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

Homily 70 (John 13.1-12)

250 SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM able to speak confidently to your husband on the subject of almsgiving. Even if you do not succeed at all, you have completely fulfilled your duty, or, rather, it is impossible for him also not to gain profit, since you are speaking to him by means of your very deeds. 'For how dost thou know, 0 wife, whether thou wilt save thy husband?,n Therefore, just as you will now give a reckoning both regarding yourself and regarding him, so, if you lay aside all this show, you will have a double crown. You will be crowned and glorious, together with your husband, for those endless ages, and will enjoy everlasting blessings. May we all attain these by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory be to Him forever and ever. Amen. Homily 70 (John 13.1-12) 'Before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, to pass out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end.'l 'Be imitators of me,' said Paul, 'as I am of Christ.' That is why He took flesh from our clay, in order that by this means He might teach us virtue. Indeed: 'In the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin-offering, he has condemned sin in the flesh,' Paul declared. Moreover, Christ Himself said: 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.'2 Now, He taught this, not in word only, but also by His deeds. I say this for they had been calling Him a Samaritan and a devil and a seducer, and were taking up stones to cast 11 1 Cor. 7.16. 1 John 13.1. 2 1 Cor. Il.l; Rom. 8.3; Matt. 11.29. HOMILIES 251 at Him. Now, the Pharisees sent servants to arrest Him, and again they despatched others to plot against Him, while they themselves continued frequently insulting Him, even though they had no grounds for accusation, but were, in fact, continually receiving benefits from Him. Nevertheless, even after such great rebuffs, He did not refrain from doing good to them both in word and deed. Even when a certain servant struck Him, Christ said: 'If I have spoken ill, bear witness to the evil; but if well, why dost thou strike me?'3 However, these were His relations with His enemies and those who were plotting against Him. Let us see, on the other hand, how He acted in the present instance toward His disciples, or, rather, how He treated His betrayer. He had reason to despise him most of all, because, in spite of being a disciple, and a companion of His table and hospitality, and an eye-witness of His miracles, and so highly honored, he committed the most serious offense of all. He did not, to be sure, cast stones at Christ, or openly insult Him, but he betrayed Him and gave Him up. Yet see how kindly Christ received him and washed his feet. He did so, for He wished by this action to restrain the betrayer from that evil deed. Even though it was possible for Him, if He had desired, to wither him, as He did the fig-tree; or to pierce him through, as He splintered the rocks; or to tear him, as He did the curtain of the Temple; yet He did not wish to force him, but to draw him away from the betrayal by his own free choice. And that is why He washed his feet. Yet that wretched and unhappy man was not even shamed by this. 'Before the Feast of the Passover,' the Evangelist said, 'Jesus, knowing that his hour had come.' He did not then only know it, but he meant that He acted as He did, having 3 john 18.23. 252 SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 'known' long before. 'To pass out of this world': the Evangelist was euphemistically referring to His death as 'a passing.' 'Having loved his own, he loved them to the end.' Do you perceive that, when He was on the point of leaving them, He gave them stronger evidence of His love? For the words 'Having loved them, He loved them to the end,' mean this, that He omitted nothing that one who loves deeply usually does. 'But why in the world did He...