ACC ~ John 1 v15 - 18

OVERVIEW:

John the Evangelist enlists John the Baptist in support of his testimony concerning Christ (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) as one who would be credible among the Jews (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus may be ranked behind the Baptist concerning his birth in time, as well as in comparison with John’s notoriety at the time and the comparable misapprehension of Jesus’ divinity, but Jesus’ superiority will become evident soon enough (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). John did not let his own notoriety unduly affect him, however, considering himself unworthy even to untie Jesus’ sandals and thus humbling his own position in order to elevate the Word’s (AUGUSTINE).

Origen believed that John the Baptist continues his testimony from John 1:15 through the following verses because the Baptist, along with the rest of the prophets, received his prophetic grace from the one who “ranks before me, because he was before me” (ORIGEN). Chrysostom and others, however, see these words as the Evangelist’s, applied also to all those who follow, who together receive the grace of God in its fullness (CHRYSOSTOM). Grace springs forth from the divine nature of Christ like a fountain, ennobling our nature without diminishing his nature (CYRIL, CHRYSOSTOM). This grace comes to us when we receive faith as a gift (the first grace mentioned) and when we receive the result of faith, which is eternal life (the second grace mentioned) (AUGUSTINE). Instead of the grace of the law, we receive the grace of the gospel of participation in the divine nature by means of the Spirit (THEODORE).

John the Evangelist next moves from comparing Jesus with John the Baptist, to Jesus and Moses, the most respected figure of the Old Testament as the giver of the law (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus’ superiority to Moses is similar to the superiority of the gospel of grace and forgiveness over the sacrificial system of the law (AMBROSE). The law too was a grace that was given, but what Christ brings is all the greater because it perfects in us what the law was unable to perfect (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The law only threatens; the grace of the gospel heals. The law dealt in shadows and figures; truth has come through Jesus Christ (JEROME).

In declaring that no one has seen God, John is not contradicting the writer of Hebrews (EUSEBIUS), since in the many sightings of God in the Old Testament they did not see the essence of God but rather a glory adapted to their own nature, which made God capable of being seen by them (PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS, THEODORET). In this sense, Moses saw Christ, not his essence but only the outward appearance (AUGUSTINE). God is most clearly seen in his Son (IRENAEUS), who is the interpreter of the Godhead (AMBROSE) because he is a Son by nature, not by adoption (AUGUSTINE, HILARY). Only the Son could have seen the Father (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) because he is the only begotten God who is of the same nature as the Father (HILARY). He is in the Father’s bosom, which is like a womb from which the Son is begotten (AMBROSE) without mother (AUGUSTINE). John shows us the closest possible union of Father and Son, as the Father’s bosom indicates the essence of the Godhead in which the Son resides (CHRYSOSTOM). One might also consider it as the hidden and secret place of God known only to the Son (AMBROSE). The Son has come from the bosom of the Father to declare him; this is not the first time such a declaration occurred (ORIGEN), but it is the clearest and most complete revelation and given not only to the Jews but to the entire world (CHRYSOSTOM).

1:15a | John the Baptist Was a Witness

THE EVANGELIST’S WITNESS SUPPORTED BY THE BAPTIST’S

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: I [John the Evangelist] then, says he, bear witness (for I have beheld what I said), and the Baptist likewise bears witness. This is a most weighty pair of Spirit-clad and notable men, foster brothers in truth who do not know how to lie. But see how forcefully he made his declaration. For he not only says that John “bears witness of him” but profitably adds “and cried,” taking his proof from the words “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” [1] And he does this exceedingly well too. For it was possible that some of his opponents might say, When did the Baptist witness to the Only Begotten, or to whom did he impart things about him? He cried then, he says, that is, he does not speak them in a corner, nor does he bear witness gently and in secret. In fact, you (although not you alone) may hear him crying louder and more clearly than a trumpet since his speech is to everyone everywhere. Most glorious is the herald, remarkable the voice, great and not unheard of is the forerunner. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [2]

[1] Is 40:3.

[2] LF 43:113**.

