The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

“(Hom. xviii. in Evang.) The carnal minds of the Jews are intent on the flesh only; they think only of His age in the flesh: Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? that is to say, Many ages have passed since Abraham died; and how then could he see thy day? For they took His words in a carnal sense.”

“Christ was then thirty-three years old. Why then do they not say, Thou art not yet forty years old, instead of fifty? A needless question this: they simply spoke as chance led them at the time. Some however say that they mentioned the fiftieth year on account of its sacred character, as being the year of jubilee, in which they redeemed their captives, and gave up the possessions they had bought.”

“Above, the Lord had promised two things to those who follow him: namely, liberation from darkness, and the attainment of life, saying: "he who follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." And of the first indeed it was spoken above; but now he deals with the second, namely with the attainment of life through Christ, and first he sets forth the truth; second he repels the contradiction of the Jews, at the place "The Jews therefore said: now we know," and so on. Now it should be known that although Christ had been provoked with injuries and reproaches, he did not for that reason cease from teaching; but after he had been said to have a devil, he bestowed the benefits of his preaching all the more abundantly, saying "amen, amen I say to you," and so on. In which an example is given to us, that when the perversity of evil men grows, and those who are converted are trampled down through the reproaches of men, preaching ought not only not to be broken off, but even to be increased; Ezekiel 2:6: "therefore, son of man, do not fear them, nor be afraid of their words"; 2 Timothy 2:9: "I labor even unto bonds, as an evildoer; but the word of God is not bound." Now the Lord does two things in these words. One indeed is what he requires, the other what he promises. He requires indeed the keeping of his word; hence he says "if anyone keeps my word." For the word of Christ is truth; therefore we ought to keep it, first indeed through faith and continual meditation; Proverbs 4:6: "keep her and she will keep you"; second through the fulfillment of the work; below, John 14:21: "he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." But he promises liberation from death; hence he says "he will not see death forever," that is, he will not experience it; Ecclesiasticus 24:30: "they who work in me," namely in the divine wisdom, "shall not sin; and they who make me clear shall have life everlasting." And fittingly such a reward is owed to such merit. For eternal life consists chiefly in the divine vision; below, John 17:3: "this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Now a certain seedbed and beginning of this vision comes about in us through the word of Christ; Luke 8:11: "the seed is the word of God." Therefore just as he who keeps the seed of some plant or tree so that it not be spoiled arrives at the reception of the fruit, so he who keeps the word of God arrives at eternal life; Leviticus 18:5: "the things which a man shall do, he shall live in them." Consequently, when he says "the Jews therefore said," and so on, the refutation of the Jews' contradiction is set forth. Now they contradict Christ in three ways. First indeed by charging him with falsehood; second by mocking, at the place "the Jews therefore said to him: you are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Third by persecuting, at the place "they therefore took up stones to cast at him." Concerning the first they do two things. First they attempt to convict him of presumption; second Christ responds to certain of the things that were said, at the place "if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing." Concerning the first they do three things. First they hurl a reproach; second they set forth a fact, at "Abraham is dead," and so on; third they question, at "are you greater than our father Abraham?" Now they hurled the reproach of lying when they say "now we know that you have a devil." And this they said for this reason, because it is known among the Jews that the deviser of sins is the Devil, and especially of lying, according to that saying, 3 Kings 22:22: "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." Now because it seemed to them that what the Lord said, namely "if anyone keeps my word, he will not see death forever," was an open lie — for they, being carnal, understood of bodily death what he had said of spiritual and eternal death, and especially because it seemed to contradict the authority of Sacred Scripture, Psalm 88:49: "who is the man who lives, and shall not see death, shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell?" — therefore they say to him "you have a devil," as if to say: from the instigation of the Devil you speak a lie. And in order to convict him of lying, they do two things. First indeed they set forth the death of the ancients; second they repeat the words of Christ, at "and you say," and so on. They say therefore: truly what you say is false: "if