• Discretione))!, discerne, — legal terms, implying the judicial expiscation and discriminating of the real facts and merits of a case, by sifting the evidence and separating the true from the false. == See previous note. i Vs. xliii. i.
4 John xvii. 5. 5 Ps. xlv. 7. 6 Gal. vi. 14.
Word was God "?) — in respect, I say, to His very form as a servant, the difference is great between the glory of Christ and the glory of other men. Of that glory He spoke, when the devil-possessed heard Him say, "I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth."
10. But what sayest Thou, O Lord, of Thyself? " Verily, verily, I say unto you. If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." Ye say, "Thou hast a devil." I call you to life: keep my word and ye shall not die. They heard, " He shall never see death who keepeth my word," and were angry, because already dead in that death from which they might have escaped. " Then said the Jews, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest. If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death." See how Scripture speaks: ''He shall not see," that is', "taste of death." "He shall see death — he shall taste of death." Who seeth? Who tasteth? What eyes has a man to see with when he dies? When death at its com- ing shuts up those very eyes from seeing aught, how is it said, " he shall not see death"? With what palate, also, and v/ith what jaws can death be tasted, that its savor may be discovered? When it taketh every sense away, what will remain in the palate? But here, "he will see," and "he will taste," are used for that which is really the case, he will know by experience.
11. Thus spake the Lord (it is scarcely suf- ficient to say), as one dying to dying men; for " to the Lord also belong the issues from death," ' as saith the psalm. Seeing, then, He was both speaking to those destined to die, and speaking as one appointed to death Himself, what mean His words, "He who keepeth my saying shall never see death;'' save that the Jlord saw another death, from which He was come to delivef us — the second death, death eternal, the death of hell,^ the death of damnation with the devil and his angels? This is real death; for that other is only a removal. What is that other death? The leaving of the body — the laying down of a heavy burden; provided another burden be not carried away, to drag the man headlong to hell. Of that real death then did the Lord say, " He who keepeth my saying shall never see death."
12. Let us not be frightened at that other death, but let us fear this one. But, what is very grievous, many, through a perverse fear of that other, have fallen into this. It has 7 Ps. Ixviii. 20.
8 Geketmarum.
Tractate XLIII.]
ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHX.
24: been said to some, Adore idols; for if you do it not, you shall be put to death: or, as Nebu- chadnezzar said, If you do not, you shall be thrown into the furnace of flaming fire. Many feared and adored. Shrinking from death, they died. Through fear of tne death which cannot be escaped, they fell into that which they might happily have escaped, had they not, unhappily, been afraid of that which is inevitable. As a man, thou art borrt— art destined to die. Whither wilt thou go to escape death? What wilt thou do to escape it? That thy Lord might comfort thee in thy necessary subjection to death, of His own good pleasure He condescended to die. When thou seest the Christ lying dead, art thou reluctant to die? Die then thou must; thou hast no means of escape. Be it to-day, be it to-morrow; it is to be — the debt must be paid. What, then, does a man gain by fearing, fleeing, hiding himself from discov.- ery by his enemy? Does he get exemption from death? No, but that he may die a little later. He gets not security against his debt, but asks a respite. Put it off as long as you please, the thing so delayed will come at last. Let us fear that death which the three men feared when they said to the king, "God is able to deliver us even from that flame; and if not," etc' There was there the fear of that death which the Lord now threatens, when they said, But also if He be not willing openly to deliver us. He can crown us with victory in secret. Whence also the Lord, when on the eve of appointing martyrs and becoming the head-martyr Himself, said, " Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." How " have they no more that they can do "? What if, after having slain one, they threw his body to be mangled by wild beasts, and torn to pieces by birds? Cruelty seems still to have something it can do. But to whom is it done? He has departed. The body is there, but without feeling. The tenement lies on the ground, the tenant is gone. And so " after tliat they have no more that they can do;" for they can do nothing to that which is without sensation. " But fear Him who hath power to destroy botli body and soul in hell fire." - Here is the death that He spnke of when He said, " He that keepeth my say- ing shall never see death." Let us keep tlien, brethren. His own word in faith, as those who are yet to attain to sight, when the liberty we receive has reached its fullness.
