Homilies on John 49.1–49.2

“Having said these things to them, he remained in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up, then he too went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.” The things Christ arranged in a human way are arranged not only to confirm the incarnation, but also to train us in virtue. For if he did everything as God, how could we know what we must do when we fall into what we do not wish? For example: in this very place, when the Jews were thirsting for murder, he at once came into their midst and checked their impulse. If, then, he had done this continually, how could we, who cannot do this but fall into such things, have known how to handle the matter—whether to die at once, or whether we ought also to make some arrangement so that the word might advance? Since, then, we who cannot come into the midst would not have learned what we must do, for this reason we are taught these things too by him. “Having said these things,” it says, “Jesus remained in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up, then he too went up, not openly, but as it were in secret.” To say, “When his brothers had gone up,” is the language of one showing that he did not wish to go up with them. That is why he remains where he was, and did not make himself manifest, though they were in a way pressing him to do so. And why, when he always spoke openly, does he now do it as in secret? He did not say “secretly,” but “as it were in secret.” For so it was necessary, as I said, teaching us to manage our affairs. And apart from this, it was not the same to fall upon them while they were boiling and raging, and afterwards, when the feast was dispersing. “So the Jews were seeking him and saying, ‘Where is that man?’” Fine indeed are their achievements at the feasts! They rush to murder, and at the feast they plot to seize him. So elsewhere too they say, “What do you think? Will he not come to the feast?” And here, “Where is that man?” Out of great hatred and enmity they did not wish even to call him by name. Great is their respect for the feast, great their piety! From the very feast they wish to hunt him. [“And there was] much [grumbling about him] among the crowds.” It seems to me that they were also provoked by the place where the sign had happened, and were at once savage and afraid, not so much angry over the past as fearing that he might do some such thing again. But everything turned out the opposite, and against their will they made him manifest. “Some said, ‘He is good’; others, ‘No, he leads the crowd astray.’” I think the former was the opinion of the many, the latter that of the rulers and the priests. For slandering belongs to their envy and wickedness. “He leads the crowd astray,” they say. Doing what, tell me? Making appearances and not really working the signs? Yet experience bears witness to the contrary. “Yet no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.” Do you see everywhere the ruling class corrupt, while those ruled are sound in judgment but lack the fitting courage, which the multitude needs above all? “When the feast was already half over, Jesus went up and taught.” By the delay he made them more attentive. For those who had sought him in the first days and said, “Where is that man?”, seeing him suddenly present—see how they attended, and were about to press on him as he spoke, both those who called him good and those who did not; the former so as to gain something and marvel, the latter so as to seize and hold him. They said “He leads the crowd astray” from his teaching of doctrines, not understanding what was said; and “good” from the signs. Having let their anger slacken, then, he appeared in such a way that they might hear what was said at leisure, with anger no longer blocking their ears. What he taught, the evangelist did not say; only that he taught wonderfully, and that he won and changed them; so great was the power of what he said. Those who said, “He leads the crowd astray,” changed and marveled; that is why they said, “How does this man know letters, never having studied?” Do you see how he shows here too that their wonder was full of wickedness? For he did not say that they admired the teaching or accepted what was said, but simply that they marveled; that is, they fell into astonishment and were perplexed, saying, “Where did this man get these things?”—when from this very perplexity they ought to have perceived that there was nothing merely human in him. But since they were not willing to confess this, but stopped at marveling only, hear what he says: “My teaching is not mine.” Again he answers according to their supposition, leading them to the Father and wishing to stop their mouths from there. “If anyone wills to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from myself.” What he means is this: Cast out wickedness from yourselves, and anger and envy and the hatred that has arisen against me without cause, and nothing prevents you from knowing that my words are truly God's. For now these things darken you and corrupt the right judgment that shines in you; but if you remove them, you will no longer suffer this. But he did not say it so, for he would have struck them severely; but he hinted at all this by saying, “Whoever does his will will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from myself”—that is, whether I speak something alien, strange and contrary. For “from myself” is always used for this: I say nothing outside what seems good to him; all that the Father wills, I too will. “If anyone does his will, he will know about the teaching.” What does “if anyone does his will” mean? If anyone is a lover of the life of virtue, he will know the force of what is said; if anyone is willing to attend to the prophecies, [he will know] whether I speak according to them or not.

