the work of the Father be shown to the Son, as though He were doing and sitting outside, and the Son attentively watching the Father's ' John i. 3, lo.
hand how it maketh? Where is that insepa- rable Trinity? Where the Word, of which it is said that the same is "the power and the wisdom of God"?^ Where that which the Scripture saith of the same wisdom: " For it is the brightness of the eternal light?" ^ Where what was said of it again: " It power- fully reaches from the end even to tlie end, and ordereth all things sweetly"? ■* Whatever the Father doeth. He doeth through the Son; through His wisdom and his power He doeth; not from without doth He show to the Son what He may see, but in the Son Himself He showeth Him what He doeth.
3. What seeth the Father, or rather, v.-hat doth the Son see in the Father, that Himself also may do? Perhaps I may be able to speak it, but show me the man who can comprehend it; or perhaps I may be able to think and not speak it; or perhaps I may not be able even to think it. For that divinity excels us, as God excels men, as the immortal excels a mortal, as the eternal excels the temporal. May He inspire and endow us, and out of that fountain of life deign to bedew and to drop somewhat on our thirst, that we may not be parched in this wilderness! Let us say to Him, Lord, to whom we have learnt to say Father. We make bold to say this, because Himself willed it; if only we so live that He may not say to us, " If I am a Father, where is mine honor? if I am Lord, where is my fear?"' Let us then say to Him, "Our Father." To whom do we say, "Our Father "? To the Father of Christ. He, then, who says "Our Father" to the Father of Christ, says to Christ, what else but " Our Brother"? Not, however, as He is the Father of Christ is He in like manner our Father; for Christ never so conjoined us as to make no distinction between Him and us. For He is the Son equal to the Father, the eternal Son with the Father, and co-eternal with the Father; but we heca.yl^e sons through the Son, adopted through the Only-begotten. Hence was it never heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, when speaking to His disciples, that He said of the supreme God His Father, "Our Father;" but He said either "My Father" or "Your Father." But He said' not " Our Father;" so much so, that in a certain place He used these two ex- pressions: "I go to my God," saith He, "and to your God," Why did He not say, " Our God "? FurtheV, He said, " My Father, and your Father;" He said not, "Our Father." He so joins as to distinguish, dis- tinguishes so as not to disjoin. He wills us to be one in Him, but the Father and Hmiself one.
4 Wisd. viii. I.
Tractate XXI.]
ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
139 4. How much soever then we may under- stand, and how much soever we may see, we shall not see as the Son seeth, even when we shall be made equal with the angels. For we are something even when we do not see; but what are we when we do not see, other than persons not seeing? And that we may see, we turn to Him whom we may see, and there is formed in us a seeing which was not before, although we were in being. For a man is when not seeing; and the same, when he doth see, is called a man seeing. For him, then, to see is not the same thing as to be a man; for if it were, he would not be man when not seeing. But since he is man when not seeing, and seeks to see what he sees not, he is one who seeks, and who turns to see; and when he has well turned and has seen, he becomes a man seeing, who was before a man not see- ing. Consequently, to see is to him a thing that comes and goes; it comes to him when he turns to, and leaves him when he turns away. Is it thus with the Son? Far be it ffom us to think so. It was never so that He was Son, not seeing, and afterwards was made to see; but to see the Father is to Him the same thing as to be Son. For we, by turning away to sin, lose enlightenment; and by turning to God we receive enlightenment. For the light by which we are enlightened is one thing; we who are enlightened, another thing. But the light itself, by which we are enlight- ened, neither turns away from itself, nor loses its lucidity, because as light it exists. The Father, then, showeth a thing which He doeth to the Son, in such wise that the Son see^/i all things in the Father, and is all things in the Father. For by seeing He was be- gotten; and by being begotten He seeth. Not, however, that at any time He was not begotten, and afterwards was begotten; nor that at any time He saw not, and afterwards saw. But in what consists His seeing, in the same consists His being, in the same His be- ing begotten, in the same His continuing, in the same His unchanging, in the same His abiding without beginning and without end. Let us not therefore take it in a carnal sense that the Father sitteth and doeth a work, and showeth it to the Son; and the Son seeth the work that the Father doeth, and doetn another work in another place,or out of other materials. For "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." The Son is the Word of the Father. The Father said nothing which He did not say in the Son. For by speaking in the Son what He was about to do through the Son, He begat the Son through whom He made all things.
