Homilies on John, Homily 17

“These things happened in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he sees Jesus coming toward him and says, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” [1.] It is a great virtue to speak boldly and freely and to put everything second to confessing Christ—so great and admirable that the Only-begotten Son of God acknowledges such a person in the presence of the Father. ( Luke xii. 8.) Yet the reward is more than an equal return: you confess Him on earth, He confesses you in heaven; you in the presence of men, He before the Father and all the angels. John was such a person. He paid no attention to the crowd, public opinion, or anything else that belongs to human affairs, but trampled all this under his feet and openly proclaimed to everyone the things concerning Christ, with the freedom that was fitting. That is why the Evangelist identifies the very place: to show the boldness of this loud-voiced herald. For it was not in a house, not in a corner, not in the wilderness, but in the middle of the crowd, after he had taken his place at the Jordan, when everyone he had baptized was present (for the Jews approached him while he was baptizing), that he loudly proclaimed that wonderful confession concerning Christ, full of those lofty, great, and mysterious doctrines, and declared that he was not worthy to untie His sandal strap. That is why he says, “These things happened in Bethany,” or, as all the more accurate copies read, “in Bethabara.” For Bethany was not “beyond the Jordan” or on the edge of the wilderness, but somewhere near Jerusalem. He also identifies the places for another reason. Since he was about to relate events that had happened only a short time before, rather than events from long ago, he calls on those who were present and saw them as witnesses to his words, and offers the places themselves as evidence. Confident that he had added nothing of his own to what was said, but had simply and truthfully described things as they were, he draws testimony from the places, which, as I said, would provide strong proof of his truthfulness. “The next day he sees Jesus coming toward him and says, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The Evangelists divided the periods among themselves. Matthew cuts short his account of the time before John the Baptist was imprisoned and moves quickly to what follows, while the Evangelist John does not cut this period short but devotes the most attention to it. After Jesus returns from the wilderness, Matthew says nothing about the intervening events, such as what John said, or the message the Jews sent and what they said. He cuts short all the rest and moves immediately to the imprisonment. “For,” he says, “when Jesus heard” that John had been betrayed, “He left that place.” ( Matt. xiv. 13.) But John does not do this. He says nothing about the journey into the wilderness, since Matthew had described it, but relates what followed the descent from the mountain. After recounting many events, he adds, “For John had not yet been thrown into prison.” ( c. iii. 24 .) And why, someone asks, does Jesus now come to him? Why does He come not just once, but this second time too? Matthew says His coming was necessary for Baptism, since Jesus adds that “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” ( Matt. iii. 15.) But John says He came again after Baptism, and makes that clear here, for he says, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and It remained on Him.” Why, then, did He come to John? He did not come by chance, but went directly to him. “John,” the Evangelist says, “sees Jesus coming toward him.” Why, then, does He come? Since John had baptized Him along with many (others), He came so that no one would suppose He had hurried to John for the same reason as the rest: to confess sins and wash in the river for repentance. He comes to give John an opportunity to correct this opinion. By saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” John removes the whole suspicion. For it is very clear that One so pure that He can wash away the sins of others does not come to confess sins, but to give that wonderful herald an opportunity to impress his words more firmly on those who had heard his earlier statements, and to add others as well. He uses the word “Look” because many had long been looking for Him because of what had been said. So, pointing Him out when He was present, he said, “Look,” this is the One you have been seeking for so long; this is “the Lamb.” He calls Him “Lamb” to remind the Jews of Isaiah’s prophecy and of the shadow under the law of Moses, so that he can more effectively lead them from the type to the reality. That Lamb of Moses did not immediately take away anyone’s sin, but this One took away the sin of the whole world. For when the world was in danger of perishing, He quickly rescued it from the anger of God. Ver. 30. “This is He of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me.” [2.] Do you see how here too he explains the word “before”? After calling Him “Lamb” and saying that He “takes away the sin of the world,” he then says, “He ranks before me, for He was before me.” He declares that this is what being “before” means: taking upon Himself the sins of the world, “and baptizing with the Holy Spirit.” “For I came with no further purpose than to proclaim the common Benefactor of the world and to provide baptism with water; but He came to cleanse all people and to give them the power of the Comforter.” “He ranks before me,” that is, He has appeared brighter than I, because “He was before me.” Let those who have accepted the madness of Paul of Samosata be ashamed when they resist so obvious a truth. Ver. 31. “And I did not know Him,” he says. Here he clears his testimony of suspicion by showing that it came from divine revelation, rather than human friendship. “I did not know Him,” he says. How, then, could you be a trustworthy witness? How will you teach others when you yourself are ignorant? He did not say, “I do not know Him,” but, “I did not know Him.” This would show him to be entirely trustworthy, for why would he have favored someone he did not know? “But I came baptizing with water so that He would be revealed to Israel.” He, then, did not need baptism, and that washing had no other purpose than to prepare a way for everyone else to have faith in Christ. For John did not say, “so that I might cleanse those who are baptized,” or, “so that I might free them from their sins,” but, “so that He would be revealed to Israel.” “And tell me, why could he not have preached and brought the crowds to Him without baptism?” But that would have been far from easy. They would not all have flocked together like this if the preaching had come without baptism, nor would they have learned His superiority through the comparison. For the crowd gathered not to hear his words, but for what? To be “baptized, confessing their sins.” But when they came, they were taught about Christ and how His baptism differed. Even John’s baptism had greater dignity than the Jewish baptism, and so everyone flocked to it; yet even so, it was incomplete. “How, then, did you know Him?” “By the descent of the Spirit,” he says. But again, so that no one would suppose He needed the Spirit as we do, listen to how John removes the suspicion by showing that the Spirit descended only to reveal Christ. After saying, “And I did not know Him,” he adds, “But He who sent me to baptize with water Himself said to me, The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” ( Ver. 33.) Do you see that this was the Spirit’s work: to point out Christ? John’s testimony was certainly above suspicion, but to make it still more credible, he traces it back to God and the Holy Spirit. For after John had testified to something so great and wonderful, something that would astonish all his listeners—that He alone took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, and that the greatness of the gift was enough for so great a ransom—he then proves this statement. The proof is that He is the Son of God, that He did not need baptism, and that the Spirit descended only to make Him known. For John did not have the power to give the Spirit, as those baptized by him show when they say, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” ( Acts xix. 2.) In fact, Christ did not need baptism, either John’s or any other; rather, baptism needed Christ’s power. For what it lacked was the crowning blessing of all: that the person baptized should be considered worthy of the Spirit. This free gift of the Spirit, then, is what He added when He came. Ver. 32–34. “And John testified, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and It remained on Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water Himself said to me, The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I saw and testified that this is the Son of God.” He repeats “I did not know Him” again and again. For what reason, and why? He was His relative according to the flesh. “Look,” the angel says, “your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived a son.” ( Luke i. 36.) So, to avoid seeming to favor Him because of their relationship, he repeats, “I did not know Him.” And there was good reason for this: he had spent all his time in the wilderness, away from his father’s house. How, then, if he did not know Him before the Spirit descended, and recognized Him for the first time then, did he try to stop Him before baptism, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ( Matt. iii. 14 ), since this proved that he knew Him very well? Yet he had not known Him earlier or for any length of time, and with good reason. The wonders that took place when He was a child, such as the events involving the Magi and others like them, had happened long before, when John himself was very young. Since so much time had passed in between, He was naturally unknown to everyone. For if He had been known, John would not have said, “I came baptizing so that He would be revealed to Israel.” [3.] From this it is clear to us that the miracles people attribute to Christ’s childhood are false, invented by certain people who publicize them. For if He had begun working wonders from an early age, John could not have been ignorant of Him, nor would the crowd have needed a teacher to make Him known. But as it is, John says that he has come for this purpose, “so that He would be revealed to Israel”; and for this reason he also said, “I need to be baptized by You.” Afterward, having gained a more exact knowledge of Him, he proclaimed Him to the crowd, saying, “This is He of whom I said, After me comes a Man who ranks before me.” For “He who sent me to baptize with water,” and sent me for this purpose, “so that He would be revealed to Israel,” Himself revealed Him even before the Spirit descended. That is why, even before He came, John said, “One comes after me who ranks before me.” John did not know Him before he came to the Jordan and baptized everyone, but when He was about to be baptized, then John knew Him. This happened because the Father revealed Him to the Prophet, and the Spirit showed Him to the Jews while He was being baptized; indeed, it was for their sake that the Spirit descended. For so that John’s testimony would not be despised when he said, “He was before me,” and, “He baptizes with the Spirit,” and, “He judges the world,” the Father speaks with a Voice proclaiming the Son, and the Spirit descends, directing that Voice to the Head of Jesus. Since one was baptizing and the other was receiving baptism, the Spirit comes to correct the idea some of those present might form, that the words were spoken about John. So when he says, “I did not know Him,” he is speaking of an earlier time, not the time close to His baptism. Otherwise, how could he have tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You”? How could he have said such things about Him? “But,” someone says, “why, then, did the Jews not believe? For John was not the only one who saw the Spirit in the likeness of a dove.” It was because, even if they did see, such things require not only bodily eyes but, even more, the vision of the understanding, to keep people from supposing that the whole thing is an empty illusion. For if, when they saw Him working wonders, touching the sick and the dead with His own hands and so bringing them back to life and health, they were so drunk with malice that they declared the opposite of what they saw, how could they shake off their unbelief through the descent of the Spirit alone? And some say that not everyone saw it, but only John and those among them who were better disposed. Even though it was possible to see the Spirit descending in the likeness of a dove with bodily eyes, that did not make it absolutely necessary for the event to be visible to everyone. For Zechariah saw many things in visible form, as did Daniel and Ezekiel, without anyone sharing what they saw. Moses too saw many things that no one else has seen. Nor did all the disciples see the Transfiguration on the mountain, nor did they all alike see Him at the time of the Resurrection. Luke makes this clear when he says that He showed Himself “to witnesses chosen beforehand by God.” ( Acts x. 41.) “And I saw and testified that this is the Son of God.” Where did he “testify that this is the Son of God”? He did call Him “Lamb” and say that He would “baptize with the Spirit,” but nowhere did he call Him “Son of God.” But the other Evangelists do not record John saying anything after the baptism. They pass over the intervening time in silence and mention the miracles Christ performed after John’s imprisonment. From this we may reasonably infer that these statements and many others have been omitted. Our Evangelist himself has declared this at the end of his narrative. For they were so far from inventing anything great about Him that they all recorded, with one voice and complete accuracy, the things that seem to bring Him disgrace. You will not find one of them omitting one of those circumstances. But as for the miracles, some left certain ones for the others to relate, while all passed over others in silence. I am not saying this without a reason, but to answer the shamelessness of the pagans. For this is enough to prove that the Evangelists loved the truth and said nothing out of favoritism. In this way, as well as others, you can equip yourselves to debate them. But pay attention. It would be strange if a doctor, a shoemaker, or a weaver—in fact, every skilled worker—could argue soundly in defense of his own craft, while someone calling himself a Christian could not give a reason for his own faith. Yet neglecting those things only costs people their property, while neglecting these destroys our very souls. Still, our attitude is so miserable that we devote all our care to the former, while despising the things that are necessary and form the foundation of our salvation, as though they had little value. [4.] This is what keeps the pagan from quickly laughing at his own error. For when they, though firmly committed to a lie, use every means to conceal the shamefulness of their opinions, while we, the servants of the truth, cannot even open our mouths, how can they help condemning the great weakness of our teaching? How can they help suspecting our religion of being fraud and folly? How can they avoid blaspheming Christ as a deceiver and a cheat who used the folly of the masses to advance His fraud? And we are to blame for this blasphemy, because we refuse to be alert in arguing for godliness, but consider these things unnecessary and care only for earthly things. Anyone who admires a dancer, a charioteer, or someone who fights wild beasts makes every effort and uses every device to avoid losing any argument about him. They string together long speeches of praise as they prepare their defense against those who criticize their favorites, and direct countless sneers at their opponents. But when arguments for Christianity are put forward, they all hang their heads, scratch themselves, yawn, and finally leave as objects of contempt. Doesn’t this deserve extreme anger, when Christ is shown to have less honor in your eyes than a dancer? You have devised ten thousand defenses for their actions, though those actions are more disgraceful than any others, yet you cannot bear to give any thought or attention to Christ’s miracles, though they have drawn the world to Him. We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the Resurrection of bodies, and in everlasting Life. Now, if a pagan says, “What is this Father, what is this Son, what is this Holy Spirit? How can you, who say there are three Gods, accuse us of having many Gods?” what will you say? What will you answer? How will you fend off the attack of these arguments? But what if, while you remain silent, the unbeliever raises another question and asks, “What, briefly, is resurrection? Will we rise again in this body, or in another, different from this one? If in this one, why does it need to break down?” What will you answer? And what if he says, “Why did Christ come now and not long ago? Has He only now decided to care for humanity, and did He despise us throughout all the years that have passed?” Or what if he asks still more questions? For I must not raise many questions and leave their answers unspoken, or I might harm the less discerning among you. What has already been said is enough to wake you from sleep. Well then, if they ask these questions and you cannot even bear to listen to the words, tell me, will we face only a trivial punishment when we have caused such error among those who sit in darkness? If you had enough time, I would have liked to present to you the entire book a certain impure pagan philosopher wrote against us, and the book of another who wrote earlier, so that at least in this way I might have roused you and drawn you out of your extreme laziness. For if they stayed alert so they could say these things against us, what pardon can we deserve if we do not even know how to fend off their attacks? For what purpose have we been brought into the world? Do you not hear the Apostle say, “Be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”? ( 1 Pet. iii. 15.) And Paul urges the same thing, saying, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” ( Col. iii. 16.) What do those who are lazier than drones reply to this? “Blessed is every simple soul,” and, “Whoever lives with integrity lives securely.” ( Prov. x. 9.) For this is the cause of every kind of evil: most people do not know how to apply even the testimony of the Scriptures correctly. Here, then, the writer does not mean (by “simple”) someone foolish or ignorant, but someone free from wickedness, who does no evil, who is wise. If this were not so, it would have been pointless to say, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” ( Matt. x. 16.) But why should I mention these things, when this discussion is entirely out of place? For besides the things already mentioned, other matters are wrong with us too: I mean the things concerning our lives and conduct. We are miserable and ridiculous in every way, always ready to find fault with one another, but slow to correct in ourselves the things for which we blame and accuse our neighbor. So I urge that, at least now, we pay attention to ourselves and not stop at finding fault (this is not enough to appease God), but make an excellent change in every way, so that, having lived here for the glory of God, we may enjoy the glory to come. May we all attain it through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.