Homilies on the Gospel of John 12

'And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.'

Perhaps we appeared to you beyond measure burdensome and vexatious the other day, having used a somewhat harsher discourse, and having stretched out at length our accusation against the sloth of the many.

But if it were with this very aim alone—to grieve you—that we did these things, each one might reasonably be displeased;

yet if, looking to your profit, we disregarded the graciousness in our words, then even if you are unwilling to accept our forethought, you would at least be just in pardoning so great an affection.

For indeed we are exceedingly afraid, lest, while we are earnest but you are unwilling to display the same diligence about the hearing, the reckonings of things to come become the more grievous.

Wherefore we are continually constrained both to rouse you and to wake you from sleep, so that nothing of what is said may slip away.

For thus it will be possible for you both to live now with much boldness, and in that day to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Since, then, we sufficiently took hold of you the other day, come, today let us from the outset plunge into the very words themselves.

'And we beheld,' he says, 'his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.'

Having said that we have become children of God, and having shown that this comes about in no other way than by the Word becoming flesh, he speaks again of yet another gain from this very thing.

And what is this? 'We beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father;'

which we could not have beheld, had he not appeared to us through a body kindred to our own.

For if, when Moses, who shared the same nature with us, had only his face glorified, the men of that time could not endure to look upon it, but the righteous man had need of a veil that was able to overshadow the unmingled brightness of the glory, and to show the Prophet's countenance mild and gentle to them—

how could we, who are of clay and earth-born, have been able to bear naked Deity, which is unapproachable even to the very powers above? For this cause he tabernacled among us, that we might be able to approach him, and converse with him, and dwell together with him with much freedom from fear.

But what is the meaning of 'the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father'? Since many even of the prophets were glorified—such as this very Moses, and Elijah, and Elisha:

the one encircled by a fiery chariot, the other being taken up in like manner;

and after them Daniel, and the three children, and many others besides, as many as displayed wonders, were glorified;

and angels too, appearing among men, and disclosing a little to the beholders the light that flashes forth from their own nature;

and not angels only, but also the Cherubim were seen by the Prophet with much glory, and the Seraphim likewise;

yet the Evangelist, leading us away from all these, and raising up our mind from the splendor of creation and of our fellow-servants, sets us before the very summit of good things.

Not of a prophet, he says, nor of an angel, nor of an archangel, nor of the higher powers, nor of any other created nature, if indeed there is yet another, but of the very Master himself, of the very King himself, of the genuine Only-begotten Son himself, of him who is Lord of us all — his glory did we behold.

Now the word 'As' here does not denote likeness nor comparison, but confirmation and an indisputable definition.

We beheld a glory such as it was fitting and reasonable that he should possess, being the only-begotten and genuine Son of God, the King of all.

And this is also the custom with the multitude.

For I will not refuse to establish my argument even from common usage.

For it is not now our aim to speak with a view to beauty of words nor to harmony of composition, but only for your benefit.

Hence nothing hinders us from confirming this very point also from the common usage of the multitude.

And what is the custom of the multitude? When some persons have seen a king arrayed in exceeding splendor and flashing on every side with precious stones, then, when they recount to others that beauty, that adornment, that glory, they say indeed all that they are able — setting forth the bloom of the purple robe, the size of the jewels, the whiteness of the mules, the gold about the harness, the glittering trappings.

But when, having enumerated these things and yet others besides, they are unable to set forth in words all its brilliance, they at once add this:

'What need is there of many words? In one word — like a king!'

By this 'like' they wish to show, not that the one of whom they say all these things is similar to a king, but that he himself is a genuine king.

So then, in the same way, the Evangelist too has set down the word 'As,' wishing to set forth the transcendent and incomparably surpassing character of the glory.

For all the others — angels, archangels, and prophets — did everything under command.

But he acted with an authority befitting a king and master.

Which indeed is why the crowds also marveled: because he taught them as one having authority.

Angels then, as I said, did indeed appear upon the earth with much glory —

as in the case of Daniel, of David, of Moses —

but they did all things as servants having a master; thus they performed everything.

He, however, appeared as a master and one who rules over all — and this too though appearing in a lowly and humble guise.

Yet even so, in this manner too, the creation recognized its own Master.

