Homilies on the Gospel of John 50

When he had said these things to them, he remained in Galilee;

but when his brethren had gone up, then he himself also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

The things ordered by Christ after a human manner are so ordered not for this reason only—that he might confirm the Incarnation—but that he might also train us unto virtue.

For if he had done all things as God, whence should we have been able to know, when we fall into perplexities, what we ought to do? By way of example I say this:

when in a certain place the Jews were bent on murder, he came forth at once into the midst and stilled their impulse.

If then he had done this continually, we—being unable to do this, but falling into such straits—whence should we have known how one ought to deal with the matter, and whether we should die at once, or should also make some arrangement as needful, so that the message might go forward? Since then we, who are not able, could not have learned, by coming into the midst, what we ought to do, for this reason we are instructed by him even in these things.

'For when Jesus had said these things,' it says, 'he remained in Galilee.'

'But when his brethren had gone up, then he also went up, not openly, but as it were in secret.'

The saying, that 'his brethren went up,' shows that he did not wish to go up with them.

And for this reason He remained where He was, nor did He make Himself openly known, even though they were in a manner urging Him to do so.

But why, when He always spoke openly and with boldness, does He now do this as it were in secret? He did not say 'in secret,' but 'as it were in secret.'

For so it was fitting, as I said, that He might teach us to order our affairs with prudence.

And apart from this, it was not the same thing to fall in among them while they were seething and raging, as afterwards when the feast was over.

The Jews therefore sought Him, and said, 'Where is that man?' Fine indeed were their achievements at the feasts!

They rush to murder, and at the feast they plot to seize Him.

So indeed elsewhere too they say:

'What think ye, that He will not come to the feast?' And here, 'Where is that man?' Out of their great hatred and enmity they were unwilling even to call Him by name.

Great was their reverence for the feast, mighty their piety—

at that very feast they sought to hunt Him down.

And there was much murmuring among the crowds concerning Him.

It seems to me that they were also provoked by the place where the sign had been wrought, and that they were at once enraged and afraid, being angry not so much on account of what was past as fearing lest He should again do some such thing.

But the very opposite came to pass, and against their will they made Him manifest.

And some said, 'He is a good man'; but others, 'Nay, but He deceiveth the people.'

That opinion, then, I take to be the view of the multitude;

but this latter, of the rulers and the priests.

For to slander Him springs from the malice and wickedness of those men.

Doing what, tell me? Was He working the signs by illusion and not in reality? Nay, experience testifies the very contrary.

Howbeit no man spake openly of Him, for fear of the Jews.

Dost thou see how everywhere the ruling class is corrupt, while the ruled are sound in judgment, yet lack the fitting courage which the multitude most needs? And now when it was the midst of the feast, Jesus went up and taught.

By the delay He made them the more attentive.

For those who in the first days had sought Him and said, 'Where is that man?'—when they suddenly saw Him present, mark how they gathered round, and were ready to press upon Him as He spoke, both those who called Him good and those who did not;

but the former, so as to gain something and to marvel;

these latter, so as to lay hold on Him and seize Him.

Now the 'He deceiveth the people' they said with reference to the teaching of His doctrines, not understanding the things spoken;

but the 'good' they said from the signs.

Having therefore quelled their fury, He so drew near that they might hear what was said at leisure, their anger no longer stopping up their ears.

What indeed He taught, he did not say;

but that it was wonderful, this only he tells us, and that He won them over and changed them;

so great was the power of the things spoken.

And those who had said 'He deceiveth the people,' being changed, marvelled;

'How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?'

Dost thou see how even here he shows that their wonder was full of malice? For he did not say that they marvelled at the teaching;

or that they received the things spoken;

that is, they fell into astonishment and were perplexed, saying, 'Whence hath this man these things?'—when they ought from this very perplexity to have perceived that there was nothing human in Him.

But since they themselves were unwilling to confess this, but stood only at the point of marvelling, hear what He Himself says:

'My teaching is not Mine.'

Again He answers their suspicion, leading them up to the Father,

and wishing thence to stop their mouths.

'If any man will do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.'

'Cast out from yourselves your wickedness, and your anger, and your envy, and the hatred which has been conceived against Me without cause, and there is nothing to hinder you from recognizing that My words are truly of God.'

For at present these things cast a shadow over you, and corrupt your right judgment, though it shines forth;

but if ye put these away, ye shall no longer suffer this.

For He would have smitten them sharply;

but all these things He hinted at by saying, 'He that doeth His will shall know concerning the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself';

that is, 'Or whether I utter something alien and strange and contrary.'

For the 'of Myself' always lies to this effect: that 'I say nothing beyond what seems good to Him, but all things which the Father wills, these I also will.'

'If any man do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching.'

