John Chrysostom, On John

of the bosom, I say, only that you may not suspect anything lowly. Have you seen the love for man and care of the Master? God clothes Himself with unworthy words, that even so you may see clearly, and conceive something great and lofty; and you remain below? For tell me; for what reason has the 'bosom' been introduced here, this gross and carnal name? That we should suspect God to be a body? Away with the thought, by no means, he says. For what reason then was it said? For if neither the genuineness of the Son is presented through this, nor that God is not a body, the saying has been added superfluously, fulfilling no need. For what reason then was it said? for I will not cease asking you this. Is it not very clear that it is for no other reason than that we might understand through it the genuineness of the Only-begotten, and His co-eternity with the Father? He has declared, he says. What has He declared? That no one has ever seen God; that God is one. But this the other prophets also, and Moses, cry aloud everywhere: The Lord your God, the Lord is one; and Isaiah: Before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none. 3. What more then have we learned from the Son, as being in the Father's bosom? what from the Only-begotten? That, first, these very things are of His working; then, we have received a much clearer teaching, and have known that God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth; and further, this very thing, that it is impossible to see God, and that no one knows Him, except the Son; and that He is the Father of a genuine Only-begotten; and the other things that have been said about Him. But the word, He declared, shows the clearer and more distinct teaching, which He gave and accomplished not for the Jews only, but for the whole world. Now, not all the Jews gave heed to the prophets; but to the Only-begotten of God the whole world both yielded and was persuaded. The declaration here, then, signifies the greater clarity of the teaching; for which reason He is also called the Word, and the Angel of great counsel. Since, then, we have been deemed worthy of a greater and more perfect teaching, God having spoken to us in these last days not through prophets any more, but through His Son, let us show a much greater and worthy manner of life for this honor. For it is absurd that He Himself should have descended so far, as to be no longer willing to speak to us through His servants, but through Himself; while we should show nothing more than those of old. They, then, had Moses, but we have the Master of Moses as our teacher. 59.101 Let us, therefore, show a philosophy worthy of this honor, and have nothing in common with the earth. For for this reason He brought us teaching from above, from the heavens, that He might transfer our mind there, that we might become imitators of our teacher according to our ability. And how, he says, is it possible to become imitators of Christ? By working all things for the common good, and not seeking one's own interests. For Christ also, he says, did not please Himself, but as it is written: The reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me. Therefore let no one seek his own. For one seeks his own in this way, if he looks to the things of his neighbor; for their things are ours. We are one body, and parts and members of one another. Let us not then be disposed as if divided, nor let anyone say: So-and-so is not my friend, nor a relative, nor a neighbor, nor do I have anything in common with him; how shall I approach him? how shall I speak to him? For even if he is not a relative, nor a friend, yet he is a human being, partaking of the same nature as you, having the same Master, a fellow-servant and fellow-lodger; for he was born into the same world. And if he also partakes of the same faith, behold, he has also become a member with you. For what friendship could ever work so great a union as the kinship of faith? For it is not such closeness as friends ought to show to friends that we must have in our intimacy towards one another; but as a member to a member. For one could never find any greater intimacy than this manner of friendship and fellowship. Just as, then, you would not be able to say: Whence to me

τοῦ κόλπου λέγω, μόνον ἵνα μηδὲν ὑποπτεύσῃς ταπεινόν. Εἶδες φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ κηδεμονίαν ∆εσπότου; Ἀνάξια ῥήματα περιτίθησιν ἑαυτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα κἂν οὕτω διαβλέψῃς, καὶ μέγα τι καὶ ὑψηλὸν ἐννοήσῃς· καὶ σὺ κάτω μένεις; Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι· τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ κόλπος ἐνταῦθα παρείληπται, τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο ὄνομα καὶ σαρκικόν; ἵνα σῶμα τὸν Θεὸν ὑποπτεύσωμεν; Ἄπαγε, οὐδαμῶς, φησί. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν εἴρηται; Εἰ γὰρ μήτε ἡ γνησιότης τοῦ Υἱοῦ παρίσταται διὰ τούτου, μήτε τὸ μὴ σῶμα εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, περιττῶς προσέῤῥιπται τὸ ῥητὸν, οὐδεμίαν χρείαν πληροῦν. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν εἴρηται; οὐ γὰρ ἀποστήσομαί σου τοῦτο πυνθανόμενος. Οὐκ εὔδηλον ὅτι οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ἵνα μὴ ὑπολάβωμεν δι' αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ γνήσιον τοῦ Μονογενοῦς, καὶ τὸ συναΐδιον τῷ Πατρί; Ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο, φησί. Τί ἐξηγήσατο; Ὅτι Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε· ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Θεός. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ προφῆται, καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἄνω καὶ κάτω βοᾷ· Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, Κύριος εἷς ἐστι· καὶ ὁ Ἡσαΐας· Ἔμπροσθέν μου οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος Θεὸς, καὶ μετ' ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔστιν. γʹ. Τί οὖν πλέον ἐμάθομεν παρὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, ὡς ἐν τοῖς κόλποις ὄντος τοῖς πατρικοῖς; τί παρὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς; Ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν καὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα τῆς ἐνεργείας ἐστὶ τῆς ἐκείνου· ἔπειτα, πολλῷ τρανοτέραν ἐδεξάμεθα τὴν διδασκαλίαν, καὶ ἔγνωμεν ὅτι πνεῦμα ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν, ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν· καὶ ἔτι αὐτὸ τοῦτο, ὅτι Θεὸν ἰδεῖν ἀδύνατον, καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς αὐτὸν γινώσκει, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱός· καὶ ὅτι ὁ Πατήρ ἐστι γνησίου Μονογενοῦς· καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα περὶ αὐτοῦ διελέχθη. Τὸ δὲ, Ἐξηγήσατο, τὴν τρανοτέραν καὶ σαφεστέραν δείκνυσι διδασκαλίαν, ἢν οὐ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ἅπασαν ἐποιήσατο τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ κατώρθωσε. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν προφήταις οὐδὲ Ἰουδαῖοι πάντες προσεῖχον· τῷ δὲ Μονογενεῖ τοῦ Θεοῦ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ εἶξε καὶ ἐπείσθη. Ἡ τοίνυν ἐξήγησις ἐνταῦθα τὸ σαφέστερον τῆς διδασκαλίας δηλοῖ· διὸ καὶ Λόγος λέγεται, καὶ Μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας κατηξιώθημεν τῆς διδασκαλίας, οὐκ ἔτι διὰ προφητῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ λαλήσαντος ἡμῖν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων, πολλῷ μείζονα καὶ ἀξίαν πολιτείαν ἐπιδειξώμεθα τῆς τιμῆς. Καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον, αὐτὸν μὲν καταβῆναι τοσοῦτον, ὡς μηκέτι διὰ τῶν δούλων ἡμῖν ἐθέλειν διαλέγεσθαι, ἀλλὰ δι' ἑαυτοῦ· ἡμᾶς δὲ τῶν προτέρων μηδὲν ἐπιδείξασθαι πλέον. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν Μωϋσέα, ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸν Μωϋσέως ∆εσπότην διδάσκα 59.101 λον ἔχομεν. Οὐκοῦν ταύτης τῆς τιμῆς ἀξίαν φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιδειξώμεθα, καὶ μηδὲν ἔχωμεν κοινὸν πρὸς τὴν γῆν. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἡμῖν ἄνωθεν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν διδασκαλίαν ἐκόμισεν, ἵνα ἐκεῖ μεταστήσῃ τὴν διάνοιαν, ἵνα μιμηταὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου γενώμεθα κατὰ δύναμιν τὴν ἡμετέραν. Καὶ πῶς, φησὶν, ἔστι μιμητὰς γενέσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς τὸ κοινωφελὲς ἅπαντα πραγματευομένους, καὶ μὴ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ζητοῦντας. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς, φησὶν, οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ἤρεσεν, ἀλλὰ καθὼς γέγραπται· Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσον ἐπ' ἐμέ. Μηδεὶς τοιγαροῦν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητείτω. Οὕτω γάρ τις τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητεῖ, ἂν τὸ τοῦ πλησίον σκοπῇ· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ἐκείνων ἡμέτερα. Σῶμά ἐσμεν ἓν, καὶ ἀλλήλων μέρη καὶ μέλη. Μὴ τοίνυν ὡς διεσπασμένοι διακεώμεθα, μηδὲ λεγέτω τις· Ὁ δεῖνά μοι φίλος οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐδὲ συγγενὴς, οὐδὲ γείτων, οὐδὲ ἔχω τι κοινὸν πρὸς αὐτόν· πῶς προσελεύσομαι; πῶς διαλέξομαι; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ συγγενὴς, μηδὲ φίλος ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπός ἐστι, τῆς αὐτῆς σοὶ μετέχων φύσεως, τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχων ∆εσπότην, ὁμόδουλος καὶ ὁμόσκηνος· ἐν γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ γέγονε κόσμῳ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τῆς πίστεως μετέχει τῆς αὐτῆς, ἰδού σοι καὶ μέλος γέγονε. Ποία γὰρ φιλία τοσαύτην ἕνωσιν ἐργάσασθαι δύναιτ' ἂν, ὅσην τῆς πίστεως ἡ συγγένεια; Οὐ γὰρ ὅσην φίλους πρὸς φίλους ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χρὴ τὴν ἐγγύτητα, καὶ τοσαύτην ἡμᾶς ἔχειν δεῖ τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἰκείωσιν· ἀλλ' ὅσην μέλος πρὸς μέλος. Τούτου γὰρ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς φιλίας καὶ κοινωνίας ἄλλην μείζονα οἰκείωσιν οὐκ ἄν τις εὕροι ποτέ. Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ ἂν δύναιο λέγειν· Πόθεν μοι