And it is nothing to marvel at that, the Firstborn of all creation having become embodied out of love for mankind, certain zealots and imitators of Christ came to be, who loved to serve, through a like body, his kindness toward men. For who would not be moved by one leaping in exultation while still in the womb, so as to surpass the common nature of men?
But if anyone also accepts, among the apocryphal writings current among the Hebrews, the one entitled 'The Prayer of Joseph,' he will take from there this very doctrine, plainly and clearly stated: that those who from the beginning possessed some special distinction beyond other men, being far superior to the rest of souls, have descended into human nature from being angels.
Jacob, then, says: 'For I who speak to you am Jacob and Israel, an angel of God and a ruling spirit; and Abraham and Isaac were created before every work; but I, Jacob, am the one called Jacob by men, but my name is Israel -- the one called Israel by God, a man seeing God -- because I am the firstborn of every living being made alive by God.'
And he adds: 'But I, when I was coming from Mesopotamia of Syria, Uriel the angel of God came forth and said that I had come down to the earth and had dwelt among men, and that I was called by the name Jacob. He was jealous and fought with me, and wrestled against me, saying that his name would take precedence over my name, and over the name of the one before every angel. And I told him his name, and how great he is among the sons of God: Are you not Uriel, the eighth after me, while I am Israel, archangel of the power of the Lord and chief captain among the sons of God? Am I not Israel, the first minister before the face of God, who called upon my God by an unquenchable name?'
For it is reasonable that, these things having been truly spoken by Jacob and for this reason recorded, the text 'in the womb he supplanted his brother' was also composed with understanding. But consider whether the well-known question concerning Jacob and Esau has a resolution -- since, not yet having been born nor having done anything good or bad, in order that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him who calls, it was said: 'The elder shall serve the younger,' just as it is written: 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What then shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it not be! For not yet having been born nor having done anything good or bad, in order that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him who calls, it was said.
Since, then, we are not discrediting the works done before this life, how is it true that there is no injustice with God, when the elder serves the younger and is hated, before doing the things worthy of servitude and the things worthy of being hated? But we have digressed rather far, having taken up the account concerning Jacob, and having called to witness for ourselves a Scripture not to be despised, in order that the account concerning John might become more credible, establishing him -- according to the utterance of Isaiah -- to be an angel who came to be in a body for the purpose of bearing witness to the light. And these things concerning John the man.
I hold that, just as among us voice and word differ -- a voice that signifies nothing being sometimes able to be uttered apart from reason, while reason too can be conveyed to the mind apart from voice, as when we reason discursively within ourselves -- so also, the Savior being, according to a certain conception, Word, John differs from him, being, in proportion to the Christ who is Word, a voice.
And to this John himself invites me -- whoever he may be -- answering those who inquire: 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' And perhaps it is for this reason that Zachariah, having disbelieved concerning the birth of the voice that was to show forth the Word of God, loses his voice, receiving it again when the forerunner voice of the Word is born. For it is necessary to give ear to the voice, so that afterward the mind may be able to receive the word shown by the voice.
For this reason John, as to his birth, is a little older than the Christ; for we perceive voice before reason. But John also points out the Christ; for the word is exhibited by voice. And the Christ is also baptized by John, confessing that he has need to be baptized by him; for reason is purified for men by voice, although by nature it is reason that purifies every voice that signifies it. And, in a word, whenever John points out the Christ, a man points out God, and the incorporeal Savior is pointed out, and a voice points out the Word.
It would be useful, just as in the case of many words there is a precise significance to the names, so also in this passage to see what John and Zachariah signify. For, as though this were a matter not to be despised concerning the giving of the name, the relatives wish him to be called Zachariah, being astonished at Elizabeth's wish to name him John; but Zachariah, having written 'John shall be his name,' is released from the laborious silence.
