Augustine of Hippo — Commentary on Scripture

Commentary

2,121–2,140 of 7,530

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

"For," saith He, "the Father judgeth no man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son." A little before we were thinking that the Father doeth something which the Son doeth not, when He said, "The Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth;" as though the Father were doing, and the Son were seeing. In this way there was creeping in upon our mind a carnal conception, as if the Father did what the Son did not; but that the Son was looking on while the Father showed what He was doing. Then, as the Father was doing what the Son did not, just now we see the Son doing what the Father doeth not. How He turns us about, and keeps our mind busy! He leads us hither and thither, will not allow us to remain in one place of the flesh, that by changing He may exercise us, by exercising He may cleanse us, by cleansing He may render us capable of receiving, and may fill us when made capable.

How can it be said, “The Father judges no one”? For since the Father has begotten the Son equal to himself, the Father does indeed judge with the Son. Therefore Jesus must have meant that in the judgment, it is not the form of God but the form of the Son of man that will appear. Not that the Father, who has committed all judgment to the Son, will not judge, because the Son identifies him as “one who seeks and judges.” But … it is as if it was said: No one will see the Father in the judgment of the living and the dead, but everyone will see the Son, because he is also the Son of man so that he can be seen even by the ungodly.

John 5:23 · 4 passages

That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

"Whoso honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father that sent Him." This is a truth, and is plain. Since, then, "all judgment hath He given to the Son," as He said above, "that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father," what if there be those who honor the Father and honor not the Son? It cannot be, saith He: "Whoso honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father that sent Him." One cannot therefore say, I honored the Father, because I knew not the Son. If thou didst not yet honor the Son, neither didst thou honor the Father. For what is honoring the Father, unless it be in that He hath a Son? It is one thing when thou art taught to honor God in that He is God; but another thing when thou art taught to honor Him in that He is Father. When thou art taught to honor Him in that He is God, it is as the Creator, as the Almighty, as the Spirit supreme, eternal, invisible, unchangeable, that thou art led to think of Him; but when thou art taught to honor Him in that He is Father, it is the same thing as to honor the Son; because Father cannot be said if there be not a Son, as neither can Son if there be not a Father.

But lest, it may be, thou honorest the Father indeed as greater, but the Son as less, as thou mayest say to me, "I do honor the Father, for I know that He has a Son; nor do I err in the name Father, for I do not understand Father without Son, and yet the Son also I honor as the less," the Son Himself sets thee right, and recalls thee, saying, "that all may honor the Son," not in a lower degree, but "as they honor the Father." Therefore, "whoso honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father that sent Him." "I," sayest thou, "wish to give greater honor to the Father, less to the Son." Therein thou takest away honor from the Father, wherein thou givest less to the Son. For, being thus minded, it must really seem to thee that the Father either would not or could not beget a Son equal to Himself: if He would not, He lacked the will; if He could not, He lacked the ability. Dost thou not therefore see that, being thus minded, wherein thou wouldst give greater honor to the Father, therein thou art reproachful to the Father? Wherefore, so honor the Son as thou honorest the Father, if thou wouldest honor both the Father and the Son.

And immediately, then, after the judgment mentioned, all which the Father, not judging any man, hath given to the Son, what shall be? What follows? "That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father." The Jews honor the Father, despise the Son. For the Son was seen as a servant, the Father was honored as God. But the Son will appear equal with the Father, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. This we have, therefore, now in faith. Let not the Jew say, "I honor the Father; what have I to do with the Son?" Let him be answered, "He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father. Thou liest every way; thou blasphemest the Son, and dost wrong to the Father. For the Father sent the Son, and thou despisest Him whom the Father sent. How canst thou honor the sender, who blasphemest the sent?"

Consider how different it is in the case of things human, from which you wish to deduce examples for things divine. A man that sends remains himself behind, while only the man that is sent goes forward. Does the man who sends go with him whom he sends? Yet the Father, who sent the Son, has not departed from the Son. Hear the Lord Himself saying, "Behold, the hour is coming, when every one shall depart to his own, and ye will leave me alone; but I am not alone, because the Father is with me." How has He, with whom He came, sent Him? How has He, from whom He has not departed, sent Him? In another place He said, "The Father abiding in me doeth the works." Behold, the Father is in Him, works in Him. The Father sending has not departed from the Son sent, because the sent and the sender are one.