5. " And greater works than these will He show Him, that ye may marvel." Here again we are embarrassed. And who is therp that may worthily investigate this so great a secret? But now, in that He has deigned to speak to us. Himself opens it. For He would not speak what He would not have us under- stand; and as He has deigned to speak, with- out doubt He has excited attention: for does He forsake any whom He has roused to give attentive hearing? We have said that it is not in a temporal sense that the Son knoweth, — that the knowledge of the Son is not one thing, and the Son Himself another; nor one thing His seeing. Himself another; but that the seeing itself is the Son, and the knowledge as well as the wisdom of the Father is the Son; and that that wisdom and seeing is eternal and co-eternal with Him from whom it is; that it is not something that varies by time, nor something produced that was not in being, nor something that vanishes away which did exist. What is it, then, that time does in this case, that He should say, " Greater works. than these He will show Him"? " He will show,^' that is, " He is about to show." Ifat/i shown is a different thing from will show: hath shown^ we say of an act past; will show, of an act future. What shall we do here, then, brethren? Behold, He whom we had de- clared to be co-eternal with the Father, in whom nothing is varied by time, in whom is no moving through spaces either of moments or of places, of whom we had declared that He abides ever with the Father seeing, seeing the Father, and by seeing existing; He, I say, here again mentioning times to us, saith, " He will show Him greater works than these." Is He then about to show something to the Son, which the Son doth not as yet know? What, then, do we make of it? How do we under- stand this? Behold, our Lord Jesus Christ was above, is beneath. When was He above? When He said, "What things soever the Father doeth, these same also the Son doeth in like manner." Whence know we that He is now beneath? Hence: "Greater works than these He will show Him.'" O Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, Word of God, by which all things were made, what is the Father about to show Thee, that as yet Tiiou knowest not? What of the Father is hid from Thee? What in the Father is hid from Thee, from whom the Father is not hid? What greater works is He about to show Thee? Or greater than what works are they which He is to show Thee? For vvlien He said, "Greater than these," we ought first to understand the works than which are they greater.
6. Let us again call to mind whence this discourse started. It was when that man 140 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XXI.
who was thirty-eight years in infirmity was healed, and Jesus commanded him, now made whole, to take up his bed and to go to his house. For this cause, indeed, the Jews with whom He was speaking were enraged. He spoke in words, as to the meaning He was silent; hinted in some measure at the mean- ing to those who understood, ' and hid the matter from them that were wroth. For this cause, I say, the Jews, being enraged because the Lord did this on the Sabbath, gave oc- casion to this discourse. Therefore let us not hear these things in such wise as if we had forgotten what was said above, but let us look back to that impotent man languishing for thirty-eight years suddenly made whole, while the Jews marvelled and were wroth. They sought darkness from the Sabbath more than light from the miracle. Speaking then to these, while they are indignant. He saith, ''Greater works than these will He show Him." " Greater than these: " than which? What ye have seen, that a man, whose infirmity had lasted thirty-eight years, was made whole; greater than these the Father is about to show to the Son. What are greater works? He goes on, saying, " For as the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will.'' Clearly these are greater. Very much greater is it that a dead man should rise, than that a sick man should recover: these are greater. But when is the Father about to show these to the Son? Does the Son not know them? And He who was speaking, did He not know how to raise the dead? Had He yet to learn how to raise the dead to life — He, I say, by whom all thmgs were made? He who caused that we should live, when we were not in being, had He yet to learn how we might be raised to life again? What, then, do His words mean?
