The Lord, saying that you are truly blind in soul through the disease of unbelief, rebuked the Pharisees for their unbelief. In order that they may not be able to say that we abhor Thee, not because of our blindness, but in order to avoid deception, He conducts a long discourse on this. Which one? He sets forth the signs of both the true shepherd and the wolf-destroyer, and thus shows of Himself that He is good, referring to works as a witness. - First He sets forth the distinguishing characteristics of the destroyer. He, he says, does not enter by the door, that is, by the Scriptures, for he is not testified by the Scriptures or the prophets. The Scriptures are truly the door; for through them we draw near to God. They do not allow wolves to enter, for they excommunicate heretics, making us safe, and imparting to us the knowledge of whatever we desire. Thus, a thief is one who does not enter the sheepfold through the Scriptures to take care of the sheep, but ascends the Inda, that is, makes a different and unusual path for himself, as, for example, Theudas and Judas. Before the coming of Christ, they deceived the people, destroyed them, and perished themselves (Acts 5:36, 37). Such will be the vile Antichrist. For they have no testimony from the Scriptures. He also alludes to the scribes, who did not fulfill a single word of the commandments of the law, but taught the commandments of men and traditions. He decently said: it rises. It goes to a thief who jumps over the fence and does everything with danger. These are the signs of a robber. - These are the signs of a pastor. The shepherd enters through the Scriptures, and the doorkeeper opens the door to Him. By the doorkeeper, perhaps, you should also understand Moses, for the words of God were entrusted to him. Moses opened the door to the Lord, no doubt by speaking of Him. The Lord Himself said: "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me also" (John 5:46). Or the doorkeeper is the Holy Spirit. Since the Scriptures, understood in the illumination of the Holy Spirit, show us Christ, it is right that the Spirit is the doorkeeper removed. To Him, as by the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, the Scriptures are revealed, through which the Lord enters into the care of us and through which He is revealed to be the Shepherd. And the sheep listen to the voice of the Shepherd. - The Pharisees often called the Lord a deceiver and proved this by their own unbelief, saying: "Did any of the rulers believe in Him" (John 7:48)? Therefore, the Lord shows that He should not be considered a destroyer because they do not believe, but they should be excluded from the number of sheep. I, he said, entered by the door. Obviously, I am truly a Shepherd. You have not followed me, and by this you have shown that you are not sheep. Whence then does He bring forth His sheep? From among the unbelievers, as, for example, He brought out from among the Jews a blind man, who both heard Him and recognized Him. - And he goes before the sheep, although it is the other way around with the bodily shepherds, for they walk behind the sheep. This shows that He will lead everyone to the truth. And He sends disciples like sheep into the midst of wolves (Matt. 10:16). Thus, truly, the pastoral ministry of Christ is extraordinary. They will not follow someone else's, because they do not know someone else's voice. And here, no doubt, he alludes to Theudas and Judas, whom the sheep did not follow, for few were deceived, and even they, after their death, fell behind. And the whole world followed Christ, both during His life, and especially after His death (John 12:19). - He also hints at the Antichrist, for he too will deceive few, and after his destruction he will have no followers. The words, "They do not go," show that after the death of the deceivers no one will listen or follow. Thus, the Scriptures are the door. Through this door the Lord leads the sheep to pasture. What pasture? The future pleasure and peace into which the Lord leads us. If in other places He calls Himself a door, there is no need to marvel at this. For when He wants to portray His care for us, He calls Himself a shepherd, and when He wants to show that He leads to the Father, then He calls Himself a door, just as He is in different senses both a Sheep and a Shepherd. The words of the Divine Scriptures are also understood under the door; and the Lord Himself is and is called the Word; therefore, it can also be called the Door.

