Latin original · 36 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss · long chapter, split into parts; this part covers 1:1023–1:1058 (1320 verses in all)
For these things, and things like these, dearly beloved brethren, though they be exceedingly hard, are proved not to be unbearable: where there has been only a good will, nothing will be impossible. For God does not send us on toilsome journeys, either to the East or to the West, to obtain eternal life; he directs us to our own selves, and what he has bestowed in us through his grace, this he requires: for so he himself said in the Gospel, The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). And therefore let there be in us true charity and good will; that that Gospel word may be fulfilled in us: Peace to men of good will (Luke 2:14). Which may he himself deign to grant, who lives and reigns God through all ages of ages. Amen. Sermon 91. Again on John, chapter
2:1-10, on the six waterpots of water changed into wine at the wedding of Cana of Galilee. 1. The six waterpots, the six ages of the world. The six ages of man. These waterpots full of the mysteries of Christ. As we have already at some time suggested to your charity, dearly beloved brethren, those six waterpots which the Gospel reading just now mentioned, and whose water was changed into wine, prefigured the six ages of this world. And as you are accustomed to hear, one age was completed from Adam to Noah; the second, from Noah to Abraham; even as the evangelist records; the third, from Abraham to David; the fourth, from David to the migration into Babylon; the fifth, from the migration into Babylon to John the Baptist;
from John the Baptist and from the coming of the Lord Savior the sixth age is carried on (Matt. 1). This matter is also clearly recognized in the course of human life. For the first step is, as it were, the first age, infancy; the second, childhood; the third, adolescence; the fourth, youth; the fifth, old age; the sixth is that fully ripe age which is also called decrepit. Let it not, then, seem strange to you when you hear that this world is completed in six ages; since you see this fulfilled also in the ages of men. In these six ages of the world, as it were in six waterpots, prophecy was not lacking. Full, then, were these waterpots of the mysteries of the Old Testament: but when in them Christ was not understood, not wine, but water was drunk from them. 2.
Christ in Adam. The first waterpot, then, was filled in the times of Adam, when the Lord sent a deep sleep upon him, and took one of his ribs, and fashioned it into a woman (Gen. 2:21-22). For what else did this then signify, if not the passion of the Lord Savior? Adam sleeps, and from his side a rib is taken, Eve is fashioned: with head bowed Christ slept upon the cross, and from his side the Church is formed. For when he was struck in the side, there came out blood and water (John 19:34); the blood of redemption, and the water of Baptism. As if indeed, brethren, God could not have made Eve from that whence he had made Adam as well.
But even then, in that old Adam, from whose rib Eve was fashioned, the new Adam was signified, from whose side the Church was to be formed. But this prophecy, because in it the people of the Jews did not understand Christ, tasted not of wine, but of water. 3. In Noah. The second waterpot was filled in Noah, in whose times the human race is saved through the mystery of the ark, or of the flood (Gen. 6 and following), just as through the sacrament of the cross or of Baptism, at the coming of the Lord Savior, the whole world is snatched from eternal death. 4. In Abraham. The third waterpot was filled in Abraham, whom the Lord commanded to offer his son as a whole burnt offering, after the likeness of the Lord Savior (Gen. 22:1-19).
For just as the blessed Isaac himself carried the wood to the place of the burnt offering, so also the true Isaac himself bore for himself the gibbet of the cross to the place of the passion (John 19:17). 5. David prefigured Christ in many things. The fourth waterpot was filled in David, who prefigured Christ the Lord both in humility, and in meekness, and in many tribulations. Among the other things which the Lord deigned to speak through him, he also cried out this: Arise, O Lord, to judge the earth. To whom is it said, Arise, if not to him who fell asleep? Arise, he says, O Lord, to judge the earth. You slept, judged by the earth; arise, that you may judge the earth: that in you may be fulfilled what Scripture foretold, For you shall inherit among all the nations (Ps. 82:8). 6.
