Pints With Aquinas - BONUS: "I have overcome the world!" | A Bible Study w/ Aquinas

Episode Date: May 29, 2020

In this special BONUS episode of Pints with Aquinas, I take a look at what St. Thomas Aquinas has to say about John 16:29-33. GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/ SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pints_w_aquinas  MY BOOKS Does God Exist: https://amzn.to/2MaKf7V Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://amzn.to/2Xf94pC  The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

G'day and welcome to Pints with Aquinas. Today I'm going to try something different. We're going to do a Bible study on John chapter 16 verses 29 through 33. But I won't just be giving you my commentary on the verse, rather I want to take a look at what St. Thomas Aquinas has to say. Thomas Aquinas wrote more than most people will read in a lifetime. Many people know him for the Summa Theologiae or his summary of theology, but he also wrote some excellent commentaries on different books of the Bible, like Matthew's Gospel, John's Gospel, the Psalms. So I have in front of me here, see if you can see that there, this is chapters 9 through 21 of his commentary. Now it's in Latin

as well as English, which is why it's so big, but he did have a lot to say. So what I'll do is I'll throw this, let's see here. This is the verse we'll take a look at and we'll read it. And then we'll look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say. Now I would hope, I know when people kind of consume YouTube videos that people are in a different headspace. It's very quick, very fast. But I hope for those who want to, this would be more meditative. So because of that, why don't we begin with the sign of the cross? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

So let's read what we have here, beginning in verse 29. Again, this is chapter 16 of St. John's Gospel. His disciples said, Ah, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure. Now we know that you know all things and need none to question you. By this we believe that you came from God. Jesus answered them, Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. We definitely live in a day and age with much tribulation. On a micro level, you know, our interior lives, the family unit we come from or a part of, maybe there's some friction or chaos there. And then in the nation in which we live, there's a lot of conflicting opinions about very important things. There's a lot of unrest. And with the COVID thing, you know, that's just layered more unrest upon unrest. So it's beautiful to hear our Lord say, in the world, you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I could just see him saying that with a wink. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

Now, one thing we know and that Thomas Aquinas teaches is that we cannot have perfect happiness in this life because our happiness will come about in the beatific vision as we behold the fulfillment of all our desires. I think that a lot of the time we go around from thing to thing, from event to event, from experience to experience, looking for something to give us peace, to satisfy us. Just very trivially, I mean, that's true as people drink beer and eat nuts. This is something actually, believe it or not, that Augustine spoke about.

Not the beer thing, I don't think, but he talked about we eat nuts, which are salty. Or rather, he didn't say nuts, I don't think, but he said we eat something salty so that we can then satisfy it with something sweet, so that we can then eat something salty again. In other words, we're creating a desire when we eat peanuts in order to satisfy that desire with beer or something like that. It's interesting, I think, because we love having our desires satisfied, whether they be sexually, whether they be for food, for entertainment, for friendship, good or bad, we want our desires met.

But the deepest desire of our hearts is God. And we will not possess God, if you want, until we are in heaven before him. And so in this life, while we can be happy to a degree, we cannot be fully happy because we don't have God fully in this life. And I think that recognizing that fact might be the first step towards experiencing a good degree of happiness in this life. When you realize there's nothing wrong with you. Well, in a sense, there is something wrong with you because we sin and we have concupiscence. We have disordered desires. But that's kind of part of the course of being a human being.

I mean, we can exacerbate it by engaging in sin or not following God's grace and so on. But we're going to experience tribulation in this life. You're just going to. And I think sometimes we hear from these gurus on television about how you can live your best life and things like this. And it almost seems like you can be fully happy if you just do X, Y, and Z. Aquinas is going to say, no, you can't. You can't be. No matter how much money you have, no matter how good you are or how moral you are,

you can't actually be fully happy in this life. Okay. So that's why I thought that this would be an appropriate verse. So let's have me shut up and let's look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say. Look how huge this book is. Doesn't this feel very scholastic of me? First, now he's drawing this, the translation here is from the Douay-Rheims. First, our blessed Lord says, The hour has come and is now come that you will be scattered, every man to his own, and you will leave me alone. So here's what Thomas Aquinas has to say on that verse. First, I'll have a bit of a drink here because it's a lot of talking and I'm parched.

My desire has been satisfied and yet it still remains. Aquinas says, note that by their falling away, which is what Christ said, they lost what they had acquired through Christ. They had acquired the companionship of Christ, freedom from the burdens of ownership, and a life together. Peter mentions these three things in Matthew. We, all of us, referring to their life together, have left everything, referring to the freedom from the burdens of ownership, and followed you, referring to their companionship with Christ. They lost these things, and our Lord foretold this to them when he said, The hour comes and is now come that you will be scattered. Aquinas says, Because you will be dominated by such fear that you will not be able to run away together as a group. In the quote scripture, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

And then he says, every man to his own. And then he says, every man to his own. And Aquinas comments on that saying that is returning to his desire to possess his own things. And we do see Peter and the others return to their boat and their own property. And he quotes John 21, 3. They went out and entered into the ship and will leave me alone. So that's that. And then, and will leave me alone, he says, he quotes Job here.

My kinsfolk and my close friends have failed me. The guests in my house have forgotten me. Job 19, 14. And then from Isaiah, I have trodden the wine press alone. It is beautiful how Aquinas reads scripture. know Saint Augustine said that the old test sorry the new testament is prefigured in the old and the old is revealed in the new right so to say that again the old is consistent sorry let me getting tripped up here the new testament is concealed in the old and the old testament is revealed in the new. So when Aquinas

reads Scripture, he reads it through the lens of Christ, and that's why he often will quote from the Old Testament regarding Christ, and maybe we haven't thought of it that way in the past. He continues, yet Christ did not suffer any loss by the falling away of his disciples. Thus he says, suffer any loss by the falling away of his disciples. Thus he says, yet I am not alone for the Father is with me. This is like saying, although I am one with the Father by a unity of essence, I am not alone because distinct in person. Thus I have not come forth from the Father in such a way as to leave him. Okay. Here our Lord states the purpose of his teaching. First, he mentions the benefit it brings.

Second, why we need this benefit, right? So he says, in the world you'll have distress, but he says, in me you'll have peace. So let's read that regarding the distress bit. He says, What a beautiful thing. I have spoken and the entire gospel is aimed at having you return to me, that in me you have peace. What a beautiful thing. How loving is our divine physician. He knows that they're going to abandon him and yet he says, have peace. And he says this precisely because they're going to abandon him so that they won't continue in their abandonment. Isn't that beautiful? You know, I know we have a lot of people here on YouTube.

Some of you are atheists. Some of you write to me and you say that you're going down a really bad path and you don't know how to stop and you're not even sure if Christianity is true anymore. I get these emails all the time. But it would seem here, I think, that our blessed Lord would want to say to you, like, in the world you'll have distress, but have peace. Have peace in me. He wants you to experience the peace that he gives.

Why? Because even though you may be abandoning him or maybe have fully abandoned him, he says this, right, again, so that you will not continue in this abandonment. I am teaching you so you do not continue in this abandonment. I am teaching you so you do not continue in this abandonment. We don't have to go down the dead end road sin wants us on. We can return to Christ. Okay, now let's read the next bit. Christ says that in me you have peace, right?

Truly, says Aquinas, the purpose of the gospel is peace in Christ. And he quotes Psalm 119, verse 165, those who love your name have great peace. Those who love your name have great peace. The reason for this is that peace of heart is opposed to its disturbance, which comes from the evils that afflict it and grow worse. But if one has affliction only now and then, or a joy that's greater than one's evils, his disturbance does not last. This is why the worldly, he's going to contrast here the worldly with the saints. Those who reject Christ and do what the world says will make them happy.

And he's going to contrast that with the saints who follow Christ despite the tribulation. In other words, you have two options. You can have troubles without peace or you can have troubles with peace. If you would like troubles without peace, then do not give your life to Christ. Do not be obedient to him. Do not live a moral life. Do not love the father. But if you, since, you know, troubles are just part of the course, if you would like them with peace, he says, then follow Christ. Okay. I want to jump down here to where Christ says, I have overcome the world, because he's going to say that Christ overcame the world in three ways, and then he's going to show why our faith overcomes the world. It's really, really beautiful. Christ, says Aquinas, overcame the world, first of all, by taking away the weapons it uses to attack us.

These are its allurements. For all that it is in the world is the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 1 John 2, 16. Can we just point out how often, you know, how steeped Aquinas is in the word of God? He can't get through a point without backing it up through sacred scripture. He conquered the illumination of riches by his poverty. I am poor and needy, Psalm 86, 1. And in Luke 9, 58, the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

So there you go. There's two scripture verses for one point. So he overcame riches, right, which is, again, a weapon of the world. nowhere to lay his head. So there you go. There's two scripture verses for one point. So that's, so he overcame riches, right? Which is again, a weapon of the world. He overcame the lusts of the world by his sufferings and labors. And he quotes Philippians, he became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. And then we read in John 4, 6, Jesus Jesus therefore being wearied from his journey sat on the well and then from Psalm 88 16 I have labored from my

youth so he overcame the lusts of the flesh and lusts meaning not just sexual but sort of gratifying the flesh through his labors and then he says Aquinas anyone who conquers these conquers the world. And this is what faith does. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith,

1 John 5, 4. Because since faith is the substance of things hoped for, which are spiritual and eternal goods, it causes us to disdain sensual and passing goods. This is how faith overcomes the world. We have faith in a fulfillment that cannot be brought about through the trinkets of this world. Therefore, we don't put our hope in them. That's what Aquinas is saying.

