Homilies on John, Homily 14

“And from His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” [1.] I said the other day that John, to settle the doubts of those who might wonder how the Lord, though He began preaching later, came to rank ahead of him and be more glorious than he was, added, “for He was before me.” And this is indeed one reason. But he is not content with this and adds a second, which he now states. What is it? “And from His fullness,” he says, “we have all received, and grace for grace.” Along with these he mentions another. What is it? That Ver. 17. “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And what, he asks, does “From His fullness we have all received” mean? For we must focus our discussion on this for a while. He does not possess the gift by participation, he says, but is Himself the very Fountain and the very Root of all good, Life itself, Light itself, and Truth itself. He does not keep the riches of His good things within Himself, but overflows with them to everyone else. And after overflowing, He remains full, diminished in no way by supplying others. Though He constantly streams forth and gives others a share in these blessings, He remains equally perfect. What I possess is mine by participation (for I received it from someone else), and it is a small portion of the whole, like a meager raindrop compared with an immeasurable abyss or a boundless sea. Or rather, even this example cannot fully express what we are trying to say, for if you take a drop from the sea, you have reduced the sea itself, though the loss is imperceptible. But we cannot say this of that Fountain: however much anyone draws from It, It remains undiminished. So we must turn to another example, also a weak one, unable to establish what we are trying to show, but better able than the first to guide us toward the thought before us. Let us suppose there is a fountain of fire, and that from this fountain ten thousand lamps are lit, twice as many, three times as many, many times as many. Doesn't the fire remain just as full even after sharing its power with so many? Everyone can plainly see that it does. Now, if among bodies, which are made up of parts and are diminished when something is taken away, we find one with a nature that suffers no loss after supplying others with something from itself, how much more will this be true of that incorporeal and uncompounded Power? If, in the example given, what is shared is substance and body, and is divided yet suffers no division, then when we are speaking of an energy, and moreover an energy of an incorporeal substance, it is much more likely to undergo nothing of the kind. And so John said, “From His fullness we have all received,” joining his own testimony to the Baptist's. For the expression “From His fullness we have all received” belongs to the disciple, not the forerunner. Its meaning is something like this: “Do not think,” he says, “that we who spent so much time with Him and shared His food and table testify out of favoritism.” For even John, who had not known Him before and had never even been with Him, but merely saw Him among others while he was baptizing, cried out, “He was before me,” having received everything from that source. And all of us—the twelve, the three hundred, the three thousand, the five thousand, the many tens of thousands of Jews, the whole fullness of the faithful who lived then, who live now, and who will live in the future—have “received from His fullness.” What have we received? “Grace for grace,” he says. What grace in exchange for what? The new in exchange for the old. For there was a righteousness, and again there is a righteousness. (“As for the righteousness that is in the law,” Paul says, “blameless.”) ( Philip. iii. 6.) There was a faith, and there is a faith. (“From faith to faith.”) ( Rom. i. 17.) There was an adoption, and there is an adoption. (“To whom the adoption belongs.”) ( Rom. ix. 4.) There was a glory, and there is a glory. (“For if what was done away with was glorious, much more glorious is what remains.”) ( 2 Cor. iii. 11.) There was a law, and there is a law. (“For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free.”) ( Rom. viii. 2.) There was a service, and there is a service. (“To whom the service belongs”— Rom. ix. 4: and again: “Serving God in the Spirit.”) ( Philip. iii. 3.) There was a covenant, and there is a covenant. (“I will make a new covenant with you, unlike the covenant I made with your fathers.”) ( Jer. xxxi. 31.) There was a sanctification, and there is a sanctification; there was a baptism, and there is a Baptism; there was a sacrifice, and there is a Sacrifice; there was a temple, and there is a temple; there was a circumcision, and there is a circumcision. And likewise there was a “grace,” and there is a “grace.” But in the first case the words refer to types, and in the second to realities: the sound remains the same, but the meaning does not. So with patterns and figures, the outline of a man drawn in white lines on a black background is called a man, just as a figure that has been properly colored is. And with statues, a figure made of gold or plaster is called a statue in either case, though one is a model and the other the actual statue. [2.] So do not suppose that because the same words are used, the things are identical, or that they are entirely different either. As models, they did not differ from the truth; but because they preserved only the outline, they fell short of the truth. What is the difference in all these cases? Shall we take up one or two of the cases mentioned and examine them? The rest will then be clear to you. And we will see that the first were lessons for children, the later ones for mature adults of noble character; that the first laws were made for mortals, so to speak, and the later ones for angels. Where, then, shall we begin? With sonship itself? What is the distinction between the first and the second? The first gives the honor of a name; in the second, the reality goes with the name. Of the first the Prophet says, “I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High” ( Ps. lxxxii. 6 ); but of the latter, that they “were born of God.” How, and in what way? By the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. For even after they received the title of sons, they kept the spirit of slavery (for they were honored with this title while remaining slaves). But we, having been set free, received the honor in reality, not merely in name. Paul has stated this: “For you have not received the spirit of slavery again, leading to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, Abba, Father.” ( Rom. viii. 15.) For we are called “sons” because we have been born again and, so to speak, completely remade. And if anyone considers the character of holiness, what it was in the first case and what it is in the second, he will find a great difference there too. They were called holy when they did not worship idols or commit sexual immorality or adultery; but we become holy not merely by abstaining from these vices, but by attaining greater things. And we receive this gift first through the Holy Spirit coming upon us, and then through a rule of life far more comprehensive than that of the Jews. To prove that these words are not mere boasting, listen to what He says to them: “You shall not practice divination or perform purification rites for your children, for you are a holy people.” So for them, holiness consisted in being free from the customs of idolatry; but it is not so with us. “That she may be holy,” Paul says, “in body and spirit.” ( 1 Cor. vii. 34.) “Pursue peace, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” ( Heb. xii. 14 ); and, “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” ( 2 Cor. vii. 1.) For the word “holy” does not convey the same meaning in every case where it is applied, since God is called “Holy,” though not as we are. What, for instance, does the Prophet say when he hears that cry raised by the flying Seraphim? “How terrible for me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” ( Isa. vi. 5 ); though he was holy and clean. But compared with the holiness above, we are unclean. Angels are holy, Archangels are holy, the Cherubim and Seraphim themselves are holy, but here again this holiness differs in two respects: in relation to us and in relation to the higher powers. We could go on through all the other points, but then the discussion would grow too long and cover too much. So we will stop here and leave you to take up the rest, for at home you can bring these things together, examine their differences, and work through what remains in the same way. “Give a starting point to the wise,” someone says, “and he becomes wiser.” ( Prov. ix. 9 , LXX.) The beginning comes from us, but the completion will come from you. We must now return to the thread of the passage. After saying, “From His fullness we have all received,” he adds, “and grace for grace.” For the Jews were saved by grace: “I chose you,” God says, “not because you were many in number, but because of your fathers.” ( Deut. vii. 7 , LXX.) Now, if God chose them for reasons other than their own good deeds, it is clear that they received this honor by grace. And all of us too are saved by grace, but not in the same way or for the same purposes: ours are much greater and higher. So the grace we have is not like theirs. For we were given not only forgiveness of sins (which we have in common with them, since all have sinned), but also righteousness, sanctification, sonship, and the gift of the Spirit in far greater glory and abundance. Through this grace we have become God's beloved, no longer as servants, but as sons and friends. That is why he says, “grace for grace.” For even the things of the law came from grace, as did the very fact that humanity was created from nothing (for we did not receive this as a reward for past good deeds—how could we, when we did not even exist?—but from God, who always takes the initiative in giving His blessings). And not only were we created from nothing, but immediately after being created we learned what we must and must not do, received this law in our very nature, and were entrusted by our Creator with the impartial guidance of conscience. These, I say, are proofs of the greatest grace and inexpressible lovingkindness. And the restoration of this law, after it had become corrupted, through the written (Law) was also the work of grace. For we might have expected those who falsified the law once given to face correction and punishment. But what actually happened was the opposite: our nature was set right, and forgiveness was given, not as something owed, but through mercy and grace. To show that it came from grace and mercy, listen to what David says: “The Lord brings righteousness and judgment for all who are oppressed; He made His ways known to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel” ( Ps. ciii. 6, 7 ); and again, “The Lord is good and upright; therefore He will give laws to those who are on the way.” ( Ps. xxv. 8.) [3.] So humanity received the law through pity, mercy, and grace, and for this reason he says, “Grace for grace.” But striving still more earnestly to (express) the greatness of the gifts, he goes on to say, Ver. 17. “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Do you see how gently, with a single word and little by little, both John the Baptist and John the Disciple lead their hearers up to the highest knowledge, after first training them in humbler things? The former, after comparing with himself Him who is incomparably superior to all, then shows His superiority by saying, “has come to rank ahead of me,” and adding, “was before me.” The latter has done much more than the former, though still too little to match the worth of the Only-Begotten, for he makes the comparison with someone the Jews revered more than John: Moses. “For the law,” he says, “was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Notice his wisdom. He examines the things done rather than the person, for once these were established, even the senseless would likely be compelled to form a much higher judgment and conception of Christ. For when facts testify, they cannot be suspected of doing so out of favoritism or malice toward anyone, and they provide a basis for judgment that even the senseless cannot doubt. They remain in plain view, just as those responsible for them have brought them about, and so their testimony is the least open to suspicion of all. And see how he makes the comparison easy even for those with weaker understanding. He does not prove the superiority through argument, but points out the difference simply through the words, setting “grace and truth” against “law,” and “came” against “was given.” There is a great difference between each pair. The one expression, “was given,” applies to something administered by someone who has received it from another and passed it on to those he was commanded to give it to. But the other, “grace and truth came,” suits a king who authoritatively forgives all offenses and supplies the gift himself. That is why He said, “Your sins are forgiven” ( Matt. ix. 2 ); and again, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (He says to the paralyzed man), Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your house.” ( Ibid. v. 6.) Do you see how “grace” comes through Him? Look also at “truth.” The example just mentioned, what happened in the case of the thief, the gift of Baptism, the grace of the Spirit given by Him, and many other things reveal His “grace.” But we will understand His “truth” more clearly if we understand the types. For the types, like patterns, anticipated and sketched out the dispensations that would be accomplished under the new covenant, and Christ came and fulfilled them. Let us now consider the types briefly, for we cannot go through everything about them at present. But when you have learned some points from the (instances) I will set before you, you will understand the others too. Shall we begin, then, with the Passion itself? What does the type say? “Take a lamb for each house, kill it, and do as he commanded and ordained.” ( Ex. xii. 3.) But it is not so with Christ. He does not command this to be done, but Himself becomes It, offering Himself as a Sacrifice and Oblation to His Father. [4.] See how the type was “given through Moses,” but the “Truth came through Jesus Christ.” ( John i. 17.) Again, when the Amalekites fought at Mount Sinai, Moses' hands were supported, held up by Aaron and Hur standing on either side of him ( Ex. xvii. 12 ); but when Christ came, He stretched out His Hands on the Cross by Himself. Have you noticed how the type “was given,” but “the Truth came”? Again, the Law said, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in everything written in this book.” ( Deut. xxvii. 26 , LXX.) But what does grace say? “Come to Me, all of you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest” ( Matt. xi. 28 ); and Paul, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” ( Gal. iii. 13.) Since we have enjoyed such “grace” and “truth,” I urge you not to become lazier because the gift is so great. For the greater the honor we have been considered worthy of, the greater our obligation to live excellently. Someone who has received only small benefits does not deserve the same condemnation, even if he gives only a little in return. But someone who has been raised to the highest summit of honor and still displays a groveling, base disposition will deserve much greater punishment. May I never have to suspect this of you. For we trust in the Lord that you have given your souls wings for heaven, that you have moved away from earth, and that although you are in the world, you do not concern yourselves with the things of the world. Yet even with this conviction, we never stop urging you on in this way. In the games of the pagans, those whom all the spectators encourage are those who are still striving and running, rather than those who have fallen and lie flat on their backs. They stop paying attention to the others (since their encouragement would be useless, and they could not raise up people who had been cut off from victory once and for all). But here, some good can be expected not only from you who are watchful, but even from those who have fallen, if they will only turn back. That is why we use every means—urging, correcting, encouraging, praising—to bring about your salvation. So do not be offended by our constant instruction about the Christian way of life. These are the words of someone who has the highest hopes for you, rather than someone accusing you of laziness. And these words are addressed not only to you, but also to us who speak them; yes, and they will continue to be, for we too need the same teaching. So although we speak them, nothing prevents them from being addressed to us as well (for when the Word finds someone at fault, it corrects him, and when it finds him clear and free of fault, it keeps him as far from it as possible). And we ourselves are not free from transgressions. The course of treatment is the same for everyone, and the medicines are available to everyone. Only the application differs, according to the choice of those who use the medicines. For someone who uses the remedy as he should gains some benefit from applying it, while someone who does not put it on the wound makes the condition worse and brings it to the most painful outcome. So let us not resent being healed, but instead rejoice, even if the course of discipline brings bitter pain, for afterward it will produce fruit sweeter than any other. Let us do everything toward this end: that we may depart for that world healed of the wounds and blows that the teeth of sin inflict on the soul. Then, having become worthy to see the face of Christ, we may be handed over on that day not to the avenging and cruel powers, but to those who can bring us to the heavenly inheritance prepared for those who love Him. May we all attain it through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.