Homilies on John, Homily 47

“Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have eternal life in yourselves. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life in himself.” [1.] When we speak about spiritual things, let there be nothing worldly in our souls, nothing earthly. Let all such thoughts withdraw and be banished, and let us devote ourselves entirely to hearing the divine words alone. For if all confusion is driven away when a king arrives, we need great stillness and great awe all the more when the Spirit speaks with us. And what is said today deserves our awe. Listen to how this is so. “Truly I say to you, Unless a person eats My flesh and drinks My blood, he does not have eternal life in him.” Since the Jews had previously declared that this was impossible, He shows not only that it is possible, but that it is absolutely necessary. That is why He adds, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” “And I will raise him up at the last day.” Since He had said, “He who eats this bread will never die” ( ver. 50 , not verbally quoted), and this was likely to be an obstacle for them (just as they previously said, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and how can You say that he will not taste death?”— c. viii. 52 , not verbally quoted.), He brings forward the Resurrection to resolve the question and to show that (the man who eats) will not die in the end. He continually discusses the Mysteries, showing that this action is necessary and that it must certainly be done. Ver. 55. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” What does He mean? He either wants to declare that this is the true food that saves the soul, or to assure them about what He has said, so that they will not suppose His words are merely a riddle or a parable, but will know that it is absolutely necessary to eat the Body. Then He says, Ver. 56. “He who eats My flesh remains in Me.” He said this to show that such a person is blended with Him. Now what follows seems unconnected unless we examine its meaning. For someone may ask, after saying, “He who eats My flesh remains in Me,” how does it follow to add, Ver. 57. “As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father”? Yet the words fit together perfectly. Since He continually spoke of “eternal life,” He introduces the expression “remains in Me” to prove this point; for “if he remains in Me, and I live, it is clear that he will live too.” Then He says, “As the living Father has sent Me.” This expresses comparison and resemblance, and its meaning is this: “I live just as the Father lives.” And so that you will not think Him unbegotten, He immediately adds, “by the Father.” He does not say this to show that He needs some power working in Him in order to live, for He previously said, to remove such a suspicion, “As the Father has life in Himself, so He has also given the Son life in Himself.” Now if He needs another's activity, it follows either that the Father has not given Him life in Himself, making the statement false, or that, if He has given it, He will need no one else to sustain Him. What, then, does “by the Father” mean? Here He simply points to the cause, and what He says means this: “As the Father lives, so I live, and he who eats Me will live by Me.” And the “life” He speaks of is not merely life, but the excellent life. That He was speaking not simply of life, but of that glorious and indescribable life, is clear from this: all people “live,” even unbelievers and the uninitiated, who do not eat that flesh. Do you see that His words concern that other life, rather than this one? What He says means this: “He who eats My flesh will not perish or suffer punishment when he dies.” He was speaking not of the general resurrection (for everyone alike rises again), but of the special, glorious Resurrection that brings a reward. Ver. 58. “This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your fathers ate, and they died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” He continually returns to the same point to impress it on His hearers' understanding (for the teaching on these points was a kind of final teaching) and to confirm the doctrine of the Resurrection and eternal life. That is why He mentions the Resurrection when He promises eternal life, showing that this life comes after the Resurrection, rather than now. “And how,” someone asks, “are these things clear?” From the Scriptures. He refers the Jews to them everywhere, telling them to learn these things from them. And by saying, “Which gives life to the world,” He stirs them to jealousy, so that their very annoyance that others should enjoy the gift may keep them from remaining outside. And He continually reminds them of the manna, showing the difference, (between it and His bread,) and guiding them to faith. For if He could sustain their lives for forty years without a harvest, grain, or the other things ordinarily needed, He will be able to do so all the more now, since He has come for greater purposes. Moreover, if those things were only types, and yet people gathered what came down without sweat or labor, this will be true all the more here, where the difference is great both in never dying and in enjoying true life. And He has rightly spoken often of “life,” since people desire this, and nothing pleases them so much as not dying. Even under the old Covenant, the promise was a long life and many days; but now it is not merely a long life, but life without end. At the same time, He wants to show that He now revokes the punishment caused by sin, canceling the sentence that condemns us to death and bringing in not merely life, but eternal life, in contrast to what came before. Ver. 59. “He said these things in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.” [2.] This was the place where most of His miracles had been done, so He especially deserved to be heard there. But why did He teach in