and dost thou know that I know thee? When I was hidden in my mother's womb, and not having yet found my exit because the time was not complete, I saw thee in the womb of the one who bore thee, whom thou wast bearing; and I recognized thee; and when I was unable to speak, I shouted through the mouth of my mother: "Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43). There I did not err, and now shall I not attain to knowledge? I ought to be baptized by thee, and dost thou come to me? The Lord answers, as thou hast just heard: "Suffer it for now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). Suffer it for now; thou knowest not what thou sayest; I know what I am doing. Thou seekest that the glory of my divinity should be revealed to thee; it is not yet the time for this; all things are good in their proper time. Thou speakest the truth, but faith is not held toward thee; for the nation of the Jews is indeed incredulous; didst thou not call them a generation of vipers? Why, then, dost thou wish me to be revealed to them? They do not accept thy testimony concerning me; they regard thee as suspect regarding the office of the Forerunner. Suffer it for now; they shall receive a greater testimony. Suffer it for now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. John replies: In what way, Master? Then the Lord: Just as I am circumcised that I might fulfill the law, so am I baptized that I might confirm grace. If I fulfill a part and leave a part, I leave the dispensation mangled. I must fulfill all, that hereafter Paul may write: "Christ is the fullness of the law unto righteousness for everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4). Suffer it for now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Suffer, John, the nature of water to be sanctified; I must fulfill all. If I do not receive baptism from thee, a king will not deign to be baptized by a poor priest. Suffer it for now, suffer that the Father may cry out from on high: "This is my beloved Son," not that the Jews might call me a carpenter’s son, but the Son of the heavenly Father. Suffer it for now, do not oppose Adam; I am the second Adam, who wish to wash away the filth of his sins; if I am not baptized, how shall he be purified? Therefore, I, being thirty years old, am baptized, adopting his age, so that through that which pertained to him, that which is mine might be confirmed. Suffer it for now, that the word of the prophet might be fulfilled: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters" (Ps. 28:5). And the spectacle was terrible. John trembling touched the head of the Master, and the angels looked on as the heavens were opened; and the Spirit of grace in the form of a dove flying to the head of the Master, was renewing the right hand of John. The multitude stood by, greatly doubting, and saying to one another: "Who is this?" From here, answering the crowd, the Father cried out to him who was asking, "Who is this?" and said: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: listen to him." The Begetter testifies to his love for the Son by crying out, that thou mayest learn the Creator's affection for the world, who for such servants delivered up the Son, for the hateful the beloved, for sinners the sinless, for the inglorious the glorious. Therefore, let us celebrate with glory the Lord who has appeared, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
NOTICE REGARDING THE HOMILY ON THE MEETING OF CHRIST
Anyone of refined taste will grant that this homily is unworthy of Chrysostom. For there are many things here, especially toward the end, that are inept and childish. Rightly, therefore, was it relegated among the Spurious in previous editions. The Latin interpretation is by Fronto Ducæus.ON THE MEETING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND ON THE THEOTOKOS, AND ON SIMEON. ORATION
Not only does our Lord Jesus Christ clothe himself in flesh, but he is even circumcised according to the prescription of the law, that he may remove every occasion for Jewish incredulity. For he comes to the law for the sake of the law, that through faith he might free the disciples from the law; and he assumes flesh, and is circumcised with the Jews. He enters into communion of flesh, he enters also into communion of circumcision; he confirmed the kinship, lest they deny Christ to have risen from the seed of David, whom they were expecting; he showed the token of kinship. For if, when he was circumcised, they said, "We do not know whence he is" (John 9:29), if he had not been circumcised according to the flesh, they would have had a specious occasion for denial. "After the eight days were completed, that the child might be circumcised" (Luke 2:21). "After the eight days were completed": for the law orders the circumcision to be done on the eighth day; and when the eighth day arrives, the physician proceeds into the midst, and takes up the iron, and practices his art, and the sabbath ceases on account of the circumcision. Let us therefore question the Jews: The sabbath is a rest; it is a day of perfect vacation; for what reason does the eighth expel the seventh? Why does the eighth surpass the seventh? But the Jews indeed do not know Jewish matters at all; but the Church of Christ knows Christ and the Jewish documents. For the child is circumcised on the eighth day, because the Lord's resurrection was to be the circumcision of the whole world on the eighth day. For why did Moses not command them to circumcise on the sixth day? Why not on the ninth or tenth? The eighth day is therefore illustrious and clear, the day on which the Lord rose. If anyone, therefore, does not believe in the resurrection, he is uncircumcised in heart, and through incredulity is alienated from God. But circumcision itself is the true knowledge and understanding of faith. Therefore, most beloved, circumcision is handed down to the faithful in place of holy baptism; but the holy baptism of Christ is a figure of the resurrection. Pass, therefore, from the flesh to the spirit, and from the corporeal to the mystical anagogy of the Spirit, and there thou shalt find carnal circumcision, but here spiritual, and the purgation of sins. The eighth, moreover, is the circumcision, the eighth also is the resurrection; but baptism is the