[756] ho sa epadei
[757] e pantlei, lit. "foments."
[758] a no kai kato strephete
[759] ho heor kai ek touto m. G. T.
[760] i.e. the credibility of Christ.
[761] e gnorisa humin, G. T.
[762] marturoumen, G. T.
[763] or, "at the comm. of the Gospel."
[764] tou Theou logou
[765] or, "he."
[766] a telesteron
[767] oude onar metechontas, al. oudena logon poioumenous
[768] a pologesomai
[769] eudokimesin
Homily XXXI.
John iii. 35, 36
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
[1.] Great is shown to be in all things the gain of humility. [770] Thus it is that we have brought arts to perfection, not by learning them all at once from our teachers; it is thus that we have built cities, putting them together slowly, little by little; it is thus that we maintain [771] our life. And marvel not if the thing has so much power in matters pertaining to this life, when in spiritual things one may find that great is the power of this wisdom. For so the Jews were enabled to be delivered from their idolatry, being led on gently and little by little, and hearing from the first nothing sublime concerning either doctrine or life. So after the coming of Christ, when it was the time for higher doctrines, the Apostles brought over all men without at first uttering anything sublime. And so Christ appears to have spoken to most at the beginning, and so John did now, speaking of Him as of some wonderful man, and darkly introducing high matter.
For instance, when commencing he spake thus: "A man cannot receive anything of himself" [772] ( c. iii. 27 ): then after adding a high expression, and saying, "He that cometh from heaven [773] is above all," he again brings down his discourse to what is lowly, and besides many other things saith this, that "God giveth not the Spirit by measure." Then he proceeds to say, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand." And after that, knowing that great is the force of punishment, [774] and that the many are not so much led by the promise of good things as by the threat of the terrible, he concludes his discourse with these words; "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Here again he refers the account of punishment to the Father, for he saith not "the wrath of the Son," (yet He is the Judge,) but sets over them the Father, desiring so the more to terrify them.
"Is it then enough," saith one, "to believe on the Son, that one may have eternal life?" By no means. And hear Christ Himself declaring this, and saying, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven" ( Matt. vii. 21 ); and the blasphemy against the Spirit is enough of itself to cast a man into hell. But why speak I of a portion of doctrine? Though a man believe rightly on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, yet if he lead not a right life, his faith will avail nothing towards his salvation. Therefore when He saith, "This is life eternal, that they may know Thee the only true God" ( c. xvii. 3 ), let us not suppose that the (knowledge) spoken of is sufficient for our salvation; we need besides this a most exact life and conversation. Since though he has said here, "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life," and in the same place something even stronger, (for he weaves his discourse not of blessings only, but of their contraries also, speaking thus: "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him";) yet not even from this do we assert that faith alone is sufficient to salvation. And the directions for living given in many places of the Gospels show this. Therefore he did not say, "This by itself is eternal life," nor, "He that doth but believe on the Son hath eternal life," but by both expressions he declared this, that the thing [775] doth contain life, yet that if a right conversation follow not, there will follow a heavy punishment. And he did not say, "awaiteth him," but, "abideth on him," that is, "shall never remove from him." For that thou mayest not think that the "shall not see life," is a temporary death, but mayest believe that the punishment is continual, he hath put this expression to show that it rests [776] upon him continually. And this he has done, by these very words forcing them on [777] to Christ. Therefore he gave not the admonition to them in particular, but made it universal, the manner which best might bring them over. For he did not say, "if ye believe," and, "if ye believe not," but made his speech general, so that his words might be free from suspicion. And this he has done yet more strongly than Christ. For Christ saith, "He that believeth not is condemned already," but John saith, "shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." With good cause; for it was a different thing for a man to speak of himself and for another to speak of him. They would have thought that Christ spake often of these things from self-love, and that he was a boaster; but John was clear from all suspicion. And if at a later time, Christ also used stronger expressions, it was when they had begun to conceive an exalted opinion of Him.
Chap. IV. Ver. 1, 2, 3. "When therefore Jesus [778] knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus Himself baptized not but His disciples,) He left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee."
He indeed baptized not, but they who carried the news, desiring to excite their hearers to envy, so reported. "Wherefore then departed' He?" Not from fear, but to take away [779] their malice, and to soften their envy. He was indeed able to restrain them when they came against Him, but this He would not do continually, that the Dispensation of the Flesh might not be disbelieved. For had He often been seized and escaped, this would have been suspected by many; therefore for the most part, He rather orders matters after the manner of a man. And as He desired it to be believed that He was God, so also that, being God, He bore the flesh; therefore even after the Resurrection, He said to the disciple, "Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones" ( Luke xxiv. 39 ); therefore also He rebuked Peter when he said, "Be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto thee." ( Matt. xvi. 22.) So much was this matter an object of care to Him.
