John Chrysostom, On John

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let us cast the seed, and let us spare nothing of what is within, so that we may receive them back with a great reward, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

59.153 HOMILY 26. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which

is born of the Spirit is spirit. 1. The only-begotten Son of God has deemed us worthy of great mysteries;

great ones, of which we were not worthy, but of which it was fitting for him to give. For if anyone considers our worth, we were not only unworthy of the gift, but also liable to chastisement and punishment. But since he did not look to this, he not only delivered us from punishment, but also granted a life far more glorious than the former one, he brought us into another world, he made another creation. For, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," it says. What new creation? Hear him saying: "Unless a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." We were entrusted with Paradise, and we were not found worthy even of life in it, and he has led us up into the heavens. In the first things we were not found faithful, and he has entrusted us with greater things; we did not have strength to abstain from one tree, and he has provided the delight that is above; in Paradise we did not persevere, and he has opened the heavens to us. Rightly did Paul say: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" No longer a mother, no longer birth pangs, nor sleep, and intercourse and embraces of bodies; henceforward the fashioning of your nature is woven above, from the Holy Spirit and water. The water is taken, becoming a birth for the one being born. For what the womb is to the embryo, this the water is to the faithful; for in the water he is formed and shaped. For at first it was said, "Let the waters bring forth creeping things with living souls"; but since the Master entered the streams of the Jordan, the water no longer brings forth creeping things with living souls, but rational and spirit-bearing souls. And what is said of the sun, that "he is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber," it would be more fitting to say this of the faithful. For they send forth rays far brighter than his. But that which is formed in the womb requires time; but in the water it is not so, but in a single moment all things are done. For where life is mortal and has its beginning from bodily corruption, that which is born is slow, (for such is the nature of bodies; in time it attains perfection); but with spiritual things it is not so. Why then? Because the things that come to be are made perfect from the beginning. But since Nicodemus, hearing these things, was continually troubled, see how He opens to him the secret of this mystery, and makes clear what was for a time unclear to him, saying, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." He leads him away from all things of sense, and does not allow him to examine the initiation with these eyes. "For we are not discoursing about flesh," he says, "but about Spirit, O Nicodemus." For a time he directed him upwards by this word. Seek none of the things of sense, therefore; for the Spirit would not appear to these eyes; nor think that the Spirit begets flesh. How then, someone might perhaps say, was the flesh of the Lord born? Not from the Spirit only, but also from 59.154 flesh. Therefore Paul, declaring this, said, "Made of a woman, made under the law." For the Spirit indeed fashioned him thus, yet not from nothing; since what need was there of the womb? but from the flesh of the virgin; but how, I am not able to explain. But this was done, so that no one might think that which was born was alien to our nature. If

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σπόρον καταβάλωμεν, καὶ μηδενὸς φεισώμεθα τῶν ἔνδον, ἵνα μετὰ πολλῆς αὐτὰ ἀπολάβωμεν τῆς ἀντιδόσεως, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

59.153 ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΚΣΤʹ. Τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς, σάρξ ἐστι· καὶ τὸ

γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος, πνεῦμά ἐστιν. αʹ. Μεγάλων ἡμᾶς μυστηρίων κατηξίωσεν ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ·

