 Introduction. Commentary in the Gospel of John Book 12. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Commentary in the Gospel of John Book 12 by Cyril of Alexandria, translated by Reverend Thomas Randall. Our father among the saints, Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria, on the Gospel according to John, Book 12. Introduction. 18. 24. 25. 26. 27. Anas, therefore, sent him bound unto Caiaphas, the High Priest. Now Simon Peter was standing warming himself. They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? He denied and said, I am not. One of the servants of the High Priest, being a kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off, saith, did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter therefore denied again, and straightway the cock crew. The inspired evangelist, to our prophet, checks the course of his narrative like a horse at full speed and turns it back again. And why? Because he was bound, before narrating what next ensued, to point out to us Peter's third denial, and this event is best and most appropriately described as it occurred. He therefore designedly refers to what took place at first, and says that Jesus was sent by Anas to Caiaphas, and shows us that Peter was questioned by the servants who were warming themselves with him at the fire, and also by a kinsman of him whom he had smitten, and that this was the occasion of his third denial. Then he mentions the crowing of the cock, making it plain to us that no word of our Savior ever falls to the ground, for he had foreknown and foretold the frailty of his own disciple in the midst of danger. Perhaps the divinely taught compiler of this book would have made no mention at all of this fact, had he not be thought himself of the captious spirit and ceaseless babbling of the adversaries of God, for some of those who seek to make bitter war on the glory of the Savior would straightway have said, Show us the denial of Peter, and how, and where, that came to pass which was foretold by Christ, who, you say, cannot lie, for you maintain that he is truth, and that he proceeded from a father who is true. It was very essential, therefore, that the inspired evangelist should narrate to us this occurrence, and show that Christ at all times said what was true. But perhaps some opponent, abstaining from bringing any such attack against us, will bring a grievous charge against Peter and accuse the well-beloved disciple of incomparable cowardice, and say that he was so ready to make this verbal repudiation of his Lord as thrice to fall away and deny him, when he had not so much as had any actual experience of danger, and when peril was not, indeed, nigh at hand. Talk of this sort may be suitable to those who are not yet initiated in the faith, but I will at once dismiss it, and bidding farewell to such nonsense will attempt to make some excuse for the Apostles' conduct, setting forth my argument for the benefit of those who are already accustomed to reflect upon the mysteries contained in the mysterious working of divine providence. For it was the bounden duty of the wise evangelist to make mention of such things, that his hearers might know what even the teachers of the world were in themselves before Christ's resurrection, and before the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and what they were thereafter, when they had received the grace of the Spirit, which Christ called power from on high. For anyone may see how very jealous they were in assuming virtue, how readily they girded up their loins to follow Christ, and to overcome perils of every sort which they so frequently encountered. But when our Saviour Christ had not yet subdued the power of death, the fear thereof was still stubborn and altogether invincible, and they who had not yet received the Spirit, nor had their hearts steeled by grace from above, showed that their minds were not yet wholly free from human frailty, and they were not altogether unshaken by the terrors of death. For just as iron, though naturally strong, could not encounter without injury the harder kinds of stone, if it be not strengthened in the forge. So the soul of man may be buoyed up with unslacking enthusiasm for everything that is good, but can never be triumphant in the conflicts that so arise, except it be first perfected by the grace of the Spirit of God. Even the disciples therefore themselves were frail at first, but when they had received the Spirit of Almighty God cast aside their native weakness, and by communion with Him attained to exceeding boldness. It was expedient, then, that the frailty of the saints should be recorded to the praise and glory of God, who changed their weakness into power, and raised up, like a strong tower, their spirits, which were easily daunted even by slight dangers, and at times broken down by the mere apprehension of suffering. And that which befell a single one, or some few of the saints, may afford us at the same time a lesson and a consolation, for we are taught thereby, not through dwelling on our own infirmities inconsiderately, to slacken in God's service, but rather to trust in Him who is able to make us all strong, and to boast ourselves in His miraculous works in favour shown to us beyond hope. 28. They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the palace, and it was early, and they themselves entered not into the palace, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Judge righteous judgment, and thou shalt not slay the innocent and just man, were the express injunctions of the law and the word of God. These miserable men could not help being ashamed of their lack of charges against Him, but finding their fury against Christ to be without excuse, and being prevented from killing Him with their own hands by the approach of the atoning sacrifice. For they were about to sacrifice the paschal lamb, according to the law, which yet with them had lost its power. They bring Him to Pilate, trusting in their gross folly that they would not be quite implicated in the charge of shedding blood unjustly if they did not slay Him themselves, but only brought Him to suffer death at the hands of another, though what was in their hearts was all together at variance with the Mosaic law. And we must convict them, besides, of the greatest folly in acting as follows, for while sentencing the sinless one to the doom of death, and bringing down upon their own heads the guilt of so frightful an impiety, they yet shun the threshold of the judgment hall, as though it would cause them to be defiled, and anxiously shrink from having intercourse with men who were still on clean. For they believed, I suppose, that stones in the bodies of men who were their brethren could defile the soul of man, but deemed that the worst of all crimes, the most unjust shedding of blood, stained them not a wit. And marvel of marvels, the most absurd and derational idea of all, they think themselves purified by the slaughter of a lamb, which typified for us nothing but the shadow of the mystery that is in Christ. And while honoring the type of what is coming to pass, this scorned the reality itself. For while they were performing that which was but the semblance of his atonement, they were defiled by the shedding of the blood of Christ. Christ then said well when he called them whited sepulchres, outwardly adorned with the superficial embellishments of art, but inwardly full of evil odors and detestable impurity. And when in another place he said that they strained out the net and swallowed the camel. For while they were often exact about matters that were, so to say, wholly unimportant and insignificant, or rather about a mere nothing, for what is the net. They made of no account the most weighty of all the charges against themselves, and made clean the outside of the cup and platter, while they regarded not at all the uncleanness within. For see how, though the Prophet Jeremiah said plainly, Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved. They were thoroughly convinced that the inward impiety of the soul mattered not a whit. And when they brought Christ to Pilate, they shrank from places as a cursed, and from the bodies of uncircumcised men. And if they did not commit the lawless act with their own hands, they yet made Pilate, as it were, minister to their cruelty. And in their stupidity imagined that they remained free from all blame. It may well excite our wonder to find that the holy prophets were well aware even of this impiety of theirs. For the blessed Isaiah said concerning them, Woe unto the wicked, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. And Ezekiel also, As thou hast done it shall be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head. Moreover the inspired psalmist exclaims, Render to them their dessert, give them according to the work of their hands. For as they led Christ, the Saviour of all, captive to the Roman officers, So