And how is it his and not his? For he did not say, “This teaching is not mine,” but having first said “mine” and made it his own, then he added “is not mine.” How then can the same thing be both his and not his? His, because he spoke it as one not taught; not his, because the teaching was the Father's. How then does he say, “All that is the Father's is mine, and mine is his”? For if because it is the Father's it is not yours, that saying is false; for for this very reason it ought to be yours. But “not mine” shows very strongly that his teaching and the Father's are one; as if he said: It has nothing different, as though it belonged to another. For even if the hypostasis is another, yet I both speak and act so that nothing different from the Father may be thought, but the very thing that the Father said or did. Then he adds another incontestable reasoning, bringing forward something human and teaching from what is customary. What is it? “Whoever speaks from himself seeks his own glory.” That is, one who wishes to establish some teaching of his own wishes it for no other reason than to reap glory from it. But if I do not wish to reap glory, why would I wish to establish some teaching of my own? “Whoever speaks from himself”—that is, whoever says something of his own and different—says it in order to establish his own glory. But if I seek the glory of him who sent me, why would I choose to teach other things? Do you see that there was a reason why there too he said he did nothing of himself? What is it? So that they might believe that he did not desire the glory of the many. That is why, when he says humble things, he says, “I seek the glory of the Father,” everywhere wishing to persuade them that he does not love glory. For saying humble things there are many reasons: so as not to be thought unbegotten, not to be thought an enemy of God; his having put on flesh; the weakness of the hearers; teaching men to be modest and to say nothing great about themselves. But for saying lofty things one would find one reason: the greatness of his nature. For if, when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” they were offended, what would they not have suffered if they were always hearing lofty words? “Did not Moses give you the law, and none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?” “And what sequence does this have,” someone says, “or what connection with what was said before?” They had brought two charges: one, that he broke the Sabbath; the other, that he called God his Father, making himself equal to God. That this was not their suspicion but his own mind, and that he said it not as the many do but in a special and peculiar sense, is clear from this. Many often called God their father, for example: “One God created us, and one Father of us all”; but the people were not equal to God for this reason; hence they were not offended on hearing it. As, then, when they said, “He is not from God,” he often healed them and defended himself about the breaking of the Sabbath, so too this, if it had been their suspicion and not his mind, he would have corrected, and said, “Why do you think me equal to God? I am not equal.” But he said nothing of the kind; on the contrary he proved by what followed that he is equal. For “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son,” and “so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father,” and “whatever works he does, these the Son also does likewise”—all these establish equality. And about the law he says, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets.” So he knows how to remove evil suspicions in the mind. But here he not only does not remove the suspicion of equality, but even confirms it. That is why elsewhere too, when they said, “You make yourself God,” he did not remove the suspicion, but even confirmed it, saying, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—[he says to the paralytic, ‘Rise, take up] your [bed], and walk.’” The first charge, then, making himself equal to God, he even strengthened, showing that he is not an enemy of God, but both says and teaches the same things as he; next he takes his stand against the charge of breaking the Sabbath, saying, “Did not Moses give you the law, and none of you keeps the law?” As if he said: The law said, “You shall not murder”; but you murder, and do you accuse me as transgressing the law? And why did he say “none”? Because all were seeking to kill him. Even if I broke the law, he says, it was in saving a man; but you transgress for evil. Mine, even if it was a transgression, was for salvation, and I ought not to be judged by you who transgress in the great things. For yours is the overturning of the whole law. Then he presses his case further, though he had spoken much long before; but then more loftily and according to his own dignity, now more humbly. Why? Because he did not wish to exasperate them continually. For now their anger was at its height, and they were rushing on to murder. That is why he stays, checking them by two things: by exposing their daring and saying, “Why do you seek to kill me?”, and by saying with gentleness, “a man who has told you the truth,” and by showing that, being murderers, they are not worthy to judge another. But see the humility of Christ's question and the insolence of their answer: “You have a demon; who seeks to kill you?” The saying is one of anger and rage, and of a soul made shameless by [an unexpected reproof, and exposed before the time], as they thought. For as robbers who sing over their plots, and then, wishing to put their intended victim off his guard, do it by keeping silent, so too do these. But he, refraining from exposing this so as not to make them more shameless, again takes up the defense about the Sabbath, from the law.

