Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there He remained with His disciples. The Passover of the Jews was approaching, and many from all over the country came to Jerusalem before the Passover to be cleansed. Then they were looking for Jesus, and standing in the temple, they said to one another, What do you think? Will He not come to the feast? And the chief priests and the Pharisees commanded that if any man knew where he would be, he would declare that he might take him. The Lord withdraws from the judgment of the Jews not out of fear, but in order to teach us not to go into danger ourselves, even for the sake of piety, but if we are captured, to stand bravely, and if we are not captured, not to voluntarily throw ourselves into danger because of the uncertainty of the end of the matter. See how foolish is the intention of the Jews. Even during the feast they do not refrain from the malice of murder, but have decided to commit murder and ascend for purification. Those who sinned, willingly or unwillingly, did not celebrate the Passover before they were cleansed according to custom through ablution, fasting, circumcision, and the offering of legal sacrifices. And they, the best, who work cleansing, take counsel against the Lord, and say, What do you think? will He not come to the feast?", that is, He will surely fall into our hands, and if nothing else, the very time will bring Him into our nets. What malice! Whereas the open criminals should have been set free for the festival, they are plotting against the Innocent. And if only the common people had done this, their addiction would have seemed to be the work of ignorance, otherwise the Pharisees give orders to announce Him and seize Him. Thus, the Lord decently withdraws from them. For the word of God, proclaimed by the prophets, formerly circulated openly among the Jews, but now it is no more, but has withdrawn into the wilderness – the Church of the Gentiles, of which it is said that the empty woman has far more children than she who has a husband (Isaiah 54:1). Not far away is Ephraim, the wilderness. Ephraim means "fruitfulness", Ephraim was the younger brother; Manasseh is the eldest. Manasseh means "forgetfulness". Thus, the Jewish people were the eldest son of God, for it is said, "My son is the firstborn Israel" (Exodus 4:22), but God forgot him; and Ephraim, that is, the fruit-bearing of the Gentiles, the Lord created the second son. Thus, the Word, having left Judea, went out into the wilderness of Ephraim, the Church of the Gentiles, fertilized by the Gospel.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they prepared a supper for Him, and Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those who sat at table with Him. And Mary, taking a pound of spikenard, pure and precious ointment, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. and the house was filled with the fragrance of myrrh. On the tenth day of the month, a lamb is chosen to be slaughtered on the feast of Passover (Exodus 12:3), and from the same time they begin to prepare everything necessary for the feast. Usually, six days before Easter, that is, on the ninth day of the month, they eat luxurious food and begin the feast on this day. For this reason Jesus also came to Bethany, sharing the supper. The Evangelist, wishing to show the truth of the resurrection of Lazarus, says: "And Lazarus was one of those who sat at table with Him." For when he appeared alive, he did not die immediately, but remained on earth for a long time, eating, drinking, and doing other usual things. By saying that "Martha served," he meant that the food was in her house. Take note, I beg you, of this woman's faith. She did not entrust the service to the maidservants, but performs it herself directly. And Paul speaks of a widow who washed the feet of the saints (1 Tim. 5:10). Thus, Martha herself serves everyone in general, and Mary gives honor only to Christ, because she hearkens to Him not as a man, but as God. For she shed myrrh and wiped her head with her hair, because she had a different conception of Him than others had, not as a mere man, but as Lord and Lord. Mary can also be understood in the highest sense - about the divinity of the Father and Lord of all; for Mary means "lady." Thus, the Father's Divinity, which dominates all things, anointed the feet of Jesus, the flesh of the Lord the Word, which had been taken on in recent times, anointed the Spirit with myrrh, just as David says: "Therefore Thy God has anointed Thee, O God, with the oil of joy" (Psalm 44:8); and the great Peter says: "Know all the house of Israel, that God has made this very Jesus, whom you have crucified, Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). For the Flesh received by the Word, anointed by the divine Spirit who came into the womb of the Virgin, and made the same as the Word, that is, God, filled the world with blessing, just as the myrrh of Mary filled the whole house with fragrance. What is the "hair" with which the feet are wiped? These are, of course, the saints who adorn the head of God and His supreme authority. For they, being to the glory of God, may be called His adornment. They also became partakers of the anointing of the Lord's flesh, as David also calls them "partakers" (Psalm 44:8), and the Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians: "God who strengthens us with you in Christ, and anointed us" (2 Corinthians 1:21). And everywhere we learn that those who live according to Christ are called Christs (anointed ones). Thus, by the hair with which Jesus' feet are wiped and which are partakers of the divine anointing, we can understand Christians. Hair is something dead. And Christians are dead, for they have crucified the flesh (Gal. 5:24) and have put to death the members that are on the earth (Col. 3:3), and have put to death for the world. Hair adorns the head and constitutes its glory. The glory of God is also made up of the saints, since their light shines before men, and the Father is glorified through them (Matt. 5:16), and they eat and drink for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), and in their members they glorify Him. And you, since Jesus has resurrected your mind, as if it were a certain Lazarus, receive Him into the house of your soul; let him who has risen recline with Him; anoint the feet of the Lord, six days before the Passover, before the Passover of the age to come as long as you live in this world made in six days. By the "feet" of Christ can be understood: the Apostle and the Gospel, and the commandments in general, for by them He walks in us. And so, to these commandments add myrrh - a disposition composed of various virtues, of which the highest is faith, ardent as spikenard. For if you do not show a fervent, zealous and virtuous disposition towards these commandments, and do not reject them with mortified limbs, as with hair, and do not receive them into yourself, you will not be able to perfume your house. By the "feet" of the Lord can be understood the lesser brethren, in whose person Christ comes to the doors of each and asks for what is necessary: anoint them with the myrrh of almsgiving. Many give alms for show, and therefore do not benefit themselves, for here they receive a reward (Matt. 6:1-2). And you wipe your head with your hair and receive the benefit for your soul, gather the fruit of alms in the dominant part. And if you have anything dead and soulless, like hair, perfume it with this good anointing. For it is said: "Atone for thy sins with almsgiving" (Dan. 4:24).

