When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. So many miracles did He do before them, and they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled; God! Who believed what we heard? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isaiah 53:1). Therefore they could not believe that, as Isaiah said, "This people have blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, that I may heal them" (Isaiah 6:10). Why did the Lord hide from them? Now they did not lift up stones against Him, nor did they say any blasphemy, as they did before. Why did He hide? Though they said nothing, yet when He penetrated into their hearts, He saw that their wrath was increasing. In order to tame their hatred, He hides. That they did not believe, but were vexed, the Evangelist also pointed out when he said: "He did so many miracles, and they did not believe in Him." And of course, it is a matter of no small malice not to believe in so many miracles. So many, he says, miracles about which he has kept silent. So. Jesus hid himself in order to calm their malice, and at the same time to give them time and tranquillity, so that they could calm down and discuss His words and deeds. For in such a case, if they wished, they could come to understand His dignity - the Godhead. Though He knew their unbelief beforehand, yet what depended on Himself, He did and allowed, giving them, as it is said, time to discuss. In the words, "They have not believed in him, that the word of Isaiah may be fulfilled," there is not a cause, but an event. For they did not believe in Christ, not because Isaiah foretold about them, but the prophet foretold about them because they would not believe. The same thought is expressed in the words: "Therefore they could not believe that Isaiah had yet spoken of them." By all this He wants to confirm that the Scriptures are not false, and that Isaiah's prophecy was not fulfilled in any other way than he had predicted. Lest anyone speak and wonder why Christ came, if he knew that the Jews would not believe in Him, for this purpose the Evangelist cites the prophets who foretold this; But Christ, though He knew of their unbelief, yet He came so that they would not have an excuse for their sin, and could not say that we would believe if He had come. The words: "could not believe" mean the same as "did not want." For an evil and wicked man, as long as he remains so, that is, chooses evil, cannot believe. But when you hear that God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, do not think that He simply makes some good and others evil (away with such a thought!), but by complete blindness understand abandonment from God. Let me explain by an example, Suppose that someone is moderate in malice. God seems to be with him, because there is hope that such a person will be converted. When a person plunges into the depths of malice, then God leaves him because of his evil will. Of a man who has lost the Divine light and walks in the darkness of sin, it is said that he walks like a blind man; the absence of the Divine word, which softens the hearts of those who accept it, is a hardening of the heart. He is already blinded who does not receive the ray of Divine light at all, and he is petrified who does not want to listen to the teaching that softens the heart, and the withdrawal of God completely blinds and darkens him. Therefore, when you hear that God blinds, understand that He blinds because He is not intrinsic. For if God were inherent in man, man would not become blind. If there were sunshine, there would be no darkness. And now the sun produces night. How? When it comes in. In the same way, God makes people blind by withdrawing from them. And he departs from them because of their malice, and from there, like blind men, they sin irretrievably and fall irreparably. Let us also consider the words of Isaiah: "Lord! Who believed our hearing?" For the word "who" is used in many places of Scripture instead of "no one." The prophet said this as if on behalf of Christ. It is as if Christ says to the Father: Lord! Who believed Our hearing? - that is, no one believed Our word and My preaching, which He called "hearing". For He says, "What I have heard from My Father, that I say" (John 8:26). "And the arm of the Lord was revealed to whom?" - that is, the powerful action of miracles, which I called "the arm", was not revealed to any of the foolish Jews, but they slander Me even when I work so many miracles.

This is what Isaiah said, when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. However, many of the rulers also believed in Him, but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, so as not to be excommunicated from the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. This is what Isaiah said when he saw His glory. Whom? Son. Although the prophet, judging by the connection of the speech, seems to have seen the glory of the Father, the Evangelist says here that Isaiah saw the glory of the Son, and the Apostle Paul says that he saw the glory of the Spirit (Acts 28:25). Truly one is the glory of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Isaiah, he says, saw glory: the smoke that appeared to him, the seraphim, the coals, the altar, the throne (Isaiah 6:1). So Isaiah saw this glory and spoke of Him, that is, of the Son. What did He say about Him? That which is said above, that he blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. The Evangelist notes that many of the rulers also believed in Him, showing that the Pharisees lied when they said: "Did any of the rulers believe in Him?" (John 7:48). For behold, many of the rulers believed, but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess. For they have loved the glory of men. Christ had said to them about this before: "How can you believe, when you receive glory from men, and reject the glory that is from God alone" (John 5:44)? Thus, the Evangelist shows that what Christ predicted happened to them. Truly, they were not bosses, but slaves, and slaves of the lowest. From now on we learn that whoever loves glory is a slave and dishonorable.

