Homilies on John 40.1–40.2

“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know that his testimony is true.” If someone undertakes to dig up mining ground while inexperienced in this art, he will produce no gold, but jumbling everything together indiscriminately he will endure useless and harmful labor. So too those who do not know the sequence of the divine Scriptures, and do not examine their peculiarities and laws, but go through everything simply and in one way, mixing gold with earth, will never find the treasure stored in them. I have said this now because the passage before us has much gold, yet not plainly visible, but covered over with much obscurity, [so that great labor is needed] to reach the genuine meanings. For who would not at once be troubled on hearing Christ say, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true”? For in many places he is seen testifying [about himself]. I said, he says, that “as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills”; I said that “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son”; I said that the Son must be honored as the Father; I said that “whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father”; I said that “whoever hears my words and believes will not see death, but has passed from death to life”; I said that my voice will raise the dead, some now and some afterwards; I said that I will require an account of their offenses from all; I said that I will judge justly and reward those who do right. Since, then, all these were declarations, and what was said was great, while no clear proof had yet been given them, [he first puts their objection, being about to proceed to the establishing of what had been said]. [In many places he testifies about himself;] at any rate, conversing with the Samaritan woman he said, “I am he, the one speaking to you”; and to the blind man likewise, “The one speaking with you is he”; and rebuking the Jews, “You say, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And he does this in many other places too. If, then, all these are false, what hope of salvation shall we have? And where shall we find the truth, when the Truth himself says, “My testimony is not true”? And this does not seem to be the only contradiction, but there is another no smaller than it. For going on he says, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true.” Which, then, tell me, shall I accept, and which shall I think false? For if we take them simply as they are said, without looking into the person, the cause, or anything else of the kind, both will be false. For if his testimony is not true, neither is this very statement true—not the second only, but the first as well. What then is the meaning? We need great watchfulness, or rather the grace of God, so as not to stop at the bare words. For this is how the heretics go astray: they examine neither the aim of the speaker nor the disposition of the hearers. If we do not add these, and other things too, such as times and places and the mind of the hearer, many absurdities will follow. What then is the meaning? The Jews were going to object to him, “If you testify about yourself, your testimony is not true.” That is why he said this in advance, as if he said: You will certainly say to me, “We do not believe you; for no one among men who testifies for himself is trustworthy.” So “is not true” must not be read simply, but according to their supposition, as if: to you it is not true. He was saying these things, then, not according to his own dignity but according to their supposition. And when he says, “My testimony is not true,” he exposes their mind and the objection they were going to bring against him; but when he says, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true,” he shows the very nature of the matter, that they ought to think him trustworthy as God even when speaking about himself. For since he had spoken of the resurrection of the dead and the judgment, and that whoever believes in him is not judged but comes into life, and that he will sit to require an account of all, and that he has the same authority and power as the Father, being about to establish all these things again in another way, he necessarily put their objection first, [and then] proceeds to establish what had been said, speaking somewhat like this, even if not in these words: But perhaps you will say, You say all these things, but you are not a trustworthy witness when you testify for yourself. By this, then, first dissolving their contentiousness—by stating what they were going to say, and showing that he knew the secrets of their mind, and offering this as the first proof of his power—after the objection he afterwards provides other clear and incontestable proofs too, bringing three witnesses of what was said: the works done by him, the testimony of the Father, and the preaching of John. And he puts the lesser first, that of John. For having said, “There is another who testifies about me, and I know that his testimony is true,” he added, “You sent to John, and he bore witness to the truth.” And yet if your testimony is not true, how do you say, “I know that John's testimony is true,” and that “he bore witness to the truth”? Do you see how clear it is from this too that “My testimony is not true” is said according to their supposition?

