Homilies on John 5.1–5.4

“All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Moses, at the beginning of his history and of his writing in the Old Testament, speaks to us about the things perceived by the senses and enumerates them at length: “In the beginning,” he says, “God made the heaven and the earth”; then he adds that light came into being, and a second heaven, and the nature of the stars, and all kinds of living creatures, and all the rest, [so as not to linger over each one. But John passes over] these and the things above them; naturally, since they were known to his hearers, and he was hastening on to a greater subject and had set out his whole work to speak not about the works but about the Creator who brought all things forth. That is why Moses, though he took up the lesser part of creation (for he said nothing to us about the invisible powers), dwells on these things; but John, hastening to go up to the Maker himself, naturally runs past everything, both these things and those passed over in silence by Moses, comprising them in one short phrase: “All things came into being through him.” And lest you should think he means only the things mentioned by Moses, he adds, “And without him nothing came into being that has come into being”; that is, of created things, whether visible or intelligible, nothing was brought into being without the power of the Son.

For we shall not put the full stop after “nothing,” as the heretics do. For they, wishing to call the Spirit created, say, “What has come into being, in him was life.” But so the saying becomes unintelligible. First, this was not the place to mention the Spirit; and if he had wished to, why did he put it so obscurely? For how is it clear that this is said about the Spirit? Besides, by this reading we shall find, not the Spirit, but the Son himself coming into being through himself. But wake up, so that what is said may not escape you; and come, let us read it for a while in their way, for so the absurdity will be plainer to us. “What has come into being, in him was life.” They say that the Spirit is meant by “the life.” But this life is also found to be light; for he adds, “And the life was the light of men.” So according to them he here calls the Spirit the light of men. What then? When he goes on to say, “There came a man sent from God, to bear witness about the light,” they must say that this too was said about the Spirit. For the one whom above he called Word, going on he names [both] God and life and light. [Life], he says, is this Word, and this life [is] light. [If,] then, the Word is the life, and this Word became flesh, then the life became flesh, that is, [the Word]; and we beheld its glory, as of the Only-begotten from the Father. If, then, they say that the Spirit is meant by “the life,” see how many absurdities follow: it will be [the Spirit] that became flesh, not the Son; the Spirit will be the only-begotten. And if not this, they will fall into another absurdity in fleeing this one. For if they confess that it is said about [the Son], but do not punctuate or read as we do, they will say that the Son came into being of himself. For if the Word is the life, and “what has come into being, in him was life,” then by this reading he came into being in himself and through himself. Then, after saying some things in between, he added, “And we beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father.” So, according to the reading of those who say this, the Holy Spirit is found to be the only-begotten Son, since this whole account is said about him. Do you see, once the word of truth has been rolled off course, where it lands and how many absurdities it gives birth to?

“What then,” he says, “is not the Spirit light?” It is light; but this is not said about it. For God too is spirit, that is, incorporeal; but not wherever “spirit” is said is God meant. And why be surprised if we say this of the Father? We would say it of the Paraclete too: even though this name is above all distinctive of him, still not wherever “spirit” is said is the Paraclete meant. Christ too is the power of God and the wisdom of God; but not wherever “power of God” is said is Christ meant. So here too, even if the Spirit gives light, the evangelist is not now speaking about him. But when one shuts them out of these absurdities, they, eager as always to stand [against] the truth, still clinging to that reading, say, “What has come into being, in him was life”; that is, whatever came into being was life. What then? The sufferings of the Sodomites, the flood, [Gehenna,] and countless other such things? “But our discourse is about creation,” he says. Those things too belong above all to creation. But to refute their argument more abundantly, let us ask them: is wood life? Is stone life, these lifeless and motionless things? Is man wholly life? And who would say so? For man is not life itself, but receptive of life. See again the absurdity here; for we shall carry the argument forward by the same sequence, so as to learn their folly from this too. So they say nothing at all that fits the Spirit; and when they are driven out of that position, they attach to men the very things they thought were worthily said of the Spirit. But let us examine the reading this way too. Creation is now called life; then the same creation is also light, and John came to bear witness about it. Why, then, is he not light too? “He was not the light,” it says. And yet he too belonged to the creation. How, then, is he not light? And how is it that “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him”? Was creation in creation, and did creation come into being through creation? And how is it that “the world did not know him”? Did creation not know creation? “But to as many as received him he gave power to become children of God.” But enough of laughter. I leave it to you to pursue further the monstrosity of these words, so that we may not seem to have chosen simply to raise laughs and to waste time to no purpose. For if these things were not said about the Spirit (as indeed they were not, as has been shown), nor about creation, and they still cling to the same reading, there will follow that most absurd thing of all which we mentioned before: that the Son came into being through himself. For if the Son is the true light, and this light was life, and the life came into being in him, this must necessarily follow from their reading.

