Homilies on John 86.1–86.4

“Then the disciples went away again to their own homes; but Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping.” The female sex is somehow tender-hearted and more inclined to pity. I say this so that you may not wonder why Mary wept bitterly at the tomb, while Peter suffered nothing of the kind. For the disciples, it says, [went away to their own homes] … for [her] nature is easily moved, and she did not yet clearly know the doctrine of the resurrection; while they, having seen the linen cloths and believed, went away to their homes in amazement. And why did they not go at once to Galilee, as had been appointed them before the passion? Perhaps they were waiting for the others; and besides, they were still at the height of their amazement. These, then, went away; but she stood at the place. For, as I said, even the sight of the tomb is a great comfort. You see her, at any rate, stooping down and wishing to see the place where the body had lain, so as to find more rest. And so she received no small reward for this great zeal. For what the disciples did not see, this the woman saw first: angels seated, one at the feet and the other at the head, in white; and their appearance was full of great brightness and joy. For since the woman's mind was not lofty enough to accept the resurrection from the face-cloths, something more takes place, and she sees angels seated in a bright form, so as to raise her for the time from her grief by this and comfort her. But they say nothing to her about the resurrection, but she is gently led on to this doctrine. She saw bright faces, and more than was usual … What then do they say? “Woman, why are you weeping?” By all these things, as though a door were being opened, she was led little by little to the doctrine of the resurrection. And the manner of their sitting led her to ask; for they showed that they knew what had happened. That is why they do not sit together, but apart from one another. For since it was not likely that she would dare simply to ask, they lead her into conversation both by their question and by the manner of their sitting. What then does she say? Warmly and lovingly: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” What are you saying? Do you still know nothing about the resurrection, but still imagine a placing? Do you see how she had not yet received the lofty doctrine? “And having said this, she turned back.” And what sequence is this, that while she was speaking with them, and had not yet heard anything from them, she turned back? It seems to me that while she was saying these things, Christ suddenly appeared behind her and struck the angels with awe, and that they, seeing the Master, at once showed by their posture and look and movement that they had seen the Lord; and this turned the woman and made her turn back. To them, then, he appeared so; but to the woman not so, lest he should overwhelm her at the first sight, but in a humbler and ordinary form, as is plain from her thinking that he was the gardener. And one so lowly ought not to be led all at once to lofty things, but gently. He asks her then, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” By this he showed that he knew what she wished to ask, and drew her to answer. The woman too, perceiving this, no longer speaks the name of Jesus, but, as though the one asking knew whom she was inquiring about, she says, “If you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Again she speaks of laying and taking away and carrying, as though talking about a dead man. What she means is this: If you took him away from here for fear of the Jews, tell me, and I will take him. Great is the woman's goodwill and affection; but nothing lofty was yet in her. That is why he now sets this before her, not by sight but by voice. For as with the Jews he was sometimes recognized and sometimes, though present, unknown, so too in speaking, when he willed, then he made himself known. For when he said to the Jews, “Whom do you seek?”, they recognized neither his face nor his voice until he willed; and this happened here too. And he only called her name, reproaching and rebuking her because she imagined these things about the living one. But how does it say, “Turning, she says,” if he was speaking to her? It seems to me that when she had said, “Where have you laid him?”, she turned toward the angels, as if to ask why they were amazed; and then Christ, calling her, turned her back from them to himself, and made himself known by his voice. For when he called her, “Mary,” then she recognized him. So the recognition was not by sight, but by voice. And if they should say, “How is it plain that the angels were amazed, and that for this reason the woman turned?”, they will say here too, “How is it plain that she touched him and fell at his feet?” But as this is plain from his saying, “Do not touch me,” so that too is plain from its saying that she turned. And why did he say, “Do not touch me”? Some say that she was asking for a spiritual grace, having heard him say along with the disciples, “If I go to the Father, I will ask him, and he will give you another Helper.”

