Homilies on the Gospel of John 52

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying:

'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.'

'He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.'

Those who draw near to the divine preaching, and give heed to the faith, must display the longing of the thirsty, and kindle within themselves so great a desire.

For thus will they be able to hold fast what is said with great watchfulness.

For those who thirst, when they get a cup, drain it with much eagerness, and then are refreshed.

So then also those who hear the divine oracles, if they receive them while thirsting, will never grow weary until they have drunk them to the full.

For that one ought always to thirst and hunger,

'Blessed,' He says, 'are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.'

'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.'

And what He says is of this kind:

'I drag no man to Me by necessity and force;

but if any man has great eagerness, if any man is inflamed with longing, him do I call.'

But for what reason did the Evangelist note that it was 'on the last, the great day'? For both the first and the last were great;

for the days between they spent rather in feasting and indulgence.

For what reason then does He speak 'on the last'? Because on it all were gathered together.

For on the first He was not present, and told the reason to His brethren.

But neither on the second nor on the third does He say any such thing, lest what was said should be dissipated, seeing they were about to go off to indulgence.

But on the last, when they were departing homeward, He gives them provisions for their salvation, and cries out;

on the one hand, manifesting His boldness of speech;

And this He did on account of the great crowd; and, showing that He was speaking about a spiritual drink, He adds:

'He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.'

By 'belly' here He means the heart, just as elsewhere also He says:

'And Thy law is within the midst of my belly.'

And where has the Scripture said that 'Rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly'? Nowhere.

What then does it mean, 'He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said'? Here one must place a comma, so that the clause 'Rivers shall flow out of his belly' belongs to His own declaration.

For since many were saying, 'This is the Christ,'

and, 'When the Christ cometh, will He do more signs than these?' He shows that one must hold a corrected knowledge, and believe not so much from the signs as from the Scriptures.

Indeed, many even saw Him working wonders, yet did not receive Him as the Christ;

and they were about to say, 'Do not the Scriptures say that the Christ cometh from the seed of David?' And He kept turning this over in every direction, wishing to show that He does not shun the demonstration afforded through these things, and again He refers them back to the Scriptures.

For above too He said, 'Search the Scriptures;'

and again, 'It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God;'

and, 'Moses accuseth you;'

and here, 'As the Scripture hath said, rivers shall flow out of his belly,' hinting at the lavishness and abundance of the grace.

'A well of water springing up into everlasting life;'

that is, he shall have much grace.

In another place, then, He says 'Everlasting life;'

and by 'living' He means that which is ever working.

For the grace of the Spirit, when once it has entered the mind and been established, gushes forth more than any spring, and does not cease, nor is emptied, nor stands still.

Therefore, to declare at once both the unfailing supply and the ineffable operation, He called it a spring and rivers—not one river, but ineffably many;

and there too He set forth the flood by means of the 'springing up.'

And one might see clearly what is said, if he should consider the wisdom of Stephen, the tongue of Peter, and the impetus of Paul—how nothing bore them down, nothing withstood them;

neither the rage of peoples, nor the uprisings of tyrants, nor the plots of demons, nor daily deaths;

but, like rivers borne along with a mighty rushing sound, so they went on their way, sweeping all things before them.

'This He spoke concerning the Spirit,' it says, 'which they that believed on Him were to receive.'

How then did the prophets prophesy and work countless wonders? For the apostles cast out demons not by the Spirit, but by the authority received from Him, as He Himself says:

'If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out?' This He said, showing that not all cast out demons by the Spirit before the cross, but by the authority received from Him.

Accordingly, when He was about to send them forth, then He said, 'Receive ye the Holy Spirit;'

and again, 'The Holy Spirit came upon them, and then they wrought the signs.'

But when He sent them forth, He did not say, 'He gave them the Holy Spirit;'

rather, 'He gave them authority,' saying:

'Cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, raise the dead;'

'freely ye have received, freely give.'

But in the case of the prophets it is confessed by all that there was a gift of the Holy Spirit; yet this grace had been withdrawn and had departed, and had left

the earth from that day on which it was said, 'Your house is left unto you desolate.'

And even before that day this scarcity was beginning.

For there was no longer a prophet among them, nor did the grace watch over their holy things.

Since then the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn, but was thereafter to be poured out lavishly;

and the beginning of this distribution came after the cross—not only of a lavish supply, but also of greater gifts (for the gift was more wonderful, as when He says:

'Ye know not of what spirit ye are;'

and again, 'For ye received not the spirit of bondage, but ye received the spirit of adoption')—

for indeed the ancients themselves too had the Spirit, but did not impart it to others;

whereas the apostles filled tens of thousands—

since then they were about to receive this grace, but it had not yet been given, on this account He says:

Since then it was concerning this grace that the evangelist was speaking when he said:

'For the Holy Spirit was not yet,' that is, not yet given, 'because Jesus was not yet glorified'—calling the cross 'glory.'

For since we were enemies and sinners, falling short of the gift of God, and hateful to God;

and the grace was a proof of reconciliation;

and a gift is given not to enemies, nor to those who are hated, but to friends, and to those who have been well-pleasing;

it was needful first that the sacrifice on our behalf should be offered, and the enmity be abolished in the flesh, and that we should become friends of God, and then receive the gift.

For if this took place in the case of the promise to Abraham, much more in the case of grace.

And declaring this, Paul said:

'For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void;'

'for the law worketh wrath.'

And what he means is this:

God promised to Abraham and to his seed that He would give the land;

but the descendants were unworthy of the promise, and could not by their own labors be well-pleasing.