So let us leave this and come to the accepted reading and interpretation. What is it? To end the sentence at “that has come into being,” and then begin from the next phrase, which says, “In him was life.” What he says is this: “Without him nothing came into being that has come into being”: if anything among created things has come into being, he says, it did not come into being without him. Do you see how by this short addition he set right all the absurdities lying in wait? For by adding, “Without him nothing came into being,” and then, “that has come into being,” he both included the intelligible things and excepted the Spirit. For since he had said, “All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being,” lest anyone should say, “Then if all things came into being through him, the Spirit too came into being,” he needed this addition. “For I,” he says, “said that whatever is created came into being through him, whether invisible, or incorporeal, or in the heavens. That is why I did not say simply ‘all things,’ but ‘whatever has come into being,’ that is, created things.” But the Spirit is not created. Do you see exact teaching? [He passed over the] creation of the sensible things, since Moses had already taught them; then, leading those who had advanced from there up to higher things, I mean the incorporeal and invisible, he excepted the Holy Spirit from the whole creation. So Paul too, inspired by this same grace, said, “For in him all things were created.” And see the same exactness here again. For the same Spirit moved this soul too. For lest anyone should except anything created from God’s creation because it is invisible, or should mix the Paraclete in with them, he too runs past the sensible things known to all and enumerates the things in the heavens, saying, “whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities.” For “whether,” set before each, shows us nothing else than this: “All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

But if you think that “through” denotes inferiority, hear him saying, “You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands.” What was said of the Father as creator, he says of the Son; and he would not have said it unless he held him in esteem as creator, not as someone serving another. And if here “through him” is said, it is put for no other reason than that no one should suspect the Son to be unbegotten. For that in the dignity of creating he has nothing less than the Father, hear him saying, “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” If, then, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth” was said in the Old Testament about the Son, the dignity of creating is clear; and if you say that the prophet said this about the Father, but that Paul [applied] to the Son what was said about him, the same result follows again. For Paul would not have laid down that it befits the Son also unless he was fully confident that they are equal in dignity. For it would have been the height of daring to transfer what befits the incomparable nature to one lesser than it and falling short of it.

[3.] But the Son is neither lesser than the Father’s essence nor falls short of it. That is why Paul dared to say not only these things about him, but others like them. For the phrase “from whom,” which you assign as a privilege belonging to the Father alone, he says of the Son too, in these words: “from whom the whole body, supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth that is from God.” And he is not content with this alone, but elsewhere too he stops your mouths, by assigning to the Father the phrase “through whom,” which you say denotes inferiority. “God is faithful,” he says, “through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son”; and again, “through his will”; and elsewhere, “For from him and through him and to him are all things.” And “from whom” is assigned not only to the Son but also to the Spirit. For the angel said to Joseph, “Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for what is begotten in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Just so, the prophet does not disdain to assign to God the phrase “in whom,” though it belongs to the Spirit, saying, “In God we shall do valiantly.” And Paul says, “praying that somehow now at last I may succeed, by the will of God, in coming to you.” And again he uses it of Christ, saying, “in Christ Jesus.” In short, we would find these expressions exchanged often and continually; and this would not happen unless the same essence underlay them everywhere. And lest you should suspect that “All things came into being through him” is said here about the miracles (for the other evangelists spoke about these), he adds afterwards, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him”; but not the Spirit, for the Spirit is not among created things, but among those that are above all creation.

But for now let us keep to what follows. Having spoken about creation, that “All things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being that has come into being,” John adds the discourse about providence, saying, “In him was life.” For lest anyone should disbelieve that so many and such great things came into being through him, he added that in him was life. As with a spring that gives birth to great depths, however much you draw off, you have not diminished the spring, so with the working of the Only-begotten: however many things you believe to have been brought forth and made by it, it has not become any less. Or rather, to use a more fitting example, I will speak of light, which he himself added at once, saying, “And the life was the light.” As light, however many thousands it illumines, is not diminished in its own brightness, so God, both before working and after making, remains equally undiminished, neither lessened nor weakened by his great work of creation; even if countless worlds like this one, even infinite ones, had to come into being, he remains the same, sufficient for all, not only to bring them forth but also to hold them together after creating them. For the name “life” here belongs not only to creation but also to providence for their continued existence. And he lays down beforehand for us the teaching about the resurrection, and begins these wonderful glad tidings. For when the life came to us, the power of death was destroyed; and when the light shone on us, there is no longer darkness, but life remains in us always, and death cannot prevail over it. So what was said of the Father could rightly be said of him too: “In him we live and move and have our being.” Paul showed this when he said, “For in him all things were created, and in him all things hold together.” That is why he is called root and [foundation]. And when you hear that “In him was life,” do not suppose him to be composite; for going on he says of the Father too, “As the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life.” But as you would not say that the Father is composite on this account, so neither should you say it of the Son. For elsewhere too it says that “God is light,” and again that “he dwells in unapproachable light.” All these things are said not that we may suppose composition, but that we may be led up little by little to the height of the doctrines. For since few would easily understand how his life subsists in its own right, he first said the lower thing, and then leads those who have been trained up to the higher. For he who said, “He has given him to have life,” also says, “I am the life,” and again, “I am the light.”

