Homilies on John, Homily 61

“And it was in Jerusalem, at the Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews gathered around Him and said to Him, How long will You keep us in doubt?” [1.] Every virtue is a good thing, but especially gentleness and meekness. These show that we are human; these distinguish us from wild beasts; these equip us to rival Angels. That is why Christ continually speaks at length about this virtue, telling us to be meek and gentle. He does not merely speak about it, but also teaches it through His actions: at one time enduring blows, at another enduring insults and plots against Him, and then coming again to the very people who plotted against Him. For the same men who had called Him demon-possessed and a Samaritan, who had often wanted to kill Him and had thrown stones at Him, surrounded Him and asked, “Are You the Christ?” Yet even then, after so many terrible plots against Him, He did not reject them, but answered them very gently. But we should instead examine the whole passage from the beginning. “It was,” It says, “in Jerusalem, at the Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter.” This was a great national feast. They enthusiastically celebrated the day on which the Temple was rebuilt when they returned from their long captivity in Persia. Christ was also present at this feast, for from this point on He remained continually in Judea, because the Passion was near. “Then the Jews gathered around Him and said, How long will You keep us in doubt?” “If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” He did not reply, “Why are you questioning Me? You have often called Me demon-possessed, a madman, and a Samaritan, and have considered Me an enemy of God and a deceiver. Just now you said, You testify about Yourself; Your testimony is not true. How is it, then, that you seek and want to learn from Me, whose testimony you reject?” He said nothing like this, although He knew that they were asking with evil intentions. Their surrounding Him and saying, “How long will You keep us in doubt?” seemed to express a certain longing and desire to learn, but their purpose in asking was corrupt and deceitful. Since His works gave them no opening for slander and abuse, while they could attack His words by finding a meaning in them other than the one He intended, they continually asked questions, hoping to silence Him through His own words. When they could find no fault with His works, they wanted to find something in His words to use against Him. That is why they said, “Tell us”; yet He had often told them. He said to the woman of Samaria, “I Am, who am speaking to you” ( c. iv. 26 ); and to the blind man, “You have both seen Him, and He is the One speaking with you.” ( c. ix. 37.) He had also told them, if not in the same words, at least in others. Indeed, if they had been wise and had wanted to ask honestly, all that remained was for them to acknowledge Him in words, since His works had often proved the point they were asking about. But now notice their perverse and argumentative attitude. When He speaks to them and teaches them through His words, they say, “What sign do You show us?” ( c. vi. 30.) But when He gives them proof through His works, they say to Him, “Are You the Christ? Tell us plainly.” When His works cry out, they demand words, and when His words teach them, they turn to works, always taking the opposite position. The outcome showed that they were not asking in order to learn. After He had spoken a few words, they immediately stoned the very One they had considered so trustworthy that they would accept His testimony about Himself. So even their surrounding Him and crowding around Him was done with evil intent. Their way of questioning Him was also full of hatred. “Tell us plainly, are You the Christ?” Yet He spoke everything openly, always attending their feasts, and said nothing in secret. But they used deceptive words, “How long will You keep us in doubt?” so that, once they had drawn Him out, they could again find something to use against Him. That they always questioned Him to find fault with His words, rather than to learn, is clear from many other passages as well as this one. When they came to Him and asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ( Matt. xxii. 17 ), when they spoke about divorcing a wife ( Matt. xix. 3 ), and when they asked about the woman who, they said, had had seven husbands ( Matt. xxii. 23 ), they were exposed as bringing their questions to Him with evil intentions, rather than a desire to learn. But there He rebuked them, saying, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?” showing that He knew their secret thoughts. Here He said nothing like that, teaching us not always to rebuke those who plot against us, but to bear many things with meekness and gentleness. Since it was foolish to demand verbal testimony when His works proclaimed Him so loudly, listen to His answer. He both hints that their questions are unnecessary and are not asked in order to learn, and shows that He has spoken more clearly through His works than through words. Ver. 25. “I have told you often,” He says, “and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s Name are the ones that testify about