13. But those men, indignant, yet dead, ami predestinated to death eternal, answered witii insults, and said, " Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the pro- phets." But not in that death which the Lord meant to be understood was either Abraham dead or the prophets. For these were dead, and yet they live: those others were alive, and yet they had died. For, replying in a certain place to the Sadducees, when they stirred the question of the resurrection, tlie Lord Him- self speaks thus: " But as touching the resur- rection of the dead, have ye not read how the Lord said to Moses from the bush, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."' If, then, they live, let us labor so to live, that after death we may be able to live with them. " Whom makest thou thyself," they add, that thou sayest, " he shall never see death who keepeth my saying," when thou knowest that both Abraham is dead and the prophets?
14. " Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father that glorifieth me." He said this on account of their saying, " Whom makest thou thy- self?'' For He refers His glory to the Father, of whom it is that He is God. From this expression also the Arians sometimes re- vile our faith, and say. See, the Father is greater; for at all events He glorifies the Son, Heretic, hast thou not read of the Son Him- self also saying that He glorifies His Father? ■♦ If both He glorifieth the Son, and the Son glorifieth the Father, lay aside thy stubborn- ness, acknowledge the equality, correct thy perversity.
15. "It is," then, said He, "my Father that glorifieth me; of v/hom ye say, that He is your God: and ye have not known Him." See, my brethren, how He shows that God Himself is the Father of the Christ, who was announced also to the Jews. I say so for this reason, that now again there are certain heretics who say that the God revealed in the Old Testament is not the Father of Christ, but some prince or other, I know not what, of evil angels. There are Manicheans who say so; there are Marcionites who say so. There are also, perhaps, other heretics, whom it is eitiier unnecessary to mention, or all of whom I cannot at j^resent recall; yet there have not been wanting those who said this. Attend, then, tliat you may have something also to affirm against such. C'hrist tlie Lord calleth Him His Father whom they called their God, and did not know; for had they known [that God] Himself they would have received His Son. " But 1," said He, " know ' Dan. iii. 16-18.
* " In the gehenna of fircv 3 Matt. xxii. 31, 33; Ex. iii. 6.
* t li.ip. xvii. 4.
244 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XLIII.
Him.'' To those judging after the flesh He might have seemed from such words to be self-assuming, because He said, " I know Him." But see what follows: " If I should say that I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you." Let not, then, self-assumption be so guarded against as to cause the relin- quishment of truth. "But I know Him, and keep His saying." The saying of the Father He was speaking as Son; and He Himself (vas the Word of tne Father, that was speak- ing to men.
i6. " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw, and was glad.'' Abra- ham's seed, Abraham's Creator, bears a great testimony to Abraham. "Abraham rejoiced,^' He says, " to see my day." He did not fear, but " rejoiced to see it." For in him there was the love that casteth out fear.' He says not, rejoiced because he saw; but '' rejoiced that he might see." Believing, at all events, he rejoiced in hope to see with the under- standing. "And he saw." And what more could the Lord Jesus Christ say, or what more ought He to have said? "And he saw," He says, "and was glad." Who can unfold this joy, my brethren? If those re- joiced whose bodily eyes were opened by the Lord, what joy was his who saw with the eyes of his soul the light ineffable, the abiding Word, the brilliance that dazzles the minds of the pious, the unfailipng Wisdom, God abiding with the Father, and at some time to come in the flesh and yet not to withdraw from the bosom of the Father? All this did Abraham see. For in saying "my day," it may be uncertain of what He spake; whether the day of the Lord in time, when He should come in the flesh, or that day of the Lord which knows not a dawn, and knows no de- cline. But for my part I doubt not that father Abraham knew it all. And where shall I find it out? Ought the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ to satisfy us? Let us sup- pose that we cannot find it out, for perhaps it is difficult to say in what sense it is clear that Abraham "rejoiced to see the day" of Christ, " and saw it, and was glad." And though we find it not, can the Truth have lied? Let us believe the Truth, and cherish no doubt of Abraham's merited rewards. "^ Yet listen to one passage that occurs to me meanwhile. When father Abraham sent his servant to seek a wife for his son Isaac, he bound him by this oath, to fulfill faithfully what he was commanded, and know also for himself what to do. For it was a great mat- ter that was in hand when marriage was I I John iv. i8.
