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BS 2595 .C9713 1859 v. 2 Cyril, ca. 370-444. A commentary upon the Gospe according to S. Luke
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A COMMENTARY
U "i - ' 'z:~
vJU:. - - 'ZwJ
UPON
TEE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO S. LUKE,
BY l/
S. CYRIL,
PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA.
NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
FROM AN ANCIENT SYRIAC VERSION
BY
R. PAYNE SMITH, M.A.,
SUBLIBRARIAN OF THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY.
PART II.
OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. M.DCCC.LIX.
Till] SECOND BOOK
THE SECOND BOOK
OP THE
FXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE,
BY
THE HOLY CYRIL,
ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. S69
BOOK II.
SERMON LXXXL
But if I by Beelzebub cast out the devils, by whom do your C. xi. 19- sons cast them out ? Therefore they shall be your judges. " But if I by the finger of God cast out the devils, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When the strong man armed guardeth his house, his goods are in peace : but when He Who is stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, He takethfrom him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with Me is against Me : and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth for Me. When the unclean spirit hath gone o-KoPTri(ei forth from the man, it wandereth about in places where M°' there is no water, seeking rest : and not having found it, then it saith, I will return to my house, whence I came out. t6t<- \iyn And when it cometh, it findeth it empty, swept, and gar- om' r6rf nished. Then it goeth, and bringeth seven other spirits GTs. worse than itself, and they enter in and dwell there. And \^0VTa g. the last state of that man is made worse than the first.
THE God of all, blaming the haughtiness of the Jews, and their constant tendency to run into disobedience, thus spake by the voice of Isaiah ; " Hear, 0 heavens, and give ear, 0 earth ; is. i. 2. " for the Lord hath spoken. I have begotten, and brought up " sons ; and they have rejected Me." For they rejected God the Father, by setting in manifold ways the Son at nought, Who, though sprung from Him by nature, yet afterwards was made like unto us for our sakes : and yet He called them unto the grace that is by faith, and would have fulfilled the promise given unto their fathers. For of this the sacred Paul bears witness, where he writes, " For I say that Christ was a Rom. xv. 8. " minister of the circumcision, to fulfil the promises of the " fathers : and that the Gentiles might glorify God for mercy." The Only-begotten Word of God therefore was made man, that He might fulfil the promise of the blessing granted unto
3*
370 COMMENTARY UPON
them. And that they might know that it was He Whom the law had prefigured by shadows, and Whom the company also of the holy prophets had foretold, He wrought these godlike deeds, and rebuked the unclean spirits. But they, though it was their duty to have praised Him, as doing wonders, as One Who possessed a power and authority beyond that of nature, and incomparable in degree, on the contrary disparaged His o-lorv, saving, 'c This man casteth not out devils but bv Beel- " zebub the prince of the devils." And what doth Christ reply to this ? u If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your " sons cast them out Vf
Now this subject was explained by me to you at length at our last meeting. But inasmuch as it is right that the wicked- ness of the Jews, in thus idly prating against Him, should still further be rebuked by many and convincing arguments, He adds on this account to what had been already said, an unan- swerable consideration. And what this is, I will now mention to you as to my children.
The blessed disciples were Jews, and the children of Jews, according to the flesh ; but they had obtained authority from Christ over unclean spirits, and set free those that were pos- sessed by them, by calling over them these words, " In the " Name of Jesus Christ." For Paul also once with apostolic Acta xvi. authority commanded an unclean spirit, saying, " I command l8- " thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her."
When therefore He says, your own children in My Name trample upon Beelzebub, by rebuking his satellites, and ex- pelling them forthwith from those in whom they are, what else is it but manifest blasphemy, joined with great ignorance, to say that I borrow this power from Beelzebub ? Ye are con- victed therefore, He says, by the faith of your own children, if, as is the case, they having received of Me authority and power, overthrow Satan, and against his will drive him from those in whom he dwells ; while ye affirm, that I make use of his agency in working divine miracles. But inasmuch as what ye say is not true, but, on the contrary, empty and false, and liable to the charge of calumny, it is plain that I cast out Mat. xii. devils by the finger of God. And by the finger of God He means the Holy Ghost. For the Son is called the hand and arm of God the Father ; for He doeth all things by the Son,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 371
and the Son in like manner worketh by the Spirit. For just as the finger is appended to the hand, as something not foreign from it, but belonging to it by nature, so also the Holy Ghost, by reason of His being equal in substance, is joined in oneness to the Son, even though He proceed from God the Father. For, as 1 said, the Son does every thing by the consubstantial Spirit. Here, however, purposely He says, that by the finger of God He casts out devils, speaking as a man : because the Jews in the infirmity and folly of their mind, would not have endured it, if He had said, "by My own Spirit I cast out " devils." Appeasing therefore their excessive readiness to anger, and the proneness of their mind unto insolence and phrensy, He spake as a man, although He is by nature God, and Himself the Giver of the Spirit from God the Father to those who are worthy, and employs as His own that power which is from Him. For He is consubstantial with Him, and whatsoever is said to be done by God the Father, this necessarily is by the Son in the Spirit. If therefore, He says, I, being a man, and having become like unto you, cast out devils in the Spirit of God, human nature has in Me first attained to a godlike kingdom. For it has become glorious bv breaking the power of Satan, and rebuking the impure and abominable spirits : for such is the meaning of the words, that "the kingdom of God has come upon you." But the Jews did not understand the mystery of the dispensation of the Only- begotten in the flesh : and yet how ought they not rather to have reflected, that by the Only -begotten "Word of God having become man, without ceasing to be that which He* was, He glorified the nature of man, in that He did not disdain to take upon Him it3 meanness, in order that He might bestow upon it His own riches.
And inasmuch as it was necessary, as I shewed, that the argument upon this subject should travel through many consi- derations, He makes use of a most plain and evident compa- rison, by means of which those who will may see, that He has conquered the ruler of this world, and having, so to speak, hamstrung him, and stripped him of the power which he pos- sessed, has given him over for a prey unto His followers. " For when, He says, the strong man being armed guardcth " his house, all his goods are in peace : but when One That is
3b2
372 COMMENTARY UPON
" stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, " He taketh away all his armour wherein he trusted, and divi- " deth his spoil." This is, as I said, a plain demonstration, and typo of the matter depicted after the manner of human affairs. For as long as a strong man retains the superiority, and guards his own property, he is in no danger of being plundered. But when one who is stronger than he, and more powerful, comes upon him, and prevails against him, then forthwith he is spoiled. And such has been the fate of our common enemy, the wicked Satan, that many headed serpent, the inventor of sin. For before the coming of the Saviour, he was in great power, driving and shutting up, so to speak, in his own stall flocks not his own, but belonging to God over all, like some rapacious and most insolent robber. But inasmuch as the Word of God Who is above all, the Giver of all might, and Lord of powers assailed Him, having become man, all his goods have been plundered, and his spoil divided. For those who of old had been ensnared by him into ungodliness and error have been called by the holy apostles to the acknowledgment of the truth, and been brought near unto God the Father by faith in His Son.
Wouldst thou also hear and learn another convincing argu- ment besides these ? " He that is not with Me," He says, " is " against Me : and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth for Me." For I, He says, have come to save every man from the hands of the devil ; to deliver from his guile those whom he had ensnared ; to set the prisoners free ; to give light to those in darkness ; to raise up them that had fallen ; to heal the broken-spirited : and to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad. Such was the object of My coming T But Satan is not with Me ; on the contrary he is against Me. For he ventures to scatter those whom I have gathered and saved. How then can he, who wars against Me, and sets his wickedness in array against My purposes, give Me power against himself? How is it not foolish even barely to imagine the possibility of such a thing as this ?
The cause however which made the Jewish multitudes fall into such thoughts concerning Christ He Himself makes plain, by saying ; " When the wicked spirit hath gone forth from " the man, it returneth with seven other spirits more bitter
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 37S
" than itself ; and the last state of that man is worse than the " first." For as long as they were in bondage in Egypt, and lived according to the customs and laws of the Egyptians, which were full of all impurity, they led polluted lives ; an evil spirit dwelt in them : for it dwells in the hearts of the wicked. But when in the mercy of God they had been delivered by Moses, and received the law as a schoolmaster, calling them to the light of the true knowledge of God, the impure and pol- luted spirit was driven out z. But because they did not believe in Christ, but rejected the Saviour, the impure spirit again attacked them: for he found their heart empty, and devoid of all fear of God, and, swept as it were, and took up his abode in them. For just as the Holy Ghost, when He sees any one's heart free from all impurity, and clean, dwells and abides there, and rests therein ; so also the impure spirit is wont to dwell in the souls of the wicked. For they are devoid, as I said, of all virtue : and there is in them no fear of God. The last state therefore of the Israelites has become worse than the first. For as the disciple of the Saviour said ; " It 2 Pet. ii. " had been better for them not to have known the way of21" " truth, than that when they have known it, they should turn " back again from the holy commandment that was delivered " unto them. It has happened to them according to the true " proverb ; The dog that returned to its vomit ; and the " washed sow to wallow in the mire." Let us flee therefore from being like the Jews ; let Christ Who worketh miracles, be extolled by us : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
z An instance occurs in this place p. 334 C, to the effect that the ex-
of the neatness with which the Ca- pulsion of the spirit took place,
tenists inserted passages from other " when they sacrificed the lamb as
works of S. Cyril in the body of the " a type of Christ, and were anoint-
Commentary. For two lines merely f ed with its blood, and escaped
are here added from the Glaphyra, " the destroyer."
374 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON LXXXIL
C. xi. 29- And when the multitudes were gathered together, He began to om. ytvtk say ; This generation is an evil generation. It seeketh alterumGi. a s^n . an(jj a s^n s]ian not oe giVGn it, except the sign of
Jonah*.
From Mai. THE request originated in malice, and therefore was not
Hoa. v. 6. granted them, according to the text, " The wicked shall seek " Me, and shall not find Me." * * * *
From the * * * * and which He spake to the divine
Moses ; the rod was changed into a serpent. And what thing is this? some one, forsooth, may say; or what is the truth it hints at ? And this certainly we must examine : for I say that of all that is contained in the sacred Scriptures, there is nothing which is not useful for edification. When Israel then had dwelt for a lengthened period in Egypt, and been brought up in the customs of its inhabitants, he wandered far from God, and became like one that had fallen from His hand, and been made a serpent, by which is meant one naturally of a thoroughly wicked disposition. But inasmuch as God again took hold of him, he was restored to his former state, and became a rod, that is to say, a plant of Paradise. For he was called to the true knowledge of God, and enriched with the law as the means of a virtuous life.
Moreover God wrought also something further of an equally
Ex. iv. 6. miraculous character. For He said unto Moses, " Put thy " hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom ; " and he drew forth his hand from his bosom, and his " hand had become leprous, like snow. And he said again, " Put thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his " bosom ; and he drew it forth from his bosom, and it had " gained again the colour of his flesh." For as long as Israel adhered to the customs of his fathers, and represented in his
a A folium in the Syriac has seldom preserving the Exordia of perished, of which Mai has reco- these discourses. Of the next folium vered but one sentence, the Catenoe lost most has been preserved.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 375
own manners the type of virtuous living which he had in
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, he was, as it were, in the
bosom of God, that is, under His guardianship and protection :
but by abandoning the virtue of his ancestors, he became, so
to speak, leprous ; and fell into impurity : for the leper by the
law of Moses was impure. But when He was again accepted by
God, and placed under His protection, he was delivered from
his leprosy ; and put away the impurity of the Egyptian mode
of life. And when these signs were wrought in their presence,
they believed Moses, saying, " The Lord God of your fathers Ex. iv. 31.
" hath sent me unto you."
Observe therefore that they did not make the display of miracles a reason for fault finding. They did not revile the divine Moses ; they did not give free license to an unbridled tongue, and say that he wrought the miracles which he dis- played before them by means of Beelzebub : they did not ask a sign from heaven, in contempt of his mighty deeds. But thou assignedst to Beelzebub works thus honourable and mira- culous, and wast not ashamed in bringing to perdition others as well as thy own self, by means of those very things which ought to" have made thee possess a steadfast faith in Christ. But He will not grant thee another sign, that He may not give holy things unto dogs, nor cast pearls before swine. For how can they who are hot calumniators of the miracles already wrought, deserve yet more ? On the contrary we see that very skilful husbandmen, when they observe land sluggish in bearing fruit, withhold their hand, and refuse to plough it any more, that they may not suffer the loss at once both of their labour and of the seed.
He said, however, the sign only of Jonah shall be given them, by which is meant the passion upon the cross, and the resurrection from the dead. " For as Jonah," He says, " was " in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall " also the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days " and three nights." But had it been possible for Jesus not to have willed to suffer death in the flesh upon the cross, neither would this sign have been given to the Jews : but inasmuch as the passion, wrought for the salvation of the world, was indispensable, it was given these unbelievers for their condemnation. For also in speaking to the Jews, He
376 COMMENTARY UPON
Jobnii. 19. saij^ « Loose this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." But that the abolishing of death, and restoration of corruption by the resurrection from the dead, is a very great sign of the power and godlike authority of the Incarnate Word, will be sufficiently proved, as I imagine, in the judgment of serious men, by the soldiers of Pilate, who were appointed to guard the tomb, having been bribed with a large sum of money to
MatxxvfiL say, that " the disciples came by night, and stole Him." It was therefore no unavailing sign, but rather one sufficient to convince all the inhabitants of the whole earth, that Christ is God, that of His own choice He suffered death in the flesh, but rose again, having commanded the bonds of death to depart, and overthrown corruption. But the Jews did not believe even this : for which reason it was very justly said of them, that "the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment " against this generation." * * * *
From Mai. * # This woman, though a barbarian, earnestly sought to hear Solomon, and for this purpose travelled so vast a distance, to listen to his wisdom upon the nature of things visible, and animals, and plants. But ye, though already present, and listening to Wisdom Itself, Who came to you, discoursing upon things invisible and heavenly, and confirming what He said by deeds and miracles, turn away from the word, and pass by with indifference the wonderful nature of His oracles. How then is there not more than Solomon here, that is in Me ? And again observe, I pray, the skilfulness of His language ; for why does He say " here," and not rather " in Me V It is to persuade us to be humble, even though we be largely endowed with spiri- tual gifts. And besides, it is not at all unlikely, that had the Jews heard Him say, " that there is more than Solomon in " Me," they would have ventured to speak of Him in their usual way : ' See ! He says, that He is superior even t^o the 4 kings who have gloriously reigned over us.' The Saviour, therefore, for the economy's sake, uses moderate language, .saying, " here," instead of " in Me."
He says, moreover, that the Ninevites will appear for the condemnation of the Jews at the season of judgment: for they were rude and barbarous people, ignorant of Him Who by nature and in truth is God, who had never even heard of the predictions of Moses, and were without knowledge of the glo-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 377
rious tidings of prophecy : but even though this was their mental state, they repented, He says, at the preaching of Jonah. Far better therefore were they than the Israelites, and will condemn them. But listen to the very words : " The " men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this gene- " ration, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the " preaching of Jonah, and behold ! more than Jonah is here."
"No man, having lighted a lamp, putteth it into a cellar, Ver.33. " nor under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, that they who " enter in may see the light.'1 And what was the object of such words as these ? He combats the Jews by an objec- tion drawn from their own folly and ignorance : for they said that He wrought miracles, not that He might be more fully believed in, but that He might have numbers of followers, and catch the applause of those who saw his wondrous acts. And this calumny He refutes by taking as an example the use of a lamp. For a lamp, He says, is always elevated, and put upon a stand, to be of use to those who see. And let us consider the inference which follows from this. Before then the coming of our Saviour, the father of darkness, even Satan, had made the world dark, and blackened all things with an intellectual gloom ; but in this state the Father gave us the Son, to be as it were a lamp to the world, to irradiate us with divine light, and rescue us from Satanic darkness. But, 0 Jew, if thou blamest the lamp, because it is not hidden, but on the con- trary, being set on high on a stand, gives its light to those who see, then blame Christ for not wishing to be concealed, but on the contrary to be seen of all, illuminating those in darkness, and shedding on them the light of the true knowledge of God. He did not therefore fulfil His miracles so much in order to be wondered at, nor seek by them to become famous, as that we might rather believe, that whereas He is God by nature, yet He became man for our sakes, but without ceasing to be what He was. And upon the holy church as a lamp- stand, shining by the doctrine He proclaims, He gives light to the minds of all by filling them with divine knowledge.
3 c
378 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON LXXXIII.
C xi. 37- And as He was speaking, a certain Pharisee besought Him om tis BT t0 <^'ine wMl him •' and He went in and lay down to meat. But the Pharisee, when he saw it, wondered that He had not first washed before dinner. But the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but that which is within you is full of rapine and wickedness. 0 ye little minded, did not He Who made that which is without, make that which is within also ? But whatever there is give as alms, and be- hold ! every thing is clean unto you.
i Tim. i 15. THE very wise Paul truly tells us, that "Christ came into " the world to save sinners." For this was His aim, and for this purpose He humbled Himself to the emptying of His glory, and appeared upon earth in the flesh, and conversed with men. For it was right, that as being the Creator and Lord of all, He should give a saving hand to those who had fallen into sin, and show unto them that were wandering in error, a pathway that would lead them straight unto every good work, and the excellence of virtuous deeds. And it is said somewhere also by one of the holy prophets, concerning those who have been called by faith to the knowledge of His
la. liv. 13. glory " And they shall be all taught of God." How, there- fore, does He lead us into every thing that is useful? By hum- bling Himself to be with sinners, and condescending sometimes even to those things that He would not, that so He might save many. That this was the case we may see by the lessons from the gospel now set before us; for one of the Pharisees, it says, . besought Him to dine at His house : " and He went in, and " lay down to meat." And yet how is it not plain to every one, that the Pharisees b as a class were always wicked and impure, hateful to God, and envious, ready for anger, of innate pride, and ever bold of speech against Christ the Saviour of us all? For they found fault with" His divine miracles, and gather- ing wicked troops of counsellors, plotted His death. How then b Literally, the gang of the Pharisees.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 879
did He become their guest ? Was He not aware of their mali- ciousness ? But how can this be safely affirmed ? For as God He knoweth all things. What therefore is the explanation ? It is this, that He was especially anxious to admonish them, therein resembling the most excellent physicians. For they apply the remedies of their art to those who are most danger- ously ill, struggling against the disease under which they suffer, and assuaging its cruel attacks. As they therefore without restraint gave way to an infatuated mind, it was ne- cessary for Christ to speak unto them what was requisite and useful for their salvation. For as He Himself some- where says, "He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to Mat.ix.13. " repentance." And again He also said, that " they who are lb. ii. " whole need not a physician, but they who are sick."
The Pharisee therefore for some purpose of his own invites Him to an entertainment : and the Saviour of all submits, as I said, to this, for the economy's sake. But He made the matter an opportunity of giving instruction, not consuming the time of their meeting in the enjoyment of food and delicacies, but in the task of making those more virtuous who were assembled there. And the dull Pharisee himself supplied an occasion for His discourse, for " he wondered," it says, " that He had not " washed before dinner." Did he then wonder at Him, as having done something of which he approved, as being espe- cially worthy of the saints 1 This was not his view : how could it be ? On the contrary he was offended, because having the reputation among them of a righteous man and a prophet, He did not conform Himself to their unreasonable customs. For they washed before meat, as though they so freed them- selves from all pollution. But this was very absurd. For the washing with water is highly useful for those who are unclean in body ; but how can it free men from the defilement of the mind and heart ?
Our argument however is this : 0 foolish Pharisee, thou vauntest much of thy knowledge of the sacred Scriptures : thou art ever quoting the law of Moses. Tell us therefore where Moses gave thee this precept? What commandment canst thou mention, ordained by God, requiring men to wash before meat ? The waters of sprinkling were indeed given by the command of Moses for the cleansing of corporeal unclean-
3 c 2
380 COMMENTARY UPON
ness, as being a type of the baptism which really is holy and cleansing, even that in Christ. Those also who were called unto the priesthood were bathed in water-: for so did the divine Moses bathe Aaron, and the Levites with him, the law thereby declaring by means of the baptism enacted in type and shadow, that even its priesthood had not that which suf- ficeth for sanctification, but, on the contrary, needs divine and holy baptism for the true cleansing : and further, beauti- fully shewing us that the Saviour of all is sufficient to sanctify and cleanse from all defilement, by means of holy and precious baptism, ourselves, who are the generation consecrated to and elect of God. Plainly however, he nowhere commands it as a duty to wash before eating. Why therefore dost thou wonder, or for what reason art thou offended, 0 Pharisee ? He Who Himself spake it in old time has not violated the precept of Moses : and, as I said, the law, which thou makest a profes- sion of honouring, has nowhere given thee any such com- mandment.
But what said the Saviour ? He most opportunely rebuked them, saying, " Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside " of the cup, and the dish ; but that which is within you is full " of rapine and wickedness." For it would have been easy for the Lord to have used other words with the view of instructing the foolish Pharisee, but He found an opportunity, and, so to speak, connects His teaching with what was before their eyes. For as it was the time of eating, and of sitting at table, He takes as a plain comparison the cup and the dish, and shows that those who sincerely serve God must be pure and clean, not only from bodily impurity, but also from that hidden within in the mind ; just, for instance, as those utensils also that serve the table must be cleansed both from those impurities that are on the outside, and also as well from those that arc within. "For He who made," He says, "that which is without, made " also that which is within :" by which is meant, that He Who created the body made also the soul. As therefore they are both the works of one virtue-loving God, their purification must be uniform.
But this was not the practice of the Scribes and Pharisees ; for so far as the mere reputation went of being clean, they were anxious to do every thing. They went about with sad
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 381
looks, as though pale from fasting ; and as the Saviour says, " made broad the hems of their robes, and widened their Mat. xxiii. " phylacteries, and stood in the streets and prayed, that they j^at ^ " might be seen of many/' wishing rather to have praise of men than God, and to carry off the applause of the spectators. And, to speak briefly, while they exhibited themselves to the lookers on as the very pattern of the life of virtue that is by the law, they in every possible way withdrew from being lovers of God. "Whitened sepulchres were they," as the Saviour said, Mat. xxiii. "which on the outside are beautiful, but inside are full of3'' " bones of the dead, and of all uncleannessc." But Christ willeth not that we be such as these, but rather spiritual wor- shippers, holy and without blame both in soul and body. For one also of our communion said, "Cleanse your hands ye James iv. 8. " sinners, and sanctify your hearts, ye double-minded." And the prophet David somewhere sings, " Create in me a clean Ps. H. 10. " heart, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me." And again the prophet Isaiah speaks as in the person of God, " Wash you, make you clean ; put away iniquities from your is. i. 16. " souls from before My eyes. Cease from your iniquities." Observe the exactness of the expression : for His words are, " From before My eyes put away iniquities from your souls." For the wicked do sometimes escape the eyes of men, but never can they escape those of God. It is our duty therefore, inasmuch as God sees what is secret, to put away wickedness from before His eyes.
But the Pharisees had no knowledge of any such method of virtuous living : what medicine therefore did the Saviour offer them after His rebukes ? How did He Who smote them make them whole ? " Whatever ye have," He says, " give as " alms : and lo ! every thing is pure unto you." And yet we affirm that there are many ways of virtuous conduct, such for instance as meekness, humility, and other kindred virtues : whv therefore did He omit these, and command them to be
c Mai mentions, that in one of his mentary. As the Syriac however
Codices, A, a passage here inserted does not recognise it, the alterations
is said to he from the Julian books ; are probably rather to be regarded
but as it differs in some respects from as made by the Catenist to fit the
its form there, he thinks it possible passage to its new position, that S. Cyril repeated it in the Com-
382 COMMENTARY UPON
compassionate? What answer do we make to this ? The Pha- risees then were exceedingly avaricious, and the slaves of base gains, and accumulated with greedy hand stores of wealth. For the God of all even somewhere said concerning them,
la. i. -21. " How has the faithful city Zion, that was full of judgment, " become a harlot ! Righteousness lodged in her, but now " murderers ! Your silver is adulterate ; thy merchants mingle " the wine with water ; thy princes are disobedient, the part- " ners of thieves, loving bribes, running after recompense ; "■ they judge not the fatherless, and regard not the suit of the " widow." He purposely therefore had regard to that malady which had possession of them, and tears their avarice up by the root, that being delivered from its wickedness, and at- taining to purity in mind and heart, they might become true worshippers.
The Saviour therefore in all these things acted in accordance with the plan of salvation ; and being invited to a banquet, bestowed spiritual food, not only upon His entertainer, but upon all those who were feasting with Him. And let us too
John vi. 5 1. pray Him for this spiritual food; for "He is that living " Bread, which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto " the world :" by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and_ dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 3&J
SERMON LXXXIV.
But woe unto you, Pharisees! who tithe mint and rue ancle, xi. +i- all herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God. 44' But these thinqs ought ye to have done, and not to leave T<™ T" BTr. the other undone. Woe unto you, Phansees ! jor ye love ^^0^ the uppermost seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the r£v markets. Woe unto you ! for ye are as those graves which gSj. appear not, and the men that walk over them know it not. *'?/**{
. Qapuraioi
THOSE who are exact observers of the sacred command- broKpirai *. ments do not venture in any way whatsoever to offend the God of all. For they feel the truth of what is written, " That James ii. " whosoever shall keep the whole law, but shall offend in one " particular, becomes guilty of all. For He Who said, Thou " shalt not commit adultery, said also, Thou shalt not kill. If " then thou commit not adultery, but yet killest, thou art " become a transgressor of the law." The transgression there- fore of one commandment transgresses the law, that is,. proves the man to be without the law. But when any one disre- gards those commandments, which especially are important above the rest, what words will he find able to save him from deserved punishment ? That the Pharisees then merited these severe censures, the Lord proved against them, saying, " Woe " unto you, Pharisees ! who tithe mint and rue and all herbs, " and pass over judgment and the love of God. These things " ought ye to have done, and not to pass by d the other, that " is, to leave them undone." For while they omitted, as of no importance, those duties which they were especially bound to practice, as, for instance, judgment and the love of God, they carefully and scrupulously observed, or rather commanded the people subject to their authority to observe, those command- ments only which were a way and means of great revenues for themselves.
d From this it is possible that S. explaining it by afaevai, his own Cyril really read nape'ivai., as other- reading in the text, wise one can see no reason for his
38-t COMMENTARY UPON
But more fully to explain these things to thee, my beloved, I must speak as follows. The law of Moses commanded tithes to be offered to the priests by the Israelites. Fur it spake
Deut. xviii. thus ; " The sons of Levi shall have no inheritance among the " children of Israel. The offerings of the Lord are their " inheritance." For whatsoever was offered by any one for the glory of God, on the score I mean of tithe, this God set apart for those whose office it was to minister ; and this was their inheritance. But inasmuch as the Pharisees above all others were covetous, and fond of disgraceful gains, they com- manded that this law of tithing should be observed carefully and scrupulously, so as not even to omit the most paltry and insignificant herbs ; while they carelessly disregarded what they ought to have observed, namely, the more essential com- mandments given by Moses; such, for instance, as judgment, by which is meant justice in passing judgment, and the love of God. For it would have been a just judgment, and an upright sentence, to have considered every thing that was commanded deserving of equal care and attention, and not to neglect things of primary importance, while they paid a scrupulous regard to those only which were to their profit. And the effect of love to God would have been to avoid making Him angry in any respect, and to dread the violation of any part whatsoever of the law.
Or to put it in another light, one may say, that judgment would have been to decree just sentences, and to make upon no matter whatsoever an unfair decision. And this too was disre- garded by the Pharisees ; for the Spirit rebuked them by the
P3. Lxxxii. voice of David, thus saying, " God arose in the congregation of
'" " the Gods, and in the midst of the Gods He judgcth. How
" long judge ye unjustly, and accept the persons of the " wicked?" He accused them also by the voice of Isaiah,
Is. lit. saying, " How has the faithful city Zion, that was full of "judgment, become a harlot? Righteousness lodged in her, w but now murderers. Your silver is adulterate : thy mer- " chant3 mingle the wine with water : thy princes arc disobe- " dient, the partners of thieves, loving bribes, running after " recompense : they judge not the fatherless, and regard not " the suit of the widow." For to judge unjustly is not the part of those who practice love to the brethren, but the crime rather
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 385
of an iniquitous mind, and a plain proof of a falling away into sin. While therefore ye tithe mint, He says, and rue, and every herb, and ordain that the commandment upon these points is to be strictly kept, ye deign no attention to the weightier matters of the law, to those commandments, I mean, which are more especially necessary and beneficial to the soul, and by means of which ye might prove yourselves honourable and holy, and full of such praises as become those whose desire it is to love God, and please Him.
And He adds yet another woe to those already spoken, saying, ""Woe unto you, Pharisees, who love the uppermost " seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the market places." Is then this reproof useful to the Pharisees only ? Not so : for the benefit of it extends even unto us : for by the rebukes He addressed to them, He effects also our improvement. For true it is, that those who are perfect in mind, and lovers of up- right conduct, find in the rebukes of others the means of their own safety. For they of course avoid imitating them, and do not expose themselves to being caught in similar faults. The accusation therefore which Christ brino-s against the Pharisees,
DO *
that they seek for greetings in the market places, and the uppermost seats in the synagogues, or meetings, shews that they were fond of praise, and wont to indulge themselves in empty ostentation, and an absurd superciliousness. And what can be worse than this ? or how must not such conduct be hateful to every man, as being boastful and annoying, and des- titute of the praises of virtue, and intent solely upon stealing the reputation of being honourable. And how must not he be incomparably superior to men thus disposed, who is poor in spirit, and gentle, and affable ; not loving boasting, but court- eous ; not deceiving men by outside and fictitious disguises, but being rather a true worshipper, and adorned with that rational beauty which the divine Word imprinteth in us by means of all virtue and holiness and righteousness.
For if we must prove ourselves better than others, — and there is nothing to prevent this, — let the sentence of superiority be given us of God, by our excelling them in point of conduct and morals, and in a wise and blameless knowledge of the sa- cred scriptures. For to be saluted by others, and seated higher
3 D
386 COMMENTARY UPON
than one's friends e, does not at all prove us to be persons of merit : for this is possessed by many, who, so far from being virtuous, are rather lovers of pleasure, and lovers of sin. For they wrest honours from every one, because of their possessing either vast wealth or worldly power.
