Homilies on John 29.1–29.3

[Homily 29.] “He came into the land of Judea, he and his disciples, and he stayed there with them, and [baptized].” Nothing could be clearer or stronger than the truth, just as nothing is weaker than falsehood, [even if it is hidden under countless veils.] For even so it is easily detected and easily melts away. But truth lies open, naked, to all who wish to look at its beauty; it neither wishes to hide nor fears danger; it does not tremble at plots, it does not seek glory from the many, it is not answerable to anything human …

[The following passage, down to “Amen,” is the end of Homily 28, displaced in the scan:] … [so as to cast out fear by fear,] saying that the one who does not believe is judged, and that unbelief comes from an evil conscience. For since Nicodemus made much of glory from men, and more of it than of punishment (“For many of the rulers,” it says, “believed in him, but because of the Jews they did not confess it”), he touches him on this point too, and shows by what he says that it is not possible for one who does not believe in me to disbelieve for any other reason than that he has an unclean life. And further on he says, “I am the light,” but here, “The light has come into the world.” For at the beginning he spoke in a more veiled way, but further on more clearly. Yet the man was held back by the glory of the many; that is why he did not even dare to speak boldly as he should. Let us flee empty glory, then; for this passion is the most tyrannical of all. From it come greed and love of money; from it hatred and wars and fights. For one who desires more will never be able to stop anywhere; and he desires from no other source than from desiring empty glory. For why, tell me, do most people surround themselves with a crowd of eunuchs and herds of slaves and great show? Not out of need, but to have those who meet them as witnesses of this untimely show. If then we cut this off, we shall destroy, along with the head, the other members of wickedness too, and nothing will prevent us from living on earth as in heaven. For it does not only push its captives toward wickedness, but also lurks beside the virtues; and when it cannot cast us out of them, it does great damage in virtue itself, forcing us to undergo the labors and robbing us of the fruits. For one who looks to it, and fasts and prays and shows mercy, has his reward. What could be more pitiable than this loss, when one happens to weary himself at random and in vain, and to become a laughingstock, and to fall from the glory above? For one who aims at both cannot obtain both. It is possible to obtain both, when we desire not both but one only, the glory from heaven; but one who loves both cannot obtain both. Therefore, if we want to obtain glory, let us flee human glory and desire only that from God. For so we shall obtain both the one and the other; which may we all enjoy, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.

[Homily 29 continues:] … but it stands above all things, receiving countless plots but remaining unconquerable, guarding those who take refuge in it as in a safe fortress by the excess of its own power, [avoiding hiding places,] and setting what is its own before all. This, at any rate, Christ too made plain when speaking with Pilate, saying, “I have always taught openly, and I said nothing in secret.” This he said then, and now he did it. For “after this,” it says, “he came into the land of Judea, he and his disciples, and stayed there, and baptized.” For at the feasts he went up to the city, so as to set forth his teachings among them and the benefit of the miracles; but after the feasts had broken up, he often came to the Jordan, since many [gathered] there too, [for he always chose crowded] places, not to make a display or out of ambition, but eager to provide his help to more people. And yet further on the evangelist says that Jesus did not baptize, but his disciples; from which it is clear that here too he means that they alone baptized. And why, someone says, did he not baptize? John had said beforehand, “He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire”; but he had not yet given the Spirit. Naturally, then, he did not baptize; but the disciples did this, wishing to bring many to the saving teaching. And why, when the disciples of Jesus were baptizing, did John not stop doing so, but kept baptizing himself too, and did so until he was put into prison? For to say, “John too was baptizing in Aenon,” and to add, “For John had not yet been thrown into prison,” was to show that he did not stop doing this until then. And why, someone says, did he baptize until then? Surely he would have made the disciples of Jesus more revered if he had stopped when they began. Why then did he baptize? So as not to throw his own disciples into greater jealousy and make them more contentious. For if, though he cried out ten thousand times and always yielded the first place to Christ and made himself so much less, he did not persuade them to run to him, had he added this too, he would have made them much more contentious. That is why Christ also began to preach most of all when John had been removed. And I think that this is also why John’s death was permitted and came to him very quickly, so that all the people’s affection might pass over to Christ, and they might no longer be divided in their opinions about the two. And besides, while he was baptizing he did not stop exhorting continually and showing the great and solemn things of Jesus. For he baptized for no other purpose than that they might believe in the one coming after him. One who preached this, then, how would he have made the disciples of Christ revered? For by stopping he would rather have seemed to do it from jealousy or anger; but by continuing to preach he made these things stronger. For he was not gaining glory for himself, but sending his hearers on to Christ, and working with him no less than the disciples, but much more, inasmuch as his testimony was free of suspicion and he had much greater glory with all than they had. The evangelist too hinted at this when he said, “All Judea and the region around the Jordan went out and were baptized by him.” And even while the disciples were baptizing, many did not stop running to him. And if someone should ask what more the baptism of the disciples had than John’s, we shall say: nothing. For both alike had no share in the grace of the Spirit, and both had one reason for baptizing, to bring the baptized to Christ. For so that they would not always be running about in this way to gather those who ought to believe, as the brother did for Simon and Philip for Nathanael, they took up baptizing, so as to draw all through it without labor and to prepare the way for the faith to come. That the baptisms had nothing more than each other is shown by what follows. What is that? “A discussion arose,” it says, “between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification.” For John’s disciples, always jealous toward Christ’s disciples and toward Christ himself, when they saw them baptizing, began to argue with the baptized, as though their own baptism had something more than that of Christ’s disciples. And taking one of those who had been baptized, they tried to persuade him, but did not persuade him. For that they were the ones who attacked, and not he who raised the question, hear how the evangelist hinted at it. For he did not say that a Jew raised a question with them, but that a discussion arose from John’s disciples with a certain Jew about purification.

