Homilies on the Gospel of John 32

'The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.'

'He who believes in the Son has eternal life;

but he who disbelieves the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.'

Great is the gain of condescension, as is shown in all things.

Thus we have mastered the crafts, not learning everything at once from our teachers;

thus we have built cities, establishing them quietly and little by little;

thus we sustain our own life.

And do not marvel if in worldly matters the thing has such great strength, seeing that even in spiritual matters one might find that the power of this wisdom is great.

For thus the Jews were also able to be delivered from idolatry, being led on quietly and little by little, and hearing nothing lofty from the beginning, neither concerning doctrines nor concerning the manner of life.

Thus after the coming of Christ, when it was the time also for loftier doctrines, the apostles brought all men on, uttering nothing lofty at first.

Thus also Christ discoursed with the multitude at the beginning.

Thus also John now did, discoursing as concerning a certain wonderful man, and inserting the lofty things under a veil.

Beginning, then, he spoke thus:

'A man can receive nothing of himself.'

Then, having joined on something lofty and said, 'He who comes from heaven is above all,' he again brings the discourse down to lowly things, saying many other things, and that, 'For God does not give the Spirit by measure';

'The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.'

Then also, knowing that benefit comes from the word of chastisement, and that the many are drawn not so much by the promise of good things as by the threat of things fearful, here he concludes his discourse at last, and says:

'He who believes in the Son has eternal life;

but he who is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.'

Again here also he refers the word of chastisement to the Father.

For he did not say, 'the wrath of the Son,' although He Himself is the judge;

but he set the Father over them, wishing rather to make them afraid.

Is it then enough, one asks, to have believed in the Son, in order to have eternal life? By no means.

And hear Christ showing this and saying:

'Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven';

and the blasphemy against the Spirit is sufficient even by itself to cast one into Gehenna.

And why do I speak of a portion of doctrine? For even if one believe rightly in the Father and the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, but have not a right life, the faith profits him nothing unto salvation.

Therefore, even when He says, 'This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God,' let us not suppose that what is spoken suffices for our salvation.

For we have need also of a life and of a conduct of the strictest kind;

since here too He has said, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life';

but that which follows He has set down more forcefully:

for He weaves His discourse not only from the good things, but also from their contraries.

'And he that disobeyeth the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.'

Yet even from this we do not say that faith alone suffices for salvation.

And the things spoken concerning conduct in many places of the Gospels show this.

For this very reason He did not say, 'This alone is life eternal';

nor, 'He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life by that alone';

but in each case He indicates this: that the matter possesses life.

If, however, the things pertaining to conduct do not follow, a heavy punishment will ensue.

And He did not say 'abideth him,' but 'abideth on him,' making clear that it will never depart from him.

For lest thou shouldest think the words 'shall not see life' to mean a death that is but temporary,

but shouldest believe that the punishment is perpetual, He has set down this word, showing that it settles upon him for ever.

And He did this, by these very words urging them on toward Christ.

Wherefore he did not even direct his exhortation to them privately, but made it general, and in such a way as might most of all draw them on.

For he did not say, 'If ye believe,' and 'If ye believe not';

but he advances his discourse in general terms, so that what is said might be free from suspicion;

and he has done this more forcefully than Christ Himself.

For Christ said, 'He that believeth not is condemned already';

but this man says, 'He shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him';

for it was not the same thing for one to speak concerning himself, and for another to speak concerning him.

For as to Christ, men might have thought that He uttered these things and boasted often out of self-love;

but John was free from this suspicion.

And if after these things Christ too used more forceful language, yet it was when they had at last come to hold a great opinion concerning Him.

'When therefore Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (though indeed Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples), He left Judaea, and departed into Galilee.'

He Himself, then, baptized not; but those who brought the report, wishing to stir up the hearers to envy, reported it in this way.

'Why then,' one may ask, 'did He withdraw?' Was it not out of fear? No; rather, to cut off their malice, and to soothe their envy.

For He was able even to restrain them though they attacked; but He was not willing to do this continually, lest the dispensation of the flesh should be disbelieved.

