ACC ~ John 8 v12a
THE LIGHT OF THE WHOLE WORLD
CHRYSOSTOM: Since they were continually bringing up Galilee and “the prophet” (as if that was all he claimed to be), he wanted to show that he was not one of the prophets but the Master of the world. “I am the Light of the world,” not only of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judea. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.2. [1]
[1] NPNF 1 14:187**.
THE LIGHT THAT MADE THE SUN
AUGUSTINE: The Manichaeans suppose the sun visible to our natural eyes to be our Lord Christ,… but the right faith of the universal church condemns such fiction…. He is God of God, Light of Light. The sun’s light was made by this Light. [1] And the Light that made the sun, under which he also made us, was himself made under the sun for our sake. That Light that made the sun was made, I say, [to come humbly] under the sun for our sake…. He hid himself under the cloud of the flesh, not to obscure but to temper his light. Speaking then through the cloud of the flesh, the Light unfailing, the Light of wisdom says to humanity, “I am the Light of the world.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.2, 4-5. [2]
[1] Gen 1:3. See also Tertullian Against Praxeas 12 (TTAP 145).
[2] NPNF 1 7:200-201**.
THE FATHERLY LIGHT OF CHRIST LEADS US TO IMMORTALITY
IRENAEUS: No one was able, either in heaven or in earth or under the earth, to open the book of the Father… so that all things … might behold their King and that the Fatherly light might meet with and rest upon the flesh of our Lord and come to us from his radiant flesh. In this way, human beings might attain to immortality, having been invested with the Fatherly light. AGAINST HERESIES 4.20.2. [1]
[1] ANF 1:488**.
THE CHILDREN OF PERFECT LIGHT
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Listen to the voice of God, which sounds so exceedingly clear to me—I who am both disciple and master of these mysteries. This is how I hope to God it may sound to you: “I am the Light of the world.” Therefore approach him and be enlightened, [1] and do not let your faces be ashamed, [2] being signed with the true Light. It is a season of new birth; let us be born again. It is a time of reformation; let us receive again the first Adam. [3] Let us not remain what we are, but let us become what we once were. The Light shines in darkness [4] in this life and in the flesh. It is chased by the darkness but is not overtaken by it. I am referring to the power of the enemy that leaps up in its shamelessness against the visible Adam. But it encounters God and is defeated. Let us put away the darkness so that we may draw near to the Light and may then become perfect Light, the children of perfect Light. ON THE HOLY LIGHTS, ORATION 39.2. [5]
[1] Gregory’s term for baptism.
[2] Ps 34:5 (33:6 LXX).
[3] The condition of humanity before the fall.
[4] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1
[5] NPNF 2 7:352.
THE BRIGHTNESS OF SOULS
MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR: [Christ] is the brightness of souls, the one who drives away the darkness of ignorance, and the one who reveals mysteries that can be perceived only by the pure. CHAPTERS ON KNOWLEDGE 2.70. [1]
SPLENDOR OF THE ETERNAL LIGHT
ANONYMOUS:
O Dayspring,
Splendor of the Eternal Light, and Sun of Justice.
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O ORIENS ANTIPHON OF ADVENT. [2]
[1] MCSW 162.
[2] HBM 98*.
THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH
THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Do you not recognize the words of the prophet, [1] in the fact that the Galileans enjoy a great light? Therefore, [Jesus says], “I am that light.” And I not only provide [this light] for them but for all people. Whoever keeps close to me will not suffer; I have sufficient [light] for all people. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.12. [2]
[1] Is 9:1-2.
[2] CSCO 4 3:164-65.
JESUS, THE LIGHT, IS ONE
AMMONIUS: He called himself “the light,” not because “the light is in me”—lest someone split the one Christ into a duality of Sons. Christ, the Son, is one, both before the flesh and after the flesh. He is in truth the one and only Son of God the Father even when he became man since he did not partially embrace the human nature. For his body is his own, and it is blasphemy to divide Christ after his incarnation into two sons or into two beings. [1] FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 266. [2]
[1] Literally, two natures, not two beings. However, this does not necessarily imply Monophysitic tendencies. Ammonius, in typical Alexandrian fashion, stresses the oneness of the hypostatic union against a Nestorian understanding, which divided Christ. See also Cyril on this point (LF 43 1:563-64).
[2] JKGK 263.
THE ONLY BEGOTTEN IS LIGHT BY NATURE
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Jesus reveals the ignorance of the scribes and Pharisees when he cries out, “I am the light of the world.” He is saying, “You who go through the whole of holy Scripture and think that you will assess what is spoken about me through the prophets have strayed far from the way of life. And it is no wonder, for he who reveals mysteries and illumines the whole world, he who shines like a sun into the hearts of those who would receive him— he is not in you. He who does not have the divine and spiritual light within himself must surely walk in darkness and stumble in great foolishness.” The Only Begotten is light by nature, beaming forth from God the Father who is light by nature…. But we must note again that he says that he is the light not especially or solely for the people of Israel but for “all the world.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.2. [1]
[1] LF 43:562-63**.
Jn