Jesus told them this parable. But they did not understand what he was saying to them, so Jesus said to them again, "Verily, truly, I say to you, that I am the door of the sheep." All of them, however many have come before Me, are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. Jesus spoke to them in these words a parable, or simile, and used obscure speech to make them more attentive. When he has achieved this, he resolves the ambiguity and says: I am the Door. "Everything, no matter how many of them came." He did not say this about the prophets, as the Manichaeans are mad. They use this saying to prove that the Old Testament is not from God, and the prophets were not sent by God. Here, they say, the Lord said that everyone, no matter how many came, is thieves and robbers. But He did not say this about the prophets, but about Theudas and Judas, and the rest of the rebels. And what He said about them is evident from what He added: "The sheep did not listen to them." For the sheep did not listen to these troublemakers, but they listened to the prophets, and as many as they believed in Christ, all believed through them. And in other words, "the sheep did not listen to them." He said this in praise. But nowhere is it seen that He praises those who did not listen to the prophets, on the contrary, He strongly condemns and rebukes them. Then, pay attention to the accuracy of the expression: how much "did not come", and does not say: how much "it was not sent". For the prophets came because they had been sent, and the false prophets, like the rebels aforesaid, proceeded to corrupt those who were deceived when no one had sent them. So God says: "I did not send them, they fled" (Jeremiah 23:21).

Я есмь дверь: кто войдет Мною, тот спасется, и войдет, и выйдет, и пажить найдет. Кто Мною, дверью, войдет и приведется к Отцу, и станет Его овцою, тот спасется, и не только спасется, но и получит великую неустрашимость, как и Господь, и Владыка. Ибо это обозначает словами: "и войдет, и выйдет". Так и апостолы смело входили и выходили пред повелителей, и выходили радостными и непобедимыми (Деян. 5, 41). "И найдет пастбище", то есть обильную пищу. И иначе: так как наш человек двойствен, по выражению апостола Павла, внутренний и внешний (Рим. 7, 22; 2 Кор. 4, 16), то можно сказать, что входит тот, кто заботится о внутреннем человеке, и тот опять выходит, кто члены, которые на земле, и дела плотские умерщвляет во Христе (Рим. 8, 13). Такой найдет пастбище и в будущем веке, по сказанному: Господь пасет меня, и ни в чем не будет у меня недостатка (Пс. 22, 1).

Вор приходит только для того, чтобы украсть, убить и погубить; Я пришел для того, чтоб имели жизнь и имели с избытком. Я семь пастырь добрый: пастырь добрый полагает жизнь свою за овец; а наемник не пастырь, которому овцы не свои, видит приходящего волка и оставляет овец и бежит; и волк расхищает овец и разгоняет их. А наемник бежит, потому что наемник, и не радит об овцах. Так как приставшие к Февде и Иуде, и прочим отступникам были убиты и погибли, то прибавил: вор приходит только для того, чтобы украсть, убить и погубить, называя ворами их и подобных им. А Я, говорит, пришел для того, чтобы имели жизнь. Они убивали и погубляли своих последователей, а Я пришел, чтобы жили и имели нечто большее, именно: причастие Святаго Духа, под чем нужно разуметь и Царство Небесное. Итак, во Христе все имеют жизнь, ибо все воскреснут и будут жить; а праведники получат и нечто большее, именно: Царство Небесное. Потом ведет речь и о страданиях и говорит: Я жизнь (душу) Мою полагаю за овец, - выражая сим, что Он идет на страдания не по принуждению, а добровольно. Словом "полагаю" показывает, что никто ее не отнимет у Меня, а Я Сам отдаю ее. Намекает и на мятежников, не раз упомянутых. Они, говорит, не положили жизни за овец, но оставили своих последователей, ибо были наемники. А Сам Господь поступил наоборот. Когда взяли Его, Он сказал: если Меня ищете, то оставьте сих, пусть идут, чтобы исполнилось слово, что никто из них не погиб (Ин. 18, 8; 17, 12) и притом тогда, когда иудеи пришли на Него хуже, чем волки на овец. Ибо пришли, сказано, с мечами и кольями, чтобы взять Его (Лк. 22, 52). Под волком здесь можно разуметь и мысленного врага, которого Писание называет и львом (1 Пет. 5, 8), и скорпионом (Лк. 10, 19), и змием (Быт. 3, 1; Пс. 90, 13). Говорится, что он "похищает" овцу, когда пожирает кого-нибудь чрез худое дело; "разгоняет" когда посредством злых помыслов смущает душу. Справедливо можно назвать его и вором, который "обкрадывает" чрез лукавые помыслы, "убивает" чрез соглашение с ними, "погубляет" чрез дело. Иногда приражается к кому-нибудь помысл злобный, это будет воровство. Если человек согласится с лукавым внушением, тогда, можно сказать, диавол убивает его. Когда же человек на деле совершит зло, тогда он погибает. Может быть, и это значат слова: вор приходит только для того, чтоб украсть, убить и погубить. - Господь делает совсем иначе, чем этот вор. Он дает божественную жизнь, освещает и помыслы наши добрыми внушениями, и тела добрыми делами; дает и нечто преизбыточествующее, именно то, что мы можем приносить и другим пользу посредством дара учительского, а также и Царство Небесное, как бы придавая нам некоторую лишнюю награду. Он подлинно Добрый Пастырь, а не наемник, каковы начальники иудейские, которые не заботятся о народе, а имеют в виду только то, чтобы получить с него плату. Ибо они искали не пользы народу, а себе прибыли от народа.

