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

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostomlatter case, cast a slur upon it, as though it had not even taken place. And not from this only arethey shown to be all corrupt, but because when He had not yet come, nor exhibited any action, theyprevent Him with their accusations without waiting the end of the matter. Seest thou how corruptwas their judgment?[2.] He cometh then to the tomb; and again 1738 rebuketh His feelings. Why doth the Evangelistcarefully in several places mention that “He wept,” and that, “He groaned”? 1739 That thou mayestlearn that He had of a truth put on our nature. For when this Evangelist is remarkable for utteringgreat things concerning Christ more than the others, in matters relating to the body, here he alsospeaketh much more humbly than they. 1740 For instance, concerning His death he hath said nothingof the kind; the other Evangelists declare that He was exceedingly sorrowful, that He was in anagony; but John, on the contrary, saith, that He even cast the officers backwards. So that he hathmade up here what is omitted there, by mentioning His grief. When speaking of His death, Christsaith, “I have power to lay down My life” ( c. x. 18 ), and then He uttereth no lowly word; thereforeat the Passion they 1741 attribute to Him much that is human, to show the reality of the Dispensation.And Matthew proves this by the Agony, the trouble, the trembling, 1742 and the sweat; but John byHis sorrow. For had He not been of our nature, He would not once and again have been masteredby grief. What did Jesus? He made no defense with regard to their charges; for why should Hesilence by words those who were soon to be silenced by deeds? a means less annoying, and moreadapted to shame them.Ver. 39 . “He saith, Take ye away the stone.”Why did not He when at a distance summon Lazarus, and place him before their eyes? Or rather,why did He not cause him to arise while the stone yet lay on the grave? For He who was able byHis voice to move a corpse, and to show it again endowed with life, would much more by that samevoice have been able to move a stone; He who empowered by His voice one bound and entangledin the grave-clothes to walk, would much more have been able to move a stone; why then did Henot so? In order to make them witnesses of the miracle; that they might not say as they did in thecase of the blind man, “It is he,” “It is not he.” For their hands 1743 and their coming to the tombtestified that it was indeed he. If they had not come, they might have deemed that they saw a vision,or one man in place of another. But now the coming to the place, the raising the stone, the chargegiven them to loose the dead man bound in grave-clothes from his bands; the fact that the friendswho bore him from the tomb, knew from the grave-clothes 1744 that it was he; that his sisters werenot left behind; that one of them said, “He now stinketh, for he hath been dead four days”; all thesethings, I say, were sufficient to silence the ill-disposed, as they were made witnesses of the miracle.On this account He biddeth them take away the stone from the tomb, to show that He raiseth theman. On this account also He asketh, “Where have ye laid him?” that they who said, “Come andsee,” and who conducted Him, might not be able to say that He had raised another person; that theirvoice and their hands might bear witness, (their voice by saying, “Come and see,” their hands by1738Ver. 38 . “ Jesus therefore, again groaning in Himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. ”1739al. “ rebuked. ”1740al. “ all things more humble. ”1741i.e. the other Evangelists.1742Ben. omits “ the trembling. ”1743i.e. which raised the stone.1744al. “ garments. ”350