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

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostomsubject, saying, “A little while, and ye shall not see Me, because I go to Him that sent Me”? 2262When He had recovered them by His words concerning the Spirit, He again casteth down theircourage. Wherefore doth He this? He testeth their feelings, and rendereth them more proved, andwell accustometh them by hearing sad things, manfully to bear separation from Him; for they whohad practiced this when spoken of in words, were likely in actions also, easily to bear it afterwards.And if one enquire closely, this very thing is a consolation, 2263 the saying that, “I go to the Father.”For it is the expression of One, who declares that He shall not perish, but that His end is a kind oftranslation. He addeth too another consolation; for He saith not merely, “A little while, and ye shallnot see Me,” but also, “A little while, and ye shall see Me”; showing that He will both come tothem again, and that their separation would be but for a little while, and His presence with themcontinual. This, however, they did not understand. Whence one may with reason wonder how, afterhaving often heard these things, they doubt, as though they had heard nothing. How then is it thatthey did not understand? It was either through grief, as I suppose, for that drove what was said fromtheir understanding; or through the obscurity of the words. Because He seemed to them to set forthtwo contraries, which were not contrary. “If,” saith one of them, “we shall see Thee, whither goestThou? And if Thou goest, how shall we see Thee?” Therefore they say, “We cannot tell what Hesaith.” That He was about to depart, they knew; but they knew not that He would shortly come tothem. On which account He rebuketh them, because they did not understand His saying. For,desiring to infix in 2264 them the doctrine concerning His death, what saith He?Ver. 20 . 2265 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament”—which belongedto the Death and the Cross—“but the world shall rejoice.”Because by reason of their not desiring His death, they quickly ran into the belief that He wouldnot die, and then when they heard that He would die, cast about, not knowing what that “little”meant, He saith, “Ye shall mourn and lament.”“But your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” 2266 Then having shown that after grief comes joy,and that grief gendereth joy, and that grief is short, but the pleasure endless, He passeth to a common2267example; and what saith He?Ver. 21 . “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow.” 2268And He hath used a comparison which the Prophets also use continually, likening despondenciesto the exceeding pains of childbirth. But what He saith is of this kind: “Travail pains shall lay holdon you, but the pang of childbirth is the cause of joy”; both confirming His words relative to theResurrection, and showing that the departing hence is like passing from the womb into the light ofday. As though He had said, “Marvel not that I bring you to your advantage through such sorrow,since even a mother to become a mother, passeth in like manner through pain.” Here also He2262“ to the Father, ” N.T.2263al. “ is of consolation. ”2264al. “ to strike into. ”2265Ver. 19 , omitted. “ Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire amongyourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me? ” N.T.2266“ And ye shall be sorrowful, but, ” &c., N.T.2267lit. “ worldly. ”2268“ hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more theanguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. ” N.T.436