Я семь Пастырь добрый; и знаю Моих, и Мои знают Меня. Как Отец знает Меня, так и Я знаю Отца; и жизнь Мою полагаю за овец. Есть у Меня и другие овцы, которые не сего двора, и тех надлежит Мне привесть, и они услышат голос Мой: и будет одно стадо, и один Пастырь. И отсюда ты можешь узнать различие между пастырем и наемником. Наемник не знает овец, что происходит оттого, что он не надзирает за ними постоянно. Ибо если бы он постоянно смотрел, то знал бы их. А пастырь, каков Господь, знает своих овец, потому и печется об них, и они опять знают Его, потому что пользуются Его надзором и по привычке узнают своего Покровителя. Смотри. Прежде Он узнает нас, а потом уже мы Его. И не иначе можно познать Бога, как быв познанными от Него (1 Кор. 13, 12). Ибо Он прежде усвоился нам плотию, став Человеком, потом уже мы усвоились Ему, получив дар обожения. Желая показать, что неуверовавшие недостойны быть познанными от Бога и не суть овцы Его, Он сказал: Я знаю Моих, и Мои знают Меня, как написано: познал Господь Своих (2 Тим. 2, 19). Чтобы кто-нибудь не подумал, что Он узнавал, как человек. Он присовокупил: как Отец знает Меня, и Я знаю Отца, то есть: Я так верно знаю Его, как Сам Себя. Часто повторяет: "Я жизнь Мою полагаю за овец" для того, чтобы показать, что Он не обманщик. Ибо выражения: "Я Свет, Я Жизнь" для немысленных казались надменными, Но слова: "Я хочу умереть" не заключают никакого самохваления, а, напротив, выражают великое попечение, так как Он хочет предать Себя за людей, которые бросали в Него камнями. - "Есть у меня и другие овцы". Это говорит об язычниках. Они не того двора, который под законом. Ибо язычники не ограждаются законом. "И тех надлежит Мне привесть". Ибо и эти в рассеянии, и те не имеют пастырей. И благоразумные, и способнейшие к вере из иудеев были без пастырей, следовательно, тем более, язычники. Мне "надлежит" собрать и язычников, и иудеев. Слово "надлежит" здесь означает не принуждение, а то, что непременно последует. "И будет одно стадо, и один Пастырь". Во Христе Иисусе нет ни иудея, ни язычника (Гал. 3, 28), и никакого различия. Ибо у всех один образ, одна печать крещения, один Пастырь, Слово Божие и Бог. Пусть устыдятся манихеи, отвергающие Ветхий Завет, и услышат, что одно стадо и один Пастырь; ибо Один и Тот же Бог Ветхого и Нового Завета.

