John 1:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I wish to ask one consolation of you all before I begin explaining the Gospel sayings. Only do not reject my request. I ask nothing burdensome or difficult of you.

This kindness will be useful not only to me, who receives it, but also to you who grant it. Indeed, it may be far more useful to you.

What, then, do I wish to ask of you? Let each of you take in hand beforehand the Gospel passage that will be read on the first day after the Sabbath, or on the Sabbath itself among you in church.

At home, read it attentively. Go over its contents many times and with care, and understand it well. Mark what is clear and what is obscure. Mark what seems contradictory, though in truth it is not so.

After considering everything in this way, come here to hear the homily. No small profit will come from such zeal, both to you and to us.

For us, little labor will be needed in explaining the force of the sayings, once your mind has already grasped some understanding of them. You, in this way, will become sharper and more receptive in listening.

This will serve not only your own edification, but also the instruction of others.

Now, however, many who come here to listen must necessarily grasp everything at once, both the sayings themselves and our explanations of them. Even if we spent a whole year on this, they would not receive much benefit.

How could they, when they attend to these teachings only in passing, here alone, and for a short time?

If someone appeals to business, cares, and lack of leisure because of many public and private occupations, first, this itself brings no small condemnation on them.

They are occupied with so many affairs and so completely bound by worldly concerns that they have not even a little free time for studies more necessary than all others.

Second, this is only an excuse and a pretext. Their gatherings with friends expose them, as do their time spent at spectacles and their rush to horse races.

They often spend whole days at these, and yet no one then complains of having many affairs.

Therefore, in matters of little importance, you never decline with any pretext, and you can find much free time. But when it is necessary to attend to the word of God, this seems so superfluous and insignificant that it is not worth even a little free time.

Are people who think this way worthy even to breathe, or to look upon this sun?

Such negligent people have another pretext, still more groundless. They say that they have not acquired and do not possess books of Holy Scripture.

Concerning the wealthy, it would be laughable for us to dwell on such a pretext. But I would like to ask the poor, who, I think, mostly use it, a question.

Do they not possess all the tools of the craft by which each earns his living, as many as are needed and in working order, even if extreme poverty oppresses them?

How, then, is it not absurd? There they do not plead poverty, but make every effort to lack nothing. Yet where such great benefit may be gained, they complain of lack of leisure and poverty.

Still, even if some truly were so poor, from the continuous reading that takes place here they could learn at least something of the contents of the divine Scriptures.

If this seems impossible to you, it seems so not without reason. Many do not come with great zeal to hear the reading of the Scriptures.

Having fulfilled this merely as a duty for the appointed time, they immediately return home. If some remain, they are little better than those who have left, since they are present with us here only in body.

But lest we burden you too much with rebukes, and lose all the time in reproaches, let us proceed to the Gospel sayings. It is time at last to turn our discourse to the matters before us.

Only be attentive, so that nothing said may be lost to you.

"And the Word became flesh," says the Evangelist, "and dwelt among us." Having said that those who received the Word were born of God and became children of God, he offers the cause and foundation of such ineffable honor.

The cause is this: the Word Himself became flesh, and the Lord took upon Himself the form of a servant.

Being the true Son of God, He became the Son of Man, in order to make the sons of men children of God.

When what is exalted enters communion with what is lowly, it loses none of its own dignity. What is lowly, however, is raised from its lowliness through that communion.

So it happened also in Christ. Through this condescension He in no way diminished His own nature. But He raised us, who always sat in darkness and abasement, to ineffable glory.

So when a king speaks attentively and kindly with a poor beggar, he is not ashamed of himself in the least. Rather, he makes the poor man notable and honored before all.

If, in relation to passing human dignity, communion with the lower in no way harms the higher, much more is this true of that incorruptible and blessed Being.

He has in Himself nothing passing, nothing increasing, and nothing diminishing. He possesses all perfections unchangeably and eternally.

Therefore, when you hear that "the Word became flesh," do not be troubled or waver. His very essence was not changed into flesh. It is impious even to think this.

Rather, remaining what He is, He thus took the form of a servant.

Why, then, did the Evangelist use the word "became"? In order to stop the mouths of heretics.

There are some who say that everything concerning the Incarnation is only appearance, deception of the senses, and supposition. Therefore the Evangelist, wishing utterly to destroy their blasphemy, used the expression "became."

By this he intended to show not a change of essence, no, but the assumption of true flesh.

So also in the words, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Gal 3:13). Scripture does not mean that His essence abandoned its own glory and was transformed into a curse.

Not even demons would think this, nor people utterly mad and deprived of natural sense. So impious and at the same time insane is such a thought.

Scripture does not say this. It says that He took upon Himself the curse pronounced against us, and so no longer allowed us to remain under the curse.

