Further fragments and homilies 9.1–12.2

On Lazarus, four days dead. Beloved, just as a mother who loves her children, giving the breast to her infant, delights as the child draws the soft nourishment of the milk; but when the curd of the milk, thickened, blocks the channels of the breast, then the child cries and the mother is pained, having her will to nourish ready but seeing the food not given: so we too yesterday, offering you the breast of our mind, were delighted as you drew the milk of the word; but when the cloud of forgetfulness ran over our mind and cut off the word, then you were vexed, as being deprived of the meaning of the gospel teachings, and we were distressed, having our eagerness to speak stretched out but seeing our mind hindered by forgetfulness. But perhaps this happened to us so that we might know that it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, nor of him who pursues, but of God who shows mercy. Come, then, since God gives grace to those who speak, not for the worth of the speakers but for the need of the hearers, let us call upon him, and from the gospel readings just read to you let us draw, as far as we can, the drinkable stream of teaching. “A certain man was ill,” it says, “Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha her sister. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, whose brother Lazarus was ill.” And Jesus said: “This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that God may be glorified through it.” I say by way of answer: if this illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, it is not illness but good news; it is not illness but safety. O illness, physician of the sick, guide of faith, adversary of death, opponent of the devil, author of salvation! O illness, unbreakable foundation of virtue, teacher of faith, steward of godliness! O illness, driving off the fevers of souls, refreshing with the dews of baptism, and weaving bright robes for the soul! O illness, provider of heavenly bread, excellent torchbearer of faith, snare of the devil and seal of man! “When Jesus heard,” it says, “he stayed then two days in the place where he was.” But what need was there for the Lord, having heard, to stay on and not to go at once to the sick man? Surely he was waiting for the death of Lazarus, so that in the death he might show to the onlookers a faith greater than the miracles. After this, then, Jesus says to the disciples: “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him.” For truly the death of men is reckoned as sleep by the Lord. “I am going to wake him.” Why? Even being here, are you unable to bring the dead man to life? “But the Jews do not so receive the grace when I am absent; for perhaps, if he rose, they would think that Lazarus came back to life by some chance. So I myself am coming, so that, becoming eyewitnesses of the miracles done by me in my presence, and receiving the grace from me, they may be brought to firm faith.” … “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him.” And the disciples, hearing, said: “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” They answered not so much piously as medically: for sleep harms the lethargic, but rather (helps) by sweats. Since, then, the disciples thought that the Lord was speaking about the rest of sleep, he said plainly: “Lazarus our friend has died; and I rejoice for your sake, so that you may believe, that I was not there; but let us go to him.” He who does not will the death of the sinner, does he now rejoice at the death of a friend? “I rejoice, for I have used the death for the foundation of your faith.” O death, gladness of Christ! O death, full of life! O death, ransom from death, author of salvation, raising of the fallen, rest of the weary, strength of the sick, refreshment of the righteous! O death, dissolution of the devil, overthrow of demons, renewal of the first-formed Adam! O death, fellow worker of joy, herald of incorruption, leader of the dance of gladness! But to speak briefly: Jesus comes to Bethany, where the sisters of Lazarus met him; they fall at the Lord's knees weeping and saying: “Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died.” Was he not there, then? In the body he was not there, but in his divinity he was not only there but also in the heavens. For how did he know when Lazarus died, if he was not present by the invisible power of his divinity? And they said: “Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died.” And the Lord said to them: “Believe, and you will see the glory of God,” teaching that faith is the author of good works. And seeing them weeping, and the Jews who were present, he groaned in the spirit and troubled himself, and said: “Where have you laid him?” What is “he groaned in the spirit”? Wait, beloved, and in a little while you will find the solution of the question. He troubled himself, not as we are troubled by fear or grief, but he himself stirred himself, and says: “Where have you laid him?” Did he not know where he was buried, he who knew when he died? But he mingles human words with divine miracles, to show that he was also man, as the prophet too says: “He is a man, and who shall know him?” And he set this first to signify that he is also something else, that is, God.