they received in their turn their reward, And were abandoned to the dominion of Rome, And were spoiled by the hand of their conquerors. For so fearful was the war that was kindled against them, And so frightful the extremities in which they were involved, That, if it had been possible, some, nay, many, among them would rather have chosen to go into the mountains and rocks And die there, before they saw the war. A choice which Christ foretold that they would make when he said, When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then shall ye say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, fall on us. 29. Pilot therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? They shrank from the pollution, as they deemed it, of stones and walls, But Pilate went forth and inquired of them the reason of their coming to him, And required them to tell him the charges against the captive they had brought unto him, Judging the leaders of the Jews on the other hand. For though he was a foreigner, he held in respect the ordinances of the Jews, And treated with consideration their prevailing customs, For he hastened out of the judgment hall, as was not his habit, Expressing to the Jews by this significant action that their law ought to be observed. They, being contrary wise, minded to the divine commandments, And paying very little heed to the mosaic dispensation, Were bringing about an unrighteous bloodshedding, While Pilate, who was outside the pale of the law, inquired the charges, And investigated the accusations they brought against him, And pointed out to them that it was absurd to chastise or exact a penalty From a man who had done no sin. And they, though they had nothing to say against him, Brought him to Pilate like a fierce robber. Well, then, was it said to the synagogue of the Jews, Sodom has been justified by thee. And Christ himself cries out, accusing the madness that the children of Israel here showed. Thou hast not done according to the judgments of the nations round about. And the saying is true, For the Greeks would not with defiled and unwashed hands have brought the usual sacrifices to the stones And blocks of wood they conceived to be gods, Nor would they have destroyed one unless it was in the most evil plight. But the Jews, though about to sacrifice the Passover to the true God, Had their souls stained with the guilt of innocent blood, And were hastening to put to death unjustly him who was a stranger to all sin. 30. They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evildoer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee. They were perplexed for a specious plea against him, But cloak the baseness of their impiety, And their apparent resolution to put him to death unjustly, By the sophistical reply that they would never have brought Jesus to suffer justice, If they had not taken him in a criminal act. For they still effected to observe the law, Which made them execute righteous judgment in all things. And marvelous to relate, They used their respect for the law as a weapon against the law giver. They, who did not shrink from bringing an accusation against the law giver, Claimed credit as keepers of the law. They declared that he that had come to take away sin had done evil, That the truth of the words that Christ spoke by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah might be seen. Woe unto them, for they have fled from me. Their doom is misery, because they have transgressed against me. Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me. 31. Pilot therefore said unto them, Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law. I should not do justice, he says, If I were to subject to legal penalties a man who has been convicted of no wrong, And whose doom you left undecided. But judge him, rather according to your law, If indeed, he says, It has ordained that the man who is holy without guilt deserves chastisement. It is not a little absurd, or I should rather say. It is a subject for perpetual regret, That while the law of the Gentiles justified our Lord, So that even Pilot shrank from punishing him that was brought to him on so vague a charge, They, who made it their boast that they were instructed in the law of God, Declared that he ought to be put to death. 31. 32. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death, That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, Which he spake signifying by what manner of death he should die. They answer that their purification, Accomplished by the slaughter of the Pascual Lamb, If any purification at all were possible for such murderers, Stood in their way, and was, as it were, An overpowering obstacle to their shedding his innocent blood. For, surely, they would have been very ready to commit the impious crime, And would not have needed the cooperation of any other. The Jewish mind was very prone to work every kind of evil deed, And to shrink from no atrocity, And to feel no shame at doing anything displeasing to God. They deemed it right for Pilot to lend them the service of his own cruelty, And to imitate the fury of the Jews, And to minister to them on this occasion, And to be by them overruled, So as to partake of their madness. And this also they say, That Christ might be proved to speak truth, And to have foreknown what manner of death he would die, And to have foretold it to his holy disciples. For what spake he unto them? Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, And the Son of Man is betrayed under the hands of sinners. And they shall crucify him and kill him, And the third day he shall be raised up. It is requisite to make mention of this. For it was necessary that he should have this foreknowledge That none might suppose that he, in whose sight all things Are naked and laid open, Encountered his death involuntarily. But that man should believe that of his own will He underwent the cross on our behalf, And for our sakes. Thirty-three. Pilot therefore entered again into the palace And called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Having nothing at all to accuse him of, And none of those crimes to allege against him, Which seemed to bring in their train Just punishment on the doers of them, And Pilot persisting and inquiring why they had brought him, They asserted that Jesus had sinned against Caesar, In assuming on himself the dominion Which Caesar had acquired over the Jews, And in changing the glory of his kingdom To suit his personal pretensions. Great was the malice which suggested this device, And caused the false accusation to assume this shape. For they knew that Pilot, however reluctant he might be, Would take thought for his own safety, And would swiftly and precipitantly punish the man Against whom any such outcry was raised. For as the inhabitants of Judea ever were continually moved To tumult and civil strife, And were easily provoked to revolt, Caesar's officers were the more vigilant in this respect, And they were the more vigilant in this respect, And were more careful guardians of order, And inflicted the most summary penalties On men who had this charge brought against them, Sometimes groundlessly. The Jews, therefore, make it a charge against Christ, That he reigned over Israel. Therefore justly were they cast out, And the Gentiles brought in, And made subject to the yoke, And put into the kingdom of Christ. Ask of me, he says, And I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. For when the one nation of the Jews provoked him to wrath, All the nations of the world are given to Christ. And instead of one country, I mean Judea, The uttermost parts of the earth. For is Paul seeth, Therefall is the richest of the world, And there lost the riches of the Gentiles. Pilate, then, speaks out plainly what he heard the Jews muttering, And bids Jesus answer him, Whether he was in truth the king of the Jews. He was full of anxiety it would appear, And thought Caesar's rule was menaced, And was, therefore, very desirous to learn the truth, In order to visit what had been done with appropriate retribution, And to quit of blame the office entrusted to him by the Romans. 34. Jesus answered, Sayest thou this of thyself, Or did others tell it thee concerning me? As no one, he says, Has openly brought this charge against me, Whence precedes your question. There can be no doubt that this trick proceeds from the malice of the Jews, And that they devise this cruel stratagem, For else you would not be, he says, And once judge and accuser. And Christ said this, Wishing to bring it to the knowledge of Pilate, That nothing that was unseen, And devised, and said, and secret, Could escape him. And that, seeing that he was more than man, He might be more reluctant to minister to the cruelty of those who brought him. And at the same time to teach him that he did very wrong enforcing him, Who had been convicted of no crime, On the mere word of others to pay the penalty. 35. Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, and the chief priest delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? He now exposes the villainy of the Jews, And almost publishes the multitude of his accusers. It is as though he said, It does not concern me to know about thee, For I am not a Jew, But rather befits thine own nation and kindred, Who it may be have this knowledge, And so bring thee to suffer death. He then accuses himself, For to say, What hast thou done? There is nothing else but this. The holy evangelist was very zealous to narrate every detail about the trial of Christ, And among them he tells us the fact that Pilate asked Jesus the question, What hast thou done? And hereby we may best observe the total absence of charges against him. And that, as none were brought forward, And Christ our Savior was convicted of no crime, The sentence of death that went forth against him was impious and most unjust. 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world, If my kingdom were of this world, Then would my servants fight, That I should not be delivered to the Jews, But now is my kingdom not from hence. He dispelled the fear Pilate felt as the appointed guardian of Caesar's kingdom, For he supposed that Christ was meditating insurrection against temporal rule, As the Jews had vainly talked, For they hinted at this when they said, If this man were not an evildoer, We should not have delivered him up unto thee. Meaning insurrection by the evil they said he was doing. For the effected to be so well disposed to the Romans Is not even to be able to utter the word revolt. For this cause, then, They said that they had brought him to Pilate, To suffer judgment. Christ, in his reply, Denied not that he was a king, For he could not but speak truth. But he clearly proved that he was no enemy to Caesar's rule, Signifying that his kingdom was not an earthly kingdom, But that he reigned as God over heaven and earth, And yet greater things than these. What proof, then, did he give? And how did he remove this suspicion? He says that he had never employed any spearmen or warriors, And had never had with him any men at all resolved on resistance. Not merely in order to prevent his losing his kingdom, But not even that he might escape from the imminent danger Cast upon him by the hand of the Jews. For it did not proceed from their ruler himself, Namely Caesar. When, then, he had shown the groundlessness Of this outcry by so clear a proof, Pilate perceived that the presumptuous attempt Against Christ was without excuse. Yet, without any compulsion, And when there was nothing to incite him to that consequence, He complied with the pleasure of the Jews To the perdition of his own soul, And shared with them the guilt of having put Christ to death. Christ indeed, when he said that his kingdom Was a supernatural kingdom, Not only freed Pilate from all alarm, And dispelled his suspicions about an insurrection, But induced him also to have an exalted opinion of him, And by his reply in some sort commenced to instruct him. And of Introduction Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Of Commentary in the Gospel of John Book 12 By Cyril of Alexandria, Translated by Reverend Thomas Randall. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? He makes use of Christ's truth speaking To charge him with all. When he heard him say, My kingdom is not from hence, He was indeed quit of his fear of an insurrection. But he still compels him to openly profess this thing, And defines as he charged his mere assertion That he had a kingdom, Though he asserted that it was not of this world. He drives Jesus as it were To make this profession, And says, Thou hast confessed already that thou art a king. 37 38 Jesus answered him, Thou sayest that I am a king, To this end have I been born, And to this end am I come into the world, That I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate sayeth unto him, What is truth? He does not deny the glory of his kingdom, Nor leave it to the voice of Pilate only to affirm it, For as God he is king, Whether man so will or know. But he once more showed the power of the truth Which impelled Pilate, though reluctant, To declare the glory of him who was on his trial. For, he says, Thou hast said that I am a king. For this cause was I born, he says, And came into this world when I became man, That I should bear witness unto the truth. That is, That he might take lying out of the world, And having subdued the devil, Who gained his way by guile, He might show truth triumphant over the universe. Truth That is, That nature that is truly sovereign by nature, Which has not by craft acquired the ability To hold rule and dominion over heaven and earth, And in a word, everything that is brought into being. Nor has this been added unto it from without, But it is seen to be essentially and naturally inherent. In order too that he might show that Pilate's dullness of apprehension arose from his stubborn heart, And his reluctance to admit the truth, Christ fitly adds the word, Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. For the word of truth gains a ready acceptance From those who have already learned and loved it, But with others it is not so. Yea, the prophet Isaiah said to some, If ye will not believe, neither shall ye understand. Pilate showed it once the truth of this, When he said, What is truth? For just as those whose sight is injured And who have wholly lost the use of their eyes Have their sense of color entirely annihilated, So as not to note when gold is brought before them, Or a shining and precious stone shone them, Nay, even the very light of the sun's rays Excites in them no wonder, As they have no perception thereof, And can gain no profit from any such thing. So to men whose minds are warped, Truth seems a foul and ugly thing, Although it instills into the minds of those who behold it Its spiritual and divine radiancy. 3839 And when he had said this he went out again Unto the Jews and sayeth unto them, I find no crime in him, But ye have a custom That I should release unto you one prisoner at the Passover, Will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? For a condemnation at once of the want of piety And of the cruelty of the Jews, He excels them in the knowledge of what was just and right, Though he could not boast of divine instruction, But was merely the guardian of human ordinances, And reverenced most of all the enactments of those From whom he had his office as a gift. If the teachers of the Jewish law had so done And chosen to be thus minded, They might very likely have escaped the net of the devil And shunned the most abominable of all crimes, I mean the shedding of the blood of Christ. Pilate then hesitates to condemn Christ, Who had been taken in and convicted of no crime And says that he that was far removed from all guilt Aught not to pay a penalty, And strongly maintains that it is wholly at variance With the laws he observed, Putting to shame the frightful frenzy of the Jews In contradiction to their own law. For he thought that, As they professed to reverence the doctrine Of impartial justice, They ought at once to yield to the statement Of trust and right that he put before them. But perceiving that to acquit him That they had brought to him of all blame Would imply no small condemnation Of the precipitancy of the Jews, That they might not on this account insist The more vehemently, And stir up a strange commotion, He paved the way, as it were, And put the best complexion upon the matter That I should release unto you one prisoner at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you The king of the Jews? When he called Jesus king of the Jews, He spoke in jest, And tried to abate by ridicule the anger of the furious mob. And hereby also clearly showed That this particular accusation was brought in vain. For a Roman officer would never have thought A man condemned of plotting for a kingdom And revolution against Rome, Worthy to be released. He bore witness, then, To his utter guiltlessness By the very reasons he gave for his release. I think these words explain the drift of the passage. And as I was considering and meditating in my mind How the custom arose for the Jews To ask for one man to be released to them, A robber it might be, or a murderer. The idea occurred to me that they no longer regulated Their actions altogether according to the law. But, choosing rather to use their own customs, They fell into a decayed state of manners, Not altogether in accordance with the mosaic dispensation. But while I was searching the divine scriptures And hunting everywhere for the origin of this custom, I came upon one of the divine dictates, Which caused me to suspect that when the Jews Saw the release of a malefactor, They were, in fact, in however mistaken a way, Fulfilling one of the customs of the law. At the end of the book called Numbers, We find recorded the law concerning Voluntary and involuntary homicide. And when the penalty in the case of premeditated murder Has been clearly laid down, The book goes on to speak of involuntary homicide, And, after other remarks, makes the following declaration. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, Or have cast upon him anything without laying of weight, Or with any stone where with a man may die, Seeing him not, and cast it upon him that he die, And was not his enemy, neither sought his harm. Then the congregation shall judge between this layer And the revenge of blood, and the congregation Shall restore him to the city of his refuge Wither he was fled. Such, then, being the written commandment, When any, as it chanced, were involved in such a calamity, The Jews, when they were congregated together, That they might not appear altogether to neglect this enactment, Saw the release of one of them. For the law laid down that it was to be the act of the entire assembly. As, then, they were permitted by the law To ask for the release of a prisoner, They make this request of pilot. For after they had once accepted the Roman yoke, They were henceforth, for the most part, In the administration of their affairs ruled by their laws. Nay, further, though it was lawful for them To put to death anyone convicted of a crime, They brought Jesus to pilot as a criminal, Saying, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. For though they alleged as their plea their purification By the sacrifice of the Passover, Yet they showed themselves flatterers of Rome, In entrusting to the laws of the Romans The duty which the Divine Commandment from Heaven laid upon themselves. Forty. They cried out there for again saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Herein also the Jews showed themselves indeed lawbreakers, And more inclined to give way to their own inclinations Than to honor their ancient commandments. For though the Mosaic Law ordered that a man Who had committed involuntary homicide should be Be leased, and not a man like Barabbas, For how could such a thing be? They preferred to ask for a notorious robber, And that the man here named was, in fact, A dangerous and brutal criminal, And not free from blood-guiltiness, The words of the inspired Peter to the people of the Jews Will make clear to us. But ye denied the holy and righteous one, And asked for a murderer to be granted unto you. For they preferred a robber to him Who regarded not his equality with God the Father, And took our poverty upon him for this very end, That he might deliver us from the true murderer, That is Satan. And they were men adorned with the priesthood of the law, And to greatly vaunted themselves thereon. Yet they passed by and utterly rejected the commandment Judge righteous judgment, And justified the murderer, condemning Christ, And cried with one accord, Not this man, but Barabbas. The Jews, however, will pay the penalty Of their impious act, But we may well admire the Holy Scripture Examining it in the light of Christ's person And this desperate outcry. For thus sayeth the prophet Jeremiah, I have forsaken mine house. I have left mine heritage. I have given my beloved soul Into the hand of her enemies. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest. It cryeth out against me. It may be well to explain this simile Of the lion in the forest. He says it is with his heritage As when this great and frightful beast Desires to seize some prey in the forest. It goes up to a high peak And gives forth a great and fearful roar And strikes such terror into those who hear That man or beast did once fall prostrate Not able to endure the awful sound Of his threatening voice. And the beast, as it were, Makes them fall by the breath of his mouth. And God confirms this saying also by the prophet When he thus speaks. The lion roareth who will not fear. The assembly of the Jews, therefore, Was as a lion in the forest to our Saviour Christ. So far, at least, is there presumptuous clamour Against him went. For the nature of God endureth not panic Or fear at all. For the assembly by its clamour Put him to death, though Pilate Invited them to choose his release. So that even those who had not yet Learned the divine law might be proved Better than men instructed in the law. Nineteen. One, two, three. Then Pilate, therefore, took Jesus And scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns And put it on his head And arrayed him in a purple garment. And they came unto him And said, Hail, king of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. He scourges him unjustly And suffers the crowd of soldiers to insult him And put a crown of thorns about his head And throw a purple robe upon him And buffet him with the palms of their hands And otherwise dishonour him. For he thought he could easily put to shame The people of the Jews If they saw the man who was altogether free From guilt suffering this punishment Only without a cause. He was scourged unjustly That he might deliver us from the merited chastisement. He was buffeted and smitten That we might buffet Satan Who had buffeted us And that we might escape from the sin That cleaves to us through the original transgression. For if we think aright We shall believe that all Christ's sufferings Were for us and on our behalf And have power to release Us from all those calamities we have deserved For our revolt from God. For as Christ, who knew not death When he gave up his own body for our salvation Was able to lose the bonds of death For all mankind For he, being one, died for all. So we must understand that Christ Suffering all these things for us Sufficed also to release us all From scourging and dishonor. Then in what way By his stripes are we healed According to the scripture Because we have all gone astray Every man after his own way As says the Blessed Prophet Isaiah And the Lord had given himself up For our transgressions And for us is afflicted For he was bruised for our iniquities And has given his own back to the scourge And his cheeks to the smithers As he also says The soldiers indeed take Jesus As he pretender to the throne And insult him soldier-like And for this cause Was a crown of thorns broad And put upon his brow Being the symbol of earthly sovereignty And the purple robe was As it were an image And type of royal apparel And ridicule also was thereby heaped upon him For they came near unto him And cried as the evangelist says Hail, King of the Jews And I have heard some say And to some the conceit is well-pleasing That the crown of thorns further signifies The multitude of idol-worshippers Who will be taken up by Christ As it were into a diadem Through faith in him And they liken the Gentiles To barren and useless thorns Through their bearing no fruit of piety And being rather fit to feed consuming fire Just like rubbish in the fields Just as wild thicket Which grows up without any culture And the royal apparel I mean the purple robe, they say Means Christ Kingdom Which will be extended over all the world We may well receive any interpretation Which is not alien to the truth And which it is not unprofitable to believe in We need not therefore reject Such a construction of the passage Indicative as it is Of careful ingenuity For, and Pilate went out again And sayeth unto them Behold, I bring him out to you That ye may know that I find no crime in him He confesses the wrong he had done And is not ashamed For he admitted that he had scourged Him without a cause And declares that he will show him unto them Supposing that he would glut their savage passion By so pitiable a spectacle And well-nigh accuses them henceforth And that publicly Of putting him to death unjustly And of committing a crime Of putting him to death unjustly And of compelling him openly to be a lawbreaker Who, if he transgressed his own laws Could not escape God free The saying was fulfilled in Christ And shown to be true That the prince of this world cometh And he will find nothing in me For observe how Satan After throwing everything into confusion Finds nothing at all cast out from God And ranked under the power of sin Which he might perhaps If it had been referred to the Saviour Christ Have caused to be rightly condemned And implicated in his accusations Just as then in Adam He subdued the whole human race Showing it to be subject unto sin So now was he vanquished by humanity For he that was truly God And had no sin in him Was yet man And just as the sentence of condemnation For transgression went forth over all mankind Through one man, the first Adam So likewise also the blessing Of justification by Christ is extended To all through one man, the second Adam Paul is our witness who says As through one the judgment came Unto all men to condemnation Even so through one the free gift Came unto all men to justification of life We therefore are diseased through the disobedience Of the first Adam and its curse But are enriched