For if, being continually seized, He continually escaped, this would have been suspected by many.

For this reason He ordered most things in a more human manner.

For just as He desired to be believed that He was God, so also that, being God, He wore flesh.

For this reason also, after the Resurrection, He said to the disciple:

'Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones.'

For this reason too He rebuked Peter, when he said:

'Be it far from Thee; this shall not be unto Thee.'

So exceedingly earnest was this matter to Him.

Since indeed this is no small part of the doctrines of the Church, and this is the chief point of our salvation, that through which all things have come to pass and been accomplished.

For thus was death loosed, and sin taken away, and the curse blotted out, and countless good things entered into our life.

Therefore He especially desired that the dispensation should be believed, seeing it had become for us the root and fountain of countless good things.

But while ordering the human things, He did not permit the divine to be overshadowed.

Having withdrawn, then, He again held to the same things as before.

For He did not simply depart into Galilee, but was preparing certain great matters concerning the Samaritans;

and not simply ordering these things, but with the wisdom befitting Him, and so as to leave to the Jews no pretext even of a shameless excuse.

Which the Evangelist also, hinting at, added, 'And He must needs go through Samaria,' showing that He made this a mere incident of the journey.

So also did the Apostles.

For just as they, being persecuted by the Jews, then came to the Gentiles;

so also Christ, when they drove Him away, then also laid hold of those, as He did in the case of the Syrophoenician woman.

And this came to pass, that every excuse might be cut off from the Jews, and that it might not be possible for them to say that, forsaking us, He went off to the uncircumcised.

For this reason also the disciples, making their defense, said:

'It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you;

but since ye judge yourselves unworthy, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.'

And He Himself again: 'I am not come except unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel';

and again, 'It is not good to take the children's bread, and to give it to the dogs.'

But when they drove Him away, He opened a door to the Gentiles.

And even so He does not come to them by way of precedence, but in passing.

Passing by, therefore, 'He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;

and there was there a well of Jacob.'

Why is the Evangelist so precise about the place? That when thou hearest the woman saying, 'Jacob our father gave us this well,' thou mightest not be surprised.

For that place was where those about Levi and Simeon, being indignant on account of Dinah, wrought that grievous slaughter.

It is worthwhile also to tell whence the Samaritans arose.

For that whole region too is called Samaria.

Whence, then, did they get the appellation? The mountain was called Somor, from him who had acquired it, as Isaiah also says:

'And the head of Somoron is Ephraim';

but the inhabitants were called not Samaritans, but Israelites.

As time went on, they gave offense to God;

and when Pekah was reigning, Tiglath-Pileser came up, and took many cities, and set upon Elah, and having slain him, gave the kingdom to Hoshea.

Coming against him, Shalmaneser took other cities, and made them tributary and subject.

But this man at first yielded;

But later he revolted from the empire and took refuge in an alliance with the Ethiopians.

The Assyrian learned of this, and marching against them and destroying them, he no longer permitted the nation to remain there, on account of such suspicions of revolt;

but these he led away into Babylon and Media, and bringing thence nations from various places, he settled them in Samaria, so that henceforth his dominion might be secure for him, since those loyal to him held the place.

Now when these things had come to pass, God, wishing to show His own power, and that it was not through weakness that He had delivered up the Jews, but on account of the sins of those who were delivered up, sent lions against the barbarians;

and these ravaged the whole nation.

These things were reported to the king, and he sent a certain priest to deliver to them the laws of God.

But nevertheless not even so did they depart wholly from impiety, but only in part.

But as time went on, again they leaped away from the idols and began to worship God.

While matters stood thus, the Jews, having at length returned, regarded them with jealous hostility as foreigners and enemies, and even called them Samaritans from the mountain.

And for the Jews too there was on this account no small strife against them.

For they did not make use of all the Scriptures, but receiving the writings of Moses alone, they made little account of the prophets.

