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By flesh the ill, by Flesh the remedy.

II.

HOMIL. of God, according to His Word. The Word Himself was pleased first to be born of men, that thou mightest be born of God, and mightest be sure of it, and say to thyself, It was not without cause that God was pleased to be born of man, but for that He accounted me of some importance, that He should make me immortal, and be, for my sake, born after the manner of mortal men. Having said therefore, " Were born of God," as if (lest we should be amazed and awe-struck at grace so great as to pass belief, that men, that is to say, are born of God,) as if, I say, to make thee sure, he proceeds, John 1, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Why dost thou marvel that men are born of God? Think of God Himself born of men: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

14.

14.

16. But, whereas the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, He did, by His very Nativity, make an eye-salve, to cleanse the eyes of our heart, that we might see His Majesty, by means of His humility. For this cause, The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He cured our John 1, eyes. And what follows? And we beheld His glory. His glory no man could behold, unless cured by the humility of His flesh. Why could not we behold it? Attend then, dearly beloved, and mark what I say. There had come driving into man's face a blast as it were of dust, of earthy matter, it had forced itself into his eye, had made it sore, and he could not see the light. This sore eye is anointed, earth made it sore, and earth is put to it for healing: indeed all eye-salves and other drugs are produced from earth. From dust came thy blinding, from dust thy healing; so the flesh had made thee blind, and flesh maketh thee whole. The soul had become carnal by consenting to the affections of the flesh; hence the eye of the heart had become blind. The Word was made flesh : He, thy Physician, made thee an eye-salve. And, since He came in such sort, that by flesh He might abolish what was amiss in the flesh, and, by death, slay death, therefore hath this been brought to pass in thee, that, since The Word was made flesh, thou canst say, And we beheld His glory. What kind of glory? Such as He became, as Son of Man? That was His humility, not His glory. But to what is man's eyeJohn 1, sight brought, when cured by flesh? We beheld His glory;

Majesty made known by Humility.

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I. 6-14.

the glory as of the Only-Begotten from the Father, (Him) JOHN full of grace and truth. Of grace and truth we will speak more at large on another place in this same Gospel, if the Lord vouchsafe to grant us opportunity. Let this suffice for the present. And be ye edified in Christ, and be ye comforted in the faith, and watch ye in good works; and see that ye let not go the plank on which ye are to cross the

sea.

plenum, which is nominative, (λhpns) is here construed as an accusative in apposition with gloriam.

HOMILY III.

JOHN i. 15-18.

John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me, is preferred before1 me, because He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

1. THE grace and truth of God, of which the Saints, at the appearing of the Only-Begotten Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, beheld Him to be full: how this is to be distinguished from the Old Testament, as being a matter of the New Testament: this theme, my beloved, we have undertaken in the name of the Lord, as we promised. Give ye then your best attention, that what, according to my capacity, God shall give me, ye, according to your capacity, may hear the same. For then it will only remain, that if, when the seed is sown in your hearts, the birds take it not away, nor thorns choak, nor heat scorch it, and withal there come upon it the rain of daily exhortations, and your own good thoughts, which do that in the heart which in the field the harrows do, to wit, break the clods and cover up the seed, that it may have leave to sprout: it will then only remain, that ye bear fruit, at which the husbandman may rejoice and be glad. If, however, in return for good seed and good rain, we bear not fruit, but thorns, the seed will not be blamed, nor will the rain be in fault, but for the thorns due fire is prepared.

2. We be Christian men, beloved, as I suppose I need not long stand to prove to you; and if Christian, then of course, by our very name, belonging to Christ. His sign we bear on our forehead; whereof we are not ashamed, if we bear it

The Law prepared sick souls for the Physician.

33

I.15-18.

14.

likewise on our heart. His sign is that of His humiliation. JoHN By a star the wise men knew Him: and this was a sign Mat. 2, given of the Lord, heavenly and glorious; He would not 2. have a star to be on the forehead of His believers as His sign, but His cross. Whereby humbled, by the same glorified, He lifted up the humble even by that same to which being humbled Himself descended. We belong then to the Gospel; we belong to the New Testament. The law John 1, was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus 17. Christ. We ask the Apostle, and he tells us, that we are Rom. 6, nol under the law, but under grace. God sent therefore Gal.4,4. His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Behold, for this Christ came; that He might redeem those who were under the law, that now we may no longer be under the law, but under grace. Who then gave the law? He gave the law, Who also gave grace but the law He sent by a servant, the grace Himself came down withal. And how were men made under the law? By not fulfilling the law: for whoso fulfils the law is not under the law, but with the law. Now whoso is under the law is not raised up, but pressed down, by the law. All men accordingly being placed under the law, the law makes all guilty; and for this end it is over their head, that it may shew sins, not take them away. The law then enjoins, the Giver of the law sheweth pity in that which the law enjoineth. Men attempting to fulfil, by their own strength, the requirements of the law, by that their rash and headstrong presumption fell; and so are not with the law, but under the law are become guilty and since, by their own strength, they could not fulfil the law, having become guilty under the law, they implored the Deliverer's help. So the guilt of the law made the sickness of the proud; the sickness of the proud became the confession of the humble: the sick now confess that they are sick; let the physician come and heal the sick.

3. The physician, who is he? Jesus Christ our Lord. What Jesus Christ our Lord? That, which was seen, even of them by whom He was crucified; that Jesus Christ Who was seized, buffeted, scourged, spit upon, crowned with

D

40.

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The Physician, Man seen, God unseen.

:

HOMIL. thorns, hanged upon the cross, dead, wounded with the spear, III. taken down from the cross, laid in the sepulchre that same Jesus Christ our Lord, the same precisely: and the same is, all of Him, the Physician of our wounds, that Crucified One, at Whom men mocked, at Whom, while hanging there, Mat.17, the persecutors wagged the head and said, If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross, the same is, all of Him, our Physician, the same precisely. Why then did He not shew them that mocked, that He was the Son of God: at least thus, that if He allowed Himself to be lifted up upon the cross, yet, when they said, If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the cross, then He should come down and shew them that He was the very Son of God, Whom they had dared to treat with scorn? He would not. Why would not? Because He could not? Without question, He could. For which is greater, to come down from the cross, or to rise again from the grave? But He bore their mockery for the cross was taken up, not for a token of power, but for an example of patience. On it He cured thy wounds, while on it He long bore His own. On it He made thee whole from a death eternal, while on it He condescended to die a temporal death. And died He, or in Him did death die? What a death, that gave Death its death-blow!

4. But is our Lord Jesus Christ His very self and whole self, just what was seen and held and crucified? Is the whole very self just that? What the Jews saw is indeed His very self, but not the whole: not this is whole Christ. And what is? In the beginning was the Word. In what beginning? And the Word was with God. And what kind of Word? And the Word was God. Was this Word peradventure made by God? No; for the same was in the beginning with God. What then? other things, which God made, are they not like the Word? No: for all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. How by Him were all things made? Because that which was made, in Him was life; and before it was made, was life. That which was made, is not life: but, in the art (or theory,) i. e. in the Wisdom of God, before it was made, it was life. That which was made, passeth away: that which is in Wisdom, cannot pass away. Life, then, in Him: this was the