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John xiii.
"And He took His garments, and having sat down again, said unto
them, Know ye what I have done to you?" And what follows.
1. A GREIVOUS thing, beloved, a grievous thing it is to
come to the depths of wickedness; for then the soul becomes hard to be
restored. Wherefore we should use every exertion not to be taken at
all; since it is easier not to fall in, than having fallen to recover
one's self. Observe, for instance, when Judas had thrown himself
into sin, how great assistance he enjoyed, yet not even so was he
raised. Christ said to him, "One of you is a devil" (c. vi.
71); He said, "Not all believe" (c. vi. 65); He said,
"I speak not of all," and, "I know whom I have chosen" (c.
xiii. 18); and not one of these sayings doth he feel. Now when
He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and sat down, He
said, "Know ye what I have done unto you?" He no longer
addresseth Himself to Peter only, but to them all.
Ver. 13. "Ye call Me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for
so I am."
"Ye call Me." He taketh to Him their judgment, and then that the
words may not be thought to be words of their kindness, He addeth,
"for so I am." By introducing a saying of theirs, He maketh it
not offensive, and by confirming it Himself when introduced from
them, unsuspected. "For so I am," He saith. Seest thou how
when He converseth with the disciples, He speaketh revealing more
what belongeth unto Himself? As He saith, "Call no man master on
earth, for One is your guide" (Matt. xxiii. 8, 9), so also,
"And call no man father upon earth." But the "one" and "one" is
spoken not of the Father only, but of Himself also. For had He
spoken excluding Himself, how saith He, "That ye may become the
children of the light"? And again, if He called the Father only,
"Master," how saith He, "For so I am"; and again, "For one
is your Guide, even Christ"? (c. xii. 26.)
Ver. 14, 15. "If I then," He saith, "your Lord and
Master have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have
done to you."
And yet it is not the same thing, for He is Lord and Master, but
ye are fellow-servants one of another. What meaneth then the "as"?
"With the same zeal." For on this account He taketh instances from
greater actions that we may, if so be, perform the less. Thus
schoolmasters write the letters for children very beautifully, that
they may come to imitate them though but in an inferior manner. Where
now are they who spit on their fellow-servants? where now they who
demand honors? Christ washed the feet of the traitor, the
sacrilegious, the thief, and that close to the time of the betrayal,
and incurable as he was, made him a partaker of His table; and art
thou highminded, and dost thou draw up thine eyebrows? "Let us then
wash one another's feet," saith some one, "then we must wash those
of our domestics." And what great thing if we do wash even those of
our domestics? In our case "slave" and" free" is a difference of
words; but there an actual reality. For by nature He was Lord and
we servants, yet even this He refused not at this time to do. But
now it is matter for contentment if we do not treat free men as
bondmen, as slaves bought with money. And what shall we say in that
day, if after receiving proofs of such forbearance, we ourselves do
not imitate them at all, but take the contrary part, being in
diametrical opposition, lifted up, and not discharging the debt? For
God hath made us debtors one to another, having first so done
Himself, and hath made us debtors of a less amount. For He was our
Lord, but we do it, if we do it at all, to our fellow-servants, a
thing which He Himself implied by saying, "If I then your Lord
and Master--so also do ye." 'It would indeed naturally have
followed to say, "How much more should ye servants," but He left
this to the conscience of the hearers.
2. But why hath He done this "now"? They were for the future to
enjoy, some greater, some less honor. In order then that they may
not exalt themselves one above the other, and say as they did before,
"Who is the greatest' (Matt. xviii. 1), nor be angry one
against the other, He taketh down the high thoughts of them all, by
saying, that "although thou mayest be very great, thou oughtest to
have no high thoughts towards thy brother." And He mentioned not the
greater action, that "if I have washed the feet of the traitor, what
great matter if ye one another's?" but having exemplified this by
deeds, He then left it to the judgment of the spectators. Therefore
He said, "Whosoever shall do and teach, the same shall be called
great" (Matt. v. 19); for this is "to teach" a thing,
actually to do it. What pride should not this remove? what kind of
folly and insolence should it not annihilate! He who sitteth upon the
Cherubim washed the feet of the traitor, and dost thou, O man, thou
that art earth and ashes and cinders and dust, dost thou exalt
thyself, and art thou highminded? And how great a hell wouldest thou
not deserve? If then thou desirest a high state of mind, come, I
will show thee the way to it; for thou dost not even know what it is.
