Homilies on the Gospel of John 35

The woman then left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and saith to the men,

'Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did;

is not this the Christ?' (1)

We have need of much fervor and of aroused earnestness;

for without this it is not possible to attain unto the good things promised to us.

And Christ, showing this very thing, says at one time:

'Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me';

and at another, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!' By both of these sayings He wishes to set before us a disciple who is ardent and set ablaze, and prepared to meet every danger.

Of such a kind was this woman also.

For she was so kindled by the words that were spoken that she left even her water-jar, and the errand for which she had come, and running into the city she drew the whole populace to Jesus.

'Come,' she says, 'and see a man who told me all that I ever did.'

Observe her zeal and her understanding.

For when she had lighted upon the true fountain, she thenceforth despised the fountain perceptible to the senses—teaching us, though by a small example, nevertheless in the hearing of spiritual things to look down upon all the concerns of this life and to make no account of them.

For according to her own capacity she did what the apostles did, and even more.

For they, being called, left their nets;

but she, of her own accord, with no one bidding her, leaves her water-jar and does the work of an evangelist, borne aloft by her joy.

And she calls not one and a second, as Andrew and Philip did, but having roused a whole city and so great a populace, she thus led them to Him.

And observe how prudently she speaks.

For she did not say, 'Come, see the Christ,' but she too, with the same condescension by which Christ had ensnared her, draws the men in.

'Come,' she says, 'see a man who told me all that I ever did.'

And she was not ashamed to say, 'He told me all that I ever did.'

Yet it was possible to speak otherwise:

'Come, see one who prophesies';

but when a soul has been set on fire by the divine fire, it no longer looks to any of the things upon earth—neither to glory nor to shame—but belongs to one thing only, the flame that possesses it.

'Can this be the Christ?' See again the great wisdom of the woman.

She neither declared it plainly, nor kept silence.

For she wished not to bring them in by her own assertion, but by hearing him for themselves to make them sharers in this verdict;

which made the message the more acceptable.

And indeed she did not proclaim her whole life, but—

from what was told, they were persuaded also concerning the rest.

And she did not say, 'Come, believe,' but, 'Come, see,' which was lighter than that and drew them the more.

Have you seen the woman's wisdom? For she knew, she knew clearly, that once they had but tasted of that fountain, they would experience the very same things that she also had.

And yet if it had been any of the grosser sort, she would even have cast a shadow over the reproach;

but she parades her own life and sets it forth in the midst, so as to draw and win all.

Meanwhile His disciples were asking Him, saying:

The word 'were asking' here means 'were entreating,' according to their local idiom.

For seeing Him wearied from the journey and from the burning heat that pressed upon Him, they entreated Him.

For it was not out of forwardness that they asked concerning food, but out of the tender affection they had toward their Teacher.

What then does Christ say? 'I have food to eat that you do not know of.'

So they said to one another:

'Has anyone brought Him food to eat?' Why then do you wonder if the woman, hearing of water, still imagined water, when even the disciples still suffer these same things, and as yet understand nothing spiritual, but are at a loss, and yet again render the accustomed reverence and honor to their Teacher, conversing among themselves but not daring to put a question to Him? This they do elsewhere too, desiring to ask but not asking.

What then does Christ say? 'My food is,' He says, 'to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.'

Here He called the salvation of men 'food,' showing how great a desire He has for our care.

For just as eating is desirable to us, so to Him is our being saved.

Hear then how everywhere He does not reveal all at the outset, but first casts the hearer into perplexity, so that having begun to seek what is meant, and then being perplexed and toiling, he may receive with greater eagerness the thing sought when it appears, and may be the more roused to the hearing.

For why did He not at once say, 'My food is to do the will of My Father'? Although this too was not clear, yet it was clearer than the former;

but what does He say? 'I,' He says, 'have food to eat that you do not know of.'

For first, as I said, He wishes to make them more attentive by their perplexity, and to accustom them to hear what is said even through such riddles.

But what is the will of the Father? He goes on to state it and to interpret it:

'Do you not say that there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.'

Behold, once again by familiar names He leads them up to the contemplation of the greatest things.

For in saying 'food,' He signified nothing other than the salvation of the men who were about to come;

and the 'field' too and the 'harvest' signify the same thing, the multitude of souls ready for the reception of the preaching.

And by 'eyes' here He means both those of the understanding and those of the body;

for they now saw the multitude of the Samaritans coming;

and the readiness of their purpose He calls 'the fields that are whitening.'

For just as the ears of grain, when they have grown white, are ready for the reaping;

so these also, He says, are now prepared and ready for salvation.

And why did He not say plainly, 'The men are coming to believe, and are ready for the reception of the word, having been instructed by the prophets and now yielding their fruit,' but instead called them 'field' and 'harvest'? What do these figures mean for Him? For not here only, but throughout the whole Gospel He does this;

and the prophets too used the same manner, speaking many things by way of metaphor.

What then is the reason? For not without purpose did the grace of the Spirit thus ordain;

but for what cause, and why? For two reasons:

one, that the discourse might become more vivid, and more set the things spoken before one's eyes.

For the mind, when it has laid hold of an image familiar to the matters, is the more aroused, and as if beholding the things in a picture,

seeing the things, is held the more firmly.

For this cause, then, on the one hand;

and secondly, that the narrative might be made sweeter, and that the memory of what is said might be more lasting.

For a bare assertion does not so lay hold of and win over the ordinary hearer as does a narration by way of concrete things, and a vivid portrayal drawn from experience.

This one may see, in the case of the parable, done with much wisdom.

'And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal.'

For the fruit of this earthly reaping does not go on unto life eternal, but unto this present and temporary life;

but the spiritual fruit goes on unto the life that grows not old and is undying.

Do you see how the words are perceptible to the senses, but the meanings spiritual, and how by the very phrases He divides the earthly from the heavenly? For what He did when discoursing on the water, setting down its distinguishing mark, that 'Whoever drinks of this water shall never thirst,' this too He does here, saying that this fruit is gathered unto life eternal;

'that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.'

Who is he who sows, and who is he who reaps? The prophets are they who sowed;

But it was not they themselves who reaped; rather, the apostles did.

Yet they are not on this account deprived of the joy and the reward of their labors; rather, they rejoice and are glad together with us, even though they do not reap together with us.

For neither is the harvest the work of the sowing.

Where, then, the toil is less but the pleasure greater, there I have kept you—not in the sowing.

For there the hardship and toil are great.

For in the harvest the yield is abundant, yet the toil is not so great, but there is even much ease.

But here He wishes to establish through these words that this also is the will of the prophets: that men should come to Me.

This the Law also was preparing.

For this reason they too sowed, that they might bring forth this fruit.

He shows that He Himself sent those men too, and that there is a close kinship between the New and the Old, and through this parable He establishes everything together.

He also recalls a proverbial saying current among many.

For in this case, He says, the saying holds true: that one is the sower and another the reaper.

Now the many used to say these things whenever some had undergone the toils while others were plucking the fruits;

and He says that this saying here above all holds the truth.

For the prophets labored, but you reap the fruits that come from their labors.

And He did not say, 'the wages';

for neither was that great toil of theirs without reward.

For He too recalls a proverb which says:

'From the lawless there went forth transgression.'

And David, in his lamenting, recalls such a proverb.

For this reason He said beforehand, 'That both the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.'

For since He was about to say that one sowed and another reaps, lest anyone—as I have said—should think the prophets deprived of their reward, He says something strange and paradoxical, which does not accord with sensible things, but is peculiar to spiritual ones.

For in the case of sensible matters, if it happens that one sows and another reaps, they do not rejoice together, but the sowers grieve, since they have labored for others, while the reapers alone rejoice.

But here it is not so; rather, even those who do not reap what they sowed rejoice equally with those who harvest;

whence it is clear that they too share in the rewards.

'I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored;

others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.'

By this He rather encourages them.

For since the task of going about the whole world and preaching seemed to be laborious, He shows that it is also very easy.

For that other work was the exceedingly laborious one, which required much toil: to cast in the seeds and to lead an uninitiated soul into the knowledge of God.

But for what reason does He utter these things? So that when He sends them out to preach, they may not be dismayed, as though being sent to a laborious task.

For the more laborious part, He says, belonged to the prophets, and the work bears witness to the word, that you have come to the easy things.

For just as in the harvest the fruit is gathered with ease, and in a single moment the threshing-floor is filled with the

sheaves, without waiting for the changes of the seasons—winter and spring and rain;

So then, while He was saying these things, the Samaritans came out, and the fruit was gathered all at once.

'Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, that they are white.'

He said these things, and the deed appeared, and the words were seen from the facts themselves.

For from that city, He says, many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman, who testified, 'He told me all that I ever did.'

For they perceived that the woman would not have admired, so as to flatter, the one who convicted her of her transgressions, nor would she, for the sake of gratifying another, have paraded her own life abroad.

Let us then imitate the woman, we also, and in our own sins let us not be ashamed before men, but let us fear, as we ought, God who both now sees what is done and then will punish those who did not repent now;

for as it is, we do the very opposite.

