 Introduction Part 4 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. 19. And Pilate wrote a title also and put it on the cross, and there was written, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This is in fact the bond against us which, as the inspired Paul says, the Lord nailed to his cross, and in it led in triumph the principalities and the powers as vanquished, and as having revolted from his rule. And if it were not Christ himself that fixed the title on the cross, but the fellow worker and minister of the Jews, still as he suffered it so to be, it is as though he were recorded as having inscribed it with his own hand. And he triumphed over principalities in it, for it was open to the view of all who chose to learn, pointing to him who suffered for our sake, and who was giving his life as a ransom for the lives of all. For all men upon the earth, in that they have fallen into the snare of sin, for all have gone aside, and have all together become filthy, according to the scripture. Had made themselves liable to the accusation of the devil, and were living a hateful and miserable life. And the title contained a handwriting against us, the curse that, by the divine law, impends over the transgressors, and the sentence that went forth against all who erred against those ancient ordinances of the law, like unto Adam's curse, which went forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God's decrees. For God's anger did not cease with Adam's fall, but he was also provoked by those who after him dishonored the Creator's decree, and the denunciation of the law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were then accursed and condemned by the sentence of God through Adam's transgression, and through breach of the law laid down after him. But the Saviour wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to his cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the cross which he underwent for the salvation of men who lay under condemnation. For our sake he paid the penalty for our sins. For though he was one that suffered, yet was he far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has paid the penalty for us. For by his stripes we are healed, according to the scripture. And just as by the cross the sin of our revolt was perfected, so also by the cross was achieved our return to our original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings. Christ, as it were, gathering up into himself, for us, the very fount and origin of our infirmity. 20. This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nine to the city, and it was written in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek. We may remark that it was very providential, and the fruit of God's inexpressible purpose, that the title that was written embraced three inscriptions, one in Hebrew, another in Latin, and another in Greek. For it lay open to the view proclaiming the kingdom of our Saviour Christ in three languages, the most widely known of all, and bringing to the crucified one the first fruits, as it were, of the prophecy that had been spoken concerning him. For the wise Daniel said that there was given him glory and a kingdom, and all nations and languages shall serve him. And to like effect the Holy Paul teaches us, crying out that every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For the title proclaiming Jesus' king was, as it were, the true first fruits of the confession of tongues, and in another sense it accused the impiety of the Jews, and all but proclaimed expressly to those who congregated to read it, that they had crucified their king and lord, purblind wretches that they were, without thought of love toward him, and sunk in crass and sensibility. 21.22 The chief priest of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not the king of the Jews, but that he said, I am king of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. The rulers of the Jews took ill the writing on the title, and full of bitter hatred, Jesus more denied the kingship of Christ, and said in their great folly that he had never reigned in fact, nor been accepted as king, but had merely used this expression, not knowing that to lie is contrary to the nature of truth, and Christ is truth. He was then king of the Jews, if he was proved to have given himself this title, as they themselves also confirmed by their own words. And Pilate rejected their request, that he should alter the inscription, not consenting in all things to do despite unto the glory of our Saviour, doubtless owing to God's ineffable will. For the kingship of Christ was firmly rooted, and beyond the reach of Calumny, though the Jews might not consent thereunto, and might strive to deface the confession of his glory. 23.24 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also the coat. Now, the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled with saith. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. The soldiers then divided our Saviour's garments among themselves, and this is indicative of their brutal ferocity and inhuman disposition. For it is the custom of executioners to be unmoved by the misery of condemned criminals, and to obey orders sometimes with unnecessary harshness, and to show a masculine indifference to the fate of the sufferers. And to divide their garments among themselves, as though the lot fell upon them by some sufficient and lawful reason. They divided then the decevred garments into four portions, but kept the one coat whole and uncut, for they did not choose to tear it in pieces and make it altogether useless, and so they decided it by casting lots. For Christ could not lie, who thus spake by the voice of the psalmist. They divided my raiment among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. All these things were foretold for our Prophet, that we might know, by comparing the prophecies with the events, what he is of whom it was foretold, that he should come for our sake and our likeness, and of whom it was expected that he should die for the salvation of all men. For no man of sense can suppose that the Saviour himself, like the foolish Jews, would strain out the net, that is, foretell a trifling detail concerning his sufferings, as in this mention of the partition of his raiment, and, as it were, swallow the camel, that is, think of no account the great lengths to which the impious presumption of the Jews carried them. Rather, when he foretold these details, he foretold also the great event itself. Firstly, in order that we might know that, as he was by nature God, he had perfect knowledge of the future. Secondly, also, that we might believe that he was in fact the Messiah of prophecy, being led to the knowledge of the truth by the many and great things fulfilled in him. And if it behoves us also to declare another thought which strikes us with regard to the partition of the garments, a thought which can do no harm and may possibly do good to those who hear it, I will speak as follows. Their division of the Saviour's garments into four parts, and retention of the coat in its undivided state, is perhaps symbolical of the mysterious providence whereby the four quarters of the world were destined to be saved. For the four quarters of the world divided, as it were, among themselves the garment of the word, that is, his body, which yet remained indivisible. For though they only begotten be cut into small pieces, so far as individual needs are concerned, and sanctify the soul of every man, together with his body, by his flesh. Yet is he, being one, altogether subsistent in the whole church in indivisible entirety. For as St. Paul saith, Christ cannot be divided. That such is the meaning of the mystery concerning him, the law dimly shadows forth. For the law represented the taking of a lamb at the fitting time, and the taking not of one lamb for every man, but of one for every house, according to the number of the household. For every man, if his household were too small, was to join with his neighbor that was next unto his house, and so the command was that many should have a part in one lamb, but in order that it might not appear, therefore, to be physically divided, by the flesh being desevered from the bones, and taken from house to house, the law laid down the further injunction. In one house shall it be eaten, ye shall not carry forth out of the flesh abroad out of the house. For observe how, as I said just now, the law took care that many who might be in one household should have a part in one lamb, but most carefully also took great precautions that it should not appear physically divided, but should be found in its completeness and entirety as one in all who partook of it, being, at the same time, divisible and indivisible. We must entertain some such view with regard to Christ's garments, for they were divided into four portions, but the coat remained undivided. And it can do no harm also to add that if any man choose, by way of speculation, to look upon the coat that was woven from the top throughout, and seamless, as an illustration of Christ's holy body, because it came into being without any connection or intercourse of man with woman, but woven into its proper shape by the effect of working of the spirit from above, this view is worthy of our acceptance. For such speculations as do no damage to the elements of the faith, but are rather fertile of profit, it would surely be ill-advised for us to reject, nay, we ought rather to commend them as the fruit of an excellent disposition of mind. 25. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopus and Mary Magdalene. This also the inspired evangelist mentions to our prophet, showing herein also that none of the words of holy writ fall to the ground. What do I mean by this? I will tell you. He represents a standing by the cross, his mother, and with her the rest, clearly weeping, for women are ever prone to tears, and very much inclined to lament, especially when they have abundant occasion for shedding tears. What then induced the blessed evangelist to go so much into detail as to make mention of the women as staying beside the cross? His object was to teach us that, as was likely, the unexpected fate of our Lord was an offense unto his mother, and that his exceeding bitter death upon the cross almost banished from her heart due reflection. And beside the insults of the Jews, and the soldiers also, who probably stayed by the cross and derided him who hung thereon, and who presumed in his mother's very sight to divide his garments among themselves, had this effect. For doubtless some such train of thought as this passed through her mind. I conceived him that is mocked upon the cross. He said, indeed, that he was the true son of Almighty God, but it may be that he was deceived. He may have aired when he said, I am the life. How did his crucifixion come to pass? And how was he entangled in the snares of his murderers? How was it that he did not prevail over the conspiracy of his persecutors against him? And why does he not come down from the cross, though he bid Lazarus return to life, and struck all Judea with amazement by his miracles? The woman, as is likely, not exactly understanding the mystery, wandered astray into some such train of thought. For we shall do well to remember that the character of these events was such as to awe and subdue the most sober mind. And no marvel if a woman fell into such an error, when even Peter himself, the elect of the holy disciples, was once offended, when Christ in plain words instructed him that he would be betrayed under the hands of sinners, and would undergo crucifixion and death, so that he impetuously exclaimed, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall never be unto thee. What wonder, then, if a woman's frail mind was also plunged into thoughts which betrayed weakness? And when we thus speak we are not shooting at a venture, as some may suppose, but are led to suspect this by what is written concerning the mother of our Lord. For we remember that the righteous Simeon, when he received the infant Lord into his arms, after having blessed him, and said, Now letest thou thy servant depart a Lord according to thy word, in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He also said to the Holy Virgin herself, Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against, yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. By a sword he meant the keen pang of suffering, which would divide the mind of the woman into strange thoughts. For temptations proved the hearts of those who were tempted, and leave them bare of the thoughts that filled them. 26. 27. When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother, and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he sayeth unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then sayeth he to the disciple, Behold thy mother, and from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. He took thought for his mother, paying no heed to his own bitter agony, for his sufferings affected him not. He gave her into the charge of the beloved disciple. This was John, the writer of this book, and made him take her home, and regard her as a mother, and enjoined his own mother to regard him as none other than her true son. By his tenderness, that is, and affection, fulfilling and stepping into the place of him who was her son by nature. But as some misguided men have thought that Christ, when he thus spake, gave way to mere fleshly affection, away with such folly, to fall into so stupid an error is only worthy of a madman. What good purpose, then, did Christ hereby fulfill? First, we reply, that he wished to confirm the command on which the law lays so much stress. For what sayeth the Mosaic Ordinance? Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee. His commandment unto us did not cease with exhorting us to perform this duty, but threatened us with the extreme penalty of the law if we chose to disregard it, and hath put sin against our parents after the flesh on a par with sin against God. For the law which ordered that the blasphemer should undergo the sentence of death, saying, Let him that blasphemeth the name of the Lord be put to death. Also subjected to the same penalty the man who employs his licentious and unruly tongue against his parents. He that curses, father or mother shall surely be put to death. As then the lawgiver hath ordained that we should pay such honor to our parents, surely it was right that the commandment thus proclaimed should be confirmed by the approval of the Saviour. And as the perfect form of every excellence in virtue through him first came into the world, why should not this virtue be put on the same footing as the rest? For surely honor to parents is a very precious kind of virtue. And how could we learn that we ought not to lightly regard love toward them, even when we are overwhelmed by a flood of intolerable calamities, saved by the example of Christ first of all? And through him. For best of all surely is he who is mindful of the holy commandments, and is not diverted from the pursuit of duty in stormy and troublesome times, and not in peace and quietness alone. Besides, also, was not the Lord, I say, right to take thought for his mother when she had fallen on a rock of offense and when her mind was in a turmoil of perplexity. For as he was truly God, and looked into the emotions of the heart and knew its secrets, how could he fail to know the thoughts about his crucifixion, which were then throwing her into swordless dress? Knowing then what was passing in her heart, he commanded her to the disciple, the best of guides, who was able to explain fully and adequately the profound mystery. For wise and learned in the things of God was he who received and took her away gladly, to fulfill all the Saviour's will concerning her. 2829 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, said, I thirst. There was set there a vessel full of vinegar, so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon his hip and brought it to his mouth. When the iniquity of the Jews had fully wrought the impious crime against Christ, and when there was nothing left wanting to the perfect satisfaction of their savage cruelty, the flesh at the last extremity felt a natural craving, for it was parched by the various acts of outrage and felt thirst. Their pain is very apt to provoke thirst, spending the natural moisture of the body in excessive inward heat, and burning the inward parts with the pangs of inflammation. It would have been easy for the Word, the Almighty God, to have released his flesh from this torment. But just as he willingly underwent his other sufferings, so he bore this also of his own will. Then he sought to drink. But so pitiless and far removed from the love of God were they, that, instead of liquid to quench his thirst, they gave him something to aggravate it, and, in rendering the very service of love, committed a further act of impiety. For in exceeding at all to his request, were they not assuming the appearance of affection? But it was impossible that the inspired scripture should ever lie, which put into the mouth of the Saviour these words concerning them. They gave me gall to eat, and when I was a thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. The Blessed Evangelist John says that they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on hyssop, and so brought it. Luke makes no mention of anything of the kind, but merely declares that they brought him vinegar. Luke and Mark say that the sponge was put on a reed. Some may perhaps think there is a discrepancy in the accounts of the Holy Evangelist, but no one who is right-minded will be so persuaded. We must rather try to search, and see by every means in our power, in what way the act of impiety was affected. The inspired Luke, then, disregarding the way in which the vinegar was brought, says, in brief, that vinegar was brought to him when he was a thirst. And there can be no question that the Evangelist would not have disagreed with each other in these trifling and unimportant details, when, in all essential matters, they are in such perfect harmony and concord. What then is the difference between them, and of what treatment is it susceptible? There is no doubt that the officers who executed the impious crime against Christ were many in number. I mean the soldiers who brought him to the cross. Several also of the Jews shared in their cruelty. Some putting the sponge on a reed, others on a stick of what is called hyssop. For the hyssop is a kind of shrub. And give Jesus to drink of it. Doing this purr-blind wretches that they were to their own condemnation. For unawares they were proving themselves utterly undeserving of compassion, when they thus altogether discarded mercy and humanity, and with unparalleled audacity vied with each other in impiety alone. Therefore, by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, God thus bake unto the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem. As thou hast done, so shall it be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head. And by the mouth of Isaiah, to lawless Israel. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hand shall be given him. This completed the measure of all the crimes that had been committed against Christ. But here, too, we may find a lesson to our prophet. For hereby we may know that those who are of a God-loving temper, and who are firmly rooted in the love of Christ, shall wage as it were a ceaseless war with those who are of a different spirit, who will not, even to their latest breath, desist from raging against them, preparing for them severe temptations from every quarter, and eagerly devising every sort of thing that may hurt them. But just as the wicked cease not from troubling them, so also shall their courage be continually sustained. And just as their trials and the tribulation of temptation have no abatement, so also the blessedness of the saints shall have no end, and the joy of their state of glory shall remain forever more, and world without end. 30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. When this indignity had been added to the rest, the Savior exclaimed, It is finished, meaning that the measure of the iniquity of the Jews and of their furious rage against him was completed. For what had the Jews left untried, and what extremity of atrocity had they not practiced against him? For what kind of insult was omitted, and what crowning act of outrage to this seem to have left undone? Therefore rightly did he exclaim, It is finished, the hour already summoning him to preach to the spirits in hell. For he visited them, that he might be Lord both of the living and the dead, and for our sake encounter death itself, and underwent the common lot of all humanity, that is, according to the flesh, so being as God by nature life, that he might dispoil hell, and render return to life possible to human nature, being thus proved the first fruits of them that are asleep, and the first born from the dead, according to the scriptures. He bowed his head therefore, for as this generally befalls the dying, through the slackening of the sinews of the flesh, when the spirit or soul that united and sustained it is fled. The evangelist made use of this expression. The expression also he gave up his spirit, does not differ from language usually employed, for the vulgar use it as equivalent to his life was extinguished and he died. But it is probable that it was of set purpose and advisedly that the holy evangelist, instead of saying simply, he died, said, he gave up his spirit, gave it up, that is, into the hands of God the Father, according to the saying that he spake, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And for us also the meaning of the expression lays down a beginning and foundation of firm hope. For I think we ought to believe, and for this belief there is much ground, that the souls of saints, when they quit their earthly bodies, are by the bountiful mercy of God, almost as it were, consigned into the hands of a most loving Father, and do not, as some infidels have pretended, haunt their sepulchres, waiting for funeral libations. For yet are they, like the souls of sinful men, conveyed to the place of endless torment, that is, to hell. Rather do they hasten into the hands of the Father of all, by the new way which our Saviour Christ has prepared for us, for he consigned his soul into the hands of his Father, that we also, making it our anchor, and being firmly rooted and grounded in this belief, might entertain the bright hope that when we undergo the death of the body, we shall be in God's hands, yea, in a far better condition than when we were in the flesh. Therefore also the wise Paul assures us that it is better to depart and be with Christ. End of Introduction Part 4 Introduction Part 5 of Commentary in the Gospel of John Book XII by Cyril of Alexandria, translated by Reverend Thomas Randall, this Librivox recording is in the public domain. And when he gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The veil of the temple was of fine linen, let down to the floor of the center of the temple, and shrouding the inner portion thereof, and allowing only the high priest to enter into the innermost shrine. For it was not in the power of any one at will to penetrate into the interior with unwashed feet, and carelessly to gaze upon the holy of holies. How very necessary it was that this curtain should make this division, Paul shows us by his words in the Epistle to the Hebrews. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the first, which is called the holy place, and after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having a golden censor, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold, wherein was the golden pot holding the manna, and the tables of the Covenant, and Aaron's rod that budded. But into the first tabernacle, he says, the priest go in, accomplishing the services, but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year not without blood which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people, the holy ghost this signifying that the way into the holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while as the first tabernacle is yet standing. For there can be no question that a veil was let down at the very entrance of the temple, and so there came into his mind the first tabernacle which he called holy, for no one could affirm that any part of the temple was not holy, or if he did so he would lie, for it was all holy. And after the first tabernacle came the veil which was betwixt, which is the second veil, separating the innermost portion that is the holy of holies. But as the blessed Paul said, the spirit signified, by figures and types, that the more fitting way in which the saints should tread had not yet been made manifest, for the people were still kept at a distance, and the first tabernacle was yet standing. For there had not as yet, in fact, appeared unto men the manner of the life that Christ gave unto those who were called by the spirit unto sanctification, and not yet had the mystery concerning him been made manifest, for the written commandment of the law was still in force. For also the law placed the Jews in the outer court. For the dispensation of the law was, as it were, a port and vestibule leading unto the teaching and life of the gospel. For the one is but a type, the other is the truth itself. The first tabernacle was indeed holy, for the law is holy, and the commandment righteous and good. But the innermost portion of the temple was the holy of holies, for though the men who partook of the righteousness of the law were holy, they became yet holier when they accepted faith that is in Christ, and were anointed with the holy spirit of God. The righteousness of faith, therefore, is greater than the righteousness of the law, and by faith we are far more abundantly sanctified. For also the wise Paul says that he gladly and readily endured the loss of the righteousness that is of the law, that he might gain Christ, and might be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ. And some fell backwards, and after running well for a time were bewitched. And the Galatians were of this class, after pursuing the righteousness which is of faith, turning back to the commandment of the law, and recurring to the state of life shadowed forth by types and figures. And to these Paul administered the well-merited reproof. If ye receive circumcision Christ will profit you nothing, ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law, ye are fallen away from grace. But to bring our explanation of the passage to a good and proper conclusion, we will simply repeat that the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, to signify as it were that God was in the very act of revealing the holy of holies, and making the way into the inmost shrine open henceforth to those who believe on Christ. For the knowledge of the divine mysteries is now laid bare before us, no longer shrouded in the obscurity of the letter of the law, as it were a curtain, nor hidden by any covering from our quest, nor defended against the intrusion of the eye of the mind by types through which we could see but dimly. Rather are these mysteries now seen in simplicity of faith, but few words suffice to explain them. For the word is nigh thee, says Paul, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach, because if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Herein is seen in its completeness the mystery of piety towards God. But while Christ had not as yet waged the conflict for our salvation, nor undergone the death of the flesh, the veil was still spread out, for the power of the commandment of the law still prevailed. But when the iniquitous Jews in their presumption had reeked to the utmost their malice upon Christ, and he had given up the ghost for our sake, and the sufferings of Immanuel were accomplished, the time had then come that the broad veil that had so long been spread out should from henceforth be rentous under, that is, the protection of the letter of the law, and that the fair vision of the truth should lie bare and open before those who had been sanctified in Christ by faith. The veil was torn throughout, for what other meaning can be put upon the words, from the top to the bottom. And why was this? It was because the revelation of the message of salvation was not partial, but our enlightenment concerning the divine mysteries was perfected thereby. Therefore also the psalmist said unto God, in the person of his new people, the hidden secrets of thy wisdom has thou revealed unto me, and, furthermore, the inspired Paul thus addresses believers on Christ. I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance, and all wisdom, and all knowledge. The rending of the veil then, not in part, but entirely throughout, signified then that the worshippers of the Saviour were about to be enriched in all wisdom, and in all knowledge, and in all utterance, manifestly receiving the knowledge of the mystery concerning him, undefiled and unclouded by blot or shadow. For this is what is meant by the words, from the top to the bottom. We say then that the most appropriate and fitting time for the revelation of the divine mysteries was the occasion on which the Saviour laid down his life for us, when Israel spurned his grace, and wholly started aside from the love of God, in his frenzy against him, and headstrong impiety. For any one may see that the measure of their iniquities was complete when he learns that they persecuted, even unto death, the giver of life. I think, therefore, that we have said enough on this subject, and that our explanation of the divine purpose does not fall short of the mark. But as we find the inspired evangelist is very diligent to say, when he gave up the ghost the veil of the temple was rent, thereby almost signifying as essential for us to know the occasion of that event, let us supplement our remarks by a further consideration, which savers, I think, of the spirit of pious research. For it is a thought which will be found in no way abhorrent to those fundamental doctrines, which are at once a blessing and a necessity to