The man then who gives heed to the present things as being great, is
of a mean soul; so that there can neither be humility without greatness
of soul, nor conceit except from littleness of soul. For as little
children are eager for trifles, gaping upon balls and hoops and dice.
but cannot even form an idea of important matters; so in this case,
one who is truly wise, will deem present things as nothing, (so that
he will neither choose to acquire them himself, nor to receive them
from others;) but he who is not of such a character will be affected
in a contrary way, intent upon cobwebs and shadows and dreams of things
less substantial than these.
Ver. 16--18. "Verily I say unto you, the servant is not
greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that
sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. I
speak not of you all --but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He
that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me."
What He said before, this He saith here also, to shame them;
"For if the servant is not greater than his master, nor he that is
sent greater than him that sent him, and these things have been done by
Me, much more ought they to be done by you." Then, lest any one
should say, "Why now sayest Thou these things? Do we not already
know them?" He addeth this very thing, "I speak not to you as not
knowing, but that by your actions ye may show forth the things spoken
of." For "to know," belongeth to all l but "to do," not to
all. On this account He said, "Blessed are ye if ye do them";
and on this account I continually and ever say the same to you,
although ye know it, that I may set you on the work. Since even
Jews "know," but yet they are not "blessed"; for they do not what
they know.
"I speak not," He saith, "of you all." O what forbearance!
Not yet doth He convict the traitor, but veileth the matter, hence
giving him room for repentance. He convicteth and yet doth not convict
him when He saith thus, "He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted
up his heel against Me." It seems to me that the, "The servant is
not greater than his lord," was uttered for this purpose also, that
if any persons should at any time suffer harm either from domestics or
from any of the meaner sort, they should not be offended; looking to
the instance of Judas, who having enjoyed ten thousand good things,
repaid his Benefactor with the contrary. On this account He added,
"He that eateth bread with Me," and letting pass all the rest, He
hath put that which was most fitted to restrain and shame him; "he who
was fed by Me," He saith, "and who shared My table." And He
spake the words, to instruct them to benefit those who did evil to
them, even though such persons should continue incurable.
But having said, "I speak not of you all," in order not to attach
fear to more than one, He at last separateth the traitor, speaking
thus; "He that eateth bread with Me." For the, "not of you
all," doth not direct the words to any single one, therefore He
added, "He that eateth bread with Me"; showing to that wretched
one that He was not seized in ignorance, but even with full
knowledge; a thing which of itself was most of all fitted to restrain
him. And He said not, "betrayeth Me," but, "hath lifted up his
heel against Me," desiring to represent the deceit, the treachery,
the secrecy of the plot.
3. These things are written that we bear not malice towards those who
injure us; but rebuke them and weep for them; for the fit subjects of
weeping are not they who suffer, but they who do the wrong. The
grasping man, the false accuser, and whoso worketh any other evil
thing, do themselves the greatest injury, and us the greatest good,
if we do not avenge ourselves. Such a case as this: some one has
robbed thee; hast thou given thanks for the injury, and glorified
God? by that thanksgiving thou hast gained ten thousand rewards, just
as he hath gathered for himself fire unspeakable. But if any one say,
"How then, if I 'could' not defend myself against him who wronged
me, being weaker?" I would say this, that thou couldest have put
into action the being discontented, the being impatient, (for these
things are in our power,) the praying against him, who grieved you,
the uttering ten thousand curses against him, the speaking ill of him
to every one. He therefore who hath not done these things shall even
be rewarded for not defending himself, since it is clear that even if
he had had the power, he would not have done it. The injured man uses
any weapon that comes to hand, when, being little of soul, he defends
himself against one who has injured him, by curses, by abuse, by
plotting. Do thou then not only not do these things, but even pray
for him; for if thou do them not, but wilt even pray for him, thou
art become like unto God. For, "pray," it saith, "for them,
that despitefully use you--that ye may be like unto your Father which
is in Heaven." (Matt. v. 44, 45.) Seest thou how we are
the greatest gainers from the insolence of others? Nothing so
delighteth God, as the not returning evil for evil? But what say
I? Not returning evil for evil? Surely we are enjoined to return
the opposite, benefits, prayers. Wherefore Christ also repaid him
who was about to betray Him with everything opposite. He washed his
feet, convicted him secretly, rebuked him sparingly, tended him,
allowed him to share His table and His kiss, and not even by these
was he made better; nevertheless (Christ) continued doing His own
part.