What is, 'If any man do His will'? If any man be a lover of the life according to virtue, he shall know the power of the things spoken;

if any man be willing to give heed to the prophecies, whether I speak according to them or not.

But how is it both His and not His? For He did not say, 'This teaching is not Mine';

but having first said that 'It is Mine,' and having appropriated it to Himself, He then added, 'It is not Mine.'

How then can the same thing be both His and not His? His, in that He spoke it as one not taught;

not His, in that the teaching was the Father's.

How then does He say, 'All that the Father hath are Mine, and Mine are His'? For if, because it is the Father's, therefore it is not Thine, that other saying is false;

for on this very account it ought to have been Thine.

But the 'It is not Mine' shows most emphatically that the teaching of Himself and of the Father is one;

it has nothing different, as though it were another's.

For even though the Person be other, yet I so speak and act that it be not thought to be anything different from the Father's, but the very thing which the Father hath said or done.

Then He adds yet another irrefutable argument, bringing forward something human into the midst, and instructing them from things that are customary.

And what is this? 'He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory.'

That is, he who desires to establish some teaching of his own, does so for no other reason than to reap glory therefrom.

But if I do not wish to reap glory, for what reason should I wish to establish some teaching of My own? 'He that speaketh of himself';

that is, he who speaks something private and singular does so for this end, that he may establish his own glory.

But if I seek the glory of Him that sent Me, for what reason should I choose to teach other things? Dost thou see that there was a cause for which He there also said that He did nothing of Himself? And what was this? That they might believe that He was not aiming at the glory of the multitude.

For this reason, whenever He speaks lowly things, 'I seek the glory of the Father,' He says;

everywhere wishing to persuade them that He was not enamoured of glory.

Now of His speaking lowly things there are many causes;

such as, that He might not be thought unbegotten, that He might not be thought a rival god, that He was clothed with flesh, the weakness of His hearers, and that He might teach men to be moderate and to say nothing great concerning themselves.

But of His speaking lofty things one might find but a single cause: the greatness of His nature.

For if they were offended because He said, 'Before Abraham was, I am,' what would they not have suffered had they been forever hearing such lofty sayings? 'Did not Moses give you the Law, and none of you keeps the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?' And what connection, one may ask, does this have, or what has it in common with what was said before? They had brought two charges: one, that He was breaking the Sabbath;

the other, that He called God His Father, making Himself equal with God.

For that this was not merely their surmise, but proceeded from His own mind—

and that He spoke it not as the many do, but in a peculiar and singular manner, is evident from this:

Many have often called God their Father—

as, 'One God created us, and one is the Father of us all';

yet the people were not on that account equal with God;

wherefore neither were they offended when they heard it.

As therefore when they said, 'This man is not from God,' and He had often healed them and had made His defense concerning the breaking of the Sabbath;

so likewise here, if this had belonged to their suspicion and not to His own mind, He would have corrected it and said:

'Why do you suppose Me equal to God? I am not equal.'

But He said no such thing; rather, the very opposite, and He showed that He is equal by what follows.

For the words, 'Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son';

and, 'That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father'; and, 'The works which He does, these also the Son does likewise'—

all these are constitutive of equality.

And concerning the Law also He says:

'Think not that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets.'

Thus He knew how to root out even the wicked surmises in the mind.

But here He not only does not do away with the surmise of equality, but even confirms it.

Wherefore in another place also, when they said, 'You make Yourself God,' He did not do away with the surmise, but even confirmed it, saying:

'But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,' He says to the paralytic:

'Take up your bed and walk.'

That former charge, then—that He made Himself equal with God—He intensified, showing that He is not opposed to God, but says the same things and teaches the same things as He does;

for the rest, He takes His stand upon the breaking of the Sabbath, saying:

'Did not Moses give you the Law, and none of you keeps the Law?' As if He were saying:

'The Law said, You shall not kill;

but you commit murder, and yet accuse Me as a transgressor of the Law?' And why did He say, 'None'? Because they all sought to kill Him.

'I indeed,' He says, 'even if I broke the Law, yet it was to save a man;

but you transgress with an evil intent.'

'My act, even if it was a transgression, was yet for the sake of salvation; and it was not fitting that I should be judged by you, who transgress in great matters.'

'For your deed is the overthrow of the whole Law.'

Then He presses the argument further, although He had discoursed much and long before;

but then indeed more loftily and according to His own dignity, whereas now more humbly.

And why so? Because He did not wish continually to provoke them.

For now their wrath was heightened, and they were advancing toward murder.

Wherefore He abides, restraining them by these two things:

both by convicting them of their audacity and saying, 'Why do you seek to kill Me?' and by saying with gentleness, 'A man who has told you the truth'; and by showing that men bent on murder are not worthy to judge another.