the synagogue and in the Temple? Both because He wanted to draw in as many of them as possible and because He wanted to show that He was not opposed to the Father. Ver. 60. “But many of the disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying.” What does “hard” mean? Harsh, demanding, burdensome. Yet He said nothing of this kind, for He was speaking about doctrines, rather than a way of life, continually discussing faith in Him. What, then, does “a hard saying” mean? Is it because it promises life and resurrection? Is it because He said He came down from heaven? Or because it was impossible for anyone to be saved without eating His flesh? Tell me, are these things “hard”? Who can claim that they are? What, then, does “hard” mean? It means “difficult to accept,” “beyond what their weakness could bear,” “deeply frightening.” For they thought He was making claims too high for who He really was, claims that exceeded His standing. That is why they said, “Who can listen to it?” Perhaps they were making an excuse for themselves, since they were about to leave. Ver. 61, 62. “When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about it,” (for bringing secret things to light is an attribute of His Godhead,) “He said to them, Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?” He also does this with Nathanael, saying, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ( c. i. 50.) And to Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to heaven except the Son of Man who is in heaven.” ( c. iii. 13.) What then? Does He add difficulties to difficulties? No (He would never do that), but through the greatness of the doctrines and their number, He wants to win them over. For if someone had simply said, “I have come down from heaven,” and added nothing more, he would have been more likely to offend them. But He who said, “My body is the life of the world”; He who said, “As the living Father has sent Me, so I live by the Father”; and who said, “I have come down from heaven,” resolves the difficulty. For a man who says one great thing about himself may perhaps be suspected of making it up, but one who connects so many such statements one after another removes all suspicion. Everything He does and says is intended to lead them away from the thought that Joseph was His father. And He said this with the intention of removing that stumbling block, rather than strengthening it. For anyone who thought He was Joseph's son could not accept His sayings, while someone convinced that He had come down from heaven and would ascend there could more easily pay attention to His words. At the same time, He also offers another explanation, saying, Ver. 63. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no benefit.” His meaning is, “You must listen spiritually to what concerns Me, for someone who listens carnally receives no benefit and gains no advantage.” It was carnal to question how He came down from heaven, to think He was Joseph's son, to ask, “How can he give us His flesh to eat?” All this was carnal, when they should have understood the matter in a mystical and spiritual sense. “But,” someone asks, “how could they understand what ‘eating flesh’ might mean?” Then their duty was to wait for the proper time and ask, instead of abandoning Him. “The words that I speak to you are spirit and life.” That is, they are divine and spiritual, have nothing carnal about them, and are not subject to the laws of physical cause and effect. They are free from any such necessity, are even above the laws established for this world, and also have another, different meaning. Now just as He said “spirit” in this passage to mean “spiritual,” so when He speaks of “flesh,” He meant “listening carnally,” rather than “carnal things.” At the same time, He was alluding to them, because they always desired carnal things when they should have desired spiritual things. For if someone receives them carnally, he gains nothing. “What then? Is His flesh not flesh?” Most certainly it is. “How, then, does He say that the flesh is of no benefit?” He is not speaking of His own flesh, (God forbid!) but of those who received His words in a carnal way. But what is “understanding carnally”? It is looking only at what is before our eyes, without conceiving of anything beyond it. This is understanding carnally. But we must not judge by sight in this way; we must look into all mysteries with our inward eyes. This is seeing spiritually. He who does not eat His flesh and drink His blood has no life in him. How, then, is “the flesh of no benefit,” if we cannot live without it? Do you see that the words “the flesh is of no benefit” refer to carnal listening, rather than His own flesh? Ver. 64. “But there are some of you who do not believe.” Again, as He usually does, He gives weight to His words by foretelling what will happen and by showing that He spoke this way because He cared for them, rather than because He wanted honor from them. And when He said “some,” He excluded the disciples. For at first He said, “You have both seen Me and do not believe” ( ver. 36 ); but here, “There are some of you who do not believe.” For He “knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray Him.” Ver. 65. “And He said, That is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is given to Him from above by My Father.” [3.] Here the Evangelist indicates to us the voluntary character of the Dispensation and His endurance of evil. Nor is “from the beginning” included here without a reason. It is so that you may recognize His foreknowledge from the very start: He knew the traitor before these words were spoken, before the men grumbled or took offense, which was an attribute of Godhead. Then He added, “Unless it is given to him from above by My Father,” thus persuading them to regard God as His Father, rather than Joseph, and showing them that believing in Him is no ordinary thing. It is as though He