Homilies on John, Homily 65

“And one of them, Caiaphas, who was the High Priest that same year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish,” etc. [1.] “The nations are stuck fast in the destruction they made; their foot is caught in the trap they hid.” ( Ps. ix. 15 , LXX.) This is what happened to the Jews. They said they would kill Jesus so that the Romans would not come and take away their place and nation; and when they had killed Him, these things happened to them. Even after doing the very thing by which they thought they would escape, they still did not escape. He who was killed is in Heaven, and those who killed Him have hell as their portion. Yet they did not consider these things. What did they do instead? “From that day on,” it says, “they wanted to kill Him” ( ver. 53 ), for they said, “The Romans will come and take away our nation; and one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said,” (being more shameless than the rest,) “You know nothing.” What the others treated as uncertain and put forward for discussion, this man shouted aloud, shamelessly, openly, brazenly. For what does he say? “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish.” Ver. 51. “And he did not say this on his own, but as High Priest he prophesied.” Do you see how powerful the High Priest’s authority is? Or rather, because he had in any case been judged worthy of the High Priesthood, although he was unworthy of it, he prophesied without knowing what he was saying. Grace merely used his mouth without touching his accursed heart. Indeed, many others have foretold things to come although they were unworthy to do so, such as Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and Balaam; and the reason in every case is clear. But what he means is this: “You still sit quietly; you give this matter only careless attention, and you do not know how to disregard one man’s safety for the sake of the community.” See how great the power of the Spirit is: It was able to bring words full of marvelous prophecy out of an evil intention. The Evangelist calls the Gentiles “children of God” because of what they were going to become. In the same way, Christ Himself says, “I have other sheep” ( c. x. 16 ), calling them this because of what would happen afterward. But what does “High Priest that year” mean? This matter, like everything else, had become corrupt. From the time these offices began to be bought, they no longer served as priests for their whole lives, but for a year. Even in these circumstances, however, the Spirit was still present. But when they raised their hands against Christ, It left them and moved to the Apostles. The tearing of the veil declared this, as did the voice of Christ, who said, “Look, your house is left to you desolate.” ( Matt. xxiii. 38.) And Josephus, who lived a short time afterward, says that certain Angels who still remained with them, (to see) whether they would change their ways, left them. While the vineyard stood, everything continued; but when they had killed the Heir, this was no longer so, and they perished. God took it from the Jews, like a splendid garment taken from a useless son, and gave it to right-minded servants from among the Gentiles, leaving the others desolate and naked. Moreover, it was no small thing that even an enemy should prophesy this. It could win others over as well. For the outcome was the opposite of what he intended, since His death delivered the faithful from the punishment to come. What does “That He might gather together those near and those far away” ( ver. 52 ) mean? He made them one Body. Someone living in Rome considers the Indians members of himself. What can equal this “gathering together”? And Christ is the Head of all. Ver. 53. “From that day on the Jews plotted to put Him to death.” In fact, they had tried to do this before, for the Evangelist says, “Therefore the Jews tried to kill Him” ( c. v. 18 ); and, “Why are you trying to kill Me?” ( c. vii. 19.) But then they were only trying; now they confirmed their decision and made carrying it out their business. Ver. 54. “But Jesus no longer walked openly in Judea.” [2.] Again He saves Himself by human means, as He continually does. But I have already mentioned why He often left and withdrew. At this time He stayed in Ephrathah, near the wilderness, and remained there with His disciples. How bewildered do you think those disciples were when they saw Him saving Himself as a man would? After this no one followed Him. Since the Feast was near, everyone was hurrying to Jerusalem; but while everyone else was rejoicing and gathering for worship, they were hiding and in danger. Still, they stayed with Him. For they hid in Galilee at the time of the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles; and after this, again during the Feast, they alone out of everyone fled and hid with their Master, showing their devotion to Him. That is why Luke records Him saying, “I stayed with you in trials”; He said this to show that they were strengthened by His influence. Ver. 55. “And many went up from the country to purify themselves.” Ver. 57. “And the High