“Where have you laid him?” And Mary says: “Come and see, Lord.” And Jesus wept. What need was there to weep for one whom he was about to raise shortly? But Jesus wept, to show us his sympathy and love for those of his own race; Jesus wept, to teach by deed rather than by word to weep with those who weep; Jesus wept; he wept but did not mourn, rejecting complete tearlessness as harsh and inhuman, and repelling the love of mourning as ignoble and unmanly; setting an order to sympathy, he wept. He comes to the cave and sees a stone lying on the tomb. He orders the Jews standing by to roll the stone away from the mouth of the cave. You who said, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Be lifted up and cast into the sea, and it will be done for you,” how are you now unable to roll away the stone yourself? “Not as one unable do I do this,” he says, “but so that they may not think that what happens is an illusion, I command the Jews themselves to roll away the stone with their own hands, keeping the greatest sign for myself, so that they themselves may become witnesses of the signs done by me.” Then, after the stone was rolled away, Jesus looked up to heaven and said: “I thank you, Father, that you have heard me.” When did he pray? Now receive, beloved, the solution of the saying that you were seeking a little before: when he groaned in the spirit, then he prayed. And having said these things he cried with a loud voice, saying: “Lazarus, come out.” And at once the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with bandages. O power of a voice that burst Hades, shattered gates of bronze, crushed bars of iron, laid low the devil, abolished death, raised the dead! O power of a voice that gathered the scattered limbs into one and set them upright, and brought into being what was not! O power of a voice that raised the four days dead as from sleep, and led him out of the tomb, bound in bandages, as one easily loosed and swift of foot! Fix your mind, beloved, on the voice, and you will find that it is the same Word who said at the making of the world, “Let there be light,” and there was light; “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven,” and there were; the same who now says, “Lazarus, come out.” And the fluids that had flowed from the flesh filled the sockets again, and the hairs that had fallen recognized their own order and were planted again in the limbs. “Lazarus, come out”: and the dead man rose, and on the fourth day was like one who had never died at all. … “Lazarus, come out”: and the soul was drawn up from the regions below, without the devil gainsaying or death wrestling against it, and rejoicing it recognized its own dwelling. Having beheld, beloved, the divine work of these miracles, do not doubt the resurrection. Let Lazarus be a mirror to you, and seeing yourself in him, believe in the raising. For the same voice will raise us all, as the apostle somewhere says: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible,” by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Of Hippolytus, bishop of Rome, from the discourse On the Resurrection and Incorruption. “In the resurrection,” he says, “men will be like the angels of God”: in incorruption, clearly, and immortality and freedom from flux. For an incorruptible essence does not beget, is not begotten, does not grow, does not sleep, does not hunger, does not thirst, does not tire, does not suffer, does not die, is not pierced by nails and lance, does not sweat, does not bleed. Such are the essences of the angels and of the souls released from bodies, since both are of another kind and foreign to this visible and corruptible creation of the world.

All the works of our God and Savior are good, and very good: whatever the eye sees and the soul conceives, whatever speech interprets and the hand handles, whatever the mind comprehends and humanity grasps. For what beauty is more varied than the heavenly vault? What form more flowery than the earthly region? What swifter in its course than the chariot of the sun? What pair more graceful than the moon's element? What work more admirable than the many-starred choir of the heavens? What richer in yield than the seasonable winds? What mirror more spotless than the light of day? What creature more honorable than man? All the works of our God and Savior, then, are very good. And what gift is more necessary than the nature of water? For by waters all things are washed and nourished and cleansed and watered. Water bears the earth, water produces the dew, water gladdens the vine, water brings the ear of grain to maturity, water ripens the cluster, water softens the olive, water sweetens the date, water reddens the rose and makes the violet bloom, water nourishes the lily with its bright cups. And why speak at length? Without the nature of waters none of the things now present subsists. So necessary is the nature of waters that, while the other elements took their dwelling under the vaulted heavens, the nature of waters received an abode even above the heavens. And of this the prophet himself is witness, crying: “Praise the Lord, you heavens of heavens, and let the waters above the heavens praise the name of the Lord.” [2] And not only does this show the dignity of water, but also what is more venerable than all: that Christ, the maker of all, came down as rain, was known as a spring, was poured out as a river, and was baptized in the Jordan. For you heard just now how Jesus came to John in the Jordan and was baptized by him. O marvelous things! How the boundless river that gladdens the city of God was washed in a little water; the incomprehensible spring that sprouts life for all men and has no end was covered by poor and passing waters! He who is present everywhere and absent nowhere, who is incomprehensible to angels and invisible to men, comes to baptism as he himself was pleased to. When you hear these things, beloved, do not take what is said as of nature, but receive what is set before you as of the economy. And so the Lord, in the love for mankind of his condescension, did not escape the notice of the nature of the waters in what he did in secret. For the waters saw him and were afraid; they almost stood out of themselves and fled from their bounds. Hence the prophet, beholding this many ages before, asks, saying: “What ails you, O sea, that you fled? And you, Jordan, that you turned back?” And they answered and said: “We saw the Creator of all in the form of a servant, and not knowing the mystery of the economy we were driven by fear. [3] But now, having come to know the economy, we worship his compassion, because he has come to save the world and not to judge it.” Hence John, the forerunner of the Lord, who had not known this mystery, on learning that he is truly the Lord, cried out to those coming to be baptized by him: “Brood of vipers, why do you gaze at me so intently? I am not the Christ. I am a servant and not a master; I am a private man, not a king; I am a sheep, not a shepherd; I am a man, not God. By being born I loosed my mother's barrenness; I did not make virginity barren. I was brought up from below; I did not come down from above. I bound my father's tongue; I did not unfold divine grace. I was made known by my mother; I was not announced by a star. I am mean and least; but after me comes one who is before me: after, by time; before, by the unapproachable and ineffable light of the divinity. There comes one mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. I am under authority, but he has authority of himself; I am liable for sins, but he takes away sins; I bring in the law, but he brings the light of grace; I instruct as a slave, but he judges as master; I have the ground for my bed, he has heaven; I baptize with the baptism of repentance, he bestows the gift of adoption. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Why do you give heed to me? I am not the Christ.”