So here also it is said that "the Word became flesh." He did not change His essence into flesh. He only assumed it, while His essence remained untouched.

If they say that God, being almighty, could even change into flesh, we answer that God can do all things only while remaining God.

If He admitted change in Himself, and especially change for the worse, how would He still be God?

Change is altogether alien to the incorruptible Being. Therefore the prophet also said, "They all shall grow old like a garment, and like clothing You will change them, and they shall be changed. But You are the same, and Your years shall not fail" (Ps 101:27-28).

This Being is above every change. There is nothing superior to Him that He could reach by progress.

Why do I say superior? There is nothing equal to Him, or even in any way near Him.

Consequently, if God changed, He would undergo change for the worse. But then He would not be God.

Let the blasphemy return upon the head of those who speak it.

That the word "became" was spoken so that you would not take the Incarnation as a fiction, observe from what follows. See how the Evangelist explains his expression and refutes the impious thought.

He adds, "and dwelt among us," as if saying: suspect nothing improper in the word "became." I do not speak of a change in this unchangeable Being, but of His indwelling and dwelling among us.

What dwells is not the same as the dwelling-place, but something other. One thing dwells in another. Otherwise there would be no indwelling, since nothing dwells in itself.

I speak of otherness with respect to nature. Through union and communion, God the Word and the flesh are one.

This does not mean that any mingling or destruction of the natures occurred. Rather, an ineffable and inexpressible union of them was formed.

Do not ask how this happened. It happened as He Himself knows.

What, then, is the dwelling in which He took up His abode? Hear what the prophet says: "I will raise up the fallen tabernacle of David" (Amos 9:11).

Our nature had fallen, truly fallen with an incurable fall, and it needed this one sovereign right hand.

It could not rise unless He who created it in the beginning stretched out His hand to it, and renewed it from above through rebirth by water and the Spirit.

Notice what is fearful and ineffable in this mystery. He dwells forever in this tabernacle, that is, in human flesh.

He clothed Himself with our flesh not in order to abandon it again, but to have it always with Himself.

If this were not so, He would not have deemed it worthy of the royal throne. Nor, while bearing it, would He be worshiped by all the heavenly host: angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers.

What word, what mind can conceive so great an honor shown to our race, truly beyond nature and wondrous?

What angel? What archangel? No one ever could, neither among heavenly beings nor among earthly beings.

Such are the works of God. So great and beyond nature are His benefits, that not only the human tongue, but even angelic power cannot fully express them.

Therefore we too shall conclude the word in silence, only reminding you to render repayment to so great a Benefactor. All the benefit of this repayment again returns to us.

This repayment consists in having zealous care for our soul.

This too is the work of His love for mankind. Though He Himself has need of none of us, He accepts it as repayment to Himself when we care for our own soul.

Therefore it is extreme madness and worthy of countless punishments, after being granted such great honor, not to repay according to our strength.

And this is so when the benefit returns again to us, and when countless good things have been prepared for us because of it.

Let us therefore give glory for all this to God, the Lover of mankind, not only in words, but much more in deeds.

Then we shall receive the good things to come. May we all be counted worthy of them by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Him and with Him, to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

What we said yesterday may perhaps have seemed to you more constraining and burdensome than it should have, since we spoke a reproving word and extended our rebuke far against the negligence of many.

If we had done this only with the intention of insulting you, then perhaps each of you would justly have been indignant.

But since we disregarded pleasantness in speech with your benefit in view, even if you did not wish to accept our care for you, you should at least forgive such love on our part.

We were very much afraid that, while we exert ourselves, you might not show the same zeal in listening. Then you would incur a still heavier account for what follows.

For this reason we are compelled continually to stir you up and raise you from sleep, so that nothing said may be lost to you.

Only in this way can you live with boldness in the present age and stand before the throne of Christ in the day to come.

But since yesterday we have already moved you sufficiently, let us now proceed directly to the Gospel sayings themselves.

"And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father."

The Evangelist, after saying that we became children of God, and showing that this happened only through the Incarnation of the Word, now presents another benefit that came from it.

What is this? "And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father."

We could not have seen it if He had not appeared to us in the flesh He assumed.

If people of that time could not look upon the face of Moses, though he had the same nature as we, simply because it had been glorified, what shall we say?

The righteous man even needed a veil to cover the greatness of the glory, so that the prophet's appearance might seem gentle and calm to them.

And the Word became flesh. Having said that we who believe in Christ, if we desire, are made children of God, the Evangelist adds the cause of so great a blessing.

Do you wish to know, he says, what gave us this sonship? It is that the Word became flesh.

When you hear that the Word became flesh, do not think that He abandoned His own Nature and was changed into flesh. He would not be God if He were transformed and altered. Rather, remaining what He was, He became what He was not.

