 1 That the Holy Spirit is naturally of God and in the Son and through him and in his substance. 14. He shall glorify me, for he shall take of mine and shall declare it unto you. As the Holy Spirit was about to reveal to those who should be found worthy the mystery that is in Christ and to demonstrate completely who he is by nature and how great is his power and might, and that he reigneth over all with the Father, Christ is impelled to say, He shall glorify me. 15. For he sets our mind above the conceits of the Jews and does not suffer us to entertain so limited and dwarfed a conception as to think that he is a mere man, slightly surpassing the prophets in the stature they attained, or even falling short of their renown. 16. For we find that the leaders of the Jews had this idea concerning him, because they not knowing the mystery of piety frequently uttered blasphemies against Christ and encountering his sayings with their mad folly, said on one occasion, Who art thou? Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never see death? Whom makeest thou thyself? And on another occasion they cast in his teeth the meanness of his birth according to the flesh, and his great insignificance in this respect. Is not this the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then doth he say, I am come down out of heaven? 17. Note here in the miserable reasoning of the Jews, as then the multitude were so disposed and thought that the Lord was not truly God because in this human brain he was liable to death, and because they did not scruple to entertain the basest conception of his nature, the spirit, when he came down from heaven, illustrated completely his glory to the saints. Not that we should say that he merely convinced them by wise words, but that he by actual proof also satisfied the minds of all that he was truly God, and the fruit of the substance of God the Father. What then is this proof, and how did he increase the honour and admiration in which Christ was held? By exercising his activity universally in a marvellous and divine manner, and by implanting in the saints complete and perfect knowledge he furthered his glory. For to the sovereign nature of the universe alone must we ascribe omniscience and the sight of all things naked and laid open to the view, and the ability to accomplish all his purposes. The comforter then, that is his own spirit, being omnipotent and omniscient, glorifies the Son. And how does he glorify him? Surely what his spirit knows and is able to affect, Christ knows and is able to affect. And if, as he says, the spirit receives of him, the spirit himself being omnipotent, surely he himself has a power which is universal. And we must in no wise suppose that the comforter, that is the spirit, is lacking in innate and inherent power in such a way that, if he did not receive assistance from without, his own power would not be self-sufficient to fully accomplish the divine designs. Anyone who merely imagined any such idea to be true about the spirit would, with good reason, undergo the charge of the worst blasphemy of all. But it is because he is consubstantial with the Son, and divinely proceeds through him, exercising universally his entire activity and power, that Christ says, he shall receive of me. For we believe that the spirit has a self-supporting existence and is in truth that which he is, and with the qualities predicated of him. Though being inherent in the substance of God, he proceeds and issues from it, and has innate in himself all that that nature implies. For the divine substance is not his by participation or by relation, still less is it his as though he had a separate existence from it, since he is an attribute of it. For just as the fragrance of sweet smelling flowers, proceeding in some sort from the essential and natural exercise of the functions or qualities of the flowers that emit it, conveys the perception thereof to the outer world by meeting those organs of smell in the body. And yet seems in some way, so far as its logical conception goes, to be separate from its natural cause, while, as having no independent existence, it is not separate in nature from the source from which it proceeds and in which it is. Even so you may conceive of the relation of God and the Holy Spirit, taking this by way of illustration. In this way then the statement that his spirit received something from the only begotten is wholly unimpeachable and cannot be cavalled at. For proceeding naturally as his attribute through him, and having all that he has in its entirety, he is said to receive that which he has. And if this meaning is conveyed in language that is obscure, far from being offended at it, we should with more justice lay the blame on the poverty of our own language, which is not able to give expression to the divine truths in a suitable way. And what language is adequate to explain the ineffable nature and glory of God? He says then that the Comforter will receive of mine and will show it unto you. That is, he will say nothing that is not in harmony with my purpose. But since he is my spirit, his language will be in every way identical with mine, and he will show you of my will. Chapter 2. 15. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine, and therefore I said unto you, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you. The Son once more shows to us herein the complete and perfect character of the person of the Father himself also, and allows us to see why he said that he, being the fruit of the Father's substance, engrosses in himself all that belongs to it, and says that it is all his own, and with reason. For as there is nothing to deceiver or estrange the Son from the Father, so far as their complete similarity and equality is concerned, save only that he is not himself the Father, and as the divine substance does not show itself differently in the two persons, surely their attributes are common, or rather identical. So that what the Father hath is the Son's, and what he that begat hath, belongs also to him that is begotten of him. For this reason I think, in his watchful care over us, he has thus spoken to us concerning this. For he did not say, all things whatsoever the Father hath I have also, in order to prevent our imagining, he meant a mere likeness founded on similarity, only molded by adventitious graces into conformity with the archetype, as is the case with us, for we are after God's likeness. Rather, when he says, all things whatsoever the Father hath are mine, he illustrates hereby the perfect union which he hath with his Father, and the meaning of their consubstantiality existing in unchangeable attributes. And this you may see that he clearly says elsewhere when addressing the Father, all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine. For surely they are identical in nature, and whom there is no severance at all, but complete and perfect essential equality and likeness. God the Father then hath, of himself and in himself, his own spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, through whom he dwelleth in the saints, and reveals his mysteries to them. Not as though the Spirit recalled to perform a merely ministerial function, do not think this. But rather, as he is in him essentially, and proceeds from him inseparably and indivisibly, interpreting what is in reality his own when he interprets that which belongs to him in whom he exists, and from whom he springs. For God only has union with the creation through his Son in the Spirit, and this Spirit is also an attribute of the only begotten, for he is consubstantial with the Father. Since then he says, it is seen to be natural to God the Father to reveal himself in his own spirit to those who are worthy of him, and to accomplish through him all his purposes, and since this kind of action belongs to me also, for this cause I said, he receiveth of me, and will show it unto you, and let no man be perplexed when he here hears the word receiveth, but rather let him consider the following fact, and he will do well. The things of God are spoken of in language as though God were even as we are, but this is not really the case, for his ways are superhuman. We say then that the Spirit receives of the Father and the Son the things that are theirs in the following way. Not as though at one moment he were devoid of the knowledge and power inherent in them, and at the next hardly acquires such knowledge and power when he is conceived of as receiving from them. For the Spirit is wise and powerful, nay, rather, absolute wisdom and power, not by participation in anything else, but by his own nature. But, rather, just as we should say that the fragrance of sweet-smelling herbs which assails our nostrils is distinct from the herbs so far as their conception in thought is concerned, but proceeds from the herbs in which it originates, only by being a recipient of their faculty of giving scent in order to its display, and is not in fact distinct from them because its existence is due to and is wrapped up in them. Even such an idea, or rather one transcending this, must you imagine about the relation of God to the Holy Spirit. For he is, as it were, a sweet saver of his substance, working plainly on the senses, conveying to the creature an affluence from God, and instilling in him through itself participation in the sovereign substance of the universe. For if the fragrance of sweet herbs imparts some of its power to garments with which it comes in contact, and in some sort transforms its surroundings into likeness with itself, surely the Holy Ghost has power, since he