While John was saying these things to the crowd, and the people were expecting to behold some strange sight with their bodily eyes, and the devil was struck with amazement at so great a testimony of John, behold, the Lord arrives: plain, alone, unarrayed, unattended, having as his garment the human body and hiding the dignity of the divinity, so that he might escape the notice of the dragon's cunning. And not only did he come to John as Lord without the royal bodyguard, but also, as a plain man and liable for sins, he bowed his head to be baptized by John. Hence John, seeing such great humility, astonished at the thing, began to prevent him, saying, as you heard just now: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” What are you doing, Master? You teach things contrary to the rule. I proclaimed one thing, and you pursue another; the devil heard one thing, and perceives another. Baptize me with the fire of the divinity; why do you wait for water? Enlighten me with the Spirit; why do you attend to the creature? Baptize me, the baptizer, so that your pre-eminence may be known. I, Master, baptize with the baptism of repentance, and I cannot baptize those who come to me unless they confess their sins. Suppose I baptize you: what have you to confess? You are the remover of sins, and do you wish to be baptized with the baptism of repentance? Even if I dare to baptize, the Jordan does not dare to come near. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” [5] What, then, does the Lord say to him? “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Let it be so now, John; you are not wiser than I. You see as a man; I, as God, foreknow. I must first do, and so teach. I undertake nothing unseemly, for I am clothed with seemliness. Do you wonder, John, that I did not come with my dignity? Royal purple does not befit a private man, but a soldier's garb befits a king. Have I come to a tyrant? Have I not come to a friend? Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. I am the fulfiller of the law; I wish to leave nothing lacking in its whole fulfillment, so that after me Paul may cry: “Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Baptize me, John, so that no one may despise baptism. I am baptized by you, the servant, so that none of the kings or of the eminent may disdain to be baptized by a poor priest. Let me go down into the Jordan, so that they may hear the Father's testimony and recognize the power of the Son. Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then at last John allows him. And Jesus, being baptized, went up at once from the water; and the heavens were opened to him, and behold, the Spirit of God descends in the form of a dove and remained upon him; and a voice from the heavens, saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Do you see, beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost if the Lord had yielded to John's entreaty and declined baptism? For before this the heavens were shut; the region above was inaccessible. We would go down to the things below, but we would not go up to the things above. But no sooner was the Master baptized than he renewed the old man and entrusted to him again the scepter of adoption. For at once “the heavens were opened to him.” A reconciliation took place of the visible with the invisible; the heavenly orders were made glad, the earthly diseases were healed, the secret things were made known, the hostile things were made friends. For you heard the evangelist saying, “The heavens were opened to him,” for the sake of three marvels. For when Christ the bridegroom was baptized, the heavenly bridal chamber had to open its shining gates; likewise, when the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and the Father's voice spread everywhere, the heavenly gates had to be lifted up. … “And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and a voice came saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” [7] The beloved begets love, and the immaterial light the unapproachable light. “This is my beloved Son,” who appeared below and was not separated from the Father's bosom. He appeared; he did not merely seem. … For this reason the Father sent down the Holy Spirit from heaven upon the one being baptized. For as in Noah's ark God's love for mankind was signified by a dove, so now too the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove, bearing as it were the fruit of the olive, rested on the one to whom witness was borne. Why? So that the certainty of the Father's voice might be made known, and the prophetic prediction of many ages might be confirmed. Which is this? “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundered; the Lord is upon many waters.” What voice? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is he who is called the son of Joseph, and is my only-begotten according to the divine essence. “This is my beloved Son”: who hungers, and feeds myriads; who toils, and gives rest to those who toil; who has nowhere to lay his head, and holds all things in his hand; who suffers, and heals sufferings; who is struck, and bestows freedom on the world; who is pierced in the side, and sets right the side of Adam. [8] But give me your attention, I beg you, with care; for I wish to run back to the fountain of life and behold the fountain gushing with healings. The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man to wash him with water and Spirit; and having regenerated him to incorruption of soul and body, he breathed into us the breath of life, clothing us in incorruptible armor. If, then, man has become immortal, he will also be god. And if he becomes god through water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the font, he is found also to be a co-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Therefore I proclaim, saying: Come, all you families of the nations, to the immortality of baptism. I bring good news of life to you who dwell in the darkness of ignorance. Come into freedom from slavery, into a kingdom from tyranny, into incorruption from corruption. “And how,” he says, “shall we come?” How? Through water and the Holy Spirit. This is the water that has fellowship with the Spirit, by which paradise is watered, by which the earth is enriched, by which plants grow, by which living things bear young, and, to sum up all, by which man, being regenerated, is endowed with life; in which also Christ was baptized, in which also the Spirit came down in the form of a dove.

This is the Spirit who from the beginning was borne upon the waters; through whom the world is moved, through whom creation stands and all things are given life; who worked in the prophets, who flew down upon Christ. This is the Spirit given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues. This Spirit David sought, saying: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Of this Spirit Gabriel too spoke to the Virgin: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Through this Spirit Peter uttered that blessed word: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Through this Spirit the rock of the church was established. This is the Spirit, the Paraclete, who is sent for your sake, to show you to be a child of God.

Come, then, be born again, O man, into adoption as God's son. “And how?” he says. If you no longer commit adultery, nor murder, nor idolatry; if you are not mastered by pleasure; if the passion of pride does not rule you; if you scrape off the filth of uncleanness and cast off the burden of sin; if you strip off the armor of the devil and put on the breastplate of faith; as Isaiah says: “Wash, and become clean; remove the wickedness from your hearts; learn to do good; seek justice; rescue the wronged; judge for the orphan and vindicate the widow. And come, let us reason together, says the Lord. And if your sins are as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and if they are as crimson, I will make them white as wool. And if you are willing and listen to my voice, you shall eat the good things of the land.” Do you see, beloved, how the prophet foretold the cleansing of baptism? For he who goes down in faith into the washing of regeneration renounces the evil one and joins himself to Christ; he denies the enemy and confesses that Christ is God; he puts off slavery and puts on adoption; he comes up from baptism bright as the sun, flashing out the rays of righteousness; and, greatest of all, he comes up a son of God and a co-heir with Christ. To him be the glory and the power, with his all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and to all the ages of ages. Amen.

Or, if you wish: it was the firstborn Word of God, coming down from heaven upon the blessed Mary, and a firstborn man being formed in the womb, so that the firstborn Word of God might be shown joined to a firstborn man.

… they brought him up to the temple to present him to the Lord, performing the offerings of purification. For if the purificatory gifts were offered for him according to the law, in this way too he came under the law. Yet neither was the Word subject to the law, as the slanderers suppose, being himself the law; nor did God need sacrifices of purification, cleansing and sanctifying all things in a single instant. But though he took up and wore the human instrument from the Virgin and came under the law, being purified according to the dignities of the firstborn, he did not undergo these rites because he himself needed their provision, but so that he might redeem from the slavery of the law those sold to the justice of the curse. [b] Of Hippolytus, bishop of Rome, martyr. Therefore “the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing you, cowered, and the gates of bronze were shattered and the bars of iron broken”; and behold, the only-begotten entered as a soul among souls, God the Word with a soul. For the body lay in the tomb, not emptied of the divinity; but as, being in Hades, he was in essence with the Father, so he was both in the body and in Hades. For the Son, like the Father, cannot be contained, and contains all things; but willingly he was contained in a body with a soul, so that with his own soul he might go to Hades, and not with naked divinity. [c] And again the same (that is, Hippolytus) in the first book of his treatise On the Holy Pascha has said thus: It is plain that neither at the first nor at the last did he lie; for he who long ago foretold, “I will no longer eat the Passover,” fittingly ate the supper before the Passover, but did not eat the Passover, but suffered it; for it was not the time for eating it. … [d] … to drink the cup, so as to show that he was truly also man; but remembering also why he was sent, he fulfills the economy for which he was sent, and cries: “Father, not my will”; “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”