Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostom134the very greatest of all goods. As Paul cries aloud, saying, “Who being in the form of God, thoughtit not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him theform of a servant.” ( Phil. ii. 6, 7 .) And again, Christ Himself in another place saith, “I havepower to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again”: and, “No man taketh it from Me,but I lay it down of Myself.” ( c. x. 18 .) Seest thou that He hath power over life and death, andthat He wrought of Himself so mighty a Dispensation? And why speak I concerning Christ, wheneven we, than whom nothing can be meaner, do many things of ourselves? Of ourselves we choosevice, of ourselves we go after virtue, and if we do it not of ourselves, and not having power, weshall neither suffer hell if we do wrong, nor enjoy the Kingdom if we do right.What then meaneth, “Can do nothing of Himself”? That He can do nothing in opposition to theFather, nothing alien from, nothing strange to Him, 1020 which is especially the assertion of Onedeclaring an Equality and entire agreement.But wherefore said He not, that “He doeth nothing contrary,” instead of, “He cannot do”? Itwas that from this again He might show the invariableness and exactness of the Equality, for theexpression imputes not weakness to Him, but even shows 1021 His great power; since in anotherplace Paul saith of the Father, “That by two immutable things in which it was impos sible for Godto lie” ( Heb. vi. 18 ): and again, “If we deny Him — He abideth faithful,” for “He cannot denyHimself.” ( 2 Tim. ii. 12, 13 .) And in truth this expression, “impossible,” is not declaratory ofweakness, but power, power unspeakable. For what He saith is of this kind, that “that Essenceadmitteth not such things as these.” For just as when we also say, “it is impossible for God to dowrong,” we do not impute to Him any weakness, but confess in Him an unutterable power; so whenHe also saith, “I can of Mine own Self do nothing” ( v. 30 ), His meaning is, that “it is impossible,nature admits not, 1022 that I should do anything contrary to the Father.” And that you may learnthat this is really what is said, let us, going over what follows, see whether Christ agreeth with whatis said by us, or among you. Thou sayest, that the expression does away with His Power and Hisproper Authority, and shows His might to be but weak; but I say, that this proves His Equality, Hisunvarying Likeness, 1023 (to the Father,) and the fact that all is done as it were by one Will 1024 andPower and Might. Let us then enquire of Christ Himself, and see by what He next saith whetherHe interpreteth these words according to thy supposition or according to ours. What then saith He?“For what things soever the Father 1025 doeth these also doeth the Son likewise.”Seest thou how He hath taken away your assertion by the root, and confirmed what is said byus? since, if Christ doeth nothing of Himself, neither will the Father do anything of Himself, if sobe that Christ doeth all things in like manner to Him. 1026 If this be not the case, another strangeconclusion will follow. For He said not, that “whatsoever things He saw the Father do, He did,”but, “except He see the Father doing anything, He doeth it not”; extending His words to all time;now He will, according to you, be continually learning the same things. Seest thou how exalted isthe idea, and that the very humility of the expression compelleth even the most shameless and̓1020i.e. nothing by Himself.1021al. “ testifies. ”1022ἀ νεγχώρητον1023τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον1024γνώμης1025Εκεῖνος , G. T.1026Morel. and ms. in Bodl., “ that the ‘ likewise ’ ( τὸ ὁμοίως ) may remain. ”205