Me.” [2.] This was a point that the more reasonable among them continually made to one another: “A man who is a sinner cannot do such miracles.” And again, “A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind”; and, “No one can do such miracles unless God is with him.” ( c. iii. 2.) And when they saw the miracles He did, they said, “Is this not the Christ?” Others said, “When Christ comes, will He do greater miracles than those this Man has done?” ( c. vii. 31.) And these very people—as many as then wanted to believe in Him—said, “What sign do You show us, so that we may see and believe You?” ( c. vi. 30.) So when those who had not been persuaded by such great works pretended that a mere word would persuade them, He rebuked their wickedness, saying, “If you do not believe My works, how will you believe My words? Your questioning is therefore unnecessary.” Ver. 26. “But,” He says, “I told you, and you do not believe, because you are not among My sheep.” “For My part, I have done everything a Shepherd should do. If you do not follow Me, it is not because I am not a Shepherd, but because you are not My sheep.” Ver. 27–30. “For My sheep hear My voice and follow Me; and I give them eternal life; neither can anyone snatch them out of My hand. The Father, who gave them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.” Notice how, by disowning them, He urges them to follow Him. “You do not hear Me,” He says, “because you are not sheep; those who follow are the ones who belong to the flock.” He said this so that they would strive to become sheep. Then, by mentioning what they would receive, He makes these men jealous, to stir them up and make them desire these things. “What, then? Is it through the Father’s power that no one snatches them away? Do You have no strength, but are too weak to guard them?” Certainly not. To teach you that He uses the expression, “The Father who gave them to Me,” for their sake, so that they would not again call Him an enemy of God, after declaring, “No one snatches them out of My hand,” He goes on to show that His hand and the Father’s are One. If this were not so, it would have been natural for Him to say, “The Father who gave them to Me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My hand.” But He did not say that; He said, “out of My Father’s hand.” Then, so that you will not suppose that He Himself is weak and that the sheep are safe through the Father’s power, He adds, “I and the Father are One.” It is as though He had said, “I did not say that no one snatches them away because of the Father, as though I were too weak to keep the sheep. For I and the Father are One.” Here He is speaking about Power, since this has been the subject of His whole discussion; and if the power is the same, clearly the Essence is also the same. And when the Jews tried countless methods, plotting and expelling people from their synagogues, He tells them that all their schemes are useless and futile: “For the sheep are in My Father’s hand”; as the Prophet says, “On My hand I have pictured your walls.” ( Isa. xlix. 16.) Then, to show that the hand is One, He sometimes calls it His own and sometimes the Father’s. But when you hear the word “hand,” do not understand it as anything material, but as power and authority. Again, if no one could snatch the sheep away because the Father had given Him power, there would have been no need to say what follows: “I and the Father are One.” If He were inferior to Him, this would have been a very bold statement, for it declares nothing less than equality of power. The Jews understood this and picked up stones to throw at Him. ( Ver. 31.) Yet even then He did not dispel this impression and suspicion. If their suspicion had been mistaken, He should have corrected them and said, “Why are you doing this? I did not speak this way to declare that My power and the Father’s are equal.” But instead He does exactly the opposite: He confirms their suspicion and reinforces it, even when they are enraged. He does not excuse what He has said, as though He had spoken wrongly, but rebukes them for failing to hold the right view of Him. For when they said, Ver. 33–36. “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God”; listen to His answer: “If the Scripture called those to whom the word of God came gods, how can you say that I blaspheme because I said, I am the Son of God?” What He means is this: “If those who have received this honor by grace are not blamed for calling themselves gods, how can He who has it by nature deserve rebuke?” Yet He did not put it this way, but proved it later, first softening His language and yielding somewhat by saying, “Whom the Father sanctified and sent.” And once He had softened their anger, He made the plain assertion. For a while, so that His words would be accepted, He spoke more humbly; afterward He raised His language higher, saying, Ver. 37, 38. “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works.” Do you see how He proves what I said: that He is in no way inferior to the Father, but equal to Him in every way? Since it was impossible to see His Essence, through the equality and sameness of His works He gives proof that there is no difference in Power. And what, tell me, are we to believe? [3.] “That I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.” “For I am nothing other than what the Father is, yet I am still Son; He is nothing other than what I am, yet He is still Father. And if anyone knows Me, he knows the Father; and if he knows the Father, he has also come to know the Son.” Now, if the power were inferior, the statement about knowing would also be false, for it is impossible to become acquainted with one substance or power through another. Ver. 39–41. “So they again tried to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands and went away again across the Jordan, to the place where John first baptized. And many came to Him and said, John did no miracle, but everything John said about this man was true.” When He has said something great and sublime, He quickly withdraws, giving way to their anger so that His absence may allow their rage to subside and end. That is what He did on this occasion. But why does the Evangelist mention the place? So that you may learn that He went there to remind them of what had been done there and what John had said, and of his testimony. At any rate, when they arrived there, they immediately remembered John. That is also why they said, “John indeed did no miracle.” Why else would they have added this, unless the place had reminded them of the Baptist and they had recalled his testimony? Notice how they form irrefutable arguments. “John indeed did no miracle,” “but this man does,” someone says; “so this shows his superiority. If people believed the man who did no miracles, they must believe this man all the more.” Then, since John was the one who gave the testimony, they added, “Even if he did no miracle, still everything he said about this man was true,” so that his failure to perform a miracle would not seem to make him an unworthy witness. They were no longer using John to prove that Christ was trustworthy, but using what Christ had done to prove that John was trustworthy. Ver. 42. “So many believed in Him.” Many things attracted them. They remembered what John had said, calling Christ “mightier than himself,” and “light,” and “life,” and “truth,” and all the rest. They remembered the Voice that came down from heaven, and the Spirit who appeared in the form of a dove and pointed Him out to everyone. Along with this, they recalled the proof provided by the miracles, and by looking to this they became firmly established from then on. “For,” someone says, “if we were right to believe John, we ought to believe this man all the more; if we believed the one without miracles, all the more should we believe this man, who has the proof of miracles in addition to John’s testimony.” Do you see how much they benefited from staying in this place and being free from the presence of evil men? That is why Jesus continually leads and draws them away from the company of such people, as He also seems to have done under the old Covenant, shaping and ordering every aspect of the Jews’ lives in the desert, far from the Egyptians. He now advises us to do this as well, telling us to avoid public places, commotion, and disturbances, and to pray peacefully in our room. For a ship free from turmoil sails with a favorable wind, and a soul separated from worldly affairs rests in harbor. That is why women ought to have more true wisdom than men, since they are for the most part tied to keeping house. So, for example, Jacob was an unpretentious man because he stayed at home and was free from the bustle of public life. Scripture did not say this without a reason when It says, “living in a house.” ( Gen. xxv. 27.) “But,” some woman says, “even in a house there is great turmoil.” Yes, when you choose to make it that way and surround yourself with a crowd of cares. A man who spends his time in marketplaces and courts of justice is overwhelmed by outside troubles as though by waves. But a woman who sits in her house as in a school of true wisdom and gathers her thoughts within herself will be able to devote herself to prayers, reading, and other heavenly wisdom. Just as those who live in deserts have no one to disturb them, she too, by staying indoors, can enjoy continual calm. Even if she sometimes needs to go out, there is no cause for turmoil then either. For the occasions that require a woman to leave her house are either to come here or to wash her body at the bath. But she spends most of her time at home, and she can both be truly wise herself and, when her husband returns agitated, calm and settle him, ease the excess and fierceness of his thoughts, and send him out again after he has cast off all the evils he picked up in the marketplace, carrying with him whatever good he learned at home. For nothing, nothing is more powerful than a devout and sensible woman at putting a man in proper order and shaping his soul as she wishes. He will not tolerate advice from friends, teachers, or rulers as readily as he will from his partner, since the advice even brings him some pleasure, because the woman giving it is deeply loved. I could tell you of many harsh and disobedient men who have been softened this way. For the woman who shares his table, his bed, and his embraces, his words and secrets, his comings and goings, and