On John (frag.) 1 part 5/5

for if He had been with others, some would have been about to say that it was not the body of Jesus that rose, but another's.

Mary, being devout, rested on the Sabbath; but coming early in the morning, she showed her disposition toward the Teacher. Yet, finding the stone taken away, she ran to the disciples, not concluding from this that He had risen—which she had often heard—but, seeing that what was no longer there had come to pass, she did not know how.

And the disciples ran to know what had happened, not able to endure remaining longer after hearing this.

And John, having outrun Peter, did not enter the tomb first, waiting out of respect for the foremost; he only saw the linen cloths lying there, which was a token of the resurrection;

for if the body had been stolen by enemies or by friends, they would not have left the linen cloths—the former for gain, the latter so as not to outrage the naked body, but would have moved it wrapped up.

And if disciples had stolen it, they would have snatched it up and fled, because of both the guarding soldiers and the Jews, and would not have stood stripping the body and laying the linen cloths by themselves, and the napkin elsewhere.

From the things, then, which the disciples saw, they received by grace both an understanding of the Scriptures and believed the word of His resurrection, of which they had previously been ignorant.

Out of great affection she remained alone at the tomb, weeping.

Since out of tender love she waited about the grave, she was also deemed worthy of a vision of angels, who, by the very form of the vision, showed the Lord's resurrection.

And if another evangelist says that there was one angel, nothing follows from this;

for Mary came to the grave not once but many times—sometimes with others, when she saw the one angel, and sometimes again alone, when she saw the two. And some of the evangelists told the first events, others the second; only that all agree that the angels appeared in white garments, proclaiming the good news of the resurrection.

By the white, behold the purity of the angels.

And they ask, not that they might learn why she weeps, but that she might cease;

for it was not fitting for her to weep at such a time and to dishonor the festal celebration.

And by the things in which the angels appeared in that place, they signify that, while angels were attending the place, no one was able to move the divine body; and they initiate her into the mystery of the resurrection, as one who did not, like the disciples, know the Scripture.

For, swallowed up by grief, she was still in doubt about the resurrection even after the vision.

Having much affection toward Him, she also had much unbelief arising from ignorance.

Therefore He also calls her by name, so that even thus, recognizing Him, she might be persuaded beyond doubt that He had risen.

By the voice, believing without doubt, she confesses Him as Teacher; and as she comes to worship Him, He prevents her.

For He was hastening, as is likely, to ascend to the Father untouched after the resurrection, before submitting to a human touch.

Out of great love, even after rising from the dead He again calls the apostles brothers;

yet God is not Father of the saints who advance in virtue in the same way as He is Father of the Son, since the One is by nature the Only-begotten Son begotten of God, while the others, by adoption, receive the dignity of sonship on account of their manner of life;

for if this were not distinguished, nothing would have prevented Him from saying:

'I am going to our Father.'

Therefore, by saying 'My Father and your Father,' He showed the precision of the doctrine.

For having remained at the tomb with affection for a long time, she was first deemed worthy to see Him after the resurrection and to hear these things.

By the things in which He entered while the doors were shut, He showed the strength of His divinity;

for it had come to be such as to pass over into incorruptibility.

Having shown the body and bestowed peace upon them, He filled them with great, God-given joy.

And He calls the spiritual grace of the apostles 'Spirit,' saying 'Receive the Holy Spirit,' because of its making spiritual those who hear, as He Himself had said beforehand:

'The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.'

If, then, He calls the words which He Himself spoke 'spirit'—that is, spiritual—how much more did He name so great a gift 'Spirit' by the same designation? As teachers of the inhabited world, they receive this great provision of His divine authority: the power to forgive sins and to condemn certain ones, as Sapphira and Ananias—which authority He calls 'Holy Spirit,' the spiritual gift;

for He promised not to give the Spirit, but to send Him.

Because of the extraordinary nature of the matter, Thomas disbelieves and says these things;

therefore the Lord persuades him by another revelation.

Because of Thomas's unbelief, it was necessary for the Lord to persuade him by another revelation, and He came in the same manner as at the first, and urges Thomas to touch Him; yet He reproaches him, that he believed neither the disciples nor Christ's prediction which He had spoken concerning His own resurrection.

Persuaded both by touch and by sight, he confesses Jesus to be God and Lord.

Since he was, as it were, driven by experience into believing, the Savior blesses those who believe by hearing.

Although the Lord did many signs, the disciples recorded few—as many as the memory of which was sufficient for the benefit of those about to believe that He rose, having been proclaimed by the prophets as the Son of God.

This is the One who became man and was named Jesus, in whose name all things are given life.

Not yet having been sent out to the preaching, they thought it not good to be idle;

therefore Peter and those with him turned to the work of fishing, and while they were laboring in vain and catching nothing, the Lord opportunely appeared to them and spoke to them, they not knowing who it was who had given the command and how great His power was.

For this marvelous catch of fish, astonishing them, signified the Lord's manifestation.

And Peter, out of reverence, put on his garment, and out of fervor swam and came alone to the land;

for the others in the boat dragged the net.