Priests and Pharisees had commanded that they should seize Him.” What a marvelous purification—with a murderous will, murderous intentions, and bloodstained hands! Ver. 56. “And they said, Do you think he will not come to the feast?” They used the Passover to plot against Him and made the time of feasting a time of murder: He would fall into their hands there because the occasion called Him to come. What impiety! At a time when they needed to be more careful and to forgive those arrested for the worst offenses, they tried to trap One who had done no wrong. Yet by acting this way they had already gained nothing and made themselves ridiculous. For this reason He continually comes among them and escapes, restrains them when they plot to kill Him, and leaves them bewildered. He wants to stir their consciences by displaying His power, so that when they seize Him, they will know that what happened came about through His permission, rather than their power. For even at that time they could not seize Him, although Bethany was nearby; and when they did seize Him, He threw them backward. Ch. xii. ver. 1, 2. “Then six days before the Passover He came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, and ate a feast with them; and Martha served, but Lazarus sat at the table.” This proved that his resurrection was real: after many days he was still alive and eating. “And Martha served”; this makes it clear that the meal was in her house, for they welcomed Jesus as people who loved Him and were loved by Him. Some, however, say that it took place in someone else’s house. Mary did not serve, for she was a disciple. Here again she acted in the more spiritual way. For she did not serve as an invited guest, nor did she offer her services to everyone alike. Instead, she directs the honor to Him alone and approaches Him as a God, rather than as a man. That is why she poured out the ointment and wiped (His feet) with the hair of her head. This was the act of someone who did not hold the same opinion of Him as others did. Yet Judas rebuked her, supposedly out of concern. What, then, does Christ say? “She has done a good work for My burial.” But why did He not expose the disciple in the incident involving the woman, or tell him what the Evangelist has revealed—that he rebuked her because of his own thieving? In His great patience He wanted to bring him to a better frame of mind. Because He knew he was a traitor, He often rebuked him from the beginning, saying, “Not all believe,” and, “One of you is a devil.” ( c. vi. 64, 70.) He showed them that He knew him to be a traitor, yet He did not rebuke him openly, but put up with him, wanting to bring him back. How, then, does another Evangelist say that all the disciples used these words? ( Matt. xxvi. 8.) They all used them, and so did he, but the others did not have the same purpose. And if anyone asks why He put the money bag for the poor into the hands of a thief and made a lover of money its manager, we would answer that God knows the hidden reason. But if we may offer a conjecture, it was to leave him without any excuse. For he could not say that he did this out of love of money, (since he had enough in the bag to satisfy his desire,) but out of extreme wickedness, which Christ wanted to restrain by treating him with great consideration. That is why He did not even rebuke him for stealing, although He knew about it, blocking the way to his wicked desire and taking away every excuse. “Leave her alone,” He says, “for she has done this in preparation for the day of My burial.” Again, by speaking of His burial, He alludes to the traitor. But the rebuke does not reach him, nor do the words soften him, although they were enough to move him to pity. It is as if He had said, “I am a burden and a bother, but wait a little while, and I will leave.” This was also what He meant when He said, Ver. 8. “But you do not always have Me.” But none of these things turned that savage madman back. In truth, Jesus said and did far more than this: He washed his feet that night, shared the table and the salt with him—something that usually restrains even the souls of robbers—and spoke other words enough to melt a stone. And He did this on the very day, rather than long beforehand, so that even the passage of time could not make him forget it. But he resisted it all. [3.] For the love of money is a dreadful, dreadful thing. It disables both eyes and ears and makes people harder to deal with than a wild beast. It prevents a person from considering conscience, friendship, fellowship, or the salvation of his own soul. Once it has drawn people away from all these things at once, it makes its captives its slaves, like some harsh mistress. And the dreadful part of such bitter slavery is that it persuades them even to be grateful for it. The more enslaved they become, the more their pleasure increases. This, above all, makes the disease incurable; this makes the monster hard to conquer. This made Gehazi a leper instead of a disciple and a prophet; this destroyed Ananias and the woman with him; this made Judas a traitor; this corrupted the rulers of the Jews, who accepted gifts and became partners with thieves. This has brought about ten thousand wars, filling the roads with blood and the cities with wailing and lamentation. This has made meals impure and tables accursed and has filled food with transgression. That is why Paul called it “idolatry” ( Col. iii. 5 ), and even this has not deterred people from it. And why does he call it “idolatry”? Many people possess wealth and dare not use it, but consecrate it, passing it down untouched, not daring to touch it as though it were something sacred. And if they are ever forced to do so, they feel as though they have done something unlawful. Besides, just as the Greek carefully tends his carved image, so you entrust your gold to doors and bars, providing a chest instead of a shrine and storing it in silver vessels. But you do not bow down to it as he does to the image? Yet you give it every kind of attention. Again, he would rather give up his eyes or his life than his carved image. So would those who love gold. “But,” someone says, “I do not worship gold.” He, too, says that he does not worship the image, but the devil dwelling in it. In the same way, although you do not worship gold, you worship that devil who springs upon your soul through the sight of gold and your lust for it. For the lust for money is more terrible than an evil spirit, and many obey it more than others obey idols. Those people disobey their idols in many things, but these surrender everything, obeying whatever it tells them to do. What does it say? “Be at war with everyone,” it says, “be everyone’s enemy, recognize no family ties, despise God, sacrifice yourself to me”; and they obey in everything. People sacrifice oxen and sheep to carved images, but greed says, “Sacrifice your own soul to me,” and the man obeys. Do you see what kind of altars it has, what kind of sacrifices it receives? The greedy will not inherit the Kingdom of God, but even this does not frighten them. ( 1 Cor. vi. 10.) Yet this desire is weaker than all the others. It is neither inborn nor natural, (for then it would have been placed in us at the beginning;) but there was no gold at the beginning, and no one desired gold. But if you like, I will tell you how this evil came in. By each person envying the one ahead of him, people have made the disease worse, and the one who has pulled ahead stirs up someone who previously had no desire. For when people see splendid houses, extensive lands, crowds of slaves, silver vessels, and great heaps of clothes, they use every means to outdo their owners. So the first group causes the second to act this way, and these in turn cause those who come after them. Now if they would show good judgment, they would not be teachers (of evil) to others; yet those others have no excuse either. For there are also people who despise riches. “And who,” someone says, “despises them?” The terrible thing is that because wickedness is so widespread, this seems to have become impossible, and people do not even believe that anyone can act rightly. Shall I name many, both in cities and in the mountains? And what good would it do? Their example will not make you better. Besides, the purpose of what I am saying now is not to make you give away all your property. I wish you could do so; however, since the burden is too heavy for you, I do not force you. I only advise you not to desire what belongs to others and to share some of your own. We will find many such people, content with what belongs to them, looking after their own affairs and living by honest labor. Why do we not try to match and imitate them? Let us think of those who have gone before us. Do their possessions not remain, preserving nothing but their names—this man’s bathhouse, that man’s suburban estate and residence? When we see them, do we not immediately groan as we consider how much toil he endured and how much plundering he committed? And now he is nowhere to be seen, while others live in luxury on his possessions, people he never expected would do so, perhaps even his enemies, while he suffers the most extreme punishment. These things await us too, for we will certainly die and will certainly have to face the same end. Tell me, how much anger, how much expense, how many hostilities did these men bring upon themselves? And what did they gain? Undying punishment, no consolation, and accusations from everyone, both while they lived and after they were gone? What then? When we see the portraits of so many people kept in their houses, will we not weep all the more? The Prophet truly spoke well: “Truly, every living person troubles himself in vain” ( Ps. xxxix. 11 , LXX.); for anxiety over such things really is trouble—trouble and needless worry. But it is not so in the everlasting dwellings, not so in those tents. Here one person has labored and another enjoys the result; but there each will possess the fruits of his own labor and receive a reward many times over. Let us press forward to gain that possession; let us prepare houses for ourselves there, so that we may rest in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, forever and ever. Amen.