1138. Jesus forgives her; and so it says, then Jesus said: neither will I condemn you, I who perhaps you feared would condemn you, because you saw that I was without sin. This should not surprise us for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17); I do not desire the death of the sinner (Ezek 18:23).
1138. Absolvit autem eam; unde dicit dixit ei Iesus: nec ego te condemnabo, a quo te forte damnari timuisti, quia in me peccatum non invenisti. Nec mirum, quia non misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum; supra III, 17; Ez. XVIII, 32: nolo mortem peccatoris.
And he forgave her sin without imposing any penance on her because since he made her inwardly just by outwardly forgiving her, he was well able to change her so much within by sufficient sorrow for her sins that she would be made free from any penance. This should not be taken as a precedent for anyone to forgive another without confession and the assigning of a penance on the ground of Christ’s example, for Christ has power over the sacraments, and could confer the effect without the sacrament. No mere man can do this.
Absolvit autem eam a culpa, non imponendo ei aliquam poenam: quia cum absolvendo exterius iustificaret interius, bene potuit eam adeo immutare interius per sufficientem contritionem de peccatis, ut ab omni poena immunis efficeretur. Nec tamen trahendum est in consuetudinem ut aliquis exemplo domini absque confessione et poenae inflictione quemquam absolvat; quia Christus excellentiam habuit in sacramentis, et potuit conferre effectum sine sacramento, quod nullus purus homo potest.
1139. Finally, Jesus cautions her when he says, go, and sin no more. There were two things in that woman: her nature and her sin. Our Lord could have condemned both. For example, he could have condemned her nature if he had ordered them to stone her, and he could have condemned her sin if he had not forgiven her. He was also able to absolve each. For example, if he had given her license to sin, saying: go, live as you wish, and put your hope in my freeing you. No matter how much you sin, I will free you even from Gehenna and from the tortures of hell. But our Lord does not love sin, and does not favor wrongdoing, and so he condemned her sin but not her nature, saying, go, and sin no more. We see here how kind our Lord is because of his gentleness, and how just he is because of his truth.
1139. Admonet vero eam cum dicit vade, et iam noli peccare. Duo enim erant in muliere ista: scilicet natura et culpa. Et utrumque poterat Dominus condemnare. Puta naturam, si iussisset eam lapidare; et culpam, si non absolvisset. Poterat etiam utrumque absolvere, puta si dedisset licentiam peccandi, dicens vade, vive ut vis, esto de mea liberatione secura; ego, quantumcumque peccaveris, etiam a Gehenna et ab inferni tortoribus liberabo. Sed Dominus culpam non amans, peccatis non favens, ipsam damnavit culpam, non naturam, dicens amplius noli peccare: ut sic appareat quam dulcis est Dominus per mansuetudinem, et rectus per veritatem.
Lecture 2
Lectio 2
Truth of Christ’s testimony
Veritas testimonii Christi
8:12 Jesus spoke to them again, saying: I am the light of the world: he who follows me does not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. [n. 1141]
8:12 Iterum ergo locutus est eis Iesus, dicens: ego sum lux mundi. Qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris. Sed habebit lumen vitae. [n. 1141]
8:13 The Pharisees therefore said to him: you give testimony about yourself, but your testimony is not true. [n. 1146]
8:13 Dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei: tu de teipso testimonium perhibes: testimonium tuum non est verum. [n. 1146]
8:14 Jesus answered and said to them: although I give testimony about myself, my testimony is true: for I know where I came from and where I go, but you do not know where I come from or where I go. [n. 1148]
8:14 Respondit Iesus, et dixit eis: et si ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso, verum est testimonium meum, quia scio unde veni, et quo vado. Vos autem nescitis unde venio, aut quo vado. [n. 1148]
8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I do not judge any man. [n. 1150]
8:15 Vos secundum carnem iudicatis. Ego non iudico quemquam. [n. 1150]
8:16 And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but there is me and the Father who sent me. [n. 1153]
8:16 Et si iudico ego, iudicium meum verum est, quia solus non sum; sed ego, et qui misit me Pater. [n. 1153]
8:17 And in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. [n. 1155]