Behold, says some one, the Son has been sent; and the Father is greater, because He sent. Withdraw from the flesh; the old man suggests oldness in time. Let the ancient, the perpetual, the eternal, to thee the new, call off thy understanding from time to this. Is the Son less because He is said to have been sent? I hear of a sending, not a separation. But yet, saith he, among men we see that he who sends is greater than he who is sent. Be it so; but human affairs deceive a man; divine things purge him. Do not regard things human, in which the sender appears greater, the sent less. Notwithstanding, things human themselves bear testimony against thee. Just as, for example, if a man wishes to ask a woman to wife, and, not being able to do this in person, sends a friend to ask for him. And there are many cases in which the greater is chosen to be sent by the less.

John 5:24 · 7 passages

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whoso heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but is passed," not is passing now, but is already passed, "from death into life." And mark this, "Whoso heareth my word, and" - He says not, believeth me, but - "believeth Him that sent me." Let him hear the word of the Son, that he may believe the Father. Why heareth Thy word, and yet believeth another? When we hear any one's word, is it not him that utters the word we believe? is it not to him who speaks we lend our faith? What, then, did He mean, saying, "Whoso heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me," if it be not this, because "His word is in me"? And what is "heareth my word," but "heareth me"? So, too, "believeth Him that sent me," because, believing Him, he believeth His word; but again, believing His word, he believeth me, because I am the Word of the Father. There is therefore peace in the Scriptures, and all things duly disposed, and in no way clashing. Cast away, then, contention from thy heart; understand the harmony of the…

Because people love being alive on this earth, they are promised life. And because they are very afraid of dying, they are promised a life that is eternal.… But we see the lovers of this present transitory life strive so hard for it, that when the fear of death looms up they do everything they can, not to eliminate death but simply to put it off. The pains a person will take, the trouble he will endure when death looms ahead, running away, going into hiding, giving everything he has and paying his ransom, struggling, enduring all sorts of torments and afflictions, bringing in doctors and whatever else a person can do! But notice how one can take endless pains and spend all of his means in order to live a little longer; but when it comes to living forever, he can do nothing. If so much care and labor then is spent on gaining a little additional length of life, how ought we to strive after life eternal? And if those people who try in every possible way to put off death are thought to be wise, even though they can only live a few days longer, how foolish are they who live in such a way…

"Whoso heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Surely we are all striving after eternal life: and He saith, "Whoso heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Then, would He have us hear His word, and yet would He not have us understand it? Since, if in hearing and believing is eternal life, much more in understanding. But the action of piety is faith, the fruit of faith understanding, that we may come to eternal life, when there will be no reading of Gospel to us; but after all pages of reading and the voice of reader and preacher have been removed out of the way, He, who has at this time dispensed to us the gospel, will Himself appear to all that are His, now present with Him with purged heart and in an immortal body never more to die, cleansing and enlightening them, now living and seeing how that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."

(Tr. xxii. s. 2) If in hearing and believing is eternal life, how much more in understanding? But the step to our piety is faith, the fruit of faith, understanding. It is not, Believeth on Me, but on Him that sent Me. Why is one to hear His word, and believe another? Is it not that He means to say, His word is in Me? And what is, Heareth My word, but heareth Me? And it is, Believeth on Him that sent Me; as to say, He that believeth on Him, believeth on His Word, i. e. on Me, because I am the Word of the Father.

(Tr. xxii. s. 4. et sq.) But who is this favoured Person? Will there be any one better than the Apostle Paul, who says, We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ? (1 Cor. 6) Now judgment sometimes means punishment, sometimes trial. In the sense of trial, we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: in the sense of condemnation we read, some shall not come into judgment; i. e. shall not be condemned. It follows, but is passed from death into life: not, is now passing, but hath passed from the death of unbelief, into the life of faith, from the death of sin, unto the life of righteousness. Or, it is so said perhaps, to prevent our supposing that faith would save us from bodily death, that penalty which we must pay for Adam's transgression. He, in whom we all then were, heard the divine sentence, Thou shall surely die; (Gen. 2) nor can we evade it. But when we have suffered the death of the old man, we shall receive the life of the new, and by death make a passage to life. But to what life? (Tr. xix.). To life everlasting: the dead shall rise again at the end of the world, and enter into everlasting life. (Tr. xxii.). For this life does not deserve the name of life; only that life is true which is eternal.