We have found, then, in the interpretation of names, that 'John' is rendered 'Ioan,' without the ending -es, which we take to be the same as 'John'; since the New Testament also hellenized other Hebrew names, expressing them in Greek form, just as instead of 'Jacob' it uses 'Jacobos,' and instead of 'Symeon,' 'Simon.' Zachariah is said to mean 'remembrance,' while Elizabeth means 'oath of my God,' or 'sevenfold/week of my God.'
From God, then, comes grace; out of the remembrance concerning God, according to the oath of our God concerning the fathers, John was born, preparing for the Lord a people made ready, having come to be at the end of the Old Covenant -- he is the crowning completion of Sabbath-observance; wherefore he cannot have been born apart from the 'seventh/week' of our God, which is the rest, after the Sabbath, of our Savior, since he produces this rest of his in those who have become conformed to his death, and, on this account, also to his resurrection. 'This one came for a witness, that he might bear witness concerning the light, that all might believe through him.'
Some of the heterodox, while claiming to believe in Christ, and because — consistently with their fashioning another god apart from the Demiurge — they do not admit that his coming was proclaimed beforehand by the prophets, attempt to overturn the testimonies concerning Christ given through the prophets, saying that the Son of God has no need of witnesses, since he possesses what is worthy of belief both in the salvific words, full of power, which he proclaimed, and in his marvelous works, which are able of themselves to astound anyone whatsoever.
And they say: 'If Moses was believed on account of his word and his mighty works, without needing witnesses who had proclaimed him beforehand, and if likewise each of the prophets was accepted by the people as one sent from God, how much more — since he surpasses Moses and the prophets — is he able, without prophets bearing witness concerning him, to accomplish what he wishes and to benefit the human race?'
They suppose, then, that it is superfluous for him to be thought to have been proclaimed beforehand by the prophets — this argument having been devised, as those persons would themselves say, by those unwilling that believers in Christ should accept the novelty of the deity, but rather that they should arrive at the very same God whom, even before Jesus, Moses and the prophets taught.
It must be said, then, in answer to them, that since there can be many causes that invite one to belief, and since sometimes certain persons are not struck by this particular proof but by another, God has more numerous occasions to provide to human beings, so that it might be accepted that the God who is above all created things became human.
One can, in fact, clearly see certain persons coming to wonder at Christ on the basis of the prophetic predictions, astounded at the voice of so many prophets before him establishing the place of his birth, the region, the power of his teaching, the performance of marvelous works, and his human suffering dissolved by the resurrection.
This too must be considered: that the marvelous works were able to invite those who lived in the time of the Lord to belief, but did not retain their evidential force after many years had passed, being now even suspected of being myths. For the prophecy which is now examined together with the reports of miracles has more power to persuade than the miracles that occurred then, and it prevents those who examine those miracles from disbelieving them.
Perhaps, too, the prophetic testimonies not only proclaim that Christ is to come, nor do they teach us this and nothing else, but make it possible to learn much theology and the relation of the Father to the Son and of the Son to the Father — no less from the prophets, through whom these things concerning him are announced, than from the apostles who narrate the majesty of the Son of God.
But one might venture, even apart from these considerations, to say something like this: that they are witnesses of Christ, being adorned by bearing witness concerning him, and not at all conferring some favor upon him by bearing witness concerning the Son of God — as all would surely acknowledge concerning those who are properly called 'witnesses' of Christ.
What wonder, then, is it if, just as many of Christ's genuine disciples were adorned by being witnesses of Christ, so too the prophets, having understood how to proclaim Christ beforehand, received him as a gift from God, teaching not only those who lived after Christ's coming what they ought to think concerning the Son of God, but also those in the generations prior to them?
For just as he who has not known the Son does not now have the Father either, so too must it be understood with regard to earlier times. This is why Abraham rejoiced, that he might see the day of Christ; and he saw it, and was glad. He, then, who wishes that they ought not to bear witness concerning Christ, wishes to deprive the chorus of prophets of the greatest grace; for what so great a thing would prophecy — which comes from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit — possess, if the matters concerning the dispensation of our Lord had been taken away from it?
