Portion of Tractate XI.
John III. 1-5.
3. "And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus by name, a ruler
of the Jews: the same came to Him by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi (you
already know that Master is called Rabbi), we know that Thou art a teacher
come from God; for no man can do these signs which Thou doest, except God
be with him." This Nicodemus, then, was of those who had believed in His
name, as they saw the signs and prodigies which He did. For this is what
he said above: "Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the passover on the feast-day,
many believed in His name." Why did they believe? He goes on to say, "Seeing
His signs which He did." And what says he of Nicodemus? "There was a ruler
of the Jews, Nicodemus by name the same came to Him by night, and says
to Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God." Therefore
this man also had believed in His name. And why had he believed? He goes
on, "For no man can do these signs which Thou doest, except God be with
him." If, therefore, Nicodemus was of those who had believed in His name,
let us now consider, in the case of this Nicodemus, why Jesus did not trust
Himself to them. "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Therefore to them who have been born again cloth Jesus trust Himself. Behold,
those men had believed on Him, and yet Jesus trusted not Himself to them.
Such are all catechumens: already they believe in the name of Christ, but
Jesus does not trust Himself to them. Give good heed, my beloved, and understand.
If we say to a catechumen, Dost thou believe on Christ, he answers, I believe,
and signs himself; already he bears the cross of Christ on his forehead,
and is not ashamed of the cross of his Lord. Behold, he has believed in
His name. Let us ask him, Dost thou eat the flesh of the Son of man, and
drink the blood of the Son of man? He knows not what we say, because Jesus
has not trusted Himself to him.
4. Therefore, since Nicodemus was of that number, he came to the Lord,
but came by night; and this perhaps pertains to the matter. Came to the
Lord, and came by night; came to the Light, and came in the darkness. But
what do they that are born again of water and of the Spirit hear from the
apostle? "Ye were once darkness, buff now light in the Lord; walk as children
of light;" and again, "But we who are of the day, let us be sober." Therefore
they who are born again were of the night, and are of the day; were darkness,
and are light. Now Jesus trusts Himself to them, and they come to Jesus,
not by night, like Nicodemus; not in darkness do they seek the day. For
such now also profess: Jesus has come near to them, has made salvation
in them; for He said, "Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he
shall not have life in him." And as the catechumens have the sign of the
cross on their forehead, they are already of the great house; but from
servants let them become sons. For they are something who already belong
to the great house. But when did the people Israel eat the manna? After
they had passed the Red Sea. And as to what the Red Sea signifies, hear
the apostle: "Moreover, brethren, I would not have you ignorant, that all
our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea." To what
purpose passed they through the sea? As if thou wert asking of him, he
goes on to say, "And all were baptized by Moses in the cloud and in the
sea." Now, if the figure of the sea had such efficacy, how great will be
the efficacy of the true form of baptism! If what was done in a figure
brought the people, after they had crossed over, to the manna, what will
Christ impart, in the verity of His baptism, to His own people: brought
over through Himself? By His baptism He brings over them that believe;
all their sins, the enemies as it were that pursue them, being slain, as
all the Egyptians perished in that sea. Whither does He bring over, my
brethren? Whither does Jesus bring over by baptism, of which Moses then
showed the figure, when he brought them through the sea? Whither? To the
manna. What is the manna? "I am," saith He, "the living bread, which came
down from heaven." The faithful receive the manna, having now been brought
through the Red Sea? Why Red Sea? Besides sea, why also "red"? That "Red
Sea" signified the baptism of Christ. How is the baptism of Christ red,
but as consecrated by Christ's blood? Whither, then, does He lead those
that believe and are baptized? To the manna. Behold, "manna," I say: what
the Jews, that people Israel, received, is well known, well known what
God had rained on them from heaven; and yet catechumens know not what Christians
receive. Let them blush, then, for their ignorance; let them pass through
the Red Sea, let them eat the manna, that as they have believed in the
name of Jesus, so likewise Jesus may trust Himself to them.
5. Therefore mark, my brethren, what answer this man who came to Jesus
by night makes. Although he came to Jesus, yet because he came by night,
he still speaks from the darkness of his own flesh. He understands not
what he hears from the Lord, understands not what he hears from the Light,
"which lighteth every man that cometh into this world." Already hath the
Lord said to him, "Except a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom
of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born again when he is
old?" The Spirit speaks to him, and he thinks of the flesh. He thinks of
his own flesh, because as yet he thinks not of Christ's flesh. For when
the Lord Jesus had said, "Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood,
he shall not have life in him," some who followed Him were offended, and
said among themselves, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" For they
fancied that, in saying this, Jesus meant that they would be able to cook
Him, after being cut up like a lamb, and eat Him: horrified at His words,
they went back, and no more followed Him. Thus speaks the evangelist: "And
the Lord Himself remained with the twelve; and they said to Him, Lo, those
have left Thee. And He said, Will ye also go away?"-wishing to show them
that He was necessary to them, not they necessary to Christ. Let no man
fancy that he frightens Christ, when he tells Him that he is a Christian;
as if Christ will be more blessed if thou be a Christian. It is a good
thing for thee to be a Christian; but if thou be not, it will not be ill
for Christ. Hear the voice of the psalm, "I said to the Lord, Thou art
my God, since Thou hast no need of my goods." For that reason, "Thou art
my God, since of my goods Thou hast no need." If thou be without God, thou
wilt be less; if thou be with God, God will not be greater. Not from thee
will He be greater, but thou without Him wilt be less. Grow, therefore,
in Him; do not withdraw thyself, that He may, as it were, diminish. Thou
wilt be renewed if thou come to Him, wilt suffer loss if thou depart from
Him. He remains entire when thou comest to Him, remains entire even when
thou fallest away. When, therefore, He had said to His disciples, "Will
ye also go away?" Peter, that Rock, answered with the voice of all, "Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Pleasantly savored
the Lord's flesh in his mouth. The Lord, however, expounded to them, and
said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." After He had said, "Except a
man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he shall not have life in him," lest
they should understand it carnally, He said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth,
but the flesh profiteth nothing: the words which I have spoken unto you
are spirit and life."
6. This Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus by night, did not savor of
this spirit and this life. Saith Jesus to him, "Except a man be born again,
he shall not see the kingdom of God." And he, savoring of his own flesh,
while as yet he savored not of the flesh of Christ in his mouth, saith,
"How can a man be born a second time, when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother's womb, and be born?" This man knew but one birth,
that from Adam and Eve; that which is from God and the Church he knew not
yet: he knew only those parents that bring forth to death, knew not yet
the parents that bring forth to life; he knew but the parents that bring
forth successors, knew not yet the ever-living parents that bring forth
those that shall abide.
Whilst there are two births, then, he understood only one. One is of
the earth, the other of heaven; one of the flesh, the other of the Spirit;
one of mortality, the other of eternity; one of male and female, the other
of God and the Church. But these two are each single; there can be no repeating
the one or the other. Rightly did Nicodemus understand the birth of the
flesh; so understand thou also the birth of the Spirit, as Nicodemus understood
the birth of the flesh. What did Nicodemus understand? "Can a man enter
a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Thus, whosoever shall
tell thee to be spiritually born a second time, answer in the words of
Nicodemus, "Can a man enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be
born?" I am already born of Adam, Adam cannot beget me a second time. I
am already born of Christ, Christ cannot beget me again. As there is no
repeating from the womb, so neither from baptism.
7. He that is born of the Catholic Church, is born, as it were, of Sarah,
of the free woman; he that is born of heresy is, as it were, born of the
bond woman, but of Abraham's seed. Consider, beloved, how great a mystery.
God testifies, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob." Were there not other patriarchs? Before these, was
there not holy Noah, who alone of the whole human race, with all his house,
was worthy to be delivered from the flood,-he in whom, and in his sons,
the Church was prefigured? Borne by wood, they escaped the flood. Then
afterwards great men whom we know, whom Holy Scriptures commends, Moses
faithful in all his house. And yet those three are named, just as if they
alone deserved well of him: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob: this is my name for ever." Sublime mystery! It is
the Lord that is able to open both our mouth and your hearts, that we may
speak as He has deigned to reveal, and that you may receive even as it
is expedient for you.
8. The patriarchs, then, are these three, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You know that the sons of Jacob were twelve, and thence the people Israel;
for Jacob himself is Israel, and the people Israel in twelve tribes pertaining
to the twelve sons of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob three fathers,
and one people. The fathers three, as it were in the beginning of the people;
three fathers in whom the people was figured: and the former people itself
the present people. For in the Jewish people was figured the Christian
people. There a figure, here the truth; there a shadow, here the body:
as the apostle says, "Now these things happened to them in a figure." It
is the apostle's voice: "They were written," saith he, "for our sakes,
upon whom the end of the ages is come." Let your mind now recur to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. In the case of these three, we find that free women bear
children, and that bond women bear children: we find there offspring of
free women, we find there also offspring of bond women. The bond woman
signifies nothing good: "Cast out the bond woman," saith he, "and her son;
for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free."
The apostle recounts this; and he says that in those two sons of Abraham
was a figure of the two Testaments, the Old and the New. To the Old Testament
belong the lovers of temporal things, the lovers of the world: to the New
Testament belong the lovers of eternal life. Hence, that Jerusalem on earth
was the shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all, which is
in heaven; and these are the apostle's words. And of that city from which
we are absent on our sojourn, you know much, you have now heard much. But
we find a wonderful thing in these births, in these fruits of the womb,
in these generations of free and bond women: namely, four sorts of men;
in which four sorts is completed the figure of the future Christian people,
so that what was said in the case of those three patriarchs is not surprising,
"I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
For in the case of all Christians, observe, brethren, either good men are
born of evil men, or evil men of good; or good men of good, or evil men
of evil: more than these four sorts you cannot find. These things I will
again repeat: Give heed, keep them, excite your hearts, be not dull; take
in, lest ye be taken, how of all Christians there are four sorts. Either
of the good are born good, or of the evil, are born evil; or of the good
are born evil, or of the evil good. I think it is plain. Of the good, good;
if they who baptize are good, and also they who are baptized rightly believe,
and are rightly numbered among the members of Christ. Of the evil, evil;
if they who baptize are evil, and they who are baptized approach God with
a double heart, and do not observe the morals which they hear urged in
the Church, so as not to be chaff, but grain, there. How many such there
are, you know, beloved. Of the evil, good; sometimes an adulterer baptizes,
and be that is baptized is justified. Of the good, evil; sometimes they
who baptize are holy, they who are baptized do not desire to keep the way
of God.
9. I suppose, brethren, that this is known in the Church, and that what
we are saying is manifest by daily examples; but let us consider these
things in the case of our fathers before us, how they also had these four
kinds. Of the good, good; Ananias baptized Paul. How of the evil, evil?
The apostle declares that there were certain preachers of the gospel, who,
he says, did not use to preach the gospel with a pure motive, whom, however,
he tolerates in the Christian society, saying, "What then, notwithstanding
every way, whether by occasion or in truth, Christ is preached, and in
this I rejoice." Was he therefore malevolent, and did he rejoice in another's
evil? No, but rejoiced because through evil men the truth was preached,
and by the mouths of evil men Christ was preached. If these men baptized
any persons like themselves, evil men baptized evil men: if they baptized
such as the Lord admonishes, when He says, "Whatsoever they bid you, do;
but do not ye after their works," they were evil men that were baptizing
good. Good men baptized evil men, as Simon the sorcerer was baptized by
Philip, a holy man. Therefore these four sorts, my brethren, are known.
See, I repeat them again, hold them, count them, think upon them; guard
against what is evil; keep what is good. Good men are born of good, when
holy men are baptized by holy; evil men are born of evil, when both they
that baptize and they that are baptized live unrighteously and ungodly;
good men are born of evil, when they are evil that baptize, and they good
that are baptized; evil men are born of good, when they are good that baptize,
and they evil that are baptized.
10. How do we find this in these three names, "I am the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? We hold the bond women among
the evil, and the free women among the good. Free women bear the good;
Sarah bare Isaac: bond women bear the evil; Hagar bare Ishmael. We have
in the case of Abraham alone the two sorts, both when the good are of the
good, and also when the evil are of the evil. But where have we evil of
good figured? Rebecca, Isaac's wife, was a free woman: read, She bare twins;
one was good, the other evil. Thou hast the Scripture openly declaring
by the voice of God, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." Rebecca
bare those two, Jacob and Esau: one of them is chosen, the other is reprobated;
one succeeds to the inheritance, the other is disinherited. God does not
make His people of Esau, but makes it of Jacob. The seed is one, those
conceived are dissimilar: the womb is one, those born of it are diverse.
Was not the free woman that bare Jacob, the same free woman that bare Esau?
They strove in the mother's womb; and when they strove there, it was said
to Rebecca," Two peoples are in thy womb." Two men, two peoples; a good
people, and a bad people: but yet they strive one womb. How many evil men
there are in the Church! And one womb carries them until they are separated
in the end: and the good cry out against the evil, and the evil in turn
cry out against the good, and both strive together in the bowels of one
mother. Will they be always together? There is a going forth to the light
in the end; the birth which is here figured in a mystery is declared; and
it will then appear that "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
11. Accordingly we have now found, brethren, of the good, good-of the
free woman, Isaac; and of the evil, evil-of the bond woman, Ishmael; and
of the good, evil-of Rebecca, Esau: where shall we find of the evil, good?
