Commentary on Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist, Homilies 48–88

Homily 53 (John 8.20-30)

HOMILIES 55 Homily 53 (fohn 8.20-30) 'Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, while teaching in the temple. And no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.'l Oh, the insanity of the Jews! Before the Pasch they were seeking Him; then they found Him in their midst and repeatedly tried to arrest Him, both by their own efforts and through those of others, and were unable to do so. Yet they were not dumbfounded at His power, but persisted in their evil designs and did not cease from them. Now, to indicate that they kept trying unceasingly, the Evangelist said: 'He spoke these words in the treasury, while teaching in the temple. And no one seized him.' He was speaking in the temple, and in the office of teacher, a thing that was enough to rouse them still more. Further, He was saying things that angered them, things because of which they censured Him, on the ground that He was making Himself equal to the Father. I say this for that is the meaning of the words: 'The witness of two persons is true.' Nevertheless, 'He spoke these words in the temple,' the Evangelist recorded, and in the guise of teacher, 'and no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come;' that is, because it was not yet the fitting time at which He willed to be crucified. Hence, even when that time came, it was not a work accomplished by their power that took place, but one of His own planning. In truth, they themselves wished to accomplish it before that, but were not strong enough. They would not even then have been strong enough, therefore, if He Himself had not allowed it. 'Again, therefore, Jesus said to them, "I go, and you will seek me.'" Why in the world did He keep saying this repeatedly? To upset and terrify their minds. Notice, indeed, 1 John 8.20. 56 SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM how much fear this caused. For, though they wished to kill Him in order to be rid of Him, they sought to find out where He was going, so great were the implications of what He said. Now, He wished to teach them something else, namely, that His departure would not be the result of their use of force, but He was foretelling it ahead of time, and was prophesying the Resurrection by these words. 'Therefore they kept saying, "Will he kill himself?" , What, then, did Christ reply? To remove that suspicion of theirs and to show that such an action is a sin, He said: 'You are from below.' And what He'meant is something like this: 'It is no wonder that you have such thoughts-earth-bound as you are-and that you are not spiritual-minded, but I will do no such thing, for I am from above. You are of this world.' Here again He was referring to their worldly and earthly thoughts. From this it is clear that the words, 'I am not of this world,' do not mean that He did not become incarnate , but merely that He was completely divorced from their wickedness. This is the correct meaning, for He also said that His disciples were not of this world; nevertheless, they did have human bodies. Accordingly, just as Paul, by saying 'You are not carnal,'2 did not mean that they were without bodies, so by saying that His disciples were not of this world, Christ was testifying nothing else of the~ than their virtuous lives. 'Therefore I said to" you that if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.' Now, if He came for the purpose of taking away the sins of the world, and it is not possible for them to be removed except by baptism, anyone who does not believe must still possess 'the old man.' Moreover , he who does not will the latter's death and burial by faith will perish with him, and will go to the next world to pay the penalty for his sins of the past. That is why Christ 2 Rom. 8.9. HOMILIES 57 said: 'He who does not believe is already judged'3-not only because of his unbelief, but also because he departs, still keeping possession of his sins of the past. 'They therefore said to him, "Who art thou...