Then one of His disciples, Judas Simon Iscariot, who wanted to betray Him, said, "Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and distribute it to the poor?" He said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. (He had a money drawer with him and carried what was put into it.) And Jesus said, Leave her; she has reserved it for the day of my burial. For you always have the poor with you, but not always Me. Judas, being covetous, does not approve of such a way of care. Why, as he says, did you bring not money, from which I could steal, but myrrh? How then does the other Evangelist (Matt. 26:8-9) say that all the disciples said this? To this it must be said that although all said so, the others did not speak with the same thought as Judas. The Lord does not rebuke Judas, although He knows that he said this with the intention of Tatya. For he did not want to shame him, teaching us to tolerate such people for a long time. However, secretly, the Lord reproaches Judas for betrayal and for handing Him over to death out of covetousness. For this reason he also mentions burial, striking his foolish heart, so that he may be reformed, and the addition has the following meaning: "The poor," he says, "you always have with you, but not always Me; a little while, and I will depart, for you have prepared death for me. Therefore, if I am displeasing to you, and the honor that I do is burdensome to you, be patient a little, and you will be delivered from Me; and then it will be revealed whether you care about the sale of peace because of the poor. - If Judas was covetous and a thief, then why did the Lord entrust him with the management of money? For the very reason that he was a thief in order to deprive him of any apology. For he could not say that he had betrayed Him (Jesus) for the love of money. The money-box consoled him, but even when he carried the box, he was not faithful. For he carried away, that is, stole what was put there, and he was a sacrilege, arrogating to himself alms for a holy work. Let the sacrilegers hear what their fate is. The height of evil is that Judas subsequently betrayed Jesus and the Lord. Do you see what covetousness leads to? - to betrayal. Thus, the Apostle Paul appropriately called the love of money the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10), because it betrayed the Lord and always does so. Some say that Judas was entrusted with the custody of money, as the least of the others. For serving about money is less than teaching, as in Acts 6:2 the apostles say: "It is not good for us, leaving the word of God, to take care of tables."

Many of the Jews knew that He was there, and they came not only to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. And the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus also. Because because of him, many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus. Those who came to the Lord were more well-intentioned than others, unconscious and violent; for they came not only for Jesus, but also to see Lazarus. Since a truly great miracle had taken place, many wished to be spectators of the resurrected one, perhaps in the hope of learning something from Lazarus about those who were in hell. The Pharisees are so inhuman that they want to kill not only Jesus, but also Lazarus, because he served as a reason for salvation for many through a miracle performed on him, leading guileless people to faith. In the same way, the beneficence of Jesus became a crime for them. They were especially vexed that, on the occasion of the feast, everyone went to Bethany, learned about the miracle and saw with their own eyes the resurrected one.

