Homilies on John 69.1–70.2

“Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they might not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from God.” We must flee all passions that corrupt the soul alike, but much more those that give birth from themselves to many sins: I mean, for example, love of money. This disease is terrible in itself, but it becomes much harsher because it is the root and mother of all evils. Such too is vainglory. See, at any rate, how these men too were torn away from the faith by the love of glory. “For many even of the rulers,” it says, “believed in him; but because of the Jews they did not confess it, so that they might not be put out of the synagogue.” Which he had said to them earlier too: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” So they were not rulers, but slaves, in the utmost slavery. Yet this fear too was later dissolved. For nowhere in the time of the apostles do we see them held by this passion; for rulers and priests believed in their time. For the grace of the Spirit, when it came, made them all firmer than adamant. Since, then, this was what hindered them from believing then, hear what he says: “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me”; as if he were saying, “Why are you afraid [to believe] in me? Faith passes through me to God, as does unbelief too.” See how through everything he shows the exact likeness of the essence. And he did not say, “Whoever believes me,” so that no one might say that he spoke of his words, which could be said of men too. For one who believes the apostles does not believe them, but God. But so that you might learn that he speaks of faith in his essence, he did not say, “Whoever believes my words,” but “Whoever believes in me.” “And why,” someone says, “did he nowhere say conversely, ‘Whoever believes in the Father believes not in the Father but in me’?” Because they would have said, “See, we believe in the Father, and we do not believe in you.” For they were still disposed rather weakly. To the disciples, at any rate, he spoke thus: “Believe in God, believe also in me.” But seeing these men too weak to hear such words, he leads them on another way. He shows, then, that it is not possible to believe the Father without believing in him. And so that you might not think that it is said as of a man, he adds, “Whoever sees me sees him who sent me.” What then? Is God a body? By no means. For here he speaks of the vision of the mind, showing by this too his being of one essence. And what is “Whoever believes in me”? As if one were to say, “Whoever takes up the water of the river takes up not the river’s but the spring’s.” Or rather, even this image is too weak for what is before us. “I have come into the world as light.” For since the Father is called this everywhere in the Old and the New, he too uses the name. That is why Paul too calls him “radiance,” having learned it from here. And he shows here his great kinship with the Father, with nothing between, if indeed he says that faith in him passes not to him but to that one. And he called himself light because he frees from error and dissolves the spiritual darkness. “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” For so that they might not think that he passed over those who despised him from weakness, he said, “I did not come to judge the world.”