But that our being admired by others without investigation and inconsideratelv, and without their knowing: our real state, does not at all make us elect in the presence of God, Who knoweth all things, the Saviour at once demonstrates by say- ing ; " Woe unto you, for ye are as those graves which appear " not, and the men who walk over them know it not." Ob- serve, I pray, very clearly the force of the example. Those who desire to be saluted by every one in the marketplace, and anxiously consider it a great matter to have the foremost seats in the synagogues, differ in no respect from graves that appear not, which on the outside are beautifully adorned, but are full of all impurity. See here, I pray, that hypocrisy is utterly blamed : for it is a hateful malady, both towards God and men. For whatsoever the hypocrite seems, and is thought to be, that he is not : but he borrows, so to speak, the reputa- tion of goodness, and thereby accuses his real baseness : for the very thing which he praises and admires, he will not prac- tise. But it is a thing impossible for thee long to hide thy hypocrisy : for just as the figures painted in pictures foil off, as time dries up the colours, so also hypocrisies, after escaping observation for a very little time, are soon convicted of being really nothing.
We then must be true worshippers, and not as wishing to please men, lest we fall from being servants of Christ. For so the Gal. i. io. blessed Paul somewhere speaks ; " For now do I persuade men " or God ? or do I seek to please men ? If I yet pleased men, " I should not be the servant of Christ." For suppositions in matters of moral excellence are simply ridiculous, and worthy neither of account nor admiration. For just as in gold coins, that which is counterfeit and faulty is rejected, so the hypocrite is regarded with scorn both by God and men. But he who is
e The Syriac translator evidently has rrpo*5p<vo-ai (piXth, which is, no read npotbptvcrai (pCXuv, but Mai doubt, the right reading.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 387
true meets with admiration ; just, for instance, as Nathaniel,
of whom Christ said, " Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom
" is no sruile." He who is such is esteemed before God ; he is
counted worthy of crowns and honours; has a glorious hope
given him ; and is " a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the Eph. ii. 19.
" household of God."
Let us therefore flee from the malady of hypocrisy : and may there rather dwell within us a pure and uncorrupt mind, resplendent with glorious virtues. For this will unite us unto Christ ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
3d
388 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON LXXXV.
C. xi. 45- Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto Him,
48' Teacher, in saying these things thou reproachest us also.
And He said, Also unto you, lawyers, woe I for ye lade
add. flop*'o men with burdens heavy and grievous to be borne ; and ye
Ka\ S. yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
Woe unto you I for ye build the sepulchres of th-e prophets,
and your fathers killed them. Therefore ye bear witness,
and approve of the deeds of your fathers : for they indeed
om. olvtuv killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
to fj.vrnj.ua ET.
REPROOF is ever, so to speak, a thing difficult for any
man to bear : but it is not without profit to the soberminded : for it leads them to the duty of performing those things which make them worthy of honour, and lovers of virtuous pursuits. Bat those who run into wickedness with all eagerness, and whose heart is set against admonition, are hurried into greater sins by the very things that should have made them more soberminded, and are only hardened by the words of those who try to benefit them. And, as an example of this state of mind, behold those who among the Jews were called lawyers. For the Saviour of all was rebuking the Pharisees, as men that were wandering far from the right way, and fallen into unbe- coming practices. For He blamed them as being boasters, as hvpocrites, as loving greetings in the markets, and as wishing to sit in front of everybody else in the synagogues : and He Mat. xxiii. further called them " whited sepulchres, which on the outside " are beautiful, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all " impurity." At these things the band of wicked lawyers was indignant, and one of them stood up to controvert the Saviour's declarations, and said ; " Teacher, in saying these things, Thou " reproachest us also." Oh what great ignorance ! what blind- ness in mind and understanding unto every thing necessary ! These men subject themselves to blame : or rather the force of truth shewed them to be liable to the same accusations as the Pharisees, and of one mind with them, and partners of their
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 389
evil deeds, if they thus consider that what Christ said unto the others was spoken also against them. For tell me, for what reason art thou angry ? When any reproof is addressed to the Pharisees, thou sayest that thou art reproached. Thou con- fessest therefore thy deeds. Thou art conscious, of course, to thyself of being a similar character. But if thou considerest it a reproach for ought of this sort to be said of thee, and never- theless dost not alter thy behaviour, it is thy own conduct thou art found blaming. If thou hatest reproof as being a re- proach, shew thyself superior to the faults with which thou art charged : or rather do not regard as a reproach the word of correction. Dost thou not see that those who heal the bodies of men converse with the sick upon the causes which have brought on their maladies, and use pungent drugs to coun- teract what has happened : but no one is angry with them on this account, or regards what they say as a reproach. But thou art weak-minded in bearing admonitions, nor consentest to learn what those passions are which are bringing injury to thy heart. Far better would it be to love reproof, and ask for deliverance from thv maladies, and healing for the ulcers of thy soul. Far better were it rather to say, " Heal me, 0 Lord, jer. xvii. " and I shall be healed : save me, and I shall be saved : for I4- " Thou art my praise."
Nothing however of this sort enters the mind of the lawyers, but they venture even to say; "In speaking these things, Thou " reproachest us also :" ignorantly giving the name of reproach to a reproof which was for their benefit and advantage. What then does Christ reply ? He makes His reproof yet more se- vere, and humbles their empty pride, thus saying ; " Also to " you, lawyers, woe ! for ye lade men with burdens heavy and " grievous to be borne : and ye yourselves touch not the bur- " dens with one of your fingers." He frames His argument against them out of a plain example. For the law was confess- edly grievous to the Israelites, as the divine disciples also ac- knowledged. For they even rebuked those who were endea- vouring to make such as had already believed desire to return to the legal ritual : for they said; " And now why tempt ye Actsxv.io. " God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which " neither we nor our fathers were able to bear 1" And the Saviour Himself taught us this, crying out and saying ; " Come Mat. xi. 28.
390 COMMENTARY UPON
" unto Me, all ye weary, and heavy laden ; and I will give you " rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am " meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest for your- " selves." Weary then and heavy laden are those, He says, who are under the law : while He calls Himself meek, as though the law had nothing in it of this character. For, as
Heb. x. 28. Paul says ; " Whosoever has despised Moses' law is put to " death without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses." Woe to you, therefore, He says, 0 lawyers : for while ye bind burdens grievous to be borne, and intolerable to carry, and lay them on those who are under the law, ye yourselves will not touch them. For while commanding that the ordinance of Moses should be kept inviolate, and passing sentence of death upon any who despise it, they themselves paid not the slightest heed to the duty of performing its precepts. As accustomed
Eom. ii. 17. thu3 to act, the wise Paul also rebukes them, saying; " Behold " thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest " thy boast of God ; and knowest His will, and discernest the " things that are more excellent, being instructed by the law ; " and art confident of thyself, that thou art a guide of the " blind ; an instructor of those without understanding ; a " teacher of babes ; and that thou hast the form of knowledge " and of truth in the law. Thou therefore that teachest others, " teachest thou not thyself? thou that sayesfc that men should " not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest that men should ".not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery t And thou " that despisest idols, dost thou plunder the sanctuary ? And " thou that boastest in the law, by the transgression of the " law despisest thou God ? " For the teacher is rejected with infamy when his conduct does not agree with his words. Upon him our Saviour also passes the sentence of severe punishment :
Mat. v. 19. « for whosoever,'1 He says, " has taught and done, shall be " called great : but whosoever shall teach and not do, he shall " be called small in the kingdom of heaven." And for the same
James iii. 1. reason the disciple of the Saviour also writes to us; "Let " there not be many teachers among you, my brethren; know- " ing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in " many things we all of us commit wrong."
And having thus shewn the worthlessness of this abominable crew of lawyers, He goes on to utter a common reproof to all
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 391
the chiefs of the Jews : " Woe unto you ! for ye build the " sepulchres of the prophets : and your fathers killed them. " Therefore ye bear witness, and approve of the deeds of your " fathers ; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their se- " pulehres." Let us then carefully examine what the Saviour means ; for what wicked act can we say that they were guilty of in building the tombs of the saints ? Were they not rather doing them distinguished honour ? What doubt can there be of this ? It is necessary therefore to see what it is which Christ teaches us. The ancestors then of the Jews had from time to time put the holy prophets to death, when bringing them the word of God, and leading them unto the right way : but then* descendants, acknowledging that the prophets were holy and venerable men, built over them sepulchres or tombs, as bestowing upou them an honour suitable to the saints. Their fathers therefore slew them ; but they, as believing that they were prophets and holy men, became the judges of those that slew them. For by determining to pay honour to those who had been put to death, they thereby accused the others of having done wrongfully. But they, who condemned their fathers for such cruel murders, were about to incur the guilt of equal crimes, and to commit the same, or rather more abominable offences. For they slew the Prince of Life, the Saviour and Deliverer of all : and added also to their wicked- ness towards Him other abominable murders. For Stephen was put to death, not as being accused of any thing base, but rather for admonishing them, and speaking unto them what is contained in the inspired Scriptures. And other crimes besides were committed by them against every saint who preached unto them the Gospel message of salvation.
The lawyers therefore and Pharisees were reproved in every way, as being haters of God, and boastful, and lovers of plea- sure more than lovers of God : and as everywhere hating to be saved. For this reason Christ added always that word " woe," as something peculiarly theirs : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amenf.
f In the Syriac the 49th and two repeatedly occur. In filling up this following verses are omitted, other lacuna, the Catenists first attribute instances of which habit of S. Cyril to him an explanation of v. 49, to
COMMENTARY UPON
the effect that by the prophets whom the wisdom of God sends are meant the apostles, and their suc- cessors, the chief pastors of the church: but as the apostles are mentioned by name in the text, there is no reason for making the prophets identical with them in meaning, especially as our Lord was plainly referring to 3 Chron. xxiv. 19 — 21. Next on v. 51, two of Mai's codices C and D assign to Cyril a passage closely resembling, as he remarks, one in Gregory of Nyssa's sermon in diem nat. Do- mini, and actually referred to him by B, and by Cramer's MS. : and though there are many verbal dis- crepancies in Gregory's text, yet other portions, especially towards the end, so exactly agree, that there can be no doubt that it is really his. It records an " unwritten tradition," to use Severus' words, to the effect that by Zacharias is meant John Baptist's father, and that he was put to death at the altar for assert- ing the virginity of Mary, who after
her conception had nevertheless taken her place in that part of the temple appropriated to virgins. Upon the Jews wishing to remove her, Zacharias prophesied that she would be the mother of God, and that her offspring would be " God " the Saviour Jesus Christ, the " King and Ruler of their race." The Jews then in alarm at the pre- diction of a king, slew Zacharias at the altar. Of such a tradition it is enough to say in the words of Je- rome ; ' Quia de scripturis non ' habet auctoritatem, eadem facili- ' tate contemnitur, qua probatur.' Com. in Mat. xxiii. 35. Lastly, a few lines are assigned to Cyril in A. to the effect, that when our Lord says that the punishment of murder would be required of that genera- tion, He does not mean that mur- derers of other generations were to escape: for 'generation' sometimes means the whole of any class, as where the Psalmist says, "This is " the generation of them that seek " the Lord."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. #X3
SERMON LXXXVI.
Woe unto you, lawyers: for ye have taken away the hey ofc:^- ac- knowledge : ye entered not in, and those that are entering ' in ye hindered. And as He came out from thence, the KaKtStv scribes and Pharisees began to urge Him vehemently , and at,roz est.
I/TOS 06
ai/TovTO-VTa
to put Him to silences about many things, lying in wait to x*y°v_ catch something out of his mouth. Meanwhile many ,rpby aurou? myriads of the people^ having assembled, so that they trode ^ 2 r one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first toZvt^ G-j. of all, Beware in yourselves of the leaven of the Pharisees, /CUT^"',. which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that <ru<r «* «»T0» shall not be revealed: neither hid, that shall not be known. All things whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light : and that which ye have spoken in the ear in chambers, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
THOSE who search the sacred Scriptures, and know the Lord's will, if thej are virtuous men, and anxious for the peo- ple's good, and skilled in leading them aright unto every thing that is admirable, shall be rewarded with every blessing, if they discharge their duties with earnestness. And of this the Saviour assures us where He says, " Who then is a faithful Mat. xxiv. " and wise servant, whom his Lord hath set over his household, " to give them meat in its season? Blessed is that servant, " whom his Lord shall come and find so doing : verily, I say " unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath." But if he be indolent, and neglectful, and a cause of offence to those entrusted to his charge, so as for them to fall from the right way, most miserable is he, and in danger of hopeless punish- ment. For again Christ Himself has said; " Whosoever there- Mat. xviii. " fore shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in Me, " it were better for him that the millstone of an assh were " hung about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths " of the sea."
S By airoa-royLaTL^iv is rather h That is, the stone of a mill
meant "to question." The Phi- turned by an ass, and so of the
loxenian nevertheless translates it in largest size, hand mills being gene-
the same way as the text. rally used.
3 E
394 COMMENTARY UPON
Of faults thus grievous, Christ proved them guilty who pro- fessed to be skilled in the law ; the scribes, I mean, and law- yers : and for this reason he said unto them ; " Also to you " lawyers woe ! who have taken away the key of knowledge." By the key of knowledge we consider that the law itself is meant, and justification in Christ, by faith I mean in Him. For though the law was in shadow and type, yet those types shape out to us the truth, and those shadows depict to us in manifold ways the mystery of Christ. A lamb was sacrificed according to the law of Moses: they ate its flesh, they anointed the lintels with its blood, and overcame the destroyer. But the blood of a mere sheep could not turn away death. It was Christ then Who was typified under the form of a Iamb, Who endures to be the victim for the life of the world, and saves by His blood those who are partakers of Him. And one might mention many other instances as well, by means of which we can discern the mystery of Christ, sketched out in the shadows of the law. And He Himself once when speaking to the Jews
Johnv. 45. said, " There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom u ye trusted. For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have " also believed Me ; for he wrote of Me. " And again ;
John v. 39. u gearch the Scriptures : for in them ye think that ye have " eternal life ; and it is they that testify of Me. And ye are " not willing to come unto Me, that ye may have life." For every word of divinely inspired Scripture looks unto Him, and refers to Him. And whether it be Moses who speaks, he, as has been shewn, was typifying Christ : or be it the holy pro- phets that thou namest, they also proclaimed to us in mani- fold ways the mystery of Christ, preaching beforehand the sal- vation that is by Him.
It was the duty therefore of those who were called lawyers, because they studied the law of Moses, and were well ac- quainted with the words of the holy prophets, to open, so to speak, to the Jewish multitudes the doors of knowledge. For the law directs men unto Christ, and the pious announcements of the holy prophets lead, as I said, to the acknowledgment of Him. But this the so-called lawyers did not do, but on the contrary they took away the key of knowledge, by which you are to understand the guidance of the law, or really faith in Christ. For by faith is the knowledge of the truth, as the
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 395
prophet Isaiah somewhere says ; " If ye will not believe, nei- la. vii. y. " ther shall ye understand." This same way of salvation by faith in Christ He before declared unto us by the holy pro- phets, saying ; " Yet a little, a little while, and he that cometh Hab. ii. 3. " shall come, and shall not tarry. And whosoever shall draw e *" 37' " back, in him My soul shall have no pleasure." And what is meant by a person's drawing back is his giving way to sloth- fulness. When therefore He says, that no one of those who have been called must draw back, it means, that if he grow slothful in his progress towards the grace which is by faith, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But that the fathers were proved by faith, the examination of their deeds demonstrates. Take, for instance, the patriarch Abraham, who was called the friend of God : what is written of him? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him James ii. " for righteousness : and he was called the friend of God." "3" And it is written again; "By faith Xoah, when it was revealed Heb. xi. 7. " to him of things not seen as yet, prepared the ark for the " saving of his house, in which few, that is, eight persons, were 1 Pet. iii. " saved by water." And the blessed Paul has laid down for us a definition, so to speak, or rather a general law, thus saying ; " Without faith it is impossible for any one whatso- Heb. xi. 6. " ever to please God." " For by it, he said, the elders, that " is, those in old time, obtained a good report.'"
But these so-called lawyers had taken away the key of knowledge ; for they would not let men believe in Christ the Saviour of all. He wrought miracles in manifold ways; raising the dead from their graves ; restoring beyond all hope their sight to*the blind ; making the lame whole in their feet; cleansing lepers ; and rebuking unclean spirits. But they, though it was their duty to regard Him with admiration because of these things, despised His divine signs: and making the people entrusted to their charge to stumble, they said ; " This man casteth not out devils but in Beelzebub the prince Mac. xii. " of the devils." Here then thou seest them taking away the 2jf' key of knowledge. He taught in their synagogues ; He re- vealed to His hearers that good and acceptable and -perfect Rom. xii.:. will of God the Father; but they cannot leave even these* His instructions without blame : for they called out to the multi- tudes, " He hath a devil, and is utterly mad. Why hear ye John x. 20.
3 B 2
396 COMMENTARY UPON
" Him?" In truth therefore they took away the key of know- ledge : they went not in themselves, and the others they hindered.
And thus being indignant at this reproof, ;' they began," it says, " to urge Him vehemently ;" by which is meant, to attack Him with cunning, and oppose Him, and shew their hatred of Him. And they ventured also, it says, even " to put " Him to silence about manv things." And what again is the meaning of their putting Him to silence? It is that they re- quired Him at once, and so to speak, without consideration to make answer to their wicked questions ; expecting forsooth that he would fall, and say something or other open to objection. But they knew not that He was God ; or rather, they were de- spisers, and proud and contemptuous. And therefore it was that Christ told His friends, that is, His disciples, to " beware <; of the leaven of the Pharisees and scribes," meaning by leaven their false pretence. For hypocrisy is a thing hateful to God, and abominated by man, bringing no reward, and utterly use- less for the salvation of the soul, or rather the cause of its per- dition. For though sometimes it may escape detection for a little, yet before long it is sure to be laid bare, and bring upon them disgrace ; like ill-featured women, when they are stripped of that external embellishment which they had produced by artificial means.
Hypocrisy therefore is a thing foreign to the character of the saints : for that it is impossible for those things that are done and said by us to escape the eye of the Deity, He shewed by saying ; " For there is nothing covered that shall not be " revealed : neither hid that shall not be known." ' For all our words and deeds shall be revealed at the day of judgment. Hypocrisy therefore is superfluous trouble ; and our duty is to prove ourselves true worshippers, serving God with free and open countenance, not submitting our judgment to those who take away the key of knowledge, but seeing even in the law the mystery of Christ, and seizing upon the words of the holy prophets to confirm our knowledge of Him. For this His dis- ^ Pet. i. 19. ciple also taught us thus saying; " We have for confirmation " th(? word of prophecy, into which ye do well to look, as upon " a torch shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the " star of light arise in your hearts."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 397
On us then who are in Christ the day has shone, and the star of the rational dawn has arisen, possessing as we do a cor- rect and blameless knowledge of Him : for He has Himself put into our mind and heart divine knowledge, being the Saviour and Lord, of all; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen1.
1 Mai adds a few lines from A. are known unto God, and shall be explaining v. 3, as possibly signi- revealed unto everybody, fying that all our deeds and words
398 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON LXXXVII.
THIS HOMILY IS FIT TO BE READ IN A TIME
OF STRUGGLE AND PERSECUTION FOR
FAITH IN GOD.
C. xii. 4-7. And I say unto you, My friends, Fear not them that kill the body, and afterwards have nothing more to do. But I will shew you Whom ye shall fear : fear Him Who after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell : yea, I say unto you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two halfpence ; and not one of them is forgotten before God. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear
nv BST. n0£ . ye are of more value than many sparrows.
M oiiv Gs. 9 J * r
PATIENCE, and an enduring and courageous mind, form
the impenetrable armour of the saints : for they render them
approved and resplendent with the praises of piety. For one
Luke xxi. also of the holy apostles thus spake, at one time ; " In patience
Heb x x6 " Possess ye 7our sou^s : " at aaotner ; " Ye have need of " patience, that by doing the will of God, ye may receive the " promise." By such manly virtues we become famous, and praiseworthy, and renowned among men everywhere, and worthy of honours and the blessings that are prepared for the
1 Cor. ii. 9. saints : even those which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,0 as wise Paul says. And how must not those things be worth the gaining and admirable, which surpass our understanding and reason? And therefore, as I said, He preparesk those who love Him for spiritual fortitude, thus speaking ; " I say unto " you, My friends."
His present discourse therefore does not, as it seems', belong to every one absolutely : but, on the contrary, to those only who evidently love Him with all their heart, and can fitly
Rom. viii. say ; " Who shall separate me from the love of Christ ? shall
35-
k Literally " He anoints," a me- the struggle began. To anoint
taphor taken from the palaestra, therefore is to prepare for imme-
where the combatant was rubbed diate exertion, over with oil, immediately before
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 399
" tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or naked- " ness, or peril, or sword ? " For those who have as yet no sure and certain and well-founded love of Him, as long as they live in tranquil times, may forsooth possibly preserve their faith in Him : but if distress or persecution harass them a little, they turn away and forsake Him, losing, together with their faith, that which stirred them up to love Him. For just as young plants, which have lately sprung up, cannot endure the violence of too tempestuous a wind, because they have not as yet struck their roots deep ; while those which are firmly fixed, and well rooted, remain secure in the ground, even though a o-ale of fierce winds shake them : so those whose mind is not yet firmly and securely fixed upon Him are very easily drawn aside, and readily desert ; while those who have stored up and possess in mind and heart a secure and unwa- vering love of Him, are unalterable in mind, and unwavering in heart, being superior to all indolence, and looking with con- tempt upon the most intolerable dangers, and making a mock at terrors, so as even to ridicule the violence of death. The commandment therefore so to act belongs to those who love Him.
But who are those who love Him ? They are, so to speak, such as are like-minded with Him, and anxious to follow in His footsteps. And to this His disciple encourages us by saying ; " Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, iPet. iv. r. " do ye for His sake1 arm yourselves with the same mind." He laid down His life for us, and was "among the dead as oue Ps.lxxxviH. " free." For death did not attack Him, as it attacks us, be- s' cause of sin : for He was and is far removed from all sin, and incapable of iniquity : but of His own will He endured it for our sakes, because of His boundless love toward us. For listen to Him as He plainly says ; " Greater love hath no man than Johnxv.13. " this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And how then is it not a most base thing not to return to Christ, as a most necessary debt, that which we have received of Him?
1 This addition of vnep alrov to the text is not supported by any MS. authority.
400 COMMENTARY UPON
And, to put it in another light ; as being His friends, we
ought not to fear death, but rather imitate the faith of the
holy fathers. The patriarch Abraham, when tempted, offered
Heb. xi.19. liis onlv-beo-otten son Isaac, " accounting that God was able to
" raise him up even from the dead." What terror of death,
7 Tim. i.io. therefore, can assail us, now that " Life hath abolished death ?"
Johnxi.25. for Christ is " the Resurrection and the Life."
And this too we must bear in mind, that the crowns are to be won by labour. It is strong- exertion united with skill that perfects those mighty athletes in the games. It is courage and a brave mind that are most serviceable to those who are skilled in battles : while the man who throws away his shield is ridi- culed even by the foe : and if the runaway live, he leads a life of disgrace. But he who was steadfast in the battle, and stood stoutly and courageously with all his might against the enemy, is honoured if he win the victory; and if he fall, is looked upon with admiration. And so ought we to reckon for ourselves ; for to endure patiently, and maintain the conflict with courage, brings with it great reward, and is highly desirable, and wins for us the blessings bestowed by God : while to refuse to suffer death in the flesh for the love of Christ, brings upon us lasting, or rather never-ending punishment. For the wrath of man reaches at most to the body, and the death of the flesh is the utmost that they can contrive against us : but when God pun- ishes, the loss reaches not to the flesh alone ; — how could it ? — but the wretchedm soul also is cast along with it into torments. Let our lot therefore rather be the honoured deatli ; for it makes us mount up to the commencement of an eternal life, to which of necessity are attached those blessings also which come from the divine bounty : and let us flee from and despise a life of shame ; a life accursed, and of short duration, and which leads down to bitter and everlasting torment.
And to bestow yet another means of succour upon our minds, He forcibly added; " that five sparrows are scarcely M perhaps worth two halfpence, and yet not one of them is for- " gotten before God." And further, He said ; " that also the
m Mai reads 7 adavarot yfa>X7l> aBkia, which the Syriac and Cramer hut notices that some MSS. have confirm.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 401
" separate hairs of your head are all numbered." Consider, therefore, how great care He takes of those that love Him. For if the Preserver of the universe extends His aid to tilings thus worthless, and descends, so to speak, to the smallest ani- mals, how can He forget those who love Him, especially when He takes so great care of them, and deigns so to visit them, as to know exactly each particular of their state, and even how many are the hairs of their head ?
Where, then, is the vain and senseless babbling of heathen boasting ? " Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? Where i Cor. i. 20. " is the disputer of this world ? hath not God made foolish the " wisdom of the world V For some of them entirely deny the providence of God : while others make it reach down as far only as the moon, and set bounds to it, as though they had had this authority committed to them. Unto such we would say : Is the providence of God too weak to reach down to that which is below, and even as far as unto us, or is the Creator of all too weary to see what we do ? If then they say that it is too weak, this is mere stupidity, and nothing else. But if they represent the divine nature as subject to indolence, they make it thereby liable also to envy. And this again is blas- phemy, and a crime than which none is greater. But they answer, it is giving trouble to the divine and supreme will to impose upon it the care of all these earthly matters. They know not how great is that nature which the mind cannot un- derstand nor speech describe, and which ruleth over all. For to it all things are small : and so the blessed prophet Isaiah teaches us where he says ; " If it be true that all the nations Is. si. 15. " are as a drop from a cask, and are reckoned as the turn " of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle, to what have " ye likened the Lord?" For what is one drop from a cask? and what is the turn of a balance ? and what too is spittle ? — that is, a single expectoration ? If therefore this be the posi- tion of all things towards God, how can it be a great matter to Him, or one that occasions Him trouble, to have the care of all things ? The noxious sentiments therefore of the heathen arc bereft of reason.
Let us therefore not doubt but that with rich hand He will bestow His grace upon those who love Him. For either He
3p
402 COMMENTARY UPON
will not permit us to fall into temptation : or if, by His wise purpose, He permit us to be taken in the snare, in order that we may gain glory by suffering. He will most assuredly grant us the power to bear it. And of this the blessed Paul is our iCor. x.13. witness, who says; " God is powerful, Who will not suffer you " to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the " temptation also make a way of egress, that ye may be able " to bear it." For He Who is the Saviour and Lord of us all, is the Lord of powers : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 403
SERMON LXXXVIII.
Tm3 Homily also is pit to be read in a tlme op struggle
AND PERSECUTION FOR FAITH IN GOD.
And I say unto you, that whosoever shall confess Me before C. xii. 8- men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the I0' angels of God. But he that shall deny Me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him.
HERE too, ye who love to hear, replenish yourselves with the words of holiness : receive within you the knowledge of the sacred doctrines, that advancing prosperously in the faith, ye may obtain the crown of love and steadfastness in Christ. For He bestows it, not upon those whose heart is faint and easily shaken, but rather on those who can with fitness say; " For to Phil. i. si. " me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." For those who live holily, live unto Christ ; and those, who for piety towards Him, endure dangers, gain the life incorruptible, being crowned by His decree before the judgment seat of God. And this He teaches us, saving ; " Whosoever shall confess XTe before men, " him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of " God."
It is then a thing above all others worthy of our attention to see who it is that confesses Christ, and in what way one may rightly and blamelessly confess Him. Most wise Paul therefore writes to us, " Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend unto Rom. x. 6. " heaven? that is to bring Christ down : or who shall descend " into the deep ? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. " But what saith the Scripture ? The Word is nigh thee, in " thy mouth and in thy heart; that is, the Word of faith which " we preach : because if thou shalt say with thy mouth that " Jesus is the Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God " raised Him from the dead, thou shalt live. For with the " heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
3 F 2
404 COMMENTARY UPON
" confession is made unto salvation." In which words the mystery of Christ is most excellently explained. For first of all it is our duty to confess that the Son, Who sprang from God the Fa- ther, and Who is the Only-begotten of His substance, even God the Word, is Lord of all: not as one on whom lordship has been bestowed from without, and by imputation, but as being by nature and in truth Lord, as the Father also is. And next we must believe, that " God raised Him from the dead," that is, when having become man, He had suffered in the flesh for our sakes : for so He arose from the dead. The Son there- fore is, as 1 said, Lord ; yet must He not be reckoned with those other lords, to whom the name of lordship is given and imputed: for He alone, as I said, is Lord by nature, being God the Word, Who transcends every created thing. And i Cor. viii. this the wise Paul teaches us saying ; " That though there be 5' " in heaven or in earth certain Gods many, and Lordships
" many : yet to us there is one God the Father, from Whom " is everything and we from Him : and one Lord Jesus Christ, " by Whom is everything and we by Him.'" But even though there be but one God, Whose name is the Father ; and one Lord, Who is the Son ; yet neither is the Father put aside from being Lord, by reason of His being God by nature : nor does the Son cease from being God, because He is Lord by nature. For perfect freedom is the attribute of the divine and supreme substance only, and to be entirely- separate from the yoke of servitude : or rather, to have the creation put in subjection under Its feet. And therefore, though the Only- begotten Word of God became like unto us, and, as far as regarded the measure of the human nature, was placed un- der the yoke of slavery : — for He purposely paid the Jewish tax-gatherers the two drachms according to the law of Moses ; — yet He did not conceal the splendour of the glory that dwelt Mat. xvii. in Him. For He asked the blessed Peter ; " The kings of the "5- " earth, of whom do they receive tribute and poll-tax; of their
" own children, or of strangers ? And when he had said, Of " strangers : Then, said He, are the children free." The Son therefore is in His own nature Lord as being free : as the wise 7 Cor. iii. Paul has again taught us, thus writing: "But we all, with l8- " open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
" changed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 405
" the Lord, the Spirit." " JNow the Spirit is the Lord: but 2C0r.iii.17. " where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Observe therefore how he affirms that the Spirit is Lord : not as pos- sessed of sonship ; for He is the Spirit, and not the Son ; but as being co-essential with the Son, "Who is Lord and free, and proved by this natural equality with Him to possess that free- dom which befitteth God.
