Asking And Receiving

Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου, λέγοντες· Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἕνα ὁ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμεν, ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς · Τί θέλετε ποιῆσαί με ὑμῖν ; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου , καὶ εἷς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου καθήσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Οὐκ οἶδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. Δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθῆναι; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δυνάμεθα. ῎Αλλος εὐαγγελιστής φησιν ὅτι ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν προσἦλθε τῷ Χριστῷ . Εἰκὸς δὲ ἐστιν ἀμφότερα γενέσθαι· καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους αἰσχυνομένους προβαλέσθαι τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν , εἶτα καὶ αὐτοὺς προσελθεῖν ἰδίᾳ· διὸ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπισημαίνεται τοῦτο, λέγων· Προσπορεύονται , ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἰδίᾳ προσέρχονται, τῶν ἄλλων ἀποχωρισθέντες. Τί δὲ ἦν ὁ ᾐτοῦντο, μάθωμεν. Ἐνόμιζον ὅτι τοῦτο ὁ ἀνέρχεται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, διὰ τὸ βασιλεύσειν ἀνέρχεται αἰσθητὴν βασιλείαν. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ βασιλεῦσαι, τότε πείσεται ὁ ἔμελλε παθεῖν. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐννοοῦντες, αἰτοῦνται καὶ τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ τὴν ἐξ εὐωνύμων καθέδραν· διὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐπιτιμᾷ αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀνόητόν τι ζητοῦσιν. Οὐκ οἶδατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τί αἰτεῖσθε . Ὑμεῖς γὰρ νομίζετε αἰσθητὴν εἶναι τὴν ἐμὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ αἰσθητὴν τὴν καθέδραν αἰτεῖσθε. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ὑπὲρ νοῦν εἰσι. Καὶ τὸ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου μέγα ἐστὶ , καὶ τὰς ἀγγελικὰς ὑπερβαῖνον τάξεις, καὶ ὑμεῖς μὲν ἐπὶ δόξαν κεχήνατε, ἐγὼ δὲ εἰς θάνατον ὑμᾶς καλῶ. Ποτήριον γὰρ καὶ βάπτισμα τὸν σταυρὸν ὀνομάζει· ποτήριον μὲν, ὡς εἰς ὕπνον εὐθὺς ἄγον καὶ ὡς ἡδέως ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσδεχθέν· βάπτισμα δὲ, ὡς καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενον· οἱ δε, μὴ νοήσαντες τί λέγοι, ὑπέσχοντο, νομίζοντες λέγειν περὶ ποτηρίου αἰσθητοῦ, καὶ βαπτίσματος οἶῳ ἐβαπτίζοντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, πρὸ τοῦ φαγεῖν πλυνόμενοι. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τὸ μὲν ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, πίεσθε, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθήσεθε. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων μου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿οἷς ἡτοίμασται. Τὸ μὲν μαρτύριον, φησὶν, ὑπεισελεύσεσθε, καὶ ἀποθανεῖσθε τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας θάνατον. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ δύο τινὰ ζητοῦνται. Εν μὲν τόδε. ῎Αρα ἡτοίμασταί τινι τὸ καθίσαι; ἕτερον δὲ, ἆρα ὁ πάντων Δεσπότης οὐ δύναται ταύτην τὴν καθέδραν δοῦναι; Λέγομεν οὖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐκ δεξιῶν καθίσει ἢ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν. Ἀλλὰ κἂν πολλαχοῦ τῆς Γραφῆς καθέδρας ἀκούῃς, μὴ καθέδραν νόει, ἀλλὰ τιμὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν. Τὸ δὲ, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, τοιοῦτον ἔχει τὸν νοῦν· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμοῦ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ, τὸ δοῦναι ὑμῖν κατὰ χάριν τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δίκαιο; εἴην· ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀγωνισαμένοις, ἐκείνοις ἡτοίμασται ἡ τιμὴ αὕτη , ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ βασιλεὺς δίκαιος προεκάθητο ἀγῶνός τινος , εἶτα προσέλθοιεν αὐτῷ τινες φίλοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἴποιεν · Δὸς ἡμῖν τοὺς στεφάνους , εἶπεν ἂν , Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν τὸ δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿εἴ τις ἀγωνίσεται καὶ νικήσει, ἐκείνῳ ἡτοίμασται ὁ στέφανος· ὥστε καὶ ὑμεῖς , οἱ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου παῖδες, μαρτυρήσετε μὲν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, ἐὰν δὲ τις εὑρεθείη μετὰ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἔχων ὑπὲρ ὑμᾶς, ἐκεῖνος προάξει ὑμᾶς Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον, Κεφαλ. I’ Source: Migne PG 123.605a-607a

And the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to Him, saying, 'Teacher, we wish to ask you to do one thing for us.' And He said to them, 'What do you wish?' They said to Him, 'Grant to us that one of us may sit at your right hand and one at your left hand in your glory.' Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I shall drink and be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' And they said to Him, 'We can.' 1 Another evangelist says that it was their mother who approached Christ. But both accounts are true, for it was out of modesty that the apostles first sent their mother, and then they themselves approached. Therefore the evangelist here attends to the latter pair, saying that they came to Him, that is, they brought themselves near and so separated themselves from the others. What it was they sought, let us consider. They thought that He was going up to Jerusalem to reign in some temporal kingdom and that after He had reigned those things which He had spoken of that He would suffer would occur. Thinking such things they sought a seat at his right and at His left hand, and therefore the Lord warned them that they were asking foolishly. 'You do not know,' He said, 'what you are asking.' 'For you believe my kingdom to be a material thing and you seek a temporal seat, but it is not so, but all these things are above the minds of men. And to sit at my right hand is a great thing and excels the angelic orders. You are certainly keen for glory, but I am called to death.' For He speaks of the cross under the name of a cup and baptism. Certainly the cup is what swiftly brings sleep and because of that is taken up with joy, and baptism is purification from sins. But they did not understand what He said was promised, thinking He spoke of a material cup and the washing the Jews would perform so as to be clean before eating. Jesus said to them, 'The cup I shall drink, you shall drink, and the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but to sit at my right and left is not for me to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.' 2 You shall come to martyrdom, He says, and die for the truth, but to give the seat is not mine to give. In this place two questions are often asked: firstly, for whom is the seat prepared, and then how is it that the Lord of all things is not able to give this seat? We say, then, that no one shall actually sit at His right hand and at His left hand. For when you often hear in Scripture about a seat you should not understand a seat, but an excellence of dignity. And 'it is not for me to give,' has this meaning: it is not for me, the righteous judge, to give to you this honour for free, for that would not be right, but this dignity is prepared for those who labour. It is as if a righteous king presided over a contest and then certain friends approached him and said, 'Give us laurels.' He would say 'That is not for me to give, but if a man will compete and triumph, for him a crown is prepared.' And thus even you, O sons of Zebedee. You shall be martyrs for me, but if some youth shall come to martyrdom, and if he possess all the other virtues more than you, he shall precede you.' Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 10 1 Mk 10.35-39 2 Mk 10.39-40

