Homilies on John, Homily 77

“I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may remain in you, and your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” [1.] All good things receive their reward when they reach their proper end, but if they are cut short midway, shipwreck follows. Just as a heavily loaded ship gains nothing from the length of its voyage if it fails to reach harbor in time and sinks in the middle of the sea, but makes the disaster all the greater because of all the hardships it has endured, so it is with souls that fall back near the end of their labors and lose heart in the middle of the struggle. That is why Paul said that glory, honor, and peace would meet those who ran their course with patient persistence in doing good. This is what Christ now brings about for the disciples. ( Rom. ii. 7.) For He had accepted them, and they rejoiced in Him, but the sudden arrival of the Passion and His sorrowful words were likely to cut short their pleasure. So, after speaking with them enough to comfort them, He adds, “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may remain in you, and your joy may be complete”; that is, “so that you may not be separated from Me or cut short your course. You were rejoicing in Me, and rejoicing greatly, but discouragement has come over you. I remove this, then, so that joy may come at the end, showing that your present circumstances give you reason for pleasure, not pain. I saw you stumble; I did not despise you; I did not say, ‘Why don’t you remain noble?’ Instead, I spoke words that brought you comfort. And so I always want to keep you in the same love. You heard about a kingdom and rejoiced. I have therefore spoken these things to you so that your joy may be complete.” But “this is the commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Do you see that love for God is intertwined with our love for one another, linked together like a chain? That is why Scripture sometimes says there are two commandments and sometimes only one. For someone who has taken hold of the first cannot fail to possess the second as well. At one point He said, “On this the Law and the Prophets hang” ( Matt. xxii. 40 ); and at another, “Whatever you want people to do to you, do the same to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” ( Matt. vii. 12.) And, “Love is the fulfillment of the Law.” ( Rom. xiii. 10.) This is also what He says here. For if remaining comes from love, and love from keeping the commandments, and the commandment is that we love one another, then remaining in God comes from love for one another. And He does not simply speak of love, but also explains how to love: “As I have loved you.” Again He shows that His very departure comes from love, not hatred. “So I should be admired all the more for this, because I lay down My life for you.” Yet nowhere does He say this in these words. Earlier He expressed it by describing the best shepherd, and here by encouraging them and showing the greatness of His love and who He Himself is. But why does He praise love so highly everywhere? Because this is the mark of the disciples, the bond that holds virtue together. That is why Paul says such great things about it, as a true disciple of Christ who has experienced it. Ver. 14, 15. “You are My friends—from now on I no longer call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. You are My friends, for I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father.” How, then, does He say, “I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now”? ( c. xvi. 12.) By “all” and “hearing,” He shows only that He said nothing foreign to the Father, but only what came from the Father. And since sharing secrets seems to be the strongest proof of friendship, He says, “You have been considered worthy even of this fellowship.” When He says “all,” however, He means “everything it was appropriate for them to hear.” Then He gives another sure proof of friendship, an extraordinary one. What was it? Ver. 16. “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” That is, I eagerly sought your friendship. And He did not stop here, but continued: “I set you,” He says, (that is, “I planted you,”) “so that you may go,” (He is still using the metaphor of the vine,) that is, “so that you may spread out”; “and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” “Now if your fruit remains, you will remain all the more. For I have not only loved you,” He says, “but have given you the greatest benefits by spreading your branches throughout the world.” Do you see how many ways He shows His love? By telling them secrets, by taking the first step in eagerly seeking their friendship, by granting them the greatest blessings, and by suffering for them what He then suffered. After this, He shows that He also remains continually with those who will bear fruit, for they need to receive His help in order to bear fruit. “So that whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He may give you.” Yet it is the person being asked who should do what is asked. But if the Father is asked, how is it that the Son does it? This is so that you may learn that the Son is not inferior to the Father. Ver. 17. “I command you these things so that you love one another.” That is, “I am not telling you that I lay down My life for you, or that I eagerly came