Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

John 6:38

There are 32 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 108, footnote 11 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Ignatius (HTML)

Epistle to the Tarsians (HTML)

Chapter VI.—Continuation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1201 (In-Text, Margin)

... were made by Him.” “When He made the heaven, I was present with Him; and I was there with Him, forming [the world along with Him], and He rejoiced in me daily.” And how could a mere man be addressed in such words as these: “Sit Thou at My right hand?” And how, again, could such an one declare: “Before Abraham was, I am?” And, “Glorify Me with Thy glory which I had before the world was?” What man could ever say, “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me?”[John 6:38] And of what man could it be said, “He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world: He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not?” How ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 570, footnote 1 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

On the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)

Christ Plainly Testifies to the Resurrection of the Entire Man. Not in His Soul Only, Without the Body. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7508 (In-Text, Margin)

... that in which he does perish. You have (then) the restoration of the entire man, inasmuch as the Lord purposes to save that part of him which perishes, whilst he will not of course lose that portion which cannot be lost. Who will any longer doubt of the safety of both natures, when one of them is to obtain salvation, and the other is not to lose it? And, still further, the Lord explains to us the meaning of the thing when He says: “I came not to do my own will, but the Father’s, who hath sent me.”[John 6:38] What, I ask, is that will? “That of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” Now, what had Christ received of the Father but that which He had Himself put on? Man, of course, in his texture of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 603, footnote 6 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

Against Praxeas. (HTML)

Though the Son or Word of God Emanates from the Father, He is Not, Like the Emanations of Valentinus, Separable from the Father. Nor is the Holy Ghost Separable from Either. Illustrations from Nature. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7852 (In-Text, Margin)

... Author, and places them at so great a distance from Him, that the Æon does not know the Father: he longs, indeed, to know Him, but cannot; nay, he is almost swallowed up and dissolved into the rest of matter. With us, however, the Son alone knows the Father, and has Himself unfolded “the Father’s bosom.” He has also heard and seen all things with the Father; and what He has been commanded by the Father, that also does He speak. And it is not His own will, but the Father’s, which He has accomplished,[John 6:38] which He had known most intimately, even from the beginning. “For what man knoweth the things which be in God, but the Spirit which is in Him?” But the Word was formed by the Spirit, and (if I may so express myself) the Spirit is the body of the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 616, footnote 18 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

Against Praxeas. (HTML)

In This and the Four Following Chapters It is Shewn, by a Minute Analysis of St. John's Gospel, that the Father and Son are Constantly Spoken of as Distinct Persons. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8035 (In-Text, Margin)

... that “all that the Father gave Him should come to Him, and that He Himself would not reject them, because He had come down from heaven not to do His own will, but the will of the Father; and that the will of the Father was that every one who saw the Son, and believed on Him, should obtain the life (everlasting,) and the resurrection at the last day. No man indeed was able to come to Him, except the Father attracted him; whereas every one who had heard and learnt of the Father came to Him.”[John 6:37-45] He goes on then expressly to say, “Not that any man hath seen the Father;” thus showing us that it was through the Word of the Father that men were instructed and taught. Then, when many departed from Him, and He turned to the apostles with the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 682, footnote 19 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Ethical. (HTML)

On Prayer. (HTML)

The Third Clause. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8786 (In-Text, Margin)

... His Discipline? We make petition, then, that He supply us with the substance of His will, and the capacity to do it, that we may be saved both in the heavens and on earth; because the sum of His will is the salvation of them whom He has adopted. There is, too, that will of God which the Lord accomplished in preaching, in working, in enduring: for if He Himself proclaimed that He did not His own, but the Father’s will, without doubt those things which He used to do were the Father’s will;[John 6:38] unto which things, as unto exemplars, we are now provoked; to preach, to work, to endure even unto death. And we need the will of God, that we may be able to fulfil these duties. Again, in saying, “Thy will be done,” we are even wishing well ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 382, footnote 1 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To Jubaianus, Concerning the Baptism of Heretics. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2859 (In-Text, Margin)