8:17 Et in lege vestra scriptum est, quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est. [n. 1155]
8:18 I am one who gives testimony about myself, and the Father who sent me gives testimony about me. [n. 1157]
8:18 Ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de meipso, et testimonium perhibet de me, qui misit me Pater. [n. 1157]
8:19 They therefore said to him: where is your father? Jesus answered: you know neither me nor my Father: if you did know me, perhaps you would also know my Father. [n. 1158]
8:19 Dicebant ergo ei: ubi est pater tuus? Respondit Iesus: neque me scitis, neque Patrem meum: si me sciretis, forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis. [n. 1158]
8:20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple, and no man laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. [n. 1163]
8:20 Haec verba locutus est Iesus in gazophylacio, docens in templo; et nemo apprehendit eum, quia necdum venerat hora eius. [n. 1163]
1140. The Evangelist has presented Christ as teaching; now he shows,
1140. Postquam Evangelista introduxit Christum docentem, hic consequenter
first, the power which this teaching has to give light, and
primo ostendit doctrinae ipsius illuminativam virtutem;
second, what Christ himself said about it, at the Pharisees therefore said to him: you give testimony about yourself.
secundo manifestat quae de ea dicit, ibi dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei: tu de te ipso testimonium perhibes.
With respect to the first he does three things:
Circa primum tria facit.
first, he states Christ’s prerogative concerning spiritual light;
Primo ponit spiritualis lucis privilegium;
second, the effect of this prerogative, he who follows me does not walk in darkness; and
secundo eius effectum, ibi qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris;
third, its fruit, but will have the light of life.
tertio eius fructum, ibi sed habebit lumen vitae.
1141. He says, concerning the prerogative of Christ, who is the light, to the spiritual light, Jesus spoke to them again, saying: I am the light of the world. We can relate this statement with what went before in this way. Christ had said, when forgiving the woman’s sin, neither will I condemn you (John 8:11). And so they would have no doubt that he could forgive and pardon sins, he saw fit to show the power of his divinity more openly by saying that he is the light which drives away the darkness of sin.
1141. Privilegium autem spiritualis lucis ponitur quantum ad Christum, qui est lux; et quantum ad hoc dicit iterum locutus est eis Iesus dicens: ego sum lux mundi. Quod potest uno modo continuari ad immediate dictum. Quia enim dixit: nec ego condemnabo te etc., absolvens eam a crimine, ideo ne aliqui dubitarent utrum ipse absolvere posset, et peccata dimittere, dignatur apertius divinitatis suae potentiam demonstrare, dicens se esse lucem, qui peccati tenebras pellit.
Or, we could connect this statement with what the Pharisees said before: search the Scriptures and see that, out of Galilee, a prophet does not rise (John 7:52). For they thought of him as a Galilean and linked to a definite place, and so they rejected his teaching. So our Lord shows them that he is in the universal light of the entire world, saying, I am the light of the world, not just of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judea.
Alio modo potest continuari ad illud quod supra VII, 52 dixit: scrutare Scripturas, et vide quia propheta a Galilaea non surgit. Quia enim eum aestimabant Galilaeum, et quasi ex loco determinato dependentem, doctrinam eius repudiabant; ideo Dominus ostendit se totius mundi esse lucem universalem, dicens ego sum lux mundi, non Galilaeae, neque Palaestinae, neque Iudaeae.
1142. The Manicheans, as Augustine relates, misunderstood this: for since they judged by their imagination, which does not rise to intellectual and spiritual realities, they believed that nothing but bodies existed. Thus they said that God was a body; and a certain infinite light. Further, they thought that the sun that we see with our physical eyes was Christ the Lord. And that is why, according to them, Christ said, I am the light of the world.
1142. Manichaei autem, ut Augustinus dicit, hoc falso intelligebant. Quia enim imaginatio eorum erat solum de sensibilibus, ideo non valebant se ad intellectualia et spiritualia extendere, credebant enim supra corporalia nihil esse in rerum natura, unde dicebant Deum esse corpus et lucem quamdam infinitam, et solem istum oculis carnis visibilem, Christum Dominum esse putaverunt: et propter hoc ipsum dixisse ego sum lux mundi.
