ACC ~ John 4 v34

CHRIST HUNGRY FOR OUR SALVATION

CHRYSOSTOM: He calls the salvation of men and women his food, showing his great desire that we should be saved. His desire for our salvation is as great as our desire for food. And see how often he does not express himself directly but figuratively. This necessarily makes it difficult for his hearers to comprehend his meaning, but it also gives a greater importance to that meaning once it is understood. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:119**.

THE WILL OF GOD IS REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

AMBROSE: The food of a priest is the remission of sins. Therefore, the Prince of priests, Christ, says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” What is the will of God but this: “When you turn and groan, [1] then shall you be saved”? [2] LETTER 57 (TO SIMPLICIANUS). [3]

[1] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

[2] Is 30:15.

[3] FC 26:315*.

ONE WILL

ORIGEN: It is proper food for the Son of God when he becomes a doer of the Father’s will, that is, when he wills in himself what was also the Father’s will, so that the will of God is in the will of the Son, and the will of the Son has become indistinguishable from the will of the Father, and there are no longer two wills but one. [1] It is because of this one will that the Son said, “I and the Father are one.” [2] And because of this will, he who has seen him has seen the Son, and has seen also the one who sent him. [3] … Only the Son has comprehended the complete will of God and does it. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.228, 231. [4]

[1] Origen’s words could be construed as akin to the later teaching known as monothelitism (i.e., Christ had only one will), although that was not yet a burning issue at this stage of theological discussion.

[2] Jn 10:30.

[3] Jn 12:45.

[4] FC 89:115-16; SC 222:154-56.

BEING PERFECTED AND MADE READY FOR SOLID FOOD

ORIGEN: Perhaps the Savior was sent for the following reasons. First, that he might do the will of the one who sent him, having become his worker here, too, and second, that he might perfect the work of God, so that each one who has been perfected might be made fit for solid food and be present with wisdom. “Solid food is for the perfect, the mature, who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” [1] … And when each of us, a work of God, has been perfected by Jesus, he will say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” [2] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.241-42. [3]

[1] Heb 5:14.

[2] 2 Tim 4:7-8.

[3] FC 89:118**; SC 222:160. See also Ambrose On the Christian Faith 5.13.170.

THE WORK OF THE FATHER IS NOT YET FINISHED

AMBROSE: But as Christ is not yet made subject [to the Father], so also is the work of God not yet perfected. For the Son of God said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” How can anyone doubt that the subjection of the Son in me is still in the future when the work of the Father is still unfinished [in me] because I myself am not yet perfect? ON THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 5.13.169. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 10:305**.

THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: What is this work? It is the conversion of the human race. And quite appropriately, by speaking like a human being, he said that that work was more important than any corporeal food. He also said that he did the will of him who sent him because he had been entrusted with that work. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 2.4.34. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:94.