Homilies on John, Homily 67

“Whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me.” [1.] This present life is sweet and full of pleasure, though not for everyone, but for those who cling to it. For if anyone looks toward heaven and sees the beautiful things there, he will soon despise this life and think nothing of it. In the same way, we admire the beauty of an object as long as we see nothing more beautiful, but when something better appears, we despise the first. So if we chose to look at that beauty and consider the splendor of the kingdom there, we would soon free ourselves from our present chains; for our attachment to present things is a kind of chain. And listen to what Christ says to lead us to this: “Whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life; if anyone serves Me, let him follow Me”; and, “Where I am, My servant is there also.” These words seem like a riddle, but they are not; they are full of wisdom. But how will “whoever loves his life lose it”? When he carries out its shameful desires, when he indulges it where he should not. That is why someone urges us, saying, “Do not follow the desires of your soul” ( Ecclus. xviii. 30 ); for that is how you will destroy it, since it leads you away from the path to virtue. Conversely, “whoever hates it in this world will save it.” But what does “whoever hates it” mean? Someone who does not give in to it when it commands something harmful. And He did not say, “whoever does not give in to it,” but, “whoever hates it.” For just as we cannot bear even to hear the voices of people we hate, or take pleasure in looking at them, so we must turn forcefully away from the soul when it commands things contrary to what pleases God. For He was now about to tell them much about death—His own death—and saw that they were discouraged and despondent. So He spoke very strongly, saying, “What am I saying? What if you do not bravely bear My death? Indeed, unless you die yourselves, you will gain nothing.” Notice also how He softens His words. It was very painful and distressing to be told that the person who loves life must die. And why speak of ancient times, when even now we will find many who gladly endure any suffering to enjoy this present life, even though they are convinced about the things to come? When they see buildings, works of art, and inventions, they weep, reflecting, “How many things man invents, and yet he becomes dust! So great is the longing for this present life.” To loosen these bonds, then, Christ says, “Whoever hates his soul in this world will keep it for eternal life.” To see that He spoke to encourage them and dispel their fear, listen to what comes next. “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me.” He is speaking of death and calling for the kind of following that consists in actions. For someone who serves must certainly follow the person he serves. And notice when He said these things to them: when they were being persecuted? No, when they were confident, when they thought themselves safe because of the honor and attention the crowds gave them, when they could stir themselves and hear, “Let him take up his cross and follow Me” ( Matt. xvi. 24 ). That is, He says, “Always be ready to face danger, death, and your departure from this world.” Then, after saying what was hard to bear, He also presents the prize. And what was it? Following Him and being where He is, showing that Resurrection will follow death. For He says, “Where I am, My servant is there also.” But where is Christ? In heaven. So even before the Resurrection, let us go there in soul and mind. “If anyone serves Me, the Father will love him.” Why did He not say, “I”? Because they did not yet have a right understanding of Him, but thought more highly of the Father. For how could people who did not even know He would rise again imagine anything great about Him? That is why He said to the sons of Zebedee, “It is not Mine to give, but it will be given to those for whom it is prepared by My Father” ( Mark x. 40 ), even though He is the one who judges. But in this passage He also establishes His genuine sonship. For the Father will receive them as servants of His own Son. Ver. 27. “Now My soul is troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour.” “But surely these are not the words of someone urging them to go even to death.” On the contrary, they are the words of someone urging them very strongly to do so. For they might say, “He is exempt from the pains of death, so He can easily speak philosophically about death and urge us on while facing no danger Himself.” To prevent this, He shows that although He feels its agony, He does not refuse it because of the good it will accomplish. But these things belong to the Dispensation, not the Godhead. That is why He says, “Now My soul is troubled.” Otherwise, what connection would there be between what He had said and His words, “Father, save Me from this hour”? He was so troubled that He even sought deliverance from death, if escape were at all possible. These were the weaknesses of His human nature. [2.] “But,” He says, “I do not know what to say when asking for deliverance.” “For this is why I came to this hour.” It is as though He said, “Though we are bewildered, though we are troubled, let us not flee from death, since even now, troubled as I am, I do not speak of fleeing; for we must bear what is coming. I do not say, ‘Deliver Me from this hour.’” What does He say instead? Ver. 28. “Father, glorify Your Name.” “Although My distress urges Me to say this, I say the opposite: ‘Glorify Your Name,’ that is, lead Me from now on to the Cross.” This clearly reveals His humanity and a nature unwilling to die, but clinging to this present life, proving that He was not exempt from human feelings. For just as there is no blame in being hungry or sleeping, neither is there in desiring this present life. Christ indeed had a body free from sin, yet not free from natural needs, for then it would not have been a body. Through these words He also taught something else. What was it? That whenever we are in agony and fear, even then we should not shrink back from what lies before us. And by saying, “Glorify Your Name,” He shows that He dies for the truth, calling the act “glory to God.” And this happened after the Crucifixion. The world was about to be converted, to acknowledge the Name of God and serve Him—not only the Name of the Father, but also that of the Son. Yet He still says nothing about this. “Then a Voice came from Heaven: I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” When had He “glorified it”? Through what had already been done; and “I will glorify it again” after the Cross. What, then, did Christ say? Ver. 30. “This Voice did not come for Me, but for your sake.” They thought it had thundered, or that an Angel had spoken to Him. How could they think this? Was the voice not clear and distinct? It was, but it quickly escaped their grasp because they were coarse, fleshly, and sluggish. Some of them caught only the sound; others recognized that the voice spoke words, but did not know what they meant. What does Christ say? “This Voice did not come for Me, but for your sake.” Why did He say this? He said it to counter their constant assertion that He was not from God. For if God glorified Him, how could He not be from that God whose name He glorified? Indeed, this was why the Voice came. That is why He Himself says, “This Voice did not come for Me, but for your sake”—“not so that I might learn anything I do not know (for I know everything that belongs to the Father), but for your sake.” For when they said, “An Angel has spoken to Him,” or, “It has thundered,” and paid no attention to Him, He says, “It was for your sake,” so that even this might lead you to ask what the words meant. But in their agitation they still did not ask, even though they heard that the matter concerned them. For to someone who did not know why it was spoken, the Voice naturally seemed unclear. “The Voice came for your sake.” Do you see that these humble circumstances occur on their account, rather than because the Son needs help? Ver. 31. “Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast down.” What connection does this have with “I have glorified and will glorify”? A great deal; the two fit closely together. For when God says, “I will glorify,” He shows how the glorifying will happen. How? By someone being cast down. But what does “the judgment of this world” mean? It is as though He said, “There will be a trial and retribution.” How, and in what way? “He killed the first man after finding him guilty of sin (for ‘through sin death entered’— Rom. v. 12), but he found no sin in Me. Why, then, did he attack Me and hand Me over to death? Why did he put it into Judas’s mind to destroy Me?” (Do not tell me it was God’s dispensation, for this belongs to His wisdom, not to the devil; for now, let us examine that evil one’s intention.) “How, then, is the world judged in Me?” As though a court were in session, Satan will be told, “Well, you killed everyone because you found them guilty of sin. But why did you kill Christ? Is it not clear that you did so unjustly?” Therefore, in Him the whole world will be avenged. But to make this still clearer, I will explain it with an example. Suppose there is a cruel tyrant who inflicts ten thousand evils on everyone who falls into his hands. If he fights a king or a king’s son and kills him unjustly, that death will have the power to secure revenge for the others as well. Suppose someone demands payment from his debtors, beats them, and throws them into prison. Then, with the same recklessness, he takes someone who owes him nothing to the same dungeon. Such a man will be punished for what he has done to the others, for that one person will bring about his destruction. [3.] So it is with the Son: the devil will be made to pay the penalty for what he has done against us through what he has dared to do against Christ. And to see that this is what He means, listen to what He says: “Now the prince of this world will be cast down”—“through My Death.” Ver. 32. “And I, if I am lifted up, will draw all people to Me.” That is, “even the Gentiles.” And so that no one may ask, “How will he be cast down if he is stronger even than You?” He says, “He is not stronger; how can he be stronger than One who draws others to Him?” And He does not speak of the Resurrection, but of something greater than the Resurrection: “I will draw all people to Myself.” For if He had said, “I will rise again,” it would not yet have been clear that they would believe. But by saying, “They will believe,” He proves both things at once: this, and that He must rise again. For if He had remained dead and been merely a man, no one would have believed. “I will draw all people to Myself.” ( c. vi. 44.) How, then, did He say that the Father draws? Because when the Son draws, the Father draws as well. He says, “I will draw them,” as though they were held captive by a tyrant and unable on their own to approach Him or escape the hands of the one who holds them. Elsewhere He calls this “robbery”: “No one can steal a strong man’s goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then steals his goods.” ( Matt. xii. 29.) He said this to prove His strength, and what He calls “robbery” there, He calls “drawing” here. Knowing these things, then, let us rouse ourselves; let us glorify God through our lives as well as our faith, since otherwise it would be blasphemy, not glory. For an impure pagan does not cause God to be blasphemed as much as a corrupt Christian does. So I beg you to do everything you can for God to be glorified. For it says, “Woe to that servant through whom the Name of God is blasphemed” (and wherever there is a “woe,” every punishment and vengeance immediately follows), “but blessed is the one through whom that Name is glorified.” So let us not live as though we were in darkness, but avoid all sins, especially those that harm others, since these cause God to be blasphemed most of all. What pardon will we have when, though commanded to give to others, we plunder their property? What hope of salvation will we have? You are punished if you have not fed the hungry; but if you have even stripped someone who was clothed, what kind of pardon will you receive? I will never stop saying these things, for those who have not heard today may hear tomorrow, and those who pay no attention tomorrow may be persuaded the next day. And even if some are determined not to be persuaded, we will still have no account to give for them at the Judgment. We have done our part. May we never have reason to be ashamed of our words, and may you never have reason to hide your faces. May all of us be able to stand boldly before the judgment seat of Christ, so that we too may rejoice over you and find some compensation for our own faults in your being approved in Christ Jesus our Lord. To Him, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever. Amen.