ACC ~ John 10 v22 - 30

OVERVIEW:

The dedication that took place in Jerusalem was instituted by Judas Maccabeus (BEDE) in celebration of the dedication of the rebuilt temple after Israel’s captivity (THEODORE). Christ was present at this feast, since he remained in Judea as his passion drew near (CHRYSOSTOM). Perhaps this is also why John mentions that it was winter, the mention of the present climate all the more appropriate because of the chill of unbelief in the ice-cold reception of Jesus (AUGUSTINE). Demonstrating their hostility, the Jews ask for Jesus to tell them he is the Christ; he, however, prefers actions over words (ORIGEN) since he had already spoken plainly (CHRYSOSTOM). This shows they do not know the voice of their shepherd (AUGUSTINE).

Christ’s sheep hear and obey his voice. By giving life to his followers, Christ shows that he is by nature life (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Eternal life is the pasture Christ said that his sheep would find (AUGUSTINE). No one can pluck Christ’s sheep from his hand; the sheep, however, can choose to fall from his hands (ORIGEN)—although Christ’s hands are strong (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA), and he knows what he gave up for them in order to preserve them (AUGUSTINE). Not even ten thousand enemies can prevail in separating Christ’s sheep from their shepherd (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). Christ received his sheep at his nativity along with the shepherds who were there (HILARY). When he adds here that no one will snatch them out of his Father’s hand he appeals both to the hand (AUGUSTINE) and to the Father as two sources of strength and power that will keep the sheep safe (THEODORE).

The only appropriate expression for the unity between Father and Son is “God” (ORIGEN). When Christ says, “I and the Father are one,” these are words that can be true of no other human being. He here distinguishes the person of Father and Son while maintaining their unity (NOVATIAN), which he also does when he says “I and the Father are one” instead of saying “am one” (NOVATIAN, HIPPOLYTUS, AUGUSTINE). The unity of the Godhead also is an indicator of the unity of the church (CYPRIAN). It is not singularity of number but unity of essence (TERTULLIAN). Christ becomes like a second shepherd without becoming second in rank to the Father. Rather, in his divinity he is equal to the Father while, by his incarnation, he is subject to the Father (AUGUSTINE). The Father and Son share one essence (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) as they are one in essence not in relation (AUGUSTINE). The Son is one with the Father according to ousia, not according to hypostasis (THEODORE OF HERACLEA). Such unity is the ground of unanimity (HILARY).

10:22 | The Festival of the Dedication

DEDICATION INSTITUTED BY JUDAS MACCABEUS

BEDE: The first dedication of the temple was by Solomon in the autumn; the second was by Zerubbabel and the priest Jeshua around that same time of year; a third dedication was conducted by Judas Maccabeus during the winter time when he instituted an annual commemoration of the dedication and cleansing of the temple by the priests. [1] EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10.22. [2]

[1] That is, after the defilement by Lysias. See 1 Macc 4:41ff.

[2] PL 92:770.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE DEDICATION

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: This means the dedication of Jerusalem itself—not because the city was established at that time, but because the city had been destroyed often by the enemies. In the end it was devastated by Antiochus, and after the enemies had been driven away by the Maccabees, the city regained its ancient appearance with the help of God. And so, every year they celebrated the day in which they had won, in memory of the victory obtained beyond any hope; and they called it the “Enkainia” [1] of Jerusalem. Then, since all people had gathered on that day of celebration, Jesus walked in the temple, in the portico named after Solomon. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.22-23. [2]

[1] Enkaenia is a term still used today for commemoration, for instance, at universities.

[2] CSCO 4 3:211.

10:23 | It Was Winter

THE WINTER BEFORE CHRIST’S PASSION

CHRYSOSTOM: This feast was a great and national one. They celebrated with great enthusiasm the day on which the temple was rebuilt upon the return from their long captivity in Persia. At this feast Christ also was present, since from this time forward he continually lived in Judea because the passion was near. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 61.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:222*.

THE WINTER OF DISCONTENT BEFORE CHRIST’S PASSION

AUGUSTINE: “It was winter,” and they were chilled because they were slow to approach that divine fire. For to approach is to believe: the one who believes, approaches; the one who denies, moves away. The soul is not moved by the feet but by the affections. They had become icy cold to the sweetness of loving him, and they burned with the desire of doing him an injury. They were far away, while there beside him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 48.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:266*.