Whosoever therefore confesseth Christ before men, as God and Lord, shall be acknowledged by Him before the anerels of God. But where and how ? Evidently at that time, when He shall descend from heaven in the glory of His Father with the holy angels at the end of this world : then shall He crown His true confessor, who possessed an unwavering and genuine faith, and so made profession. There also shall the company of the holy martyrs shine, who endured the conflict even unto life and blood, and honoured Christ by their patient en- durance : for they denied not the Saviour, nor was His glory unknown to them, but they kept their fealty to Him. Such shall be praised by the holy angels ; and shall themselves glo- rify Christ the Saviour of all, for bestowing upon the saints those honours which especially are their due. And so the Psalmist also declares, "And the heavens shall declare His Pa- 1- 6. " righteousness ; because God is judge." And such then shall be the lot of those who confess Him.
But the rest, those who denied and despised him, shall be denied : when the Judge shall say to them that, as it were, which was spoken by the holy prophets to certain of old ; "As Obad. 15. " thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee ; and thy requital " shall be requited upon thine own head ;" and shall deny them in these words : " Depart from Me, ye workers of ini- Luke xiii. " quity, I know you not." And who then are they that shall ''' be denied ? First of all, those who when persecution was pressing upon them, and tribulation had overtaken them, de- serted the faith. The hope of such shall depart utterly from its very root : for such no human words can suffice ; for 'wrath and judgment and the unappeasable fire shall receive them.
And in like manner both the followers and teachers of heresy deny him. For they venture to say that the Only-begotten Word of God is not by nature and in truth God ; and they
406 COMMENTARY UPON
traduce His ineffable generation, by saying that He is not of the substance of the Father : yea rather, they count among things created Him Who is the Creator of all, and wickedly class with those who are under the yoke Him "Who is Lord of
Phil. ii. ii. all ; although Paul affirms, that we must say that "Jesus is "Lord/'
The disciples also of the vain babbling of Nestorius deny Him by acknowledging two sons, one false, and one true ; the true one, the "Word of God the Father : the false one, to whom the honour and name of a son belongs by imputation only, who in their phrase is the son only, and sprung from the seed of the blessed David, according to the flesh. Most heavy
2 Pet. ii. i. is the judgment of these also ; for they have denied " the Lord " Who bought them." They have not understood the mystery
Eph. iv. 5. of His dispensation in the flesh: for " there is one Lord, one " faith," as it is written. For we do not believe in a man and a God, but in one Lord, the Word Who is from God the Father, Who became man, and took upon Him our flesh. And thus then these also are numbered among those Who deny Him.
And that blasphemy is a most wicked crime for men to commit, He has further taught us by saying, " that whosoever " shall speak a word against the son of man", it shall be for- " given him : but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy " Ghost, it shall not be forgiven." And in what way is this too to be understood ? Now if the Saviour means this, that if any scornful word be used by any one of us towards some mere man, he will obtain forgiveness if he repent, the matter is free from all difficulty. For as God is by nature good, He will free from blame all those who repent. But if the declaration
i As I have before mention- but that blasphemy against God is
ed, the Syriac language possesses so serious a sin, that under ordi-
no single word for "man," c>»j| nary circumstances it can expect
signifying " some one :" its place no forgiveness. In this way S.
therefore is supplied by the peri- Cyril first of all explains it, and,
phrasis ^j«o, the son of some then takes the other alternative,
one, or as it is usually rendered, which as being acquainted with the
" the son of man." The meaning Greek language only, he probably
therefore of the text is, that whoso- considered equally tenable, of our
ever shall speak ill of a man, shall Lord by the son of man signifying
upon his repentance be forgiven : Himself.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 407
has reference to Christ himself, the Saviour of all, how can he
be innocent, or secure from condemnation, who has spoken
against Him ? What then we say is this ; that whenever any
one, who has not yet learnt the meaning of His mystery, nor
understood that being by nature God, He humbled Himself
to our estate, and became man, speaks anything against Him,
blasphemous to a certain extent, but yet not so wicked as to
pass forgiveness, such things God will pardon in those who
have sinned from ignorance. And to explain my meaning by
an example; Christ somewhere said, " I am the living bread John vi.51.
" which came down from heaven, and giveth life to the world."
Because therefore some did not know His glory, but thought
that he was a mere man, they said, " Is not this the car-
" penter's son, Whose father and mother we know ? How
" doth He now say that I came down from heaven 1" And
again, He was once standing teaching in a synagogue, and was
wondered at by them all. But some, it tells us, said, " How Johnvii.15.
" knoweth this man learning, having never been taught V For
of course they knew not that " in Him are all the treasures of Col. ii. 3.
" wisdom, and the hidden things of knowledge." Such things
might well be forgiven, as being spoken inconsiderately from
ignorance.
But for those who have blasphemed the Godhead itself, con- demnation is inevitable, and the punishment eternal both in this world and in that which is to come.
For by the Spirit He here means not only the Holy Ghost, but also the whole nature of the Godhead, as understood (to consist) in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Gnost. And the Saviour Himself also somewhere said, " God is a Spirit." John iv.24. Blasphemy therefore against the Spirit, is against the whole supreme substance : for as I said, the nature of the Deity, as offered to our understanding in the holy and adorable vourai. Trinity, is one.
Let us therefore, as the writer of the book of Proverbs saith, "put a door and a bar to the tongue," and draw near to Eccius. the God over all, thus saying, " Set a watch, 0 Lord, upon my pg^'n5; " mouth ; and a door of safety about my lips ; incline not my " heart to wicked words ;" for those are wicked words which are against God. And if thus we rightly fear Him, Christ
408 COMMENTARY UPON
will bless us : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.0
0 S. Cyril having omitted vv. n, effect that our Lord would have His
12, the Catenist has inserted, pos- disciples anxious only to defend the
sibly from the Commentary on faith, and trust all besides to His
Mark xiii. II, a few words to the care.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 409
SERMON LXXXIX.
And one of the multitude said unto Him, Teacher, bid my c. xii. 13- brother divide with me the inheritance. But He said unto 2I' him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you ? And He said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all greediness : for a man's life is not from his pos- aiT0z GSs. sessions by reason of his having a superfluity . And He aijTv BT< spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth unto him plentifdly. And he add.auT^S. thought within himself saying, What shall I do, because 1 4v avrf E. have not where to gather my fruits ? And he said, This will I do : I will pull down my storehouses, and build greater: and there will I gather all my crops and my rbv o-7tovB. goods. And I will say to myself, Self, thou hast much lulJd'(y[vu. goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, »•)>«>« enjoy thyself But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night they demand of thee thy soul. But whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward ^Tv B. God.
PAUL, as a wise man, recommends constancy in prayer : for he said, " Pray without ceasing." And in very truth it is a t The3. v. thing full of benefit. But I say this, that whosoever draws ''" near unto God, ought not to do so carelessly ; nor may he offer unbefitting petitions. And one may very justly affirm, of a multitude of petitions, that they are unbefitting, and such as are not suitable for God to give, nor beneficial for us to receive. And if we will direct the penetrating glance of the mind upon the passage before us, we shall see without difficulty the truth of what I have said. For a certain man drew near to Christ, the Saviour of us all, and said, " Teacher, bid my " brother divide with me the inheritance. But He said unto " him, Man, who set Me as judge or divider over you? " For the Son indeed, when He appeared in our likeness, was set by God the Father as " Head and King over Sion, His holy p3. ii. 6. " mount/' according to the Psalmist's words : and the nature
30
410 COMMENTARY UPON
of His office He again Himself makes plain, " For I am come, " Ho says, to preach the commandment of the Lord." And what is this ? Our virtue-loving Master wisheth us to depart far from all earthly and temporal matters ; to flee from the love of the flesh, and from the vain anxiety of business, and from base lusts ; to set no value on hoards, to despise wealth, and the love of gain ; to be good and loving unto one another ; not to lay up treasures upon earth ; to be superior to strife and envy, not quarrelling with the brethren, but rather giving way to them, even though they seek to gain an advantage over us ; Luke vi. 29. " for from him, He saith, who taketh away what is thine, " demand it not again ;" and rather to strive after all those things which are useful and necessary for the salvation of the soul. And for those who habitually thus live, Christ lays down laws by which they become illustrious and praiseworthy. For He Mat. x. 9. said, u Possess neither silver nor gold : nor two coats, nor Luke xii. " scrip, nor brass in your purses." And again, " Make for 33' " yourselves purses that grow not old : a treasure that faileth
" not for ever in heaven." And when a young man drew near Mat. xix. saying, " Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" 1<5- " Go, He answered, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,
" and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come after Me." To those therefore who bow down to Him the obedient neck of their minds, He both gives commandments and appoints laws : He lays down for them precepts, distributes to them the hea- venly inheritance, gives them spiritual blessings, and is a store- house for them of never-failing gifts. While for those who think only of earthly things, and whose heart is set on wealth, and their mind hardened, and unmerciful, and without gen- tleness or love for the poor, to such He will justly say, " Who " set Me as ruler or divider over you V* He rejects the man therefore as troublesome, and as having no desire to learn ought fitting for him to know.
But He does not leave us without instruction : for having found, so to speak, a seasonable opportunity, He frames a pro- fitable and saving discourse ; and protesting as it were against them, declares, "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all " covetousness p." He shewed us that pitfall of the devil,
P In the text the translator had as here he has j / - ac \ S> , the used j { .-) t V . "greediness," where- word constantly elsewhere used by
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 411
covetousness, a thing hateful to God, and which the wise Paul even calls idolatry, perhaps as being suitable for those only Col. iii. 5. who know not God, or as being equal in the balance with the defilement of those men who choose to serve stocks and stones. It is a snare of evil spirits, by which they drag down man's soul to the meshes of hell. For this reason He says very justly, as setting them on their guard, " Take heed and keep yourselves " from all covetousness :" that is, from great and small, and from defrauding any one whoever he may be. For as I said, it is a thing hateful to God and men. For who does not flee from him who uses violence, and is rapacious and greedy, and ready for iniquity in those things to which he has no right, and who with avaricious hand gathers that which is not his ? What beast of prey does not such a man surpass in savageness ? Than what rocks is he not more hard ? For the heart of him who is defrauded is torn, and even melted sometimes by the penetrating pain as it were by fire : but he takes pleasure therein, and is merry, and makes the pains of them that suffer a cause of rejoicing. For the wronged man is sure generally to be one without power, who can but raise his eyes to Him Who alone is able to be angry for what he has suffered. And He, because He is just and good, accepts his supplication, and pities the tears of the sufferer, and brings punishment on those who have done the wrong.
And this thou mayest learn from what He Himself says thereupon by the mouth of the holy prophets; " Therefore Amos 7.1 1. " because ye have bruised the heads of the poor, and taken " from them chosen gifts, ye shall build houses of carved stone, " but ye shall not dwell therein : and ye shall plant desirable " vineyards, but ye shall not drink of their wine. For I know
him as the equivalent of TT^eovegta. "Spirit" feminine, whereas his own As j / g 1 v . is also used in the custom is, wherever it refers to the Peschito, (and the PhUox.) I ima- Godhead, to make it masculine, in gine that though the translator ren- the same way as " the Word" is dered the Greek directly into Sy- masculine, and not feminine, where- riac, yet that in the quotations his ever it refers to Christ. That he memory frequently suggested to did not however use a translation him the words and phrases of the directly, I infer from the fact, that Peschito, as there frequently occur he so frequently varies in his quo- in texts archaic forms unlike his tations, using synonyms even where own more polished language. He evidently rendering exactly the same has even once or twice made the Greek text.
302
412 COMMENTARY UPON
" your many wickednesses, and mighty are your sins." And Is. v. 3. again, " Woe unto those who add house to house, and join " field to field, that they may take away something from their " neighbour. Will ye dwell alone in the earth ? For these " things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts. " For though your houses be many, they shall be a desolation : " though thev be great and fair, there shall be none to inhabit " them. For the ground that ten yoke of oxen till shall pro- " duce one pitcher full : and he that soweth six artaboc-q shall " gather three measures." Although therefore houses and fields may be the fruit of the oppression of others, yet these, He says, shall lie waste, without inhabitants, and shall yield no profit whatsoever to those who will act wickedly, because the just wrath of God is poured out upon them. In every way therefore there is no profit in covetousness.
And to view it in yet another light ; it availeth nothing, because a man's life, as He saith, is not from his possessions, by reason of his having a superfluity. And this is plainly true : for the duration of a man's life is not extended in pro- portion to his wealth, nor does the sum of his life run parallel with that of his wicked gains. And this the Saviour has clearly and manifestly shewn us, by very excellently adding the present parable in connexion with His previous argument. " For the ground, He said, of a certain rich man brought forth " abundant crops." Consider it exactly, that thou mayest admire the beautiful art of the discourse. For He has not pointed out to us an estate of which one portion only brought forth abundant harvests ; but the whole of it was fertile for its owner, shewing therebv the vastness of his wealth. Similar to this is that passage of one of the holy apostles ; " Be- Jamesv. 4. " hold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped your land, " which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth : and the suppli- " cations of those that reaped have entered into the ears of the " Lord of Sabaoth." The Saviour therefore said that all his estate brought forth abundant harvests.
<i In the margin the translator an Ephah, i. e. i^ bushels. As the
has remarked that " one Artaba Sept. however here translate a Ho-
'* equals three measures." But three mer by six Artake, whereas it is
measures, rpia y-irpa, is the usual generally represented as equal to
rendering of the Sept. for HQ'N, ten Ephahs, there is still some diffi-
' Ephah,' cf. Ex. xvi. 36. An Ar- culty in reconciling the translation
taba therefore must be the same as with the Hebrew.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 413
What therefore does the rich man do, surrounded by a pro- fusion of so many blessings beyond all numbering ? In distress and anxiety he utters the words of poverty. " For what, he " says, shall I do V The man who is in want of necessaries constantly ejaculates this miserable language : but lo ! one here of boundless wealth uses similar expressions. He deter- mined then to build more spacious storehouses : he purposed to enjoy for himself alone those revenues that were sufficient for a populous city. He looks not to the future ; he raises not his eyes to God ; he does not count it worth his while to gain for the mind those treasures which are above in heaven : he does not cherish love for the poor, nor desire the estimation to be gained thereby : he sympathizes not with suffering ; it gives him no pain, nor awakens his pity. And what is still more irrational, he settles for himself the duration of his life, as if he would reap this too from the ground : for he says, " I will say to myself, Self, thou hast goods laid up for many " years; eat, drink, enjoy thyself." ' But, 0 rich man, one c may say, thou hast indeed storehouses for thy fruits, but ' whence wilt thou obtain thy many years ? for by the decree ' of God thy life is shortened. For God, it tells us, said unto ' him, Thou fool, this night they shall require of thee thy ' soul. But whose shall these things be that thou hast prc- ' pared1" ?'
It is true therefore, that a man's life is not from his posses- sions, by reason of his having a superfluity : but very blessed, and of glorious hope is he who is rich towards God. And who is he? Evidently one who loveth not wealth, but virtue rather, and to whom few things are sufficient: and whose hand is open Luke x. 42. to the necessities of the indigent, comforting the sorrows of those in poverty, according to his means, and the utmost of his power. It is he who gathers in the storehouses that are above, and lays up treasures in heaven. Such a one shall find the usury of his virtue, and the recompense of his upright and blameless life ; Christ shall bless him : by Whom, and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
1 A passage inserted in this place Com. on Luke, at all events is not by Mai, as quoted in a catena upon rightly placed here, the minor prophets from Cyril's
414
COMMENTARY UPON
C. xii. 12-
3«-
om. aiiTov B.
Om. 1-aCiV
BT.
om. ufj.uf
GTs.
om. yap
GTy.
ou — ou5e
BGSr.
oure-oSre
T.
om. ufpiu-
vaJi> T.
om. evoBT.
om. ai^avei
T.
OU KOTTia
ovSe i^tfei BGSj. oCts vi)dei oCt( vipaivei T.
add. Sri S. ^j/ aypy top X&ptov uvra <77)M- BT. top x- l* Ttt> aypcp a~hfjL. ivra GSy. kcl! ri BT. H rl GSj.
SERMON XC.
And He said unto His disciples ; Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat : nor for your body, what ye shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and the body than raiment. Consider the ravens, that they sow not nor reap : which have neither closet nor store, and God feedeth them : how much more are ye better than the birds I And which of you by being anxious can add to his stature one cubit ? If ye then be not able to do even that which is least, why are ye anxious about any thing else ? Consider the lilies how they grow : they toil not, neither do they spin : but I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He you, 0 ye of little faith ? And seek not what ye shall eat, nor what ye shall drink, neither let your mind be unsettled : for all these things the nations of the world seek after : but your Father knoweth that ye have need of them. But seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto you.
om. Ttavra BT.
Baruch iv. 4-
THE law of Moses was ordained for the Israelites, to guide abroi BST. them unto all which it was their duty to do. and to set clearly be- fore them whatever was for their benefit. And they made this a matter of the greatest joy, saying, " Blessed are the children " of Israel : for unto us are made known the things that please " the Lord.'' But I affirm, that we can even more fitly and appropriately use these words : for it was not a prophet, nor yet an angel, who spake unto us, but the Son in His own person, even He Who is Lord of the holy angels and of the prophets. And this the wise Paul, the minister of His myste- ries, clearly teaches us, thus writing ; " God, Who in manifold " parts and manifold manners spake in old times to the " fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken " unto us by the Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all ;
Heb. i. i.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 415
" and by Whom also He made the worlds." Blessed therefore arc we, in that we are taught by Himself His good and saving will, by which we are guided into all virtuous pursuits, that having so fulfilled a life worthy of emulation, such as befits the elect, we may reign with Him.
Observe therefore how carefuHy. and with what great skill He fashions the lives of the holy apostles unto spiritual excel- lence. But with them Ho benefits us also : for He wills that all mankind should be saved, and should choose the wise and more excellent life. For this reason He makes them abandon superfluous anxiety, and does not permit them to practise a careworn and urgent industry through the wish of gathering what exceeds their necessities ; for in these matters a super- fluity adds nothing to our benefit. " Be not anxious therefore, , " He says, for your life, what ye shall eat : nor for your body, ! " what ye shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and " the body than raiment." He did not simply say, " Bo not " anxious;'' but added "for your life:" that is, do not expend any careful study on these things, but bestow your earnestness on things of far higher importance. For the life indeed is of more importance than food, and the body than raiment. Since \ therefore a risk is laid upon us that concerns both life and i body, and pain and punishment are decreed against those who j will not live uprightly, let all anxiety be laid aside respecting > raiment and food. I
* And besides how is it not a base thing for those who are lovers of virtue, and earnest followers after such manly virtues as are excellent and approved of God, to be intoxicated with fine apparel like young boys, and to run after expensive ban- quets ! For there follow immediately upon these things a savage crowd also of other lusts : and the result is apostasy from God : for it is written, " Love not the world, neither the i John ii. " things that are in the world." And again ; " Know ye not jjme3ivr_4. " that the love of the world is enmity with God I" It is our duty therefore to keep our foot apart from all worldly desires, and rather to take delight in those things which please God.
But perchance thou wilt reply to this, ' Who then will give ' us the necessaries of life?' And to this be our answer as fol- lows ; The Lord is worthy to bo trusted ; and He clearly promises it to thee, and by little things gives thee full assur-
416 COMMENTARY UPON
ance that He will be true also in that which is great. " For " consider, He says, the ravens : that they sow not, nor reap : " they have neither closet nor store : and God feedeth them." For just as, when He was strengthening us unto spiritual forti- tude, He taught us to despise even death itself by saying, Lukexii.4. " Fear not them that kill the- body, but are not able to kill the " soul C and in the same way to make His providence plain to thee, used for His proof things utterly valueless, saying ; " Are not two sparrows sold for one halfpenny ? and not one " of them falleth to the ground without your Father : " and " the individual hairs of your head are all counted : fear not " therefore ; for ye are of more value than many sparrows :" so also here, from the birds and the flowers of the field, he produces in thee a firm and unwavering faith. Nor does He permit us at all to doubt, but that most certainly He will grant us His mercy, and stretch out His comforting hand, to bestow upon us in all things a sufficiency. It is moreover a very wicked thing, that while those who are placed under the yoke of bodily slavery depend upon their masters, as sufficient to supply them with food and clothing ; we will not consent to put our trust in Almighty God, when He promises us the necessaries of life.
And what benefit at all is there in living luxuriously ? Or rather, will it not bring with it utter destruction ? For quickly of a certainty there enter along with luxurious pleasures the infamies of sensuality, and the assaults of base and con- temptible lusts ; — things whose approach is difficult to combat. And the being clad too in splendid apparel is of no benefit whatsoever. " For consider," He says, " the lilies, how they " grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. I tell you, that " not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one .of " these." And this also is true : for both in lilies and other flowers that spring up in the fields, the lustre of the colours possesses an admirable beauty, both by the diversity of the hues, and the variety of the arrangement, as they glitter in their natural purple, or shine with the brilliancy of other colours : but all that is made by the art of man in imitation of them, whether by the painter's skill, or in embroidery, alto- gether falls short of the reality : and even though it be suc- cessful as a work of art, it scarcely even approaches the truth.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 417
If therefore these representations by means of art, are so infe- rior to the glorv of the lilv, and the beautiful colours of other flowers, how is it not true, that even Solomon, though so mag- nificent a king, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these ? Vain therefore is our toil for beautiful apparel. Suffi- cient is it for men of sense that their raiment being such as necessity requires should be decorous, and easily procurable ; and with it such a bare sufficiency of food as merely satisfies the demands of nature. Let their banquet in Christ be suffi- cient for the saints : a banquet spiritual, divine, and intellec- tual: and the glory that will follow. " For He shall change Phil. iii. n. " the body of our humiliation into the likeness of the body of " His o-lorv •" and as He Himself savs, " Thev shall shine like Mat. xiii. " the sun in the glory of their Father. " What garments 43' therefore are not surpassed in splendour by the magnificence that is in Christ ?
And in another view it was unbefitting for those who were to be the type and pattern for others of holy conduct, themselves carelessly to fall into those things, which as soon as they be- came the world's teachers, they would have to warn others to abandon. And it would have been no slight injury both to their zeal, and to the usefulness of their sacred preaching, for the disciples to have been burdened with the care of worldly pursuits. On the contrary, it was their duty with determined mind entirely to disregard such things, and simply and ear- nestly to be anxious for apostolic victories3. Very justly for this reason He openly reprobates the pursuit of the things of
3 Some additions are here made bably taken from some other work
by Mai, who first gives what wears of S. Cyril. And lastly, from the
the appearance of a deduction of the same Codex A, supported by B, a
Catenist, namely, that our Lord sentence is inserted as an introduc-
took no slight care of the preacher's tion to the subsequent passage in
office in thus making him abstain the Syriac, viz., " Shall not so good
from worldly business. In the Ox- " a Lord, Who nourishes the tiniest
ford translation of Aquinas, who " bird, feed him who was made in
has correctly given Dominus con- "his own image? "Very justly for
suluit non modicum studio sacra- " this reason," &c. On more than
rum predicationum, this passage is one occasion I have noticed the
changed into, " Our Lord strongly same habit of the Catenists, to in-
" recommends the study of holy troduce some extract quoted ver-
" preaching." Next from A 178, batim by a short summary of the
there is an exhortation to value the previous argument, soul above meat and clothing, pro-
3H
418 COMMENTARY UPON
time, " tor the nations of the world," He says, " seek after " them :" and raises them to the unwavering conviction, that certainly and under all circumstances they will have enough, because their Father well knoweth of what things they have need, even He Who is in heaven. And at a most fitting season He calls Him Father, that they may know, that He will not forget His children, but be kind and loving unto them.
Let us seek, therefore, not such food as is unnecessary and superfluous, but whatsoever tends unto the salvation of the soul : not raiment of great price, but how to deliver our body from the fire, and from judgment. And this let us do, seeking His kingdom ; even all that will aid us in becoming partakers of the kingdom of Christ : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 419
SERMON XCI.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Fathers good pleasure C. xii. 32- to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give 34' alms : make you purses that grow not old : and a treasure add. ko\ S. that faileth not in heaven, where thief approacheth not, nor moth destroyeth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
AGAIN the Saviour deigns to bestow upon us a pathway to eternal life, and opens wide the door of salvation ; that travel- ling thereon, and adorning the soul with every virtue, we may attain to the city which is above, and of which the prophet Isaiah also bore witness, saying ; " Thine eyes shall see Jeru- Is. xxxiii. " salem, the wealthy city, even the tents that shake not.1' For immoveable is that tabernacle which is in heaven, and unend- ing joy is the lot of those that dwell therein. And the nature of the way that leads us thereto He shews us, by saying ; " Fear not, little flock : for it is your Father's good pleasure " to give you the kingdom.11 This therefore is indeed spiritual consolation, and the pathway that leads us to assured faith.
I think, however, that I ought first of all to shew you the reason why the Saviour spake words such as these ; for so the full signification of the passage before us will become the more plain to the hearers. In teaching therefore His dis- ciples not to be covetous of wealth, He also withdraws them from worldly anxiety, and from vain toils and luxury and splendour of attire, and whatsoever evil habits follow upon these things : and bids them rather courageouslv be earnest in the pursuit' of these things, [which* are good and more excel- lent, by saying ; " Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall " eat : nor foe your body, what ye shall put on. For the life " is more than meat, and the body than raiment?1' And He also] added to this, that " your Father which is in heaven " knoweth that these things are needed by you." And, so to
* The MS. having suffered in rent, the words within brackets are this place a slight injury from a added to complete the sense.
3 H 2
420 COMMENTARY UPON
speak, He enounced as a general law, useful and necessary for salvation, not only to the holy apostles, but to all who dwell upon the earth, that men must seek His kingdom, as being sure that what He gives will be sufficient, so as for them to be in need of nothing. For what does He say ? " Fear not, " little flock/' And by Do not fear, He means that they must believe that certainly and without doubt their heavenly Father will give the means of life to them that love Him. He
Pa. civ. 28. will not neglect His own : rather He will open unto them His hand, which ever filleth the universe with goodness.
And what is the proof of these things ? " It is," He says, "your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." And He Who gives things thus great and precious, and bestows the kingdom of heaven, what unwillingness can there be on His part to be kind towards us ; or how will He not supply us with food and clothing ? For what earthly good is equal to the kingdom of heaven ? or what is worthy to be compared with those blessings, which God is about to bestow, and which nei- ther the understanding can conceive, nor words describe ?
1 Cor. U. 9. " For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered " into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared " for them that love Him." When thou praisest earthly wealth, and admirest worldly power, these things are but as nothing
i Pet. i. 24. compared with that which is in store. " For all flesh," it says; " is grass : and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." And if thou speakest of temporal affluence and luxuries and
1 John ii. banquets, yet " the world,'1 it says, " passeth away, and the " desire thereof." The things therefore which are of God sur- pass in an incomparable degree ought which this world pos- sesses. Ii* therefore God bestow the kingdom of heaven upon those that love Him, how can He be unwilling to give food and raiment ?
And He calls these on earth a " little flock." For we are inferior to the multitude of the angels, who are innumerable, and incomparably surpass in might our mortal things. And this too the Saviour has Himself taught us, in that parable in the Gospels so excellently framed for our instruction : for He
Luke xv. 4. said, "What man of you, that has a hundred sheep, and one " of them go astray, will not leave the ninety and nine upon " tho mountains, and go to seek that which has strayed ? And
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 421
" if he chance to find it, verily I say unto you, that he will " rejoice in it more than in the ninety and nine which went not " astray." Observe therefore, that while the number of ra- tional created beings extends to ten times ten, the flock that is upon earth is but as one out of a hundred. But though it is little, both by nature and number and dignity, compared with the countless troops of the spirits that are above, yet has the goodness of the Father, which surpasses all description, given also to it the portion of those transcendent spirits, I mean the kingdom of heaven : for permission is given to whosoever will to attain thereunto.
u[And the means by which we may attain to it, we learn from the Saviour's words : for He says, " Sell that ye have, " and give alms." And this perchance] is a commandment hard and difficult for the rich to endure : for so He Him- self has somewhere said ; " That hardly shall they that have Luke xviii. " riches enter the kingdom of God." And vet the command- 24' ment is not impossible for them that are of perfect mind. For come, let me address a few words to those who are rich. "With- draw your attention a little from these temporal things ; cease from too worldly a mind ; fix the eye of the understanding upon the world that is to be hereafter : for that is of long dura- tion ; but this is limited and short : the time of every indivi- dual's life hereis allotted by measure; but his life in the world to come is incorruptible and enduring. Let our earnestness therefore after things to come be unwavering: let us store up as our treasure the hope of what will be hereafter : let us gather beforehand for ourselves those things, by which we shall even then be counted worthy of the gifts which God bestows.
To persuade us, however, to take due care of our souls, come, and let us consider the matter among ourselves with reference to men's ordinary calculations. Suppose one of us wanted to sell a fertile and productive farm, or, if you will, a
u The words within brackets have the Greek text in Mai, to supply been added to supply the lacuna on the place of those which have pe- the obverse side of the leaf occa- rished in the Syriac, the whole fo- sioned by the rent spoken of above. ' lium being in an extremely mud- Many single words have also been lated state, added chiefly on the authority of
422 COMMENTARY UPON"
very beautifully-built house; and so one of you, who had plenty of gold and plenty of silver, were to conceive the desire of pur- chasing it; would he not feel pleasure in buying it, and readily give the money that was laid up in his coffers, and even add to what he had by him other money on loan ? Of this I think there can be no doubt, and that he would feel pleasure in giv- ing it : for the transaction would not expose him to loss, but rather the expectation of his future gains would make him in a flutter of joy. Now what I say is somewhat similar to this. The God of all offers to sell thee paradise. There thou wilt reap eternal life; an unending joy; an honourable and glorious habitation. Once there, right blessed wilt thou be, and wilt reign with Christ. Draw near therefore with eagerness : pur- chase the estate : with these earthly things obtain things eter- nal : give that which abideth not, and gain that which is se- cure : give these earthly things, and win that which is in hea- ven : give that which thou must leave,, even against thy will, that thou may est not lose things hereafter : lend to God thy wealth, that thou mayest be really rich.
