Homilies on the Gospel of John 43

After these things Jesus went away beyond the sea of Galilee, into the region of Tiberias;

and a great multitude followed Him, because they saw the signs which He did upon them that were sick.

And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there sat with His disciples.

Now the passover of the Jews was nigh.

Let us not close with violent men, beloved;

but let us learn, whenever it does not at all harm our virtue, to give place to their wicked designs.

For thus is all insolence stayed.

And just as darts, when they fall upon something stretched taut and hard and resistant, are with great force hurled back again upon those who threw them;

but when the impetus of the throw meets with nothing that resists, it is quickly spent and ceases;

so also in the case of insolent men, whenever we close with them, they grow the more savage;

but whenever we yield and give way, we easily slacken all their madness.

And for this reason also Christ, when He heard that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, came into Galilee, quenching their envy, and by His withdrawal soothing the wrath which was likely to have been engendered from these words.

Yet in going away again into Galilee, He does not enter the same places;

for He came not to Cana, but beyond the sea.

Wherefore also great multitudes followed Him, beholding the signs which He did.

What signs? Why does he not tell them one by one? Because this Evangelist above all was zealous to spend the greater part of the book on the discourses and public teachings.

Observe, at least, how in a whole year, or rather even now at the feast of the passover, he has taught us nothing further concerning signs, save that He healed only the paralytic and the son of the nobleman.

For his aim was not to recount all things, since indeed it was not even possible;

but out of many and great, a few.

And there followed Him, he says, a great multitude, because they saw the signs which He did.

The following was not that of a very firmly-grounded mind.

For having enjoyed such great teaching, they were led rather by the signs;

For signs, he says, are for the unbelieving, not for them that believe.

But not so that populace in Matthew; nay, hear how.

They were all astonished at His teaching, he says, for He taught them as one having authority.

But why does He now take to the mountain, and there sit with His disciples? Because of the sign that was about to be.

And the disciples' going up alone was an accusation of the multitude, which did not follow Him.

But He does this, taking to the mountain, not for this cause only, but also to teach us ever to rest from tumults and from the disturbance that is in the midst of the crowd;

for solitude is suited for the pursuit of true wisdom.

And often He alone takes to the mountain, and passes the night, and prays, teaching us that he who most of all draws near to God ought to be freed from all disturbance, and to seek out a time and place clean of tumult.

And the passover was nigh, the feast of the Jews.

How is it then that He does not go up to the feast, he says, but while all are hastening to Jerusalem, He Himself comes into Galilee, and not He alone, but leading also His disciples, and thence into Capernaum? He was henceforth quietly loosing the Law, taking occasion from the wickedness of the Jews.

And having lifted up His eyes, He sees a great multitude.

Here He shows that never simply did He sit with His disciples, but perhaps discoursing accurately on some matter to them and teaching, and turning them toward Himself; whence most of all one may learn even from this His tender care, and His lowliness and condescension toward them.

For they were seated together with Him, perhaps looking toward one another.

Then, having lifted up His eyes, He sees the multitude coming to Him.

Now the other Evangelists say that the disciples came and asked and besought Him not to send them away fasting;

but this one brings in Philip as being questioned by Christ.

And to me both seem to be true, though not having occurred on the same occasions,

times, but those being earlier than these;

so that those, then, are one set of events, and these another.

For what reason then does He question Philip? He knew which of the disciples most of all had need of further teaching.

For this is he who afterwards says:

Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

For this reason He was training him beforehand.

For if the sign had been done simply, the marvel would not have appeared so great;

but as it is, He first constrains him to confess the existing scarcity, that having learned in what circumstances they were, he might thus more exactly perceive the greatness of the miracle that was about to take place.

And see what he says:

Whence should we have so many loaves, that these may eat? So also in the Old Testament he spoke to Moses.

For He did not work the sign until He had first asked him, 'What is that in your hand?' Since things that are marvelous and happen suddenly are wont to cast us into forgetfulness of what went before, He first bound him fast by the confession of what was then present, so that, once the astonishment had come, he might no longer be able to expel the memory of the things he had confessed.

so that thus, from the comparison, he might learn also the greatness of the sign.

