Homilies on John, Homily 66

“A large crowd of the Jews therefore learned that He was there, and they came not only for Jesus’ sake, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.” [1.] Just as wealth often throws those who are not watchful into destruction, so does power: the first leads to greed, the second to pride. See, for example, how the common people among the Jews are sound, while their rulers are corrupt. The Evangelists continually state that the former believed Christ, saying that “many of the crowd believed in Him” ( c. vii. 31, 48 ); but those who were rulers did not believe. And it is they themselves, not the crowd, who say, “Have any of the rulers believed in Him?” But what does one of them say? “The crowd who do not know God are accursed” ( c. vii. 49 ). They call the believers accursed, and themselves, the murderers, wise. Here too, the many believed after seeing the miracle, but the rulers were not satisfied with their own evil deeds; they also tried to kill Lazarus. Suppose they did try to kill Christ because He broke the Sabbath, because He made Himself equal to the Father, and because of the Romans you bring up. Still, what charge did they have against Lazarus that made them seek to kill him? Is receiving a benefit a crime? Do you see how murderous their intentions are? Yet He had worked many miracles, but none angered them as much as this one—not the paralytic, not the blind man. For this miracle was more wonderful in its nature, came after many others, and presented the extraordinary sight of someone who had been dead for four days walking and speaking. What an honorable way, indeed, to celebrate the feast: to mix murders into the solemn assembly! Besides, in the other case they thought they could accuse Him over the Sabbath and so draw the crowds away. But here, since they could find no fault with Him, they attack the man who had been healed. Here they could not even say that He was opposed to the Father, since His prayer shut their mouths. So, with the charge they constantly brought against Him removed and the miracle plain to see, they rush to murder. They would therefore have done the same in the blind man’s case if they had not been able to find fault over the Sabbath. Besides, that man was unimportant, and they threw him out of the temple. Lazarus, however, was a distinguished person, as is clear from the many people who came to comfort his sisters, and the miracle was performed in everyone’s sight and in a most marvelous way. That is why everyone ran to see him. This, then, was what stung them: while the feast was going on, everyone was leaving it and going to Bethany. So they set about killing him and did not think they were doing anything outrageous, so murderous were they. This is why the Law opens at its beginning with, “You shall not kill” ( Ex. xx. 13 ); and the Prophet brings this charge against them: “Their hands are full of blood.” ( Isa. i. 15.) But how, after avoiding walking openly in Judea and withdrawing into the wilderness, does He enter openly again? By withdrawing, He had cooled their anger, and He comes to them when they have quieted down. Moreover, the crowd going before Him and following Him was enough to throw them into an agony of fear, for no sign attracted the people as much as the raising of Lazarus. Another Evangelist says that they spread their clothes under His feet ( Matt. xxi. 8 ), and that “the whole city was stirred” ( Matt. xxi. 10 ). That is how much honor He received as He entered. He did this to foreshadow one prophecy and fulfill another; the same act was the beginning of one and the completion of the other. For the words, “Rejoice, for your King comes to you, meek” ( Zech. ix. 9 ), applied to Him as the fulfillment of a prophecy. But His sitting on a donkey foreshadowed a future event: He was about to bring the impure race of the Gentiles into subjection to Him. But why do the others say that He sent disciples and said, “Untie the donkey and the colt” ( Matt. xxi. 2 ), while John says nothing of the kind, but says that “having found a young donkey, He sat on it”? Because both circumstances probably took place: after the donkey was untied, while the disciples were bringing it, He found (the colt) and sat on it. They took small branches of palm and olive trees and spread their clothes along the road, showing that they now thought of Him as more than a Prophet, and said, Ver. 13. “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Do you see that what most choked them was everyone’s conviction that He was not an enemy of God? And what most divided the people was His statement that He came from the Father. But what do these words mean: Ver. 15. “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion”? Because their kings had, for the most part, been unjust and greedy men who had handed them over to their enemies, corrupted the people, and subjected them to their enemies. “Take courage,” It says, “this is no such man, but meek and gentle.” The donkey shows this, for He entered without an army following Him, with only a donkey. Ver. 16. “But the disciples did not know,” says the Evangelist, “that this was written about Him.” [2.] Do you see that they were ignorant of most things because He did not reveal them to them? For when He said, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up” ( c. ii. 19 ), the disciples did not understand then either. Another Evangelist says that “the saying was hidden from them” ( Luke xviii. 34 ), and they did not know that He would rise from the dead. There was good reason for this to be concealed from them (which is why another Evangelist says that whenever they heard it, they grieved and became downcast, because they did not understand what He said about the Resurrection). It was rightly concealed, since it was beyond their understanding. But why was the matter of the donkey not revealed to them? Because this too was a great thing. But notice the Evangelist’s wisdom: he is not ashamed to openly display their earlier ignorance. They knew it was written; they did not know it was written about Him. For it would have troubled them if He, being a King, was about to suffer such things and be betrayed in this way. Besides, they could not have grasped all at once the nature of the Kingdom He spoke of, for another Evangelist says that they thought His words referred to a kingdom of this world. ( Matt. xx. 21.) Ver. 17. “But the crowd testified that He had raised Lazarus.” For so many would not have changed so suddenly unless they had believed in the miracle. Ver. 19. “The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Do you see that you are accomplishing nothing? Look, the world has gone after Him.” Now it seems to me that this was said by those whose judgment was right but who lacked the courage to speak openly, and who now tried to restrain the others by pointing to the outcome, as though they were attempting the impossible. Here again they call the crowd “the world.” For Scripture regularly uses the name “world” both for creation and for those who live in wickedness: the first when It says, “Who brings out His world by number” ( Isa. xl. 26 ); the second when It says, “The world does not hate you, but it hates Me.” ( c. vii. 7.) We need to understand these things precisely so that the meanings of words do not give the heretics an opening. Ver. 20. “And there were some Greeks among those who came up to worship at the Feast.” They were now close to becoming proselytes and were at the Feast. So when they heard the report about Him, they said, Ver. 21. “We want to see Jesus.” Philip defers to Andrew as his senior and tells him about the matter. But Andrew does not immediately act on his own authority either, for he had heard the saying, “Do not go among the Gentiles” ( Matt. x. 5 ). So, after consulting with the other disciple, he refers the matter to his Master. For they both spoke to Him. But what does He say? Ver. 23, 24. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.” What does “The hour has come” mean? He had said, “Do not go among the Gentiles,” (thus removing every excuse of ignorance from the Jews), and had held the disciples back. So when the Jews remained disobedient and the others wanted to come to Him, He says, “Now it is time for Me to undergo My Passion, since everything has been fulfilled. For if we kept waiting for those who are disobedient and did not admit these people who actually want to come, this would be unworthy of our tender care.” Since, then, He was about to allow the disciples to go to the Gentiles after the Crucifixion, and saw the Gentiles coming forward ahead of time, He said, “It is time to go to the Cross.” For He would not allow the disciples to go sooner, so that it might serve as a testimony to the Jews. Until the Jews rejected Him by their actions, until they crucified Him, He did not say, “Go and make disciples of all nations” ( Matt. xxviii. 19 ), but, “Do not go among the Gentiles” ( Matt. x. 5 ), and, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” ( Matt xv. 24 ), and, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to dogs.” ( Matt. xv. 26.) But when they hated Him, and hated Him enough to kill Him, there was no point in persisting while they rejected Him. For they refused Him, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” ( c. xix. 15.) So He finally left them when they had left Him. That is why He says, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, and you were unwilling!” ( Matt. xxiii. 37.) What does “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies” mean? He is speaking of the Cross. So that they would not be bewildered to see Him killed just when Greeks too were coming to Him, He tells them, “This very thing is what especially brings them here, and it will increase the preaching about Me.” Then, since words alone could not persuade them as well, He sets out to prove this from actual experience, telling them that this is what happens with wheat: it bears more fruit when it has died. “Now,” He says, “if this is true of seeds, it is much more true of Me.” But the disciples did not understand what was said. That is why the Evangelist continually mentions this, as an excuse for their later flight. Paul too has used this same argument in speaking about the Resurrection. [3.] What excuse, then, will those who disbelieve the Resurrection have, when the process takes place every day in seeds, in plants, and in our own reproduction? For the seed must first die, and then reproduction takes place. But, to put it briefly, when God does something, reasoned arguments are of no use. For how did He make us out of things that did not exist? I say this to Christians, who declare that they believe the Scriptures; but I will also say something else drawn from human reasoning. Some people live in vice, others in virtue. Among those who live in vice, many have reached extreme old age in prosperity, while many of the virtuous have endured the opposite. When, then, will each receive what he deserves? At what time? “Yes,” someone says, “but there is no resurrection of the body.” They do not listen to Paul when he says, “This corruptible must put on incorruption.” ( 1 Cor. xv. 53 .) He is not speaking of the soul, for the soul does not decay. Moreover, “resurrection” refers to what fell, and what fell was the body. But why do you insist that there is no resurrection of the body? Is it impossible for God? To say that would be utter foolishness. Is it improper? Why is it improper for the corruptible body, which shared in the toil and death, to share also in the crowns? For if it were improper, the body would not have been created in the beginning, and Christ would not have taken the flesh again. But to show that He took it again and raised it up, listen to what He says: “Bring your fingers here” ( c. xx. 27 ); and, “Look, a spirit does not have bones and sinews.” ( Luke xxiv. 39.) But why did He raise Lazarus again if it would have been better to rise without a body? Why does He do this and present it as a miracle and a benefit? Why did He give nourishment at all? So do not be deceived by the heretics, beloved. For there is a Resurrection and there is a Judgment, but those who do not want to give an account of their actions deny these things. For this Resurrection must be like Christ’s, since He was the firstfruits, the firstborn of the dead. But if the Resurrection is a purification of the soul, a deliverance from sin, and Christ did not sin, how did He rise again? And how have we been delivered from the curse if He too sinned? And why does He now say, “The prince of this world is coming, and has nothing in Me”? ( c. xiv. 30.) These are the words of One declaring His sinlessness. According to them, therefore, He either did not rise again, or He sinned before His Resurrection so that He could rise. But He both rose again and committed no sin. Therefore He rose in the Body, and these wicked doctrines are nothing but the offspring of empty pride. Let us, then, flee this disease. For It says, “Evil company corrupts good character.” ( 1 Cor. xv. 33.) These are not the Apostles’ doctrines; Marcion and Valentinus have recently invented them. Let us, then, flee them, beloved, for a pure life does no good when doctrines are corrupt, just as sound doctrines do no good if the life is corrupt. The pagans were the parents of these ideas, and those heretics raised them, having received them from Gentile philosophers who asserted that matter is uncreated, and many similar things. Just as they asserted that there could be no Maker unless some uncreated underlying matter existed, so they also rejected the Resurrection. But let us pay no attention to them, knowing that God’s power is enough for everything. Let us pay no attention to them. I say this to you, for we will not shrink from battle with them. But a man who is unarmed and naked will easily be defeated, even if he encounters weak opponents and is stronger than they are. If you had paid attention to the Scriptures, if you had sharpened yourselves every day, I would not have advised you to avoid combat with them, but would have urged you to grapple with them, for truth is strong. But since you do not know how to use the Scriptures, I fear that in the struggle they may catch you unarmed and throw you down. For there is nothing, nothing weaker than those deprived of the Spirit’s help. If these heretics use the wisdom of the Gentiles, we should laugh at them instead of admiring them, because they use foolish teachers. For those men could discover nothing sound about either God or creation, and Pythagoras did not yet know things that a widow among us knows. Instead, he said that the soul becomes a bush, or a fish, or a dog. Tell me, should you pay attention to such men? How could that be reasonable? They are great men in their village, grow beautiful curls, and wrap themselves in cloaks: that is how far their philosophy goes. But if you look inside, there is dust and ashes and nothing sound. Instead, “their throat is an open tomb” ( Ps. v. 9 ), with everything full of impurity and corruption, and all their doctrines (full) of worms. For example, the first of them said that water was God, his successor said fire, and another said air, and they sank to material things. Tell me, then, should we admire these men, who never even conceived of the incorporeal God? And if they did come to that understanding later, it was after talking with our people in Egypt. But to avoid throwing you into great confusion, let us end our discourse here. For if we began to set out their teaching and what they have said about God, about matter, about the soul, and about the body, much ridicule would follow. They would not even need us to accuse them, for they have attacked one another; and the man who wrote the book against us concerning matter killed himself. So, to avoid keeping you here to no purpose or weaving a labyrinth of words, we will leave these things and urge you to keep listening closely to the Holy Scriptures and not fight useless battles over words. Paul gives this same advice to Timothy ( 2 Tim. ii. 14 ), even though he was filled with great wisdom and possessed the power to work miracles. Let us now obey him, leave trivial disputes behind, and hold firmly to actual deeds: I mean brotherly kindness and hospitality. Let us place great value on almsgiving, so that we may obtain the promised good things through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for endless ages. Amen.