CREDIBILITY OF JOHN’S TESTIMONY WITH THE JEWS

CHRYSOSTOM: The Evangelist makes frequent mention of John and his testimony. This is all the wiser because all the Jews held the man in great admiration. (Even Josephus imputes the war to his death and shows that, because of him, what once was the mother city is now no city at all. [He] continues the words of his encomium at great length.) [1] John, wanting to shame the Jews, continually reminds them of the testimony of the forerunner. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.1. [2]

[1] Chrysostom is overstating the case here since there is no such passage in Josephus. He may, however, be referring to Aretas’s attack and destruction of Herod’s army, which, he says, some of the Jews thought was “divine vengeance for his treatment of John, surnamed the Baptist.” Josephus Jewish Antiquities A 18.106.

[2] NPNF 1 14:44**.

1:15b | Ranking of the Baptist and Jesus

JESUS’ GREATNESS COMES FROM HIS ESSENCE, SURPASSING JOHN

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The obvious and received meaning is this: As far as his birth according to the flesh is concerned, the Baptist preceded the Savior, and Emmanuel clearly followed and came after by six whole months, as the blessed Luke related. Some suppose this is what John meant, in other words, that he who comes after me, in point of age, is preferred before me…. But this carries us too far afield….

Rather, the Baptist advances as it were from an image drawn from our affairs to the exposition of subtler thoughts. For one who leads is always considered to be more glorious than those who follow, and things that succeed yield the palm to those that precede them…. As for example when one has surpassed the skill of his teacher and, leaving that behind, attains to something superior. I think that he who is surpassed may correctly say of his overachieving student, “He that comes after me has become before me.” Transferring then the force of our idea to our Savior Christ and the holy Baptist, you will rightly understand it…. The Baptist was admired by all. He made many disciples. A great multitude of those who came for baptism was always surrounding him. Christ, albeit superior, was unknown, and they did not know that he was truly God. Since, then, he was unknown while the Baptist was admired, he seemed I suppose to fall short of him. He came a little after him who had still the higher position in honor and glory from people. But “he that comes after has become before,” being shown to be greater and superior to John. For the One was at length revealed by his works to be God, the other not surpassing the measure of human nature, is found at last to have become after. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [1]

[1] LF 43:113-15**. See also Augustine Sermon 380.5 (WSA 3 10:365).

WE HAVE RECEIVED OF HIS FULLNESS

AUGUSTINE: John admitted he was a lamp lit from Christ, and that is why he took refuge at his feet, to avoid being blown out by the wind of pride if he flew too high. He was in fact so great that some people thought he might be the Christ, and if he had not been his own witness that he was not, the mistake would have persisted, and people would have gone on thinking he was. What a humble man. The honor was offered him by the people, and he spurned it. People were getting the wrong ideas about his greatness, and he put himself in his place. He did not want to be magnified by the words of people, because he had grasped the Word of God. SERMON 66.1. [1]

[1] WSA 3 3:210*.

1:16 | Receiving of His Fullness, Grace for Grace

JOHN THE BAPTIST CONTINUES HIS TESTIMONY

ORIGEN: This [continues] the recorded testimony of John the Baptist about Christ which begins with the statement “This was he who said, ‘He who comes after me’” and ends at the words “The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”…

It is very forced to suppose that the word of the Baptist is suddenly and unseasonably, as it were, broken off by the word of the disciple. The sequence of the text is clear to everyone who knows how just to listen for a while to the context of what is being said: “This was he who said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

But by the statement “Because of his fullness we all have received,” the Baptist is teaching how Jesus ranks before him by being before him (since he was the firstborn of creation). [1] It is for this reason that he says, “He ranks before me, because he was before me.” And I think he existed before me and is more honored with the Father, because both I and the prophets before me have received the more divine and greater prophetic grace from his fullness for the grace we received from him in relation to our free choice.

In addition “he ranks because he was before me,” since, when we have received of his fullness, we have also understood that the law has been given “through Moses,” not “by Moses,” but that grace and truth have not only been given through Jesus Christ but also have come into existence through him, since his God and Father has both given the law through Moses and has produced through Jesus Christ the grace and the truth that have come to people.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.13, 34-36. [2]

[1] Col 1:15.

[2] FC 80:171,178*; SC 157:138, 154-56. Cyril makes a similar point that the original surpasses everything that has an origin; see Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.9.