And being asked, he answers and says:

'Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little.'

This He said to test him;

for He Himself knew what He was about to do.

What is the meaning of 'testing him'? Was He then ignorant of what was going to be said by him? It cannot be said so.

But what then is the meaning of the expression? It is possible to learn it from the Old Testament.

'And it came to pass after these words, that God tested Abraham, and said, Take your son, the beloved, whom you have loved, even Isaac.'

For neither there does He appear to say this in the sense that from the trial He waited to see the outcome, whether he would obey or not;

(for how could He, who knows all things before their coming into being?) but both expressions are spoken after the manner of men.

For just as when He says that 'He searches the hearts of men,' He does not show that the searching is of ignorance, but of exact knowledge;

so also when He says that 'He tested,' He means nothing else than that He knew exactly.

And there is yet another thing that may be said: that He was making him more approved, just as He did with Abraham then, so now also leading this man on, through such a question, to the exact knowledge of the sign.

For this very reason also the Evangelist, lest you should dwell upon the weakness of the expression and suspect something amiss concerning the things said, added:

'For He Himself knew what He was about to do.'

But it is necessary to observe this: how, whenever there is any evil supposition, the Evangelist straightway corrects it with much diligence.

As therefore here, lest the hearers should suspect any such thing, he added the correction, saying:

'For He Himself knew what He was about to do';

so also there, when saying that the Jews persecuted Him, 'Not only because He broke the Sabbath, but also because He called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God':

if this had not been a declaration of Christ Himself, confirmed by His works, he would have added there too this same correction.

For if in the things which He Himself says the Evangelist is on his guard, lest anyone should misconceive;

much more in the things which others said about Him would he have been suspicious, had he not seen a fitting opinion concerning Him prevailing.

For he knew that this was His mind and an unalterable decree.

For this reason, having said, 'Making Himself equal with God,' he did not employ any such correction;

for what was said was not a corrupt supposition of those men, but a declaration of His own ratified by His works.

Philip having been questioned, then, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter says:

'There is here a lad who has five barley loaves and two fishes;

but what are these among so many?' Andrew was of higher mind than Philip, yet he too did not reach the whole.

And I think that he did not say even this at random, but having heard of the wonders of the prophets, and how Elisha wrought the sign concerning the loaves.

For this reason he did indeed ascend to a certain height, but had not the strength to reach the very summit.

Let us learn from this, we who are given to luxury, what those admirable and great men used to eat;

and both by the quantity of what was brought and by its quality let us behold the frugality of their table, and let us imitate it.

The things at least that follow upon these are full of much weakness.

For after saying, 'He has five barley loaves,' he added:

'But what are these among so many?' For he supposed that from fewer things the Worker of wonders would make fewer, and from more things more;

for it was equally easy for Him to cause the nature of the loaves to gush forth from more or from fewer.

For He had no need of any underlying material;

but so that the creation might not seem to be alien to His wisdom—as those who afterwards slandered it, being sick with the doctrines of Marcion, used to say—He made use of the very creation for the ground of His wonders.

Since therefore both the disciples had given up hope, then at last He works the wonder;

for so they gained the more, having first confessed the difficulty of the matter, that when it came to pass they might learn the power of God.

For since a sign was about to be wrought such as had been accomplished by the prophets also, even if not in like manner;

and since He was about to do it having first given thanks;

so that they might not fall into any weak supposition, see how in every way and by His manner He exalted it and showed the difference.

For while the loaves had not yet appeared, He works the wonder, that you may learn that the things which are not exist with Him as things which are, even as Paul says:

'Who calls the things that are not as though they were.'

For as though the table were ready and prepared, He bade them straightway recline.

Thus also by this He raised up the mind of the disciples.

