約翰福音講道集 第 47 章

The Jews then murmured concerning Him, because He said, I am the bread that came down from heaven;

Is not this the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does He say that He has come down from heaven?

Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—so Paul wrote to the Philippians concerning certain men.

That the Jews too were such men is plain both from what has gone before, and plain also

from the words with which they came and conversed with Christ.

For when He gave them bread and filled their belly, they said He was a prophet, and sought to make Him king;

but when He taught them concerning the spiritual food, concerning eternal life, when He led them away from things perceived by the senses, when He discoursed about the resurrection and sought to raise their minds to higher things;

when they ought most of all to have wondered at Him, then they murmured and leaped away.

And indeed, if this is the prophet, as they had already said:

This is He of whom Moses says, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me;

then they ought to have listened to Him when He said, I have come down from heaven.

But they did not listen; they murmured instead.

For as yet they still reverenced Him, because the miracle of the loaves was recent.

Therefore they did not openly contradict Him, but by their murmuring showed that they were displeased, because He had not given them the table they wanted.

Is not this the son of Joseph? From which it is plain that they did not yet know His wonderful and marvellous birth.

For this very reason they still call Him the son of Joseph.

And He does not rebuke them, nor say to them—

not because He was the son of Joseph, but because they were not yet able to hear of that wondrous birth.

For if they could not clearly hear of His birth according to the flesh, much less could they hear of that ineffable birth from above.

If He did not reveal the lowly thing, much less would He have undertaken to reveal those higher things.

And yet this greatly offended them—that He came from a lowly and ordinary father;

but nevertheless He did not reveal it, lest, in removing one occasion of offence, He should create another.

What then does He answer, when they murmured? No man can come to Me, except the Father who sent Me draw him.

Upon this the Manichees pounce, saying that nothing lies within our power;

whereas this very saying most of all confirms that we are masters of our own will.

For if a man comes to Him, one says, what need is there of drawing? But this very thing does not do away with what is in our power; rather it shows that we stand in need of help, for He here declares that it is not just any chance comer, but one who enjoys much assistance.

Then He shows also the manner in which He draws.

For lest again they should suspect something perceptible by the senses concerning God, He added:

Not that any man has seen the Father, save He who is from God, He has seen the Father.

How then does He draw? one asks. This the Prophet showed of old, proclaiming beforehand and saying:

They shall all be taught of God.

Do you see the dignity of faith—how He foretold that they should learn, not from men nor through man, but through God Himself? And for this very reason, to render His word worthy of belief, He referred them to the prophets themselves.

And if it is said, one asks, They shall all be taught of God, how is it that some do not believe? Because what was said was said concerning the greater number.

And apart from this, in another way too, the prophetic word means not simply all men, but all who are willing.

For the Teacher sits ready to impart what is His to all, pouring out His teaching upon all.

And I will raise him up at the last day.

No small thing is here the dignity of the Son, if indeed the Father brings men, and He raises them up;

not that He divides the works between Himself and the Father;

how could that be? but rather showing the equality of their power.

As therefore in that place, saying, And the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me,

and then, lest some should busy themselves prying after a voice, He referred them to the Scriptures;

so also here, lest they should suspect the same thing, He refers them to the prophets, turning them continually up and down to these, and showing that He is not contrary to the Father.

But what of those before this? one asks; were they not then taught of God? What then is the special thing here? That then they learned the things of God through men;

but now through the only-begotten Son of God, and through the Holy Spirit.

Not that any man has seen the Father, save He who is from God;

saying this here not in respect of causation, but in respect of the mode of being.

Since if He meant this, we are all from God;

where then is what is special and distinct in the Son?

But why, one asks, did He not set it forth more plainly? Because of their weakness.

For if, when He said, I have come down from heaven, they were so offended;

what would they not have suffered, if He had added this also? And He calls Himself the bread of life, because He sustains our life, both this present one and that which is to come;

Whosoever shall eat of this bread shall live for ever.

By bread here He means either the saving doctrines and the faith in Him, or His own body.

For both give sinews to the soul.

And yet elsewhere, when He said—

If any man hear My word, he shall never taste of death, they too were offended;

but here they suffered nothing of the kind, perhaps because they were still awed by Him on account of the loaves that had been made.

Observe too from what point He makes the difference between this and the manna.

From what one may call the end result of each kind of food, as one hears it.

For to show that that food afforded no strange or extraordinary benefit, He added:

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

Then He establishes what would most of all persuade them, namely, that they themselves have been counted worthy of things far greater than their own fathers—hinting at those wondrous men who were with Moses.

For this reason, since He had said that those who ate the manna died, He went on to add:

'He that eats of this bread shall live for ever.'

And the words 'in the wilderness' He did not set down without purpose, but hinting that the manna neither lasted for a long time, nor entered together with them into the land of promise.

But this bread is not of such a kind.

'And the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.'

One might reasonably raise a difficulty here and ask: What was the fitting occasion for these words, which neither edified nor were of any use, but rather even did harm to those who had been edified?

'Upon this,' he says, 'many of His disciples went back, saying:'

'This is a hard saying; who can hear it?' For it was possible for these things to be delivered to the disciples alone, just as Matthew said that 'privately He was discoursing with them.'

What then shall we say to this? That even now there is much that is useful and necessary in such words.

For since they pressed upon Him asking for food—but bodily food—and were reminding Him of the food provided in the days of their forefathers, calling the manna a great thing, He, showing that all those things were a type and a shadow, but that the truth of the realities is the present one, makes mention of spiritual food.

'But He ought,' one says, 'to have said that your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness—

but I have provided bread for you.'

For this seemed to be even less than that, in that the one was borne from above, while this—the miracle of the loaves—had taken place below.

Since therefore they were seeking food borne from heaven, on this account He continually said, 'I have come down from heaven.'

But if anyone should inquire why then He introduced also the discourse concerning the mysteries, we would say this to him: that the occasion was exceedingly fitting for these words too.

For the obscurity of what is said always rouses the hearer and makes him more attentive.

They ought not, therefore, to have been offended, but rather to have asked and inquired.

For if they believed Him to be a prophet, they ought to have trusted the things spoken.

So that the stumbling was due to their own folly, not to the perplexity of the things spoken.

But do you observe how little by little He bound the disciples to Himself.

For these are they who say, 'You have the words of life;'

'to whom shall we go?' Yet here He brings in Himself as the giver, not the Father, saying, 'The bread which I will give is My flesh.'

But the multitudes were not so disposed; rather, quite the contrary:

'This is a hard saying.'

And yet the teaching was not something strange, nor at variance with what had gone before.

For John from the very beginning had hinted at this, when he called Him a lamb.

'But not even so did they understand,' he says.

But neither did the disciples know.

For if concerning the resurrection they as yet knew nothing clearly—and on this account also were ignorant of what was meant by, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'—

much more concerning the things now spoken;

for these were more obscure than those.

For that prophets had risen from the dead, they knew, even if not so clearly.

But that anyone had eaten flesh, none of those men had ever said.

Nevertheless they were persuaded and followed, and confessed that He had the words of eternal life. For this is what belongs to a disciple: not to pry curiously into the things of the teacher, but to listen and be persuaded, and to await the fitting occasion for the solution.

What then, one says, that the opposite befell, and they went back? This was owing to their folly.

For whenever the inquiry of 'how' enters in, unbelief comes in along with it.

Thus also Nicodemus was thrown into confusion, saying:

'How can a man enter into his mother's womb?' Thus also these are troubled, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' For if you seek the 'how,' why did you not say this concerning the loaves—how He extended the five into so many? Because at that time they were intent only on being filled, not on beholding the miracle.

'But the experience,' one says, 'instructed them then.'

Then from that experience these things too ought to have been readily received.

For it was on this account that beforehand He wrought that marvelous miracle, so that being taught by it, they might no longer disbelieve the things spoken afterward.

Those men, then, gained nothing at that time from the things spoken;

but we have enjoyed the benefit through the very deeds themselves.

Wherefore it is also necessary to learn the marvel of the mysteries—what it is, and why it was given, and what is the benefit of the matter.

'We become one body, and members,' he says, 'of His flesh, and of His bones.'

Let those who have been initiated follow closely the things spoken.

In order, then, that we may become this not only by love, but also in very deed, let us be blended into that flesh.

For this comes about through the food which He has freely given, desiring to show us the longing which He has for us.

For this reason He mingled Himself with us, and kneaded His body into us, that we might become one thing, as a body joined to a head.

For this is a proof of those who love exceedingly.

This indeed Job also hinted at, when he spoke concerning his own household servants, to whom he was so exceedingly beloved that they desired to cling fast to his flesh.

For those men, showing forth the great longing which they had, said, 'Who would give us to be satisfied with his flesh?' Wherefore Christ also has done this very thing, leading us into a greater friendship, and displaying His longing toward us: He granted to those who desire not only to see Him,

but also to touch, and to eat, and to fix their teeth in the flesh, and to be intertwined with Him, and to satisfy all their longing.

Like lions, therefore, breathing fire, let us depart from that table, having become terrible to the devil, considering our Head, and the love which He has displayed toward us.

Now those who beget children often give them to others to nurse;

'but I,' He says, 'do not so, but nourish you with My own flesh, and set Myself before you, desiring that you all should be nobly born, and holding out to you good hopes concerning the things to come.'

For He who here has given Himself to you, will much more do so in the world to come.

'I have willed to become your brother;'

'for your sakes I shared in flesh and blood; and again that very flesh and blood, through which I became your kinsman, I give up to you.'

This blood makes the royal image within us to bloom afresh; this begets a beauty beyond words; this does not suffer the nobility of the soul to wither away, watering it continually and nourishing it.

For the blood which is formed in us from our food does not become this at once, but first something else;

but this blood is not so; rather, it waters the soul at once, and produces in it a certain great power.

This blood, when worthily received, drives away demons and puts them far from us, and calls the angels to us, and the Lord of the angels.

For wherever they behold the Master's blood, demons flee, but angels come running together.

This blood, being poured out, washed clean the whole world.

Concerning this blood the blessed Paul also discoursed much in his Epistle to the Hebrews.

This blood cleansed the innermost sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.

But if the type of it possessed such power, both in the temple of the

Hebrews and in the midst of Egypt, when smeared upon the doorposts—

This blood sanctified the golden altar;

without it the high priest did not dare to enter the Holy of Holies;

this blood ordained the priests;

this washed away sins in the figures.

But if it had such power in the figures, if death so shuddered at the shadow, tell me, how would it not have feared the truth itself? This is the salvation of our souls; by this the soul is washed, by this it is adorned, by this it is set aflame; this makes our mind brighter than fire, this renders the soul more radiant than gold. This blood was poured out, and made heaven passable.

Truly awesome are the mysteries of the Church, truly awesome is the altar.

There went up out of Paradise a spring, pouring forth rivers perceptible to the senses;

from this table there rises a spring, sending forth spiritual rivers.

Beside this spring are planted, not barren willows, but trees reaching up to heaven itself, bearing fruit that is ever ripe and unfading.

If anyone is burning with fever, let him come to this spring, and let him cool his burning.

For it also dissolves droughts, and refreshes all that is scorched-not what is scorched by the sun, but what is scorched by the fiery darts.

For it has its beginning from above, and its root from thence, whence also it is watered.

Many are the streams of this spring, which the Paraclete sends forth;

and the Son becomes the mediator, not holding a mattock and making a way, but opening the disposition that is within us.

This spring is a spring of light, welling up rays of truth.

Beside it stand also the powers above, gazing upon the beauty of its streams, since they too behold the power of what is set forth more clearly, and its unapproachable flashings.

For just as with molten gold, if one could plunge into it his hand, or his tongue, it would at once make them golden;

so too, and much more, do the things here set forth work upon the soul.

For the river seethes more fiercely than fire, yet it does not burn, but only baptizes whatever it may take hold of.

This blood was ever prefigured from of old, in the altars, in the slayings of the righteous;

this is the price of the world; with this Christ purchased the Church, with this He adorned her wholly.

For just as a man buying servants gives gold, and again, wishing to adorn them, does this with gold;

so also Christ both purchased us with blood, and adorned us with blood.

Those who partake of this blood stand with angels and archangels and the powers above, clothed with Christ's own royal robe, holding the spiritual weapons.

But as yet I have said nothing great;

for they are clothed with the King Himself.

But as it is great and marvelous, so, if you approach with purity, you have approached unto salvation;

but if with an evil conscience, unto chastisement and punishment.

'For he that eats and drinks,' he says, 'unworthily of the Lord, eats and drinks judgment to himself.'

If, then, those who defile the royal purple are punished in like manner as those who tear it;

what wonder is it that those who receive the body with an impure mind should undergo the same punishment as those who tore it with the nails? See, then, how fearsome Paul showed the chastisement to be, saying:

'He that despised Moses' law dies without mercy under two or three witnesses;

of how much worse punishment, do you think, shall he be counted worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant common, wherewith he was sanctified?' Let us therefore give heed to ourselves, beloved, since we enjoy such good things;

and whenever we are minded to speak something shameful, or see ourselves carried away by anger, or by any other such passion, let us reckon what things we have been counted worthy of, and how great a Spirit we have enjoyed;

and this reckoning shall be for us a curbing of our irrational passions.

For how long shall we be nailed to the things present? how long shall we not be roused up? how long shall we not take thought for our own salvation? Let us consider of what things God has counted us worthy;

let us give thanks, let us glorify Him, not by faith alone, but also by our very works;

that we may also attain the good things to come, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.