through the obedience Of the second and its blessing For he that was Lord of the law As God came among us And kept the law as man He that loveth me will keep my commandments Even as I have kept my father's commandments And divide in his love Note how he, as law giver and God Has enjoined upon us the keeping Of his commandments And how is keeping the law While a man among men He declares that he himself also Kept the commandment of his father And thus therefore came out Wearing the crown of thorns And the purple garment And Pilate saith unto them Behold the man When therefore the chief priest And the officer saw him They cried out, saying Crucify him, crucify him He showed then The Lord of all and piously outraged And mocked by the intolerable Insults of the soldiers Trusting that the furious wrath Of the Jews would be sated And now at last abate And rest content with that most Pitiable and dishonorable spectacle But they were so far from Showing any mercy in word or deed Towards him And from entertaining any kind Of good intentions As even to surpass the ferocity Of beast And to hurry onward to greater Evil still And to make his still more furious And to condemn him to the worst of Deaths And compelling him to undergo The extremity of suffering For what punishment Can be as severe as the cross And it is to the leaders Of the Jews alone it appears That the wise evangelist Ascribed the origin of this Impious doom For see how as it were Carefully guarding his words He says When therefore the chief Of them They cried out saying Crucify him Crucify him For when the multitude of the vulgar were It may be Somewhat ashamed by the sight Of Christ's sufferings For perhaps they called to mind The wonderful miracles wrought by him The rulers first start the clamor And kindle into strange fury The passions of the people subject unto them That which was said of God And warning them is true For the pastors have become brutish And have not sought the Lord Therefore all their flock Perceived him not And were scattered abroad And the saying is true For as those in the pastor That is the multitude of the vulgar Did not enjoy the direction Of their rulers to the knowledge Of Christ they perished And relapsed into ruinous Heedlessness of Christ For let any man that likes Probe the origin of the impious crime And he will ascribe it to the rulers For it was in the outset Their most unholy design They it was who induced the traitor To make a bargain with them And bought him over With the money of the sanctuary They joined the band of soldiers To the officers Bade them bind him Like the meanest of robbers And brought him to pilot And now when they saw him scourged And well nigh beside himself With insults from every quarter Are but exasperated the more And uttered the dictates Of their unmeasured hatred For they purposed to put The Lord of the vineyard to death And thought they would Securely enjoy his heritage And if Christ were removed That they would again rule And enjoy all honor But as the psalmist says That sitteth in the heavens Shall laugh them to scorn The Lord shall hold them in derision For nothing happened According to their expectation But on the contrary The course of events Was completely reversed Six Pilate sayeth unto them Take him yourselves And crucify him For I find no crime in him Pilate is in consternation That the people of the Jews And the inhuman crowd Of the chief priests Should attain to such a pitch of presumption Is not even to shrink From subjecting Christ To so frightfully death Though no fault was found in him To bring him to such a doom And therefore he says Almost like one annoyed At an insult offered to himself Make you me a judge Of this unjust shedding of blood Am I contrary to all Roman law Become the murderer of the innocent And shall I at your beck and call Fling to the winds all thought of myself And shall I not, if I minister At my own peril to your request Live an expectation of paying the penalty If you do not think That you are doing an unholy deed If you think the work presents No difficulty Do you yourselves? You, who boast of divine instruction You, who want so highly Your knowledge of your law Do you fix the cross? Dare the murder? Do of yourselves the unholy deed Bringing down on your own heads The charge of this great impiety Let the presumptuous act Be the act of the Jews And upon them let the blood guilt In this rest If you have a law That subjects the sinless To so fearful a penalty That chastises the guiltless Execute it with your own hands I will not endure to be a party to it We may imagine this to be what Pilate says For his words are pregnant With some such meaning And the shamelessness of the Jews May hear also well excite our amazement For they are not even put to shame By the just judgment of a foreigner Though the divine law Said concerning this people For the priest lips should keep judgment And they should seek the law from his mouth Seven The Jews answered him We have a law And by our law he ought to die Because he made himself the son of God When their false accusation That they had at first contrived Proved fruitless And they established against him No attempt at revolution Or revolt against Caesar's rule For the Lord parried these charges Saying, My kingdom is not of this world If my kingdom were of this world Then would my servants fight That I should not be delivered to the Jews And when Pilate thereupon Gave a just and impartial verdict And did not as yet comply But said openly that he found no fault in him The audacious Jews completely changed their tactics And asserted that they had a law Which condemned the saver to death What law was that? That which fixes the punishment For blasphemers For in the book called Leviticus It is recorded that certain men Who were counted among Jews Strobe together according to the scripture In the camp And that one of them Made mention of the name of God And blessed him For thus saith the scripture euphemistically Meaning that he cursed and blasphemed him And was then doomed to die And to pay a bitter penalty For his impious tongue God plainly declaring Whosoever curseth his God Shall bear his sin And he that taketh the name Of the Lord in vain Shall be put to death And of Israel shall stone him As well the stranger As he that is born in the land When he taketh the name Of the Lord in vain Shall be put to death But perhaps someone may be in doubt And ask this question What then does the law say And what does it intend To signify her by For that a man who was convicted Of blasphemy against God To die is indeed just And he very rightly meets his doom But suppose a man Treat a false God with contumely Is he then not free from guilt For the words of the law are If any man curse God He shall bear his sin What do we reply The lawgiver is infallible For to love to hurl scorn Upon false gods is, as it were A course of preparation Which makes us rejoice And ready to utter blasphemies Against the true God Therefore also in another passage He dissuades us from it Saying God's thou shalt not revile For he thought it me To give unto the name of Godhead Though it be sometimes misplaced The honor that is its due The law, however, did not Certainly bid us ascribe Any honor to God's erroneously So-called Regard as wholly the name of Godhead Though it be stolen by some As the law then orders That the man who is convicted To blasphemy should be rewarded With death, they say That Christ is subject to the penalty For that he made himself The son of God We ought to bear in mind where And in what sense this was said by Christ At the pool that was called After the sheep-gate He healed the impotent man Of his long and grievous infirmity On the Sabbath day And the Jews, when they ought To have marveled at the wonders That he wrought, were on the contrary Offended at his breaking the Sabbath And for that reason only Railed against him Then Christ answered and said My father worketh even until now And I work And thereupon says the evangelist For this caused therefore The Jews persecuted Jesus Because he not only break the Sabbath But also called God his own father Making himself equal with God The Jews then were offended When Christ called the Lord of all His father And then he made this most mild reply To them, saying It is written in your law I said, ye are gods And are all sons of the most time If he called them gods And to whom the word of God came And the scripture cannot be broken Say ye of him whom the father sanctified And sent into the world Thou blasphemest Because I said, I am the son of God But the people of the Jews Remembering none of these things Make the truth they charge against the truth And because Christ said What was in fact the truth The assert that he is worthy of death Here I will make use of the prophet's words How do ye say, we are wise And the law of the Lord is with us For would it not have been right Either first to ascertain By the strictest