Homily Three for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
“And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them” (John 17:10)
Today, beloved brothers and sisters, we have gathered together two or even four feasts: first, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the memory of the Holy Fathers of the Nicene Synod, who confirmed the teaching about the Divinity of Jesus Christ against the heretic Arius, who blasphemed the Son of God by denying His Divinity and His eternal equality with God the Father. That already makes two feasts. The third is the feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the great servant of God, and the fourth is the memory of the great Prophet Isaiah, who proclaimed the Divinity of Jesus Christ seven hundred years before His birth.
So, my brethren, there were heretics who, taught by the devil, dared to deprive people of the hope of salvation, to deprive them of the Savior, the Destroyer of death and hades, the Lord Jesus Christ, reducing Him — the Creator and God — to the level of a creature. Against these bold and senseless men, led by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine convened the Ecumenical Synod in the city of Nicaea in the year 325 after the Birth of Christ. There the blaspheming Arius was refuted, removed from the priesthood, and excommunicated from the Church of God together with his followers, and soon afterward he died a shameful death.
O the madness of Arius! O satanic boldness! How could anyone even allow himself to think — much less teach and insist — that Jesus Christ is not the eternal and almighty God? All the prophets of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, proclaimed Him as the true God, especially Isaiah, who called Him Emmanuel, Mighty God, Father of the age to come. All the words and deeds of Jesus Christ testified that He is truly God. All His miracles — the countless miracles showing His divine power over evil spirits, His authority over Angels, over people, over heaven and earth, over paradise, life, death, and hades, and His own Resurrection from the dead — left no doubt that He is the true God.
Then His divine disciples, who received from Him as the all-powerful God the authority to work miracles — to heal diseases, cast out demons, raise the dead, and forgive sins — and who themselves performed these works, loudly testified to and revealed His Divinity and almighty power. Especially striking was this greatest miracle: simple and uneducated fishermen became, by the grace of Christ, the greatest wise men in the world, bringing the whole world to the faith of Christ. The timid became courageous and fearless, the weak became powerful, for they themselves said: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). The sinful became righteous and holy. This alone convinces every reasonable person of the Divinity of their Teacher more strongly than any argument.
And if we also consider the countless multitudes of martyrs, men and women, who endured with steadfastness and even joy unimaginably terrible sufferings for Christ — often long and cruel tortures — the astonishing miracles performed during and after their sufferings, witnessed by thousands and recorded by impartial history, then what madman would dare claim that Jesus Christ, who strengthened the holy martyrs, is not almighty God?
Yes, let us say plainly: He is not only almighty God, eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but He also makes human beings gods — those who love Him and keep His commandments. “I said, you are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High” (Ps. 81:6). His holy saints, among whom is the great hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker, truly became like gods on earth, and even now they remain so. First, they became holy, as the Lord God is holy. This is the first and greatest miracle: by the grace of God they conquered sin and the devil and fulfilled every virtue. Second, they performed and still perform great miracles: they healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and worked many other wonders by the power of Jesus Christ. See what the power of Christ accomplishes in holy people! Thus, He is not only God Himself, but He also makes His saints godlike: “You are gods.”
Moreover, there have always been, and there still are among faithful Christians, ordinary people who by faith in Jesus Christ overcome their passions, who feel within themselves the countless powers of Jesus Christ against the demons and passions fighting against them when they sincerely call upon His Name. In His Name they perform good works, put off the old man and put on the new, overcome death within themselves, and experience the kingdom of spiritual life in Jesus Christ. Is this not also a great miracle in our own time — a miracle secretly worked in many believers by the grace of Christ God?
Live according to the teaching of Christ, fulfill His will, and you yourselves will see, touch, and feel the Divinity of Christ. But the wicked, unbelieving, and lawless person will not recognize His Divinity even from the obvious miracles of Christ, because the eyes of his heart are blinded by passions; Satan has blinded them.
The Lord Himself in today’s Gospel testifies to His unity with the Father: “All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them.” If everything belonging to God the Father also belongs to the Son, then certainly the eternity, omnipotence, wisdom, goodness, and every divine attribute of the Father also belong to Him. Therefore let us all firmly and actively believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and imitate His saints, so that people may see from our own lives and deeds the Divinity of the Founder of our faith.
Holy Father Nicholas, teach us to imitate your virtues according to our strength, so that in us also the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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