They contended, however, to thrust themselves into the Jewish nobility, and prided themselves on Abraham, and inscribed him as their ancestor, inasmuch as he was from Chaldea;

and they called Jacob their father too, inasmuch as they were his descendants;

but the Jews, together with all others, abhorred these as well.

Whence also they reproached Christ with these things, saying,

'You are a Samaritan and have a demon';

and in the case of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, it was for this very reason that Christ introduces a Samaritan as the one who showed mercy to him, the man who was lowly, contemptible, and abhorred among them;

and in the case of the ten lepers, He calls the one a stranger for this reason (for he was a Samaritan);

and He Himself, speaking thus, commanded the disciples:

'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and enter not into a city of the Samaritans.'

Now it was not merely for the sake of the history that the Evangelist reminded us of the place of Jacob, but also in order to show that the Jewish rejection had come to pass long ago.

For indeed, even in the days of their forefathers, those men held the places in their stead.

For what their forefathers held, though it was not theirs, these men, through their sloth and lawlessness, lost, though it was truly theirs.

Thus there is no gain in having virtuous ancestors, when those who spring from them do not turn out to be such.

For the barbarians, in order merely to gain experience of the lions, at once returned to the Jewish piety;

but those men, though enduring so many punishments, not even so were brought to their senses.

Here, then, Christ came, ever casting out the vulgar and soft manner of life, and introducing the laborious and frugal.

For He did not make use of beasts of burden, but journeyed so strenuously on foot that He even grew weary from the wayfaring.

And this He everywhere teaches: to be self-reliant and without superfluity, and the like.

For He so wills that we be strangers to superfluous things, that He would have us cut off much even of the necessities.

'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests;

but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.'

For this reason He passed most of His time in the mountains, not only by day but also by night, and in the deserts.

This too David proclaimed when he said, 'He shall drink of the brook by the way,' declaring the frugality of His life.

This too John here shows;

'Jesus therefore, being wearied with the journey, was sitting thus by the well.'

'A woman comes from Samaria to draw water.'

'But His disciples had gone away into the market, that they might buy food.'

Hence we learn both His vigor in journeying, and His negligence concerning food, and how casually He treated the matter.

In this way at any rate the disciples too were trained to order their own affairs.

And another evangelist makes this plain, saying that when He was discoursing with them about the leaven of the Pharisees, they supposed it was because they had brought no loaves.

And when He brings them in hungry, and plucking the ears of grain, and eating; and when he says that He came to the fig tree because of hunger — through all these things He teaches us nothing else than this: to despise the belly, and not to consider its service a thing to be earnestly pursued.

Observe them here too, then, neither carrying anything with them, nor, because they had brought nothing, being concerned about it from the outset and at the very start of the day, but at the season in which all take their meal, buying food.

But not so with us, who, straightway on rising from bed, before all else look to this, calling for cooks and caterers, and giving these orders with great earnestness, and only after that turning thus to the other matters, making the concerns of this life more earnest than the spiritual, and honoring as necessary the things which ought to be held as of secondary importance.

For this reason all things are turned upside down.

For, on the contrary, we ought to make much account of all spiritual things, and, after fulfilling those, then to lay hold of these.

And not only His laboriousness, but also His freedom from vainglory is shown hence — not by His being wearied, nor by His sitting on the road only, but also by His being left alone and by His disciples going away.

And yet, had He so willed, it was possible either not to send them all away, or, when they had gone, to have other attendants;

for indeed He thus accustomed the disciples to trample down all pomp.

'And what great thing is it,' one might perhaps say, 'if they lived modestly, being fishermen and tentmakers?' [Fishermen indeed they were and tentmakers,] but all at once they ascended to the very summit of heaven, and became more venerable than all kings, being counted worthy to become companions of the Lord of the world, and to follow Him who was marveled at from every quarter.

And you know this too, that especially those who come from humble origins, when at some time they attain to dignities, are more easily lifted up to arrogance, inasmuch as they are unaccustomed to so great an honor.

Keeping them therefore in the same humble-mindedness, He trained them through all things to be self-restrained,

and in no way to require those who would serve them.

