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the Lord? The time of his coming is a judgment of the world, as Christ is about to justify men and deliver them from the greed of the devil, not to condemn them now; for the death of Christ justifies all humanity against the devil who has wronged the world, when the judgment takes place. 4 {3Jο 12, 32}3By saying all, he also means those from the nations. He draws them as those held by a tyrant and unable to flee by themselves, which elsewhere he calls a seizing. And let someone say, how did he overcome you also? For not only because I rise, but I also draw all to believe in me, that I am God, not a mere man. 421 {3Jο 12, 33}3He showed that he suffered willingly and knowingly, that not only was he dying, but also in what manner, the evangelist called the cross a death. 422 {3Jο 12, 34}3The Jews are ignorant that Christ is slaughtered like a sheep, but having risen he remains forever, no longer dying. 423 {3Jο 12, 35}3He calls the evangelical teaching light, and darkness ignorance or the condemnation of the ungodly. He himself is the light. And he speaks of time both as the season before the passion and all of the present life, through his love for humanity urging them to faith. 424 {3Jο 12, 36}3Those who walk in the light become sons of light. And if above he called the faithful sons of God, nothing from this; for the energy of the Father and the Son is one. 425 {3Jο 12, 36}3 425The way of salvation is faith in Christ, which makes sons of light, that is, of the Father; for the Son and the Father are light as of one nature. 426 {3Jο 12, 36}3Knowing as God that they were angry, he withdrew, giving time to test the things spoken to them, not out of cowardice. 427 {3Jο 12, 37-38}3Let no one say: why then did Christ come, knowing that they would not believe? For it must be said, so that the Jews might not have an excuse for their unbelief, since the prophets also spoke knowing that they were not persuaded. 428 {3Jο 12, 38}3They were not compelled by the prophecy of Isaiah not to be persuaded, but because they were perverse they disobeyed. The Jews killed the Lord through their own ill-will, not in order to fulfill the prophecies; for they were so impious. 429 {3Jο 12, 38}3God did not harden them, but permitted them to do what they wanted. They had their hardness from unbelief. It was impossible for the foreknowledge of God not to come to pass, which foresaw their unbelief, but did not compel it. Those unable to believe do not have a nature opposing belief, but an evil choice. Therefore the devil darkens them and God does not prevent it. 431 {3Jο 12, 39}3For this reason the prophets foretell, so that the sober might flee the diabolical pits; for "they could not" is used instead of "they would not"; for in other places also we understand "power" as "choice". 432 {3Jο 12, 40}3God did not harden their heart; for if he had, he would not have demanded an account from them, seeing that he even forgives voluntary faults, but the perverse, having been blinded by the devil, he hands over to passions and a "reprobate mind"; for while they were such, it was not right for them to know the depth of the mystery, they who had closed the eyes of their mind. 433 {3Jο 12, 45}3Being the image of the Father, he shows the Father through himself. By this he signifies the unchangeableness of the substance, showing the consubstantiality; for the divine is incorporeal. These things signify the likeness. 434 {3Jο 12, 45}3Because of the weakness of the hearers, he speaks as a man. When I am honored, do not think you are honoring a man; for through me the Father is honored. 435 {3Jο 12, 46}3As therefore the Father is light, so also is the Son. Therefore Paul, wishing to show the great resemblance, calls the Son the "radiance" of the Father, just as light having appeared makes both itself and visible things clear, so the Son, being light and having come, has made both himself and the Father known to us. 436 {3ςο 12, 47-48}3The purpose of the present coming was not to judge, but to save the faithful. And lest he give them a pretext for unbelief, he traces the cause of their unbelief in him to the Father. 437 {3Jο 12, 48}3For the word of his humility condemns them. The Son himself is about to judge the disobedient, not indeed the word; enigmatically