scrutiny who Christ was And whence he came And if he had been convicted To falsehood, then very justly To pass sentence upon him Or if he spoke the truth to worship him Why then did you Jews give up searching And satisfying yourselves by holy writ And butake yourselves to making a mere outcry Against him And why made you what was in fact The truth, the ground for accusation You ought, when you said unto Pilate He made himself the son of God To have charged him also With the works of Godhead And to have made his mighty Wonder-working power account in the indictment You ought to have cried out thereafter That a man who had been three days dead Rose again And came back to life at the mere bidding Of the Saviour You ought to have brought forward The only child of the widow And the daughter of the leader of the synagogue You ought to have called to mind That divine saying That the son of the widow Young man, I say unto thee, arise And to the damsel Maiden, arise You ought besides to have told Pilate That he gives sight to the blind And cleansed the lepers of their leprosy And also that by a single word of command He calmed the storm of the angry sea And the onslaught of the raging billows And whatever else Christ did All this, however, they bury in the silence Of ingratitude And passing over those miracles Whereby Christ was seen to be God In malice they proceed to basely state The paradox And miserable wretches that they were They cried out to a foreigner Who had no knowledge of the divine scripture And saw that Jesus was a man He made himself the son of God Though the inspired scripture declared That the word of God should visit the world In human form Behold, the virgin shall be with child And shall bring forth a son And they shall call his name Emmanuel Which is, being interpreted, God with us And what could that which was born Of a virgin be but a man Like unto us and bodily appearance And nature But besides being man He was also truly God And of introduction part two Introduction part three of commentary In the Gospel of John Book 12 By Cyril of Alexandria Translated by Reverend Thomas Randall This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Eight, nine When Pilate, therefore, heard this saying He was the more afraid And he entered into the palace again And saith unto Jesus Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer The malicious design of the Jews Had a result they little expected For they wished to pile up the indictment Against Christ By saying that he adventured to sin Against the person of God himself But the weighty character of the accusation Increased Pilate's caution And he was the more oppressed with alarm And more careful concerning Christ than before And questioned him the more particularly What he was and whence he came Not disbelieving as I think That though he was a man He might be also the son of God This idea and belief of his Was not derived from holy writ But the mistaken notions of the Greeks For Greek fables call many men demigods And sons of gods The Romans too, who in such matters Were still more superstitious Gave the name of God to the more distinguished Of their own monarchs And set up altars to them And allotted them shrines And put them on pedestals Therefore Pilate was more earnest And anxious than before In his inquiry who Christ was And whence he came And he, the scripture sayeth Answered him not a word Remembering I suppose What he himself had said unto him Every one that is of the truth Heareth my voice And how could Pilate, a worshipper of idols Have hearkened to the voice of the Saviour When he said that he was truth And the child of truth And how could he at all Have received and honoured the name of truth Who it once ridiculed it And said, what is truth Because he still worshipped false gods And was buried in the darkness Of their deceitfulness Ten Pilate therefore sayeth unto him Speakest thou not unto me Knowest thou not That I have power to crucify thee And have power to release thee Pilate thought this silence The silence of a madman Therefore he stretches over him As it were the wand of his official power And thought that he could induce him By fear against his will To return a fruitless answer For he says that nothing could hinder His inclining whichever way he chose Either to punish him Or to take compassion upon him And that there was nothing to turn him Aside to give a verdict against his will With whom alone rested the fate of the accused He rebukes him therefore As though he felt himself insulted By untimely silence And so far as that went His indignation were wetted against him For he perceived not at all The hidden meaning of Christ's silence Observe here the accurate fulfilment Of that which was foretold By the voice of the prophet He was brought as a lamb to this slaughter And as a sheep before her shearers Is dumb, so he openedeth not his mouth In his humiliation his judgment was taken away Thus sayeth the blessed Isaiah And the psalmist also Assuming the person of Christ Sayeth in the spirit I have kept my mouth with a bridle While the wicked congregated themselves Before me I was dumb and humbled myself And kept silence from good words By good words curses must be understood For it is usual with Holy Scripture To speak euphemistically on such occasions When references made to the person Of God himself 11. Jesus answered him Thou wouldest have no power against me Except it were given thee from above Therefore he that delivereth me unto thee Hath greater sin. He makes no clearer revelation Of what he was Or whence he came Or who was his father Nor indeed does he suffer us To waste the word of revelation By giving it to ears that are estranged Saying, Give not that which is holy unto the dogs Neither cast your pearls before the swine When then Pilate was parading Before him his official power And in his folly alleging That he could wholly determine his fate According to his mere will and pleasure He very appropriately meets him With a declaration of his own power And might, and stops him short As it were, as he were wanting himself With vain and empty boasting Against the glory of God For in truth it were no small calamity That any should suppose the Christ could be dragged Against his will to suffer insult And that the malice of the Jews vanquished him Who was truly God And proclaimed sovereign of the universe By the wholly uninspired writings He has therefore removed this stumbling block From our path and cuts up as it were Such an error by the roots By the words, Except it were given thee from above And when he says That power was given to Pilate from above He does not mean that God the Father Inflicted crucifixion upon his own son Against his will But that the only begotten himself Gave himself to suffer for us And that the Father suffered The fulfillment of the mystery in him It is then, plainly The consent and approval of the Father That is here said to have been given And the pleasure of the Son Is also clearly signified For it no doubt the force of numbers Could never have overcome the power of the Saviour But we may easily see this From the numerous plots they laid against him Which resulted in nothing But they are being convicted Of having made an insolent attempt They indeed desired to seize him As the evangelist says But he, going through the midst of them Went his way and so passed by He says so passed by Meaning, not cautiously Or with baited breath Or practicing the maneuvers That men do who wish to escape But with his usual step Free from all alarm For he hid himself by his divine And ineffable might And then eluded the sight Of his would-be murderers For he did not wish as yet to die Nor did he suffer the passions Of his persecutors To determine, as it were Without his consent The hour of his peril Therefore he says That by his own command And the consent of God the Father Power was given unto Pilate So that he was enabled To accomplish the deeds which he did In fact, venture to perform For the nature of the Most Thai God Is wholly invincible And cannot be subdued By anything that exists For in him the power Of universal dominion of necessity Exists He accuses of the greater sin That is, of greater sin against himself The traitor that brought him to Pilate And with great reason For he was, as it were, the source From which the impious crime Against him sprang And also the gate through which it passed While the judge was but the minister To the crimes of others And so showed himself By his ill-timed cowardice A partaker in the iniquity of the Jews Who then is the traitor And to whom is the prime authorship Of the charges to be referred Surely to that most venal disciple Or rather traitor and destroyer Of his own soul And besides him The crowd of the rulers And the people of the Jews And though Christ attributes to them The greater part of the blame He does not acquit Pilate Holy of complicity and guilt Twelve Upon this Pilate sought to