(de Verb. Dom. Serm. lxiv) We see the lovers of this present transitory life so intent on its welfare, that when in danger of death, they will take any means to delay its approach, though they can not hope to drive it off altogether. If so much care and labour then is spent on gaining a little additional length of life, how ought we to strive after life eternal? And if they are thought wise, who endeavour in every way to put off death, though they can live but a few days longer; how foolish are they who so live, as to lose the eternal day?

The Lord our God then reveals it, and by His Scriptures puts us in mind how it may be understood when judgment is spoken of. I exhort you, therefore, to give attention. Sometimes judgment means punishment, sometimes it means discrimination. According to that mode of speech in which judgment means discrimination, "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that" a man "may there receive what things he has done in the body, whether it be good or ill." For this same is a discrimination, to distribute good things to the good, evil things to the evil. For if judgment were always to be taken in a bad sense, the psalm would not say, "Judge me, O God." Perhaps some one is surprised when he hears one say, "Judge me, O God." For man is wont to say, "Forgive me, O God;" "Spare me, O God." Who is it that says, "Judge me, O God"?

"Whoso heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." You remember what we laid down above, that "as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will." He is beginning already to reveal Himself; and behold, even now, the dead are rising. For "whoso heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and will not come into judgment." Prove that he has risen again. "But is passed," saith He "from death unto life." He that is passed from death unto life, has surely without any doubt risen again. For he could not pass from death to life, unless he were first in death and not in life; but when he will have passed, he will be in life, and not in death. He was therefore dead, and is alive again; he was lost, but is found. Hence a resurrection does take place now, and men pass from a death to a life; from the death of infidelity to the life of faith; from the death of falsehood to the life of truth; from the death of iniquity to the life of right…

"Whoso heareth my words," saith He, "and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." Where, when do we come from death to life, that we come not into judgment? In this life there is a passing from death to life; in this life, which is not yet life, there is a passing hence from death unto life. What is that passing? "Whoso heareth my words," He said, "and believeth Him that sent me." Observing these, thou believest and passest. And does a man pass while standing? Evidently; for in body he stands in mind he passes. Where was he, whence he should pass, and whither does he pass? He passes from death to life. Look at a man standing, in whom all that is here said may happen. He stands, he hears, perhaps he did not believe, by hearing he believes: a little before he did not believe, just now he believes; he has made a passage, as it were, from the region of unbelief to the region of faith, by motion of the heart, not of the body, by a motion into the better; because they who again abandon faith move into the worse.

John 5:25 · 6 passages

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

This hour, however, is still passing. For the hour of which the Lord spoke will not be an hour of the twelve hours of a day. From the time when He spoke even to the present, and even to the end of the world, the same one hour is passing; of which hour John saith in his epistle, "Little children, it is the last hour." Therefore, is now. Whoso is alive, let him live; whoso was dead, let him live; let him hear the voice of the Son of God, who lay dead; let him arise and live. The Lord cried out at the sepulchre of Lazarus, and he that was four days dead arose. He who stank in the grave came forth into the air. He was buried, a stone was laid over him: the voice of the Saviour burst asunder the hardness of the stone; and thy heart is so hard, that Divine Voice does not yet break it! Rise in thy heart; go forth from thy tomb. For thou wast lying dead in thy heart as in a tomb, and pressed down by the weight of evil habit as by a stone. Rise, and go forth. What is Rise, and go forth? Believe and confess. For he that has believed has risen; he that confesses is gone forth.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is." We did look for a resurrection of the dead in the end, for so we have believed; yea, not we looked, but are manifestly bound to look for it: for it is not a false thing we believe, when we believe that the dead will rise in the end. When the Lord Jesus, then, was willing to make known to us a resurrection of the dead before the resurrection of the dead, it is not as that of Lazarus, or of the widow's son, or of the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, who were raised to die again (for in their case there was a resurrection of the dead before the resurrection of the dead); but, as He says here, "hath," says He, "eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death into life." To what life? To life eternal. Not, then, as the body of Lazarus: for he indeed passed from the death of the tomb to the life of men, but not to life eternal, seeing he was to die again; whereas the dead, that are to rise again at the end of the world, will pass to eternal life.

