteth and saith openly, I know that ye are Abraham's seed, they persist in the same, and as though one were holding out and contradicting and saying that they were not of Abraham's seed after the flesh, they again say, Our father is Abraham, and blush not going of…

After showing that the Jews had a certain spiritual origin, our Lord here rejects certain origins which they had presumptuously attributed to themselves. First, he rejects the origin they claimed to have from Abraham; secondly, the origin they thought they had from God (v 41).

But now ye goo about io kyll me a man that have tolde you the truthe which I have herde of god: this dyd not Abraham.

Ye do the dedes of youre father. Then sayde they vnto him: we were not borne of fornicacion. We have one father which is God.

Iesus sayde vnto them: yf God were youre father then wolde ye love me. For I proceaded forthe and come from God. Nether came I of my selfe but he sent me.

If, then, the [conditional] proposition is true, "If God were your father, you would love me," it is clear that the [conditional] contrary to this is also true: If you do not love me, God is not your Father. God is not the Father, therefore, of those who do not love Jesus. And there was a time when Paul did not love Jesus.

The Lord does not hereby take away the power of any to be ranked among the sons of God, but shows rather to whom will pertain the boast of it, and that it will be found rather in the saints, and convicts the insulting Jew of being mad.

Next (v 42), our Lord refutes their opinion: first we see the sign of being a child of God; secondly, the reason for this sign is given (v 42); and thirdly, we see that the Jews lack this sign (v 43).

Why do ye not knowe my speache? Even because ye cannot abyde the hearynge of my wordes.

First then, we must acquire the ability to hear the divine word so that subsequently we may also be able to know the whole teaching of Jesus. For it is possible that, though one previously could not hear Jesus' word, he attains the ability to hear it, because one cannot hear until his hearing is healed by the Word who says to the deaf, "Be opened."

Why do you not understand My speech, do not comprehend and do not grasp what I am saying? Without doubt, for no other reason than that you cannot hear My word, that is, you do not want to. For "cannot" is used in place of "do not want to." As long as envy and murderous intent dwell in you, how can you listen to what I am saying?

He shows that they lack this sign when he says, Why do you not understand what I say? For as was stated above, to love Christ is the sign of being a child of God; but they did not love Christ; therefore it is obvious that they did not have this sign.

Ye are of youre father the devyll and the lustes of youre father ye will folowe. He was a murtherer from the beginnynge and aboode not in the trueth because ther is no trueth in him. When he speaketh a lye then speaketh he of his awne. For he is a lyar and the father therof.

And because I tell you ye trueth therfore ye beleve me not.

We must question how he says, to people who believe in him, "because I speak the truth, you do not believe in me." Consider whether it is possible to believe in someone in one particular aspect but not to believe in another aspect.

But you do not believe Me, because I speak the truth. Having nothing to accuse Me of other than the truth, you rise up against Me for this very reason, as sons of the father of lies.

After mentioning some characteristics of the devil, he then shows that the Jews are imitating these. Our Lord ascribed two kinds of evil to the devil, murder and lying. He reproved them before for their imitation of one of these, namely, murder: "Now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth" (8:40).

Which of you can rebuke me of synne? If I saye ye trueth why do not ye beleve me?

He truly assumed a body; for "the Word was made flesh," and lived upon earth without sin. For says He, "Which of you convicteth me of sin?" He did in reality both eat and drink.

Consider, dearest brothers, the gentleness of God. He had come to forgive sins, and yet he said: "Which of you can convict me of sin?" He did not disdain to show by reasoning that he was not a sinner, he who by the power of his divinity could justify sinners.

The reason which the Jews might allege for their unbelief is that Christ is a sinner, for it is not easy to believe a sinner even when he is telling the truth. Thus we read: "But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to recite my statutes?'" (Ps 50:16). So they might have said: We do not believe you since you are a sinner.

He that is of God heareth goddes wordes Ye therfore heare them not because ye are not of God.

(tom. xx. 24.) But how is this said to the Jews who believed on Him? Consider: a man may believe in one sense, not believe in another; e. g. that our Lord was crucified by Pontius Pilate, but not that He was born of the Virgin Mary.

(ut sup.) Let him then, who would understand God's words, ask himself whether he hears them with the ears of his heart. For there are some who do not deign to hear God's commands even with their bodily ears; and there are others who do this, but do not embrace them with their heart's desire; and there are others again who receive God's words readily, yea and are touched, even t…

He then begins with a reasonable and true starting point, saying, he who is of God hears the words of God. For we read in Sirach (13:15): "Every creature loves its like." Therefore, whoever is of God, to that extent possesses a likeness to the things of God and clings to them.

Then answered the Iewes and sayde vnto him: Saye we not well that thou arte a Samaritane and hast the devyll?

The parable in the Gospel of Luke is about a man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves. The priest and the Levite passed by him, but the Samaritan came on him on his journey, saw him, had compassion, approached him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.

But what the Truth says about the reprobate, the reprobate themselves show about themselves by their own works. For it follows: "The Jews therefore answered and said to him: Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

Next he rejects the rejoinder made by the Jews. First, the Evangelist mentions this rejoinder; and secondly, our Lord's rejection of it (v 49). In their response the Jews charge Christ with two things: first, that he is a Samaritan, when they say, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan? Secondly, that he has a demon, when they add, and have a demon?

Iesus answered: I have not the devyll: but I honour my father and ye have dishonoured me.

The statement "And you dishonor me" follows these words and is addressed to those who have dishonored him and said to him, "Are we not correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" They thought that their incorrect statement was correct. For they denounced the Savior because they thought incorrectly that he was a Samaritan and had a demon.

But having received such an insult, let us hear what the Lord responds: "I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you have dishonored me." For since "Samaritan" is interpreted as "guardian," and he himself is truly the guardian of whom the Psalmist says: "Unless the Lord guards the city, in vain do those who guard it keep watch"; and to whom it is said through Isaiah:…

Then when he says, Jesus answered: I have not a demon, our Lord rejects the response of the Jews. Now they had taxed Christ with two things, that he was a Samaritan and that he had a demon. Concerning the first, our Lord makes no apology, and this for two reasons. First, according to Origen, because the Jews always wanted to keep themselves apart from the Gentiles.

I seke not myne awne prayse: but ther is one that seketh and iudgeth.

Verely verely I saye vnto you yf a man kepe my sayinges he shall never se deeth.

For what is that death that has come into the world through sin if it is not the last enemy of Christ that will be destroyed? And what is that death that passed to all people because all have sinned if it is not this very death that also reigned from Adam to Moses?

(Hom. xviii. in Evang.) As the perversity of the wicked increases, preaching so far from giving way, ought even to become more active. Thus our Lord, after He had been accused of having a devil, imparts the treasures of preaching in a still larger degree: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.

Above, our Lord had promised two things to his followers: liberation from darkness and the attainment of life, saying, "He who follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (8:12). The first of these has been treated above; so we are now concerned with the second, the obtaining of life through Christ.

Then sayde the Iewes to him: Now knowe we that thou hast the devyll. Abraha is deed and also the Prophetes: and yet thou sayest yf a man kepe my sayinge he shall never tast of deeth.

The majority, even of the wise, think that every kind of sin, of which one form is also the sin against reason, has no other source than mistaken judgments. But those who have believed in the holy Scriptures as divine think that the things people do contrary to right reason are not accomplished apart from demons or some such hostile powers.

(ut sup.) As it is necessary that the good should grow better by contumely, so are the reprobate made worse by kindness. On hearing our Lord's words, the Jews again blaspheme: Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know Thou hast a devil.

Next we see the opposition of the Jews being repelled. They oppose Christ in three ways: first, by accusing him of making a false statement; secondly, by their derision (v 57); and thirdly by assaulting him (v 59). As to the first, there are two things: first, they try to accuse him of presumption; secondly, Christ answers some of their retorts (v 54).

Arte thou greater then oure father Abraham which is deed? and the Prophetes are deed. Whome makest thou thy selfe?

Iesus answered: Yf I honoure my selfe myne honoure is nothinge worth. It is my father that honoureth me which ye saye is youre God

Some persons indeed seize the opportunity afforded them in these words to propound their heresy of His separation; but His coming out from God is like the ray's procession from the sun, and the river's from the fountain, and the tree's from the seed); "I have not a devil, but I honour my Father; " again, "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth…

Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing, The whole aim of the discourse looks in the direction of blessed Abraham and the Prophets, but the Saviour persuasively transforms to Himself what is expressed, not ignorant that prone to anger, even without any plea inviting thereto, is the Pharisee, and that he takes every one of the things uttered by Him, as an additi…

Then (v 54), our Lord's answer is given. First, he answers the second question; secondly, the first question (v 56). As to the first, the Lord does three things: first, he rejects their error; secondly, he teaches them a truth which they did not know (v 54); and thirdly, he clarifies both of these things (v 55). He says: You ask me, Who do you claim to be?

and ye have not knowen him: but I knowe him. And yf I shuld saye I knowe him not I shuld be a lyar lyke vnto you. But I knowe him and kepe his sayinge.

Youre father Abraham was glad to se my daye and he sawe it and reioysed.

If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me;" and again, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad; for before Abraham was, I am;" how shall we be able to live wi…

Therefore, he says, after my Father's testimony about me has been explained, now listen to what is in conformity with that [testimony] about me: I am certainly enough of Abraham's superior that he also wished and hoped to see the time when I would reform the world through my passion.

Then when he says, your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day, he gives his answer to the first question asked by the Jews: "Are you greater than our father Abraham?" He shows that he is greater for the following reason: Whoever awaits for someone as for his good and perfection is less than the one he waits for; but Abraham placed the entire hope of his perfection a…

Then sayde the Iewes vnto him: thou arte not yet.l. yere olde and hast thou sene Abraham?

Iesus sayd vnto them: Verely verely I saye vnto you: yer Abraham was I am.

The sacred books acknowledge with regard to Christ, that as He is the Son of man, so is the same Being not a [mere] man; and as He is flesh, so is He also spirit, and the Word of God, and God.

Again does Christ advance to His wonted and favourite contrivance, for He speaks at times exceeding obscurely and overshadowing His exposition with diverse veils suffers it not to be open to all. But when He sees that the hearers understand nothing at all, then having stripped His discourse of its obscurity, He sets it before them plain and clear.

To counteract their ridicule, our Lord answers the Jews by explaining his words, saying, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am. These words of our Lord mention two things about himself that are noteworthy and efficacious against the Arians.

Then toke they vp stones to caste at him. But Iesus hid him selfe and went out of ye temple.

The sacred books acknowledge with regard to Christ, that as He is the Son of man, so is the same Being not a [mere] man; and as He is flesh, so is He also spirit, and the Word of God, and God.

(ut sup.) Their unbelieving minds, however, were unable to support these indications of eternity; and not understanding Him, sought to destroy Him: Then they took up stones to cast at Him. Who, had He chosen to exert the power of His Divinity, could, without a word, by His mere nod, have seized them, with the very stones in their hands, and delivered them to immediate death.

Then (v 59), we see the attitude of the Jews towards Christ: first, their harassment of him; secondly, Christ's escape. The harassment of the Jews came from their unbelief: for the minds of unbelievers, being unable to tolerate words of eternity, or understand them, regard them as blasphemy.

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