10:24-26 | Tell Us If You Are the Christ

JESUS PREFERRED ACTS OVER WORDS

ORIGEN: And since he avoided unnecessary talk about himself and preferred to show by acts rather than words that he was the Christ, the Jews for that reason said to him, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” AGAINST CELSUS 1.48. [1]

[1] ANF 4:417.

CHRIST ALREADY HAD SPOKEN PLAINLY

CHRYSOSTOM: Their mode of questioning was full of hatred when they say, “Tell us plainly, are you the Christ?” And yet, he was always at their feasts and had said nothing in secret at those feasts, speaking everything out in the open. They preface their remarks, however, with flattery: “How long do you make us to doubt?” They say this as if they were anxious to know the truth, but they really only meant to provoke him to say something that they might latch on to. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 61.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:223**.

10:27 | My Sheep Hear and Follow Me

THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD

AUGUSTINE: What is the voice of the shepherd? “And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name throughout all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” [1] There is the voice of the shepherd. Recognize it and follow if you are a sheep. SERMON 46.32. [2]

[1] Lk 24:47.

[2] WSA 3 2:284-85.

HUMANITY MYSTICALLY UNITED TO CHRIST IF THEY OBEY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not his. We take the word hear to imply obedience to what has been said. People who hear God are known by him. No one is entirely unknown by God, but to be known in this way is to become part of his family. Therefore, when Christ says, “I know mine,” he means I will receive them and give them a permanent mystical relationship with myself.

It might be said that inasmuch as he has become man, he has made all human beings his relatives, since all are members of the same race. We are all united to Christ in a mystical relationship because of his incarnation. Yet those who do not preserve the likeness of his holiness are alienated from him…. “My sheep follow me,” says Christ. By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the law, they obey the commands of Christ and guided by his words rise through grace to his own dignity, for they are called “children of God.” [1] When Christ ascends into heaven, they also follow him. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.1. [2]

[1] Mt 5:9.

[2] LF 48:99-100**.

10:28 | Eternal Life

CHRIST, WHO IS LIFE, GIVES LIFE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ promises his followers eternal life as a compensation and reward. They receive exemption from death and corruption and from the torments the judge inflicts upon transgressors. By giving life, Christ shows that by nature he is life. He does not receive it from another but supplies it from his own resources. And by eternal life we understand not only length of days which all, both good and bad, shall possess after the resurrection but also the passing of those days in bliss.

It is also possible to understand by “life” a reference to the mystical blessing [of the Eucharist] by which Christ implants in us his own life through the participation of his own flesh by the faithful, according to the text, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.1 [1]

[1] LF 48:100**.

THE PASTURE OF ETERNAL LIFE

AUGUSTINE: This is the pasture of which he spoke before when he said, “And he shall go in and out and find pasture.” [1] … The good pasture is called eternal life. The grass there does not wither, and everywhere it is green and flourishing…. But you are only looking to misrepresent my words because you only think about this present life. When he says, then, “and they shall not perish,” you can hear the undertone of what was said, as if he had said to them: you shall perish eternally because you are not of my sheep. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 48.5-6. [2]

[1] Jn 10:9.

[2] NPNF 1 7:267**.

WE CAN FALL FROM HIS HANDS

ORIGEN: For “no one snatches us away from his hands,” according to what was said in the Gospel according to John. Yet it is not written that just as no one snatches us away, no one also falls from his hands. For one who is self-determined is free. And, I say, no one will snatch us away from the hand of God, no one can take us. But we are able to fall from his hands if we are negligent. HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 18.3. [1]

[1] FC 97:192-93; GCS 6:154.

THE GREAT MIGHT OF CHRIST’S HAND

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The faithful also have the help of Christ, and the devil is not able to snatch them. Those who have an endless enjoyment of good things remain in Christ’s hand, no one thereafter snatching them away from the bliss that is given to them. [No one can throw them] into punishment or torments. For it is not possible that those who are in Christ’s hand should be snatched away to be punished because of the great might Christ has. For “the hand” in the divine Scripture signifies “the power.” It cannot be doubted therefore that the hand of Christ is unconquerable and mighty to all things. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:101**.