And the way in which to lend it He next teaches us, saying ; " Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make you purses that " grow not old : and a treasure that faileth not, eternal x, in " heaven." And the very same the blessed David also teaches us in the Psalms, where he says by inspiration of every merciful Pa. cxii. 9. and good man : " He hath dispersed, and given to the poor, " and his righteousness is stored up for ever." For worldly wealth has many foes : for thieves are numerous, and this world of ours is full of oppressors ; of whom some are wont to plunder by secret means, while others use violence, and tear it away even from those who resist. But the wealth that is laid up above in heaven, no one injures: for God is its Keeper, Who sleepeth not.
And besides it is a very absurd thing, that while we often entrust men of probity with our earthly wealth, and feel no fear lest any loss should result from our confidence in the up- rightness of those who receive it ; we will not trust it to God,
x " Eternal" is an erroneous ad- memory, as he does not read it in dition, occasioned probably by S. the heading, nor has it any MS. Cyril having quoted the text from authority.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 423
Who receives from us these earthly things, so to speak, as a loan, and promises to give us things eternal, and that with usury. " For good measure," He says, " and pressed close, and Lukevi.38. " weighing down the scale, and running over, shall they give " into your bosom."1 And for the measure to run over, is a direct proof of its great abundance. Away then with this plea- sure-loving wealth ; this parent of base lusts ; this inciter to carnal impurity ; this friend of covetousness ; this worker of boasting : which, as with indissoluble bonds, chains the human mind in effeminacy and indolence towards all that is good, and stretches out, so to speak, a stiff and haughty neck against God : for it yields not itself to that yoke which would lead it unto piety. And be gentle, and merciful, ready to communi- cate, and courteous. For the Lord is true, Who says; "that " where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." For the whole earnestness of those who value these temporal things is set upon them ; while those who wish for that which is in hea- ven, direct thither the eye of the mind. Be therefore, as I said, friendly to thy companions, and merciful. And the blessed Paul makes me speak unto thee, where he writes ; " Charge 1 Tim. vi. " them who are rich in this world, that they be not high- I7' " minded, nor trust in riches, wherein is no reliance, but on " God, Who giveth us all things richly to enjoy : that they do " good : that they be rich in good works, ready to give, and " willing to share with others ; laying up for themselves trea- " sures that shall be a good foundation for that which is to " come, that they may lay hold upon true life." These are the things which, if we earnestly practise, we shall become heirs of the kingdom of heaven, by Christ ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and over, Amen.y
y Mai's first extract from this ing partly his, but that the" Ca- Serraon, from A. and D., is par- tenre do not uniformly ascribe it to tially an abbreviation of S. Cyril, him appears from Aquinas, who as- but with additional explanations signs half of it to Theophylact, and from Theophylact, and some other half to Bede. Theophylact always author, of the reason why our Lord borrows largely from CyTil, but in- called his disciples a little flock: terweaves his own very marked Cf. Th. p. 412. The passage may style of interpretation, have been assigned to Cyril as be-
424 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON XCII.
C sii. 55- L^t your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, and ye like
6pSv bis S. unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return
from, the banquet : that when he hath come and knocked
they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those ser-
add. avruv vants, whom their lord at his coming shall find watching.
Verily I say unto you, that he will gird up his loins, and
make them sit down to meat, and pass2 by and minister
om. eAfy et unto them. And if he come in the second watch, or if he
<Pva£kt) b. come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are
om.oloou- those servants. And know this, that if the master of the
house had known at what hour the thief would come, he
would be awake, and not have suffered his house to be dug
om. olv B. through. Be ye therefore also ready, for in an hour that
ye expect not the Son of man cometh.
THE Psalmist has somewhere said unto Christ, the Saviour Ps.cxix.96. of all ; " Thy commandment is exceeding broad." And any one may see if he will from the very facts that this saying is true: for He establishes for us pathways in countless numbers, so to speak, to lead us unto salvation, and make us acquainted with every good work, that we, winning for our heads the crown of piety, and imitating the noble conduct of the saints, may attain to that portion which is fitly prepared for them. For this reason He says, " Let your loins be girt, and your lamps " burning." For He speaks to them as to spiritually-minded persons, and describes once again things intellectual by such as are apparent and visible.
For let no one say, that He wishes us to have our .bodily loins girt, and burning lamps in our hands : — such an interpre-
z The Greek irapuXdotv probably translator renders yafioi by a " ban- means " coming forward ;" Alford " quet," and so does the Peschito, translates "coming in turn to each:" following iD this the Greek usage, the Syriac, however, translates it which had gradually widened the quite literally, and so do both the meaning of ydjxot to any sumptuous Peschito and Philox. versions. It entertainment, will be noticed also above that the
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 425
tation would suit only Jewish dullness : — but our loins being girt, signifies the readiness of the mind to labour industriously in every thing praiseworthy ; for such as apply themselves to bodily labours, and are engaged in strenuous toil, have their loins girt. And the lamp apparently represents the wakefulness of the mind, and intellectual cheerfulness.a And we say that the human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to slumber off into that carelessness, which often is the means of bringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness, when being sunk in stupor the heavenly light within it is liable to be endangered, or even already is in danger from a vio- lent and impetuous blast, as it were, of wind. Christ therefore commands us to be awake: and to this His disciple also arouses us by saying ; Be awake : be watchful.'" And further, the very t Pet. v. 8. wise Paul also says ; " Awake, 0 sleeper, and arise from the Eph. v. 14. " dead : and Christ shall give thee liorht.""
It is the duty therefore of those who would be partakers of eternal life, and firmly believe that in due season Christ will descend from heaven as Judge, not to be lax, and dissolved in pleasures ; nor, so to speak, poured out and melted in worldly dissipation : but rather let them have their will tightly girt, and distinguish themselves by their zeal in labouring in those duties with which God is well pleased. And they must further possess a vigilant and wakeful mind, distinguished by the knowledge of the truth, and richly endowed with the radiance of the vision of God ; so as for them, rejoicing therein, to say, " Thou, 0 Lord, will light my lamp : Thou, my God, wilt Ps. xviii. " lighten my darkness."
Quite unbefitting is an expression like this for heretics, whether they be the sectaries or the teachers. For as Christ Himself said, " Darkness b has blinded their eyes." And this John xii. Paul explains to us, saying, that " the god of this world hath \ °qqv iv +- '" blinded the minds of them that believe not, that the light of " the glorious Gospel of Christ may not shine upon them." It is our duty therefore carefully to avoid their false speaking,
a Mai has a short interpolation " watch with unwinking eyes for
here, possibly from some other " our Master's nod."
work of S. Cyril, as follows : "And b In this quotation S. Cyril's me-
" that we must daily be prepared mory has apparently confounded
"for our departure hence, and John xii. 40. with 1 John ii. 11.
31
426 COMMENTARY UPON
and not to turn aside from the doctrines of the truth, and admit into our minds the darkness of the devil ; but rather to draw near to the true light, even Christ, praising Him in psalms
P3. xiii. 3. and saying, "Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not for death."" For it is in very deed death, and that not of the body, but of the soul, to fall from the uprightness of true doctrines, and choose falsehood instead of the truth. Let therefore our loins be girt, and our lamps burning, according to what has here been spoken unto us.
And let us know that the law also of the very wise Moses is found to have commanded something of the kind to the
Ex. xii. 6. Israelites. For a lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of
1 Cor. v. 7. the first month, as a type of Christ. " For our passover, Christ " is sacrificed/' according to the testimony of most sacred Paul. The hierophant Moses then, or rather God by his means,
Ex. xii. n. commanded them, when eating its flesh, saying, "Let your " loins be girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in " your hands." For I affirm that it is the duty of those who are partakers of Christ, to beware of a barren indolence ; and yet further, not to have as it were their loins ungirt and loose, but be ready cheerfully to undertake whatever labours become the saints ; and to hasten besides with alacrity whithersoever the law of God leads them. And for this reason He very appropriately made them wear [at the passover] the garb of travellers c.
And that we ought to look for the coming again of Christ from heaven ; — for He will come in the glory of the Father with the holy angels ; — He has taught us saying, " That we must be " like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return " from the banqueting-house, that when he hath come and " knocked, they may open to him immediately." For Christ will return as from a feast : by which is plainly shown, that God ever dwells in festivals, such as befit Him. For above
c Again, Mai adds the following ' " the loin, embolden thy strength
from B, ■ For the dress of travellers ■ " greatly." For He bids them, as
' is very fitting for those who preach ' though about to proceed immedi-
1 the divine gospel : and so God ' ately to Judaea, to strengthen the
' bids the captives in Babylon, when 'loin; which means, to be ready
' foretelling their restoration, and ' and prepared for the labours of
'encouraging them to prepare for ' wayfaring, and, using resistless ear-
' it; " Examine the way, strengthen ' nestness,to prevail over every toil.'
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 427
there is no sadness whatsoever : since nothing can grieve That nature Which is incapable of passion, and of being affected by anything whatsoever of this kind.
When therefore He comes and finds us girt and wakeful, and with our heart enlightened, then forthwith He will make us blessed : for " He will gird up His loins, and serve them." By which we learn that he will requite us proportionately : and because we are as it were weary with toil, He will comfort us, setting before us spiritual banquets, and spreading the abundant table of His "rifts.
" And whether He come in the second watch, it says, or " whether He come in the third watch, blessed are they." Here observe I pray, the breadth of the divine gentleness, and the bountifulness of His mildness towards us. For verily He knoweth our frame, and the readiness with which man's mind wanders into sin. He knoweth that the power of fleshly lust tyrannizeth over us, and that the distractions of this world even, so to speak, against our will drag us on by force, leading the mind into all that is unseemly. But in that He is good, He does not leave us to despair, but on the contrary, pities us, and has given us repentance as the medicine of salvation. For this reason He says, that " whether He come in the second " watch, or whether He come in the third watch, and find " them so doing, blessed are they." Now the meaning of this thou will certainly wish clearly to understand. Men therefore divide the night into three or four watches. For the sentinels on city walls, who watch the motions of. the enemy, after being on guard three or four hours, deliver over the watch and guard to others. So with us there are three ages : the first, that in which we are still children ; the second, in which we are young men ; and the third, that in which we come to old age. Now the first of these, in which we are still children, is not called to account by God, but is deemed worthy of pardon, because of the imbecillity as yet of the mind, and the weakness of the understanding. But the second and the third, the periods of manhood and old age, owe to God obedience and piety of life, according to His good pleasure. Whosoever therefore is found watching, and, so to speak, well girt, whether, if it so chance, he be still a young man, or one who has arrived at old age,
3 l 3
428 COMMENTARY UPON
blessed shall he be. For he shall be counted worthy of at- taining to Christ's promises.
And in commanding us to watch, He adds further for our safety a plain example, which very excellently shews that it is dangerous to act otherwise. For He says, " that if the master " of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, " he would be awake, and not have suffered his house to be " dug through. Be ye therefore also ready, for in an hour " that ye expect not, the Son of man cometh." For as His 2 Pet. iii. disciple, said, "The day of the Lord will come as a thief, in " which the heavens shall suddenly pass away, and the ele- " ments being on fire shall melt, and the earth, and the works " that are therein shall be utterly burned. But we look for " new heavens and a new earth, andJ His promises." And to this he adds, " Since then all these things shall be dissolved, " what manner of persons ought we to be found, being holy " and without blame before Him ? " For no one at all knows the time of the consummation of all things, at which Christ shall appear from above, from heaven, to judge the world in righteousness. Then shall He give an incorruptible crown to them that are watching ; for He is the Giver, and Distributor, and Bestower of the Divine gifts: by "Whom, and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
d Mai has the ordinary reading Syriac has the reading of several of Kara ra eVayyA/xara aumv, hut the the best MSS., as B, m) tu i, a.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 429
SERMON XCIII.
And Peter said, Lord speakest Thou this parable unto us, or C. xii. 4 1- also unto all? And the Lord said, Wl\o then is the faith- ^ ^^ fid and ivise steward, whom his lord shall set over his CTs-_ household, to give the portion of food in its season ? Blessed bs. is that servant, whom, his lord at his coming shall find so ™*e" 5<F doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will appoint 6 <ppw. BT. him over all that he hath. But if that servant say in his Ka *' heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and begin to beat the men servants and female servants, and to eat and drink, and be drunken: the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he expecteth not, and at an hour of which he is not aware, and will cut him asunder, and give him a por- °m- a"ToS tion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his lord's will, and did it not ',- neither prepared according to KJ^ ^ ™n'1' his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who troi^ao-as knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be V * : £* beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is (?) B.) wot.
BCTc
given, of him shall be' much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will require the more.
IT is a good and saving thing for us to direct the penetrating glance of the mind unto the words of God. For it is written of the words which God speaks, "Who is wise, and he will under- Ho9- xlv-9- " stand them ? or prudent, and he will know their meaning ? " For simply to hear, and receive the spoken word in the ear, is common to all men, both to the wise, and to those who are not so : but the habit of penetrating deep into profitable thoughts is found only with those who are truly wise. Let us therefore ask this of Christ : let us imitate the blessed Peter, that chosen disciple, that faithful steward and true believer ; who, when he had heard Christ say somewhat highly advantageous for their benefit, prayed that it might be explained to him, and did not allow it to pass by, because he had not as yet clearly understood it. For he said, " Lord, speakest Thou this parable " unto us, or also unto all?" Is it, he asks, a general law, and
430 COMMENTARY UPON
one that appertains in equal measure to all, or is it fitting for those only who are superior to the rest? What then was it which troubled the wise disciple, or what led him to wish to learn things such as this from Christ ? This point then we will first discuss.
There are then some commandments which befit those who have attained to apostolic dignities, or possess a more than ordinary knowledge, and the higher spiritual virtues ; while others belong to those in an inferior station. And that this is true, and according to my words, we may see from what the iCor. iii. 2. blessed Paul wrote unto certain of his disciples, "I have given " you milk to drink, and not meat : for ye were not as yet Heb. v. r4. " strong enough, nor even yet could ye bear it." " For solid " food belongeth to them that are full grown, who by reason " of perfectnesse have the senses of the heart exercised for the " discerning of good and evil." For just, for instance, as very heavy burdens can be carried by persons of a very power- ful frame, to which men of weaker stature are unequal, so those of a vigorous mind may justly be expected to fulfil the weightier and more excellent commands among those which become the saints ; while such as are, so to speak, simple, and quite easy, and free from all difficulty, suit those who have not yet attained to this spiritual strength. The blessed Peter therefore, considering with himself the force of what Christ had said, rightly asked, which of the two was meant; whether the declaration referred to all believers, or only to them ; that is, to those who had been called to the discipleship, and espe- cially honoured by the grant of apostolic powers ?
And what is our Lord's reply ? He makes use of a clear and very evident example, to shew that the commandment especially belongs to those who occupy a more dignified position, and have been admitted into the rank of teachers. " For who, He " says, is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord will set " over his household, to give the allowance of food at its
0 As all the MSS. read <£ir, and " ness," " ability obtained by prac-
also the Greek of Mai, the Syriac " tice and experience;" for examples
translator apparently intends to ex- of which cf. Rost's Passow. " The
press it by his word " perfectness" " senses of the heart" is rather a
or " completeness." He has taken periphrase than a translation of ra
it therefore in its sense of " skilful- aiaQrjrrjpia.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 431
" season/' { Let us suppose, He says, a householder ; who ' being about to go upon a journey, has entrusted to one of his ' faithful slaves the charge of all his house, to give his house- ' hold, that is, his servants, their allowance of corn at its due 1 season. When therefore, He says, he shall return, if on ' coming to his house he shall find him so doing as he com- ' manded, very blessed shall that servant be. For he will set ' him, He says, over all that he hath. But if he be neglectful ' and indolent, and take pleasure in oppressing his fellow- ' servants, eating and drinking, and given up to self-indulgent ' voluptuousness, he will be cut asunder, that is, will have to ' bear the severest punishment, when his lord shall come to ' him in a day that he expecteth not, and at an hour of which ' he is not aware.'
Such then is the simple and plain meaning of the passage : but if we now fix our mind accurately upon it, we shall see what is signified bv it, and how useful it is for their benefit who have been called to the apostleship, to the office, that is, of teacher. The Saviour has ordained as stewards, so to speak, over his servants ; — that is, over those who have been won by faith to the acknowledgment of His glory ; — men faithful and of oreat understanding, and well instructed in the sacred doc- trines. And He has ordained them, commanding them to give their fellow-servants their allowance of food; and that not simply and without distinction, but rather at its proper season : by which is meant such food, I mean spiritual food, as is sufficient and fitting for each individual. For it is not fitting to address simply to all who have believed in Christ instruction upon all points ; for it is written, " With knowledge learn the Proy. " souls of thy flock.'" For very different is the way in which xxvu" *3' we establish in the paths of truth one who has but just now become a disciple, using simple teaching, in which there is nothing profound nor difficult to understand, counselling him to escape from the error of polytheism, and fittingly persuading him to discern by the beauty of things created, the universal Creator and Artificer, Who is One by nature, and verily God : from the way in which we instruct those who are more con- firmed in mind, and able to understand what is the height and depth, and what the length and breadth, of the definitions of
432 COMMEXTAEY UPON
the supreme Godhead. For as we have already said, " Solid a meat belongeth to them that are full grown."
Whoever therefore shall wisely in due season, and according to their need, divide to his fellow-servants their portion, that is, their food, very blessed shall he be, according to the Saviour's word. For he shall be counted worthy of still greater things, and shall receive a suitable recompense for his fidelity. " For he will set him. He says, over all that he hath.'' And this the Saviour has elsewhere taught us, where praising Mat. xxv. the active and faithful servant, He said, " 0 good and faithful "' " servant, thou hast been faithful over few things, I will set
" thee over many things : enter into the joy of thy lord."
But if, He says, neglecting the duty of being diligent and faithful, and despising watchfulness in these things as super- fluous, he let his mind grew intoxicated with worldly cares, and is seduced into improper courses, dragging by force, and oppressing those who are subject to him, and not giving them their portion, in utter wretchedness shall he be. For this I think, and this only, is the meaning of his being cut asunder. " And his portion too," He says, "shall be with the unbe- " lievers." For whosoever hath done wrong to the glory of Christ, or ventured to think slightingly of the flock entrusted to his charge, differs in no respect whatsoever from those who know Him not: and all such persons will justly be counted amons those who have no love for Him. For Christ even John xxi. once said to the blessed Peter, " Simon, son of Jonah, lovest l6- " thou Me ? feed My sheep ; feed My lambs." If therefore
he who feeds his flock loves it, then of course he that neglects it, and leaves the flock that has been entrusted to him without oversight, hates it : and if he hate it he will be punished, and be liable to the condemnation pronounced upon the unbelievers, as being convicted by the very facts of being negligent and contemptuous. Such was he who received the talent to trade with in things spiritual, and did not do so, but on the contrary brought that which had been given him without increase, Mat. xxv. saying, " Lord, I knew that thou art a hard man, that thou *4- " reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest whence
" thou hast not scattered ; and I was afraid, and hid the " talent : lo ! thou hast what is thine." But those who had
POTJTUlS
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 433
received the five talents, or even yet more, and laboured and loved service, were honoured with glorious dignities. For they heard, the one of them, " Be thou over ten," and the other, " Be thou over five cities :" while that contumelious and slothful servant suffered the severest condemnation. To be negligent therefore in discharging the duties of the ministry is every- where dangerous, or rather, brings upon men perdition:^ but to perform them with unwearying zeal earns for us life and glory. And this means to discourse to our fellow servants correctly and without error the things which relate to God, and whatsoever is able to benefit them in attaining both to the knowledge and the ability to walk uprightly. And the blessed Paul [Peter] also writes to certain persons, " Feed the flock of i Pet. v. 2. " God which is among you, that when the Chief Shepherd " shall appear, ye may receive your reward" And as know- ing that slothfulness is the door of perdition, he again said, " Woe is me, if I preach not." l or'lx'1
And that bitter and inevitable punishment is threatened against those who are slothful in this duty, the Saviour immedi- ately shewed, by adding to what had been already said two ex- amples one after the other. " For the servant," He says, " who "knew his master's will, and did it not, neither prepared " according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes : but " he who knew it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall « be beaten with few stripes." Now the guilt is indisputable in the case of him who knew his master's will, but afterwards neglected it, and did nothing that was fitting, and which it was his" duty to do. For it is manifest contumely, and therefore the many stripes. But for what reason were the few stripes inflicted on him who neither knew nor did his master's will ? For some one, for instance, may say, How can he who knew it not be guilty ? The reason is, because he would not know it, although it was in his power to learn. But if he who is . entirely ignorant of it does not escape from anger, because when it was his duty to know he neglected the means of learn- ing what plea can deliver him from justly bearing many stripes, who knew, and disregarded it? « For unto whomso- " ever much is given, of him shall be much required : and to « whom men h^ve committed much, of him they will require " the more."
3K
434 COMMENT AR V . UPON
Very severe therefore is the condemnation of those who teach. And this Christ's disciple shews us, saying, " Let there " not be many teachers among you, my brethren, knowing that " we shall receive the greater condemnation." For abundant is the bestowal of spiritual gifts upon those who are the chiefs of the people: for so the wise Paul also somewhere wrote to Tim. ii. 7. the blessed Timothv ; " The Lord shall give thee wisdom in Tim. i. 6. " every thing.'1 And, "Despise not the gift that is in thee, " which was given thee by the laving on of my hands." From such as these then, the Saviour of all, in that He hath given them much, requires much in return. And what are the vir- tues He requires ? Constancy in the faith ; correctness in teaching ; to be well grounded in hope ; unwavering in patience ; invincible in spiritual strength ; cheerful and brave in every more excellent achievement : that so we may be examples to others of the evangelic life. For if we will thus live, Christ will bestow upon us the crown ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen f.
f An instance occurs in this ser- and for the most part in his very
mon of the manner in which the words, but entirely remodelled, and
Catenists summed up the general in the manner of an abstract rather
sense of a passage : for the second than of a quotation. An exactly
extract given by Mai in p. 304, similar but shorter instance occurs
from A and D, but chiefly I ima- again in Mai, p. 310. gine from the latter, is really Cyril's,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. iSo
SERMON XCIV.
/ am come to cast fire upon the earth : and what will I, ifC. xii. 49- already it be kindled? And I have a baptism to be bap- tized with : and how am I straitened, until it be accom- plished ! Ye think that I am come to give peace upon earth: I tell you, Nay, but division. For henceforth there shall be five in one house divided ; three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against Sia^ptcre-h-
«/ */ *s Tvn
■l • (Tovrai Ul.
the son, and the son against the father ; the mother against —0^aiTai the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; theGSs' mother-in-laxv against her daughter-in-law, and the daugh- ter-in-law against her mother-in-law. °m- a"T^9
GOD the Father for the salvation of all sent down for us the Son from heaven. For to the Israelites indeed He gave p3. ixxviii. the law to be their helper, according to the Scripture ; and 3" also spake to them by the holy prophets such things as were profitable for their salvation, promising them the deliverance that is by Christ. But when the season had arrived, in which those things that had been prophesied of old were to be accom- plished, He Who is God and Lord shone forth upon us. And He tells us the cause thereof in those words ; " I am come to " cast fire upon the earth ; and what will I if already it be "kindled?" Come therefore, and let us examine of what nature is this fire, concerning which He here speaks. Is it useful for those upon earth? Is it for their salvation? Or does it torture men, and cause their perdition, like that which is pre- pared for the devil and Ins angels?
We affirm therefore that the fire which is sent forth by Christ is for men's salvation and profits: God grant that all
s The Catenist in Mai (from A,) give the leading portions of what
prefaces this sentence with the follows very%correctly, though not
words, " Cleopas and his compa- in the same order as the Syriac.
" nions having this fire said, Did Cramer gives the same sentence eg
" not our heart burn within us on avemypd^ov, whence probably its
" the way as he opened to us the confusion with what is really Cy-
" Scriptures," but then proceeds to ril's.
3 K -
436 COMMENTARY UPON
oar hearts may be full thereof. For the fire here is, I say, the savins message of the Gospel, and the power of its command- meats ; by which all of us upon earth, who were so to speak cold and dead because of sin, and in ignorance of Him Who by nature and truly is God, are kindled unto a life of piety, and
Rom. xii. made " fervent in spirit," according to the expression of the blessed Paul. And besides this we are also made partakers of the Holy Ghost, "Who is as fire within us. For we have been baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost. And we have learnt the way thereto, by what Christ says to us : for listen to His
John iii. 5. words ; " Verily I say unto you, that except a man be born of " water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
It is the custom moreover of the divinely inspired Scripture to o*ive the name of fire sometimes to the divine and sacred words, and to the efficacy and power which is by the Holy Ghost, and whereby we are made, as I said, " fervent in " spirit." For one of the holy prophets thus spake as in the
Mai. iii. 1. person of God respecting Christ our common Saviour : "The " Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, " even the Messenger of the covenant, Whom ye desire : " behold He cometh saith the Lord. And who shall endure " the day of His coming ? or who shall stand at the sight " of Him ? For lo ! He cometh like the fire of a furnace, and '* like the sulphur of the bleacher. And He shall sit, like one " that smelteth and purifieth as silver and as gold." Now by the temple he here means the body, holy of a truth and unde- fined, which was born of the holy virgin by the Holy Ghost in the power of the Father. For so was it said to the blessed
Luke i. 35. virgin, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power f of the Highest shall overshadow thee." And he styles Him " the Messenger of the covenant," because He makes known and ministers unto us the good-will of the Father. For He
John xv. has Himself said to us, " All things that I have heard of the
'5' " Father, I have made known unto you." And the prophet
Is. L\. 6. Isaiah also thus writes respecting Him ; " Unto us a Child is " born ; yea, unto* us a Son is given : and His government " shall be upon His shoulder : and His name shall be called, " The Messenger of the great counsel." Just therefore as those who know how to refine gold and silver, melt out the dross contained in them by the use of fire ; so also the Saviour
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 437
of all cleanses by the doctrines of the Gospel in the power of the Spirit, the mind of all those who have believed in Him.
And further the prophet Isaiah also said, that " He saw the is. vi. i. " Lord of Sabaoth sitting upon a throne high, and lifted up : " and around Him stood the Seraphim, praising Him. Then " said He to himself, Alas for me a sinner, for I repent me : in " that being a man, and of unclean lips, I dwell among a " people of unclean lips, and have seen with my eyes the King, " the Lord of Sabaoth." But to this he adds, that " one of " the Seraphim was sent unto me, and in his hand he had a " live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, " and he touched with it my mouth, and said, Lo ! this hath " touched thy lips, and it shall take away thy sins, and cleanse " thee of thy iniquities." What interpretation then are we to put upon the coal which touched the prophet's lips, and cleansed him from all sin ? Plainly it is the message of sal- vation, and the confession of faith in Christ, which whosoever receiveth with his mouth is forthwith and altogether purified. And of this Paul thus assureth us; "that if thou shalt say with Kom. x. 9. " thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart " that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be " saved."
We say then that the power of the divine message resembles a live coal and fire. And the God of all somewhere said to the prophet Jeremiah, " Behold, I have made My words in thy jer. v. 14. " mouth to be fire, and this people to be wood, and it shall " devour them." And again, " Are not My words as burning jer. xxiii. " fire, saith the Lord ?" Rightly therefore did our Lord Jesus 29- Christ say unto us, " I am come to throw fire upon earth ; and " what will I, if it be already kindled ? " For already some of the Jewish crowd believed on Him, whose firstfruits were the divine disciples : and the fire being once kindled was soon to seize upon the whole world, immediately that the whole dis- pensation had attained to its completion : as soon, that is, as He had borne His precious passion upon the cross, and had com- manded the bonds of death to cease. For He rose on the third day from the dead.
And this He teaches us by saying, " But I have a baptism to " be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accom- " plished !" And by His baptism He means His death in the
438 COMMENTARY UPON
flesh : and bv being straitened because of it He means, that He was saddened and troubled until it was accomplished. For what was to happen when it was accomplished ? That hence- forth not in Judrea only should the saving message of the Gospel be proclaimed : comparing which to fire He said, " I " am come to send fire upon earth :" — but that now it should be published even to the whole world. For before the precious cross, and His resurrection from the dead, His commandments and the glory of His divine miracles, were spoken of in Judaea only. But because Israel sinned against Him, for they killed
Actsiii. 15. the Prince of Life, as far as they were concerned, even though He arose having spoiled the grave : then immediately He gave
M.-u.xxviii. commandment to the holy apostles in these words: " Go, make " disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the " Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and teach- " ing them to observe all those things which I have commanded " you." Behold therefore, yea see, that throughout all nations was that sacred and divine fire spread abroad by means of the holy preachers.
And of the holy apostles and evangelists Christ somewhere
Zech. xii.6. spake by one of the prophets : " And it shall come to pass in " that day, that I will make the heads of the thousands of " Judah like a firebrand among wood, and like a fiery lamp " among reeds ; and they shall devour on the right hand and " on the left all the nations round about." For, so to speak, like fire they ate up all the nations, and fed upon the whole earth, kindling all its inhabitants, who as I said were cold, and had suffered the death of ignorance and sin.
