Commentaries on John (in catenae) 1 Jo 1, 1 In the beginning was the Word, without beginning, he says, according to time, and the Word was with God, a

 time, the impassible, that from such a father, this is of the same substance. The Father was God with whom the Son was, and the Word who was with the

 by an artistic work, as providing in that which is provided for. 9 Jo 1, 11 How did he who is always everywhere and present in the world come to his o

 Jo 1, 15 He was always first, for he is by nature God and Son of God, but I am his slave and herald. This one was indeed always first, but he comes af

 gestures of honor and great words, or rather where there is a profit of a little money, the temple or the law is nothing but where there is the great

 and little by little she progressed, so that she not only confessed [him as] Messiah and Christ, but also preached to the city and her homeland and in

 for the Father judges no one, would have given the suspicion that he himself abdicated his authority. But for this reason he places the gave, so t

 according to human opinion and judgment, his testimony is not true. Therefore the Lord also, indicating this in response to their opinion, said: 'If I

 to be instructed and to be benefited. 42 Jo 6, 6 Or testing is said instead of exercising him, stirring up his thoughts and leading him toward the

 leading us up to the teaching of the Father, you send us back again to yourself, if indeed you have seen and you are about to unfold the Father’s teac

 Declaring the multitude and magnitude of the gifts, he calls them rivers. Therefore, no one, neither of the ancient prophets nor of the disciples then

 of cities, in which he also had relatives, he did not rise up for the destruction of the angels he saw typically and iconically as they were proceedin

 For that one, he says, was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. And who else, he says, is s

 the clay was used for another reason than what has been said, in order to demonstrate very clearly that He Himself also formed Adam from clay. Moreove

 something humble and human about him, so that the weak hearer may not fall away or the evildoer find an occasion for wickedness, he runs back again to

 He said to the disciples concerning the Greeks who wanted to see him: that the hour has come, that the Son of Man might be glorified. 74 Jo 12, 27 To

 I did not expect that anyone would ever come to such madness and ingratitude and foulness, so as to repay his benefactor with murder and betrayal afte

 but the Jews, ending their life, were sent away to death and punishment. Therefore He says: And where I go, you cannot come. But to them He speaks thu

 you sought to see with bodily eyes, but looking at the flesh, which I willingly took up on your behalf, you have seen nothing lofty nor worthy of my d

 the discourses already being about to cease. 90 Jo 15, 9-11 I have spoken these things to you which things are these? that as the Father has loved me

 A tribunal had its beginning in that city in which the audacious act of murder was also committed. And the refutation came not through words, but thro

 to the Son. And this the blessed Paul also proclaimed, saying: according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages with this glory t

 in the Father, that is, consubstantial. Why then did He not say, 'as You, Father, are to Me and I to You,' but with the preposition? Most of all, He a

 take and kill? He said, take and judge. But were they not prepared for the murder of the Master, and were they not intoxicated with rage and envy, so

 he was about to show, leading them again through this to a higher estimation. 114 Jo 21, 17 Since he asked him a third time, making the question equal

