Homilies on the Gospel of John 77

Arise, let us go hence.

I am the true vine;

you are the branches, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Ignorance makes the soul timid and unmanly;

just as, on the other hand, the instruction in heavenly doctrines makes it great and lofty.

For a soul that enjoys no care is a timid thing, not by nature, but by its own choice.

For when I see a brave man at one time daring, and now cowardly, I no longer say that this affection belongs to nature;

for the things of nature are unchangeable.

Again, when I see those who are now cowardly suddenly becoming daring, I pass the same judgment once more, ascribing the whole to free choice.

For the disciples too were exceedingly cowardly before they had learned what they ought, and before they had been counted worthy of the gift of the Spirit;

yet afterwards they became bolder than lions.

And Peter, who could not bear the threat of a servant-girl, was hung head downwards and was scourged, and amid a thousand dangers would not keep silent;

but as though suffering in a dream what he was suffering, so did he speak with boldness;

For this reason Christ said:

Arise, let us go hence.

Wherefore, tell me? Did He not know the hour at which Judas was about to come upon them? But did He fear lest, coming there, Judas should seize them, and lest before He had fulfilled His most excellent teaching the conspirators should come upon them? Away with the thought!

Far be such things from His dignity.

If, then, He was not afraid, why does He raise them up, and after fulfilling His teaching, then lead them into the garden well known to Judas? And even if Judas had come, could He not have blinded their eyes, as indeed He did when Judas was not present? For what reason, then, does He withdraw? He gives His disciples a little breathing-space.

For it was likely that they, being in a conspicuous place, would tremble and be afraid, both by reason of the time and by reason of the place.

For it was the dead of night, and they could not even attend to what was being said, but were forever turning about and imagining those who were to come upon them;

and especially when the very word of the Teacher made them expect terrible things.

For 'yet a little while,' He says, 'and I am not with you,' and 'The ruler of this world is coming.'

Since, therefore, hearing these and such-like words they were troubled, as though they were on the very point of being taken, He leads them to another place, so that, thinking themselves to be in safety, they might thenceforth listen with an untroubled mind.

For indeed they were about to hear great doctrines.

Arise, let us go hence.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

What does He wish to intimate by means of the parable? That the one who does not attend to what is said cannot live, and that the signs to come proceed from the power of Christ.

My Father is the vinedresser.

What then? Does the Son stand in need of an active agency? Away with the thought!

For this illustration does not signify this.

See, then, with how great exactness He works out the parable.

For He does not say that the root enjoys the care of the vinedresser, but the branches.

But the root is here introduced for no other purpose than that they might learn that apart from His power they can do nothing, and that they ought to be so united to Him by faith as the branch is to the vine.

'Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, the Father taketh it away.'

Here He hints at the manner of life, showing that apart from works it is not possible to be in Him.

'And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it'; that is, He causes it to enjoy much tending.

And yet the root has need of tending before the branches, being dug about and laid bare;

but here He says nothing about this root, but everything concerns the branches;

showing that He Himself is sufficient unto Himself, while the disciples have need of much help from the Husbandman, even though they be exceedingly virtuous.

For this reason He says, 'That which beareth fruit He purgeth it.'

For since it is unfruitful, it cannot even be in the vine;

but the other, since it beareth fruit, He makes yet more fruitful.

One might say that this was spoken also with a view to the afflictions then being brought upon them.

For the phrase 'He purgeth it' means 'He prunes it round about,' which is the very thing that makes the branch more fruitful.

Whence it is shown that trials rather make them the stronger.

Then, lest they should say, 'Concerning what does He speak these things?' and lest He again cast them into anxiety, He says:

'Already ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.'

Seest thou how He introduces Himself as the one tending the branches? 'For I,' saith He, 'have cleansed you.'

And yet above He shows the Father as doing this;

but there is nothing intervening between the Father and the Son.

'It remaineth henceforth that what is on your part should also be forthcoming.'

