The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 18:7 วิจารณ์

In the three [Synoptic] Gospels, John the Baptist says he is not sufficient, while in the Gospel of John he says he is not worthy. But it may be that the one who formerly declared that he was not sufficient became sufficient later, even though perhaps he was not worthy. Or it may have been that while he was saying he was not worthy, and was in fact not worthy, he came to be worthy—unless one would say that human nature can never arrive at performing this loosing or this bearing in a worthy manner and that John, therefore, speaks the truth when he says that he never became sufficient to loose the thongs of our Savior’s sandals, nor was he worthy of doing so either. No matter how much we try to understand, there are still things left that we do not understand. This is what we read in the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach: “When a person has finished, he is just beginning, and when he stops, he will be at a loss.”

The language of the divine hymn is, “Seek God, and your soul shall live.” Let us search for that which needs to be discovered, and into that which has been discovered. He whom we need to discover is concealed, in order to be sought after; and when found, is infinite, in order still to be the object of our search. Therefore it is said in another place, “Seek his face always.” For even as he satisfies the seeker to the utmost of his capacity, he makes the finder still more capable so that he may seek to be newly filled according to the growth of his ability to receive. Therefore it was not said, “Seek his face always,” in the same sense as of certain others, who are “always learning and never coming to a knowledge of the truth.” Rather, as the preacher says, “When a person has finished, then he begins,” till we reach that life where we shall be so filled that our natures shall attain their utmost capacity because we shall have arrived at perfection and will no longer be aiming at more. For then all that can satisfy us will be revealed to our eyes. But here let us always be seeking, and let our reward in finding put no end to our searching. For we do not say that it will not be so always, because it is only so here. Rather, here we say we must always be seeking, lest at any time we should imagine that here we can ever cease from seeking.