And what sort of light is this, tell me? Not a sensible light, but an intelligible one, illuminating the soul itself. For since Christ was going to say, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him,” the evangelist anticipated it here and said that he is the one who enlightens, so that, even if you hear something of this kind said about the Father, you may say that it belongs not to the Father alone but also to the Son. “All things,” he says, “that my Father has are mine.” [Having first] taught us about creation, he [then] speaks of the good things that concern the soul, which he provided by coming; and the evangelist hinted at them in one phrase, saying, “And the life was the light of men.” And he did not say, “was the light of the Jews,” but universally, “of men.” For not only Jews but Greeks too came to this knowledge, and this light was set before all in common. Why did he not add the angels too, but said “of men”? Because his discourse now concerns human nature, and it was to men that he came bringing the good tidings. “And the light shines in the darkness.” He calls death and error darkness. For this sensible light does not shine in the darkness but apart from it; but the preaching shone while error prevailed and made it vanish. And he himself, having entered into death, so prevailed over it that he even brought up those already held by it. Since, then, neither death nor error prevailed over him, but it is bright, shining everywhere with its own strength, that is why he says, “And the darkness did not overcome it.” For it is [invincible]…

And if it has not taken hold of all, do not be troubled at this; for God draws us to himself not by necessity and force, but by our will and choice. Do not, then, shut your doors against this light, and you will enjoy great [happiness]. This light comes through faith; and when it has come, it illumines with great abundance the one who has received it; and if you show it a pure life, it stays dwelling within you continually: “He who loves me will keep my commandments,” he says, “and my Father and I will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” As one cannot enjoy the sun’s [light] as one should without opening one’s eyes, so neither can one share in this [light without opening] the eye of the soul and making it keen-sighted on every side. And how does this happen? When we cleanse the soul of its passions. For sin is darkness, and deep darkness; and this is clear from its acting unawares and in secret. “For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light”; and, “It is shameful even to speak of the things they do in secret.” As in darkness one does not recognize friend or enemy, nor any of the natures of things, so it is in sin too. For the man who wishes to be greedy does not [distinguish] his friend from his enemy; the envious man looks on his closest friend as an enemy; and in short everyone who commits sin differs in nothing from the drunk and the mad in failing to recognize the nature of things. And as at night we see wood and lead and iron and silver and gold and precious stone [all alike], since the light that distinguishes them is not present, so too the man who leads an impure life does not know the excellence of [self-control], nor the beauty of the life of wisdom. For in darkness, as I said before, even if precious stones lie there, they do not show their beauty, not because of their own nature but because of the ignorance of those who look at them.

And not only does this evil befall us who are in sins, but also that we live in continual fear. As those who walk through a moonless night tremble, even if there is no one present to frighten them, so those who commit sin cannot be confident, even if there is no one to convict them; they fear everything and suspect everything, pricked by their conscience, and everything is full of fear and anguish for them, everything [alarms them], so painful is their life. And after this pain death will follow, a deathless death; for there is no end to the punishment there. And here too they differ in nothing from madmen, dreaming of things that do not exist. For they seem to be rich when they are not rich, and think they live in luxury when they do not, and they do not properly perceive this deception until they are rid of their madness, until they shake off their sleep. That is why Paul exhorts everyone to be sober and watchful, and Christ the same again. The sober and watchful man, even if he is caught by sin, quickly beats it off; but the man who sleeps and is out of his senses does not perceive how he is held by it. Let us not sleep, then. For it is not the time of night, but of day. Let us walk, then, decently as in the day. For nothing is more indecent than sin. As far as indecency goes, it is a lesser evil to go about naked than to go about sinning and transgressing. For the one is not so great a reproach, since it may often come from poverty; but [nothing is more shameful than] sinning. [Look] at those who go to court for robbery and greed, how shameful and ridiculous they appear, shameless in everything, lying and brazen. But we are so pitiable and wretched that we would not bear to put on our cloak even carelessly and askew, and if we see another in that state we set it right for him; yet while all of us, both we and our neighbors, walk about upside down, we do not even notice it. For what is more shameful, tell me, than a man who goes in to a prostitute? What could be more ridiculous than an insolent man, a reviler, an envier? Why, then, do these things not seem as shameful as walking about naked? From custom alone. For no one ever suffered that willingly; but this is dared by all, always, with impunity. For if someone came into a multitude of angels, among whom nothing of the kind has ever happened, he would then see clearly how great the absurdity is. And why do I speak of a multitude of angels? In our own palaces, if someone brought in a prostitute and had to do with her, or were overcome with wine, or committed some other indecency of the kind, he pays the extreme penalty. If such things cannot be tolerated in palaces, much more, when the King who is everywhere is present and sees what is done, shall we undergo the extreme punishment if we dare such things. So, I beg you, let us show great tranquility and great purity in our lives. For we have a King who continually sees all our affairs. That this light may always illumine us abundantly, then, let us draw this ray to ourselves. For so we shall enjoy the good things both here and to come, by the grace and loving-kindness 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.