THESE ARE JOHN’S WORDS AND OURS

CHRYSOSTOM: John [the Evangelist]… joins his own testimony to that of the Baptist, for the expression “of his fullness have we all received” belongs not to the forerunner but to the disciple; and its meaning is something like this: Do not think, he says, that we, who accompanied him for so long and ate of his food and sat at table with him—that we bear witness to him because we are favored…. All we—the Twelve, the three hundred, the three thousand, the five thousand, the many myriads of Jews, all the fullness of the faithful who then were and now are and hereafter shall be—“have received of his fullness.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:48**.

DIVINE GRACE SPRINGS FROM THE SON’S NATURE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: For it is a truly excellent pronouncement of the Baptist when he appears to me to say of the Only Begotten, “For he was before me,” that is, far surpassing and superior. For all we too, who have been enrolled in the choir of the saints, enjoy the riches of his proper good, and the nature of humanity is ennobled with his rather than its own excellences, when it is found to have nothing that is noble. For from the fullness of the Son, as from a perennial fountain, the gift of the divine graces springing forth comes to each soul that is found worthy to receive it. But if the Son supplies as from his own natural fullness and the creature is supplied—how will he not be conceived of as having glory, not similar to the rest, but the kind of glory that would pertain to the only begotten of God? He then is shown to have the superiority over all as the fruit of his own nature, and to have the preeminence as the dignity of his Father’s being. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [1]

[1] LF 43:116**.

HE POSSESSES GRACE BY NATURE, WE BY PARTICIPATION

CHRYSOSTOM: He does not possess, he says, the gift by participation [1] but is himself the very fountain and root of all good, the very life and light and truth, not retaining within himself the riches of his good things but overflowing with them into all others. And after the overflowing, he still remains full and undiminished, in spite of supplying others. On the contrary, he remains perfect as always, streaming forth as much as ever and imparting to others a share of these blessings. What I possess, on the other hand, is by participation (for I received it from another) and is only a small portion of the whole. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.1. [2]

[1] Gk methektēn dōrean.

[2] NPNF 1 14:47**.

GRACE REWARDS GRACE

AUGUSTINE: What then is “grace for grace”? By faith we first win God’s favor; and we who were not worthy to have our sins forgiven, from the very fact that, though unworthy, we received so great a gift, it is called grace….

But having acquired this grace of faith, you will be justified by faith. “For the just person lives by faith.” [1] And you will first win God’s favor from living by faith. When you have won God’s favor from living by faith, you will receive as a reward immortality and eternal life. And that is grace. Now for what merit do you receive eternal life? For grace. For if faith is grace, and if eternal life is, as it were, a reward for faith, God, indeed, seems to pay back eternal life as if it were owed—owed to whom? Owed to the person of faith because he won it by faith— always recalling that faith comes only by grace, and eternal life is a grace for grace. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.9.1-2. [2]

[1] See Rom 1:17, citing Hab 2:4.

[2] FC 78:83*.

THE GRACE IN JESUS’ NATURE

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: “From his fullness,” he says, “we have all received,” that is, the grace of the Spirit, which is given to us as a gift, we received from his abundance. About his human nature he says that every grace is in it; but at the same time this shows the dignity of the nature that is in him. Through the union with the divine Word, by means of the Spirit, he was made participant in the true relationship. We have taken a part from his spiritual grace, and through it we are made participant together with him in this adoptive affiliation, even though we are very far away from that dignity. And he fortunately added, “grace for grace,” indicating with the name of grace the law as well. He says, instead of that grace [of the law] this grace is given. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.1.16. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:37-38.

1:17 | Grace and Truth Are from Christ

MOSES AS THE POINT OF REFERENCE

CHRYSOSTOM: See how gently, by a single word and little by little, both John the Baptist and John the disciple lead their hearers up to the highest knowledge, having first exercised them in humbler things? John the Baptist, comparing with himself [Jesus], who is incomparably superior to all, thus afterwards shows Jesus’ superiority by saying, “he comes before me,” and then adding the words “he was before me.” Meanwhile, John the Evangelist has done much more than John the Baptist, though too little for the worthiness of the Only Begotten. For the Evangelist makes the comparison, not with John but with one reverenced by the Jews more than John. He compares him with Moses. “For the law,” he says, “was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:49**.