When our Lord Jesus Christ, then, our heavenly Master, the Word of the Father, and the Truth, was willing to represent to us a resurrection of the dead to eternal life before the resurrection of the dead to eternal life, "The hour cometh," saith He. Doubtless thou, imbued with a faith of the resurrection of the flesh, didst look for the hour of the end of the world, which, that thou shouldst not look for here, He added, "and now is." Therefore He saith not this, "The hour cometh," of that last hour, when "at the command and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet Christ in the air: and so shall we be ever with the Lord." That hour will come, but is not now. But consider what this hour is: "The hour cometh, and now is." What happens in that hour? What, but a resurrection of the dead? And what kind of resurrection? Such that they who rise live for ever. This will be also in the last hour.

"The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." From what source shall they live? From life. From what life? From Christ. How do we prove that the source is Christ the life? "I am," saith He, "the way, the truth, and the life." Dost thou wish to walk? "I am the way." Dost thou wish not to be deceived? "I am the truth." Wouldest thou not die? "I am the life." This saith thy Saviour to thee: There is not whither thou mayest go but to me; there is not whereby thou mayest go but by me. Therefore this hour is going on now, this act is clearly taking place, and does not at all cease. Men who were dead, rise; they pass over to life; at the voice of the Son of God they live; from Him they live, while persevering in the faith of Him. For the Son hath life, whence He has it that they that believe shall live.

(de Verb. Dom. Serm. lxiv) We see the lovers of this present transitory life so intent on its welfare, that when in danger of death, they will take any means to delay its approach, though they can not hope to drive it off altogether. If so much care and labour then is spent on gaining a little additional length of life, how ought we to strive after life eternal? And if they are thought wise, who endeavour in every way to put off death, though they can live but a few days longer; how foolish are they who so live, as to lose the eternal day?

(Tr. xxiii. s. 14) Some one might ask thee, The Father quickeneth him who believes on Him; but what of thee? dost thou not quicken? Observe thou that the Son also quickens whom He will: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.

(Tr. xxii. s. 12) Or, He means to guard against our thinking, that the being passed from death to life, refers to the future resurrection; its meaning being, that he who believes is passed: and therefore He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, (what hour?) and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. He saith not, because they live, they hear; but in consequence of hearing, they come to life again. But what is hearing, but obeying? For they who believe and do according to the true faith, live, and are not dead; whereas those who believe not, or, believing, live a bad life, and have not love, are rather to be accounted dead. And yet that hour is still going on, and will go on, the same hour, to the end of the world: as John says, It is the last hour. (1 John 2:13)

When the dead, i. e. unbelievers, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, i. e. the Gospel: and they that hear, i. e. who obey, shall live, i. e. be justified, and no longer remain in unbelief.

What then? How do we understand these two resurrections? Do we, it may be, understand that they who rise now will not rise then; that the resurrection of some is now, of some others then? It is not so. For we have risen in this resurrection, if we have rightly believed; and we ourselves, who have already risen, are looking for another resurrection in the end. Moreover, both now are we risen to eternal life, if we perseveringly continue in the same faith; and then, too, we shall rise to eternal life, when we shall be made equal with the angels. But let Himself distinguish and open up what we have made bold to speak; how there happens to be a resurrection before a resurrection, not of different but of the same persons; nor like that of Lazarus, but into eternal life. He will open it clearly.

Hear ye the Master, while dawning upon us, and as our Sun gliding in upon our hearts; not such as the eyes of flesh desire to look upon, but on whom the eyes of the heart fervently long to be opened. To Him, then, let us give ear: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead" - you see that a resurrection is asserted - "shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." Why hath He added, "they that hear shall live"? Why, could they hear unless they lived? It would have been enough, then, to say, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." We should immediately understand them to be living, since they could not hear unless they lived. No, saith He, not because they live they hear; but by hearing they come to life again: "Shall hear, and they that hear shall live."