CHRIST KNOWS WHAT HE GAVE UP FOR THEM

AUGUSTINE: But of those sheep of which the apostle says, “The Lord knows those that are his” [1] … there is none that the wolf seizes, or the thief steals or the robber kills. Christ is confident of their number since he knows what he gave up for them. It is for this reason that he says, “No one shall pluck them out of my hand.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 48.6. [2]

[1] 2 Tim 2:19.

[2] NPNF 1 7:267**.

NOT EVEN TEN THOUSAND ENEMIES WILL PREVAIL

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Even though there are many deceivers, [Jesus says], “No one will snatch them out of my hand.” It is impossible—even in the face of ten thousand enemies—that someone stronger than me may snatch them from my hands. And this is the difference between you and my [followers]: you do not believe after you heard my words and saw my miracles, while they, even though they may suffer ten thousand afflictions, will never recede from my presence. For this reason they will receive the reward due to their good will, namely, eternal life, because, he said, “No one will snatch them out of my hand,” that is, they cannot separate them from me. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.28-29. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:213.

10:29 | The Father Has Given the Sheep to Christ

HE RECEIVED US AT HIS BIRTH

HILARY OF POITIERS: This is the speech of conscious power—this confession of free and irresistible energy that will allow no one to pluck his sheep from his hand. But more than this, not only does he have the nature of God but he would have us know that that nature is his by birth from God, and so he adds, “That which the Father has given me is greater than all.” He does not conceal that his birth is from the Father, for what he received from the Father he says is greater than all. He received it in that he was born from him. He received it in the birth itself, not after it, and yet it came to him from Another, for he received it. [1] ON THE TRINITY 7.22. [2]

[1] He is not unbegotten.

[2] NPNF 2 9:127**.

THE HAND IS THE SEAT OF POWER

AUGUSTINE: The Son, born from everlasting of the Father, God from God, does not have equality with the Father by growth but by birth. But the Father is not God from the Son; the Son is God from the Father. Therefore in begetting the Son, the Father “gave” him to be God, in begetting he gave him to be coeternal with himself, in begetting he gave him to be his equal. This is that which is “greater than all.”… That which the Father gave him, that is, to be his Word, to be his only begotten Son, to be the brightness of his light. This is what is “greater than all.” This is why no one is able to take his sheep out of his hand, any more than from his Father’s hand…. If by hand we understand power, the power of the Father and the Son is one, even as their Godhead is one…. If we understand the Son as the hand of the Father, we must think so not in a bodily sense, as if God the Father had limbs, but as the Son being he by whom all things were made. [1] People often call other people “hands” when they make use of them for any purpose. And sometimes a person’s work is itself called his hand, because it is made by his hand, as when someone is said to know his own hand when he recognizes his own handwriting…. In this place, however, “hand” signifies the power of the Father and the Son. Otherwise, if we think that “hand” refers to the Son, we shall be in danger of imagining that if the Father has a hand who is his Son, so then Christ must also have a hand that is his son too. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 48.6-7. [2]

[1] This is similar to Irenaeus’s understanding of the Son and the Spirit as the two hands of God.

[2] NPNF 1 7:267-68**.

CHRIST APPEALS TO FATHER’S POWER

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He referred the cause of it all to the Father, in order to confirm his words as indisputable to the unbelievers. And since what he had said could appear to be quite weak, that is, “no one will snatch them out of my hand,” for this reason he introduced the power of the Father and his outstanding greatness by saying, “no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand,” because all are absolutely inferior to him. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.28-29. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:213.

10:30 | Christ and the Father Are One

CHRIST’S UNITY WITH GOD

ORIGEN: Our Savior and Lord in his relation to the Father and God of the universe is not one flesh or one spirit but something higher than flesh and spirit, namely, one God. The appropriate word when human beings are joined to one another is flesh. The appropriate word when a righteous person is joined to Christ is spirit. But the word when Christ is united to the Father is not flesh or spirit but more honorable than these—God. This then is the sense in which we should understand “I and the Father are one.” DIALOGUE WITH HERACLIDES 3-4. [1]

[1] DECT 25; SC 67:60.