And that they also gained from the question is clear, for they straightway obeyed, and were not troubled, nor said:

'What in the world is this? How do You bid us recline, when nothing appears in the midst?' Thus even before the sight of the sign they began to believe—those who at the beginning had so disbelieved as to say, 'Whence shall we buy bread?'—for with eagerness they made the multitudes recline.

But why in the world, when about to raise up the paralytic, does He not pray, nor when raising the dead, nor when bridling the sea;

but here, in the case of the loaves, He does this? To show that those who begin their food ought to give thanks to God.

And otherwise too, it is especially in the lesser things that He does this, that you may learn that He does it not out of need.

For if He did it out of need, much rather would He have done it in the greater things.

But He who wrought those by His own authority, plainly did these also condescendingly.

And besides, because a great multitude was present, and it was needful that they should be persuaded that He came according to the mind of God.

For this reason, whenever He works some sign alone, He displays nothing of this kind;

but whenever He does it in the presence of many, so that they might believe that He is not some rival god, nor opposed to Him who begat Him, He removes the suspicion by the giving of thanks.

'And He gave to those who were reclining, and they were filled.'

Do you see how great is the distance between the servant and the Master? For they, having the grace by measure, worked wonders thus;

but God, working with unrestricted power, accomplished all things with much abundance.

'Gather up the fragments that remain.'

'And they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets.'

This was no superfluous display, but that the thing might not be thought a phantasm;

for this reason also He fashions it out of underlying material.

But why did He not give it to the multitudes to carry, but to the disciples? Because it was these especially that He wished to instruct, seeing they were to be the teachers of the world.

For the crowd was to reap no great fruit from the wonders for the time being;

indeed, they straightway forgot them, and asked for another wonder;

but these were about to gain no ordinary profit.

And to Judas also the thing that took place was a condemnation, and no ordinary one, since he carried the basket.

That these things happened for the sake of their instruction is clear from what was said later, when He reminded them, saying:

Do you not yet understand how many baskets you took up? And the fact that the baskets of fragments were equal in number to the disciples came to pass for the same reason.

But afterward, once they had been instructed, He no longer made so many, but seven hampers.

For my part, I marvel not only at the multitude of the loaves that were made,

but along with the multitude, also at the exactness of the surplus: that He caused neither more nor less to be left over, but just as much as He willed, foreknowing how much they would consume.

Now the fragments confirmed what had taken place, showing both things at once: that what had happened was no mere illusion, and that these were of the very same substance from which they had been fed.

As for the matter of the fishes, at that time it was done with a material substance already at hand;

but afterward, after the resurrection, it was no longer from any underlying material.

For what purpose? That you might learn that even now He made use of the material not out of any need, nor because He required a foundation to work upon, but in order to stop the mouths of the heretics.

And the crowds said, This is truly the prophet.

O the excess of their gluttony!

He had wrought ten thousand things more wonderful than these, and nowhere did they confess this, but only when they had been filled.

So then from this it is plain that they were expecting some special prophet.

Are you the prophet? and these men likewise.

Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and seize Him by force, that they might make Him king, withdrew to the mountain.

Alas, how great is the tyranny of gluttony!

How great the fickleness of their disposition!

No longer do they care about the breaking of the Sabbath;

no longer are they zealous on God's behalf, but everything was cast aside once their belly had been filled.

For a prophet was in their midst, and they were about to appoint Him king.

Why then? To teach us to despise worldly honors, and to show that He has need of nothing upon the earth.

For He who chose all lowly things—mother, and dwelling, and city, and upbringing, and garb of clothing—was not going afterward to be conspicuous from earthly things.

For the things from heaven were both splendid and great: angels, and a star, and a Father crying aloud, and a Spirit bearing witness, and prophets proclaiming from afar;

but all the things on earth were lowly, so that in this way too His power might appear the more greatly.

He came also to teach us to despise the things here below, and nowhere to be amazed or astounded at the splendors of this life, but to laugh at all these things and to long for the things to come.

For he who marvels at the things here will not marvel at the things in the heavens.

For this reason He said also to Pilate:

My kingdom is not from hence;

lest He should seem henceforth to have made use of human fear and power in order to persuade.