Prophecy concerning Christ in Daniel. The fifth waterpot was filled in the times of Daniel, who said that he had seen a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, and that this stone had grown, and had filled the whole face of the earth (Dan. 2:34-35). See, brethren, that that mountain from which the stone was cut out filled the whole earth. That mountain signifies the kingdom of the Jews; from which mountain a stone was cut, that is, Christ was born: but what he says, Without hands, is understood thus, that it was without the nuptial act; for in hands works are understood. That mountain, then, that is, the kingdom of the Jews, did not fill the earth; for before Christ came, God was known only in Judea.
But after Christ came, he so filled the whole world with his grace that their sound went out into all the earth—the sound of the Apostles—and their words unto the ends of the world. 7. On the calling of the Gentiles in John. Stones, the Gentiles. To those not understanding Christ, the Law is water; otherwise, wine. The sixth waterpot was filled through the blessed John the Baptist. For he, when he had seen the Jews coming to his baptism, said to them: Brood of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth fruits worthy of penance. For God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham (Matt. 3:7-9). What did he wish to be understood by the stones, out of which children could be raised up to Abraham; what indeed, if not all the Gentiles?
And why were all the Gentiles stones? How were those not stones who worshiped stones? But someone says: Even if some worshiped stones, are they on that account stones? Hear the Scripture saying: Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them (Ps. 115:8). These six ages of the world, then, as it were six waterpots, were filled by the ministers, that is, by the Patriarchs and the Prophets. Christ, therefore, when he came, did not cast out that water and put in another; but he himself turned it into wine. Why so? Because he had not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. He did not reject the Old Testament, and thus establish the New:
but that which in the letter of the Law tasted of water, when he made it to be understood spiritually, he turned the water into wine. 8. The disciples unbelieving after Christ's death. Finally, to such a degree, before the coming of Christ, was the Old Testament water, that those who read it and did not understand Christ were called foolish by the Lord Christ himself. For after the passion of our Lord, as two disciples were journeying and wishing to go to a village named Emmaus, the Lord and Savior joined himself to them and said to them: What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you walk, and are sad? But they, among other things, said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man, a prophet, mighty in deed and word.
O blessed disciples! Has faith been so weakened in you that you call the Lord of the Prophets a prophet? Did you thus hear the blessed Apostle Peter confess? Do you not recall what Peter answered when the Lord questioned him? You, he said, are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). He confessed him the Son of the living God; and do you believe him to have been a prophet? Although this name too befits the Lord Savior, according to what Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet; him you shall hear, as it were myself. And every soul that will not hear that Prophet shall be [cut off] from the people. Yet, though the disciples said such things to that man, they did not by any means believe Christ to be true God.
Finally, see what they say: We, they say, were hoping that he was the one who would redeem Israel. O disciples, you were hoping; have you now despaired? The thief says on the cross, Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom: and you say, But we were hoping. Behold, you did not even believe that he would rise again; and the thief believed that he would even reign. Since, then, faith had so grown cold in the disciples that they spoke such things, the Lord answered: O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe (Luke 24:13-25). Why were they foolish? Because they still drank water: as yet Christ had not spiritually turned the water into wine. 9. The two or three measures, the mystery of the Trinity and the precepts of charity.
Each holding two or three measures. For he did not say, Some held two, others three; but of them all he said that each held two or three measures. And since according to the letter this cannot be understood, let us see what we can perceive in them spiritually. For we already said above that that water which was in the waterpots can be understood as prophecy or the Old Testament: why, then, two or three measures? Without doubt on account of the mystery of the Trinity. Why also two? On account of the two precepts of love. For in the Law and the Prophets not only is the mystery of the Trinity acknowledged, but also the two precepts of charity are constantly proclaimed.
Let us see, however, whether in the Gospel too we can find the two or three measures. I, he says, and the Father are one (John 10:30); behold, you have two. Give also three. Go, he says, baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19); behold, you have three. 10. How the fervor of the soul is to be cherished. Wherefore, most beloved brethren, since what Christ did in the Apostles he has deigned to fulfill also in us;
so that we who through unbelief were lukewarm and cold, may through faith deserve to be fervent in the work of God, let us labor, with his help, as much as we can, that we may deserve to hold fast perseverance in good works even to the end; and let us thus continually strive to exercise ourselves in the readings of the holy Scriptures, that with the Prophet we may be able to say, You have given us to drink the wine of compunction (Ps. 60:5); and again, How glorious is your cup that makes drunk! (Ps. 23:5). For just as through the love of God our water has been turned into wine;
so on the contrary we ought to fear, lest by loving the world and cherishing its lusts, our wine be turned into water. And therefore, as much as we can, let us persist in good works and beseech the mercy of God; that in us he may himself, according to his own goodness, guard his own works and benefits: who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God unto the ages of ages. Amen. Sermon 92. Likewise on John, chapter 2:1-10, on the wedding at Cana of Galilee. 1. Why Christ came to the wedding. Why he says, My hour has not yet come. The power of our Lord and Savior, dearly beloved brethren, is clearly shown in the present reading, when his marvels are narrated not by obscurity of words, but by purity of speech.
