ACC ~ John 6 v15

CHRIST DESPISED WORLDLY DIGNITY

CHRYSOSTOM: Wonderful! How great is the tyranny of gluttony, how great the fickleness of people’s minds! No longer do they vindicate the law, no longer do they care for the violation of the sabbath, and no longer are they zealous for God. All such considerations are thrown aside when their bellies have been filled. He was a prophet in their eyes, and they were about to choose him for a king. But Christ flees. Why? To teach us to despise worldly dignities and to show us that he needed nothing on earth. For the one who chose all the ordinary things of life, such as mother, house, city, nurture and clothing, would not afterwards be made illustrious by things on earth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 42.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:153*.

HE IS ALREADY A KING

AUGUSTINE: Yet he who shrank from being made a king, was a king [already]; not made king by people but one who would bestow a kingdom on people…. For he ever reigns with the Father, in that he is the Son of God, the Word of God, the Word by which all things were made. The prophets had foretold his kingdom. Christ, by being made man, made the believers in him Christians. There will consequently be a kingdom of Christians that at present is being gathered together, being prepared and purchased by the blood of Christ. And this kingdom will be made manifest after the judgment when the glory of his saints shall be revealed…. The disciples, however, and the multitude who believed in him thought that he had come to reign immediately, and so they would have taken him by force to make him a king, seeking to anticipate his time, which he kept secret. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 25.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:160-61**.

FLEE FROM WORLDLY GLORY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: When Christ flees from those who want to give him honor and refuses that highest earthly prize of a kingdom,… he teaches us that it is unseemly for those who pursue divine grace and thirst for everlasting glory to seek after worldly greatness. We must then forego the love of glory, the sister and neighbor of arrogance, residing not far from its borders. Let us have nothing to do with illustrious honor in this present life which is hurtful. Let us rather seek after a holy humility giving preference to one another. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.4. [1]

[1] LF 43:333**.

OUR POWER IS NOT POLITICAL POWER BUT WEAKNESS

AMBROSE: Under the Old Testament, imperial power was bestowed by priests, not despotically claimed, and it is commonly said that emperors aspired to the priesthood rather than priests to the imperial power. Christ fled lest he be made a king. We have a power of our own. The power of the priest is weakness. He [Paul] said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” [1] LETTER 60 (TO MARCELLINA). [2]

[1] 2 Cor 12:10.

[2] FC 26:373-74.

WHENEVER ESCAPE IS NECESSARY, SO IS PRAYER

AUGUSTINE: Indeed our Lord teaches us here that whenever escape is necessary, there is an even greater necessity for prayer. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.47.100. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 6:150**.