SACRIFICE UNDER THE LAW; THE GOSPEL IS MERCY

AMBROSE: I pardon willingly, [says the Lord,] I quickly forgive: “I will have mercy rather than sacrifice,” [1] because by sacrifice the just is rendered more acceptable, by mercy the sinner is redeemed. “I come not to call the righteous but sinners.” Sacrifice was under the law; in the gospel is mercy. “The law was given by Moses, grace by me.” CONCERNING REPENTANCE 1.12.54. [2]

[1] Hos 6:6.

[2] NPNF 2 10:338.

SUPERIORITY OF GRACE TO LAW

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What then is the distinction between the law and the grace that comes through the Savior?… The law condemned the world (for God through [the law] “concluded all under sin,” [1] as Paul says) and showed us subject to punishment. But the Savior rather sets the world free, for he came “not to judge the world but to save the world.” [2] And the law too used to give grace to people, calling them to the knowledge of God and drawing away from the worship of idols those who had been led astray. It also pointed out evil and taught good, if not perfectly, yet in the manner of a teacher and usefully. But the truth and grace that are through the Only Begotten do not introduce to us the good that is in types or to limited things that are only profitable as in shadow. Rather, in glorious and most pure ordinances, it leads us by the hand to an ever more perfect knowledge of the faith. And the law used to give the “spirit of bondage to fear,” [3] but Christ gives the spirit of adoption to liberty. The law likewise brings in the circumcision in the flesh, which is nothing (for “circumcision is nothing” [4] ). But our Lord Jesus Christ is the giver of circumcision “in the spirit and heart.” [5] The law baptizes the defiled with mere water; the Savior baptizes “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” [6] The law brings in the tabernacle for a “figure of the true”; [7] Savior bears up to heaven itself and brings to the truer “tabernacle, which the Lord set up and not man [humankind].” [8] There are plenty of other proofs besides, but we must respect our limits.

But we will say this for profit and need. The blessed Paul in few words solved the question, saying of the law and of the Savior’s grace, “For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor.” [9] For he says that the commandment by Moses is “the ministration of condemnation,” but the grace through the Savior he calls “the ministration of righteousness,” which he says surpasses in glory. And so he most perfectly examines the nature of things like a child with the Spirit. Since then the law, which condemns, “was given by Moses,” the grace that justifies came by the Only Begotten. If this is true, he says, how can it be otherwise than that [Jesus] is superior in glory through whom the better things were ordained? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.9. [10]

[1] Gal 3:22.

[2] Jn 12:47.

[3] Rom 8:15.

[4] 1 Cor 7:19.

[5] Rom 2:29.

[6] Mt 3:11.

[7] Heb 9:24.

[8] Job 8:2.

[9] 2 Cor 3:9.

[10] LF 43:118-19**. Theodore’s argument is very similar.

THE LAW THREATENED, THE GOSPEL HEALS

AUGUSTINE: Death was the punishment of sins. The gift of mercy was in the Lord, not the punishment of sin…. And so the chain of sin shall not hold you forever, because the temporal death of your Lord defeated your eternal death. The same is grace, my brothers, the same is truth, because it is not only promised but also made known.

This grace was not in the Old Testament, because the law threatened but did not bring aid; commanded but did not heal; made known but did not take away our feebleness. Instead it prepared the way for that physician who was to come with grace and truth. He is the kind of physician who, when about to come to anyone to cure him, might first send his servant so that he might find the sick person bound. He was not healthy; he did not wish to be made healthy and just in case he should be made healthy, he boasted that he was so. The law was sent; it bound him. He finds himself accused, so now he cries out against the bondage. The Lord comes, cures with somewhat bitter and sharp medicines. For he says to the sick, “Bear.” He says, “Endure.” He says, “Do not love the world, have patience, let the fire of continence cure you, let your wounds endure the sword of persecutions.” Were you greatly terrified although bound? He, free and unbound, drank what he gave to you. He first suffered that he might console you, saying, as it were, that which you fear to suffer for yourself, I first suffer for you. This is grace, and great grace. Who can praise it in a worthy manner? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.13-14. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:22-23**.

NEW GRACE AND TRUTH

JEROME: For [in place of] the grace of the law, which has passed away, we have received the abiding grace of the gospel, and, instead of the shadows and figures of the ancient covenant, truth has come by Jesus Christ. LETTER 75. [1]

[1] FC 12:357*.

