Homilies on John, Homily 78

“I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, Where are You going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” [1.] Discouragement has great power over us, and we need a great deal of courage to stand firmly against it, take what is useful from it, and let the rest go. It does have something useful in it: when we or others sin, only then is it good to grieve; but when we face the changes and hardships of human life, discouragement is useless. And now, when it has overwhelmed the disciples, who were not yet perfect, see how Christ lifts them up again with His rebuke. These men had previously asked Him ten thousand questions (for Peter said, “Where are You going?” [ c. xiii. 36]; and Thomas, “We do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” [ c. xiv. 5 and 8]; and Philip, “Show us Your Father”). But now, I say, when they heard, “They will put you out of the synagogues,” and “will hate you,” and “whoever kills you will think that he is serving God,” they were so dejected that they were struck speechless and said nothing to Him. He therefore reproaches them for this and says, “I did not say these things to you at the beginning, because I was with you; but now I am going to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, Where are You going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” Excessive sorrow is a dreadful thing, dreadful and capable of causing death. That is why Paul said, “So that such a person may not perhaps be swallowed up by excessive sorrow.” ( 2 Cor. ii. 7.) “And these things,” He says, “I did not tell you at the beginning.” Why did He not tell them at the beginning? So that no one could say He was speaking from guesses based on the ordinary course of events. And why did He bring up such an unpleasant subject? “I knew these things,” He says, “from the beginning, and did not speak of them; not because I did not know them, but ‘because I was with you.’” This too was spoken in human terms, as though He had said, “Because you were safe, and could question Me whenever you wanted, and the whole storm fell on Me, there was no need to tell you these things at the beginning.” “But did He not tell them this? Did He not call the twelve and say to them, ‘You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake,’ and, ‘They will whip you in the synagogues’? ( Matt. x. 18, 17 ). How then does He say, ‘I did not tell you at the beginning’?” Because, although He had previously announced that they would be whipped and brought before rulers, He had not said that their deaths would seem so desirable that killing them would even be considered a service to God. For this, more than anything, was likely to terrify them: that they would be judged godless corrupters. We may also say that in that passage He spoke of what they would suffer from the Gentiles, while here He has added, in stronger terms, the actions of the Jews as well, and told them that these things were at their doors. “But now I am going to Him who sent Me, and none of you says, Where are You going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” It was a considerable comfort for them to learn that He knew how deeply discouraged they were. For they were beside themselves with anguish because He was leaving them and because they were awaiting the terrible things to come, since they did not know whether they would be able to bear them courageously. “Why then did He not tell them afterward that they had been granted the Spirit?” So that you might learn how exceptionally virtuous they were. For if, before they had been granted the Spirit, they did not draw back, even though they were overwhelmed with sorrow, consider what sort of men they would be after receiving that grace. If they had heard this at that time and then endured, we would have attributed everything to the Spirit. But as it is, this is entirely the fruit of their own disposition, a clear demonstration of their love for Christ, who puts their still defenseless minds to the test with a touchstone. Ver. 7. “But I tell you the truth.” Notice how He comforts them again. “I am not speaking,” He says, “to please you, and even if your grief increases ten thousand times over, you must still hear what is good for you. You would certainly like Me to be with you, but what benefits you is something different. Someone who cares for others must not be too indulgent with his friends in matters that affect their interests, or lead them away from what is good for them.” “For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come.” What do those who do not hold the proper belief about the Spirit say here? Is it “beneficial” for the master to leave and the servant to come? Do you see how great the Spirit’s honor is? “But if I leave, I will send Him to you.” And what is the benefit? Ver. 8. “When He comes, He will convict the world.” That is, “When He comes, they will not do these things unpunished. Indeed, what has already been done is enough to silence them; but when He does these things as well, when the teachings are more complete and the miracles greater, they will be condemned all the more when they see such things done in My Name, making the proof of the Resurrection more certain. For now they can say, ‘This is the carpenter’s son, whose father and mother we know.’ But when they see the bonds of death broken, wickedness driven out, limbs lame from birth straightened, demons expelled, the Spirit supplied abundantly, and all this accomplished by calling on Me, what will they say? The Father has testified about Me, and the Spirit will testify as well.” Yet He testified at the beginning. Yes, and He will do so now as well. But the words, “will convict,” Ver. 9. “Of sin.” This means, “He will cut off all their excuses and show that they have sinned beyond pardon.” Ver. 10. “Of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you see Me no more.” That is, “I have lived a blameless life, and this is the proof: ‘I am going to the Father.’” For since they continually brought this charge against Him, that He was not from God, and therefore called Him a sinner and a lawbreaker, He says that the Spirit will take this excuse away from them as well. “For if My being considered someone who is not from God shows Me to be a lawbreaker, what will they say when the Spirit has shown that I have gone there, not merely for a time, but to remain there? (For ‘You see Me no more’ is the expression of someone declaring this.)” Notice how these two things remove their evil suspicion, since neither working miracles nor being with God continually belongs to a sinner (for a sinner cannot work miracles). “So you can no longer say, ‘This man is a sinner,’ or, ‘This man is not from God.’” Ver. 11. “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” Here again He raises the argument about righteousness: He had overthrown His opponent. Now, if He had been a sinner, He could not have overthrown him—something that not even any righteous man had been strong enough to do. “But those who afterward trample on him and clearly know My Resurrection will know that he has been condemned through Me; My Resurrection is the sign of the One who condemns him. For he was unable to hold Me. And although they said that I had a demon and was a deceiver, these things too will afterward prove false; for I could not have prevailed against him if I had been subject to sin. But now he is condemned and cast out.” [2.] Ver. 12. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” “Therefore it benefits you for Me to leave, if you will be able to bear them once I have left.” “And what has happened? Is the Spirit greater than You, so that we cannot bear them now, but It will make us able to bear them? Is Its work more powerful and more perfect?” “No; for He too will speak My words.” That is why He says, Ver. 13–15. “He will not speak on His own; but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will show you things to come. He will glorify Me; for He will receive what is Mine and show it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine.” For He had told them, “‘He will teach you and remind you’ ( c. xiv. 26 ), and will comfort you in your afflictions” (which He Himself did not do), and, “It benefits you for Me to leave” ( ver. 7 ), and for Him to come, and, “‘Now you are unable to bear them’ ( ver. 12 ), but then you will be able,” and, “He will lead you into all truth” ( ver. 13 ). So, to keep them from hearing these things and supposing that the Spirit was greater, and thus falling into an utterly impious belief, He says, “He will receive what is Mine,” that is, “Whatever I have told you, He will also tell you.” When He says, “He will speak nothing on His own,” He means, “Nothing contrary to My words, nothing of His own that opposes them.” Just as, when He says about Himself, “I do not speak on My own” ( c. xiv. 10 ), He means that He says nothing beyond what the Father says, nothing of His own against Him or different from Him, so it is also with the Spirit. But “what is Mine” means “what I know,” “My own knowledge”; “for My knowledge and the Spirit’s knowledge are one.” “And He will tell you things to come.” He stirred their interest, for there is nothing the human race is so eager for as learning the future. These, for instance, were the questions they continually asked Him: “Where are You going?” “Which is the way?” So, to free them from this anxiety, He says, “He will foretell everything to you, so that you will not encounter it without warning.” “He will glorify Me.” How? “In My name He will grant His inward workings.” For since they were going to perform greater miracles when the Spirit came, He again introduces the Equality of Honor and says, “He will glorify Me.” What does He mean by “all truth”? For He also testifies about Him that “He will guide us into all truth.” ( Ver. 13.) Because He was clothed with the flesh, because He did not want to appear to be speaking about Himself, because they did not yet clearly understand the Resurrection and were too imperfect, and also because of the Jews, so that they would not think they were punishing Him as a lawbreaker, He did not continually say exalted things or openly draw them away from the Law. But when the disciples were cut off from the Jews and would from then on be outside their community, when many were about to believe and be freed from their sins, and when there were others who spoke about Him, it was reasonable that He Himself no longer spoke exalted things about Himself. “So it was not because of any ignorance on My part,” He says, “that I did not tell you what I should have told you, but because of the weakness of My listeners.” For this reason, after saying, “He will lead you into all truth,” He added, “He will not speak on His own.” For to see that the Spirit needs no teaching, listen to Paul saying, “In the same way, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” ( 