anyone keeps your word," and so on, for "Abraham," a man, "is dead," as is clear in Genesis 25. Likewise the prophets also have died; 2 Kings 14:14: "we all die, and like water we slip down into the earth, which does not return." And indeed although they have died bodily, nevertheless they have not died spiritually; Matthew 22:32, the Lord says: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Afterward it follows: "he is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Therefore they are dead in body, but they live in spirit, because they kept the word of God, and lived by faith. And it was of that death that the Lord understood, not of bodily death. Now they repeat the word of Christ when they add "and you say: if anyone keeps my word, he will not taste death forever." Like careless and malicious hearers, confusing the Lord's saying, they do not repeat the same words. For the Lord said "he will not see death," but they in fact uttered "he will not taste death." But as to their intention it is the same: because by either expression they understand that death, namely bodily death, he will not experience forever. But as to the true meaning, there is a difference, as Origen says, between tasting death and seeing it: for to see death is to experience it perfectly; but to taste is to have some taste or participation of death. Now just as it is a greater penalty to see death than to taste it, so it is a greater glory not to taste death than not to see it. For those do not taste death who are on high with Christ, that is, who keep their standing in an intellectual place: of whom it is said, Matthew 16:28: "there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Some, however, there are who, even if they do not see death by sinning mortally, nevertheless taste something through some light affection for earthly things. And therefore the Lord, as is found in the Greek, and as Origen also expounds, said "he will not see death forever": because he who has received and kept the word of Christ, even if he taste something, will nevertheless not see death. Now they question when they say "are you greater than our father Abraham, who has died?" And first indeed they ask concerning the comparison of him to the ancient fathers: "are you," they say, "greater than our father Abraham?" They could, as Chrysostom says, according to their carnal understanding, have asked something higher: namely, "are you greater than God?" For Abraham and the prophets kept the commandments of God, and nevertheless died bodily. So then if anyone keeps your word he will not die, it seems that you are greater than God. But they are content with this lesser charge, because they thought him lesser than Abraham; whereas it is written in Psalm 85:8: "there is none like you among the gods, O Lord"; and Exodus 15:11: "who is like you among the mighty, O Lord?" — as if to say, none. Second, they ask concerning his own estimation, namely what he makes himself to be; as if to say: if you are greater than these, namely Abraham and the prophets, it seems that by this it is understood that you are of a higher nature, perhaps an angel, or God. But we do not think this of you. And therefore they do not say "who are you," but "what do you make yourself?" Because whatever is said above these men, since we do not recognize it of you, we shall reckon that you are fabricating it. Similarly they said below, John 10:33: "for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God." Consequently, when he says "Jesus answered," and so on, the Lord's response is set forth, and first he responds to the second question; second to the first, at "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day." Concerning the first the Lord does three things. First he excludes the falsity which they intended; second he teaches the truth, which they did not know, at "it is my Father who glorifies me"; third he makes manifest both of the things they had proposed, at "and you have not known him." He says therefore: you ask me, saying, "what do you make yourself?" as though I usurped for myself a glory that I do not have. But this utterance was superfluous, since I do not make myself to be what I am, but I have received it from the Father: for "if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing." This could be understood in this way of Christ according as he is the Son of God, so that it be said with precision, "if I," namely alone, "glorify myself," that is, attribute to myself glory which the Father does not attribute to me, "my glory is nothing": for the glory of Christ, according as he is God, is the glory of the Word and Son of God; but the Son has nothing except as born, that is, what he received by being born from another: if therefore it were granted, per impossibile, that his glory were not from another, it would not be the glory of the Son. It seems better, however, that this be said of Christ according as he is man. For whoever attributes to himself a glory which he does not have from God, that glory is false: for whatever is of truth is from God; but what is contrary to truth is false, and consequently, nothing. Glory therefore which is not from God is nothing; Hebrews 5:5, it is said of Christ, that "he