Homily 65 — John 11, verse 49, to 12, verse 7

“And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that same year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is better that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.’” And the rest of the passage. [a]

“The nations are stuck fast in the destruction they made; in the trap they hid, their own foot is caught” (Psalm 9, verse 15, as the Greek reads it). This is what happened to the Jews. They said they would kill Jesus so that the Romans would not come and take away their place and their nation. And when they had killed him, these very things happened to them. They did the thing by which they thought they would escape, and still they did not escape. The one who was killed is in heaven, and those who killed him have hell for their portion. Yet they did not consider these things. What then? “From that day on,” it says, “they wanted to kill him” (verse 53). For they said, “The Romans will come and take away our nation.” “And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year” — more shameless than the rest — “said, ‘You know nothing.’” What the others treated as an open question and put forward for discussion, this man shouted aloud, shamelessly, openly, brazenly. For what does he say? “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better that one man should die, and that the whole nation should not perish.”

Verse 51: “He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest, he prophesied.”

Do you see how great the force of the high priest’s authority is? Since he had in some way been counted worthy of the high priesthood, unworthy of it though he was, he prophesied without knowing what he was saying. The grace simply made use of his mouth; it did not touch his accursed heart. And indeed many others have foretold things to come though they were unworthy to do so — Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Balaam — and the reason in every case is plain. But what he says amounts to this: “You still sit here doing nothing. You give this matter only careless attention, and you do not know how to set aside one man’s safety for the good of the whole community.” See how great the power of the Spirit is! Out of an evil intention it could bring forth words full of wonderful prophecy. The evangelist calls the Gentiles “children of God” because of what they were about to become, just as Christ himself says, “I have other sheep” (John 10, verse 16), calling them by what would come to pass afterward.

But what does “being high priest that year” mean? This, like everything else, had become corrupt. From the time that offices became things to be bought, men were no longer priests for their whole lives, but for a year. Even so, even in this state of affairs, the Spirit was still present. But when they lifted up their hands against Christ, the Spirit left them and passed over to the apostles. The tearing of the veil declared this, and so did the voice of Christ that said, “Look, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23, verse 38). And Josephus, who lived a little afterward, says that certain angels who still remained with them, to see whether they would change their ways, left them. While the vineyard stood, everything went on as before; but when they had killed the Heir, it was so no longer, and they perished. God took it from the Jews, like a splendid robe taken from a worthless son, and gave it to right-minded servants from among the Gentiles, leaving the others desolate and naked.

It was no small thing, moreover, that even an enemy should prophesy this. It could draw others over as well. For things turned out the opposite of what he intended: when Christ died, the faithful were for that very reason set free from the punishment to come. What does “that he might gather together those near and those far off” mean (verse 52)? He made them one body. The man who lives in Rome counts the people of India as a part of himself. What is equal to this “gathering together”? And the Head of all is Christ.

Verse 53: “So from that day on the Jews took counsel to put him to death.”

In fact they had been trying to do so before. The evangelist says, “That is why the Jews sought to kill him” (John 5, verse 18), and again, “Why do you seek to kill me?” (John 7, verse 19). But then they were only seeking it; now they ratified their decision and took the deed in hand as their business.

Verse 54: “So Jesus no longer walked openly in Judea.”

Again he keeps himself safe in a human way, and he does this all the time. I have already told you the reason he often went away and withdrew. At this time he stayed in Ephratah, near the wilderness, and remained there with his disciples. How shaken do you think those disciples were when they saw him keeping himself safe the way a man does? After this no one followed him. Since the feast was near, everyone was hurrying to Jerusalem. But at a time when everyone else was rejoicing and keeping festival, they were in hiding and in danger. And still they stayed with him. They had hidden with him in Galilee at the time of the Passover and of the Feast of Tabernacles, and now again during the feast they alone of all were with their Teacher in flight and in hiding, showing their loyalty to him. That is why Luke records that he said, “I have stayed with you in trials.” He said this to show that they had been strengthened by his influence. [g]

Verse 55: “And many went up from the country to purify themselves.”

Verse 57: “And the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that they should arrest him.”

A marvelous purification indeed — with a murderous will, with bloodthirsty intentions, and with bloodstained hands!

Verse 56: “And they said, ‘What do you think? Will he not come to the feast?’” They used the Passover to plot against him, and made the time of feasting a time of murder. That is, they expected him to fall into their hands there, since the season was calling him. What ungodliness! At a time when they needed to take greater care, and to pardon even those who had been arrested for the worst crimes, they were trying to trap one who had done no wrong. Yet by acting this way they had already not only gained nothing, but made themselves ridiculous. This is why, though he came among them again and again, he escapes them, and holds them back when they plan to kill him, and leaves them at a loss. He wanted to sting them by showing his power, so that when they did take him they would know that what was done was done not by their power but because he permitted it. For even at that time they could not take him, though Bethany was close by; and when they did take him, he threw them backward.

John 12, verses 1 and 2: “Then six days before the Passover he came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, and he feasted with them; and Martha served, but Lazarus reclined at table.”

This was proof that his resurrection was real: after many days he was both alive and eating. “And Martha served.” From this it is clear that the meal was in her house, for they welcomed Jesus as one who loved them and whom they loved. Some, however, say that it took place in someone else’s house. Mary did not serve, for she was a disciple. Here again she acted in the more spiritual way. She did not serve as one who had been invited, nor did she offer her services to everyone alike. She directs her honor to him alone, and approaches him not as a man but as God. That is why she poured out the ointment and wiped his feet with the hair of her head. That was the action of someone who did not hold the same opinion about him as the others did. Yet Judas rebuked her, pretending, of course, to be careful with money.

What, then, does Christ say? “She has done a good work for my burial.” But why did he not expose the disciple over the woman, or tell him what the evangelist has made plain, that he rebuked her because he was a thief? In his great patience he wanted to bring him to a better mind. Because he knew that he was a traitor, he rebuked him often from the beginning, saying, “Not all of you believe,” and, “One of you is a devil” (John 6, verses 64 and 70). He showed them that he knew him to be a traitor, yet he did not rebuke him openly, but bore with him, wanting to call him back. How is it, then, that another evangelist says all the disciples spoke these words (Matthew 26, verses 8 and 9)? They all spoke them, and so did he, but the others did not speak with the same purpose.

And if anyone asks why he put the bag for the poor into the hands of a thief, and made a lover of money its steward, we would answer that God knows the hidden reason. But if we may say something by guesswork, it was so that he might cut away every excuse from him. For Judas could not say that he did this deed out of love of money, since he had enough in the bag to satisfy his desire. He did it out of sheer wickedness, which Christ wanted to hold in check, stooping far down to meet him. That is why he did not even rebuke him for stealing, though he knew of it: he was blocking the road to his wicked desire and taking away every excuse. “Leave her alone,” he says, “for she has done this for the day of my burial.” Again, in speaking of his burial, he points to the traitor. But the rebuke does not reach him, nor does the saying soften him, though it was enough to move him to pity. It is as if Christ had said: “I am a burden and a trouble to you, but wait a little while, and I will be gone.” He meant this too when he said (verse 8), “But you do not always have me.”

But none of these things turned back that savage, maddened man. And in truth Jesus said and did far more than this. That night he washed his feet, and made him a sharer in his table and his salt — a thing that usually holds back even the souls of robbers — and spoke other words enough to melt a stone. And he did this not long before, but on the very day, so that not even the passing of time could let it be forgotten. But Judas held out against it all.

For a terrible thing, a terrible thing, is the love of money! It disables both eyes and ears, and makes people harder to deal with than a wild beast. It lets a man take account of neither conscience, nor friendship, nor fellowship, nor the salvation of his own soul. It pulls its captives away from all these things at once and, like some harsh mistress, makes them its slaves. And the terrible part of so bitter a slavery is that it persuades them even to be grateful for it. The more enslaved they become, the more their pleasure grows. This above all is how the sickness becomes incurable; this is how the monster becomes hard to conquer. [o]

This made Gehazi a leper instead of a disciple and a prophet. This destroyed Ananias, and his wife with him. This made Judas a traitor. This corrupted the rulers of the Jews, who took bribes and became the partners of thieves. This has brought countless wars, filling the roads with blood and the cities with wailing and lament. This has made meals unclean and tables accursed, and has filled food with lawbreaking. That is why Paul called it “idolatry” (Colossians 3, verse 5); and not even so has he frightened people away from it.