And Jesus cried out, and said, He that believeth in Me believeth not in Me, but in Him who sent Me; and he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. Jesus, yielding to the fury of the Jews, hid for a while, and then appeared again and cried out openly. And showing that He Himself is equal to the Father and not an adversary of God, He says: "He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me," saying, as it were, "Why are you afraid to believe in Me?" Faith in Me goes back to My Father. Note also the accuracy in words. The Lord did not say, "He who believes in Me," but, "He who believes in Me," which means faith in God. For it is one thing to believe in someone, and another thing to believe in someone. If anyone believes anyone, it can be understood that he believes the justice of his words, and whoever believes in Him as God. Therefore it may be said, He believes the Apostles; but to believe in the apostles is impossible to say. Therefore the Lord did not say, "He that believeth on Me." For both Paul and Peter could have said, He that believeth unto me. And the Jews were reproached for not believing Moses (John 5:46). But He said more: he who believes "in Me" than He shows that He Himself is God, as He also says to His disciples: "Believe on God, and believe on Me" (John 14:1). Therefore, whoever believes in Him raises his faith to the Father, and he who does not believe in Him does not believe in the Father. "And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me." Is it he who sees bodily features? No. For the Father is not the body, so that it may be said that he who sees Christ bodily sees the Father also, but by seeing understand, I beseech thee, the contemplation of the mind. The Lord says as it were: whoever embraces My being by the contemplation of the mind, as far as it is possible for man, embraces the essence of the Father as well. Whoever acknowledges Me as God undoubtedly acknowledges the Father as well. For I am the image of the Father. All this shows the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son. Let those who suffer from Arianism hear that he who believes in the Son does not believe in Him, but in the Father, so that either the Father is a creature, or the Son is not a creature. As if someone were to say that he who draws water from the river does not take it from the river, but from the source, so he who believes in the Son does not believe in the Son, the river (for the Son is not another being with the Father, and has nothing different from the Father), but believes in the source of good, that is, the Father.

I have come into the world as a light, that whosoever believeth in Me should not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Again with these words He shows His consubstantiality with the Father. For as the Father is everywhere called Light in the Scriptures, so He also says of Himself: "I have come into the world as light." For this reason the Apostle Paul also calls Him Radiance (Heb. 1:3), showing that there is nothing mediating between the Father and the Son, but the Father and the Son are together, as light and radiance are together. Therefore the Son is Light, because He delivers from error and dispels the darkness of the mind, and because just as the Light, with its manifestation, becomes visible and reveals other visible objects, so the Son, having come and appeared to us, gave knowledge of Himself and of the Father, and enlightened the hearts of those who received Him with all knowledge. "If," he says, "any man hears me and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world." The meaning of these words is this: I am not guilty of condemning the unbelieving man, for I did not come primarily for this, but it happened afterwards. I came to save and taught for this. But if anyone does not believe, I am not the cause of his condemnation, but he brought it upon himself. This will become even clearer from what follows. Listen, then, to what follows.