From this Apollinarius of Laodicea composed his heresy. He taught that our Lord and God did not assume the whole human nature, that is, a body with a rational soul, but only flesh without a rational and intelligent soul.

"And the Word became flesh."

With these words he has now come directly to the doctrine of the Incarnation. He clearly reveals that the Only-begotten became and was called the Son of Man. This, and nothing else, is meant by the saying: "The Word became flesh." It is as though he had said more plainly, "The Word became man."

In saying this, he introduces nothing strange or unusual to us. Divine Scripture often names the whole man from the flesh alone. Thus we read in the prophet Joel: "I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28). We must not think that the prophet says the divine Spirit will be given only to soulless human flesh. Such an interpretation would be ridiculous. Rather, taking the whole from its part, he names man from the flesh. This was fitting, and could not be otherwise.

It seems necessary to say why this is so. Man is a living being, rational yet composite, made of soul and of this fleeting, earthly body. When he was created by God and brought into being, he did not possess incorruption and indestructibility by his own nature. These belong essentially to God alone. Yet he was sealed with the spirit of life, receiving, in likeness to the Godhead, a good beyond his nature. "He breathed," it says, "into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7).

But when he was punished for transgression, he rightly heard: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return" (Gen 3:19). He was deprived of grace. The spirit of life withdrew from the earthly body, that is, the Spirit of Him Who says, "I am the Life" (Jn 14:6). The living being, man, became subject to death in the flesh alone, while the immortality of the soul was preserved. For it was to the flesh alone that it was said: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return."

Therefore what in us had fallen into the greatest danger had to receive salvation first. It had to be called back again to immortality through reunion with Him Who is Life by nature. What had fallen sick had to find deliverance from its disease. At last the saying, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return," had to cease, when the fallen body was ineffably united to the Word Who gives life to all. The flesh which became His had to receive immortality from Him.

Indeed, it would be very strange if fire can place into combustible matter the sensible quality of its natural power, namely burning, and can almost transform into itself that to which it is imparted. Yet one would then think that the Word of God, Who surpasses all things, cannot implant His own good in the flesh, that is, life.

For this reason, I think, the holy Evangelist, naming the living being chiefly from its passible side, says that the Word of God became flesh. Thus wound and remedy may be beheld together. We see what is sick and the Physician, what has turned aside toward death and Him Who raises to life. We see what has been conquered by corruption and Him Who drives corruption away. We see what has come under the power of death and the Victor over death. We see what has been deprived of life and the Giver of life.

He does not say that the Word came into flesh, but that He became flesh. This is so that you may not think He appeared in the same way as in the prophets or in other saints. Rather, He truly became flesh, that is, man, as we have just said. Therefore He is God by nature in the flesh and with the flesh. He has it as His own flesh, while at the same time He is understood as something other than it. He is worshiped in it and with it, according to what is written in the prophet Isaiah: "Tall men shall come over to You and shall be Your servants. They shall follow after You, bound in chains, and shall worship You. In You they shall pray, because God is in You, and there is no God besides You" (Isa 45:14).

Behold, they say that God is in Him, not separating the flesh from the Word. Yet again they affirm that there is no other God besides Him, uniting to the Word what He bore as His own, that is, the temple from the Virgin. For Christ is one from both.

"And dwelt among us."

For our profit the Evangelist explains in detail what he has said, and more clearly opens the meaning of his argument. Since he said that the Word of God became flesh, someone in great ignorance might suppose that He departed from His own nature and was changed into flesh. He might suppose that He suffered what was impossible for Him, since the Godhead is alien to every change and transformation into something else in its mode of being. Therefore the Evangelist very rightly added at once that He also dwelt among us. Thus, understanding two realities, the One Who dwells and that in which the dwelling takes place, you may not think that the Word was transformed into flesh. Rather, He only dwelt in flesh, using as His own body the temple received from the Holy Virgin. "In Him the whole fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily" (Col 2:9), as Paul says.

Yet it is very profitable that he affirms that the Word dwelt among us, for here too he reveals to us a very deep mystery. We were all in Christ, and the common person of humanity ascends to His person. For this reason He is called the last Adam. By the communion of His nature with men, He enriches all things toward blessedness and glory, just as the first Adam brought all things toward corruption and dishonor (1 Cor 15:47-49).

Thus the Word dwelt in all through One, so that the dignity of the One appointed Son of God "in power according to the Spirit of holiness" (Rom 1:4) might pass over to all humanity. In this way, because of One of us, the saying extends also to us: "I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps 82:6).

Thus what is servile is truly set free in Christ. It ascends into mystical union with Him Who bore "the form of a servant" (Phil 2:7). In us this takes place by imitation of Him alone, because of kinship according to the flesh.

