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John ii. 11.
"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee."
1. FREQUENT and fierce is the devil in his attacks, on all
sides besieging our salvation; we therefore must watch and be sober,
and everywhere fortify ourselves against his assault, for if he but
gain some slight vantage ground, he goes on to make for himself a broad
passage, and by degrees introduces all his forces. If then we have
any care at all for our salvation, let us not allow him to make his
approaches even in trifles, that thus we may check him beforehand in
important matters; for it would be the extreme of folly, if, while he
displays such eagerness to destroy our souls, we should not bring even
an equal amount in defense of our own salvation.
I say not this without a cause, but because I fear lest that wolf be
even now standing unseen by us in the midst of the fold, and some sheep
become a prey to him, being led astray from the flock and from
hearkening by its own carelessness and his craft. Were the wounds
sensible, or did the body receive the blows, there would be no
difficulty in discerning his plots; but since the soul is invisible,
and since that it is which receives the wounds, we need great
watchfulness that each may prove himself; for none knoweth the things
of a man as the spirit of a man that is in him. (1 Cor. ii.
11.) The word is spoken indeed to all, and is offered as a general
remedy to those who need it, but it is the business of every individual
hearer to take what is suited to his complaint. I know not who are
sick, I know not who are well. And therefore I use every sort of
argument, and introduce remedies suited to all maladies, at one time
condemning covetousness, after that touching on luxury, and again on
impurity, then composing something in praise of and exhortation to
charity, and each of the other virtues in their turn. For I fear
lest when my arguments are employed on any one subject, I may without
knowing it be treating you for one disease while you are ill of others.
So that if this congregation were but one person, I should not have
judged it so absolutely necessary to make my discourse varied; but
since in such a multitude there are probably also many maladies, I not
unreasonably diversify my teaching, since my discourse will be sure to
attain its object when it is made to embrace you all. For this cause
also Scripture is something multiform, and speaks on ten thousand
matters, because it addresses itself to the nature of mankind in
common, and in such a multitude all the passions of the soul must needs
be; though all be not in each. Let us then cleanse ourselves of
these, and so listen to the divine oracles, and with contrite heart
hear what has been this day read to us.
And what is that? "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of
Galilee." I told you the other day, that there are some who say
that this is not the beginning. "For what," says one, "if 'Cana
of Galilee' be added? This shows that this was 'the beginning' He
made 'in Cana.' " But on these points I would not venture to
assert anything exactly. I before have shown that He began His
miracles after His Baptism, and wrought no miracle before it i but
whether of the miracles done after His Baptism, this or some other
was the first, it seems to me unnecessary to assert positively.
"And manifested forth His glory."
"How?" asks one, "and in what way? For only the servants, the
ruler of the feast, and the bridegroom, not the greater number of
those present, gave heed to what was done." How then did he
"manifest forth His glory"? He manifested it at least for His own
part, and if all present hear not of the miracle at the time, they
would hear of it afterwards, for unto the present time it is
celebrated, and has not been unnoticed. That all did not know it on
the same day is clear from what follows, for after having said that He
"manifested forth His glory," the Evangelist adds, "And His
disciples believed on Him."
His disciples, who even before this regarded Him with wonder. Seest
thou that it was especially necessary to work the miracles at times when
men were present of honest minds, and who would carefully give heed to
what was done? for these would more readily believe, and attend more
exactly to the circumstances. "And how could He have become known
without miracles?" Because His doctrine and prophetic powers were
sufficient to cause wonder in the souls of His hearers, so that they
took heed to what He did with a right disposition, their minds being
already well affected towards Him. And therefore in many other places
the Evangelists say, that He did no miracle on account of the
perversity of the men who dwelt there. (Matt. xii. 38; ch.
xiii. 58, &c.)
Ver. 12. "After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and His
mother, and His brethren, and His disciples; and they continued
there not many days."
Wherefore comes He with "His mother to Capernaum"? for He hath
done no miracle there, and the inhabitants of that city were not of
those who were rightminded towards Him, but of the utterly corrupt.
And this Christ declared when He said, "And thou, Capernaum,
which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell." (Luke
x. 15.) Wherefore then goes He? I think it was, because He
intended a little after to go up to Jerusalem, that He then went to
Capernaum, to avoid leading about everywhere with Him, His mother
and His brethren. And so, having departed and tarried a little while
to honor His mother, He again commences His miracles after restoring
to her home her who had borne Him. Therefore the Evangelist says,
After "not many days,"
Ver. 13. "He went up to Jerusalem."
He received baptism then a few days before the passover. But on going
up to Jerusalem, what did He, a deed full of high authority; for
He cast out of the Temple those dealers and money changers, and those
who sold doves, and oxen, and sheep, and who passed their time there
for this purpose.
2. Another Evangelist writes, that as He cast them out, He
said, Make not my Father's house "a den of thieves," but this
one, Ver. 16. (" Make not My Father's house) an house of
merchandise."