For this reason faith entered in—an easy thing—in order that it might draw grace to itself, and that the promises might not fall through.

For this reason it is of faith, that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure.

For this reason 'according to grace,' since by their sweat they had no strength.

But for what reason, having said 'according to the Scriptures,' does he not also add the testimony? Because their understanding was corrupted.

And others said, 'He deceiveth the multitude;'

and others said, 'The Christ cometh not out of Galilee, but from Bethlehem the village;'

and others said, 'When the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence He is;'

and the opinion was divided, inasmuch as it was in a confused crowd.

For they did not pay careful heed to the things spoken, nor for the sake of learning.

For this very reason He answers these people nothing, although they say:

'Doth the Christ come out of Galilee?'; but Nathanael, who spoke more vehemently and more strikingly, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?', He praised as a true Israelite.

For these, and those who said to Nicodemus, 'Search and see, that out of Galilee ariseth no prophet,' spoke not seeking to learn, but simply to overturn the opinion concerning the Christ.

But Nathanael, being a lover of the truth, and accurately knowing all the ancient things, said this;

But they looked to one thing only: to overthrow the claim that He is the Christ.

For this reason He revealed nothing to them.

For those who contradicted even themselves—at one time saying, 'No one knows whence He comes,' and at another, 'From Bethlehem'—make it plain that even when they had learned the truth they set themselves against it.

For grant that they were ignorant of the place—that He was from Bethlehem—on account of His sojourn in Nazareth (though not even this admitted of excuse).

Could they then also have been ignorant of His lineage, that He was of the house and family of David? How then did they say, 'Does not the Christ come from the seed of David?' Yet this too they wished to cast into shadow before Him, uttering everything with malice.

But why did they not come forward and say:

'Since in all other matters we marvel at you, and you bid us be persuaded of you according to the Scriptures—tell us, how is it that the Scriptures say the Christ must come from Bethlehem, while you have arrived from Galilee?' But they said nothing of the sort; rather, they uttered everything wickedly.

For to show that they were not seeking, nor willing to learn, the Evangelist immediately added

that 'Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand upon Him.'

For even if nothing else, this at least should have been enough to bring them to compunction;

yet they were not pricked to the heart, even as the prophet says:

'They were divided asunder, and were not pricked to compunction.'

He will yield to no one; he looks to one thing only—to make away with the one against whom he plots.

But what says the Scripture? 'He who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it himself.'

For they indeed wished to make away with Him, as though quenching the preaching;

yet the preaching flourishes by the grace of Christ,

while all that was theirs has been quenched and perished: they fell from country and freedom, from security and worship, were stripped of all prosperity, and became slaves and captives.

Knowing these things, then, let us never plot against others, having learned that we whet the sword against ourselves and deal ourselves the deeper wound.

But has someone grieved you, and do you wish to take revenge on him? Do not take revenge;

for in this way you will be able to be revenged.

And do not suppose that what has been said is a riddle, but a true word.

How, and in what manner? Because, by not avenging yourself, you make God his enemy;

for 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'

For if we have household servants, and when they quarrel with one another they do not leave the judgment and punishment to us but take it upon themselves, then even if they come to us ten thousand times, not only do we not avenge them, but we are even indignant, saying, 'You runaway, you rogue! You ought to have left the whole matter to us';

'but since you took vengeance for yourself beforehand, trouble us no further.'

Much more, then, will God say this—God who has commanded him to yield in all things.

For how is it not absurd that, while we demand such great restraint and obedience from our own children,

we do not yield to our Master in those very things wherein we wish our servants to yield to us? And I say this because of your eagerness to punish one another;

since the one who is truly a lover of wisdom ought not even to do this, but to forgive and remit the offenses—even if there were not that great reward, namely, to receive remission in return for this.

For tell me: if you condemn the one who has sinned, why do you yourself also sin and fall into the same faults? He has insulted you? Do not insult him in return;

for there is no gain, but you have again become his equal.

In this way you will be able to put him to shame—if you bear it gently and with forbearance;

in this way to make him ashamed, in this way to check his wrath.

No one heals evil by evil, but evil by good.

Certain of the Greeks philosophize thus.

Let us therefore be ashamed if, when among the senseless Greeks there is such great wisdom, we should appear inferior to them.

Many were wronged, and bore it;

many were falsely accused, and did not take revenge;

they were plotted against, and did good in return.

And there is no small fear lest some among them be found greater than us in the conduct of life, and so bring upon us a more severe punishment.

For when we who have partaken of the Spirit, who look for a kingdom, who philosophize about the things of heaven, who do not dread hell, who are bidden to become angels, who enjoy the mysteries—when we do not even attain to the same virtue as they, what pardon shall we have? For if we must surpass the Jews ('For unless your righteousness,' He says, 'exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven'), much more the Greeks;

if the Pharisees, much more the unbelievers.

For if the kingdom is shut against us unless we surpass their way of life,

then when we appear even worse than the Greeks, how shall we be able to attain it? Let us therefore cast out all bitterness, and wrath, and anger.

To say the same things is, for me, not irksome, and for you, safe.

For physicians too often use the same remedy.

And we too will not cease to sound the same things in your ears—reminding, teaching, exhorting.

The throng of affairs both breeds forgetfulness in us, and so we have need of continual teaching.

In order, then, that we may not gather here in vain and to no purpose, let us furnish the demonstration that comes through works, that we may also attain the good things to come, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.