96

Christ acknowledged by the whole Creation.

HOMIL. Composition, but only for your advantage; and therefore XII. there is nothing to prevent my establishing my argument by

the instance of a common practice. What then is the habit of most persons? Often when any have seen a king richly decked, and glittering on all sides with precious stones, and are afterwards describing to others the beauty, the ornaments, the splendour, they enumerate as much as they can, the glowing tint of the purple robe, the size of the jewels, the whiteness of the mules, the gold about the yoke, the soft and shining couch. But when after enumerating these things, and other things besides these, they cannot, say what ag- they will, give a full idea of the splendour, they immediately στησαι bring in; "But why say much about it; once for all, he

29.

was like a king;" not desiring by the expression "like," to shew that he, of whom they say this, resembles a king, but that he is a real king. Just so now the Evangelist has put the word AS, desiring to represent the transcendent nature and incomparable excellence of His glory.

For indeed all others, both angels and archangels and prophets, did every thing as under command; but He with the authority which becomes a King and Master; at which even the Matt. 7, multitudes wondered, that He taught as one having authority. Even angels, as I said, have appeared with great glory upon the earth; as in the case of Daniel, of David, of Moses, but they did all as servants who have a Master. But He as Lord and Ruler of all, and this when He appeared in poor and humble form; but even so creation recognised her Lord. Now the star from heaven which called the wise men to worship Him, the vast throng pouring every where of angels attending the Lord, and hymning His praise, and besides them, many other heralds sprang up on a sudden, and all, as they met, declared to one another the glad tidings of this coming ineffable mystery; the angels to the shepherds; the shepherds ther' to those of the city; Gabriel to Mary and Elisabeth; Anna and Simeon to those who came to the Temple. Nor were irrig- men and women only lifted up3 with pleasure, but the very Ongar infant who had not yet come forth to light, I mean the winged' citizen of the wilderness, the namesake of this Evangelist, suring leaped while yet in his mother's womb, and all were soaring* a Morel. ' and heavenly multitudes appearing on earth of Angels ministering.'

2 al.

toge

'made

Man's nature repaired by Christ.

97

I. 14.

with hopes for the future. This too immediately after the JOHN Birth. But when He had manifested Himself still farther, other wonders, yet greater than the first, were seen. For it was no more star, or sky, no more angels, or archangels, not Gabriel, or Michael, but the Father Himself from heaven above, Who proclaimed Him, and with the Father the Comforter, flying down at the uttering of the Voice and resting on Him. Truly therefore did he say, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father.

'nature'

24.

death

Yet he says it not only on account of these things, but also on account of what followed them; for no longer do shepherds only, and widow women, and aged men, declare to us the good tidings, but the very voice' of the things1 al. themselves, sounding clearer than any trumpet, and so loudly, that the sound was straightway heard even in this land. For, says one, His fame went into all Syria; and Matt. 4, He revealed Himself to all, and all things every where exclaimed, that the King of Heaven was come. Evil spirits every where fled and started away from Him, Satan covered his face and retired, death at that time retreated before Him, 2al. 'and and afterwards disappeared altogether; every kind of in- itself.' firmity was loosed, the graves let free the dead, the devils those whom they had maddened3, and diseases the sick. 3 ros μεμήνο And one might see things strange and wonderful, such as with good cause the prophets desired to see, and saw not. One might see eyes fashioned, (might see) Him shew- John 9, ing to all in short space, and on the more noble portion of the body, that admirable thing which all would have desired to see, how God formed Adam from the earth; palsied and distorted limbs fastened and adapted to each other, dead hands moving, palsied feet leaping amain, ears that were stopped re-opened, and the tongue sounding aloud which before was tied by speechlessness. For having taken in hand the common nature of men, as some excellent workman might take a house decayed by time, He filled up what was broken off, banded together its crevices and shaken portions, and raised up again what was entirely fallen down.

And what should one say of the fashioning of the soul, so much more admirable than that of the body? The health of bthroughout.' E. V.

H

< ἐγκαλυψάμενος.

τας

6.7.

XII.

souls is as much
And not on this

HOMIL. Our bodies is a great thing, but that of our
greater as the soul is better than the body.
account only, but because our bodily nature follows whither-
soever the Creator will lead it, and there is nothing to resist,
but the soul being its own mistress, and possessing power
over its acts, does not in all things obey God, unless it will
to do so. For God will not make it beautiful and excellent,
if it be reluctant and in a manner constrained by force, for
this is not virtue at all; but He must persuade it to become
so of its own will and choice. And so this cure is more
difficult than the other; yet even this succeeded, and every
kind of wickedness was banished. And as He re-ordered
the bodies which He cured, not to health only, but to the
highest vigour, so did He not merely deliver the souls from
extremest wickedness, but brought them to the very summit
of excellence. A publican became an Apostle, and a per-
secutor, blasphemer, and injurious, appeared as herald to the
world, and the Magi became teachers of the Jews, and a thief
was declared a citizen of Paradise, and a harlot shone forth
by the greatness of her faith, and of the two women, of
Canaan and Samaria, the latter who was another harlot,
undertook to preach the Gospel to her countrymen, and
having inclosed a whole city in her net, so brought them
to Christ; while the former, by faith and perseverance, pro-
cured the expulsion of an evil spirit from her daughter's
soul; aud many others much worse than these were straight-
way numbered in the rank of disciples, and at once all the
1 rán infirmities of their bodies and diseases of their souls were

