Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist, Homilies 1–47

Homily 22

212 SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM Well, then, let us here repent so as to obtain everlasting good things. And may all of us obtain them by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom glory and power be to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. Homily 22 (John 2.4-10) 'What wouldst thou have me do, woman? My hour has not yet come.'1 Preaching really entails hard work, and this fact Paul made plain when he said: 'Let the presbyters who rule well be held worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching,'2 But you are responsible for making this toil light or heavy. If you despise my words or, though you do not despise them, do not embody them in your deeds, my toil will be heavy, because I am laboring fruitlessly and in vam. But if you pay attention and make my words manifest in your deeds, I shall not even be aware of the perspiration, for the fruit produced by my work will not permit me to feel the laboriousness of the toil. And so, if you wish to spur on my zeal and not to extinguish it or make it weaker, show me the fruit of it, I beseech you, in order that, viewing the leafy crops, sustained by hopes of a rich harvest and calculating my wealth, I may not be sluggish in engaging in this promising task. 'It is, to be sure, no trifling question that lies before us today, also. When the Mother of Jesus said: 'They have no wine,' Christ replied: 'What wouldst thou have me do, woman? My hour has not yet come.' Yet, though He uttered these words, He did what His mother said. Now, this 1 John 2.4. 2 1 Tim. 5.17. HOMILIES 213 action, no less than the preceding words, provides matter for discussion. Therefore, calling to our aid Him who worked this miracle, let us with His assistance come to the solution of the problem. Now, not only has this statement been made in this context, but the same Evangelist further in his Gospel clearly said they were not able to lay hold of Him, 'because his hour had not yet come.'3 And again: 'No one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come.'4 And once more: 'The hour has come! Glorify thy Son.'5 I have brought together all these texts, taken from this Gospel as a whole, that I may give one explanation for all of them. What, therefore, is the meaning of the words? It was not because Christ was by necessity subject to time that He said: 'My hour has not yet come,' nor would He carefully watch the hours (for how could the Maker of time, the Creator of ages and generations, be so restricted?). But by these words He wished to make it plain that He does all His works at the fitting time, since there would be confusion and disorder resulting from them, if He did not perform each at the appointed time, but mixed all things together: birth, and resurrection, and judgment. And besides, take note: It was necessary for the universe to come into existence, but not all at the same time; and for man and also woman, but not even these at the same time. It was necessary for the human race to be condemned to death and for the resurrection to take place, but there is a considerable interval between. It was expedient for the Law to be given, but not grace at the same time, but for each to be dispensed at its own time. Christ, then, was not subject to the necessity of timeHe who pre-eminently established the order of time-since 3 Cf. John 8.20. 4 John 7.30. 5 John 17.1. 214 SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM He was also its Maker. But John here quoted Christ as saying: 'My hour has not yet come,' to show that He was as yet by no means known to the majority of men, and that He had not even gathered the entire group of His disciples. Andrew was following Him, and with him Philip, but no one else;6 not even all these knew Him as they ought, nor did His Mother or His brethren...