Homilies on the Gospel of John 46

'What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?' Jesus therefore said to them:

'This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.' They said therefore to Him:

'What sign then do You perform, that we may see and believe You? What do You work?' 1.

Nothing is worse than gluttony, nothing more shameful.

This makes the mind gross, this makes the soul carnal, this blinds, and does not allow one to see clearly.

See, then, how this very thing came to pass among the Jews as well.

For since they gaped after gluttony, and were wholly given over to the things of this life, and thought nothing spiritual, Christ leads them on with countless words, applying to them both goad and forbearance.

And not even so do they rise up, but still they remain lying below.

He said to them: 'You seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.'

He showed what kind of food one ought to seek, saying so.

He set before them the prize, saying:

'But that which endures unto eternal life.'

Then He healed what stood in their way, saying that He had been sent from the Father.

What then did those men do? As though they had heard nothing, they say, 'What then shall we do, that we may work the works of God?' But this they said, not that they might learn and do it (and the sequel shows this), but again leading Him toward the supplying of food, and wishing to provoke Him into filling them.

What then did Christ say? 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'

'What sign do you do, that we may see and believe? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness.'

Nothing was more senseless than these men, nothing more unreasonable.

Though the sign was still before their very eyes, they spoke as if nothing at all had happened, saying, 'What sign do you do?' And in saying this, they do not even allow Him to be lord of the choice of the sign, but suppose they can force Him into doing nothing else than such as had been done in the days of their forefathers.

'Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness.'

By this they thought to incite Him to do such a sign as could feed them after the flesh.

For why did they make mention of no other of the former signs, though many had occurred at that time, both in Egypt and at the sea and in the wilderness, but only of the manna? Was it not because they greatly craved it, by reason of the tyranny of the belly? And how is it that they who called Him a prophet, and attempted to make Him king because they had seen the sign, now, as though nothing had happened, have become thankless and ungrateful, and ask for a sign, letting fall the words of parasites and of starving dogs? Now is the manna wondrous to you, when your soul is parched dry? And behold the irony.

They did not say, 'Moses did such a sign, what do you do?' thinking thereby to strike at Him;

but for the time being they converse with Him with much honor, in expectation of the food.

And in another respect they neither say that God did this,

'What do you do?'—lest they should seem to make Him equal to God;

nor do they bring forward Moses, lest they should seem to abase Him;

but they set the matter in the middle, saying:

'Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness.'

And He might indeed have said: 'I have now worked a greater wonder than Moses, having needed no rod, having had no need of prayer, but having done all things of Myself.'

'And if you also make mention of the manna, behold, I too have provided you with bread.'

But it was not the season for these words now; rather, there was one thing He was intent on—to lead them to the spiritual food.

And behold His boundless wisdom, how He answers:

'It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.'

Why then did He not say, 'Not Moses has given, but I'?

but instead of Moses He set the Father, and instead of the manna He set Himself? Because great was the weakness of His hearers.

For indeed, even having spoken thus, not even so did He restrain them; and yet at the outset He was saying, 'You seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.'

And that they were seeking these things, He set right by means of what followed as well, and not even so do they desist.

Yet, when He promised to give the water to the woman of Samaria, He made no mention of the Father, but spoke somewhat in this way:

'If you knew who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water;'

and again, 'The water that I shall give;'

and He does not refer her to the Father.

But here He makes mention of the Father, that you may learn how great was the faith of the woman of Samaria, and how great the weakness of the Jews.

The manna, then, was not from heaven;

how then is it said to be from heaven? Just as the Scripture says, 'The birds of heaven';

and again, 'And the Lord thundered out of heaven.'

And He calls that bread true, not because the miracle at the manna was false, but because it was a type, not the very truth itself.

But when He made mention of Moses, He did not set Himself over against him;

for they did not yet prefer Him to Moses, but still held a greater opinion concerning that man.

For this reason, having said, 'Not Moses has given,' He did not add, 'but I give,' but instead

says that in His place the Father gives.

And when they heard, they say again, 'Give us this bread to eat.'

For they still thought it to be some perceptible thing, still expected to have the enjoyment of the belly;

wherefore also they ran to it quickly.