ONE WITH THE FATHER

NOVATIAN: This word can be true of no human being, “I and the Father are one.” Christ alone declared this word out of the consciousness of his divinity. ON THE TRINITY 13. [1]

[1] ANF 5:622.

PERSONS DISTINGUISHED, UNITY MAINTAINED

NOVATIAN: But since they [1] frequently urge on us the passage where it is said, “I and the Father are one,” in this also we shall overcome them with equal facility. For if, as the heretics think, Christ were the Father, he ought to have said, “I, the Father, am one.” But when he says I and afterwards introduces the Father by saying, “I and the Father,” he severs and distinguishes the peculiarity of his, that is, the Son’s person, from the paternal authority, not only in respect of the sound of the name but moreover in respect of the order of the distribution of power, since he might have said, “I the Father,” if he had had it in mind that he himself was the Father. And since he said “one” thing, let the heretics understand that he did not say “one” person. For “one,” placed in the neuter, intimates association, not personal unity. He is said to be one neuter, not one masculine, because the expression is not referred to the number, but it is declared with reference to the association of another. Finally, he adds, and says, “We are,” not “I am,” so as to show, by the fact of his saying “I and the Father are,” that they are two persons. Moreover, that he says one, has reference to the agreement, and to the identity of judgment and to the loving association itself, as reasonably the Father and Son are one in agreement, in love and in affection. And because he is of the Father, whatsoever he is, he is the Son. The distinction, however, remains that he is not the Father who is the Son, because he is not the Son who is the Father. For he would not have added “we are” if he had had it in mind that he, the only and sole Father, had become the Son. ON THE TRINITY 27. [2]

“ARE ONE” VERSUS “AM ONE”

HIPPOLYTUS: And if he [i.e., Noetus] were to say, “Jesus himself said, ‘I and the Father are one,’” let him [Noetus] apply his mind to the matter and learn that Jesus did not say, “I and the Father am one” but “are one.” “We are” is not said with reference to one but with reference to two. He revealed two persons but a single Power. AGAINST NOETUS 7.1. [3]

“ONE” AND “ARE”

AUGUSTINE: Mark both of those words, one [4] and are, [5] and you will be delivered from Charybdis and from Scylla. [6] In these two words, in that he said one, he delivers you from Arius; [7] in that he said are, he delivers you from Sabellius; [8] … there are both Father and Son…. And if one, then there is no difference of persons between them. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.9. [9]

[1] The Patripassians, who taught that the Father suffered on the cross.

[2] ANF 5:637.

[3] HM 2:60.

[4] Lat unum.

[5] Lat sumus.

[6] In Greek mythology, Scylla was a sea monster who lived under a dangerous rock at one side of the Strait of Messia, opposite the whirlpool Charybdis.

[7] Arius made the Son into a creature and did not consider him God.

[8] Sabellius said the Son was just another mode of the Father’s existence, thus having no existence as a separate person in the Trinity.

[9] NPNF 1 7:212*.

UNITY OF GODHEAD, UNITY OF CHURCH

CYPRIAN: The Lord says, “I and the Father are one.” And again of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit it is written, “And these three are one.” [1] Does anyone believe that this unity that comes from divine strength, which is closely connected with the divine sacraments, can be broken asunder in the church and be separated by the division of colliding wills? THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH 6. [2]

[1] 1 Jn 5:7 (KJV). Cyprian seems to be quoting the so-called Comma Johanneum text of 1 Jn 5:7 that has an explicit reference to the Trinity. See Michael Maynard, A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7-8 (Tempe, Ariz.: Comma Publications, 1995), 38, although Daniel Wallace disagrees with Maynard’s conclusions. See his article on the web, The Comma Johanneum and Cyprian.

[2] FC 36:101.

NOT SINGULARITY OF NUMBER BUT UNITY OF ESSENCE

TERTULLIAN: “[W]e are one thing,” [1] not “one person.” [2] For if he had said “one person,” he might have rendered some assistance to their opinion. Unus, no doubt, indicates the singular number; but [here we have a case where] “two” are still the subject in the masculine gender. He accordingly says unum, a neuter term, which does not imply singularity of number but unity of essence, likeness, conjunction, affection on the Father’s part, who loves the Son, and submission on the Son’s part, who obeys the Father’s will. AGAINST PRAXEAS 22. [3]

[1] Lat unum.

