Homily 78 — John 16, verses 4 to 15

“These things I did not tell you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going my way to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” [a]

Great is the tyranny of dejection, and we need much courage to stand firm against the feeling, to gather from it what is useful, and to let the rest go. For it does have something useful in it. When we ourselves or others sin, then, and only then, it is good to grieve. But when we meet with the ups and downs of human life, dejection is useless. And now, when it had overthrown the disciples, who were not yet mature, see how Christ raises them up again by his rebuke.

Before this they had asked him countless questions. Peter said, “Where are you going?” (John 13, verse 36); and Thomas, “We do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14, verse 5); and Philip, “Show us your Father” (John 14, verse 8). Yet these same men, I say, now hearing, “They will put you out of the synagogues,” and, “They will hate you,” and, “Whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God,” were so cast down that they were struck dumb and said nothing to him. So he makes this a reproach to them and says, “These things I did not tell you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” For excessive sorrow is a dreadful thing, dreadful and able to bring about death. That is why Paul said, “Or such a one may be swallowed up by excessive sorrow” (Second Corinthians 2, verse 7).

“And these things,” he says, “I did not tell you at the beginning.” Why did he not tell them at the beginning? So that no one could say he was speaking by guesswork, from the ordinary course of events. And why did he take up so unpleasant a subject at all? He says: “I knew these things from the beginning, and I did not speak of them. It was not that I did not know them, but ‘because I was with you.’” And this again was spoken in a human way, as though he had said: “Because you were safe, and it was in your power to question me whenever you wished, and the whole storm was blowing on me, it was unnecessary to tell you these things at the beginning.”

“But did he not tell them this? Did he not call the Twelve and say to them, ‘You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake,’ and, ‘They will flog you in their synagogues’ (Matthew 10, verses 18 and 17)? How, then, does he say, ‘I did not tell you at the beginning’?” Because although he had foretold the floggings and the being brought before rulers, he had not yet said that their deaths would seem so desirable that the deed would even be counted a service to God. And this, more than anything, was fitted to terrify them: that they were to be judged as ungodly men and corrupters. This too may be said: in that place he spoke of what they would suffer from the Gentiles, but here he has added, and more forcefully, what the Jews too would do, and told them that it was at their very doors.

“But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you says, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” It was no small comfort to them to learn that he knew how overwhelming their dejection was. For they were beside themselves with anguish, both at being left by him and at waiting for the terrible things to come, since they did not know whether they would be able to bear them bravely. “Why, then, after this, did he not tell them that they had been granted the Spirit?” So that you may learn that they were people of great virtue. For if, when they had not yet been granted the Spirit, they did not turn back, though overwhelmed with sorrow, consider what sort of men they were likely to be once they had enjoyed the grace. If they had heard this at that time and so had held out, we would have credited the whole thing to the Spirit. But as it is, it is entirely the fruit of their own disposition, and a clear display of their love for Christ, who puts their mind to the touchstone while it is still without defenses.

Verse 7: “But I tell you the truth.” See how he comforts them again. He says: “I do not speak to please you. Even if you are grieved ten thousand times over, you must still hear what is for your good. It is to your liking that I should be with you, but what is to your advantage is something else. And it is the part of one who cares for others not to be too soft with his friends in matters that concern their interests, nor to lead them away from what is good for them.”

“For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come.” What do those say here who do not hold the right opinion about the Spirit? Is it “to your advantage” that the master should leave and the servant come? Do you see how great the honor of the Spirit is?

“But if I go, I will send him to you.” And what is the gain? Verse 8: “When he comes, he will reprove the world.” That is: “They will not do these things unpunished once he comes. The things already done are enough to stop their mouths. But when these things are done by him as well, when the teachings are more complete and the miracles greater, they will be condemned far more, seeing such things done in my name, things that make the proof of the resurrection more certain. For now they can say, ‘This is the carpenter’s son, whose father and mother we know.’ But when they see the bonds of death loosed, wickedness driven out, those lame from birth set straight, demons expelled, the Spirit supplied in abundance, and all this brought about by calling on me, what will they say then? The Father has borne witness to me, and the Spirit will bear witness too.” Yet he bore witness at the beginning too. Yes, and he will do so now as well. But “he will convict” — verse 9: “of sin” — means this: he will cut off all their excuses and show that they have sinned beyond pardon.

Verse 10: “Of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no more.” That is: “I have shown a blameless life, and this is the proof: ‘I am going to the Father.’” For they kept pressing this charge against him, that he was not from God, and for that reason they called him a sinner and a lawbreaker. So he says that the Spirit will take this excuse from them too: “If being thought not to be from God shows me to be a lawbreaker, then when the Spirit has shown that I have gone there, and not for a while but to stay — for ‘you will see me no more’ is the language of one declaring this — what will they say then?” Observe how by these two things their evil suspicion is removed. Working miracles does not belong to a sinner, for a sinner cannot work them; nor does being with God forever belong to a sinner. “So you can no longer say, ‘This man is a sinner,’ or, ‘This man is not from God.’”

Verse 11: “Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Here again he takes up the argument about righteousness: he had overthrown his opponent. If he had been a sinner, he could not have overthrown him, a thing that not even any righteous man had been strong enough to do. “But that he has been condemned through me, those who trample on him from now on will know, and so will those who clearly know my resurrection, which is the mark of the one who condemns him. For he was not able to hold me. And as for their saying that I had a demon and that I was a deceiver, these things too will later be shown to be false. For I could not have prevailed against him had I been subject to sin. But now he is condemned and cast out.”

Verse 12: “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” “So it is to your advantage that I go away, if you will then bear them, once I have gone.” “And what has happened? Is the Spirit greater than you, so that what we cannot bear now, he will make us able to bear? Is his working more powerful and more complete?” “Not so. For he too will speak my words.” That is why he says, in verses 13 to 15: “He will not speak on his own; but whatever he hears, that he will speak; and he will show you the things to come. He will glorify me, for he will receive from what is mine and will show it to you. All that the Father has is mine.” [h]

He had told them, “He will teach you and bring to your remembrance” (John 14, verse 26), and that the Spirit would comfort them in their afflictions — which he himself did not do; and that “it is to your advantage that I go away” (verse 7), and that the Spirit would come; and, “Now you cannot bear them” (verse 12), but then you will be able; and that “he will lead you into all truth” (verse 13). So, in case they should hear these things and suppose the Spirit to be the greater, and so fall into an extreme of ungodly opinion, he says, “He will receive from what is mine,” that is: “Whatever I have told you, he too will tell you.” When he says, “He will speak nothing on his own,” he means, “nothing contrary, nothing of his own opposed to my words.” When he says of himself, “I do not speak on my own” (John 14, verse 10), he means that he says nothing apart from what the Father says, nothing of his own against him or differing from him; and so it is also with the Spirit. And “from what is mine” means “from what I know, from my own knowledge,” “for my knowledge and the Spirit’s are one.”

“And he will tell you the things to come.” He was stirring up their minds, for the human race is greedy for nothing so much as for learning the future. This, for instance, is what they kept asking him: “Where are you going?” “Which is the way?” So, to free them from this anxiety, he says: “He will tell you everything beforehand, so that you will not meet it unwarned.”

“He will glorify me.” How? “He will grant his inward workings in my name.” Since at the coming of the Spirit they were going to work greater miracles, he once more brings in their equal honor and says, “He will glorify me.”

What does he mean by “all truth”? For he testifies this also of the Spirit, that “he will guide us into all truth” (verse 13). He was clothed in flesh; he did not want to seem to be speaking about himself; they did not yet know clearly about the resurrection and were too immature; and there were also the Jews, who must not think they were punishing him as a lawbreaker. For all these reasons he did not continually say anything great, nor did he openly draw them away from the law. But when the disciples had been cut off from the Jews and were from then on outside, and when many were about to believe and be set free from their sins, and when there were others who would speak about him, he had good reason not to speak great things about himself. He says: “So it was not from any ignorance of mine that I did not tell you what I should have told you, but from the weakness of the hearers.” That is why, after saying, “He will lead you into all truth,” he added, “He will not speak on his own.” And to show that the Spirit needs no teaching, listen to Paul saying, “So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (First Corinthians 2, verse 11). Just as a person’s spirit knows without learning from another, so too the Holy Spirit “will receive from what is mine,” that is, “will speak in harmony with what is mine.”

“All that the Father has is mine.” “Since, then, those things are mine, and he will speak from what is the Father’s, he will speak from what is mine.”

“But why did the Spirit not come before he departed?” Because the curse had not yet been taken away, sin had not yet been undone, and all were still liable to punishment, he could not come. “It is necessary, then,” he says, “that the enmity be put away, that we be reconciled to God, and then receive that gift.” But why does he say, “I will send him” (verse 7)? It means, “I will prepare you beforehand to receive him.” For how can one who is everywhere be “sent”? Besides, he also shows the distinction of the Persons. For these two reasons he speaks this way. And there is another: since they could hardly be drawn away from himself, he urges them to hold fast to the Spirit, so that they might cherish him. [j]

He himself could have done these things, but he grants the working of miracles to the Spirit for this reason: so that they might understand the Spirit’s dignity. Just as the Father could have brought into being the things that are, yet the Son did it, so that we might understand his power, so it is in this case. That is why he himself became flesh, while leaving the inward working to the Spirit, and so shut the mouths of those who make the proof of his love beyond words an occasion for ungodliness. For when they say that the Son became flesh because he was inferior to the Father, we will answer them, “What, then, will you say of the Spirit?” He did not take flesh; yet surely you will not on that account call him greater than the Son, or the Son inferior to him.

That is why in baptism too the Trinity is included. The Father is able to accomplish the whole, and so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit. But since no one doubts about the Father, while the doubt concerned the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are included in the rite, so that from their sharing in supplying those blessings beyond words we may also fully learn their sharing in dignity. For listen to these things said plainly, which show that the Son by himself is able to do what he does with the Father in baptism, and the Holy Spirit the same. To the Jews he said, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2, verse 10); and again, “That you may become children of light” (John 12, verse 36); and, “I give them eternal life” (John 10, verse 28); and then, after this, “That they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10, verse 10).

Now let us see the Spirit also doing the same thing. Where can we see it? “But the manifestation of the Spirit,” it says, “is given to each one for the benefit of all” (First Corinthians 12, verse 7). He, then, who gives these things forgives sins all the more. And again, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6, verse 63); and, “He will give life to you by his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8, verse 11); and, “The Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8, verse 10); and, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5, verse 18). “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8, verse 15). All the wonders, too, that they worked then, they worked at the coming of the Spirit. And Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, “But you were washed, you were made holy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (First Corinthians 6, verse 11).

They had heard many things about the Father and had seen the Son do many things, but as yet they knew nothing clearly about the Spirit. So the Spirit works miracles and brings in complete knowledge. But, as I said before, so that he would not be supposed on that account to be greater, Christ says, “Whatever he hears, that he will speak; and he will show you the things to come.” For if this is not the sense, how could it be anything but absurd that he should only then be going to hear, and that for the sake of those being made disciples? According to you, he would not even then know, except for the sake of those who were about to hear. What could be more lawless than that saying? Besides, what would he have to hear? Did he not speak all these things through the prophets? If he was going to teach about the ending of the law, that had been spoken of. If about Christ, that he is God, and about the plan of salvation, these had been spoken of too. What could he say more clearly after this?

“And he will show you the things to come.” Here above all Christ shows the Spirit’s dignity, for to foretell things to come belongs especially to God. Now if the Spirit learned even this from others, he would have nothing more than the prophets. But here Christ declares a knowledge in exact agreement with God’s, so that it is impossible for him to speak anything different. And “he will receive from what is mine” means: “he will receive either from the grace that came into my flesh, or from the knowledge that I also have — not as needing it, nor as learning it from another, but because it is one and the same.”

“And why did he speak this way, and not otherwise?” Because they did not yet understand what was said about the Spirit. So he takes care of one thing only: that the Spirit should be believed and received by them, and that they should not stumble. He had said, “One is your Teacher, the Christ” (Matthew 23, verse 10). So that they would not think they were disobeying him in obeying the Spirit, he says: “His teaching and mine are one. The things I would have taught, those are the things he will speak of too. Do not suppose that his words are other than mine; for those words are mine, and they confirm my judgment. For the will of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is one.” And this is how he wants us to be too, when he says, “That they may be one, as you and I are one” (John 17, verse 11).

There is nothing equal to oneness of mind and harmony, for by it one person becomes many. If two or ten are of one mind, the one is no longer one; each is multiplied tenfold, and you will find the one in the ten and the ten in the one. If they have an enemy, whoever attacks the one is defeated as though he had attacked the ten, for he is the target not of one opponent but of ten. Is one of them in need? No, he is not in need, for he is rich in his greater part, that is, in the nine, and the needy part, the lesser, is covered by the wealthy part, the greater. Each of them has twenty hands, twenty eyes, and as many feet. He does not see with his own eyes alone, but with those of others; he does not walk with his own feet alone, but with those of others; he does not work with his own hands alone, but with theirs. He has ten souls, for not only does he take thought for himself, but those souls take thought for him too. And if they become a hundred, it will still be the same, and their power will reach further. [n]

Do you see how overflowing love is, how it makes the one both unconquerable and many? How one person can even be in many places, the same man both in Persia and in Rome, and how love can do what nature cannot? For one part of him will be here and one part there — or rather, he will be wholly here and wholly there. If, then, he has a thousand or two thousand friends, consider again how far his power will reach. Do you see what a thing love is for multiplying? For this is the wonderful thing: it makes one into a thousand. Why, then, do we not gain this power and put ourselves in safety? This is better than any power or riches; this is more than health, more than light itself; it is the foundation of confidence. How long will we set our love on only one or two?

Consider the matter the other way round too. Suppose a man without a friend — a mark of the utmost folly, for “a fool will say, ‘I have no friend’” — what kind of life will he lead? Though he be enormously rich, living in plenty and luxury, possessed of ten thousand good things, he is still desolate and stripped of everything. With friends it is not so. Even if they are poor men, they are better provided for than the wealthy. The things a man would not venture to say for himself, a friend will say for him; and whatever pleasures he cannot obtain for himself, he will be able to obtain through another, and much more besides. This will be for us the foundation of all enjoyment and safety, for one who is guarded by so many spearmen cannot come to harm. Not even the king’s bodyguards are so strict in their watch as these. Those keep their watch from compulsion and fear, these from goodwill and love; and love is far mightier than fear. The king fears his own guards; the friend trusts his more than himself, and because of them he fears none of those who plot against him.

So let us take up this trade: the poor man, so that he may have comfort in his poverty; the rich man, so that he may keep his wealth in safety; the ruler, so that he may rule in safety; the ruled, so that he may have kind rulers. This is the source of kindness, this the foundation of gentleness; for even among animals, the fiercest and hardest to tame are those that do not live in herds. That is why we live in cities and have public squares: so that we may talk with one another. Paul too commanded this, saying, “Not forsaking our meeting together” (Hebrews 10, verse 25). For there is no evil so great as living alone, a life without ties and without fellowship with others.

Someone says: “What, then, of those who live alone, and of those who have settled on the mountaintops?” Not even they are without friends. They have fled the turmoil of everyday life, but they have many who are of one soul with them, closely bound to one another; and they withdrew precisely so that they might achieve this. For since the rivalry of business breeds many quarrels, they move away from other people and cultivate love with great care. Someone says: “But how can a man who is alone have ten thousand friends?” For my part, I would wish, if it were possible, that people knew how to live with one another. But for the present, let what belongs to friendship stand unshaken. For it is not place that makes friends. These men, for instance, have many who admire them, and those people would not have admired them had they not loved them. Again, they pray for the whole world, which is the greatest proof of friendship.

That is why we greet one another at the mysteries: so that, being many, we may become one. And for those not yet initiated we make our prayers in common, praying for the sick and for the harvests of the world, for land and sea. Do you see the whole power of love — in the prayers, in the mysteries, in the exhortations? This is what brings about all good things. If we hold to it carefully, we will both manage the things of this life well and obtain the kingdom. May we all obtain it, through the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.