And Christ made this a symbol of the future catch of men that would be through His invisible working—through those to whom He said, 'Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'

Then they find a fish upon the charcoal fire, through which His ineffable power was again shown—whether, then, He took a fish from the sea without a hook, or made it out of things that were not;

and He commands that some of the caught fish too be broiled, and them to eat, so that from the likeness of both they might know that He was the Creator of both.

And when the Lord said, 'Come and eat,' no one dared to say anything to Him;

for they knew that it was He, even though they did not yet see Him clearly, either because it was still dark or because He made Himself unknown to them.

And having imparted to them the bread and the fish, He at once caused Himself to be recognized.

And the evangelist calls this the third manifestation of Christ.

This too is a token of the surpassing reverence of the blessed Peter: that when the Lord suddenly stood by, he quickly girded on his outer garment because of his nakedness, and casting himself into the sea, hastened the more quickly to come to Him as He stood on the shore.

And the Savior did this not to procure for the disciples the livelihood that comes from fishing—for He wishes them to be without possessions and poor—but He offered them a symbol of the future catch of men;

for having said at the beginnings of the gospel...

...by the catching of the irrational fish He made them of good hope, that in the rational hunting of men also they would have Him invisibly working together with them and, beyond all expectation, drawing men up from the depth of error and dragging them into the knowledge of the truth that is according to godliness.

And having imparted to them the blessing of the bread and the fish, He at once caused Himself to be recognized.

Whence the evangelist added, saying that this was the third time He was manifested to His disciples, having been raised from the dead.

Wishing, I think, to rouse his spirit from the sluggishness that came with the denial and to rekindle his love, He inquired whether he loved Him more than the others;

and he, in answer to the question, says:

'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You';

for it belonged to one taking courage and being exceedingly confident to take as witness of his own conscience no other than that very One who searches the hearts and knows the hidden things of men.

Whence, accepting him as one speaking truth, He entrusts to him the care of the rational lambs, saying, 'Feed My sheep.'

These things He asks, wishing through love to rekindle his spirit from the sluggishness that came with the denial.

And Peter, as one taking courage that He knew the things in his heart, makes Christ the witness of the things he spoke.

Therefore, accepting him, the Savior entrusts to him the care of the rational lambs, as to a genuine shepherd.

But when he was asked the third time, he was grieved, not knowing the Savior's aim and thinking that he was regarded with suspicion; and he says that if I were speaking to a man, it would be likely that I should be suspected as a liar;

but since You know all things and nothing escapes You, You know that I love You.

And He addressed him the third time, saying, 'Feed My sheep.'

And He asked the third time not because He was ignorant of his disposition, but in order that He might wipe out the three utterances of the denial through the three assents and confessions of love.

For while he was younger, he used to do what he willed by his own self-determined impulse;

for this is what 'you used to gird yourself and walk where you wished' means.

But when he had become advanced and an apostle, he came to the contest of martyrdom and was crucified;

for this is what 'you will stretch out your hands' signifies.

He endured death unwillingly, indeed; yet, because of the hopes to come, he submitted to it willingly.

And by saying 'Follow Me,' He urges him to imitate the Teacher's manner of life and to walk in the footsteps of His virtue, as far as is possible.

It is worthy in this too to marvel at the Lord's foreknowledge, He having foretold to him years before these things not only that he would become a martyr, but also that he would undergo execution by means of the cross;

for the stretching out of the hands and the binding of the girdle signified nothing other than the form of the cross.

And He wishes that he follow Him, imitating Him in all things in the life of godliness;

for those who walk in the footsteps of His virtue and imitate, as far as they are able, the exactness of His righteousness—these will then follow Him as He leads the way into His heavenly kingdom.

Having heard the things concerning himself, Peter, as one loving John, seeks to learn also the things concerning him, so that he too might be deemed worthy of the like.

But the Lord did not wish to perfect all through martyrdom;

and therefore He also said this: 'What is that to you?'

And the Lord having spoken indefinitely and not declared that he would remain until His second coming, many supposed that he would not die.

Therefore John noted down in writing their mistaken supposition, saying that the Lord had spoken one thing, while those men understood another.

Having in many places indefinitely spoken of the one loved by the Lord, he now made it plain that he speaks concerning himself;

for he himself is the one who composed the present gospel.

And knowing that he wrote all things without falsehood, he bears witness to the truth for himself.

Wishing to indicate the multitude and the greatness of those wonders, he said that if they were written down one by one, I do not think that the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

And the saying can signify either of two things: one, that if they had been written without omission, so many books would have been composed as to be infinite and unlimited in number, and to exceed in multitude the world's capacity;

and the other, that perhaps, wishing to set forth the greatness of the things that had been done, he showed that they are so great as to exceed human hearing and to be in no way able to be contained by the world.

Although there were many signs done by the Savior, the evangelists recorded few, lest the multitude of the things told should seem to exceed the memory of the hearers.

Either, then, he means this: that if all had been written without omission, so many books were going to be that they would be innumerable and would exceed the capacity of the world and of what is able to be known; or that, if anyone should wish to set forth the greatness of the things done, they are such as to exceed human hearing, so as not to be able to be contained by the world.