Wouldst thou see the effects of this divine and rational fire ? hear then again His words : " Or think ye that I am come to " give peace upon earth ? I tell you, nay, but division." And
Eph. ii. 14. yet Christ is our peace, according to the Scriptures. " He " hath broken down the middle wall : He hath united the " two people in one new man, so making peace : and hath " reconciled both in one body unto the Father." He hath united the things below to them that are above : how therefore did He not come to give peace upou earth ? What then say wc to these things11?
h In Mai nearly a page of addi- and C. recasting the latter part of tional matter is inserted from A. B. this passage in a more rhetorical
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 439
That peace is an honourable and truly excellent thing when given by God. For the prophets also say; " Lord, grant us Is.xxvi.n " peace : for Thou hast given us all things." But not every peace1 necessarily is free from blame : there is sometimes, so to speak, an unsafe peace, and which separates from the love of God those who, without discretion or examination, set too high a value upon it. As for instance: the determination to avoid evil men, and refuse to be at peace with them ; — by which I mean the not submitting to entertain the same sentiments as they do ; — is a thing profitable and useful to us. And in like man- ner the opposite course is injurious to those who have believed in Christ, and attained to the knowledge of His mystery : to such it is unprofitable to be willing to follow the same sentiments as those who wander away from the right path, and have fallen into the net of heathen error, or been caught in the snares of wicked heresies. With these it is honourable to contend, and to set the battle constantly in array against them, and to glory in holding opposite sentiments ; so that even though it be a father that believes not, the son is free from blame who con- tradicts him, and resists his opinions. And in like manner also the father, if he be a believer, and true unto God, but his son disobedient and evilly disposed, and that opposeth the glory of Christ, is also free from blame, if he disregard natural affec- tion, and disowns him as his child. And the same reasoning holds with respect to mother and daughter : and daughter-in- law and mother-in-law. For it is right that those who are in error should follow those who are sound in mind : and not, on the contrary, that those should give way whose choice is to
form, and which, after dilating " peace is an honourable thing,"
upon the seeming contradiction and gives the rest in accordance
between Christ's declarations, that generally with the Syriac, but in a
He especially gives peace, (John briefer form. Possibly therefore the
xiv. 27.), and yet is come not to Catenists may have borrowed from
give peace upon earth, finally solves S. Cyril's Commentary on Mat.
the difficulty by quoting 1 Cor. x. 34.
v. 11. that we are not even to eat ' In the margin some later hand
with a fornicator; and 2 John 10, has written; "That not every peace
that we are not to receive a heretic. " is free from blame, but that there
It tfien inserts &7X02/ yap before the " is an unsafe peace, and which
next passage, " For it is plain that " withdraws us from loving God."
440 COMMENTARY UPON
entertain correct sentiments, and who have a sound knowledge of the glory of God.
And this Christ has also declared to us in another manner ;
Mat. x. 37. « jfJe that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not " worthy of Me : and he that loveth son or daughter more " than Me, is not worthy of Me." When therefore thou de- niest an earthly father for thy piety's sake towards Christ, then shalt thou gain as Father Him Who is in heaven. And if thou give up a brother because he dishonours God, by re- fusing to serve Him, Christ will accept thee as His brother : for with His other bounties He has given us this also, saying ;
P3.xxii. z2. " I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren.1' Leave thy mother after the flesh, and take her who is above, the heavenly
Gal. iv. 16. Jerusalem, " which is our mother:" so wilt thou find a glorious and mighty lineage in the family of the saints. With them thou wilt be heir of God's gifts, which neither the mind can comprehend, nor language tell. Of which may we too be counted worthy by the grace and loving-kindness of Christ, the Saviour of us all ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 441
SERMON XCV.
And He said also to the multitudes, When ye have seen a -Qxn' 3*~ cloud rising out of the xuest, straightway ye say, that rain add. 8™ S. cometh ; and so it is. And when [_ye see] the south wind blowing, ye say, There will be heat : and so it is. Ye hypocrites ! ye know how to prove the face of the sky, and of the earth : how then know ye not hoiv to prove this time ? o!j* »Wot« and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is just ? For gg. whilst thou art going with him who hath a suit against °? 5o*'£~" thee in the way to the magistrate, give diligence that thou ev rfj 68$ mayest be delivered from him ; lest he drag thee to the g71" a^ovra judge, and the judge deliver thee to the exactor, and the om. a*' B. exactor cast thee into prison. I tell thee, thou shalt not come out thence, until thou hast made compensation unto the last mite.
THOSE physicians who are exact in their art, and have be- come proficients by great practice, deliver the sick from their maladies, by making use of many kinds of drugs, by the aid of which they appease the anguish of men's sufferings, gathering from all quarters whatever may benefit them. And this we also find Christ, the Saviour of all, here doing : for He is the Physician of spirits, and delivers us from the maladies of the soul. For He even said by one of the holy prophets ; " Return, Jer. Hi. a*. " ye returning sons ; and I will heal your breaches." And as knowing this, the prophet Jeremiah offered up his supplications unto Him in these words : " Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be Jer. xvii. " healed : save me, 0 Lord, and I shall be saved : for Thou l4' " art my glory."
Observe, therefore, how he prepares for us the medicine of admonition, not using as He so often did direct discourse, but mingling, so to speak, and entwining with it images drawn from examples, to make it the more abundantly profitable. For He cried unto the multitudes, saying ; " When ye see a " cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say that rain
3 l
442 COMMENTARY UPON
" cometh ; and it is so. And when [ye see] the south wind " blowing, ye say there will be heat : and so it is." For men fix their attention on things of this kind, and from long obser- vation and practice tell beforehand when rain will fall, or gusts happen of violent winds : and one especially sees sailors very skilful in this matter. Well therefore, He says, well would it become those who can calculate things of this sort, and foretell, it may be, storms that are about to happen, to fix the pene- trating glance of the mind also upon matters of importance. And what are these ? The law shewed beforehand the mystery of Christ ; and that certainly He would shine forth in the last ages of the world upon the inhabitants of the earth, and sub- mit to be a sacrifice for the salvation of all. For it even corn- Ex. xii. 6. manded a lamb to be sacrificed as a type of Him towards evening, and at lamp-lighting ; that we might understand, that when, like the day, this world was declining to its close, the great and precious and truly-saving passion would be fulfilled : and the door of salvation be thrown widely open unto those who believe in Him, and abundant happiness be their lot. For also in the Song of Songs we find Christ calling to the bride there described, and who represents the person of the Church, Cant. ii. io. in these words: "Arise, come, My neighbour, Mybeautifu 1 " dove : for lo ! the winter is past, and the rain is gone : it " hath passed away. The flowers appear on the ground : the " time of the pruning is come." As I said, therefore, a certain springlike calm was about to arise for those who believe in Him.
But against those, who, in the greatness of their wickedness, have scorned His goodness, and rejected the Saviour, there is decreed wrath and misery ; and, as it were, a winter of tor- ment and punishment, from the blast of which hard will it be Ps. xi. 6. to escape. For, as the Psalmist says ; " Fire, and brimstone, " and the whirlwind, is the portion of their cup." And why so ? Because they have rejected, as I said, the grace that is by faith ; and therefore the guilt of their sins cannot be wiped away, and they must bear, as they deserve, the punishment due to those who love sin. For so, when speaking of the Jews, John viii. He said ; " Verily I say unto you, that if ye believe not that I 24- " am He, ye shall die in your sins.""
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 443
And that the blessed prophets also in manifold ways preached the mystery of Christ, no one can doubt. For one of them thus speaks as in the person of God the Father : " Behold I lay in Rom.ix.33. " Sion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence : and who- " soever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed." , For those who are in their sins are full of shame. For so it is somewhere said of the Israelites, who violated the law of Moses : " Like Jer. ii. 26. " the shame of a thief when he is caught, so shall the children " of Israel be ashamed." But those who are in Christ by faith, escaping from the pollutions of sin, are not only not full of shame, but have that boldness which becometh those who are free.
It was their duty, therefore, yes! their duty, He says, as being possessed of understanding, and able to discern the face of the sky and of the earth, to examine also things future, and not to let those tempests escape their observation, which come after this world. For there will be the south wind and rain : that is to say, fiery torment. For the south wind is hot : and the infliction of that punishment is vehement and inevitable, like the rain falling upon those overtaken by it. They must not, therefore, let the time of salvation pass by unnoticed : that time in which our Saviour came, and at which perfect know- ledge of the truth reached mankind, and the grace shone forth which purifieth the wicked. And that, not by means of the law: for "it made nothing perfect," having only types and Heb.vii.19. shadows ; but by faith rather in Christ, not rejecting the law, but fulfilling it by a spiritual service. For the very wise Paul wrote; "Do we then make void the law through faith ? Eom.iii.31. "It may not be : but we establish the law." For we who are justified by Christ establish that law of faith, which in mani- fold ways was proclaimed beforehand by Moses and the pro- phets. k
k A few lines follow in Mai from ' tions about to overtake you per-
A. manifestly interpolated. ' Prove ' suade you : the destruction of the
' ye not the season ? Prove ye not * temple, the capture of the metro-
* the things by the words ? nor the * polis, the destruction of the race.
* words by the things ? Ye see ' Do not these things bring you to
* wonders, and behold signs con- ' your senses ? ' His next extract
* firming the words : if these things also begins with five lines, not ac- ' persuade you not, let the terapta- knowledged by the Syriac, to the
3 L 2
444 COMMENTARY UPON
That it is our duty, therefore, to be watchful, in seeking quickly to attain to deliverance from our sins, and the means of escaping from blame, before we arrive at the termination of our natural lives, He has shewn, by saying ; "And why even of " yourselves judge ye not what is just ? For while thou art " going with him who hath a suit against thee, in the way to " the magistrate, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered " from him ; lest he drag thee to the judge, and the judge de- " liver thee to the exactor, and the exactor cast thee into pri- " son. I tell thee, thou shalt not come out thence, until thou " hast made compensation unto the last mite."
Now perhaps it may be imagined that the sense of this pas- sage is difficult to comprehend : but it will become very easy if we examine the metaphor by what takes place among our- selves. For let there be supposed, He says, some one who has brought a charge against thee before one of those in au- thority, and has pointed thee out to those whose office it is to carry the accused into court, and is causing thee to be taken thither. " While therefore, He says, thou art still with him " in the way," that is, before thou hast come to the judge, " give diligence," that is, weary not, in using all thy earnest- ness that thou mayest be delivered from him. For otherwise he will give thee up to the judge ; and then, when thou hast been proved to be indebted to him, thou wilt be delivered to the exactors, to those, that is, whose office it is to exact the money ; and they will cast thee into prison, and make thee pay the last mite.
Now all of us, without exception, upon earth are guilty of
offences : he who has a suit against us and accuses us is the
Ps. viii. ?. wicked Satan : for he is " the enemy and the exactor." While
therefore we are in the way : that is, ere yet we have arrived
at the termination of our life here, let us deliver ourselves from
effect, ' that those who settle a suit pimav tit dp%r)v alriaaiv riva rroii^- 1 without the intervention of a judge adixtvos Kara <rov : and there can be ' are more prudent than those who no doubt that the Syriac has rightly ' go to law : and that what is right translated it, but Mai renders, Esto • to do at one place is right to do at aliquis, inquit, subjectus homini in ' another.' The next sentence Mai dignitate constituto, quicum con- misunderstands : the Greek is, vno- troversiam habens, &c. K(icrda> ri( facri <<p' HWf tuv rtray-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 445
him : let us do away with the offences of which we have been guilty : let us close his mouth : let us seize upon the grace that is by Christ, which frees us from all debt and penalty, and de- livers us from fear and torment : lest if our impurity be not cleansed away, we be carried before the judge, and given over to the exactors, that is, the tormentors, from whose cruelty no man can escape : yea, rather, who will exact vengeance for every fault, whether it be great or small.
Far removed from this danger are those who search for the time of Christ's coming, and are not ignorant of His mystery, but well know that the Word, though He be God, has shone forth upon the inhabitants of earth in likeness as one of us, that freeing them from all blame, He may bless with exceeding happiness those who believe in Him, and acknowledge Him as God and the Son of God : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
446 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON XCVL
C.xiii.6-9. And He spake this parable. A certain man had a Jig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, but found none. Then said he unto the dresser 0/
add. pev S. his vineyard, Lo, three years indeed I come seeking fintit
add. oZv S. on this fig-tree, and find none. Cut it doivn therefore : ivhy doth it make the ground also barren ? But he answered and said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also : until
ttiifiihyt I did around it, and dung it: and if it bear Mat in the
ante eis rb » * t " .
jufAAoe coming [year, welt], and if not, thou shalt cut it down.
GTs. post
THE Psalmist shews the surpassing gentleness of Christ, Pa. viii. 4. the Saviour of us all, in these words ; " Lord, what is man, " that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that Thou " visitest him?" For man upon earth, as far as his bodily na- ture is concerned, is dust and ashes: but he has been honoured bv God, by having been made in His image and likeness : not in his bodily shape, m that is, but rather because he is ca- pable of being just and good, and fitted for all virtue. The Creator therefore takes care of him, as being His creature, and for the purpose of adorning the earth. For as the prophet la. xlv. 18. Isaiah saith ; " He made it not in vain, but that it should be " inhabited :" — inhabited of course by a rational animal, who can discern with the eyes of the mind the Creator and Artificer of the Universe, and glorify Him like the spirits that are above. But because by the deceiving arts of the serpent he had turned aside unto wickedness, and was held fast by the chains of sin, and removed far from God, Christ, to enable him
1 Again S. Cyril has omitted the law of Moses. This extract is
w. 1-5. of this chapter, but the ascribed to S. Cyril by A. C. and D.
lacuna is filled up in the Catena? by of Mai's Codices, and by Aquinas.
a long extract from Theophylact, m In the margin a note occurs
p. 422. identifying the Galilaeans by the same later hand to the fol-
with the followers of Judas of Ga- lowing effect : " In what way man
Idee, Acts v. 37, 'who forbade their " is in the image and likeness of
calling any one Lord, or offering " God." any sacrifice not commanded by
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 447
once again to mount upwards, has sought him out, and fashioned him anew to what he was at first, and granted him repentance as the pathway to lead him unto salvation.
He proposes therefore a wise parable: but we ought perhaps first to explain what was the occasion which led to it, or what at all the necessity why He brought it forward.
There were therefore certain who told Christ, the Saviour of us all, that Pilate had put to death cruelly and without pity certain Galiloeans, and mingled their blood with their sacrifices. And others that the tower near Shiloh had fallen, and eighteen Siloam. persons perished beneath the ruins. And afterwards referring to these things, Christ had said to His hearers ; " Verily, I say " unto you, that except ye repent, ye also shall in like manner " perish." This was the head and root of the present parable, and that at which it was, as it were, aimed.
Now the outer sense of this passage needs not a single word for its explanation : but when we search into its inward and secret and unseen purport, it is, we affirm, as follows. The Israelites, after our Saviour's crucifixion, were doomed to fall into the miseries they deserved, Jerusalem being captured, and its inhabitants slaughtered by the sword of the enemy. Nor were they to perish thus only, but their houses were to be burnt with fire, and even the temple of God demolished. It is probable therefore that He likens the synagogue of the Jews to a fig tree ; for the sacred Scripture also compares them to various plants : to the vine, for instance, and the olive, and even to a forest. For the prophet Jeremiah at one Hosea. time says of Jerusalem, or rather of its inhabitants ; " Israel is Hos. x. i. " a vine with many branches." And again at another address- ing it, he says ; " The Lord hath called thy name a beautiful Jer- xi- l6- " olive tree, well shaded in appearance : at its pruning time a " fire was kindled in it : great was the tribulation that was " upon it ; its branches were destroyed.'1 And another of the holy prophets, comparing it to Mount Lebanon, thus speaks ; " Open thy doors, 0 Lebanon, and the fire shall devour thy Zech. xi. r. " cedars." For the forest that was in Jerusalem, even the people there, many as they were and innumerable, was de- stroyed as by fire. He takes therefore, as I said, the fig tree spoken of in the parable as a figure of the Jewish synagogue, that is, of the Israelites : and " three years,*" He says, " He
448 COMMENTARY UPON
" sought fruit upon it, and found none." By which, I think, are signified to us those three periods during which the Jewish synagogue bore no fruit. The first of these, one may sav, was that in which Moses and Aaron and his sons lived : who served God, holding the office of the priesthood according to the law. The second was the period of Jeshua, the son of Nun, and the judges who succeeded him. And the third, that in which the blessed prophets flourished down to the time of John the Bap- tist During these periods Israel brought forth no fruit.
But I can imagine persons making to this the following ob- jection ; ' But lo ! it did fulfil the service ordained by the law, ' and offered the sacrifices which consisted in the blood of vic- ' tims and burning incense/ But to this we reply : that in the writings of Moses there was only a type of the truth, and a gross and material service : there was not as yet a service simple, pure, and spiritual, such as we affirm God chiefly loves, John iv. 24. having so learnt of Christ, Who said; " God is a Spirit: and " they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and " truth."' As far therefore as regarded the good-will of the Father, and evidently that also of the Son, the service which consisted in shadows and types was unacceptable, being utterly without fruit in whatsoever appertains to a sweet spiritual savour. And therefore it was rejected: for so the Saviour Pa. ii. 6. teaches us, when saying to God the Father in heaven ; n Sa- " crifice and offering Thou wouldest not : and whole burnt " offerings, and sin offerings Thou didst not require.'" And again by the voice of Isaiah He saith Himself to those who Is. i. 12. were seeking to fulfil it : " For who hath required this at . " your hands ? Tread My court no more : if ye bring fine " meal, it is in vain : incense is an abomination unto Me." How therefore can that which God hates and abominates be sup- posed to be the rational and spiritual fruit of the soul, and ac- ceptable unto Him ?
He says therefore, " Lo, three years do I come seeking fruit " on this fig tree, and find none. Cut it down therefore : why " doth it make the ground also useless." As though He would say, Let the place of this barren fig tree be laid bare : for then there will come up or may be planted there some other tree. And this too was done : for the multitude of the Gentiles was summoned into its room, and took possession of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 449
the inheritance of the Israelites. It became the people of God ; the plant of Paradise ; a germ good and honourable ; that knoweth how to bring forth fruit, not in shadows and types, but rather by a pure and perfectly stainless service, even that which is in spirit and in truth, as being offered to God, Who is an immaterial Being.
The owner then of the ground said, that the fig-tree, which during so Ions a time had been barren and without fruit, must be cut down. But the vinedresser, it says, besought him, say- ing ; " Lord, let it alone this vear also : until I dig around it " and dung it : and if it bear fruit in the coming [year, well ;] " and if not, thou shalt cut it down."
Now it is necessary to inquire, who is to be understood by the vinedresser. If then any one choose to affirm that it is the angel who was appointed by God as the guardian of the synagogue of the Jews, he would not miss a suitable interpreta- tion. For we remember that the prophet Zechariah wrote, that one of the holy angels stood offering supplications for Jerusa- lem, and saying, " 0 Lord Almighty, how long wilt Thou not Zech. i. 12. " have mercy upon Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah ; " which Thou hast abandoned, lo ! for seventy years ? " And it is writlen also in Exodus, that when the ruler of the land of the Egyptians with his warriors was pursuing after the Israelites, and was already upon the point of engaging with Ex.xiv.20. them in battle, the angel of God stood between the camp of the Israelites and of the Egyptians, and the one came not near the other all the night. There is therefore nothing unbefitting in supposing here also, that the holy angel who was the guar- dian of the synagogue offered supplications in its behalf, and prayed for a respite, if perchance yielding to better influence it might yet bring forth fruit.
But if any one should say that the vinedresser is the Son, this view also has a reason on its side not unbefitting right ar- guments. For " He is our Advocate with the Father," " and 1 Johnii.r. " our propitiation," and the husbandman of our souls, Who pruneth away constantly whatever is to our hurt, and filleth us with rational and holy seeds, that so we may bring forth for Him fruits : and so He spake of Himself. " A sower went out Lukeviii.5. " to sow his seed."
And it in no respect militates against the glory of the
3 M
450 COMMENTARY UPON
Son, that He assumes the character of the vinedresser : for the Father is Himself also found to have taken it, without being exposed to any blame for so doing. For the Son said John xv. /. to the holy apostles, " I am the Vine : ye are the branches : " My Father is the Husbandman." For the verbal expression must from time to time be made to accord with tbe supposi- tions which are laid down.
Let Him therefore be supposed to be the Advocate in our behalf: and He says, " Let it alone this year also, until I dig " around it and dung it." And what then is this year ? But plainly this fourth year, this time subsequent to those former periods, is that in which the Only-begotten Word of God be- came man, to stir up like some husbandman by spiritual ex- hortations the Israelites who had withered away in sin, digging Rum. xii. round them, and warming them, to make them " fervent in " spirit." For He repeatedly denounced against them destruc- tion and ruin, wars and slaughters, burnings and captivities, and immitigable wrath: while, on the orher hand, He promised, if thev would believe on Him, and now at length become fruit- ful trees, that he would give them life and glory, the grace of adoption, the communion of the Holy Ghost, and the kingdom of heaven. But Israel was incapable of being taught even thus. It was still a barren fig tree, and continued so to be. It was cut down, therefore, that it might not make the ground use- less : and in its stead there sprung up, as a fertile plant, the goutile church, beautiful, and fruit-bearing, deeply-rooted, and incapable of being shaken. For they have been counted as Rom.xi -4. children unto Abraham, and have been ingrafted into the good olive-tree : for a root has been preserved, and Israel has not utterly perished.
But that it was doomed to be cut down, on account of its utter barrenness, the blessed John the Baptist also declared in Luk'.- iii. 9. these words ; " Behold the axe is laid at the root of the trees : " every tree therefore that bringcth not forth good fruit is " hewn down, and cast into the fire." And one of the holy prophets also" *****
n The rest of this (96th) Exposi- pp. 315-321 ; and Cramer, ii. 107,
tion, the whole of the 97th, and the where 9ome of the following extract
commencement of the 98th, having is given anonymously : and from
perished, their place is supplied the Aurea Catena, p. 201. ed. Ve-
from Mai's Nov. Bib. Pat. vol. ii. net. 1775.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 451
Behold there was a woman, which had a spirit of infirmity C. nil n. eighteen years. Now there was in the synagogue a woman who for eighteen From Mai. vears was bowed down by infirmity. And her case may prove of no little benefit to those who have understanding : for wo must gather what is to our advantage from every quarter : — since by what happened to her we may see that Satan often receives authority over certain persons, such, namely, as fall into sin, and have grown lax in their efforts after piety. Whomsoever therefore he gets into his power, he involves, it may be. in bodily diseases, since he delights in punishment and is merciless. And the opportunity for this the all-seeing God most wisely grants him, that being sore vexed by the bur- den of their misery, men may set themselves upon changing to a better course. For which reason St. Paul also delivered over to Satan a certain person at Corinth accused of fornica- tion, " for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be ■ Cur. v. 5. " saved." The woman therefore who was bowed down is said Also from
, . . ., r Cramer.
to have suffered this from the cruelty of the devil, according to our Master's words, « Whom Satan hath bound for eighteen " years :" God, as I said, so permitting it, either for her own sins, or rather by the operation of a universal and general law. For the accursed Satan is the cause of disease to the bodies of men, inasmuch as Adam's transgression was, we affirm, his doing, and by means of it our human frames have become liable to infirmity and decay. But when this was the state of men, God, Who by His very nature is good, did not aban- don us when suffering under the 'punishment of a protracted and incurable malady, but freed us from our bonds, re- vealing as the glorious remedy for the sufferings of mankind His own presence and manifestation in the world. For He came to fashion our state again to what it was originally : for " God, as it is written, made not death : neither hath He Wisdom " pleasure in the destruction of the living. For He created all L " things that they might have their being ; and healthful were " the generations0 of the world ; and there is in them no poi-
0 Or rather, if our language per- cms, the creative acts by which the mitted, " the generatings," a\ ytvi- world was called into existence.
3 M 2
4.52 COMMENTARY UPON
Wisdom " son of destruction," '* but by the envy of the devil death
"' "4- " entered into the world."
Also from The Incarnation of the Word, and His assumption of human
Aquinas. nat;Ure ^qqJ^ place for the overthrow of death and destruction, and of that envy nourished against us by the wicked serpent, who was the first cause of evil. And this is plainly proved to us by facts themselves. And so He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, *' Woman, thou art loosed from thy infirmity." A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power : for with the kingrlv inclination of His will He drives awav the disease. And He also lays His hands upon her : and immediately, it says, she was made straight. And hence too it is possible to see that His holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God. For it was His own flesh, and not that of some other Son beside Him, distinct and separate from Him, as someP most impiously imagine.
Ver. 14. And the ruler of the synagogue answered, being indignant, that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, $*c.
From Mai. And yet how ought he not rather to have wondered at Christ's having freed from her bonds this daughter of Abra- ham ? Thou hast seen her unexpectedly delivered from her misfortune : thou wast an eyewitness that the Physician prayed not, nor received as a boon from another the healing of the sick woman; but that He wrought it as a deed of power. As being the ruler of a synagogue, thou knowest, I suppose, the writings of Moses. Thou sawest him praying upon every occasion, and working nothing whatsoever by his own power. For when Mariam was struck with leprosy, for having merely spoken something against him in the way of reproach, and that
Num.xii.i. true, " for he had taken, she says, unto himself an Ethiopian wife," Moses could not overcome the disease, but, on the con- trary, fell down before God, saying, " 0 God, I beseech Thee, " heal her." And not even so, though he besought it, was the penalty of her sin remitted her. And each one of the holy prophets^ if anywhere at all they wrought any miracle, is seen to
p The Nestorians, who are ex- of this extract from Cyril, or the pressly named by Theophylact, who Catenist has mixed up the two to- haa either borrowed the latter part gether.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 453
have done it by the power of God. But here observe, I pray, that Christ, the Saviour of all, offers no prayer, but refers the accomplishment of the matter to His own power, healing her by a word and the touch of the hand. For being Lord and God, He manifested His own flesh as of equal efficacy with Himself for the deliverance of men from their diseases. And hence it was intended that men should understand the purport of the mystery concerning Him. Had therefore the ruler of the synagogue been a man of understanding, he would have perceived Who and how great the Saviour was from so wonderful a miracle, nor would he have talked in the same ignorant manner as the multitudes, nor have accused those occupied with healing of a breach of the law respecting the traditional abstinence from labour on the sabbath day.
■ But plainly to heal is to labour.' Is the law then broken when God shews mercy even on the sabbath day ? Whom did He command to desist from labour ? Himself ? or was it not rather thee ? If Himself, let His providence over us cease on the sabbath : let the sun rest from his daily course ; let the rains not fall; let the springs of waters, and the streams of ever-flowing rivers, and the winds be still: but if He com- manded thee to rest, blame not God because with power He has shewn mercy on any even on the sabbath. And why did He command men at all to rest upon the sabbath ? It was, thou art told, that thy manservant, and thy ox, and thy horse, and all thy cattle might rest. When therefore He gives men rest by freeing them from their diseases, and thou forbiddest it, plainly thou breakest the law of the sabbath, in not permitting those to rest who are suffering under sickness and disease, and whom Saian had bound.
But the ruler of the unthankful synagogue, when he saw Abofrom the woman whose limbs were crippled, and her body bent and ^uu crooked even to the ground, receiving mercy from Christ, and made perfectly upright by the touch alone of His hand, and walking with that erect gait which becometh man, and magni- fying God for her deliverance, is vexed thereat, and burning with rage against the glory of the Lord, is entangled in envy, and calumniates the miracle; nevertheless he passes by our Lord, Who would have exposed his hypocrisy, and rebukes the multitudes, that his indignation might seem to be aroused for the
454 COMMENTARY UPON
sake of the sabbath day. But his object really was to prevail upon those who were dispersed throughout the week, and occupied with their labours, not to be spectators and admirers of the miracles of the Lord upon the sabbath, lest ever they also should believe.
But tell me, 0 thou slave of envy, what kind of work did the law forbid in commanding thee to abstain on the sabbath day from all manual labour ? Does it forbid the labour of the mouth and speaking ? Abstain then from eating and drinking, and conversing, and singing psalms on the sabbath. But if thou abstainest from these things, and dost not even read the law. what <rood is the sabbath to thee ? If however thou con- finest the prohibition to manual labour, how is the healing of a woman by a word a manual labour ? But if thou callest it an act because the woman was actually healed, thou also per- formest an act in blaming her healing.
1 But says he, He said, thou art loosed from thy infirmity : ' and she is loosed/ Well ! dost not thou also unloose thy girdle on the sabbath ? Dost not thou put off thy shoes, and make thy bed, and cleanse thy hands when dirtied with eating ? airo\t\utrai Why then art thou so angry at the single word " thou art " loosed?"" And at what work did the woman labour after the word was spoken ? Did she set about the craft of the brazier, or the carpenter, or the mason? Did she that very day begin weaving or working at the loom ? f No. She was made ' straight, he says. It was the healing absolutely that is a ' labour.1 But no ! thou art not really angry on account of the sabbath : but because thou seest Christ honoured, and wor- shipped as God, thou art frantic and choked with rage, and pinest with envy. Thou hast one thing concealed in thy heart, and professest and makest pretext of another ; for which reason thou art most excellently convicted by the Lord, Who knoweth thy vain reasonings, and receivest the title which befits thee, in being called hypocrite and dissembler and insincere <?.
i The comparison of the original sense with tolerable exactness, the
Greek with the Latin of the Aurea English translator has been guilty
Catena, and the English of the Ox- of extreme carelessness. Thus in
ford translation, will be sufficient to the Greek, Christ heals the woman
6hew that while Aquinas gives the vtvpari. /3ao-iXt*&>, rendered by A-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE.
455
Thou hypocrite! does not each one of you on the sabbath Ver. 15. loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him axvay to watering ?
Thou wonderest, He says, at Me, Who have loosed a From Mai. daughter of Abraham ; and yet thou givest rest to thy ox and thy ass, loosing them from their labours, and leading them away to watering;: but when a humnn being; suffering from sickness is marvellously healed, and God has shewn mercy, thou blamest both as transgressors : the One for having healed, and the other for being delivered from her maladv.
Behold, I pray, the ruler of the synagogue, how a human being is of less account in his sight than a beast, since at least he counts his ox and his ass worthy of care on the sabbath, but in his envy would not have Christ deliver from her intirmitv the woman who was bowed together, nor wishes her to recover her natural form.
