Christ, the Day to divide between light and darkness. 597

IX.

14. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast allogether JOHN born in sins. What meaneth, altogether? With closed eyes. 34-39. But He Who opened the eyes, saveth the whole man altogether the Same will give resurrection at His right hand, Who gave enlightenment to the face. Thou wast altogether v. 34. born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Of their own accord they made him their master, of their own accord, that they should learn, they questioned him so oft, and yet ungratefully cast him forth for teaching them!

15. But, as I have already said, my brethren, they cast out, the Lord receiveth for the man all the more for being expelled became a Christian. Jesus heard that they had v.35-38. cast him out; and when He had found him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Now He is washing the face of the heart. He answered and said, as one at present anointed, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and He that talketh with thee is He. He is that Sent, even He here that washeth the face in Siloe, which is by interpretation, Sent. In fine, having now the face of the heart washed and the conscience cleansed, acknowledging Him to be not only Son of Man, which thing he before believed, but now Son of God Who had taken flesh, he said, I believe, Lord. It is a small matter to say, I believe; wouldest thou see what manner of Person he believeth? Falling down, he worshipped Him.

16. And Jesus said to him. Here now is that Day, v. 39. dividing between the light and the darkness! For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. What meaneth this, O Lord? A mighty question hast Thou put upon us, and we are even now weary: but raise Thou up our strength, that we may be able to understand what Thou hast said. Thou art come, that they which see not, may see: rightly, for Thou art Light; rightly, for Thou art Day; rightly, for Thou deliverest from darkness: this, every soul receiveth, every soul understandeth. What is this that follows, And they which see, may be made blind? Then, because Thou art come, shall they which saw be

598

Light for the humble, night for the proud.

HOMIL. made blind? Hear what follows, and belike thou shalt understand.

XLIV.

v. 40,41.

17. Startled, then, by these words, some of the Pharisees said, Are we blind also? Hear now what that meaneth which startled them, And they which see may be made blind. Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should not have sin. Whereas the blindness itself is sin. If ye were blind: that is, if ye perceived that ye were blind, if ye owned yourselves to be blind, and ran to the Physician: if then ye were thus blind, ye should not have sin: because I am come to take away sin. But now ye say, We see: your sin remaineth. Wherefore? Because by saying, We see, ye seek not the Physician, ye remain in your blindness. This then is that which just now we did not understand; that He saith, I am come, that they which see not, may see: what meaneth this, that they which see not, may see? Those who confess that they do not see, and seek the Physician that they may see. And they which see, may be made blind: what meaneth this, they which see, may be made blind? They who think they see, and seek not the Physician, may remain in their blindness. This work of discrimination, therefore, He hath here called judgment, when He saith, For judgment I am come into this world; by which judgment He discerneth the cause of them which believe and confess Him, from the proud, who think they see, and are therefore worse blinded; as if it should be said unto Him by a sinner who Ps.43,1. confesseth himself and seeketh the Physician, Judge me, O God, and discern my cause from an unholy nation; to wit, of them which say, We see, and their sin remaineth. The judgment, however, which He hath brought into the world, is not now that wherewith He shall judge the quick and dead in the end of the world. For in this regard, He John 8, had said, I judge no man; seeing He first came, not to 1.3,17.judge the world, but that the world may be saved through

Him.

HOMILY XLV.

JOHN X. 1-10.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber: but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which He spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that have come1 are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear 'vid.§. 8, them. I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

note.

1. Ir was from the enlightening of the man who was born blind, that the Lord's discourse to the Jews took its rise. Therefore, my beloved, ye ought to know and be put in mind of the connexion between that lesson and the lesson of to-day. Namely, when the Lord had said, For judgment John 9, I am come into this world, that they which see not might 39. see; and that they which see might be made blind: which,

XLV.

600

No good life out of Christ the Life.

HOMIL. When it was read, we expounded as we were able, then some of the Pharisees said, Are we blind also? To whom He answered: If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. To these words He hath subjoined these which we heard when they were read to us to-day.

v. 1.

2. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. For they said that they were not blind; now they would have power to see, only if they were Christ's sheep. What right had they to claim to themselves light, these men who raged against the Day? It was, then, because of their vain and proud and incurable arrogance, that the Lord Jesus added the present discourse; in which, if we mark it well, He hath wholsomely admonished us also. For there are many, who, according to a certain common usage of this life, are called good people, good men, good women, harmless, and, so to say, observing the duties enjoined in the Law; honouring their parents, not committing adultery, doing no murder, not stealing, not bearing false witness against any, and, in a sort, observing the other duties commanded in the Law; and yet are not Christians: and these commonly give themselves airs, like the Pharisees here, Are we blind also? But because in all these things that they do, while they know not to what end they refer them, they do them to no purpose, the Lord hath propounded in the lesson of to-day a similitude concerning His flock and the Door by which is the entering into the sheepfold. Then let the Pagans say: We lead good lives. If they enter not by the door, what profiteth them that whereof they glory? To each individual who leads a good life, the profit of it ought to be this, that it should be given him to live for ever: if it be not given a man to live for ever, what doth his good life profit him? Because they cannot be said even to live well, who either through blindness know not, or through inflation of mind despise that which is the end of good living. Now no man has a true and sure hope of living for ever, unless he acknowledge the Life, which is Christ; and enter by the door into the sheepfold.

Heathen and Jews vainly pretend goodness without Christ. 601

X. 1.

3. Now it is the aim, generally, of such persons, to persuade JoHN other men to lead good lives, and yet not to be Christians. They wish to climb over by another side, to plunder and to kill; not, as the Shepherd, to preserve and to save. So there have been certain, philosophers, holding much finespun discourse of virtues and vices, dividing, defining, reasoning out most acute conclusions, filling whole books, loud-mouthed in the parade of their own wisdom; who even dared to say to men, Follow us; hold our sect, if ye would live happily. But they entered not by the door: what they wished was, to undo men, to slaughter and to kill.

4. What should I say of them? Lo, the Pharisees themselves read, and in that which they read, sounded the name of Christ, hoped for Christ to come, and, when He was come, acknowledged Him not: they too boasted that they were among the seeing, that is, the wise, and denied Christ, and entered not by the door. Therefore they too, if haply they did draw any after them, it was to slaughter and kill, not to deliver, that they would draw them. Let us leave these also let us look to those, whether haply they enter in by the door, who glory in the name of Christ Himself.

5. For there are innumerable, who not only boast that they see, but wish to be thought to have been enlightened by Christ: but they are heretics. Haply they entered by the door? God forbid we should say so! Sabellius says, "He that is the Son, the Same is the Father." But if Son, He is not Father. That man enters not in by the door, who says that the Son is the Father. Arius says, "One Thing the Father, another Thing the Son." He would say rightly, if he said Another Person (alius); not," Another Thing" (aliud). For when he saith, " Another Thing," he contradicts Him by Whom he is told, I and the Father are John 10, one (Substance). Consequently, neither does he enter in by the door for he preaches a Christ such as he makes for himself, not such as the Truth declares. Thou hast the name, the thing thou hast not. Christ is the name of a thing: hold thou the thing itself, if thou wouldest have the name to profit thee. Another, I know not whence, as Photinus, says, Christ is man, not God. Neither does

30.