1:18a | The Unseen God

GOD WAS SEEN IN MANY WAYS

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: From the text “No one has seen God at any time,” perhaps it might be thought that the above quotation contradicts the Savior’s words, as implying that the invisible is visible. But if they are understood, like our former quotations, of the Word of God, who was seen by the fathers “in many and various ways,” [1] no contradiction is involved. PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 5.18.3. [2]

[1] Heb 1:1.

[2] POG 1:262*.

THE VISION OF GOD

PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS: Scripture has clearly shown that “no one ever has seen” or ever will see the being of God in all its hiddenness. Of course God has appeared to certain pious persons in ways that were in keeping with his divinity. He has come in certain sacred visions fashioned to suit the beholders. This kind of vision, that is to say, where the formless God is represented in forms, is rightly described by theological discourse as theophany. The recipients of such visions are lifted up to the divine. They are granted divine enlightenment and are somehow initiated in the divine things themselves. CELESTIAL HIERARCHY 4.3. [1]

[1] PDCW 157.

HE WAS MADE MANIFEST IN FLESH

THEODORET OF CYR: So when we use religious arguments and rely on divine denials that explicitly state that “no one has ever seen God,” we are saying that they have seen, not the divine nature but certain visions adapted to their capability. [1] …

Let us think about the angels in the same way, then, when we hear, “They see the face of your Father daily.” [2] For they do not see the divine substance, which is infinite, unlimited, incomprehensible and embraces all things, but rather a certain glory that is adapted to their own nature….

After becoming human, however, he is also seen by angels, according to the divine apostle, not in a likeness of glory, but using the true and living cloak of flesh as though it were a veil. For he says, “Who was made manifest in flesh, was vindicated in spirit, was seen by angels.” [3] DIALOGUE 1. [4]

[1] Theodore makes a similar point in his commentary.

[2] Mt 18:10.

[3] 1 Tim 3:16.

[4] FC 106:44.

CHRIST APPEARED TO MOSES, BUT NOT IN HIS ESSENCE

AUGUSTINE: In case anyone might say, “And did not grace and truth come through Moses who saw God?” immediately he adds, “No one has seen God at any time.” And how did God become known to Moses? He became known because the Lord revealed himself to his servant. What Lord? It was the same Christ who sent the law beforehand by his servant so that he might himself come with grace and truth…. And he who knew the Father, being in the secret place of the Father, [1] declared him. “For no one has seen God at any time.” He then came and narrated whatever he saw. What did Moses see? Moses saw a cloud, an angel, a fire. All that is of the creature bore the type of its Lord, but they did not manifest the presence of the Lord himself. For you have it plainly stated in the law, “And Moses spoke with the Lord face to face, as a friend with his friend.” [2] … An angel then spoke with Moses, my brothers, bearing the type of the Lord; and all those things that were done by the angel promised that future grace and truth. Those who examine the law know this well….

But know also this, that all those things that were seen in bodily form were not that substance of God. For we saw those things with the eyes of the flesh—how is the substance of God seen? Interrogate the Gospel: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” [3] There have been those who, deceived by the vanity of their hearts, have said: The Father is invisible, but the Son is visible. What do they mean by visible? If they mean on account of his flesh, because he took flesh, the matter is clear. For of those who saw the flesh of Christ, some believed, some crucified. And those who believed doubted when he was crucified. Unless they had touched the flesh after the resurrection, their faith would not have even been recalled. If, then, the Son was visible because of his flesh, we grant this, and it is the catholic faith. But if before he took flesh, that is, if before he became incarnate they say they saw the Son, they are greatly deluded and making a horrible mistake. For those visible and bodily appearances took place through the creature, in which a type might be exhibited. But there is no way that the substance itself was shown and made known. Listen, beloved, to this easy proof. The wisdom of God cannot be beheld by the eyes. Brothers, if Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God, [4] if Christ is the Word of God, and if the word of man [humankind] is not seen with the eyes, can the Word of God be seen in this way? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 4.17-18. [5]

[1] Augustine calls the“bosom” of the Father his secret place, which only the Son knows.

[2] Ex 33:11.

[3] Mt 5:8.

[4] 1 Cor 1:24.