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath judge unto himself: the word which I have spoken, it shall judge him at the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment what to say and what to say. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say, as the Father told Me. I judge no one, but he who does not believe has a judge for himself. And it is our custom, and we often say, when we want to punish a disorderly child, that it is not we who punish him, but his carelessness and disorder, and it is not we who condemn him, but our convictions, to which he has not submitted, they accuse him as disobedient. So also the Lord says: "I do not judge, but the word that I have spoken, it will judge." For why did they not believe? Is it not because I am an adversary of God and seek my own glory? But I did not speak of Myself, but spoke all things from My Father, and nowhere did I pretend Myself to be philosophizing anything else. For the Father who sent me gave me a commandment what to say and what to say. What deep humility there is in these words! Is it, Lord, that before the Father sent Thee and gave Thee a commandment, Thou didst not know what to say, did not know the commandment which is eternal life? did not know this eternal life? How did You say: "I am life" (John 11:25)? Do you see what an incongruity arises if we do not understand wisely what is said? Therefore, know that the Lord expresses Himself so humbly because His hearers are weak. And what does He want to express by this? The fact that He does not speak, does not philosophize anything other than the Father. For just as those who are sent, he says, say nothing but what is commanded, so I Myself do not reason, nor have I taught anything else except that which is for the glory of the Father. So, wishing to prove this, that is, oneness of mind with the Father, he recalled this example, that is, the commandment. Wherefore he adds, "Therefore what I say, I speak as the Father has told me." And since I have spoken nothing of myself, what justification will those who do not believe present? Without any contradiction, they will be condemned for not believing the Father. So, Orthodox Christian, do not imply anything base in humble words, for example: "I have received the commandment" and the like, but understand them wisely, as well as this: "I have accepted the commandment what to say and what to say." For the Son, being the Word, and expressing what is in the Mind, that is, the Father, says that he has received from Him the commandment what to say and what to say. In the same way, our word, if we want to be true, says what the mind offers it, and the word never differs in essence from the mind, but is completely of the same essence.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, showed by His deeds that, having loved His own who are in the world, He loved them to the end. The Lord knew the hour of His death before all ages, and when it came, He did a deed full of much love for humanity and condescension, and manifesting great love for His disciples. For, intending to leave them, he shows a strong love for them. The words, "having loved them, loved them to the end," mean that He did not omit anything that should have been done by one who loves deeply. Wherefore in the end of all things he does this: he washes the feet of his disciples, in order to fully show his love for them, and to leave them great consolation in the midst of the calamities that befall them, a consolation in the thought that he who loves them to the point that he has washed their feet will not forsake them even in calamities. "Transition" refers to Christ's death because of His ascension after His resurrection. And so, since He had to pass away from this world, He shows His love for His own, and calls His disciples because of their nearness. To His God, and to all men according to the right of His creation, which is why it is said: He came to "His own," and "His own" did not receive Him (John 1:11). But the saints are His own because they are close to Him, just as here He called His disciples His own. He added: "To those who are in the world," because there are others of His own, for example, Abraham and the patriarchs; but they are not in this world, because they have migrated from here. These are His own, who are in the world, He loved to the end, that is, He showed perfect love for them.

And at the time of supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot of Simon to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was departing to God, arose from the supper, shone off His outer garment, and taking a towel, girded Himself; Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. The Evangelist, amazed that Christ washed the feet of the one who dared to betray Him, says: "When the devil had already put into the heart of Judas." Thus to the end He took care of the correction of the traitor. And the words: "at the time of supper" are not set without purpose, but to show the inhumanity of Judas, since participation in the supper did not change him. "Jesus, knowing that the Father has given all things into His hands," that is, He has entrusted to Him the salvation of the faithful, and it is necessary to show them all things pertaining to salvation, among other things, and to wash the feet of the disciples, for by this humility is legitimized. if He washes the disciples' feet. For He did not steal glory in order to fear losing it, and therefore not to undertake any humble work. A similar feeling is experienced by those who do not have true nobility. Since they have stolen glory for themselves, they do not even want to bend down, so as not to lose what does not belong to them and what they have stolen. But He was the King of all and the Son of God. For this is the meaning of the words: "He came from God," that is, from the essence of the Father, and again "departs to God." Therefore His glory, when He is so high and so great, will not diminish if He washes the feet of the disciples. Note, I beseech you, that if humility is the work of one who proceeds from God and departs to God, then pride will obviously be the work of one who proceeds from demons and departs to demons. But when you hear that "the Father has delivered up to Him," do not think that the impotence of the Son is revealed here, but oneness of honor and oneness of mind with the Father. For if because it is said that the Father has delivered up to Him, the Son appears to you to be powerless, then imagine the Father also to be powerless. For to Him also, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 15:24), the Son will deliver up the kingdom. But this is not the case; and "tradition" signifies, so to speak, the unanimity and co-operation and goodwill of the Father. Note also the superlative degree of humility. For He does not wash before supper, but when all are seated, He alone rises, and the rest rest. He lays aside His garments, teaching us to make ourselves unhindered and easy to serve. He girds himself with a towel, doing everything Himself - both washing and rubbing. He pours in water, and does it Himself, and does not order someone else to do it. All this is an example and a law for us as to how we should serve, namely, with all diligence, to do everything ourselves, and not to use the service of others.