What then does Christ do? Leading them up little by little, He brings in:

'The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world;'

'not to the Jews only,' He says, 'but to the whole inhabited world.'

For this reason He did not say simply 'food,' but a life—another life and one transformed—so as to make it plain that, since all were dead,

But they still bow downward and say:

'Give us this bread.'

Rebuking them, because as long as they suspected the table to be perceptible they came running to it;

but when they learned that it is something spiritual, they no longer did so, He says again:

'I am the bread of life;'

'he who comes to me shall never hunger;'

'and he who believes in me shall never at any time thirst.'

'But I told you that you have both seen me, and yet you do not believe me.'

Thus also John, forestalling from above, declares:

'What He knows He speaks, and what He has seen He testifies, and no one receives His testimony.'

'What we know we speak, and what we have seen we testify, and you do not receive our testimony.'

And this He does, anticipating them and showing that the matter does not disturb Him, that He does not covet glory, and that He is not ignorant of the hidden things of their mind, neither of things present nor of things to come.

'I am the bread of life.'

He is henceforth about to plunge into the delivering of the mysteries.

And first He discourses concerning His own Godhead, saying:

'I am the bread of life.'

For this was not said concerning the body (for concerning that He speaks toward the end:

'And the bread also which I will give is My flesh').

But for the present, concerning the Godhead.

For that also is bread by reason of God the Word;

just as this bread too, by reason of the Spirit that visits it, becomes heavenly bread.

But here He does not make use of witnesses, as He did in His former discourse;

for He had, as a witness to Himself, the work of the loaves, and those who for the present feigned to yield obedience to Him.

But there they contradicted and accused Him;

for this reason He here also declares plainly.

But they, since they expected to enjoy a fleshly feasting, remain, and are not troubled, until afterward, when they gave up their hope.

Yet not even so did Christ keep silence, but spoke many things fitted to abash them.

But they, who while they were eating called Him a prophet, are here offended, and call Him the carpenter's son;

yet not when they were eating the loaves, but rather they said, 'This is the prophet,' and they wished to make Him a king.

They seemed indeed to be indignant at His saying that He had come down from heaven;

but the truth was, this was not what caused their indignation, but rather that they did not expect to enjoy a bodily table.

For if they were really indignant, they ought to have asked and inquired how He is bread of life, how He came down from heaven;

but as it is, they do not do this, but murmur.

And that it was not this which offended them is clear from what follows.

For when He said that 'My Father gives you the bread,' they did not say, 'Entreat Him that He may give it;'

but what? 'Give us the bread.'

And yet He had not said, 'I give,' but, 'My Father gives.'

But they, in their desire for the food, deemed even Him worthy of trust for the supplying of it.

Those then who deemed Him worthy of trust to give it, how were they afterward to be offended, and that when they had heard that 'The Father gives'? What then is the reason? Since they heard that it was not possible to eat, they again disbelieved, and put forward, as a pretended cloak for their unbelief, that the saying was too lofty.

For this reason He says, 'And you have seen Me, and do not believe;'

by the one hinting at the signs, by the other at the testimony from the Scriptures.

'For those,' He says, 'are they which testify concerning Me;'

and, 'I am come in My Father's name, and you receive Me not;'

and, 'How can you believe, receiving glory one from another? All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.'

See how He does all things for the sake of those who are being saved.

For this very reason He added it, that He might not seem to be busying Himself with curious matters, and to say these things without purpose.

What is it that He says? 'All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and I will raise him up at the last day.'

But for what reason does He also mention the common resurrection, in which even the ungodly share, as though it were a special gift to those who believe in Him? Because He does not simply mention resurrection, but that particular resurrection.

For having first said, 'I will in no wise cast him out,' and, 'I will lose nothing of it,' He then spoke of the resurrection.

For in the resurrection some are cast out, as one may learn from the words, 'Take him, and cast him out into the outer darkness;'

and others perish, as is also shown from the words, 'Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.'

So that the saying, 'I give eternal life,' declares this;

'For they that have done evil shall come forth unto the resurrection of judgment, but they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life.'

This resurrection, then—the one bestowed upon the good—He here made manifest.

And what does He wish to show by saying,

'All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me'? He lays hold of their unbelief, and shows that he who does not believe in Him transgresses the will of the Father.

