The. xxiiii. chapyter
BUt here do many men […] not onely that our sauyour wold heye hym so longe knowynge hym so false, but also that he wolde take hym to him for his […] in the begynnyng, fore knowynge by […] godhed from the begynnynge that he wolde after be false. And dyuerse holy doctours hold also, that he was neuer trew nor good, but nought and false fro the begynnyng. And in this mater wherof god hath not so fully […] vnto men the certeynte, that we be preasely bounden to the […] of eyther other parte / euery man ys at lybertye to byleue whyther parte that hym selfe thynketh moost lykely by naturall reason and scripture.
And therfore though some good holy men and sayntes haue thought that Iudas was neuer good, but yt our sauyour toke hym to his apostle, and so kepte hym in all hys masyee styll, for thaccomplysshement of the great mystery of hys passyon, well vsyng therby ye euyll of man, as […] euyll vseth the goodnes of god: yet thynketh me that as Theophylactꝰ sayth, and saynt Cyrill, & saint Chrisostome1 to, Iudas was ones very good whan our lorde dyd chese hym for his apostle, and was at that tyme geuyn vnto Cryst by his father. For profe wherof that godly cunnynge […] M. […], well bryngeth in ye 2 wordes of our sauyour hym selfe, sayenge to his father a lytle after his3 maundye finished: Them that thou haste geuen vnto me I haue kepte, & none of them hath perysshed but the […] of perdycyō. Which he ment by Iudas beyng than yet alyue in body by nature, but dede in soule by dedely synne. Hym our lord toke vnto hym for hys apostle whyle he was good / and not of the comen sorte of good men but also very specyall good as these holy doctours do diuine & gesse.
And though Cryste foresaw the wrechednes that he wolde after fall to: yet wolde he not forbere ye ryght order of iustyce, but take hym in such degre for the tyme, as hys present goodnes of good congruēs deserued For beynge at that tyme more mete for thoffyce of an apostle thā another mā / if Cryst shold haue reiected him as vnworthy & vnmete, for the fawt yt hym self knew he wold after do, to ward which fawte he was at yt tyme nothynge mynded: thā shold he haue reproched hym at suche tyme as he was not worthy to be reproched. And than were it some what lyke, as yf a man bycause he maketh hym selfe very sure that hys wyfe and hys chylderne wyll one tyme or other not fayle to dysplease hym afterwarde at some one tyme or other, be angry therfore wyth thē all, & […] them and bete them byfore. Our sauyour therfore whan Iudas was very good, after suche rate of goodnesse as is in mortall men, toke hym and promoted hym to the offyce and dygnyte of hys owne apostle after that order of iustyce / by whych he re wardeth one man aboue another after the rate of theyr merytes, and yet euery man of them all farre aboue al hys merytes.
Now whan he was afterwarde thorow couetyce waxed nought / yet our lorde kepte hym styll, and wolde not by takynge hys offyce from hym dysclose his secrete falsed, and putte hym to shame / but vsed many other meanes to mende hym, and kepe ther with the honestye of hys name / not lettynge to procure hys amendemēt on hys parte though he well knewe the wreche wolde neuer amende vppon hys parte.
But lyke wyse as though a man haue an incurable syknes, it yet becō meth the physycyon all the tyme that he lyueth therwyth, to do hys parte styll to ward the curynge therof: so bycame it our saunour to do it as he dyd, and not to leue of or slake hys goodnes to warde the cure and amen dement of the mannys incurable malyce.
For though Iudas was wyth all that goodnes of Cryste vsed vnto hym, not onely nothynge the better, but also very farre the worse, & fell farre the deper into deth and dampna cyon: yet syth there came of his traytorouse delynge none harme, but vnto. Crist whose goodnes was for our well very gladde to suffre it, and vnto the traytour hym selfe and suche other as wylfully wolde deserue it: it had ben neyther ryght nor reason, that for to saue them from hell that nedes wolde walke in to it, he sholde haue lefte any of hys goodnesse and sufferaunce vndone, wherby he procured the saluacyō of so many thousandes as sholde be saued by his byt ter passyon.
And mych more reason it was, yt our sauyour shold haue respecte and regard / to procure the blysse of those that sholde be saued, than to care for the payne of those that shold be dāpned. For it had ben (as it semeth) not consonaunt vnto ryght, yf our lorde sholde for auoydynge of theyr payne yt for all his callynge backe to the cō trary wold yet wyllingly rūne forth into dampnacyon: haue kept awaye the reward of blysse fro them yt wold with hys helpe deserue it.
And therfore our lorde as I saye toke Iudas and made hym his apostle, beynge very good / and after had longe pacyence wyth hym whyle he was very nought, […] that thorow his imedicable malyce he fell of hym selfe, and so was cast out and perysshed. But by his peryshynge our sa uyour loste not but wan. For of hys euyll came there mych more good, & hys owne place of apostleshyp was4 afterwarde fulfylled wyth saynte Mathy.
And in lyke wyse the other dyscyples that departed now, whych were (as saynt Chrisostom sayth and as ye 5 gospell semeth also to saye) all that than were present saue onely hys. xii. apostles, and were as saynt Austayn sayth in nomber aboue thre score and tenne: all they loste them selfe whan they wyllyngly lost theyr sauyour.
And he founde better to succede in theyr places. For soone after in the6 stede of those thre score and tenne, he chose other thre score and tenne dyscy ples as I before shewed you, whom7 he sent about to preche as he had sent his. xii. apostles before.
And vnto Iudas yet at this present tyme he gaue a secrete warnyng that he myghte well wytte that hys noughtynesse was knowen, whyche thynge myghte make hym the lesse bolde to synne / and yet he dysclosed hym not openly, bycause he wold not shame hym, and therby make hym happely shamelesse, as many suche wreches waxe / and after that, synne the more boldely.
Footnotes
Chapter 26 of 70