LUKE

HERE begins the discussion of the Gospel according to Luke. The whole Gospel of Matthew, however, contains everything, because the other Gospels have also spoken of the one Lord (...) can be understood.

^*Incipit tractatus evangelii secundum Lucanum. Totum autem evangelium ²⁷⁰⁵ Mathei omnia continet, quia unum dominum dixerunt etiam cetera evangelia (...) intellegi possunt.

L. praef. Luke, observing the rule of the Law, begins his explanation from the priesthood of Zechariah. Because this Gospel contains the reason for the two kingdoms, Judea and Israel, which were created after the death of Solomon,⁵⁰³ he makes mention of the two sons when the prodigal younger one returns and the father ^[2710] sacrifices a calf in his joy.⁵⁰⁴ He also mentions the tax collector and Pharisee praying in the Temple,⁵⁰⁵ and the request of one of the two crucified robbers, who is told: Amen I say to you that you will be with me today in Paradise.⁵⁰⁶ It is appropriate, therefore, that the tax collector is made righteous; it is also appropriate that the prodigal younger son who has used up everything is received with rejoicing.⁵⁰⁷ But Luke observes the rule of the Law with regard to the seventy-two who were sent out before his face,⁵⁰⁸ and the twelve apostles the seventy palm trees and the twelve springs in Elim5⁰⁹ But in addition, the circumcision in the flesh on the eighth day after the Lord was born and the sacrifice for the first-born is most evidently demonstrated

 ^{L. praef.} Luca(nu)s ^*regulam tenens legis incipit exponere a sacerdotio Zachariae. Et quia de duo(bus) ^*regnis, quae post mortem facta sunt Solomonis, Iudea et Israhel, inest ratio, facit mentionem duorum filiorum redeunte iuniore prodigo et (patris) pro ²⁷¹⁰ gaudio vitulum inmolari faci(en)t(is), etiam publicani et Farisei in templo orantium, et de duobus (latronibus crucibus) adfixis ^*uno rogante[m], cui dicitur: Amen dico tibi, quia mecum eris hodie in paradiso. Merito igitur iustificatur publicanus, merito et prodigus filius iunior post †peracta omnia† cum gratulatione suscipitur. Legis autem regulam Luca(nu)m tenere de LXXII ante faciem praemissis et XII apostolis (...) LXX arbores palmarum (et) XII fontes in Elim, sed et ^*iuxta carnem nato domino ²⁷¹⁵ octavi d(i)ei circumcisionem et sacrificium pro aperiente vulvam manifestissime demonstratur.

.⁵¹⁰ He also goes back through the genealogy upwards, beginning with the Saviour,⁵¹¹ making evident the Ascension. The Gospel according to Luke is therefore the face of a calf, because it is the instruction of the Law.

Generationem etiam a salvatore susum recurrit ascensionem mani-festans. Est ergo evangelium secundum Lucan(um) facies vituli, quod est disciplina legis.

L. I. [Luke 2:1-12] But it happened in those days that a decree went out from the Emperor Augustus that the whole globe should be registered. This first registration took place under Quirinius, the governor of Syria.⁵¹² Joseph too went up at this time in order to be registered. When Quirinius was governor, which means dominator. The registration could not therefore have taken place at any other time except when Christ was born in the flesh, by whom we will all be assessed. We should admit our sins to him, as John entreats and says: Who showed you to flee from the coming wrath? So, produce fruit worthy of repentance.⁵¹³ That Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a cradle showed that people would come from all the Gentiles (meaning from the most dreadful behaviour), because the swaddling-clothes are (...) and surround the body of Christ, meaning that the Church would be made from them. The cradle signifies the character of the elders, because they satisfy with their teachings those who come: this is from the character of the Church. Next, in an inn (...) for the inn is the synagogue. So just as an inn and a stable have an entrance and an exit, it thus shows that the Saviour was indeed born in the synagogue but went out from there and is now in the Church, of whose body he is the head.

^{Lc. 2,} [capitolo] I. Factum est autem in diebus illis exivit edictum a Caesare Augusto, ut ^{2720 1–12} profiteretur universus orbis terrae. ^*Haec professio prima facta est sub praeside Syriae ^*Cyrino. Quo tempore ascendit et Ioseph, ut profiteretur. Cyrino praeside, id est ^82r dominatore; nec in alio igitur tempore fieri professio poterat, nisi quo Christus nasceretur iuxta carnem, cui omnes ^*censendi eramus. Debemus ei profiteri peccata nostra orante Iohanne et dicente Quis ostendit vobis fugere ab ira ventura? Facite ergo ²⁷²⁵ fructum dignum paenitentiae. Quod autem pannis involvitur et in presepio ponitur, ostendebat ex omnibus gentibus, id est ex conversatione pessima, venientes, quod sunt panni (...) et corpori Christi circumdari, id est ex ipsis ecclesiam fieri. Presepium autem maiorum personam significat, quod doctrinis suis saturant venientes: Quod est ex persona ecclesiae. Denique in diversorio (...) diversorium etenim synagoga est. ²⁷³⁰ Sicut ergo diversorium et stabulum habet introitum et exitum, sic ostendit salvatorem natum quidem esse in synagoga, sed inde exisse et esse nunc in ecclesia, cuius corporis caput est.

L. II. [Luke 2:34-35] And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold, he is set for the ruin, meaning for the unbelievers: whoever has not come to belief will suffer ruin. Who are these but the Jews, to whom the prophets (...) about him, and had always written? For this reason, Simeon too soon recognised Christ and, as a believer, blessed the Lord. And for the resurrection of many: whoever believes, then, just as Simeon believed, will without doubt be in the resurrection. And as a sign which speaks against: this is what was said to the apostles by the Jews, who denied that he had risen again. And a sword will pass through your own soul: even though Mary perished by the sword, this still showed in her figure that the Church would be persecuted by the sword after the Passion of Christ. He therefore said: And a sword will pass through your own soul, meaning the Church, of which Mary is a type. Just as the Virgin Mary bore Christ, so too the Church (which is a fruitful virgin) each day produces a people for God through rebirth by water and the Holy Spirit.

II.            [inter caetera quae supra sunt] Et benedixit illos Simeon et dixit ad Mariam ^{Lc. 2, 2735} matrem eius: Ecce hic positus est in ruinam, id est incredulis: Qui non crediderint, ^34sq. ruinam patientur. Qui nisi Iudei, ad quos de ipso prophetae (...) et semper scrip-serant? Idcirco et Simeon mox agnovit Christum (et) benedixit dominum credens. Et resurrectionem multorum: Qui ergo credit, sicut credidit Simeon, sine dubio in ^82v resurrectione erit. Et in signum contradicente: Quod apostolis dictum est a Iudeis ²⁷⁴⁰ neganti(bus e)um resurrexisse. Et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius: Licet Maria gladio sit perempta, tamen in figura eius ostendebat futuram ecclesiae perse-cutionem gladii post passionem Christi; ideo dixit Et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius, id est ecclesiae, cuius typum gerebat Maria. Sicuti ergo virgo Maria genuit Christum, ita et ecclesia, quae est virgo fecunda, cottidie populum per regenera-²⁷⁴⁵ tionem aquae (et per) spiritum sanctum deo procreat.

L. III. [Luke 3:7] So he began to say to the crowds which were going out to be baptised in his presence: Offspring of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath? So John criticised the children of Israel and said: Offspring of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath? And the Lord himself had said to them as follows: You are from your father the devil.⁵¹⁴ So the charge of being offspring of vipers is not made against the Jews without cause:

III.               Dicebat ergo ad turbas, quae exiebant, ut baptizarentur coram ipso: Generatio ^{Lc. 3,7} viperarum, quis ostendit vobis fugere ab ira ventura? Increpabat ergo Iohannis filios Israhel et dicebat: Generatio viperarum, quis vobis ostendit fugere ab ira ventura? Et ipse dominus sic dixerat ad illos: Vos de patre zabulo estis. Viperarum ergo generatio²⁷⁵⁰ non sine causa Iudeis inputatur; non enim fieri potest, nisi sit aliqua ratio.

it could not happen unless there were some reason for it. A female viper, therefore, when she conceives, drags the mouth of the male inside her with her own mouth: when she has climaxed and her lust has been sated, she kills the male and conceives. Once she has conceived, her children come out through her side, almost as if avenging their father, just as Peter was told: Everyone who strikes with the sword will die by the sword ⁵¹⁵ So everyone receives what they have done in return. The viper is the synagogue: it killed Christ, and later was deserted by its children, meaning that they put it to death. So the viper has this likeness. And because it has the most dreadful and incurable poison, so the children of the synagogue are said to have the poison of asps on their lips.⁵¹⁶

Vipera igitur, cum concipit, rostro suo masculi rostrum intrinsecus trahit; et cum ultimum illud egerit, occidit masculum et saturata libidine concipit. Et cum conceperit, per latera eius exeunt filii velut vindicantes patrem, sicuti dictum est Petro: Omnis, qui gladio percusserit, gladio peribit. Et ipse ergo recipit reciprocum, quod fecit. Vipera synagoga est: Occidit Christum; hanc postmodum deseruerunt filii, id est inter- ²⁷⁵⁵ fecerunt. Vipera ergo hanc habet similitudinem. Et quia venenum pessimum habet (et) insanabile, sic synagogae filii dicuntur venenum aspidum in labiis habere. ^83r

L. IIII. [Luke 3:8-9] But already the axe has been placed at the roots of the trees. The axe signifies the authority of the word; a tree is sometimes put for a kingdom or for a person. So he says that those people are cut out who do not produce worthy fruit of repentance.

I.c. 3, IIII. Iam autem securis ad radices arborum posita est. Securem potestatem verbi 8sq. significat, arborem nonnumquam regnum ponit ^*aut hominem ponit. Excidi ergo dicit homines, qui non egerint dignum fructum paenitentiae. 2760

L. V. [Luke 3:15-16] But as the people thought about John and everyone pondered in their hearts whether perhaps he was the Christ, he denied it and said: Someone stronger than me will come, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. But concerning sandals it is written in the Law that, if a brother dies and does not leave offspring, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring in the name of the dead man: if he refused to approach her, then his sandals were removed in the sight of everyone and it was called: The house of one without sandals5¹⁷ However, even if someone takes the wife of a brother or a relative, no-one is found to have produced offspring in the name of the dead man and called them by his name, for this is reserved for the one in whose name offspring should be produced and be called by his name5¹⁸ Therefore the apostles, Peter and the rest, as if they were one man, received the Church after the Passion of the Lord and raised up a child in the name of the one who had died. For it was in Antioch at first that the disciples were called Christians:⁵¹⁹ so it happened that the child in the name of the dead man was called Christian, after his very name.

I.c. 3, V. Existimante autem populo et cogitantibus omnibus in cordibus suis de Iohanne, 15sq. ne forte ipse esset Christus, negavit et dixit: Veniet fortior me; cuius non sum dignus calciamenta portare. De calciamentis autem scriptum est in lege, ut, si frater de-cesserit et non reli[n]querit semen, frater eius accipiat uxorem ipsius et resuscitet semen in nomine defuncti; quod si noluisset proximare, tunc in conspectu omnium 2765 excalciabatur et dicebatur: Domus excalciati. Tamen etiam si quis accipit fratris aut proximi uxorem, nullus in nomine defuncti invenitur suscitasse (semen) vel eius nomine vocitasse, quia (ei res) servabatur, (in) cuius nomine deberet suscitari semen et eius nomine vocitari. Apostoli igitur Petrus et ceteri quasi (unus) vir post passionem domini acceperunt ecclesiam et suscitaverunt filium in nomine defuncti. 2770 Nam Antiochiae primum discipuli dicti sunt ‘Christiani’: Contigit ergo, ut in nomine defuncti filius eiusdem nominis vocaretur Christianus.

L. VI. [Luke 4:13] And once every temptation was finished, meaning overcome, the devil, beaten and overthrown, went away from him until the right time. This plainly means the time of the Passion, when the devil was able to to send himself in the heart of Judas to hand the Lord over to the Jews5²⁰

I.c. 4,13 VI. Et consummata omni temptatione, hoc est peracta, victus et prostratus recessit ab eo zabulus usque ad tempus. Tempus scilicet passionis dicit, quo tempore ^83v se zabulus in corde Iudae habebat mittere ad tradendum dominum Iudeis. ²⁷⁷⁵

L. VII. [Luke 4:38-39] But arising from the synagogue he entered into the house of Simon and Andrew. But Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of great fevers. He sets free Peter’s mother-in-law, who was burning with fevers. This shows that the Lord, who can heal all illnesses, is there to be asked. Spiritually, the mother-in-law of Peter is the synagogue: therefore, those who believe from the synagogue become like Peter’s women, meaning wives, since he himself is sent to spread the Gospel and cleanse from sins, which are easily understood as fevers. Believers, then, are holy and serve: this means those from the Jews, whose likeness is borne by Peter’s mother-in-law. When she was freed from the fever, she got up and began to serve them.

