Homilies on John, Homily 27

“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven except He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” [1.] I will now repeat what I have often said, and I will not stop saying it. What is that? When Jesus is about to touch on sublime doctrines, He often holds Himself back because of His hearers’ weakness, and does not dwell for long on subjects worthy of His greatness, but instead on those that accommodate their limitations. For a sublime and great statement, spoken even once, is enough to establish His greatness, as far as we are able to hear it. But unless He continually spoke in humbler terms, close to His hearers’ understanding, the more sublime teachings would not readily take hold of a listener whose thoughts are fixed on earthly things. That is why more of Christ’s sayings are humble than sublime. Yet to prevent this from causing another harm by keeping the disciple down here below, He does not simply present His humbler sayings without first explaining why He speaks this way. That is just what He has done here. After speaking as He did about Baptism and the Generation by grace that takes place on earth, He wanted to introduce them to His own mysterious and incomprehensible Generation. But He holds back for a while and does not admit them to it, and then explains His reason for not admitting them. What is it? His hearers’ dullness and weakness. Referring to this, He added, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” So whenever He says anything ordinary and humble, we must attribute this to His audience’s weakness. Some say that the expression “earthly things” refers here to the wind; that is, “If I have given you an example from earthly things, and even then you did not believe, how will you be able to learn more sublime things?” And do not be surprised if He calls Baptism an “earthly” thing here. He calls it that either because it is performed on earth or in comparison with His own most awe-inspiring Generation. For although this Generation of ours is heavenly, compared with that true Generation from the Substance of the Father, it is earthly. He does not say, “You have not understood,” but, “You have not believed.” For when someone is hostile toward things that the intellect can grasp and will not readily accept them, he can rightly be charged with a lack of understanding. But when he does not accept things that cannot be grasped by reasoning, but only by faith, the charge against him is no longer a lack of understanding, but unbelief. So, to lead him away from investigating what He had said through reasoning, He challenges him more sharply by charging him with a lack of faith. Now if we must accept our own Generation by faith, what do those deserve who busy themselves reasoning about the Generation of the Only-Begotten? But perhaps someone may ask, “If the hearers were not going to believe these sayings, why were they spoken?” Because although “they” did not believe, those who came afterward would believe and benefit from them. So, challenging him very sharply, Christ goes on to show that He knows not only these things, but also others far greater and more numerous than these. He declared this in what follows, when He said, “And no one has ascended into heaven except He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” “And how does this follow?” someone asks. It follows very closely and is entirely consistent with what came before. Since Nicodemus had said, “We know that You are a teacher who has come from God,” He corrects him on this very point, as much as saying, “Do not think of Me as a teacher like the many prophets who were from earth, for I am here from heaven (but) now. None of the prophets has ascended there, but I live there.” Do you see how even what seems very exalted falls utterly short of His greatness? For He is not only in heaven, but everywhere, and He fills all things. Yet He speaks in a way that accommodates His hearer’s weakness, wanting to lead him upward little by little. And here He did not call the flesh “Son of Man,” but, so to speak, named His entire Self after the inferior substance. Indeed, He often does this, calling His whole Person sometimes by His Divinity and sometimes by His humanity. Ver. 14. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” This too seems to follow from what came before, and it too is very closely connected with it. After speaking of the very great blessing that came to humanity through Baptism, He goes on to mention another blessing, which caused this one and was no less great: the blessing of the Cross. Paul also brings these benefits together when arguing with the Corinthians: “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?” For these two things show His indescribable love most of all: He both suffered for His enemies and, after dying for His enemies, freely gave them complete forgiveness of their sins through Baptism. [2.] But why did He not say plainly, “I am about to be crucified,” instead of directing His hearers to the ancient type? First, so that you may learn that the old things are related to the new, and that they are not foreign to one another; next, so that you may know that He did not come unwillingly to His Passion; and, besides these reasons, so that you may learn that the event does Him no harm, and that salvation comes from it to many. For to keep anyone from saying, “How can those who believe in someone crucified be saved, when he himself is held by death?” He leads us to the ancient story. Now if the Jews escaped death by looking at the bronze image of a serpent, those who believe in the Crucified will, with far greater reason, enjoy a much greater benefit. For this happens not because of the weakness of the Crucified, or because the Jews are stronger than He, but because “God loved the world.” That is why His living Temple is fastened to the Cross. Ver. 15. “So that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Do you see the reason for the Crucifixion, and the salvation that comes through it? Do you see the relationship between the type and the reality? There the Jews escaped death, but temporal death; here believers escape eternal death. There the hanging serpent healed the bites of serpents; here the Crucified Jesus cured the wounds inflicted by the spiritual dragon. There the person who looked with his bodily eyes was healed; here the person who looks with the eyes of his understanding sheds all his sins. There what hung was bronze shaped like a serpent; here it was the Lord’s Body, built by the Spirit. There a serpent bit and a serpent healed; here death destroyed and a Death saved. But the snake that destroyed had venom, while the one that saved was free from venom. So it was here as well: the death that killed us had sin with it, as the serpent had venom; but the Lord’s Death was free from all sin, as the bronze serpent was free from venom. For Peter says, “He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” ( 1 Pet. ii. 22.) And Paul declares the same thing: “And having stripped principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” ( Col. ii. 15.) For just as a noble champion makes his victory more glorious by lifting his opponent high and throwing him down, so Christ, in the sight of the whole world, threw down the opposing powers. By hanging on the Cross, He healed those who had been struck in the wilderness and delivered them from all the venomous beasts that tormented them. Yet He did not say, “must hang,” but, “must be lifted up” ( Acts xxviii. 