But come, let us teach thee even from the example of servants, and
(to make the lesson stronger) those in the Old (Testament), that
thou mayest know that we have no ground of defense when we remember a
wrong. Will you then that I tell you of Moses, or shall we go yet
farther back? For the more ancient the instances that can be pointed
out, the more are we surpassed. "Why so?" Because virtue was then
more difficult. Those men had no written precepts, no patterns of
living, but their nature fought, unarmed, by itself, and was forced
to float in all directions unballasted. Wherefore also when praising
Noah, God called him not simply perfect, but added, "in his
generation" (Gen. vii. 1); signifying, "at that time," when
there were many hindrances, since many others shone after him, yet
will he have nothing less than they; for in his own time he was
perfect. Who then before Moses was patient? The blessed and noble
Joseph, who having shone by his chastity, shone no less by his long
suffering. He was sold when he had done no wrong, but was waiting on
others, and serving, and performing all the duties of domestics.
They brought against him an evil accusation, and he did not defend
himself, though he had his father on his side. Nay, he even went to
carry food to them in the desert, and when he found them not, he did
not despair or turn back, (yet he had an excuse for doing so had he
chosen,) but remained near the wild beasts and those savage men,
preserving the feeling of a true brother. Again, when he dwelt in the
prison house, and was asked the cause, he spake no evil of them, but
only, "I have done nothing," and, "I was stolen out of the land
of the Hebrews"; and after this again, when he was made lord, he
nourished them, and delivered them from ten thousand dangers. If we
be sober, the wickedness of our neighbor is not strong enough to cast
us out of our own virtue. But those others were not like him; they
both stripped him, and endeavored to kill him, and reproach him with
his dream, though they had even received their meat from him, and
planned to deprive him of life and of liberty. And they ate, and
cared not for their brother lying naked in the pit. What could be
worse than such brutality? Were they not worse than any number of
murderers? And after this, having drawn him up, they gave him over
to ten thousand deaths, selling him to barbarian and savage men, who
were on their journey to barbarians. Yet he, when he became ruler,
not only remitted them their punishment, but even acquitted them, as
far at least as relating to himself, of their sin, calling what had
been done a dispensation of God, not any wickedness of theirs; and
the things which he did against them he did not as remembering evil,
but in all these he dissembled, for his brother's sake. After this,
when he saw them clinging to him, he straightway threw away the mask,
and wept aloud, and embraced them, as though he had received the
greatest benefits, he, who formerly was made away with by them, and
he brought them all down into Egypt, and repaid them with ten thousand
benefits. What excuse then shall we have, if after the Law, and
after grace, and after the addition of so much heavenly wisdom, we do
not even strive to rival him who lived before grace and before the
Law? Who shall deliver us from punishment? For there is nothing,
there is nothing more grievous than the remembrance of injuries. And
this the man hath showed that owed ten thousand talents; from whom
payment was at one time not demanded, at another time again demanded;
not demanded, because of the lovingkindness of God; but demanded,
because of his own wickedness, and because of his malice toward his
fellow-servant. Knowing all which things, let us forgive our
neighbors their trespasses, and repay them by deeds of an opposite
kind, that we too may obtain mercy from God, through the grace and
lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and
dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
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