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Homily 68
14 complete historical source paragraphs and 12 editorial footnotes. Author and edition credits are shown for each record; original wording is retained.
English translation and editorial credits: G. T. Stupart.
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Ver. 40. “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart: that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-12 · Original source
Ver. 39–41. “They could not believe,” it saith, “because that Esaias said, Ye shall hear with your ears, and not understand. These things he said, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him.”
Ben. “and if ‘ they could not ’ is put, it is put instead of ‘ they would not. ’ And do not marvel.”
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-14 · Original source
And if, “they could not,” is put, instead of, “they would not,” do not marvel, for He saith also in another place, “He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” ( Matt. xix. 12.) So in many places He is wont to term choice, power. Again, “The world cannot hate you, but Me it hateth.” ( c. vii. 7.) This one may even see observed in common conversation; as when a man saith, “I cannot love this or that person,” calling the force of his will, power. And again, “this or that person cannot be a good man.” And what saith the Prophet? “If the Ethiopian shall change his skin, or the leopard his spots, this people also shall be able to do good, having learned evil.” ( Jer. xiii. 23 , LXX.) He saith not that the doing of virtue is impossible to them, but that because they will not, therefore they cannot. And by what he saith the Evangelist means, that it was impossible for the Prophet to lie; yet it was not on that account impossible that they should believe. For it was possible, even had they believed, that he should remain true; since he would not have prophesied these things if they had been about to believe. “Why then,” saith some one, “did he not say so?” Because Scripture hath certain idiomatic phrases of this kind, and it is needful to make allowance for its laws.
ἀ πένειμε τοῖς ἔθνεσι. The words are found in Deut iv. 19 , LXX., but are there spoken concerning the heavenly bodies.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-18 · Original source
Here again is another question, but it is not so if we rightly consider it. For as the sun dazzles the eyes of the weak, not by reason of its proper nature, so it is with those who give not heed to the words of God. Thus, in the case of Pharaoh, He is said to have hardened his heart, and so it is with those who are at all contentious against the words of God. This is a peculiar mode of speech in Scripture, as also the, “He gave them over unto a reprobate mind” ( Rom. i. 28 ), and the, “He divided them to the nations,” that is, allowed, permitted them to go. For the writer doth not here introduce God as Himself working these things, but showeth that they took place through the wickedness of others. For, when we are abandoned by God, we are given up to the devil, and when so given up, we suffer ten thousand dreadful things. To terrify the hearer, therefore, the writer saith, “He hardened,” and “gave over.” For to show that He doth not only not give us over, but doth not even leave us, except we will it, hear what He saith, “Do not your iniquities separate between Me and you?” ( Isa. lix. 2 , LXX.). And again, “They that go far away from Thee shall perish.” ( Ps. lxxiii. 27 , LXX.) And Hosea saith, “Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, and I will also forget thee” ( Hos. iv. 6 , LXX.); and He saith Himself also in the Gospels, “How often would I have gathered your children—and ye would not.” ( Luke xiii. 34.) Esaias also again, “I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to hearken.” ( Isa. l. 2 , LXX.) These things He saith, showing that we begin the desertion, and become the causes of our perdition; for God not only desireth not to leave or to punish us, but even when He punisheth, doth it unwillingly; “I will not,” He saith, “the death of a sinner, so much as that he should turn and live.” ( Ezek. xviii. 32 , LXX.) Christ also mourneth over the destruction of Jerusalem, as we also do over our friends.
Signifying that His death was a removal; for the light of the sun is not destroyed, but having retired for a while appears again.
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 6 · Original source
Of what season doth He here speak? Of the whole present life, or of the time before the Crucifixion? I for my part think of both, for on account of His unspeakable lovingkindness, many even after the Crucifixion believed. And He speaketh these things to urge them on to the faith, as He also did before, saying, “Yet a little while I am with you.” ( c. vii. 33.)
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 8 · Original source
How many things, for instance, even now do the Jews, without knowing what they do, but walking as though they were in darkness? They think that they are going the right way, when they are taking the contrary; keeping the Sabbath, respecting the Law and the observances about meats, yet knowing not whither they walk. Wherefore He said,
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 10 · Original source
That is, “My children.” Yet in the beginning the Evangelist saith, “Were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God” ( c. i. 13 ); that is, of the Father; while here Himself is said to beget them; that thou mayest understand that the operation of the Father and the Son is One. “Jesus having spoken these things,” departed from them, and did hide Himself.