How? A star from heaven called the magi to worship him;

and a great multitude of angels, poured out everywhere, attending upon the Master and hymning him;

and others suddenly sprang up as heralds, and all, meeting one another, proclaimed the good news of this ineffable mystery — the angels to the shepherds, and the shepherds to those of the city;

and Gabriel to Mary and to Elizabeth, and Anna together with Symeon to those who came into the temple.

And not only were men and women given wings by the joy, but even the babe not yet come forth into the light — I mean the citizen of the wilderness, and namesake of this very Evangelist — leapt while still in his mother's womb; and all were lifted up by their hopes toward the things to come.

And these things indeed happened straightway at his birth;

but when he had further revealed himself, again other miracles appeared, greater than the former ones.

For no longer was it a star and the heaven, nor angels and archangels, nor Gabriel and Michael, but he himself. The Father from above out of the heavens proclaimed him, and with the Father the Paraclete, flying down upon him with the voice, and abiding upon him.

We beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father.

And it is not on account of these things only, but also on account of the things after these, that he says this.

For no longer do shepherds only, nor widow women, nor aged men bring us the good news, but the very nature of things itself, crying out more brightly than any trumpet, and so audibly that its sound is heard here also straightway.

'For the report of him,' it says, 'went forth into Syria,' and revealed him to all;

and everything on every side cried out that the King of the heavens had come.

For the demons on every side fled and leapt away,

and the devil, covering his face, withdrew, and death itself for a while gave way, and afterward was utterly abolished;

and every form of sickness was loosed, and the graves gave up their dead, the demons released those they had maddened, and the diseases released the sick.

And there was to be seen things strange and wonderful — such things as the prophets naturally longed to see, and saw not.

For there was to be seen eyes being fashioned, and that longed-for sight which all would have desired to behold — how God formed Adam from the earth — this he displayed in brief to all, and in the better part of the body;

the paralyzed and disjointed limbs being knit together and fitted to one another, dead hands being moved, palsied feet suddenly leaping, stopped-up ears being opened, and a tongue that sounded forth mightily, which before had been bound in speechlessness.

For just as some excellent craftsman, taking in hand a house grown decrepit through time — that is, at that time the common nature of mankind — so did he fill up its broken portions, and bind together what had come apart and dissolved, and raise up what had utterly fallen.

What could one say of the refashioning of the soul, which is far more wonderful than that which is in bodies? For great indeed is the health of bodies, but far greater is that of souls, and greater by as much as the soul is better than the body;

and not only in this respect, but because the nature of bodies follows wherever the Creator wishes to lead it, and there is nothing to resist;

but the soul, having become mistress of itself and possessing authority over what is to be done, does not, unless it wills, obey God in all things.

For he does not wish to make it good and virtuous when it is unwilling and somehow driven by force, since indeed this would not even be virtue;

but it is necessary to persuade it, when willing and of its own accord, to become such.

Hence this is more difficult than that former healing.

Yet nevertheless this too was accomplished, and every form of vice was driven out.

And just as he transformed the bodies that were healed, not only to health, but also to the highest vigor of well-being;

so also with the souls: he not only delivered them from the utmost vice, but also led them to the very summit of virtue;

and the tax-collector became an apostle, and the persecutor, blasphemer, and insolent man was shown forth as a herald to the whole inhabited world;

and magi became teachers of the Jews;

and a robber was made manifest as a citizen of Paradise;

and a harlot shone forth with much faith;

and a Canaanite woman, and a Samaritan woman — another harlot she too — the one received the preaching to her own people, and having netted a whole city, thus brought it to Christ;

and the other, by her faith and perseverance, brought it about that an evil demon was driven out from the soul of her little daughter.

And others, far worse than these, were straightway enrolled in the rank of the disciples.

And everything was all at once transformed: the sufferings of bodies, the diseases of souls, were remolded to health and to the most exact virtue; and of these, not two or three men, nor five, and ten, and twenty, and a hundred only, but whole cities and nations were with much ease refashioned.

What could one say of the philosophy of his precepts, the excellence of his heavenly laws, the good order of his angelic manner of life? For such a life did he introduce to us, such laws did he lay down for us, such a polity did he establish, that those who make use of them become angels straightway, and like to God according to our capacity, even though they happen to be worse than all men.