[2.] For this is no small part of the doctrines of the Church; it is the chief point of the salvation wrought for us; [780] by which all has been brought to pass, and has had success, for it was thus that the bonds of death were loosed, sin taken away, and the curse abolished, and ten thousand blessings introduced into our life. And therefore He especially desired that the Dispensation should be believed, as having been the root and fountain of innumerable goods to us.
Yet while acting thus in regard of His Humanity, [781] He did not allow His Divinity to be overcast. And so, after His departure He again employed the same language as before. For He went not away into Galilee simply, [782] but in order to effect certain important matters, those among the Samaritans; nor did He dispense these matters simply, but with the wisdom that belonged to [783] Him, and so as not to leave to the Jews any pretense even of a shameless excuse for themselves. And to this the Evangelist points when he says,
Ver. 4. "And He must needs go through Samaria."
Showing that He made this the by-work of the journey. Which also the Apostles did; for just as they, when persecuted by the Jews, came to the Gentiles; so also Christ, when the Jews drove Him out, then took the Samaritans in hand, as He did also in the case of the Syrophenician woman. And this was done that all defense might be cut away from the Jews, and that they might not be able to say, "He left us, and went to the uncircumcised." And therefore the disciples excusing themselves said, "It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken unto you; but seeing ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." ( Acts xiii. 46.) And He saith again Himself, "I am not come [784] but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" ( Matt. xv. 24 ); and again, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to give [785] it to dogs." But when they drove Him away, they opened a door to the Gentiles. Yet not so did He come to the Gentiles expressly, but in passing. [786] In passing then,
Ver. 5, 6. "He cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there."
Why is the Evangelist exact about the place? It is, that when thou hearest the woman say, "Jacob our father gave us this well," thou mayest not think it strange. For this was the place where Levi and Simeon, being angry because of Dinah, wrought that cruel slaughter. And it may be worth while to relate from what sources the Samaritans were made up; since all this country is called Samaria. Whence then did they receive their name? The mountain was called "Somor" from its owner ( 1 Kings xvi. 24 ): as also Esaias saith, "and the head of Ephraim is Somoron" ( Isa. vii. 9 , LXX.), but the inhabitants were termed not "Samaritans" but "Israelites." But as time went on, they offended God, and in the reign of Pekah, Tiglath-Pileser came up, and took many cities, and set upon Elah, and having slain him, gave the kingdom to Hoshea. [787] ( 2 Kings xv. 29.) Against him Shalmaneser came and took other cities, and made them subject and tributary. ( 2 Kings xvii. 3.) At first he yielded, but afterwards he revolted from the Assyrian rule, and betook himself to the alliance of the Ethiopians. [788] The Assyrian learnt this, and having made war upon them and destroyed their cities, he no longer allowed the nation to remain there, because he had such suspicions that they would revolt. ( 2 Kings xvii. 4.) But he carried them to Babylon and to the Medes, and having brought thence nations from divers places, planted them in Samaria, that his dominion for the future might be sure, his own people occupying the place. After this, God, desiring to show that He had not given up the Jews through weakness, but because of the sins of those who were given up, sent lions against the foreigners, [789] who ravaged all their nation. These things were reported to the king, and he sent a priest to deliver to them the laws of God. Still not even so did they desist wholly from their impiety, but only by halves. But as time went on, they in turn abandoned [790] their idols, and worshiped God. And when things were in this state, the Jews having returned, ever after entertained a jealous feeling towards them as strangers and enemies, and called them from the name of the mountain, "Samaritans." From this cause also there was no little rivalry between them. The Samaritans did not use all the Scriptures, but received the writings of Moses only, and made but little account of those of the Prophets. Yet they were eager to thrust themselves into the noble Jewish stock, and prided themselves upon Abraham, and called [791] him their forefather, as being of Chaldæa; and Jacob also they called their father, as being his descendant. But the Jews abominated them as well as all (other nations). Wherefore they reproached Christ with this, saying, "Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil." ( c. viii. 48.) And for this reason in the parable of the man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, Christ makes the man who showed pity upon him to have been "a Samaritan" ( Luke x. 33 ), one who by them was deemed mean, contemptible, and abominable. And in the case of the ten lepers, He calls one a "stranger" on this account, (for "he was a Samaritan,") and He gave His charge to the disciples in these words, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not." ( Matt. x. 5.)