is by nature of God to make those in whom he abides partakers in the divine nature through himself. The Son then, being the fruit and express image of the Father's person by nature, engrosses all that is his, and therefore he says, All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine, therefore said I unto you, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you. The Spirit, that is, who is through him and in him, by whom he personally dwells in the saints. For his Spirit is not distinct from him, even though he may be conceived of as having a separate and independent existence, for the Spirit is Spirit, and not the Son. 16. A little while, and ye behold me no more, and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. After having first said that he would reveal to them by his Spirit everything that was necessary and essential for them to know, he discourses to them of his passion, nigh unto which was his ascension into heaven, rendering the coming of the Spirit very necessary. For it was no longer possible for him, after he had gone up to the Father, to hold converse in the flesh with his holy apostles. And he makes his discourse with the greatest caution, thereby robbing their sorrow of its sting, for well he knew the great fear would once more reign in their hearts, and that they would be consumed with an agony of grief, expecting to be overwhelmed by terrible and unendurable evils, when their bereavement should come to pass and the Savior ascend to the Father. For this cause I think he does not tell them that he would die, the madness of the Jews requiring even his life of him, but keeps this secret. Rather, in his great consideration for them he greatly softens the rigor of his discourse, and shows them that close upon their suffering would follow the joy of their heart, which his resurrection would occasion them, saying, A little while, and ye behold me no more, and again a little while, and ye shall see me. For it now the time of his death, Junai, which would take the Lord out of the sight of his disciples for a very short season, until, after dispoiling hell, and throwing open the gates of darkness to those that dwelt therein, he built up again the temple of his body, whereupon he manifested himself once more to his disciples, and promised to be with them all way, even unto the end of the world, according to the scripture. For even though he be absent in the body, taking his place for our sake at the Father's side, and sitting at his right hand, still he dwells by the Spirit with those who are worthy of him, and has perpetual converse with his saints, for he has promised that he will not leave us comfortless. As then there was but a short interval of time before his passion would begin, he says, A little while, and ye see me no more, for he was to be hidden from sight in a manner by death for a brief space. And again, he says, A little while, and ye shall see me. For on the third day he revived, having preached unto the spirits in prison. The proof of his love towards mankind was hereby rendered most complete by his giving salvation, I say, not merely to the quick, but also by his preaching remission of sins to those who were already dead, and who sat in darkness in the depths of the Abyss according to the scripture. And remark how, with reference to his passion and his resurrection, he said, A little while, and ye behold me no more, and again a little while, and ye shall see me. And how, merely adding, because I go to my Father, leaves the rest unsaid. He did not explain to them how long he would remain there, or when he would come again. And why was this? Because it is not for us to know times and seasons which the Father hath set within his own authority, according to the words of our Saviour himself. 1718 Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, What is this that he sayeth unto us? A little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me. And because I go to the Father. They said therefore, What is this that he sayeth, a little while, we know not what he sayeth. 1718 The inspired disciples, not yet understanding what he had said, converse among themselves and are endowed as to what a little while, and again a little while, and ye shall not see me, might mean. Christ, however, anticipates their desire for information, and once more very seasonably shows them that he knows their hearts as God, and that he is as well aware of what they are turning over in their minds, and what was as yet buried in the depths of their hearts, as though they had already given utterance to it in speech. For what is there which can be hid from him before whom all things are naked? Wherefore also he sayeth to one of the saints, Who is this that hideeth counsel from me, and puteth together words in his heart, and thinketh that he keepeth it secret from me? He then at every turn uses occasion as it offers to nurture in them secure and unshaken faith. 19.20. Jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, a little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 20. As then they were thirsting for information, and sought to know more exactly the meaning of his words, he gives a clearer exposition of his passion, and vouchsafes them the foreknowledge of the sufferings that he was about to undergo to their great prophet. It was not in order that he might engender in them premature alarm that he deemed it me to give them this explanation beforehand, but in order that, forarmed by their knowledge, they might perchance be found more courageous to withstand the terror that would assail them. For that of which the Advent is expected is milder in its approach than that which is wholly unlooked for. 21. When then you who are truly mine, and united to me by your love towards me, shall behold your guide and master undergoing the brunt of the madness of the Jews, their insults and outrages, and all that their mad frenzy will prompt, then indeed ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. That is, those who are not minded to follow God's will, but are, as it were, enchained by worldly lust. He refers also to the vulgar herd of Jewish rabble, as well as the impious band of enemies of God who had secured the lead among them, namely the scribes and Pharisees, who made just at the trials our Saviour had to endure, and raised many cries to their own damnation, at one time saying, if thou art the Son of God, come down now from the cross, and we will believe thee. 22. And at another, thou that destroyest the temple and build us it in three days, save thyself. 23. For such will be the foul utterances of the blasphemous tongue of the Jews. But while the men of the world would be of this mind, and such will be their deeds and cries, you will mourn, but not for long will you have this suffering to endure, for your sorrow will be turned into joy, for I shall live again, and will wholly remove the cause of your despondency, and I will comfort the mourners, and will renew in them a good courage that will be eternal and without end. 24. For the joy of the saints ceaseth not. 25. For Christ is alive forevermore, and through him the bonds of death are loosed for all mankind. It is perhaps, too, not impertinent to reflect that the worldly will, contrary wise, be doomed to a fate of endless misery. For if, when Christ died after the flesh, those who were truly his mourned, but the world rejoiced at his passion, and if, when death and corruption were rendered powerless by the resurrection of our Savior Christ from the dead, the mourning of the saints was turned into joy. Surely, unlike man, or also the joy of the worldly minded, will be lost in sorrow. 21. 22. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is calm, but when she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the world, and ye therefore now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy when taketh from you. 22. He once more dilates upon the solace he had given them, and illustrates it by diverse words, in every way aiding them to dispel the bitterness of their sorrow. For observe how earnestly he persuades them, by obvious illustration, of the necessity of endurance, and of not being over-dismayed by troubles or sorrows, if they must surely and inevitably end in rejoicing. 23. For the child, he says, is the fruit of sore travail, and it is through pain that the joy they have in their children comes to mothers. And if at the first they had felt faint-hearted at the prospect of the travail of childbirth they would never have consented to conceive, but would rather have chosen to escape marriage, which is the cause, and would never have become mothers at all, avoiding by their cowardice a state which is highly desirable and thrice-blessed. 24. In like manner, then, will your suffering also not fail to meet its reward? For you will rejoice when you see a new child born into the world, incorruptible and beyond the reach of death. Plainly he alludes to himself here. 25. He tells them that the joy of heart that they will have in him cannot be taken away from them or lost. 26. For, as Paul says, or rather as the very truth itself implies, having died once for all, he dyeth no more. 27. The joy of heart, then, that rests upon him hath in very truth a sure foundation. 28. For if we mourn at his death, who shall take from us our joy, now that we know that he lives and will be alive for evermore? He who gives and ordains for us all spiritual blessings. 29. No man then taketh their joy from the saints, as our Saviour says. But they who nailed him to the cross were bereft of their joy once and for ever. For now that his suffering is ended, which they thought an occasion for rejoicing, sorrow will be their portion of inevitable necessity. 