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τὸν κύριον; ὁ τῆς ἐπιδημίας καιρὸς κρίσις ἐστι τοῦ κόσμου μέλλοντος Χριστοῦ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δικαιοῦν καὶ ἀπαλλάττειν τῆς τοῦ διαβόλου πλεονεξίας, οὐ νῦν κατακρίνειν· ὁ γὰρ Χριστοῦ θάνατος τὴν πᾶσαν ἀνθρω πότητα δικαιοῖ κατὰ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον ἀδικήσαντος διαβόλου τῆς κρίσεως γινο μένης. 4 {3Jο 12, 32}3Εἰπὼν πάντας καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν σημαίνει. ἕλκει δὲ ὡς ὑπὸ τυράννου κατεχομένους καὶ οὐ δυναμένους ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν φυγεῖν, ὅπερ ἀλλαχοῦ καλεῖ ἁρ παγήν. καὶ λεγέτω τις, πῶς καὶ σοῦ περιεγένετο; οὐ γὰρ μόνον, ὅτι ἀνίσταμαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας ἕλκω εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι εἰς ἐμέ, ὅτι θεός εἰμι, οὐ ψιλὸς ἄν θρωπος. 421 {3Jο 12, 33}3Ἔδειξεν, ὅτι ἑκὼν ἔπαθε καὶ εἰδώς, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἀπέθνῃσκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ποίῳ τρόπῳ, ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς τὸν σταυρὸν ὠνόμασε θάνατον. 422 {3Jο 12, 34}3Ἀγνοοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι Χριστὸς ὡς μὲν πρόβατον σφαγιάζεται, ἀναστὰς δὲ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μηκέτι ἀποθνῄσκων. 423 {3Jο 12, 35}3Φῶς καλεῖ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν διδασκαλίαν, σκότος δὲ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἢ τὴν ἀσεβῶν κατάκρισιν. αὐτός ἐστι τὸ φῶς. χρόνον δὲ λέγει καὶ τὸν πρὸ τοῦ πάθους καιρὸν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν νῦν ζωὴν διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν προτρεπόμενος αὐτοὺς εἰς πίστιν. 424 {3Jο 12, 36}3Οἱ ἐν φωτὶ περιπατοῦντες υἱοὶ φωτὸς γίνονται. εἰ δὲ ἄνω υἱοὺς θεοῦ εἶπεν τοὺς πιστούς, οὐδὲν ἐκ τούτου· μία γὰρ ἐνέργεια πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ. 425 {3Jο 12, 36}3 425Ὁδὸς σωτηρίας ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, ἥτις ποιεῖ υἱοὺς φωτός, ὅ ἐστι τοῦ πατρός· φῶς γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὡς μιᾶς φύσεως. 426 {3Jο 12, 36}3Εἰδὼς ὡς θεός, ὅτι ὠργίζοντο, ὑπανεχώρησεν διδοὺς καιρὸν τοῦ δοκι μάσαι τὰ λαληθέντα αὐτοῖς, οὐ δειλιῶν. 427 {3Jο 12, 37-38}3Μὴ λεγέτω τις· τί οὖν ἦλθεν ὁ Χριστὸς εἰδώς, ὅτι οὐ πιστεύσωσιν· λεκτέον γάρ, ἵνα μὴ σχῶσιν πρόφασιν τῆς ἀπιστίας Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἐλάλουν εἰδότες, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπείθοντο. 428 {3Jο 12, 38}3Οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς προρρήσεως Ἠσαΐου ἐβιάσθησαν εἰς τὸ μὴ πεισθῆναι, ἀλλ' ὅτι δύστροποι ἦσαν ἠπείθησαν. ἐφόνευσαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν κύριον διὰ οἰκείαν κακόνοιαν, οὐχ ἵνα πληρώσωσι τὰς προφητείας· εἰ γὰρ ἂν οὕτω δυσ σεβεῖς ἦσαν. 429 {3Jο 12, 38}3Οὐχ ὁ θεὸς ἐπώρωσεν αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ συνεχώρησε ποιεῖν ἃ ἤθελον. ἔσχον δὲ τὴν πώρωσιν ἐκ τῆς ἀπιστίας. ἀδύνατον δὲ ἦν μὴ ἐκβῆναι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πρόγνωσιν προβλέπουσαν τὴν ἀπιστίαν, οὐκ ἀναγκάζουσαν. οἱ μὴ δυνάμενοι πιστεύειν οὐ φύσιν ἔχουσιν ἀντιπράττουσαν τῷ πιστεύειν, ἀλλὰ προαίρεσιν κακήν. διὸ ὁ διάβολος σκοτίζει αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐ κωλύει ὁ θεός. 431 {3Jο 12, 39}3∆ιὰ τοῦτο προλέγουσιν οἱ προφῆται, ἵνα οἱ νήφοντες φεύγωσι τοὺς δια βολικοὺς βόθρους· καὶ γὰρ τὸ οὐκ ἠδύναντο κεῖται ἀντὶ τοῦ οὐκ ἤθελον· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις δύναμιν τὴν προαίρεσιν νοοῦμεν. 432 {3Jο 12, 40}3Οὐχ ὁ θεὸς ἐπώρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν· εἰ γὰρ ἄν, οὐκ ἂν ἀπῄ τησεν αὐτοὺς εὐθύνας, ὅπου γε καὶ τὰ ἑκούσια πταίσματα συγχωρεῖ, τοὺς δὲ δυστρόπους τυφλωθέντας ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου παραδίδωσιν εἰς πάθη καὶ «ἀδόκιμον νοῦν»· ἐν ᾧ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι ἦσαν, οὐ δίκαιον ἦν αὐτοὺς γνῶναι τοῦ μυστηρίου τὸ βάθος τοὺς τῆς διανοίας αὐτῶν μύσαντας ὀφθαλμούς. 433 {3Jο 12, 45}3Εἰκὼν ὢν τοῦ πατρὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ δείκνυσι τὸν πατέρα. διὰ τούτου τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον σημαίνει τῆς οὐσίας δεικνὺς τὸ ὁμοούσιον· ἀσώματον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον. ταῦτα τὴν ὁμοιότητα σημαίνει. 434 {3Jο 12, 45}3∆ιὰ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τῶν ἀκροατῶν ὡς ἄνθρωπος λαλεῖ. ὅταν ἐγὼ τιμῶμαι, μὴ ἄνθρωπον νομίσητε τιμᾶν· δι' ἐμοῦ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ τιμᾶται. 435 {3Jο 12, 46}3Ὡς οὖν ὁ πατὴρ φῶς, οὕτω καὶ ὁ υἱός. διὸ δεῖξαι θέλων ὁ Παῦλος τὴν πολλὴν ἐμφέρειαν «ἀπαύγασμα» καλεῖ τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν υἱόν, ὥσπερ τὸ φῶς φανὲν καὶ ἑαυτὸ δῆλον ποιεῖ καὶ τὰ ὁρώμενα, οὕτως ὁ υἱὸς φῶς ὢν καὶ ἐλθὼν καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐγνώρισεν ἡμῖν καὶ τὸν πατέρα. 436 {3ςο 12, 47-48}3Ὁ σκοπὸς τῆς νῦν παρουσίας γέγονεν οὐ διὰ τὸ κρῖναι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ σῶσαι τοὺς πιστούς. ἵνα δὲ μὴ δῷ αὐτοῖς ἀφορμὴν ἀπιστίας, ἐπὶ τὸν πατέρα ἀνάγει τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀπιστίας. 437 {3Jο 12, 48}3Ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης αὐτοῦ κατακρίνει αὐτούς. αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς μέλλει κρίνειν τοὺς ἀπειθεῖς, οὐ μὴν ὁ λόγος· αἰνιγματωδῶς