However, this opinion cannot be held and the Catholic Church rejects such a fiction. For this physical sun is a light which can be perceived by sense. Consequently, it is not the highest light, which intellect alone grasps, and which is the intelligible light characteristic of the rational creature. Christ says about this light here: I am the light of the world. And above we read: he was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (John 1:9).
Sed hoc stare non potest et Ecclesia Catholica improbat tale figmentum. Sol enim iste corporalis est lux quam sensus attingere potest: et ideo non est suprema lux, quam intellectus solus attingit, quae est lux intelligibilis propria rationalis creaturae. Hic de ea dicit Christus ego sum lux mundi. De ista dicitur supra I, 9: erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum.
Since perceptible light, however, is a certain image of spiritual light, for every sensible thing is something particular, whereas intellectual things are a kind of whole. Just as particular light has an effect on the thing seen, inasmuch as it makes colors actually visible, as well as on the one seeing, because through it the eye is conditioned for seeing, so intellectual light makes the intellect to know because whatever light is in the rational creature is all derived from that supreme light which enlightens every man coming into the world. Furthermore, it makes all things to be actually intelligible inasmuch as all forms are derived from it, forms which give things the capability of being known, just as all the forms of artifacts are derived from the art and reason on the artisan: how magnificent are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom (Ps 103:24). Thus Christ truly says here: I am the light of the world; not the sun which was made, but the one who made the sun. Yet as Augustine says, the light which made the sun was himself made under the sun and covered with a cloud of flesh, not in order to hide but to be moderated.
Lux autem ista sensibilis, imago quaedam est illius lucis intelligibilis: nam omne sensibile est quasi quoddam particulare, intellectualia autem sunt quasi totalia quaedam. Sicut autem lux ista particularis habet effectum in re visa, inquantum colores facit actu visibiles, et etiam in vidente, quia per eam oculus confortatur ad videndum, sic lux illa intelligibilis intellectum facit cognoscentem. Quia quidquid luminis est in rationali creatura, totum derivatur ab ipsa suprema luce; supra I, 9: illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Item facit res omnes actu intelligibiles, inquantum ab ipsa derivantur omnes formae, per quas res habent quod cognoscantur, sicut omnes formae artificiatorum derivantur ab arte et ratione artificis; Ps. CIII, 24: quam magnificata sunt opera tua, Domine. Omnia in sapientia fecisti. Et ideo recte dicit ego sum lux mundi: non sol factus, sed per quem sol factus est. Tamen, ut Augustinus dicit, lumen quod solem fecit, sub sole factum est, et carnis nube tegitur, non ut obscuretur, sed ut temperetur.
1143. This also eliminates the heresy of Nestorius, who said that the Son of God was united to human nature by a mere indwelling.
1143. Excluditur etiam per hoc haeresis Nestorii dicentis, quod Filius Dei erat unitus homini per inhabitationem tantum.
For it is obvious that the one who said, I am the light of the world, was a human being. Therefore, unless the one who spoke and appeared as a human being was also the person of the Son of God, he could not have said, I am the light of the world, but the light of the world dwells in me.
Constat enim quod qui haec verba proferebat, scilicet ego sum lux mundi, homo erat. Nisi ergo ipse qui loquebatur et videbatur homo, personaliter esset Filius Dei, non dixisset ego sum lux mundi, sed in me habitat lux mundi.
1144. The effect of this light is to expel darkness; and so he says, he who follows me does not walk in darkness. Because this light is universal, it universally expels all darkness.
1144. Effectus autem huius lucis est expellere tenebras; unde dicit qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris. Et quia lux ista est universalis, ideo universaliter tenebras omnes expellit.