23. 24. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing, verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name, ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled. He says that his holy disciples will increase in wisdom and knowledge when they should be clothed with power from on high, according to the scripture, and with their minds illumined by the torch-light of the Spirit should be able to conceive all wisdom, even though they asked no question of him who was no longer present with them in the flesh. The Saviour does not indeed say this because they will have no more need of light from him, but because when they had received his own Spirit and had him indwelling in their hearts they would have in their minds no lack of every good thing, and would be fulfilled with the most perfect knowledge. And by perfect knowledge we mean that which is correct and incapable of error, and which cannot endure to think or say any evil thing, and which has a right belief concerning the holy and consubstantial trinity. For if we see now in a mirror-darkly, and we know in part, still while we wander not astray from the doctrines of the truth, but adhere to the Spirit of the holy and inspired writings, the knowledge that we have is not imperfect, a knowledge which no man can acquire save by the light of the Holy Spirit given unto him. Hereby he exhorts the disciples to pray for spiritual graces, and at the same time gives them this encouragement, that what they ask they will not fail to obtain, adding the comforting assurance of the word verily to his promise that if they will go to the Father's throne and make any request they will receive it of him. He himself acting as mediator and leading them into the Father's presence. For this is the meaning of the words in my name, for we cannot draw nigh unto God the Father saved by the Son alone. For through him we have obtained access in one spirit unto the Father according to the Scripture. Therefore also he saith, I am the door, I am the way, no one cometh unto the Father but by me. For inasmuch as the Son is also God, together with the Father he conveys good gifts to the saints, and associates himself with him in granting us the portion of the blessed. Moreover the inspired Paul most evidently confirms our belief herein by writing these words, grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And in right of his titles, mediator, high priest, and advocate, he conveys to the Father prayers on our behalf, for he gives us all boldness to address the Father. In the name then of our Savior Christ we must make our request, for so will the Father most readily grant them, and will give to those that ask good gifts, that we may take them and rejoice therein. So being fulfilled with spiritual graces, and enriched with the grant of knowledge from him through the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, we shall gain a very easy triumph over every strange and abominable lust, and thus being active in good works, and attaining to the practice of every virtue with fervent zeal, and strengthened with everything whatsoever that maketh for sanctification, we rejoice with exceeding joy at the prospect of the reward that awaits us. And dismissing the despondency that springs from an evil conscience, we have our hearts enriched with the joy that is in Christ. This did not enter into the life of the men of old time. They never practiced this manner of prayer, for they knew it not. But now is it ordained for us by Christ at the appropriate season, when the time of the accomplishment of our redemption was fulfilled, and the perfect fruition of all good was gained for us by him. For just as the law accomplished nothing, and his righteousness according to the law was incomplete, so also was the mode of prayer inculcated thereby. End of Chapter 2 Part 1 Chapter 2 Part 2 of Commentary in the Gospel of John Book 11 by Cyril of Alexandria, translated by Reverend Thomas Randall, this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. 25. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs. The hour cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. By Proverbs he means language that is indistinct, and does not bear its meaning on the surface, but is in some sort veiled by obscurity so subtle that he says his hearers could not very readily comprehend it, for this was the fashion of what was said in Proverbs. What I have told you then, he says, I have told you as it were in Proverbs and Riddles, reserving for the fitting season which is not yet come, though it is drawing nigh, the revelation of these things beyond possibility of doubt. For the hour will indeed come, he says, that is, the proper time in which I shall in plain language expound to you the things that concern the Father's glory, and implant in you a knowledge that surpasses human understanding. What that time would be he did not tell them very clearly. We must surmise that he either meant that time when we were enriched with the knowledge that comes to us through the Spirit, whom Christ himself brought down to us after his resurrection from the dead, or it may be the time to come after the end of the world in which we shall behold unveiled and open to our gaze the glory of God, who will himself impart to us knowledge concerning himself in perfect clearness. Therefore also Paul says that prophecies shall be done away and knowledge shall cease, having no other meaning in his mind than that which we have accepted for this passage, for we see in a mirror and we know in part, as we just now said. But when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away. How or in what manner this shall come to pass I will go on to explain if you are willing to listen. For just as in the darkness of the night the bright beauty of the star shines forth, each casting abroad its own ray of light, but when the sun arises with his radiant beams then that light which is but in part is done away, and the luster of the stars waxes feeble and ineffective. In like manner I think also the knowledge that we now have will cease, and that which is in part will vanish away at that moment of time when the perfect light has come upon us and sheds forth its radiancy, filling us with perfect knowledge of God. Then, when we are enabled to approach God in confidence, Christ will tell us the things which concern his father. For now by shadows and illustrations and various images and types deduced from different phases of human life we feebly trace our steps to a vague uncertain knowledge through the inherent weakness of our minds. Then, however, we shall stand in no need of any type or riddle or parable, but shall behold after a fashion, face to face and with unshackled mind the fair vision of the divine nature of God the Father having seen the glory of him who proceeded from him. For we shall see him even as he is, according to the saying of John. For now we know him in the perfection of the glory that belongs to his divine nature because of our humanity. But when the season of his incarnation is past and the mystery of our redemption completely wrought out, henceforth he will be seen in his own glory and in the glory of God the Father. For being God by nature and thereby consubstantial with his Father he will surely enjoy equal honors with him and will shine henceforth in the glory of his Godhead. 26, 27 In that day you shall ask in my name and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. He suffers them not to ask for anything at all by prayer and supplication except only in his name. He promises, however, that his Father will very readily grant their request, not indeed as induced thereto by the intercessions of the Son in his capacity as our mediator and advocate, but prompted by his own will to be liberal in his dealing towards them and making haste to shower upon those who love Christ the exceeding riches of his goodness as though he were but paying them their due. And no man in his senses can think, nor can anyone be so ignorant as to affirm that the disciples or any others of the saints stand in no need of the mediation of the Son in working out their own salvation. For all things proceed through him from the Father in the Spirit, since he is the advocate, as John saith, not for our sins only, but also for the whole world. And in saying this he shows us too to our prophet that very acceptable to God the Father is the honor and love which we have towards his offspring. Not understanding this, the noble people of the Jews did not shrink from assailing him with intolerable blasphemies and sought to kill him, according to the scripture, because of the conversion of the mind of his believers from the obscure commandment of the law to the clearness of the life according to the gospel. For these wretched men said in their ignorance, or rather in their desire to sharpen their blasphemous tongues when men were from God, he would not have broken the Sabbath day. He says then that God the Father will very readily vouchsafe his favor to those who have undoubting faith and are well assured that he came out from God the Father. For the Father will, as it were, he says, hail in advance and anticipate the request of the mediator and overwhelm with spiritual those who have a right understanding concerning me and not according to the imaginations of those who are too much enamored of the letter of the law. And by the words I came out from God we must surmise that he means either I was