I.c. 4, VII. Surgens autem de synagoga intravit in domum Simonis et Andreae. Socrus 38sq. autem Simonis tenebatur magnis febribus. Socrum Petri febribus accensam liberat. Ostendit dominum rogari, qui potest omnes valitudines sanare. Spiritaliter socrus Petri synagoga: Ex synagoga igitur credentes facti sunt quasi mulieres Petri, id est ²⁷⁸⁰ uxores, siquidem ipse missus est, ut evangelizaret et a peccatis abstergeret, quod febris facile intellegitur. Credentes ergo sancti sunt et ministrant, id est ex Iudeis, quorum similitudinem gestaba[n]t socrus Petri. Quae, ut remissa est a ^*febri, surrexit et ministrabat illis.

L. VIII. [Luke 4:40-41] But when the sun had set, everyone who had weak people with various sicknesses led them to him and so on. Christ is called the sun. When it had set: this certainly shows his Passion. As many as were able to come to the Church in the grip of various sicknesses (meaning those bound by the diverse injuries of sin) were healed. Putting his hand on each, he healed them: a hand stands for a multitude or for authority. Here, however, it means authority: when the apostles received this, they cured and healed those who came to belief. Demons cried out and left the people. Isaiah had said that this would take place: He will put his hand into the holes of asps,⁵²¹ meaning on those people who are beset by evil spirits (plainly by demons). He drove them out as they cried, appropriately, because they were being tortured5²² Finally, recognising his authority, they acknowledged that he was the Christ.

VIII.            Cum sol autem occidisset, omnes, qui habebant infirmos variis languoribus, ^{Lc. 4, 2785} ducebant illos ad eum et cetera. Sol Christus dicitur. Cum occidisset: Utique pas- ^40sq. sionem eius ostendit. ^*Quotquot venire ad ecclesiam potuerunt variis languoribus adprehensi, id est diversis peccatorum calamitatibus obligati, sanabantur. Inponens unicuique manum sanabat eos: Manus autem multitudo est aut potestas. Hic tamen potestas dicitur; quam accipientes apostoli venientes ad credulitatem curabant ²⁷⁹⁰ atque sanabant. Daemonia clamantia exiebant ab hominibus. Dixerat Eseias ista futura: Mittet manum in foramina aspidum, id est in his hominibus, qui a spiritibus malis, a daemoniis scilicet, obsidebantur. Ea †excutiens† merito clamantia, quia ex-^84r torquebantur. Denique agnoscentes potentiam eius confitebantur eum esse Christum.

L. VIIII. [Luke 5:1-4] But it came to pass that the crowds surged towards him to hear the word of God. And he was standing beside the pool of Gennesaret⁵²³ and he saw two boats standing and so on. Jesus climbed into one boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out some distance from the land. The two boats show two congregations of peoples, one from the Jews and the other from the Gentiles, which are the two callings. Then, he climbs into the boat belonging to Simon, whom he made the leader of preaching and sent to the circumcised. Put out some distance from the land means that, at the beginning, he began to speak not in a profound way but so that those who still remained in earthly behaviour could understand.

Factum est autem, cum turbae inruerent in eum, ut audirent verbum dei. Et ^{Lc. 5, 2795} ipse stabat secus stagnum Genesar et vidit duas naves stare et cetera. Iesus ascendit ^1–4 in unam navem Simonis rogavitque, ut aliquantum duceret a terra. Duas naves duas congregationes ostendit populorum, unam ex Iudeis et aliam ex gentibus, quae sunt duae vocationes. Denique in Simonis navem ascendit, quem principem fecit praedi-cationis et ad circumcisionem ^*misit. Duc aliquantum a terra, id est non profunde ²⁸⁰⁰ loqui principio coepit, sed quod intellegere possent adhuc in terrena conversatione morantes.

Even if he told some parables, he explained them. But later, once he has already raised the souls of his audience from earthly behaviour, he said Put out into the deep: this means that he began to make deeper and more profound mysteries evident. Let down your nets for a catch, plainly after they had received preaching. For nets means the preaching of the word; in the sea means in the world; for a catch of fish, plainly of people. Through preaching, he was to lead them to belief from the depths of the sea as if from the abyss, plainly from the furthest darkness, and to bring them to salvation.

Etiam si quas dicebat parabolas, disserebat eas. Postea vero, adubi iam a terrena conversatione suspendit animos audientium, ait Duc in altum, id est altiora et profundiora mysteria manifestare coepit. Laxa retia tua in captura, accepta scilicet praedicatione. Retia enim praedicatio verbi est; in mari, in saeculo; in captura piscium, hominum scilicet, quos per praedicationem adduceret et ad credulitatem 2805 de profundo maris quasi de abysso, de ultimo scilicet tenebrarum, inponeret ad salutem.

L. X. [Luke 5:5-6] And Simon said to him in reply: Teacher, struggling through the whole night we have caught nothing, yet at your word I will let down my nets. Through the whole night, because it was truly night and ^[2810] darkness, and the minds of all were blinded. Yet at your word I will let down the nets, meaning `I will obey your command’. And he sent out the net and caught a multitude of fish, which is those who crowd together from all the races. Through the apostolic preaching, a multitude came to belief after the Passion of the Saviour. The nets were breaking: he showed that there would also be heretics, who would tear apart true preaching for their own wish and think up new teachings for themselves, as if they had fallen back in the world. For it is necessary that whoever is not inside the net must return into the sea. This also shows that people were inside the Church and, having broken the preaching, left: they had become heretics, clearly, and they were bound up in worldly activities, as if they had retreated to the world from the Church.

I.c. 5, X. Et respondens Simon dixit illi: Praeceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil 5sq. cepimus, sed in verbo tuo laxabo retia mea. Per totam noctem, quia vere nox erat et tenebrae, et omnium mentes erant caecatae. Sed in verbo tuo laxabo retia, id est 2810 ‘Obaudiam imperio tuo’. Et misit retem et cepit multitudinem piscium, hoc est ex 84v omnibus gentibus confluentes. Per praedicationem apostolicam multitudo credidit post passionem salvatoris. Retia rumpebatur: Ostendebat etiam hereticos futuros, qui praedicationem veram scinderent ad suam voluntatem et quasi in saeculo relapsi doctrinas novas sibi excogitarent. Quicumque enim intra retiam non est, necesse est, 2815 ut in mare redeat. Ostendit etiam homines intra ecclesiam fuisse et rupta praedica-tione abscessisse, hereticos videlicet effectos, et esse saecularibus actibus inplicatos, quasi qui in saeculum de ecclesia recederent.

L. XI. [Luke 5:7] And they filled both boats so full that they were sinking. The fact that the two boats were filled with a multitude of fish, so full that they were sinking, shows the reason for the two callings. So full that they were sinking: for to sink is nothing other than to be baptised. Such, indeed, is the custom and the instruction of the Church that the children of God who come to it are spiritually renewed through the rebirth of water. This, then, is the meaning of so full that they were sinking, that they were baptised. Because Jesus was there on the boat, we should, of necessity, understand that Jesus, ^[2825] our Saviour, is always in the ship (meaning the Church). So, in his name all who come to the Church are baptised.

I.c. 5,7 XI. Et inpleverunt ambas naviculas ita, ut mergerentur. Repletas autem duas naves piscium multitudine ita, ut mergerentur, duarum ostendit vocationum ra- 2820 tionem. Ita, ut mergerentur: Mergi enim non aliud est quam baptizari. Mos etenim ac disciplina ecclesiae talis est, ut venientes ad se, qui filii dei sunt, per aquae regene-rationem spiritaliter renascantur. Hoc est ergo Ita, ut mergerentur, id est ut bapti-zarentur. Quia ibi erat Iesus in navi, necessario intellegere debemus, quod Iesus, id ²⁸²⁵ est salvator noster, semper in navi est, hoc est in ecclesia. In eius ergo nomine omnes ad ecclesiam venientes baptizari.

L. XII. [Luke 5:8-10] When Simon saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. He implores him and says: Go away from me, Lord. Go away from me, Lord is not to be understood as it stands: instead, Peter judges himself unworthy to submit to Jesus’ wonders. Seeking pardon for his sins, he says that he is not worthy of such preaching that he should be sent. Moses, too, also did this, saying I am not worthy of being sent to your people, the children of Israel.⁵²⁴ That is what Solomon also says: The righteous at the beginning of their prayer are their own accusers5²⁵ So, then, Peter too says that he is not worthy. Those are found all the more worthy who judge themselves unworthy.

XII. Quod cum videret Simon, procidit ad genua[m] Iesu[m]. Rogat et ait: Exi a me, ^{Lc. 5,} domine. Non sic intellegendum Exi a me, domine, sed (ob)sequi mirabilibus eius in- ^8–10 dignum se iudicat. Ideo veniam petens ^*peccatorum suorum [et] dicit non se esse ²⁸³⁰ dignum tantae praedicationis, qui mittatur. Hoc etiam et Moyses ^*fecit dicens Non sum dignus, quem mittas ad populum tuum filios Israhel. Illud est, quod et Solomon ^85r dicit: Iustus in principio orationis suae accusator est sui. Ideo ergo et Petrus dicit se non esse dignum.

He says: Because I am a sinful human. But he was seized by wonder at the catch of fish: so, while ^[2835] he was wondering, he is chosen for that preaching. He says to him: Do not be afraid. From now you will be giving life to people. The one who formerly caught fish in the sea is chosen as a fisherman. He is sent out into the world with preaching, and he begins to fish for humans: plainly, this is to pull them out from the world, so that he might give them life in God through the baptism of water and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus therefore said: You will be giving life to people.

Magis ergo ipsi digni inveniuntur, qui se indignos iudicant. Dicit: Quia homo peccator sum. Sed admiratio eum habebat in captura piscium: Cum ergo ²⁸³⁵ miraretur, eligitur ad praedicationem istam. Ait illi: Noli timere. Ex hoc iam eris homines vivificans. Eligitur piscator, qui iamdudum in mari ^*pisces capiebat; mittitur in ^*saeculum cum praedicatione, et ^*coepit homines piscare, extrahere scilicet de saeculo, ^*ut eos per aquae baptismum et per sanctum spiritum deo vivificaret. Ideo dixit: Eris homines vivificans.

XIII. [Luke 5:12-14] And it happened that he was in one of the towns, and behold: a man full of leprosy fell face down before him and said: If you wish, you can cleanse me. This shows that, through belief, if someone believes with all their mind that something can happen, what they seek can happen. For everything is possible for one who believes and has faith.⁵²⁶ I do wish: be cleansed! `If you believe that I can do this, for this reason you have it.’ I do wish: be cleansed! So God has this wish, that we should implore him with all our mind. The man with leprosy, because it is written in the Law about the cleansing of leprosy, showed that there was a believing people from the Jews, who were all smitten with leprosy (plainly through their evil behaviour). So that you may know that this really is about the people from the Jews, Jesus said to the man who was now cleansed and healed: Go, show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your cleansing, so that it may be a witness to them, so that they might know that no-one purifies from leprosy except God; the works of God should themselves be a witness to them if they did not believe.

²⁸⁴⁰ XIII. Et factum est, cum esset in una civitatium, et ecce vir plenus lepra procidens ^{Lc. 5,}
in faciem et dicens: Si vis, potes me mundare. Ostendit ^*credulitate, si quis tota mente ^12–14 crediderit posse fieri, quod petit, ^*posse fieri. Omnia enim possibilia credenti et fidem habenti. Volo; mundare! ‘Si ita credis, quia possum facere, habes idcirco.’ Volo; mundare! Hanc ergo habet deus voluntatem, ut tota mente rogetur. Vir autem leprosus, quia de lepra emundanda in lege scriptum est, ostendit esse populum ex ²⁸⁴⁵ Iudeis credentem, qui omnes ^*lepra erant perfusi, mala scilicet conversatione. Ut scias autem vere ex Iudeis esse populum, mundato iam et sanato ait Vade, ostende te sacerdoti et offers pro emundatione tua. Ut sit in testimonium illis, ut adverterent, quia (a) lepra nullus hominum purgat nisi deus, (et) essent illis opera ipsa dei in ^85v testimonium, si non crederent. ²⁸⁵⁰

JOHN

End of this section.

Explicit.

J. praef. John, the most holy evangelist, was the youngest among all the apostles. It is he whom the Lord held when the apostles were asking which of them was the greatest, and said: Whoever does not become like this boy and so on5²⁷ It is he who reclined on the Lord’s breast; it is he whom Jesus loved above the rest.⁵²⁸ To him Jesus handed over his mother Mary, and handed him as a son to Mary.⁵²⁹ Gospels had already been written by Matthew and Luke with regard to the human birth of Jesus (Luke was a disciple of Paul), and by Mark (who was a disciple of Peter). Despite these, many heresies arose about the godhead of the Son of God: some acknowledged that he only came from Mary; others said that he was not born through Mary but had come in the manner of angels; therefore they used to argue about his birth with various purposes and various debates, just as each of them pleased.

