Homilies on John, Homily 29

“And He and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He stayed with them (and baptized).” [1.] Nothing can be clearer or more powerful than the truth, just as nothing is weaker than falsehood, even if it is hidden under ten thousand veils. Even then it is easily detected and easily melts away. But truth stands unveiled before everyone who wants to see her beauty; she seeks no concealment, fears no danger, trembles at no plots, seeks no glory from the crowd, and answers to nothing mortal. She stands above them all, faces ten thousand secret plots, yet remains unconquerable. By her own extraordinary power she guards those who flee to her as though in a secure fortress; she avoids secret hiding places and sets what belongs to her before everyone. Christ declared this when He spoke with Pilate and said, “I have always taught openly, and I have said nothing in secret.” ( c. xviii. 20.) As He spoke then, so He acted now, for, “After this,” the Evangelist says, “He and His disciples went out into the land of Judea, and there He stayed with them and baptized.” At the feasts He went up to the City to present His teachings among them and offer the help of His miracles; but after the feasts were over, He often went to the Jordan, because many people gathered there. He always chose the most crowded places, not from any love of display or empty glory, but because He wanted to offer His help to as many people as possible. Yet later the Evangelist says that “Jesus did not baptize, but His disciples did”; this makes it clear that he means the same thing here too. And why did Jesus not baptize? The Baptist had said before, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Now He had not yet given the Spirit, and so He had good reason not to baptize. But His disciples did so because they wanted to bring many people to the teaching that saves. “And why, when Jesus’ disciples were baptizing, did John not stop doing so? Why did he continue to baptize, even until he was taken to prison? For to say, Ver. 23. ‘John also was baptizing in Aenon’; and to add, Ver. 24. ‘John had not yet been thrown into prison,’ was to declare that he did not stop baptizing until that time. But why did he baptize until then? He would have made Jesus’ disciples seem more worthy of respect if he had stopped when they began. Why, then, did he baptize?” It was to avoid stirring his disciples to even stronger rivalry and making them still more quarrelsome. For even though he proclaimed Christ ten thousand times, yielded first place to Him, and placed himself so far below Him, he still could not persuade them to run to Him. If he had added this as well, he would have made them even more hostile. This was why Christ began to preach more regularly when John was removed. Moreover, I think John’s death was allowed to happen, and happened very quickly, so that the crowd’s whole attention might turn to Christ and they might no longer be divided in their opinions about the two. Besides, even while he was baptizing, he never stopped urging them and showing them Jesus’ exalted and awe-inspiring nature. For he baptized them and told them nothing except that they must believe in Him who came after him. Now how would a man who acted this way have made Christ’s disciples seem worthy of respect by stopping? On the contrary, people would have thought he did so out of envy and anger. But continuing to preach gave stronger proof: he sought no glory for himself, but sent his hearers on to Christ and worked with Him no less—and indeed much more—than Christ’s own disciples, because his testimony was above suspicion and everyone held him in far higher regard than them. The Evangelist implies this when he says, “All Judea and the country around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized.” ( Matt. iii. 5.) Even when the disciples were baptizing, many people still kept running to him. If anyone asks, “And how was the disciples’ baptism better than John’s?” we will reply, “In no way.” Both were equally without the gift of the Spirit, and both groups had the same reason for baptizing: to lead those baptized to Christ. They established baptism so that they would not always have to run around gathering those who would believe, as Simon’s brother did for him, and Philip did for Nathanael. Through baptism they could easily bring everyone to them and prepare the way for the faith that was to come. But what follows shows that neither baptism was superior to the other. What is that? Ver. 25. “A dispute arose,” the Evangelist says, “(between some) of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.” For John’s disciples were always jealous of Christ’s disciples and Christ Himself. When they saw them baptizing, they began arguing with those being baptized, as though their baptism were somehow superior to that of Christ’s disciples. They took one of those who had been baptized and tried to persuade him of this, but failed. Listen to how the Evangelist lets us know that they were the ones who challenged him, and that he did not start the dispute. He does not say that “a certain Jew disputed with them,” but that “a dispute arose from John’s disciples with a certain Jew concerning purification.” [2.] And notice, please, the Evangelist’s gentleness. He does not speak abusively, but softens the accusation as much as he can, simply saying that “a dispute arose”; yet what follows, which he has also recorded gently, makes it clear that jealousy