So then, having gathered together all these marvels — those in bodies, those in souls, those in the elements, the precepts, those ineffable gifts higher than the heavens, the laws, the polity, the persuasion, the promises to come, his own sufferings — the Evangelist uttered this wonderful voice, laden with lofty doctrines, saying:

We beheld his glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

For we marvel at him not on account of the miracles only, but also on account of the sufferings;

because he was crucified and scourged, because he was struck, because he was spat upon, because he received blows on the cheek from those very ones whom he had benefited.

For indeed even in these very things which seem to be matters of reproach, it is worthy again to utter that same word, since he himself also called the thing 'glory.'

For the things that came to pass were not of care and love only, but also of unspeakable power.

For then death was abolished, and the curse was loosed, and the demons were put to shame and made a spectacle, being led in triumph, and the handwriting of sins was nailed to the cross.

Then, since these things were being wrought as miracles invisibly, there also came to pass certain things visibly, showing that he was truly the only-begotten Son of God and Master of all creation.

For while the blessed body was still hanging, the sun turned back its rays, and the earth was shaken and all darkened, and the tombs were burst open, and the ground was shaken, and a boundless throng of the dead leapt forth and went into the city;

and while the stones of his tomb were fitted to the sepulchre, and while the seals still lay upon them, the dead one arose — he who had been crucified, who had been nailed — and having then filled the eleven disciples with much power, he sent them to the men throughout the inhabited world, to be common physicians of all human nature, and to set life aright, to scatter everywhere on earth the knowledge of the heavenly doctrines, and to dissolve the tyranny of the demons, and to teach the great and ineffable good things, and to bring us the good news of the immortality of the soul, and eternal life of the body — the rewards that surpass even the understanding, and that shall never have an end.

So then, this blessed one, having considered these things and many more than these — which he himself indeed knew, but did not endure to write, because the world could not contain them;

for if all were to be written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

Having therefore weighed all these things, he cried aloud: 'We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.'

Those, then, who have been counted worthy of such great sights, of such wondrous things to hear, and who have enjoyed so great a gift, ought also to display a life worthy of these teachings, so as to enjoy likewise the good things that are there.

For it was for this very purpose that our Lord Jesus Christ came, that we might behold not only His glory here below, but also the glory to come.

'I will,' He says, 'that where I am, they also may be, that they may behold My glory.' But if this glory has become so bright and resplendent, what could anyone say of that other glory? For it will not appear on a corruptible earth, nor while we are in perishable bodies, but in a creation incorruptible and ageless, and amid such splendour as it is not possible even to set forth in words.

O blessed and thrice-blessed, and this many times over, are they who are counted worthy to become beholders of that glory!

Concerning this the Prophet says:

'Let the ungodly be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord.'

But may it never come to pass that any of us be taken away, or ever be left without the sight of it.

For if we are not to enjoy this, it would be fitting for us too to say:

'It had been good for us if we had not been born.'

For why do we live? Why do we breathe? What are we, if we fail of that vision? if no one grant us then to behold our Master? For if those who do not see the light of the sun endure a life more bitter than any death,

what is it likely that those will suffer who are deprived of that other Light? For here the loss is in this alone, but there it is not confined to this only;

and yet, even if this alone were the terror, not even so would the punishment be equal, but so much the more grievous by how much that Sun is incomparably superior to this one;

but as it is, there is yet another punishment to be looked for.

For he who does not see that Light must not only be carried away into the darkness, but also be burned forever, and melt away, and gnash his teeth, and suffer ten thousand other dreadful things.

Let us not, then, overlook ourselves, falling through this brief negligence and relaxation into eternal punishment, but let us watch, be sober, do and transact all things,

so as to attain that enjoyment, and to become far removed from the river of fire that is dragged along with a great rushing noise before the awful judgement-seat.

For he who has once fallen in there must remain forever, and there is none who shall deliver from that punishment, neither father, nor mother, nor brother.

And these very things the prophets themselves proclaim, the one saying, 'A brother does not redeem; shall a man redeem?' while Ezekiel declared something yet more than this, saying:

'Though Noah and Job and Daniel should stand, they shall not deliver their sons and their daughters.'

For there is one patronage only there, that which comes through works; and he who is deprived of this cannot be saved from any other quarter.

Turning over and pondering these things continually, therefore, let us cleanse our life and make it bright, so that with boldness we may see the Lord and attain the good things that are promised, through the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.