11. The Lord cries aloud, that “whosoever thirsts should come and drink of the rivers of living water that flowed out of His bosom.”[John 6:37-38] Whither is he to come who thirsts? Shall he come to the heretics, where there is no fountain and river of living water at all; or to the Church which is one, and is founded upon one who has received the keys of it by the Lord’s voice? It is she who holds and possesses alone all the power of her spouse and Lord. In her we preside; for her honour and unity we fight; her grace, as well as her glory, we defend with faithful ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 432, footnote 3 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

On the Dress of Virgins. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3191 (In-Text, Margin)

... the pride of life, which is not from the Father, but is of the lust of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever, even as God also abideth for ever.” Therefore eternal and divine things are to be followed, and all things must be done after the will of God, that we may follow the divine footsteps and teachings of our Lord, who warned us, and said, “I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”[John 6:38] But if the servant is not greater than his lord, and he that is freed owes obedience to his deliverer, we who desire to be Christians ought to imitate what Christ said and did. It is written, and it is read and heard, and is celebrated for our ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 451, footnote 5 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

On the Lord's Prayer. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3339 (In-Text, Margin)

... no one is strong in his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God. And further, the Lord, setting forth the infirmity of the humanity which He bore, says, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;” and affording an example to His disciples that they should do not their own will, but God’s, He went on to say, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” And in another place He says, “I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”[John 6:38] Now if the Son was obedient to do His Father’s will, how much more should the servant be obedient to do his Master’s will! as in his epistle John also exhorts and instructs us to do the will of God, saying, “Love not the world, neither the things ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 539, footnote 13 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That we are not to obey our own will, but the will of God. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4315 (In-Text, Margin)

In the Gospel according to John: “I came not down from heaven to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.”[John 6:38] Of this same matter, according to Matthew: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” Also in the daily prayer: “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Also according to Matthew: “Not every one who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 637, footnote 4 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Novatian. (HTML)

A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity. (HTML)

Moreover, Against the Sabellians He Proves that the Father is One, the Son Another. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5215 (In-Text, Margin)

... have I begotten Thee. Ask of me, and I will give Thee the heathens for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession?” Or when also that beloved writer says: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on my right hand, until I shall make Thine enemies the stool of Thy feet?” Or when, unfolding the prophecies of Isaiah, he finds it written thus: “Thus saith the Lord to Christ my Lord?” Or when he reads: “I came not down from heaven to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me?”[John 6:38] Or when he finds it written: “Because He who sent me is greater than I?” Or when he considers the passage: “I go to my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God?” Or when he finds it placed side by side with others: “Moreover, in your law it ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 223, footnote 4 (Image)

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius

Archelaus. (HTML)

The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes. (HTML)

Chapter XLVII. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2019 (In-Text, Margin)

... appeared in the form of man indeed, and yet was not a man. Archelaus said: Are you not, then, of opinion that He was born of the Virgin Mary? Manes said: God forbid that I should admit that our Lord Jesus Christ came down to us through the natural womb of a woman! For He gives us His own testimony that He came down from the Father’s bosom; and again He says, “He that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me;” and, “I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me;”[John 6:38] and once more, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And there are also innumerable other passages of a similar import, which point Him out as one that came, and not as one that was born. But if you are ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 566, footnote 1 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Early Liturgies (HTML)

The Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4255 (In-Text, Margin)

For He is the living and life-giving bread which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the whole world, of which they who eat die not; and they who receive it are saved by it, and do not see corruption, and live through it for ever; and Thou art the antidote of our mortality,[John 6:32-40] and the resurrection of our entire frame.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 73, footnote 41 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)

The Diatessaron. (HTML)

Section XIX. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1375 (In-Text, Margin)

... heaven. The bread of God is that which came down from heaven and gave the [28, 29] world life. They said unto him, Our Lord, give us at all times this bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: whosoever cometh unto me shall not hunger, [30] and whosoever believeth in me shall not thirst for ever. But I said unto you, [31] Ye have seen me, and have not believed. And all that my Father hath given to me cometh unto me; and whosoever cometh unto me I shall not cast him forth without. [32][John 6:38] I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him [33] that sent me; and this is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing of [34] [Arabic, p. 76] that which he gave me, but raise it up in the last day. ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 30, footnote 10 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)

The unity and equality of the Trinity are demonstrated out of the Scriptures; and the true interpretation is given of those texts which are wrongly alleged against the equality of the Son. (HTML)
By What Rule in the Scriptures It is Understood that the Son is Now Equal and Now Less. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 128 (In-Text, Margin)