Now there are three kinds of darkness. There is the darkness of ignorance: they have neither known nor understood; they walk in darkness (Ps 81:5); and this is the darkness reason has of itself, insofar as it is darkened of itself. There is the darkness of sin: you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (Eph 5:8). This darkness belongs to human reason not of itself, but from the affections which, by being badly disposed by passion or habit, seek something as good that is not really good. Further, there is the darkness of eternal damnation: cast the unprofitable servant into the exterior darkness (Matt 25:30). The first two kinds of darkness are found in this life; but the third is at the end of life. Thus, he who follows me does not walk in darkness: the darkness of ignorance, because I am the truth; nor the darkness of sin, because I am the way; nor the darkness of eternal damnation, because I am the life.
Sunt autem triplices tenebrae, scilicet ignorantiae; Ps. LXXXI, 5: nescierunt neque intellexerunt: in tenebris ambulant. Et hae sunt rationis secundum seipsam, inquantum per seipsam obnubilatur. Item culpae; Eph. V, 8: eratis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino. Et istae sunt rationis humanae non ex se, sed ex appetitu, inquantum male dispositus per passiones vel habitum, appetit aliquid ut bonum, quod tamen non est vere bonum. Item tenebrae damnationis aeternae; Matth. c. XXV, 30: inutilem servum eiicite in tenebras exteriores. Sed duae primae sunt in vita ista; tertiae vero sunt in termino viae. Qui ergo sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, ignorantiae, quia ego sum veritas, nec culpae, quia ego sum via, neque damnationis aeternae, quia ego sum vita.
1145. He next adds the fruit of his teaching, but will have the light of life, for one who has the light is outside the darkness of damnation.
1145. Et ideo consequenter subdit fructum doctrinae, scilicet sed habebit lumen vitae: nam qui hoc lumen habet, est extra tenebras damnationis.
He says, he who follows me, because just as one who does not want to stumble in the dark has to follow the one who is carrying the light, so one who wants to be saved must, by believing and loving, follow Christ, who is the light. This is the way the apostles followed him (Matt 4:20). Because physical light can fail because it sets, it happens that one who follows it meets with darkness. But the light we are talking about here does not set and never fails; consequently, one who follows it has an unfailing light, that is, an unfailing light of life. For the light that is visible does not give life, but gives us an external aid because we live insofar as we have understanding, and this is a certain participation in this light. And when this light completely shines upon us we will then have perfect life: with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we will see the light (Ps 35:10). This is the same as saying: we will have perfectly or completely when we see this light as it is. Thus we read further on: this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).
Dicit autem qui sequitur, quia sicut quicumque non vult errare in tenebris, oportet ut sequatur eum qui lumen portat; ita quicumque vult salvari, oportet quod sequatur Christum, qui est lux, credendo et amando; et sic apostoli secuti sunt eum, Matth. IV, 20. Quia vero lux corporalis deficere potest per occasum, contingit quia qui sequitur eam, tenebras incurrit. Lux vero ista, quae nescit occasum, numquam deficit: et ideo qui sequitur eam, habet lumen indeficiens, scilicet vitae. Lumen enim visibile non dat vitam, sed coadiuvat exterius operationes vitae corporalis; lumen vero istud vitam dat, quia vivimus inquantum intellectum habemus, qui est quaedam participatio illius lucis. Quando autem lux illa perfecte irradiabit, tunc habebimus vitam perfectam; Ps. XXXV, 10: apud te est fons vitae, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen; quasi dicat: tunc ipsam vitam perfecte habebimus quando ipsum lumen per speciem videbimus. Unde dicitur Io. XVII, 3: haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum.
Note that the phrase, he who follows me, pertains to our merits; while the statement, will have the light of life, pertains to our reward.
Sed attendendum, quod hoc quod dicit qui sequitur me, pertinet ad meritum; quod vero dicit habebit lumen vitae, ad praemium.
1146. At the Pharisees therefore said to him, the Evangelist mentions three things that Jesus says about himself.
1146. Consequenter cum dicit dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei etc., manifestat haec tria quae de se dicit, et
First concerning the first;
primo primum;
second, the second, at again Jesus said to them: I go and you will seek me (John 8:21); and
secundo secundum, ibi dicit ergo iterum, eis Iesus;