Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo 26th Tract on John

Pentecost Octave: IV

 Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John

John 6:44-52

At that time, Jesus said unto the multitudes of the Jews: No man can come to Me, except the Father, Which hath sent me, draw him. And so on.

Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

26th Tract on John

Think not that thou art drawn against thy will; the soul is drawn, not willingly only, but lovingly. Neither must we be afraid lest men who are great weighers of words, and very far from understanding the things of God, should catch us up upon this Gospel doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, and should say to us: How can my faith be willing if am drawn? I answer: Thou art not drawn as touching thy will, but by pleasure. And, now, what is being drawn by pleasure? Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Ps. xxxvi. 4. There is pleasure in that heart to which the Bread That came down from heaven is sweet. The poet is allowed to say His special pleasure draws each, but pleasure, which so draws, is not a necessity, not a bond, but a delight how much more strongly, may we say that men are drawn to Christ, who delight in truth, who delight in blessedness, who delight in righteousness, who delight in life everlasting, since truth and blessedness, and righteousness and everlasting life are all to be found in Christ? Or have the bodily senses pleasure, and the spiritual senses none? If the spiritual sense have no pleasures, wherefore is it written: And the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light shall we see light. Ps. xxxv. 8.

Give me a lover, and he will catch my meaning; give me one who longs, give me a hungry man, give me a wanderer in this desert, a thirst and gasping for the fountains of the eternal Fatherland; give me such a one, and he will catch my meaning. If I talk to some cold creature, he will not. Such cold creatures were they of whom it is written: The Jews then murmured at Him because He said, I am the Bread Which came down from heaven. And they said: Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and Mother we know? How is it then that He saith: I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them: Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father, Which hath sent Me, draw him. 41-44. But wherefore speaks Christ of them whom the Father draws, since He Himself draws. Why was it His will to say: No man can come to Me except the Father draws him? If we are to be drawn, let us be drawn by Him to Whom one that loved much said: Draw me, we will run after the savior of thy good ointments. Cant. i. 4. But let us consider, my brethren, what He meant, and understand it as well as we can. The Father draws to the Son them who believe in the Son, because they are persuaded that He has God to His Father. God the Father begets to Himself a coequal Son; and whosoever is persuaded, and realizes unto himself by faith, and thinks, that He in Whom he believeth is equal to the Father, him the Father is drawing unto the Son.

Arius, who believed that the Son was made, was not one of them whom the Father draws since whosoever believes not that the Father is a Father by the begetting of a coequal Son, such a one knows not the Father. What do you say, O Arius? What do you say O heretic? What is your profession? What is Christ? He is not, says Arius, Himself Very God. Then, O Arius, the Father has not drawn you; you have not understood His dignity as a Father, to Whom you deny His Son. You deny the existence of the Son of God, the Father draws you not, and you are not drawn to the Son, since the Son of whom you speak is another son, [existing only in your imagination,] and not the really existent Son. Photinus said: Christ is a mere man, and not God at all. He who utters those words was not one of them whom the Father draws. But whom has the Father drawn? The Father drew him who said: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matth. xvi. 16, 17. Show a sheep a green bough, and you draw him. Let a boy see some nuts, and he is drawn by them. As they run, they are drawn, drawn by taste, drawn without bodily hurt, drawn by a line bound to their heart. If, then, among earthly things, such as be sweet and pleasant draw such as love them, as soon as they see them, so that it is truth to say, His special pleasure draws each, does not that Christ, Whom the Father has revealed, draw? What stronger object of love can a soul have than the Truth?