Lecture 3
Lectio 3
Christ again proclaims his death
Christus iterum mortem suam perhibet
8:21 Again Jesus said to them: I go, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. [n. 1166]
8:21 Dicit ergo iterum eis Iesus: ego vado, et quaeretis me, et in peccato vestro moriemini. Quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. [n. 1166]
8:22 The Jews therefore said: Will he kill himself, because he said: where I go, you cannot come? [n. 1172]
8:22 Dicebant ergo Iudaei: numquid interficiet semetipsum, quia dicit: quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire? [n. 1172]
8:23 And he said to them: You are from below, and I am from above. You are of this world, and I am not of this world. [n. 1174]
8:23 Et dicebat eis: vos de deorsum estis, ego de supernis sum. Vos de mundo hoc estis, ego non sum de hoc mundo. [n. 1174]
8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sin. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sin. [n. 1177]
8:24 Dixi ergo vobis quia moriemini in peccatis vestris. Si enim non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccato vestro. [n. 1177]
8:25 They therefore said to him: who are you? Jesus said to them: the source, who also speaks to you. [n. 1180]
8:25 Dicebant ergo ei: tu quis es? Dixit eis Iesus: principium, qui et loquor vobis. [n. 1180]
8:26 Many things I have to say and to judge about you. But he who sent me is truthful, and the things that I have heard from him are the same that I speak to the world. [n. 1185]
8:26 Multa habeo de vobis loqui, et iudicare; sed qui me misit, verax est: ego quae audivi ab eo, haec loquor in mundo. [n. 1185]
8:27 And they did not understand why he called God his Father. [n. 1189]
8:27 Et non cognoverunt quia Patrem eius dicebat Deum. [n. 1189]
8:28 Jesus therefore said to them: when you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak: [n. 1191]
8:28 Dixit ergo eis Iesus: cum exaltaveritis Filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis. Quia ego sum, et a meipso facio nihil; sed sicut docuit me Pater, haec loquor. [n. 1191]
8:29 and he who sent me is with me, and he has not left me alone, for I always do the things that please him. [n. 1192]
8:29 Et qui me misit, mecum est, et non reliquit me solum, quia ego quae placita sunt ei, facio semper. [n. 1192]
8:30 When he spoke these things, many believed in him. [n. 1193]
8:30 Haec illo loquente, multi crediderunt in eum. [n. 1193]
1165. After our Lord showed his special position with respect to light, he here reveals the effect of this light, that is, that it frees us from darkness.
1165. Postquam Dominus manifestavit de se privilegium lucis, hic consequenter manifestat lucis effectum, scilicet quod liberat a tenebris, et
First, he shows that the Jews are imprisoned in darkness;
primo ostendit quod ipsi in tenebris detinentur;
second he teaches the remedy which can free them, at the Jews therefore said: will he kill himself?
secundo docet remedium quo ab eis liberentur, ibi dicebant ergo Iudaei: numquid interficiet semetipsum etc.
He does three things concerning the first:
Circa primum tria facit.
first, the Lord tells them he is going to leave;
Primo denuntiat Dominus suum recessum;
second, he reveals the perverse plans of the Jews, and
secundo ostendit Iudaeorum studium perversum;
third, he mentions what they will be deprived of.
tertio ipsorum defectum.
1166. Our Lord says that he is going to leave them by his death, I go. We can see two things from this. First, that he is going to die voluntarily, that is, as going, and not as one led by someone else: I go to him who sent me (John 16:5); no man takes it away from me, but I lay it down of myself (John 10:18). And so this appropriately follows what went before: for he had said, and no man laid hands on him (John 8:20). Why? Because he is going willingly, on his own.
1166. Recessum autem suum dicit Dominus esse per mortem; et ideo dicit ego vado: in quo duo dat intelligere. Primo, quod voluntarie moritur, scilicet vadens, et non ab alio ductus. Infra XVI, 5: vado ad eum qui me misit; infra X, 18: nemo tollit a me animam meam: sed ego pono eam a meipso. Et secundum hoc recte continuatur ad praecedentia. Dixit enim: nemo apprehendit eum etc. Et quare? Quia per se vadit sponte.