But observe both the humility of Christ's question and the insolence of their answer.

'Who seeks to kill You?' A word of wrath, and of anger, and of a soul shameless at being so unexpectedly convicted, and, as they supposed, forestalling Him by their effrontery.

For just as certain robbers, singing while they plot their ambushes and then wishing to render off his guard the one they plot against, accomplish this by silence;

He, however, refraining from convicting them of this, so as not to make them yet more shameless, again takes up the defense concerning the Sabbath, reasoning against them from the Law.

'It is no wonder,' He says, 'if you disobey Me, seeing that you disobey even the Law which you think you hear and which you suppose was given by Moses.'

'It is nothing new, then, if you do not attend to My words.'

For since they said, 'God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not even know where He is from,' He shows that they were insulting Moses himself;

for it was he who gave the Law, and yet they did not hearken.

'I did one work, and you all marvel.'

Observe how, wherever it is needful to make a defense and to receive the deed as a charge, He does not mention the Father, but brings forward His own person.

He wishes to show that not to have done it would have been to break the Law;

and that there are many things more authoritative than the Law;

and that Moses consented to receive a commandment contrary to the Law, and one more authoritative than the Law.

For circumcision is more authoritative than the Sabbath;

and yet it belongs not to the Law, but to the fathers.

'But I have done that which is more authoritative and better than circumcision.'

Then He does not mention a commandment of the Law—

as, for instance, that the priests profane the Sabbath, as He had already said—but argues from a greater abundance.

And the word 'you marvel' means this: you are thrown into an uproar, you are troubled.

For if the Law had to be firmly established, circumcision would not have been more authoritative than it.

'...because I did what is greater than circumcision';

but out of superabundance He convicts them by saying:

'If a man receives circumcision...'

Do you see that the Law then most of all stands firm, when one breaks it? Do you see that the breaking of the Sabbath is the keeping of the Law? For if the Sabbath were not broken, the Law would of necessity be broken;

so that I too have established it.

And He did not say, 'You are enraged at Me because I did something greater than circumcision';

but, having stated only the fact, He committed the judgment to themselves—whether entire health is not more necessary than circumcision.

'That a man may receive a sign contributing nothing to health, the Law is broken,' He says;

'yet when he is delivered from so great a disease, are you displeased and indignant? Judge not according to appearance.'

What is 'according to appearance'? Do not, because Moses has among you the greater glory, cast your vote from the dignity of persons;

but from the very nature of the things themselves;

for this is to judge righteously.

For why did no one accuse Moses? Why did no one disobey when he commanded the Sabbath to be broken by a commandment brought in from outside the Law? Rather, he permits a commandment more authoritative than his own Law to exist—a commandment which was not introduced by the Law, but from outside;

which is a thing most marvelous of all.

But you, who are not lawgivers, avenge the law beyond all measure, and take up its defense.

Yet Moses is more worthy of your trust than you are, he who commands that the law be dissolved for the sake of a commandment that is not lawful.

Now by saying, 'a whole man,' He shows that circumcision was but a partial healing.

And what is the healing wrought by circumcision? 'Every soul,' it says, 'that is not circumcised shall be utterly destroyed.'

But I raised up one who was not partially afflicted, but wholly corrupted.

Judge not, therefore, according to appearance.

Let us be persuaded that this was spoken not to those of that time only, but to us also, that we should never corrupt justice for any matter whatever, but do all things for its sake;

and whether a man be poor or rich, that we should not regard his person, but examine the facts.

'Thou shalt not,' it says, 'favor a poor man in his cause.'

What then does this mean? 'Be not broken down nor bent aside,' it says, 'if it happen that the wrongdoer is a poor man.'

But if we must not show favor to a poor man, much less to one who is rich.

These things I say not to those who sit in judgment only, but to all men, that nowhere should we corrupt justice, but everywhere keep it inviolate.

'The Lord,' it says, 'loveth righteousness.'

But he that loveth iniquity hateth his own soul.

Let us not, then, hate our own souls, nor love iniquity.

For assuredly its gain in the present is small and nothing;

but for the time to come it brings great loss;

or rather, not even here shall we enjoy any profit from it.

For when we live in luxury with an evil conscience, is not this itself punishment and torment? Let us therefore love justice, and nowhere do violence to this law.

For what shall we be able to reap from the present life, if we depart without having gained virtue? And what there shall stand up for us? friendship, and kinship, and the favor of such a one? And why do I speak of the favor of such a one? For even if we have Noah, or Job, or Daniel for a father, this shall profit us nothing, when we are betrayed by our own works.

But one thing only do we need, virtue of the soul.

This shall be able to save us, and to deliver us from the eternal fire.

This shall escort us into the kingdom of heaven;

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.