Faith overcomes love of human glory. 707 XII. 30. visible. For they which assert this are they which suppose JOHN Him to be a creature; neither do they understand in what 42. 43. regard it is said, I and the Father are One. Nay, in virtue John 10, of the form of God in which He is equal with the Father, the Son too is invisible; but, in order that He might be seen 7. by men, He took the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, was made visible. Therefore in shewing Himself also, before He took flesh, to the eyes of men, He did this as it pleased Him, in the creature subject unto Him, not as He is. Let us cleanse our heart by faith, that we may be prepared for that ineffable, and, so to say, invisible vision. Since, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall Matt. 5, see God. 8. 13. Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed v.42 43. on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. See how the Evangelist hath marked, and disapproved of certain persons, of whom however he saith that they believed on Him: who, if in this entering upon the way of faith they should go forward, would by going forward overcome the love of human glory, which the Apostle had overcome, where he saith, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross Gal. 6, of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified11. to me and I to the world. For to this end the Lord Himself willed that His cross, on which the madness of proud impiety derided Him, should be fixed on the forehead of them which should believe on Him-that being, in a sort, the seat of shame that faith may not blush for His Name, and may love the glory of God more than the glory of men. Ιφυλάξῃ, custodierit. JOHN xii. 44-50. Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me. And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear My words, and keep1them not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath One that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak. 1. WHILE Our Lord Jesus Christ spake among the Jews, and wrought such mighty signs of miracles, some believed, who were predestinated to eternal life, whom He hath also called His sheep; but some believed not, and could not believe, because by God's hidden but not unjust judgment they had been blinded and hardened, as being forsaken by James Him Who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 4, 6. Of those moreover who believed, some did even to that degree confess Him, that they took palm-branches and met Him at His coming, rejoicing in the same confession of XII. To believe on Christ is to believe Him Co-equal God, 709 praise: but others, of the chief men, durst not confess Him, Joan lest they should be cast out of the synagogue; whom the 44. 45. Evangelist hath noted, saying, that they loved the glory of v. 43. men more than the glory of God. And even of those who believed not, there were some that would afterwards believe, whom He foresaw where He said, When ye shall have lifted John 8, up the Son of Man, then ye shall acknowledge that I am He: but others that would remain in the same unbelief, who are imitated also by this present nation of the Jews, which, being afterward subdued, in testimony of the prophecy which was written concerning Christ, is dispersed well nigh throughout the whole world. 28. Hom. 2. These things being so, and His Passion now drawing nigh, Jesus cried and said,-what the lesson of to-day begins v. 44.45. with,-He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me. And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. He had already said in a certain place, My doctrine Id.7,16. is not Mine, but His that sent Me: where we understood supra, Him to mean by 'His doctrine' the Word of the Father, 29. Which is Himself; and that in saying, My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me, He signified that He is not of Himself, but hath His being of Another. For He is 'God of God,' the Son of the Father:-but the Father is not God of God, but God the Father of the Son. And what He now saith, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me, how are we to understand but that the Man appeared unto men, the God being latent? And lest they should imagine Him to be but what they saw, therefore, wishing to be believed to be such and so great as the Father is, He saith, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, i. e. on this that he seeth, but on Him that sent Me, i. e. on the Father. But he that believeth on the Father must of necessity believe Him to be Father; and he that believeth Him to be Father, must of necessity believe that He hath a Son: and therefore he that believeth on the Father must of necessity believe on the Son. But then, lest any should believe concerning the Only-Begotten Son just what he doth concerning them which are sons by grace not by nature, (as the Evangelist saith, Gave them power to become sons of God, to which John 1, also pertains that which the Lord hath mentioned as said in 12. 6. LIII. 710 and to see in Him the Father Which sent Him. HOMIL. the Law, I said, Ye are Gods, and all of you sons of the Most High:) therefore said He, Whoso believeth on Me, John10, 34. believeth not on Me; lest the whole of one's believing conPs. 82, cerning Christ should be believed of Him as Man only. He then, saith He, believeth on Me, who believeth on Me not as that which He seeth Me to be, but on Him that sent Me: so that, while believing on the Father, he believeth Him to have a Son Equal to Himself, and then truly believeth on Me. For if he account Him to have but sons by grace, who are of course His creatures, not the Word but things made by the Word, and not to have a Son Equal with Himself and Coeternal, Ever-begotten, alike Unchangeable, in no regard unlike and unequal; then he believeth not on the Father that sent Him, because the Father that sent Him is not this that He imagines. 3. And accordingly when He had said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me, lest He should be thought to have meant the Father to be understood as Father of many sons regenerate by grace, not of One Only Son Equal with Himself, He straightway subjoined, And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. Doth He say, He that seeth Me, seeth not Me, but Him that sent Me, as He had said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me? No: for He said that, lest, as He was seen to be Son of Man, He should be believed to be only that: but this He said, that He might be believed Equal with the Father. He that believeth on Me, saith He, believeth not on this that he seeth Me to be, but believeth on Him that sent Me. Or, while he believeth on the Father which begat Me Equal with Himself, not as he seeth Me, but as he believeth on Him that sent Me, so let him believe on Me; for between Ilim and Me there is no difference, insomuch that whoso seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. Certainly our Lord Jesus Christ sent His Apostles, as their very name shews: for, as in Greek "angels" are in our tongue "messengers," so in Greek Apostles" are in our tongue "sent." Yet never would any of the Apostles dare to say, He that believeth on me, believeth on Him that sent me: indeed, he would not even say, He Serm. that believeth ON ME. For we believe, or give credence to, 144, 2. Hom. 26, 10. 29, 6. We "believe" the Apostles, "believe on" Christ. 711 XII.46. Rom. 4, 40. an Apostle, but not believe on an Apostle; because it is not JOHN for an Apostle to justify the ungodly, and, To him that believeth ON HIM that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is 5. counted unto him for righteousness. An Apostle might say, He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent me, or, He that heareth me, heareth Him that sent me: this being in fact what the Lord Himself said to them, He that receiveth Mat. 10, you, receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me. Because the Lord is honoured in the servant, and the Father in the Son; only, the Father as in the Son, the Lord as in the servant. But the Only-Begotten Son could rightly say, Believe' on God, and believe on Me; and John14, what He now saith, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me. Not that He hath taken off from Himself the belief of the believing, but He would not that the believing should stop at the form of a servant: since when one believes on the Father which sent Him, of course he believes on the Son, without Whom he knows that the Father is not Father; and so believes as to believe Him Equal, since it follows, And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. 1. 14-16. 4. Mark the rest. I am come a light into the world, that v. 46. whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. He said in a certain place to His disciples, Ye are the light Matt. 5, of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candie, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in heaven. Yet He said not to them, Ye are come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on you, should not abide in darkness. It is impossible this should any where be read, I do assure you. Lights then, all the saints a Credite in Deum, so infra Hom. 67. in 1. where however some few Mss. have creditis. Of the ancients, Chrys. makes mσTEVETE in both clauses indicative, Euthym. imperative in both. So Hilar. de Trin. ix. 19. Cum enim ait, Credite in Deum et in me credite, quæro in quo se in natura discreverit qui non discrevit in honore? Dicens enim, Et in me credite, cum dixisset, |