Homilies on the Gospel of John

“Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a King. To this end was I born.”

If then He was born a king, all His other attributes are by Generation, and He has nothing which He received in addition. So that when you hear that, “As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son also to have life”, deem of nothing else but His generation, and so of the rest.

“And for this cause came I, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”

That is, “that I should speak this very thing, and teach it, and persuade all men.”

5. But do thou, O man, when you hear these things, and see your Lord bound and led about, deem present things to be nought. For how can it be otherwise than strange, if Christ bore such things for your sake, and thou often canst not endure even words? He is spit upon, and do you deck yourself with garments and rings, and, if you gain not good report from all, think life unbearable? He is insulted, bears mockings, and scornful blows upon the cheek; and do you wish everywhere to be honored, and do you not bear the reproaching of Christ? Do you not hear Paul saying, “Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ”? When therefore any one makes a jest of you, remember your Lord, that in mockery they bowed the knee before Him, and worried Him both by words and deeds, and treated Him with much irony; but He not only did not defend Himself, but even repaid them with the contraries, with mildness and gentleness. Him now let us emulate; so shall we be enabled even to be delivered from all insult. For it is not the insulter that gives effect to acts of insult, and makes them biting, but he who is little of soul, and is pained by them. If you are not pained, you have not been insulted; for the suffering from injuries depends not on those who inflict, but on those who undergo them. Why do you grieve at all? If a man has insulted you unjustly, in this case surely you ought not to grieve at all, but to pity him; if justly, much more ought thou to keep quiet. For should any one address you, a poor man, as though thou were rich, the praise contained in his words is nothing to you, but his encomium is rather mockery; and so if one insulting you utter things that are untrue, the reproach is nothing to you either. But if conscience takes hold of what has been said, be not grieved at the words, but make correction in deeds. This I say with regard to what really are insults. For if one reproach you with poverty or low birth, laugh at him. These things are a reproach not to the hearer, but to the speaker, as not knowing true wisdom. “But,” says some one, “when these things are said in the presence of many who are ignorant of the truth, the wound becomes unbearable.” Nay, it is most bearable, when you have an audience present of witnesses praising and applauding you, scoffing at and making a jest of him. For not he that defends himself, but he that says nothing, is applauded by sensible persons. And if none of those present be a sensible person, then laugh at him most of all, and delight yourself in the audience of heaven. For there all will praise and applaud and welcome you. For one Angel is as good as all the world. But why speak I of Angels, when the Lord Himself proclaims you? Let us exercise ourselves with these reasonings. For it is no loss to be silent when insulted, but it is, on the contrary, to defend one's self when insulted. Since were it a fault silently to bear what is said, Christ would never have told us, “If one smite you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” If then our enemy say what is not true, let us on this account even pity him, because he draws down upon him the punishment and vengeance of the accusers, being unworthy even to read the Scriptures. For to the sinner God says, “Why do you declare My statutes, and takest My covenant in your mouth? Thou sat and spoke against your brother.” And if he speak the truth, so also he is to be pitied; since even the Pharisee spoke the truth; yet he did no harm to him who heard him, but rather good, while he deprived himself of ten thousand blessings, enduring shipwreck by this accusation. So that either way it is he that suffers injury, not thou; but thou, if you are sober, wilt have double gain; both the propitiating God by your silence, and the becoming yet more discreet, the gaining an opportunity from what has been said to correct what has been done, and the despising mortal glory. For this is the source of our pain, that many gape upon the opinion of men. If we are minded to be thus truly wise, we shall know well that human things are nothing. Let us learn then, and having reckoned up our faults, let us accomplish their correction in time, and let us determine to correct one this month, another next month, and a third in that which follows. And so mounting as it were by steps, let us get to heaven by a Jacob's ladder. For the ladder seems to me to signify in a riddle by that vision the gradual ascent by means of virtue, by which it is possible for us to ascend from earth to heaven, not using material steps, but improvement and correction of manners. Let us then lay hold on this means of departure and ascent, that having obtained heaven, we may also enjoy all the blessings there, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.