Iohannis sanctissimus evangelista inter omnes apostolos iunior fuit. Ipse est, ^{J. praef.} cum requirerent apostoli, quisnam eorum maior esset, quem tenuit dominus dicens Quicumque non fuerit conversus sicut puer hic et cetera. Ipse est, qui super pectus domini recumbebat; ipse est, quem prae ceteris diligebat Iesus. Huic et Mariam ²⁸⁵⁵ matrem et ipsum Mariae filium tradidit. Cum ergo iam scripta essent evangelia per Matheum et Lucanum iuxta humanam nativitatem, qui Luca(nu)s fuerat discipulus Pauli, et per Marcum, qui fuerat discipulus Petri, et multae hereses consurgerent propter deitatem fili dei – alii ex Maria tantummodo confitebantur, alii nec natum per Mariam, sed more angelorum venisse dicebant; variis igitur intentionibus de eius ²⁸⁶⁰ nativitate et variis disputationibus, prout cuique libitum erat, edisserebant

John, therefore, was the last one to be driven to write a gospel. In this, he put down what the Son of God was beforehand and how he took on flesh, with careful guidance in both topics through the Holy Spirit. He adopted such a beginning that he might impose eternal silence on all heretics, ^[2865] as is natural for one who knew all secrets.

–, Iohannis igitur novissimus coactus est evangelium conscribere, in quo, quid filius dei ante fuerit et quomodo carnem acceperit, utraque per spiritum sanctum diligenti moderatione conponens tali utitur principio, ut omnibus hereticis aeternum silentium

For to recline on the breast of Jesus is to know secret mysteries and all that is concealed. So he begins to explain and show the first, heavenly, birth of the Son of God, in which he was born God from God, since Matthew and Luke had already spoken about his birth with regard to the human condition. So John does not recount the birth of the Lord with regard to the flesh so much as what the Son of God was before all worlds. As the most holy prophet Isaiah says: Who will recount his birth?⁵³⁰ John, then, shows what Jesus was, because the Lord himself also says to the Father: Glorify me with that glory in which I was with you before the earth existed;⁵³¹ plainly as God, through whom all things were made. Appropriately, John says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. Everything was made through him and without him nothing was made.⁵³² God the Father is without a beginning, unbegotten, unborn, who is not to be contained in any place but rather contains all things himself; he can only be known to the extent that he is willing to allow; he is invisible, incalculable. From him is the Son of God, who was begotten indescribably before any beginning. We acknowledge that he was born in such a way that always the Father and always the Son can be said, with no account of time between them, as it said: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, the Word, the Son of God, God with God the Father.

²⁸⁶⁵ inponeret utpote secretorum omnium scius. Nam super pectus recumbere Iesu, hoc ^86r est secreta mysteria et omnia arcana nosse. Incipit ergo exponere et ostendere nativi-tatem primam caelestem fili dei, in qua de deo deus natus est, quia iam dixerat Matheus et Luca(nu)s iuxta condicionem humanam eius nativitatem. Iohannis ergo non tam nativitatem domini iuxta carnem, quam, quid ante omnia saecula fuerit ²⁸⁷⁰ filius dei, enarrat, cum sanctissimus Eseias propheta sic dicat: Nativitatem eius quis enarrabit? Ideo ergo Iohannis ostendit, quid fuerit, quia et ipse dominus dicit ad patrem Honora me eo honore, quo fui apud te, priusquam mundus esset, deus scilicet, per quem facta sunt omnia. Et merito ait: In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud deum. Omnia per eum ²⁸⁷⁵ facta sunt et sine eo factum est nihil. Deus pater sine principio est, ingenitus, inna-tus, qui nullo contineatur loco, sed potius ipse contineat omnia, qui tantum sciri potest, quantum ipse concedere voluerit, invisibilis, inaestimabilis. Ex hoc ergo filius dei, qui inenarrabiliter genitus est ante omne principium. Quem sic natum confite-mur, ut semper pater et semper filius dicatur nulla temporis interposita ratione, ut²⁸⁸⁰ dixit In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum, verbum filius dei deus apud deum patrem.

And God was the Word.⁵³³ This was in the beginning with God: the beginning before all worlds, because always God the Father and always God the Son, the Word of God, are understood without any insertion of times. But the Father duly always is because the Son always is, and the Son duly always is because the Father always is. In the beginning was the ^[2885] Word: God, plainly the Son of God, born from God.

Et verbum erat deus. Hoc erat in principio apud ^86v deum: Principium ante omnia saecula, quia semper deus pater et semper deus filius verbum ^*dei sine aliqua temporum interpositione accipitur. Ideo autem semper pater, quia semper filius, et ideo semper filius, quia semper pater. In principio erat²⁸⁸⁵ verbum: Deus, filius scilicet dei, ex deo natus.

Moses speaks of him as follows: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth and so on.⁵³⁴ Therefore we see that the most holy John had the same spirit as Moses also: their speech and meaning is, appropriately, found to agree in everything. Moses says as follows: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth and indicates the working of God for the individual days. For when he came to the making of humans, he recounted it as follows by saying: And God said: Let us make a human in our image and likeness. And God made a human in the image and likeness of God.⁵³⁵ This is therefore God, the Son of God, who made humankind; this is the one of whom John too says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God, the Word was God with God, plainly the Son of God, God with God the Father through whom all things were made, as Moses related: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But John says: All things were made through him and without him nothing was made. From where, therefore, could Moses have been able to recount the crafting of the world four thousand years earlier unless, as I have said, he described the individual deeds at the instruction of the divine spirit? So the Holy Spirit is unfailing: it fills everyone, but itself remains whole. Just as a torch, when many others are lit from it, continues with its whole light, so is the Holy Spirit as it pours itself into each person, as it wishes ⁵³⁶ For Moses, having brought the people out of Egypt from the slavery of idols, from the superstition of the world, where they had been devoted to the practice of idolatry with various desires, called them back to the knowledge of God from such superstition, because they reckoned that everything had been carried out by those which they had worshipped. The most holy Moses, demonstrating to the inexperienced and ignorant people which had been delivered from idols that God, the Son of God, had made everything, therefore said: In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. So just as Moses introduces the creator and maker of the earth, leading the people away from idols to the knowledge of God, so the most holy John calls all heretics back to true reason, who in one way or another are found to argue about the Son of God. John shows what he was beforehand, and how he came and put on human form ^[291o] for the sake of our salvation, in order to oppose the perversity of the heretics in everything. This is the beginning which he adopts: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. Everything was made through him and without him nothing was made. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father.

De quo Moyses sic dicit: In principio fecit deus caelum et terram et cetera. Videmus igitur eundem spiritum etiam sanc-tissimum habuisse Iohannem, quem et Moyses, et merito sermo eorum et sensus in omnibus concordare invenitur. Moyses sic ait In principio fecit deus caelum et terram et per singulos dies operationem dei demonstrat; veniens namque ad hominis fabricationem sic rettulit dicendo: Et dixit deus: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et ²⁸⁹⁰ similitudinem nostram. Et fecit deus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem dei. Hic igitur deus dei filius, qui fecit hominem, hic est, de quo et Iohannis ait In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud deum, verbum deus apud deum, filius scilicet dei, deus apud deum patrem, per quem facta sunt omnia, ut rettulit Moyses: In principio fecit deus caelum et terram. ²⁸⁹⁵ Iohannis autem ait: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil. Unde igitur Moyses fabricam mundi ante milia annorum quattuor poterat enarrare nisi, ut dixi, ut spiritu divino instruente singula facta descripserit? Spiritus ergo sanctus indeficiens est: Omnes replet, ipse integer permanet, sicuti lampas, cum multae ex ^87r illa accenduntur, ipsa tamen integro lumine perseverat. Sanctus itaque spiritus ²⁹⁰⁰ infundens se unicuique, prout vult. Moyses etenim populo de Aegypto sublato de servitute idolorum, de superstitione saeculi, ubi variis desideriis ad culturam idolatriae deservierant, ad dei notitiam ex illa superstitione revocans eos, quia aestimarent ab his facta omnia, quos coluerant, ideo sanctissimus Moyses populo rudi et inscio ab idolis exempto demonstrans deum dei filium omnia fecisse ait: In ²⁹⁰⁵ principio fecit deus caelum et terram. Sicuti ergo Moyses creatorem et factorem mundi insinuans ab idolis populum ad notitiam dei adducens, sic sanctissimus Iohannis hereticos omnes, qui aliter atque aliter de filio dei disputare inveniuntur, ad veram rationem revocans ostendit, quid ante fuerit et quomodo veniens hominem induerit nostrae salutis causa, ut in omnibus perversitati hereticorum occurreret. ²⁹¹⁰ Tali utitur principio: In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil. Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam^87v eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a patre.

⁵³⁷ Therefore, the Son of God was indescribably born before all worlds from God the Father. He took his beginning from God the Father, who is without beginning, and, when he was questioned by the Jews as to who he was, appropriately said: The beginning, which I speak to you 5³⁸ Everything was made through him and without him nothing was made. Through the Word, meaning through the Son of God, the most holy John declares that everything was made; yet he says that the Word is God, the Son of God. David, too, when he introduces the creation of the heaven, the land and the sea, says: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the breath of his mouth all their power, gathering the waters of the sea as in a bottle.⁵³⁹ For countless designations correspond to the Son of God, which are taken according to the place, the time, the character or the powers wielded by him. He is called word, wisdom, power, light, hand, arm, lion, lamb, calf, rock and all the rest, as we have said, for the strength and powers which correspond to him.

Filius igitur dei ante omnia saecula ex deo patre ²⁹¹⁵ inenarrabiliter genitus, qui principium ex deo patre accepit, qui sine principio est, et merito interrogatus a Iudeis, quis esset, ait: Principium, quod loquor vobis. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil. Per verbum, id est per filium dei, omnia facta sanctissimus Iohannis declarat; verbum autem dicit deum dei filium. Etiam David, cum de fabricatione caeli, terrae ac maris insinuaret, ait: Verbo domini caeli ²⁹²⁰ firmati sunt et spiritu oris eius omnis virtus eorum congregans sicut in utrem aquas maris. Infinita enim vocabula in filio dei concurrunt, quae pro loco, pro tempore, pro persona, pro virtutibus ab eo gestis accipiuntur. Dicitur verbum, sapientia, virtus, lumen, manus, brachium, leo, agnus, vitulus, lapis et cetera, ut diximus, pro poten-tia et virtutibus in eum concurrentibus,

He is understood to be everything, meaning the Son of God, our Lord, true God from true God, true Son born of the true Father, light from light, born from the unbegotten Father, not made ^54o This is what the Arian heresy endeavours to maintain, which says that the Lord was made, not born, like the other substances which we perceive to be made. Therefore the most holy John made reply to such people at that time already, knowing that there would be people in the last times such as those the Apostle mentions when writing to Timothy: In the last days, he says, troublesome times will draw nigh. People will be self-obsessed, puffed up, greedy, proud and so on.5⁴¹ And again he says: But there will be a time when they will not uphold sound teaching, but will heap up masters for themselves according to their desires. Scratching their ears and, indeed, turning away their hearing from the truth, they will be directed to fables.⁵⁴²

ipsum omnia esse intellectum, id est filium ²⁹²⁵ dei dominum nostrum deum verum ex deo vero, filium verum ex vero patre genitum, lumen de lumine, natum ex ingenito patre, non factum, sicut heresis Arriana nititur adserere, quae dicit factum dominum, non natum, sicuti cetera elementa facta conspicimus. Ideo ergo sanctissimus Iohannis talibus iam tunc respondit sciens ^88r futuros in novissimis temporibus homines, quales et apostolus scribens Timotheo ²⁹³⁰ meminit: In novissimis inquit diebus instabunt tempora molesta. Erunt homines se ipsos mirantes, tumidi, cupidi, superbi et cetera. Et iterum dicit: Erit autem tempus, quando sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt, sed secundum desideria sua coacervabunt sibi magistros. Scalpentes aures suas et a veritate quidem auditum suum avertentes ad fabulas convertentur.

J. I. [John 1:1-3] In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The manner, therefore, in which God the Father produced this Word, meaning the Son, was related more fully by David, when he spoke in the character of the Father: My heart has uttered a good word and so on.5⁴³ We understand this word as none other than the Son of God, God born of God, through whom all things were made. He is the creator, not a creation; plainly the originator of all creation, by whom all things were made. As Solomon mentions with regard to the Son of God, speaking in the character of Wisdom: The Lord created me for his works in the beginning of his ways5⁴⁴ He created me must not therefore be taken as if he said that the Son was a creation, but in the way that we see that officers are created to govern the empire: so the Son is thus understood as created to do everything, plainly to complete every work, not as if he were born or made at that point. Indeed, those who are created officers are created as the people they are, who are able to control or organise the empire, not as people they are not. Therefore the Son of God, who is always God with God the Father, is created for the making of the earth, meaning that he is appointed in order to bring it to completion. Appropriately everything was made through him and without him nothing was made. David, too, says: In the beginning you founded the land, Lord, and the heavens are the works of your hands.⁵⁴⁵ Since, then, he is the originator and maker of all creation, why do some misguided people wish to suppose him other than how he is?

²⁹³⁵ (I.) In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hunc ^Io igitur verbum, id est filium, qualiter deus pater genuerit, plenius rettulit David ex ¹ persona patris dicens Eructuavit cor meum verbum bonum et cetera. Quod verbum nisi filium dei deum ex deo natum, per quem omnia facta esse intellegimus et esse eum creatorem, non creaturam, auctorem scilicet totius creaturae, a quo facta sunt omnia, sicuti meminit Solomon de filio dei ex persona sapientiae dicens Dominus ²⁹⁴⁰ creavit me in principio viarum suarum in opera sua? Non igitur sic accipiendum est Creavit me, quasi creaturam dixerit filium, sed ut videmus creari magistratus ad regendum imperium: Sic ergo filius ad facienda omnia, opera scilicet perficienda, creatus intellegitur, non quasi tunc natus aut factus. Utique qui creantur magistra-tus, ipsi creantur, qui sunt, qui possunt regere imperium vel administrare, non qui ^88v non sunt. Filius igitur dei, qui semper apud deum patrem deus, in factionem mundi creatur, id est, ut perficiat, praeponitur. Merito omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil. Dicit et David: In principio terram tu fundasti, domine, et opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli. Cum ergo auctor sit totius creaturae et factor, cur velint perversi quidam aliter quam est de eo sentire?

J. II. [John 1:3] Everything was made through him and without him nothing was made. The reason he said Without him nothing was made must be understood more deeply and profoundly with regard to the meaning of this nothing which is reported to have been made without him.

^{2950Io. 1,3} II. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil. Quare autem dixerit Sine ipso factum est nihil, altius et profundius intellegendum est, quid sit hoc nihil, quod sine ipso factum refertur. Sanctissimus Samuel, cum de idolis tractaret

The most holy Samuel, when he was discussing idols and reproaching the people, said: Which are nothing.⁵⁴⁶ So we see that idols, which are made by human arbitrariness, are nothing. It says Without him nothing was made: this plainly signifies idols which are seen to be set up on earth not by God’s activity but by human error; they are instituted through the most empty invention, and in worshipping them people are deemed to be nothing. But sin, too, because it was not made through him, is nothing: people, when they sin, become nothing. Next, appropriately, comes:

ac populum corriperet, ait: Quae sunt nihil. Videmus ergo idola humano arbitrio facta nihil esse; ideo ait Sine ipso factum est nihil: Idola scilicet significat, quae non deo ²⁹⁵⁵ auctore in mundo constituta videntur, sed errore humano et vanissima adinventione instituta. Et ipsa colendo nihil deputati sunt. Sed et peccatum, quia non per ipsum factum est, nihil est. Et cum peccant homines, nihil fiunt. Merito sequitur:

J. III. [John 1:3-5] What was made in him is life, and life was the light of humans and so on. Life is nowhere else except in him and in that which he himself made and established, as the Son of God, God, the maker and lover of all things, desired. For example, he says: If you wish to attain life, do the commandment.⁵⁴⁷ Therefore, if the commandments or instructions of God are carried out, they enable the attainment of life. So the Son of God is life. If anyone does his instructions, they will attain life and will reign in everlasting life in which all the holy ones will be glorified. In order that we might understand more fully that the Son of God is called life, John says ^[2965] in the following speech: And life was the light of humans; and light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not grasped it. Therefore our Lord, when he came and enlightened the blind, brought the dead to life and wiped away everything hostile from our bodies, was indeed the light of humans. This light spiritually enlightened blind hearts so that the eyes of the heart could contemplate and see everything in a spiritual way in order to believe. Life, then, was the light of humans, and it still is today among those who believe in him with true faith. As for the words And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not grasped it, the light was shining, as we have said, in the darkness, meaning among the Jews: although the Lord performed such great miracles, they with their blinded and dull mind did not understand that a human could not have done such things. And the darkness has not grasped it: it says the darkness is the Jews themselves, who have remained in unbelief and have not been able to grasp this light. Hardened, plainly, in their senses and blinded in the eyes of their heart, they have not been able to look on the true light.⁵⁴⁸ And this is the true meaning of The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not grasped it.

III. Quod factum est in ipso vita est et vita erat lux hominum et cetera. Nec alibi ^{Io. 1, 2960} vita nisi in ipso et in his, quae ipse fecit atque constituit, ut voluit ipse filius dei deus, ^3–5 factor omnium et amator. Denique ait: Si vis ad vitam venire, fac mandatum. Mandata igitur vel praecepta dei si efficiantur, faciunt venire ad vitam. Vita est ergo filius dei. ^89r Si quis eius fecerit praecepta, veniet ad vitam et regnabit in vita perpetua, in qua sancti omnes glorificabuntur. Ut ergo plenius intellegamus vitam filium dei dici, ait ²⁹⁶⁵ sequenti sermone: Et vita erat lux hominum; et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt. Veniens igitur dominus noster inluminans caecos, mortuos resuscitans et cuncta adversa de corporibus abstergens lux ^*utique erat hominum, quae spiritaliter caeca corda inluminabat, ut oculi cordis ad credendum spiritaliter intueri et videre omnia possent. Erat ergo vita lux hominum, et est ^*hodieque apud ²⁹⁷⁰ eos, qui vera fide in eum credunt. Quod autem ait Et lux lucet in tenebris et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt, lucebat lux, ut diximus, in tenebris, id est apud Iudeos, cum tanta miracula faceret dominus et illi mente obcaecata et obtusa non intellege-bant, quia talia homo facere non posset. Et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt: Tenebras ipsos Iudeos dicit, qui in incredulitate permanserunt et hanc lucem ²⁹⁷⁵ conprehendere non potuerunt; indurati scilicet sensu et oculis cordis caecati lumen verum respicere non potuerunt. Et vere hoc est Lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt.

J. IIII. [John 1:6] There was a man sent from God whose name was John and so on. This is John, whom Isaiah prophesied when he said: A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.⁵⁴⁹ When he was questioned by the priests and Levites about who he was, he said: I am the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our G_od 55° The Lord himself said of him: None among those born of women is greater than John the Baptist.

^89v IIII. Fuit homo missus a deo, cui nomen erat Iohannis et cetera. Hic est Iohannis, ^{Io. 1,6} quem Eseias prophetavit dicens Vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam domini, rectas ²⁹⁸⁰ facite semitas dei nostri. Et ipse interrogatus a sacerdotibus et levitis, quis esset, ait: Ego vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam domini, rectas facite semitas dei nostri. De quo dominus ipse ait: Maior Iohanne baptista inter natos mulierum nullus est.

The Law and the Prophets have prophesied up to John 551 Luke the evangelist, in the fullest description of John’s birth, shows that he is the son of Zechariah the priest. He was born from a promise to parents who were already old and worn out by age, just like the Book of Genesis affirms that Isaac too was born to show that all things are possible for God. Therefore women past childbearing, whose regular function of blood had already been denied (inasmuch as its source was emptied and dried up), who had reached old age barren, are made ready for the gift of childbirth. So Elizabeth bore a son, of whom Zechariah his father said, among other things: And you, boy, will be called the prophet of the Most High and so on.⁵⁵²

Lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem prophetaverunt. Luca(nu)s autem evangelista plenis-sime eius nativitatem describens ostendit filium Zachariae sacerdotis ex repromis-sione natum longaevis iam et aetate confectis parentibus, sicuti et Isac natum ²⁹⁸⁵ Genesis scriptura testatur, ut ostendantur omnia deo possibilia. Mulieres igitur effetae, quibus iam officium solitum sanguinis fuerat denegatum quippe exhausto et exsiccato fonte, quae steriles ad ultimam usque aetatem pervenerant, partus munere accinguntur. Peperit ergo Elisabeth filium, de quo Zacharias pater eius inter cetera ait: Et tu puer propheta altissimi vocaberis et cetera.

J. V. [John 1:10] He was on this earth and the earth was made through him, and the earth did not know him. Although it is related that the earth was made through him and everything which is in it, this specifically says that the earth is the land of the Jews to whom he had come and by whom he was not recognised. But all the other nations are reckoned as locusts or dust or, certainly, as drops from a bucket,⁵⁵³ among whom there was still no recognition of God; worshipping idols they were deemed to be nothing. So it specifically calls those people the earth where there was the Law, where there was knowledge of God, where there was prophecy. And appropriately in the following passage it says:

^{2990 Io. 1,10} V. In hoc mundo erat et mundus per ipsum factus est et mundus illum non cog-novit. Licet mundus per ipsum factus referatur et omnia, quae in eo sunt, sed proprie mundum illam terram, id est Iudeorum, dicit, ad quos venerat, a quibus agnitus non est. Ceterae autem gentes velut lucustae aut pulvis vel certe ut guttae situlae ^90r aestimatae, in quibus nulla adhuc cognitio dei habebatur; idola colentes in nihilum ²⁹⁹⁵ erant deputatae. Ergo proprie mundum illos dicit, ubi lex, ^*ubi dei notitia, ubi prophetia habebatur. Et merito sequenti sermone ait:

J. VI. [John 1:11] He came to his very own and his own did not receive him. For the Jews are considered as his own, as the Apostle says: From whom came Christ according to the flesh, who is God blessed for ever, Amen5⁵⁴ To his very own: in fact, to those whom he had freed from slavery in Egypt by the performance of such great miracles, whom he had fed with manna in the desert, whom he had led into the Promised Land, to whom he had always spoken by the mouth of the prophets. He came to them himself, performing wonders among the people, in accordance with the utterances of the prophets, but he was not received by his own. And his own did not receive him, plainly that people which had been called by the name of children: as Isaiah said, I bore children and raised them up, but they have rejected me.⁵⁵⁵ Appropriately, then, it says He came to his very own, just as to his children, and his own did not receive him, meaning the Jews. And this is the meaning of: But they have rejected me.

^{Io. 1,11} VI. In sua propria venit et sui eum non receperunt. Propria enim habebantur Iudei, ut dicit apostolus: Ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, qui est deus benedic-tus in saecula Amen. In sua propria – quippe quos de Aegypto tantis miraculis ³⁰⁰⁰ effectis a servitute liberaverat, quos in deserto manna paverat, quos in terram repromissionis induxerat, ad quos prophetarum ore semper fuerat locutus – ipse veniens, qui iuxta voces prophetarum faciens in populo mirabilia a suis non est receptus. Et sui eum non receperunt, ille scilicet populus, qui fili nomine fuerat ³⁰⁰⁵ appellatus, ut ait Eseias: Filios genui et exaltavi. Ipsi autem me spreverunt. Merito ergo dicit In sua propria venit, utpote ad filios, et sui eum non receperunt, hoc est Iudei. Et ipsud est Ipsi autem spreverunt me.

J. VII. [John 1:12-13] But to as many as received him he gave authority to become children of God, as they believed in his name. We see here another race, meaning a race which had to be made up as one from all nations. ^[3010] This is a spiritual race which believes in him and displays spiritual behaviour. Appropriately, it says: Who were born not from blood nor from the will of the flesh nor from the will of a man but from God. These were already discussed above:⁵⁵⁶ those who were born from a promise and those who are found to have been produced by women past childbearing, like Isaac, whose type was related to the future spiritual Christian people. It appropriately says Who were born not from blood, meaning from women, to whom that which is natural for them comes every month, nor from the will of the flesh, meaning conception in the womb, nor from the will of a man, meaning that insemination through which conception is performed at the appropriate time. The spiritual birth through which we are reborn to God through baptism therefore lacks these events and activities. For the Church, which long before was barren, has been made fertile: it bears children without blood, without male desire who are found to have been made children of God through the baptismal font. And it appropriately says: Who were born not from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of a man but from God: plainly we are reborn to God through the baptismal font of rebirth 5⁵⁷ More about this birth is given in response to the questioning of Nicodemus: Amen I say to you, unless someone is reborn anew they cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said: How can a human be reborn anew and ^[3025] so on. Jesus replied to him: Amen, amen I say to you, unless someone is reborn from water and spirit, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God.⁵⁵⁸ And it says Those who are reborn from water and spirit, meaning that they were born from God. This, then, is the spiritual generation by which the people of God is spiritually born to God every day, just as the same John says in his letter: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born from God.⁵⁵⁹ For we are born to God through faith.