7. But now He condescends to us, and He who a little before was speaking as God, now begins to speak as man. Notwithstanding, the same is man who is God, for God was made man; but was made what He was not, without losing what He was. The man there- fore was added to the God, that He might be man who was God, but not that He should now henceforth be man and rrtjt be God. Let us then hear Him also as our brother whom we did hear as our Maker. Our Maker, be- cause the Word in the beginning; our Brother, because born of the \nrgin Mary: -Maker, be- fore Abraham, before Adam, before earth, before heaven, before all things corporeal and spiritual; but Brother, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of the Israel- itish virgin. If therefore we know Him who speaks to us as both God and man, let us un- derstand the words of God and of man; for sometimes He speaks to us such things as are applicable to the majesty, sometimes such as are applicable to the humility. ■ For the self- same is high who was made low, that He might make us high who are low. What, then, saith He? " The Father will show " to me " greater than these, that ye may marvel.*' To us, therefore, He is about to show, not to Him. And since it is to us that the Father is to show, for that reason He said, " that ye may marvel.'' He has, in fact, explained what He meant in saying, " The Father will show" to me. Why did He not say. The Father will show to you; but. He will show to the Son? Because also we are members of the Son; and like as what we the members learn, He Him- self in a manner learns in His members. How doth He learn in us? As He suffers in us. Whence may we prove that He suffers in us? From that voice out of heaven, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?''' Is it not Himself that will sit as Judge in the end o*f the world, and, setting the just on the right, and the wicked on the left, will say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the king- dom; for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat "? And when they shall answer, " Lord, when saw we Thee hungry? " He will say to them, " Since ye gave to one of the least of mine, ye gave to me.''- Let us at this time question Him, and let us say to Him, Lord, when wilt Thou be a learner, seeing Thou teachest all things? Immediately, indeed. He makes answer to us in our faith, When one of the least of mine doth learn. I learn.
8. Let us rejoice, then, and give thanks that we are made not only Christians, but Christ. Do ye understand, brethren, and apprehend the grace of God upon us? Mar- vel, be glad, we are made Christ. For if He is the head, we are the members: the whole man is He and we. I'his is what the Apostle Paul saith: "That we be no longer babes, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.'' But above he had said, " Until we all come together into the unity of faith, and to the knowledge of the Son of God, to the perfect man, to the meas- ure of the age of the fullness of Christ. "^ The fullness of Christ, then, is head and members. Head and members, what is that? Christ and the Church. We should indeed be arrogating this to ourselves proudly, if He did not Hims'elf deign to promise it, who saith by the same apostle, " But ye are the body of Christ, and members." ^ I Acts ix. 4. 3 Eph. iv. 14.
Tractate XXL] ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
141 9. Whenever, then, the Father showeth to Christ's members. He showeth to Christ. A certain great but yet real miracle happens. There is a showing to Christ of what Christ knew, and it is shown to Cnrist through Christ. A marvelous and great thing it is, but the Scripture so saith. Shall wc contradict the divine declarations? Shall we not rather understand them, and of His own gift render thanks to Him who freely bestowed it on us? What is this that I said, "is shown to Christ through Christ"? Is shown to the mem- bers through the head. Lo, look at this in thyself. Suppose that with thine eyes shut thou wouldest take up something, thy hand knows not whither to go; and yet thy hand is at any rate thy member, for it is not separated from thy body. Open thine eyes, now the hand sees whither it may go; while the head showed, the member followed. If, then, there could be found in thyself something such, that thy body showed to thy body, and that through thy body something was shown to thy body, then do not marvel that it is said there is shown to Christ through Christ. For the head shows that the members may see, and the head teaches that the members may learn; nevertheless one man, head and members. He willed not to separate Himself, but deigned to attach Himself to us. Far was He from us, yea, very far. What so far apart as the creature and the Creator? What so far apart as God and man? What so far as justice and iniquity? ^Vhat so far as eternity and mortality? Behold, so far from us was the Word in the beginning, God with God, by whom all things were made. How, then, was He made near, that He might be what we are, and we in Him? " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt in (among) us.'''
10. This, then, He is about to show us; this He showed to His disciples, who saw Him in the flesh. What is this? "As the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will.'' Is it that the Father some, the Son others? Surely all things were made by Him. What do we say, my brethren? Christ raised Laza- rus; what dead man did the Father raise, that Christ might see how to raise Lazarus? When Christ raised Lazarus, did not the Fatlier raise him? or was it the doing of the Son alone, without the Father? Read ye the passage itself, and see that He invokes the Father that Lazarus may rise again. = As a man. He calls on the Father; as God, He doeth with the Father. Therefore also Lazarus, who rose again, was raised both by ■ John i. 14.