And He Himself, 'being wearied with the journey,' it says, 'was sitting thus by the well.'

Do you see that the sitting came about because of the toil, because of the heat, because of waiting for the disciples? For He knew that what concerned the Samaritans would come to pass.

Yet it was not for this that He came in the first place;

yet, since He had not come for this reason, it was not fitting that, when the woman had arrived, He should thrust her away, seeing that she displayed such great eagerness to learn.

For the Jews, even when He came to them, drove Him away, but those of the Gentiles drew to themselves Him who was journeying even elsewhere;

and the one party envied, while the other believed;

those were indignant, these marveled and worshiped.

What then? Was He to overlook the salvation of so many, and to let go so noble an eagerness? This surely would have been unworthy of His love for mankind;

with the wisdom that befits Him He orders all that is at hand.

For He was sitting, resting His body, and refreshing it beside the spring.

For it was the very middle of the day, which the Evangelist also made plain by saying, 'It was about the sixth hour';

But what is the meaning of 'thus'? Not upon a throne, it says, nor upon a cushion, but simply and just as it happened, upon the ground.

'A woman comes from Samaria to draw water.'

See how He shows also that the woman had come out for another purpose, everywhere stopping the shameless contradiction of the Jews, and lest anyone should say that He contradicts His own command — bidding them not to enter into a city of the Samaritans, yet Himself conversing with Samaritans.

Wherefore also the Evangelist has set down the words, 'His disciples had gone away into the city, that they might buy food,' bringing forward many reasons for His conversation with her.

What then does the woman do? Having heard 'Give me to drink,' very shrewdly, to furnish a basis for a question, she takes up the word from Christ and says:

'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.'

And from what did she suppose him to be a Jew? From his appearance, perhaps, and from his manner of speech.

But consider with me how discerning this woman was.

For if there was need to be on one's guard, it was Jesus who ought to have guarded himself, not she.

For she did not say that the Samaritans have no dealings with the Jews, but that the Jews do not receive the Samaritans.

Yet nevertheless the woman, though free from all blame, since she thought that another was acting contrary to her, did not even so keep silent, but, as she supposed, set right what was being done contrary to the law.

But one might be perplexed at this: how did Jesus ask her for a drink, when the law did not permit it? For if anyone should say that it was because he foreknew she would not give, then for that very reason he ought not even to have asked.

What then is to be said? That it was now a matter of indifference to him to cast aside such scruples of observance.

For he who led others to loosen these observances would much more himself have passed them by.

For it is not what enters, he says, that defiles a man, but what comes out.

And his conversation with the woman would prove no small accusation against the Jews, since they, though often invited both by words and by deeds, would not endure it;

but she, see how she is held fast by a mere question.

For he indeed did not for the present enter upon this undertaking, nor upon that journey;

but if any came to him, he did not hinder them.

For indeed to his disciples he simply said not to enter into a city of the Samaritans, not also to repel those who came to them;

for that would have been utterly unworthy of his lovingkindness.

For this very reason he also answers the woman, and says:

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, 'Give me to drink,'

you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

First he shows that she is worthy to hear, and not to be overlooked;

and then he reveals himself.

For indeed she was likely, as soon as she learned who he was, to obey and give heed to him;

which one could not say concerning the Jews.

For even when they had learned, they asked him nothing, nor did they desire to learn any of the things that were profitable, but they even insulted him and drove him away.

But the woman, when she heard these things, see how modestly she answers:

Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep;

from where then do you have that living water? For the present he raised her up from her lowly suspicion, and from the thought that he was one of the many.

For here she does not simply call him 'Lord,' but rendering him much honour.

And that she said these things in honour is clear from what follows.

For she did not mock, nor make sport of him, but for the present she was perplexed.

And if she did not at once perceive the whole matter, do not be amazed;

For what does that man say? 'How can these things be?' And again:

How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? But she more reverently:

Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep;

from where then do you have the living water? He said one thing to her, but she suspected another, hearing nothing beyond the words, nor able for the present to conceive anything lofty, although it was possible

to have spoken rashly, saying: If you had the living water, you would not have asked from me, but would have provided for yourself first;

But she said none of these things, but answers with much modesty, both at the beginning and after these things.