gestures of honor and great words, or rather where there is a profit of a little money, the temple or the law is nothing; but where there is the great salvation of men, there is much envy and a cloak for the envy is the temple and the law and the words of desperation. Therefore the Lord, having cast them out of the temple by deed and by word, and having shown them to be clearly and undoubtedly despisers of the temple, raised a great monument against them, that if ever they should speak on behalf of the law and the temple, would they not say these things out of desire and faith? but either being puffed up or overshadowing their own envy or for their own gain, that they might be called rabbi, that they might widen their phylacteries, that they might devour the houses of widows and of others. 18 Jo 3, 12-13 He said if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe; and yet being earthly, you ought to be more easily guided through kindred things, but if I have told you these things and you do not believe, how, if I tell you heavenly things, will you who are earthly believe? For heavenly things are further removed from your understanding than earthly things. How then will you learn heavenly things, not believing the things spoken by me? It is not possible for you to ascend into heaven and learn; for no one has ascended into heaven even until now, not of the prophets, not of the others who lived according to virtue, not at all except me who have descended from there. If then it is not possible for you to ascend, and no one else has ascended, but I who have ascended and descended and was not separated from there—for this is what "who is in heaven" signifies—if then you do not even believe me who proclaims and teaches the heavenly and divine and lofty doctrines, how else will you be able to learn these things? He said these things, compelling Nicodemus from all sides to believe him, that unless one is born of water and spirit, he will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. but he himself more forcefully, he will not even see, he says, the kingdom of heaven. 19 Jo 3, 19 And this is the judgment, as it were, so clear, so beyond doubt as almost to be pointed out. this, he says, is the judgment, that is, the condemnation of those who have disbelieved. From where is it clear, from where is it manifest and clear and admitting no dispute? From the thing itself, he says; that the light came into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light. Jo 3, 23 And that he also was baptizing. he did not baptize in opposition to the disciples of Christ, but rather confirming their things; for by baptizing he was preaching Christ, that this one is the bridegroom and the Son of God and the one from heaven, so that by baptizing he strengthened the faith in him just as did the disciples of Christ. 23 Jo 4, 12-15 If, when the Samaritan woman said, "Are you greater than our father Jacob," the Lord had answered her, "Yes, I am greater," he would have both grieved the woman by seeming to straightway belittle the forefather in whom she took great pride. and he would have given no great thing to be supposed about himself; for what is worthy of Christ, that he be considered greater by comparison with Jacob? Wherefore he does not say, "I am greater," nor does he place himself before Jacob by comparison, but at once he both shows his own superiority by an incomparable measure and does not say this himself baldly in words, lest he seem to belittle that one and distress the woman, but he allows her herself, through what he says, to infer and to understand this. For what one reasons out and understands for himself, one does not consider as burdensome in the same way as if one had heard it from another. But how does Christ do this? From the difference of the water, both that which Jacob found for them and that which he himself promised to give. And he does not simply say their difference is unspeakable and great, but also with the promise of providing it, so that also from the desire to receive it, the difference might not seem to them in any way absurd. Wherefore also the woman, who was not yet enduring him to be greater than Jacob, immediately being led up to a higher mind both hears what was said with good judgment and asks for the water from him, having come to despise that of Jacob which she had formerly marveled at. Thus then from the incomparable difference of the water, the woman was also guided to the incomparable superiority of the persons