had said, “Unbelievers do not disturb Me, do not trouble Me, do not astonish Me. I knew long ago, before they were created; I know whom the Father has enabled to believe.” And when you hear that “He has given,” do not imagine a merely arbitrary distribution, but understand that anyone who has made himself worthy to receive the gift has received it. Ver. 66. “From that time many of His disciples went back and no longer walked with Him.” The Evangelist rightly said that they “went back,” rather than that they “left,” showing that they cut themselves off from any growth in virtue, and that by separating themselves they lost the faith they previously had. But this was not true of the twelve, which is why He says to them, Ver. 67. “Will you also go away?” Again He shows that He does not need their ministry and service, and proves to them that this was not why He took them around with Him. For how could it have been, when He used such expressions even with them? But why did He not praise them? Why did He not express His approval? Both because He maintained the dignity appropriate to a teacher and because He wanted to show them that this way of dealing with them should attract them all the more. For if He had praised them, they might have thought they were doing Him a favor and felt some merely human pride. But by showing them that He did not need their company, He held them to Him all the more. And notice how wisely He spoke. He did not say, “Go away” (this would have driven them away from Him), but asked them a question: “Will you also go away?” This is the expression of someone who wants to remove all force or compulsion, and who wants them to be attached to Him out of gratitude, rather than any sense of shame. By making a gentle allusion to them, instead of openly accusing them, He shows the truly wise course in such circumstances. But we feel differently, and with good reason, since we do everything while clinging to our own honor, and therefore think our standing is lowered when those who follow us leave. But He neither flattered them nor drove them away; He asked them a question. This was the act of someone who wanted them to be free of force and compulsion, rather than someone who despised them, for remaining on such terms is the same as leaving. What, then, does Peter say? Ver. 68, 69. “To whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Do you see that the offense was caused by the hearers' carelessness, laziness, and wrong attitude, rather than by His words? For even if He had not spoken, they would have taken offense and would never have stopped worrying about bodily food, always nailed to the earth. Besides, the disciples heard at the same time as the others, yet they expressed the opposite opinion, saying, “To whom will we go?” This expression shows great affection, for it shows that their Teacher was more precious to them than anything, than father or mother or any possessions, and that if they left Him, they would have nowhere to turn. Then, so that it would not seem that he had said, “To whom will we go?” because no one else would receive them, he immediately added, “You have the words of eternal life.” For the Jews listened carnally, using human reasoning, but the disciples listened spiritually, entrusting everything to faith. That is why Christ said, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit”; that is, “Do not suppose that the teaching of My words is subject to the rules of material cause and effect or to the necessities of created things. Spiritual things are not like this and do not submit to the laws of earth.” Paul also declares this, saying, “Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down;) or, Who will descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ back up from the dead.”) ( Rom. x. 6, 7.) “You have the words of eternal life.” These men already accepted the Resurrection and the full distribution of what each will receive there. And notice how this brotherly, affectionate man answers for the whole group. For he did not say, “I know,” but “We know.” Or rather, notice how he goes back to his Teacher's very words, speaking differently from the Jews. They said, “This is Joseph's son”; but he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and “You have the words of eternal life.” Perhaps he had heard Him say, “He who believes in Me has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” For by recalling the very words, he showed that he remembered everything that had been said. What, then, did Christ do? He neither praised Peter nor expressed admiration for him, though He had done so elsewhere. Instead, what does He say? Ver. 70. “Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Since Peter said, “We believe,” Jesus excludes Judas from the group. In the other passage Peter made no mention of the disciples; when Christ said, “Who do you say that I am?” he replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” ( Matt. xvi. 15–16 ). But here, since he said, “We believe,” Christ rightly refuses to include Judas in that group. And He did this indirectly and long before the time, to restrain the traitor's wickedness, knowing that He would accomplish nothing, yet doing His own part. [4.] And notice His wisdom. He did not expose the traitor, yet He did not allow him to remain hidden, so that, on the one hand, he might not lose all shame and become more defiant, and, on the other, he might not think himself unnoticed and carry out his wicked deed without fear. So He gradually brings clearer rebukes against him. First, He included him among the others when He said, “There are some of you who do not believe” (for the Evangelist has declared that He included the traitor, saying, “For He knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray Him”), but when he still remained unchanged, He brought a more severe rebuke against him: “One of you is a devil.” Yet He made the fear