John Chrysostom

Conversation 27

John 3:12-13. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but the Son of Man who came down from heaven, who is in heaven. 1. We must not endeavor to comprehend by reason the origin of the only begotten Son. - 2. The serpent of brass as a type of Jesus Christ. - How God loved the world. - 3. The love of God: the excessiveness of His goodness to sinners and the ungrateful. - God spared not even his only begotten Son to save us, but we spare our money. - A bad use made of riches. - Our ingratitude to Jesus Christ in the person of the poor for all His favors to us. - Against those who, squandering all on luxury, despise the poor, and do not care for their needs. 1. What I have repeatedly said, I will now say, and will not cease to say. What is this? That Jesus, intending to touch upon high doctrines, often adapts himself to the weakness of his hearers, and uses a mode of teaching not always corresponding to his greatness, but more adapted to them. A high and important doctrine, once expressed, can sufficiently show its dignity as long as we are able to hear it, but if it is not often spoken about subjects more simple and close to the understanding of the listeners, then the high subjects can not soon take possession of the mind of the bowed down listener. For this reason Christ spoke much more of simple subjects than of high ones. But lest this also should do harm in another respect, i.e., lest it should keep the disciple down, He does not otherwise address the simple subjects than by first stating the reason why He speaks of them. So He did in the present case. Having spoken of baptism and of the birth that takes place on earth by grace, and then intending to proceed to speak of His own birth, which is inexpressible and incomprehensible, He hesitates and does not proceed. Then He expresses the reason why He does not proceed. What reason is this? The rudeness and weakness of His hearers. To this He hinted, saying, “If I have spoken to you of earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I speak to you of heavenly things?” Thus, where He speaks of something simple and unimportant, it must be referred to the weakness of the hearers. Some say that the expression “earthly things” here must be understood to mean the wind, as if He had said: “I have shown you an example of earthly things, but you are not persuaded thereby: how then can you understand things more sublime? But if He here calls baptism earthly also, do not be surprised. He calls it so either because it is accomplished on earth, or in comparison with His terrible birth. Our (in baptism) birth, though it be heavenly, yet, compared with His true birth from the substance of the Father, it is earthly. And rightly he did not say: you do not understand, but: you do not believe. He who has difficulty and does not easily accept what is intelligible to the mind, may justly be accused of unreason; but he who does not accept what cannot be comprehended by reason, but only by faith, deserves to be accused no longer of unreason, but of unbelief. Thus, by not allowing Nicodemus to test with his own mind what was said, Christ continues His denunciation of unbelief even more strongly. If our (spiritual) birth is to be received by faith, what do men deserve who test with their minds the birth of the Only Begotten? But perhaps someone will say, “Why did you say this, if the hearers did not want to believe? Because, though they did not want to believe, they could accept it and the people of later times could benefit from it. So, striking Nicodemus with all His might, Christ finally shows that He knows not only this, but also much more and higher than this, - which He expresses in the following words: “No one has ascended into heaven, but only the Son of Man who came down from heaven, who is in heaven” (John 3:13). What, say you, is the connection of thought here? A very great and close connection with the preceding. Nicodemus said: “You are a teacher who came from God” (Jn.3:2); this very thing now Christ corrects, as if to say: do not think that I am the same teacher, as were many prophets who were from the earth; I came from heaven. Of the prophets none of them went up there, but I am always there. See how even the most apparently high is yet too unworthy of His majesty. He does not exist only in heaven, but everywhere, and fulfills everything. But He speaks, still condescending to the weakness of the hearer, so that He may raise him little by little to higher things. But here He does not call His flesh the Son of man, but, so to speak, all of Himself in the lower nature²⁴. And ordinarily He called the whole of Himself sometimes by deity, sometimes by humanity. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). Again, and this seems to have no connection with the preceding; but (in fact) is quite consistent with it. Having said that through baptism the greatest beneficence has been done to men, He also gives the reason for it, no less than the beneficence itself - the cross; just as Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, joins these beneficences together in the following words, “Was it Paul who was crucified for you, or was it in Paul's name that you were baptized?” (1 Corinthians 1:13). These two benefactions more than any other show the inexpressible love of the Lord: He both suffered for His enemies, and, dying for His enemies, granted in baptism the entire forgiveness of sins. 2. But why did He not say directly, I will be crucified, but referred His hearers to the ancient type? By this He teaches them, first, that the ancient events have a correlation with the new, that those are not alien to these; secondly, that He did not go into suffering against His will, and besides, that He Himself suffered no harm from it, and that salvation was granted to many through it. Indeed, lest anyone should say, How can those who believe in the Crucified One be saved, when He Himself was also possessed by death? - Here He leads us back to ancient history. If the Jews were saved from death by looking at the brass image of the serpent, surely the greater favor can be obtained by those who believe in the Crucified One. The crucifixion was not because of the Crucified One's weakness, nor because the Jews triumphed over him, but because “God loved the world” (John 3:16). This is why His animated temple was subjected to crucifixion: “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn.3:15). Do you see the reason for the cross and the salvation that came from it? Do you see the correspondence between the image and the truth? There the Jews are saved from temporal death only; but here believers are saved from eternal death. There the hanged serpent heals the bites of serpents; here the crucified Jesus heals the bruises of the spiritual serpent. There he who looks with bodily eyes receives healing; there he who looks with mental eyes is delivered from all sins. There the brass was hung up, representing the likeness of the serpent; here the body of the Lord formed by the Spirit. There the serpent bit, the serpent also healed; so here: death destroyed, death also saved. But the serpent that destroyed had poison, and that which saved had no poison; the same again here: the death that destroyed had sin, as the serpent had poison, but the death of the Master was free from all sin, as the brass serpent was free from poison. “He did no sin, and there was no flattery in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). This is also what Paul says: “having taken away the strength from the rulers and authorities, He put them to shame with power, triumphing over them by Himself” (Col.2:15). As a courageous fighter, having lifted up the enemy in the air and thrown the ground, gains a brilliant victory, so Christ also overthrew the opposing powers, in the sight of the whole universe, and, having cured the afflicted in the wilderness, having been hanged on the cross, delivered them from all beasts. But He did not say, “It is fitting to be hanged, but to be lifted up. He used such an expression as might be more favorable to the hearer, and which was nearer to the prototype. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). These words mean this: do not marvel that I must be lifted up for your salvation. The Father so willed it, - and He so loved you that He gave His Son for the slaves and servants of the ungrateful, what no one would do for a friend. Paul expresses this in the words: “Hardly anyone would die for a righteous man” (Romans 5:7). (Rom. 5: 7.) But the apostle spoke longer, because he was speaking to believers; and Christ spoke briefly, because His word was to Nicodemus; but His word is more expressive. Every utterance of His has much expressiveness in it. In the words, “God so loved the world,” He shows the great power of love, - for a great, infinite distance is between God and the world. Immortal, beginningless, majesty infinite, He loved them that are of the earth and dust, full of innumerable sins, insulting Him at all times, ungrateful. The words added afterwards, “that He gave His only begotten Son,” are also expressive: He gave not a servant, He says, nor an angel, nor an archangel, but no one would show such care for a son as God did for the ungrateful servants. He does not therefore portray His suffering clearly, but in a hidden way; but He expresses the beneficial effects of His suffering clearly and openly, saying thus, “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Since He said that He must be lifted up, and thereby appointed His death, lest the hearer should be confounded by these words, and should presume anything human about Him, and think His death to be the cessation of existence, behold how He corrects this: He says that the One whom the Father gives is the Son of God, the bringer of life, and eternal life at that. And he who was able through his death to communicate life to others could not remain forever in (the power of) death. If those who believe in the Crucified One do not perish, much less can the Crucified One himself perish. He who delivers others from perdition is all the more free from it himself. He who imparts life to others exudes life to himself all the more. Do you see that faith is needed everywhere? He says that the cross is the source of life; but reason could not easily accept this: witness the pagans, who still ridicule it to this day; but faith, which surpasses the weakness of intellect, easily accepts and contains the same. Why then did God so love the world? Not for any other reason than because of goodness alone. 3. Let us be ashamed of His love, let us be ashamed of His immense humanity. He did not spare even His only begotten Son for us, but we spare even money for our own evil. He gave His true Son for us, and we are not willing to give even silver for His sake, nor even for our own. How can we be forgiven for this? If we see a man exposed to danger and death for us, we prefer him to all others, rank him among our first friends, give him our all, say that it belongs to him more than to us, and yet we do not think that we have repaid him in a worthy manner. But to Christ we have no gratitude even in this measure. He laid down His soul for us, He shed His precious blood for us, - for us, ungrateful, unkind; and we do not waste money for our own benefit, but despise Him in His nakedness and wandering, Him who died for us. Who will deliver us from the future judgment? If it were not God, but we ourselves who punished ourselves, would we not pronounce judgment on ourselves? Would we not condemn ourselves to the fire of Gehenna because we despise Him who laid down His life for us, while He is starving? And what does he say about money? If we had a thousand souls in us, would we not have to lay down all our souls for Him? But even so we would not have done anything worthy of His favors. He who first does good reveals his own goodness, but he who has received a favor, whatever he gives for it, he gives only what he is due, and does not deserve gratitude, especially when he who has begun to do good does good to his enemies; and he who repays him, repays the benefactor with what he has received from him, and uses it again himself. But even this does not move us; nay, we are so ungrateful that we clothe slaves, and mules, and horses, in golden garments, and the Lord, who wanders in nakedness, who goes from door to door, who stands at crossroads, and stretches out his hands to us, we despise, and often look upon him with stern eyes; but this very thing he endures for our sake. He willingly hungers to feed you; He wanders in nakedness to bring you the opportunity of receiving the garment of incorruption. But you, notwithstanding even this, devote nothing of your possessions. Your garments are either moth-eaten, or constitute a burden to the chests and a superfluous care to the owners; and He who bestowed both this and all other things, He wanders naked. But you say that you do not put your garments into chests, but you yourselves are clothed and adorned in them? Tell me, what good is it to you? Is it that you may be seen in the square by the crowd? What is it? They will not marvel at him who is clothed in such garments, but at him who gives to the needy. So, if you want to be marveled at, clothe others, and you will receive thousands of praises. Then God will praise you along with men. But now no one praises you; but everyone hates you, seeing that you adorn your body, but do not care for your soul. The adornment of the body is also with harlots, and they often dress themselves in the most costly and brilliant garments; but the adornment of the soul is only with people who are virtuous. I have often spoken of this, and will not cease to speak of it, caring not so much for the poor as for your souls. They will have consolation, if not from us, then from some other side; even if there was no consolation for them, but they would die of hunger, and in that case there would be no greater harm for them. Did the misery and exhaustion of hunger do any harm to Lazarus? But you will not be taken out of Gehenna unless you receive help from the poor; nay, we will say the same as the rich man who is consigned to eternal torment and deprived of all comfort. But God forbid that any of us should ever hear such words; may we depart into the bowels of Abraham, through the grace and humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory for ever and ever. Amen.