On the morrow, a multitude of people who had come to the feast, hearing that Jesus was going to Jerusalem, took palm branches, went out to meet Him, and cried out, Hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, King of Israel! The Lord, having withdrawn for a short time into the wilderness in order to appease the fury of the bloodthirsty, again openly enters Judea and shows Himself before all. At last the time had come to suffer, and He should not have hid Himself, but given Himself up for the salvation of the world. See, then, what was the sequence of suffering. The Lord resurrected Lazarus, preserving by the end this miracle, the most important of all the others; because of this, many flocked to Him and believed. Because many believed, the envy of the enemies increased. This was followed by intrigues against Him and the Cross. The people, hearing that Jesus was coming, met Him with glory, no doubt for the sake of the miracle over Lazarus, giving Him more honor than befitted a common man. For they no longer took Him for a prophet, because to which of the prophets did their fathers give such honor? For this reason they exclaimed: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" for "hosanna" means, "save." Thus this word was translated into Greek by the LXX interpreters in Psalm 117 (v. 25). For in the Hebrew language it reads, "Hosanna," but in the Greek, "O Lord, save!" To save is proper to God alone, and to Him it is said, "Save us, O Lord our God!" Thus, those who cried out to Christ with the words of David show, first, that He is God; then that He is God in the proper sense. For they say, "To come," and not to one who is led. The latter is something slavish, and to go is autocratic. The words "in the name of the Lord" express the same thing, that He is the true God. For they do not say that He comes in the name of a servant, but in the name of the Lord. Again, they imagine that He is not an adversary of God, but has come in the name of the Father, as the Lord Himself says: "I have come in the name of My Father, and another shall come in his name" (John 5:43). They also call Him the King of Israel, perhaps in dreams of a sensual kingdom; for they expected that some king of nature higher than human nature would arise and deliver them from the dominion of the Romans.

And Jesus, having found the colt, sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, O daughter of Zion. Behold, thy King cometh seated on a colt (Zech. 9:9). His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that it was written about Him, and they did it to Him. The other Evangelists say that the Lord said to His disciples: "Loose them, and bring them unto me" (Matt. 1:21:2; Mk. 11:2; Lk. 19:30). And here John doesn't mention any of that, but just says, "Jesus, found a colt." However, there is no disagreement between the evangelists. The others spoke at length, and John said more briefly, "Jesus, having found a colt." When the disciples had untied him and brought him in, Jesus found him and sat down on him. In this circumstance He also fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, who said: "Do not be afraid, O daughter of Zion! behold, thy king cometh unto thee, sitting on a colt" (Zech. 9:9). Since the kings of Jerusalem, for the most part, were unjust and greedy, the prophet says: "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion! The king of whom I predict to you is not like that, but meek and humble-minded, and not in the least proud. This is also evident from the fact that He came sitting on a donkey. For He did not enter accompanied by an army, but came on one donkey. The Lord's sitting on a donkey was also a type of the future. This animal, unclean according to the law, was the image of the unclean people of the Gentiles, on whom Jesus, the Word of God, sits, subduing this rebellious and coarse, like an ass, new people, whom He leads up to the true Jerusalem after it has become tame and obedient to Him. For did not the Lord raise up to heaven those pagans who became His people and submitted to the preaching of the Gospel? - Palm trees, perhaps, meant that He, having resurrected Lazarus, became the conqueror of death; for the palm was given in battles to the victors. Perhaps they also expressed the fact that the one who is glorified is a heavenly Being who has come from above. For the palm tree of other trees alone reaches, so to speak, the very sky, puts out leaves at a height, has white kernels in the leaf, but in the trunk and middle, up to the top, it is rough and inconvenient to climb it, because it has thorns on the branches. In the same way, he who strives for the knowledge of the Son and the Word of God will find it not easy, but difficult, ascending through the labors of virtue, but, having reached the height of knowledge, he will be illumined by the bright light of the knowledge of God and the revelation of ineffable mysteries, as if by the whitest kernels of a palm tree. I beseech thee, marvel at the Evangelist, how he is not ashamed, but openly speaks of the former ignorance of the Apostles. The disciples, he says, did not understand this at first, but then they understood how Jesus was glorified. By glory he means the ascension that followed suffering and death. Then, no doubt, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, they knew that it was written about Him. That it was written, they may have known, but that what was written pertained to Jesus was hidden from them, and not without benefit. Otherwise they would have been tempted by His crucifixion, when He Whom the Scriptures call King suffers in this way.