Otherwise, why does He not take hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham? Why did He have to be made like His brethren in all things (Heb 2:16-17) and become true man? Is it not clear to all that He descended into servitude, gaining nothing for Himself by this, but bestowing Himself upon us? He did this so that by His poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9), and, ascending through likeness to Him into His own surpassing good, might be shown to be gods and children of God through faith.

This is because He Who is Son by nature and God dwelt in us. Therefore in His Spirit we cry, "Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15). The Word dwells as in all in one temple, received for our sake and from us. Thus, having all in Himself, He might reconcile all in one body to the Father (Eph 2:16-18), as Paul says.

"And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Having said that the Word became flesh, that is, man, and having brought Him down to brotherhood with servants and creatures, he nevertheless leaves His divine dignity untouched. Again he shows Him to be filled with the property proper to the Father. For the divine nature is stable in itself and cannot be transformed into anything else. It is always the same and remains in its own prerogatives.

Therefore, although the Evangelist says that the Word became flesh, he does not affirm that He was conquered by the weaknesses of the flesh. Nor does he say that He lost His original power and glory as soon as He put on our weak and inglorious body. "We beheld His glory," he says, a glory incomparable with that of others. It is the kind of glory that must be acknowledged as fitting the Only-begotten Son from God the Father. For the Word was full both of grace and of truth.

When one looks upon the choir of the saints and weighs the wondrous deeds of each, he will rightly behold with amazement and joy the dignities belonging to each saint. He will surely say that they are filled with the glory of God. But concerning the glory and grace of the Only-begotten, the theologians and witnesses say that it was not beheld as comparable to the glory of the rest. It was wholly superior and surpassing by incomparable prerogatives. He has grace not in measure, as though another gave it. He has grace perfect in the Perfect, and true. It has not come upon Him from outside, nor has it been acquired as an addition. It belongs to Him essentially, as the fruit of the Father's property, which passed by nature to the Son begotten of Him.

If anyone wishes to examine this saying by broader arguments, let him consider in themselves the wondrous deeds done by each of the saints and by our Savior Christ. He will find between them the very great difference of which we have already spoken. There is also this difference. They are faithful servants in the house, but He is as Son in His house (Heb 3:6). Of the Only-begotten divine Scripture says, "Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord" (Ps 118:26). Of the saints God the Father says, "I sent to you all My servants the prophets" (Jer 7:25). They received power from above, but He, as Lord of powers, says: "If I do not the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe My works" (Jn 10:37-38).

Therefore, if from the works themselves the Only-begotten is shown to be equal in power to the Father, then in accordance with this He must be magnified with equal glory, as the Accomplisher of equal works. And when He appeared also in the flesh, He surely surpassed those called to brotherhood as much as God by nature surpasses men, and as much as the true Son surpasses sons by adoption.

Since it is written in blessed Luke, "Jesus increased in wisdom and grace" (Lk 2:52), we should note here that the Spirit-bearer said that the Son has glory "full of grace." How, then, can what is full increase? Or what addition can be admitted to that beyond which there is nothing? Therefore His increase is not spoken of as belonging to the Word who is God. Rather, because He caused ever greater wonder toward Himself, He appeared through His works more full of grace to those who saw Him. More accurately, it was the condition of those who marveled that increased, not He Who is perfect in grace as God.

Let what has been said be of use, even though it is a digression from the subject.

Christ, as the second Adam, represents in His own person all redeemed humanity. One should note that instead of the authoritative reading pleres, referring to Logos, a few manuscripts read plere, referring to glory.

With these words the Evangelist has now come directly to the doctrine of the Incarnation. He clearly reveals that the Only-begotten became and was called the Son of Man. This, and nothing else, is meant by the saying: "The Word became flesh." It is as though he had said more plainly, "The Word became man." In saying this, he introduces nothing strange or unusual to us, since Divine Scripture often names the whole man from the flesh alone; cf. Joel 2:28.

Man is a living being, rational yet composite, made of soul and of this fleeting, earthly body. When he was created by God and brought into being, he did not possess incorruption and indestructibility by his own nature. This belongs essentially to God alone. He was sealed with the spirit of life, receiving, in likeness to the Godhead, a good beyond his nature. "He breathed," it says, "into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7).

When he was punished for transgressions, he rightly heard: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return" (Gen 3:19). He was deprived of grace. The spirit of life withdrew from the earthly body, that is, the Spirit of Him Who says, "I am the Life" (Jn 14:6). The living being, man, became subject to death in the flesh alone, while the immortality of the soul was preserved. For it was to the flesh alone that it was said: "For dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19).

How then is the Godhead in the flesh? As fire is in iron, not by passing into it, but by enriching it.

Fire does not flow into the iron. Remaining in its own place, it enriches the iron with its own power, so that the iron suffers no harm from this enrichment. It is wholly filled with fire where it touches it.

So He dwelt among us, yet underwent no change. The Word became flesh, yet heaven was not deprived of Him who upholds it, and the earth received the Heavenly One into its embrace.

God is in the flesh in order to slay the death that had nested within it.

Nature is considered either by pure contemplation, for in itself it has no independent subsistence, or commonly in all hypostases of the same kind, as that which binds them together. In that case it is called nature contemplated in the species.

Or else the very same nature is considered with the addition of accidental properties in an individual being. It is then called nature contemplated in the individual, while remaining identical with the nature contemplated in the species.

Therefore God the Word, when He was incarnate, did not assume the nature considered in pure contemplation. That would not have been incarnation, but deception and the semblance of incarnation.

Nor did He assume the nature contemplated in the whole species, for He did not assume all the persons of human nature. Rather, He assumed the nature in the individual, identical with the nature in the species.

For He assumed the firstfruits of our composition. This was not something that existed by itself and was previously called an individual, and was then assumed by Him. Rather, our nature received being in His hypostasis.

For the very hypostasis of God the Word became the hypostasis of the flesh. In this sense, “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14), without transformation. The flesh became the Word, without change.

God became man, for the Word is God. And man is God, by reason of the hypostatic union.

Therefore it is the same thing to say “the nature of the Word” and “the nature of the Word in the individual.” For this expression, properly and exclusively, signifies neither the individual, that is, the person, nor the aggregate of persons.

It signifies the common nature contemplated and known in one of the persons.

Union is one thing, and incarnation is another. Properly, union signifies only conjunction, but does not yet show with what this conjunction took place.

Incarnation, or what is the same, becoming man, signifies conjunction with flesh, or with man. So the heating of iron signifies its union with fire.

Therefore blessed Cyril himself, explaining in his second letter to Succensus the expression “one nature of God the Word incarnate,” speaks thus.

“If, after saying ‘one nature of the Word,’ we had kept silent and had not added the word ‘incarnate,’ as though excluding the divine economy, the speech of those who disingenuously ask might perhaps not seem implausible.

They ask: if there is generally one nature in Christ, where is the fullness of His humanity? Or how does the essence corresponding to ours remain in Him?

But since the word ‘incarnate’ introduces an indication both of the fullness of humanity and of the essence corresponding to ours, let them cease leaning on a reed staff.”

Thus here he used “nature of the Word” in place of nature. For if he had taken nature as hypostasis, it would not have been improper to say this even without adding “incarnate.”

For when we speak simply of the one hypostasis of God the Word, we do not err. Likewise Leontius of Byzantium understood the saying with reference to nature, and not in the sense of hypostasis.

Blessed Cyril, in his Apology against Theodoret’s criticisms of the second anathema, says: “the nature of the Word, that is, the hypostasis, which is the Word Himself.”

Therefore the expression “nature of the Word” signifies neither the hypostasis alone nor the aggregate of hypostases. It signifies the common nature, wholly contemplated in the hypostasis of the Word.

Thus it is indeed said that the nature of the Word was incarnate, that is, united with flesh. But that the nature of the Word suffered by the flesh, we have never heard to this day.

We have been taught, rather, that Christ suffered in the flesh. Therefore the expression “nature of the Word” does not signify the person.

It remains, then, to say that “to be incarnate” means to be united with flesh. The expression “the Word became flesh” means that the very hypostasis of the Word became, without alteration, the hypostasis of the flesh.

It is said that God became man, and that man is God, for the Word, being God, became man without change.

But we have never heard that the Godhead became man, or was incarnate, or became human. We have learned that the Godhead was united with humanity in one of Its hypostases.

It is indeed said that God assumes a form, that is, an essence foreign to Him, namely one corresponding to ours.

For the name “God” is joined to each of the hypostases, but we cannot say “Godhead” of a hypostasis. We have not heard that the Father alone, or the Son alone, or the Holy Spirit alone is the Godhead.

The word “Godhead” signifies nature, while the word “Father” signifies hypostasis. So too “humanity” signifies nature, and “Peter” signifies hypostasis.

The word “God” signifies both the commonality of the nature and is used equally of each hypostasis, just as the word “man” is also used. He who has divine nature is God, and he who has human nature is man.

Beyond all this, one must know that the Father and the Holy Spirit did not participate in the incarnation of the Word in any other respect except in relation to the divine signs, and by good pleasure and will.

Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Divine Names, 2, PG 3, 644.

Thou didst take flesh from the Virgin blood, O Christ, without seed, most pure, enhypostatic, rational and intellectual, ensouled, active, willing, self-governing, and self-ruling.