2 Meritis.
sought for Abraham's seed. But that the ser- vant might apprehend what Abraham knew, that it was not offspring after the flesh he de- sired, nor anything of a carnal kind concern- ing his race that was referred to, he said to the servant whom he sent, " Put thy hand under my thigh, and swear by the God of heaven. 3 What connection has the God of heaven with Abraham's thigh? Already you understand the mystery:-* by thigh is meant race. And what was that swearing, but the signifying that of Abraham's race would the God of heaven come in the flesh? Fools find fault with Abraham because he said, Put thy hand under my thigh. Those who find fault with Christ's flesh find fault with Abraham's conduct. But let us, brethren, if we acknow- ledge the flesh of Christ as worthy of venera- tion, despise not that thigh, but receive it as spoken of prophetically. For a prophet also was Abraham. Whose prophet? Of his own seed, and of his Lord. To his own seed he pointed in saying, " Put thy hand under my thigh." To his Lord he pointed in adding, " and swear by the God of heaven."
17. The angry Jews replied, "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" And the Lord: "Verily, ver- ily, I say unto you. Before Abraham was made, I am.-"s Weigh the words, and get a knowledge of the mystery. " Before Abra- ham was made." Understand, that "was made" refers to human formation; but "am" to the Divine essence. "He was made," because Abraham was a creature. He did not say, Before Abraham was, I was; but, " Before Abraham was made," who was not made save by me, " I am." Nor did He say this. Before Abraham was made I was made; for " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;"* and "in the be- ginning was the Word."'' " Before A^braham was made, I am." Recognize the Creator — distinguish the creature. He who spake was made the seed of Abraham; and that Abra- ham might be made. He Himself was before Abraham.
18. Hence, as if by the most open of all insults thrown at Abraham, they were now excited to greater bitterness. Of a certainty it seemed to them that Christ the Lord had uttered blasphemy in saying, " Before Abra- ham was made, I am." "Therefore took they up stones to cast at Him. ' ' To what could so great hardness have recourse, save to its like? " But Jesus " [acts] as man, as one in 3 Gen. XXIV. 2-4. 4 Sacramentum, 5 A nti'i)iiain Abraham fieret ego sum. Greek, "ffpl;/ 'A^paafji.
Tractate XLIV.]
ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
245 the form of a servant, as lowly, as about to suffer, about to die, about to redeem us with His blood; not as He who is — not as the Word in the beginning, and the Word with God. For when they took up stones to cast at Him, what grent thing were it had they been instantly swallowed up in the gaping earth, and found the inhabitants of hell in place of stones? It were not a great thing to God; but better was it that patience should be commended than power exerted. There- fore "He hid Himself from them, that He might not be stoned. As man, He fied from the stones; but woe to those from w'hose stony hearts God has fled?
TRACTATE XLIV.
Chapter IX.
1. We have just read the long lesson of the man born blind, whom the Lord Jesus restored to the light; but were we to attempt handling the whole of it, and considering, according to our abilit}^ each passage in a way proportionate to its worth, the day would be insufficient. Wherefore I ask and warn )'Our Charity not to require any words of ours on those passages whose meaning is manifest; for it would be too protracted to linger at each. I proceed, therefore, to set forth briefly the mystery of this blind man's enlight- enment. All, certainly, that was done by our Lord Jesus Christ, both works and words, are worthy of our astonishment and admiration: His works, because they are facts; His words, because they are signs. If we reflect, then, on what is signified by the deed here done, that blind man is the human race; for this blindness had place in the first man through sin, from whom we all draw our ori- gin, not only in respect of death, but also of unrighteousness. For if unbelief is blind- ness, and faith enlightenment, whom did Christ find a believer at His coming? seeing that the apostle, belonging himself to the family of the prophets, says: ''And we also in times past were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."' If "children of wrath," then children of vengeance, children of punishment, children of hell. For how is it "by nature," save that thrt)ugh the first man sinning moral evil rooted itself in us as a nature? If evil has so taken root within us, every man is born mentally blind. For if lie sees, he has no need of a guide. If he does need one to guide and enlighten him, then is he blind from his birth.