And this He does not say openly, but in a veiled manner;

and everywhere you will see Him doing this, wishing to show that those who disbelieve have offended the Father also, and not Him alone.

For if this is His will, and for this cause He came, that He might save the whole world, those who do not believe transgress His will.

'When therefore,' He says, 'the Father leads any man, there is nothing to hinder him from coming to Me.'

This He says also further on: 'No man can come to Me, except the Father draw him.'

But Paul said that He delivers them up to the Father;

'For when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father.'

As therefore the Father, in giving, does not do so by first depriving Himself;

so also the Son, in delivering up, does not do so by casting Himself out.

And He is said to deliver up, because through Him we have obtained access.

And the word 'through whom' is used also of the Father, as when he says:

'Through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son;'

that is, through the will of the Father;

and again, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you.'

And what He hints at here is all but this:

'The faith which is in Me is no ordinary matter, but needs an impulse from above.'

And this He establishes throughout the whole discourse, showing that this faith belongs indeed to a noble soul, and to one drawn by God.

If all that the Father gives comes to You, and those whom He may draw, and no man can come to You unless it has been given him from above, then those to whom the Father does not give are freed from all blame and accusation.

These are bare words and a pretext;

for we have need also of the choice that comes from within ourselves;

for to be taught is a matter of choice, and so is to believe.

But here He indicates nothing else by the words, 'That which the Father gives Me,' than that 'It is no ordinary matter to believe in Me, nor a matter of human reasonings, but there is need also of a revelation from above, and of a soul that receives the revelation with right disposition.'

And the words, 'He that comes to Me shall be saved,' declare this:

'He shall enjoy much care.'

'For on their behalf,' He says, 'I both came, and took flesh, and put on the form of a servant.'

Then He added, 'I came down, not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.'

What do You say? Is Your will one thing, and His another? So then, that no one might suspect this, He remedies it by what follows, saying:

'And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who beholds the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life.'

Is this then not Your will? And how then do You say elsewhere:

'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what would I, if it be already kindled?' But if You too will this, it is plain that there is one will;

for indeed He says also elsewhere:

'As the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, even so the Son also makes alive whom He will.'

What then is the will of the Father? Is it not that not one of them should perish? This surely is what you also will.

Therefore the one is not one thing and the other another.

So also elsewhere it is made manifest.

He sets forth still more firmly His equality with the Father by saying:

'I and the Father will come, and We will make Our abode with him.'

What He says, then, is this:

'I came to do no other thing than this very thing which the Father also wills;

I have no will of My own apart from that of the Father;

for all that is the Father's is Mine, and Mine is His.'

If therefore the things of the Father and of the Son are common, He fittingly says:

'Not that I may do My own will.'

Yet He did not put it so here, but reserves this for the end.

For the lofty things, as I have said, He for the present conceals and casts into shadow; and He wishes to show that, had He said, 'This is My will,' they would have despised it.

He says therefore, 'I too work together with that will,' desiring rather to strike them, as though He said:

'What do you suppose? That by disbelieving you provoke Me to anger? Nay, it is My Father whom you exasperate;'

'For this is the will of Him that sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I should lose nothing.'

He shows here that He does not need their service, nor came for His own need, but for their salvation, not for the honour that comes from them.

This too He says in the former discourse: 'I receive not glory from men.'

'These things I say, that you may be saved.'

For up and down He is earnest to show this, that He came for their salvation.

And He says also that He procures glory for the Father, so as to appear free from suspicion.

And that it was for this reason He spoke thus, He revealed more clearly through what follows.

'For he that seeks,' He says, 'his own will, seeks his own glory;

but he that seeks the glory of Him that sent him, the same is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.'

'And this is the will of the Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes on Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.'

Why ever does He continually, up and down, turn to the resurrection? That they may not judge the providence of God by present circumstances alone;

that even if here they do not enjoy reward, they may not on this account become the more slothful, but may hope for things to come; and that they may not, because they are not punished at present, despise Him, but may look for another life.

But even if those men gained nothing, let us be earnest to gain from continually discoursing about the resurrection.