[5] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD DECLARES THE INVISIBLE FATHER

IRENAEUS: Clearly the Father is indeed invisible, of whom also the Lord said, “No one has seen God at any time.” But his Word, as he himself willed it and for the benefit of those who beheld it, did show the Father’s brightness and explained his purposes—as also the Lord said, “The only begotten God, [1] which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared [him].” And, he himself also interprets the Word of the Father as being rich and great. He appeared not only in one figure or in one character to those who saw him, but according to whatever purpose or effect he was aiming for in his plan of salvation. [2] AGAINST HERESIES 4.20.11. [3]

[1] Irenaeus also calls him“the only begotten Son” in Against Heresies 3.11.6. See also Marius Victorinus Against Arius 1.B1.2.3.e.53.

[2] He cites Dan 3:26; 7:4, 13-14 and numerous texts from Revelation.

[3] ANF 1:491**. See also Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity 4.42.

CHRIST IS THE INTERPRETER OF THE GODHEAD

AMBROSE: For Christ is the interpreter of the Godhead, because “no one has at any time seen God, except the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him.” JOSEPH 14.84. [1]

[1] FC 65:237.

1:18b | The Only Begotten47

HE IS THE ONLY SON; WE ARE MANY SONS

AUGUSTINE: He is Son by nature, we by grace; he is the “only Son,” we are many, because he is born, we are adopted. [1] So while God had a one and only Son, “he did not spare,” as the apostle says, “his very own one and only Son, but gave him up for us all.” [2] What greater medicine could the human race demand or hope for, than that the only Son should be sent, not to live with us, but to die? SERMON 348A.3. [3]

[1] See Gal 4:5.

[2] Rom 8:32.

[3] WSA 3 11:311.

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

HILARY OF POITIERS: It seemed to [John] that the name of Son did not set forth with sufficient distinctness his true divinity, unless he gave an external support to the peculiar majesty of Christ by indicating the difference between him and all others. And so he not only calls him the Son but adds the further designation of the Only Begotten. In this way he cuts away the last prop from under this imaginary adoption. For the fact that he is Only Begotten is proof positive of his right to the name of Son. ON THE TRINITY 6.39. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 9:113*.

THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD SEE GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “No one has seen God at any time;” for the “Only Begotten” himself being God, “which is in the bosom of” God “the Father,” made this declaration to us, saying most clearly to the hierophant [1] Moses, “No one shall see my face and live.” [2] He also said to his own disciples, “Not that any one has seen the Father, except he who is of God, he has seen the Father.” [3] For the Father is visible to the Son, who alone is Son by nature, and only in this way may one understand [4] that the divine nature divinely sees and is seen. It is not [visible] to anything else that exists. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.10. [5]

[1] Lit., “the holy revealer.”

[2] Ex 33:20.

[3] Jn 6:46.

[4] Gk eikasai.

[5] LF 43:122**.

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD IS NOT A DIFFERENT GOD

HILARY OF POITIERS: In the nature of God, God is one, yet in such a way that the Son also is God, because in him there is not a different nature. And since he is God of God, both must be God, and since there is no difference of kind between them, there is no distinction in their essence. The idea of having a number of titular gods is rejected because there is no diversity in the quality of the divine nature. Therefore he is anathema who says there are many gods, and he is anathema who denies that the Son is God. It is fully shown that the fact that each has one and the same name arises from the real character of the similar substance in each…. In confessing the unborn God the Father, and the only begotten God the Son, with no dissimilarity of essence between them, each is called God. And yet, God must be believed and be declared to be one. So by the diligent and watchful care of the bishops the creed guards the similarity of the nature begotten and the nature begetting, confirming it by the application of one name. ON THE COUNCILS 36. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 9:14*.

1:18c | The Bosom of the Father

THE SON PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER’S BOSOM AS FROM THE WOMB

AMBROSE: “The bosom of the Father,” then, is to be understood in a spiritual sense, as a kind of innermost dwelling of the Father’s love and of his nature in which the Son always dwells. Even so, the Father’s womb is the spiritual womb of an inner sanctuary from which the Son has proceeded just as from a generative womb. To be sure, we read in different versions, now that it was the Father’s womb, again that it was his heart with which he uttered the Word, and again that it was his mouth from which justice proceeded and from which wisdom came forth, as Wisdom says, “From the mouth of the Most High I came forth.” [1] Thus, since the One is not limited and all things declare the One, the blessing refers rather to the spiritual mystery of generation from the Father than to some part of the body. But just as we interpret it to mean that generation from the Father, likewise let us interpret it to mean the generation from Mary unto the completion of faith, when the mother’s womb is blessed, that virginal womb of Mary that brought forth for us the Lord Jesus…. Here was a twofold nature in Christ, the divine and the fleshly, the former from the Father, the latter from a virgin. ON THE PATRIARCHS 11.51. [2]

[1] Sir 24:3.

