Ways Of Approach And Reward

Non vultis venire ad me, ut vitam habeatis. In his verbis duo facit Dominus. Primo increpat malitiam ad se venire nolentium, cum dicit: Non vultis. Secundo tangit fructum ad se venientium, cum dicit: Ut vitam aeternam habeatis. Dicit ergo: Non vultis venire. Nota, quod veniendum est ad Christum, post Christum et per Christum. Veniendum est ad Christum docentem tanquam magistrum, ipsum audiendo; Matthaei undecimo: Venite ad me , omnes , qui laboratis et oneratis estis, et ego reflciam vos. Veniendum post Christum conversantem , tanquam post paedagogum, ipsum imitando; Matthaei quarto: Venite post me; faciam , vos fleri piscatores hominum. Veniendum est per Christum patientem tanquam per ostium, in ipsum credendo; loannis decimo quarto: Nemo venit ad Patrem nisi per me. De omnibus istis loannis decimo quarto: Ego sum via, dirigens in conversatione; veritas, instruens in praedicatione; vita, ad vitam aeternam introducens in passione. Item tangit fructum veniendi ad Deum, cum dicit: Ut vitam aeternam habeatis. Fructus autem iste triplex est. Primus est impetratio veniae; secundus est adeptio gratiae; tertius est perceptio glorlae. Primus igitur fructus est impetratio veniae; Isaiae primo: Quaerite iudicium, subvenite oppresso, iudicate pupilio, defendite viduam; et venite et arguite me, dicit Dominus. Si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur;" et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt. Secundus fructus est adeplio gratiae; Matthaei undecimo: Venite ad me, omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos; et Isaiae quinquagesimo quinto: Omnes sitienles, venite ad aquas, et qui non habetis argentum properate, emite et comedite. Venite, emite absque argento et absque ulla commutatione vinum et lac. Tertius fructus est perceptio aeternae gloriae; loannis quinto: Non vultis venire ad me, ut vitam aeternam habeatis; et Canticorum quarto: Veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput V, Collatio XXIV Source: Here, p562-3

You do not wish to come to me that you may have eternal life. 1 The Lord does two things with these words. First He cries out against the wickedness of those who do not wish to come to Him, when He says, 'You do not wish,' and secondly He touches on the fruit of coming to Him, when He says, 'That you may have eternal life.' Therefore He says, 'You do not wish to come,' and note that there is a coming to Christ, and after Christ, and through Christ. There is a coming to Christ with instruction as a teacher, by hearing. In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, 'Come to me all of you who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest.' 2 There is coming to Christ through conduct, as after a tutor, by imitation. In the fourth chapter of Matthew, 'Come after me and I shall make you fishers of men.' 3 There is a coming through Christ through endurance, as through a door, by belief, in the fourteenth chapter of John, 'No one comes to the Father unless through me.' And concerning all these, in the fourteenth chapter of John, 'I am the way,' directing in conduct 'and the truth' instructing with preaching, 'and the life,' through endurance bringing one to eternal life. 4 Likewise He touches on the fruit of coming to Christ when he says, 'That you may have eternal life.' And this fruit is threefold. First is the acquisition of forgiveness, second the reception of grace, third the seeing of glory. Therefore the first fruit is the acquisition of forgiveness. In the first chapter of Isaiah, 'Seek judgement, relieve oppression, judge for the orphan, defend the widow, and come and dispute with me, says the Lord. If your sins are as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow, and if they are as red as crimson they shall become as white as wool. ' 5 The second fruit is the reception of grace. In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, 'Come to me all of you who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest,' 2 and in the fifty fifth chapter of Isaiah, 'All who thirst, come to the waters, and you who do not have your own money, eat and feast. Come and eat without money and drink wine and milk without price.' 6 The third fruit is the seeing of eternal glory, In the fifth chapter of John, 'You do not wish to come to me that you might have eternal life,' 1 and in the fourth chapter of the Song of Songs, 'Come from Libanus, come, and you shall be crowned.' 7 Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 5 1 Jn 5.40 2 Mt 11.28 3 Mt 4.19 4 Jn 14.6 5 Isaiah 1.17-18 6 Isaiah 55.1 7 Song 4.8