Finally, the Evangelist so guards the inner things of the mystery that he sets forth the event in faithful discourse: for thus he says, The Lord Jesus was called to the wedding, and his mother. Nor did he disdain the company of men, he who had taken on the use of the flesh; nor did he despise secular institutions, he who had come to correct them. He was present at the wedding, that he might strengthen the laws of concord; he was present at the wedding, and did not refuse the feastings of the wedding; that he might stir up psalms and timbrels for it, to proclaim the glory of God the Father, that the Father might be honored in the Son, and the Son be known by the Father. His mother, he says, was there. How gladly did Mary come to this wedding, in which she attests the marvels of God. It is intimated by divine suggestion that the wine had failed.
Could it be hidden from God, what was going on in that house in which he was? But God, not ignorant of things, answered: What is it to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come. By this reply we must for the moment note that some portion of the nuptial wine had perhaps as yet remained: therefore the Lord's full power of miracles was not yet at hand; lest he should seem rather to mix the elements than to change them. But he says, My hour has not yet come; so that thus the marvels of God might be manifest, such that neither could an enemy prevail by arguments, nor a treacherous Jew bring a false charge. 2. In no way is the mind deceived that faithfully confesses God. And Mary says to the servants: Whatever he says to you, do.
How well does the Lord's mother persuade the servants to belief, that wine might not be lacking to those dining: Whatever he says, do. We understand that there is now a mystery, when the mother, knowing that she knows God's commands, earnestly exhorts. The Lord Jesus says to the servants: Fill the waterpots with water. And when they had filled them, he says: Draw out now, and carry to the master of the feast. When the chief master of the feast had received it, he immediately understood that the wine brought in later was superior. And since he did not know what the Lord had done, he said to the bridegroom: Why do you bring forth the better wine so late, when this ought to have been first? We see, then, that the mystery fits together, and what the Savior says, My hour has not yet come:
and when the chief master of the feast accuses the bridegroom of tardiness, let us look more attentively at the open mysteries of this order which the Evangelist sets forth. Let us see what is the wedding, who are the servants, who is the chief master of the feast, who is the bridegroom, how God came to the wedding, how Mary; whence the wine from water, why afterward the better, why God willed to defer to the [appointed] hour. Indeed there are no hidden mysteries before the minds of believers. In no way is the mind deceived that faithfully confesses God. For he who knows that the Savior's coming is the remedy of our life, easily recognizes the mercy of his power with pure truth. 3. The Church calls Christ to the wedding. From him she desires wine. What was detaining Christ. The Savior is called to the wedding;
that is, by the Church's prayer the Holy Spirit is invoked. He comes with his disciples, that is, in this place, a crowd of holy ones. What can be said more plainly? The mother Mary awaited the marvels of God, that is, the Church awaits the power of Christ: she compels him to draw near; for Mary says, Behold, the wine is failing: that is, why does the people now find no remedy? Mary hastens to prove God; the Church desires to receive wine; that from the nuptial banquet there may come a spiritual feast. For he says, What is it to me and to you, woman? Does he call Mary a woman, who after childbearing was found a virgin?
But rather the Church, who is called not only a woman, but even a harlot, who received the erring people—wanton through the age and its slippery, uncertain seasons—as her spouse, as though a prostitute, and, like a learned mother, adorns her. My hour, he says, has not yet come: that is, the time of the passion remains. My hour has not yet come; the people has not yet believed, the Jew does not yet persecute: the devil still has cause to rejoice, the palm of my triumph is not yet brought forth, the persecutor does not yet know the place of the cross, and Judas does not yet lie. My hour has not yet come: there are first things to be purged in the world; and thus life advances in the people. 4. The Church teaches to obey the teacher. The best wine only when the worse is exhausted. The best wine, the blood of Christ.