But the envious ruler of the synagogue would have preferred the woman who was made straight to be bowed down after the manner of fourfooted beasts, rather than that she should
quinas imperatorio motu, and in the English, "by His royal assent.''' The act proves, on ttjv tov &tov 8vvajAiv Tf Acal evepyeiav 77 ayia 7re- <^o'p7/ce <yapi' which Aquinas cor- rectly renders ' in quo oportet per- ' pendere sacram carnem induisse ' virtutem divinam.' But the Eng- lish, • Vi'e should here answer that 1 the divine power had put on the ' sacred flesh !' 6 rrjs axapiarov ow ayutyrj^ dp^icrvfdyoiyos, ingratas syn- agogse pnesul, becomes ' the un- ' grateful ruler of the synagogue.' «rl 177 8d£u tov Kvplov irvpT?o\ov- fjLtvot SecrpeiTcu tu (pQ6vu>, /cat {Tttj- pea£ei rw OavpaTi, ardens gloria Domini, irretitur invidia, arguitque niiraculum, becomes, 'sullies his ' zeal for the glory of the Lord with ' envy, and condemns the miracle.' aXX' drri q/xTc, 6 vo^-os tKoiXvcrtv qti otto rrairrot epyov ^etpo/c/iijrou anoa- 11707/ rjj <7^f'p9 tov <7a/3/3urov" Spa t6
81a OTOfxaTos Kal 81a Xoyov ; Sed die, lex prohibuit ab opere manuali die sabbati abstinere, numquid ab eo quod verbo et ore fit ? becomes, ' But the law has not forbidden all ' manual work on the sabbath day, ' and has it forbidden that which is ( done by the word or the mouth ? ' lua tI, cur, i. e. cui rei, for what purpose, becomes 'how ?' These ex- amples are taken from the transla- tion of a single passage of thirty-two lines in p. 484, and I can imagine nothing more calculated to bring the writings of the fathers into dis- credit than such negligence, in pre- paring their works for the use of English readers. The only passage in the above which offers the slightest difficulty is 'ardens gio- * ria Domini,' where gloria is the abl. of the cause, burning (with rage) because of the glory of the Lord.
456 COMMENTARY UPON
recover the form fitting for man ; having no other view than that Christ might not be magnified, nor be proclaimed as God Ako from by His deeds. But he is convicted of being a hypocrite, if at least he leads his dumb cattle upon the sabbath to watering, but is indignant that this woman, who was a daughter of Abraham by descent, and still more by her faith, should bo freed from the chain of her infirmity. For he considers her deliverance from sickness as a transgression of the sabbath r.
Ver. 17. All His adversaries were ashamed.
From Mai Shame fell then on those who had uttered these corrupt n!L. " 4U1 opinions : who had stumbled against the chief corner stone, and been broken ; who had resisted the Physician, who had clashed against the wise Potter, when busied in straightening His crooked vessels : and there was no reply which they could make. They had unanswerably convicted themselves, and were put to silence, and in doubt what they should say. So had the Lord closed their audacious mouth. But the multitudes, who reaped the benefit of the miracles, were glad. For the glory and splendour of His works solved all inquiry and doubt in those who sought Him without malice.
"Ver. 19. It is like a grain of mustard seed.
The comparison is an excellent one, and most fit to set before them what took place and happened at the divine and sacred preaching of the Gospel, to which He here gives the name of the kingdom of heaven ; because it is through it that we gain the right of sharing Christ's kingdom. At first then it was addressed to few persons, and within a narrow range, but afterwards it widened its influence, and spread abroad unto all nations. For at first it was spoken in Juda?a only, where also the blessed disciples were very few in number : but when Israel disobeyed, the commandment was given to the Mat. holy apostles, " having gone to make disciples of all the
ma. 19. (, nationS) &c>" A.s therefore a grain of mustard seed is far
- r These three passages, all of manner in which extracts are strung
which are taken from the same MS. together in the Catenae, as it is quite
A., compared also with the different impossible for any writer to have so
arrangement in the Aurea Catena, repeated himself, may serve as an instance of the
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 457
inferior in size to the seeds of other plants, but shoots up to a great height, far beyond what is usual among herbs, so as for it even to become the lodging of many sparrows, so also the kingdom of heaven, even the new and sacred preaching of sal- vation, by which we are guided into every good work, and learn Him Who both by nature and verilv is God, being at first addressed to but few persons, and as it were small and limited, shot up afterwards into rapid growth, and became the refuge of those who fled -to it for shelter, and who may be compared to sparrows, because human things are but of small measure in comparison with God.
The law of Moses was given to the Israelites : but inasmuch as the inhabitants of earth could not be saved by the shadow which alone it contained and its material service, as a necessary consequence the saving preaching of the Gospel sprang up, and is spread abroad unto all under heaven.
And this the letter of the Mosaic law has signified to us in an enigma : for it runs thus, "And the Lord spake untoNumTx. r. " Moses, saying, Thou shall make unto thyself two trumpets " of beaten metal, of silver shalt thou make them, and they " shall be unto thee to call the synagogue together, and to " move the camp." And soon afterwards, "And the priests, " the sons of Aaron, shall sound the trumpets, and it shall be " a perpetual law for your generations." By this then thou art intended to understand both the preparatory training of the law, and the perfectness attained to in Christ by the gospel mode of life, and the teaching which surpasses shadows and types. The law then is a trumpet, and equally so is the saving preaching of the Gospel ; for by this name does the prophet Isaiah also . make mention of it, saying, " And it shall come to pass on is> j^vii. " that day that they shall sound with the great trumpet/' r3- For in very deed a great trumpet sounded forth by the voice of the holy apostles, not setting at nought the first [trumpet], but s containing it also within it ; for they ever prove what they From the say concerning Christ by the law and the prophets, making S use of the testimonies of older times. 2'i.
There were then two trumpets made of beaten silver, in which the silver signifies splendour ; for every word of God is
9 The Syriac commences again at these words, forming part of Sermon 98.
3*
458 COMMENTARY UPON
glorious, having in it none of the darkness of the world : and the hammering out of the metal shewed that the sacred and divine trumpet, that is, both the old and new preaching, would advance and grow onward : for that which is hammered out advances as it were continually onward, and extends in breadth and length. For at Christ's rising: for the inhabitants of earth, both the ancient law was to advance unto its spiritual interpre- tation ; for so we preach it who have attained unto spiritual illumination in Christ : and the message of the Gospel was to spread until it embraced the whole world. And to the priests the law gave the use of the trumpets to command the people : but Christ gave the ministers of the new proclamations, by whom are meant the holy apostles, the command to preach Him and His precepts. For they proclaim His mystery, using as it were two trumpets, both preachinrg Him, as having been Luke i. -:. " from the beo-inning eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word," and adding, in confirmation of their words, the true testimonies of the law and the prophets.
And it is no difficult thing to see, that the message of the Gospel preaching, being small at first, was soon to leap forth as it were unto great iucrease, inasmuch as God had foretold Is. xi. 9. of it by the voice of Isaiah, " that the whole earth has been " filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the deep waters " that cover the seas." For the preaching of salvation is everywhere poured forth like a sea, and its onward course is irresistible. And this too the God of all clearly told us by the Amoa v. voice of the prophet, " And judgment shall roll as the waters, *4- " and righteousness as an impassable flood." For He gives
the names of judgment and righteousness to the gospel mes- sage, and grants us the assurance that it shall roll over the world like waters and as a flood, whose rushing streams, as it violently pours along, no man can stay.
And the same method of explanation will hold good of the kingdom of God being also compared unto leaven. -For the leaven is small in quantity, yet forthwith it seizes upon the whole mass, and quickly communicates to it its own properties. And the word of God operates in us in a similar manner : for when admitted within us, it makes us holy and without blame, and pervading our mind and heart, it renders us spiritual, that ? Thes. v ^ pauj ga^ f4 Qur wh0je ^dy anj Spirit and soul may be
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 459
" kept blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." And
that the divine word is poured out even into the depth of our
understanding, the God of all clearly shews, where He says by
one of the holy prophets, cc Behold the days come, saith the Jer. xxxl
" Lord, and I will accomplish upon the house of Israel and 3I"
" upon the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to
" the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day
" that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
" of Egypt, because they have not continued in My covenant,
" and I have also rejected them, saith the Lord. But this is
" the covenant which I will make with them, after those days,
" saith the Lord, I will put My laws in their mind, and will
" write them on their hearts."
"We receive therefore the rational and divine leaven in our mind and Understanding, that by this precious and holy and pure leaven we may be found spiritually unleavened, as having &(vfiot v<m- in us none of the wickedness of the world*, but being rather j^r Vg __ pure and holy and partakers of Christ ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
* Mai adds here probably from " mind, transforms (fieraaroixfiot)
some other work of S. Cyril, " For " both soul and body and spirit into
" the life giving energy of the Gos- " its own properties." " pel teaching entering into the
3N2
460 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON XCIX.
C. xiii. 22- ^nci jje went about among the cities and villages teaching ; and journeyed towards Jerusalem. And one said unto Him, Lord, are they few that be saved ? And He said
evpas unto them; Strive to enter in at the strait door: for many.
ttvktis s. I saV unt0 y°ui witt se(ik t° enter in, and shall not be able,
directly that tlie master of the house ariseth, and shutteth the door : and ye begin to stand outside, and to knock at
KvpiebisGs. the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are. Then ye will begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy pre- sence, and Tliou hast taught in our streets : and He will
om.inasB. say, I tell you, I know you not, whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weep- ing and gnashing of teeth, tvhen ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and ye yourselves cast out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down to meat in the kingdom of God. And lo I there are last that shall be first, and first that shall be last.
A , SHIP is guided to the right port by means of the helm ; but the word of God piloteth the soul of man, and leadeth him without risk of error to every thing that is necessary for sal- Ho9.xiv.2. vation. For so spake one of the holy prophets ; " Take with " you words :" even those which are inspired by the Holy Ghost : for no man of sense will say, that it means the words of the wise of this world. For their words lead men unto the pit of destruction, by bringing polytheism into the world, and by inciting unto carnal pleasure, and to the desire of the world's vain distractions : but the words of God point out the pathway to a better life, and beget in us an earnestness which makes us cheerfully advance unto the duty of performing all those things, by means of which we are made partakers of eternal life.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 461
Let us listen therefore to the Saviour's words, which He addressed unto those who wanted to learn, whether they be few who are saved : and to whom the Saviour answered, " Strive " to enter in by the strait door." Now this reply may seem perhaps, to wander from the scope of the question. For the man wanted to learn, whether they be few who are saved : but He described unto him the way whereby he might be saved himself, saying, " Strive to enter in by the strait door." What reply then do we make to this objection? We answer as follows; that it was the custom of our common Saviour Christ to meet His questioners, not of course according to what might seem good to them, but as having regard to what was useful and necessary for His hearers. And this He especially did when any one wanted to learn what was superfluous and un- edifying. For what good was there in wishing to learn, whe- ther there be many or few that be saved ? What benefit re- sulted from it to the hearers? On the contrary it was a neces- sary and valuable thing to know in what way a man may attain to salvation. He is purposely silent therefore with respect to the useless question which had been asked Him, but proceeds to speak of what was essential, namely, of the know- ledge necessary for the performance of those duties by which men can enter* in at the strait and narrow door. For this He has also taught us in another place, saying ; "Enter in at the Mat. vii. " strait door : for wide is the door, and broad is the way that I3- " leadeth to destruction, and many are they that go in thereby. " For strait is the door, and narrow is the way that leadeth " unto life, and few are they that find it."
Now I consider it my duty to mention why the door is narrow, through which a man goeth unto life. Whosoever then would enter must of necessity first before everything else possess an upright and uncorrupted faith : and, secondly, a spotless morality, in which is no possibility of blame, according to the measure of human righteousness. For so the prophet David also somewhere says, very excellently framing his suppli- cations unto God, " Judge me, 0 Lord, according to my right- Pa. vii. 8. " eousness ; and according to my innocency requite me." For the innocency and righteousness of the holy angels, being m proportion to their nature and glory, is entirely distinct from that which belongs to the inhabitants of earth : for theirs is of
462 COMMENTARY UPON
a lower kind, and inferior in every respect, just as they are inferior to them also in nature. Nevertheless those who wish to live holily cannot do so without labour : for constantly, so to speak, the pathway that leadeth unto virtue is rugged and steep, and for most men too difficult to walk upon. For labours spring up before us and we have need altogether of forti- tude and patience, and nobleness of conduct: yea, moreover, and of a mind that cannot be prevailed upon dissolutely to take part in base pleasures, or to be led by irrational impulses into carnal lust. He who has attained unto this in mind and spiritual fortitude will enter easily by the strait door, and run
Prov. xvi. along the narrow way. For it is written, that " by labours a " man laboureth for himself, and violently gaineth the mastery " over his destruction." Thou hearest how the prophet plainly saith, that he gaineth the mastery over his destruction by vio-
Mat. xi.12. lence; for as the Lord himself again said, "The kingdom of " heaven is gained bv violence, and the violent seize it."
" For wide is the door, and broad the way that bringeth " down many to destruction." And what are we to under- stand by its broadness ? It means an unrestrained tendency to carnal lust ; a base and pleasure loving life ; luxurious feast- ings, and revellings and banquetings, and unresisted inclina- tions unto every thing which is condemned by the law, and displeasing to God : a stdffnecked mind that will not bow to the yoke of the law : a life accursed, and relaxed in all dissolute- ness, thrusting from it the divine law, and utterly unmindful of the sacred commandments : wealth and the vices that spring from it, scorn and pride, and the vain imagining of transitory boastings. From all such things must those withdraw who would enter in by the strait door, and be with Christ, and keep festival with Him.
And that such as are not thus minded cannot walk upon this way, He shewed at once by a plain example. For those who were too late, and so to say, did not arrive at the feast, their lot was to be at once rejected. " For when," He says, " the master of the house entereth in, and shutteth the door, " and they begin to say from without, Lord, open to us ; he will " say, I know you not whence ye are." For in the character as it were of some householder, who has gathered many of his neighbours to his house and table, and has afterwards entered
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 463
in with his guests and closed the door, He says that those who subsequently knock, shall have for answer, " I know you not "whence ye areu:" and though, He ' says, ye importune, saying, " we have eaten before Tb.ee ' and drunk ; and Thou " hast taught in our streets; ye shall hear none the less, I " know you not whence ye are. Depart far from Me, all ye " workers of iniquity." For the light has no communion at all with the darkness : nor can any one be near unto the per- fectly pure God who is held by the pollutions of sin, and whose stain is not yet washed away.
We must however next inquire who we are to understand by those who say unto Christ, ' We have eaten and drunk in ' Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets V Such an assertion then would suit the Israelites, to whom also Christ said, " ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the " prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast " out." But how then were thev eating and drinking before God ? I answer, by performing the service enacted in the law : for when offering unto God sacrifices by the shedding of blood, they ate and made merry. And they heard also in their syna- gogues the writings of Moses, interpreting God's messages : for constantly he prefaced his words with, ' Thus saith the Lord."1 These then are they who say, " We have eaten and drunk in " Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets." But the worship by the shedding of blood is not sufficient for justi- fication, nor verily does a man wash away his stains by having become a hearer of the divine laws, if he does nothing of what has been commanded.
And in another way, as long as they refused to accept the faith, which justifieth the wicked, nor would follow the evan- gelic commands, by means of which it is possible to practice the excellent and elect life, how could they enter the kingdom of God ? The type therefore profiteth not : for it justifieth no man, and it is a thing impossible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins.
u This extract in Mai from B, C, of course knows who they are ; but
and D, ends in a manifest interpo- it signifies "friendship," that God
lation, to the effect that by knowing does not acknowledge them among
them is not meant absolute know- His people, ledge, for God as being omniscient
CI
4G4 COMMENTARY UPON
With the abovenamed, thou mayest number certain others also as able to say to the Judge of all, " we have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets." And who again are these ?, Many have believed in Christ, and celebrate the holy festivals in His honour ; and frequenting the churches they also hear the doctrines of the Gospel : but they lay up in their mind of the truths of Scripture absolutely nothing And it is with difficulty that the practice of virtue is brought with them even to this extent, while of spiritual fruitfulness their heart is quite bare. These too shall weep bitterly, and gnash their teeth ; for the Lord shall deny them Mat. vii. also. For He has said, that " not every one that saith unto " Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, " but he that doeth the will of My Father Who is in heaven."
But that the Jews were about to fall utterly from their rank of being in a spiritual sense His household, and that the mul- titude of the Gentiles should enter in their stead, He shewed by saying, that." there shall come from the east and from the " west, from the north and from the south, many who received " the call, and shall rest with the saints ; but they shall be " driven away : and whereas they once had the first rank, " they shall now take the second, by reason of others being " preferred before them." Which also happened ; for the Gentiles have been honoured far above the Jewisn herd. For it was £uiltv both of disobedience and of the murder of the Lord: but they honoured the faith that is in Christ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen*.
* Mai has collected three extracts ther this confusion is owing to Mai
under v. 39, of which the first from or the Catena itself, I have no
A and B, after correctly giving the means of knowing : if to the Ca-
passage, " Many shall rest with the tena, it would shew that its extracts
" 6aints," (read o-uvavcmavo-ovTat), must have been gathered at second
as far as "the Jewish herd," then hand. The reading is here cor-
adds a general summary of S. Cy- rectly crvvavcma-ucrovTaj., for avvtKfv-
ril's explanation in the Catenist's tnvrcu. The third extract Mai per-
own words, with a reference possibly ceived could not really belong to
also to the De Ador. Spir. p. 170. this place, and referred it to the lost
The second extract from A, only commentary upon the parable of
repeats the first sentence or two of the labourers in the vineyard in
this extract, but commences its quo- Mat. xx. It is really taken from
tation higher up at the words, " But the Glaphyra, page 268 B, (erro-
" that the Jews were about." Whe- neously paged 264.)
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 46.5
SERMON C.
C. xiii. 31- That same hour there drew near certain Pharisees, saying 35.
unto Him, Depart, and go hence : for Herod desireth to ?£? eg*. kill thee. And He said unto them, Go ye, and tell this fox, Behold I cast out devils, and I do cures today and to- morrow, and on the third I shall be perfected. Nevertheless add. hn*p* I must walk today and tomorrow and the day afterward : ' for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth itpov<ra\)ift. them that are sent unto her, how often would I have ga- ter thered thy children, as a hen gather eth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold your house is aban- doned for you : and I say unto you, that ye shall not see add. ep^i Me, until ye say, Blessed is He That cometh in the name jLi„ si ^.
of the Lord. 7» J-
om. 8t» b.
add. 3t«
THE Pharisaic crew was always, so to speak, wicked and GT*. designing, and eager for fraud, gnashing their teeth at Christ, whenever He was regarded with admiration, and with their heart consumed by the fire of envy. And yet how was it not rather their duty as being the people's guides, and set over the ordinary multitude, to lead them on unto the confession of Christ's glory, as being the purpose both of the enactment of the law, and of the preaching of the holy prophets. But this in their great wickedness they did not do : yea ! rather in every way they resisted Him, and provoked Him incessantly to anger; and therefore Christ said unto them, "Woe unto Luke xi.5*. " you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites : for ye have taken " away the key of knowledge : ye enter not in yourselves, and " those that were entering ye have hindered." For one can see that they had fallen into such a state of malice, and into a disposition so contrary to the love of God, that they were not willing for Him even to dwell in Jerusalem, lest He should benefit men, partly by filh'ng them with wonder at His divine miracles, and partly by shedding upon them the light of the
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466 COMMENTARY UPON
accurate vision of God bv means of the teaching of truths superior to those of the law.
Such are the thoughts to which we are here led by the pur- port of the lessons now set before us. " For in that same hour, " it says, certain Pharisees drew near, and said unto Him, " Depart and go hence : for Herod desireth to kill Thee." Come, then, and let us fix the scrutinizing eye of the mind on what is here said by them. Let us accurately examine which of the two is the case, whether the speakers are to be reckoned among those who love Him, or among those who would oppose Him. But, as it appears, there is no difficulty whatsoever in perceiving that they were His thorough opponents. For Christ, for instance, raised the dead from the grave, employ- ing therein a power such as belongs to God : for He cried, Johnxi.43. " Lazarus, come forth :" and to the widow's son, " Young man, Lukevu.14 u 1 gay unt0 thee, arise." But they made the miracle food for John xi. 47. their envy, and even said, when gathered together, " What do " we, because this man doeth many miracles ? If we thus leave " Him alone, the Romans will come, and take away our people " and our land." And then, even then, it was that Caiaphas, planning wicked murder against Him, said ; u As for you, ye " know nothing at all, that it is expedient for you that one " man die for the people, and not that the whole people " perish."
And they resisted Him also in other ways ; at one time treating Him with scorn, and mocking His miraculous power, and venturing even to accuse His godlike authority, saying, that whatever was done was wrought by the help of Beelzebub : and at another even endeavouring to give Him up to Caesar's satellites. For as though He prohibited the Israelites from paying tax unto Caesar, they drew near to Him in treachery Lukexx.22. and guile, saying, " Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or '■' not V Can those then who laid for Him all kinds of snares ; who, in their audacity and hardihood, did not even abstain from murder ; who, being cunning for wickedness, attacked Him with remorseless violence, and readily practised all such arts as those do who hate utterly ; how, I say, can such be reckoned among those who love Him ?
Why then did they draw near, saying, " Depart hence : for
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 467
" Herod wishes to kill Thee :" and what object had they in so doing ? The Evangelist tells us this, by saying, " That same " hour they drew near to Him." And what is the meaning of this carefulness of language ? Why was there this exactitude ? or what hour does he mean as that in which the Pharisees said these things to Jesus ? He was occupied in teaching the Jewish multitudes, when some one asked Him whether there be many that are saved. He passed by the question, however, as un- profitable, and turned to that which was fitting for Him to tell, the way, namely, by which men must walk to become heirs of the kingdom of heaven. For He said, " Strive to enter in at " the strait door : and told them that if they refuse so to do, " they will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the pro- " phets in the kingdom of God, and themselves cast out." And He added thereunto, that " whereas they had been the first, " they should be the last," upon the calling namely of the heathen. These remarks goaded the mind of the Pharisees unto auger : they saw the multitudes already repenting, and receiving with eagerness faith in Him ; and that they needed now but a little more instruction to learn His glory and the great and adorable mystery of the incarnation. As being likely therefore to lose their office of being chiefs of the people, and as already fallen and expelled from their authority over them, and deprived of their profits, — for they were fond of wealth, and covetous, and given to lucre, — they made pretence of loving Him, and even drew near, and said, " Depart and go " hence : for Herod desireth to kill Thee." But, 0 stony- hearted Pharisee, hadst thou been wise ; hadst thou been well acquainted with the law of the most wise Moses ; hadst thou really fixed thy mind upon the declarations of the holy profits; it could not have escaped thee that there was no possibility of thy being undetected in feigning a false show of affection, while thy mind was full of gall. He was not a mere man, and one of those like unto us, and so liable to deception ; but God in our likeness : God Who understandeth everything, and " knoweth secrets,'1 as it is written, and " trieth the hearts Ps.xliv. 21. " and reins ;" " to Whom all things are naked, and spread g^^ 9' " open," and from Whom nothing is hid. But thou knewest not this precious and mighty mystery: thou thoughtest that
302
468 COMMENTARY UPON
Job thou couldst deceive even Him Who saith ; " Who is this that
tm *' " hideth from Me his mind, and shutteth up words in his heart, " and thinketh that from Me he hideth them ?"
What then does Christ answer to these things? He re- plied to them gently, and with His meaning veiled, as was His wont : " Go and tell, He says, this fox." Attend closely to the force of the expression : for the words used seem forsooth to be directed, and to have regard, as it were, to the person of Herod : but they really rather refer to the craftiness of the Pharisees. For while He would naturally have said, " Tell that " fox," He does not do so, but using very skilfully a middle sort of expression, He, so to speak, pointed to the Pharisee, who was close beside Him, and said, " this fox." And He compares the man to a fox : for it is constantly a very crafty animal, and, if 1 may so speak, malicious, such as were the Pharisees.
But what did He bid them say ? " Behold, I cast out devils, " and do cures today and tomorrow, and the third I shall be "perfected." Thou seest that He declares His intention of performing what He knew would grieve the troop of Pha- risees : for they drive Him from Jerusalem, lest by the display of miracles He should win many unto faith in Him. But in- asmuch as their purpose herein did not escape Him as being God, He declares His intention of performing what they hated, and says, that " He shall also rebuke unclean spirits, and de- " liver the sick from their sufferings, and be perfected;" which means, that of His own will He would endure the passion upon the cross, for the salvation of the world. He knew, therefore, as it appears, both how and when He would endure death in the flesh.
The Pharisees, however, imagined that the power of Herod would terrify Him, and humble Him unto mean fears, al- though He is Lord of powers, and begets in us spiritual bra- Mat, x. 78. very by His words, " Fear not them who kill the body, but " cannot kill the soul/' And that He too makes no account of the violence of men He shewed, saying, " But I must walk " today and tomorrow and the day after." And in saying, " I must," He does not imply that an inevitable necessity, so to speak, was laid upon Him, but rather that by the power of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 469
His own will, freely and without danger He would go wherever He chose, and traverse Judasa without any one opposing Him or plotting Him ill, until of His own accord He received His consummation upon the precious cross.
Let not therefore those murderers of the Lord pride them- selves, or superciliously vaunt themselves against Him. Thou didst not win a victory over One Who fled from suffering. Thou didst not seize One unwilling. Thou didst not prevail over One "Who refused to be caught in the meshes of thy craf- tiness. Of His own will He consented to suffer, as being well assured that by the death of His flesh He would abolish death, and return again to life. For He arose from the dead, having raised up with Him the whole nature of man, and having fashioned it anew unto the life incorruptible.
But He shews that Jerusalem is guilty of the bloocl of many saints, declaring, " that it is not possible for a prophet to perish out of her." And what follows from this? That they were about to fall from being members of God's spiritual fa- mily ; that they were about to be rejected from the hope of the saints, and entirely deprived of the inheritance of those blessings which are in store for them who have been saved by faith. For that they were forgetful of God's gifts, and intract- able, and slothful unto everything that might have profited them, He shewed, saying; " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth " the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her, how " often would I have gathered thy sons, as a hen gathereth " her cliickens under her wings, and ye would not : behold " your house is abandoned unto you." For He taught them by the most wise Moses, and ordained for them the law to direct them in their conduct, and be their ruler and guide in the life worthy of admiration, and which though it was but as yet in shadows, nevertheless possessed, the type of the true worship : He admonished them by the holy prophets : He would have had them under His wings, under the protection, that is, of His power : but they lost blessings thus valuable by being evil-disposed and ungrateful, and despisers.
" But," saith He, "ye shall not see Me henceforth until ye u say, Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord." And what again is this ? The Lord withdrew from Jerusalem,
470 COMMENTARY UPON
and left as unworthy of His presence those who said, " Depart " and go hence." And afterwards having traversed Judaea, and saved many, and performed miracles which no words can adequately describe, He returned again to Jerusalem. And then it was, even then, that He sat upon a foal and an ass, while vast multitudes and roun^ children, holding up branches
v "o or
of palm-trees, went before Him, praising Him, and saying, Mat.xxi.9. " Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He That cometh " in the Name of the Lord." Having left them therefore as being unworthy, He says that He will then barely be seen by them when the time of His passion has arrived. For then again He went up to Jerusalem, and entered amid praises, and at that very time endured His saving passion in our behalf, that by suffering He might save, and renew unto incorruption the inhabitants of the earth. For God the Father has saved us by Christ : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 471
SERMON CI.
And it came to pass, when He had gone into the house of one C. xiv. 1-6. of the chief Pharisees on the sabbath day to eat bread, that they watched Him. And behold there was a certain man before Him who had the dropsy. And Jesus answered and spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying; Is it lawful g*£" to heal on the sabbath day or no ? And they were silent. (i % Gj. And He took him, and healed him, and sent him away. JJ*^*' And He answered them, saying ; Which of you shall have Kpte*\s B. a son or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately J^* Gs draw him out on the sabbath day ? And they could not re- turn Him an answer to these things.
AGAIN" the Lord worketh miracles, and exercising a divine and supreme power, performs His accustomed acts, and mani- fests His glory. He benefits then in more ways than one the intractable and contentious Pharisee. For just as maladies of more than usual violence will not yield to the skill of physi- cians, but require the main force of persons of blunter feelings : so also the human mind, that has turned aside to wickedness, rejects all that could benefit it, directly that it has once be- come the victim of an uncontrollable tendency to disobedience, beino- brought into this state by unreproved departures from the right path. 7
And that this is undeniably true, any one may see who will give his attention to the lessons here set before us. For a Pharisee, of higher rank than usual, invited Jesus to a ban- quet : and He, although He knew their malice, went with him, and dined in their company. And He submitted to this act of condescension, not to honour His inviter, but rather to benefit those in whose company He was, by such words and miraculous deeds as might lead them to the acknowledgment of the true service, even that which is taught us by the gospel. For He
y Cramer's Catena contains a summary of this Sermon, not found by Mai in his MSS.
472 COMMENTARY UPON
knew that even against their will He would make them eye- witnesses both of His power, and of His more than human glory, if perchance even so they might believe that He is God and the Son of God, Who assumed indeed our likeness, but continued unchanged, nor ceased to be that which He had been.
He became the guest then of His inviters, to fulfil, as I said, a necessary duty : " but they, it says, watched Him." And for what reason did they watch Him, and on what account ? To see forsooth whether He would disregard the honour due to the law, and so do something or other forbidden on the sabbath day. But, 0 senseless Jew, understand that the law was a shadow and type, waiting for the truth : and the truth was Christ, and His commandments. Why then dost thou arm the type against the truth? why settest thou the shadow in array against the spiritual interpretation? Keep thy sabbath rationally : but if thou wilt not consent so to do, then art thou cut off from that sabbath keeping which is well pleasing to God, and knowest not the true rest, which He requires of us Who of old spake the law of Moses. Let us cease from our sins ; let us rest from our offences ; let us wash away our stains ; let us abandon the impure love of the flesh ; let us flee far from covetousness and extortion ; and from dis- graceful gains, and the love of lucre. Let us first gather pro- visions for our souls for the way, the meat that will suffice us in the world to come : and let us apply ourselves to holy works, thereby keeping the sabbath rationally. Those whose office it was to minister among you according to the law used to offer unto God the appointed sacrifices, even upon the sab- bath : they slew the victims in the temple, and performed those acts of service which were laid upon them : and no man rebuked them, and the law itself was silent. It did not there- fore forbid men ministering upon the sabbath. This then was a type for us : for, as I said, it is our duty, keeping the sabbath in a rational manner, to please God by a sweet spiritual savour. And, as I have already before said, we render this when ceasing from sins, we offer unto God as a sacred oblation a life holy and worthy of admiration, steadily advancing unto all virtue. For this is the spiritual sacrifice well pleasing unto God.