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 12 · Original source
Why doth He now “hide Himself”? They took not up stones against Him, nor did they blaspheme Him in any such manner as before; why then did He hide Himself? Walking in men’s hearts, He knew that their wrath was fierce, though they said nothing; He knew it boiling and murderous, and waited not till it issued into action, but hid Himself, to allay their ill-will. Observe how the Evangelist has alluded to this feeling; he has immediately added,
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 13 · Original source
[2.] What “so many”? So many as the Evangelist hath omitted. And this is clear also from what follows. For when He had retired, and given in, and had come to them again, He speaketh with them in a lowly manner, saying, “He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.” ( Ver. 44.) Observe what He doeth. He beginneth with humble and modest expressions, and betaketh Himself to the Father; then again He raiseth His language, and when He seeth that they are exasperated, He retireth; then He cometh to them again, and again beginneth with words of humility. And where hath He done this? Nay, where hath He not done it? See, for instance, what He saith at the beginning, “As I hear, I judge.” ( c. v. 30.) Then in a loftier tone, “As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will” ( c. v. 21 ); again, “I judge you not, there is another that judgeth.” Then again He retireth. Then coming to Galilee, “Labor not,” He saith, “for the meat that perisheth” ( c. vi. 27 ); and after having said great things of Himself, that He came down from Heaven, that He giveth eternal life, He again withdraweth Himself. And He cometh in the Feast of Tabernacles also, and doth the same. And one may see Him continually thus varying His teaching, by His presence, by His absence, by lowly, by high discourses. Which He also did here. “Though He had done so many miracles,” it saith, “they believed not on Him.”
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 15 · Original source
Ver. 38. “That the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” And again,
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 16 · Original source
Here again observe, that the “because,” and “spake,” refer not to the cause of their unbelief, but to the event. For it was not “because” Isaiah spake, that they believed not; but because they were not about to believe, that he spake. Why then doth not the Evangelist express it so, instead of making the unbelief proceed from the prophecy, not the prophecy from the unbelief? And farther on he putteth this very thing more positively, saying, “Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said.” He desires hence to establish by many proofs the unerring truth of Scripture, and that what Isaiah foretold fell not out otherwise, but as he said. For lest any one should say, “Wherefore did Christ come? Knew he not that they would give no heed to him?” he introduces the Prophets, who knew this also. But He came that they might have no excuse for their sin; for what things the Prophet foretold, he foretold as certainly to be; since if they were not certainly to be, he could not have foretold them; and they were certainly to be, because these men were incurable.
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 18 · Original source
“The seethings he spake when he saw His glory.” Whose? The Father’s. How then doth John speak of the Son? and Paul of the Spirit? Not as confounding the Persons, but as showing that the Dignity is one, they say it. For that which is the Father’s is the Son’s also, and that which is the Son’s is the Spirit’s. Yet many things God spake by Angels, and no one saith, “as the Angel spake,” but how? “as God spake.” Since what hath been said by God through the ministry of Angels would be of God; yet not therefore is what is of God, of the Angels also. But in this place John saith that the words are the Spirit’s.
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 20 · Original source
Ver. 40. “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they at any time should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart.”
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 22 · Original source
[3.] Knowing this, let us do all so as not to remove from God, but let us hold fast to the care of our souls, and to the love towards each other; let us not tear our own members, (for this is the act of men insane and beside themselves,) but the more we see any ill disposed, the more let us be kind to them. Since we often see many persons suffering in their bodies from difficult or incurable maladies, and cease not to apply remedies. What is worse than gout in foot or hand? Are we therefore to cut off the limbs? Not at all, but we use every means that the sufferer may enjoy some comfort, since we cannot get rid of the disease. This also let us do in the case of our brethren, and, even though they be diseased incurably, let us continue to tend them, and let us bear one another’s burdens. So shall we fulfill the law of Christ, and obtain the promised good things, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 24 · Original source
Savile reads κατηγοροῦντες, conject. τηροῦντες, which is the Ben. reading.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-3 · Original source
How many things, for instance, even now do the Jews, without knowing what they do, but walking as though they were in darkness? They think that they are going the right way, when they are taking the contrary; keeping the Sabbath, respecting the Law and the observances about meats, yet knowing not whither they walk. Wherefore He said,
“While ye have light, believe in the light,” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-4 · Original source
Ver. 36. “Walk in the light, that ye may become children of the light.”