Потому любит Меня Отец, что Я отдаю жизнь Мою, чтобы опять принять ее. Никто не отнимает ее у Меня, но Я Сам отдаю ее; имею власть отдать ее и власть имею опять принять ее. Сию заповедь получил Я от Отца Моего. От этих слов опять произошла между Иудеями распря.

Как же Я буду обманывать вас, когда знаю, что вас Бог любит? Напротив, не лучше ли решусь умереть за вас, если не для иного чего, то для того, чтобы Отец Мой за это еще более возлюбил Меня? Говорит это так уничижение из снисхождения, потому что слушатели не принимали, когда Он говорил о Себе возвышенно. Придавать другой смысл этому изречению было бы нелепо. Ибо, неужели Отец прежде не любил Его, а начал любить только теперь, и причиной сему стала смерть Его за нас? Нет; а, как я сказал уже, Он выразился таким образом по снисхождению. Иной может сказать и следующее. Любовь к нам Бога и Отца была известна. А Бог и Отец увидел, что и Сын Его явил к нам такую же доброту, ибо восхотел и умереть за нас, и в точности сохраняет свойства благости Отчей, Посему Отец по справедливости возлюбил Сына, возлюбил не в качестве дара Сыну и как бы награды за Его смерть за нас, но потому, что увидел в Сыне сродство Существа с Самим Собою, и потому любить Сына был побуждаем как бы непреодолимым законом природы.

- "No one can take My life from Me." He says this for those who intended to kill Him. You, he says, thirst for my blood; but know with certainty that without My will no one can shed it. Lest anyone think that He dies as a servant and servant, at the command of another and as a result of subjection to him, He says: I Myself am sovereign in My death, as the Lord of death. I have the power to lay down My life. Although each one of you has the power to give his life, for anyone who wills can kill himself, the Lord does not speak about this way of death, but about the fact that without His will no one could do it. It doesn't happen with people. For even without our will, others can kill us. And Christ would never have suffered without His will. Therefore, submitting to death only of His own volition, He has a greater right to take life again. - This commandment "to die for the world" I received from the Father. I, he says, am not an adversary of God, and moreover, to such an extent that this very death is commanded to Me by the Father. First He said lofty things about Himself: I have the power to receive My life, which shows in Him the Lord of death and the Author of life. Now he adds the humble: "This commandment I have received from my Father." So wonderfully does He unite the two, so that they do not consider Him less than the Father and His servant, so that they do not consider Him an adversary of God, but equal to Him and of one will. Such a speech of His really served to the benefit of many of His listeners. There was a division between them. Some, to whom these words of His seemed mysterious, thought that He was without understanding. Others, understanding a few, said: these are not the words of a demoniac man. Since the Lord could not stop their mouths with words (for even the prudent did not fully understand His words, nor would they convince their opponents), they try to defend Christ with deeds and say that these are not the words of a demoniac man. Where can this be seen from? From business. Can the demon really open the eyes of the blind? And if this deed is divine, so are the words. Why did Christ not answer those who said that He was possessed? Because both their opponents and His defenders could not force them to be silent and be more reliable to them. Since they were divided and rebelled against each other, why should He contradict the blasphemers, when He would have no confidence in them?