But if, having nought of this in thy mind, thou cleavest
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 473
solely to the grossness of the legal Scripture, abandoning the truth as something fhou canst not attain to, listen unto God, Who tells thee by the voice of the prophet Isaiah; " The heart is. vi. to. " of this people is waxed gross, their eyes they have closed, " and made their ears heavy, lest they should see with their " eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their " heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." For how were not they heavy and without understanding., and of a mind past helping, who when they might have perceived that He was the Christ by His teaching being superior to the law, and by the wonderful works that He wrought, were obdu- rate, and regarded only their own preconceived idea of what was right : or rather that only which brought them down to the pit of destruction ?
But what was the miracle of which they were spectators ? There was a certain man before Him who had the dropsy: the Lord therefore asks the lawyers and Pharisees, whether it is lawful to heal on the sabbath day or not ? " But they, it says, " were silent." But why, 0 lawyer, wast thou silent? Quote something from the scriptures ; shew that the law of Moses ever blamed the doing good on the sabbath : prove to us that it wishes us to be hardhearted and unmerciful, because of the rest for our bodies ; — that it forbids kindness, in order that we may honour the sabbath. But this thou canst not prove from any part of it. And as they were silent from malice, Christ refutes their immitigable shamelessness by the con- vincing arguments which He uses. For " whose son of you," He says, " or whose ox shall fall into a pit, and he will not " immediately draw him out on the sabbath day ?" If the law forbids the shewing mercy on the sabbath, why dost thou thy- self take compassion on that2 which has fallen into the pit? Trouble not thyself about thy son's danger upon the sabbath ; rebuke the sting of natural affection, which incites thee to feel a father's love. Commit thy child with joy to the grave, that thou mayest honour the Giver of the law, as knowing that He
z The reading both of Cr. and fore of ovov for rbv made by Mai in
Mai's Codd. rbv els (ppeap Kara- his text, like conjectural emenda-
necrovTa, is further supported by tions generally, is an error, the Syriac : the substitution there-
474 COMMENTARY UPON
is harsh and unmerciful. Let thy friend be in danger, but pay not thou the slightest heed thereto : nay though thou near- est a young child weeping, and asking for help, say to it, Die: such is the will of the law. But thou wilt not assent to such reasonings; thou wilt stretch out thv hand to one who is dis- tressed, esteeming him of more account than the honour due to the law, or rather than a senseless rest, even if thou wilt not as yet acknowledge that the sabbath ought to be kept in a spi- ritual manner. The God of all ceaseth not to be kind : He is good and loving unto men : He instituted not the law of Moses as the mediator of harshness, nor appointed it as a teacher of cruelty, but rather to lead thee on to the love of thy neighbour. How then was it fitting that a commandment thus venerable and worthy of admiration should by the will of God lose its force upon the sabbath day? Why therefore wast thou silent, 0 lawyer ? Confessedly because thou hadst nothing to say. For the force of truth is something great, and invincible, able to confound the envious mind, and to muzzle the faultfinding tongue.
Paying then no further heed to the envyings of the Jews, He delivers from his malady the man afflicted with the dropsy, and tyrannized over by an incurable disease a. Thou hast seen 0 Jew, the miracle : extol then the Worker of it. Understand His might, and the gloriousness of His dominion : acknowledge that He is God : offer Him thy faith : be not obdurate ; but as Joel U. 13. the prophet Jeremiah saysb, " Rend your hearts, and not " your garments." Expand thy mind : open the eye of thine heart : understand that the acts which He works are those of Deity, even though in appearance He be a man like unto us. Recognize therefore Him Who for our sakes bore our likeness, but even so was far above us : or rather far above all creation by His ineffable generation from God the Father. For He is the Son of Him Who transcends all, but though He was Lord He
a Mai from A interpolates here that the sight of his misery might
an example of extremely minute cri- awaken His compassion,
ticism to the effect that the man b This discrepancy is noted in
did not venture to aek Christ to the margin, which says, " This text
heal him for fear of the Pharisees, " is found in Joel." but stood before Him in the hope
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 475
took the form of the sLave, that He might make the slave like unto Himself: yet He did not cease to be God, but remains the Same, Whom angels worship, and principalities, and thrones, and lordships. The Seraphim praise Him : and let us also serve Him in faith, mounting upward by His aid to the lot of the saints ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
3 p 2
476' COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CII.
C. xiv. 7- i r.
fiOVS S.
And He spake a parable unto them which were bidden pre- venting0 how they chose the foremost seats : saying unto
om ei'r yd- them, When thou art bidden of any one, seat not thyself at the head of the seat, lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him ; and when he that bade thee and him cometh, he say unto thee, Give this man place ; and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go seat thyself in the lowest place, that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher ; then shalt thou have honour before
om. irdvTw all who sit with thee at meat. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
GTj
NEVER does the Saviour cense from doing some act or other replete with benefit, guiding by admonitions and coun- sels all who draw near unto Him into propriety of conduct, and teaching them that sobriety which becometh saints, that as
i Tim. iii. Paul says, " the man of God may be perfect, complete unto " every good work." Seizing therefore every opportunity. however slight, for His words, He wove for us admonitions well worthy of our attention, therein resembling an active hus- bandman ; for whatsoever is liable to blame and reprehension, and covers with utter infamv those who are omiltv of it, this He cuts away from our minds, and plants, so to speak, every
i Cor. Hi. 9. fruit of virtue: for "we, as Scripture says, are God's hus- " bandry."
"What benefit then He has here too discovered for US', we learn from the passage now read. For He was dining on the sabbath day with one of the Pharisees, at his special request.
c The reading in the Greek 19 " places at the top of the seats."
en-t^w, which is almost universally The Syriac translator however has
taken with tov vow understood, in understood it in its literal sense of
the sense of 'noticing,' 'observing;' 'preventing,' 'holding back,' and
and so the Peschito paraphrases it, the Philoxenian renders it in the
" because He saw them choosing same way.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 477
And his purpose in so doing, and motive we explained unto you when last we met together. But inasmuch as He saw cer- tain of those who were invited foolishly seizing the uppermost seats as a thing of importance, and worth the taking, and that they were eager after vainglory, for the benefit both of them and us He utters an urgent warning, saying ; " When thou " art bidden of any one, seat not thyself at the head of the " seat, lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of " him, and when he that bade thee and him cometh, he say " unto thee, Give this man place ; and then thou begin with " shame to take the lowest place."
Now such things may seem perchance to some to be but tri- fling matters, and not worthy of much attention. But when any one fixes upon them the eye of his mind, he will then learn, from what blame they deliver a man, and how great orderliness they produce in him. For in the first place to hurry inconsiderately after honours neither suitable, nor due to us, shews us to be foolish, rude, and arrogant, seizing what is not fitting for us, but for others rather, who are greater than and superior to ourselves. Whoever he be that thus acts, is hated, and often too becomes an object of ridicule, when he has to restore to others, and that often against his will, the honour which in no respect belongs unto him. " For when, He says, a more honourable man than thou " cometh, he that bade thee and him will say, Give this man " place." 0 ! what great ignominy is there in having so to do ! It is like a theft, so to speak, and the restitution of the stolen goods. He must restore what he has seized ; for he had no right to take it. But the modest and praiseworthy man, who might without fear of blame have claimed the dig- nity of sitting among the foremost, seeks it not, but yields to others what might be called his own, that he may not even seem to be overcome by vainglory ; and such an one shall receive honour as his due : for he shall hear, He says, him who bade him say, " Come up hither."
A modest mind therefore is a great and surpassing good : for it delivers those who possess it from blame and contempt, and from the charge of vaingloriousness. ' But yes ! says the ' lover of vainglory, I wish to-be illustrious and renowned, and ' not despised and neglected, and numbered among the un-
478 COMMENTARY UPON
#
' known.' If however thou desirest this transitory and human glory, thou art wandering away from the right path, by which thou mightest become truly illustrious, and attain to i Pet. i. 14, such praise as is worthy of emulation. For it is written, " All " flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of " grass." And the prophet David also blames those who love Ps.raexix.6. temporal honours ; for he also thus spake of them, '; Let them " be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth before " it is plucked up." For just as the grass that springs up upon the housetops has no deep fixed root, and for this reason is easily parched up ; so he who values worldly honour, after he has been for a short time conspicuous, and, so to speak, in flower, sinks at last into nothingness.
If then any one wish to be set above others, let him win it
by the decree of heaven, and be crowned by those honours
which God bestows. Let him surpass the many by having the
testimony of glorious virtues ; but the rule of virtue is a lowly
mind that loveth not boasting : yea ! it is humility. And
this the blessed Paul also counted worthy of all esteem : for
he writes to such as are eagerly desirous of saintly pursuits,
Col. iii. 12. " Love humility." And the disciple of Christ praises it, thus
Jam esi. 9. writing ; " Let the poor brother glory in his exaltation : and
" the rich in his humiliation, because as the flower of the grass
41 he passeth away." For the moderate and bridled mind is
Pa. Ii. 17. exalted with God : for " God, it says, will not despise the con-
" trite and abased heart."
But whosoever thinks great things of himself, and is su- percilious, and elate in mind, and prides himself on an empty loftiness, is rejected and accursed. He follows a course the Mat. xi.29. contrary of Christ's, Who said ; " Learn of Me, for I am meek 1 Pet. v. 5. « and lowly in heart." " For the Lord, it says, resisteth the " proud, but giveth grace to the humble." The wise Solomon also shews in many places the safety of the humble mind ; at Ecclus. i. one time saying, " Exalt not thyself, that thou fall not:" and Prov xvii. a^ ar>otber time, he figurately declares the same thing ; " He x9- " that maketh his house high, seeketh an overthrow." Such
a one is hated of God, and very justly, as having mistaken himself, and senselessly aimed above the limits of his nature. For upon what ground, I pray, does man upon earth think great things of himself? For certainly his mind is weak, and
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 479
easily led into base pleasures : his body is tyrannized over by corruption and death : and the duration of his life is short and limited. Nor is this all, for naked were we born, and there- fore riches, and wealth, and worldly honour come to us from without, and are not really ours : for they beloug not to the properties of our nature. For what reason therefore is the mind of man puffed up ? What is there to exalt it to super- ciliousness and boasting ? Were any one but to regard his state with understanding eyes, he would then become like Abraham, who mistook not his nature, and called himself ff dust and Gen. xviH.
" ashes." And like another also who savs ; " Quit man who V: ,
/ ^ Job. ixv.o.
" is rottenness, and the son of man who is a worm." But he who is a worm and rottenness ; this dust and ashes : this verv nothingness becomes great and admirable and honourable before God, by knowing himself; for so he is crowned by God with honour and praise : for the Saviour of all and Lord giveth grace to the humble : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.d
d As has frequently been the case ril, or possibly because remarks of
before, the latter part of the sum- their own, or pieces given anony-
mary of this homily in Mai is not mously came in time to be referred
found in the Syriac, either because to the father, whose real words they
the Catenists generally appended at follow. At all events in the present
the end of their extracts such short case Cramer edits this passage with
passages as they found bearing upon a break between, and gives the lat-
the subject in other works of S. Cy- ter portion anonymously.
430 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CIII.
c. xiv. i7. Then said He also to him that bade Him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
Ka\rv(p\ovr and the blind. And thou shall be blessed, because they cannot recompense thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
REMARKABLE indeed is the beauty of the mind of man : and it shews itself in various ways, and is conspicuous in a diversity of manners. For just as those who are skilled in delineating forms in pictures cannot by one colour attain to perfect beauty in their painting, but rather use various and many kinds of hues ; so also the God of all, Who is the Giver and Teacher of spiritual beauty, adorns our souls with that manifold virtue which consists in all saintlike excellence of living, in order to complete in us His likeness. For in His rational creatures the best and most excellent beauty is the likeness of God, which is wrought in us by the exact vision of God, and by virtue perfected by active exertion. Consider therefore how our Lord Jesus Christ makes our souls beautiful by every spiritual adornment. For here He had commanded the Pharisees and lawyers, or rather, the Scribes, to think lowly of themselves, and to cultivate a mind free from the love of vainglory, bidding them not to seize upon the foremost seats. For He was dining with them, that being in their company He might benefit them even against their will. And after them He next addressed him who had invited them, and assembled them to the entertainment, saying, " When thou makest a " dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, " neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbours : but rather the " lame, and the blind, and the maimed."
Would He then produce in us a morose state of mind ? Is it His will that we be unsociable, and unloving, so as not even to deem our friends and relatives worthy of that affection which
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 481
especially is fitting and due to them ? Are we to pay no regard to those who are near us in affection and love ? Does He forbid the rights of hospitality ? But how is it not absurd and ignorant to imagine that He contradicts His own laws ? What then does He wish to teach ? Something perhaps like what follows ; Those who possess great store of wealth make much account, so to speak, of a constant display and ostentation. For oftentimes they bring men to banquet with them, and make entertainments at vast cost, with curiously prepared viands, and such as do not escape the blame of prodigality. And this it is their custom to do, in order to gain the praises and applause of their guests. And in receiving the praises of their flatterers, as the wages, so to speak, of their extrava- gance, they rejoice greatly, as though they had gained some- thing of value. For it is the habit of flatterers to praise even those things which deserve blame.
For what good is there in such prodigal abundance beyond what necessity requires ? For as Christ Himself somewhere said, " Few things are needful, or one," for the necessary ap- Luke x. 42. peasing of the wants of the body. That we may escape therefore the danger of losing the reward of our outlay, by expending our wealth in such pursuits as will bear good fruit, He has com- manded us to invite the poor, and the maimed, and the blind, and those who are suffering under other bodily maladies ; that by our liberality in so doing, we may attain to the hope that cometh from above from God.
The lesson therefore which He teaches us is love unto the poor, which is a thing precious in the sight of God. Dost thou feel pleasure in being praised when thou hast any friends or relatives feasting with thee ? I tell thee of something far better : angels shall praise thy bounty, and the rational powers above, and holy men as well : and He too shall accept it Who tran- scends all, and Who loveth mercy and is kind. Lend unto Him fearing nothing, and thou shalt receive with usury whatever thou gavest : " for he, it says, who hath pity on the poor Prov. xix. " lendeth unto God." He acknowledgeth the loan, and pro- I7' miseth repayment. " For when the Son of man, He saith, Mat. xxv. " shall come in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels, 3I' " and shall sit upon the throne of His glory, He shall set the " sheep upon His right hand, and the goats upon His left.
3 Q
4852 COMMENTARY UPON
" And He shall say to them on His right hand, Come ye " blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you " from the foundations of the world : for I was hungry and ye " gave Me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink : I was " naked and ye covered Me : sick and ye visited Me : in " prison, and ye came unto Me. And to this He added, Verily " I say unto you, that whatsoever ye have done to one of these " little ones, ye have done unto Me." The outlay therefore is not unfruitful : rather shall compassion upon the poor make thy wealth breathe forth a sweet savour. Purchase the grace that cometh from God ; buy for thy friend the Lord of heaven and earth : for verily we oftentimes purchase men's friendship with large sums of gold, and if those of high rank are recon- ciled unto us, we feel great joy in offering them presents even beyond what we can afford, because of the honour which accrues to us from them. And yet these things are but trans- itory, and quickly fade away, and are like the phantasies of dreams.
But to be members of God's household, must we not count that as a thing worth the gaining, and esteem it as of the highest importance ? For certainly after the resurrection from the dead we must stand in Christ's presence ; and there a recompense shall of necessity be made to the compassionate and mer- ciful : but a condemnation commensurate with their deeds shall be the lot of those who were harsh and without mutual- Jameaii. love ; for it is written, "that there is judgment without mercy " for those who have shewed no mercy." And if so, how is it not the proof and perfection of a sound mind, that before we descend to the pit of torment we should take forethought for our life ? For come, and let us discuss this among ourselves. Suppose that for some cause or other which the law condemned they had dragged us before the judges, and so a sentence such as our offences deserved had been passed upon us after our conviction ; should we not with pleasure offer up our wealth to escape from all torment and punishment ? And how can there be any doubt of this? For oneself is better. than possessions, and life than wealth. Now we are guilty of many sins, and must give an account to the Judge of whatsoever we have done ; and why then do we not deliver ourselves from judgment and the everlasting fire while time permits? And the
[3
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 483
way in which to deliver ourselves is to live in virtue ; — to com- fort the brethren -who are grieved with poverty, and open our hand wide to all who are in need, and to sympathize with the sick.
For tell me what is harder than poverty, that implacable beast of prey, that bane which no admonition can charm away, that worst of maladies, or rather more cruel than any malady ? "We therefore must give a helping hand to those who are suf- fering under it : we must open wide to them our heart, and not pass by their lamentation. For suppose a savage beast of prey had sprung upon some wayfarer, would not any one who wit- nessed the occurrence seize up any thing that came to hand, a stone for instance, or stick, and drive away the beast that was mercilessly rending and tearing the man fallen beneath its blow? Who is so hardhearted and full of hatred to mankind as to pass by one thus miserably perishing? And must not thou own, that poverty, as I said, is more cruel than any beast of prev ? Aid therefore those who are fallen under it : incline thine ear to the poor, and listen to him, as it is written, " For Prov. xxi. " he, it saith, who stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the r3' " feeble, he also shall cry, and there shall be none to listen." Give that thou mayest receive: hear that thou mayest be heard : sow thy little that thou mayest reap much. And be- sides, the pleasure of the body is short and temporary, and ends in rottenness : but almsgiving and charity to the poor crown those who practise them with glory from God, and lead them to that incorruptible happiness which Christ bestows on those who love Him : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
3 ai
484
COMMENTARY UPON
om. lravra
B.
«'£«A0eiV teal 15 uv Gy. om. Kcd BST.
SERMON CIV.
(J. xiv. 15- And when one of them that reclined at table with Him heard *4' these things, he said unto Him, Blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God. But He said unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. And sent his seii'ant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for lo ! all things are ready. And they at once began all of them to make excuse. Tlie first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go to see it : I pray thee permit me to be excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them : I pray thee permit me to be excused. And another said, I have taken a wife, and therefore I cannot come. And when the servant returned, he told his lord these things. Then the master of the Iwuse was angry, and said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and marketplaces of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the blind, and the lame. And the servant said, Lord, what thou commandest is done, and yet there is room. And the lord said to his servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper.
AGAIN, the purport of the lessons laid before na obliges me to say, that the fruit of good works is praiseworthy. For not. unrewarded is the toil of the saints, as they strenuously labour to lead that life which is truly worthy of admiration both with Heb. vi.io. God and men. For the wise Paul writes, "For God is not " unrighteous to forget your labour and your love, which ye " have shewed unto His Name." And again in another place he uses similar words, " For the lightness, he says, of our present " affliction worketh for us abundantly and in a higher degree " an eternal greatness of glory, when we look not at the things " which are seen, but at those which are not seen ; for the things " which are seen are those of time, but the things which are not '* seen are for eternity." For the things of time are those of
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BST. X««A.. Kal
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&>s fir. GTj.
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t Cor. iv *7-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 485
earth ; and these we say are what arc here called " the things " which are seen :" but those which are to come, and which at present are not seen, but consist in those hopes which are with God, are stored up for us in mansions that cannot be shaken.
And who they are for whom these things are prepared, and unto whom they will be given, the Saviour has here shewn, pourtraying as in a picture by the parable set before us. the nature and efficacy of the dispensation. It is necessary how- ever for me first to say what was the occasion which led to this discourse.
Our Lord then was feasting at a certain Pharisee's, in com- pany with many others assembled there, the friends of him who had bidden them to the entertainment, and the sharers of his sentiments. There again the Saviour of all, to bene- fit those who were gathered there, — for He loveth mercy rather, and not honour and vainglory ; — perfected him that invited them, by not permitting him to make lavish expense, or. aim at what was beyond his means, to gain the praise of men. For He said, "When thou makest a dinnner or a " supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor further, " any others who are rich and thy neighbours : but rather the " poor, and the maimed, and the blind. For those, He said, " who so act shall be blessed at the resurrection of the just." Upon which one of those who were reclining with them at meat, on hearing words thus excellent, said, " Blessed is he " that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Probably however this man was not as yet spiritual, but rather animal, ^vxntSt. nor fitted to understand correctly what was spoken by Christ : for he was not one of those who believed, nor had he as yet been baptized. For he supposed that the rewards ™<^™- of the saints, for their mutual labours of love, would be in M"' things pertaining to the body. Because then they were too dull in heart to comprehend a precise idea, Christ frames for them a parable which with sufficient appositeness sets forth the nature of the dispensation about to be instituted for their sakes : and says, "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many. " And he sent his servant at supper time to say to them that " were bidden, Come, for lo ! all things are ready."
And here let us first of all inquire, what was the reason why it is rather to a supper than a dinner that the guests were
486 COMMENTARY UPON
invited ; or rather, even before this, who is to be understood by the man who sent one to invite to the supper ; and who also is the inviter, and who in tine they are who were invited, but despised the summons.
By the man therefore is to be understood God the Father. For similitudes are formed to represent the truth, and are by- no means the truth themselves. He therefore, the Creator of the universe, and the Father of glory, made a oreat supper, that is, a festival for the whole world, in honour of Christ. In the last times then of the world, and so to speak, at this our world's setting, the Son arose for us : at which time also He suffered death for our sakes, and gave us His flesh to eat, as being the bread from heaven, Which giveth life to the world. Towards evening also, and by the light of torches, the lamb was sacrificed, according to the law of Moses. And therefore with good reason the invitation that is by Christ is called a supper. And next, who is he that was sent, and who it also says was a slave? Perchance Christ Himself: for though God the Word is by nature God, and the very Son of God the Father, from Whom He was manifested, yet He emptied Himself, to take the form of a slave. As being therefore God of God He is Lord of all ; but one may justly apply the appellation of a slave to the limits of His humanity. Yet though He had taken, as I said, the form of a slave, He was even so Lord as being God. And when was He sent ? At supper time, it says. For it was not at the commencement of this world that the only- begotten Word of the Father descended from heaven, and was in form like unto us ; but rather when the Omnipotent Himself willed it, even in these latter times, as also wo have already said.
And what was the nature of the invitation ? " Come: for lo! " all things are ready." For God the Father has prepared in Christ for the inhabitants of earth those gifts which are be- stowed upon the world through Him, even the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing away of all defilement, the communion of the Holy Ghost, the glorious adoption as sons, and the kingdom of heaven. Unto these blessings Christ invited bv the command- ments of the gospel Israel before all others. For somewhere Ps. Li. 6. He has even said by the voice of the Psalmist ; " But I have " been set as a king by Him ; that is, by God the Father ;
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 487
" upon Zion His holy mount, to preach the commandment of
"' the Lord." And again, " I was not sent but unto the lost Mat. xv.
" sheep of the house of Israel."
And their determination then, was it for their own good? Did they regard with admiration the gentleness of Him Who bade them, and the office of Him Who ministered the call 1 oixovoul* Not so : for " they began, it says, all of them at once to make " excuse :" that is, as with one purpose, without any delay, they made excuse. " For the first said, I have bought a field, " and I must needs go to see it : I pray thee, permit me to be " excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of " oxen, and I go to examine them : I pray thee, permit me to " be excused. And another said, I have taken a wife, and " therefore I cannot come." Thou perceivest that by sense- lessly giving themselves up to these earthly matters, they cannot see things spiritual ; for being overcome by the love of the flesh, they are far from holiness, and are covetous and greedy after wealth. They seek those things which are below, but make no account, no not in the slightest degree, of those hopes which are stored up with God. Far better would it have been instead of earthly fields to gain the joys of paradise : and instead of transitory tillage, for this was the object of the yokes of oxen, to gather the fruits of righteousness. For it is written, "Sow for yourselves righteousness ; gather as vintage Hoa. x. n. " the fruit of life." Was it not their duty rather, instead of the carnal procreation of children,, to have chosen spiritual fruitfulness ? For the one is subject unto death and corrup- tion : the other is an eternal and abiding affluence for the saints.
When then the householder heard their refusal, he was angry, it says ; and commanded that from the streets and marketplaces of the city there should be gathered the poor, and the maimed, and the blind, and the lame. And who then are to be understood by those who for the sake, as I said, of lands, and tillage, and the carnal procreation of children, refused to come? Certainly it must be those, who stood at the head of the Jewish synagogue ; men with wealthy purses, the slaves of covetousness, with their mind set on lucre, on which they lavished all their earnestness. For so to speak throughout
488 COMMENTARY UPON
the whole of inspired Scripture, one may see them blamed for this very thing.
Those then who were superior in station to the mass of the common people did not submit themselves to Christ, when
Mat.xi.29. saving unto them, "Take My yoke upon you:" they rejected the invitation : they did not accept the faith ; they remained away from the feast ; and scorned the great supper by their hardened disobedience. For that the scribes and Pharisees did not believe in Christ, is manifest by what He says unto
Lukesi.52. them, " Ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye enter " not in yourselves : and those that are entering ye have hin- " dered." In their stead therefore those were called who were in the streets and market-places, who belonged, that is, to the Jewish common people, whose mind was sickly, and infirm, and dark, and halting : for such one may consider to be 4 blind and lame. But they became strong and whole in Christ : they learnt to walk uprightly, and received the divine light into their mind. And that a multitude of the Jews not easy to number believed, one may learn from the Acts of the Apostles e.
When then those, it says, who were in the streets had been called, he whose office it was to bid them to the supper said to the householder, " Still there is room. And the lord said to " his servant, Go out into the hierhwavs and hedges, and com- " pel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For. I say " unto you, that no one of those men that were bidden shall " taste of my supper."
Here observe, I pray, the calling of the Gentiles after that the Israelites had entered by faith. For in old time the Gen- tiles were boorish in mind, and uncultivated in understanding, and so to say, outside the city, as living in lawlessness, and more like cattle than men, and with little use of reason. And on this account he who invites to the supper is sent unto the highways, outside the city, and to the hedges in the fields :
e Mai adds here a passage either there can be little doubt both from
from A. or E., bringing proofs from the matter, and the language of this
the Acts, both that multitudes of extract, that it is a gloss of the Ca-
the common people believed, and tenist himself, that the rulers rejected Christ : but
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 489
moreover he is commanded by him who sent him not merely to invite, and offer them exhortation only, but even to compel them. And yet in all men faith is a voluntary act, and by attaining unto it of their own free will, men are acceptable unto God, and largely endowed with His gifts. How then are men compelled ? Yes, this also was said advisedly. For it was necessary, absolutely necessary for the Gentiles, as being fet- tered by an intolerable tyranny, and fallen under the yoke of the devil, and caught, so to speak, in the indissoluble meshes of their sins, and utterly ignorant of Him Who by nature and verily is God, that their calling should be very urgent, resem- bling the use of force, that they might be able to look up unto God, and taste the sacred doctrines, and leave off their former error, and spring away as it were from the hand of Satan. For Christ also said, " ]NTo man can come unto Me except My Father John vi.44. "Who sent Me drag him." But dragging f implies that the call- ing is an act of power such as God only can exercise. And the blessed David is also found addressing God in similar terms respecting them, " With bridle and bit shalt Thou restrain the P3.xxxi;.o. " jaws of those that draw not near unto Thee." Thou seest how the God of all as with a bridle turns unto Himself those who fiercely have departed from Him : for He is good and loving unto mankind, and willeth that all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.
The chiefs therefore of the Israelitish populace remained aloof from the supper, as being obdurate and proud and dis- obedient, and scorned so surpassing an invitation, because they had turned aside to earthly things, and fixed their mind upon the vain distinctions of this world. But the vulgar multitude was called in, and after them immediately and without delay the Gentiles. For when our Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead, He cried out unto the holy apostles saying, " All power Mat xxviii. " is given unto Me in heaven and in earth : go make disciples "'of all nations, baptizing ye them in the name of the Father, " and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : and teaching ye " them to observe all those things that I have commanded " you : and lo ! I am with you every day even unto the end of " the world."
f For A«'£ir, the reading in Mai, the Syriac evidently read «X|ty.
3R
490 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CV.
C. xiv. 35- j^n(i great multitudes went with Him : and He turned and said unto them ; Whosoever cometh unto Me, and hateth not his father and his mother, and his wife, and his chil- dren, and his brethren, and his sisters : yea, and his own Kttl 3<rny oi> self also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth taraolv ol noi oear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My dis- B- ciple. For which of you, that wisheth to build a tower,
sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, to see whether ds aTraona- he have sufficient to finish it ? Lest when he has laid the to irpbs ott. foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it *• begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and
was not able to finish. Or what king going to make war with another king, sitteth not down first and considereth, whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand ? And if he be xpiirptu S. not, while the other is yet afar off, he sendeth ambass- sadors, and asketh conditions of peace. So therefore every one of you that for saketh not all his possessions, cannot be om. olv Gs. My disciple. Salt therefore is good : but if the salt have Bt. no savour, with what shall it be seasoned.9 It is useful nei-
ther for the land, nor yet for the dunghill: they cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
THOSE who command warlike armies, and have won for themselves martial glory, whenever the time for battle has arrived, instruct the troops under their orders in what way, arraying themselves manfully against the phalanxes of the enemy, they will gain a triumphant victory. And the Saviour of all, imitating the skilfulness of those here mentioned, very clearly shews unto all who would follow Him, the pathway of spiritual manfulness : that advancing with unrcstrainable impe- tuosity unto every triumph of piety, and exerting a stern and irresistible earnestness, they may win by a just decree the right of being with Him, and following Him.