For just as piety towards God is adorned by those who approach the God of all things through a mediator and high priest and paraclete, and (†the wording here is uncertain) in a scientific/well-grounded manner — for it would limp were one not to enter to the Father through the Door — so also the piety of the ancients was, through the understanding, faith, and expectation of Christ, holy and acceptable before God. Since we have observed that God confesses himself to be a witness, and declares the same concerning Christ, exhorting all to become imitators of himself and of Christ, in accordance with their bearing witness to those things to which witness must be borne. For he says: 'Become my witnesses, and I too am a witness,' says the Lord God, 'and the servant whom I have chosen.'
Now everyone who bears witness to the truth, whether by words or by deeds or in whatever way standing firm for it, might reasonably be called a witness. But already those who, marveling — as is the custom of the brotherhood — at the disposition of those who contended even unto death for truth or for courage, have in the proper sense named only those 'witnesses' who bore witness to the mystery of piety by the shedding of their own blood — even though the Savior names as 'witness' everyone who bears witness to the things proclaimed concerning him.
At any rate, he says, as he was being taken up, to the apostles: 'You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.' Furthermore, just as the leper who has been cleansed brings the gift prescribed by Moses, making this a testimony to those who have not believed in Christ, so too the witnesses bear witness as a testimony to the unbelievers, and so do all the saints, whose works shine before men. For they conduct themselves as citizens, speaking boldly in the cross of Christ and bearing witness concerning the true light.
So John, then, came that he might bear witness concerning the light; he, bearing witness, cried out, saying: 'He who comes after me has come to be before me, because he was before me. For of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace; for the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, that one has declared him.'
This whole passage, then, has been spoken from the person of the Baptist bearing witness to Christ — a fact which escapes certain persons who suppose that, from 'Of his fullness we have all received' up to 'that one has declared him,' it is spoken from the person of John the Apostle.
In addition to the aforementioned testimony of the Baptist, beginning from 'He who comes after me has come to be before me' and ending at 'that one has declared him,' this too is a testimony of John, second after that one — when, to those sent from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, sent by the Jews, he confesses, not denying the truth, that he is neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet, but 'a voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,' just as Isaiah the prophet said.
After this, there is another testimony of the same Baptist concerning Christ, still teaching his pre-existent subsistence extending throughout the whole world according to rational souls, when he says: 'In your midst stands one whom you do not know, who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the strap of his sandal.' And consider whether, because the heart is in the middle of the whole body, and the ruling faculty is in the heart, according to the reason within each person it is possible to understand the saying 'In your midst stands one whom you do not know.'
Fourth, in addition to these, is the testimony of John concerning Christ, already sketching out his human suffering as well, when he says: 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who has come to be before me, because he was before me; and I did not know him, but that he might be made manifest to Israel, for this reason I came baptizing in water.'
And a fifth testimony is recorded, according to the passage: 'I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it remained upon him; and I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, that one said to me: Upon whomever you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit …… . And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.'
Sixth, John bears witness to Christ in the presence of two disciples, when, looking upon Jesus as he walked, he says: 'Behold the Lamb of God.' After this testimony, when the two disciples of John had heard it and had followed Jesus, Jesus turned and, seeing the two following, answers, saying: 'What do you seek?'
And perhaps it is not without reason that, after six testimonies, John ceases bearing witness, while Jesus, as the seventh, puts forward the question, 'What do you seek?' Fitting, indeed, for those who had been benefited by John's testimony, is the utterance proclaiming Christ as teacher and confessing their longing to see the dwelling place of the Son of God; for they say to him: 'Rabbi' (which, being interpreted, means Teacher), 'where do you dwell?' And since everyone who seeks finds, to John's disciples who sought Jesus' dwelling he points it out, saying to them: 'Come and see' — perhaps by 'Come' exhorting them toward the practical life, and by 'You will see' indicating that the contemplation which follows upon the accomplishment of right deeds will certainly belong to those who desire it, coming to be in the dwelling place of Jesus.