prompted their words. Ver. 26. “They came,” he says, “to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you testified, look, that same man is baptizing, and everyone is coming to Him.” That is, “He whom you baptized”; for this is what they imply when they say, “to whom you testified,” as though they had said, “He whom you singled out as glorious and made prominent dares to do the same thing as you.” Yet they do not say, “He whom you baptized” is baptizing (for then they would have had to mention the Voice that came down from heaven and the descent of the Spirit). What do they say instead? “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you testified”; that is, “He who held the position of a disciple, who was no more than we are—this man has broken away and is baptizing.” They thought they could make him jealous not only by this, but also by claiming that their own reputation was now declining. “Everyone,” they say, “is coming to Him.” This makes it clear that they had not gotten the better of the Jew they were disputing with. They said these things because their attitude was still immature and they were not yet free of rivalry. What, then, does John do? He did not rebuke them harshly, fearing that they might leave him again and cause some other harm. What does he say? Ver. 27. “A person can receive nothing unless it is given to him from above.” Do not be surprised if he speaks of Christ in humble terms; it was impossible to teach everything at once, from the very beginning, to people so consumed by passion. But for the moment he wants to strike them with awe and terror and show them that when they fought against Christ, they were fighting against none other than God Himself. Here he quietly establishes the truth that Gamaliel stated: “You cannot overthrow it, or you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” ( Acts v. 39.) For saying, “No one can receive anything unless it is given to him from heaven,” meant nothing less than declaring that they were attempting the impossible and would therefore find themselves fighting against God. “Well, but did Theudas and his followers not ‘receive’ from themselves?” They did, but they were immediately scattered and destroyed; what belonged to Christ was not. By this he also gently comforts them, showing them that it was God who surpassed them in honor, not a man. They must therefore not be surprised if what belonged to Him was glorious and if “everyone came to Him,” for this was the nature of divine things, and God was bringing them about, since no human being had ever had the power to do such deeds. All human things are easily exposed and rotten, and quickly melt away and perish; these things were not like that, so they were not human. Notice too how, when they said, “to whom you testified,” he turned against them the very thing they thought they had put forward to lower Christ, and silenced them by showing that Jesus’ glory did not come from his testimony. “A person cannot,” he says, “receive anything on his own unless it is given to him from heaven.” “If you attach any weight at all to my testimony and believe it is true, understand that this testimony should lead you to prefer Him to me, not me to Him. For what did I testify? I call you yourselves as witnesses.” Ver. 28. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.” “If, then, you accept my testimony (and you are bringing it forward even now when you say, ‘to whom you testified’), receiving my testimony does not diminish Him at all; instead, it increases Him. Besides, the testimony was God’s, not mine. So if I seem trustworthy to you, I said this among other things: ‘I have been sent before Him.’” Do you see how he shows little by little that this Voice was divine? What he says amounts to this: “I am a servant, and I speak the words of Him who sent me. I am not flattering Christ out of personal partiality, but serving His Father who sent me. I did not offer the testimony as a gift; I spoke what I was sent to speak. So do not suppose this makes me great, for it shows that He is great. He is Lord of all things.” He goes on to declare this and says, Ver. 29. “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.” “But how does the man who said, ‘I am not worthy to untie His sandal strap,’ now call himself His ‘friend’?” He does not say this to exalt himself or boast, but because he wants to show that he too does all he can to advance this (i.e. the exaltation of Christ,) and that these things are happening neither against his will nor to his sorrow. He wants them and eagerly seeks them, and everything he has done was aimed specifically at them. He has shown this very wisely by the word “friend.” For on occasions such as weddings, the bridegroom’s servants are not as glad and joyful as his “friends.” He does not call himself “friend” out of any desire to claim equal honor (reject that thought completely), but only out of overwhelming joy, and also to accommodate their weakness. He had already declared his service by saying, “I have been sent before Him.” For this reason, and because they thought he was upset about what had happened, he called himself the “friend of the Bridegroom,” to show that he was not upset at all, but actually rejoiced greatly. “For,” he says, “I came to bring this about, and I am so far from grieving over what has happened that I would have been deeply grieved if it had not happened. If the bride had not come to the Bridegroom, then I would have grieved; but not now, since my task has been accomplished. When His servants advance, we are the ones who gain honor, for what we wanted has happened, and the bride knows the Bridegroom. You yourselves testify to it when you say, ‘Everyone is coming to Him.’ I earnestly wanted this; everything I did was directed toward this end. And now, when I see that it has happened, I am glad, and rejoice, and leap for joy.” [3.] But what does “He who stands and hears Him rejoices greatly at the Bridegroom’s voice” mean? He transfers the expression from the parable to the subject at hand. After mentioning the bridegroom and the bride, he shows how the bride is brought home: by a “Voice” and teaching. For this is how the Church is married to God; and therefore Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” ( Rom. x. 17 .) “At this ‘Voice,’” he says, “I rejoice.” He has good reason to add “who stands”: it shows that his role had ended, that he had handed over “the Bride” to Him and must from now on stand and hear Him; that he was a servant and minister; and that his good hope and his joy had now been fulfilled. Therefore he says, “So this joy of mine is complete.” That is, “The work I had to do is finished; from now on I can do nothing more.” Then, to keep their jealousy from increasing, both then and in the future, he also tells them what will happen, confirming this too by what he has already said and done. Therefore he continues, Ver. 30. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That is, “What is mine has now come to a standstill and will go no further, but what is His is increasing. What you fear will happen not only now, but far more as it progresses. And this above all makes what is mine shine more brightly. I came for this purpose, and I rejoice that what is His has advanced so far, and that the things I did all my work to bring about have happened.” Do you see how gently and wisely he calmed their passion, quenched their envy, and showed them that they were attempting the impossible—a method that checks wickedness most effectively? This was why it was arranged that these things should happen while John was still alive and baptizing: his disciples could have him as a witness to Christ’s superiority, and if they did not believe, they would have no excuse. For John did not come to say these words on his own initiative or in answer to other people’s questions; they themselves asked the question and heard the answer. If he had spoken on his own initiative, their belief would not have carried the same force as the judgment they brought on themselves when they heard him answer their own question. In the same way, the Jews sent to him from their homes, heard what they heard, and still refused to believe; this above all left them without excuse. What, then, does this teach us? That a mad desire for glory is the cause of all evils. This led them to jealousy, and when they had stopped for a little while, it stirred them to jealousy again. That is why they come to Jesus and say, “Why do Your disciples not fast?” ( Matt. ix. 14.) So let us, beloved, avoid this passion; for if we avoid it, we will escape hell. This vice especially kindles the fire of hell, extends its rule everywhere, and tyrannizes over every age and every rank. It has turned churches upside down, caused harm in affairs of state, and overthrown households, cities, peoples, and nations. Why are you surprised? It has even gone out into the desert and displayed its great power there. Men who have said goodbye completely to riches and all the world’s outward show, who speak with no one, who have mastered the more powerful desires of the flesh—these very men have often lost everything after being taken captive by empty glory. Because of this passion, someone who had worked hard went away worse off than someone who had done no work at all, but instead had committed ten thousand sins: the Pharisee worse off than the tax collector. Still, condemning the passion is easy enough (everyone agrees in doing that); the question is how to overcome it. How can we do this? By setting honor against honor. Just as we despise earthly riches when we look to the other riches, and look down on this life when we think of the life far better than this, so we will be able to spit on this world’s glory when we know of another glory, far more majestic, which truly is glory. The one is vain and empty, with the name but no reality; the other, which comes from heaven, is true, and has Angels, Archangels, and the Lord of Archangels to give it praise—or rather, I should say, it has human beings as well. Now if you look to that theater, learn what crowns are there, and imagine yourself amid the applause that comes from there, earthly things will never be able to hold you. When they come, you will not consider them great, and when they are absent, you will not seek them. For even in earthly palaces, none of the guards standing around the king neglects to please the one who wears the crown and sits on the throne, and instead concerns himself with the cries of jackdaws or the noise of flies and gnats flying and buzzing around him. Praise from people is no better than these. Knowing, then, how worthless human things are, let us gather all we have into treasuries that cannot be plundered. Let us seek the glory that lasts and cannot be shaken. May we all attain it through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom may glory be given to the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.