They do not in this contradict each other, but show that he did this a
second time, and that both these expressions were not used on the same
occasion, but that He acted thus once at the beginning of His
ministry, and again when He had come to the very time of His
Passion. Therefore, (on the latter occasion,) employing more
strong expressions, He spoke of it as
(being made) "a den of thieves," but here at the commencement of
His miracles He does not so, but uses a more gentle rebuke; from
which it is probable that this took place a second time.
"And wherefore," says one, "did Christ do this same, and use
such severity against these men, a thing which He is nowhere else seen
to do, even when insulted and reviled, and called by them
'Samaritan' and 'demoniac'? for He was not even satisfied with
words only, but took a scourge, and so cast them out." Yes, but it
was when others were receiving benefit, that the Jews accused and
raged against Him; when it was probable that they would have been made
savage by His rebukes, they showed no such disposition towards Him,
for they neither accused nor reviled Him. What say they?
Ver. 18. "What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou
doest these things?"
Seest thou their excessive malice, and how the benefits done to others
incensed them more (than reproofs)?
At one time then He said, that the Temple was made by them "a den
of thieves," showing that what they sold was gotten by theft, and
rapine, and covetousness, and that they were rich through other men's
calamities; at another, "a house of merchandise," pointing to their
shameless traffickings.
"But wherefore did He this?" Since he was about to heal on the
Sabbath day, and to do many such things which were thought by them
transgressions of the Law in order that He might not seem to do this
as though He had come to be some rival God and opponent of His
Father, He takes occasion hence to correct any such suspicion of
theirs. For One who had exhibited so much zeal for the House was not
likely to oppose Him who was Lord of the House, and who was
worshiped in it. No doubt even the former years during which He lived
according to the Law, were sufficient to show His reverence for the
Legislator, and that He came not to give contrary laws; yet since it
was likely that those years were forgotten through lapse of time, as
not having been known to all because He was brought up in a poor and
mean dwelling, He afterwards does this in the presence of all, (for
many were present because the feast was nigh at hand,) and at great
risk. For he did not merely "cast them out," but also "overturned
the tables," and "poured out the money," giving them by this to
understand, that He who threw Himself into danger for the good order
of the House could never despise his Master. Had He acted as He
did from hypocrisy, He should only have advised them; but to place
Himself in danger was very daring. For it was no light thing to offer
Himself to the anger of so many market-folk, to excite against
Himself a most brutal mob of petty dealers by His reproaches and His
blows, this was not the action of a pretender, but of one choosing to
suffer everything for the order of the House.
And therefore not by His actions only, but by His words, He shows
his agreement with the Father; for He saith not "the Holy
House," but "My Father's House." See, He even calls Him,
"Father," and they are not wroth; they thought He spoke in a
general way: but when He went on and spoke more plainly, so as to set
before them the idea of His Equality, then they become angry.
And what say they? "What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that
Thou doest these things?" Alas for their utter madness! Was there
need of a sign before they could cease their evil doings, and free the
house of God from such dishonor? and was it not the greatest sign of
His Excellence that He had gotten such zeal for that House? In
fact, the well-disposed were distinguished by this very thing, for
"They," His disciples, it says, Ver. 17. "Remembered that
it is written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."
But the Jews did not remember the Prophecy, and said, "What sign
showest Thou unto us?" (Ps. lxix. 9), both grieving that their
shameful traffic was cut off, and expecting by these means to stop
Him, and also desiring to challenge Him to a miracle, and to find
fault with what He was doing. Wherefore He will not give them a
sign; and before, when they came and asked Him, He made them the
same answer, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the
prophet Jonas." (Matt. xvi. 4.) Only then the answer was
clear, now it is more ambiguous. This He doth on account of their
extreme insensibility; for He who prevented them without their
asking, and gave them signs, would never when they asked have turned
away from them, had He not seen that their minds were wicked and
false, and their intention treacherous. Think how full of wickedness
the question itself was at the outset. When they ought to have
applauded Him for His earnestness and zeal, when they ought to have
been astonished that He cared so greatly for the House, they reproach
Him, saying, that it was lawful to traffic, and unlawful for any to
stop their traffic, except he should show them a sign. What saith
Christ?
Ver. 19. "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise
it up."
Many such sayings He utters which were not intelligible to His
immediate hearers, but which were to be so to those that should come
after. And wherefore doth He this? In order that when the
accomplishment of His prediction should have come to pass, He might
be seen to have foreknown from the beginning what was to follow; which
indeed was the case with this prophecy. For, saith the Evangelist,
Ver. 22. "When He was risen from the dead, His disciples
remembered that He had said this; and they believed the Scripture,
and the word which Jesus had said."
But at the time when this was spoken, the Jews were perplexed as to
what it might mean, and cast about to discover, saying, Ver. 20.
"Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt thou rear
it up in three days?"