The Son of God, the enhypostatic Wisdom and Power of the Most High God, consubstantial with the Father, formed for Himself from her blameless and most pure blood the firstfruits of our composition.

He formed flesh animated by a thinking and rational soul, not through fertilization by seed, but creatively, through the Holy Spirit. The human form was not composed by gradual additions, but was completed at once.

The Word of God Himself appeared as the hypostasis for the flesh. For the Word of God was not united to flesh that had previously subsisted personally by itself.

Rather, dwelling in the womb of the holy Virgin, He assumed for Himself in His own hypostasis flesh from the pure blood of the Ever-Virgin, animated by a thinking and rational soul.

Assuming for Himself the firstfruits of the human composition, the Word Himself thus became the hypostasis for the flesh.

We also confess that Christ assumed all the natural and blameless passions of man. For He assumed the whole man and everything proper to man, except sin.

Sin is not natural, nor was it implanted in us by the Creator. It arises from the subsequent sowing of the devil in our free will, with our consent, and does not rule over us by force.

The natural and blameless passions are those not within our power. They entered human life as a consequence of the condemnation for transgression.

Such are hunger, thirst, weariness, labor, tears, corruption, shrinking from death, fear, the agony before death, from which came the sweat and drops of blood, the help from angels because of the weakness of nature, and the like.

All these are naturally present in all men. Therefore Christ assumed everything, in order to sanctify everything.

We do not say that the Word was transformed and became flesh. We say that the Word Himself dwelt in the womb of the Virgin, like divine seed.

He took from the Virgin, from her blameless blood, and in Himself brought into being flesh animated by a rational and thinking soul.

Truly the flesh was brought into being and arose not by itself, but in God the Word. It did not have seed, nor anything else, as its hypostasis, but God alone.

For the hypostasis of every embryo is seed, but the hypostasis of this flesh is God the Word. Every flesh belongs to someone, and this flesh belongs to none other than God the Word.

Therefore there is one hypostasis. Thus we understand “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14), and “was incarnate,” and “became man.”

We do not mean that He was transformed, for the Godhead is without transformation and without change. Nor do we mean that the flesh was transformed into the Godhead, for each remained wholly within the bounds of its own nature.

Rather, this holy flesh had no other beginning and no other cause of existence except the Son and Word of God Himself. It did not become anyone’s apart from Him.

Question XXXV. Since the Word became flesh (Jn 1:14), yet not flesh only, but also blood and bones, and we are commanded to eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood, but not to break His bones, I ask you to teach me about the nature of this threefold power of the Word who became man.

Answer. You desire to penetrate the essence of things as the supersubstantial Word Himself knows it, the Creator of all beings. He brought into being the natural logoi of all visible and intelligible things, together with the incomprehensible thoughts of His Godhead.

Among these, the logoi of intelligible things will be, as it were, the blood of the Word. The logoi of sensible things will be the visible flesh of the Word.

Since the Word is the Teacher, instructing us both concerning the spiritual logoi found in visible things and concerning the logoi found in intelligible things, He fittingly and proportionately grants knowledge to worthy men.

He grants knowledge contained in the logoi of visible things, as the eating of the Lord's flesh. He grants understanding contained in the logoi of intelligible things, as the drinking of the Lord's blood.

Wisdom prepared these of old and mystically through the cup and the sacrifices, as the Book of Proverbs of Solomon testifies.

But the bones, that is, the providential logoi concerning the Godhead, which are alike infinitely distant from every created nature, He does not grant. The nature of beings has no capacity to possess a receptive bond with them.

Again, the flesh of the Word is true virtue. The blood is unerring knowledge. The bones are ineffable theology.

"And the Word became flesh."

He could not otherwise show the love of God for us except by mentioning the flesh and the fact that the Word descended to what is lower, since flesh is lower than spirit.

After saying that men were born of God, he says that the Son of God became man. This is the meaning of the words: "And the Word became flesh." Thus one who marvels at the first may also marvel at the second, as something still more wondrous, because it is the foundation of the first.

The Son of God became man so that men might become sons of God.

When you hear, "The Word became flesh," do not think that the divine essence changed, for it is immutable and unharmed. Rather, the Word, remaining what He was, became what He was not. Remaining God, He became man by assuming flesh, certainly flesh animated by an intelligent and rational soul.

Everything that comes to be comes to be in three ways. First, the nature of what previously existed is changed into the nature of what newly comes to be. In this way cheese comes from milk, and a tile from clay.

Second, the former essence remains unchanged, but something accidental comes to be. In this way bronze becomes a statue, and a man becomes just or unjust, and so forth.

Third, the former essence remains unchanged, but another essence is assumed. In this way a military commander becomes armed.