begotten from and manifested myself out of, his substance, the words being taken with reference to what goes before as to resting in a sense independently of his Father, but not altogether separately from him, for the Father is in the Son and the Son again by nature in the Father. Or we must take the words I came out from as meaning I became even as you are, that is a man endued with your form and nature. For the peculiar nature of any being may be conceived of the place from which it proceeds when it is transformed into anything else and becomes what it was not before. We are indeed far from asserting that when he took the form of man even as ourselves being at the same time truly the only begotten he divested himself of his Godhead for he is the same yesterday and today yea and forever. But when he took upon himself a nature that was not his own while at the same time he retained his peculiar attributes he may be conceived of as having come forth from God in a sense appropriate to this passage. You may take if you choose the words I came forth from the Father in yet another sense as follows. The Pharisees only apt an error as I have already said thought that Christ came before the world like one of the false prophets with no mission from God but of his own motion in as much as they were accustomed to point out to those that went to him that Christ teaching conflicted with the law and for this reason they considered him guilty of disobedience declaring that the keeping of the law is most acceptable to God the Father but it was broken by his teaching they therefore rejected Christ as an enemy of God and as having chosen to oppose the dispensation given to them from him through Moses and argued that he was for this reason an alien from God but not so the blessed disciples for they loved him and had their minds exalted above the madness of the Jews and they had a genuine faith that he came out from God as we have been told. For this cause then were they beloved of the Father and were requited as it were by receiving equal favor from him and if they who believe that the Son came out from God are very dear and acceptable to God the Father surely they who are diseased with a contrary opinion are accursed and abominable in God's sight and if God is very ready to harken to love the Son clearly he will not accept the prayers of his enemies and this is what is said by the mouth of Isaiah to them and when ye spread forth your hands to me I will hide my eyes from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood 28. I came out from the Father and am come into the world and go into the Father herein then in the fact that our Lord went back to the Father and returned with power to the place from which he knew that he had gone forth is proved clear and incontrovertible that he was not one of the false prophets and that he did not come to utter to us the promptings of man's private judgment or to teach us doctrines contrary to the Father's will and to Jews ignorantly imagined granting then so a man might speak wishing to combat the perverse opinions of the Jews that he was not the true Christ as you say oh Jews and that without the approval of God the Father he introduced the teaching of the life according to the Gospel showing that the commandment of the law was now barren and so profitless for the attainment of salvation in piety for you accuse him as a sabbathbreaker and when he did any wonderful works among you you impiously said that he used to do them by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils how then was it that he ascended into heaven itself how was it that the Father gave a share of his throne and the angels through open wide the gates of heaven added his decrees as you say and propounded doctrines contrary to the will of the sovereign of the universe was his ascension unobserved of a truth great was the crowd of witnesses to whom the divine and heavenly messengers spake the words ye men of Galilee why stand ye looking into heaven this Jesus which was received up from you into heaven shall so come like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven what hast thou, O Jews to say and reply wilt thou not honor with obedience even the voice of an angel wilt thou not accept the testimony of the witnesses though those who gazed upon the scene were many in number and yet the law says clearly in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established how then any longer can there reproach of being a false prophet be brought with any justice against him who of his own power returns to the Father in heaven and will it not rather follow by the convincing logic of facts that we should entertain the firm conviction that he came from God that is from the Father and is in fact no other than he whom the law and the prophets foretold unto us and when he says that he came into this world and again left the world and went to the Father he does not mean that he either abandoned the Father when he became man nor that he abandoned the race of man when in his flesh he went to the Father for he is truly God and with his ineffable power filleth all things that is not far from anything that exists 2930 his disciples say unto him low now speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb now know we that thou knowest all things and needest not that any man should ask thee by this we believe that thou cameest forth from God the marvel of the convincing nature of the proof he gives them is that the clearness of his language for without any concealment he made his speech to them right openly they rejoice therefore at receiving a proof rid of all difficulty and declare that his words have in them nothing hard to understand but that his language here is so easily intelligible that it does not seem in the smallest degree to partake of the nature of a parable and they get also this additional benefit since thou knowest they say what is whispered in secret and has now given us this information in the words thou has just spoken anticipating there by the questions we might have asked in our desire to elicit it we are persuaded that thou art indeed come from God for to know they say what is secret and hidden can belong to the God of all and to none other and since thou knowest all things of thyself is it not beyond question that thou hast emanated from God that knoweth all things so this truly divine and marvelous sign also availed to nurture in the disciples with the rest undoubting faith so that we can see in them the truth of the saying give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser teach a just man and he will increase in learning and they say now are we sure not meaning thereby that they then let into their minds the first beginning of faith when they heard these words and recognized the sign I mean the omniscience of Christ but rather that they begin to establish firmly in their hearts the faith that had at first gained admittance there of an alterable conviction that he was God and sprang from the true and living God we shall accept then the expression now are we sure as referring not to the first beginning of faith but to the occasion of its first being firmly settled in that apprehension of Christ nature now honored with approval 31 32 Jesus answered them he now believe behold the hour cometh yea is now come that ye shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the father is with me the savior however very gently tells them that the time when they should be confirmed in all goodness was not yet but that this would come to pass unto them from heaven and power from on high according to the scripture for then declaring that their human feigned heartedness was perfected in strength they were preeminent for their invincible hearty hood not fearing the risings of the Jews against them nor the unbridled wrath of the Pharisees nor any other peril but showing themselves the champions of the divine message declaring we must obey God rather than men for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard well then he points out that they are not yet confirmed in perfect faith through their not having partaken of communion with the spirit setting before them as a proof the cowardice that they would presently display at the same time by foretelling manifestly confers on them no small benefit for they would be grounded more firmly in faith that he was by nature God when they had fully grasped the belief that the future was in no way hid from him behold then he says the time will shortly come nay is now at hand when ye will leave me alone and depart to your own herein he says indirectly only by implication that overcome by unmanly cowardice they would take thought only for their own lives and preferring their own safety to the affection they owed to their master would flee to the nearest place of refuge how then are ye now sure when you have not yet quit yourselves of the reproach of imputations on your courage because as yet you have no participation in the courage which is given by the spirit and that the blessed disciples betook themselves to flight and were terrified at the onslaught of the Jews when the traitor appeared bringing with him the impious band of soldiers and the servants of the leaders is beyond question then did they leave Christ alone that is with reference to the absence of all those who were want to follow and attend upon him for he was not alone in so much as he was God and of God and in God by nature and indivisibly Christ indeed says this speaking rather as man and for our sakes with intent to teach us that when we are assailed by temptation persecution and such like and are called to encounter some peril that may bring us glory I mean in God's service we are not therefore to be faint hearted about the ability to escape because none of our brethren of kindred soul to us are running the race side by side with us cheering us so far as in them lies and all but sharing by their sympathy the danger which is imminent for even if all these we take themselves to flight gaining in their own persons and advantage over us by their cowardice which is grievous and hard to bear we ought to bear in mind that God's will not be shortened on that account for he will alone avail to save him that is faithful unto him for we are not alone and though we see no friend beside us as I have just said we have God who is all powerful with us at our side to aid and fight in the conflict shielding us with all sufficient sucker as the psalmist says with favor has thou encompassed us as with a shield we make these observations on this passage not as considering love of life something honorable and worthy admiration on occasions when we can bring our life in the body to a glorious end fighting in the ranks with those who risk their lives for God's sake but that we may rather be persuaded of this that even though there be none willing in zealous to share the conflict with us we ought not to be faint at heart for we shall not be alone for God is with us 33 these things have I spoken unto you that in me you may have peace in the world you have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world Christ herein so to say well sums up to our prophet his discourse to them and compressing into a few words the meaning of what he has said sets before them in brief the knowledge of his will for I have now he says spoken these words unto you exhorting you to have peace in me and that you may also know clearly that you will meet with trouble in the world and will be involved in many tribulations for my sake but you will not be vanquished by the perils that encompass you for I have overcome the world but that I may make what I have said as clear as possible unto you come let me first explain what having peace in Christ means for the world or those who are enamored of the things in the world are continually at peace among themselves but in no wise have they peace in Christ as for example the disillute seekers of the pleasures of sense are therefore most dear and acceptable to those of similar pursuits and the man who covets riches that do not belong to him and is for this reason grasping or thievish will be altogether to the taste of those who practice a kindred vice for every creature loves his kind according to the saying and man will be attracted to his like but in all connections of this sort the holy name of peace is put to base uses and the proverb is true but it is not with the saints as it is with the wicked for soon is not the bond of peace but faith hope love and the power of piety towards God and this is in Christ the chiefest then of all good gifts towards us is clearly peace in Christ which brings in its train brotherly love is nearer into itself Paul says that love is the perfect fulfilling of the divine law and that to those who love one another will surely come the love of God himself above all things else is beyond question as John says that if a man love his brother he will as a consequence love God himself he points out also another truth I mean in the words in the world you have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world anyone choosing to construe these words in a simple sense might reason thus Christ appeared superior to and stronger than every sin and worldly hindrance and since he has conquered he will also bestow the power to conquer upon such as attempt the struggle for his sake and if any man seek to find a more recondite meaning for the words he might reflect in this wise just as we have hereby overcome corruption and death since as man for us and for our sakes Christ became alive again making his own resurrection the beginning of the conquest over death the power of his resurrection will surely extend even unto us since he that overcame death was one of us in so much as he was incarnate man and as we overcome sin and as we overcome death that holy died in Christ first Christ that is being the purveyor to us of the blessing as his own kindred so also we ought to be of good cheer because we shall overcome the world for Christ as man overcame it for our sakes being herein the beginning and the gate and the way for the race of man for they who once were fallen and vanquished have now overcome and are conquerors through him who conquered as one of ourselves and for our sakes for if he conquered as God then it would it us nothing but if as man we are herein conquerors for he is to us the second Adam come from heaven according to the scripture just as then we have born the image of the earthy according to its likeness falling under the yoke of sin so likewise also shall we bear the image of the heavenly that is Christ overcoming the power of sin and triumphing over all the tribulation of the world for Christ has overcome the world and of chapter 2 chapters 3 and 4 of commentary in the gospel of John book 11 by Cyril of Alexandria translated by Reverend Thomas Randall this Liebervox recording is in the public domain chapter 3 that John should consider that the son has any lack of God befitting glory though he be found to say father glorify thy son 17 1 these things fake Jesus and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said father the hour is come glorify thy son that thy son may also glorify thee having given his disciples mercy of things necessary for salvation and incited them by fitting words and arguments to a more accurate apprehension of his doctrines and made them best able to battle against temptation and confirmed the courage of each one he straightway changes the form of his speech for our prophet and turns it into a kind of prayer allowing no interval to elapse between his discourse to them and the father herein also by his own conduct suggesting to us a type of admirable life for the man who aims at serving God ought I think to bear in mind that he ought at all events either to be fond of discoursing to his brethren of things profitable or necessary for their salvation or if he be not so engaged to hasten to employ the service of the tongue in God so as to render it impossible for any random words to slip in between for in this way the governance of the tongue may be well unsuitably ordered for is it not quite obvious that in vain conversations things blame worthy may very readily escaping man moreover a wise man has said in the multitude of words thou shall not escape sin but he that reigneth his lips is wise you may find besides another thing to admire which is in no small degree profitable for us the beginning of his prayer has reference to his own glory and that of God the father and afterwards in intimate connection with this he introduces his prayer for us and why is this the reason is one which convinces the pious man that God and actually disposes the worker of good deeds to prayer for just as we ought to perform good actions and do all things not turning to our own glory our zeal herein but to the glory of the father of the universe I mean God for he says let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven so also it best befits us when occasion calls us to prayer to pray for what redounds to God's glory before what concerns ourselves as indeed Christ also himself and joins us when he says after this manner pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven so on earth give us this day our daily bread what Christ here does then ought to be to us the pattern of prayer for it was necessary that not an elder or messenger but Christ himself should manifest himself to be our leader in guide in all good and in the way which leadeth to God for we are called and are in very truth as the prophet says taught of God and what he says to his father it is right that we should consider with the greatest care for I think we ought in a spirit of the most earnest attention to handle the investigation of his words and most carefully search after the true intent of his teaching father then he says the hour is come glorify thy son that thy son may also glorify thee so far as the mere form of his language is concerned one could think that the speaker had some lack of glory but anyone who considers the majesty of the only begotten would I think quickly shrink from so grievous a conclusion for it were great folly to think that the son has any lack of glory or falls short of the honor which is his due though he is the lord of glory so the inspired writings call him especially when in another place we observe him saying to his father oh father glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was then who can any longer doubt or who is so demented and so far the enemy of all truth as not to know and confess that the only begotten is not bereft of divine glory so far as nature is concerned but that since being in the form of God and in perfect equality with him he counted it not a prize to be on in equality with God but nevertheless descended to the humiliation of human nature and emptied himself of his glory wearing this mean body and from love towards us putting on the likeness of human littleness now that the time had actually arrived at which he was destined after fulfilling the mystery of our redemption to gird himself about with his pristine and essential glory having wrought out the salvation of the whole world and secured life and the knowledge of God to those that are therein herein I say he shows that he has God's will and favor and makes this speech to him saying he ought to recover the majesty due unto his nature and how does he ascend into heaven surely he that even in the flesh showed himself able to accomplish the deeds of a God was not in this subject to another's power but ascended of himself being the wisdom and might of God the Father for we must think that thus and no other way he with power for all things are from the Father but not without the Son for how could God the Father perform any of his proper functions if his wisdom and might I mean the Son were not with him and accomplishing with him those things in which his power is seen in active operation therefore also the wise evangelist who wrote this book at the beginning of his work says all things were made by him and without him was not anything made since then the doctrine of his consubstantiality compels us by consequence to think that all things proceed from the Father but wholly through the Son in the Spirit and that he having slain death and corruption and taken away from the devil his kingdom was about to illumine the whole world with the light of the Spirit and to show himself thereby hence forth in very deed the true God by nature he is impelled to say Father glorify thy Son that thy Son may also glorify thee and no man of sense would maintain that the Son ask glory from the Father as a man from man but rather that he also promises to give him glory as it were in return for it would be very unbecoming nay rather holy foolish to have such an idea about God the Saviour indeed speak these words to show how very necessary his own glory was to the Father that he might be known to be consubstantial with him for just as it would entail dishonor on God the Father that the Son that was begotten upon him should not be such as he that is God by nature and of God ought to be so I think to have his own Son invested with those attributes which he is conceived of as having and which are predicated of him will confer honour and glory upon him the Father therefore is glorified in the glory of his offspring as I said just now giving glory to the Son by considering throughout his earthly career both from how great and of what a Father the only begotten sprang and in turn receiving glory from the Son by the consideration of how great indeed is the Son of whom he is the Father the honour and glory then which is theirs essentially and by nature will be reflected from the Son on the Father and in turn from the Father on the Son if any man concede that owing to the degradation of his incarnation our Lord here speaks more humbly than his true nature warrants for this was his custom he will not altogether miss arriving at a proper conclusion but will not quite attain to the truth and the inquiry for if he were seeking only honour from the Father there would be nothing unlikely in setting down the request to the inferiority of human nature but since he promises to glorify the Father in turn does it not follow of necessity that we should readily embrace the view we have just given Chapter 4 that it will in no way damage the glory of the Son when he is said to have received ought from God the Father since for this we can assign two even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh that whatsoever thou hast given him to them he shall give eternal life in these words Christ expands once more to us the kind of glory whereby God will exalt and glorify his own Son and he will also himself be glorified in turn by his own offspring and he expands the saying the point clear to our edification and profit for what need had God the Father who know with all things of learning the kind of request he invites then the Father's goodness towards us for since he is the high priest of our souls in so much as he appeared as man though being by nature God together with the Father he most fittingly makes his prayer on our behalf trying to persuade us to believe that he is even now the propitiation for our sins and a righteous advocate as John sayeth therefore also Paul wishing us to be of this mind thus exhorts us for we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but one that has been in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin then since he is a high priest in so much as he is man and at the same time brought himself a blameless sacrifice to God the Father as a ransom for the life of all men being as it were the first fruits of mortality that in all things he might have the preeminence as Paul says and he reconciles to him the reprobate race of man upon the earth purifying them by his own blood and shaping them to newness of life through the Holy Spirit and since as we have often said all things are accomplished by the Father through the Son in the Spirit he molds the prayer for blessings towards us as mediator and high priest though he unites with his Father in giving and providing divine and spiritual graces for Christ divided the Spirit according to his own well and pleasure to every man severally as he will so far with reference to this now let us examine and declare what is meant by the form of prayer used Father then glorify thy Son that thy Son may also glorify thee how then or in what manner will what I have said to pass I will, he says that as thou hast given me power over all flesh that so also all that thou hast given me may have life eternal for the Father glorified his own Son putting the whole world under his rule and he was glorified himself also in turn by him for the Son was glorified of the Father being believed of all offspring and fruit of him that is all powerful and at his pleasure puts all things under the yoke of his Son's kingly power and the Father was glorified in turn so to speak by his own Son for since the Son was known to be able to accomplish all things at his pleasure the splendor of his reputation has reached to him that begat him as therefore he says so I will that nothing that thou hast given me be lost for this honor will pass from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Father for it was meet that all those who were wholly subject to and under the rule of the Word the all-powerful God now having been saved once for all for this honor will pass from the Father to the Son now having been saved once for all should also abide in blessings without end so as to be freed from the power of death and the dominion of corruption and sin and should no longer lie in subjection to their ancient enemies and as the Words thou gavest him authority over all flesh may possibly perplex some simple-minded hearers let us make a few reflections thereon which may be useful without scruple as it is necessary even the language may be wholly inadequate to such an exposition for the Lord will say this most suitably in the character he had assumed I mean his humiliation and his lowly humanity for listen to the argument if indeed we feel ashamed when we hear that he became a slave for our sakes though Lord of all with the father and that he was set up as king upon his holy hill of Zion though he had the power to reign over the universe by right of his own nature and borrowed it not from others we must needs also feel ashamed if he says that he receives anything as man and if we marvel at his voluntary subjection when we bear in mind the dignity that is his by birthright why are we not also astonied when we hear this saying for possessing all things as God he says that he receives as man to whom kingly power comes not by natural right but by gift for what has thou that thou did not receive will suit the limitations of created beings and Christ is also a creature insofar as he is man though by nature insofar as he came from God for all things are conceived of as naturally and individually being in God's hand and are so in truth but all good things in us are borrowed and brought down to us by divine grace when then as man being appointed to rule over us he says that the father has given him power over all flesh we must not be offended at it for we must bear in mind our redemption but if you choose to listen to his words as having more reference to his divinity think on what the Lord said to the Jews verily verily I say unto you no man can come to me except the father which sent me draw him for whom the father will quicken them as by his own life giving power he brings to his son and through him gives them power and wisdom nay if he will to bring any into subjection to his own rule he calls them in no other way saved by the living and all sufficient might whereby he rules over the universe I mean his son for men who have of themselves no power to accomplish anything that is above and beyond themselves borrow from God the power which can bring all things men into subjection for through him kings have their dominion according to the scripture and monarchs through him rule over the earth and the God of the universe having this power in himself alone subjects to himself the race of man who are reprobates from his love and have shaken off the Yoke of his kingdom together with all beside receiving as it were his own might the gift of dominion over them and subjugating thereby whatsoever he will for God the father subjects them to his son as to his own power and through him holy and in no other way all things that exist become his willing subjects through obedience to his Yoke for as he endows with wisdom and quickens with life all things through him also he rules over the universe through him we must observe however