... tidings unto the meek He hath sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives,” etc.: for the doing of which things He therefore declares Himself to be “sent,” because the Spirit of God is upon Him. According to the form of God, all things were made by Him; according to the form of a servant, He was Himself made of a woman, made under the law. According to the form of God, He and the Father are one; according to the form of a servant, He came not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him.[John 6:38] According to the form of God, “As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself;” according to the form of a servant, His “soul is sorrowful even unto death;” and, “O my Father,” He says, “if it be possible, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 431, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

Of Holy Virginity. (HTML)

Section 38 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2138 (In-Text, Margin)

... unrighteousness, but charity, made humble; “Charity, which rivalleth not, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own;” forasmuch as “Christ also pleased not Himself, but, as it is written of Him, The reproaches of such as reproached Thee have fallen upon Me.” Go then, come unto Him, and learn, in that He is “meek and lowly of heart.” Thou shall not go unto him, who dared not by reason of the burden of unrighteousness to lift up his eyes to heaven, but unto Him, Who by the weight of charity came down from heaven.[John 6:38] Thou shalt not go unto her, who watered with tears the feet of her Lord, seeking forgiveness of heavy sins; but thou shalt go unto Him, Who, granting forgiveness of all sins, washed the feet of His own disciples. I know the dignity of thy virginity; ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 41, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. (HTML)

On the Latter Part of Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Contained in the Sixth and Seventh Chapters of Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter VI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 288 (In-Text, Margin)

... heavenly angels; so that no antagonism stands in the way of our blessedness: and this is peace. “Thy will be done” is also rightly understood in the sense of, Let obedience be rendered to Thy precepts: “as in heaven so on earth,” i.e. as by the angels so by men. For, that the will of God is done when His precepts are obeyed, the Lord Himself says, when He affirms, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me;” and often, “I came, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me;”[John 6:38] and when He says, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” And therefore, in those at least who do the will of God, the will of God is accomplished; not because they ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 151, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

Of the Absence of Any Discrepancy Between Matthew and Mark on the One Hand, and John on the Other, in the Accounts Which the Three Give Together of What Took Place After the Other Side of the Lake Was Reached. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1072 (In-Text, Margin)

... from identity in sense. John, on the other hand, fixing his attention, as his wont is, upon the Lord’s discourses, passes on from the notice of the ship, which the Lord reached by walking upon the waters, to what took place after they disembarked upon the land, and mentions that He took occasion from the eating of the bread to deliver many lessons, dealing pre-eminently with divine things. After this address, too, his narrative is again borne on to one subject after another, in a sublime strain.[John 6:22-72] At the same time, this transition which he thus makes to different themes does not involve any real want of harmony, although he exhibits certain divergencies from these others, with the order of events presented by the rest of the evangelists. For ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 176, footnote 6 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)

Book III (HTML)

Of the Method in Which the Four Evangelists are Shown to Be at One in the Accounts Given of the Lord’s Supper and the Indication of His Betrayer. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1234 (In-Text, Margin)

... is stated in that earlier connection has been introduced, according to this writer’s habit, by anticipation, while the words which he has inserted here in their proper order are left unrecorded in those previous verses, and the two passages when put together make up exactly what stands expressed by those other evangelists. John, on the other hand, has said nothing about the body and blood of the Lord in this context; but he plainly certifies that the Lord spake to that effect on another occasion,[John 6:32-64] with much greater fulness than here. At present, however, after recording how the Lord rose from supper and washed the disciples’ feet, and after telling us also the reason why the Lord dealt thus with them, in expressing which He had intimated, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 515, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)

On the same lesson of the Gospel, John ix., on the giving sight to the man that was born blind. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4055 (In-Text, Margin)

... have heard; “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” And he, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe on Him?” With the eyes, it is true, he saw already; did he see already in the heart? No, not yet. Wait; he will see presently. Jesus answered him, “I that speak with thee am He.” Did he doubt? No, forthwith he washed his face. For he was speaking with That Siloa, “which is by interpretation, Sent.” Who is the Sent, but Christ? Who often bare witness, saying, “I do the will of My Father That sent Me.”[John 6:38] He then was Himself the Siloa. The man approached blind in heart, he heard, believed, adored; washed the face, saw.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 33, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm IX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 341 (In-Text, Margin)