figure of the resurrection. Therefore, a progress is made from small things to greater; from corporeal things to those which are more spiritual. Let the Jews, therefore, draw near, and make progress; for progress is to be made from carnal things, and one must not stick in them. And our Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, who "did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5:17), was circumcised with the Jews. The evangelist therefore says: "Those eight days were completed that he might be circumcised, and his name was called Jesus; which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb" (Luke 2:21). For we indeed receive names after the infant is brought forth by childbirth; but the name Jesus was imposed before he was born; for he was before he was conceived.A And when, he says, the days of their purification were fulfilled, according to the Law of Moses. Of what purification? That of Mary and Joseph; for the Law commanded the woman who had recently given birth to be purified, to observe the days, and to be restricted from leaving. When, therefore, the days of purification according to the Law of Moses were completed (although the Virgin had no need of it, yet the Law was being fulfilled), they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. Where there was bodily purification, he says, "according to the Law of Moses," but where there is the presentation of the Holy One, he says, "as it is written in the Law of the Lord"; not that the Law of Moses was not the Law of the Lord—for whatever the prophet speaks, conversing with the Holy Spirit, he does not speak himself, but the Lord suggests it—but yet, because the purification had a bodily type, he says, "the Law of Moses"; and because the first-born was being presented, he says, "according to the Law of the Lord," honoring the one being born: As it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord." This word, therefore, and the whole Law, and the cause of the Law, were established for the sake of the one who was about to open the womb. For all the first-born of animals and men never actually opened the womb, but were merely first-born; but when the Virgin gave birth, He alone opened the womb. See, then, the disposition of the entire Law for the sake of the One who was about to be born solely from a virgin. How was it possible for the Jews to understand this? For being carnal, they are very far from understanding the thoughts of spiritual perception. B Then they went up to offer a sacrifice, "according to that which was said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." And these things also happened typically according to the Law, so that nothing might be lacking for the fulfillment of the Law. These are legal riddles; but let us come to the evangelical exposition: "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and that man was righteous and devout; and the Spirit of God was upon him." This man had been promised by the Holy Spirit not to finish his life until he had seen the Christ of the Lord. Simeon was an old man, and he was awaiting the gospel; he remained in the temple, saying inside himself, "Wherever he may be born, he will surely come here." He came in the Spirit to the temple at that very hour when the parents were bringing the child. He had often come, but for a private reason; but then, being led by the Holy Spirit, he comes opportunely for the fulfillment of the promise. He received Jesus in his arms, and blessed God, and said: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Master, according to thy word, in peace." From where do you depart? From the life-struggle; for matters are sorrowful, and this life is a prison. He truly wished to be released; but if anyone considers the departure from here to be a loss, that person is not yet perfect in faith. Nevertheless, he said: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Master, according to thy word, in peace." For He who was about to make peace with the world had arrived; the peacemaker has come, He who joins heaven to earth, and makes the earth heaven through the gospel teaching, has arrived. Simeon says: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Master, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," he says. What is it that he says? For previously I believed in my mind, and I knew it by reasoning; but now my eyes have seen it; and what I expected in my heart, behold, my eyes have seen accomplished. And what? "I have seen," he says, "thy salvation." Which? "Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples," not of one people, nor of Israel alone, but before the face of all peoples; for the One born is a teacher for all. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Because of the light? Because the Gentiles were in darkness; because the darkened Gentiles were illuminated. C "A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." There is glory, and there is revelation; there is the beginning of teaching, and here the consequence of learning. "The glory of thy people Israel." But surely one will say: And where are the Israelites? You have Peter, you have Paul, you have John, you have the three thousand, you have the five thousand, you have the Church of Jerusalem, you have those from the Jews who have believed; for in those who believed was the nation. For unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been born as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. For God also says: "Yet I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Thus, the seed of faith was preserved in the people, and the whole people did not perish; God forbid! Nor were all the Jews corrupted; since even now in this blessed state and calling, many are called, but few are chosen. For Christ called the whole world, and prepared the holy feast of the Gospel. But when He comes in the second coming, He enters and makes a selection, and examines those reclining; and if He finds one of those reclining not having a wedding garment, He says to him: "Friend, how did you enter here, not having a wedding garment?" And He will cast him out, as we heard in the Gospels. So there was a selection there, and a selection will take place here. For because we have been called, we should not immediately become arrogant, as