Mary says to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you'; that is, obey the teacher — for the Church entrusts a command to her ministers. And who are the ministers, if not the offices of the Levites, which are appointed to the mysteries of God? The waterpots are filled with water; that is, emptied of the wine of the wedding-feast — that is, of a base drink — they are replenished with the purity of the spring, and by the blessing of the Lord are turned into the savour of wine; so that from water he might supply a draught of the Spirit to those already dining. He turns water into wine: the strength granted to human frailty is increased. The chief steward tastes the better wine: that is, human hearts perceived the savour of the Lord's power. For he who first judged the wine to be better was also the first to believe.
What is that wine which is judged the best, which the chief steward complains was brought out late, if not the blood of the Lord's passion? For this is what God kept back until the hour, this is what the ministers receive, this is what the Bridegroom preserves, this is what the chief steward — who is first in faith — venerates. Let us therefore mark with attentive heart that we ought to hear the holy Scriptures; that we may be able to recognize the heavenly teaching with faithful belief, and be freed from every hindrance of this world; by the help of him who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Of Anicius. SERMON XCIII. On the words of the Gospel of John, chapter IV, 5-13, 'Jesus came into the city of Samaria which is called Sychar,' etc., and on not deferring Baptism.
1. Christ became the lawful heir of Jacob. In the reading of the Gospel the holy Evangelist has most fully shown us that the Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself the infirmity of the human race. For when he had said that the Lord had come into the city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground which Jacob gave to Joseph his son — in which plot was Jacob's well — he added: 'Jesus,' he says, 'being wearied with the journey, sat thus upon the well.' Our Lord Jesus Christ came to the plot of ground which holy Jacob had left to Joseph his son: which plot, I think, was left not so much to Joseph as to Christ, whose figure the holy patriarch Joseph bore — Joseph whom in truth the sun and the moon adore, and whom all the stars bless.
For this reason the Lord came to this plot of ground: that the Samaritans, who desired to claim for themselves the inheritance of the patriarch Israel, might recognize their true possessor and be converted to Christ, who became the lawful heir of the patriarch. 2. Christ is wearied on account of our infirmity. He finds rest in the faithful. — 'Jesus,' he says, 'being wearied with the journey, sat thus upon the well.' See the diversity of the mystery. Among the Apostles, set upon the mountain, he exulted in spirit; not only did he strengthen them, but he also displayed to them a glory that was his own: but stationed in Samaria, wearied with the journey, he sat upon the well. Could the power of God be wearied? Surely not: but we were the ones wearying him, because he could not find a faithful people.
Then, therefore, is Christ wearied, when he recognizes no strength in his people. Even today our disobedience wearies him, our infirmity wearies him. For we are weak when we pursue not the things that are strong and everlasting, but the temporal and the perishable. Well does he say, 'He sat upon the well,' not 'He was resting'; because among the Samaritans he could not find rest. 'And it was,' he says, 'about the sixth hour.' On the sixth day God formed man out of the slime of the earth; at the sixth hour he came to visit Samaria: so that in those Samaritans who should believe in him he might himself begin to rest, and might celebrate that true Sabbath of repose. The Lord therefore sat upon the well. 3.
Why Christ the fountain sat upon the well. — And there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. A great mystery. The woman came to the well; and she found the fountain she had not hoped for. The Lord says to her: 'Give me to drink.' The good Lord freely offers himself to her who does not seek him, that the prophetic word might be fulfilled: 'I appeared openly to those who sought me not, I was found by those who did not ask for my Name' (Isaiah 65:1, according to the Septuagint). He asks to drink, though he is about to give drink: he sat upon the well, that we should seek water not in the heights, but that from that fountain which is above all waters we might draw draughts of salvation for ourselves. Who is the fountain, if not our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom it is said: 'For with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light we shall see light' (Psalm — )?