release him But the Jews cried out Saying, Release this man Thou art not Caesar's friend Everyone that maketh himself a king Speaketh against Caesar The exclamation of the Jews Afflicts Pilate with panic And sharpens the keenness of his caution And makes him pause Before putting him to death For they shouted out That that very prisoner Had made himself the son of God Whom Pilate had been most anxious To release from all danger And to acquit of every false accusation Having this fear at heart The Israelites saw this And returned to the original falsehood Saying that Jesus had courted the people And transgressed against Caesar's power And so far as his power went Had waged war against the rule of Rome For he had made himself a king See how laborious and passionate Was the attempt of his accusers against him For first of all They cried out with one accord Miserable wretches that they were And asserted that he had ventured To assail Caesar's power But when they did not meet With much success Christ declaring that his kingdom Was not an earthly kingdom They alleged even unto Pilate Who sat in a Roman tribunal His offense against God himself Saying, He made himself the son of God For the villains Thought that they could thereby spur Pilate To heedless wrath And lend him courage to doom the Saviour To death Making his action a mark of his piety Towards God But when their malicious attempt Proved unavailing They once more recurred to the charge They had presumed to make it first To claring that he had ventured To assail the rule of Caesar And violently accusing the judge Of taking up arms against Caesar's If he did not consent to pass The sentence of fitting condemnation Upon him who as they alleged Had spoken against Caesar By daring to take upon himself In any shape The title of king Though Caesar did not claim An empire in the heavens Such as that of which Christ Was indeed the Lord But an earthly and inferior empire Which itself had its root For through him kings reign According to the scripture And monarchs rule over the earth Therefore these most impious men Bridled not their tongues But in their excessive enmity To God Attack the glory of the Saviour Them did the blessed prophet Isaiah justly rebuke saying But draw near hither Ye sons of the sorceress The seed of the adulterer And the whore Against whom do ye sport yourselves Against whom make ye a wide mouth And draw out the tongue Are ye not children of perdition A lawless seed? For it was not against any mere man That they made their outcry And spoke out with unbridled tongues In practiced every sort of calamity But against their own Lord himself Who rulers over all with the Father Therefore rightly did they become And are in truth Children of perdition And a lawless seed 1314 When Pilate therefore heard this saying He brought Jesus out And sat down on the judgment seed At a place called the Pavement But in Hebrew Gabbathah Now it was the preparation Of the Passover It was about the sixth hour And the fifth unto the Jews Behold your king The evangelist, when he thus speaks Throws the whole burden, as it were Of the charge of shedding Christ's Blood upon the Jews For he now clearly says That Pilate was well my overcome Against his will by their opposition So that he put away the thought Of justice And paid little heed to the consequence And therefore he was dragged down To the will of Christ's murderers Though he had often expressly told them That Jesus had been found guilty Of no fault at all And it is this which will make him Subject to the worst of penalties For by preferring the pleasure Of a mob to honoring the just And giving over a guiltless man To the frenzy of the Jews He will be convicted out of His own mouth of impiety He ascends therefore To his usual judgment seat As about to pronounce sentence Of death against Christ The inspired evangelist is induced To signify to our prophet the day And hour Because of the resurrection itself And his three-day sojourn among The departed That the truth of our Lord's Saying to the Jews might appear For as Jonah was three days And three nights in the belly Of the whale So also shall the son of man Be three days and three nights In the heart of the earth The Roman ruler on his judgment seat Pointing to Jesus says Behold your king Either he was jesting with the multitude And was granting with his scornful smile The innocent blood to those who thirsted For it without a cause Or perhaps he was casting In the teeth of the savage Jews The reproach that they endured To see in such evil plight against him Whom they themselves named And deserted to be king of Israel Fifteen They therefore cried out Away with him, away with him Crucify him Pilate sayeth unto them Shall I crucify your king They reiterate their old cry With the same fury And assist did not From their lust for blood And were not softened at all By the insults he had endured Nor inclined to clemency By the outrages inflicted upon him But were rather goaded To a greater pitch of fury And entreat that he Who had raised the dead in their midst And shown himself The worker of such marvels Should be crucified At which Pilate was sore amazed Seeing that they declared With such vehemence That he who had acquired Such eminence among them As to be deemed the son of God And king Was not merely worthy of death But that he deserved so cruelly fate For crucifixion is the worst of deaths The judge therefore Makes their outcry a charge And reproach against them That they should be desirous That he should be crucified Who had excited so great admiration By deeds which were so preeminent As to transcend anything on earth For what is there that is equal To what does not fall short Of the son of God and king Fifteen The chief priest answered We have no king but Caesar Hereupon the well-beloved Israel spurned his God And started to side from his Allegiance And, as Moses said, abandoned The God that was his father And remembered not the Lord his helper For see how he turned his eyes Upon in harlot, according to the scripture Refused to be ashamed Disowned his own glory And denied his Lord Of this very charge God accused Israel of old Speaking by the mouth of Jeremiah For pass over the aisles of Chitom And send unto Kedar And see whether the nations Changed their gods Who are yet no gods But my people have changed their glory And again The heavens were astonished thereat And were horribly afraid Sayeth the Lord For my people have committed to evils They have forsaken me The fountain of living waters And have hewed them out cisterns Broken cisterns That hold no water For while other nations Throughout the whole world Clung fast to the deceitfulness Of their idols Instead fastly adhered to the gods Whom they so deemed And did not readily undergo a change Of faith Nor easily altered their form of worship The Israelites started to side And joined themselves to the empire Of Caesar And cast off the rule of God Therefore, very justly Were they given over into Caesar's hands And having at first welcomed his rule Afterwards brought themselves to grievous ruin And underwent expulsion from their country And the sufferings of war And those irremediable calamities That befell them Observe too Hear the minuteness of the writer For he does not say that the people Started the impious cry But rather their rulers For he says The chief priest cried out Everywhere pointing out That it was through their submissively Following their leaders That the multitude was carried down the precipice And fell into the abyss of perdition The chief priest incurred the penalty Not merely as losing their own souls But also as having been leaders And responsible guides of the people Subject unto them In the fatal shedding of blood Just as also the prophet rebuked them Saying Because ye have been a snare into the watchtower And as a net stretched out upon Tabor Which they who catch the prey have spread The prophet here means by the watchtower The multitude Who were subject unto them Who were arrayed as it were To observe the conduct of their rulers And to conform their own to it And therefore the leading men Of the people are called watchmen In holy writ The chief priests themselves then Were a snare and a net unto the watchtower For they both started this denial And also induced all the rest to cry We have no king but Caesar These miserable men presumed So to say Though God the Father By the mouth of the prophet Predicted the coming of the Saviour And cried out Rejoice greatly Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem Behold thy king cometh unto thee He is just and having salvation Lowly and riding upon an ass And upon a cult the full of an ass These men who had once brought Jesus Into Jerusalem riding upon an ass And honoured him as a God With blind praises With one accord for they cried Blessed is he that cometh In the name of the Lord Now make an outcry against him Accusing him only of attacking The Roman rule And