Blessed Theophylact (Archbishop of Bulgaria).

Commentary on the Gospel of John

Preface

The power of the Holy Spirit, as it is written (2 Corinthians 12:9) and as we believe, is made perfect in weakness, in the weakness not only of the body, but also of the mind and eloquence. This is evident from many other things, as well as especially from what grace showed in the great theologian and brother of Christ. His father was a fisherman; John himself was engaged in the same trade as his father; not only did he not receive a Greek and Jewish education, but he was not at all learned, as the divine Luke remarks about him in Acts (4:13). And his fatherland is the poorest and most ignoble, like a place in which they were engaged in fishing, and not in science. He was brought into the world by Bethsaida. Yet see what kind of Spirit this unlearned, ignoble, and in no way remarkable has received. He thundered about what none of the other evangelists taught us. Since they proclaim the Incarnation of Christ, and have not said anything sufficiently clear and evident about His pre-eternal existence, there was a danger that people, attached to earthly things and unable to think of anything lofty, would think that Christ only began His existence when He was born of Mary, and was not born of the Father before the ages. As is well known, Paul of Samosata fell into such a delusion. For this reason the great John announces the heavenly birth, but does not fail to mention the incarnation of the Word. For he says: "And the Word was made flesh" (1:14). - Others say that the Orthodox asked him to write about the heavenly birth, since at that time there were heretics who taught that Jesus was a simple man. It is also said that St. John, having read the writings of the other Evangelists, marveled at the truth of their narration of everything and recognized them as sensible and not saying anything to please the Apostles. However, what they did not clearly say or completely kept silent, he disseminated, clarified and added in his Gospel, which he wrote while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, thirty-two years after the ascension of Christ. - John was loved by the Lord more than all the disciples for his simplicity, meekness, good nature, and purity of heart, or virginity. As a result of this gift, he was entrusted with theology, the enjoyment of the sacraments, invisible to many. For "blessed," it is said, "are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). John was also a relative of the Lord. And how? Listen. Joseph, the betrothed of the Most-Pure Mother of God, had by his first wife seven children, four male and three female, Martha, Esther and Salome; this son of Salome John was the son. Thus, it turns out that the Lord was his uncle. Since Joseph is the father of the Lord, and Salome is the daughter of this Joseph, Salome is the sister of the Lord, and therefore her son John is the nephew of the Lord. - Perhaps it is not inappropriate to make out the names of John's mother and the evangelist himself. The mother, called Salome, means peaceful, and John means her grace. Thus, let every soul know that peace with men and peace from passions in the soul becomes the mother of divine grace and generates it in us. For it is unnatural for the soul, which is indignant and waging a struggle with other people and with itself, to be worthy of divine grace. - We also see another wondrous circumstance in this Evangelist John. Namely, he is the only one, and he has three mothers: his native Salome is thunder, for for the great voice in the Gospel he is the son of thunders (Mark 3:17), and the Mother of God, for it is said: "Behold thy mother" (John 19:27). - Having said this before the explanation, we must now begin to analyze the speeches of John themselves.

Chapter One

In the beginning was the Word. 

What I said in the preface, I will repeat now, namely: while the other Evangelists tell at length about the earthly birth of the Lord, education and growth, John omits these events, since enough has been said about them by his fellow disciples, and speaks of the Divinity Who became man for our sake. However, if you look closely, you will see that just as they did not keep silent about the Divinity of the Only-begotten, but mentioned it, although not extensively, so John, fixing his gaze on the highest word, did not completely ignore the economy of the Incarnation. For one Spirit guided the souls of all. - John tells us about the Son, he also mentions the Father. - He points to the eternity of the Only-begotten when he says: "In the beginning was the Word," that is, it was from the beginning. For that which exists from the beginning, surely has no time when it does not exist. How, some will say, is it seen that the expression "in the beginning was" means the same as from the beginning? From where? Both from the most general understanding, and especially from this evangelist himself. For in one of his epistles (1:1) he says: "Of that which was from the beginning, which we have seen." Do you see how the beloved explains himself? Thus, the inquirer will say; but I understand this "in the beginning" in the same way as in Moses: "in the beginning God created" (Gen. 1:1). Just as the expression "in the beginning" does not give the idea that the heavens are eternal, so here I will not understand the word "in the beginning" as if the Only-begotten were eternal. A heretic will say so. To this insane insistence we will say nothing else but this: Sage of malice! Why did you keep silent about what followed? But we will say this against your will. There Moses says: In the beginning God "created" the heavens and the earth, and here it is said: in the beginning "was" the Word. What do "created" and "was" have in common? If it had been written here also, "In the beginning God created the Son," I would have kept silent; but now, when it is said here, "In the beginning was," I conclude from this that the Word has existed from eternity, and did not come into being afterwards, as you idlely say. Why did John not say, "In the beginning was the Son," but, "The Word"? Listen. This is for the sake of the weakness of the hearers, so that we, having heard about the Son from the very beginning, do not think about a passionate and carnal birth. For this reason I called Him "the Word," so that you might know that just as the Word is born of the mind without passion, so He is born of the Father without passion. Again, He called Him "the Word" because He has made known to us the attributes of the Father, just as every word declares the disposition of the mind; and at the same time in order to show that He is co-existent with the Father. For just as it cannot be said that the mind is sometimes without words, so the Father and God were not without the Son. - John used this phrase because there are many other words of God, for example, prophecies, commandments, as it is said about the angels: "mighty in power, fulfilling His word" (Psalm 102:20), that is, His commandments. But the Word itself is a personal being.

   И Слово было у Бога. 

Здесь евангелист еще яснее показывает, что Сын совечен Отцу. Дабы ты не подумал, что Отец был некогда без Сына, он говорит, что Слово было у Бога, то есть у Бога в недрах отеческих. Ибо предлог "у" ты должен понимать вместо "с", как и в ином месте он употреблен: не братия ли Его и сестра Его в нас суть, то есть с нами живут? (Мк. 6, 3). Так и здесь "у Бога" понимай вместо: был с Богом, вместе с Богом, в Его недрах. Ибо невозможно, чтобы Бог когда-либо был без Слова или премудрости, или силы. Посему мы веруем, что Сын, так как Он есть Слово, премудрость и сила Отца (1 Кор. 1, 24), всегда был у Бога, то есть был современно и совместно с Отцом. И как же, скажешь, Сын не после Отца? Как? Научись от вещественного примера. Сияние солнечное не от самого ли солнца? Так точно. Ужели оно и позднее солнца, так что будто бы можно представить себе время, когда солнце было без сияния? Нельзя. Ибо как оно было бы и солнцем, если бы не имело сияния? Если же так мыслим о солнце, то тем более должны так мыслить об Отце и Сыне. Должно веровать, что Сын, Сый сияние Отца, как говорит Павел (Евр. 1, 3), всегда блистает вместе с Отцом, а не позднее Его. - Заметь также, что этим выражением опровергается и Савеллий ливиянин. Он учил, что Отец, Сын и Дух суть одно лицо и что это единое лицо в одно время являлось как Отец, а в другое как Сын, а в иное как Дух. Так пустословил сын отца лжи, исполненный духа лукавого. Но сими словами: "и Слово было у Бога" он явно обличается. Евангелист здесь самым ясным образом говорит, что иной Слово и иной Бог, то есть Отец. Ибо если Слово было вместе с Богом, то, очевидно, вводятся два лица, хотя у них обоих и одно естество. А что одно естество, слушай.

   И Слово было Бог.