And see, I beg you, the evangelist’s inoffensiveness. For he did not use the language of reproach, but softens the charge as far as he can, saying simply that a discussion arose; whereas the sequel shows that what was said was said from jealousy, which he too has set down inoffensively. “For they came,” it says, “to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, look, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him’”; that is, the one you baptized. For they hint at this by saying, “to whom you have testified”; as if to say, the one you showed to be illustrious and made remarkable dares to do the same as you. But they did not say, “the one you baptized”; for then they would have been forced to recall the voice that came down from above and the coming of the Spirit. But what? “The one who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified”; that is, the one who held the rank of a disciple, who had nothing more than we, has split off and is baptizing. And they thought to provoke him not only by this, but also by saying that their own standing was now being eclipsed: “For all,” they say, “are coming to him.” From which it is clear that they did not even get the better of the Jew with whom they had the discussion. They said these things being still imperfectly disposed and not yet clean of ambition. What then does John do? He too does not rebuke them severely, fearing that they might split off from him too and do some other harm; but what does he say? “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” And if he speaks more humbly about Christ, do not be surprised. For it was not possible to teach everything at once and from the outset to people already seized by such a passion. But he wishes for the time to strike them with awe and fear, and to show that in fighting against him they are fighting against none other than God. What Gamaliel said, “You will not be able to overthrow it, lest you be found fighting against God,” he too here establishes without their noticing. For to say, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given him from heaven,” shows nothing else than that they are attempting the impossible and are thus found fighting against God. What then? Did not Theudas and his followers receive from themselves? They did, but at once they were scattered and perished; but the things of Christ are not like that. By this he also gently comforts them, showing that it is not a man but God who eclipses them. So even if his affairs are brilliant and all are coming to him, one should not marvel; for divine things are such, and God is the one who brings them about; for no [man] ever had such power. All human things are easily detected and rotten, and quickly melt away and perish; but these are not like that; so they are not human. And see how, when they said, “to whom you have testified,” he turned against them the very thing they thought to put forward to bring Christ down. For having first shown that it was not from his testimony that Christ shone, he then stops their mouths from this, saying, “A man cannot receive anything from himself unless it has been given him from heaven.” What does this mean? “If you hold at all to my testimony,” he says, “and think it true, learn that by it above all you ought to prefer not me to him, but him to me. For what did I testify? I call you as witnesses of it.” That is why he adds, “You yourselves bear me witness that I said, ‘I am [not the Christ, but I have been sent] before him.’ If then, holding to my testimony, you put this forward to me, saying, ‘to whom you have testified,’ not only is he in no way diminished by receiving my testimony, but he gains most from it. And besides, the testimony was not mine but God’s. So if I seem trustworthy to you, among other things I said this too: ‘I have been sent before him.’” Do you see how little by little he shows that the voice was divine? What he says is this: I am a servant, and I speak the words of the one who sent me; I am not flattering him from human favor, but serving his Father who sent me. So I did not give the testimony as a favor, but said what I was sent to say. So do not think me great on this account; for this shows him great. For he is the Lord of all things. Showing this, he adds again and says, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.” And how does the one who said, “I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal,” now say that he is his friend? He does not say this exalting himself or boasting, but wishing to show that he himself above all is eager for this, and that these things are happening not against his will or to his grief, but as he desires and is eager, and that these are the very things for which he did everything; which he showed very wisely by the name of friend. For the servants of the bridegroom do not so much rejoice and make merry at such events as his friends. So it was not to claim equal honor (far from it!) but wishing to present the greatness of his pleasure, and at the same time condescending to their weakness, that he says he is a friend. For he had acknowledged his service by saying, “I have been sent before him.” For these reasons, and because they thought him stung by what was happening, he called himself the friend of the bridegroom, showing that not only is he not stung, but he greatly rejoices. “For I came to accomplish this, and I am so far from grieving at what is done that I would have grieved most of all if this had not happened. For if the bride had not come to the bridegroom, then I would have been grieved; but not now,” he says, “when our part has been accomplished. For when his affairs advance, it is we who are honored; for what we wished has come about, and the bride knows the bridegroom. And you yourselves bear witness, saying, ‘All are coming to him.’ For this is what I was eager for, and for this I did everything. So now, seeing it accomplished, I rejoice and exult and leap for joy.”