He came up to Simon Peter, and he said to Him, "Lord! Do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not know now, but you will understand later." The Lord does not wash Peter's feet first, although he had primacy over the disciples, but perhaps the traitor, being impudent and shameless, reclined higher than Peter, and the Lord washed his feet. Where does this come from? From the following. "He began," it is said, to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them, "then" comes to Simon Peter. From this it is clear that the Lord did not wash Peter first. For if the Lord had not washed someone before Peter, the Evangelist would not have said, "He comes to Simon Peter." None of the other disciples would have dared to accept washing before Peter, and the traitor could have dared to do so. For if the Lord had begun to wash one of the other disciples, this one, whoever he was, would not have admitted the Lord and would have said the same thing as Peter: "Lord, shall Thou wash my feet?" This means that of the other disciples, the Lord washed the traitor first, then Peter. And the rest, enlightened by the example of Peter, naturally did not contradict, but accepted such a high honor given to them by the Lord. Consider also the power of the words of the Apostle Peter.

However, after you have cast out demons in My name, when you have seen My ascension into heaven, when you have learned from the Holy Spirit that I sit at the right hand of the Father, then you will understand that He Who humbled Himself to the point of washing your feet, He is the One who gives you such power over the demons, and ascended and was glorified with the Father, not in the least degraded by humility. And therefore you yourself have implanted in yourself humility, which does not humiliate, but elevates more.

Peter said to Him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, he has no part with me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and head. Peter deeply respects his Teacher, and therefore he reveres Him, and does not accept His ministry. Although on other occasions Peter received a rebuke from the Lord (Matt. 16:22), and in order to avoid that reproach he would now have to accept washing from the Lord, nevertheless, since the work now being done by Christ is very important, Peter resists, and does not think that the Lord may again reprimand him even more severely, as if he were disobedient. What about Christ? He does not say to Peter, "I teach you humility, and for this I wash your feet." For Peter would have told Him, even with an oath, that I would have humility even without washing my feet. What does the Lord say to him? Which, according to the Lord's knowledge, could especially touch Peter's heart, He makes it seem to be a certain threat. "If," he says, "I don't wash you, you have no part with Me." Since Peter, more than all the other disciples, desired to be together with Christ, which is why he asked Him where He was going, and out of love promised to lay down his life for Him (John 13:36, 37), the Lord shakes his soul with a real threat. "If," he says, "I don't wash you, you have no part with Me." Peter, having heard such a terrible threat, as he was firm in his resistance, was just as strong, and still more, in expressing his consent; for he also gives his head to wash. In both cases, he is guided by love: he resists washing because he greatly reveres the Lord; agrees because he does not want to be separated from Him. But I beseech thee, that when thou seest that a man insists on his own out of ignorance, and with an oath promises, "I will not do such-and-such," and then, out of respect for the oath, abides in that which he has not discussed well, and because of this suffers harm in soul or body, then make good use of the example of the Apostle Peter, who insisted on his own, but when he saw it, that his persistence could separate him from Christ, he lagged behind her.

Jesus said to him; He who has been washed only needs to wash his feet, because he is completely clean; and you are pure, but not all. For He knew His betrayer, therefore He said, "Not all of you are pure." The Lord, having received a pretext, denounces the betrayer that he has an impure thought, needs to be washed from deceit and to change his intention. You, he says, being washed, do not yet need another ablution, but one is unclean and needs ablution. Many people ask: why did the Lord say to the Apostles: "You are clean," when they were not yet freed from sins, when they had not yet received the Spirit, since sin still reigned, the oath still retained its power, for the Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world, had not yet been slain, our Redeemer from the curse had not yet been hanged on a tree? In what sense were the apostles pure? It can be said that although they have not been completely freed from sins, they are pure through the word which the Lord preached to them (John 15:3), pure, at least in that they have already received the Light, have already been freed from the Jewish error. For listen to how Isaiah teaches us to wash: "Wash yourselves, and be cleansed, and put away evil from your souls" (Isaiah 1:16). For this reason the Lord justly calls His disciples washed and clean; For they dwelt with Christ with all kindness and simplicity - By supper some understood the knowledge of the mystery of Christ at the end of the ages, which Jesus teaches His disciples, for which He also washes their feet, not because they are dirty, but in order to prepare them for the gospel, according to the saying of Isaiah: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace!" (Isaiah 52:7), And so, he says, you are clean, as far as yourselves are concerned, but you must also be sent to cleanse others, which is expressed by washing your feet. Thus, washing does not give us the thought of cleansing the apostles from sins, for they, according to the testimony of the Lord, are pure, but serves as a sign that they are sent out to preach, so that the purity granted to them through the teaching of the Lord may be passed on to others. For this reason Peter also says: "Wash not only my feet, but also my head," that is, not only go forth to preach, but cleanse my head also through martyrdom. Notice, perhaps, how this is done today. For even now there is a supper when the Divine Body and His Blood are presented during the Divine rite. What kind of work is required of each of us? Listen. All of us who believe in Christ have within us the Word of God and the preaching of the Gospel, for we have all received Christ into our hearts; but in this divine supper, we must restore this Word and take off his garments that hide Him. Such garments are the love of money, vanity, envy, and each of the other passions, which, leaning on the Word of God that exists in us, burden it. So, when the Word arises, we need to put aside the passions, so that He, having become light, can cleanse us through repentance. For the Word, having risen and laid aside all burdens and cares of life, will wash away our thoughts, which learn from Him and follow Him, and will also wash our feet, that is, our active movements and our actions. But if anyone is in need of another purification, desires improvement in study and contemplation, let him say to the Lord: Lord! Wash not only my feet, but also my hands and head, that is, cleanse not only my actions, but also my "hands," so that I may be able to guide others, and take up the good, "and the head," so that in the contemplative and theological sense I may have a pure and irreproachable conception of the things of God. Thus, through confession we can be washed, so that we may worthily partake of the supper, and not eat or drink condemnation to ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:29).

