v. 6. 14. v. 7. 590 Anointing and enlightenment; conversion and baptism. HOMIL. intimated. He spat upon the ground; of His spittle He made XLIV. clay,—because the Word was made flesh;—and anointed John 1, the eyes of the blind man. He was anointed, and still did not yet see. He sent him to the pool which is called Siloe. It concerned the Evangelist, however, to call our attention to the name of this pool; and he saith, Which is by interpretation, Sent. Who was the Sent, of course ye know: had not He been Sent with that mission, none of us should have had remission of our iniquity. Well, he washed his eyes in that pool which is by interpretation, Sent; he was baptized in Christ. If therefore when Christ in some sort baptized the man in Himself, He then enlightened him; when He anointed him, belike He made him a catechumen. There may indeed be various other ways of expounding this so great sign in its depth of spiritual meaning, and setting it forth fully; but let this suffice, my beloved; ye have heard a grand mystery. Ask a man, Art thou Christian?' He answereth, I am not,' if he be Pagan or Jew. But should he say, 'I am;' thou goest on to question him, 'Catechumen, or believer?' Should he reply, 'Catechumen;' he is anointed, not yet washed. But wherewith anointed? Ask, and he answereth; ask him, in Whom he believeth? in the very fact of his being a catechumen, he saith,' In Christ.' Lo, I am now speaking both to believers and to catechumens. What said I of the spittle and the clay? That the Word was made flesh. This the catechumens do also hear; but that is not enough for them whereunto they are anointed: let them haste unto the laver, if they seek light. v. 1. 3. Now then, because of certain questions in this same lesson, let us take the words of the Lord and of the whole lesson, rather in a cursory recital than to handle them in exposition. Going forth, He saw a man who was blind, not indifferently in what manner blind, but from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, Rabbi-Ye know that Rabbi is, Master. They addressed Him as Master, because they desired to learn: namely, they put a question to the Lord, as to a Master,who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, that he should be born blind. What is this that The night cometh when none can work. 591 IX. He hath said? If there be no man without sin, were the parents JOHN of this blind man without sin? Can it be, that this man 2-4. himself, either was born without original sin, or by his life had added nothing of sin thereto? Because he had his eyes closed, were the lusts not at all awake? What great evils do blind men commit! What evil does an evil mind abstain from, even when the eyes are closed? He had not power to see, but he knew how to think, and haply to lust after somewhat which a blind man had not power to accomplish, but for which he might in heart be judged by the Searcher of the heart. If then his parents had sin and the man had sin, wherefore did the Lord say, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but in reference to the matter about which He was questioned, that he should be born blind? For his parents had sin, but it was not caused by their sin that he was born blind. If then it was not caused by the parents' sin that he was born blind, why was he born blind? Hear the Master teaching: He requireth a man to believe, that He may make him to understand: Neither hath this v. 3. man sinned, saith He, nor his parents: but that the works of God may be manifested in him. 4. Thereupon what follows? I must work the works of v. 4. Him that sent Me. Lo, this is that Sent, in Whom the blind man washed his face. And observe what He saith: I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day. Remember how He giveth all the glory to Him, of Whom He is because it is of the Father that the Son bath His being, but the Father Himself hath His being of none. But wherefore saidst Thou, Lord, while it is day? Hear wherefore. The night cometh, when no man can work. Not even Thou, Lord? Yea, and shall the force of that night be so great, that not even Thou shalt be able to work in it, Thou Whose work the night is? For I suppose, O Lord Jesu, nay, not suppose, but believe and hold firm, that Thou wast there, when God said, Let there be light, and there was Gen. 1, light. If with His Word He made, by Thee He made it; and therefore it is said, All things were made by Him, and John 1, without Him was nothing made.-God divided between the light and the darkness: the light He called day, and the 4.5. darkness called He night. 3. 3. Gen. 1, HOMIL. v. 5. 592 Christ, the Light of the world, the true Day. 5. What is that night, in which, when it is come, none shall have power to work? Hear what the day is, and then shalt thou understand what night is. Of whom shall we hear what this Day is? Let Himself tell us: As long as I am in this world, I am the Light of the world. Lo He is the Day. Let the blind wash his eyes in the Day, that he may see the Day! So long, saith He, as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. Therefore, it will be a night, when Christ shall not be there; that is the reason why none will have power to work. It remains to inquire, my brethren; do ye patiently receive me as one inquiring: together with you I seek together with you let me find Him of Whom I seek. It is on all hands sure, it is an expressed and definite truth, that the Lord in this place has called Himself, the Day, i. e. the Light of the world: as long, saith He, as I am in this world, I am the Light of this world. Therefore, Himself doth work. But