The Time Of Sowing

Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Tempus sementis, ut diximus, tempus est praesens, et quam currimus. In hac licet nobis quod volumus seminare; cum ista vita transierit operandi tempus aufertur. Unde et Salvator ait: Operamini dum dies est: veniet nox, quando jam nullus poterit operari. Ortus est nobis Dei sermo, sol verus, et congregatae sunt bestiae recedentes in cubilia sua: procedamus ut homines ad opus nostrum, et usque ad vesperam laboremus, sicut mystice cantatur in psalmo: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox. In ipsa pertransibunt bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant, et quaerant a Deo escam sibi. Ortus est sol, et congregatae sunt, et in cubilibus suis dormierunt. Egredietur homo ad opus suum, et ad operationem suam usque ad vesperam. Sive aegrotamus, sive sani sumus, humiles, vel potentes, pauperes, divites, ignobiles, honorati, esurientes, sive vescentes, omnia in nomine Domini cum patientia et aequanimitate faciamus, et implebitur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Diligentibus autem Dominum, omnia cooperantur in bonum. Ira ipsa et libido, et injuria quae desiderat ultionem, si me refrenem: si propter Deum taceam: si per singulos commotionis aculeos, et incentiva vitiorum, Dei desuper me videntis recorder, fiunt mihi occasio triumphorum. Ne dicamus in largiendo: Ille est amicus, hunc nescio: hic debet accipere, iste contemni. Imitemur Patrem nostrum, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Fons bonitatis omnibus patet. Servus et liber, plebeius et rex, dives et pauper, ex eo similiter bibunt. Lucerna cum accensa fuerit in domo, omnibus lucet aequaliter. Quod si in cunctos indifferenter liberalitatis frena laxantur, quanto magis in domesticos fidei, et in Christianos, qui eumdem habent Patrem, ejusque magistri appellatione censentur! Videtur autem mihi locus iste posse et superioribus cohaerere, ut domesticos fidei, magistros nominet, quibus supra omnia quae putantur bona, ab auditoribus suis jusserat ministrari. Breve est vitae istius curriculum. Hoc ipsum quod loquor, quod dicto, quod scribo, quod emendo, quod relego, de tempore meo mihi aut crescit, aut deperit. Titus, filius Vespasiani, qui in ultionem Dominici sanguinis, subversis Jerosolymis, Romam victor ingressus est, tantae dicitur fuisse bonitatis, ut cum quadam nocte sero recordaretur, in coena, quod nihil boni die illa fecisset, dixerit amicis: Hodie diem perdidi. Nos putamus non perire nobis horam, diem, momenta, tempus, aetates, cum otiosum verbum loquimur, pro quo reddituri sumus rationem in die judicii? Quod si hoc ille sine Lege, sine Evangelio, sine Salvatoris, et apostolorum doctrina, naturaliter et dixit, et fecit: quid nos oportet facere, in quorum condemnationem habet et Juno univiras, et Vesta virgines, et alia idola continentes? Beatus Joannes evangelista cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senectutem, et vix inter discipulorum manus ad ecclesiam deferretur, nec posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc: Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres qui aderant, taedio affecti, quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt: Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam: Quia praeceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit. Hoc propter praesens Apostoli mandatum: Operemur bonum ad omnes: maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.432b-433c

Therefore while we have time, let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith. 1 The time of sowing, as we have said, is the present time, in which we run. In this we are permitted to sow what we will, and when this life shall have passed by the time of such labouring is finished. Whence the Saviour says: 'Work while it is still day. The night shall come when no one will be able to work.' 2 The sun of the word of God has risen on us, the true sun, and the beasts have been gathered up and withdrawn into their lairs, and so let us as men go to our work, and even to the evening let us labour, as is spiritually sung in the Psalm: 'You set down darkness and it was night. In it pass all the beasts of the wood, the roaring of lion whelps, that they might seize, and they seek from God food for themselves. The sun has risen, and they have been gathered up and in their lairs they sleep. Man goes out to his work, and to his labour until the evening.' 3 Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, obscure or honoured, hungry or full, let us do everything in the name of the Lord in patience and contentment, and we shall fulfill in ourselves what has been written: 'But for the lovers of the Lord everything works together for goodness.' 4 If I restrain myself from anger and lust and the injury that seeks vengeance, if for the sake of God I am silent, if through every sharp disturbance and incentive for vice I remind myself that God watches from above, there shall be for me an occasion of triumph. Let us not say in plenty, 'That fellow is a friend, this one I do not know. This one should be received, that one scorned.' Let us imitate our Father who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked, and makes it rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous. 5 He opens the fount of kindness to all and from that slave and free, commoner and king, rich and poor, all likewise drink. A lamp that has been lit in a house shines equally on everyone, 6 whence if the reign of generosity is loosed impartially for everyone, how much more for those who are servants of the faith and Christians, who have the same Father, and those who are reckoned to be His teachers? It seems to me that it is possible to join this passage with those before, so that from hearers he exhorts service of those he names servants of the faith and teachers, whom are thought as goods above all. Brief is the time of this life. This which I say, and dictate, and write, and correct, and review, grows or perishes in my time. Titus, the son of Vespasian, who in revenge for the blood of the Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, entered Rome as victor, and it is said that such was his benevolence, that when late one night at a feast he remembered that he had done no good that day, he said to his friends, 'Today I have wasted a day.' Shall we not think that we have wasted an hour, a day, a moment, a year, an age, when we speak worthless words, for which we shall have to give a reason on the day of judgement? 7 If this fellow without the Law, without the Gospel, without the Saviour and the teaching of the Apostles, naturally said this and acted so, what is needful for us to do, for the condemnation of whom he had Juno of one husband, and the Vestal Virgins, and a collection of other idols? Blessed John the Evangelist, while he remained in Ephesus until final old age, had to be carried to the church by the hands of his followers, and unable to compose his voice for many words, he was accustomed to offer nothing else to the congregation but this: 'Little children, love one another.' 8Then when his pupils and brothers drew near, and being troubled with the repetition of what they always heard, said, 'Master, why do you always say this?' John replied with a worthy statement: 'Because it is the teaching of the Lord, and if this alone is done, it is enough.' Hence the command of this Apostle: 'Let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.10 2 Jn 9.4 3 Ps 103.20-23 4 Rom 8.28 5 Mt 5.45 6 Mt 5.15 7 Mt 12.36 8 cf 1 Jn 3.18

Martyrs And Innocents

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Deus Dominus, et illuxit nobis. Benedictum nomen gloriae ejus, quod est sanctum. Neque enim otiose venit quod ex Maria natum est Sanctum: sed copiose diffundit et nomen et gratiam sanctitatis. Nimirum inde Stephanus sanctus, inde Joannes sanctus, inde sancti etiam Innocentes. Utili proinde dispositione triplex ista solemnitas Natale Domimi comitatur: ut non modo inter continuas solemnitates devotio continua perseveret, sed et fructus Dominicae Nativitatis exinde nobis velut ex quadam prosecutione evidentius innotescat. Siquidem advertere est in his tribus solemnitatibus triplicem quamdam speciem sanctitatis; nec facile praeter haec tria sanctorum genera, quartum aliud posse arbitror in hominibus reperiri. Habemus in beato Stephano martyrii simul et opus et voluntatem: habemus solam voluntatem in beato Joanne; solum in beatis Innocentibus opus. Biberunt omnes hi calicem salutaris, aut corpore simul et spiritu, aut solo spiritu, aut corpore solo. Calicem quidem meum bibetis, ait Dominus Jacobo et Joanni: nec dubium quin de passionis calice loqueretur. Demum cum Petro diceret: Sequere me, evidenter eum ad imitationem suae provocans passionis; conversus ille vidit discipulum, quem diligebat Jesus, sequentem, non tam gressu corporis, quam promptae devotionis affectu. Et bibit ergo Joannes calicem salutaris, et secutus est Dominum sicut Petrus, etsi non omni modo sicut Petrus. Quod enim sic mansit, ut non etiam passione corporea Dominum sequeretur, divini fuit consilii, sicut ipse ait: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam; ac si dicat: Vult quidem et ipse sequi, sed ego sic eum volo manere. An vero de Innocentium coronis quis dubitet? Ille pro Christo trucidatos infantes dubitet inter martyres coronari, qui regeneratos in Christo non credit inter adoptionis filios numerari. Alioquin quando coaevos sibi pueros puer ille qui natus est nobis, non contra nos, propter se pateretur occidi, quod utique solo nutu poterat prohibere, nisi melius aliquid eis provideret? ut, quemadmodum caeteris infantibus tunc quidem circumcisio, nunc vero baptismus sine ullo propriae voluntatis usu sufficit ad salutem, sic nihilominus pro eo susceptum martyrium illis sufficeret ad sanctitatem. Si quaeris eorum apud Deum merita, ut coronarentur, quaere et apud Herodem crimina, ut trucidarentur. An forte minor Christi pietas, quam Herodis impietas, ut ille quidem potuerit innoxios neci dare, Christus non potuerit propter se occisos coronare? Sit ergo Stephanus martyr apud homines, cujus voluntaria passio evidenter apparuit in eo vel maxime, quod in ipso mortis articulo tam pro persequentibus, quam pro se ipso sollicitudinem gereret ampliorem, vinceretque in eo sensum corporeae passionis internae compassionis affectus; ut illorum magis scelera, quam sua vulnera plangeret. Sit Joannes apud angelos martyr, quibus, tanquam spiritualibus creaturis, spiritualia devotionis ejus signa certius innotuerunt. Caeterum hi sunt plane martyres tui, Deus, ut in quibus nec homo nec angelus meritum invenit, singularis tuae praerogativa gratiae evidentius commendetur. Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem. Gloria in excelsis Deo, angeli dicunt, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Magna quidem, sed, audeo dicere, necdum perfecta laus, donec veniat qui dicat: Sinite parvulos ad me venire, quia talium est regnum coelorum; et pax hominibus, etiam sine voluntatis usu in sacramento pietatis. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Nativitate Sanctorum Innocentium, De quatuor continuis solemnitatibus, scilicet Nativitatis Domini, ac SS. Stephani, Joannis, et Innocentium. Source: Migne PL 183.129c-131c

