Homilies on John, Homily 76

“Get up, let us leave here. I am the true Vine, (you are the branches, ) and My Father is the Farmer.” [1.] ‘Ignorance’ makes the soul timid and cowardly, just as instruction in heavenly doctrines makes it great and noble. For when it has received no care, it becomes timid in a way, not by nature but by choice. When I see someone who was once brave become a coward, I say that this later feeling cannot belong to his nature, because what is natural does not change. Again, when I see people who were cowards just a moment ago suddenly become bold, I reach the same conclusion and attribute it all to choice. Even the disciples were very fearful before they had learned what they needed to learn and had been considered worthy of the gift of the Spirit; afterward, however, they became bolder than lions. Peter, who could not bear a servant girl's threat, was hung upside down and flogged, and although he faced ten thousand dangers, he would not be silent. He endured everything he suffered as though it were a dream and spoke boldly in those circumstances. But he was not like this before the Crucifixion. That is why Christ said, “Get up, let us leave here.” “But why, tell me? Didn't He know the hour when Judas would come upon Him? Or perhaps He was afraid that Judas would come and seize them, and that the plotters would be upon Him before He had delivered His excellent teaching.” Absolutely not! Such things are far beneath His dignity. “If He was not afraid, then why did He move them elsewhere and, after finishing His discourse, lead them into a garden Judas knew? And even if Judas had come, couldn't He have blinded their eyes, as He also did when the traitor was not present? Why did He move them?” He gives the disciples a little breathing room. Since they were in an exposed place, they were likely to tremble with fear because of both the time and the place, (for it was the middle of the night,) and to pay no attention to His words. Instead, they would keep turning around and imagining they heard the people who were going to attack them, especially since their Master's words made them expect trouble. For He says, “A little while longer, and I am not with you,” and, “The ruler of this world is coming.” Since these and similar words troubled them, as though they were certain to be arrested immediately, He leads them somewhere else so that, feeling safe, they might listen to Him without fear. For they were about to hear lofty doctrines. That is why He says, “Get up, let us leave here.” Then He adds, “I am the Vine, you are the branches.” What does He mean to convey by this comparison? That anyone who pays no attention to His words can have no life, and that the miracles about to take place would be performed by Christ's power. “My Father is the Farmer.” “What, then? Does the Son need a power working within Him?” Absolutely not! That is not what this example means. Notice how precisely He develops the comparison. He does not say that the “root” receives the Farmer's care, but “the branches.” And the root is introduced here for no other purpose than to teach them that they can do nothing without His power and that they must be united with Him by faith, as the branch is with the vine. Ver. 2. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, the Father takes away.” Here He refers to how people live, showing that it is impossible to be in Him without works. “And every branch that bears fruit, He cleanses.” That is, “He gives it great care.” Yet the root needs care more than the branches do: it needs to be dug around and cleared. Still, He says nothing about that here, but speaks entirely about the branches. He shows that He needs nothing beyond Himself and that the disciples need much help from the Farmer, even though they are outstanding. That is why He says, “The branch that bears fruit, He cleanses.” One branch cannot even remain in the Vine because it is fruitless, while He makes the other more fruitful because it bears fruit. Someone might say that this also referred to the persecutions about to come upon them. For “cleanses” means “prunes,” which makes the branch bear fruit better. This shows that persecutions actually make people stronger. Then, so they would not ask whom He meant by these words, and so He would not plunge them back into anxiety, He says, Ver. 3. “You are already clean through the word I have spoken to you.” Do you see how He presents Himself as tending the branches? “I have cleansed you,” He says, although above He declares that the Father does this. But there is no separation between the Father and the Son. “And now you must also do your part.” Then, to show that He did this for their growth, rather than because He needed their service, He adds, Ver. 4. “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can anyone who does not remain in Me.” To keep fear from separating them from Him, He binds and glues their souls to Himself after fear has loosened their hold, and He offers them good hopes for the future. For the root remains, but it is the branches that are either taken away or left. Then, after urging them on in both ways, through pleasant things and painful things, He first asks for what we must do on our side. Ver. 5. “Anyone who remains in Me, and I in him.” Do you see that the Son contributes no less than the Father to the disciples' care? The Father cleanses them, but He keeps them in Himself. Remaining in the root is what makes the branches bear fruit. A branch that is not cleansed still bears fruit if it remains on the root, though perhaps not as much as it should; but one that does not remain bears none at all. Still, the “cleansing” has also been shown to belong to the Son, and “remaining in the root” to the Father, who also begot the Root. Do you see how everything is shared, both the “cleansing” and the benefit of the power that comes from the root? [2.] Being unable to do anything would be a great penalty, but He does not stop the punishment there. He takes His discourse further. Ver. 6. “He is thrown out,” He says. He no longer benefits from the farmer's hand. “And withers.” That is, if he had anything from the root, he loses it; if he had any grace, he is stripped of it and deprived of the help and life that come from it. And what is the end? “He is thrown into the fire.” This is not the fate of someone who remains with Him. Then He shows what it means to “remain,” and says, Ver. 7. “If My words remain in you.” Do you see that I was right to say above that He looks for proof in works? For after saying, “Whatever you ask, I will do” ( c. xiv. 14, 15 ), He added, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” And here, “If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you.” “You will ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you.” He said this to show that those who plotted against Him would be burned up, while “they” would bear fruit. Then, shifting the fear from them to the others and showing that they would be invincible, He says, Ver. 8. “My Father is glorified in this: that you be My disciples and bear much fruit.” In this way He makes His words credible, for if bearing fruit contributes to the Father's glory, He will not neglect His own glory. “And you will be My disciples.” Do you see how the person who bears fruit is the disciple? But what does “The Father is glorified in this” mean? “He rejoices when you remain in Me, when you bear fruit.” Ver. 9. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.” Here at last He speaks in a more human way, for these words have a particular force when spoken to human beings. What a measure of love He showed, choosing to die, considering those who were His slaves, His haters, His open enemies worthy of such honor, and leading them up to the heavens! “If I love you, then, be bold; if your bearing fruit brings My Father glory, expect nothing bad.” Then, so He will not make them complacent, notice how He strengthens them again: “Remain in My love.” “For you have the power to do this.” And how will this happen? Ver. 10. “If you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father's commandments.” Again, He speaks in a human way, for surely the Lawgiver would not be subject to commandments. Do you see that here too, as I am always saying, this is said because of the hearers' weakness? For He chiefly addresses their misgivings, showing them in every way that they are safe, that their enemies are heading for destruction, that everything they have comes from the Son, and that if they live pure lives, no one will ever gain mastery over them. And notice how authoritatively He speaks to them. He did not say, “Remain in My Father's love,” but “in Mine.” Then, so they would not say, “After setting us at war with everyone, You leave us and go away,” He shows that He does not leave them, but, if they are willing, is as closely joined to them as the branch is to the vine. Then, so confidence will not make them complacent, He does not say that the blessing cannot be taken away if they become careless. And to avoid attributing the action to Himself and so making them more likely to fall, He says, “My Father is glorified in this.” For everywhere He reveals His own love and His Father's love for them. So “glory” did not consist in the things the Jews possessed, but in what the disciples were about to receive. And so they would not say, “We have been driven from our fathers' possessions, we have been abandoned, we have been left naked and without anything,” He says, “Look at Me. I am loved by the Father, and yet I suffer these things that have been appointed for Me. So I am not leaving you now because I do not love you. For if I am killed and do not take this as proof that the Father does not love Me, you should not be troubled either. For if you remain in My love, these dangers will not be able to harm you as far as that love is concerned.” [3.] Since love is powerful and irresistible, and not merely a word, let us show it through our actions. He reconciled us when we were His enemies; now that we have become His friends, let us remain so. He led the way; let us at least follow. He does not love us for His own advantage, (for He needs nothing,) so let us at least love Him for our own benefit. He loved us when we were His enemies; let us at least love Him now that He is our friend. At present we do the opposite, for every day God is blasphemed because of us, because of our plundering, because of our greed. Perhaps one of you will say, “Every day you preach about greed.” If only I could speak about it every night too! If only I could follow you around the marketplace and speak about it at your table! If only wives, friends, children, household servants, farmworkers, neighbors, and even the pavement and walls could constantly shout this word, so that perhaps we might loosen our grip a little. For this disease has seized the whole world and occupies everyone's soul, and Mammon's tyranny is great. We have been ransomed by Christ, and we are slaves to gold. We proclaim the sovereignty of the one and obey the other. Whatever “he” commands, we readily obey, and for his sake we have refused to recognize family, friendship, nature, laws, or anything else. No one looks up to Heaven; no one thinks about things to come. But a time will come when even these words will do no good. “In the grave,” it says, “who will acknowledge You?” Gold is desirable, provides us with great luxury, and brings us honor, but not in the same way Heaven does. Many people turn away from a wealthy man and hate him, but they respect and honor someone who lives virtuously. “But,” someone says, “a poor man is mocked even if he is virtuous.” Not among human beings, but among beasts. So he should not even pay attention to them. For if donkeys brayed and jackdaws chattered at us while all wise people praised us, we would not ignore those people and pay attention to the beasts' cries. Those who admire present things are like jackdaws and worse than donkeys. Besides, if an earthly king approves of you, you pay no attention to the crowd, even if they all mock you. But if the Lord of the universe praises you, do you seek the good opinion of beetles and gnats? For that is what these people are compared with God—or rather, not even that, but something more contemptible, if such a thing exists. How long will we wallow in the mud? How long will we make lazy people and worshipers of their bellies our judges? They can judge dice players, drunkards, and people who live for their bellies well enough, but they cannot form even the faintest dream of virtue and vice. If someone taunts you because you do not know how to lay out irrigation channels, you will not think it terrible. You will even laugh at someone who criticizes you for ignorance of that kind. Yet when you want to practice virtue, do you appoint people who know nothing about it as your judges? This is why we never master that art. We submit our case to people without knowledge instead of those with experience, and they judge according to their own ignorance, rather than the rules of the art. So I urge you, let us despise the crowd—or rather, let us desire neither praise nor possessions nor wealth, and let us not consider poverty an evil. For poverty teaches us sound judgment, endurance, and all true wisdom. Lazarus lived in poverty and received a crown; Jacob wanted only to obtain bread; and Joseph lived in extreme poverty, as both a slave and a prisoner. We admire him all the more for this, and we praise him less when he distributed grain than when he lived in the dungeon; less when he wore the crown than when he wore the chain; less when he sat on the throne than when he was plotted against and sold. Considering all these things, then, and the crowns woven for us after the struggles, let us admire poverty, the chain, imprisonment, and endurance for the sake of virtue, rather than wealth, honor, luxury, and power. For those things end in trouble and confusion, and their lot is tied to this present life. But the fruit of these things is heaven and the good things in the heavens, which no eye has seen and no ear has heard. May we all obtain them through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.