common to them all, wanting to conceal his identity. And here it is worth asking why the disciples said nothing at this time, but later were afraid and uncertain, looking at one another and asking, “Lord, is it I?” ( Matt. xxvi. 22 ), when Peter signaled to John to find out who the traitor was by asking their Teacher. What is the reason? Peter had not yet heard, “Get behind Me, Satan,” so he had no fear at all. But after he had been rebuked, and had even been called “Satan” instead of receiving approval, though he spoke out of strong affection, he reasonably felt afraid later when he heard, “One of you will betray Me.” Besides, even now He does not say, “One of you will betray Me,” but, “One of you is a devil.” So they did not understand what He said, but thought He was only criticizing their wickedness. But why did He say, “I have chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil”? It was to show that His teaching was entirely free from flattery. Since they alone remained when everyone else had left Him, and had confessed through Peter that He was the Christ, He leads them away from any suspicion that He would flatter them for this. What He says means this: “Nothing makes Me ashamed to rebuke the bad. Do not think that because you have stayed I will choose to flatter you, or that because you have followed Me I will not rebuke the wicked. For even another circumstance, much more likely than this to embarrass a teacher, does not embarrass Me. Someone who stays gives proof of his affection, while someone whom a teacher has chosen and then rejects gives foolish people grounds to call the teacher a fool. Still, even this does not keep Me from rebuking.” This, at least, is what the pagans even now feebly and senselessly urge against Christ. For God does not make people good by compulsion and force, nor does His election and choice compel those who are called; it persuades them. And to learn that the calling does not compel, consider how many of those who have been called have come to destruction. It is therefore clear that being saved or perishing also depends on our own will. [5.] Hearing these things, then, let us learn always to be sober and watchful. For if this man was counted among that holy band, had enjoyed so great a gift, and had worked miracles (for he too was with the others who were sent to raise the dead and heal lepers), yet neither the favors, nor the gifts, nor being with Christ, nor serving Him, nor having his feet washed, nor sharing His table, nor carrying the money bag did him any good when he was seized by the dreadful disease of greed and betrayed his Master—if these things instead served to increase his punishment—let us also fear that we might ever imitate Judas through greed. You do not betray Christ. But when you neglect a poor man wasting away with hunger or dying from cold, that man brings the same condemnation upon you. When we partake of the Mysteries unworthily, we perish just as the Christ-slayers do. When we plunder, when we oppress those weaker than ourselves, we will bring the severest punishment upon ourselves. And rightly so; for how long will love of present things occupy us so completely, superfluous and useless as they are? For wealth consists of excess possessions, which offer no benefit. How long will we be nailed to vanities? How long will we fail to look beyond them into heaven, fail to be sober, fail to have our fill of these fleeting earthly things, fail to learn from experience how worthless they are? Let us think of those who were wealthy before us. Are not all those things a dream? Are they not a shadow, a flower? Are they not a passing stream? A story and a tale? A certain man was rich, and where is his wealth now? It has gone, it has perished, but the sins committed because of it remain with him, along with the punishment for those sins. Yes, surely, even if there were no punishment and no kingdom set before us, it would be our duty to care for those who share our descent and family, to respect those who have feelings like our own. But now we feed dogs, and many of us feed wild donkeys, bears, and various other animals, while we do not care for a man dying of hunger. A creature foreign to us is valued more than one who is our kin, and our own family is honored less than creatures that do not belong to it and are not related to us. Is it a fine thing to build splendid houses for yourself, to have many servants, to lie back and gaze at a gilded ceiling? Why, surely, it is superfluous and useless. For there are other structures, far brighter and more majestic than these. We should delight our eyes with them, for no one can stop us. Do you want to see the most beautiful of ceilings? Look at the starry sky in the evening. “But,” someone says, “this ceiling is not mine.” Yet in truth it is more yours than the other one. It was made for you and is shared by you and your brothers; the other is not yours, but belongs to those who inherit it after your death. The one can do you the greatest good, guiding you through its beauty to its Creator; the other can do you the greatest harm, becoming your greatest accuser on the Day of Judgment, since it is covered with gold while Christ lacks even necessary clothing. I beg you, let us not give ourselves over to such folly. Let us not pursue things that flee away and flee things that endure. Let us not betray our own salvation, but hold firmly to our hope for what is to come: the old, knowing for certain that we have only a little life left; the young, fully convinced that what remains is not much. For that day comes like a thief in the night. Knowing this, let wives encourage their husbands and husbands counsel their wives. Let us teach young men and women, and let us all instruct one another to care nothing for present things, but to desire the things to come, so that we may also obtain them; through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.