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and He enlightened us. 1 Blessed the name of His glory which is holy. 2 For He who was born holy from Mary did not come uselessly, but He abundantly spreads forth the name and grace of holiness. Certainly because of this Stephen was holy, and likewise John and the Holy Innocents. Usefully, then, these three solemnities are arranged in association with the birth of the Lord, so that there is no interruption of the devotion of the successive feasts, but rather the fruit of the Lord's Nativity becomes known more openly to us by this accompaniment. Certainly with these three solemnities we are directed to a sort of threefold type of holiness, and besides these three types of holy people, I cannot think how it is found among men. In the blessed Stephen we have the work and the will of martyrdom. In the blessed John we have the will alone. In the Holy Innocents the work alone. All these drink of the cup of salvation, either in both the body and the spirit, or in the spirit alone, or in the body alone. 'You shall certainly drink of my cup,' says the Lord to James and John, and doubtless he spoke of the cup for the passion. 3 Then He said to Peter, 'Follow me,' evidently calling him to the imitation of His own passion. And he turned and saw the Apostle who Christ loved following them, not so much with the steps of the body, but with the love of eager devotion. And therefore John drinks of the cup of salvation and is following the Lord like Peter, even if not in every way like Peter, because he remained and did not follow the Lord in corporeal passion, but in Divine counsel, just as He said: 'If I wish him to remain until I come.' 4 As if He said, 'Surely he wishes to follow, but I wish him to remain.' And who doubts the Innocents have their crown? He who doubts that the infants slaughtered for Christ are crowned among the martyrs, does not believe those regenerated in Christ are numbered among His adopted sons. Besides, would that boy born for us, not against us, allow them to be slain who were of the same age as He, which with a nod He was able to prohibit, unless He foresaw something better for them? So it was with those other infants then circumcised, as now baptised, that without anything of their own will, it is enough for salvation, and likewise with a few who have suffered martyrdom for Him it has been enough for holiness. If you wonder at the merit of these children with God, so that they were crowned, seek with Herod the crimes for which they were slain. Or perhaps the piety of Christ is inferior to the impiety of Herod, so that he was able to slay the innocent but Christ was not able to crown those slain because of Him? Let it be, therefore, that Stephen was a martyr with men, he whose will and passion openly appeared in him, and especially at the point of death, when he showed such great care for his persecutors and not for himself, and he conquered in himself the feeling of bodily suffering with the love of eternal compassion. 5 So he lamented more for their crimes than for his own wounds. Then let John be a martyr with the angels, by which, as with spiritual creatures, with his spiritual devotion he made known His signs more certainly. And the others are certainly your martyrs, Lord, those in whom man nor angel finds merit, each one by your singular prerogative of grace being more evidently commended. From the mouths of infants and babes you perfect your praise. 6 'Glory to God the Highest,' the angels say, 'and peace on earth to men of good will.' 7 Certainly it is great, but if I might dare say it, your praise is not yet perfected, until He comes who says: 'Allow the children to come to me, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 8 And it is peace for men even without the use of the will in the mystery of piety. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On the Holy Innocents, On The Four Successive Solemnities, the Nativity of the Lord, and Saint Stephen, and Saint John and the Holy Innocents. 1 Ps 117.26-27 2 Dan 3.52 3 Mt 20.23 4 Jn 21.25 21.22 5 Acts 7.58-59 6 Ps 8.3 7 Lk 2.14 8 Mt 19.14

The Fate Of John The Apostle

...Sic eum volo manere, donec veniam. Ergo videtur, quod saltem usque ad Domini adventum anima ipsius a corpore non sit separata; nam post non habetur ex littera: ergo videtur, quod loannes nondum sit mortuus; in cuius rei argumentum est quod corpus eius non invenitur. Respondeo: Dicendum, quod praeter expositionem primam discipulorum, quam fecerunt, quam arguit ipse Evangelista quod non moreretur, tres sunt aliae expositiones. Una est, quod non est mortuus, sed morietur in adventu Domini; sed modo in sopore est sub terra, et ideo corpus eius non habetur. Sed ista positio est improbabilis; quia non est credendum, quod Dominus discipulo, quem amabat, tamdiu differret suam demonstrare gloriam, quam cupiebat Apostolus, ad Philippenses primo: Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo. Alia est opinio, quod Dominus ipsum assumsit in corpore et anima, et in illa assumtione obiit et revixit. Etsi ista opinio non possit ita reprobari, tamen , quia non habet auctoritatem, eadem facilitate contemnitur, qua probatur. Tertia opinio dicit, quod loannes est mortuus, et de corpore eius nihil asserit , quia nihil certum invenitur. Quod autem dictum est: Sic eum volo manere, donec veniam, id est, diem exspectare novissimum, non saeculi, sed mortis suae, quando ipse veniens eum in aeternae beatitudinis mansione recipiam.' Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XXI Source: Here, p1220

...If I wish him to remain until I come. 1 Therefore it seems that his soul shall not be separated from his body at least until the coming of the Lord, for what is written does not speak of what happens after. Therefore it seems that John is not yet dead, concerning which it has been asserted that his body has not been found. I respond, that it must be said that besides the first exposition made, there are three other explanations regarding this Evangelist's suggestion that he shall not die. One is that he is not dead, but he shall die at the coming of the Lord, and in a way is asleep beneath the earth and therefore his body is not to be found. But this is improbable, because it should not be believed that the Lord would so long delay the showing of His glory to that disciple whom he loved, which the Apostle desired in the first chapter to the Philippians, 'I desire to die and be with Christ.' 2 There is another opinion that states that the Lord took him up in body and soul and in that assumption he died and was revived. It is not possible to refute this opinion, and yet because it has no authority, it is as easily rejected as accepted. The third opinion says that John is dead, and claims nothing about his body, because it cannot discover anything for certain. But when it was said, 'If I wish him to remain until I come,' it means 'Look not to the last day of the world but to the day of his death, when I shall receive him in the place of eternal beatitude.' Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 21 1 Jn 21.22 2 Philip 1.23