The people who had been with Him before testified that He had summoned Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. That is why the people met Him, for they heard that He had performed this miracle. And the Pharisees said among themselves, "Do you see that you do not succeed in anything?" the whole world follows Him. The people who saw the miracle of Lazarus testified and preached about the power of Jesus. For this reason those who heard about the performance of this miracle, that is, believed, met Him with glory; if they had not believed, they would not have changed so quickly. The Pharisees saying, "You see, you have no time for nothing"

Therefore, having no success, leave your shackles and do not sin in vain.

Of those who came to worship on the feast were some Greeks; they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and besought him, saying, "Lord! we want to see Jesus. Philip goes and tells Andrew about it; and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus about it. And Jesus answered and said unto them, The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Verily, verily, I say to you, if a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will bear much fruit. Because of the beauty of the temple and the miracles handed down by the Jews, many of the Greeks also came to worship. They were close to becoming strangers, that is, to accept Judaism. When word of Jesus reached them, they approached Philip and asked him to give them the opportunity to see Jesus. Philip, in humility and decency, speaks to Andrew as if he were higher than himself. Andrew does not take up the report, does not decide it by himself, but, taking Philip with him, dares to report to Jesus (such good order and mutual love prevailed between them). What about the Lord? Since He had commanded His disciples not to go on the way to the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5), and now He saw that the Gentiles themselves were already coming to Him (for the Greeks who wanted to see Him were undoubtedly pagans), and the Jews were building His snares, He said: "It is time at last to go to suffering, for the time of the Cross has come, that the Son of Man may be glorified." What is the use of not receiving the Gentiles who come to us, and of imposing oneself on the Jews who hate and persecute? And so, since the Gentiles come to us, now is the time to be crucified. Therefore, I will allow the Jews to finish their schemes and allow them to crucify Me, so that they will later be crucified without any excuse, since I will graciously leave them as crucifiers and murderers and turn to the Gentiles who have already begun to come to My teaching. For it would be very unjust to give nothing to the Gentiles, who thirst for the word and salvation, and to give abundantly to the Jews, who trample on what is given to them and plot evil against the Benefactor. Then, so that the disciples would not be offended by the fact that He was dying when the Gentiles also began to come, He said: "This very thing, that is, My death, will increase the faith of the Gentiles even more." For as a grain of wheat bears much fruit when it is sown and dies, so my death will bear much fruit for the faith of the Gentiles. Therefore, let no one be offended, because My death does not hinder the joining of the Gentiles, but let him be convinced by the example of the seed that My fall in My death will increase the number of believers. For if this is the case with the grain, how much more will it be with Me. For, having died and risen again, through the resurrection I will manifest My power even more, and then all will believe in Me as God.

He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his soul in this world will preserve it to eternal life. Whosoever serves me, let him follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be; and whosoever serves me, my Father will honour him. Since the Lord was close to suffering and knew that the disciples would be filled with sorrow, therefore He says: "You should not grieve in the least for My death." For if you yourself do not die, it will be of no use to you. And in general, any person who loves the present life and loves his soul, that is, fulfills its inappropriate desires, when he pleases it more than he should, and does not despise death, will destroy it. And whoever hates it, that is, does not serve it and does not bow down before it, will preserve it unto eternal life. Wishing to show how severe an aversion one should have to the lusts of the soul, He said, "Who hates?" We can neither see the faces nor hear the voices of those whom we hate: we must treat the irrational desires of the soul in the same way, that is, hate them with complete hatred. With the words: "Whoever hates his soul "in this world" shows the temporality of the matter. This commandment seemed murderous and inconsistent with the love of life. He softened it by adding: "in this world." I, he says, do not always command to hate the soul; but "in this unfaithful world" turn away from it, when it enjoins you to "do unlike" (Romans 1:28). He also adds benefit: "He will preserve it unto eternal life"; you will hate it for a time, but you will keep it alive forever for divine life. Wishing to persuade them still more to despise the present life and encourage them against death, he says: "Whosoever serves Me, let him follow Me," let him be ready for death as I am. Then He offers consolation: "Where I am, there will My servant be." Where is Christ? In heaven. For the heavenly and the earthly are opposed to each other. Whoever loves to be on earth will not be in heaven, and whoever avoids earthly things and this world will be high in heaven. "Whosoever serves me, my Father will honor him." He did not say, "I will mail him," but, "Father." This shows His affinity with Him. For the true Father will honor him as a servant of His true Son. At the same time, this shows that He is not an adversary of God. For God the Father would not honor a servant who opposes Him. Therefore, let us not set the love of our soul in keeping it from dangers for the truth's sake, and not wishing to suffer evil for good; but if we are servants of Christ, we give it up in danger for the truth, and will undoubtedly be in the same condition as Christ is now; I do not speak in divine dignity, for He is God by nature, but in that with which human nature can be adorned; for He is God by nature, and we are gods by adoption and by grace.

My soul is now troubled; and what shall I say? Father! deliver me from this hour! But at this hour I have come. Father! glorify Thy name. Then came a voice from heaven: I have glorified, and I will glorify again. What is He saying? He seems to contradict himself. Above, it seems, He prepared others for death and persuaded them to hate the soul, but now, near death, He is indignant. This is not fitting for one who exhorts to death, but averts from it. But if you examine carefully, you will find that His very indignation is an exhortation to contempt for death. Lest anyone think of saying that it is easy for Him to be so inquisitive about death and to persuade others to endure misfortunes, when He Himself is beyond human suffering and beyond danger, He shows that He Himself has experienced what is proper to people and is a partaker of our nature, although without sin. Therefore, although He, as a Man who loves life by nature, does not desire death and is indignant, yet He does not renounce it, since it is needed for the salvation of the world. For this reason, he says, at this hour I have come, to receive death for all. This clearly teaches us that we, too, even if we are indignant, even if we grieve, yet we do not escape death for the truth. And I, he says, am indignant, for I am truly a man, and I allow human nature to reveal what is proper to it, yet I do not tell the Father that He should deliver Me from this hour; but what am I saying? "Father! glorify Thy name," that is, please Me to accept the cross and death for the salvation of all. Behold, He called death for the truth the glory of God. For this reason the Father also says: "I have glorified, and I will glorify again"; glorified by those miracles which Thou didst perform in My name before the Cross; "and I will glorify again," having performed miracles through Thee on the Cross itself; and after the burial I will make My name and Thee more glorious, by raising Thee up and sending down the Spirit.

The people who stood and heard it said, "This is thunder." And others said, "The angel spoke to him." Jesus answered, "This voice was not for me, but for the people." Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me. This He said, giving us to understand by what death He would die. Since so many were coarse and ignorant, they took the voice for thunder, although this voice was articulate and very clear. For they soon forgot the words of the voice, retaining only its echo. Others remembered the very words of the voice: "And I have glorified, and I will glorify again," however, not understanding what meaning of these words they thought that the angel spoke to Him, and these words, as if spoken by an angel, were incomprehensible to them. But Jesus says, "This voice was not for me, but for you." I had no need of teaching that the Father had glorified and would glorify His name. And you had to be taught that I am not an adversary of God, but act for the glory of the name of God. For if the name of God be glorified through me, how can I be an adversary of God? Therefore this voice was for you, that you might know that I am working for the glory of God, and if you cannot know for yourselves, you would know by questioning what you do not know. The words, "Now is the judgment of this world," seem to have no connection with the previous one. For what is their relation to the words: "I have glorified, and I will glorify again"? But there is no doubt that there is a connection. Since the Father from above said: "I will glorify," the Lord shows us the way to glorify. What exactly? That the prince of this world will be cast out and defeated, and for peace there will be judgment, that is, vengeance. These words have the following meaning: now is the judgment and vengeance for this world being carried out. Since the devil has put this world to death, making all men guilty of sin, but having attacked Me and found no sin in Me, he has brought Me under death on an equal footing with others, he will be condemned by Me, and thus I will avenge the world. Let him put death on the rest for sin; but what has he found in me like the rest, that he may put me to death? And so, now I am carrying out the judgment of this world, that is, vengeance for it. For having slain him who slew all, and then attacked Me, the innocent, I will avenge all those whom he slayed, and the cruel ruler (tyrant) condemned by My death will be cast out. The expression "cast out" is used in comparison with the way convicts are pushed out of the court of justice in judicial places. "He will be cast out" – it can also be understood that he will be cast out into outer darkness. He will lose his dominion over men, and will not reign as before in them, and in their souls, and in their mortal body, but I will draw all to Myself when I am lifted up to the cross. For all, even among the Gentiles, will be drawn to faith in me. Since they themselves cannot come to Me, restrained by this ruler, I, having defeated him, sent him out, and cut off the threads of his dominion over men, will draw them also against his will. He called this in another place a theft: "No one," he says, "can plunder the things of the strong, except he first bind the strong" (Mark 3:27). When "I shall be lifted up," He said this, giving to understand by what death He would die, that is, He would be crucified, for this signifies the height of the Cross.