(Psalm 35:10). A good fountain, which has refreshed us from the burning of this life, and by its flood has overcome the dryness of our heart. 4. Those who defer Baptism know not the gift of God. The coming of Christ is grace. Hence it is said to the woman: 'If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.' Not all know the gift of God; because not all desire living water. For if they desired it, they would never defer the sacraments of Baptism concerning themselves. Therefore they pass sentence upon themselves and forfeit the testimony of their own life, who wish to be baptized later so that they may commit many outrages and crimes. Do not defer, O man, the remedies of your salvation:
for you know not when your soul may be required of you. Then the Samaritan woman, ignorant of the mystery, said: 'Lord, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.' Before the Lord's coming the well was indeed deep, and without something to draw with no one could draw water for himself. The Lord came, the living fountain, to enlighten the hearts of the Pharisees, to quench their thirst, to fill their breasts, not seeking anything to draw with, but of his own accord pouring himself into those who go about. And he added: 'Whosoever shall drink of this water which I shall give him shall never thirst; but it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life.' He teaches one Baptism, who after the entrance of the eternal fountain and the sacrament of the heavenly cup suffers none of us ever to thirst.
And therefore let us, to whom the divine mercy has granted such great benefits with no preceding merits, labour as far as we are able, with his own help, that the grace of so great a mercy may bring us not judgment but advancement. Which may he himself deign to grant, to whom is honour and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON XCIV. On the words of the Gospel of John, chapter V, 20-30, 'As the Father raises the dead,' etc.; and also chapter VI, 37-40, 'All that the Father gives me,' etc. 1. There is one judgment of discernment, another of condemnation. You have heard, dearly beloved brethren, in the Gospel reading, the Lord saying: 'For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.'
'For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.' 'And he will show him greater works than these': that is, not only to heal the sick, but also to raise the dead. As for what he says, 'Neither does the Father judge anyone,' this is according to his divinity; because no one can behold him nor hear him: as in that saying, 'No one has ever seen God.' 'But he has given all judgment to the Son': that is, that he who was himself judged according to the flesh should be the one by whom all are judged. 'Amen, amen, I say to you, that he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and comes not into judgment; but passes from death to life.'
As for what he says, 'Comes not into judgment — he who hears my word and believes him who sent me,' it is seen that a discernment has been made by the Lord between the just and sinners: as if he said, He will not come into the number of sinners who has done these things; but passes from death to life: that is, from pride to humility, from hatred to charity, from temporal things to eternal things he shall migrate. 'Amen, amen, I say to you, that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.' By 'the dead' are understood sinners, who heard Christ and did not believe. And as for what is added, 'They shall live that hear': this is a recapitulation, because a little above he had spoken of the resurrection of sinners;
but here he speaks of the resurrection of the dead. 'For as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son also to have life in himself: and he has given him power to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.' Thus the Father gave life to the Son by begetting, even as he himself has it. As for what he says, 'He has given him to execute judgment,' we understand that the Father is said to have given judgment to the Son in respect of the flesh which he assumed; and here he signifies the judgment to come: in which judgment the Lord Jesus Christ will stand, and will render to each according to his works; because by this judgment we understand the condemnation and punishment of sinners. For where the Psalmist says, 'Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause' (Psalm — ),
(Psalm 42:1), we recognize the judgment of discernment. 'Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own glory, but the will of him who sent me.' In this place he most plainly proclaims the resurrection to come. And as for what he said, 'I can of my own self do nothing': it is as if he said, For this reason I can do nothing of myself, because I came not of myself, but from the Father. As for what he says, 'As I hear, I judge,'
etc., that 'hearing' is signified to have been made in eternity. 2. He who is made humble is given to Christ, and cannot perish. The resurrection is twofold. — 'All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will not cast out.' A great sanctuary and a sweet secret, without weariness, without the bitterness of evil thoughts, without the assault of temptations and sorrows. Is not that the secret into which he shall enter to whom the Lord is about to say, 'Good servant, deservedly enter into the joy of thy Lord' (Matthew 25:21)? 'And him that comes to me,' he says, 'I will not cast out.' He who comes to me becomes humble; he who cleaves to me will be humble: because he will not do his own will, but God's; and therefore he will not be cast out.