to meet you, in order to reproach you, but to lead you into friendship.” Now being persecuted and insulted by so many people was painful and unbearable, enough to bring down even a person of great spirit. So Christ first said ten thousand things before taking up this subject. After first calming their minds, He proceeds to these points, showing that these things too were greatly to their advantage, just as He had shown that the others were. For He had told them that they should rejoice instead of grieving “because I go to the Father,” since He was doing this out of great love for them, rather than abandoning them. So here too He shows that they should rejoice instead of grieving. And notice how He does this. He did not say, “I know this is painful, but bear it for My sake, since it is also for My sake that you suffer,” for this reason was not yet enough to comfort them. So He passes over it and offers another. What is it? That this would be a sure proof of the virtue they had already shown. “On the contrary, you should grieve if you were likely to be loved, rather than because you are now hated.” This is what He implies when He says, Ver. 19. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own.” So if you had been loved, it would be very clear that you had shown signs of wickedness. Then, when saying this first did not accomplish His purpose, He continues the discussion. Ver. 20. “The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” He showed that in this respect they would imitate Him most closely. For while Christ was in the flesh, people waged war against Him, but when He departed, the battle turned next against them. Then, because their small numbers made them afraid of facing an attack by so many people, He lifts their spirits by telling them that being hated by those people was a special reason for joy: “For in this way you will share My sufferings. You should therefore not be troubled, for you are not better than I,” as I told you before, “The servant is not greater than his master.” Then there is also a third source of comfort: the Father too is insulted along with them. Ver. 21. “But they will do all these things to you for My Name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” That is, “they insult Him too.” Besides this, He takes away those people's excuse and offers another source of comfort, saying, Ver. 22. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin.” He shows that what they do against both Him and the disciples will be unjust. “Why, then, did You bring us into such disasters? Did You not know beforehand about the wars and the hatred?” So He says again, Ver. 23. “Whoever hates Me hates My Father too.” By this He also announces beforehand a severe punishment against them. For they continually claimed that they persecuted Him on the Father's account, so He spoke these words to take away that excuse. “They have no excuse. I gave them teaching through words, and added teaching through works, in accordance with the Law of Moses, who commanded everyone to obey someone who said and did such things, when he both led people to godliness and performed the greatest miracles.” And He did not simply speak of “signs,” but said, Ver. 24. “Which no other man did.” And they themselves are witnesses to this, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” ( Matt. ix. 33 ); and, “Since the world began, no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of someone born blind” ( c. ix. 32 ). The case of Lazarus was of the same kind, as were all His other deeds; the way He worked wonders was new, and everything surpassed imagination. “Why, then,” someone asks, “do they persecute both You and us?” “Because you are not of the world. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.” ( Ver. 19.) He first reminds them of the words He also spoke to His own brothers ( c. vii. 7 ); but there He spoke more indirectly, so as not to offend them, while here He revealed everything. “And how is it clear that this is why we are hated?” “From what was done to Me. For tell Me, which of My words or deeds could they find fault with as a reason for refusing to receive Me?” Then, since this would astonish us, He tells us the cause: their wickedness. And He does not stop here either, but introduces the Prophet ( Ps. xxxv. 19; lxix. 4 ), showing that he proclaimed it long beforehand, saying, Ver. 25. “They hated Me without a cause.” [3.] Paul does this too. For when many wondered why the Jews did not believe, he introduces Prophets who foretold it long ago and explained the cause: their wickedness and pride caused their unbelief. “Well then, if they did not keep Your word, they will not keep ours either; if they persecuted You, they will therefore persecute us too; if they saw signs such as no other man performed, and heard words such as no other spoke, and gained nothing; if they hate Your Father and You along with Him, why,” someone asks, “have You sent us among them? After all this, how will we be credible? Which of our own people will listen to us?” So that such thoughts may not trouble them, see what comfort He adds. Ver. 26, 27. “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” “He will be credible, for He is the Spirit of Truth.” That is why He called It “Spirit of Truth,” rather than “Holy Spirit.” But “proceeds from the Father” shows that He