I use this analogy in a different video, but this has been my own experience as I've kind of journeyed in my relationship with Christ, that the allurements of the world lose their appeal as I remain faithful to Christ and follow him more closely. It's sort of like this. Have you ever seen a neon light on a store or some sort of building at dawn? At night, it gives off a sort of cheery appearance, but as the sun rises, it just kind of looks a bit trashy, doesn't it? Seeing these neon signs, that's sort of what happens as we grow closer to Christ. grow closer to Christ. The allurements of the world once attracted us, but now that this thing, the sun, begins to rise and is much more brilliant, the allurements of the world look a bit trashy.

That's how I like to put it anyway. So faith is the substance of things hoped for, which are spiritual and eternal goods, and this causes us to disdain the sensual and passing goods. All right, so here's the second way Christ overcame the world. Christ overcame the world by casting out the ruler of the world. And John 12, 31 says, now will the prince of this world be cast out. He disarmed the principalities and powers, Colossians 2, 15. This shows us that the devil is also to be overcome by us. This is really, this is really sassy and cool, this next bit, I think anyway. He says, and he quotes Job, Will you play with him as with a bird bird or will you put him on a leash

for your maidens? He's reading Job as to say that Satan basically becomes a plaything for Christians. Listen to that. So, you know, Satan might rage, threaten, prowl about like a roaring lion, as we read in 1 Peter. But Aquinas says, just like Christ overcame him, so will we. And he quotes Job talking about Satan. Well, Job, not necessarily, but this is how Aquinas is interpreting it. Will you play with him as a bird or will you put him on a leash for your maidens? In other words, you choose what kind of plaything you'd like him to be. How do I know he means that? Because he says it. Listen to this. Which understood literally means that after the passion of Christ,

the little boys and young handmaids of Christ will make the devil their plaything. So this thing prowling about like a roaring lion, we should not take him lightly, of course. He wishes to lead us to hell. But when we are in Christ, he is about as harmful to us as what? A mouse is to a cat? You think of your own analogy. Here's the third way Christ overcame the world.

By converting the people of this world to himself. The world rebelled by stirring up dissension through worldly people. But Christ drew these to himself. And he quotes John 12, 32. If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself. Thus it was said, And he quotes John 12, 32. So we'll conclude there. But gee, that really struck me there, that line Aquinas saying,

we should not fear the oppression of the world. And of course, we can experience the oppression of the world in many different ways. But I think one of the ways that people are experiencing the oppression of the world, especially people who have any kind of online platform like myself, however modest, run the risk of big social media companies damaging them. You know, YouTube seems to be less about how can I help you get your message out so you will use our platform and more about the user, me, saying to YouTube, please don't hurt me.

And this seems to be true of Twitter you know patreon recently banned a lot of people they lost their entire livelihood because patreon decided to play mummy and daddy and decide what was you know and of course they're a private company so they can do what they want but the argument is that those who got banned didn't actually violate the terms of service, terms of use. Anyway, but glory to Jesus Christ. I mean, what an honor to be able to talk about Christ,

proclaim his word on YouTube. That's how you're watching. Now, the fear can be, well, I make my income. That's how I support my family as well. What if by talking about Christ, I become a target and then this gets taken away from me? Glory to God. Glory to Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter. And this is true in your life as well, no matter what you're doing, whether you're online or offline.

I was speaking recently to a really brave guy. He's one of my patrons. And he was saying that he was working for someone that was basically getting him to do immoral things. Not terribly egregious, but egregious enough that this young, courageous man was like, I got to quit. And he went out and he went out on his own. But of course, there are many ways the world attacks us and we don't have to be frightened of any of them. So let's take a look at this verse one more time and then we'll wrap up. So let's take a look at this verse one more time, and then we'll wrap up. His disciples said,

Ha, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure. Now we know that you know all things and need none to question you. By this we believe that you came from God. Jesus answered them, Do you believe the hour is coming? Indeed, it has come. Listen to that, do you believe. That seems to me to be a reproach, doesn't it? Because he's about to say you're about to abandon me. And he says, oh, you believe. Do you believe because the hour is coming? Indeed, it has come when you will be scattered every man to his home and you will leave me alone.

Yet I am not alone for the father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So I hope that you enjoyed this. This is the first time I've done a Bible study with Pints with Aquinas on YouTube. I would love to know what you think about it. Would you like to see more of these? And if so, why? And also, let us know below what you got from that scripture verse. I'd love to learn from you in the comment section below. God bless. Thanks.