But how did she, who was not present with the disciples, hear these things? Besides, such a notion is far from this meaning. And how could she ask, when he had not yet gone away to the Father? What then? It seems to me that she wished to be with him still as before, and in her joy thought of nothing great, though he had become much better according to the flesh. Leading her away, then, from this notion and from speaking to him with great freedom (for he does not appear to be living among the disciples in the same way any more either), he raises her mind, so that she may attend to him with more reverence. To say, “Do not come near me as before, for things are not the same, nor shall I be with you in the same way any more,” would have been harsh and boastful; but to say, “I have not yet ascended to the Father,” though not offensive, showed the same thing. For by saying, “I have not yet ascended,” he shows that he is hastening and pressing on to go there; and one who was about to go there, and no longer to live among men, ought not to be looked on with the same mind as before. And that this is so, what follows shows: “Go, tell the brothers that I am going to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” And yet he was not going to do this at once, but after forty days. How then does he say this? Wishing to raise her mind and persuade her that he is going away to heaven. And “my Father and your Father, my God and your God” belongs to the dispensation, since the ascending too belongs to the flesh. For he speaks these things to one who imagined nothing great. Is he then Father to him in one way, and to us in another? Certainly. For if he is God to the righteous in one way and to other men in another, much more to the Son and to us. For since he said, “Tell the brothers,” so that they might not imagine from this any equality, he shows the difference. For he was to sit on his Father's throne, and they to stand beside it. So, even if in the substance of the flesh he became our brother, yet in honor he differs greatly, more than can be told. She, then, goes away to announce these things to the disciples. So good a thing is it to wait patiently and persevere. But how was it that they were not pained, now that he was about to depart, nor spoke as they did before? Then they felt this because he was going to die; but now, when he had risen, why should they grieve? And she reported both the sight and the words, which were enough to comfort them. Since then it was likely that the disciples, hearing these things, would either disbelieve the woman, or, believing, would be pained that he had not counted them worthy of the sight, although he had promised to appear to them in Galilee, so that they might not fret, turning these things over, he did not let even one day pass; but having brought them to longing, both by their knowing already that he had been raised and by their hearing it from the woman, when they were thirsting to see him and were very much afraid (which itself made their longing greater), then, when evening had come, he stood among them, and that with great wonder. And why did he appear in the evening? Because then above all they were likely to be very fearful. But the wonderful thing is how they did not think him a ghost; for he came in when the doors were shut, and suddenly. Above all, the woman, coming first, had produced much faith; besides, he showed them a clear and gentle face. And he did not come in the daytime, so that they might all be gathered together; for their amazement was great. For he did not even knock at the door, but suddenly stood in the midst, and showed his side and hands. And at the same time with his voice he calmed their surging thoughts, saying, “Peace be with you”; that is, Do not be troubled; reminding them also of the word which he spoke to them before the cross: “My peace I leave with you”; and again, “In me you have peace; in the world you will have tribulation.” “And the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Do you see the words coming true in deeds? For what he said before the cross, “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy from you,” this he has now fulfilled in deed. And all these things led them on to a most exact faith. For since they had an implacable war with the Jews, he continually repeats “Peace be with you,” giving the comfort as a counterweight to the war. This at least was the first word he spoke after the resurrection (that is why Paul too everywhere says, “Grace to you and peace”); and to the women he announces joy, because that sex was in sorrow, and received this first joy. Fittingly, then, to the men, because of the war, he announces peace; to the women, because of the sorrow, joy. And having put an end to all that was grievous, he speaks of the achievements of the cross; and these were the peace. Since then all the obstacles had been removed, and he had made the victory splendid, and all had been accomplished, he then says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” You have no difficulty, because of what has already happened, and because of the dignity of me who send you. Here he lifts up their soul, and shows that they are greatly to be trusted, if they were going to take up his work. And there is no longer a request to the Father, but by his own authority he gives them the power. “For he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; and if you retain them, they are retained.’” For as a king sending out governors gives them authority to cast into prison and to release, so too, sending these out, he invests them with this power. How then does he say, “If I do not go away, he will not come,” and yet gives the Spirit? Some say that he did not give the Spirit, but made them fit to receive him by breathing on them. For if Daniel was beside himself when he saw an angel, what would they not have suffered when receiving that unspeakable grace, if he had not first made them disciples? That is why, they say, he did not say, “You have received the Holy Spirit,” but, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” But one would not be wrong in saying that