“What then, if he testified out of favor?” someone says. So that they might not say this, see how he removed this suspicion too. For he did not say, “John testified for me,” but first, “You sent to John”; and you would not have sent unless you thought him trustworthy. And what is more: they sent to him asking not about Christ but about himself; and one whom they thought trustworthy in matters concerning himself, much more in matters concerning another. For we all, so to speak, are so constituted as not to believe those speaking about themselves as much as those speaking about others. But they thought this man so trustworthy that even in matters concerning himself they needed no other testimony. For those sent did not say, “What do you say about the Christ?” but “Who are you? What do you say about yourself?” So great an admiration did they have for the man. All this, then, he hinted at by saying, “You sent to John.” That is why the evangelist too did not say only that they sent, but is exact about those sent: that they were priests, and from the Pharisees—not ordinary men, nor outcasts, nor such as could be corrupted by what he said. “But I do not receive testimony from man.” Why then did you bring in John's? And yet not even his was a man's testimony. For “he who sent me to baptize with water,” he says, “he told me.” So John's testimony too was God's testimony; for he said what he said having learned it from him. But so that they might not say, “How is it clear that he learned it from God?” and dispute about this, he stops their mouths beyond all need, still speaking according to their supposition. For it was not likely that many knew these things; they still attended to John as speaking of himself. That is why he says, “I do not receive testimony from man.” “And if you were not going to receive it from a man, why did you bring in his testimony?” So that they might not say this, hear how he corrected such an objection too by what he added. Having said, “I do not receive testimony from man,” he added, “But I say these things so that you may be saved.” What he means is this: I had no need of his testimony, being God—of human testimony; but since you attended more to him and thought him more trustworthy than all, and you ran to him as to a prophet (for the city poured out to the Jordan), while you did not believe me even when I worked wonders, for this reason I remind you of that testimony. “He was the lamp that burns and shines,” he says, “and you were willing to rejoice for an hour in his light.” For so that they might not say, “What then, if he spoke, but we did not accept it?” he shows that they did accept what was said. For they did not send ordinary men, but priests and Pharisees. So greatly did they admire the man, and they had nothing to say against what he said then. “For an hour” is the language of one showing their fickleness, and that they quickly leapt away from him. “But I have testimony greater than John's.” For if you had wished to accept faith according to the order of things, I would rather have led you on from the works. But since you do not wish it, I lead you to John, not as needing his testimony, but because I do everything so that you may be saved. For I have a testimony greater than John's, that from the works. But I aim not only at being acceptable to you from what is trustworthy, but also from what is familiar to you and admired by you. So having touched them by saying, “You were willing for an hour to rejoice in his light,” and having shown that zeal of theirs to be temporary and unstable, by calling him a lamp he showed that he did not have the light of himself, but from the grace of the Spirit. The contrast with himself—that he himself is the sun of righteousness—he did not yet put, but only hinting at it for the time, he touched them severely, and shows that from the same disposition with which they despised John they were also unable to believe Christ. For even the one they admired, they admired for an hour only; whereas if they had not done this, he would quickly have led them by the hand to Jesus. Having shown, then, that they were on every side unworthy of pardon, he added, “But I have testimony greater than John's.” What is it? That from the works. “For the works,” he says, “which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works testify about me, that the Father has sent me.” Here he reminded them of the paralytic who had been made straight, and of many others. The words [of John], one of them might perhaps have said, were boasting, and spoken out of friendship—and yet they could not say even this of John, a man who knew how to live wisely with exactness and was so admired among them—but the deeds could not admit this suspicion even among those quite mad. That is why he added this as the second testimony, saying, “The works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me.” Here he also meets the charge of breaking the Sabbath. For since they said, “How can he be from God, since he does not keep the Sabbath?” for this reason he said, “which the Father has given me.” And yet he acted by his own authority; but showing abundantly that he does nothing opposed to the Father, for this reason he put the much lesser thing.