VII. Quodquod autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios dei fieri creden- ^{Io. 1,} tibus in nomine eius. Videmus hic aliam gentem, id est quae ex omnibus nationibus ^{12sq. 3010} effici habebat una gens, id est spiritalis, credens in eum, spiritalem habens conver‑ ^90v sationem. Et merito ait: Qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex deo nati sunt. De quibus iam superius tractatum est: Qui ex repromissione sunt nati quique de effetis mulieribus editi inveniuntur, ut Isac, cuius typus ad populum futurum Christianum spiritalem pertinebat. Merito ait Qui non ex ³⁰¹⁵ sanguinibus, id est de mulieribus, quibus solita mensibus suis veniunt, neque ex voluntate carnis, id est vulvae conceptione, neque ex voluntate viri, id est illud seminarium, quo (suo) tempore conceptio celebratur. Generatio igitur spiritalis, qua deo per baptismum renas(ci)mur, his rebus et officiis caret. Ecclesia enim, quae iamdudum sterilis erat, effecta est fetosa filios sine sanguine, sine aliqua concupis‑ ³⁰²⁰ centia viri pariens, qui dei filii effecti per lavacrum inveniuntur. Et merito ait Qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex voluntate carnis neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex deo nati sunt: Per lavacrum scilicet regenerationis deo renascimur. De qua nativitate plenius ad Nicodemi interrogationem respondetur: Amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit denuo, non potest videre regnum dei. Ait Nicodemus: Quomodo potest denuo renasci homo et ³⁰²⁵ cetera. Respondit illi Iesus: Amen amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu, non potest intrare in regnum dei. Et ideo ait Qui ex aqua et spiritu fuerint renati, hoc est ex deo nati sunt. Haec est ergo generatio spiritalis, qua populus dei spiritaliter cottidie deo nascitur, sicuti ait idem Iohannis in epistula sua: Omnis, qui ^91r credit, quia Iesus est Christus, de deo natus est. Per fidem enim deo nascimur.

J. VIII. [John 1:14] And the Word was made flesh and lived in us and so on. This passage has already been discussed above in advance,⁵⁶⁰ since God the Son of God, who was the Word in the beginning, saw fit to take on human form from the Virgin Mary for the sake of our salvation.

^{Io. 1,14} VIII. Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis et cetera. Iam superius ³⁰³⁰ praetractatum est de hoc loco, quando filius dei deus, qui in principio erat verbum, dignatus sit hominem de Maria virgine nostrae salutis causa adsumere.

J. VIIII. [John 1:15-17] John bears witness about him and cries out, saying: This is the one whom I told you; he who comes after me and so on. Not inappropriately was John foretold as the prophet of the Most High by his father Zechariah. ^[3035] And John himself duly said that the one who was the Word of God in the beginning had come, by the words The one who comes after me was made before me, because the Word was before me, since we have all received from his fullness. The prophets have plainly all received the spirit from his fullness in order to prophesy. John maintains that he himself is also a prophet, when he says Because the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ. This is grace and truth, which he yielded to his people, plainly once they had been reborn into him by a new birth, because the Law was given through Moses

^{Io. 1,} VIIII. Iohannis testimonium perhibet de ipso et clamat dicens: Hic est, quem dixi ^15–17 vobis, qui post me venit et cetera. Non inmerito Iohannis a patre suo Zacharia propheta altissimi pronuntiatus est. Et ideo ait ipse Iohannis eum, qui in principio ³⁰³⁵ erat verbum ^*dei, venisse dicendo Qui post me venit, ante me factus est, quia prior me erat verbum, quoniam de plenitudine[m] eius nos omnes accepimus. Prophetae scilicet omnes de eius plenitudine spiritu(m), ut prophetarent, acceperunt. Se etiam ipsum prophetam adserit, cum dicit Quia lex per Moysen data est, gratia autem et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est. Haec est gratia et veritas, quam populo suo †cessit in ³⁰⁴⁰ eum† nova scilicet nativitate renato, quia Lex per Moysen data est.

.⁵⁶¹ The Law had been given as an index of sins, and so that humans should recognise that they were sinners, because it said: You shall not desire.⁵⁶² The one who has desired has already been forced to sin by that very desire. However, the Law does not free from sin. For whoever had inflicted a wound or bruise on another, or killed them, was sentenced to an equal retribution so that they should receive whatever they had done to another. But grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ, because he has taken away all sins through the baptismal font of rebirth ⁵⁶³ The righteousness of the Son of God makes believers righteous and, appropriately, Grace and truth were made through Jesus Christ.

Lex peccatorum index data erat et, ut agnoscerent se homines esse peccatores – quia dixit: Non concupisces; qui autem concupierat, iam peccare ipsa concupiscentia cogebatur –, ^91v non tamen liberat a peccato. Nam quicumque alii vulnus vel livorem inf(l)ixisset aut occideret, pari sententiae addicebatur, ut quidquid ipse alii fecisset reciperet. Gratia ³⁰⁴⁵ autem et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est, quia peccata omnia per lavacrum regenerationis abstulit. Iustitia fili dei iustificat credentes, et merito Gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est.

J. X. [John 1:18-20] No-one has ever seen God except the only-begotten Son, who is in the lap of the Father, ^[3050] he has recounted and so on. We have already set this out in advance above:⁵⁶⁴ God the Father, invisible, incalculable, unbegotten, immeasurable. He could not be seen by anyone indeed except by the Son, who proclaimed as much as humans were able to conceive about the Father. And this is the witness of John the Baptist, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to question him: Who are you? And he acknowledged and did not deny. He acknowledged, saying that I am not the Christ. So, when the Jews were unsure about John and who he was, they sent priests and Levites and enquired if he was himself the Christ. But John, who was his forerunner, acknowledged that he was not the Christ.

^{Io. 1,} X. Deum nemo vidit umquam nisi unigenitus filius, qui est in sinu patris, ipse ^18–20 enarravit et cetera. ^*Iam superius praemisimus: Deus pater invisibilis, inaestima- ³⁰⁵⁰ bilis, ingenitus, ^*inmensus. A nullo utique videri potuit nisi a filio, qui de patre, prout homines concipere potuerunt, adnuntiavit. Et hoc est testimonium Iohannis baptistae, quando miserunt Iudei ab Hierosolima ad eum sacerdotes et levitas, ut interrogarent eum: Tu quis es? Et confessus est et non negavit. Confessus est dicens, ³⁰⁵⁵ quoniam non sum ego Christus. Cum ergo Iudei haesitarent de Iohanne[m], quisnam esset, [et] sacerdotes et levitas mittentes ^*requirebant, si ipse esset Christus. Iohan-nis autem, qui praecursor erat eius, confessus est non se esse Christum.

J. XI. [John 1:21-23] They questioned him again, saying: Are you Elijah? He said: I am not and so on. He said to them: I am the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said and so on. For the Jews know that the Christ and Elijah would come, but they are mistaken in that they do not believe that Christ has already come in humility. Sending representatives to John they therefore enquired who he was. When he had said that he was not the Christ, they said: Are you Elijah? When he had denied that he was Elijah, they said to him: Are you a prophet? And he said that he was not a prophet, because he had been proclaimed by the Lord as greater than all the prophets5⁶⁵ He rightly dismissed himself from being a prophet, for a prophet is one who foretells things to come.

XI. Interrogaverunt eum iterum dicentes: Elias es? Ait: Non sum et cetera. Quibus ^{Io. 1,} ait: Ego vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam domini, sicut dixit Eseias (pro)pheta et ^{21–23 3060} cetera. Sciunt enim Iudei Christum venire et Eliam, sed in eo falluntur, quod Chris‑ ^92r tum iam venisse in humilitate non credunt. Ideo ^*mittentes ad Iohannem ^*require-bant, quisnam esset. Cum dixisset se non esse Christum, dixerunt: Tu Elias es? Cum Eliam negasset, dixerunt illi: Propheta es? Et ille dixit non ^*se esse prophetam, quia maior omnibus prophetis pronuntiatus a domino fuerat.

Prophets are named after their prophesying, in that they are proclaimers of things to come. For all of the prophets said that Christ would come, but John, with his own voice, showed to everyone that he was present, saying Behold the Lamb of God, behold the one who takes away the sin of the earth.⁵⁶⁶ For he outpassed the duty of a prophet, as he made evident the Son of God in his presence. For the others had said that he would come; John demonstrated that he had come. ^[3070] So since John had admitted that he was neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor a prophet, they said to him: So who are you? Tell us, that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? I am the voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said. For the most holy Isaiah had prophesied about this John: The voice of one crying in the desert.⁵⁶⁷ And John himself, when he was questioned, admitted that he was this voice of which Isaiah had spoken. Such is the reason, therefore, for that voice of one crying in the desert: Zechariah the priest, when he was performing the priestly office in his turn, entered the Holy of Holies, and an angel appeared to him, saying: Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because, behold! your plea has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you and you will call his name John and so on. And Zechariah said: From what will I know this?

Recte excusabat non esse se ³⁰⁶⁵ prophetam: Propheta[e] enim est, qui futura pronuntiat; prophetae enim a prophetando ^*dicti, eo quod futurorum sint adnuntiatores. Dixerunt enim prophetae omnes venturum Christum; ^*at Iohannis voce sua palam omnibus ostendebat dicens Ecce agnus dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. Excidebat enim officio prophetae, qui coram filium dei demonstrabat. Illi enim venturum dixerant, iste venisse monstrabat. ³⁰⁷⁰ Cum ergo neque Christum neque Eliam neque prophetam se Iohannis fuisse professus est, dixerunt ei: Quis ergo es tu? Dic nobis, ut responsum demus his, qui nos miserunt, quid dicis de te ipso. Ego sum vox clamantis in deserto: Parate viam domini, sicut dixit Eseias propheta. Prophetaverat enim sanctissimus Eseias de hoc Iohanne: Vox clamantis in deserto. Et ipse interrogatus ita profitetur vocem se esse, quam ³⁰⁷⁵ dixerat Eseias. ^*Vocis igitur istius in deserto clamantis talis est ratio: Zacharias ^92v sacerdos cum vice sua sacerdotio fungeretur ingressus sancta sanctorum, angelus apparuit ei dicens: Ne timeas Zacharias, quoniam ecce obsecratio tua audita est et uxor tua Elisabeth pariet tibi filium et vocabis nomen eius Iohannem et cetera. Et dixit Zacharias: Unde hoc sciam?

For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in her days. And the angel replied and said: I am Gabriel, who stands before God: I was sent both to speak to you and to bring this good news to you and so on.⁵” So since Zechariah was already quite old and his wife Elizabeth was barren, and her monthly periods had already failed, it was unbelievable to Zechariah that this could happen. He was therefore struck dumb and remained dumb until that time when the promise of God was fulfilled. For nothing is impossible for almighty God. Therefore, ^[3085] because he did not believe, he was struck dumb and remained mute. For he should have believed the angel, especially as it appeared to him in the Holy of Holies, just as Abraham had believed when — in a similar example — he too was quite old, and Sarah was quite old and considered barren.⁵⁶⁹ Zechariah was struck dumb and a voice (meaning John) was produced from him: this showed that the former priesthood would become silent and that a voice would come from it which would proclaim in the desert and show the Lord. A voice in the desert, meaning John, plainly among the Jews: for they had already begun to be considered deserted from that moment when their priest had been struck dumb. Therefore the voice fathered by him and established for another office begins to show the Son of God: Behold the Lamb of God, behold the one who takes away the sin of the earth.⁵⁷°

Ego enim senex sum et uxor mea processit in diebus suis. Et respondit angelus, dixit: Ego sum Gabriel, qui adsisto ante deum et missus sum ad ³⁰⁸⁰ te et loqui et haec tibi evangelizare et cetera. Cum ergo Zacharias iam senior esset et uxor eius Elisabeth sterilis, cui iam officia menstrua negarentur, incredibile fuit Zachariae posse hoc fieri. Obmutuit igitur et permansit mutus usque ad hoc tempus, quo repromissio dei inpleretur. Deo enim omnipotenti nihil est inpossibile. Ideo ergo, quia non credidit, obmutuit et permansit mutus. Credere enim debuerat angelo ³⁰⁸⁵ et maxime in ^*sanctis sanctorum sibi apparenti, sicut et Abraham crediderat, cum et ipse pari exemplo senior esset et Sarra senior et sterilis haberetur. Et obmutuit Zacharias et ex eo generatur vox, id est Iohannis: Ostendebat sacerdotium ^*illud silentium accepturum et ex eo vocem profecturam, quae in deserto adnuntiaret et ostenderet dominum. Vox in deserto, id est Iohannis, inter Iudeos scilicet: Iam enim ³⁰⁹⁰ deserti haberi coeperant, ex quo obmutuerat sacerdos eorum. Et vox igitur ex eo ^93r genita ad ^*aliud officium instituta coepit ostendere filium dei: Ecce agnus dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi.