“departed and did hide Himself from them,” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-6 · Original source
That is, “My children.” Yet in the beginning the Evangelist saith, “Were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God” ( c. i. 13 ); that is, of the Father; while here Himself is said to beget them; that thou mayest understand that the operation of the Father and the Son is One. “Jesus having spoken these things,” departed from them, and did hide Himself.
i.e. that Christ withdrew from the malice of the Jews.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-8 · Original source
[2.] What “so many”? So many as the Evangelist hath omitted. And this is clear also from what follows. For when He had retired, and given in, and had come to them again, He speaketh with them in a lowly manner, saying, “He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me.” ( Ver. 44.) Observe what He doeth. He beginneth with humble and modest expressions, and betaketh Himself to the Father; then again He raiseth His language, and when He seeth that they are exasperated, He retireth; then He cometh to them again, and again beginneth with words of humility. And where hath He done this? Nay, where hath He not done it? See, for instance, what He saith at the beginning, “As I hear, I judge.” ( c. v. 30.) Then in a loftier tone, “As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, so also the Son quickeneth whom He will” ( c. v. 21 ); again, “I judge you not, there is another that judgeth.” Then again He retireth. Then coming to Galilee, “Labor not,” He saith, “for the meat that perisheth” ( c. vi. 27 ); and after having said great things of Himself, that He came down from Heaven, that He giveth eternal life, He again withdraweth Himself. And He cometh in the Feast of Tabernacles also, and doth the same. And one may see Him continually thus varying His teaching, by His presence, by His absence, by lowly, by high discourses. Which He also did here. “Though He had done so many miracles,” it saith, “they believed not on Him.”
al. “being about to destroy Jerusalem even weepeth.”
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-19 · Original source
Here again is another question, but it is not so if we rightly consider it. For as the sun dazzles the eyes of the weak, not by reason of its proper nature, so it is with those who give not heed to the words of God. Thus, in the case of Pharaoh, He is said to have hardened his heart, and so it is with those who are at all contentious against the words of God. This is a peculiar mode of speech in Scripture, as also the, “He gave them over unto a reprobate mind” ( Rom. i. 28 ), and the, “He divided them to the nations,” that is, allowed, permitted them to go. For the writer doth not here introduce God as Himself working these things, but showeth that they took place through the wickedness of others. For, when we are abandoned by God, we are given up to the devil, and when so given up, we suffer ten thousand dreadful things. To terrify the hearer, therefore, the writer saith, “He hardened,” and “gave over.” For to show that He doth not only not give us over, but doth not even leave us, except we will it, hear what He saith, “Do not your iniquities separate between Me and you?” ( Isa. lix. 2 , LXX.). And again, “They that go far away from Thee shall perish.” ( Ps. lxxiii. 27 , LXX.) And Hosea saith, “Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, and I will also forget thee” ( Hos. iv. 6 , LXX.); and He saith Himself also in the Gospels, “How often would I have gathered your children—and ye would not.” ( Luke xiii. 34.) Esaias also again, “I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to hearken.” ( Isa. l. 2 , LXX.) These things He saith, showing that we begin the desertion, and become the causes of our perdition; for God not only desireth not to leave or to punish us, but even when He punisheth, doth it unwillingly; “I will not,” He saith, “the death of a sinner, so much as that he should turn and live.” ( Ezek. xviii. 32 , LXX.) Christ also mourneth over the destruction of Jerusalem, as we also do over our friends.
“Lest darkness come upon you,” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-2 · Original source
“Walk while ye have the light.”
“Esaias the prophet,” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-9 · Original source
Ver. 38. “That the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” And again,
“therefore they,” N.T.
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-10 · Original source
Ver. 39–41. “They could not believe,” it saith, “because that Esaias said, Ye shall hear with your ears, and not understand. These things he said, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him.”
al. “persons suffering many.”
Editorial footnote · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, editorial note cite_note-21 · Original source
[3.] Knowing this, let us do all so as not to remove from God, but let us hold fast to the care of our souls, and to the love towards each other; let us not tear our own members, (for this is the act of men insane and beside themselves,) but the more we see any ill disposed, the more let us be kind to them. Since we often see many persons suffering in their bodies from difficult or incurable maladies, and cease not to apply remedies. What is worse than gout in foot or hand? Are we therefore to cut off the limbs? Not at all, but we use every means that the sufferer may enjoy some comfort, since we cannot get rid of the disease. This also let us do in the case of our brethren, and, even though they be diseased incurably, let us continue to tend them, and let us bear one another’s burdens. So shall we fulfill the law of Christ, and obtain the promised good things, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Ver. 35. “Yet a little while,” He saith, “is the light with you.”
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 5 · Original source
“He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.”
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 9 · Original source
Ver. 37. “Though He had done so many miracles, they believed not on Him.”
Complete source paragraph · Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 68, source paragraph 14 · Original source