how long is He in this world? Suppose we Him, my brethren, to have been here then, and now to be not here? If we suppose this, it follows that straightway after the Lord's ascension came this fearful night, when none can work: if after the Lord's ascension this night came, whence came it that the Apostles did so great works? Was this night come, when the Holy Spirit Acts 2, came, and filled all who were in one place, and gave to them to speak with tongues of all nations? Was it night, Ib. 3, when that lame man was at Peter's word made whole, nay, rather at the word of the Lord Who dwelt in Peter? Was Ib.5,15. it night, when, as the disciples passed by, the sick were placed with their beds so that they might be touched if only by the shadow of them as they passed? Now while the Lord was here, there was none whom His passing shadow John 14, made whole: but then He had said to His disciples, Ye shall do greater works than these. The Lord indeed had 1-6. 6-8. 12. said, Ye shall do greater works than these; but let not flesh Ib. 15,5. and blood extol itself; let it hear Him saying, Without Me ye can do nothing. 6. What then? what shall we say of this night? When will be the time that none shall have power to work? This will be the night of the ungodly: it will be the night of them Mat. 26, to whom it will be said in the end of the world, Go into 41. The night of hell, where Christ is not. 593 IX.4,5. 13. everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his JoHN angels. But then it is called night, not flame, not fire. Hear that it is night. Of a certain servant He saith, Bind Mat. 22, him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness. Then let a man work while he liveth, lest he be prevented by that night wherein none can work. Now is the time that faith should work by love; and if we now work, this is the Day, this is Christ. Hear Him promising, and do not imagine Him to be absent. Himself hath said, Lo, I am ib.28,20. with you alway. How long? Let there be no solicitude in us which live: if it were possible, we would make even those also who shall be after us to be fully assured as concerning this saying, Lo, saith He, I am with you, even unto the end of the world. The day which is completed by the circuit of this sun of ours, hath few hours: the day of the presence of Christ stretches out even unto the end of the world. But after the resurrection of quick and dead, when to them that are on His right hand He shall have said, Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom; and ib.25,34. to them on His left hand shall have said, Go into everlasting ib. 41. fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels; there will be the night when none can work, but only receive what he hath wrought. One is the time of work; other, the time of receiving: for the Lord will render unto every man ib.16,27. according to his works. While thou livest, do, if thou wilt do: for there will then be a mighty night, to wrap up the ungodly. Howbeit even now, every unbeliever, when he dies, is received by that night: there is no doing any thing there! In that night Dives burned, and sought a drop of water from the poor man's finger: he was in pain, he was in anguish, he confessed, yet was he not succoured; yea, he essayed even to do good. For he said to Abraham; Father Abraham, send Lazarus to my brethren, to tell Luke 16, them what is doing here", lest they also come into this place of torments. O unhappy one! when thou livedst, then was the time for working; now thou art already in the night, in which none can work. Ut dicat illis quid hic agatur. So Serm. 41, 4. (Vet. Lat. and Vulg. ut testetur illis.) So Origen in a fragment cited by Photius Biblioth. Cod. 224. from Methodius: 8T Tévte ådeλpoùs 24-28. v. 6, 7. 594 Grace received, confessed, and preached. HOMIL. 7. When He had thus spoken, He spat on the ground, XLIV. and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. As this is plain, let us pass it by. v. 8, 9. cus προσαίτης 8. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had 1 mendi-seen him that he was a beggar1, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others, Not so, but he is like him. The opened eyes had altered his look. He said, I am he. A grateful word, that an ungrateful v. 10,11 should not be condemned. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A Man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I saw. Lo, he is become a preacher of grace; lo, he preacheth the Gospel, he confesseth, now that he seeth. That blind man confessed, and the heart of the ungodly was broken; because they had not in their heart that which he now had in his face. They said to him, Where is He that opened thine eyes? He said, I know not. In these words, his mind was like one at present anointed, but not yet seeing. Let us so put it, my brethren, as that he had that anointing in his mind. He preaches, and knows not Whom he preaches. v. 12. v.13-16. Levit. 23, 8. xx. 2. see. 9. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do Therefore said some of the Pharisees. Not all, but some for already some were in process of anointing. What then said they which neither saw nor were anointed? This man is not of God, who keepeth not the sabbath. Nay rather, He did keep it, Who was without sin. For the spiritual sabbath is this, to have no sin. Indeed, my brethren, God doth admonish us of this, when He enjoineth the sabbath: Ye shall do no servile work. These are the words of God enjoining the sabbath: Ye shall do no servile work. Ask the former lessons, what is meant by servile work, and |