e

transformed, and they were fashioned anew to health and exactest virtue. And of these, not two or three men, not five, or ten, or twenty, or an hundred only, but entire cities and nations, were very easily remodelled. Why should one speak of the wisdom of the commands, the excellency of the heavenly laws, the good ordering of the angelic polity? For such a life hath He proposed to us, such laws appointed for us, such a polity established, that those who put these things into practice, immediately become angels and like to 2 al. 'we' God, as far as is in our power, even though they may have been worse than all men.

Η σαγηνεύσασα from σαγήνη, ' a seine net.

2

I. 14.

στον

χείοις

Cruci

[3.] The Evangelist therefore having brought together all JOHN these things, the marvels in our bodies, in our souls, in the elements (of our faith), the commandments, those gifts' ra ineffable and higher than the heavens, the laws, the polity, the persuasion, the future promises, His sufferings, uttered that voice so wonderful and full of exalted doctrine, saying, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. For we admire Him not only on account of the miracles, but also by reason of the sufferings; as that He was nailed upon the Cross, that He was scourged, that He was buffeted, that He was spit upon, that He received blows on the cheek from those to whom He had done good. For even of those very things which seem to be shameful, it is proper to repeat the same expression, since He Himself called that action "glory." For what then took 2i.e. His place was (proof) not only of kindness and love, but also of in. unspeakable power. At that time death was abolished, the curse was loosed, devils were shamed and led in triumph and made a show of, and the handwriting of our sins was nailed to the Cross. And then, since these wonders were doing invisibly, others took place visibly, shewing that He was of a truth the Only-begotten Son of God, the Lord of all creation. For while yet that blessed Body hung upon the tree, the sun turned away his rays, the whole earth was troubled and became dark, the graves were opened, the ground quaked, and an innumerable multitude of dead leaped forth, and went into the city. And while the stones of His tomb were fastened upon the vault, and the seals yet upon them, the Dead arose, the Crucified, the nail-pierced One, and having 3al, 'then filled His eleven disciples with His mighty power, sent them to men throughout all the common healers of all their kind, to of living, to spread through every part of the earth the divine' knowledge of their heavenly doctrines, to break down the their tyranny of devils, to teach those great and ineffable blessings, to bring to us the glad tidings of the soul's immortality, and the eternal life of the body, and rewards which are beyond conception, and shall never have an end. These things then, and yet more than these, the blessed Evangelist having in mind, things which though he knew, he was not able to

4

3

world, to be

correct their

again' 4 al.'

a

He ga the certain

irresisti

way ble and

5 or of

whole

c. 21,25.

100

The greatness of the glory to come.

HOMIL. write, because the world could not have contained them, XII. (for if all things should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written,) reflecting therefore on all these, he cries out, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

It behoves therefore those who have been deemed worthy to see and to hear such things, and who have enjoyed so great a gift, to display also a life worthy of the doctrines, that they may enjoy also the good things which are (laid up) there. For our Lord Jesus Christ came, not only that we might behold His glory here, but also that which shall be. For c. 17,24. therefore He saith, I will that these1 also be with Me where 1 οὗτοι I am, that they may behold My glory. Now if the glory (κἀκεῖνοι G. T.) here was so bright and splendid, what can one say of that

(which shall be)? for it shall appear not on this corruptible earth, nor while we are in perishable bodies, but in a creation which is imperishable, and waxes not old, and with such brightness as it is not possible even to represent in words. O blessed, thrice blessed, yea many times so, they who are deemed worthy to be beholders of that glory! It is concernIs. 26, ing this that the prophet says, Let the unrighteous be taken LXX. away, that he behold not the glory of the Lord.

2 al.
'how'

10.

God

grant that not one of us be taken away nor excluded ever from beholding it. For if we shall not hereafter enjoy it, then it is time to say of ourselves, Good were it for us, if we had never been born. For why do we live and breathe? What are we, if we fail of that spectacle, if no one grant us then to behold our Lord? If those who see not the light of the sun endure a life more bitter than any death, what is it likely that they who are deprived of that light must suffer? For in the one case the loss is confined to this one privation; but in the other it does not rest here, (though if this were the only thing to be dreaded, even then the degrees of punishment would not be equal, but one would be as much severer than the other, as that sun is incomparably superior to this,) but now we must look also for other vengeance; for he who beholds not that light must not only be led into darkness, but must be burned continually, and waste away, and gnash his teeth, and suffer ten thousand other dreadful