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

NPNF (V1-14)St. ChrysostomJohn xiii. 36“Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go thoucanst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me afterwards.”266[1.] A great thing 2086 is love, and stronger than fire itself, and it goeth up to the very heaven;there is 2087 no hindrance which can restrain its tearing 2088 force. And so the most fervent Peter,when he hears, “Whither I go ye cannot come,” what saith he? “Lord, whither goest thou?” andthis he said, not so much from wish to learn, as from desire to follow. To say openly, “I go,” hedared not yet, but, “Whither goest thou?” Christ answered, not to his words, but to his thoughts.For that this was his wish, is clear from what Christ said, “Whither I go thou canst not follow Menow.” Seest thou that he longed for the following Him, and therefore asked the question? And whenhe heard, “thou shalt follow Me afterwards,” not even so did he restrain his longing, and, thoughhe had gained good hopes, he is so eager as to say,Ver. 37 . “Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thee.”When he had shaken off the dread of being the traitor, and was shown to be one of His own,2089he afterwards asked boldly himself, while the others held their peace. “What sayest thou, Peter?He said, ‘thou canst not,’ and thou sayest, ‘I can’? Therefore thou shalt know from this temptationthat thy love is nothing without the presence of the impulse 2090 from above.” Whence it is clearthat in care for him He allowed even that fall. He desired indeed to teach him even by the firstwords, but when he continued in his vehemence, He did not indeed throw or force him into thedenial, but left him alone, that he might learn his own weakness. Christ had said that He must bebetrayed; Peter replied, “Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not happen unto Thee.” ( Matt. xvi.22 .) He was rebuked, but not instructed. On the contrary, when Christ desired to wash his feet,he said, “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” 2091 ( Ver. 8 .) Again, when he hears, “Thou canst notfollow Me now,” he saith, “Though all deny Thee, I will not deny Thee.” Since then it was likelythat he would be lifted up to folly by his practice of contradiction, Jesus next teacheth him not tooppose Him. This too Luke implies, when he telleth us that Christ said, “And I have prayed forthee, that thy faith fail not” ( Luke xxii. 32 ); that is, “that thou be not finally lost.” In every wayteaching him humility, and proving that human nature by itself is nothing. But, since great lovemade him apt for contradiction, He now sobereth him, that he might not in after times be subjectto this, when he should have received the stewardship of the world, but remembering what he hadsuffered, might know himself. And look at the violence of his fall; it did not happen to him onceor twice, but he was so beside himself, that in a short time thrice did he utter the words of denial,that he might learn that he did not so love as he was loved. And yet, to one who had so fallen Hesaith again, “Lovest thou Me more than these?” So that the denial was caused not by the coolingof his love, but from his having been stripped of aid from above. He accepteth then Peter’s love,2086al. “ a great good. ”2087al. “ whence neither shall there be. ”2088ῥ αγδαῖον2089τῶν γνησἰων2090ῥ οπῆς2091al. “ Thou shalt never do this thing. ”401