2. The Lord came: what did He tlo? He set forth a great mystery. " He spat on the ■ Eph. ii. 3.
ground,*' He made clay of His spittle; for the Word was made flesh.- "And He anointed the eyes of the blind man." The anointing had taken place, and yet he saw not. He sent him to the pool which is called Siloam. But it was the evangelist's concern to call our attention to the name of this pool; and he adds, "Which is interpreted, Sent." You understand now who it is that was sent; for had He not been sent, none of us would have been set free from iniquity. Accord- ingly he washed his eyes in that pool which is interpreted. Sent— he was baptized in Christ. If, therefore, when He baptized him in a manner in Himself, He then en- lightened him; when He anointed Him, per- haps He made him a catechumen. ' In many different ways indeed may the profound meaning of such a sacramental act be set forth and handled; but let this suffice your Charity. You have heard a great mystery. Ask a man. Are you a Christian? His an- swer to you is, I am not, if he is a pagan or a Jew. But if he says, I am; you inquire again of him, Are you a catechumen or a be- liever? If he reply, A catechumen; he has been anointed, but not yet washed. But how anointed'' Inquire, and he will answer you. Inquire of him in whom he believes. In that very respect in which he is a catecluunen he says, In Christ. See, I am speaking in a way both to the faithful and to catechumens. What have I said of the spittle and the clay? That the Word was made flesh. This even catechumens hear; but that to which they have been anointed is not all they need; let them hasten to the font if they are in searcii of enlightenment.
3. And now, because of certain points u\ ' Chnp. I. 14.
1 'I'lic niimf ).;jvfi\ (•• uiu- will) was iiiuirr insiriiction fur bnp- tiain, aiul f(ir nitranci- into the full privilc«cs of ihiirL-li mcmber- shi|>.
246 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN.
[Tractate XLIV.
the lesson before us, let us run over the words of the Lord, and of the whole lesson itself, rather than make them a theme of discourse. "As He passed out, He saw a man who was blind;" blind, not from any cause what- ever, but " from his birth.*' "And His dis- ciples asked Him, Rabbi.*' You know that " Rabbi " is Master. They called Him Mas- ter, because they desired to learn. The question, at all events, they proposed to the Lord as a master, " Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? " Jesus answered, " Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents," that he was born blind. What is this that He has said? If no man is sinless, were the parents of this blind man without sin? Was he himself either born without original sin, or had he committed none in the course of his lifetime? Because his eyes were closed, had his lusts lost their wakefulness? How many evils are done by the blind? From what evil does an evil mind abstain, even though the eyes are closed? He could not see, but he knew how to think, and perchance to lust after some- thing which his blindness hindered him from attaining, and so still in his heart to be judged by the searcher of hearts. If, then, both his parents had sin, and the man himself had sin, wherefore said the Lord, " Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents," but only in respect to the point on which he was ques- tioned, " that he was born blind "? For his parents had sin; but not by reason of the sin itself did it come about that he was born blind. If, then, it was not through the parents' sin that he was born blind, why was he born blind? Listen to the Master as He teaches. He seeks one who believes, to give him understanding. He Himself tells us the reason why that man was born blind: " Neither hath this man sinned," He says, " nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
4. And then, what follows? " I must work the works of Him that sent me." See, here is that sent one [Siloam], wherein the blind man washed his face. And see what He said: " I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day." Recall to thy mind the way in which He gives universal glory to Him of whom He is:' for that One has the Son who is of Him; He Himself has no One of whom He is.' But wherefore. Lord, saidst Thou, " While it is day "? Hearken why He did so. " The night cometh when no man can work." Not even Thou, Lord. Will that night have such power that not even I Or, " from whom He proceeds." The Son is of the Father, but the Father is of none.