It lay before those who had sought where Jesus dwelt, and had followed the Teacher and had seen his dwelling, to remain with Jesus and to spend that day together with the Son of God. And since the number ten is observed to be holy, not a few mysteries being recorded as having occurred in connection with the decad, it must be understood that it is not without purpose that the Gospel also records the tenth hour of the lodging of John's disciples with Jesus — as Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one who, having been benefited by remaining with Jesus, upon finding his own brother Simon — perhaps (perhaps he had not found him before) — says that he has found the Messiah, which, being interpreted, is Christ.
For since he who seeks finds, and he sought where Jesus dwelt, and having followed and beheld his dwelling place, remains with the Lord at the tenth hour, and finds the Son of God, the Word and Wisdom, and is ruled as king by him — for this reason he says: 'We have found the Messiah.' This utterance might be spoken by everyone who has found the Word of God and is ruled as king by his divinity.
And immediately he brings forth fruit, presenting his brother to Christ — to whom, that is to Simon, Jesus granted the favor of looking upon him, which is, through the act of looking upon him, to oversee and to illuminate his ruling faculty; and because Jesus had looked upon him, Simon was made able to be confirmed, so that he became named after the work of firmness and steadfastness, and was called Peter.
But someone will say: why, when it was proposed to explain 'This one came for a testimony, that he might bear witness concerning the light,' have we gone through all these matters? It must be said that it was necessary to set forth the testimonies of John concerning the light, and to expound their order, as well as the benefit that followed, coming from Jesus after John's testimony, upon those to whom he bore witness, in order that the effectiveness of John's testimony might be made evident.
And even before the testimonies mentioned here, the leaping for joy of the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth at the greeting of Mary was a testimony concerning Christ, bearing witness to the divinity of his conception and birth. For indeed, what else is John everywhere but a witness and forerunner of Jesus, anticipating his birth, and dying a little before the death of the Son of God, so that, entering the world before Christ, he might everywhere prepare for the Lord a people made ready — not only for those already in existence, but also for those awaiting the freedom from death that comes through Christ? And John's testimony reaches even to Christ's second and more divine coming: 'For if you are willing to accept it,' he says, 'he himself is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
Now since there was a beginning, in which was the Word (which we have shown, from Proverbs, to be Wisdom), and since the Word also existed, and life came to be in him, and this life was the light of men, I ask why in the world the man who came into being, sent from God, whose name was John, came for a testimony, that he might bear witness concerning the light.
Why, then, is it not that he might bear witness concerning the life, or that he might bear witness concerning the Word, or concerning the beginning, or concerning whatever other title of Christ? Consider whether it is not because — since the people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and since the light shines in the darkness and is not overtaken by it — those who happen to be in darkness are in need of light, that is, human beings.
For if the light of men shines in the darkness, where the working of darkness in no way occurs, we shall then share in the remaining titles of Christ, not now properly and precisely partaking of them. For how do we partake of life, we who still bear about us the body of death, we whose life is hidden with Christ in God? For when Christ, who is our life, is manifested, then we too shall be manifested with him in glory — not
It would indeed have been possible for the one who came, to bear witness concerning the life still hidden with Christ in God; but he did not even come for a testimony, that he might bear witness concerning the Word — meaning by 'the Word' him who in the beginning was with God and was God the Word; for on earth the Word became flesh. And there would have been a testimony — even though it might seem to be properly said concerning the Word — one spoken concerning the Word who had become flesh, and not concerning the Word who is God; for this very reason he did not come, that he might bear witness concerning the Word.
But how could a testimony concerning Wisdom come to be for those who, even if they seem to have known it, do not perceive the purely true reality, but see through a mirror and in a riddle? It is likely, however, that before Christ's second and more divine coming, John or Elijah will come to bear witness concerning life, a little before Christ, our life, is manifested; and that he will then bear witness concerning the Word, and will present the testimony concerning Wisdom as well. It requires examination, however, whether John's testimony can, in this way, be a forerunner to each of the titles of Christ. These, then, are our remarks on 'This one came for a testimony, that he might bear witness concerning the light.' Next, we must examine what one ought to understand by 'that all might believe through him.'