And when He had washed their feet, and put on His garments, He sat down again, and said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for I am exactly that. Therefore, if I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you also must wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, A servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than he who sent him. The Lord no longer addresses His speech to Peter alone, but to everyone, and sets forth the reason for such humility on His part. The reason is that the disciples are to imitate Him in this. Perhaps it is not about the present tense that the Lord is speaking when He says to Peter: "You will know "after this", that is: Peter, you will know after I take My garment and sit down, and begin to teach you and say: "Do you know what I have done to you? For if I, who am acknowledged by you as Lord and Teacher, and who am not falsely acknowledged, for I am certain, have washed your feet (and did not say, "Unlettered and unlearned servants," but left it to you to figure it out for yourselves), then you also must necessarily wash one another's feet, that is, render every service to one another. For through washing, which is considered the last service, it teaches that we should all the more perform other services, which are more honorable. I have given you an example that you also should do what I have done to you, that is, serve with the same diligence. Though My work is greater, inasmuch as I, the Lord, have washed the feet of servants, and you wash the feet of slaves like you. Thus we see that teachers also write very beautiful letters for children, so that little by little they will come to imitation. To the Apostles, of necessity, the Lord inspires this. They had to receive honor, some greater, others less. In order that they may not be exalted before one another, He purifies the thoughts of all of them. For a servant is not greater than his master, as long as he is a servant, nor a messenger greater than him who sent him, as long as he is a messenger, and when he is greater, then he is neither a servant nor a messenger;

If you know this, blessed are you when you do it. I do not say of all of you, I know whom I have chosen; but let the Scripture be fulfilled: He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me (Psalm 40:10). Now I say to you, before it comes to pass, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that it is I. We ourselves know that humility is good, therefore He says: If you know, this alone is not enough, but you are blessed when you do it. For the Jews also knew the commandments, but they are not blessed, but very miserable, because they did not keep them. "I do not say of all of you, I know whom I have chosen." With these hidden words he denounces the traitor and at the same time does not convict him, for he wanted to bring him to repentance. Therefore, omitting all the other benefits that he has shown him, he sets forth that which could convert him most of all. Whoever eats My bread, whom I feed, who shares a table with Me (which circumstance softens even enemies), did not say: he "betrays" Me, but: "He has lifted up his heel against Me," that is, he has used deceit and deceit against Me, in the likeness of wrestlers who contrive against their rivals and, shutting their heels, overthrow them. "I am not talking about all of you." In order not to bring fear into many, He clearly separates him (the betrayer) and shows that He is only one plotting against Him. Therefore He says: "He who eats My bread with Me." - When Jesus said, "I know whom I have chosen," what did He tell us about Judas? Did He choose Him also? Yes, when he was good, he chose, like Saul (but he himself changed, because he is free; the Lord allows everyone to act according to his will, because He does not take away freedom); and when Judas changed, he rejected him, although he had chosen him before. - "Let the Scripture be fulfilled." Understand this expression in the same way as other similar expressions, of which we have often spoken.