Second, we can see that the death of Christ was a journey to that place from which he had come, and which he had not left, for just as one who walks heads toward what is ahead, so Christ, by his death, reached the glory of exaltation: he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Because of this God exalted him (Phil 2:8); knowing . . . that he came from God, and was going to God (John 13:3).
Secundo ostendit quod mors Christi erat quaedam profectio illuc unde venerat et unde non discesserat: sicut enim qui vadit in anteriora proficit, ita Christus per mortem pervenit ad gloriam exaltationis. Phil. II, 8: factus est obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis; propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum; infra XIII, 3: sciens quia a Deo exivit, et ad Deum vadit.
1167. We see their sinful plans by their deceitful search for Christ; he says, you will seek me. Some look for Christ in a devout way through charity, and such a search results in life: seek the Lord, and your soul will live (Ps 68:7). But they wickedly searched for him out of hatred, to persecute him: the one who sought my soul used violence (Ps 37:13). He says, you will seek me, by attacking me after my death with your accusations: we remembered that while still living the seducer said: after three days I will rise (Matt 27:63). And they will also seek out my members: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4).
1167. Perversum eorum studium ostendit in dolosa inquisitione Christi: et quantum ad hoc dicit quaeretis me. Quidam autem quaerunt Christum pie ex caritate; et hanc inquisitionem sequitur vita; Ps. LXVIII, v. 33: quaerite Dominum, et vivet anima vestra. Sed isti impie quaerunt, et odio ad persequendum; Ps. XXXVII, 13: vim faciebant qui quaerebant animam meam. Et sic dicit quaeretis me, scilicet persequentes post mortem quidem infamia; Matth. XXVII, 63: recordati sumus quod seductor ille dixit adhuc vivens: post tres dies resurgam. Item in membris meis; Act. IX, 4: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris?
1168. This will be followed by their death, and so he adds what they will be deprived of, foretelling to them, and you will die in your sin.
1168. Et hanc sequelam sequitur mors; et ideo subdit ipsorum defectum, quem eis praenuntiat dicens et in peccato vestro moriemini, et
First, he foretells that deprivation which consists in the condemnation of death;
primo praenuntiat defectum qui consistit in mortis damnatione;
second, that deprivation which consists in their exclusion from glory, at where I go, you cannot come.
secundo defectum qui consistit in eorum a gloria exclusione, ibi quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire.
1169. He is saying: because you will wickedly search for me, you will die in your sin. We can understand this in one way as applying to physical death: and then one dies in his sins who keeps on sinning up to the time of his death. And so in saying, you will die in your sin, he emphasizes their obstinacy: there is no one who does penance for his sin, saying: what have I done? (Jer 8:6); they went down to the lower regions with their weapons (Ezek 32:2).
1169. Dicit ergo: quia inique me quaeritis, ideo in peccato vestro, scilicet permanentes, moriemini. Quod potest intelligi uno modo de morte corporali: et sic in peccatis suis moritur qui usque ad mortem perseverat in eis. Et sic per hoc quod dicit in peccato vestro moriemini, exaggerat eorum obstinatam pertinaciam. Ier. VIII, 6: non est qui poenitentiam agat de peccato suo dicens, quid feci? Ez. XXXII, 27: descenderunt cum armis ad Inferna.
In another way, we can understand this as applying to the death of sin, about which the Psalm says, the death of sinners is the worst (Ps 33:22). And just as a physical weakness precedes physical death, so a certain weakness precedes this kind of death. For as long as sin can be remedied, it is a kind of weakness which precedes death: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak (Ps 6:3). But when sin can no longer be remedied, either absolutely, as after this life, or because of the very nature of the sin, as a sin against the Holy Spirit, it then causes death: there is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that (1 John 5:16). And according to this, our Lord is foretelling them that the weakness of their sins results in death.
