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

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostom190Ver. 28, 29 . “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I Am, and thatI speak not 1464 of Myself, and that He that sent Me is with Me. And the Father hath not left Mealone.”[2.] He showeth that He rightly said, “the same that I said unto you from the beginning.” Solittle heed they gave to His words. “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man.” “Do ye not expectthat ye then shall certainly rid yourselves of Me, and slay Me? But I tell you that then ye shall mostknow that I Am, by reason of the miracles, the resurrection, and the destruction (of Jerusalem).”For all these things were sufficient to manifest His power. He said not, “Then ye shall know whoI am”; for, “when ye shall see,” He saith, “that I suffer nothing from death, then ye shall know thatI Am, that is, the Christ, the Son of God, who govern 1465 all things, and am not opposed to Him.”1466For which cause He addeth, “and of Myself I speak nothing.” For ye shall know both My powerand My unanimity with the Father. Because the, “of Myself I speak nothing,” showeth that HisSubstance differeth not (from that of the Father), and that He uttereth nothing save that which is inthe mind of the Father. “For when ye have been driven away from your place of worship, and it isnot allowed you even to serve Him as hitherto, then ye shall know that He doth this to avenge Me,and because He is wroth with those who would not hear Me.” As though He had said, “Had I beenan enemy and a stranger to God, He would not have stirred up such wrath against you.” This alsoEsaias declareth, “He shall give the wicked in return for His burial” ( Isa. liii. 9 , LXX.); andDavid, “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath” ( Ps. ii. 5 ); and Christ Himself, “Behold,your house is left unto you desolate.” ( Matt. xxiii. 38 .) And His parables declare the same thingwhen He saith, “What shall the Lord of that vineyard do to those husbandmen? He shall miserablydestroy those wicked men.” ( Matt. xxi. 40, 41 .) Seest thou that everywhere He speaketh thus,because He is not yet believed? But if He will destroy them, as He will, (for, “Bring hither,” Itsaith, “those which would not that I should reign over them, and slay them,”) wherefore saith Hethat the deed is not His, but His Father’s? He addresseth Himself to their weakness, and at the sametime honoreth Him that begat Him. Wherefore He said not, “I leave your house desolate,” but, it“is left”; He hath put it impersonally. But by saying, “How often would I have gathered your childrentogether—and ye would not,” and then adding, “is left,” He showeth that He wrought the desolation.“For since,” He telleth them, “when ye were benefited and healed of your infirmities, ye would notknow Me, ye shall know by being punished who I am.”“And the Father is with Me.” That they may not deem the “who sent Me” to be a mark ofinferiority, He saith, “is with Me”; the first belongeth to the Dispensation, the second to the Godhead.“And He hath not left Me alone,” for I do always those things that please Him.Again He hath brought down His discourse to a humbler strain, continually setting Himselfagainst that which they asserted, that He was not of God, and that He kept not the Sabbath. To thisHe replieth, “I do always those things that are pleasing unto Him”; showing that it was pleasingunto Him even that the Sabbath should be broken. So, for instance, just before the Crucifixion Hesaid, “Think ye that I cannot call upon My Father?” ( Matt. xxvi. 53 .) And yet by merely saying,“Whom seek ye?” ( c. xviii. 4, 6 ) He cast them down backwards. Why then saith He not, “Thinkye that I cannot destroy you,” when He had proved this by deed? He condescendeth to their infirmity.1464“ do nothing, ” N.T.1465φέρων καὶ ἄγων1466i.e. to The Father.289