John And Philosophy

Οὗτος δὴ οὖν ὁ ἁλιεὺς, ὁ περὶ λίμνας στρεφόμενος καὶ δίκτυα καὶ ἰχθῦς, ὁ ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, ὁ πατρὸς ἁλιέως πένητος, καὶ πένητος πενίαν τὴν ἐσχάτην, ὁ ἰδιώτης ἰδιωτείαν καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐσχάτην, ὁ γράμματα μήτε πρότερον μαθὼν, μήτε ὕστερον μετὰ τὸ συγγενέσθαι τῷ Χριστῷ, ἴδωμεν τί φθέγγεται, καὶ περὶ τίνων ἡμῖν διαλέγεται. Ἆρα περὶ τῶν ἐν ἀγροῖς; περὶ τῶν ἐν ποταμοῖς; περὶ συμβολαίων ἰχθύων; ταῦτα γὰρ ἴσως παρὰ ἁλιέως ἀκούσεσθαι προσδοκᾷ τις. Ἀλλὰ μὴ δείσητε· τούτων μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀκουσόμεθα· τὰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ἃ μηδεὶς μηδέπω ἔμαθε πρὸ τούτου. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν ὑψηλὰ δόγματα, καὶ πολιτείαν ἀρίστην, καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἥκει κομίζων, ὡς εἰκὸς τὸν ἀπ' αὐτῶν φθεγγόμενον τῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος θησαυρῶν, ὡς ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἄρτι παραγενόμενος τῶν οὐρανῶν· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ τοὺς ἐκεῖ πάντας εἰκὸς ἦν εἰδέναι, ὅπερ καὶ ἔφθην εἰπών. Ταῦτα οὖν ἁλιέως, εἰπέ μοι; ῥήτορος δὲ ὅλως; σοφιστοῦ δὲ ἢ φιλοσόφου; παντὸς δὲ τοῦ τὴν ἔξωθεν πεπαιδευμένου σοφίαν; Οὐδαμῶς. Οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνης ἁπλῶς ψυχῆς περὶ τῆς ἀκηράτου καὶ μακαρίας ἐκείνης φύσεως τοιαῦτα φιλοσοφεῖν, περὶ τῶν μετ' ἐκείνην δυνάμεων, περὶ ἀθανασίας καὶ ζωῆς ἀπείρου, περὶ φύσεως σωμάτων θνητῶν τε καὶ ἀθανάτων ὕστερον ἐσομένων, περὶ κολάσεως, περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος δικαστηρίου, περὶ τῶν ἐσομένων εὐθυνῶν, τῶν ἐν ῥήμασι, τῶν ἐν πράξεσι, τῶν ἐν λογισμοῖς καὶ διανοίᾳ· καὶ τί μὲν ἄνθρωπος, εἰδέναι, τί δὲ κόσμος· καὶ τί μὲν ὁ ὄντως ἄνθρωπος, τί δὲ ὁ δοκῶν μὲν εἶναι, οὐκ ὢν δέ· τί κακία, καὶ τί ἀρετή. Τούτων γὰρ ἔνια ἐζήτησαν μὲν οἱ περὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Πυθαγόραν· τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς μνημονευτέον ἡμῖν φιλοσόφων· οὕτω καταγέλαστοι ἐντεῦθεν μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς γεγόνασιν ἅπαντες. Οἱ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων θαυμασθέντες πλέον παρ' αὐτοῖς, καὶ πιστευθέντες εἶναι κορυφαῖοι τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἐκείνης, οὗτοι μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων εἰσίν· οἳ καὶ πολιτείας μὲν ἕνεκεν καὶ νόμων συνθέντες τινὰ ἔγραψαν· ὅμως δὲ ἐν ἅπασι παίδων αἰσχρότερον κατεγελάσθησαν. Τάς τε γὰρ γυναῖκας κοινὰς ἅπασι ποιοῦντες, καὶ τὸν βίον αὐτὸν ἀνατρέποντες, καὶ τὸ σεμνὸν διαφθείροντες τοῦ γάμου, καὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα καταγέλαστα νομοθετοῦντες, οὕτω πάντα τὸν βίον αὐτῶν ἀνάλωσαν. Δογμάτων δὲ ἕνεκεν τῶν περὶ ψυχῆς, οὐδὲ ὑπερβολήν τινα κατέλιπον αἰσχύνης λοιπὸν, μυίας, καὶ κώνωπας, καὶ θάμνους τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων λέγοντες γίνεσθαι ψυχὰς, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν αὐτὸν ψυχὴν εἶναι φάσκοντες, καὶ ἕτερα ἄττα τινὰ τοιαῦτα ἀσχημονοῦντες. Καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ κατηγορίας ἄξιον· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ πολὺς αὐτῶν τῶν λόγων εὔριπος. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν εὐρίπῳ τῇδε κἀκεῖσε περιφερόμενοι, οὕτως οὐδέποτε ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἑστήκεσαν, ἅτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδήλων καὶ ἐπισφαλῶν λογισμῶν πάντα φθεγγόμενοι. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ ἁλιεὺς οὗτος οὕτως· ἀλλ' ἅπαντα μετὰ ἀσφαλείας φθέγγεται, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ πέτρας ἑστηκὼς, οὐδαμοῦ περιτρέπεται. Ἐν αὐτοῖς γὰρ τοῖς ἀδύτοις γενέσθαι καταξιωθεὶς, καὶ τὸν πάντων Δεσπότην ἐν ἑαυτῷ λαλοῦντα ἔχων, οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπινον ἔπασχεν·ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ὥσπερ οἱ τῶν μὲν βασιλείων οὐδὲ ὄναρ ἐπιβῆναι καταξιωθέντες, ἔξω δὲ ἐπ' ἀγορᾶς μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων διατρίβοντες ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας διανοίας καταστοχαζόμενοι τῶν ἀοράτων, τὴν πολλὴν ἐπλανήθησαν πλάνην, περὶ τῶν ἀῤῥήτων διαλεχθῆναι θελήσαντες, καὶ καθάπερ τυφλοὶ καὶ μεθύοντες, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πλάνῃ ἀλλήλοις προσέῤῥηξαν·οὐκ ἀλλήλοις δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑαυτοῖς, πολλαχοῦ καὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀεὶ μετατιθέμενοι.Ὁ δὲ ἀγράμματος οὗτος, ὁ ἰδιώτης, ὁ ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ, ὁ Ζεβεδαίου παῖς· κἂν μυριάκις καταγελῶσιν Ἕλληνες τῆς τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀγροικίας, οὐδὲν ἧττον μετὰ πλείονος αὐτὰ τῆς παῤῥησίας ἐρῶ· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἂν τὸ ἔθνος αὐτοῖς βάρβαρον φαίνηται καὶ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ἀπέχον παιδεύσεως, τοσούτῳ λαμπρότερα τὰ ἡμέτερα φανεῖται. Ὅταν γὰρ ὁ βάρβαρος καὶ ἀμαθὴς τοιαῦτα φθέγγηται, ἃ μηδεὶς τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώπων συνεῖδέ ποτε, καὶ μὴ φθέγγηται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πείθῃ·καίτοι εἰ καὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἦν, μέγα τὸ θαῦμα ἦν· νῦν δὲ πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ ἕτερον τούτου μεῖζον παρέχῃ τεκμήριον, τοῦ θεόπνευστα εἶναι τὰ λεγόμενα, τὸ τοὺς ἀκούοντας πείθειν ἅπαντας διὰ τοῦ χρόνου παντὸς, τίς οὐ θαυμάσεται τὴν ἐνοικοῦσαν αὐτῷ δύναμιν; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο μέγιστον, ὅπερ ἔφην, τεκμήριον τοῦ μηδὲν οἴκοθεν αὐτὸν νομοθετεῖν. Οὗτος δὴ οὖν ὁ βάρβαρος, τῇ μὲν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου γραφῇ τὴν οἰκουμένην κατέλαβεν ἅπασαν, τῷ δὲ σώματι μέσην κατέσχε τὴν Ἀσίαν, ἔνθα τὸ παλαιὸν ἐφιλοσόφουν οἱ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς συμμορίας ἅπαντες, κἀκεῖθεν τοῖς δαίμοσίν ἐστι φοβερὸς, ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν διαλάμπων, καὶ τὸν ζόφον αὐτῶν σβεννὺς, καὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τῶν δαιμόνων καταλύων· τῇ δὲ ψυχῇ πρὸς τὸν χῶρον ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν ἁρμόττοντα τῷ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐργασαμένῳ. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Υπόμνημα Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν Ἀπόστολον και Εὑαγγελιστην, Ὁμιλία Β´ Source: Migne PG 59.30-31

