HOMIL.

49.

L.

436

Divine foreknowledge of Christ.

Ver. 34. Ye shall seek Me, He saith, (not only "ye shall not forget Me," but ye shall even seek Me,) and shall not find Me.

And when did the Jews "seek Him?" Luke saith that Luke23, the women mourned over Him, and it is probable that many others, both at the time and when the city was taken, remembered Christ and His miracles, and sought His presence. Now all this He added, desiring to attract them. For the facts that the time left was short, that He should after His departure be regretfully desired by them, and that they should not then be able to find Him, were all together sufficient to persuade them to come to Him. For had it not been that His presence should with regret be desired by them, He would not have seemed to them to be saying any great thing; if, again, it was about to be desired, and they able to find [3.] Him, neither so would this have disturbed them. Again, had He been about to stay with them a long time, so also they would have been remiss. But now He in every way compelleth and terrifieth them. And the, I go to Him that sent Me, is the expression of one declaring that no harm will happen to Him from their plotting, and that His Passion was voluntary. Wherefore now He uttered two predictions, that after a little while He should depart, and that they should not come to Him; a thing which belonged not to human intelligence, the foretelling His own death. Hear, Ps.39,4. for instance, David saying, Lord, make me to know mine end and the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what time I have. There is no man at all that knoweth this; and 1 i. e. by one' the other is confirmed. And I think that He speaketh one pre- this covertly to the servants, and directeth His discourse to them, thus specially attracting them, by shewing them that He knew the cause of their arrival. As though He had said, "Wait a little, and I shall depart."

diction.

Ver. 35. Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go?

Yet they who had wished to be rid of Him, who did all in their power not to see Him, ought not to have asked this question, but to have said, "we are glad of it, when will the departure take place?" but they were somewhat affected at ^ TI VσTEPŴ ¿YW LXX. thus rendered in margin of E.V.

None but the righteous can be with Him.

437

His words, and with foolish suspicion question one another, JOHN "whither will he

go

יי?

Will he go unto the dispersion of the Gentiles1?

What is, the dispersion of the Gentiles? The Jews gave this name to other nations, because they were every where scattered and mingled fearlessly with one another. And this reproach they themselves afterwards endured, for they too were a "dispersion." For of old all their nation was collected into one place, and you could not any where find a Jew, except in Palestine only; wherefore they called the Gentiles a "dispersion," reproaching them, and boasting concerning themselves. What then meaneth, Whither I go ye cannot come? For all nations at that time had intercourse with them, and there were Jews every where. He would not therefore, if He had meant the Gentiles, have said, Where ye cannot come. After saying, Will he go to the dispersion of the Gentiles? they did not add, "and ruin," but, and teach them. To such a degree had they abated their anger, and believed His words; for they would not, had they not believed, have enquired among themselves what the saying was.

These words were spoken indeed to the Jews, but fear there is lest they be suited to us also, that "where He is" we cannot come" on account of our life being full of sins.

66

VII.35.

1 lit.

Greeks.

For concerning the disciples He saith, I will that they also c.17,24. be with Me where I am, but concerning ourselves, I dread lest the contrary be said, that, Where I am, ye cannot come. For when we act contrary to the commandments, how can we go to that place? Even in the present life, if any soldier act unworthily towards his king, he will not be able to see the king, but being deprived of his authority will suffer the severest punishment; if therefore we steal, or covet, if we wrong or strike others, if we work not deeds of mercy, we shall not be able to go thither, but shall suffer what happened to the virgins. For where He was, they were not able to enter in, but retired, their lamps having gone out, that is, grace having left them. For we can, if we will, increase the brightness of that flame which we received straightway 22 i. e. in Baptism by the grace of the Spirit; but if we will not do this, we shall lose it, and when that is quenched, there will be nothing else than darkness in our souls; since, as while a

5, 19.