[2] FC 65:269. See also his On the Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord 2.13; 5.42.

BORN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE VIRGIN MARY

AUGUSTINE: We believe in him that he was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Each birth of his, you see, must be considered wonderful, both that of his divinity and that of his humanity. The first is from the Father without mother, the second from mother without father; the first apart from all time, the second at “the acceptable time”; [1] the first eternal, the second at the right moment; the first without a body “in the bosom of the Father,” the second with a body, which did not violate the virginity of his mother; the first without either sex, the second without a man’s embrace. SERMON 214.6. [2]

[1] 2 Cor 6:2.

[2] WSA 3 6:153.

THE ESSENCE IN WHICH ONLY CHRIST RESIDES

CHRYSOSTOM: Observe, therefore, with what fullness the Evangelist speaks. Having said that “no man has seen God at any time,” he does not go on to say “that the Son who has seen has declared him,” but adds something beyond “seeing” by the words “who is in the bosom of the Father.” “To dwell in the bosom” is far more than “to see.” For he who merely “sees” does not have an exact knowledge of the object in every way. He who “dwells in the bosom,” however, can be ignorant of nothing…. The Evangelist mentions “the bosom” in order to show to us by that one word that the affinity and nearness of the essence is great, that the knowledge is in no way different and that the power is equal. The Father would not have in his bosom one of another essence, nor would he have dared, had he been one among many servants, to live in the bosom of his Lord. For this belongs only to a true Son, to one who has much confidence toward his Father and who is in nothing inferior to him. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:52-53*. See also Cyril Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.9, who focuses on the sameness of essence.

THE FOUNTAIN OF WISDOM AT THE HEART OF THE FATHER

AMBROSE: The Word of God is in the bosom of his Father, that is, in the hidden and secret places of God. The fountain of wisdom is there, and from it one may drink the everlasting drink of eternal life in place of death. FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 2.10. [1]

[1] FC 65:287. See also Augustine Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.17.

1:18d | Has Declared Him

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST DECLARATION

ORIGEN: For “[he who is] in the bosom of the Father” did not now for the first time make the declarations that he made to the apostles, as though there had been no one fit to receive them previously, since, indeed, in his existence before Abraham was, he teaches us that Abraham rejoiced that he might see his day and was glad. [1] … The prophets too have received their gift from the fullness of Christ, and they have received the second grace for the former, for they too, being led by the Spirit, arrived at the vision of truth after they were initiated in types. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.15. [2]

[1] Cf. Jn 8:58, 56.

[2] FC 80:172; SC 157:140-42.

CHRIST’S IS THE CLEAREST AND MOST COMPLETE DECLARATION

CHRYSOSTOM: What has he declared? That “no one has seen God at any time”? That “God is one”? But this all the other prophets testify, and Moses continually exclaims, “The Lord your God is one Lord”; [1] and Isaiah, “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” [2] What more then have we learned from “the Son who is in the bosom of the Father”? What more from “the Only Begotten”? In the first place, these very words were uttered by his working. In the next place, we have received a teaching that is far clearer, and we learned that “God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” [3] And again, that it is impossible to see God; “that no one knows” him “except the Son” [4] ; that he is the Father of the true and Only Begotten; and all other things that are told us of him. But the word “has declared” shows the plainer and clearer teaching that he gave and established not to the Jews only but to all the world. Not even all the Jews listened to the prophets, but to the only begotten Son of God all the world yielded and obeyed. So the “declaration” in this place shows the greater clearness of his teaching, and therefore he is called “Word” and “Angel of great Counsel.” [5] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 15.3. [6]

[1] Deut 6:4.

[2] Is 43:10.

[3] Jn 4:24.

[4] Mt 11:27.

[5] Is 9:6 LXX.

[6] NPNF 1 14:53*.