many other things, who is entirely devoted and joined to him as a body would naturally be joined to a head, will surpass and excel everyone else in guiding her husband, if she is sensible and in harmony with him. [4.] That is why I urge women to make this their work and to give appropriate counsel. Just as they have great power for good, they also have great power for evil. A woman destroyed Absalom, a woman destroyed Amnon, a woman nearly destroyed Job, and a woman rescued Nabal from slaughter. Women have preserved entire nations, for Deborah and Judith achieved successes worthy of men; so have countless other women. That is why Paul says, “For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?” ( 1 Cor. vii. 16.) And in those days we see Persis and Mary and Priscilla sharing in the Apostles’ labors ( Rom. 16 ). We too must imitate them, and through actions as well as words put the man who lives with us in proper order. But how are we to teach him through our actions? When he sees that you are not malicious, not fond of spending or adornment, not demanding extravagant amounts of money, but content with what you have, then he will tolerate your advice. But if you speak wisely and act in the opposite way, he will condemn what you say as sheer foolishness. When, along with your words, you also teach him through your deeds, he will accept you and obey you more readily: when you desire neither gold nor pearls nor expensive clothing, but modesty, self-control, and kindness instead; when you display these virtues yourself and require them of him. For if you must do something to please your husband, you should adorn your soul, rather than adorn your body and so spoil it. The gold you put on will not make you as lovely and desirable to him as modesty, kindness toward him, and a willingness to die for your partner. These things win men over most of all. In fact, splendid clothing even displeases him, since it strains his means and causes him great expense and anxiety. But the things I have named will bind a husband to his wife, for kindness, friendship, and love cause no anxiety and create no expense, but just the opposite. Outward adornment grows tiresome with familiarity, but the adornment of the soul blooms day by day and kindles a stronger flame. So if you want to please your husband, adorn your soul with modesty, piety, and good management of the house. These things both win him over more completely and never fade. Age does not destroy this adornment; sickness does not waste it away. Time tends to undo bodily adornment, and sickness and many other things wear it away, but the soul’s adornment is above all this. Bodily adornment causes envy and kindles jealousy, but the soul’s is free from disease and all vanity. In this way, life at home will be easier and your income will cause no trouble, when gold is not laid over your body or wrapped around your arms, but goes toward necessities, such as feeding servants, providing the care children need, and other useful purposes. But if this is not the case, if the (wife’s) face is covered with ornaments while the (husband’s) heart is weighed down with anxiety, what benefit, what advantage is there? The grief of the one keeps the marvelous beauty of the other from being seen. For you know, you know that even if a man sees the most beautiful woman of all, he cannot enjoy the sight while his soul is sorrowful, because to feel pleasure he must first be joyful and glad. And when all his gold is piled onto a woman’s body as adornment while his home is in distress, her partner can take no pleasure in it. So if we want to be pleasing to our husbands, let us give them pleasure; and we will give them pleasure if we remove our ornaments and finery. For all these things seem to provide some delight at the time of marriage, but afterward it fades with time. If we admire the sky less because we see it constantly, even though it is so beautiful, and the sun less, even though it is so bright and you cannot name any heavenly body its equal, how will we admire a body dressed up in trinkets? I say these things because I want you to wear the wholesome adornment Paul commanded: “Not with gold, or pearls, or expensive clothing; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” ( 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10.) But do you want to please strangers and be praised by them? That is certainly not the desire of a modest woman. Still, if you want this, by doing as I have said you will also win strangers’ deep affection and their praise for your modesty. No virtuous and self-controlled person will praise the woman who adorns her body; only the unrestrained and lustful will do so. Indeed, even they will not praise her, but will speak obscenely about her, their eyes inflamed by the sensuality displayed around her. But everyone will approve of the other woman, both the one group and the other, because they receive no harm from her, but even instruction in heavenly wisdom. She will receive great praise from people and a great reward from God. Let us strive for such adornment, then, so that we may live here without fear and obtain the blessings to come. May we all obtain them through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.