... over place and space, or be prolonged in time’s succession: but, “I will be glad and exult in Thee,” namely, in the hidden things of the Son, where “the light of Thy countenance hath been stamped on us, O Lord:” for, “Thou wilt hide them,” saith he, “in the hiding place of Thy countenance.” He then will be glad and exult in Thee, who tells all Thy marvels. And He will tell all Thy marvels (since it is now spoken of prophetically), “who came not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him.”[John 6:38]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 427, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXXVIII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4108 (In-Text, Margin)

... refers then in these words, “Dost Thou show wonders among the dead?” to men so dead in heart, that such great works of Christ could not rouse them to the life of faith: for he does not say that wonders are not shown to them because they see them not, but because they do not profit them. For, as he says in this passage, “the whole day have I stretched forth My hands to Thee:” because He ever refers all His works to the will of His Father, constantly declaring that He came to fulfil His Father’s will:[John 6:38] so also, as an unbelieving people saw the same works, another Prophet saith, “I have spread out my hands all day unto a rebellious people, that believes not, but contradicts.” Those then are dead, to whom wonders have not been shown, not because ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 2, page 40, footnote 2 (Image)

Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-438; Sozomenus: Church History from A.D. 323-425

The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

The Bishops assembled at Antioch, on the Refusal of Eusebius of Emisa to accept the Bishopric of Alexandria, ordain Gregory, and change the Language of the Nicene Creed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 274 (In-Text, Margin)

... unaltering image of the Divinity, Substance and Power, and Counsel and Glory of the Father; born ‘before all creation’; who was in the beginning with God, God the Word, according as it is declared in the Gospel, and the Word was God, by whom all things were made, and in whom all things subsist: who in the last days came down from above, and was born of the virgin according to the Scriptures; and was made man, the Mediator between God and men, the Apostle of our Faith, and the Prince of Life, as he says,[John 6:38] ‘I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.’ Who suffered on our behalf, and rose again for us on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and will come ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 377, footnote 16 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)

Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)

Discourse II (HTML)
Texts Explained; Sixthly, Proverbs viii. 22 Continued. Our Lord is said to be created 'for the works,' i.e. with a particular purpose, which no mere creatures are ever said to be. Parallel of Isai. xlix. 5, &c. When His manhood is spoken of, a reason for it is added; not so when His Divine Nature; Texts in proof. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2562 (In-Text, Margin)

... which He had not put on flesh. And what the need was for which He became man, He Himself thus signifies, ‘I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the will of Him which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of My Father, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day[John 6:38-40].’ And again; ‘I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me, should not abide in darkness.’ And again he says; ‘To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.’ And John ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 397, footnote 11 (Image)

Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters

Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)

Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)

Discourse III (HTML)
Texts Explained; Eighthly, John xvii. 3. and the Like. Our Lord's divinity cannot interfere with His Father's prerogatives, as the One God, which were so earnestly upheld by the Son. 'One' is used in contrast to false gods and idols, not to the Son, through whom the Father spoke. Our Lord adds His Name to the Father's, as included in Him. The Father the First, not as if the Son were not First too, but as Origin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2850 (In-Text, Margin)

... the Son Himself revealing Him to him, and in the Word he shall rather see the Father, as has been said, and if the Son on coming, glorified not Himself but the Father, saying to one who came to Him, ‘Why callest thou Me good? none is good save One, that is, God;’ and to one who asked, what was the great commandment in the Law, answering, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord;’ and saying to the multitudes, ‘I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me[John 6:38];’ and teaching the disciples, ‘My Father is greater than I,’ and ‘He that honoureth Me, honoureth Him that sent Me;’ if the Son is such towards His own Father, what is the difficulty, that one must need take such a view of such passages? and on the ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 462, footnote 7 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against the Pelagians. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5223 (In-Text, Margin)

... Christian can bear to hear this? For if not one, nor a few, nor many, but all of us are governed by our own free choice, what becomes of the help of God? And how do you explain the text, “A man’s goings are ordered by the Lord”? And “A man’s way is not in himself”; and “No one can receive anything, unless it be given him from above”; and elsewhere, “What hast thou which thou didst not receive? But if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” Our Lord and Saviour says:[John 6:38] “I am come down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.” And in another place, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done.” And in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 313, footnote 17 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

