John Chrysostom, On John

He was seen by angels. 2. So that He was seen by the angels then, when He put on flesh; but before this they did not see Him thus, since His substance was invisible even to them. And how, one says, did Christ say, "Do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you, that their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven"? What then? Does God have a face, 59.99 and is He circumscribed in the heavens? But no one would be so mad as to say these things. What then is being said? Just as when He says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" He means the sight according to the mind, that which is possible for us, and the thought concerning God; so also it is to be said of the angels, that on account of their pure and sleepless nature they contemplate nothing else but God always. For this reason He Himself says again, "No one knows the Father except the Son." What then? Are we all in ignorance? May it not be; but no one knows in the same way as the Son. Just as, then, many saw Him according to the sight possible for them, but no one beheld His substance; so also now we all know God, but no one knows what His substance is, except only the One begotten from Him. For here He means precise knowledge, both contemplation and comprehension, and as great as the Father has concerning the Son. For as the Father knows me, I also know the Father. Wherefore see with what abundance the Evangelist speaks. For having said, "No one has ever seen God," he did not say that the Son, having seen, has declared Him, but he put something more than seeing, saying, that He is "in the bosom of the Father." For to dwell in the bosom is much more than to see. For one who simply sees does not in every case have precise knowledge of what appears; but one who abides in the bosom would never be ignorant of anything. Hearing, therefore, that "No one knows the Father, except the Son," lest you say, that although He knows the Father more than all, yet He does not know Him as great as He is; for this reason the Evangelist says that He dwells in the bosom of the Father, and Christ Himself says that He knows Him as much as the Father knows the Son. Ask, then, the gainsayer: "Does the Father," say, "know the Son?" And he will say in any case, unless he is mad, "Yes." After this, let us ask him that again: "What then, does He see and know Him with any precise vision and knowledge, and does He know clearly that which He is?" And he will certainly say this too. From this, therefore, then deduce the precise comprehension of the Son concerning the Father. For He Himself said, "As the Father knows me, so I also know Him;" and elsewhere, "Not that anyone has seen God, except He who is from God." For this reason, as I said, the Evangelist also mentions the bosom, showing us everything through this one word: that the kinship and unity of substance is great, that the knowledge is exact, that the authority is equal. For the Father would not have held one of a different substance in His bosom; nor would He Himself have dared, being a servant and one of the many, to turn about in the bosom of the Master; for this belongs only to a genuine son, who uses great boldness toward the one who begot him, and who has nothing less. Do you wish to learn also of His eternity? Hear what Moses says concerning the Father. For having asked, if he should be asked by the Egyptians who it was that had sent him, what he should answer them, he is commanded 59.100 to say, "He who is has sent me." But "He who is" signifies to be always, and to be without beginning, and to be truly and properly. This is also what "In the beginning was" reveals, being declarative of His always being. John, therefore, uses this saying here, showing that the Son is in the bosom of the Father without beginning and eternally. Therefore, lest through the commonality of the name you should think Him to be one of the sons made by grace, first the article is added, distinguishing Him from those by grace. But if this is not sufficient for you, but you still stoop down, hear a more proper name than this: "Only-begotten." But if after this you again look down, I will not refuse to say a certain human saying about God, the

Ὤφθη ἀγγέλοις. βʹ. Ὥστε καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις τότε ὤφθη, ὅτε σάρκα περιεβάλετο· πρὸ τούτου δὲ οὐχ ἑώρων αὐτὸν οὕτως, ἐπειδὴ καὶ αὐτοῖς ἀόρατος ἡ οὐσία ἦν. Καὶ πῶς, φησὶν, ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπε, Μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνὸς τῶν μικρῶν τούτων· λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν διαπαντὸς βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς; Τί γάρ; καὶ πρόσωπον 59.99 ὁ Θεὸς ἔχει, καὶ ἐν οὐρανοῖς περιγέγραπται; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἄν τις οὕτω μανείη, ὥστε ταῦτα εἰπεῖν. Τί ποτ' οὖν ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον; Ὥσπερ ὅταν λέγῃ· Μακάριοι οἱ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τὸν Θεὸν ὄψονται· τὴν κατὰ διάνοιαν ὄψιν φησὶ, τὴν ἡμῖν δυνατὴν, καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν τὴν περὶ Θεοῦ· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰπεῖν ἐστιν, ὅτι διὰ τὴν καθαρὰν αὐτῶν καὶ ἄγρυπνον φύσιν οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸν Θεὸν ἀεὶ φαντάζονται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς πάλιν φησὶν, Οὐδεὶς γινώσκει τὸν Πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱός. Τί οὖν; πάντες ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ ἐσμέν; Μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλ' οὕτως οὐδεὶς οἶδεν ὡς ὁ Υἱός. Ὥσπερ οὖν εἶδον αὐτὸν οἱ πολλοὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐγχωροῦσαν αὐτοῖς ὄψιν, τὴν δὲ οὐσίαν οὐδεὶς ἐθεάσατο· οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἴσμεν πάντες μὲν τὸν Θεὸν, τὴν δὲ οὐσίαν οὐδεὶς οἶδεν ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστιν, εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Γνῶσιν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀκριβῆ λέγει θεωρίαν τε καὶ κατάληψιν, καὶ τοσαύτην ὅσην ὁ Πατὴρ ἔχει περὶ τοῦ Παιδός. Καθὼς γὰρ γινώσκει με ὁ Πατὴρ, κἀγὼ γινώσκω τὸν Πατέρα. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Εὐαγγελιστὴς ὅρα μεθ' ὅσης φθέγγεται τῆς περιουσίας. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, ὅτι Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε, οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι ὁ Υἱὸς ἰδὼν ἐξηγήσατο, ἀλλ' ἕτερόν τι πλέον τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἔθηκεν, εἰπὼν, ὅτι Ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ Πατρός. Τοῦ γὰρ ἰδεῖν τὸ καὶ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι πολλῷ πλέον ἐστίν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς ὁρῶν, οὐ πάντως ἀκριβῆ τοῦ φαινομένου τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχει· ὁ δὲ τοῖς κόλποις ἐνδιατρίβων, οὐδὲν ἀγνοήσειέ ποτε. Ἀκούων οὖν, ὅτι Οὐδεὶς γινώσκει τὸν Πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς, ἵνα μὴ λέγῃς, ὅτι εἰ πλέον ἁπάντων οἶδε τὸν Πατέρα, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὅσος ἐστὶν οἶδε· διὰ τοῦτο ὅ τε Εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ αὐτὸν διαιτᾶσθαι τοῦ Πατρὸς λέγει, αὐτός τε ὁ Χριστὸς τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν εἰδέναι φησὶν, ὅσον ὁ Πατὴρ τὸν Υἱόν. Ἐρώτησον οὖν τὸν ἀντιλέγοντα· Ἆρά γε, εἰπὲ, γινώσκει τὸν Υἱὸν ὁ Πατήρ; Καὶ ἐρεῖ πάντως, ἂν μὴ μαίνηται, ὅτι Ναί. Μετὰ τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο ἐρώμεθα πάλιν αὐτόν· Τί δὲ, ἀκριβῆ τινα ὅρασιν καὶ γνῶσιν αὐτὸν ὁρᾷ καὶ γινώσκει, καὶ τοῦτο ὅπερ ἐστὶν οἶδε σαφῶς; Καὶ πάντως καὶ τοῦτο ἐρεῖ. Ἀπὸ γοῦν τούτου λοιπὸν συνάγαγε τὴν ἀκριβῆ τοῦ Υἱοῦ περὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς κατάληψιν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶπεν, ὅτι Ὡς γινώσκει με ὁ Πατὴρ, οὕτω καὶ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν γινώσκω· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ, Οὐχ ὅτι Θεόν τις ἑώρακεν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἔφην, καὶ ὁ Εὐαγγελιστὴς τοῦ κόλπου μέμνηται, πάντα διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς ῥήματος τούτου ἡμῖν ἐμφαίνων, ὅτι πολλὴ τῆς οὐσίας ἡ συγγένεια καὶ ἡ ἑνότης, ὅτι ἀπαράλλακτος ἡ γνῶσις, ὅτι ἴση ἡ ἐξουσία. Οὐ γὰρ τὸν ἑτερούσιον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις ἂν ἔσχεν ὁ Πατήρ· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐτόλμησε, δοῦλος ὢν καὶ τῶν πολλῶν εἷς, ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ στρέφεσθαι τοῦ ∆εσπότου· τοῦτο γὰρ υἱοῦ γνησίου μόνον καὶ πολλῇ τῇ παῤῥησίᾳ πρὸς τὸν γεγεννηκότα χρωμένου, καὶ οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἔχοντος. Βούλει καὶ τὸ ἀΐδιον μαθεῖν; Ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ Μωϋσῆς περὶ τοῦ Πατρός. Ἐρωτήσας γὰρ, εἰ ἐρωτηθείη παρὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, τίς ὁ ἀπεσταλκὼς αὐτὸν εἴη, τί ποτε δὴ καὶ ἀποκρίνηται πρὸς αὐτοὺς, κελεύεται 59.100 εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Ὁ ὢν ἀπέσταλκέ με. Τὸ δὲ, Ὁ ὢν, τοῦ ἀεὶ εἶναι σημαντικόν ἐστι, καὶ τοῦ ἀνάρχως εἶναι, καὶ τοῦ ὄντως εἶναι καὶ κυρίως. Τοῦτο καὶ τὸ, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν, ἐμφαίνει, τοῦ ἀεὶ εἶναι δηλωτικὸν ὄν. Τούτῳ δὴ οὖν ἐνταῦθα κέχρηται τῷ ῥητῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης, δεικνὺς ὅτι ἀνάρχως καὶ ἀϊδίως ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός. Ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ διὰ τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος κοινωνίαν ἕνα τινὰ τῶν χάριτι γενομένων υἱῶν εἶναι νομίσῃς αὐτὸν, πρῶτον μὲν πρόσκειται τὸ ἄρθρον διαιροῦν αὐτὸν τῶν κατὰ χάριν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο ἀρκεῖ σοι, ἀλλ' ἔτι κάτω κύπτεις, τούτου κυριώτερον ἄκουε ὄνομα τὸ, Μονογενής. Εἰ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο πάλιν κάτω βλέπεις, οὐ παραιτήσομαί πως καὶ ἀνθρωπίνην τινὰ ῥῆσιν εἰπεῖν περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴν