Lecture 6
Lectio 6
Attempted stoning of Christ
Lapidatio Christi
10:31 The Jews then took up stones to stone him. [n. 1453]
10:31 Sustulerunt ergo lapides Iudaei, ut lapidarent eum. [n. 1453]
10:32 Jesus answered them: many good works I have shown you from my Father; for which of these works do you stone me? [n. 1454]
10:32 Respondit eis Iesus: multa bona opera ostendi vobis ex Patre meo. Propter quod eorum opus me lapidatis? [n. 1454]
10:33 The Jews answered him: we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy; and because you, being a man, make yourself God. [n. 1456]
10:33 Responderunt ei Iudaei: de bono opere non lapidamus te, sed de blasphemia, et quia tu homo cum sis, facis teipsum Deum. [n. 1456]
10:34 Jesus answered them: is it not written in your law, I said you are gods? [n. 1458]
10:34 Respondit eis Iesus: nonne scriptum est in lege vestra, quia ego dixi, dii estis? [n. 1458]
10:35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the Scripture is not able to be broken; [n. 1460]
10:35 Si illos dixit deos, ad quos sermo Dei factus, et non potest solvi Scriptura; [n. 1460]
10:36 Do you say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world: you are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God? [n. 1461]
10:36 quem Pater sanctificavit, et misit in mundum, vos dicitis, quia blasphemas, quia dixi, Filius Dei sum? [n. 1461]
10:37 If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. [n. 1464]
10:37 Si non facio opera Patris mei, nolite credere mihi. [n. 1464]
10:38 But if I do them, even though you do not want to believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. [n. 1465]
10:38 Si autem facio, et si mihi non vultis credere, operibus credite, ut cognoscatis, et credatis, quia Pater in me est, et ego in Patre. [n. 1465]
10:39 They sought therefore to take him, and he escaped out of their hands. [n. 1468]
10:39 Quaerebant ergo eum apprehendere, et exivit de manibus eorum. [n. 1468]
10:40 And he went again beyond the Jordan, into that place where John was baptizing first, and he remained there. [n. 1469]
10:40 Et abiit iterum trans Iordanem in eum locum ubi erat Ioannes baptizans primum, et mansit illic: [n. 1469]
10:41 And many came to him, and they said: John indeed did no sign. [n. 1470]
10:41 et multi venerunt ad eum, et dicebant, quia Ioannes quidem signum fecit nullum. [n. 1470]
10:42 But all things whatsoever John said of this man were true. And many believed in him. [n. 1470]
10:42 Omnia autem quaecumque dixit Ioannes de hoc, vera erant: et multi crediderunt in eum. [n. 1470]
1452. We have seen the teaching of Christ; and now we see the effect this teaching has on the Jews.
1452. Posita doctrina Christi, hic consequenter ponitur effectus doctrinae eius in Iudaeis, et
First, Jesus reproves their fierceness;
primo redarguit eorum saevitiam;
second, he defends himself against the charge of blasphemy, at the Jews answered him;
secundo excludit a se, impositam blasphemiam, ibi responderunt ei Iudaei;
and third, he escapes from their violence, at they sought therefore to take him.
tertio declinat eorum pertinaciam, ibi quaerebant ergo eum apprehendere.
1453. Concerning the first, two things are done. First, we see the violence of the Jews inciting them to stone Christ. The Evangelist says, the Jews then took up stones to stone him. They were hard of heart and unable to understand his profound message; and so, being like stones, they resort to stones: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause (Ps 119:7).
1453. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponitur Iudaeorum saevitia, qua excandescebant ad Christum lapidandum; unde dicit sustulerunt lapides Iudaei, ut iacerent in eum. Quia enim duri erant, et profunda domini verba intelligere non poterant, lapidibus similes ad lapides currunt; Ps. CXIX, 7: dum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.
1454. Second, we see our Lord reprove their violence, saying, many good works I have shown you from my Father. First, he reminds them of the benefits given to them; second, he reproves their violence.
1454. Secundo cum subdit multa bona opera ostendi vobis, reprehendit Dominus ipsorum saevitiam: et primo commemorat eis exhibita beneficia; secundo reprehendit ipsorum saevitiam.
He recalls the benefits he granted in healing the sick, in teaching them and performing his miracles. Jesus answered them: many good works I have shown you, by healing, teaching and working miracles: he has done all things well (Mark 7:37); from my Father, whose glory I have sought in all these things: I do not seek my own glory, but the glory of him who sent me (John 8:50).
Commemorat autem beneficia quae eis exhibuit in sanitatibus infirmorum, in exhibitione doctrinae et miraculorum; unde respondit eis, dicens: multa bona opera ostendi vobis, scilicet sanando, praedicando, miracula faciendo: Mc. VII, 37: bene omnia fecit, ex Patre meo, cuius gloriam per omnia quaesivi; supra VIII, 50: gloriam meam non quaero, sed eius qui misit me.
And he reproves their violence when he says, for which of these works do you stone me? This was like saying: you should honor one who does good to you, not stone him. Similarly, it is said: is evil a recompense for good? (Jer 18:20).
Saevitiam reprehendit dicens propter quod eorum opus me lapidatis? Quasi dicat: benefactorem oportebat honorare, non lapidare. Simile dicitur Ier. XVIII, 20: numquid redditur pro bono malum?
1455. Now our Lord defends himself from the charge of blasphemy.
1455. Hic Dominus excusat se de blasphemia, et
First, we see him accused of blasphemy by the Jews;
primo ponitur blasphemiae impositio a Iudaeis;
and second, Christ proves his innocence, at Jesus answered them: is it not written in your law?
secundo eius excusatio a Christo, ibi respondit eis Iesus: nonne scriptum est in lege vestra? etc.
1456. With respect to the first, the Evangelist says, the Jews answered him: we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy.
1456. Dicit ergo quantum ad primum de bono opere non te lapidamus etc.
There are five things to be considered here. First, what seems to be the motive for their stoning him, namely, his blasphemy. For Leviticus commands that blasphemers be stoned: bring out of the camp him who has blasphemed; and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let the congregation stone him (Lev 24:14). Mentioning this motive, they say, we do not stone you for a good work but for blasphemy.
Ubi quinque consideranda occurrunt. Primum quidem videtur pertinere ad motivum lapidationis, quod est blasphemia. Praecipitur enim Lev. XXIV, 14, quod blasphemi lapidentur. Educ inquit blasphemum extra castra, et ponant omnes qui audierunt, manus suas super caput eius, et lapidet eum populus universus. Et quantum ad hoc dicunt de bono opere non lapidamus te, sed de blasphemia.
Second, they specify his blasphemy. It is blasphemy not only to attribute to God what is not appropriate to him, but also to attribute to another what belongs to God alone. So, it is blasphemy not only to say that God is a body, but also to say that a creature can create: it is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mark 2:7). Thus the Jews were saying that our Lord was a blasphemer not in the first way, but for usurping for himself what is proper to God: because you, being a man, make yourself God.
Secundum, quod specificant ipsam blasphemiam. Nam blasphemia est non solum attribuere Deo quod sibi non convenit, sed etiam attribuere alteri quod solius Dei est: sicut blasphemia est non solum dicere Deum esse corpus, sed etiam dicere aliquam creaturam creare posse. Mc. II, 7, dicebant: hic blasphemat. Quis potest dimittere peccata nisi solus Deus? Dicebant ergo Iudaei Dominum blasphemum esse, non primo modo, sed usurpando sibi quae divinitatis propria erant; unde dicebant quia tu homo cum sis, facis teipsum Deum.
The third thing to be considered is that the Jews understood the words of Christ, I and the Father are one (John 10:30), better than the Arians did. Thus they were incensed because they understood that I and the Father are one (John 10:30) could only be said if the Father and Son are equal. This is what they say, you . . . make yourself God, claiming by your words that you are God, which is not true, you, being a man.
Tertium est quod Iudaei melius quam Ariani intellexerunt verbum Christi, quod dixerat: ego et Pater unum sumus. Ideo irati sunt, quoniam intellexerunt non posse dici: ego et Pater unum sumus, nisi ubi est aequalitas Patris et Filii: et hoc est quod dicunt facis teipsum Deum, ostendendo verbis tuis quod Deus sis, quod non est verum, cum sis homo.
The fourth point to consider is that the distance between God and man is so great that it was unbelievable to them that someone with a human nature could be God. So they significantly say, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Yet this unbelief could have been dispelled by what is read in the Psalm: what is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you visit him? (Ps 8:5); and: for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told (Hab 1:5), this is, the work of the Incarnation, which surpasses every mind.
Quartum est quod tanta est distantia Dei et hominis, quod incredibile eis erat quod idem qui est homo, esset Deus: unde signanter dicunt quia homo cum sis, facis teipsum Deum. Quamvis ab ista incredulitate removeri possent per hoc quod dicitur in Ps. VIII, 5: quid est homo quod memor es eius, aut filius hominis quoniam visitas eum? Habac. I, 5: opus ego facio in diebus vestris quod nemo credet, cum narrabitur, idest opus Incarnationis excedens omnem mentem.
The fifth thing to consider is that they do not agree with themselves: for on the one hand, they say that Christ does good works, saying, we stone you for no good work; and on the other hand, they accuse him of blasphemy, usurping for himself the honor of God. Now these conflict with each other, for he could not accomplish miracles from God if he blasphemed God, because a sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit (Matt 7:18). And this applied especially to Christ.
Quintum est quod in suis verbis sibi ipsis contrariantur: nam ex una parte confitentur Christum bona opera facere, dicentes de bono opere non te lapidamus, ex alia imponunt ei blasphemiam, scilicet quod sibi falso usurpet honorem Dei: quae quidem contraria sunt. Non enim ex Deo miracula posset facere, si Deum blasphemaret, quia, ut dicitur Matth. VII, 18, non potest arbor bona fructus malos facere, nec arbor mala bonos fructus facere: quod maxime locum habet in Christo.
1457. Here our Lord defends himself against the charge of blasphemy.
1457. Hic excludit a se impositam blasphemiam, et
First, he gives his defense;
primo ponit suam excusationem;
second, he shows them the truth, at if I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me.
secundo ostendit veritatem, ibi si non facio opera patris mei, nolite credere mihi.
He defends himself by divine authority, and so
Excusat autem se per auctoritatem; unde
first, he mentions the authority of Scripture;
primo ponit auctoritatem Scripturae;