Michael | Stories of the Desert Fathers
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Saint John the Little's obedience: kenosis, not blind obedience
The speaker recounts the desert tradition of Abba Amoi giving Saint John the Little a dry stick to water daily, a round trip of twelve miles from his cell. After three years the stick becomes a fruitful tree. The speaker argues that the story is often misread as blind obedience but actually illustrates kenosis, self-emptying, that mirrors Christ emptying himself and dying on a tree for our salvation.
Saint John knew the stick was dead and would not grow, yet he continued the labor out of love. The speaker then asks whether we similarly serve spouses, parents, or spiritual guides by doing unwanted tasks with diligence, thereby emulating the saints who emulate Christ and receiving the fruit of obedience and self-emptying.
Key moments
- An elder goes to Abba John, takes a dry dead stick, plants it about six hours away from Abba John's cell, and tells him to water it every day.
- Abba John wakes early, walks to the wall with a bucket, gets water, walks to the stick twelve miles (twenty kilometers) away, and waters it daily.
- After three years the stick grows into a beautiful fruitful tree.
- Many people cite this as blind obedience, but the speaker says they misunderstand; it is an example of self-emptying.
- It mirrors Christ emptying himself, being obedient unto death on a tree, giving fruit which is our salvation.
- Saint John knew the stick was dead and would not grow, yet he still put time and effort into watering it daily.
- The speaker asks how many of us do this with spouses, parents, or spiritual guides.
- We do things we do not want or agree with out of love for others, giving time, attention, and diligence, and only then emulate the saints who emulate Christ and receive the fruit of obedience and self-emptying.
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