Then the feast of dedication came to Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long shall You keep us in perplexity? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, "I have told you, and you do not believe, the works that I do in the name of my Father, they bear witness to me." But you do not believe, for you are not of My sheep, as I told you. What kind of renewal was there in Jerusalem? Some say that the dedication was celebrated on the day on which the temple of Solomon was built. Others do not say so, but that the Evangelist here means the renewal of the temple built after the return from captivity. This feast was bright and crowded. Since the city, after a long captivity, received in the temple, as it were, its own decoration, the day of the renewal of the temple was considered a day of joy. Jesus also came to this feast. Now He often walked in Judea, because the sufferings were at the door. - It was winter, and after this winter, in the first month of spring, the Lord suffered. For this reason the Evangelist also noted this time, in order to show that the time of suffering was near, and therefore the Lord arrived in Jerusalem. The Jews surrounded Him, and apparently out of some zeal for Him and a desire to know the truth, they asked Him to tell them, "Is He the Christ?" but in fact their question was idle and malicious. For while His works prove that He is the Christ, they require words to convince. This is more typical of naughty and mockers. However, their question, full of ingratitude and pretense, reveals their corruption. They say: tell us "directly". Yet He spoke plainly many times when He came to the feasts, and said nothing secretly, calling Himself the Son of God, and the Light, and the Way, and the Door, and referring to the testimony of Moses. Therefore, convicting them of asking with evil intent, the Lord answers them: "I have spoken to you many times, and you do not believe. "In other words, why do you pretend to obey one simple word?" You do not accept the works that I do, not as an adversary of God, but in the name of My Father. How can you believe one simple word? For there is no doubt that deeds are much more convincing than words. This was also expressed by the most moderate of them: "A sinful man cannot work such miracles" (John 9:16). "You," he says, "do not believe Me, because you are not of My sheep." I, as a good shepherd, on my part, have fulfilled all that I should have done; but if you do not follow me, it is not I who am unworthy to be called a shepherd, but you are not worthy of the name of sheep. - As long as winter stands, that is, the present life, which is always troubled by the spirits of evil, strive to celebrate the renewal of your spiritual temple, constantly renewing yourself and placing ascents in your heart (Psalm 23:6). Then Jesus will come to you and help you to celebrate the feast of this renewal, in Solomon's porch, protecting you with His veil and giving you peace from passions. For He Himself will be Solomon, which means "peaceable." Thus, whoever, according to the expression of the prophet (Psalm 90:1), dwells in the shelter of Christ, the Peaceful, Christ Himself celebrates the renewal of his soul, as long as winter, that is, real life, lasts. For the age to come is like spring; then everything will come to life and receive a new existence; then no one can renew the soul; All such things will end with the present century.

My sheep obey my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no man shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Having told them that they were not of His sheep, He now induces them to become His sheep. For this reason He adds, My sheep hear My voice, and they come after Me. Then, inciting them, He also tells what those who follow Him will receive. I, he says, give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and so forth. Of course, by such words He arouses them and inspires them with zeal and a desire to follow Him, since He gives such gifts. "Why, he says, won't they die?" For no man can snatch them out of my hand; for my Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all, and out of his hand no man can snatch them, and therefore out of my hand. For My hand and the Father's hand are one, I and the Father are one, that is, in authority and power. "Hand" refers to power and force. Thus, I and the Father are one in Nature, and in Essence, and in power. Thus the Jews understood that by these words He declared Himself to be of one essence with God, and because He made Himself the Son of God, they seized stones to beat Him. "But another will ask: How did the Lord say that no man shall snatch them out of my Father's hand, when we see that many perish?" To this we can answer that no one can steal from the hand of the Father, but many can deceive. For no one can forcibly and autocratically distract them from the Father, God; but because of deception we stumble every day. How then does He say, "My sheep shall follow Me, and they shall not perish"? And yet we see that Judas died. But he perished because he did not follow Jesus and did not remain a sheep to the end. And the Lord says of His true followers and sheep that they will not perish. If anyone leaves the flock of sheep behind and ceases to follow the Shepherd, he will soon perish, What happened to Judas can be used against the Manichaeans, Judas was a saint and a sheep of God, but he fell behind: he fell away precisely by his own choice and autocracy. This means that evil or good does not exist by nature, but appears and ceases from free will.

Then again the Jews seized stones to beat Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shown you from My Father; for which of them do you stone me? The Jews answered and said to him, "We do not want to stone you for a good deed, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, You are gods' (Psalm 81:6)