2 John xi. 41-44.
the Father and by the Son, in the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit; and that wonderful work the Trinity performed. Let us not, therefore, understand this, "As the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will," in such wise as to suppose that some are raised and quickened by the Father, others by the Son; but that the Son raiseth and quickeneth the very same whom the Father raiseth and quickeneth; because " all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." And to show that He has, though given by the Father, equal power, therefore He saith, " So also the Son quickeneth whom He will," that He might therein show His will; and lest any should say, " The Father raiseth the dead by the Son, but the Father as being powerful, and as having power, the Son as by another's power, as a servant does something, as an angel," He indicated His power when He saith, " So also the Son quickeneth whom He will.'' It is not so that the Father willeth other than the Son; but as the Father and the Son have one substance, so also one will. II. And who are these dead whom the Father and the Son quicken? Are they the same of whom we have spoken — Lazarus, or that widow's son,- or the ruler of the synagogue's daughter?-* For we know that these were raised by Christ the Lord. It is some other thing that He means to signify to us, — namely, the resurrection of the dead, which we all look for; not that resurrection which certain have nad, that the rest might believe. For Lazarus rose to die again; we shall rise again to live for ever. Is it the Father that effects such a resurrection, or the Son? Nay verily, the Father in the Son. Consequently the Son, and the Father in the Son. Whence do we prove that He speaks of this resurrec- tion? When He had said, "As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will." Lest we should understand here that resurrec- tion which He performs for a miracle, not for eternal life. He proceeded, saying, " For the Father judgeth not any man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son." What is this? He was speaking of the resurrection of tlie dead, that " as the Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will; " and immediately there- upon added as a reason, concerning the judg- ment, saying, " for the Father judgeth not any man, but all judgment hath He given to the S(;ii." Wliy said He this, but to indicate that He had spoken of that resurrection of 1 I.uke vil. 14.
4 Luke viii. 54.
142 THE WORKS OF ST, AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XXI.
the dead which will take place in the judg- ment?
12. "■ For," saith He, " the Father judgeth no man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son." A little before we were thinking that the Father doeth something which the Son doeth not, when He said," The Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth;" as though the Father were doing, and the Son were seeing. In this way there was creeping in upon our mind a carnal conception, as if the Father did what the Son did not; but that the Son was looking on while the Father showed what He was doing. Then, as the Father was doing what the Son did not, just now we see the Son doing what the Father doeth not. How He turns us about, and keeps our mind busy! He leads us hither and thither, will not allow us to remain in one place of the fiesh, that by changing He may exercise us, by exercising He may cleanse us, by cleansing He may render us capable of receiving, and may fill us when made capable. What have these words to do with us? What was He speaking? What is He speaking? A little before, He said that the Father showeth to the Son what- ever He doeth, I did see, as it were, the Father doing, the Son waiting to see; pre- sently again, I see the Son doing, the Father idle: " For the Father judgeth not any man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son." When, therefore, the Son is about to judge, will the Father be idle, and not judge? What is this? What am I to understand? What dost Thou say, O Lord.'' Thou art God the Word, I am a man. Dost Thou say that "the Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son"? I read in another place that Thou sayest, " I judge not any man; there is one who seeketh and judg- eth."' Of whom sayest Thou, "There is one who seeketh and judgeth," unless it be of the Father? He maketh inquisition for thy wrongs, and judgeth for them. How is it to be understood here that "the Father judgeth not any man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son "? Let us ask Peter; let us hear him speaking in his epistle: " Christ suffered for us," saith he, " leaving us an ex- ample that we should follow His steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered wrong, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously." = How is it true that "the Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son"? We are • John viii. 15.
~ I Pet. ii. 21-23.
here in perplexity, and being perplexed let us exert ourselves, that by exertion we may be purified. Let us endeavor as best we may, by His own gift, to penetrate the deep secrets of these words. It may be that we are acting rashly, in that we wish to discuss and to scru- tinize the words of God. Yet why were they spoken, but to be known? Why did they sound forth, but to be heard? Why were they heard, but to be understood? Let Him greatly strengthen us, then, and bestow some- what on us so far as He may deem worthy; and if we do not yet penetrate to the foun- tain, let us drink of the brook. Behold, John himself has flowed forth to us like a brook, conveyed to us the word from on high. He brought it low, and in a manner levelled it, that we may not dread the lofty One, but may draw nigh to Him that is low.