μεγάλων, καὶ οἵων ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἦμεν ἄξιοι, ἀλλ' οἵων αὐτῷ παρέχειν πρέπον ἦν. Ἂν μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀξίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν λογίσηταί τις, οὐ μόνον τῆς δωρεᾶς ἦμεν ἀνάξιοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ κολάσεως ὑπεύθυνοι καὶ τιμωρίας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ πρὸς τοῦτο εἶδεν, οὐ μόνον κολάσεως ἀπήλλαξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζωὴν ἐχαρίσατο πολλῷ τῆς προτέρας λαμπροτέραν, εἰς ἄλλον ἡμᾶς εἰσήγαγε κόσμον, ἑτέραν ἐδημιούργησε κτίσιν· Εἴ τις γὰρ ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις, φησί. Ποία καινὴ κτίσις; Ἄκουσον αὐτοῦ λέγοντος· Ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Παράδεισον ἐπιστεύθημεν, καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ διαγωγῆς ἐφάνημεν ἄξιοι, καὶ εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἡμᾶς ἀνήγαγεν. Ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις οὐχ εὑρέθημεν πιστοὶ, καὶ μείζονα ἐνεχείρισεν· ἑνὸς ἀποσχέσθαι ξύλου οὐκ ἰσχύσαμεν, καὶ τὴν ἄνω παρέσχε τρυφήν· ἐν παραδείσῳ οὐκ ἐκαρτερήσαμεν, καὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἡμῖν ἀνεπέτασεν. Εἰκότως ἔλεγεν ὁ Παῦλος· Ὦ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως Θεοῦ. Οὐκ ἔτι μήτηρ, οὐκ ἔτι ὠδῖνες, οὔτε ὕπνοι, καὶ συνουσίαι καὶ περιπλοκαὶ σωμάτων· ἄνω λοιπὸν ὑφαίνεται τῆς ὑμετέρας φύσεως ἡ κατασκευὴ, ἀπὸ Πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ ὕδατος. Τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ παρείληπται, τόκος τῷ τικτομένῳ γινόμενον. Ὅπερ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ μήτρα τῷ ἐμβρύῳ, τοῦτο τῷ πιστῷ τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐν γὰρ τῷ ὕδατι διαπλάττεται καὶ μορφοῦται. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον ἐλέγετο· Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν· ἐξ οὗ δὲ ἐπέβη τῶν Ἰορδάνου ῥείθρων ὁ ∆εσπότης, οὐκ ἔτι ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν, ἀλλὰ ψυχὰς λογικὰς καὶ πνευματοφόρους τὸ ὕδωρ ἀναδίδωσι. Καὶ ὃ περὶ τοῦ ἡλίου εἴρηται, ὅτι Ὡς νυμφίος ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ παστοῦ αὐτοῦ, τοῦτο περὶ τῶν πιστῶν καιρὸς ἂν εἴη μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν. Πολλῷ γὰρ φαιδροτέρας ἀφιᾶσι τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἐκείνου. Ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ διαπλαττόμενον, χρόνου δεῖται· ἐν τῷ ὕδατι δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἐν μιᾶ ῥοπῇ πάντα γίνεται. Ἔνθα μὲν γὰρ ἐπίκηρος ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἀπὸ σωματικῆς φθορᾶς ἔχει τὴν ἀρχὴν, βραδύνει τὸ τικτόμενον, (τοιαύτη γὰρ τῶν σωμάτων ἡ φύσις· χρόνῳ προσλαμβάνει τὸ τέλειον)· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν πνευματικῶν οὐχ οὕτω. Τί δήποτε; Ὅτι τέλεια ἐξ ἀρχῆς κατασκευάζεται τὰ γινόμενα. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὁ Νικόδημος ἀκούων ταῦτα συνεχῶς ἐταράττετο, ὅρα πῶς αὐτῷ παρανοίγει τὸ ἀπόῤῥητον τοῦ μυστηρίου τούτου, καὶ σαφὲς ἐργάζεται τὸ ἀσαφὲς ἐκείνῳ τέως, Τὸ γεγεννημένον, λέγων, ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς, σάρξ ἐστι· τὸ δὲ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος, πνεῦμά ἐστιν. Ἀπάγει τῶν αἰσθητῶν αὐτὸν ἁπάντων, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησι τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τούτοις περιεργάσασθαι τὴν μυσταγωγίαν. Οὐ γὰρ περὶ σαρκὸς διαλεγόμεθα, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ περὶ Πνεύματος, ὦ Νικόδημε. Τέως αὐτὸν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ πρὸς τὸ ἄνω παρέπεμψε. Μηδὲν τοίνυν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐπιζήτει· τὸ γὰρ Πνεῦμα οὐκ ἂν φανείη τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τούτοις· μηδὲ νόμιζε, ὅτι σάρκα τίκτει τὸ Πνεῦμα. Πῶς οὖν, ἴσως εἴποι ἄν τις, ἡ τοῦ Κυρίου σὰρξ ἐτέχθη; Οὐκ ἀπὸ Πνεύματος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ 59.154 σαρκός. ∆ιὸ καὶ τοῦτο δηλῶν ὁ Παῦλος ἔλεγε· Γενόμενος ἐκ γυναικὸς, γενόμενος ὑπὸ νόμον. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ Πνεῦμα αὐτὸν διέπλασεν οὕτως, οὐ μὴν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων· ἐπεὶ τί ἔδει τῆς μήτρας; ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς τῆς παρθενικῆς· τὸ δὲ, πῶς, οὐ δύναμαι ἑρμηνεύειν. Τοῦτο δὲ γέγονεν, ἵνα μή τις ἀλλότριον τῆς ἡμετέρας εἶναι νομίσῃ φύσεως τὸ τικτόμενον. Εἰ