How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me? And she did not say, as though conversing with an alien and an enemy:

Far be it from me to share with you, a man who is our enemy and estranged from our nation.

And after these things again, when she heard him say great things, at which above all his enemies are stung, she did not mock, nor tear him down;

but what does she say? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and himself drank from it, and his sons, and his cattle? Do you see how she thrusts herself into the Jewish nobility? And what she says means something like this:

That man used this water, and had nothing more to give.

And she said these things, showing how from his first answer she had received a great and lofty thought.

For the words, 'He himself drank from it, and his sons, and his cattle,' are the words of one hinting at nothing else than this: that she had indeed conceived the notion of a greater water, but did not find it, nor clearly know it.

And that I may say still more clearly what she wishes to say, it is this:

You cannot say, she says, that Jacob gave us this spring, but himself used another;

for indeed he himself and his sons drank from it, and would not have drunk, if he had another that was better.

From this well, then, not even you will be able to give; and it is not possible for you to have another that is better, unless you also confess yourself to be greater than Jacob.

From where then do you have the water that you promise to give us?

But the Jews did not converse with him so gently, although he had discoursed with them too upon the same subject, having made mention of such water;

and when he made mention of Abraham, they even attempted to stone him.

But the woman does not deal with him in this manner, but with much forbearance, in the midst of the heat, and at midday, she both speaks and hears all things with great longsuffering, and conceives nothing of the sort that the Jews would likely have said, namely, 'This man is raving and beside himself; he has bound me fast to a spring and a well, giving nothing, but puffing himself up with mere words;'

but she endures and remains attentive, until she finds what she seeks.

But if a Samaritan woman shows such earnestness for the sake of learning something profitable, and remains with Christ, even though she does not know him;

what pardon shall we obtain, we who both know him, and are neither beside a well, nor in a desert, nor at midday, nor under a burning ray;

but at dawn and under such a roof enjoying shade and coolness, and yet not enduring to hear any of the things spoken, but growing weary? But she was not such; rather, she is so held fast by the things spoken that she even called others.

But the Jews not only did not call, but even hindered and obstructed those who wished to come;

Has any of the rulers believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law—they are accursed.

Let us therefore imitate the Samaritan woman;

for even now he stands in the midst of us, speaking to us both through the prophets and through the disciples.

Let us therefore hear, and be persuaded.

How long shall we live in vain and to no purpose? For not to do the things that seem good to God is to live in vain;

or rather, not only in vain, but also to our hurt.

For when we have consumed the time given to us upon nothing needful, we shall depart to render the uttermost account for our untimely expenditure.

For surely it cannot be that one who received money to trade with, and then devoured it, shall be required to give an account by him who entrusted it;

but he who has spent such a life in vain shall not pay the penalty.

Not for this did God bring us into the present life, and breathe a soul into us, that we should use only the present, but that we should conduct all things with a view to the life to come.

For the irrational creatures alone are useful for the present life;

but we have an immortal soul for this reason, that we may do all things with a view to the preparation for that life.

For if anyone should ask the use of asses, and oxen, and the other such beasts of burden, we shall name no other than their service in the present life.

But concerning us this cannot be said; rather, our better condition is the one that comes after our departure from this world.

And we must do everything, that we may shine forth yonder, that we may join in the dance with the angels, that we may stand beside the King continually throughout the endless ages.

For this is why the soul has become immortal, and the body too shall be immortal, that we may enjoy the good things that never end.

But if you remain nailed to the earth while heavenly things are set before you, consider how great an insult is done to Him who gives.

For He holds out to you the things above,

yet you, making little account of them, exchange them for the earth.

For this reason too He has threatened hell, since He is despised, that you may learn from this of how many good things you deprive yourself.

But may it never be ours to have experience of that punishment; rather, having been well-pleasing to Christ, may we attain the eternal good things, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory to the Father, unto the ages of ages.