This fisherman, then, whose business concerned lakes and nets and fish, this man of Bethsaida of Galilee, this son of a poor fisherman, even poor to the last degree, this uneducated man, even ignorant to the last degree, who never learned letters before or after he accompanied Christ, let us see what he speaks and what he converses with us about. Is it things of the field? Is it things of rivers? It is about the fish-trade? For these things, perhaps, one expects to hear from a fisherman. But do not fret, we shall hear nothing of such things from this man but rather the things of heaven, even what no one had ever learned before. For he has come bringing to us sublime teaching and the best way of life and philosophy, as might be expected from one who speaks from the very treasures of the Spirit, as though just come from those heavens, and indeed things which not even all there would have known, as I have said. Tell me, are these the things of a fisherman? Do they belong to a orator at all? To a sophist or philosopher? To all those educated in the wisdom apart from us? Not at all. The human soul is utterly unable thus to philosophize on that pure and blessed nature, on the powers that it possesses, on immortality and endless life, on the nature of mortal bodies that shall later be immortal, on punishment and future judgment, on the examinations that there shall be of deeds and words, and of thoughts and meditations, on what is man and what the world, on what is man in truth and what seems to be man but is not, what is the nature of virtue and what of vice. For some of these things the disciples of Plato and Pythagoras looked into, and the other philosophers we need not call to mind at all, since they have all on this point been so excessively ridiculous, and those who have been in greater esteem among them than the rest and who have been considered the leading men in this discipline, more than the others, they have composed and written somewhat on the subject of politics and law, and all  have been more shamefully ridiculous than children. For they have spent their time in making women common to all men, in overthrowing the order of life, and in destroying the honor of marriage, and likewise with every activity of life. As for their teaching on the soul, there is nothing excessively shameful that they have not said, saying that the souls of men become flies and gnats and bushes, and that God Himself is a soul, and other similar disgraceful things. And it is not this alone in them which is worthy of reproof, but most of their works are like the Euripos strait; 1 for as those carried here and there by the Euripos, so they stand firm on nothing, but propose everything on obscure and deceitful arguments. But not so this fisherman, for all he says is steadfast, and as if standing on a rock, he never moves. For since he has been deemed worthy of the innermost chambers and has the Lord of all speaking within him, he is not oppressed by that which is human, whereas they, just as those who are not held worthy to enter the royal palace, even in a dream, must spend their time outside in the marketplace with other men, and from their own imagination guess at things unseen, and they are gravely deceived by that, yet wishing to speak of things unspeakable, they crash against one other in their delusions like blind or drunken men, and not only against each other, but even against themselves, because they continually shift their opinion concerning the same things. But not this unlettered man, this ignorant man, this native of Bethsaida, the son of Zebedee. And though the Greeks mock ten thousand times the rusticity of these names, I shall speak them with greater boldness. For the more barbarous his nation seems to them and the more removed from Greek teaching, so much more the brighter does what we have appear. For when a barbarian and an untaught person speaks such things that no man on earth ever knew, and does not only speak them, though if this were the only thing it would be a great marvel, but with this gives another and a greater proof that what he says is divinely inspired, namely, the persuasion of those who hear him through the ages, who will not wonder at the power that dwells in him? For this is the greatest proof, as I said, that he lays down no laws from himself. This barbarian then, with his writing of his Gospel, has taken possession of all the civilised world, and with his body he has taken possession of the centre of Asia, where the Greek party of old philosophised, 2 becoming a bane to those spirits, in the midst of his enemies shining forth, scattering their darkness, and casting down the stronghold of demons, though in soul he has withdrawn to that place that befits one who has done such things. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint John, Homily 2 1 A narrow strait subject to strong tidal currents separating the island of Euboea from Boeotia in mainland Greece 2 The Presocratic Ionic Philosophers

John And The Eagle

Similitudo autem vultus eorum, facies hominis, et facies leonis a dextris ipsorum quatuor; facies autem bovis a sinistris ipsorum quatuor; et facies aquilae desuper ipsorum quatuor. Sed magna nobis de eisdem evangelistis et sanctis praedicatoribus quaestio oritur, cur homo et leo a dextris ipsorum quatuor, vitulus vero a sinistris ipsorum quatuor esse perhibetur. Neque enim sine admiratione est cur duo illa a dextris et unum hoc esse a sinistris dicitur. Et rursum quaerendum cur aquila non a dextris, vel sinistris, sed desuper ipsorum quatuor esse memoratur. Duas itaque nobis quaestiones objecimus, quas oportet ut aperiente Domino dissolvamus. Homo igitur et leo a dextris, vitulus vero a sinistris esse perhibetur. A dextris etenim laeta, a sinistris vero tristia habemus. Unde et sinistrum nobis esse dicimus hoc quod adversum esse deputamus. Et, sicut praefati sumus, per hominem incarnatio, per vitulum passio, per leonem vero auctoris nostri resurrectio designatur. De incarnatione autem unigeniti Filii, qua redempti sumus, omnes electi laetati sunt; de morte vero illius ipsi electorum primi sancti apostoli contristati, qui iterum de ejus resurrectione gavisi sunt. Quia ergo ejus et nativitas et resurrectio laetitiam discipulis praebuit, quos ejus passio contristavit, homo et leo a dextris, vitulus vero a sinistris ejus fuisse describitur. Ipsi namque evangelistae sancti de ejus humanitate gavisi sunt, de ejus resurrectione confirmati, qui de ejus passione fuerant contristati. Homo ergo et leo eis a dextris est, quia Redemptoris nostri eos incarnatio vivificavit, resurrectio confirmavit. Sed vitulus a sinistris, quia mors illius eos ad momentum temporis in infidelitate prostravit. Jure autem locus aquilae non juxta, sed desuper esse describitur, quia sive per hoc quod ejus ascensionem signat, seu quia Verbum Patris Deum apud Patrem esse denuntiat, super evangelistas caeteros virtute contemplationis excrevit; cum quibus etsi simul de ejus Deitate loquitur, hanc tamen omnibus subtilius contemplatur. Sed si aquila cum tribus aliis adjuncta, quatuor animalia esse memorantur, mirum quomodo desuper ipsorum quatuor esse describitur, nisi quia Joannes per hoc quod in principio Verbum vidit, etiam super semetipsum transiit. Nam nisi et se transisset, Verbum in principio non vidisset. Quia ergo et semetipsum transgressus est, non jam solummodo super tria, sed adjuncto et se, super quatuor fuit. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia IV Source: Migne PL 76 815a-c