"Forty and six years," they said, referring to the latter
building, for the former was finished in twenty years' time. (Ezra
vi. 15.)
3. Wherefore then did He not resolve the difficulty and say, "I
speak not of that Temple, but of My flesh"? Why does the
Evangelist, writing the Gospel at a later period, interpret the
saying, and Jesus keep silence at the time? Why did He so keep
silence? Because they would not have received His word; for if not
even the disciples were able to understand the saying, much less were
the multitudes. "When," saith the Evangelist, "He was risen
from the dead, then they remembered, and believed the Scripture and
His word." There were two things that hindered them for the time,
one the fact of the Resurrection, the other, the greater question
whether He was God that dwelt within; of both which things He spake
darkly when He said, "Destroy this Temple, and I will rear it up
in three days." And this St. Paul declares to be no small proof of
His Godhead, when he writes, "Declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the Resurrection from
the dead." (Rom. i. 4.).
But why doth He both there, and here, and everywhere, give this for
a sign, at one time saying, "When ye have lifted up the Son of
Man, then ye shall know that I Am" (c. viii. 28); at
another, "There shall no sign be given you but the sign of the
prophet Jonas" (Matt. xii. 39); and again in this place,
"In three days I will raise it up"? Because what especially showed
that He was not a mere man, was His being able to set up a trophy of
victory over death, and so quickly to abolish His long enduring
tyranny, and conclude that difficult war. Wherefore He saith,
"Then ye shall know." "Then." When? When after My
Resurrection I shall draw (all) the world to Me, then ye shall
know that I did these things as God, and Very Son of God,
avenging the insult offered to My Father.
"Why then, instead of saying, 'What need is there of "signs" to
check evil deeds?' did He promise that He would give them a sign?"
Because by so doing He would have the more exasperated them; but in
this way He rather astonished them. Still they made no answer to
this, for He seemed to them to say what was incredible, so that they
did not stay even to question Him upon it, but passed it by as
impossible. Yet had they been wise, though it seemed to them at the
time incredible, still when He wrought His many miracles they would
then have come and questioned Him, would then have intreated that the
difficulty might be resolved to them; but because they were foolish,
they gave no heed at all to part of what was said, and part they heard
with evil frame of mind. And therefore Christ spoke to them in an
enigmatical way.
The question still remains, "How was it that the disciples did not
know that He must rise from the dead?" It was, because they had not
been vouchsafed the gift of the Spirit; and therefore, though they
constantly heard His discourses concerning the Resurrection, they
understood them not, but reasoned with themselves what this might be.
For very strange and paradoxical was the assertion that one could raise
himself, and would raise himself in such wise. And so Peter was
rebuked, when, knowing nothing about the Resurrection, he said,
"Be it far from Thee." (Matt. xvi. 22.) And Christ did
not reveal it clearly to them before the event, that they might not be
offended at the very outset, being led to distrust His words on
account of the great improbability of the thing, and because they did
not yet clearly know Him, who He was. For no one could help
believing what was proclaimed aloud by facts, while some would probably
disbelieve what was told to them in words. Therefore He at first
allowed the meaning of His words to be concealed; but when by their
experience He had verified His sayings, He after that gave them
understanding of His words, and such gifts of the Spirit that they
received them all at once. "He," saith Jesus, "shall bring all
things to your remembrance." (c. xiv. 26.) For they who in a
single night cast off all respect for Him, and fled from and denied
that they even knew Him, would scarcely have remembered what He had
done and said during the whole time, unless they had enjoyed much grace
of the Spirit.
"But," says one, "if they were to hear from the Spirit, why
needed they to accompany Christ when they would not retain His
words?" Be cause the Spirit taught them not, but called to their
mind what Christ had said before; and it contributes not a little to
the glory of Christ, that they were referred to the remembrance of the
words He had spoken to them. At the first then it was of the gift of
God that the grace of the Spirit lighted upon them so largely and
abundantly; but after that, it was of their own virtue that they
retained the Gift. For they displayed a shining life, and much
wisdom, and great labors, and despised this present life, and thought
nothing of earthly things, but were above them all; and like a sort of
light-winged eagle, soaring high by their works; reached to heaven
itself, and by these possessed the unspeakable grace of the Spirit.
Let us then imitate them, and not quench our lamps, but keep them
bright by alms-doing, for so is the light of this fire preserved.
Let us collect the oil into our vessels whilst we are here, for we
cannot buy it when we have departed to that other place, nor can we
procure it elsewhere, save only at the hands of the poor. Let us
therefore collect it thence very abundantly, if, at least, we desire
to enter in with the Bridegroom. But if we do not this, we must
remain without the bridechamber, for it is impossible, it is
impossible, though we perform ten thousand other good deeds, to enter
the portals of the Kingdom without alms-doing. Let us then show
forth this very abundantly, that we may enjoy those ineffable
blessings; which may it come to pass that we all attain, by the grace
and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the
Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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