Alio modo de morte peccati, de qua dicitur in Ps. XXXIII, 21: mors peccatorum pessima. Et sicut mortem corporalem praecedit infirmitas corporis, ita et hanc mortem infirmitas quaedam praecedit. Quamdiu enim peccatum remediabile est, tunc est quasi quaedam infirmitas quae praecedit Ps. VI, 3: miserere mei, Domine, quoniam infirmus sum. Sed quando est irremediabile, vel simpliciter, sicut post hanc vitam, vel quod ad ipsum, sicut est peccatum in Spiritum Sanctum; tunc causat mortem; I Io. V, 16: est peccatum ad mortem, non pro illo dico, ut roget quis. Et secundum hoc praenuntiat eis Dominus infirmitatem peccatorum esse ad mortem.
1170. He shows the deprivation which consists in their exclusion from glory when he says, where I go, you cannot come. Our Lord goes by death, and so also do they. But our Lord goes without sin, while they go with their sins, because they are dying in their sin, and so do not come to the glory of the vision of the Father. So he says, where I go, willingly, by my passion, to the Father and to his glory, you cannot come, because you do not want to. For if they had wanted to and had not been able to do so, it could not have reasonably been said to them, you will die in your sin.
1170. Defectum qui consistit in eorum exclusione a gloria ostendit cum dicit quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Quo vadit Dominus, vadunt et isti per mortem; sed Dominus sine peccato, isti vero cum peccatis, quia in peccato suo moriuntur, et ideo non perveniunt ad gloriam Paternae visionis. Et ideo dicit quo ego vado, scilicet sponte per passionem meam, scilicet ad Patrem et ad suam gloriam, vos non potestis venire, quia non vultis. Si enim voluissent, et non potuissent, non rationabiliter dicetur eis in peccato vestro moriemini.
1171. Note that one can be hindered from going where Christ goes in two ways.
1171. Sed notandum quod aliqui impediuntur ne possint ire quo Christus vadit, dupliciter.
One way is by reason of some contrary factor, and this is the way that sinners are hindered. This is what he is speaking of here; and so to those who are absolutely continuing in their sin he says, where I go, you cannot come. He who is proud will not live in my house (Ps 100:7); it will be called a holy way, and the unclean will not pass over it (Isa 35:8); who will dwell in your tent? He who walks without blame (Ps 14:1).
Uno modo ratione contrarietatis, et sic impediuntur peccatores: et de hoc loquitur hic; et ideo simpliciter perseverantibus in peccato dicit quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Ps. c, 7: non habitabit in medio domus meae qui facit superbiam; Is. XXXV, 8: via sancta vocabitur, et pollutus non transibit per eam; Ps. XIV, 1: quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? Innocens manibus et mundo corde.
One is hindered in another way by reason of some imperfection or indisposition. This is the way the just are hindered as long as they live in the body: while we are in the body, we are absent from the Lord (2 Cor 5:6). To persons such as these our Lord does not say absolutely, where I go, you cannot come, but he adds a qualification as to the time: where I go, you cannot follow me now (John 13:36).
Alio modo ratione imperfectionis, seu indispositionis: et hoc modo impediuntur iusti quamdiu sunt in corpore; II Cor. V, 6: quamdiu sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a Domino. Et talibus non dicit Dominus simpliciter quo ego vado, non potestis venire, sed addit determinationem temporis: infra XIII, 37: quo ego vado, non potes me modo sequi.
1172. Then, at the Jews therefore said: will he kill himself? he treats of the remedy which can set them free from the darkness.
1172. Consequenter cum dicit dicebant ergo Iudaei etc., agit de remedio per quod a tenebris liberentur, et
First, he gives the remedy for escaping the darkness;
primo proponit remedium tenebras evadendi;
second, he shows the efficacy of the remedy, at they therefore said to him: who are you?
secundo inducit rationes ad hoc remedium impetrandum, ibi dicebant ergo eis: tu quis es?
Concerning the first, he does three things: first, he indicates what is the unique remedy for escaping the darkness; second, he states the reasons why they should ask for this remedy; and third, we see Christ foretelling the means of obtaining it, at Jesus therefore said to them: when you have lifted up the Son of man, then will you know.
Tertio praenuntiat modum ad hoc perveniendi, ibi dixit ergo eis Iesus: cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis.
As for the first, he does two things:
Circa primum duo facit.