But the Word became flesh not in the first way, because His nature did not change. Nor did He become flesh in the second way, because the flesh that came to be was not an accident. Therefore this saying must be understood in the third way.

John proclaims one God almighty, and one Only-begotten, Christ Jesus. Of Him he says that all things came to be through Him, that He is the Son of God, the Only-begotten, the Creator of all.

He is "the true light, which enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9). He is the Creator of the world. He "came to His own" (Jn 1:11). He Himself became flesh and dwelt among us.

But the Valentinians, against whom the holy hieromartyr Irenaeus argues, plausibly distort this exposition. They assert that one was the Only-begotten by origin, whom they also call the Beginning, and that another was the Savior.

They claim that the Word was one thing, the son of the Only-begotten, and that Christ was another, produced for the restoration of the Pleroma.

Thus, having taken each of the stated expressions away from the truth and having abused the names, they transferred them into their own system. In their opinion, John in all his words makes no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For if he spoke of the Father, Grace, the Only-begotten, Truth, the Word, Life, Man, and Church, then, according to their supposition, he was speaking of the first Ogdoad, Achamoth, in which there is not yet Jesus, nor Christ, John's teacher.

But the Apostle himself made it plain that he was not speaking of their pairings, but of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God.

For, summing up his discourse concerning the Word of whom he had spoken earlier in the beginning, he adds the explanation: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

If senseless men regard the Evangelist's words concerning the Son of God, "glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father," as a sign of diminution, then let them admit that God's goodness too is diminished when David says, "How good is the God of Israel" (Ps 72:1). But if David says "how good" to strengthen his speech, then the Evangelist also writes "as of the Only-begotten" for confirmation and comparison.

"As many as received Him, to them He gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:12-14). There you have it. Here is the mirror of which I spoke before, these very words. Look, I beg you, at the precision in the Evangelist's words. How clearly he marks the signs by which the faithful are known, so that we may know both ourselves and our neighbors. "As many as received Him," he says, evidently through faith, and confessed Him as God, not merely as man. To them He gave power through Baptism to become children of God, freeing them from the tyranny of the devil. Thus they are not only faithful. If they wish to live according to His commandments, they may add holiness to faith through the keeping of His commandments. As the Lord says elsewhere, "Be holy, for I am holy" (Lev 19:2). And again, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). Then the Evangelist shows the manner in which such people become children of God, saying, "who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn 1:13). Here he calls birth the spiritual change that is accomplished and beheld through Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The truthful Lord Himself says, "John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). Therefore those baptized with the Holy Spirit become like light in light, and they know Him Who begot them, because they see Him. Hear what the Evangelist says, that those born by the grace of the Holy Spirit need to be nourished by holy communion of the most pure Body and precious Blood of our Lord: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." And hear the Lord. That these words speak of the most pure Mysteries: "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (Jn 6:56). When we are born spiritually by the grace of the Holy Spirit and become children of God, Christ dwells in us through communion of the most pure Body and precious Blood of the Lord. He then abides in us as Light, Christ, the incarnate Son and Word of God. Then this follows: "we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father." For when we are born spiritually from Him, and He dwells in us through the Mysteries, we consciously abide in Him. At that very hour, when this takes place in us, we suddenly behold the glory of His Godhead. It is "glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father," such as no other possesses, neither angel nor man.

Then it says: "And the Word became flesh," that is, He clothed Himself in human flesh and appeared in this world visibly as perfect man, while being understood as perfect God. Thus the holy Gospel shows that Christ is the Word of God the Father, the Creator and Maker of all visible and invisible creatures. He is the light and life of those who believe in Him. He has already come into the world and clothed Himself in human flesh. He also ate and drank with men and was perfect man. This was truly so, and not in appearance, as certain heretics falsely say.

Question 35. Why is the Son of God called "Only-begotten"? Answer. Holy Scripture clearly teaches that the Son of God is the Only-begotten: "We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father." And below: "The Only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father" (Jn 1:14, 18). He is called "Only-begotten" because He alone is Son of God by essence. The others who are called sons of God are called by this name according to grace and adoption, not according to nature. Such are all the faithful and elect of God. This grace of adoption is granted through Christ, as Scripture says: "As many as received Him, to them He gave power to become children of God" (Jn 1:12).

The connection of the discourse requires that we regard the conjunction “and” as causal. If you understand it thus, the meaning of the saying will be this: those who believe in Christ were born of God, for the Word became flesh.

That is, since the only-begotten Son and Word of God was incarnate, those who believed in Him were thereby counted worthy to become children of God.

Why did he not say, “the Word became man,” but “became flesh”? So that no one might suppose that He assumed or clothed Himself in some man, or only in the inner man, that is, in a human soul alone.