As for the likeness of their faces, there was the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side of the four, and the face of an ox on the left side of the four: and the face of an eagle above the four. 1 But a great question concerning these same evangelists and holy preachers arises, why the man and the lion of the four are on the right, and the ox of the four is on the left. For certainly not without edification is it spoken that there are two on the right and one on the left. And again we must enquire why the eagle is not found on the right or the left but was described as being above the four. Thus two questions are brought before us, which we should resolve by the enlightenment of the Lord. The man, then, and the lion are on the right, but the ox is on the left. On the right there is joy, and on the left, however, we have grief. Whence even the left we are accustomed to regard as unlucky. And as we have said before, by the man is signified the Incarnation, by the ox the Passion, and by the lion the Resurrection of our Creator. Concerning the Incarnation of the only begotten Son by which we were redeemed, all the elect rejoice, but on account of His death all those first elected to be the first holy Apostles grieve, those who again were made joyful by His resurrection. Thus because His Incarnation and Resurrection give joy to His disciples, those whom the Passion grieves, so the man and the lion are on the right and the ox is on the left. For the same holy evangelists who were made joyful by His incarnation were strengthened by His resurrection, they who were grieved by His passion. The man and the lion, then, are on the right, because the Incarnation of our Redeemer gives them life, and the Resurrection strengthens them. But the ox is on the left because His death at that time cast them down into faithlessness. And rightly the place of the eagle is said to be above and not at the side because it signifies either His Ascension or because it announces that the Divine Word of the Father is with the Father, being set above the other evangelists by the virtue of contemplation, for even though they speak of His Divinity yet this one contemplates it with the utmost elevation. But if the eagle is said to be joined to the other three when the four animals are declared, we must wonder how it is that he is described as being above, unless it is because John grasping that 'In the beginning was the Word,' 1 even passed beyond himself. For unless he passed over himself, he would not have seen the Word in the beginning. Therefore He did indeed surpass himself; not only the other three, but even himself, and he so is placed above the four. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 4 1 Ezekiel 1.10 2 Jn 1.1

Gospel And Letter

Quod fuit ab initio... Hanc epistolam beatus Apostolis Joannes de fidei et charitatis perfectione conscripsit, laudans devotionem eorum qui in unitate Ecclesiae perseverabant; porro illorum impietatem coarguens, qui Ecclesiae pacem vesano dogmate turbabant, Cerinthi maxime et Marcionis, qui Christum ante Mariam non fuisse contendebant. Propter quos etiam Evangelium suum scripsit, ibi quidem et suis et ipsius Domini verbis consubstantialem Patri Filium affirmans, hic autem quae a Domino didicit propriis sermonibus depromens, et haereticorum stultitiam apostolica auctoritate refellens. Unde mox in capite Epistolae divnitatem simul et humanitatem veram ejusdem Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi designat dicens: Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus. Fuit enim ab initio Filius Dei, sed eumdem Filium Dei in homine apparentem audierunt, et oculis viderunt discipuli, quod ipsum in Evangelio latius explicavit. Nam quod hic ait: Quod fuit ab initio, hoc est quod in Evangelio dicit: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Et quod hic subdidit: Quod audivimus, quod vidimus oculis nostris, hoc est quod ibi latius subdit: Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis, et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre. Et ne parum dicere videretur in eo quod ait: Quod vidimus oculis nostris, adjunxit: Quod perspeximus, et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae. Non solum quippe corporalibus oculis sicut caeteri Dominum viderunt, sed et perspexerunt, cujus divinam quoque virtutem spiritualibus oculis cernebant. Maxime ille qui eum in monte clarificatum viderunt, e quibus unus erat ipse Joannes. Quod autem ait: Et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de Verbo vitae, Manichaeorum vincit insaniam, qui Dominum veram assumpsisse carnem negant; quam apostoli veram esse dubitare non poterant, ut pote cujus veritatem non solum videndo, sed et tangendo probarent; maxime Joannes ipse, qui, in sinus ejus in coena recumbere solitus, tanto licentius ejus membra, quanto vicinius tangebat. Sanctus Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Joannis, Caput Primum Source: Migne PL 93.85b-d

That which was from the beginning... 1  This letter which the blessed John wrote concerning the perfection of faith and charity, praises the devotion of those who persevered in the unity of the Church, but refutes those impious ones who were troubling the church with deranged teachings, especially Cerinthus and Marcion, who contended that Christ was not before Mary. On account of which he even wrote his Gospel, there certainly affirming with the very words of the Lord the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, and here exhibiting what he learned from the Lord's teaching in his own words, refuting the foolishness of heretics with Apostolic authority. Whence immediately in the beginning of the letter he exhibits the Divinity and true humanity of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, saying, 'That which was from the beginning, which we have heard.' 1 For the Son of God was from the beginning, but the same Son of God appearing as a man the disciples heard, and with their eyes saw, which same he more broadly expounds in his Gospel. For what He says here: 'That which was from the beginning,' is what he says in the Gospel: 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word.' 2 And which here he continues: 'Which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes,' which in the Gospel is more broadly expounded: 'And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father. 3 And least it seem too slight when he said: 'What we saw with our eyes,' he adds: 'Which we perceived and our own hands touched, concerning the Word of life.' Not only then with corporeal eyes, as others, did they see the Lord, but they even perceived, discerning with spiritual eyes His Divine Power. And certainly they who saw Him transfigured on the mount, of whom one was John. 4 That indeed saying, 'And our hands have touched the word of life, he routs the madness of the Manichees, who deny that the Lord took up true flesh, which the Apostles were not able to doubt, not only seeing the truth, but in touching it having proof of it, and certainly that John, who on His breast reclined at the supper, 5 who by the greater freedom of his members, so much more deeply touched upon Him. Saint Bede, from the Commentary On The First Letter of Saint John, Chap 1 1 1 Jn 1.1 2 Jn 1.1 3 Jn 1.14 4 Mt 17.1-8, Mk 9.1-7, Lk 9.28-36 5 Jn 13.23

Saint John And Sons

Ματθαῖος μὲν γὰρ, τοῖς προσδοκῶσι τὸ ὲξ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Δαυῗδ Ἑβραίος γράφων, Βίβλος, φησὶ, γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυῗδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ· καὶ Μάρκος εἰδὼς ὃ γράφει, ἀρχὴν διηγεῖται τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, τάχα εὑρισκόντων ἡμῶν τὸ τέλος αὐτοῦ παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ἐν ἀρχῇ Λόγον Θεὸν Λόγον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Λουκᾶς εἰρηκὼς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν Πράξεων· Τὸν μὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάμην περὶ πάντων ὦν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν καὶ διδάσκειν, ἀλλὰ γε τηρεῖ τῷ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος ἀναπεσόντι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοὺς μείζονας καὶ τελειοτέρους περὶ Ἰησοῦ λόγους· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐκείνων ἀκρατῶς ἐφανέρωσεν αὐτοῦ τὴν θεότητα, ὡς Ἰωάννης παραστήσας αὐτὸν λέγοντα· Ἐγὼ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ ἡ ζωή· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός· καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει· Ἐγω εἰμι τὸ Α καὶ τὸ Ω, ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος· ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος. Τολμητέον τοίνυν εἰπεῖν ἀπαρχὴν μὲν πασῶν Γραφῶν εἶναι τὰ Εὐαγγέλια, τῶν δὲ Εὐαγγελίων ἀπαρχὴν τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην· οὖ τὸν νοῦν οὐδεὶς δύναται λαβεῖν μὴ ἀναπεσὼν ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος Ἰησοῦ, μηδὲ λαβὼν ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ τὴν Μαρίαν γινομένην καὶ αὐτοῦ μητέρα· καὶ τηλικοῦτον δὲ γενέσθαι δεῖ τὸν ἐσόμενον ἄλλον Ἰωάννην, ὥστε οἰονεὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην δειχθῆναι ὄντα Ἰησοῦν ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ οὐδεὶς υἱὸς Μαρίας, κατὰ τοὺς ὑγιῶς περὶ αὐτῆς δοξάζοντες, ἤ Ἰησοῦς, φησὶ δὲ Ἰησοῦς τῇ μητρὶ· Ἴδε ὁ υἱός σου, καὶ οὐχὶ· Ἴδε καὶ οὗτος υἱός σου· ἴσον εἴρηκε τῷ· Ἴδε οὗτος ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὄν ἐγέννησας. Καὶ γὰρ πᾶς ὁ τετελειωμένος ζῇ οὐκέτι, ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῷ ζῇ Χριστός· καὶ ἐπεὶ ζῇ ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστὸς, λέγεται περὶ αὐτοῦ τῇ Μαρίᾷ· Ἴδε ὁ υἱός σου ὁ Χριστός. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ἰωαννην Εὐαγγελιον, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον Source: Migne PG 14.29-32