And if we are minded to be covetous, or to plunder, or to do anything unseemly, let us straightway take that day into mind and picture the tribunal;

and this reflection will restrain the unseemly impulse more strongly than any bridle.

And let us say, both to others always and to ourselves:

'There is a resurrection, and a fearful tribunal awaits us.'

And if we see someone exulting and swollen with pride over present good things, let us say the same, showing that all these things remain here;

and if we see another in pain and impatient, let us utter the same to him also, making clear that his griefs will have an end.

And if we see one careless and dissolute, let us sing the same over him again, making clear that of necessity he must give account for his carelessness.

This word is able, more than any medicine, to heal our soul.

For indeed there is a resurrection, and a resurrection at the doors, neither far off nor distant.

'For yet a little while,' says Paul, 'and He that is coming will come, and will not tarry;'

and again, 'We must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ;'

that is, both the wicked and the good, that the former may be put to shame before all, and the latter in turn may before all become more resplendent.

For just as those who judge here both punish the wicked and honour the good publicly,

so surely does it come to pass there also;

so that for the one the shame becomes the greater, and for the other the splendour the more conspicuous.

These things, then, let us picture to ourselves each day.

If we always revolve these things in our minds, nothing of present and perishable affairs will be able to hold us fast.

For the things which are seen are temporal;

but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Continually, therefore, let us speak both to ourselves and to one another:

'There is a resurrection, and a judgment, and a reckoning for the things done.'

And all who suppose that there is such a thing as fate, let them say this,

and they will straightway be delivered from the rottenness of that disease.

For if there is a resurrection and a judgment, there is no fate, however endlessly they contend and choke themselves with vexation.

But indeed I am ashamed to teach Christians about the resurrection.

For he who needs to learn that there is a resurrection, and who has not thoroughly persuaded himself that things are not borne along by necessity, at random, and by chance, could not be a Christian.

Wherefore I exhort and beseech you, let us cleanse ourselves from all wickedness, and let us do all things so as to obtain pardon and a defence in that day.

'And when will the consummation be? When will the resurrection be? Behold, how great a time has passed, and no such thing has come to pass!' But it will be; believe it.

For indeed those before the flood said such things, and mocked at Noah;

but the flood came, and swept away all these unbelieving ones, but preserved him alone, the one who believed.

And those in the days of Lot did not expect that god-sent plague, until those fiery blasts and thunderbolts, coming down, destroyed them all.

And neither in the case of these, nor in the days of Noah, was there any prelude of the things about to happen;

but while all were reveling, drinking, and behaving drunkenly, so did those unbearable things come to pass.

So also the resurrection will be, not with any preludes, but while we are in the midst of our prosperity.

Wherefore Paul also says:

'But when they say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.'

And God has so ordered this, that we may be through everything in earnest striving, and even in the midst of security may not grow confident.

What do you say? Do you not expect the resurrection to be, and the judgment? Demons confess these things, and do you not confess them? 'For You have come here,' it says, 'to torment us before the time.'

And those who say that torment shall be, know also that there is a judgment, and reckonings, and punishments.

Let us not, therefore, provoke God, by daring to do vile things and by disbelieving the word of the resurrection.

For as in other things Christ was our first-fruits, so also in this.

For on this account He is called the firstborn from the dead.

But if there were no resurrection, how was He to be the firstborn, when none of the dead followed after Him? If there were no resurrection, where would the righteousness of God be preserved, when so many wicked men prosper and so many good men are afflicted, and end their lives amid affliction? For where shall each of these receive his due according to his deserts, if indeed there is no resurrection? None of those who have lived rightly disbelieve in the resurrection, but every day they pray, uttering that holy saying:

Who then are they that disbelieve in the resurrection? Those whose ways are profane and whose life is unclean, even as the Prophet says:

His ways are profane at all times;

Thy judgements are taken away out of his sight.

For it is not possible—it is not possible—that a man should keep his life pure while disbelieving in the resurrection;

just as, on the contrary, they who are conscious of no evil in themselves both say and desire and believe that they shall receive their recompense.

Let us therefore not provoke Him, but let us hearken to Him when He says, Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell;

that through fear we may become better, and being delivered from that destruction, may be counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with His most worshipful and all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages that have no end.