What, then, is "shall hear," but "shall obey"? For, as to the hearing of the ear, not all who hear shall live. Many, indeed, hear and do not believe; by hearing and not believing, they obey not; by not obeying, they live not. And so here, they that "shall hear" are they that "shall obey." They that obey, then, shall live: let them be sure and certain of it, shall live.

Christ, the Word of God, is preached to us; the Son of God, by whom all things were made, who, for the dispensation's sake, surely took flesh, was born of a virgin, was an infant in the flesh, a young man in the flesh, suffering in the flesh, dying in the flesh, rising again in the flesh, ascending in the flesh, promising a resurrection to the flesh, promising a resurrection to the mind - to the mind before the flesh, to the flesh after the mind. Whoso heareth and obeyeth, shall live; whoso heareth and obeyeth not, that is, heareth and despiseth, heareth and believeth not, shall not live. Why shall not live? Because he heareth not. What is "heareth not"? Obeyeth not. Thus, then, "they that hear shall live."

Himself explains that already, and goes on, "Verily, verily, I say unto you." In case, because He said "is passed from death to life," we should understand this of the future resurrection, and willing to show that he who believes is passed, and that to pass from death to life is to pass from unbelief to faith, from injustice to justice, from pride to humility, from hatred to charity, He saith now, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is." What more evident? "And now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." We have already spoken of these dead. What think we, my brethren? Are there no dead in this crowd that hear me? They who believe and act according to the true faith do live, and are not dead. But they who either do not believe, or believe as the devils believe, trembling, and living wickedly, confessing the Son of God, and without charity, must rather be esteemed dead.

John 5:26

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

The soul, even if it be foolish, ungodly, unrighteous, is the life of the body. But since its own life is God, just as it supplies vigor, comeliness, activity, the functions of the limbs to the body, while it exists in the body; so, in like manner, while God, its life, is in the soul, He supplies to it wisdom, godliness, righteousness, charity. Accordingly, what the soul supplies to the body, and what God supplies to the soul, are of a different kind: the soul quickens and is quickened. It quickens while dead, even if itself is not quickened. But when the word comes, and is poured into the hearers, and they not only hear, but are made obedient, the soul rises from its death to its life - that is, from unrighteousness, from folly, from ungodliness, to its God, who is to it wisdom, righteousness, light. Let it rise to Him, and be enlightened by Him. "Come near," saith he, "to Him." And what shall we have? "And be enlightened." If, therefore, by "coming to" ye are enlightened, and by "departing from" ye become darkened, your light was not in yourselves, but in your God. Come to Him tha…

The soul, even if it be foolish, ungodly, unrighteous, is the life of the body. But since its own life is God, just as it supplies vigor, comeliness, activity, the functions of the limbs to the body, while it exists in the body; so, in like manner, while God, its life, is in the soul, He supplies to it wisdom, godliness, righteousness, charity. Accordingly, what the soul supplies to the body, and what God supplies to the soul, are of a different kind: the soul quickens and is quickened. It quickens while dead, even if itself is not quickened. But when the word comes, and is poured into the hearers, and they not only hear, but are made obedient, the soul rises from its death to its life - that is, from unrighteousness, from folly, from ungodliness, to its God, who is to it wisdom, righteousness, light.

Let it rise to Him, and be enlightened by Him. "Come near," saith he, "to Him." And what shall we have? "And be enlightened." If, therefore, by "coming to" ye are enlightened, and by "departing from" ye become darkened, your light was not in yourselves, but in your God. Come to Him that ye may rise again: if ye depart from Him, ye shall die. If by coming to Him ye live, and by departing from Him ye die, your life was not in yourselves. For the same is your life which is your light. "Because with Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light we shall see light."

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Who was this?

A theologian and philosopher from Numidia, he served as Bishop of Hippo Regius. His extensive writings include the first Western autobiography, treatises on the Trinity and Christian doctrine, and a spiritual history of the Church. He developed influential views on grace, original sin, and just war theory.

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Works cited

Catena Aurea by Aquinas 1,154
Exposition on Psalm 119 166
Exposition on Psalm 18 50
Exposition on Psalm 89 42
Exposition on Psalm 37 36
Exposition on Psalm 78 35
Tractates on John 15 35
Exposition on Psalm 105 34
Exposition on Psalm 69 34
Exposition on Psalm 106 33
Ten Homilies on 1 John 10 33

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