knows everything exactly, just as Christ also says of Himself, “I know where I come from and where I am going” ( c. viii. 14 ), speaking there too about truth. “Whom I will send.” Look: it is no longer the Father alone who sends, but the Son too. “And you too,” He says, “have a right to be believed, since you have been with Me and have not heard these things from others.” Indeed, the Apostles confidently rely on this fact, saying, “We who ate and drank with Him.” ( Acts x. 41.) And to show that this was not said merely to please, the Spirit bears witness to the words spoken. ( Acts x. 44.) Ch. xvi. ver. 1. “I have spoken these things to you so that you will not stumble.” That is, “when you see many refuse to believe, and you yourselves are mistreated.” Ver. 2. “They will put you out of the synagogues.” (For “the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Christ, he should be put out of the synagogues”— c. ix. 22.) “Yes, the time is coming when whoever kills you will think he is serving God.” “They will seek to murder you as though doing so were a godly act that pleases God.” Then He again adds this comfort: Ver. 3. “And they will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.” “Knowing that you endure these things for My sake and the Father's is enough to comfort you.” Here He reminds them of the blessedness He spoke of at the beginning: “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you for My sake. Rejoice and be very glad, for your reward in heaven is great.” ( Matt. v. 11, 12.) Ver. 4. “I have told you these things so that when the time comes, you may remember them.” “So, judging from these words, consider the rest trustworthy too. For you will not be able to say that I flattered you by telling you only what would please you, or that My words were deceptive. Someone who intended to deceive you would not have told you beforehand about things likely to turn you away. I have therefore told you beforehand so that these things may not come upon you unexpectedly and trouble you; and for another reason too, so that you may not say I did not know beforehand that these things would happen. Remember, then, that I have told you.” Indeed, the pagans always disguised their persecution of the disciples by claiming that they were wicked, driving them out as corrupters. But this did not trouble the disciples, who had heard beforehand and knew why they were suffering. The reason for what happened was enough to stir their courage. That is why He returns to this everywhere, saying, “they have not known Me”; and, “they will do it for My sake”; and, “for My Name’s sake, and for the Father’s sake”; and, “I suffered first”; and, “they dare to do these things without any just cause.” [4.] Let us too consider these things in our trials, when we suffer anything at the hands of wicked people, “looking to the One who begins and completes our faith” ( Heb. xii. 2 ), and remembering that wicked people are doing it, and that we suffer for virtue's sake and for His sake. For if we reflect on these things, everything will become very easy to bear. If someone who suffers for those he loves is even proud of it, how can someone who suffers for God's sake feel that he is facing anything dreadful? For if He calls that shameful thing, the Cross, “glory” for our sake ( c. xiii. 31 ), we should feel this way all the more. And if we can care so little about suffering, we will be all the more able to scorn riches and greed. So when we are about to endure something unpleasant, we should think of the crowns, rather than the hardships. Just as merchants take account of the profits as well as the seas, so we should take account of heaven and confidence before God. And if acquiring more seems pleasant, think that Christ does not want it, and it will immediately seem unpleasant. And if giving to the poor pains you, do not stop your calculation at the expense, but immediately turn your thoughts to the harvest that comes from the sowing. And when it is hard to reject an illicit love for a woman, think of the crown that follows the struggle, and you will bear the struggle easily. For if fear turns someone away from shameful things, love for Christ should do so all the more. Virtue is difficult, but let us clothe her form in the greatness of what is promised for the future. Indeed, virtuous people, even apart from these promises, see her as beautiful in herself, and for this reason pursue her. They act because it pleases God, rather than for payment; and they consider being sober-minded a great thing because God has commanded it, rather than as a way to avoid punishment. But if anyone is too weak for this, let him think of the prizes. Let us do the same when giving to the poor; let us have compassion on our fellow human beings. I beg you, let us not neglect them as they perish from hunger. How can it be anything but shameful for us to sit at the table laughing and enjoying ourselves, and, when we hear others wailing as they pass through the street, not even turn toward their cries, but become angry with them and call them “cheats”? “What do you mean, man? Does anyone devise a fraud for a single loaf of bread?” “Yes,” someone says. Then that is all the more reason to pity him, all the more reason to relieve his need. Or if you do not intend to give, do not insult him either. If you will not rescue the wreck, do not push it into the abyss. For consider what position you will be in when you call on God, after you have pushed away the poor man who comes to you. “With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” ( Matt. vii. 2.) Consider how he leaves, crushed, bowed down, lamenting; on top of his poverty, he has also received the blow of your contempt. For if you consider begging a curse, think what a storm it creates to beg and get nothing, but go away insulted. How long will we be like wild beasts, so greedy that we fail to recognize our common human nature? Many groan at these words, but I want them to feel this compassion always, as well as now. Think, I beg you, of that day when we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, when we will beg for mercy, and Christ will bring these people forward and say, “For the sake of a single loaf, a single obol, you stirred up such a great wave in these souls!” What will we reply? What defense will we make? To see that He will bring them forward, listen to what He says: “Since you did not do it to one of these, you did not do it to Me.” ( Matt. xxv. 45.) They will no longer say anything to us, but God will reproach us on their behalf. For the rich man saw Lazarus too, and Lazarus said nothing to him, but Abraham spoke for him. So it will be with the poor whom we now despise. We will see them at rest, no longer stretching out their hands in misery; and as punishment we will take on their former condition (and if only it were that condition alone, and not one far more painful). For the rich man did not ask to be filled with crumbs “there,” but was scorched and severely tormented, and was told, “During your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus likewise received evil things.” ( Luke xvi. 25.) So let us not consider wealth anything great. If we are careless, it will help us along the road to punishment, just as poverty, if we are careful, becomes an added source of enjoyment and rest for us. For if we bear it with thankfulness, we both cast off our sins and gain great boldness before God. [5.] So let us stop constantly seeking security here, so that we may enjoy security there. Let us accept the labors required for virtue, cut away excess, seek no more than we need, and spend all we possess on those in need. For what excuse can we have when God promises us heaven, and we will not even give Him bread? When He makes the sun rise for you and provides everything Creation does to serve you, but you do not even give Him a garment or let Him share your roof? But why speak of the sun and moon? He has set His Body before you; He has given you His Precious Blood; and do you not even share your cup with Him? But have you done so just once? This is not mercy. As long as you have the means and do not help, you have not yet fulfilled your whole duty. In the same way, the virgins who had lamps had oil, but not enough. Why, even if you were giving what was your own, you should not be so miserly. But now, when you give what belongs to your Lord, why do you count every little bit? Do you want me to tell you the cause of this inhumanity? Those who gather their wealth through greed are the very people who are slow to give to the poor, for someone who has learned to acquire wealth this way does not know how to spend it. For how can someone bent on plunder adjust to its opposite? How can someone who takes from others give up his own possessions to another? A dog accustomed to feeding on flesh cannot guard the flock; that is why shepherds kill such dogs. To keep this from becoming our fate, let us stop feasting this way. For these people too feed on flesh when they cause death by hunger. Do you not see how God has made all things available to us in common? If He has allowed people to be poor amid riches, it is for the comfort of the rich, so that by showing them mercy they may cast off their sins. But you have been cruel and inhuman even in this. It is clear, then, that if you had received this same power over greater things, you would have committed ten thousand murders and deprived people of light and of life altogether. To keep this from happening, necessity has limited insatiable greed in such matters. If hearing these things pains you, seeing them happen pains me even more. How long will you be rich and that man poor? Until evening, and no longer. For life is so short, everything is so near its end, and everything now stands so close at the door that all of life must be considered only a brief hour. What need do you have for bursting storehouses, for a multitude of servants and household managers? Why don’t you have ten thousand people proclaiming your generosity to the poor? The storehouse has no voice, yet it will bring many robbers upon you. But the storehouses of the poor will go up to God Himself, make your present life sweet, and put away all your sins; and you will gain glory from God and honor from people. Why, then, do you begrudge yourself such good things? For when you help the poor, you will do even more good to yourself than to them. You will improve their present condition, but for yourself you will store up in advance the glory and confidence that will come in the life to come. May we all obtain this through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory and might forever. Amen.