σχήματα τιμῆς καὶ μεγάλα ῥήματα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἔνθα μὲν κέρδος ἀργυρίου μικροῦ, οὐδὲν ὁ ναὸς ἢ ὁ νόμος· ἔνθα δὲ μεγάλη σωτηρία ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεῖ ὁ πολὺς φθόνος καὶ προκάλυμμα τοῦ φθόνου ὁ ναὸς καὶ ὁ νόμος καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀπονοίας ῥήματα. ἐκβαλὼν οὖν αὐτοὺς ὁ δεσπότης ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ δείξας λαμπρῶς καὶ ἀναμφιβόλως καταφρονητὰς τοῦ ναοῦ μεγάλην στήλην κατ' αὐτῶν ἀνήγειρεν, ὅτι εἴπερ ἂν ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ λέγοιεν, οὐκ ἐκ πόθου καὶ πίστεως ταῦτα λέγοιεν; ἀλλ' ἢ φυσιούμενοι ἢ φθόνον ἴδιον ἐπισκιάζοντες ἢ ἐπὶ τῷ σφῶν κέρδει, ἵνα καλῶνται ῥαββί, ἵνα πλατύνωσι τὰ φυλακτήρια, ἵνα τὰς τῶν χηρῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων κατεσθίωσιν οἰκίας. 18 Jo 3, 12-13 Εἶπεν εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε· καίτοι ἔδει ἐπιγείοις οὖσι διὰ τῶν συγγενῶν ῥᾷον χειραγωγεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' οὖν εἰ ταῦτα εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω τὰ ἐπουράνια ὑμῖν ἐπιγείοις οὖσιν πιστεύετε· μᾶλλον γὰρ τῆς ὑμῶν διανοίας τὰ ἐπουράνια διέστηκεν ἢ τὰ ἐπίγεια. πῶς οὖν μαθήσεσθε τὰ ἐπουράνια μὴ πιστεύοντες τοῖς παρ' ἐμοῦ λεγομένοις; ἀναβῆναι ὑμῖν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ μαθεῖν οὐκ ἔνι· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν οὐδ' ἕως τοῦ νῦν, οὐ τῶν προφητῶν, οὐ τῶν ἄλλως κατ' ἀρετὴν πολιτευσαμένων οὐδ' ὅλως πλὴν ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἐκεῖθεν καταβεβηκότος. ἐὰν οὖν ὑμῖν μὲν οὐκ ἔνι ἀναβῆναι, ἄλλος δέ τις οὐκ ἀναβέβηκεν, ἐμοὶ δὲ τῷ ἀναβεβηκότι καὶ καταβεβηκότι καὶ ἐκεῖθεν μὴ χωρισθέντι-τοῦτο γὰρ δηλοῖ τὸ ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ- ἐὰν οὖν μηδὲ ἐμοὶ πιστεύητε ἐπαγγέλλοντι καὶ διδάσκοντι τὰ ἐπουράνια καὶ θεῖα καὶ ὑψηλὰ δόγματα, πῶς ἄλλως μαθεῖν ταῦτα δυνήσεσθε; ταῦτα δ' ἔλεγεν πανταχόθεν συνελαύνων τὸν Νικόδημον εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἂν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. αὐτὸς δὲ σφοδρότερον οὐδὲ μὴ ἴδῃ, φησίν, τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. 19 Jo 3, 19 Αὕτη δ' ἐστὶν ἡ κρίσις, οἷον οὕτω λαμπρά, οὕτως ἀναμφίβολος ὡς μονονουχὶ καὶ δείκνυσθαι. αὕτη, φησίν, ἡ κρίσις οἷον ἡ κατάκρισις τῶν ἀπιστησάντων. πόθεν δ' ἐστὶν δήλη, πόθεν περιφανὴς καὶ λαμπρὰ καὶ μηδεμίαν δεχομένη ἀμφισβήτησιν; αὐτόθεν φησίν· ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἠγάπησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸ σκότος μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ φῶς. Jo 3, 23 Καὶ ὅτι κἀκεῖνος βαπτίζων. οὐκ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐβάπτιζε τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον τὰ ἐκείνων βεβαιῶν· βαπτίζων γὰρ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκήρυττεν, ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ νυμφίος καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὥστε βαπτίζων τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ἐκράτυνεν ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταί. 23 Jo 4, 12-15 Εἰ τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς Σαμαρείτιδος εἰπούσης μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰακὼβ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ δεσπότης πρὸς αὐτήν· ναὶ μείζων εἰμί, τήν τε γυναῖκα ἐλύπησεν ἂν ἐκ τοῦ εὐθέως εὐτελίζειν τὸν πρόγονον δοκῶν ἐφ' ᾧ ἐκείνη μέγα ἐφρόνει. καὶ οὐδὲν μέγα περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐδίδου ὑπονοεῖν· τί γὰρ ἄξιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ κατὰ σύγκρισιν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ αὐτὸν μείζονα νομισθῆναι; διὸ οὐ λέγει μείζων εἰμὶ οὐδὲ κατὰ σύγκρισιν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ αὑτὸν ἐκείνου προτίθησιν, ἀλλ' ἅμα τε ἀσυγκρίτῳ μέτρῳ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν δείκνυσιν αὑτοῦ καὶ οὐκ αὐτὸς τοῦτο ξηρῶς ταῖς λέξεσιν λέγει, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ τ' ἐκεῖνον εὐτελίζειν καὶ ἀνιᾶν τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀλλ' αὐτὴν ἐκείνην δι' ὧν φησι δίδωσι τοῦτο συλλογίζεσθαι καὶ ἐννοεῖν· ὃ γὰρ ἄν τις αὐτὸς ἀναλογίσηται καὶ διανοηθῇ, οὐχ ὁμοίως ἡγεῖται φορτικὸν ὡσεὶ παρ' ἑτέρου ἀκούσειεν ἄν. πῶς δὲ τοῦτο ποιεῖ ὁ Χριστός; ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος διαφορᾶς, ὅ τε ὁ Ἰακὼβ αὐτοῖς ἀνεῦρεν καὶ ὃ αὐτὸς ὑπισχνεῖτο δώσειν. καὶ οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς λέγει τὴν διαφορὰν αὐτῶν ἄφατον οὖσαν καὶ πολλήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ ὑποσχέσεως τοῦ παρασχεῖν, ἵνα καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ λαβεῖν μηδὲν ἄτοπον αὐτοῖς εἶναι δόξῃ ἡ διαφορά. διὸ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ μήπω μείζονα ἀνεχομένη αὐτὸν εἶναι τοῦ Ἰακώβ, εὐθέως εἰς ὑψηλότερον ἀναχθεῖσα νοῦν εὐγνωμόνως τε ἀκούει τὸ ῥηθὲν καὶ αἰτεῖ τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ ὕδωρ καταφρονήσασα ὃ ἐθαύμαζεν τέως πρότερον τοῦ Ἰακώβ. οὕτως οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσυγκρίτου τοῦ ὕδατος διαφορᾶς καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀσύγκριτον τῶν προσώπων ὑπεροχὴν ἐχειραγωγήθη ἡ γυνὴ