John Chrysostom, On Consubstantiality

they were disturbed and scandalized; but if ever he said anything lowly and human, they ran to him and received his word. And where can this be seen? he says. Especially in John; for when he said, Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad, they say, You are not yet forty years old, and you have seen Abraham? Do you see that they thought of him as a mere man? What then did he say? Before Abraham was, he says, I am. And they took up stones to throw at him. And when he spoke at length about the mysteries, saying, And the bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is my flesh, they said, This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? And from this time many of his disciples went back, and no longer walked with him. What then ought he to have done? tell me; to dwell continually on the more sublime words, so as to scare away the prey, and drive everyone away from his teaching? But this was not of the loving-kindness of God. For again, when he said, He who hears my word will never taste of death, they said, Did we not say rightly, that you have a demon? Abraham died, and the prophets died, and you say, that he who hears my word will never taste of death? And what wonder is it if the multitude were so disposed, when even the rulers themselves held this opinion? For indeed Nicodemus, being a ruler himself, and having come to him with much good will and having said, We know that you have come from God as a teacher, was not able to receive the teaching about baptism, it being much greater than his weakness; for when Christ said that, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God; he so fell into human suppositions, and says, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born from above? What then did Christ say? If I have told you earthly things and you did not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? all but apologizing and saying why he did not continually discourse to them about the birth from above. Again at the very time of the cross after the countless signs, after that great proof of his power, that he might say that, You will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds, the high priest, not bearing what was said, tore his garments. How then ought one to discourse to these men, who bore none of the sublime things? For that he did not speak at all anything great and lofty about himself is not surprising to men crawling on the ground, and being so weak. 4. What has been said, then, was sufficient to show that this was the cause and the reason for the humbleness of the things then spoken; but I will also try to make this clear from the other side. For just as you saw them being scandalized, 48.761 disturbed, leaping away, reviling, fleeing, whenever Christ uttered anything great and lofty, so I will try to show you them running to him, and accepting his teaching, whenever he said anything lowly and humble. For they themselves, the very ones who were leaping away, when he said again, I do nothing of myself, but as my Father has taught me, I speak, immediately ran to him. And the Evangelist, wishing to show us that they believed because of the lowliness of his words, signifies this by saying; When he had spoken these things, many believed in him. And in many other places one might find this happening in this way. For this reason he spoke many things and many times in a human manner, and again not in a human manner, but in a manner befitting God, and worthy of his own nobility, on the one hand condescending to the weakness of his hearers, on the other hand providing for the orthodoxy of the doctrines. For lest the condescension, being constant, into the opinion about his worth

ἐθορυβοῦντο καὶ ἐσκανδαλίζοντο· εἰ δέ ποτέ τι ταπεινὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπινον, προσέτρεχον καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐδέχοντο. Καὶ ποῦ τοῦτο ἔστιν ἰδεῖν; φησί. Παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ μάλιστα· εἰπόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ, Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἠγαλλιάσατο, ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμὴν, καὶ εἶδε καὶ ἐχάρη, λέγουσι· Τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη οὔπω ἔχεις, καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ἑώρακας; Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ὡς περὶ ἀνθρώπου ψιλοῦ διέκειντο; Τί οὖν αὐτός; Πρὸ τοῦ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι, φησὶν, ἐγώ εἰμι. Καὶ ἦραν λίθους, ἵνα βάλλωσιν ἐπ' αὐτόν. Καὶ ὅτε περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων μακροὺς ἐπέτεινε λόγους, λέγων, Καὶ ὁ ἄρτος δὲ, ὃν ἐγὼ δώσω ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου ζωῆς, ἡ σάρξ μου ἐστὶν, ἔλεγον, Σκληρός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος οὗτος· τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν; Καὶ ἐκ τούτου πολλοὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ οὐκέτι μετ' αὐτοῦ περιεπάτουν. Τί οὖν ἔδει ποιεῖν; εἰπέ μοι· τοῖς ὑψηλοτέροις ἐνδιατρίβειν ῥήμασι διηνεκῶς, ὥστε ἀποσοβῆσαι τὴν θήραν, καὶ πάντας ἀποκρούσασθαι τῆς διδασκαλίας; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἦν τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας. Καὶ γὰρ πάλιν ἐπειδὴ εἶπεν, Ὁ τὸν λόγον μου ἀκούων, θανάτου οὐ μὴ γεύσηται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἔλεγον, Οὐ καλῶς ἐλέγομεν, ὅτι δαιμόνιον ἔχεις; Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανε, καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον, καὶ σὺ λέγεις, ὅτι Ὁ τὸν λόγον μου ἀκούων οὐ μὴ γεύσηται θανάτου; Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ τὸ πλῆθος οὕτω διέκειτο, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ταύτην εἶχον τὴν γνώμην; Ὁ γοῦν Νικόδημος ἄρχων αὐτὸς ὢν, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐνοίας πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλθὼν καὶ εἰπὼν, Οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος, τὸν περὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος οὐκ ἠδυνήθη δέξασθαι λόγον, πολλῷ μείζονα τῆς ἀσθενείας ὄντα τῆς ἐκείνου· εἰπόντος γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι Ἂν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ· οὕτως εἰς ἀνθρωπίνας κατέπεσεν ὑπονοίας, καί φησι, Πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν, καὶ γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν; Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστός; Εἰ τὰ ἐπίγεια εἶπον ὑμῖν καὶ οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε, πῶς ἐὰν εἴπω ὑμῖν τὰ ἐπουράνια πιστεύσετε; μονονουχὶ ἀπολογούμενος καὶ λέγων, τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐ συνεχῶς αὐτοῖς περὶ τῆς ἄνω γεννήσεως διελέγετο. Πάλιν παρ' αὐτὸν τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸν καιρὸν μετὰ τὰ μυρία σημεῖα, μετὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἐκείνην ἀπόδειξιν τῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεως, ἵνα εἴπῃ, ὅτι Ὄψεσθε τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν ἐρχόμενον, οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν τὸ λεχθὲν ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς, διέῤῥηξεν αὑτοῦ τὰ ἱμάτια. Πῶς οὖν τούτοις διαλέγεσθαι ἔδει, τοῖς οὐδὲν τῶν ὑψηλῶν φέρουσιν; Ὅτι γὰρ ὅλως οὐκ εἶπέ τι μέγα καὶ ὑψηλὸν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ θαυμαστὸν ἀνθρώποις χαμαὶ συρομένοις, καὶ οὕτως ἀσθενῶς ἔχουσιν. δʹ. Ἤρκει μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ εἰρημένα δεῖξαι, ὅτι αὕτη ἡ αἰτία καὶ ἡ πρόφασις ἦν τῆς τῶν τότε λεγομένων εὐτελείας· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ θατέρου μέρους τοῦτο πειράσομαι ποιῆσαι φανερόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἴδετε σκαν 48.761 δαλιζομένους, θορυβουμένους, ἀποπηδῶντας, λοιδορουμένους, φεύγοντας, εἴ ποτέ τι μέγα καὶ ὑψηλὸν ἐφθέγξατο ὁ Χριστὸς, οὕτως ὑμῖν αὐτοὺς δεῖξαι πειράσομαι προστρέχοντας, καὶ καταδεχομένους τὴν διδασκαλίαν, εἴ ποτέ τι ταπεινὸν καὶ εὐτελὲς εἶπεν. Αὐτοὶ γὰρ, αὐτοὶ οἱ ἀποπηδῶντες, εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ πάλιν, ὅτι Ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ ποιῶ οὐδὲν, ἀλλὰ καθὼς ἐδίδαξέ με ὁ Πατήρ μου λαλῶ, εὐθέως προσέδραμον. Καὶ βουλόμενος ἡμῖν ἐνδείξασθαι ὁ Εὐαγγελιστὴς, ὅτι διὰ τὴν ταπεινότητα τῶν ῥημάτων ἐπίστευσαν, ἐπισημαίνεται λέγων· Ταῦτα αὐτοῦ λαλήσαντος, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτόν. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ πολλαχοῦ τοῦτο εὕροι τις ἂν οὕτω συμβαῖνον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πολλὰ καὶ πολλάκις ἀνθρωπίνως ἐφθέγγετο, καὶ πάλιν οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνως, ἀλλὰ θεοπρεπῶς, καὶ τῆς εὐγενείας ἄξια τῆς ἑαυτοῦ, τὸ μὲν τῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων συγκαταβαίνων ἀσθενείᾳ, τὸ δὲ τῆς τῶν δογμάτων προνοῶν ὀρθότητος. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ ἡ συγκατάβασις διαπαντὸς γινομένη εἰς τὴν περὶ τῆς ἀξίας αὐτοῦ δόξαν