The people answered him, "We have heard from the law that Christ abides forever; how then do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said to them, "Yet a little while the light is with you; walk while there is light, so that darkness does not overtake you, and he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. As long as the light is with you, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light. Thinking to rebuke the Lord and make it difficult for Him as the untrue Christ, they say: if Christ is immortal, and You say of Yourself that You will die, how can we believe that You are truly the Christ? They spoke so maliciously. For the Scriptures, which they call the Law, mention not only the resurrection, but also suffering. Thus, Isaiah points to both: to suffering and death, when he says: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter"; on the resurrection, when he says: "The Lord wants to cleanse Him from the plague and show Him with light" (Isaiah 53:11), David also mentions death and resurrection together. For He says: "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell" (Psalm 15:10). Likewise, the patriarch, blessing Judas, prophesies about Christ: "He lay down, fell asleep like a lion, and like a lion's cub: who will wake Him?" (Gen. 49:9). Therefore, rejecting the sufferings of Christ and attributing the resurrection to Him, they did so maliciously. We know from the Law, that is, from the Scriptures (for the Law, as we have often observed, is the name of all Scripture), that Christ endures for ever. "Rightly you know this, for He abides forever and, as God, abides even after the resurrection. But how did you not learn of suffering, when the same Scriptures, as we have shown, teach both together? How, they say, do you say that the Son of Man must be "lifted up"? Do you see, they understood much from the Lord's flowing speeches, for example, they understood that by the words: "to be lifted up" He was speaking about the Cross? Yes, they really understood a lot, but out of their evil will they hid behind ignorance. Notice what they say. How do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Their speech is full of malice. They say as it were: although we do not know of whom you speak, and who the Son of man is, yet we clearly understand the truth that whoever is exalted, whoever he is, is not the Christ; it is incompatible; for the Scriptures say that Christ is immortal. What about the Lord? Shutting their mouths and showing that His sufferings do not in the least hinder Him from abiding forever, He says: "There is still a little time of Light in you." He called Himself Light. As the light of the sun does not disappear at all, but is hidden and shines again, so My death is not corruption, but the west and repose, and through the resurrection I will shine again. And since suffering does not in the least hinder Me from being eternal, and the Scriptures testify of Christ that He is eternal, then I am truly the Christ, although I will endure suffering. For I am the Light; I will go in and come up again. So, while the Light is with you, walk, that is, believe in Me. What time is He talking about here? He speaks of the time before suffering, or of the time after suffering, or of both Places. Therefore, he says, walk and believe in me, both before my crucifixion and after it. He points to this with the words: "As long as the Light is with you," that is, as long as you can believe in Me; but you can believe in Me, who am the Light, both before and after sufferings. But he who walks in unbelief does not know where he is going. For whatever the Jews are doing now, they do not know what they are doing, but walk as it were in darkness; they think that they are on the straight path, but everything is the opposite for them, when they observe the Sabbath and circumcision. But not so do those who believe. They walk in the light, doing all things that pertain to salvation. For they escaped the shadow of the law and the darkness of divination, and came to the light which was hidden in them, but which now shone forth, and became sons of Light, that is, of Christ. "That ye may be," he says, "sons of Light," that is, My sons. Although the Evangelist at the beginning of the Gospel says that some are born of God (1:13), here he calls them sons of Light, that is, of Christ. Let Arius and Eunomius be ashamed. For here also it is shown that the Father and the Son have one action.