1 Cor. ii. 11.) “Just as the human spirit knows without learning from another, so too the Holy Spirit ‘will receive what is Mine,’” that is, “will speak in agreement with what is Mine.” “Everything the Father has is Mine.” “Since those things are Mine, and He will speak from the things of the Father, He will speak from what is Mine.” [3.] “But why did the Spirit not come before He left?” Because the curse had not yet been removed, sin had not yet been undone, and everyone was still subject to punishment, He could not come. “It is necessary, then,” He says, “for the hostility to be removed, for us to be reconciled to God, and then to receive that Gift.” But why does He say, “I will send Him”? ( Ver. 7.) It means, “I will prepare you beforehand to receive Him.” For how can One who Is everywhere be “sent”? Besides, He also shows the distinction of the Persons. He speaks this way for these two reasons, and also because they could hardly bear to be drawn away from Himself: He urges them to hold firmly to the Spirit, so that they may cherish It. For He Himself could have done these things, but He grants the working of miracles to the Spirit so that they may understand the Spirit’s dignity. Just as the Father could have brought existing things into being, yet the Son did so, so that we might understand His power, so it is here as well. For this reason He Himself became Flesh, reserving the inward working for the Spirit and silencing those who use the evidence of His indescribable love as an opportunity for impiety. For when they say that the Son became flesh because He was inferior to the Father, we will reply, “What then will you say about the Spirit?” He did not take on the flesh, and yet you certainly will not call Him greater than the Son on that account, or the Son inferior to Him. Therefore the Trinity is included in baptism as well. The Father can accomplish the whole, as can the Son and the Holy Spirit; yet, since no one doubts the Father, but the doubt concerned the Son and the Holy Spirit, They are included in the rite so that, through Their shared giving of those inexpressible blessings, we may also fully understand Their shared dignity. For to see that the Son can do by Himself what He can do with the Father in baptism, and that the Holy Spirit can do the same, listen to these plain statements. For He said to the Jews, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” ( Mark ii. 10 ); and again, “So that you may become children of light” ( c. xii. 36 ); and, “I give them eternal life.” ( c. x. 28.) Then after this, “So that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.” ( c. x. 10.) Now let us see the Spirit doing the same thing as well. Where can we see it? “But the manifestation of the Spirit,” it says, “is given to each person for benefit” ( 1 Cor. xii. 7; c. vi. 63 ); so He who gives these things can much more forgive sins. And again, “It is the Spirit who gives life”; and, “Will give you life through His Spirit who dwells in you” ( Rom. viii. 11 ); and, “The Spirit is Life because of righteousness” ( Rom. viii. 10 ); and, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” ( Gal. v. 18.) “For you have not received the Spirit of slavery, bringing you back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption.” ( Rom. viii. 15.) All the wonders they performed then, they performed when the Spirit came. And Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, “But you have been washed, but you have been sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” ( 1 Cor. vi. 11.) Since they had heard many things about the Father and had seen the Son do many things, but as yet knew nothing clearly about the Spirit, the Spirit performs miracles and brings in complete knowledge. But (as I said before), so that He may not therefore be thought greater, Christ says, “Whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will show you things to come.” Otherwise, how could it be anything but absurd to suppose that He was only then going to hear, and only for the sake of those being made disciples? For according to you, He would not know even then, except for the sake of those who were about to hear. What statement could be more impious than this? Besides, what would He have to hear? Did He not speak all these things through the Prophets? For if He was going to teach about the ending of the Law, that had been spoken of; if about Christ, His Divinity and the Dispensation, these had been spoken of too. What could He say more clearly after this? “And He will show you things to come.” Here above all Christ shows the Spirit’s Dignity, for foretelling things to come is especially a property of God. Now if He too learns this from others, He will have nothing more than the Prophets. But here Christ declares that His knowledge is in exact agreement with God, so that it is impossible for Him to say anything different. But “will receive what is Mine” means “will receive either from the grace that came into My Flesh or from the knowledge that I too have, not because He needs it or learns it from another, but because it is One and the same.” “And why did He speak this way, and not otherwise?” Because they did not yet understand the teaching about the Spirit. So He attends to just this one thing: that they should believe in and receive the Spirit, and not stumble. For since He had said, “You have one Teacher, Christ” ( Matt. xxiii. 