Then, so that they might not become slacker on this account, learning that whoever believes is saved but whoever disbelieves will be punished, see how he set a fearful judgment seat over them too, adding and saying, “Whoever rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge.” If the Father judges no one, and you did not come to judge the world, who judges him? “The word that I have spoken will judge him.” For since they said that he was not from God, he spoke thus, showing that then they will not be able to say this, but “the words that I have spoken now will stand in the place of an accuser, refuting them and cutting off every defense.” “And the word that I have spoken.” What word? “That I have not come of myself; that the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment, what to say and what to speak”; and all other such things. So these things were said thus because of them, so that they might have no pretext for a defense. For if it were not so, what more will he have than Isaiah? For he too says the same thing: “The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction, to know when I must speak a word.” And what more than Jeremiah? For he too was inspired when he was sent. And what more than Ezekiel? For he too spoke after eating the scroll. And besides, those who were going to hear what he said will be found to be the causes of his knowledge. For if he received a command when he was sent, about what he should say, you will then say that before he was sent he did not know. And what could be more impious than these words, if one were to take them so and not understand the reason for their humbleness? But Paul says that both he and those who are taught by him know “what is the will of God, the good and acceptable and perfect”; and did the Son not know until he received a commandment? And how would this make sense? Do you see that he brings what is said to an excess of humbleness for this reason, so as both to draw those men and to silence those who came after? For this reason, at any rate, he speaks human words, so that even in this way he may compel them to avoid the lowliness of what was said, knowing that what is said belongs not to his nature but to the weakness of the hearers. “And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” Do you see the humbleness of what is said? For one who receives a commandment is not his own master. And yet he himself says, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” Then does he have authority to raise whom he will, but not to say what he wishes? What he wishes to say by these words is this: that it is not in the nature of the thing that the Father should say one thing and I another. “And I know that his commandment is eternal life.” He said this to those who called him a deceiver and said he had come for ruin. And when he says, “I do not judge,” he shows that he is not the cause of the destruction of such men. For by these words he all but solemnly testifies, as he is about to depart from them and be with them no longer: “I have spoken nothing to you as my own, but everything as from the Father.” And that is why he closed his discourse to them on humble things, so as to say, “I have left this as my last word to you at the end. What is it? ‘As the Father has told me, so I speak.’ If I were an enemy of God, I would have said the opposite: that I say none of the things that please God, so as to bring the glory round to myself. But as it is, I have referred everything to him so far as to call nothing my own. Why then do you not believe me when I say that I received a commandment, and so vehemently remove your wicked suspicion of opposition? For as it is impossible for those who receive a commandment to do or say anything other than what those who sent them wish, as long as they fulfill the commandment and do not falsify it, so neither is it possible for me to do or say anything but what the Father wishes. For what I do, he does, because he is with me, and the Father has not left me alone.” Do you see how everywhere he shows himself joined to the one who begot him, with nothing between? For when he says, “I have not come of myself,” he does not say it as taking away his authority, but as removing strangeness and opposition. For if men are their own masters, much more the only-begotten Son. And that this is true, hear what Paul says: “He emptied himself, and gave himself up for us.” But, as I said, vainglory is a terrible thing, terrible. For it made those men not believe, and others believe wrongly, and take as impiety the things said for their sake out of love for humankind. Let us flee this beast, then, in every way. For it is many-colored and of every kind, and scatters its venom everywhere, in money, in luxury, in bodily beauty. Because of it we go beyond need everywhere; because of it come greed about clothes and the great swarm of servants; because of it need is everywhere despised, in houses, in clothes, at table, and greed prevails. Do you wish to enjoy glory? Do almsgiving; then the angels will praise you; then God will receive you. For now the admiration stops at the goldsmiths and weavers, and you [go] uncrowned [and often reproached]. But if you do not hang these things on your body, but empty them into the bellies of the poor, great will be the applause on every side, great the praise. Then you will have them, when you give them to others; but as long as you hold them alone, you do not have them. For the house is an untrustworthy treasury, but the hands of the poor a secure treasury. Why do you adorn the body? Why do you not give the soul as much care as the body? And yet you ought to give it more; but nevertheless, beloved, you ought at least to give it equal care. For tell me, if someone asked you which you would prefer, to have your body bright and healthy and surpassing in bloom, and wear plain clothes, or to have it maimed and full of diseases, and wear gold and be decked out, would you not much rather choose to have comeliness in the nature of the body than in the clothing of garments? Then in the case of the body you will choose this, but in the case of the soul the opposite; and having it ugly and misshapen and black, do you think you gain anything from the gold? What folly is this! Turn this ornament inward, and put these necklaces on the soul. For those placed on the body benefit it neither for health nor for comeliness; they will neither make the black white, nor the ugly beautiful and comely. But if you put them on the soul, you will quickly make it white instead of black, beautiful and comely instead of ugly and misshapen. And the word is not mine, but the Lord’s himself, who says, “If your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as snow,” and, “Give alms, and everything will be clean for you.” And not yourself only, but your husband too you will make good, if you are so disposed. For if they see you women putting off this ornament, they will not have great need of expense; and not having it, they will stand away from all greed and be readier for almsgiving; and you will be able to counsel them with boldness about what is right. For now you have deprived yourselves of all such authority. For with what mouth will you speak of these things? With what eyes will you look at your husbands when you ask for almsgiving, while you spend most on the adornment of the body? Then you will be able to speak with boldness to your husband about almsgiving, when you have [put off] the ornament of [your body. Even if you accomplish nothing, you have fulfilled] all [your part]; or rather, it is impossible not to win him too, speaking through the very deeds. “For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?” As, then, now you will give account both for yourself and for him, so, if you put off all this display, you will have a double crown, [living] with your husband through those ages and enjoying the eternal good things; may we all attain them, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

“Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end.” “Be imitators of me,” says Paul, “as I also am of Christ.” For this reason he even took flesh from our lump, that through it he might teach us virtue. “For in the likeness of sinful flesh,” it says, “and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” And Christ himself says, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” And he taught these things not by words only but also by deeds. For they called him a Samaritan and one possessed by a demon and a deceiver, and they threw stones at him; at one time the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him, at another they sent in others to lay snares for him; and they themselves often [went on] accusing him, although they were continually receiving benefits from him; and yet after so much he does not cease doing them good both by words and by deeds. And when a servant struck him, he says, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike me?” But those things were toward his enemies and those who plotted against him; let us see what he does now toward his disciples, or rather what he now shows toward the traitor. For the one whom he had most reason of all to hate, because, being a disciple, having shared his table and his salt, having seen miracles and been counted worthy of so much, he did worse than all, not throwing stones or insulting him, but betraying him and handing him over, see how kindly he receives him, washing his feet. For by this he wished to hold him back from that wickedness. And yet it was possible, had he wished, to wither him like the fig tree, to cut him in two as he split the rocks, and to rend him as he rent the veil; but he did not wish to draw him away from the plot by compulsion, but by his own choice. This is why he even washes his feet. And not even at this was that wretched and miserable man ashamed.

“Now before the feast of the Passover,” it says, “Jesus, knowing that his hour had come.” Not knowing it only then; but it means that he did what he did having known it long before. “That he should depart.” Loftily the evangelist calls his death a departure. “Having loved his own, he loved them to the end.” Do you see how, being about to leave them, he shows a more intense love? For “having loved, he loved them to the end” shows this: he left out nothing of what one who loves greatly would be expected to do. Why then did he not do this from the beginning? He does the greater things last, so as to heighten their attachment and to lay up for them beforehand much comfort against the terrible things that were about to come upon them. And he calls them “his own” by reason of their close relationship; since he calls others too “his own” by reason of creation, as when it says, “His own did not receive him.” And what is the meaning of “who were in the world”? Since the departed too were his own, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and those like them; but they were not in the world. Do you see that he himself is the God of the Old and of the New? And what is the meaning of “he loved them to the end”? It stands for “he continued loving them always”; and the evangelist says this as a proof of great love, although elsewhere he named another proof, laying down one's life for one's friends. But that had not yet happened. Why then did he do this now? Because it was far more wonderful at a time when he had appeared more glorious to all; and, being about to depart, he left them no small comfort. For since they were going to grieve bitterly, he brings in by these things a comfort to balance it.

“And during supper, the devil having [already] put it into the heart of Judas to betray him.” The evangelist said this in amazement, showing that he washed the feet of one who had already chosen to betray him. He also shows his great wickedness: that not even the sharing of salt held him back, which most of all is wont to check wickedness, nor the fact that his Teacher bore with him up to the last day.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God.” Here he says in wonder that one so great and of such stature, who came from God and was going to him, who rules over all, did this, and did not even so disdain to do so lowly a thing. By “giving over,” as it seems to me, he here means the salvation of the believers. For when he says, “All things have been given over to me by my Father,” he means this giving over; as he says elsewhere, “They were yours, and you have given them to me”; and again, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him”; and, “unless it has been given him from heaven.” He means either this, or that he was going to be in no way diminished by this, having come from God and going to God and possessing all things. But when you hear of “giving over,” do not suppose anything human; for it shows his honor toward the Father and their oneness of mind. For as the Father gives over to him, so he too to the Father. And Paul shows this, saying, “When he gives over the kingdom to God and the Father.” Here he said it in a more human manner, showing his great care for them and displaying his inexpressible love for them, that he now cared for them as his own, teaching them humility, the mother of good things, which he also said is the beginning and end of virtue. And “he had come from God and was going to God” is not added without purpose, but that we may learn that he did things worthy of [one who came from there and was going there, trampling down all] pride. “He rose from supper and laid aside his garments.”