Then, to show that He did this not as needing their service, but that they might advance, He adds:

'As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, so neither can he that abideth not in me.'

For lest through cowardice they should be torn away, He braces up their soul, unstrung as it was by fear, and glues it fast to Himself, and holds out to them henceforth good hopes.

But the being taken away and cast off pertains to the branches.

Then, having urged them on from both sides, both by the good and by the grievous things, He requires first that which is on our part.

'He that abideth in me, and I in him.'

Seest thou that the Son also contributes not less than the Father to the tending of the disciples? For the Father purgeth, but He Himself holds them fast in Himself.

And the abiding in the root is what makes the branches bear fruit.

For that which is not purged, yet abides in the root, bears fruit, even if not so much as it ought;

but that which abides not, bears none at all.

But nevertheless both the purging was shown to be the Son's, and the abiding in the root, the Father's, who also begat the root.

Seest thou how all things are common—both the cleansing, and the enjoying of the power that comes from the root? Now indeed it is a great loss to be able to do nothing;

yet He does not stop the punishment at this point, but carries the discourse further.

'For it is cast forth,' saith He, no longer enjoying the husbandman's hand;

that is, 'If it had anything from the root, it lays it aside;'

if it had any grace, it is stripped of this, and is left desolate of the help and life that came from thence.

And what is the end? 'It is cast into the fire.'

But not such is he that abideth with Him.

Then He shows what it is to abide, and saith:

'If my words abide in you.'

Seest thou that even before this I said rightly, that He seeks the demonstration which is through works? For having said, 'Whatsoever ye shall ask I will do,' He added:

'If ye love me, keep my commandments';

and here, 'If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.'

And these things He said, showing that those who plot against Him shall be burned up, while they themselves shall bear fruit.

Having therefore transferred the fear from them to those others, and having shown that they themselves shall be invincible, He saith:

'Herein is my Father glorified, that ye should be my disciples, and bear much fruit.'

From this He makes the saying worthy of belief.

For if the bearing of fruit pertains to the glory of the Father, He will not neglect His own glory.

'And ye shall be my disciples.'

Seest thou how he that beareth fruit, that one is a disciple? And what means, 'Herein is the Father glorified'? That is, He rejoices when ye abide in me, when ye bear fruit.

'As the Father hath loved me, so have I also loved you.'

Here henceforth He speaks in a more human manner;

for that which is spoken as unto men has its own proper force.

For He who chose even to die, and deemed us—who were slaves and enemies and adversaries—worthy of so great honour, and led us up into the heavens, what measure of love did He display? If then I love you, take courage;

if it is the Father's glory that ye bear fruit, suspect nothing evil.

Then, lest He should make them slothful, see how He again braces them up.

'Abide in my love;'

and how shall this be? 'If ye keep my commandments,' saith He, 'even as I have kept my Father's commandments.'

Again the discourse proceeds after a human manner.

For surely the Lawgiver was not going to be subject to commandments.

Is not this also here shown on account of the weakness of the hearers? For He says most things with a view to their surmising, and through all things He shows that they are in safety, and that their enemies perish, and that all which they have, they have from the Son, and that, if they display a pure manner of life, none shall ever prevail against them.

But observe Him discoursing to them with greater authority.

For He said not, 'Abide in the love of the Father,' but 'in mine.'

Then, lest they should say, 'When Thou hast set all men at war with us, then Thou leavest us and departest;'

He shows that He does not leave them, but is so glued to them, if they will, as the branch is in the vine.

And again, lest through taking courage they should become slothful, He says not that the good is unshakable, if they be negligent.

Then, lest He should refer the matter to Himself, and rather furnish occasion for their falling, He says:

'Herein is the Father glorified.'

For everywhere He shows both His own and the Father's love toward them.

The glory then is not that of the Jews, but these things which they were about to receive.

Then, lest they should say, 'We have fallen away from our ancestral heritage, we have been forsaken, we have become naked and destitute of all things;'

'I am beloved of the Father, and yet nevertheless I suffer these things that lie before me.'