4 ); He used what seemed the gentler term because of His hearer, and because it suited the type. Ver. 16. “God,” He says, “so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What He says means this: Do not be amazed that I am to be lifted up so that you may be saved, for this is what the Father sees fit to do, and He has loved you so much that He gave His Son for slaves, and ungrateful slaves at that. Yet a person would not do this even for a friend, nor readily even for a righteous person, as Paul declared when he said, “Someone will hardly die for a righteous person.” ( Rom. v. 7.) Now Paul spoke at greater length because he was speaking to believers, but here Christ speaks briefly because He was addressing Nicodemus. Still, He speaks with greater depth of meaning, for every word meant a great deal. Through the expression “so loved,” and the other expression, “God the world,” He shows the tremendous strength of His love. The distance between the two was vast and infinite. He is immortal, without beginning, the Infinite Majesty; they are only dust and ashes, full of ten thousand sins, ungrateful people who have offended Him at every turn. And these He “loved.” Again, the words He added afterward are equally meaningful, when He says that “He gave His Only-begotten Son,” not a servant, not an Angel, not an Archangel. Yet no one would show as much concern for his own child as God did for His ungrateful servants. He presents His Passion to him, then, in somewhat veiled terms rather than openly, but He adds its benefit more clearly, saying, “So that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” For after He had said, “must be lifted up,” and alluded to death, His hearer might have become discouraged by these words, formed merely human opinions about Him, and supposed that His death meant He would cease to exist. Notice how He corrects this by saying that the One who was given was “The Son of God” and the cause of life, of everlasting life. He who obtained life for others through death would not Himself remain in death. For if those who believe in the Crucified do not perish, much less does He who is crucified perish. He who takes away the deprivation of others is Himself all the more free from it; He who gives life to others has life welling up in Himself all the more. Do you see that faith is needed everywhere? For He calls the Cross the fountain of life, something reason cannot easily accept, as the pagans now testify by their mockery. But faith, which goes beyond the weakness of reasoning, can easily accept it and hold on to it. And why did God “so love the world”? For no other reason than His goodness alone. [3.] Let us now feel humbled by His love; let us feel ashamed before His overwhelming lovingkindness. For He did not spare His Only-begotten Son for our sakes, yet we spare our wealth to our own harm. He gave His Own Son for us, but we will not even scorn money for His sake, or even for our own. How can these things deserve forgiveness? If we see someone submitting to suffering and death for us, we put him before everyone else, count him among our closest friends, place everything we own in his hands, and consider it his rather than ours. Even then, we do not think we are giving him the return he deserves. But we do not show Christ even this much gratitude. He laid down His life for us and poured out His precious Blood for our sakes, though we were neither friendly toward Him nor good. Yet we do not pour out even our money for our own sakes, and we neglect Him who died for us when He is naked and a stranger. Who will deliver us from the punishment to come? Suppose it were not God who punished us, but we who punished ourselves. Would we not vote against ourselves? Would we not sentence ourselves to the very fire of hell for allowing Him who laid down His life for us to waste away with hunger? But why do I speak of money? If we had ten thousand lives, should we not lay them all down for Him? Even then, we could not repay Him as His gifts deserve. For the person who first gives a benefit clearly proves his kindness, but someone who has received a benefit, whatever return he makes, repays it as a debt rather than giving it as a favor—especially when the person who first did good was benefiting his enemies. And the person who repays both gives his gifts to a benefactor and reaps their fruit himself as well. Yet even this does not move us. We are more foolish than anyone, putting gold necklaces on our servants and mules and horses while neglecting our Lord, who goes about naked, passes from door to door, continually stands at our gateways, and stretches out His hands to us. Yet we often look at Him without pity, though He endures these very things for our sake. He gladly goes hungry so that you may be fed; He goes naked so that He may provide you with the materials for a garment of incorruption. Yet even so, you do not give up any of your possessions. Some of your clothes are moth-eaten; others weigh down your chests and needlessly burden their owners, while He who gave you these and everything else you possess goes naked. But perhaps you do not store them in your chests, but wear them and dress yourself up in them. What do you gain by this? Is it so that people on the street may see you? What then? They will not admire you for wearing such clothes, but the person who gives clothes to the needy. So if you want to be admired, you will receive boundless praise by clothing others. Then God as well as people will praise you. As things stand, no one can praise you; everyone will resent you when they see your well-dressed body and your neglected soul. Prostitutes also adorn themselves, and their clothes are often unusually expensive and splendid. But only those who live virtuously have the adornment of the soul. I say these things continually, and I will not stop saying them, not so much because I care for the poor as because I care for your souls. For they will receive some relief, if not from you, then from somewhere else. Or even if they receive no relief and die of hunger, the harm to them will not be great. What harm did poverty and wasting away with hunger do to Lazarus? But no one can rescue you from hell if you do not obtain the help of the poor. We will say to you what was said to the rich man, who was continually roasting yet received no relief. God grant that no one ever hears those words, but that everyone may enter Abraham’s bosom, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever. Amen.