they then received a certain spiritual authority and grace; not so as to raise the dead and work miracles, but so as to forgive sins; for the gifts of the Spirit are diverse. That is why he added, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven,” showing what kind of working he gives. But there, after forty days, they received the working of signs; that is why he says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea”; and they became witnesses through the signs. For the grace of the Spirit is unspeakable and the gift manifold. And this happens so that you may learn that the gift and the authority of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. For what seems to be peculiar to the Father appears to be the Son's too, and the Holy Spirit's. How then, someone says, does “no one come to the Son unless the Father draw him”? But this is shown to belong to the Son too: “For I am the way,” he says; “no one comes to the Father except through me.” And see that it belongs to the Spirit too: “For no one can say ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ except in the Holy Spirit.” And again, the apostles are said to have been given to the church at one time by the Father, at another by the Son, at another by the Holy Spirit; and the distributions of the gifts [are said to be] of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit …

Let us then do everything so as to be able to have the Holy Spirit with us, and let us treat with great honor those to whom his working has been entrusted. For great is the dignity of priests. “If you forgive the sins of any,” he says, “they are forgiven.” That is why Paul too said, “Obey your leaders and submit to them,” and “esteem them very highly.” For you care for your own affairs, and if you manage these well, you will have no account to give for others; but the priest, even if he orders his own life well, if he does not take exact care of yours and of all those around him, goes away with the wicked into Gehenna; and often, not betrayed by his own conduct, he perishes because of yours, if he does not perform well everything that falls to him. Knowing then the greatness of the danger, give them much goodwill; which Paul too hinted at when he said, “They keep watch over your souls”; and not simply so, but “as those who will give account.” Therefore they ought to enjoy great care. But if you too trample on them with the others, your own affairs too will not be well ordered. For as long as the helmsman is of good cheer, the passengers' affairs too will be in safety; but if [he is distressed, while they revile him], he can neither keep watch as well nor preserve his skill, and against his will he involves them in countless evils. So too the priest, if he enjoys honor from you, will be able to order your affairs well too; but if you cast them into despondency, you will make their hands slack and make them, with you, the prey of the waves, even if they are very noble. Consider what Christ says about the Jews: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so do all that they tell you to do.” But now one cannot say that the priests sit on Moses' seat, but on Christ's. For they have succeeded to his teaching. That is why Paul too says, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were appealing through us.” Do you not see that in the case of worldly rulers everyone bows down, even those who are often better in birth and life and understanding than those who judge them? Yet because of the one who gave the office they think of none of these things, but respect the decision of the emperor, whoever the one is who has received the office. Then, if a man appoints, there is so much fear; but when God appoints, we look down on the one appointed, and revile him, and drench him with countless reproaches, and though forbidden to judge our brothers, we sharpen our tongue against the priests. And how can these things deserve any defense, when we do not see the beam in our own eye, but busy ourselves bitterly with the speck in another's? Do you not know that by judging so you make the judgment harder for yourself? And I say these things not approving those who exercise the priesthood unworthily, but greatly pitying them and weeping over them; yet I do not for that reason say that it is right for them to be judged by those whom they govern, and especially by the very simple. For even if their life is very much maligned, you, if you take heed to yourself, will suffer no harm in respect of the things entrusted to them by God. For if he made a voice be uttered through an ass, and granted spiritual blessings through a soothsayer, working in the irrational mouth and in the unclean tongue of Balaam for the sake of the Jews who had offended, much more for your sake, who are well disposed, even if the priests are very bad, will he work all his own works and send the Holy Spirit. For neither does the pure man draw him down by his own purity; but it is grace that works the whole. “For all things,” he says, “are for your sake, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas.” For the things entrusted to the priest it belongs to God alone to give; and however far human philosophy may reach, it will appear less than that grace. And I say these things not so that we may order our own life carelessly, but so that, when some of those who preside are careless, you who are governed may not often heap up evils on yourselves. And why do I speak of priests? Neither angel nor archangel can do anything in what is given by God; but Father and Son and Holy Spirit order all things, and the priest lends his own tongue and offers his own hand. For it would not be right that, because of another's wickedness, those who approach in faith should be harmed in the symbols of our salvation. Knowing all these things, then, let us both fear God and hold his priests in honor, rendering them all honor, so that both for our own good deeds and for our care of them we may receive a great recompense from God, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory, might, and honor to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.