Thou, whose work the night is, wilt be able to work therein? For I think. Lord Jesus, nay I do not think, but believe and hold it sure, that Thou wast there when God said, "Let there be light, and there was light. "^ For if He made it by the Word, He made it by Thee: and therefore it is said, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was nothing made."^ " God divided between the light and the darkness: the light He called Day, and the darkness He called Night." " 5. What is that night wherein, when it comes, no one shall be able to work? Hear what the day is, and then thou wilt understand what the night is. But how shall we hear what the day is? Let Himself tell us: "As long as I am in this world, I am the light of the world." See, He Him.self is the day. Let the blind man wash his eyes in the day, that he may behold the day. "As long," He says, " as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Then will it be night of a kind unknown to me, when Christ will no longer be there; and so no one will be able to work. An inquiry remains, my brethren; patiently listen to me as I inquire. With you I inquire: with you shall I find Him to whom my inquiry is addressed. We are agreed; for it is expressly and definitely stated that the Lord proclaimed Himself in this place as the day, that is, the light of the world, "As long," He says, "as I am in this world, I am the light of the world." Therefore He Himself works. But how long is He in tliis world? Are we to think, breth- ren, that He v/as here then, and is here no longer? If w^e think so, then already, after the Lord's ascension, did that fearful night begin, when no one can work. If that night began after the Lord's ascension, how was it that the apostles wrought so much? Was that the night when the Holy Spirit came, and, filling all who were in/one place, gave them the power of speaking in the tongues of every nation? ^ Was it night when that lame man was made whole at the word of Peter, or rather, at the word of the Lord dwelling in Peter?'' W^as it night when, as the disciples were passing by, the sick were laid in couches, that they might be touched at least by their shadow as they passed?^ Yet, when the Lord was here, there was no one made whole by His shadow as He passed; but He Him- self had said to the disciples, " Greater things than these shall ye do."^ Yes, the Lord had said, "Greater things than these shall ye do; '' but let not flesh and blood exalt itself: Tractatk XLIV.]
ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN.
247 let such hear Him also saying, " Without me ye can do nothing."'
6. What then? What shall we say of that night? When will it be, when no one shall be able to work? It will be that night of the wicked, that night of those to whom it shall be said in the end, " Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." But it is here called night, not flame, nor fire. Hearken, then, why it is also night. Of a certain servant He says, " Bind ye him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness." ^ Let man, then, work while he liveth, that he may not be overtaken by that night when no man can work. It is now that faith is work- ing by love; and if now we are working, then this is the day — Christ is here. Hear His promise, and think Him not absent. It is Himself who hath said, ' Lo, I am with you. " How long? Let there be no anxiety in us who are alive; were it possible, with this very word we might place in perfect security the generations still to come. "Lo," He says," I am with you always, even to the end of the world.'' 3 That day, which is completed by the circuit of yonder sun, has but few hours; the day of Christ's presence extends even to the end of the world. But after the resurrection of the living and the dead, when He shall say to those placed at His right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, re- ceive the kingdom; " and to those at His left, "Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; "* then shall be the night when no man can work, but only get back what he has wrought before. There is a time for working, another for receiving; for the Lord shall render to every one according to his works. 5 While thou livest, be doing, if thou art to be doing at all; for then shall come that appalling night, to envelope the wicked in its folds. But even now every un- believer, when he dies, is received within that night: there is no work to be done there. In that night was the rich man burning, and ask- ing a drop of water from the beggar's finger; he mourned, agonized, confessed, but no re- lief was vouchsafed. He even endeavored to do good; for he said to Abraham, " Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my brethren, that he may tell them what is being done here, lest they also come into this place of tor- ment."*" Unhai)py man! when thou wert living, then was the time for working: now thou art already in the night, in which no man can work.