The Fourth Theological Oration, Which is the Second Concerning the Son. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3651 (In-Text, Margin)

XII. Let them quote in the seventh place that The Son came down from Heaven, not to do His own Will, but the Will of Him That sent Him.[John 6:38] Well, if this had not been said by Himself Who came down, we should say that the phrase was modelled as issuing from the Human Nature, not from Him who is conceived of in His character as the Saviour, for His Human Will cannot be opposed to God, seeing it is altogether taken into God; but conceived of simply as in our nature, inasmuch as the human will does not completely follow the Divine, but for the most part struggles ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 64, footnote 3 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

Title Page (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 640 (In-Text, Margin)

9. The Son of God, therefore, having the charge of mankind, was first made man, that men might believe on Him; that He might be to us a witness, sprung from ourselves, of things Divine, and preach to us, weak and carnal as we are, through the weakness of the flesh concerning God the Father, so fulfilling the Father’s will, even as He says, I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me[John 6:38]. It was not that He Himself was unwilling, but that He might manifest His obedience as the result of His Father’s will, for His own will is to do His Father’s. This is that will to carry out the Father’s will of which He testifies in the words: Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 172, footnote 1 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

Title Page (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1041 (In-Text, Margin)

49. Connect with this that saying, which you lay hold of to support the imputation of infirmity, All that the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out; for I am come down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of the Father that sent Me[John 6:37-38]. But, perhaps you say, the Son has no freedom of will: the weakness of His nature subjects Him to necessity, and He is denied free-will, and subjected to necessity that He may not reject those who are given to Him and come from the Father. Nor was the Lord content to demonstrate the mystery of the Unity by His action in not rejecting those who ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 181, footnote 1 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

Title Page (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1090 (In-Text, Margin)

... received all that belonged to the whole being of God, namely, His knowledge and His will. What the Father knows, the Son does not learn by question and answer; what the Father wills, the Son does not will by command. Since all that the Father has, is His, it is the property of His nature to will and know, exactly as the Father wills and knows. But to prove His birth He often expounds the doctrine of His Person, as when He says, I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.[John 6:38] He does the Father’s will, not His own, and by the will of Him that sent Me, He means His Father. But that He Himself wills the same, is unmistakeably declared in the words, Father, those whom Thou hast given Me, I will, that, where I am, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 212, footnote 1 (Image)

Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus

Title Page (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)

De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book XI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1272 (In-Text, Margin)

... Who subjects all things to Himself; and by this ‘then’ he means to denote the temporal Dispensation. For if we put any other construction on the subjection, Christ, though then to be subjected, is not subjected now, and thus we make Him an insolent and impious rebel, whom the necessity of time, breaking as it were and subduing His profane and overweening pride, will reduce to a tardy obedience. But what does He Himself say? I am not come to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me[John 6:38]: and again, Therefore hath the Father loved Me because I do all things that are pleasing unto Him: and, Father, Thy will be done. Or hear the Apostle, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death. Although He humbled ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 229, footnote 5 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)

Book II. (HTML)
Chapter V. Certain passages from Scripture, urged against the Omnipotence of Christ, are resolved; the writer is also at especial pains to show that Christ not seldom spoke in accordance with the affections of human nature. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1961 (In-Text, Margin)

46. Here, then, let there be an end of the objection which it is your custom to oppose to us, on the ground that the Lord said, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt;” and again, “For this cause I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.”[John 6:38]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 452, footnote 3 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII. (HTML)

Conference XVI. The First Conference of Abbot Joseph. On Friendship. (HTML)
Chapter VI. By what means union can be preserved unbroken. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1970 (In-Text, Margin)

... Acts of the Apostles on the unity of believers: “But the multitude of believers was of one heart and soul; neither did any of them say that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common.” Then how can any seeds of discussion arise from him who serves not his own but his brother’s will, and becomes a follower of his Lord and Master, who speaking in the character of man which He had taken, said: “I am not come to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me?”[John 6:38] But how can he arouse any incitement to contention, who has determined to trust not so much to his own judgment as to his brother’s decision, on his own intelligence and meaning, in accordance with his will either approving or disapproving his ...

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs