Homily 84 — John 18, verse 37, to 19, verse 15

“To this end I was born, and for this reason I came into the world: that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” [a]

Patience is a wonderful thing. It sets the soul in a kind of quiet harbor, freeing it from the tossing waves and from evil spirits. Christ taught us this everywhere, but especially now, when he is being judged, dragged about, and led from place to place. When he was brought to Annas, he answered with great gentleness, and to the servant who struck him he said what was enough to bring down all the man’s insolence. From there he went to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, and though he spent the whole night in these scenes, all the way through he shows his own mildness. When they said he was a criminal and could not prove it, he stood silent. But when he was questioned about the kingdom, then he spoke to Pilate, instructing him and leading him on to higher things.

But why did Pilate make his inquiry not in their presence, but apart, after going into the governor’s headquarters? He suspected something great about him, and he wanted to learn everything exactly without being troubled by the Jews. Then, when he said, “What have you done?” Jesus gave no answer on this point. But about the thing Pilate most wanted to hear, namely his kingdom, he answered, saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.” That is: “I am indeed a king, yet not the kind you suspect, but one far more glorious.” By these words and those that follow he declares that he had done no wrong. For one who says, “To this end I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth,” shows that he has done no wrong. Then when he says, “Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice,” he draws Pilate on by these means and persuades him to become a listener to his words. For he says: “If anyone is true, and longs for these things, he will certainly hear me.” And in fact he so won him over by these few words that Pilate said, Verse 38: “What is truth?”

But for the present Pilate turns to what was pressing. He knew that this question needed time, and he wanted to rescue him from the violence of the Jews. So he went out, and what did he say? “I find no fault in him.”

Consider how prudently he acted. He did not say, “Since he has sinned and deserves death, pardon him because of the feast.” First he cleared him of all guilt, and then he asked them, over and above, that if they were not willing to let him go as innocent, they should at least pardon him as guilty because of the season. That is why he added, Verses 39 and 40: “You have a custom that I should release one man to you at the Passover.” Then, to persuade them: “Do you want me, then, to release the King of the Jews?” “Then they all cried out, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas.’”

What a cursed decision! They demand men of their own kind and let the guilty go free, but they tell him to punish the innocent. For this had been their custom from of old. But you, all the way through, notice the Lord’s love for humankind in these events.

Pilate had him flogged, perhaps wanting to wear out and soothe the fury of the Jews. When he had not been able to free him by his earlier measures, he was anxious to stop the evil at this point. So he had him flogged, and he allowed what was done to be done — the robe and the crown put on him — to ease their anger. That is why he also led him out to them wearing the crown (verse 5): so that when they saw the insult done to him, they might come down a little from their rage and spit out their venom. “But how would the soldiers have done this, if their ruler had not ordered it?” To please the Jews. It was not at his command that they went in by night at the first, but to please the Jews; they would dare anything for money.

But he, while so many things of this kind were being done, still stood silent, as he had during the questioning, and answered nothing. Do not merely hear these things; keep them always in your mind. When you see the King of the world and of all the angels mocked by the soldiers in words and in actions, and bearing it all in silence, imitate him yourself in what you do. For when Pilate had called him the King of the Jews, and they had now put the clothes of mockery on him, Pilate led him out and said, Verses 4 and 5: “I find no fault in him.” “So he came out, wearing the crown.”

But not even so was their rage put out. They cried out, Verse 6: “Crucify him, crucify him!” Then Pilate, seeing that everything had been done in vain, said, “Take him yourselves and crucify him.” From this it is clear that he had allowed what was done before because of their madness. “For I,” he says, “find no fault in him.”

See in how many ways the judge defends him, clearing him of the charges again and again. But none of this shamed the dogs out of their purpose. For “Take him yourselves and crucify him” is the language of a man clearing himself of the guilt and pushing them forward to an act they were not permitted to do. They had brought him so that the thing might be done by the governor’s decision. But the opposite happened: by the governor’s decision he was acquitted rather than condemned. Then, because they were ashamed, they said, Verse 7: “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” [e]

How is it, then, that when the judge said, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law,” you answered, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” while here you run to the law? And consider the charge: “He made himself the Son of God.” Tell me, is this grounds for an accusation, that he who did the works of the Son of God should call himself the Son of God? What, then, does Christ do? While they carried on this exchange with each other, he held his peace, fulfilling the prophet’s saying, “He does not open his mouth; in his humiliation his judgment was taken away” (Isaiah 53, verses 7 and 8, in the Greek Old Testament).

Then Pilate is alarmed when he hears from them that he made himself the Son of God. He dreads that the claim may possibly be true and that he may be seen to do wrong. But these men, who had learned it both from his deeds and from his words, did not shudder; they are putting him to death for the very reasons for which they ought to have worshiped him. That is why Pilate no longer asks him, “What have you done?” but, shaken by fear, begins the inquiry again, saying, “Are you the Christ?” But he did not answer. For Pilate had heard, “To this end I was born, and for this I came,” and, “My kingdom is not of this world”; and yet, when he ought to have stood up to his enemies and set him free, he did not do it, but backed the fury of the Jews.

Then, silenced at every point, they turned their outcry into a political charge, saying, “Anyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar” (verse 12). So Pilate ought to have inquired carefully whether he had aimed at royal power and set his hand to driving Caesar from the throne. But he made no exact inquiry, and that is why Christ gave him no answer: he knew that Pilate was asking all his questions for nothing. Besides, since his works bore witness to him, he did not want to win by words or to put together any defense, showing that he had come to this condition of his own free will. While he was silent, Pilate says, Verse 10: “Do you not know that I have power to crucify you?”

Do you see how he condemned himself in advance? For if everything rests with you, Pilate, why do you not let him go, when you have found no fault in him? So when Pilate had pronounced sentence against himself, then Jesus says, Verse 11: “He who handed me over to you has the greater sin” — showing that Pilate too was guilty of sin. Then, to pull down his pride and arrogance, he says, “You would have no power unless it had been given to you.”

He shows that this did not come about merely in the ordinary course of events, but was accomplished in a hidden and sacred way. Then, so that when you hear, “unless it had been given to you,” you would not think Pilate was free of all blame, he said for this reason, “Therefore he who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” “And yet if it was given, neither he nor they were open to any charge.” Your objection is empty. “Given” here means “allowed,” as if he had said: “He has allowed these things to happen, yet that does not make you clear of the wickedness.” By these words he struck awe into Pilate and offered a clear defense. That is why Pilate tried to release him. But they cried out again, saying, Verse 12: “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend.” For when they gained nothing by bringing charges drawn from their own law, they maliciously turned to laws outside it, saying, “Anyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

And where has this man ever shown himself a usurper? How can you prove it? By the purple robe? By the diadem? By his clothing? By soldiers? Did he not always go about unattended except for his twelve disciples, keeping to a humble way of life in everything — in food, in clothing, and in lodging? But what shamelessness, what ill-timed cowardice! For Pilate, thinking he would now run into some danger if he overlooked these words, comes out as if to look into the matter — the “sitting down” showed this — but without making any inquiry he handed him over to them, thinking to shame them. To prove that he did it for this purpose, hear what he says. Verses 14 and 15: “Look, your king!” And when they said, “Crucify him,” he added again, “Shall I crucify your king?” But they cried out, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Of their own will they subjected themselves to punishment. That is why God also gave them up: because they were the first to cast themselves out of his providence and oversight. And since with one voice they rejected his kingship, he let them fall by their own votes. Still, what had been said should have been enough to calm their rage. But they were afraid that if he were let go he would draw the crowds again, and they did everything they could to prevent it. For love of power is a terrible thing, terrible and able to destroy the soul; it was because of this that they had never listened to him. And yet Pilate, after a few words, wanted to let him go, but they pressed on, saying, “Crucify him.”

And why did they strive to kill him in this way? It was a shameful death. Afraid, then, that afterward there might be some remembrance of him, they wanted to bring him to the accursed punishment, not knowing that truth rises higher when it is hindered. To prove that they had this suspicion, listen to what they say: “We have heard that that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again’” (Matthew 27, verse 63). That is why they made all this stir, turning everything upside down: to ruin matters for the time to come. And the disorderly people, corrupted by their rulers, kept crying out, “Crucify him!”

But let us not merely read these things; let us carry them in our minds: the crown of thorns, the robe, the reed, the blows, the slaps on the face, the spitting, the mockery. If these are meditated on continually, they are enough to bring down all anger. If we are mocked, if we suffer injustice, let us still say, “The servant is not greater than his master” (John 13, verse 16). And let us bring forward the words the Jews spoke in their madness: “You are a Samaritan and have a demon” (John 8, verse 48), and, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub” (Luke 11, verse 15). For this is why he bore all these things: so that we might walk in his footsteps and endure mockery, which disturbs us more than any other kind of insult. [l]

Yet he not only bore these things, but even used every means to save those who did them and to free them from the punishment in store. He sent the apostles, too, for their salvation. At any rate you hear them saying, “We know that you did it in ignorance” (Acts 3, verse 17), and by these means drawing them to repentance. Let us imitate this too. For nothing makes God so merciful to us as loving our enemies and doing good to those who treat us spitefully.

When someone insults you, do not look at him, but at the devil who moves him, and pour out all your anger on the devil; but pity the man who is moved by him. For if lying comes from the devil, being angry without cause comes from him much more. When you see someone making fun of another, remember that it is the devil who moves him, for mockery does not belong to Christians. The one who has been told to mourn, and has heard, “Woe to you who laugh” (Luke 6, verse 25), and who after this insults and jokes and gets worked up, calls not for our reproach but for our grief, since Christ too was troubled when he thought of Judas.

So let us practice all these things in our actions. If we do not act rightly in these, we have come into the world to no purpose and in vain — or rather, we have come to our own harm. For faith is not enough to bring people into the kingdom. On the contrary, in this way it even has the power to condemn most severely those who show a wicked life. For the one “who knew his master’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many blows” (Luke 12, verse 47); and again, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin” (John 15, verse 22).

What excuse, then, will we have? We have been set inside the palace, and counted worthy to stoop down and enter the sanctuary, and made sharers in the mysteries that set us free — and yet we are worse than the Greeks, who have shared in none of these things. If they, for the sake of empty glory, have shown so much true wisdom, much more ought we to pursue every virtue, because it is pleasing to God. But as things are, we do not even despise wealth, while they have often been careless of their very lives. In wars they have given up their children to their frenzy over demons, and they have despised nature for the sake of their demons. But we do not despise even money for Christ’s sake, nor anger for the sake of God’s will. We are inflamed, and no better off than people in a fever. And just as they, gripped by their illness, are burning all over, so we, choked as if by a fire, cannot stop at any point of our desire, and we increase both our anger and our greed.

That is why I am ashamed and astonished when I see men among the Greeks despising riches, while among ourselves everyone is mad. Even if we could find some who despise riches, we would find that they have been taken captive by other vices, by passion or envy; it is a hard thing to find true wisdom without a blemish. But the reason is this: we are not eager to take our remedies from the Scriptures, nor do we apply ourselves to the Scriptures with a pierced heart, with sorrow and groaning, but carelessly, whenever we happen to have some free time. So when a great flood of worldly business comes, it sweeps everything away, and if there was any profit, it destroys it.

If a man has a wound and puts a medicated dressing on it, but does not bind it tight, and lets it fall off, and exposes his sore to moisture and dust and heat and ten thousand other things that can irritate it, he will get no good from it — not because the remedies do not work, but because of his own carelessness. And this is what tends to happen to us too, when we pay only a little attention to the words of God and give ourselves wholly and ceaselessly to the things of this life. For in this way all the seed is choked, and everything is made fruitless.

So that this may not happen, let us look carefully for a little while. Let us look up to heaven; let us bend down to the tombs and coffins of the dead. For the same end awaits us, and the same necessity of departure will often come upon us before evening. So let us prepare for this journey. We need many supplies for the road, for great is the heat there, great the drought, great the loneliness. From then on there is no resting at an inn, no buying anything, unless one has taken everything from here. Hear at least what the virgins say: “Go to those who sell” (Matthew 25, verse 9); but those who went found nothing. Hear what Abraham says: “A gulf between us and you” (Luke 16, verse 26). Hear what Ezekiel says about that day: that Noah and Job and Daniel will by no means rescue their sons (Ezekiel 14, verse 14).

But may it never happen that we hear these words. Instead, having taken from here enough provision for our journey to eternal life, may we see our Lord Jesus Christ with confidence, with whom be glory, power, and honor to the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.