It is not, then, because of any failure of love that I now abandon you.

For if I am put to death, and yet I do not take this as proof of not being loved by the Father, neither ought you to be troubled.

For if you abide in my love, none of these terrors will be able to injure you at all as regards the matter of love.

Since, therefore, love is a great thing and unconquerable, and is no mere word, let us display it through our deeds.

He reconciled us while we were enemies; let us, having become his friends, remain so.

He began; let us at least follow.

He loves not for any gain of his own (for he lacks nothing); let us love at least for what profits ourselves.

He loved us while we were enemies; let us at least love him who is our friend.

Whereas now we do the very opposite.

For every day God is blasphemed on our account, because of our rapacity, because of our covetousness.

And perhaps some one of you will say:

Every single day you discourse about covetousness.

Would that it were possible to say this every night as well!

Would that one might follow you even into the marketplace, and at your table!

Would that it were possible for wives, and friends, and children, and servants, and farmers, and neighbours, and the very ground, and the walls, continually to break forth in this cry, that so we might yield even a little!

For this disease has laid hold of the whole inhabited world, and possesses the souls of all; and great is the tyranny of mammon.

We were ransomed by Christ, and yet we are enslaved to gold.

We proclaim the sovereignty of one Master, yet obey another.

And whatever it commands, we obey with eagerness; and kindred, and friendship, and nature, and laws, and all things we have disregarded for its sake.

No one looks up to heaven; no one considers the things to come.

But there will come a time when there will be no more profit even in these words.

For in Hades, it says, who shall confess to you? Gold is desirable, and affords us much luxury, and makes us honoured;

yet not in the way that heaven does.

For many turn away from the rich man and hate him;

but the man who lives in virtue they reverence and honour.

But the poor man is laughed to scorn, even if he be virtuous, one says.

But not by men, rather by the irrational creatures;

wherefore one ought not even to take heed of it.

For if asses were braying and jackdaws screeching, while all the wise, forsaking this spectacle, gave their praise, we would not look to the cries of the irrational creatures.

For indeed those who admire present things are like jackdaws, and worse than asses.

Then, if an earthly king admires you, you make no account of the multitude, even though they all laugh you to scorn;

but if the Master of all praises you, do you seek the applause of beetles and gnats? For such are these before God—nay, not even that, but something meaner than these.

How long shall we wallow in the mire? How long shall we set up as our spectators the dull-witted and the gluttonous? These can indeed appraise well the gamblers and the drunkards;

but of virtue and vice they cannot form even a dream.

Then, if someone mocks you because you do not know how to draw off the channels of the sewers, you will think it no terrible thing, but will even laugh at him who casts up this inexperience against you;

yet when you wish to practise virtue, do you set up as judges of these matters those who know nothing of it? For this reason we never attain to that art.

For we entrust our affairs not to the experienced, but to the ignorant.

And these judge not according to the principle of the art, but according to their own ignorance.

Wherefore, I entreat you, let us despise the many;

or rather, let us not even desire praises, nor money, nor wealth, nor account poverty as anything evil.

For poverty is to us a teacher of prudence, and of endurance, and of all philosophy.

Since Lazarus too lived with poverty, and was crowned;

and Jacob desired to obtain bread alone;

and Joseph was in the uttermost poverty, and was not merely a slave, but even a prisoner, and for this reason we admire him the more.

And we praise him not so much when he distributed the corn, as when he dwelt in the prison;

not when he wore the diadem, but when he wore the chain;

not when he sat upon the throne, but when he was plotted against and was sold.

Considering, therefore, all these things, and the crowns woven from these conflicts, let us admire not wealth, and honour, and luxuries, and power;

but poverty, and the chain, and bonds, and the endurance that is for virtue's sake.

For the end of those things is full of tumult and confusion, and is allotted to the present life;

but the fruit of these is heaven and the good things that are in the heavens, which neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard;

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