J. XII. [John 1:24-27] And those who had been sent from the Pharisees and Levites to question him said to him: ^[3095] Why, then, do you baptise if you are neither Christ nor Elijah nor a prophet? In reply to them, John said: I indeed baptise in the water of repentance. But in the middle of you stands one whom you do not know and so on. So the voice of John baptised the people in repentance. For repentance is not born except from a crime: yet where there is no crime or sin, neither is there repentance. ^[3100] So because there were very many sins and crimes among the people, a place was allotted for repentance. John, as he was the forerunner of the Lord, was entrusted with the duty of preparing the people for the Lord through the baptism of repentance: this is the meaning of ‘to prepare the way of the Lord’, plainly through the service laid on him. He added: But in the middle of you stands one whom you do not know, that is Jesus, the Son of God, who came to his very own and his own did not receive him,⁵⁷because (...) after me comes a man for the reason that, six months later than John, a man was born according to the flesh through Mary and was plainly made perfect in order to wield power. The strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to undo: plainly belonging to the man whom he says had come after him. He denies that he is worthy to undo the strap of that man’s sandal. It was written in the Law that anyone who would not approach should have their sandals removed .

^{Io. 1,} XII. Et qui missi fuerant ex Fariseis et levitis, ut interrogarent eum, dixerunt ei:^24–27 Quid ergo baptizas tu, si non es Christus neque Elias neque propheta? Respondens illis ³⁰⁹⁵ Iohannis dixit: Ego quidem baptizo in aquam paenitentiae. Medius autem vestrum stat, quem vos nescitis et cetera. [haec in Bethania acta sunt, ubi erat Iohannis baptizans] Vox ergo Iohannis in paenitentia baptizabat populum: Paenitentia enim non nisi ex ^*delicto nascitur; ubi vero delictum vel peccatum non est, nec paeniten-tia (est). Ergo quia peccata et delicta nimia in populo erant, locus adtributus est ³¹⁰⁰ paenitentiae. Quod officium Iohanni[s] commis(sum est ut)pote antecursori domini, ut per paenitentiae baptismum populum domino praepararet, et hoc est parare viam domini, iniuncto scilicet ministerio. Addidit: Medius autem vestrum stat, quem vos nescitis, id est filius dei Iesus, qui in sua propria venit et sui eum non receperunt, ³¹⁰⁵ quoniam (...) post me venit vir ab eo, quod post sex ^*menses iuxta carnem per Mariam fuerit natus vir, perfectus scilicet ad faciendam virtutem. Cuius ego non sum dignus corrigiam calciamenti solvere: Eius scilicet viri, quem dicit post se venisse, ^93v corrigiam calciamenti negat se [in]dignum solvere. Hoc in lege scriptum est, ut quicumque non adproximasset, discalciaretur

⁵⁷² So this is the true bridegroom, plainly a man ^[3110] who is perfect: God, the Son of God, Jesus. No-one is worthy even to undo his strap, because he is the true bridegroom in whom all the figures manifested before are found to be fulfilled. For Moses and his successor the prophet Joshua, son of Nun, are instructed to undo the strap of their sandals when they enjoyed a conversation with God.⁵⁷³ This is because they were not bridegrooms, but they were friends of the bridegroom,⁵⁷⁴ as this same John says. To undo the strap: this means to overlook even the least of the commandments. For something is undone if it is neglected or passed over; also, what had previously been gathered is undone. John affirms that he is not worthy to do this.

. Hic ergo verus sponsus, vir scilicet ³¹¹⁰ perfectus deus dei filius Iesus, cui nec corrigiam quidem quisquam dignus est solvere ab eo, quod ipse sit verus sponsus, in quem ^*omnes retro figurae gestae inpletae inveniuntur. Nam ^*Moysi et prophetae successori eius ^*Iesu Nave prae-cipitur, cum conloquio dei frue(re)ntur, ut corrigiam calciamentorum suorum sol-verent, quia non erant sponsi, sed erant amici sponsi, sicut ait idem Iohannis. ³¹¹⁵ Corrigiam solvere: Vel minimum quid de praeceptis praeterire. Solvitur enim, quod neglegitur vel praetermittitur, et solvitur [enim], quod ante ^*fuerat colligatum. Hoc se facere Iohannis testatur non esse dignum.

J. XIII. [John 1:28] These events took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptising and so on. Here, then, we find a mistake either of the Latin translator or the copyists. While ^[3120] Bethany is the place where Mary and Martha and Lazarus were, the place across the Jordan, on the other hand, is called Bethara, which is translated as `House of Preparation’ <sup>575</sup> Bethany, however, is `House of Listening’, and it is appropriately a house of listening where Mary sat at the feet of Jesus (which means listening) and washed the feet of Jesus with her tears

XIII. Haec in Bethania facta sunt trans Iordanem, ubi erat Iohannis baptizans et ^{Io. 1,28} cetera. Hic ergo error aut interpretis in Latinum invenitur aut scriptorum: Ceterum ³¹²⁰ Bethania locus est, ubi Maria et Martha et Lazarus erant; trans Iordanen autem locus Bethara dicitur, quod interpretatur ‘domus praeparationis’. Bethania autem ‘domus auditionis’, et merito domus auditionis, ubi Maria ad pedes Iesu sedens, id est ^94r audiens, et lacrimis pedes Iesu lavabat

⁵⁷⁶ For Bethara means house of preparation: there, John began to prepare a coming for the Lord, purifying the people with the baptism of repentance. But Bethany is the house of listening, so that those who had been prepared for the Lord would listen to him: plainly in the house of listening, which is the Church of God, where his instructions are applied and introduced to everyone who has been prepared for salvation.

. Nam Bethara domus praeparationis: Ibi enim praeparabat Iohannis adventum domino populum baptismo paenitentiae purgans. Bethania autem domus auditionis, ut, qui fuerant praeparati domino, ³¹²⁵ ipsum audirent, in domo scilicet auditionis, quod est ecclesia dei, in qua praecepta eius omnibus praeparatis ad salutem ingeruntur atque insinuantur.

J. XIIII. [John 1:29-34] But on the next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said: Behold the Lamb of God and so on. It says the Lamb because of his innocence, or because in the sacrament of the Passover the lamb ^[3130] prefigured the Passion of Christ. Alternatively, it may be because it is evident that the whole human race is clothed and covered by the fleece of lambs (meaning sheep’s wool), just as those who believe in the name of the Son of God are protected by his mercy. So this is the true Son of God, who was offered for the salvation of the people and, having suffered, brought healing to the earth and took away all sins from those who believe in him. In his birth in the flesh, indeed, he was produced after John, but he is said to have been before him in the heavenly glory.⁵⁷⁷ John admitted that he did not know him except when the sign was given that the Spirit came in the likeness of a dove and remained on him. He therefore says: And I did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptise in water, he said to me: The one on whom you see the spirit descending from heaven and remaining on him, he it is who baptises in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the chosen one of God. And: This is the Son of the Highest God, begotten of him 5⁷⁸ The difference between the reported utterances is not significant. Each author reports according to his own style, just so long as one and the same sense is reported by everyone. The most holy John, then, the forerunner and herald of the Lord, said that there would be (...) when Jesus had come to him: it was said to him that this would be the one on whom he had seen the spirit descend from the heavens. But a greater proof still takes place when the voice of the Father also is heard coming to the Son from the heavens. Not inappropriately does John boldly give evidence of the sights and sounds: for he saw the dove descending and heard the voice sent by the Father from the heavens to the Son.

^{Io. 1,} XIIII. Postera autem die vidit Iohannis Iesum venientem ad se et ait: Ecce agnus ^29–34 dei et cetera. Agnus propter innocentiam, vel quia in sacramento pascae agnus Christi figurabat passionem, vel quia agnorum, id est ovium, omne hominum genus ³¹³⁰ vellere vestiri et contegi manifestum est, sicuti credentes in nomine fili dei eius misericordia proteguntur. Hic est ergo verus filius dei, qui oblatus propter populi salutem (et) passus contulit mundo sanitatem et abstulit omnia peccata credentium in se, qui post Iohannem quidem iuxta carnalem nativitatem editus, sed prior ab eo de caelesti gloria dicitur. Que(m) Iohannis nescire se profitetur nisi signo dato, quod ³¹³⁵ in columbae similitudine spiritus super eum veniens permansit. Ideo ait: Et ego nesciebam eum. Sed qui me misit baptizare in aqua, ipse mihi dixit: Super quem videris spiritum descendentem de caelo et manentem super eum, ipse est, qui baptizat ^94v in spiritu sancto. Et ego vidi et testimonium perhibui, quia hic est electus dei. Et: Hic est filius summi dei, quem genuit. Non interest de varietate vocis relatae. Iuxta stilum ³¹⁴⁰ enim ^*suum quisque describens rettulit, dummodo idem ^*atque ipse sensus ab omnibus sit relatus. Sanctissimus ergo Iohannis antecursor et praeco domini futuros (...) cum ad se venisset Iesus, dictum est illi hunc esse, super quem vidisset spiritum descendere de caelis. Maior autem auctoritas facta est, cum etiam vox patris de caelis ad filium veniens auditur. Non inmerito Iohannis testimonium audenter dicit ³¹⁴⁵ visorum et auditorum: Vidit enim columbam descendentem et vocem audivit a(d) filium de caelis ^*a patre missam.

J. XV. [John 1:35-42] Again, on another day, John was standing with two from his disciples. John saw Jesus walking and said: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the earth and so on. Therefore John, who had already spoken earlier about the Son of God, sought to impress this on them once more, so that the one who had come to prepare his way should not cease from the office laid on him: he was to make his way smooth and also show that the one whose way he prepared was present by saying: Behold the Lamb of God; behold the one who takes away the sin of the earth. Duly, two from the disciples of John, having heard what John had said, followed Jesus, asking where he was staying.

XV. Altera die iterum stabat Iohannis et duo ex discipulis eius. Vidit Iohannis ^{Io. 1,} Iesum ambulantem et dixit: Ecce agnus dei, qui tollit peccata mundi et cetera. Iohan- ^{35–42 3150} nis igitur, quae superius iam de filio dei dixerat, rursum inculcata[e] repetit, ut, qui praeparare viam eius venerat, ab officio sibi iniuncto non desisteret, qui et viam sterneret et, cui praepararet, ipsum coram ostenderet, dicendo: Ecce agnus dei; ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. Duo namque ex discipulis Iohannis auditis his, quae dicta ^95r erant ab eo, secuti sunt Iesum quaerentes, ubinam maneret,

When they had seen the place, they stayed there, because the sun had already set for the evening. For it was the tenth hour of the day. The disciples who came from the synagogue were already crossing over from there, and they stayed with him. The tenth hour: the final period of the world, the time at which our Lord saw fit to come for the sake of our salvation. The tenth hour is written by iota in Greek, which stands for `Jesus’ ⁵⁷⁹ So this is understood to be the time at which the Lord came.

et cum vidissent locum, ³¹⁵⁵ ibi manserunt, quia iam ad vesperam declinaverat. Erat enim hora diei decima. Discipuli vero ex synagoga venientes iam transitum inde faciebant (et) manserunt apud eum. Hora decima: Novissima pars saeculi, quo tempore dominus noster salutis nostrae causa venire dignatus est. Decima hora Greco nomine per iota scribitur, quod est ‘Iesum’: Ergo tempus intellegitur esse, quo venit dominus.

 ^[3160] They stayed with him, meaning in the Church. In the morning, finding Simon, they brought him to Jesus. Seeing him, Jesus changed his name and established him as a disciple and leader of the others. Disciples are therefore now chosen from that advance party which John had prepared. Indeed, Simon’s name is changed: he is called Cephas, which when translated means Peter. It is appropriate that the one who plainly came from that advance party to this heavenly army should have his name changed, just as we find that our ancestors’ names were added or changed when they came to the knowledge and recognition of the Lord, such as Abraham from Abram, Israel from Jacob, Joshua from Hoshea5⁸⁰ They were leaders of the army of the Lord and of his instruction. So Peter, too, when he came to this army, appropriately received a name from the Son of God which seemed to be worthy of his service in the army. For example, in another place, it says: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens: that which you loosen on earth will also be loosened in heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will also be bound in heaven5⁸¹ The evangelists Matthew and Mark related his selection as follows, saying: And Jesus, passing along beside the sea of Galilee, saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea. For they were fishermen and so on. And Jesus says to them: Come after me and I shall make you fishers of men5⁸² But Luke related it as follows, by saying: Jesus climbed into one ship, which belonged to Simon. He told them to put out a short distance from the land. And, sitting, he taught the crowds from the ship and so on.⁵⁸³ Nothing is different, therefore, in the varying expression of the Gospels, with regard to how they individually tell the beginning of the account. Three evangelists therefore said that they were fishermen; John alone brought forward the change of name. ^[3180] So those people are appropriately called fishermen; from whom Jesus took away the business of fishing and sent them to lead people to salvation and belief through their preaching. Thus had it been spoken of them through the prophet: I shall send fishermen and they will fish for them, and hunters who will hunt for them5⁸⁴ All this, then, is fulfilled in the apostles, who from being fishermen were made fishers of men. For just as fish are taken from the sea in nets, so people are lifted from the world by the apostolic preaching, and reach belief in the Son of God.