The Lord, rebuking them and showing that they have no blessed cause for their fury against Him, but rage in vain, reminds them of the miracles He has performed, and says: I have shown you many good works; for which of them do you stone me? They answer: we want to stone You for blasphemy, for making Yourself God. He does not deny this, does not say that I do not make Myself God, I am not equal to the Father, but confirms their opinion even more. And that He is God, He proves it by what is written in the law. And the Book of David is called the Law, as well as all the Scriptures. His words have the following meaning: if those who have received deification by grace are gods (Psalm 81:6), and this is not blamed on them, then what justice is there when you condemn Me, Who by nature is God, Whom the Father sanctified, that is, appointed to be slaughtered for the world? For that which is set apart by God is called holy. Obviously, when the Father sanctified Me and ordained Me for the salvation of the world, I am not equal to other gods, but I am the true God. But if also those to whom the Word of God came, that is, I, for I am the Word of God, and I, having dwelt in them, granted them sonship, if they are gods, how much more can I call Myself God without any guilt, I, Who by Nature am God, and to others I grant deification. - Let the Arians and Nestorians be ashamed of these words. For Christ is the Son of God and God in Essence and Nature, and not a creature, and gives deification to others, to whom the Word of God was, and is not adored Himself by grace. Obviously, by these words He distinguishes Himself from those adored by grace and shows that He granted them deification, being the Word of God and dwelling in them. For this is signified by the words, "To whom was the Word of God," with whom it was, in whom it dwelt. How then do I blaspheme when I call Myself the Son of God? For although I bear flesh and come from the offspring of David, yet you do not know the mystery that the carnal nature of man could not otherwise accept a conversation with God, except if He appeared to him in the flesh, as under a veil.

If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, then, when you do not believe Me, believe My works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him. Do you, he says, want to know My equality with the Father? You cannot know equality in Essence, because it is impossible to know the Essence of God; but take the equality and identity of deeds as a proof of the identity of force; for works will be for you a testimony of My Divinity. And you'll know and believe that I'm none other than the Father. For, being the Son and differing in Person, I have one and the same Being; in the same way, the Father, being the Father and differing in Person, is nothing other than the Son, of course, in Essence and Nature. Though We differ in Persons, the Persons are inseparable and inseparable, and the Father and the Son dwell in one another unmerged. With us, the father exists separately from the son, although he is one by nature. But in the Divine Persons it is not as with us; but they dwell in one another unmerged. For this reason it is said of us: "three men," for we are separate Persons, and do not actually constitute one; and of the Holy Trinity it is said: "one" God, and not three, because the Persons are inconfluently co-existent with one another. Add to this the identity of will and will.

Then again they sought to seize Him; but He turned away from their hands, and went again beyond the Jordan, to the place where John had baptized before, and remained there. Many came to Him and said that John had not performed any miracle; but all that John said about Him was true. And many there believed in Him. They seek to seize the Lord, unable to bear His lofty testimony about Himself, for they have not endured His excellent theology. But He withdraws, yielding to their wrath, and arranging so that through His departure the passion of their wrath may be subsided. He withdraws against their will, in order to show (as we have said many times) that He would not have been taken to the cross if He had not given Himself up voluntarily. Where does it go? Beyond the Jordan, to the place where John baptized. He did not retire here without purpose, but in order to remind many of what had happened there and what John had said about Him. That His presence there benefited many is evident from the fact that the Evangelist adds: "And many came to Him" and, remembering this place, said: "John did not perform any miracle." Their words have this meaning: if we believed him (John), although he did not perform any miracle, then much more should we believe this (Jesus), since He performed so many miracles. Since John had already testified about Christ, but did not perform any miracle and therefore could be considered unreliable, the Evangelist adds: everything that John said about Him was true. Faith is not given to Jesus by the testimony of John, but to John by the works that Jesus did. Wherefore, he says, many believed there. The word "there" shows that this place brought them much benefit. For this reason Jesus often leads the people out into the wilderness and removes them from the company of evil people, so that there may be more fruit. This, it seems, was what He did in the Old Testament: He brought out of Egypt and in the wilderness He formed and organized the people, giving them the Law. - Note that the removal of Christ is also accomplished in a spiritual sense. He departs from Jerusalem, that is, from the Jewish people, and goes to a place that has springs, that is, to the Church of the Gentiles, which has sources of baptism. And many come to Him, passing through baptism. For "beyond the Jordan" means this, that is, passing through baptism. For no one comes to Jesus and becomes truly faithful except by having passed through baptism, which is signified by the Jordan.