10 ), so that they would not think they were disobeying Him by obeying the Spirit, He says, “His teaching and Mine are One; He too will speak about the things I would have taught. Do not suppose His words are different from Mine, for those words are Mine and confirm My teaching. For the will of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is One.” He also wants us to be like this when He says, “That they may be one, as You and I are One.” ( c. xvii. 11.) [4.] Nothing equals unity of mind and harmony, for in this way one person becomes many. If two or ten are of one mind, the one is no longer just one, but each is multiplied tenfold, and you will find the one in the ten and the ten in the one. And if they have an enemy, anyone who attacks the one is defeated as though he had attacked the ten, for he is the target of ten opponents rather than one. Is one in need? No, he is not in need, for he is wealthy in the greater part of himself, that is, in the nine; and the smaller, needy part is covered by the greater, wealthy part. Each of them has twenty hands, twenty eyes, and as many feet. For he sees not only with his own eyes, but with the eyes of others; he walks not only with his own feet, but with the feet of others; he works not only with his own hands, but with theirs. He has ten souls, for he not only looks out for himself, but those souls look out for him as well. And if their number grows to a hundred, the same will still be true, and their power will expand. Do you see love’s extraordinary abundance, how it makes one person both irresistible and many, how one can even be in many places, the same person in both Persia and Rome, and how love can do what nature cannot? For one part of him will be here and another there, or rather, he will be wholly here and wholly there. If, then, he has a thousand or two thousand friends, consider again how far his power will reach. Do you see how love multiplies us? For this is the wonderful thing: it makes one person a thousand. Why then do we not acquire this power and put ourselves in safety? This is better than all power or riches; this is more than health, than light itself; it is the foundation of courage. How long will we limit our love to one or two? Consider the effect of the opposite situation as well. Suppose a man has no friend—a sign of the utmost foolishness (for a fool will say, “I have no friend”). What sort of life will such a person lead? For even if he is infinitely rich, living in abundance and luxury, possessing ten thousand good things, he is still desolate and stripped of everything. But with friends it is different: even if they are poor, they are better provided for than the wealthy. And what a man does not venture to say for himself, a friend will say for him; and whatever pleasures he cannot obtain for himself, he will be able to obtain through another, and much more besides. Friendship will be the foundation of all our enjoyment and safety, since someone guarded by so many spearmen cannot be harmed. For the king’s bodyguards do not match these friends in vigilance. The guards keep watch under compulsion and from fear, the friends from kindness and love; and love is far stronger than fear. The king fears his own guards; a friend trusts his friends more than himself, and because of them fears none of those who plot against him. Let us then engage in this trade: the poor man, so that he may have comfort in his poverty; the rich man, so that he may possess his wealth safely; the ruler, so that he may rule safely; the person under authority, so that he may have kind rulers. This is the source of kindness, the foundation of gentleness, since even among beasts, those that do not live in groups are the fiercest and most untamable. This is why we live in cities and have public places: so that we may talk with one another. Paul also commanded this, saying, “Not abandoning our gathering together” ( Heb. x. 25 ); for no evil is so great as isolation and a life without bonds or contact with others. “What then,” someone says, “about the hermits and those who have settled on mountaintops?” They too are not without friends. They have indeed fled the turmoil of ordinary life, but they have many who share one soul with them and are closely bound to one another; and they have withdrawn so that they may bring this love to perfection. For since competition in business causes many disputes, they withdraw from the company of others and cultivate love with great care. “But how,” someone says, “can a man have ten thousand friends if he is alone?” For my part, I want people, if possible, to know how to live with one another; but for now, this objection leaves what I have said about friendship intact. For it is not location that makes friends. These men, for instance, have many admirers; and those people would not have admired them if they had not loved them. Again, they pray for the whole world, which is the greatest proof of friendship. This is why we greet one another at the Mysteries: so that, though we are many, we may become one. And in the case of the uninitiated, we offer our prayers together, pleading for the sick, for the produce of the world, for land and sea. Do you see all the power of love—in the prayers, in the Mysteries, in the exhortations? This is what brings about every good thing. If we hold firmly to it, we will both manage the things of this present life rightly and obtain the Kingdom. May we all obtain it through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever. Amen.