For Matthew writing for the Hebrews who expected Him to be descended from Abraham and David, said 'The book of the generation of Jesus Christ son of David, son of Abraham.' 1 Mark knowing what he wrote, thus began his Gospel, and perhaps in John we find the perfection of it, whose account begins 'the Word was God.' Luke in the beginning of Acts says, 'The first account I made concerning all the things which Jesus did and taught,' 2 for the greater and more perfect words concerning Jesus he kept for him who lay upon the breast of Jesus. Not one of those so purely manifested His Divinity like John, who presented Him saying, 'I am the light of the world,' 3'I am the way, the light and the truth,' 4 'I am the resurrection,' 5 'I am the gate,' 6 'I am the good shepherd,' 7 and in the Apocalypse, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.' 8 Let us be so bold as to say that the first of all the Scriptures is the Gospel and the first of all the Gospels is that given by John, whose meaning no one is able to grasp unless he has reclined on the breast of Jesus, or has received Mary from Jesus, who thus becomes his mother, for that is necessary for him who would be another John in the future, that like John, in the same way, he be received as Jesus from Jesus. For if no one is a son of Mary, in the judgement of those who rationally grasp these things, apart from Jesus, yet Jesus says to his mother, 'Behold your son,' 9 and not, 'Behold, even this is your son,' but it is as if He had said, 'Behold, here is Jesus whom you bore.' For he who is perfect does not live any more but Christ lives in him. 10 And when Christ lives in him, it is said of him to Mary, 'Behold your son, Christ.' Origen, from the Commentary On the Gospel of John, Book 1.6  1 Mt 1.1 2 Acts 1.1 3 Jn 8.12 4 Jn 14.6 5 Jn 11.25 6 Jn 10.9 7 Jn 10.11 8 Rev 22.13 9 Jn 19.26 10 Galat 2.20

Gospel Beginnings

Et quare Joannes statim in principio Evangelli sui divinitatis ejus monstravit naturam dicens: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum? Quoniam Joannes, inter gentes in exsilio constitutus, Graeco sermone Evangelium causa gentium scripsit, quae non cognoscebant si Deus Filium habet, aut quomodo genitum habet: idcirco superfluum erat primum incarnationis ejus mysterium gentibus demonstrarem cum illum ipsi quis esset nescirent: ideo necessarium fuit primum illis ostendere, quia est Filius Dei Deus: deinde in sequentibus, quia carnem suscepit, dicens: Quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Matthaeus autem Evangelium Judaeis Hebraico sermone conscripsit, sicut jam diximus supra, ut Judaei legentes aedificarentur in fide. Judaei enim semper cognoscebant, quia est Filius Dei, et quomodo est Filius Dei. Superfluum ergo erat exponere eis divinitatis ejus naturam, quam ipsi optime cognoscebant; necessarium autem fuit mysterium incarnationis ejus ipsis ostendere. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia Prima Source: Migne PG 56.612-613

And why does John in the beginning of his Gospel show the nature of His Divinity saying, 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God? 1 Because John, who was in exile among the Gentiles, on account of them wrote his Gospel in Greek, for those who did not know if God had a Son, or how He was begotten; therefore it was superfluous that he first show the mystery of the incarnation to the Gentiles when there were those who had no knowledge of Him at all, and thus it was necessary first to show to them that the Son of God is God; then following that, because He took up flesh, to say 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' 2 Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew language for the Jews, as we have already said, that in reading it the Jews be edified in the faith. For the Jews always knew that He is the Son of God, and how He is the Son of God. Superfluous for him then it was to explain the nature of His Divinity, which they knew very well, but it was necessary to describe to them the mystery of His incarnation. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from The First Homily 1 Jn 1.1 2 Jn 1.14

Visions of God

Τί λέγεις, εἰπέ μοι, Ἰωάννη; Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε. Τί οὖν ποιήσομεν τοῖς προφήταις λέγουσιν ὅτι εἶδον τὸν Θεόν;  Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἡσαΐας φησίν·Εἶδον τὸν Κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου. Ὁ δὲ ∆ανιὴλ πάλιν· Εἶδον ἕως οὗ θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐκάθητο. Ὁ δὲ Μιχαίας· Εἶδον τὸν Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καθήμενον ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἕτερος προφήτης πάλιν· Εἶδον τὸν Κύριον ἑστῶτα ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ εἶπέ μοι· πάταξον ἐπὶ τὸ ἱλαστήριον. Καὶ πολλὰς τοιαύτας ἔστι συνάγειν μαρτυρίας. Πῶς οὖν ὁ Ἰωάννης φησὶν ὅτι Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε; Ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τὴν ἀκριβῆ αὐτοῦ κατάληψιν καὶ τὴν τετρανωμένην γνῶσιν λέγει. Ὅτι γὰρ πάντα ἐκεῖνα συγκατάβασις ἦν καὶ ἀκραιφνῆ τὴν οὐσίαν οὐδεὶς εἶδεν ἐκείνων, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ διαφόρως ἕκαστον ὁρᾶν. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ἁπλοῦς καὶ ἀσύνθετος καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος· οὗτοι δὲ ἅπαντες σχήματα ἔβλεπον διάφορα. Τοῦτο γοῦν αὐτὸ δι' ἑτέρου προφήτου ἐμφαίνων πάλιν καὶ πείθων αὐτοὺς ὡς οὐκ ἀκριβῆ τὴν οὐσίαν εἶδον, ἔλεγεν· Ἐγὼ ὁράσεις ἐπλήθυνα καὶ ἐν χερσὶ προφητῶν ὡμοιώθην. Οὐκ αὐτὴν τὴν οὐσίαν ἔδειξα τὴν ἐμήν, ἀλλὰ συγκατέβην, φησί, πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὁρώντων ἀσθένειαν.   Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος Περὶ Ἀκαταληπτου, Ὁμιλὶα Δ'

Why do you say, tell me, John, 'No one has ever seen God? 1 What, then, shall we make of the Prophets saying that they saw God? For Isaiah said, 'I saw the Lord sitting on His high and exalted throne .' 2 And again Daniel: 'I saw until the thrones were placed, and the ancient of days sat.'  3 And Micah: 'I saw the God of Israel sitting on his throne,' 4 and again another Prophet: 'I saw the Lord standing on the altar and He said to me: Strike the mercy seat.' 5 And many such things may be gathered to give similar witness. How is it, then, that John says, 'No one has ever seen God?'  That you might learn that he speaks of a clear knowledge and a perfect comprehension of God. All those passage I just gave were instances of God's condescension, and that none of the Prophets saw the pure essence is clear from their different ways of seeing. God is simple, He is not composed of parts or forms, but all these Prophets saw different forms. Enlightenment is given through the mouth of another Prophet and persuasion that those other Prophets did not see the exact essence when he said: 'I have multiplied visions, and by the hand of the Prophets I was represented.' 6 That is, 'I did not show my very essence but I condescended according to the weakness of those who saw.' Saint John Chrysostom, On The Incomprehensible, Fourth Homily 1 1 Jn 4.12 2 Is 6.1 3 Dan 7.9 4 3 Kings 22.19 5 Amos 9.1 6 Hosea 12.10