if we had attained the perfection; for let the fall of the first be a security for us. Thus, beloved, even the people did not all perish, nor were they all corrupted, nor did they all disbelieve, nor did they all persecute the apostles, but three thousand believed through the apostles, besides women and children; and a Church of ten thousand men was formed in Jerusalem while the temple was not yet destroyed, nor the Jews yet cast out, nor Jerusalem yet brought down. The Church was built, and John's words became a manifest truth: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Therefore, Simeon, being a prophet, says: "The glory of thy people Israel." For the meeting of the Expected One was the glory of those awaiting it; and Joseph and Mary also glorify what is said: an angel brought the good news, the Magi recognized it, the shepherds heard, the armies of angels danced, a star indicated from above, Simeon prophesies, Anna the daughter of Phanuel prophesies, the earth rejoiced, heaven spoke through the star, the Magi denied the tyrant, the shepherds worshipped the chief shepherd, all recognized Him, the mother saw, Joseph heard; they trembled at the things taking place, and they understood the outcome of the events. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against." For whom for the fall? Clearly those who disbelieve, those who speak against, those who crucify. For whom for the rising? Those who recognize and gratefully confess. "And for a sign that is spoken against." What sign is spoken against? The sign of the cross, which the Church knows to be the salvation of the world, which the Jews hate, which often heaven also proclaimed. But the sign is spoken against, so that the truth may be victorious; for without contradiction, complete victory does not happen. Therefore it was necessary for the contradiction to be introduced, so that the Judge, by longsuffering, might present the vote through the whole age. Therefore he says: "And for a sign that is spoken against; and they who disbelieve speak against it. And you also," he says, "you who think you are a mother; so you will be proof against temptation, since you confessed that you are a mother, since you gave birth to Him, since you thought of lending Him your womb? For your belly became a vessel of the operation of the Spirit. So will you be proof against temptation?"
A Nothing. But when you see Him on the cross, when you see Him suffering for the world, when you see His hands stretched out on the cross and fastened with nails to the wood, then you will begin to doubt and say: "Is this He of whom the angel spoke to me? Is this He in whom the miracle of my conception consists? Being a Virgin, I gave birth and remained a virgin; why is He crucified here?" And a sword shall pierce your own soul also. Therefore, no one was free from temptation, according to the prophecy of Simeon. Peter, the prince of the disciples, denied Him three times; the other disciples, having abandoned Him, fled. For the shepherd did not need the help of the sheep while driving away wolves, nor did the athlete need helpers, but all had gone away; Christ alone hung like a ram. Therefore, a sword also pierced His soul—that is to say, trial and a certain hesitation of mind—"and a sword shall pierce your own soul also, that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Therefore Jesus suffers to refute unbelief, and to confirm the steadfastness of the believers. B Furthermore, the sign is spoken against, so that those who speak against it out of malice may be confuted. For if the truth had not been subjected to any human contradiction, piety would never have been put to the test; but the permission of contradiction makes it tested by the choice of truth. The sign is spoken against: for if it were not so, how could martyrs have been proven in persecutions, who, while they contended, were declared victors through patience? And see how much contradiction has been of benefit, since it has made not only faithful ones, as one might perhaps suppose, but also martyrs of those who have advanced even to torments and death, and have given a specimen of the grace of Christ. When, therefore, Simeon says, "He is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against" (Luke 2:34), it must be noted that neither is resurrection forced upon anyone, nor does He Himself work ruin, but He is set for ruin to those who have stumbled at the stone of offense; but for resurrection to those who have believed of their own will; for He is set, as if to say: "Light arises, so that those who are healthy may see; but those whose eyes are sick, flee the splendor of the light all the more." C How, moreover, would these who have fallen have been worthy of reproach, and those, on the contrary, have risen having good hope of their own will, if the sign had not been spoken against? Why does Simeon say, "And for a sign which is spoken against"? So that contradiction might not deter those who believe. For even the truth which is according to God is spoken against, God surely permitting it: for no one could speak against it unless God permitted it; but it is necessary that it be permitted, so that those who are tested may become manifest. For there will be a time when there will no longer be a place for contradiction: for when the sign shall shine forth from heaven, then every knee shall bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and finally every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10). For as long as the sign itself only appears, and it is also only a sign, while He who is designated is nowhere seen, the sign is spoken against; but after He himself who is designated shall have been revealed in His second coming, no one will any longer dare to speak against the sign, when He who was designated shall arrive with manifest divinity against those who speak against Him. D Then, indeed, those who have received the sign will be heaped with glory by Him who is designated; but those who have spoken against the sign will be condemned by Him who is denoted; and it will be the end of contradiction, the end of error, the end of doubt, the end of unbelief; but the beginning of rewards and crowns—which may it be our lot to receive, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.