And why does he call it “idolatry”? Many people own wealth and do not dare to use it. They consecrate it and hand it down untouched, not daring to lay a finger on it, as though it were some dedicated offering. And if they are ever forced to touch it, they feel as though they had done something forbidden. Besides, just as the Greek tends his carved image with care, so you entrust your gold to doors and bars. You provide a chest instead of a shrine, and store it away in silver vessels. You do not bow down to it as he does to his image, you say? Yet you show it every kind of attention.

Again, he would rather give up his eyes or his life than his carved image. So too would those who love gold. “But I do not worship the gold.” Nor does the pagan worship the image, he says, but the demon that lives in it. In the same way you, though you do not worship the gold, still worship that demon who leaps upon your soul from the sight of the gold and your craving for it. For the craving for money is worse than an evil spirit, and many obey it more than others obey their idols. Idol worshipers disobey their idols in many things, but here people give in on everything, and whatever it tells them to do, they obey. What does it say? “Be at war with everyone. Be the enemy of everyone. Disregard nature. Despise God. Sacrifice yourself to me.” And they obey in everything. To carved images people sacrifice oxen and sheep, but greed says, “Sacrifice your own soul to me,” and the man obeys. Do you see what kind of altars it has, what kind of sacrifices it receives? “The greedy will not inherit the kingdom of God” (First Corinthians 6, verse 10), but not even so are they afraid.

Yet this desire is weaker than all the others. It is not inborn, and it is not natural; if it were, it would have been placed in us from the beginning. But there was no gold at the beginning, and no one desired gold. If you like, I will tell you how the mischief came in. Each man envied the one before him, and so people have made the disease grow; and the one who got ahead stirs up the one who had no such desire. When people see splendid houses and wide lands, crowds of slaves and silver vessels and great heaps of clothing, they use every means to outdo them. So the first set of people becomes the cause of the second, and the second of those who come after. Now if they were sober-minded, they would not become teachers of evil to others. Yet the others have no excuse either, for there are also people who despise riches.

“And who despises them?” That is the terrible thing: because wickedness is so widespread, this seems to have become impossible, and people do not even believe that anyone can live rightly. Shall I then name many, both in the cities and in the mountains? And what good would it do? You will not become better from their example. Besides, my sermon does not aim just now at getting you to empty yourselves of your property. I wish you could do it; but since the burden is too heavy for you, I do not force you. I only urge you not to desire what belongs to others, and to share something of your own. We will find many such people, content with what belongs to them, looking after their own, and living on honest work. Why do we not compete with them and imitate them?

Let us think of those who have gone before us. Do their possessions not stand there, keeping nothing but a name — so-and-so’s bath, so-and-so’s country house and lodging? When we see them, do we not groan at once, as we think what toil he went through, what plunder he took? And now he is nowhere to be seen, while others live in luxury on his possessions — people he never expected would, perhaps even his enemies — and he is suffering the worst punishment. These things await us too. For we will certainly die, and we will certainly have to submit to the same end. Tell me, how much anger, how much expense, how many enmities these men brought on themselves! And what was the gain? Undying punishment, and no consolation, and being accused by everyone, not only while they lived but after they were gone. What? When we see the images of so many kept in their houses, will we not weep all the more?

Truly the prophet said well, “Surely every living man troubles himself in vain” (Psalm 39, verse 11, as the Greek reads it). For anxiety over such things really is trouble, trouble and useless toil. But it is not so in the eternal dwellings, not so in those tents. Here one man has labored and another enjoys it; but there each will possess his own labors and receive a reward many times over. Let us press on to gain that possession. There let us prepare houses for ourselves, so that we may rest in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.