[2] Lat unus.

[3] ANF 3:618.

FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT ARE ONE

AUGUSTINE: And when God was feeding them, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit was feeding them. Now he is raised up and becomes like a second shepherd. But he is not a second one. Not a second one in the form of God, because in the form of God he and the Father are one God. But in the form of a servant he is raised up to feed them like a second one, because the Father is greater. Listen to one feeding them, and Christ feeding them: “I and the Father are one.” SERMON 47.20. [1]

[1] WSA 3 2:314.

DIVINE EQUALITY, INCARNATE SUBJECTION

AUGUSTINE: In his divinity he is equal to the Father; by his incarnation he is subject to the Father. SERMON 371.2. [1]

[1] WSA 3 10:313.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We say the Son and the Father “are one,” not to blend their individuality by the use of that number, as some do who say that the Father and the Son are the same [person]. Rather, we believe that the Father and the Son are two unique persons, and we regard the two together in one identical essence, knowing that they possess one might, so that this divine essence is seen without variation in both. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7.1. [1]

[1] LF 48:102**.

ONE IN ESSENCE, NOT RELATION

AUGUSTINE: [We must understand] that the Father is not anything in respect to his own substance. We must also understand that what is said about him—that he is the Father and his very existence as Father—is all said in relation to the Son. How then can the Son be of the same essence as the Father, seeing that the Father—in respect to himself—is neither his own essence, nor does he exist at all in respect to himself? Rather, even his very essence exists in relation to the Son. But this establishes even more the fact that [the Son] is of one and the same essence [with the Father], since the Father and Son must be of one and the same essence, seeing that the Father has being itself—not in respect to himself, but to the Son. This is the essence he begot, and the essence by which he is whatever he is. Therefore neither [person] exists in respect to himself alone. And both exist in relationship to one another. ON THE TRINITY 7.1.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 3:105**.

ONE ACCORDING TO OUSIA

THEODORE OF HERACLEA: One, he says of himself, with the Father according to ousia, not according to hypostasis, and he is equal with the Father in all things. For he is to be counted as two according to hypostases, both himself and the Father, who, he said is greater than he. FRAGMENTS IN JOHN 126. [1]

[1] JKGK 99.

UNITY IS THE GROUND OF UNANIMITY

HILARY OF POITIERS: Now seeing that the heretics cannot get around these words because they are so clearly stated and understood, they nevertheless try to explain them away. They maintain that the words “I and the Father are one” refer to a mere union of unanimity only; a unity of will, not of nature, that is, that the two are one not by essence of being but by identity of will. [1] … They make use of the example of our own union with God, as though we were united to the Son and through the Son to the Father by mere obedience and a devout will and not through the true communion of our nature [with his] that is promised to us through the sacrament of the body and blood….

But it is not through any mysterious appointment of God that they are one, but through the birth of the nature, for God loses nothing in begetting the Son from himself. They are one, for the sheep not plucked out of the Son’s hand are not plucked out of the hand of the Father…. The Father works in the Son’s works, for the Son himself is in the Father and the Father is in him. [2] This proceeds from no creation but from birth. It is not brought about by will but by power. It is not an agreement of mind that speaks but nature that does so. For to be created and to be born are not one and the same any more than to will and to be able are the same; neither is it the same thing to agree and to abide.

Thus we do not deny the unanimity between the Father and the Son—for heretics falsely say that since we do not accept the concord by itself as the bond of unity we declare the Father and the Son to be in disagreement. We do not deny such a unanimity, [but the unanimity results from the unity]. [3] The Father and the Son are one in nature, honor, power, and the same nature cannot will contrary things. ON THE TRINITY 8.5, 17-19. [4]

[1] The heretics, according to Hilary, cite Acts 4:32; 1 Cor 3:8.

[2] See Jn 14:7-12.

[3] See Hilary’s argument, On the Trinity 8.9-12.

[4] NPNF 2 9:139, 142**.