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

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostom55multitudes supposed him to be the Christ, he again removes their suspicion. 427 This is the part ofan honest servant, not only not to take to himself his master’s honor, but also to reject it 428 whengiven to him by the many. But the multitudes arrived at this supposition from simplicity andignorance; these questioned him from an ill intention, which I have mentioned, expecting, as I said,to draw him over to their purpose by their flattery. Had they not expected this, they would not haveproceeded immediately to another question, but would have been angry with him for having giventhem an answer foreign to their enquiry, and would have said, “Why, did we suppose that? did wecome to ask thee that?” But now as taken and detected in the fact, they proceed to another question,and say,Ver. 21 . “What then? art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not.”For they expected that Elias also would come, as Christ declares; for when His disciples enquired,“How then do the scribes say that Elias must first come?” ( Matt. xvii. 10 ) He replied, “Elias trulyshall first come, and restore all things.” Then they ask, “Art thou that prophet? and he answered,No.” ( Matt. xvii. 10 .) Yet surely he was a prophet. Wherefore then doth he deny it? Becauseagain he looks to the intention of his questioners. For they expected that some especial prophetshould come, because Moses said, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet of thybrethren like unto me, unto Him shall ye harken.” ( Deut. xviii. 15 .) Now this was Christ.Wherefore they do not say, “Art thou a prophet?” meaning thereby one of the ordinary prophets;but the expression, “Art thou the prophet?” with the addition of the article, means, “Art thou thatProphet who was foretold by Moses?” and therefore he denied not that he was a prophet, but thathe was “that Prophet.”Ver. 22 . “Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them thatsent us. What sayest thou of thyself?”Observe them pressing him more vehemently, urging him, repeating their questions, and notdesisting; while he first kindly removes false opinions concerning himself, and then sets beforethem one which is true. For, saith he,Ver. 23 . “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,as said the prophet Esaias.”When he had spoken some high and lofty words concerning Christ, as if (replying) to theiropinion, he immediately betook himself to the Prophet to draw from thence confirmation of hisassertion.Ver. 24, 25 . “And [saith the Evangelist] they who were sent were of the Pharisees. And theyasked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, neither Elias,neither that Prophet?”Seest thou not without reason I said that they wished to bring him to this? and the reason whythey did not at first say so was, lest they should be detected by all men. And then when he said, “Iam not the Christ,” they, being desirous to conceal what they were plotting 429 within, go on to“Elias,” and “that Prophet.” But when he said that he was not one of these either, after that, in theirperplexity, they cast aside the mask, and without any disguise show clearly their treacherous427 Morel, “in like manner one may see in Luke, (iii. 16 ,) John saying to those who reasoned concerning him whether hewas the Christ, that “One mightier than I cometh,” and by his answer again removing such a suspicion.”428διακρούεσθαι .429ἐ τύρευον .88