And what does “who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice” mean? He transferred the language from the parable to the matter at hand. For since he had mentioned bridegroom and bride, he shows how the bride is brought home: through a voice and teaching. For so the church too is joined to God. That is why Paul too said, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.” “At this voice, then, I rejoice.” And he did not put “who stands” without purpose, but to show that his own part had ceased, and that from now on he must stand and hear, having handed over the bride to him; and that he is an attendant and servant, and that his good hope and his gladness had come to fulfillment. That is why he adds, showing this, “This joy of mine, then, is fulfilled”; that is, the work that had to be done has been accomplished by me, and we can do nothing more from now on. Then, checking the growth of their passion not only at present but also in the future, he declares about the future too, confirming this as well from what had been said and done already. That is why he adds, “He must increase, but I must decrease”; that is, our affairs have come to a stand and have ceased from now on, but his are increasing. So what you fear will be not only now, but much more as time goes on. For this above all shows our affairs to be brilliant. That is why I came, and I rejoice that his affairs have made great progress, and that those things have come about for the sake of which all our affairs took place. Do you see how gently and with great wisdom he calmed their passion, and quenched their envy, and showed them attempting the impossible, by which wickedness is most checked? For this is why it was arranged for these things to happen while he was still alive and baptizing, so that they might have him as a witness of Christ’s superiority, and have no defense if they were not persuaded. For he did not come to say these things of his own accord, nor because others asked; they themselves were the ones who inquired and the ones who heard. For they would not have been so persuaded by him if he had spoken of his own accord, as they had the judgment self-condemned, hearing him answer after their question. So too the Jews: by sending from their own homes to him, and hearing what they heard, and not being persuaded, they deprived themselves of every defense. What then are we taught from this? That empty glory is the cause of all evils. This led them to jealousy; this again, [when they had ceased a little, roused them,] and they come to Jesus and say, “Why do your disciples not fast?” Let us flee the passion, then, beloved. For if we flee it, we shall be freed from Gehenna. For this above all kindles the fire for them; so everywhere it has extended its rule, and holds every age and rank tyrannically. This has turned the churches upside down; this damages civic affairs too; this has overturned whole houses, and cities, and peoples and nations. And why do you marvel, when it has gone out even into the desert and shown its great power there too? For those who have said a long farewell to money and to all the show of the world, who associate with no one, who master even the most tyrannical desire of the body, these have often been caught by empty glory and lost everything. Because of this passion the one who had labored much went away with less than the one who had labored at nothing but had sinned countless times: the Pharisee less than the tax collector, because of this disease. But to accuse the passion is no task (for all vote the same way); the question is how we may overcome it. How then may we overcome it? If we set glory against glory. For as we despise the wealth of the earth when we look to other wealth, and look down on this life when we consider the one much better than it, so too we shall spit on the glory here when we consider the one far more solemn than it, the true glory. For this one is empty and …