us. To proceed then. The following custom was in vogue, both among the people and the rulers of the Jews. When they saw anything being done which they thought would especially offend the giver of the law, or when they heard any outrageous or blasphemous utterance, they tore their garments and put on the appearance of mourners, thereby in a manner taking up the defense of God, and by the intolerance they displayed of such offences, passing sentence of condemnation on the madness of the transgressors, and acquitting themselves of complicity therein. Moreover, the disciples of the Saviour, Barnabas and Paul, when certain of those who had not yet received the faith, thinking them to be gods, for they called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury, brought sacrifices and garlands, in company with the priests, and attempted to make sacrifices in their honour, leapt down from the platform on which they stood because of the outrage that would be inflicted upon the glory of God if any sacrifice were offered to men, and rent their garments, as is recorded, and by fitting words prevented the ignorant endeavour of the worshippers of idols. Also, when our Saviour Christ was on his trial before the rulers of the Jews, and was required to say who he was, and whence he came, and said plainly in reply, Verily I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Caiaphas leapt up out of his seat, and rent his garments, saying he hath spoken blasphemy. The temple of God then followed, so to say, the custom that prevailed among the Jews, and rent its veil, as it had been clothed, at the moment when our Saviour gave up the ghost. For it condemned the impiety of the Jews as an insult against itself, and the accomplishment of this was God's work, that he might show unto us the temple itself bewailing Israel's guilt. 31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath, for the day of that Sabbath was a high day, asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. It is not with the motive of testifying to the reverence for holy days felt by men enured to shed blood with brutal ferocity, and found guilty of so monstrous an iniquity, that the blessed evangelist says this. But rather from the wish to show that, in their gross stupidity, they committed that folly of which Christ spoke, for they strained out the net while they swallowed the camel. For they are found to reckon, as of no account at all, the most outrageous and awful of all crimes against God, while they exercised the greatest diligence with reference to the most paltry and insignificant matters, showing their folly in either case. The proof of this is not far to seek. For, behold, in the very act of putting Christ to death, they put great store on the respect due to the Sabbath, and while they insulted the lawgiver by outrages which surpassed description, they paraded their reverence of the law. And, as that Sabbath was a high day, they effect to pay honour to it. The very men who destroyed the Lord of the high day. And they ask a favour which well suited their cruel spirit, for they besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, wishing to embitter, by this last intolerable outrage, the pangs of approaching death, to those who were already in agony. 32-37 The soldiers therefore came, and break the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. How be it one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water, and he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true, and he knoweth that he seeth true, that ye also may believe. For these things came to pass that the scripture might be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture seeth. They shall look on him whom they pierced. In pursuance of the request of the Jews, men afflicted with a madness akin to their cruelty. I mean the soldiers of Pilate. Break the legs of the two robbers, as they were still numbered among the living, intensifying the bitter pang of their last agony, and finally dispatching them by the most grievous act of violence. But when they found Jesus with his head bowed down, and saw that he had already given up the ghost, they thought it lost labor to break his legs. But as they still had a faint suspicion that he might not be actually dead, they with a spear pierced his side, which sent forth blood mingled with water. God presenting us thereby with a type as it were, and foreshadowing the mystery of the Eucharist, and holy baptism. For holy baptism is of Christ, and Christ institution. And the power of the mystery of the Eucharist grew up for us out of his holy flesh. By his account of what took place the wise evangelist confirms his hearers in the belief that he was the Christ long ago foretold by holy writ, for the events of his life harmonized with what was written concerning him. For not a bone of him was broken, and he was pierced with the spear of the soldier, according to the scripture. He says himself that the disciple that bear record of these things was a spectator and eyewitness of what took place, and knew, in fact, that his testimony was true. And the disciple to whom he thus alludes is none other than himself. For he shrank from speaking more openly, putting away from himself the assumption of love of glory as an unholy thing and as a grievous infirmity. CONCERNING THE REQUEST FOR THE BODY OF THE LORD 38. And after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave, he came therefore and took away his body. This saying is indeed fraught with a grievous charge against the Jews, as it shows that to become a disciple of Christ was dangerous, and exposed a man to penalties. For he plainly introduces this most excellent young man, I mean Joseph, to our notice, as most especially anxious to escape the notice of the Jews, though he had been induced by Christ's teaching to choose that worship which was the reality itself, and better and more pleasing to God who loves virtue than the commandment of the law, and at the same time gives us a proof necessary to confirm our faith. For it was necessary for us to believe that Christ laid down his life for us. And is it not an inevitable consequence that, when a man is entombed, we must have a firm conviction that he also died? And we may well condemn, as guilty of gross brutality, the presumption hard-heartedness and merciless temper of the Jews, who did not even pay into Christ the respect due to the dead, nor honour him with burial rites, when they saw him lying before them in inanimate corpse. Though they knew that he was the Christ, and had often been amazed by the marvelous works that he did, even though their bitter hatred might never have allowed them to profit by his miraculous power. The disciple of Arimathea, therefore, passes judgment on the inhumanity of the Jews, and condemns the men of Jerusalem when he goes and tends with fitting care the body of him whom he did not as yet honour by an open confession of faith, but still believed on him in secret, for fear of the Jews, as says the Blessed Evangelist. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight. He says that this disciple was not alone in taking counsel wisely, as well as in fervent zeal, to go to dress the sacred body for burial, but he makes mention of a second along with the first. This was Nicodemus, who completed the body of testimony to the event that is respected by the law. For, says In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. The men who lay Jesus in the tomb were two in number, Joseph and Nicodemus, men who received the faith inwardly in their hearts, but were still scared by a foolish fear, and did not yet prefer to the honour and glory of the world that which is of God. For then they would have dismissed all fear of the Jews, and, paying slightly to any danger from that quarter, would have indulged their faith fearlessly and freely, and thus have proved themselves holy and good keepers of the commandment of our Saviour. 4041 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid. Christ was numbered among the dead, who for our sake became dead, according to the flesh, but whom we conceive to be and who is, in fact, life of himself, and through his father, and that he might fulfil all righteousness that is all that was appropriate to the form of man, he of his own will subjected the temple of his body, not merely to death, but also to what follows after death, that is, burial and being laid in the tomb. The writer of the Gospel says that this sepulchre in the garden was a new one, this fact signifying to us, as it were, by a type and figure, that Christ's death is the harbinger and pioneer of our entry into paradise, for he entered as a forerunner for us. What other signification than this can be intended by the carrying over of the body of Jesus in the garden, and by the newness of the sepulchre is meant the untrodden and strange pathway whereby we return from death unto life, and the renewing of our souls, that Christ has invented for us, whereby we baffle corruption. For henceforth, by the death of Christ, death for us has been transformed in a manner into sleep, with like power and functions, for we are alive unto God, and shall live forevermore, to the scriptures. Therefore also the Blessed Paul, in a variety of places, calls those asleep who have died in Christ, for in the times of old the dread presence of death held human nature in awe, for death reigned from Adam and Talmosis, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, and we bore the image of the earthly in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the divine curse. But when the second Adam appeared among us, the divine man from heaven, and contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by his death the life of all men, and destroying the power of corruption rose again to life, we were transformed into his image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but cast upon us a slumber which is laid in with fair hope, after the likeness of him who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ. And if anyone choose to give an additional meaning to the saying that the sepulchre was a new one, and that no man had been laid therein, be it so, he says then we may suppose that the sepulchre was new, and that no one had been ever laid therein, that no one might be thought to have arisen from the sleep of death save Jesus only. 42. There, then, because of the Jews' preparation, for the tomb was nigh at hand, they laid Jesus. He not only says plainly that Christ's body was dressed for burial, and that there was a guarded nigh unto the cross, and that there was a new sepulchre in it, but he also explains that he was laid therein, not leaving the least of the things which were done untold. For most essential truly to any creed or system of the mystery of our faith is the confession and the knowledge that Christ died. Therefore also the wise Paul, defining our rule of faith, speaks as follows. The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith, which we preach, because if thou shalt say with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And in another passage also, for I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Very essential, then, for us is the narrative which the writer of the book gives us on these points. For it was our bound in duty to believe that he died and was buried. After that we'll easily follow the true belief that he burst asunder the bonds of death, and returned as God to the life that was his own. For it was not possible that he should be holden of death. For, being by nature life, how could he have undergone corruption? And how could he in whom we live and move and have our being have been subjected to the laws which our human nature is subject? Could he not rather as God have easily quickened that which lacked life? End of Introduction Part 5 Introduction Part 6 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. 21-9 Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark unto the tomb, and seeeth the stone taken away from the tomb. She runeth, therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and sayeth unto them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter, therefore, went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb, and they ran both together, and the other disciple out ran Peter, and came first to the tomb, and, stooping and looking in, he seeeth the linen cloths lying, yet entered he not in. Simon Peter, therefore, cometh, following him, and entered into the tomb, and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin that was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then entered in, therefore, the other disciple also, which came first to the tomb, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. This excellent and pious woman would never have endured to remain at home, and leave the sepulcher had not her fear of the law for the Sabbath, and the penalty which impended upon those who transgressed it, curbed the vehemence of her zeal, and had she not, allowing ancient custom to prevail, thought she ought to withdraw her thoughts from the object of her most earnest longings. But when the Sabbath was already past, and the dawn of the next day was appearing, she hurried back to the spot, and then, when she saw the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, well-grounded suspicions seized her mind, and, calling to mind the ceaseless hatred of the Jews, she thought that Jesus had been carried away, accusing them of this crime in addition to their other misdeeds. While she was thus engaged, and revolving in her mind the probabilities of the case, the woman returned to the men who loved the Lord, anxious to obtain the cooperation of the most intimate of his disciples in her quest. And so deep-rooted and impregnable was her faith that she was not induced to esteem Christ less highly because of his death upon the cross. But even when he was dead called him Lord, as she had been want to do, thereby showing a truly God-loving spirit. When these men, I mean Peter and John the writer of this book, for he gives himself the name of the other disciple. Heard these tidings from the woman's mouth, they ran with all the speed they could, and came to the sepulchre in haste, and saw the marvel with their own eyes, being in themselves competent to testify to the event, for they were too in number, as the law enjoined. As yet they did not meet Christ risen from the dead, but infer his resurrection from the bundle of linen clothes, and henceforth believed that he had burst us under the bonds of death, as Holy Ridd had long ago proclaimed that he would do. When, therefore, they looked at the issues of events in the light of the prophecies which turned out true, their faith was henceforth rooted on a firm basis. Observe that the Blessed Evangelist, John, when he tells us the time of the resurrection, says, On the first day of the week early, while it was yet dark, cometh Mary Magdalene unto the tomb, while Matthew also, wishing to indicate the time to us, says that the resurrection took place when the night was far spent. No one, I suppose, will imagine that the inspired writers are at variance, or that they fix the time of the resurrection differently. For any one that chooses to investigate the meaning of the indications they give of the time will find that their accounts tally. For early dawn and late night fix the same point of time, that is, the very dead of night, so to say. There is, therefore, no discrepancy between them, for the one, taking as his starting point the end of the night, and the other the beginning, both reach the middle watch, and meet at the same point, that is, as I just now said, the dead of night. 10.11 So the disciples went away again unto their own home, but Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping. The wise disciples, after having gathered sufficiently satisfactory evidence of the resurrection of our Saviour, being in travail, as it were, with their confirmed and unshaken faith, and by comparison of events as they had actually occurred with the prophetic utterances of Holy Scripture, went back home, and hastened, as is likely, to see their fellow workers, to recount to them the miracle, and afterwards to consider the course to be pursued. And we shall not err if we think that they had another object in so acting. For while the passion of the Jews was at its height, and the rulers were thirsting eagerly for the blood of every man who marveled at the teaching of the Saviour, and admitted his divine and ineffable power and glory. But most of all for the blood of the holy disciples themselves, they had good reason for shrinking from encountering them, and left the sepulchre before it was quite light, as they could not have done so without risk, if seen in the daytime, the suns raised revealing them to all beholders. We are far from saying that unmanly cowardice was the motive of their cautious flight. Rather, should we suppose that the knowledge of what was expedient for them was instilled in the minds of the saints by Christ, who did not permit these who were destined to be lights and teachers of the world to run untimely risks, for it was necessary that the truth of his saying should be seen, which he spake concerning them to the Father in heaven. Holy Father, keep them, he says, in Thy name which Thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them I kept them in Thy name which Thou hast given me, and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the Son of Perdition. The disciples therefore retired, thinking they ought to await the time when they should speak openly, and this they did in obedience to the Saviour's words. For he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, as it is written, but to wait for the promise of the Father which they had heard of him. For John indeed baptized with water, but they shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. An event which we find actually came to pass in the days of the Holy Pentecost. When there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as a fire, and it sat upon each one of them. For then were they invested with a spirit of the greatest courage and endurance, and, high exalted above the frailty of their fellow men, boldly encountered the madness of the Jews, and thought their plotting against them worthy of no account. The wise disciples, then, concealed themselves from the motive of expediency, as I said just now, while Mary, in her love of Christ, free from all fear, and not much suspecting the wrath of the Jews, sat on the watch persistently, and, affected after the manner of women, wept abundantly, and continually wiped away the tears that kept falling from her eyes. Morning not only because the Lord was dead, but also because she thought he had been taken away from the sepulcher. 11, 12, 13. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, and she beholdeth two angels in white, sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain, and they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Observe that the tears let fall for Christ do not lose their reward, nor is it long before love for him bears fruit, rather will his grace and rich requital follow closely in the wake of pain. For, behold, as Mary was sitting there, her cheeks bedued with mourning for her beloved Lord, whom she had lost, the Saviour vouchsafed unto her the knowledge of the mystery concerning him by the mouth of holy angels. For she saw angels in bright apparel, the garments wherewith they were clad, signifying to her the perfect beauty of angelic purity, who interrupted her lamentations, and said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? It was not indeed that they desired to learn the reason why her tears were falling, for they would have known it even had the woman not told them, and the very circumstances themselves were sufficient to indicate it. Rather, do they bid her cease from weeping, as there was no occasion for tears, and as she had made what was a subject for rejoicing a cause of grief? Why, indeed, say they, when death has been subdued, and corruption lost its power, and our Saviour Christ has therefore risen again, and made a new pathway for the dead back to incorruption and to life? Why dost thou, a woman, mistake the time? And why art thou so distraught by bitter pangs of woe, when the issue of events rather calls you to rejoice? For, in truth, thou shouldst be glad and be of good cheer. Why, then, weepest thou? And thus, in some sort, detractest from the honour due unto a festival? The angels appeared sitting at the head and at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain, thereby as it were signifying to the woman who thought that the Lord had been taken away, that no one could have done despite unto the holy body, while angels kept watch, and holy powers encompassed the temple of God, for they knew their Lord. One may raise the question, not unreasonably, how it was that the blessed angels said nothing to the holy disciples, and did not even appear unto them, but were both seen by the woman and also speak unto her. We reply, then, that it was the object of the Saviour Christ to instill into the minds of those who loved him the perfect knowledge of the mystery concerning him, but that this perfect knowledge was in different ways given unto them, and adapted to the requirements of those who stood in need of it. The course of events itself, as compared with the expectations raised in holy writ, suffice to give the holy disciples adequate knowledge, and begat in them a confidence that did not admit of doubt. For they went home trusting in the holy scriptures, and it would have been superfluous for those whose faith was thus firmly grounded to be taught by the mouth of the holy angels. But it was very necessary to the woman who knew not the holy and divine scripture, and by no other means could apprehend the deep mystery of the resurrection. 1314 She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. The woman, or rather all woman kind, is low of understanding. For she does not understand the hidden meaning of what met her gaze, but rather announces it as the cause of her grief. But as she ceased not to call Christ Lord, and thereby signified her love towards him, she is justly permitted to enjoy the sight of the object of her desire. For she beholds Jesus. Though she did not think him to be at her side. And why? Either her ignorance was caused by our Savior Christ still concealing himself by his divine power, and not allowing himself very easily to be recognized by the eye of the beholder. Or, as it was still early in the morning, she could not readily distinguish what was before her eyes, as night somehow prevented her from so doing, and scarcely revealed the figure of him who was drawing nigh. Therefore also our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in the song of songs, makes mention of his walk on this night, and the moisture of the morning dew, in the words, For my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 15. Jesus sayeth unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing him to be the gardener, sayeth unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. As it was still dark, and the night had not yet wholly passed away, she seized Jesus, who stood near her, but dimly, and knows not who he is, being unable to distinguish the form of his body or his features. But here's him say, Woman, why weepest thou? The Saviour's words are indeed words of courtesy, still such as to arouse in her the suspicion that they were most like the words of one of the gardeners. It follows too that the Lord, when he thus spake, was not in point of fact asking her the reason for her weeping, nor desirous to learn of whom she was in search, but was rather anxious to stop her lamentations, just as, indeed, were the two blessed angels, for it was in their company that he spake. Why then weepest thou, O Woman, he says, Whom seekest thou? That is to say, Wipe away thy tears, as thou hast the object of thy search. I, he says, am he who is the occasion of thy morning, as having been dead, and as having suffered a dreadful fate, and as having also been taken away out of the tomb. But, as I am alive and am here, give up thy lamentations, and, contrary wise, be of good cheer. He asked the question, then, wishing to end her sorrow, for it was meat that the Lord should be our Restorer in this way also. For, by Adam's transgression, as in the first fruits of the race, the sentence went forth to the whole world. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. And to the woman in special, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. To be rich in sorrow, then, as by way of a penalty, was the fate of woman. It was, therefore, necessary that by the mouth of him that had passed sentence of condemnation, the burden of that ancient curse should be removed. Our Saviour Christ now wiping away the tears from the eyes of the woman, or rather of all woman kind, as in Mary the first fruits. For she, first of women, being offended at the death of the Saviour, and grieving thereat, was thought worthy to hear the voice that cut short her weeping. The power of the Word, in fact, extending also to the whole race of women, if indeed they be pained by the outrageous against Christ, and honour faith in him, and almost fall to quoting that saying in the Psalms. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. While, however, our Lord Jesus Christ says this to put a stop to her weeping, she, supposing the speaker to be one of the gardeners, undertook very readily to transfer the remains to another place, if only it were shown her where he had laid him. For not yet apprehending the great mystery of the resurrection, she was disturbed by suspicions of this kind. For the feminine mind is slow-witted and ill-prepared to readily comprehend even what is not very difficult, far less miracles which baffle description. 16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turneth herself in saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni, which is to say, Master, and ran forward to touch him. He invites the recognition of the woman whose mind had already been enlightened, and allowing her to gaze upon him without let or hindrance, for indeed she loved him ardently. He almost rebukes her for having been so slow to perceive that he was Christ. For there is some such implied meaning in his calling her by name. She understood it once, and at the sight of him cast aside the suspicions she felt at first, and offers him the usual tribute of respect, calling him Rabboni, that is to say, Master, and with her mind full of a heavenly joy ran eagerly to touch the holy body and to gain blessing there from. 17. Jesus saith to her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father. The meaning of this saying is not easily understood by the vulgar, for a mystery underlies it, but we must probe it for our advantage, for the Lord will vouch safe unto us the knowledge of his own words. For he repulses the woman as she was running up to him, and though she longed to embrace his feet, he suffered her not, and in explanation of his reason for so doing said, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father. We must inquire into the meaning of this saying, for what if he were not yet ascended to his Father? How could this reason suffice to render it improper for those that loved him to touch his holy body? Would it not be blameworthy for anyone to imagine that the Lord shrank from the pollution of the touch, and thus spake that he might be pure when he ascended to the Father in heaven? Would not such a man stand convicted of great folly and madness? For the nature of God can never be polluted. For just as the light of the sun's ray, when it strikes upon a dung-hill, or any other earthly impurities, suffers no stain. For it remains as it is, that is, undefiled, and partakes in no degree of the ill odor of the objects that it encounters. Even so, the all-holy nature of God can never admit of the blemish of defilement. What, then, is the reason why Mary was prevented from touching him, when she drew near and yearned so to do? What can the Lord mean when he says, for I am not yet ascended unto my Father? We must investigate this according to the best of our ability. We say, therefore, that the reasons for our Saviour's sojourn amongst us were manifold and diverse. But this won the principle of all, which is indicated in his own words. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Therefore, before the saving cross and the resurrection from the dead, while as yet his providential scheme had not yet received its appropriate fulfillment, he mingled both with the just and the unjust, and ate with publicans and sinners, and allowed any that so willed to come to him and touch his holy body, that he might sanctify all men and call them to a knowledge of the truth, and might bring back to health those who were diseased and enfeebled by the constant practice of sin. Therefore also in another place he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. Therefore, before his resurrection from the dead, he had intercourse indiscriminately with the righteous and with sinners, and never frightened away any that came unto him. Moreover, when he was once reclining at the house of a Pharisee, a woman came in unto him weeping, who was a sinner in the city, as it is written, and let down her wanton locks, scarcely released from the service of her past sins, and wiped his feet therewith. And we see that he did not stop her. Again, when he was on his way to bring back to life the daughter of the leader of the synagogue, once more a woman came near unto him, who had an issue of blood, and touched the border of his garment. But we find that he was in no wise offended, but rather vouchsafed unto her the comforting assurance, Daughter, thy faith hath made the whole, go in peace. But at that time, by his providence, men who were still unclean, and who were polluted both in mind and body, were suffered without let or hindrance to touch the holy flesh itself of our Savior Christ, and to gain every blessing thereby. But when, after having completed the scheme of our redemption, he had both suffered