See how he shows his humility not by the washing only, but in another way too. For he rose not before reclining, but after they had all lain down. Then he does not simply wash, but does so laying aside his garments. And he did not stop at this, but also girded himself with a towel. Nor was he content with this, but he himself filled [the basin], and did not bid another fill it; he does all these things himself, showing by all of them that we must not do such things perfunctorily when we do good, but with all eagerness. And it seems to me that he washed the traitor's feet first, from its saying, “He began to wash the disciples' feet,” and adding, “He comes to Simon Peter, and he says to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’” “With these hands,” he says, “with which you opened eyes, and cleansed lepers, and raised the dead?” For the “you” itself carries much emphasis; therefore he did not need to say anything more than “you.” For by itself it was enough to show everything. One might reasonably ask how none of the others prevented him, but only Peter, which was a mark of no small affection and reverence. What then is the reason? It seems to me that he washed the traitor first and then came to Peter, and that the others were then instructed from him. That he washed someone else before him is clear from its saying, “When he came to Peter.” But the evangelist is not a vehement accuser; for “he began” is the word of one hinting. And even if Peter was first, it is likely that the traitor, being impudent, had reclined even before the chief. For his impudence is shown from another quarter too, when he dips with the Teacher, and when, being reproved, he is not pierced to the heart. But Peter, rebuked once before, and that for words spoken from affection, was so humbled that in anguish and trembling he asked another to put the question; but this man, though continually reproved, did not perceive it. So when he came to Peter, “He says to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ He says to him, ‘What I am doing you do not know now, but you will know afterward’”; that is, how great is the gain from this, the benefit of the teaching, and how able it is to lead us into all humility. What then does Peter do? He still forbids him and says, “You shall never wash my feet.” What are you doing, Peter? Do you not remember the former words? Did you not say, “Far be it from you,” and hear, “Get behind me, Satan”? And are you not brought to your senses even so, but are still vehement? Yes, he says; for what is happening is great and full of amazement. Since then he did this out of great love, Christ again overcomes him by the same; just as there he rebuked him sharply and said, “You are a stumbling block to me,” so here too he says, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” What then does the fervent, burning one say? “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” Vehement in refusing, he becomes more vehement in yielding; and both from love. Why did he not say for what reason he was doing this, but added a threat? Because Peter would not have been persuaded. For if he had said, “Let me, for by this I am persuading you to be humble,” Peter would have promised it ten thousand times over, so that the Master might not do this. But now what does he say? What Peter most feared and trembled at: being cut off from him. For he it is who keeps asking, “Where are you going?” This is why he also said, “I will lay down my life for you.” For if after hearing, “What I am doing you do not know, but you will know afterward,” he did not desist even so, much less would he have done so if he had learned. This is why he said, “But you will know afterward,” knowing that if he learned now he would still resist. And Peter did not say, “Teach me, then, so that I may let you”; but, what was much more vehement, he would not even endure to learn, but resists again, saying, “You shall never wash my feet.” But when he threatened, at once he relaxed his intensity. And what does “you will know afterward” mean? Afterward: when? “When you cast out demons in my name,” he says, “when you see me taken up into heaven, when you learn from the Spirit that I sit at the right hand, then you will know what is being done now.” What then does Christ say? Since Peter said, “Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head,” he says, “He who has bathed has no need except to wash his feet; and you are clean, but not all.” “For he knew who was betraying him.” And if they are clean, why do you wash their feet? That we may learn to be modest. For this reason he did not come to another part, but to the one that seems less honorable than the rest. And what is “he who has bathed”? It stands for “he who is clean.” Were they then clean, who had not yet been freed from their sins nor counted worthy of the Spirit, since sin still prevailed, the curse of the handwriting remained, and the sacrifice had not yet been offered? How then does he call them clean? So that you may not on this account think them clean as freed from sins, he added, “You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you”; that is, in this respect you are clean for now. You have already received the light, you have already been freed from the Jewish error. For the prophet too says, “Wash yourselves, become clean, put away the wickedness from your souls.” So such a one has bathed and is clean. Since then they had cast all wickedness out of their soul and were with him with a sincere mind, therefore he says, following the prophet's word, “He who has bathed is already clean.” For there too he means by bathing not the Jewish washing with water, but the cleansing of the conscience.

Let us then become clean too; let us learn to do good. And what is the good? “Judge for the orphan, and plead for the widow; and come, and let us reason together, says the Lord.” This word about widows and orphans is frequent in the Scriptures; but we take no account of it. And yet consider how great the reward is. “Though your sins are like purple,” it says, “I will make them white as snow; and though they are like scarlet, I will make them white as wool.” For the widow is without a protector; therefore he takes great care for her. For though they could enter into a second marriage, they endure the hardships of widowhood for the fear of God. Let us all, then, men and women, stretch out a hand to them, that we may never suffer the hardships of widowhood; and if we do suffer them, that we may have laid up for ourselves a great store of kindness. Not small is the power of the widow's tears; they can open heaven itself. Let us not, then, trample on them, nor make their misfortune worse, but help them in every way. If we do so, we shall put about ourselves great safety both in the present age and in the age to come. For not here only but there too they will stand up for us, cutting away the greater part of our sins through the kindness done to them, and making us stand with boldness before the judgment seat of Christ; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.