For Him who is to judge, we do not fear;

but those who do us no harm at all, these we dread, and we tremble at the shame that comes from them.

For this reason, in that very thing we fear, in that we render up the punishment.

For he who now dreads only the shame of men, but is not ashamed to do something base while God is looking on, and is unwilling to repent and change, on that day is made an example, not before one or two, but while the whole world looks on.

For that there sits a great theater there, both of good deeds and of those that are not such, let the parable of the sheep and the goats instruct you, and the blessed Paul, saying:

For we must, he says, appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body, whatsoever he has done, whether good or evil;

and again, 'Who will make manifest the hidden things of darkness.'

You have done something wicked, or contemplated it, and you hide it from man? But you do not hide it from God.

But none of these things concerns you;

rather, the eyes of men—this is a terror to you.

Therefore consider that not even from men will you be able to hide on that day.

For all things will then stand as in a picture before our eyes, so that each becomes self-condemned.

And this is clear also from the rich man.

For the rich man saw before his eyes standing the poor man whom he had despised—I mean Lazarus—and that finger which he had often loathed, he entreats to become a consolation to him then.

I exhort you, therefore, even though no one sees our deeds, that each of us enter into his own conscience, and set up reason as a judge for himself, and bring into the midst the things wrongly done;

and if he does not wish to be paraded on that fearful day, let him apply the medicines of repentance, and let him heal the wounds.

For it is possible—it is possible—for one laden with countless wounds to depart in health.

For if you forgive, He says, your sins are forgiven you;

but if you do not forgive, they are not forgiven.

For just as in baptism the sins that are buried no longer appear;

so also these will be blotted out, if we are willing to repent.

And repentance is no longer to do the same things.

For he who undertakes the same things is like the dog that returns to its own vomit, and, as the proverb has it, like one who cards wool into the fire and draws water into a leaky jar.

We must therefore desist, both in deed and in intention, from the things ventured, and, having desisted, apply to the wounds the medicines that are contrary to the sins.

Did you seize and take by covetousness? Desist from the plunder, and lay almsgiving upon the wound.

Did you commit fornication? Desist from the fornication, and lay purity upon the sore.

Did you speak evil of your brother and harm him? Cease from your slandering, and lay on kindliness.

And let us do thus with respect to each of the wrongs committed by us, and let us not simply pass over our sins;

for it is at hand henceforth—it is at hand—the time of the reckoning.

'The Lord is at hand; be anxious for nothing.'

But to us, perhaps, it belongs to say the very opposite:

The Lord is at hand; be anxious!

For they, indeed, rightly heard the words, 'Be anxious for nothing,' seeing they lived in affliction and toil;

but those who live in rapine and in luxury, who are destined to render a grievous account, might fittingly hear not this, but rather that:

The Lord is at hand; be anxious!

For neither is there much time left before the consummation, but the world is now hastening toward its end.

This the wars make plain, this the afflictions, this the earthquakes, this the love that has grown cold.

For just as a body in its death-agony, and being near its end, draws to itself countless ailments;

and as a house that is about to fall is wont to have much crumbling beforehand, both from the roof and from the walls;

so also the consummation of the world stands near and at the very doors, and for this reason the countless evils are scattered abroad everywhere.

For if the Lord was at hand even then, much more is He at hand now.

If four hundred years ago, when these things were spoken, Paul called that season 'the fulness of the times,' how much more the present time.

But perhaps for this very reason some disbelieve.

And yet for this very reason they ought rather to believe.

For whence do you know, O man, that the end is not near, and that after a short time the things foretold will not come to pass? For just as we call the end of the year not only the last day, but also the last month, though it has thirty days;

so also, of years so many, even if I should call four hundred years the end, I shall not err.

So that from that time onward he was proclaiming the end beforehand.

Let us therefore restrain ourselves, and let us take delight in the fear of God.

For while we are passing our time in security, not greatly anxious nor expecting it, the Advent will suddenly come upon us.

And declaring this, Christ said:

'For as in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot, so shall it be also in the consummation of this age.'

This also Paul declared, saying:

'But when they say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and as travail upon a woman with child.'

What means, 'As travail upon a woman with child'? Often women great with child, while sporting or dining, or in the bath, or spending their time in the market-place, foreseeing nothing of what is to come, have been suddenly seized by the pang.

Since, then, our affairs also are of this kind, let us always be prepared.

For we shall not always hear these things;

we shall not always have the opportunity for these things.

'For in Hades,' it says, 'who shall confess to Thee?' Let us then repent here, that so we may find God merciful toward us in the day to come, and may be able to enjoy much forgiveness;

which may it be granted us all to obtain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.