shaking off, as it were, The yoke of the kingdom of God From their necks For this was the plain meaning Of the cry We have no king but Caesar But we shall find that then too It was the people that raised The shout for the Saviour Christ And that it was the chief priests Who presumed in their madness To make this exclamation Just as the others had preceded From them Sixteen Then therefore he delivered him Unto them to be crucified Pilot hence forward Permits the Jews In their unbridled resentment To run to all lengths in lawlessness And divesting himself Of the power due unto a judge Suffers their uncontrolled Length to take their course Unreproved In allowing them to crucify one Who was wholly guiltless And who received this monstrous Contemnation merely because He said he was the son of God One must lay the whole guilt Of the impious crime at the door Of the Jews And rightly and justly, I think, Accused them of being The prime movers in the act For with them originated Yet we cannot quit pilot of complicity In their iniquity For he shared their responsibility Inasmuch as when he might Have delivered and rescued him From the madness of his murderers He did not merely refrain From releasing him But even gave him up to them For the very purpose That they might crucify him Sixteen Seventeen-eighteen Therefore And he went out bearing the cross For himself Under the place called the place Of the skull which is called In Hebrew Golgotha Where they crucified him And with him to others On either side one And Jesus in the midst They lead away then To death the author of life And for our sakes was this done For by the power Of God Christ death resulted In an unexpected reversal of things For his suffering was prepared As a snare for the power of death And the death of the Lord Was the source of the renewal Of mankind in incorruption And newness of life Bearing the cross upon his shoulders On which he was about to be Crucified he went forth His doom was already fixed And he had undergone For our sakes, though innocent The sentence of death For in his own person He bore the sentence Righteously pronounced Against sinners by the law For he became a curse for us According to the scripture For cursed is everyone It is said That hangeth on a tree And accursed are we all For we are not able To fulfill the law of God For in many things We all stumble And very prone to sin Is the nature of man And since too The law of God says Cursed is he Which continue with not in all things That are written in the book of this law To do them The curse then Belongeth unto us And not to others Those against whom the transgression Of the law may be charged And who are very prone to air From its commandments Surely deserve testisement Therefore he that knew no sin Was accursed for our sakes That he might deliver us From the old curse For all sufficient was the God Who is above all So dying for all And by the death of his own body Purchasing the redemption Of all mankind The cross then That Christ bore Was not for his own desserts But was the cross That awaited us And was our due Through our condemnation by the law For as he was numbered among the dead Not for himself But for our sakes That we might find in him The author of everlasting life Subduing of himself the power of death So also he took upon himself The cross that was our due Passing on himself the condemnation Of the law That the mouth of all lawlessness Might henceforth be stopped According to the saying of the psalmist The sinless having suffered Condemnation for the sin of all And of great profit will the deed Which Christ performed be to our souls By mean as a type of true manliness In God's service For in no other way Can we triumphantly attain to perfection In all virtue And perfect union with God Saved by setting our love toward him Above the earthly life And zealously waging battle For the truth If occasion calls us so to do Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ Says Every man that doth not take his cross And follow after me Is not worthy of me And taking up the cross means I think nothing else Than bidding farewell to the world For God's sake And preferring if the opportunity Arise The hope of future glory To life in the body But our Lord Jesus Christ Is not ashamed to bear the cross That is our due And to suffer this indignity For love towards us While we, poor wretches That we are Whose mother is the insensate earth Beneath our feet And who have been called Into being out of nothing Sometimes do not even dare To touch the skirt of tribulation In God's service But if we have anything to bear In the service of Christ At once account the shame intolerable And shrinking from the ridicule Of our adversaries And those who sit In the seat of the scornful As an accursed thing And preferring to God's pleasure This paltry and ill-timed craving For reputation Falls sick of the disease Of disdainful arrogance Which is the mother, so to say Of all evils And so make ourselves Subject to the charge Of the servant above his lord And the disciple above his master And thinks and acts accordingly Alas, for this grievous infirmity Which always in some strange shape Lies a thwart our path And leads us astray From the pursuit of what is meat Call to mind to How the inspired Peter Could not endure Christ's prophecy When he foretold his sufferings Upon the cross Behold, we go up to Jerusalem And the Son of Man is betrayed Under the hands of sinners And they shall crucify him And kill him The disciple, not yet understanding The mysterious ways of God's providence God-loving and teachable as he was Was moved by his groupels to exclaim Be it far from thee, Lord This shall never be unto thee What answered Christ? Get thee behind me, Satan Thou art a stumbling block unto me For thou mind is not the things of God But the things of men But we may hence derive no small profit For we shall know That when occasion calls us To exhibit courage in God's service And we are compelled to endure conflicts That ensue for virtue's sake Yea, even if they who honour and love us best Drive to hinder us from doing anything That may tend to establish virtue Alleging it may be Our consequent dishonour among men Or from some worldly motive We must not yield For they, then, are in no wise Unlike Satan Who loves and does ever want To cast stumbling blocks in our path By diverse deceits And sometimes by smooth words So as to divert from the pursuit Of what is meat The man who was urged there too By the spirit of piety And me thinks Christ meant Something like this when he said If, therefore, thy right eye causes Thee to stumble, pluck it out And cast it from thee For that which does us injury Is no longer our own Even though united to us By the bond of love And though its connection with us Be but its natural dessert Two robbers were crucified together With Christ And this was owing to the malice Of the Jews For, as though to emphasise The dishonour of our Saviour's death They involved the just man In the same condemnation As the transgressors of the law And we may take the condemned criminals Who hung by Christ's side As symbolical of the two nations Who were shortly about to be brought Into close contact with him I mean the children of Israel And the Gentiles And why do we take condemned criminals As the type Because the Jews were condemned By the law For they were guilty of transgressing it And the Greeks by their idolatry For they worshipped the creature More than the Creator And after another manor Those who were united with Christ Are also crucified with him For, enduring as it were Death to their old conversation In the flesh They are reformed into a new life According to the Gospel Ye Paul said And they that are of Christ Jesus Have crucified the flesh With the passions and the lust thereof And again speaking of himself In words applicable to all men For I, through the law Died unto the law That I might live unto God I have been crucified with Christ Yet I live And yet no longer I But Christ liveth in me And he exhorts also the Colossians Wherefore, if ye died from the world Why do ye behave yourselves As though living in the world For by becoming dead unto Worldly conversation We are brought to the rudiments Of conduct and life in Christ Therefore the crucifixion Of the two robbers Side by side with Christ Signifies an manner to us Through the medium of that event The juxtaposition of the two nations Dying together, as it were With the Savior Christ By bidding farewell to The worldly pleasures And refusing any longer To live after the flesh And preferring to live with their Lord So far as may be By fashioning their lives According to him And consecrating them in his service And the meaning of the figure Is in no way affected by the fact That the men who hung by his side Were malefactors For we were by nature Children of wrath And believed in Christ And were all doomed to death As we said before End of introduction part 3