There remains Jacob, that the completion of these four sorts may be concluded
in the three patriarchs. Jacob had for wives free women, he had also bond
women: the free bear children, as do also the bond, and thus come the twelve
sons of Israel. If you count them all, of whom they were born, they were
not all of the free women, nor all of the bond women; but yet they were
all of one seed. What, then, my brethren? Did not they who were born of
the bond women possess the land of promise together with their brethren?
We have there found good sons of Jacob born of bond women, and good sons
of Jacob born of free women. Their birth of the wombs of bond women was
nothing against them, when they knew their seed in the father, and consequently
they held the kingdom with their brethren. Therefore, as in the case of
Jacob's sons, that they were born of bond women did not hinder their holding
the kingdom, and receiving the land of promise on an equality with their
brothers; their birth of bond women did not hinder them, but the father's
seed prevailed: so, whoever are baptized by evil men, appear as if born
of bond women; nevertheless, because they are of the seed of the Word of
God, which is figured in Jacob, let them not be cast down, they shall possess
the inheritance with their brethren. Therefore, let him who is born of
the good seed be without fear; only let him not imitate the bond woman,
if he is born of a bond woman. Do not thou imitate the evil, proud, bond
woman. For how came the sons of Jacob, that were born of bond women, to
possess the land of promise with their brethren, whilst Ishmael, born of
a bond woman, was cast out from the inheritance? How, but because he was
proud, they were humble? He proudly reared his neck, and wished to seduce
his brother while he was playing with him.
12. A great mystery is there. They were playing together, Ishmael and
Isaac: Sarah sees them playing, and says to Abraham, "Cast out the bond
woman and her son; for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with
my son Isaac." And when Abraham was sorrowful, the Lord confirmed to him
the saying of his wife. Now here is evidently a mystery, that the event
was somehow pregnant with something future. She sees them playing, and
says, "Cast out the bond woman and her son." What is this, brethren? For
what evil had Ishmael done to the boy Isaac, in playing with him? That
playing was a mocking; that playing signified deception. Now attend, beloved,
to this great mystery. The apostle calls it persecution; that playing,
that play, he calls persecution: for he says, "But as then he that was
born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so
also now;" that is, they that are born after the flesh persecute them that
are born after the Spirit. Who are born after the flesh? Lovers of the
world, lovers of this life. Who are born after the Spirit? Lovers of the
kingdom of heaven, lovers of Christ, men that long for eternal life, that
worship God freely. They play, and the apostle calls it persecution. For
after he said these words, "And as then be that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, so also now;" the apostle
went on, and showed of what persecution, he was speaking: "But what says
the Scripture? Cast out the bond woman and her son: for the son of the
bond woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." We search where the Scripture
says this, to see whether any persecution on Ishmael's part against Isaac
preceded this; and we find that this was said by Sarah when she saw the
boys playing together. The playing which Scripture says that Sarah saw,
the apostle calls persecution. Hence, they who seduce you by playing, persecute
you the more. "Come," say they, "Come, be baptized here, here is true baptism
for thee." Do not play, there is one true baptism; that other is play:
thou wilt be seduced, and that will be a grievous persecution to thee.
It were better for thee to make Ishmael a present of the kingdom; but Ishmael
will not have it, for he means to play. Keep thou thy father's inheritance,
and hear this: "Cast out the bond woman and her son; for the son of the
bond woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."
13. These men, too, dare to say that they are wont to suffer persecution
from catholic kings, or from catholic princes. What persecution do they
bear? Affliction of body: yet if at times they have suffered, and how they
suffered, let themselves know, and settle it with their consciences; still
they suffered only affliction of body: the persecution which they cause
is more grievous. Beware when Ishmael wishes to play with Isaac, when he
fawns on thee, when he offers another baptism: answer him, I have baptism
already. For if this baptism is true, he who would give thee another would
be mocking thee. Beware of the persecution of the soul. For though the
party of Donatus has at tithes suffered somewhat at the hands of catholic
princes, it was a bodily suffering, not the suffering of spiritual deception.
Hear and see in the very facts of Old Testament history all the signs and
indications of things to come. Sarah is found to have afflicted her maid
Hagar: Sarah is free. After her maid began to be proud, Sarah complained
to Abraham, and said, "Cast out the bond woman;" she has lifted her neck
against me. His wife complains of Abraham, as if it were his doing. But
Abraham, who was not bound to the maid by lust, but by the duty of begetting
children, inasmuch as Sarah had given her to him to have offspring by her,
says to her: "Behold, she is thy handmaid; do unto her as thou wilt." And
Sarah grievously afflicted her, and she fled from her face. See, the free
woman afflicted the bond woman, and the apostle does not call that a persecution;
the slave plays with his master, and he calls it persecution: this afflicting
is not called persecution; that playing is. How does it appear to you,
brethren? Do you not understand what is signified? Thus, then, when God
wills to stir up powers against heretics, against schismatics, against
those that scatter the Church, that blow on Christ as if they abhorred
Him, that blaspheme baptism, let them not wonder; because God stirs them
up, that Hagar may be beaten by Sarah. Let Hagar know herself, and yield
her neck: for when, after being humiliated, she departed from her mistress,
an angel met her, and said to her, "What is the matter with thee, Hagar,
Sarah's handmaid?" When she complained of her mistress, what did she hear
from the angel? "Return to thy mistress." It is for this that she is afflicted,
that she may return; and would that she may return, for her offspring,
just like the sons of Jacob, will obtain the inheritance with their brethren.
14. But they wonder that Christian powers are roused against detestable
scatterers of the Church. Should they not be moved, then? How otherwise
should they give an account of their rule to God? Observe, beloved, what
I say, that it concerns Christian kings of this world to wish their mother
the Church, of which they have been spiritually born, to have peace in
their times. We read Daniel's visions and prophetical histories. The three
children praised the Lord in the fire: King Nebuchadnezzar wondered at
the children praising God, and at the fire around them doing them no harm:
and whilst he wondered, what did King Nebuchadnezzar say, he who was neither
a Jew nor circumcised, who had set up his own image and compelled all men
to adore it; but, impressed by the praises of the three children when he
saw the majesty of God present in the fire what said he? "And I will publish
a decree to all tribes and tongues in the whole earth." What sort of decree?
"Whosoever shall speak blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, shall be cut off, and their houses shall be made a ruin."
See how an alien king acts with raging indignation that the God of Israel
might not be blasphemed, because He was able to deliver the three children
from the fire: and yet they would not have Christian kings to act with
severity when Christ is contemptuously rejected, by whom not three children,
but the whole world, with these very kings, is delivered from the fire
of hell! For those three children, my brethren, were delivered from temporal
fire. Is He not the same God who was the God of the Maccabees and the God
of the three children? The latter He delivered from the fire; the former
did in body perish in the torments of fire, but in mind they remained steadfast
in the ordinances of the law. The latter were openly delivered, the former
were crowned in secret. It is a greater thing to be delivered from the
flame of hell than from the furnace of a human power. If, then, Nebuchadnezzar
praised and extolled and gave glory to God because He delivered three children
from the fire, and gave such glory as to send forth a decree throughout
his kingdom, "Whosoever shall speak blasphemy against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut off, and their houses shall be brought
to ruin," how should not these kings be moved, who observe, not three children
delivered from the flame, but their very selves delivered from hell, when
they see Christ, by whom they have been delivered, contemptuously spurned
in Christians, when they hear it said to a Christian, "Say that thou art
not a Christian"? Men are willing to do such deeds, but they do not wish
to suffer, at all events, such punishments.
15. For see what they do and what they suffer. They slay souls, they
suffer in body: they cause everlasting deaths, and yet they complain that
they themselves suffer temporal deaths. And yet what deaths do they suffer?
They allege to us some martyrs of theirs in persecution. See, Marculus
was hurled headlong from a rock; see, Donatus of Bagaia was thrown into
a well. When have the Roman authorities decreed such punishments as casting
men down rocks? But what do those of our party reply? What was done I know
not; what however do ours tell? That they hung themselves headlong and cast
the infamy of it upon the authorities. Let us call to mind the custom of
the Roman authorities, and see to whom we are to give credit. Our men declare
that those men cast themselves down headlong. If they are not the very
disciples of those men, who now cast themselves down precipices, while
no man persecutes them, let us not credit the allegation of our men: what
wonder if those men did what these are wont to do? The Roman authorities
never did employ such punishments: for had they not the power to put them
to death openly? But those men, while they wished to be honored when dead,
found not a death to make them more famous. In short, whatever the fact
was, I do not know. And even if thou hast suffered corporal affliction,
O party of Donatus, at the hand of the Catholic Church, as an Hagar thou
hast suffered it at the hand of Sarah; "return to thymistress." A point
which it was indeed necessary to discuss has detained us somewhat too long
to be at all able to expound the whole text of the Gospel Lesson. Let this
suffice you in the meantime, beloved brethren, lest, by speaking of other
matters, what has been spoken might be shut out from your hearts. Hold
fast these things, declare such things; and while yourselves are inflamed,
go your way thither, and set on fire them that are cold.