that it was not to Israel alone any longer that the favor of the divine love of mankind was confined but it was extended to all flesh for that which is holy subject to the power of the saviour will holy partake in life and grace from him End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 and 6 of commentary on the gospel of John Book 11 by Cyril of Alexandria translated by Reverend Thomas Randall this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Chapter 5 that the son will not be excluded from being true God even though he named God the father the only true God 3 and this is life eternal that they should know thee the only true God and him whom thou did send even Jesus Christ he defines faith as the mother of eternal life and says that the power of the true knowledge of God will be such as to cause us to remain forever in a state of incorruption and blessedness and sanctification and we say that that is true knowledge of God which cannot incur the reproach of turning aside to ought else or running after things unseemly for some have worshipped the creature rather than the creator and have dared to say to a block of wood thou art my father and to a stone thou hast begotten me for to such abysmal ignorance did the miserable men relapse that they even gave in all its fullness the great name of God to senseless blocks of wood and invested them with the ineffable glory of that nature which is overall he calls God the father then the only true God by contrast to spurious God and with the intention to distinguish the true God from those who are so named in error for this is the object of his words very appropriately then he first speaks of God as being one and one only and then makes mention of his own glory in the words and Jesus Christ to thou hast sent for a man can in no wise attain to complete knowledge of the father unless side by side and in most intimate connection with it he lay hold on the knowledge of his offspring that is the son for if a man know what the father is he cannot but also the son when then he said that the father was the true God he did not exclude himself for being in him and of him by nature he will be also himself the true God and the only God as he is the only God for beside him there is none other God who is the only true God for the gods of the heathen are devils for the creation is enslaved and I know not how any worship them or sink into such a slew of unreasoning and sensuous folly with the many gods then in this world who are erroneously so conceived and have won this furious title the only true God is brought into contrast and the son also who is by nature in him and of him at once in diversity and in identity of nature to a natural unity I say in diversity of nature because he has in fact an individual existence for the son is the son and not the father in identity of nature also because the son who came forth from him is inseparably joined by nature with the existence of his father for the father is one with the son even though he is the father he is so spoken of because he did in fact beget him this then he says is eternal life that they should know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent then one of those who are never weary of hearkening to the scripture and seriously pursue the study of divine doctrines will ask do we say that knowledge is eternal life and one true and living God will suffice to give us complete security of expectation and nothing else be lacking then how is faith apart from works dead and when we speak of faith we mean the true knowledge of God and nothing else for by faith comes knowledge and the prophet Isaiah bears us witness who said to some if ye do not believe neither shall he understand and that the writings of the holy men are referring to the knowledge which consists in barren speculations a thing holy prophetless I think ye will perceive from what follows for one of the holy disciples said thou believest that God is one thou doest dwell the devils also believe and shudder what then shall we say to this how does Christ speak truth when he says that eternal life is the knowledge of God the father the one true God and with him of the son I think indeed we must answer that the saying of the saver is holy true for this knowledge is life travelling as it were in birth of the whole meaning of the mystery and about saving unto us participation in the mystery of the Eucharist whereby we are joined unto the loving and life giving word and for this reason I think Paul says that the Gentiles are made fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of Christ in as much as they partake in his blessed body and blood for our members may in this sense be conceived of as being members of Christ this knowledge then which also brings us to the Eucharist by the spirit is life for it dwells in our hearts shaping anew those who receive it into sonship with him and molding them into incorruption and piety towards God through life according to the gospel our Lord Jesus Christ then knowing that the knowledge of the one true God brings unto us and so to speak promotes our union with the blessings of which we have spoken says that it is eternal life in so much as it is the mother and nurse of eternal life being in its own power and nature pregnant with those things which cause life and lead unto it and I think we ought attentively to observe in what way Christ says that the knowledge of the one true God is perfected in us in all its fullness for see how it cannot exist apart from the contemplation of the son and it is clear that it cannot exist apart from the Holy Spirit for such is the nature of the belief in each person of the Trinity according to the scripture the Jews indeed following in the steps of Moses commandments rejected the many false gods and betook themselves to the worship of the one true God under his guidance thou shalt worship the Lord thy God the law and him only shalt thou serve but those who still cling to the worship of the one true God as not yet having complete knowledge of him they worship are called there to know not that the creator of all things is one only the one true God but that he is a father and has begotten a son and moreover and yet more than all this to gaze attentively on him in his unchangeable likeness that is the son for through the linear minutes of that which is modeled we can readily attain to perfect knowledge of the model very necessary then was it for our Lord Jesus Christ to tell us that those who have been called through faith to sonship and eternal life not only ought to learn that the true God is one only that he is also a father and is the father of one who became flesh for our sakes and who was sent to restore the corrupted nature of rational beings that is of mankind chapter six that the son is not bear of God befitting glory even though he is found saying to the father and now glorify me with the glory which I had and so forth four five I glorified thee on the earth I accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do it and now oh father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was our saviour's speech now intertwines the human element in his nature with the divine and is of a composite nature looking both ways not merging over much the person of the speaker in the perfect power and glory of his divinity nor allowing it all together to rest on the lowly level of his humanity but mingling the twain into one which is not foreign to either for our Lord Jesus Christ thought that he ought to teach his believers not merely that he is God the only begotten but that he also became man for us and that he would reconcile us all to God the Father and mulled us into newness of life purchasing humanity with his own blood and venturing his life for the salvation of the world while though he was one he was more precious than all mankind he says then that he glorified the Father upon the earth for he finished the work which he gave him to do let us follow out as it were two roads in our investigation of this passage and say that it has referenced both to his divine and his human nature if then as man he says this you may take it in this way Christ is for us a type and origin and pattern of the divine life and shows us plainly how and in what way we ought to live our lives and fashion the commentators on the divine writings give a most subtle exposition of the passage he instructs us then by what he hears says that each one of us if he fulfills his allotted task and follows out to the end what is commanded of God then in truth he glorifies him by his righteous acts not indeed as though he had any lack of glory in his complete but because he causes his praise to be sung by those who see his acts and are profited thereby yea the saviour saith let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven for when we are made truly manly and willing to do good works for God's sake we are not winning for our own selves but are carrying God's worship into our actions to the honor and glory of him that ruleeth over all for just as when for leading a profligate life displeasing to God we are rightly called to account as doing despite unto his unspeakable glory and make our own souls liable to punishment as the prophet tells if we hearken to his voice my name through you is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles on the same grounds I think that when we display preeminent virtue we are then preparing for him a song of praise when therefore we have accomplished the work that God has given us to do then and most rightly may we attain to a freedom of speech in his own most seemly words and claim as it were like glory in return from God who has been glorified by us for as I live sayeth the Lord them that honor me will I honor and he that lightly esteemeth me shall be lightly esteemed in order then that he might show us that we might suitably ask for glory in return from the only true God I mean glory in the world to come when we have displayed towards him perfect and obedience and have shown ourselves keepers of his commandments to the letter Christ says that he glorified the father when he finished the work upon earth that he gave him he request however for himself in return no foreign or borrowed glory as we do but rather that honor and renown which is his own for we were bound to ask for it and not he observe how in and through his own person he first renders possible to our nature this boldness of speech on two accounts for in him first and through him we have been enriched both with the ability to fulfill those things essential to our salvation which are entrusted to us by God and also the duty of boldly asking for the honor which is due to those who distinguish themselves in his service for of old time through the sin that reigned in us and the fall that was in Adam we both failed of ability to accomplish any of those things which make for virtue and also were very far removed from freedom of speech with God yay God to that end out of the abundance of his kindness state consolation by the voice of the prophet saying fear not because thou has been ashamed neither be confounded because thou has been put to shame as then in all other things that are good our Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning and the gate and the way so also is he here but if the savior is seeking his own glory that he had before the world began and we suiting the meaning of the message so as to make it apply to our case maintain that we ourselves ought also with great zeal to do God's will and so boldly ask for glory from above let no one think that we say this that it becomes a man imitating Christ to ask for some ancient glory that was before the world began as do also to himself but let him rather to speak according to his desserts for if Christ like us had only the human element in his nature let him then speak only as befit the earth born and not exceed the limits of humanity but if the word being God became flesh when he says anything as God it will be suitable to himself alone and not to those who are not as he is considering then the passage as though he spoke it more as a man we shall take it in the sense given above but if we reflect on the other hand on the divine dignity of Christ we rightly think it has a meaning above human nature we say then that he glorified his own father God when he fulfilled the work which he received from him not being his servant or in any ministerial capacity and this as of necessity that the Lord of all might not appear in the lowliness of our nature and that of the creation which is enslaved for to perform the duties of a servant and submissively obey the divine commands is the part of men and angels rather we say that he being the power and wisdom of his father well accomplished the task of our redemption entrusted as it were to him as indeed also said the divine psalmist expounding the meaning of the mystery oh God command thy strength strengthen oh God that which thou hast wrought for us for in order that he may clearly prove that the son is the power of the father though not separate from him so far I mean as his identity of essence and nature is concerned he first says command thy strength bringing in a duality of persons I mean him that commands and him to whom the command is given he suddenly unites them in their natural unity attributing to the ineffable nature of God in its entirety the result achieved for he says in his wisdom strengthen oh God that which thou hast wrought for us the son then receives or has entrusted to him from the father the work of saving the world but in what manner or how God commands his own strength we ought to examine and explain so far as it is possible humanly to interpret things which exceed man's understanding let us take for example then some man among us imagine him learned in the art of making bronzes then let us suppose that he sets himself to mold a statue or perhaps to repair one that is decayed or mutilated how then will he work or how will he repair as he has determined clearly he will entrust to the power of his hands and his skill in the art the fulfillment of what he chooses to do if anyone thinks his wisdom and power appear distinct in some sense from himself so far as their conception is concerned still are they not in fact distinct for these also were included in the definition of his essence you must think the case is somewhat like this wise but must not accept the illustration as exactly similar for God is above all things and must be thought superior to any power of illustration the sun and the fire taking this by way of illustration may be thought to occupy a similar relative position for just as the sun commands the light which it sheds to illumine the whole world and the lot to the power of its rays as their function so to say to cast the power of their heat on all things that receive it the fire commands and enjoins in some sort the peculiar qualities of its nature to fulfill its peculiar duties but we do not on this account say that the ray and the light are in the position of ministers and servants to the sun or the power of burning to the fire for each of the two works by means of its own inherent qualities but if they appear to be in a sense not self-working yet are they not distinct in nature from their own some such idea we must told about the relation between God the Father and the Word who is by nature begotten of him whenever he is said to be entrusted with work to do to us word his wisdom and power therefore that is Christ glorified God the Father upon the earth having finished the work he gave him and as he brings his work to its fitting termination he claims the glory which always attaches to him and now that occasion calls for the recovery of his ancient glory he seeks it what work then has he fulfilled whereby he says that he glorified the Father for while he was the true God he became man by the approval and will of the Father to save the whole world and raise up anew the fallen race on the earth to endless life and the true knowledge of God and this was in very truth accomplished by the divine power and might of Christ who made death powerless upset the dominion of the devil destroyed sin and showed incomparable love towards us by remitting the charges against us all and giving light to those who now know the one true God Christ then having accomplished this by his own power the Father was glorified by all I mean all those in the world who knew his wisdom and power and the mercy and love towards mankind which is in him for he has shown forth and manifested himself in the Son who is as it were the likeness and express image of his person and by its fruit the tree is known according to the Scripture and when the works were fulfilled and the wonderful scheme of our redemption brought to its fitting conclusion he returns to his own glory and assumes his ancient honor save only that being still in dude with the human shape he molds accordingly the form of his prayer and asks as though he possessed it not for man hath all things from God for though in the fullest sense as he was God of God the Father he was invested with divine glory still since at the season of his incarnation for us he in a sense diminished it taking upon him this mean body he with reason seeks it as though he had it not speaking the words as man the wise Paul also himself had some such idea when he enjoins us concerning him let this mind be in each of you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God counted it not a prize to be on in equality with God but emptied himself taking the form of a servant being made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself becoming obedient even into death yay the death of the cross where for also God highly exalted him and gave unto him the name which is above every name that in the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father for though the Son is high in as much as he proceeded as God and Lord from the Father nonetheless is the Father recorded to have exalted man in him for on man the degradation of his nature brings the need of exaltation he prays then for the recovery of his own glory even in the flesh he is not wholly bereft of his own glory when he so speaks even though he were to ask without receiving for the word being the true God was never robbed of his own majesty he rather refers to the glory which belongs ever to him and its appropriate temple in the heavens and his own return thither in the raiment of the flesh on which the interval of his humiliation had been consequent for that he may not appear to be claiming for himself a strange and unusual glory to which he had not been accustomed in time past he distinguishes it by the addition of the epithet before the world was and the words with thine own self for the Son has never been excluded from the honor of the Father ever reigneth with him and with him is adored and worshiped by us and by the holy angels as God and of God and in God and with God and this is I think what the inspired evangelist John means to teach us when he says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God the same was in the beginning with God End of Chapter 6