³¹⁶⁰ Manserunt apud eum, id est in ecclesia[m]. Mane invenientes Simonem adduxerunt ad Iesum; quem videns Iesus nomine inmutato discipulum ac principem ceterorum constituit. Eliguntur iam itaque discipuli ex illa praeparatione, quam prae-pa(ra)verat Iohannis. Denique inmutatur Simonis nomen, vocatur Caefas, quod ^*interpretatum dicitur Petrus. ^*Venienti scilicet ex illa praeparatione ad hanc mili‑ ³¹⁶⁵ tiam caelestem merito et nomen eius inmutatur, sicuti et patribus nostris venien-tibus ad notitiam et cognitionem domini aut addita nomina aut inmutata invenimus, ut Abraham ex Abra, ut Israhel ex Iacob, ut Iesus ex Ausen, qui militiae domini et disciplinae principes fuerunt. Merito ergo et Petrus ad hanc veniens militiam nomen ^95v a d(ei) filio accepit, quod dignum eius militiae videretur. Denique alio loco ait: Tu es ³¹⁷⁰ Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam, et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum: Quae solveris super terram, soluta erunt et in caelo, et quaecumque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata et in caelo. De cuius electione Matheus et Marcus evangelistae sic rettulerunt dicentes: Et praeteriens Iesus secus mare Galileae vidit Simonem et Andream fratrem eius mittentes rete in mare. Erant enim piscatores et ³¹⁷⁵ cetera. Et dicit eis Iesus: Venite post me et faciam vos piscatores hominum. Luca(nu)s autem sic rettulit dicendo: Ascendit Iesus in unam navem, quae erat Simonis. Dixit eis, ut inducerent a terra aliquantulum. Et sedens docebat de navicula turbas et cetera. Nihil igitur differt variae dictioni evangeliorum, ^*quomodo coeptam rationem singuli dixerint: Tres igitur evangelistae piscatores dixerunt, nominis inmutationem solus Iohannis intulit. Merito ergo piscatores dicuntur, quibus officium piscandi Iesus ³¹⁸⁰ ademit et misit, ut homines ad salutem et credulitatem perducerent sua praedica-tione, quia per prophetam sic dictum fuerat de ipsis: Mittam piscatores, et piscabun-tur eos, et venatores, qui venabuntur eos. Totum hoc ergo in apostolis inpletum est, qui ex piscatoribus effecti sunt piscatores hominum. Sicut enim pisces de mare ^96r retibus auferuntur, sic praedicatione apostolica homines de saeculo tolluntur et ³¹⁸⁵ perveniunt ad credulitatem fili dei.

J. XVI. [John 1:43-51] On the next day he decided to journey into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him: Follow me and so on. The Lord Jesus, therefore, who scrutinises the heart,⁵⁸⁵ and knows everything, saw Philip and ordered him to follow him. He knew that this man was suitable to become a disciple and appropriate ^[3190] to be entrusted with preaching, who would introduce the others to the knowledge and recognition of the Son of God. Indeed, finding Nathaniel, he immediately said: We have found the one of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth. And Nathaniel said to him: Something good can come from Nazareth.⁵⁸⁶ Philip says to him: Come and see and so on. Philip therefore is a figure of prophecy. For he says to the true Israelite that he has found Jesus. He immediately believed what had been written. For Moses had said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers. You will hear him just as you hear me. And: But if there is any soul which does not listen to that prophet, it will be lost from its people.⁵⁸⁷ And the prophet Isaiah (...) him who had been produced from a virgin and named Emmanuel, which is ‘God with us’. Equally, Jeremiah had said: This is our God and no other will be taken into consideration. He was seen on the earth and he conversed with humans5⁸⁸ Appropriately, then, Nathaniel is the true Israelite and without guile, as he says without any delay: Something good can come from Nazareth. Nazirite was the name for anyone whose hair on their head or beard has not been cut with iron from their birth.⁵⁸⁹ Such a man was Samson, in his time, who himself was a figure of Christ in many ways. So just as he, in his time, freed the people from ^[3205] foreigners who attacked and ruled over them (...)

^{Io. 1,} XVI. Postera die voluit proficisci in Galileam et invenit Filippum. Dixit illi Iesus: ^43–51 Sequere me et cetera. Dominus igitur Iesus, qui cordis inspector est et novit omnia, viso Filippo iussit, ut sequeretur se, sciens aptum futurum discipulum, cui merito committeretur praedicatio, qui ceteris notitiam et agnitionem fili dei insinuaret. ³¹⁹⁰ Denique ^*is statim inveniens Nathanael dixit: Quem scripsit Moyses in lege et prophetae invenimus Iesum filium Ioseph, qui est a Nazareth. Et dixit ^*ei Nathanael: A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse. Dicit ei Filippus: Veni et vide et cetera. Filippus igitur figuram habebat prophetiae. Ait namque vero[s] Israhelitae se invenisse Iesum. Statim credidit is, quae scripta erant. Moyses enim dixerat: Prophetam vobis ^{3195 *}suscitabit dominus deus vester de fratribus vestris. Hunc sicut me audietis. Et: Erit autem quaecumque anima non audierit prophetam illum, disperiet de populo suo. Et Eseias propheta eum, qui ex virgine fuisset editus ^*atque Emmanuel nominatus, quod est ‘Nobiscum deus’ (...) Ieremias ad(ae)que dixerat: Hic deus noster et non reputabitur alius. In terra visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est. Merito ergo ³²⁰⁰ verus Israhelita Nathanael et sine dolo, qui sine aliqua cunctatione ait: A[d] ^96v Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse. ^*Nazarei dicebantur, quibuscumque ^*ab nativitate capilli capitis ferro dempti vel barba non fuissent, ut fuerat in tempore Samson, qui et ipse in multis figura(m) habuit Christi. Sicut ergo ille in tempore populum ab ³²⁰⁵ alienigenis infestantibus et dominantibus liberavit (...)

As for the words Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you, it says that the fig tree is the synagogue or the kingdom of the Jews. Elsewhere, it says of this: And when he saw from afar a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if there was anything on it: he found nothing but leaves and he cursed it. Immediately it withered.⁵⁹⁰ For the Jews had only the appearance of the Law and no fruit. The fig tree is appropriately taken as the synagogue ^[3210] or the Jewish kingdom, as it has now withered and gives no fruit for ever. Therefore, while the Jews were still regarded as covered by the shade or the veil of the Law, Nathaniel was seen by the one who scrutinises the heart,⁵⁹¹ so that this Israelite might believe more fully. Indeed, he says: You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. Appropriately is he an Israelite, because he spoke with God, the Son of God, Jesus Christ: for Israel is translated as `seeing God’. And the Lord promises still greater things to the faithful: You will see, he says, the angels of God descending and ascending to the Son of Man. For all those who believed the Son of God frequently saw angels come to him and speak with him. What Jesus had said, You will see, was fulfilled. It is read in many places that this happened literally, but we can also adduce a significance regarding future matters which were to be fulfilled.

quod autem ait Priusquam te vocaret Filippus, cum esses sub arbore fici, vidi te, arborem fici synagogam dicit vel regnum Iudeorum, de quo ait alibi: Cumque vidisset a longe arborem ficus habentem folia, venit videre, si quid esset in ea, et nihil invenit nisi folia et maledixit, statimque aruit. Species enim sola legis Iudeis erat et fructus nullus. Merito arbor ficus syna‑ ³²¹⁰ goga vel illud regnum accipitur, quod iam aruit et fructum non dat in aeternum. Cum igitur adhuc umbraculo legis vel ^*velamento tecti haberentur Iudei, visus est Nathanael, ab eo scilicet, qui cordis est ^*inspector, ut plenius ille Israheli(ta) cre-deret. Denique ait: Tu es filius dei. Tu es rex Israhel[i]. Merito Israhelita, quia cum deo loquebatur dei ^*filio Iesu Christo: Israhel enim ‘^*deum videns’ interpretatur. Et ³²¹⁵ adhuc maiora ^*fidelibus dominus promittit: Videbitis inquit angelos dei descenden‑ ^97r tes et ascendentes ad filium hominis. Quicumque enim crediderunt filio dei, fre-quenter angelos ad eum venisse et conlocutos esse viderunt. Et inpletum est, quod dixerat Iesus Videbitis. Quod quidem simpliciter factum multis (in) locis legitur; pos-sumus autem et significantiam rerum futurarum, quae adinpleri habebant, ^*adferre:

For the believers to ascend is plainly for the people of God to be raised to the regions above; for the unbelievers to descend (...) to be degraded and be removed from hope. So Jacob too in his dream had seen a ladder set up in the heaven and the Son of God leaning on it, and angels ascending and descending.⁵⁹² A ladder consists of two shafts, which hold it together, and it has steps for climbing up. So the two Testaments hold together everything about the Son of God; the steps ^[3225] are those who are present in the Church, as Paul writes to Timothy: They secure a good step for themselves 5⁹³ For the believers to ascend means the Christian people towards heaven; for the unbelievers to descend means the Jews towards the underworld: the dream of Jacob made this clear even then. David, too, says of them in a psalm: May the ungodly descend to the underworld.⁵⁹⁴

³²²⁰ Ascendere credentes, populum scilicet dei ad superna extolli, et descendere in-credulos (...) degra(da)ri et ab spe submoveri, sicuti et Iacob in somno viderat scalam erectam in caelo et filium dei super eam incumbentem (et) angelos ascendentes et descendentes. Scala duorum ^*scaporum est, qui eam continent, et (habet) gradus, per quos ascenditur. Duo ergo testamenta de filio dei cuncta continent; gradus isti sunt, qui in ecclesia habentur scribente Paulo ad Timotheum Gradum bonum sibi ³²²⁵ adquirunt. Ascendere credentes, id est populum Christianum ad caelum, descendere incredulos, id est Iudeos ad infernum, iam tunc ^*somnium Iacob hoc ^*declaravit. De quibus et David in psalmo ait: Descendant inpii in infernum.

J. XVII. [John 2:1-7] And on the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there and so on. As for the words, On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, the most holy John from the beginning of the Gospel endeavoured to show the reason for the two persons of the Father and the Son. For it was especially his duty, since no-one was uncertain about the Father, to demonstrate that the Son of God was God, as has already been more fully shown. And because it was necessary for him also to make a mention of the Holy Spirit, he said On the third day a wedding took place. In the previous reading, therefore, he subtly put On another day.⁵⁹⁵ He emphasised this three times by saying On another day John saw Jesus,⁵⁹⁶ once more On another day John was standing again,⁵⁹⁷ and On the next day he wanted to set out.⁵⁹⁸ So he has kept back the reason for the two persons of the Father and the Son until this point: coming to the bond of marriage, therefore, he says

^{Io. 2,} XVII. Et die tertio nuptiae factae sunt in Chana Galileae. Et erat ibi mater Iesu et ^1–7 cetera. Quod autem ait Die tertia nuptiae factae sunt in Chana Galileae, duarum ³²³⁰ personarum patris et fili sanctissimus Iohannis a principio evangelii nisus est ostendere rationem. Hoc enim ei incubuerat vel maxime, ut, quia de patre nullus ambigeretur, filium dei deum demonstraret, sicuti plenius iam ostensum est. Et quia ^97v necesse erat illum etiam spiritus ^*sancti facere mentionem, Die tertia ait nuptiae factae sunt. Subtiliter igitur praemisit in superiore lectione Altera die. Hoc ^*ter ³²³⁵ inculcavit dicendo Altera die Iohannis vidit Iesum, iterum Altera die stabat Iohannis iterum et ^*Postera die voluit proficisci. Ergo duarum personarum patris et fili hoc usque reservavit rationem. Veniens igitur ad copulam nuptiarum dicit

On the third day a wedding took place. Who is this third to be taken as but the person of the Holy Spirit? He had already spoken about the Father and about the Son and now he added something about a third. The Trinity is certainly demonstrated in Cana of Galilee. The wedding took place as if outside Judea, a wedding which declared that a spiritual wedding would come to pass, meaning that the Church was to be betrothed to Christ through the Holy Spirit. This was to take place at the time when the apostles were sitting together with all the other disciples and the Holy Spirit came down at the third hour: it appeared as fire and rested on each one of them, and they began to speak in different languages,⁵⁹⁹ just as the Acts of the Apostles bear witness in full. Therefore, as the wine of the wedding was running out, wine for the wedding was made from water with a better flavour of its taste than the one which had already been consumed earlier. It shows that the wine of the wedding is the Jews, as David says: You brought across a vine from Egypt, you cast out the Gentiles and planted it, you made a way in its sight, you planted its roots and you filled the land.⁶⁰⁰ This is the vine which was called through Isaiah the vine of the Lord of Hosts, the house of Israel,⁶⁰¹ which instead of grapes produced thorns. This is that vine from which it said Moses planted wine which was the savagery of serpents and the grape-bunches of Gomorrah.⁶⁰² From this vine, therefore, the wine of the wedding ran out, meaning that the Jews had completely failed. For they were consumed with malice and unrighteousness and their unbelief. As for what the mother of Jesus says to him:

Die tertio nuptiae factae sunt. Quis hic tertius nisi persona spiritus sancti accipiendus? Iam dixerat de patre et de filio, et nunc addidit de tertio. Trinitas utique demonstratur in ³²⁴⁰ Chana ^*Galileae. Veluti extra Iudeam nuptiae factae sunt, quae nuptiae spiritales nuptias futuras declarabant, id est ^*quia ecclesia Christo per spiritum sanctum consponsanda esset. Quod (fieri) debuit tempore eo, quo apostolis in unum cum ceteris discipulis sedentibus hora tertia spiritus sanctus descendit apparens velut ³²⁴⁵ ignis et consedit super unumquemque eorum et coeperunt variis linguis loqui, sicuti Actus apostolorum plenissime testatur. Deficiente igitur vino nuptiarum de (a)qua effectum est vinum nuptiarum meliore sapore gustus ab eo, quod prius iam fuerat consumptum. Vinum nuptiarum ostendit esse Iudeos, sicuti ait David: Vineam de ^98r Aegypto transtulisti, ^*eiecisti gentes et plantasti eam, viam fecisti in conspectu eius et ³²⁵⁰ plantasti radices eius et replesti terram. Haec e(s)t per Eseiam vinea dicta ^*domini Sabaoth domus Israhel, qua(e) pro uva dedit spinas, haec est illa vinea, de qua Moyses plantasse vinum dixit furorem draconum et vites Gomorrae. Ex hac igitur vinea vinum nuptiarum defecit, id est Iudei perdefecerunt. Consumpti sunt enim in malitia et (in) iniquitate et in incredulitate sua. Quod autem dicit mater Iesu ad eum:

They do not have wine, my son; and Jesus says: What is this to me and you, woman? My hour has not yet come: Jesus plainly knew that the Church and the nations would come to belief once the Jews, who were the wine of the wedding, had failed and collapsed. Because this would take place after the Passion of the Lord, he said to her: What is this to me and you, woman? My hour has not yet come: this means the time of suffering, because what the Son of God was going to do was not yet complete, nor had all those things which had to take place concerning him before the Passion yet taken place. Appropriately he says: My hour has not yet come. Indeed, when he had done everything which had been written about him and he had been given up to his Passion and had drunk the vinegar, he said: It is complete.⁶⁰³ For the Jews had completed it by their crime and had accomplished everything which had been proclaimed beforehand by the prophets. Then his mother said to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. The servants are none other than the apostles and those who are now in charge of the Church. Do whatever he tells, means that what Jesus the Son of God commands is to be done with all power, to be observed and fulfilled with all attention Church may be accomplished. For the Son of God warns, encourages and instructs his apostles, as the evangelist Matthew related by saying: And going up Jesus spoke to them: All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth and so on.⁶⁰⁴ This is what the mother of Jesus says ^[3270] to the servants: Do whatever he tells you. There were six stone water jars there and so on. As for the word six, these are the five books of Moses and one of all the prophets, in which that custom or practice of purification is contained. Holding two or three measures means people who already had belief in the Father and the Son: by saying or three, belief in the Holy Spirit is also introduced, and the result is the perfect Trinity. so that theBut the six water jars can be taken as the six thousandth year, the time at which our Lord saw fit to come and call all races to belief. This is what the water jars, this is what the two or three measures signified. As for the words to the servants Fill them up, and they filled them right up to the top, these are therefore for the apostles to whom he had said: Go, teach all races, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.⁶⁰⁵ By their preaching and teaching, the whole human race comes to belief and is washed in the baptism of the Son of God. Filled right up to the top: for the top is distinguished and perfect. It is perfect and topmost that the nations baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit were filled right up to the top, plainly all having obtained heavenly grace.⁶⁰⁶

³²⁵⁵ Vinum non habent, fili; et dicit Iesus: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? Nondum venit hora mea, sciens scilicet ecclesiam defectis et elisis Iudeis, qui erant vinum nuptiarum, et nationes venturas ad credulitatem, quia post passionem domini id erat futurum, ait ad illam: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? Nondum venit hora mea, id est patiendi tem-pus, quia nondum inpletum erat id, quod facturus filius dei erat neque adhuc circa ³²⁶⁰ ipsum, quae ante passionem (fieri) haberet, erat effectum. Merito ait: Nondum venit hora mea. Denique cum omnia fecisset, quae de eo erant scripta, et passioni esset obiectus ^*potassetque acetum, ait: Inpletum est. Inpleverunt enim Iudei scelere suo et perfecerunt omnia, quae fuerant ante per prophetas adnuntiata. Tunc dixit mater illius ministris: Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite. Ministri non alii quam apostoli et hii, qui nunc ecclesiae praesunt. Quodcumque dixerit, facite, id est quae imperaverit ^98v Iesus filius dei, omni virtute facienda, observanda inplendaque sunt omnique vigilantia, ut efficiatur ecclesia. Mone[n]t, exhortatur et ^*praecipit namque filius dei apostolis suis, sicut rettulit Matheus evangelista dicendo Et accedens Iesus locutus est illis: Data est mihi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra et cetera. Et hoc est, quod ait mater Iesu ministris Quodcumque vobis dixerit, facite. Erant autem ibi hydriae lapi- ³²⁷⁰ deae sex et cetera. Quod autem ait sex, quinque libri Moysi sunt, unus omnium prophetarum, in quibus iste ^*mos est vel consuetudo continetur ^*purificationis. Capientes metretas binas vel ternas, id est homines, qui iam patris et fili habebant credulitatem; ^*dicendo vel ternas etiam spiritus sancti credulitas insinuatur, et fit perfecta trinitas. Potest autem sex hydriae sextus millesimus annus accipi, quo ³²⁷⁵ tempore dignatus est dominus venire et omnes gentes vocare ad credulitatem. Hoc hydriae, hoc metretae binae vel ternae significabant. Quod autem ait ministris Inplete, (et) inpleverunt eas usque ad summum, apostolis igitur, quibus dixerat Ite, docete omnes gentes baptizantes eos in nomine patris et fili et spiritus sancti, praedi-cantibus et docentibus omne hominum genus veniens ad credulitatem ^*baptismo fili ³²⁸⁰ dei ^*abluitur. Ad summum usque repleti: Summum enim eminens est et perfectum ^99r [est]. Perfectum est autem et summum, ut in nomine patris et fili et spiritus sancti ^*nationes baptizatae ad summum usque replerentur, omnes scilicet gratia(m)

The faithful are nourished daily with the body and blood of the Son of God in the Church, and this is the meaning of They filled them right up to the top.

{*caelestem adepti. Saginantur cottidie *corpore et sanguine[m] fili dei in *ecclesia fideles, et 3285 hoc est Repleverunt eas usque ad summum.

J. XVIII. [John 2:8-11] Jesus says to them: Draw some out and take it to the chief steward and the rest. The chief steward is James, who sat as the first bishop in Jerusalem after the Passion of the Lord. So he said that the taste of this wine was good, not knowing where it was from. But the servants, who had drawn out the water, knew: this means Peter, when at his preaching the centurion Cornelius was the first of the Gentiles to come to belief and all the other nations were brought to belief through ^[3290] the Holy Spirit. This is what the chief steward did not know. And when some people wanted maliciously to accuse Peter, he explained himself, recognising what the will of God was with regard to the nations. Also, when those who came to belief from the Gentiles were being forced by some people to be circumcised, then James and the other apostles gave out a letter through the Holy Spirit instructing that anyone who came to belief from the Gentiles should remain as they were in the faith of the Son of God.

(XVIII.) Dicit illis Iesus: Haurite et ferte architriclino et reliqua. Architriclinus Iacobus est, Io. 2, qui *primus post passione(m) domini episcopus Hierosolimis sedit. Hic ergo gustum istius vini 8–11 dixit bonum nesciens, unde esset. Ministri vero sciebant, qui haurierant aquam, id est Petrus, cum Cornelius centurio primitiae gentium eodem praedicante crediderit et ceterae nationes per ³²⁹⁰ spiritum sanctum ad credulitatem conversae (sint). Hoc est, quod nesciebat architriclinus. Et cum vellent Petrum quidam calumniare, reddidit ratione(m) agnoscen[te]s circa nationes voluntate(m) dei fuisse[nt]. Vel quando qui ex gentibus *crediderunt conpellabantur a[d] quibusdam, ut circumcidere(n)tur, tunc Iacobus et ceteri apostoli epistula(m) per *spiritum sanctum dederunt hoc praecipientes, ut quisque ex gentibus veniens credere[n]t et ita in fide ³²⁹⁵ fili dei permanere[n]t.

Then it was fulfilled that the wine of the wedding ran out and wine was made by the strength of the Son of God from water⁶⁰⁷ filled with a ¹better flavour of taste. As the Apostle said to the Jews: The message of this salvation had been sent to you; but because you have proved yourselves unworthy, we will turn to the Gentiles⁶⁰⁸ (...)⁶⁰⁹ the wise persevere through the Holy Spirit. For that earlier wine intoxicated people, as is natural for the one from the savagery of serpents;⁶¹⁰ but this wine (which we find was the better one kept for later) is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have obtained through the preaching of the apostles. This is the new wine which is kept in new wineskins, which the old wineskins are not able to bear.⁶¹¹ Jesus made this first one the beginning of his signs, and he made evident his glory and his disciples believed in him. Therefore the disciples, seeing the sign performed by him which a human could not perform, believed in the Son of God, plainly having perceived his glory and strength.

Tunc inpletum est, ut vinum deficeret nuptiarum et ex aqua †ucosa† repleta meliore s(apore) gustus per potentia(m) dei fili vinum *efficeretur, ut apostolus ait ad Iudeos: Vobis missum erat verbum salutis *huius; (sed) quia vos indignos iudicastis, convertemur ad gentes} (...) sapientes per spiritum sanctum perseverent. Illud enim vinum prius inebriaba[n]t utpote de furore draconum; hoc autem vinum, quod melius in ³³⁰⁰ posterum servatum invenimus, gratia est domini nostri Iesu Christi, quam praedicantibus apostolis sumus adepti. Hoc est vinum novum, quod in utribus novis servatur, quod utres veteres baiulare non possunt. Hoc primum initium fecit signorum Iesus et manifestavit gloriam suam, et crediderunt in eum discipuli eius. Videntes igitur discipuli signum ab eo factum, quod homo non faceret, [et] crediderunt in filio dei, perspecta scilicet gloria et potentia eius. ³³⁰⁵

HERE ENDS THE DISCUSSION OF THE GOSPELS ⁶¹²

EXPLICIT TRACTATUS EVANGELIORUM FELICITER.

Appendix: Doubtful extracts

Excerpta dubia (cf. p. 49)

1 (= th., p. 279,238–247 Gorman), fortasse haustum ex M. LVII

[Matthew 10:27] What I speak to you in the darkness, speak in the light. He says darkness for the Jews but light for the Christians, as the Apostle says: Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Therefore walk as children of light.⁶¹⁴ And what you hear in your ear, preach on the rooftops. He says ear for the people because of their listening, just as leaders are understood as eyes because ^[5] they give light to all others by divine preaching. But he said that rooftops are divine promises, because believers had to be removed from earthly behaviour and set on the way of heavenly instruction. So this is the sense: everything which you hear from me, preach to the people in public and as if on a high place.

Quod dico vobis in tenebris, dicite in lumine. Tenebras pro Iudaeis, lumen autem pro Christianis ait, ut dicit apostolus: Eratis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in domino. Ergo ut filii lucis ambulate. Et quod in aure auditis, praedicate super tecta. Aurem pro populo ait propter auditum, sicut oculi principes intelleguntur, eo quod ⁵ ceteros inluminent praedicatione divina. Tecta autem promissa divina ideo dixit, quia credentes removeri habebant a conversatione terrena et in via caelestis disci-plinae constitui. Hic ergo est sensus: Omnia, quae a me auditis, populo publice ac veluti in edito praedicate.

2 (= th., p. 283,352–358 Gorman), fortasse haustum ex M. LXV

[Matthew 12:29] How can someone enter in the house of a strong man and plunder his vessels unless they have previously tied up the strong man? The strong man was Satan, in time past, who owned the whole human race on this earth as if they were his own vessels. But when the Son of God came, who was stronger than him, he drove Satan out through his Passion, he rescued us from Satan’s authority and he made us his own vessels by giving us the ^[5] Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: We have this treasure in pottery vessels.⁶¹⁶ So he called our bodies vessels.

Quomodo potest intrare quis in domo fortis et vasa eius diripere, nisi prius alligaverit fortem? Fortis erat praeterito tempore Satanas, qui omne genus hominum in hoc mundo velut vasa propria possidebat. Sed veniens fortior eo filius dei evicto illo passione sua eruit nos de potestate ipsius et fecit nos vasa sua dans nobis spiritum ⁵ sanctum, ut ait apostolus: Habemus thesaurum hunc in vasis fictilibus. Ergo corpora vasa dixit.