did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest"; 2 Corinthians 10:18: "for it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but he whom God commends." Thus therefore the falsity of the Jews is made clear. Now the truth, which he intends to teach, he sets forth, saying "it is my Father who glorifies me," as if to say: I do not glorify myself, as you fabricate; but there is another who glorifies me, namely my Father: whom indeed he describes from his property, and from his nature. From the property indeed of fatherhood; hence he says "my Father," and not "I." From which word indeed, as Augustine says, the Arians calumniate against our faith, saying that the Father is greater than the Son: for greater is he who glorifies than he who is glorified by him. If therefore the Father glorifies the Son, the Father is greater than the Son. But it must be said that the argument would indeed have an appearance of truth, unless it were found conversely that the Son glorifies the Father: for the Son says, below, John 17:1: "Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you." And in the same place: "I have glorified you on earth." Now in the Greek "to glorify" and "to make clear" are the same; and, according to Ambrose, "glory is a clear knowledge accompanied by praise." Now this saying, "it is my Father who glorifies me," can be referred to Christ both according as he is the Son of God, and according as he is the son of man. According indeed as he is the Son of God, the Father glorifies him with the glory of divinity, begetting him equal to himself from eternity; Hebrews 1:3: "who, being the brightness of glory and the figure of his substance...sits at the right hand of majesty on high"; Philippians 2:11: "every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." But according as he is man, he had glory through the overflow of divinity into himself, and of a singular grace and glory; above, John 1:14: "we shall see his glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Now from the nature of divinity he describes him, when he says "whom you say is your God." But lest you think he means another father than God, he says he is glorified by God; below, John 13:31: "now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself." But, according to Augustine, this saying is against the Manicheans, who say that the Father of Christ was not announced in the Old Testament, but is one of the princes of the evil angels. Now it is established that the Jews do not say that their God is other than the God of the Old Testament. Therefore the God of the Old Testament is the Father of Christ who glorifies him. Now he makes manifest both things, namely the falsity of the Jews, and his own truth, when he says "and you have not known him." Now he makes this manifest in two ways. First indeed by showing the ignorance of the Jews; second his own knowledge, at "but I have known him." Concerning the first it should be known that the Jews could say: you say that you are glorified by God; but his judgments are known to us, according to that saying, Psalm 147:20: "he has not done in like manner to every nation, and he has not made known his judgments to them." Therefore if what you say is true, we surely would know this: since therefore it escapes us, it is established that it is not true. And therefore, concluding, he says "and you have not known him"; as if to say: it is no wonder if you do not know the glory with which my Father glorifies me, whom you say is your God, since you do not even know God himself. But against this, Psalm 75: "God is known in Judea." I answer: as God, but not as Father, is he known by them; hence above he said "it is my Father who glorifies me." Or it must be said that "you have not known him" in affection: because you worship in a carnal manner him who is to be worshiped spiritually; above, John 4:24: "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Likewise in effect, because you have scorned to fulfill his commandments; Titus 1:16: "they profess that they know God, but in their deeds they deny him." But because they could say: granted that we do not know your glory, how do you know that you have glory from God the Father? Therefore he adds his own knowledge, saying "but I know him," and first he sets forth his own knowledge; second he shows the necessity of declaring this knowledge, at "and if I should say that I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you"; third he explains what he says, at "but I know him." He says therefore: I know that I have glory from God the Father because I know him, with that knowledge indeed with which he himself knows himself, and no one else except the Son; Matthew 11:27: "no one knows the Son but the Father, nor does anyone know the Father but the Son," namely by the perfect knowledge of comprehension. And because everything imperfect takes its beginning from what is perfect, hence it is that all our knowledge is derived from the Word: hence it follows, "and to whomever the Son wills to reveal him." But because, to those judging according to the flesh, it could be ascribed to arrogance in Christ to say that he knows God, therefore he adds the necessity of his statement, when he adds "and if I should say that I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you." For, according to Augustine, arrogance is not to be avoided in such a way that truth be abandoned and a lie be incurred. Therefore he says "if I should say"; as if he said: just as you, saying that you know him, lie; so I, if I should say that I do not know, when I do know him, would be a liar like you. Hence this comparison follows from the contrary, so that the likeness is in the lying; because just as these men lie, saying that they know him whom they do not know, so Christ would be a liar, if he said he did not know whom he does know. But there is unlikeness in the knowledge: because these men do not know him, whereas Christ does know him. But could Christ have said this? He could indeed have uttered the words materially, but not have intended to express a falsehood: because this could not have come about except through an inclination of Christ's will toward falsehood, which was impossible, just as it was impossible for him to sin. Nevertheless the conditional statement is true, even though the antecedent and the consequent are impossible. Now that he knows the Father, he makes manifest by adding "but I know him": and by speculative knowledge, when he says "I know," intellectually through the said knowledge, "him," namely the Father; likewise by affective knowledge, namely through the consent of the will toward him: hence he says "and I keep his word"; above, John 6:38: "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." Consequently, when he says "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day," he responds to the first question which the Jews had put to him, saying "are you greater than our father Abraham?" showing himself greater, by this reasoning. For whoever expects some good from someone, and his own perfection, is less than the one from whom he expects it; but Abraham had the whole hope of his perfection and his good in me: therefore he is less than me. And as to this he says "Abraham your father," of whom indeed you boast, "rejoiced that he might see my day." Here he sets forth a twofold vision and a twofold joy, but in one order and then another. For first he places beforehand the joy of rejoicing, saying "he rejoiced," and adds the vision, saying "that he might see." Then he places beforehand the vision, saying "he saw," and adds the joy, saying "and he was glad." And thus the joy stands between two visions, proceeding from one, and tending toward the other: as if he said, "he saw, and was glad that he might see my day." First then it must be seen what this day is which he saw, and rejoiced that he might see it. Now there is a twofold day of Christ: namely the day of eternity, of which in Psalm 2:7: "today have I begotten you." Likewise the day of the incarnation and of his humanity, of which below, John 9:4: "I must work...while it is day"; Romans 13:12: "the night has passed, and the day has drawn near." In both ways therefore we say that Abraham saw first the day of Christ, namely of eternity, and of the incarnation, through faith; Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice." And that he saw the day of eternity is manifest: for otherwise he would not have been justified by God, because, as it is said Hebrews 11:6, "he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder to those who seek him." Now that he saw the day of the incarnation is made manifest from three things: namely from the oath which he exacted from his servant, for Genesis 24:2, he says to his servant whom he was sending: "put your hand under my thigh, and swear to me by the God of heaven." From which, as Augustine says, it was signified that from his thigh the God of heaven was to proceed. Second, as Gregory says, when in the figure of the highest Trinity he received three angels as guests. Third when he recognized the passion of Christ prefigured in the offering of the ram and Isaac; Genesis 22. Thus therefore from this vision he rejoiced; but he did not rest in it, rather from this he leapt forward in rejoicing to another vision, namely the open vision and vision through the divine essence, placing his whole joy, as it were, in it. Hence he says "he rejoiced that he might see," by an open vision, "my day," namely of my divinity and my humanity; Luke 10:24: "many kings and prophets desired to see the things which you see, and they did not see them." Consequently, when he says "the Jews therefore said to him," and so on, he shows how the Jews mock the words of Christ, and first the mockery of Christ's words by the Jews is set forth, for the purpose of refutation; second the manifestation of these very words by Christ is added, in order to avoid the mockery, at "Jesus therefore said: amen, amen I say to you," and so on. Since therefore Christ had said that Abraham rejoiced that he might see his day, the Jews, having a carnal mind, and weighing in him only the age of his flesh, mock the saying, and say "you are not yet fifty years old." Truly he was not yet fifty years old, nor even forty, but he was around thirty years old; Luke 3:23: "Jesus was beginning to be about thirty years old." Now that they say "you are not yet fifty years old" is perhaps for this reason, because