[3] And see how shrewdly. It is nothing wonderful, he says, if you disobey me, when you disobey the law, which you think you hear and which you think was given by Moses. So it is nothing new if you do not attend to my words. For since they said, “God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from,” he shows that they insulted that man too; for he gave the law, and they did not heed it. “I did one work, and you all marvel.” See how, where he had to defend himself and accept what had been done as though it were a charge, he does not mention the Father, but brings forward his own person: “I did one work.” He wishes to show that not to have done it would have been to break the law; that there are many things more authoritative than the law; and that Moses consented to receive a commandment against the law and more authoritative than the law. For circumcision is more authoritative than the Sabbath, though it is not of the law but of the fathers. But I did what is more authoritative and better than circumcision. Then he does not mention a commandment of the law, such as that the priests profane the Sabbath [as he had said already, but speaks more broadly]. And “you marvel” means: you are troubled, [you are confounded]. For if the law had to be fixed, circumcision would not be more authoritative than it. And he did not say, “I did something greater than circumcision,” but he refutes them beyond need by saying, “If a man receives circumcision [on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well on the Sabbath?”] Do you see that the law stands most when one breaks it? Do you see that the breaking of the Sabbath is the keeping of the law? So that if the Sabbath had not been broken, the law would necessarily have been broken; so I too have upheld it. And he did not say, “Are you angry with me because I worked something greater than circumcision?” but, stating only what happened, he left the judgment to them, whether complete health is not more necessary than circumcision. So that a man may receive a sign that contributes nothing to health, the law is broken, he says; and so that he may be freed from so great a disease, are you vexed and indignant? “Do not judge by appearance.” What does “by appearance” mean? Do not, since Moses has greater glory among you, give your verdict from the dignity of the persons, but from the nature of the things; for this is to judge justly. For why did no one accuse Moses? Why did no one disobey him when he ordered the Sabbath to be broken by a commandment brought in from outside the law? But he allows a commandment to be more authoritative than his own law—a commandment not brought in by the law but from outside, which is most wonderful; while you, who are not lawgivers, avenge the law beyond measure and defend it. But Moses is more trustworthy than you, who orders the law to be broken by a commandment not of the law. By saying, “a whole man,” he shows that circumcision was a partial health. And what is the health of circumcision? “Every soul,” it says, “that is not circumcised will be destroyed.” But I raised up one not injured in part, but wholly ruined. “Do not judge, then, by appearance.” Let us be persuaded that this was said not only to them but also to us, so that we may corrupt justice for nothing, but do everything for it; whether someone is poor or rich, let us not attend to persons but examine the facts. “You shall not show pity to a poor man in judgment,” it says. What does the saying mean? Do not be broken down or bent, it says, if the wrongdoer happens to be poor. And if one must not favor a poor man, much less a rich one. I say this not only to judges but to all people, so that justice may nowhere be corrupted, but everywhere kept intact. “The Lord loves righteousness,” it says; “but whoever loves wrongdoing hates his own soul.” Let us not, then, hate our own souls, nor love wrongdoing. For its gain now is small and nothing, but in the future it does great harm; or rather we shall not even enjoy it here. For when we live in luxury with an evil conscience, is not this punishment and retribution? Let us then love justice and nowhere harm this law. For what shall we be able to reap from the present life, if we do not depart having gained virtue? And what will stand up for us there? Friendship, kinship, someone's favor? And why do I say someone's favor? Even if we have Noah, or Job, or Daniel as father, this will profit us nothing, when we are betrayed by our own deeds. We need one thing only: virtue of soul. This will be able to save us and free us from the eternal fire. This will send us on to the kingdom of heaven; 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.