the cross itself, and death thereon, and had risen again to life, and shown that his nature was superior to death, henceforward, instead of granting them a ready permission, he hinders those who come to him from touching the very flesh of his holy body, thereby giving us a type of the holy churches, and the mystery concerning himself, just as also the law given by the all-wise Moses itself did, when it represented this slaughter of the Lamb as a figure of Christ. For no uncircumcised person, said the law, shall eat thereof, meaning by uncircumcised impure, and humanity may justly be deemed impure in its own nature. For what is the nature of man as compared with God's inherent purity? We may not, therefore, while we remain uncircumcised, that is impure touch the holy body, but only when we have been made pure by the true circumcision of the Spirit. For circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, as Paul saith. And we cannot be spiritually circumcised if the Holy Spirit hath not taken up his abode in us by faith and holy baptism. Surely, therefore, it was meet that Mary should, for a while, be restrained from touching his sacred body, as she had not yet received the Spirit. For even though Christ was risen from the dead, still the Spirit had not yet been given to humanity by the Father through him. For when he ascended to God the Father, he sent the Spirit down to us. Wherefore also, he said, It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter cannot come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. As, therefore, the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent down unto us, for he had not yet ascended to the Father. He repulses Mary as not yet having received the Spirit, saying, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto the Father. That is to say, I have not yet sent down unto you the Holy Spirit. Hence the type is applicable to the Churches. Therefore also, we drive away from the Holy Table those who are indeed convinced of the Godhead of Christ, and have already made profession of faith, that is, those who are already Catechumans, when they have not as yet been enriched with the Holy Spirit. For he does not dwell in those who have not received baptism. But when they have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, then indeed there is nothing to hinder them from touching our Saviour Christ. Therefore also, to those who wish to partake of the Blessed Eucharist, the ministers of Divine Mysteries say, Holy things to the Holy. Teaching that participation in holy things is the due reward of those who are sanctified in the Spirit. CHAPTER 1 But go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. For reasons which we have given, Christ suffers not Mary to touch him, though in her love of God she greatly yearned for this boon, but still rewards her for her watchful care, and doubly requites her for her passionate faith and love for him, showing that those who are diligent in his service meet with a recompense. And what was even yet more glorious, she achieved the deliverance of woman from the frailties of old. For in her first, I mean in Mary. All women kind, so to speak, are crowned with a double honour. For though at first she thus lamented and made Christ an occasion for weeping, she turned her mourning into joy when she was told to forbear from tears by him, who, by his own sentence of old, had made woman easy to be overcome by the attacks of sorrow. For God had said to the woman, In sorrow shall thou bring forth children. But just as he once made her subject unto sorrow in paradise, when she harkened to the voice of the serpent and ministered to the devil's wiles, so now again in a garden he bids her refrain from weeping, releasing her from that curse which bound her unto sorrow, he bids her be the first messenger of tidings of great joy, and proclaim to the disciples his journey heavenward. That as the first woman, the mother of all mankind, was condemned for listening to the devil's voice, and through her the whole race of women, so also this woman, in that she had harkened to our Saviour's words, and announced tidings fraught with life eternal, might deliver the entire race of women from the charge of old. The Lord therefore grants unto Mary that, besides being delivered from tears and from a heart ever prone to sorrow, her feet also should be beautiful. For, as the Prophet exclaims, how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things. While the feet of that woman of old time were not beautiful. For no good tidings did she bring when she enticed our forefather to transgress the divine command. That Mary is worthy, our admiration, we may infer from the fact that she was deemed worthy of mention in prophecy. For what said the Prophet concerning her and the women with her, who announced unto the holy disciples the resurrection of the Saviour? Ye women who come from the sight come hither, for it is a people that hath not understanding. For this divine prophecy bids these women, true lovers of Christ, come as it were with quickened steps, that they may tell what they themselves have seen, and condemns the insensibility of the Jews and that they laugh to scorn the words of our Saviour Christ himself concerning the resurrection. And though there were also other women there, for this the other evangelists are pleased to record, and the wise John made mention only of Mary, we shall yet find no discrepancy in the accounts of these holy men. For it is probable that John made mention only of Mary Magdalene, because her love for Christ was more impassioned. And she outran the others, so that she first saw the tomb, and was in the garden, and visited every place that was nigh unto the sepulchre, to search for the body. For she thought, in fact, that the Lord had been taken away. For results are always ascribed to those who take the lead in counsel and action, though there may be others who co-operate in both. Therefore, to her honor and glory, and perpetual renown, the Saviour vouchsafed unto Mary the duty of proclaiming to the brethren the tidings contained in his words, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. And do thou for thy part accept this great and profound mystery, not suffering thine heart, to vault over the measure of the truth of the divine doctrines? Observe how the only begotten word of God came among us, that we also might be even as he is, so far as is possible for our nature to attain thereto. And so far as relates unto our new creation by grace. For he humbled himself that he might exalt that which was by nature lowly to his own high station, and wore the form of a servant, though he was by nature Lord and Son of God, that he might uplift that which was by nature enslaved to the dignity of sonship in conformity with his own likeness and in his image. How and in what sense, then, he becoming one of us as man, in order that we also might be like him, that is, gods and sons, receives our attributes unto himself, and gives back unto us his own, you may be well anxious to inquire. I will explain, then, as far as I am able. In the first place, then, though we are servants by rank and nature, for creatures are subject to their Creator. He calls us his brethren, and designates God the common Father of himself and us. And, making humanity his own, by taking our likeness upon him, he calls our God his God, though he is his Son by nature. That, as we mount up to his exceeding great dignity of station by likeness to him, for it is not because we are by nature sons of God that we are so called, for he cries in our hearts by his own spirit, Abba Father. So also he, since he took our form, for he became man according to the scriptures, might have God for his God, though he was truly God by nature, and proceeded from him. Be not therefore offended, though you hear him calling God his God, but rather contemplate his words in a teachable spirit, and attentively consider their true meaning. For he says that God is both his Father and our God, and both sayings are true. For in very truth the God of the universe is Christ's Father, but not ours by nature, but rather our God as our Creator and Sovereign Lord. But the Son, as it were, blending himself with us, vouchsafes to our nature the dignity that is in a special and peculiar sense his own, calling him that begat him the common Father of us all. While, on the other hand, he receives into himself by taking upon him our likeness, that which belong to our nature. For he calls his Father his God, being unwilling, through his inherent love and mercy toward mankind, to dishonor our likeness that he had taken upon himself. If then you choose an ignorance to cavill at this singing, and it seem intolerable to you that the Lord should say that God the Father was his God, you will then, in your perversity, be bringing a charge against the scheme for your own redemption. And when you ought to be offering up thanksgiving, you will be dishonoring your benefactor, and be foolishly objecting to the manner in which he manifested his love towards you. For if he humbled himself, despising shame, and became a man for your sake, on your head is the charge of humiliation, and to him who chose to undergo this for your sake, exceeding great is the honor due. And I am amazed that you have ears merely for the eclipse of glory, for he humbled himself for our sake, and consider not its restoration, and regarding only the degradation, reflect not upon the exaltation. For how was he humiliated, if you do not regard him as perfect, as being God? And in what sense was he degraded, if you do not take into account the lofty attributes of his ineffable nature? Therefore, when he was perfect and all sufficient as God, he humbled himself for your sake, transforming himself to your likeness. And though he was high exalted as the Son of God, and of the very essence of the Father, he degraded himself, being malted of the attributes of divine glory, so far as his nature admitted. As therefore now he is at the same time God and man, being high exalted because of his parentage, for he is God of God, and truly begotten of his Father. And also made lowly for our sake, for he became man for us. Be of a tranquil mind when you hear him saying, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. For it was very neat and right that, as being by nature God and Son of God, he should call him that begot him his Father, and that, as being man, even as we are men, he should call God his God. 18. Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and how that he had said these things unto her. That race which is specially subject to weakness, I mean the race of women, is restored by the loving kindness of our Savior, who in a manner rolled up in one the source and origin of our infirmities, and ameliorated them for the future. For Mary announced that she had seen the Lord, who had escaped from the bonds of death, and had heard his voice, and brought to the disciples the words of life, and the first fruits of the divine gospel. 19. 20. When therefore it was evening, on that day the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and sayeth unto them, Peace be unto you! And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. 19. On the self-same day on which he had appeared unto Mary, and disgorced with her, he also showed himself to the holy disciples, who dreaded the intolerable attacks of the empires' Jews, and were, on that account, collected together in a certain house. For it was not likely that they who had been so instructed, and had often been bitten to make haste to escape from the wrath of their would-be murderers, would be found lacking in proper prudence. Christ miraculously appears unto them. For while the doors were shut, as the apostle says, Christ unexpectedly stood in the midst, by his ineffable divine power rising superior to the chain of cause and effect, and showing himself able to dispense with the design and method appropriate to his action. For let no man say, How did the Lord, whose body was of solid flesh, enter without let or hindrance, though the doors were shut? But rather let him reflect that the evangelist is not here speaking of one of ourselves, but rather of him who is enthroned by the side of God the Father, and who easily doth whatsoever he will. For he that was by nature the true God was of necessity not subject unto the sequences of cause and effect, as are the creatures that owe their being to him. But rather does he exercise lordship over necessity itself, and do and appropriate methods of performance. For how did he make the sea of forty footing unto his feet, and walk thereon as upon dry land, though we are not so framed that we can tread upon the paths of the sea? And how did he perform the rest of his marvelous works with Godlike power? All these things you will say surpass man's understanding. Put this miracle of Christ side by side with the rest, and do not, following the opinion of certain men who, in the folly of their hearts, have been led astray to judge falsely. Imagine on account of this very occurrence the Christ rose again without his human body, wholly bereft thereof, and severed from the temple that he had taken on himself. For if thou canst not understand the working of God's ineffable nature, why does thou not, rather, cry out against the infirmity of man's reason? For that would be the wiser course. And then silently acquiesce in the limit prescribed to you by the Creator. For in rejecting the conclusion of wisdom, thou do is strong to the great mystery of the resurrection, on which all our reliance is fixed. For remember the exclamation of Paul. If the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised. And if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins. And again, ye, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised. For what can be raised up save that which is fallen, or what restored to life save that which is bowed down in death? And how shall we expect to rise again, if so be that Christ raised not up his own temple, making himself, for us, the first fruits of them which are asleep, and the first born from the dead? Or how shall this mortal put on immortality, if, as some think, it be lost in total annihilation? For how shall it escape this fate, if it have no hope of a new life? Do not, then, swerve from orthodoxy in the faith, because a miracle was accomplished. But rather be wise, and add this to the other marvelous works that Christ did. For observe how, by unexpectedly entering when the doors were shut, Christ showed once more that he was by nature God, and no other than he who had air-wide dwelt among them. And also, by laying bare the wounded side of his body, and by showing the print of the nails, he gave us complete satisfaction that he had raised that temple of his body which had hung upon the cross, and had restored to life that body which he had worn, thereby subduing death, which is due to all flesh, in as much as he was by nature life and God. What need, then, was there for him to show them his hands and side, if, as some perversely think, he did not rise again with his body? And, if he wished his disciples not to entertain this idea concerning him, why did he not rather appear in another form, and, disdaining the likeness of flesh, conjure up other thoughts in their minds? But, as it is, he thought it of so great importance that they should be convinced of the resurrection of his body, that when the time even seemed to call him to change his body into some form of ineffable and surpassing majesty, he resolved in his providence to appear once more as he had been of old, that he might not be thought to be wearing any other form than that in which also he had suffered crucifixion. For that our eyes could not have endured the glory of the holy body, if Christ had chosen to reveal it unto the disciples before he ascended to the Father, is easily to be inferred, when we reflect upon his transfiguration on the Mount before the holy disciples. For the blessed Matthew the Evangelist writes, that Jesus took Peter and James and John, and went up into the mountain, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as lightning, and his garments became white as snow. And they could not endure the sight, but fell on their faces. Very appropriately then, our Lord Jesus Christ, as he had not yet transformed the temple of his body into its due and proper majesty, still appeared in his original shape, not wishing the belief and the resurrection to be transferred to another form or body than that which he had received from the holy virgin, in which also he was crucified and died according to the scripture, the power of death extending only over flesh, from which also it was driven forth. For if his body after death did not rise again, what sort of death was vanquished, and in what way was the power of corruption weakened? For it could not be by the death of a single rational being, or soul, or angel, or even the very word of God. When then the power of death has reference only to that which is doomed by nature to corruption, with this it is that the power of the resurrection is concerned, and with this alone, in order that the dominion of the Lord of this world might be taken away. The entry of our Lord through the closed doors must be classed by men of wisdom with the other miracles that he wrought. He then greeted his holy disciples. Peace be unto you, he says, meaning by peace himself. For while Christ is present among men, it follows that the tranquility of their minds is assured unto them. Paul also declared that this boon is granted to those who believe on him when he says, The peace of Christ which passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and your thoughts. Meaning by the peace of Christ which passeth all understanding nothing else than his spirit, of which if any man partake he shall be filled with everything that is good. 20. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. Hereby also the blessed evangelist testifies to the truth of our Savior's words when he says that the disciples were full of peace and joy of heart when they saw Jesus. For we remember the mysterious utterance that he spake unto them concerning his precious cross and resurrection from the dead, saying, A little while, and ye behold me no more, and again a little while, and ye shall see me, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy know and take it away from you. The Jews indeed whose minds were transported by a frenzy of fury rejoiced when they saw Jesus nailed to the cross, while the heart of the holy disciples was heavy laden with an intolerable burden of sorrow. But as he is by nature life he overcame the power of death and rose again, and the joy of the Jews was extinguished, while the heaviness of the holy disciples was turned into joy, and nothing could rob or deprive them of their soul's delight. Christ, having died once for all to put away sin, dyeth no more, as is written. For he is alive for ever more, and of a surety he will preserve those whose hope is in him, in joy without ceasing. He once more greets them with the oft-repeated assurance, peace be unto you. Laying down, as it were, this law for the children of the Church. Therefore also, more especially in the assembling and gathering of ourselves together in holy places, at the very commencement of the blessed mystery of the Eucharist, we repeat this sing to one another. For our being at peace with each other and with God must be accounted a fountain and source of all good. Therefore also Paul, when he prays that those who are called may enjoy the highest of all blessings, says, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And also, when he invites those who have not yet believed to make their peace with God, he says, We are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ. Be ye reconciled to God. Nonetheless also the prophet Isaiah exhorts us, crying out, Let us make peace with him. Let us make peace who come. The meaning of the saying well befit the dispenser of peace, or rather the peace of all men. That is Christ, for he is our peace, according to the scripture. End of chapter 1 part 1