among the Jews the jubilee year was held in the greatest reverence, as though reckoning everything by it, in which they also freed captives, and released purchased possessions. As if they said: you have not yet passed the span of a single jubilee, and have you seen Abraham? Although the Lord had not said that he had seen Abraham, but that Abraham had seen his day. And therefore the Lord, in order to avoid the mockery, responding to the Jews, explains his words, saying "amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am": in which words the Lord says two notable things about himself, and things effective against the Arians. One is that, as Gregory says, he joins together at once the verb of the present tense and of the past. For "before" signifies the past; "I am" is of the present tense. Therefore, in order to show that he is eternal, and to suggest that his being is the being of eternity, he does not say "before Abraham I was," but "before Abraham I am": for eternal being does not know past and future time, but includes all time in one indivisible present. Hence that saying can be applied, Exodus 3:14: "he who is has sent me to you"; and "I am who am." Therefore before or after Abraham he had being, who was able both to approach through the display of a present, and to withdraw through the course of a life. The other is, according to Augustine, that when he was speaking of Abraham, who is a creature, he did not say "before Abraham was" but "before Abraham was made." But speaking of himself, in order to show that he was not made as a creature, but was begotten from eternity of the essence of the Father, he does not say "I am made," but "I am," he "who in the beginning was the Word"; above, John 1:1; Proverbs 8:25: "before all the hills the Lord begot me." Consequently, when he says "they therefore took up stones to cast at him," the intention of the Jews against Christ is set forth: and first the persecution of the Jews is set forth; second the escape of Christ. Now the persecution of the Jews proceeds from unbelief. For the minds of unbelievers, unable to bear the words of eternity, nor to understand them, reckoned it blasphemy; and therefore, according to the command of the law, wishing to stone him as a blasphemer, "they took up stones to cast at him," and so on. And, as Augustine says, such was the hardness of the stones — where would it run except to stones? Below, John 10:33: "for a good work we do not stone you." Similar is the action of those who, through hardness of heart not understanding a truth openly uttered, blaspheme the one who utters it; hence it is said in the canonical letter of Jude: "whatever things they do not know, they blaspheme." Now the escape of Christ is from his own power: hence it follows "but Jesus hid himself," who indeed, if he had wished to exercise the power of his divinity in his own acts, could have bound them, or overwhelmed them with the penalties of sudden death. Now he "hid himself," specifically for two reasons. First, that he might give to his faithful an example of avoiding their persecutors; Matthew 10:23: "if they persecute you in one city, flee into another." Second, because he had not chosen this kind of death, but rather wished to be immolated on the altar of the cross; and because the time was not yet fulfilled, he still fled. Thus therefore, as a man, he fled from the stones. Now he did not hide himself under a stone or in a corner, but by the power of his divinity, making himself invisible to them, he went out, and withdrew from the temple. He did something similar, Luke 4:29, when they wished to cast him down from the brow of the hill. By which, as Gregory says, it is given to be understood that truth itself is hidden from those who scorn to follow its words. For truth flees the humble mind which it does not find; Isaiah 8:17: "who hides his face from the house of Jacob." And likewise also because he had to leave them, who were not accepting correction and truth, and go to the Gentiles; Matthew 23:38: "behold, your house shall be left to you desolate." Chapter 9”

“Thou art not yet fifty years old - Some MSS. read forty. The age of our blessed Lord has never been properly determined. Some of the primitive fathers believed that he was fifty years old when he was crucified; but their foundation, which is no other than these words of the Jews, is but a very uncertain one. Calmet thinks that our Lord was at this time about thirty-four years and ten months old, and that he was crucified about the middle of his thirty-sixth year; and asserts that the vulgar era is three years too late. On the other hand, some allow him to have been but thirty-one years old, and that his ministry had lasted but one year. Many opinions on this subject, which are scarcely worthy of being copied, may be found in Calmet.”

“Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old--"No inference can be drawn from this as to the age of our Lord at the time as man. Fifty years was with the Jews the completion of manhood" [ALFORD]. and hast thou seen Abraham?--He had said Abraham saw Him, as being his peculiar privilege. They give the opposite turn to it--"Hast Thou seen Abraham?" as an honor too great for Him to pretend to.”