How then did the prophet say:

Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and mounted upon a beast of burden? Because he speaks of that kingdom, the one in the heavens, and not of this one.

For this very reason He said again:

I do not receive glory from man.

Let us learn, therefore, beloved, to despise the honor that comes from men, and not to crave it.

For we have been honored with the greatest honor, compared with which this present honor is in truth an insult and a mockery and a farce;

just as this wealth compared to that is poverty, and this life apart from that is deadness ('Leave the dead,' He says, 'to bury their own dead');

so also this glory, compared to that, is shame and a laughingstock.

For if those who bestow it are more worthless than shadows and dreams, much more is the glory itself;

For the glory of man is as the flower of the grass.

And what could be more worthless than the flower of the grass? And even if it were lasting, what could it avail the soul? Nothing;

but rather it does the greatest harm, making men slaves—slaves worse than those bought with silver, slaves obeying not one master only, but two and three and ten thousand, who lay upon them divers commands.

How much better it is to be free than a slave—free from the bondage of men, but a slave under the lordship of God? And in short, if you wish to love glory, love glory indeed, but the glory that is immortal.

For its theatre is more splendid, and the gain greater.

For these men bid you spend and thereby please them;

but Christ does the exact opposite.

For He gives you a hundredfold of what is given by you, and adds to these things eternal life.

Which then is better: to be admired on the earth or in the heavens, by men or by God? unto loss or unto gain? to be crowned for a single day, or

for boundless ages? Give to the needy, and do not give to the dancer, lest along with your money you also destroy his soul.

For you are the cause of that man's ruin, through your ill-timed love of display.

For if those on the stage knew that their occupation would bring them no gain, they would long ago have ceased plying these pursuits;

but when they see you applauding, running together with the crowd, spending, lavishing away all that is yours, then, even if they were unwilling to pursue this, they are held fast by the desire for gain.

But if they knew that no one would applaud their doings, they would speedily have withdrawn from their labors because of the lack of gain;

but when they see the thing admired by many, the praise of others becomes a bait to them.

Let us therefore withdraw from unprofitable expenditure;

let us learn on what things and when it is fitting to spend.

Let us not provoke God from both sides, both by gathering whence we ought not, and by scattering upon things whereon we ought not.

For how great a wrath would it not deserve, when you give to the harlot while passing by the poor man? For even if you were providing from just labors, would not the deed be a ground of accusation—to give a wage for wickedness, and to honor for those things for which one ought to punish? But when, moreover, you strip orphans and wrong widows to nourish lewdness, consider how great the fire will be for those who dare such things.

Hear what Paul says:

They not only do these things, but also consent with those who practise them.

Perhaps we have rebuked you severely; but even if we do not rebuke, the punishments that come through the very facts remain for those who sin incorrigibly.

What profit then is there in gratifying with words those who are destined to be punished through their deeds? Do you consent with the dancer, praising and admiring him? Then you have become worse than he.

For to him poverty grants a pardon, even though not a reasonable one;

but you have been deprived even of this excuse.

And if I ask him, Why, having forsaken the other crafts, did you come to this accursed and defiled one? he will say that it is possible, with little toil, to reap much.

But if I ask you, Why do you admire the man who lives in lewdness and lives to the ruin of many? you have no such pretext to flee to, but must needs bow your head down, and be ashamed, and blush.

But if, when called to account by us, you have nothing to say, when that fearful and inexorable tribunal comes—where we render account of our thoughts, and deeds, and all things—how shall we stand? with what eyes shall we behold the Judge? what shall we say? what defense shall we make? what reasonable, what unreasonable pretext shall we put forward? that of the expenditure? that of the pleasure? or that of the ruin of others, whom we destroy through that man's art? There is nothing to say, but of necessity we shall be punished with a punishment that has no end, that knows no limit.

In order that this may not happen, let us from now on guard against all these things, so that departing with a good hope, we may attain unto the eternal good things;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness 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.