He wished to show that the Word of God was united not only with a human soul, but also with flesh. He also wished to declare His boundless humility and to stop the heretical mouth of Manes.

Manes said that the Son of God was incarnate only in illusion, that is, that He only appeared to take man. The Evangelist also spoke thus to correspond to the former creation of human nature.

For first God formed the body, and then breathed into his face the breath of life, that is, the soul. He said “flesh,” because it is proper to Holy Scripture to call the whole man flesh.

It is said, “To Thee shall all flesh come” (Ps 64:3). Likewise, “I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28). And again, “Let all flesh bless His holy name” (Ps 144:21).

Likewise, “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Is 40:5). The senseless Apollinarius plainly did not understand these words, and therefore asserted that the body of the Lord Jesus was without mind and without soul.

Yet from these words it is clear that flesh is taken for the whole man, that is, for both soul and body.

Therefore the Word became flesh. He was not changed into flesh. May this never be. Rather, remaining without alteration and without change, He was united to human nature.

Being perfect God, He became perfect Man, having two natures in one Person. One is divine, the other human, without transformation, change, or confusion. For neither was the Godhead changed into humanity, nor humanity into the Godhead.

He clearly depicts this meaning when he says: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” Do you hear? He says, “dwelt among us.”

The One who dwelt is one thing, namely the Godhead. The place of His dwelling is another, namely the humanity.

He says “among us,” because we all are seen in Christ, and He represents all humanity, as did the first forefather Adam. For this reason He is also called the second man: “The first man was of the earth, earthy; the second Man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor 15:47).

Note also that some refer the phrase “full of grace and truth” to the Word, interpreting it thus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” They treat the intervening words as parenthetical.

Others refer this phrase to the glory, construing it thus and saying: “full,” that is, the glory was full of grace and truth. Though these two interpretations are not opposed, the first seems more fitting and more in harmony with the Evangelist’s following words.

According to the first interpretation, the Son is called full of grace because He does not receive grace from God as the saints or the angels do. Rather, as God, He has it from Himself by nature.

The God-man was conceived by the action of the Holy Spirit. The Word fashioned flesh for Himself in the womb of the most pure Virgin.

At the very moment of its conception, God made His flesh divine, capable of sensations that were only spiritual and divine.

Although the properties of the flesh of the God-man were human, they were all at the same time deified, because they belonged to one Person, who is God and man.

For this same reason, the human properties of the God-man were both natural and supernatural in relation to human nature.

The holiness of the flesh of God and the Lord was infinitely higher than the holiness in which the flesh of the creature Adam was created.

It is evident that the infection poured out by the human fall into all men through humiliating conception, after the likeness of beasts and cattle, conception in sin, could have no place here. The very manner of conception had no place here.

That is, the means by which the sinful infection is communicated had no place.

On the contrary, as the conception was divine, so all its consequences were divine.

The God-man, as the redeeming Sacrifice, took upon Himself all human infirmities, the consequences of the fall, except sin. He did this so that, by redeeming humanity, He might free it from the burden of these infirmities.

He did this to manifest humanity in a renewed state, without the infirmities that the fall brought into our nature.

The God-man assumed and bore our infirmities voluntarily. He was by no means subject to them by necessity of nature.

Being perfect man, He was also perfect God, the Creator of human nature and the unrestricted Master of that nature.

The Evangelist says that Jesus Christ seems to have assumed only our flesh. Yet it is clear that by this one must understand the soul as well. That is, Jesus Christ assumed our whole human nature.

"Flesh," according to Hebrew usage, signifies the whole man. Moreover, the Apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ "partook of flesh and blood" in the same way as we did (Heb 2:14).

The Apollinarians, on the contrary, assert that Jesus Christ assumed only our flesh.

"He dwelt among us," εσχηνωσεν εν η`μιν, that is, He pitched His tabernacle among us, as it were.

Thus John begins from eternity. He sees the Word in the bosom of the heavenly Father. Then he sees His creative work and His relation to mankind, His bestowal of light and life.

He sees not merely the luminary, but the very light itself.

Then, as if sensing that all he has said is indefinite, John speaks decisively: "The Word became flesh" and dwelt among us.

Such is the relation of the first verses of John's Gospel, called the prologue to the Gospel as a whole.

It is a preliminary and general survey, and an eagle-like survey. For this reason the eagle is always depicted with this Evangelist.

Before portraying the full sequence of events in the life of Jesus Christ, he finds the first link of that life in eternity, in God.

Then he passes through the order of creation, embraces the divine economy of salvation, and begins from the time when the Word had to appear in the flesh.

"The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14).

In these brief words, brethren, is contained all the height and depth of the most glorious Mystery now celebrated by the Holy Church.