Labour and Reward

Τὴν αἴτησιν τῆς μητέρος τῶν υἱων Ζεβεδαίου οὐχ ὡς ἀδύνατον αὐτῳ παραιτ εἶται  ὁ Κύριος· ὁ γὰρ βούλεται δύναται· ἀλλ' ὡς ἄτοπον ἀπεπέμψατο. Εἰπὲ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἵνα οἱ δύο υἱοι μου καθίσωσιν, εἶς ἐκ δεξιῶν σοι, καὶ εἶς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ σου. Ὁ δὲ δίκαιος μισθαποδότης, εὐλόγῳ τινὶ κρίσει σωφρονίζει τὸ ἄτοπον. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμον δοῠναι ἁπλῶς τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ παρασχεῖν μισωὸν τοῖς καμοῦσιν· οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ δικαίου κριτοῦ τοὺς ἱδρῶτας παριδεῖν, καὶ ῥᾳθύμοις παρασχεῖν. Εἰ τοίνυν τῆς καθέδρας ἐρῶσι, τοὺς ἀγῶνας οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ὦν ἐκείνη βραβεῖον τοῖς νομίμως ἀθλοῦσιν ἠτοίμασται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΑΖ' Νειλῳ

The question of the mother of the sons of Zebedee was not for something that exceeded the power of the Lord, since had He wished He was able, but it was refused as something absurd. 'For say,' she said, 'that my two sons will sit with you, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.'  1 But that righteous one who gives reward with reasonable judgement chides the absurdity. It is not mine to give what you have asked, but to furnish reward to those who have toiled, for it is not of correct judgement to have contempt for the sweat stained righteous and to reward those who are indolent. If then it is so for those who love to sit in seats, ignorant of struggle, so He has ready the prize for those whose custom it is to run the race. Saint Isidore of Pelustium, Book 1, Letter 137 To Nilus 1 Mt 20.21

Sons of Thunder

Nec Jacobus et Joannes mortui filii tonitrui, quibus in usum gloriae coelestis assumptis non praevalent terrena, sed subjacent. Esto ergo et tu Petrus, devotus, fidelis, pacificus; ut portas Ecclesiae aperias, et portas mortis evadas. Esto filius tonituri. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui. Dicis: Quomodo possum esse filius tonitrui? Potes esse, si non in terra, sed in pectore Christi recumbas. Potes esse filius tonitrui si te terrena non moveant, sed ipse potius ea quae terrena sunt, mentis tuae virtute concutias. Tremat te terra, non capiat: vereatur caro potestatem animi tui, et concussa subdatur. Eris filius tonitrui, si fueris filius Ecclesiae. Dicat et tibi de patibulo crucis Christus: 'Ecce mater tua'  Dicat et Ecclesiae: Ecce filius tuus ; tunc enim incipis esse filius Ecclesiae cum in cruce victorem videris Christum. Nam qui crucem scandalum putet, Judaeus est, Ecclesiae filius non est: qui crucem stultitam putat, Greacus est. Ille autem est Ecclesiae filius, qui crucem triumphum putat, qui crucem Christi triumphantis agnoscit.   Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII

Neither James nor John, the sons of thunder, 1 died; they were taken up to the enjoyment of heavenly glory because earthly things did not prevail over them but they subdued them. Be then a Peter, devout, faithful, peaceful, that you may open the gates of the church and avoid the gates of death. Be a son of thunder. You may ask, 'How am I able to be a son of thunder?' You are able to be one if you recline on the breast of Christ, 2 not on the earth. You are able to be a son of thunder if earthly things do not move you, but rather you, with the virtue of your mind, crush down worldly things. Let the earth fear you, rather than seize you, let flesh fear the power of your soul and let it be subdued with a blow. You shall be a son of thunder if you become a son of the Church. Let Christ say from the yoke of the cross: 'Behold your mother.' 3 And let it be said to the Church 'Behold your son' 4 Then you shall begin to be a son of the Church when in the cross you see the victory of Christ. For he who thinks the cross scandalous is of the Jews; he is not  a son of the Church. He who thinks the cross is foolish, is of the Gentiles. He is a son of the Church who deems the cross a triumph, who knows the cross as the victory of Christ. Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7 1 Mark 3.17 2 Jn 13.23-25 3 Jn 19.27 4 Jn 19.26

Seeking Reconciliation

Ad Castorinam materteram Iohannes idem apostolus et evangelista in epistula sua ait: quicumque odit fratrem suum, homicida est, et recte. Cum homicidium ex odio saepe nascatur, quicumque odit, etiam si gladio necdum percusserit, animo tamen homicida est. “cur,” ais, “tale principium?” Sicilicet ut veteri rancore deposito mundum pectoris deo paremus habitaculum. Irascimini, inquit David, et nolite peccare. hoc quid velit intellegi, apostolus plenius interpretatur: sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram. Quid agimus nos in die iudicii, super quorum ira non unius diei, sed tantorum annorum sol testis occubuit? Dominus loquitur in evangelios: si offeres munus tuum ad altare ibique rememoratus fueris, quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te, relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare et vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo, et sic offeres munus tuum. Vae mihi misero, ne dicam et tibi, qui tanto tempore aut non obtuli munus ad altare aut ira permanente sine causa obtuli! Quomodo in cotidiana prece umquam diximus: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris, animo discordante cum verbis, oratione dissidente cum factis? Precor itaque, quod et ante annum prioribus litteris rogaveram, ut pacem, quam nobis dominus reliquit, habeamus, et meum desiderium et tuam mentem Christus intuetur: in brevi ante tribunal eius reconciliata seu scissa concordia aut praemium recuperabit aut poenam. quod si tu, quod procul absit, nolueris, ego libero ero; epistula me haec, cum lecta fuerit, absolvet. Santus Hieronymus, Epistola XIII Source: Migne PL 22 346-7

To Aunt Castorina John the Apostle and Evangelist in his Epistle says: 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer.' 1 And rightly. Since murder often springs from hate, he who hates, even though he has not yet struck with the sword, is a murderer in his soul. 'Why', you ask, 'do you begin so?' Simply that we might dispose of old rancor and cleanse our hearts to be a habitation for God. David says, 'Be angry and sin not. 2 That which he wishes understood the Apostle more fully expresses: 'Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.' 3 What then shall we do in the day of judgment, upon whose wrath the sun has gone down on not one day but many years? The Lord says in the Gospel: 'If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.' 4 Woe to me, wretch that I am; woe, I had almost said, to you also. This long time past we have either offered no gift at the altar, or we have offered it while cherishing anger without a cause. How have we been able in our daily prayers to say: 'Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,' 5 while our feelings have been at variance with our words, and our petition inconsistent with our actions? Therefore I pray for that which I have asked in letters of previous years, that we might have that peace which the Lord left us, and that Christ might look down on my wishes and your mind. Soon we shall be brought together before his tribunal to receive the reward of reconciliation or to taste punishment for harmony broken. If you should be unwilling in this, and may it not be so, I for my part shall be free. For this letter, when it is read, will absolve me. Saint Jerome, Letter 13 1 1 Jn 3.15 2 Ps 4.4 3 Ephes 4.26 4 Mt 5.23 5 Mt 6.12