[3] “And why,” someone says, “did he not say, ‘The works which the Father has given me testify that I am equal to the Father’?” For both could be learned from the works: that he does nothing contrary, and that he is equal to the one who begot him. Which he established elsewhere, saying, “If you do not believe me, believe my works, so that you may know and believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me.” Both, then, bore witness to him: that he was equal to the Father, and that he did nothing contrary to him. Why then did he not speak so, but leaving aside the greater, put this? Because this was the first thing to be worked for. For even if it is much less to be believed to have come from God than to be believed to be God, equal to him (for the prophets too said the one, but not the other), nevertheless he puts great zeal into the lesser, knowing that once this was shown, that too would thereafter be acceptable. And making no mention of the greater testimony, he puts the lesser work of it, so that through this they might accept that too. Having established this, he adds again, “And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me.” And where did he testify about him? At the Jordan, saying, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” But this too needed establishing. John's testimony was plain; for they themselves had sent, and could not deny it. And that from the signs likewise; for they saw them happening, and heard from the man who was healed, and believed; which is why they also accused him. It remained, then, to prove the Father's testimony. Then, being about to establish it, he added, “You have never heard his voice.” And how does Moses say, “God spoke, and Moses answered”? And how does David say, “He heard a language he did not know”? And again Moses: “Is there any nation such as this, which has heard the voice of God?” “Nor have you seen his form.” And yet Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and many others are said to have seen him. What then does Christ mean now? He leads them up to a philosophical doctrine, showing little by little that there is neither voice nor form with God, but that he is above such shapes and sounds. For as when he said, “You have never heard his voice,” he does not mean that he utters a voice, but not an audible one, so when he said, “Nor have you seen his form,” he does not mean that he has a form, but not a visible one, but that none of these things belongs to God. For so that they might not say, “You boast idly; God spoke to Moses alone” (this at any rate they did say: “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from”), he spoke so, showing that there is neither voice nor form with God. And why do I speak of these things? he says. Not only have you neither heard his voice nor seen his form, but not even that in which you most glory and of which you are all most fully convinced—that you have received and keep his commandments—not even this can you say. That is why, showing this, he added, “And you do not have his word abiding in you,” that is, the ordinances, the commandments, the law, the prophets. For even if God appointed them, yet they are not with you, since you do not believe me. For if the Scriptures say this again and again, that one must believe me, and you do not believe, it is clear that his word has departed from you too. That is why he added again, “For whom he sent, him you do not believe.” Then, so that they might not say, “How then, if we have not heard his voice, did he testify for you?” he says, “Search the Scriptures; for it is they that testify about me,” showing that he testified through these. For he testified at the Jordan too, and on the mountain. But he does not bring that voice forward; for perhaps it would have been disbelieved. The one on the mountain they had not even heard; the other they heard but did not heed. That is why he sends them to the Scriptures, showing that the Father's testimony is from there; having first removed the old things in which they boasted, as having seen God or heard his voice. For since it was likely that they would disbelieve his voice and imagine the events at Mount Sinai, having first corrected their notion about those things and shown that what happened was condescension, he then leads them to the testimony [of the Scriptures. Let us too, then, when we fight against heretics, arm ourselves from the Scriptures.] “For all Scripture is inspired by God,” it says, “and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Not so that he may have some things and not others; for such a man is not complete. For what is the benefit, tell me, when someone prays earnestly but does not give alms generously? Or when he gives alms generously, but while being greedy and using violence? Or when, neither greedy nor violent, he does it for show before men and to win the regard of onlookers? Or when he gives alms with all exactness and according to God's good pleasure, but is lifted up by this very thing and thinks highly of himself? Or when he is humble and devoted to fasting, but is fond of money and a trader, nailed to the earth, bringing the mother of evils into his soul? “For the love of money is the root of all evils.” Let us then shudder at the thing; let us flee the sin. This has turned the world upside down, this has confounded everything, this leads us away from the most blessed service of Christ. “For you cannot,” it says, “serve God and mammon.” For it gives orders opposite to Christ. He says, “Give to those in need”; it says, “Snatch from those in need.” Christ says, “Forgive even those who plot against you and wrong you”; this one, on the contrary, “Lay snares against those who do you no wrong.” Christ says, “Be kind and gentle”; this one, on the contrary, “Be cruel and harsh, and count the tears of the poor as nothing”—so as to make the judge severe toward us on that day. For then all our deeds will stand before our eyes, and those we wronged and stripped, shutting off every defense for us. For if Lazarus, though he suffered no wrong from the rich man, but only did not enjoy his goods, stood then as a bitter accuser and did not let him obtain any pardon, what defense, tell me, will those obtain who, besides not giving alms from their own, also take what belongs to others and overturn the houses of orphans? If those who did not feed Christ when he was hungry drew so great a fire upon their heads, those who seize what does not belong to them, weave countless lawsuits, and [unjustly enjoy] the goods of all—[what pardon will they find]? Let us then cast out this love. And we shall cast it out if we consider those before us who did wrong, who were greedy and have departed. Do not others enjoy their money and labors, while they themselves are in punishment and retribution and evils beyond cure? How then is it not the height of folly [to spend ourselves] and suffer hardship, so that while living we [are worn out] by toils, [and when we depart] we endure punishments and retributions, when we might live in delight even here (for nothing produces pleasure like almsgiving and a purified conscience), and, departing there, be freed from all evils and obtain countless good things? For as vice is wont to punish those who practice it here even before Gehenna, so virtue too, even before the kingdom, makes those who work at it here [rejoice]. So that we may obtain this both here and in the life to come, let us lay hold of good works. For so we shall also obtain the crowns to come; which may we all obtain, 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, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.