438 The Spirit quenched by covetousness and hardheartedness.

HOMIL. lamp is burning the light is strong, so when it is extinL. guished there is nothing but gloom. Wherefore the Apostle 1 Thess saith, Quench not the Spirit. And It is quenched when It hath not oil, when there is any violent gust of wind, when It is cramped and confined, (for so fire is quenched,) and It is cramped by worldly cares, and quenched by evil desires. In addition to the causes we have mentioned, nothing quencheth It so much as inhumanity, cruelty, and rapine. For when, besides having no oil, we pour upon it cold water, (for covetousness is this, which chills with despondency the souls of those we wrong,) whence shall it be kindled again? We shall depart, therefore, carrying dust and ashes with us, and having much smoke to convict us of having had lamps and of having extinguished them; for where there is smoke, there needs must have been fire which hath Mat. 25, been quenched. May none of us ever hear that word, I know you not. And whence shall we hear that word, but from this, if ever we see a poor man, and are as though we saw him not? If we will not know Christ when He is an hungered, He too will not know us when we entreat His mercy. And with justice; for how shall he who neglects the afflicted, and gives not of that which is his own, how shall he seek to receive of that which is not his own? Wherefore, I entreat you, let us do and contrive every thing, so that oil fail not us, but that we may trim our lamps, and enter with the Bridegroom into the bride-chamber. To which may we all attain, through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom and with Whom, to the Father and the Holy Ghost be glory, now and ever and world without end. Amen.

12.

HOMILY LI.

JOHN vii. 37, 38.

In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

THEY who come to the divine preaching and give heed to the faith, must manifest the desire of thirsty men for water, and kindle in themselves a similar longing; so will they be able also very carefully to retain what is said. For as thirsty men, when they have taken a bowl, eagerly drain it and then desist, so too they who hear the divine oracles if they receive them thirsting, will never be weary until they have drunk them up. For to shew that men ought ever to thirst and hunger, Blessed, It saith, are they which do hunger and Matt. 5, thirst after righteousness; and here Christ saith, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. What He saith is of this kind, "I draw no man to Me by necessity and constraint; but if any hath great zeal, if any is inflamed with desire, him I call."

But why hath the Evangelist remarked that it was on the last day, that great day? For both the first day and the last were "great," while the intermediate days they spent rather in enjoyment. Wherefore then saith he, in the last day? Because on that day they were all collected together. For on the first day He came not, and told the reason to His brethren, nor yet on the second and third days

6.

HOMIL. Saith He any thing of this kind, lest His words should come LI. to nought, the hearers being about to run into indulgence.

10.

tion.

1

But on the last day when they were returning home He épódia giveth them supplies for their salvation, and crieth aloud, partly by this shewing to us His boldness, and partly for the greatness of the multitude. And to shew that He spake not of material drink, He addeth, He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. By belly he here meaneth the heart, as also in another place It saith, And Thy Law in the midst of my Ps. 40, belly. But where hath the Scripture said, that "rivers of Theodo- living water shall flow from his belly ?" No where. What then meaneth, He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith? Here we must place a stop, so that the, rivers shall 21.e. not flow from his belly, may be an assertion of Christ. For Scrip- because many said, This is the Christ; and, When the Christ cometh will He do more miracles? He sheweth that it behoveth to have a correct knowledge, and to be convinced not so much from the miracles as from the Scriptures. Many, in fact, who even saw Him working marvels received Him not as Christ, and were ready to say, "Do not the Scriptures say that Christ cometh of the seed of David? and on this 3al. He they continually dwelt. He then, desiring to shew that He did not shun the proof from the Scriptures, again referreth ing & them to the Scriptures. He had said before, Search the c. 6, 45. Scriptures; and again, It is written in the Prophets, And c.5, 45. they shall be taught of God; and, Moses accuseth you; and

of the

ture.

dwelt

desir

c. 5, 59.

3

here, As the Scripture hath said, rivers shall flow from his belly, alluding to the largeness and abundance of grace. As c. 4, 14.in another place He saith, A well of water springing up unto eternal life, that is to say, " he shall possess much grace;" and elsewhere He calleth it, eternal life, but here, living water. He calleth that living which ever worketh; for the grace of the Spirit, when it hath entered into the mind and hath been established, springeth up more than any fountain, faileth not, becometh not empty, stayeth not. To signify therefore 4 lit. un- at once its unfailing supply and unlimited operation, He speak hath called it a well and rivers, not one river but numberless; and in the former case He hath represented its abundance by the expression, springing. And one may clearly perceive

able