This lesson then clearly teaches us, what sort of persons He
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 491
would have us to be. " For whosoever cometh unto Me, He " says, and hateth not his father and his mother, and his wife " and his children, and his brethren, and his sisters, yea, and " his own self also, cannot be My disciple." ' What then, 0 f Lord, some perchance may say, dost Thou despise the laws of ' natural affection ? Dost Thou command us to hate one an- ' other, and to disregard the love that is due to fathers from ' their sons, to wives from their husbands, to brethren from ' their brethren ? Shall we make those enemies who are mem- 1 bers of the same household ; and those, whom it is our duty ' rather to love, must we count as foes, in order that we may ' be with thee, and be able to follow thee?'
This is not what the Saviour means. Away with so vain a a thought. For He Who commands even those who are vio- lent enemies to be gentle, and forgiving to all who would do them wrong : for, " Love, He says, your enemies : and pray Mat. v. 44. " for them that spoil you :" how could He wish us to hate those who are born of the same family, and to disregard the honour due to parents, and think nothing of despising our brethren ; yea ! and our own children also, and even our own self? For He, Who has pronounced condemnation even upon those who disregard the law of mutual love, could not wish His friends to cherish a savage, and so to speak, a desperate state of minds. What however He does wish to teach in these com- mands is plain to those who can understand from what is said in another place expressly upon the same subject. "For he Mat. x. 37. " that loveth, He saith, father or mother more than Me, is not " worthy of Me : and he that loveth son or daughter more " Me, is not worthy of Me/' By adding then " more than " Me," it is plain that He permits us to love, but not more than we do Him. For He demands for Himself our chief affection ; and that very justly : for the love of God in those who are perfect in mind has something in it superior both to
s The continuation of this pas- expressions in it incline me to the
sage in Mai does not belong to the opinion that it belongs to the Ca-
commentary. It is little more than tenist himself. Part of it is given
a string of texts to prove the duty in Cramer anonymously, but the
of loving our relatives, and our own passage against suicide occurs again
life also, that we may use it to in the Aurea Catena, and is there
Christ's honour, and one or two ascribed to Cyril.
3 R 2
492 COMMENTARY UPON
the honour due to parents, and to the natural affection felt for children.
We must explain however what the occasion was which directed our Lord's words to this subject. The passage then read from the Gospel at our last meeting described the cele- bration of a great supper, unto which many were invited by him who save the feast. But thev were men indifferent to it : for " they made excuse, it says, with one accord, and said, one " that he had bought a field, and must needs go to see it : " and another, that he had bought five yoke of oxen : and a " third again, that he had married a wife/' and by employing these feigned excuses, they vexed him who invited them. We are therefore given most clearly to understand, that when God calls us unto Him, to make us partakers of His bounty, we must disregard the lusts that are of the flesh, and minister to the flesh, and set no value whatsoever upon the things of this world, but exerting all our force must advance unto those things which will never have to be abandoned, and which fill us with all blessedness, as God bestows with bounteous hand upon us His gifts, and like one welcoming us to a costly ban- quet, admits us to the right of rejoicing with the rest of the saints in the hope of future blessings. For the things of earth, are but of little value and last only for a time, and belong to the flesh solely, which is the victim of corruption : but those things which are divine and spiritual constantly and without ceasing accompany those who have once been counted worthy of receiving them, and reach onwards to unending worlds. What value therefore will men of sense set upon earthly farms, or the love of carnal pleasure, or the respect due to kins- men in the flesh, if it be laid down that for love's sake unto Christ, we must disregard all these things that have been named ? For many instances have there been of men desirous of a blameless life, who even after touching, so to speak, the dust of the palaestra, and making trial of the combats therein, and all but attaining to the right of receiving the crown of the heavenly calling, have been drawn backward, as it were, either from regard to relatives, or from being too weak to bear a struggle of endurance, or from being entangled in the snares of carnality, and foolishly preferring present pleasure to the
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 493
blessings laid up in hope. Many too the fear of death has terrified, and when the season called them unto persecutions, that being proved they might receive the crown of incor- ruption, they have denied the faith, have avoided, that is, the duty of suffering patiently, and having shewn themselves weak and cowardly, have fallen from their steadfastness. To work in us therefore a mind incapable of being broken, and make us careless of every worldly matter for our love of Him, He com- mands us to hate even our relatives according to the flesh, and our own self also, if, as I have just said, the season call us thereto.
And next He uses two examples, to encourage unto an in- vincible fortitude those who are His friends, and to establish in an unwavering zeal those whose desire it is to attain to ho- nours by patience and endurance. " For if, saith He, any one " wish to build a tower, he reckoneth first if he have means " sufficient to finish it, lest when he has laid the foundation, " and is not able to finish it, men laugh at him." For those whose choice it is to lead a glorious and blameless life ought to store up beforehand in their mind a zeal sufficient thereunto, and to remember him who says, " My son, if thou draw Ecclus.ii.i. " near to serve the Lord, prepare thyself for every temptation: " make thy heart straight, and endure/' But those who have no such zeal, how will they be able to reach the mark that is set before them ?
" Or what king, He saith, wishing to make war with another " king, doth not consider with himself, whether with his ten " thousand he can prevail over one who is more mighty than " himself?" And what does this mean ? " Our wrestle is not Eph. vi. 12. " against blood and flesh, but against governments ; against " empires ; against the worldholders of this darkness ; against " wicked spirits in the heavenly regions." We have too a crowd, as it were, of other enemies, the carnal mind, the law that rages in our members, passions of many kinds, the lust of pleasure, the lust of the flesh, the lust of wealth, and others : with these we must wrestle ; this is our savage troop of ene- mies. How therefore shall we conquer ? By believing that " in God we shall do valiantly, as Scripture saith, and He Ps. Ix. 12. " shall bring to naught those that oppress us." In this confi- dence one of the holy prophets said, " Behold the Lord helpcth Is. l. 9.
494
COMMENTARY UPON
" me : who shall make me ashamed 1" And the divine David Ps. xxvii. i. also sings, "The Lord is my light, and my Saviour: whom " shall I fear ? The Lord is the helper of my life, at whom " shall I tremble ?" For He is our strength, and by Him we shall gain victory : for He has given unto us to tread upon ser- pents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy . As therefore He says, " Salt is good : but if the salt be tasteless, " with what can it be seasoned ? It is cast out," He says. " Let there be therefore, He proceeds, salt in you/' that is, the divine words which bring salvation : but which if we despise, we become without savour, and foolish, and utterly useless. Such things must the congregation of the saints cast out, by the gift unto them of mercy and love from Christ, the Saviour of us all ; by Whom and with "Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Ainen.h
h Two short extracts upon this verse are also referred to Cyril, one by Mai from A. and C, saying, " that as neither bread nor fish are " eatable without salt, so the soul, " without apostolic teaching and " wisdom, is tasteless and without " scent, and not sweet before God." And the other by Corderius, to the effect, that " the earth is that which " is capable of being benefited, and " the dunghill that which benefits " it : to be rejected therefore as
" tasteless salt signifies the being " able neither to profit others, nor " be profited oneself." Neither of these passages could possibly be Cyril's ; and the latter, even the most obtuse person, would at once refer to Theophylact. How entirely Cyril's principles of explanation differ from those of Theophylact any one may see by referring to the rules laid down by the former in the introduction to Sermon cviii.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 495
SERMON CVI.
Now all the publicans and sinners used to draw near unto C.xv.i-io- Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and Scribes mur- add. rf BT. mured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And He spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it. And ivhen he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoidders, rejoicing. And when he hath come home, he calleth together his friends and his neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me: for I have found my sheep ivhich was lost. I say unto you, that likewise there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. Or what woman hav- ing ten drachms, if she lose one of them, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and search diligently till she find it. And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me : for I have found the drachm ivhich I had lost. Likewise I say unto you, that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
YE have no doubt attended here also to what has been read; ye have wondered with me at the Saviour's words : have ye also understood it thoroughly and spiritually, and fixed the searching eye of the mind upon its profounder interpretation ? Has the sense of what has been said been caught by you ? Or possibly has the word, after having rung in your hearing, flown away, and nothing settled there that would be to your profit. But as I imagine, in that ye are believers, and love in- struction, the Saviour illumineth your understanding. For He it is " Who revealeth the deep things of darkness, and putteth i Cor. iv. 5. " the light of understanding in the hearts of those that love " Him/
The two parables then that follow close upon one another depict to us an image of the divine gentleness, being both of
496 COMMENTARY UPON
similar meaning, and, so to say, at concord with one another. But the senseless Jew is openly reproved, for refusing in every way to understand the great and profound mystery of the In- carnation. From him it was completely hidden, that God the
Johniii.17. Father sent the Son from heaven, not " to judge the world," as He Himself declares, but that the world might be saved through Him. In what manner then was it fitting for the world to be saved, which had been caught in the meshes of sin, and proved eniilty of the charge of wickedness, and that was subject to a cruel tyrant, even Satan? Was it by demanding of it punishment, for having fallen into transgression and sin ? Or was it not rather by helping it, in that God is long-suf- fering, and ready, so to speak, to cover over in forgetfulness those things wherein man had transgressed, and to renew unto holiness of life those who knew not how to live uprightly ?
Tell me therefore, 0 Pharisee, why thou murmurest, because Christ disdained not to be with publicans and sinners, but pur- posely provided for them this means of salvation ? To save men He yielded Himself to emptiness, and became in fashion like unto us, and clothed Himself in human poverty. And dost thou then blame the dispensation of the Only-begotten in the flesh ? Dost thou find fault with His humbling Himself from above in heaven, Who transcends all ? Nay, leavest thou not the very Incarnation without censure ? And yet the holy pro- phets wondered at the beautiful skill of the mystery. For the
Ps. xlvii. 7. prophet David in the Psalms declares, " Sing ye with under- " standing : God hath set a Kino; over all the nations." And
Hab. Hi. 1. the prophet Habakkuk says, " That he heard His hearing, " and was afraid : and that he considered also His doings, and " was astonished." How therefore art thou not ashamed of Warning those things which thou oughtest to have admired I Wouldest thou have the Lord of all stern and inexorable, or good rather and kind to men ? The family upon earth had gone astray : it had wandered from the hand of the chief shep- herd : and therefore He Who feedeth the flocks above in hea- ven, became like unto us, that He might make us also dwell in His folds : — that He might unite us to those who had never gone astray, and drive from us the beast of prey, and ward off like some impious band of robbers those impure demons, who had led astray all beneath the sky.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 497
He sought therefore that which was lost : and, to shew that the Jewish fault-finding on this account was vain, He saith unto them, " What man of you having a hundred sheep, and " having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine " in the wilderness, and go to seek that which is lost. And if it " chance to be found, he rejoiceth in it, He saith, more than " in those that went not astray." Understand from this, my beloved, the wide extent of the Saviour's kingdom, and the multitude past numbering of His subjects, and the skilful plan of the dispensation to usward. For the sheep, He says, are a hundred, so making the number of His subjects mount up to a multitude complete and altogether perfect. For con- stantly, so to speak, a hundred is a perfect number, being composed of ten times ten.1 And we have learnt also from the divinely-inspired Scripture, that a " thousand thousands miu- Dan.vii.io. " ister to God, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand " around His lofty throne." The sheep therefore are a hun- dred : and of them one has gone astray, even the family upon earth ; which also the chief Shepherd of all sought, having left in the wilderness k those ninety and nine. Was it therefore because He had no regard for the many, that mercy was shewn to the one only ? No ! not because He had no regard for them ; that were impossible : but because they are in se- curity, guarded by His Almighty hand. It was right therefore that mercy should rather be shewn to that which was lost, that evidently nothing might be wanting to that other multitude, but the one being restored thereto, the hundred might regain its beauty.
The search therefore after that which was lost was no act of contempt towards those who had not erred, but one of grace and mercy and love to mankind fit for the supreme and trans- cendent nature to bestow on His fallen creatures.
For come, and let us examine the matter by the help also of another example, in order that we may at all times defend the incomparable gentleness of Christ, the Saviour of us all. For let it be supposed that in one house there are many inmates, of
1 Compare what is said on c. xii. here in Mai, explaining the wilder- 33. • " nes8 as that lofty and heavenly
k A single line is interpolated " region which is full of serenity."
33
498 COMMENTARY UPON
whom it so chances that one falls ill. For whom then are those skilled in healing summoned? Is it not for him onlv who has fallen ill ? But it is not through any disregard of the many, that those who have been called in to heal attend only to hiin who is sick, and give him the benefit of their skill, as the time and his need require. In like manner therefore it was worthy, right worthy of God, Who ruleth over all, to stretch out His saving hand to that which had gone astray. The wild beast had seized it: it had led the family upon earth astray from the pasture, and had hurried it into all misery.' The chief Shepherd saved it : for He sought that which had wandered, and has established for us a fold, unassailable and impregnable against wild beasts and robbers, even the Church; in admiration of Is. xxvi. i. which we may say, in the words of the prophet, " Behold, we " have a strong and secure city : He will place (for us) a wall " and rampart."
And the sense of the parable which immediately follows is exactly similar, in which, He says, that ' a woman who had ' ten drachms lost one of them, and haying lit a lamp and ' found it, rejoiced greatly therein, and made it a reason for ' special joy.' By the former parable therefore, in which the wandering sheep signified the family upon earth, we learnt, that we are the property of God over all, in that He it is Who brought into existence those things which previously had no Ps. c. 3. existence. For " He made us, and not we ourselves," as it is Ps. xcv. 7. written. And " He is our God, and we are the people of His " pasture, and the sheep of His hand." And by this second parable, in which that which was lost is compared to a drachma, and that again as one out of ten, that is of a perfect number, and of a sum complete in the reckoning ; — for the number ten also is perfect, being the close of the series from the unit up- wards ; — it is clearly shewn, that we are in the royal likeness and image, even that of God over all. For the drachma is, I suppose, the denarius,1 on which is stamped the royal likeness.
1 The Greek has simply i/d/ita/ia, gold coin a dinar, i. e. denarius.
a coin ; and possibly the Syriac As the denarius and drachma were,
meant nothing more by calling it a however, really equivalent in value,
denarius; for the use of Roman I have retained the Syriac ren-
money was so general in the East, dering. that to this day the Arabs call their
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 499
That we then who had fallen, and, so to speak, been lost, have been found by Christ, and transformed by holiness and right- eousness into His image, how can any one doubt, when the blessed Paul has thus written, " But we all, with open face 2C0r.iii.1S. " beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed " into the same image, from glory to glory, as of the Lord the " Spirit/' And he sends to the Galatians also in these words, " My children, of whom I am again in travail, until Christ is Gal. iv. 19. " formed in you."
A search then was made for that which had fallen, for which purpose the woman lighted a lamp. For we were found, as I said, by the wisdom of God the Father, Which is the Son, when the divine and intellectual light shone upon us, and the sun arose, and " the day star ascended, and the day dawned," 2 Pet. i.19. according to the Scripture. For God also has somewhere said by one of the holy prophets of Christ the Saviour of us all, " My righteousness quickly approacheth, and My mercy to be Is. lxii. 1. " revealed, and My salvation shall burn as a lamp." And He saith of Himself, at one time, " I am the light of the world :" John viii. and again at another, " I am come a light into this world : he johnxii.46. " that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall " possess the light of life." By the light therefore that which was lost is saved, and there was joy thereby to the powers above. For they rejoice even in one sinner that repenteth, as He hath taught us Who knoweth all things. If they then keep festival over one who is saved, in unison altogether with the divine purpose, and laud with never-ceasing praises the Saviour's gentleness, with how great joy must they be filled, when all beneath the heaven is saved, and called by faith in Christ to the acknowledgment of the truth, having put off the pollutions of sin, and loosed its neck from the bonds of death, and escaped from blame, even the blame of its wandering and fall ! For all these things we gain in Christ : by Whom, and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
3s 2
jOO
COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CVII.
C. xv. li- an- as* BS. nal GT*.
XopraaBri- vat iit B. ytfAcraj. r^v KOtKlav ai/- rod airb GST*.
om. kol\ BGT.
om. koI BT. add. iroi-q- <r6v at (i»r tva rSiv fit-
ffdltDV (TOuB.
om. Tax" GTj.
ipiptrt BT. iveyKavrts GSj.
A olv war. GSt.
6 Si w. BT.
And He said, A certain man had two sons : and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy goods that cometh to me. And he divided unto them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son gathered every thing together, and journeyed into a far country, and there scattered his goods by riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he desired to fill his belly with the husks which the swine were eating : and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have bread in abundance, and I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and went to his father. And while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and his bowels yearned, and he ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And his son said unto him, My father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But his father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the chief robe, and clothe him: and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and we will eat, and be merry : for this my son was dead, and is alive : and was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. — Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard the sound of music and rejoicing. And he called one of the servants, and asked him what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath re- ceived him sound. And he was angry, and woidd not go in : therefore came his father out, and besought him. But
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 501
he answered and said to his father, Lo I all these years do » M I serve thee, and never have transgressed thy command- ment, and thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this thy son, who hath eaten up thy wealth with harlots, is come, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, My son, thou art ever with me : and all that is mine is thine. But it was fitting to make merry and be glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is alive : and was lost, and is found.
I HEIR one of the holy prophets trying to win unto repentance those who are far from God, and saying, " Re- Hos. xiv.i. « turn, 0 Israel, to the Lord thy God: for thou hast become ^ « weak in thy iniquity. Take with you words, and return to « the Lord our God."" What sort of words then did he, under the influence of the Spirit, command them to take with them? Or were they not such as become those who wish to repent ; such namely, as would appease God, Who is gentle, and loveth mercy. For He even said by one of the holy prophets, " Re- Jer. lii. «. « turn ye returning children, and I will heal your breaches." And yet again by the voice of Ezekiel, " Return ye altogether Ez. xviii. « from your wickednesses, 0 house of Israel. Cast away from " you all your iniquities which ye have committed, that they be « not to you for a punishment of iniquity. For I have no " pleasure in the death of the sinner, as that he should turn » from his evil way and live." And the same truth Christ here also teaches us, by this most beautifully composed parable, which I will now to the best of my ability endeavour to discuss, briefly gathering up its broad statements, and explaining and defend- ing the ideas which it contains.
It is the opini6n then of some, that by the two sons are sig- nified the holy angels, and we the dwellers upon earth: and that the elder one, who lived soberly, represents the company of the holy angels, while the younger and profligate son is the human race. And there are some among us who give it a dif- ferent explanation, arguing that by the elder and well con- ducted son is signified Israel after the flesh: while by the other, whose choice it was to live in the lust of pleasures, and who removed far from his father, is depicted the company of
502 COMMENTARY UPON
the Gentiles. With these explanations I do not agree : but I would have him who Ioveth instruction, search after that which is Prov. ix. 9. true and unobjectionable. What then I say is as follows, " giving " occasions to the wise, and to the just offering knowledge," as Scripture commands: for thev will examine for a fitting meaning: the explanations proposed to them. H then we refer the up- right son to the person of the holy angels, we do not find him speaking such words as become them, nor sharing their feelings towards repentant sinners, who turn from an impure life to that conduct which is worthy of admiration. For the Saviour Luke xv. 7. of all and Lord saith, that " there is joy in heaven before the " holy angels over one sinner that repenteth." But the son, who is described to us in the present parable as being accept- able unto his father, and leading a blameless life, is represented as being angry, and as even having proceeded so far in his unloving sentiments as to find fault with his father for his natural affection for him who was saved. " For he would not, " it says, go into the house," being vexed at the reception of the penitent almost before he had come to his senses, and be- cause there had even been slain the calf in his honour, and his father had made for him a feast. But this, as 1 said, is at variance with the feelings of the holy angels : for they rejoice and praise God when they see the inhabitants of the earth being saved. For so when the Son submitted to be born in the flesh of a woman at Bethlehem, they carried the joyful Luke ii. 10. news to the shepherds, saying, "Fear ye not: for behold I " bring you glad tidings of great joy that shall be to all the " people, that there is born to you today in the city of David " a Saviour Who is Christ the Lord." And crowning with lauds and praises Him Who was born, they said, " Glory to " God in the highest, and upon earth peace, and among men " good-will."
But if any one say, that Israel according to the flesh is meant bv the virtuous and sober son, we are again prevented from assenting to this opinion by the fact, that in no way what- soever is it fitting to say of Israel that he chose a blameless life. For throughout the whole of the inspired Scripture, so to say, we may see them accused of being rebels and dis- obedient. For they were told by the voice of Jeremiah, Jer. ii. 5. " What fault have your fathers found in Me, that they have
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 508
" wandered far from Me, and have gone after vanities, and " become vain 1 " And in similar terms God somewhere spake by the voice of Isaiah, " This people draweth near unto Me ; ia. xxix. " with their lips they honour Me, but their heart is very far I3> " from Me : but in vain do they fear Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."" And how then can any one apply to those who are thus blamed the words used in the parable of the virtuous and sober son ? For he said, " Lo ! all these years " do I serve thee, and never have I transgressed thy com- " mandment." But they would not have been blamed for their mode of life, had it not been that transgressing the divine commandments, they betook themselves to a careless and pol- luted mode of life.
And yet again, — for I think it right to mention this also, — some would refer to the person of our Saviour that fatted calf which the father killed when his son was called™ unto con- version. But how then could the virtuous son, who is described as wise and prudent, and constant in his duty, and whom some even refer to the person of the holy angels, treat it as a reason for anger and vexation that the calf was slain ? For one can find no proof of the powers above being grieved when Christ endured death in the flesh, and, so to speak, was slain in our behalf. Rather they rejoiced, as I said, in seeing the world saved by His holy blood. And what reason too had the vir- tuous son for saying "thou never gavest me a kid." For what blessing is wanting to the holy angels, inasmuch as the Lord of all has bestowed upon them with bounteous hand a plentiful supply of spiritual gifts? Or of what sacrifice stood they in need as regards their own state ? For there was no necessity for the Emmanuel to suffer also in their behalf. But if any one imagine, as I have already said before, that the carnal Israel is meant by the virtuous and sober son, how can he say with truth " thou never gavest me a kid ? " For whether we call it calf or kid, Christ is to be understood as the sacri- fice offered for sin. But He was sacrificed, not for the Gen- tiles only, but that He might also redeem Israel, who by reason of his frequent transgression of the law had brought upon
m For KocKiptvov, which Mai has, the Syriac must have read «acX>j- ptvov.
504 COMMENTARY UPON
himself great blame. And the wise Paul bears witness to this, Heb. xiii. saying, "For this reason Jesus" also, that He might sanctify " the people by His blood, suffered outside the gate."
What then is the object of the parable ? Let us examine the occasion which led to it ; for so we shall learn the truth. The blessed Luke therefore had himself said a little before of Christ Luke xv. i. the Saviour of Us all, " And all the publicans and sinners drew " near unto Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and Scribes " murmured saving:, This man receiveth sinners and eateth " with them." As therefore the Pharisees and Scribes made this outcry at His gentleness and love to man, and wickedly and impiously blamed Him for receiving and teaching men whose lives were impure, Christ very necessarily set before them the present parable, to shew them clearly this very thing, that the God of all requires even him who is thoroughly steadfast, and firm, and who knows how to live holily, and has attained to the highest praise for sobriety of conduct, to be earnest in following His will, so that when any are called unto repentance, eveu if they be men highly blameable, he must rejoice rather, and not give way to an unloving vexation on their account.
For we also sometimes experience something of this sort. For some there are who live a perfectly honourable and con- sistent life, practising every kind of virtuous action, and ab- staining from every thing disapproved by the law of God, and crowning themselves with perfect praises in the sight of God and of men : while another is perhaps weak and trodden down, and humbled unto every kind of wickedness, guilty of base deeds, loving impurity, given to covetousness, and stained with all evil. And yet such a one often in old age turns unto God, and asks the forgiveness of his former offences : he prays for mercy, and putting away from him his readiness to fall into sin, sets his affection on virtuous deeds. Or even per- haps when about to close his mortal life, he is admitted to divine baptism, and puts away his offences, God being merciful unto him. And perhaps sometimes persons are indignant at
n Mai, who has extracted this in thi9 place : the Syriac translator passage from two of his codices, A however must have found the ordi- and E, says that they both read vlit nary reading 'Irjcrovt in his copy.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 505
this, and even say, ' This man, who has been guilty of such ' and such actions, and has spoken such and such words, has ' not paid unto the judge the retribution of his conduct, but ' has been counted worthy of a grace thus noble and ad- ' mirable : he has been inscribed among the sons of God, and ' honoured with the glory of the saints/ Such complaints men sometimes give utterance too from an empty narrowness of mind, not conforming to the purpose of the universal Father. For He greatly rejoices when He sees those who were lost obtaining salvation, and raises them up again to that which they were in the beginning, giving them the dress of freedom, and adorning them with the chief robe, and putting a ring upon their hand, even the orderly behaviour which is pleasing to God and suitable to the free.
It is our duty, therefore, to conform ourselves to that which God wills : for He heals those who are sick ; He raises those who are fallen ; He gives a helping hand to those who have stumbled ; He brings back him who has wandered ; He forms anew unto a praiseworthy and blameless life those who were wallowing in the mire of sin ; He seeks those who were lost ; He raises as from the dead those who had suffered the spiritual death. Let us also rejoice : let us, in company with the holy angels, praise Him as being good, and loving unto men ; as gentle, and not remembering evil. For if such is our state of mind, Christ will receive us, by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.0
0 Mai not only contains the only placed here conjecturally, be-
whole of the above homily, with the ing taken from a catena upon the
exception of the first and last para- prophets : it does, however, helong
graphs, but also very considerable to the commentary elsewhere. And
collections besides : of these, how- the rest are short extracts, gathered
ever, the first (p. 341.) is cited by possibly from S. Cyril's other works,
Macarius expressly from Cyril on with the exception of that from E.
the Psalms, and is retained by Mai f. 238, which belongs to the com-
here, simply " quia psalmus ad mentary on the Lord's Prayer, and
" quem pertinet non nominatur." is given by Mai iisdem verbis in
The second, (p. 345.) similarly is p. 263.
3 T
oOG
COMMENTARY UPON
C. xvi. i_o.
om. koI S. om. aiiTuu BT.
om. nai GTf.
6 5« BST. Hal Gr. ra ypdfj.ua- ra BT.
om. «oi BT.
to 7pauua- to BT.
^/t A f 71-77 S. ^cAefri-pBT.
Gs.
John viii.
12.
JoLnxii.46,
SERMON CVIII.
And He said unto His disciples, There was a certain rich man, who had a steward, and they accused him of scat- tering his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? Give up the account of thy stewardship : for thou canst be no longer steward. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? I cannot dig: and to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called each one of his lord's debtors, and said unto the first ; How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, A hundred baths of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy writing, and sit doivn, and write fifty quickly. And afterwards he spake to the second, And how muck owest thou? And he said, A hundred corsV of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy writing, and write eighty. And the lord praised the unjust steward, because he had done wisely : for the chil- dren of this world are wise in their generation more than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make for your- selves friends of the unrighteous mammon : that when it has failed^ they may receive you into eternal tabernacles.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, revealing His glory to the Jewish multitudes, or rather to all those who have believed on Him, said ; "lam the light of the world :" and again, " I am come " a light into this world." For He fills the mind of those who fear Him with a divine and intellectual light, that they may
P The bath contained about se- ven gallons and a half : while the cor was equal to ten baths.
1 In the text the diacritic mark, which distinguishes the perfect from the present tense, is wanting; but in the quotation in the next sermon it is added : similarly the Peschito
also has the equivalent for ticking, and so has the Philox. in the margin, and in the text eK/Mirrjrf. Their authority therefore is entirely in favour of the past tense, as is also that of Barsa- libi, who reads in the text cuaol'i and in the margin i^Vt.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 507
not wander from the right way by walking in gloom and dark- ness ; but may rather know how to advance uprightly in every good work, and in whatsoever aids a man in leading a saintly life. He would have us therefore to be good, and ready to communicate, loving one another, and merciful, and adorned with the honours of charity. Most wisely therefore did He prepare for us the present parable : which we being anxious to explain to the best of our ability, of necessity speak as fol- lows to those who love instruction.
The parables then indirectly and figuratively explain to us much that is for our edification, provided only we consider their meaning in a brief and summary manner. For we are not to search into all the parts of the~parable in a subtil and prying way, lest the argument by its immoderate length weary with superfluous matter even those most fond of hearing, and tire men with a crowd of words. For if, for instance, any one were to undertake to explain, who is to be regarded by us as the man who had a steward, who was accused unto him ; or who possibly it is that accused him ; and who too those are who owed the debts, and subtracted a portion from them ; and for what reason one is said to have owed oil, and the other wheat ; he will render his discourse at once ob- scure and redundant. All the parts of the parable therefore are not necessarily and in every respect useful for the expla- nation of the things signified, but, so to speak, have been taken to form an image of some important matter, which figuratively sets forth some lesson for the profit of the hearers.
The sense therefore of the present parable is something like the following : " The God of all willeth that all men should be i Tim. ii. 4. " saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth." For this reason " He also gave the law for a help," according to the i3. viii. 20. expression of the prophet. And the law in such passages we say means, not of course that which was ministered by Moses, but rather the whole inspired Scripture, by means of which we learn the path which leads straight unto every good and saving thing. The Lord of all therefore requires Us to be thoroughly constant in our exertions after virtue, and to fix our desires upon the better and holy life, setting ourselves free
3 T 2
508 COMMENTARY UPON
from the distractions of the world, and from all love of riches,
and of the pleasure which wealth brings, that we may serve
Him continually, and with undivided affections. For He also
Pd. xlvuio. says by the harp of the Psalmist; " Be constant/ and know
" that I am God." And further, by His own mouth, the Sa-
Luke xii. viour of all says to those who possess worldly riches, w Sell
33" " your possessions, and give alms : make for you purses that
" grow not old : a treasure for ever, unfailing in heaven."
Now the commandment is indeed for our salvation, but the
mind of man is very weak, fixed constantly, so to speak, upon
things which are of earth chiefly, and unwilling to withdraw
itself from the delight of riches. It loves vain boasting ; is
soothed much by the praises of flatterers ; longs for beautiful
equipments, and counts nothing better than temporal honour.
And knowing this, the Saviour has Himself somewhere said of
Luke xviii. them, " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
*4' "kingdom of God!" And further, "that it is easier for a
" camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man
" into the kingdom of God.'1 For as long as a man lives in
wealth and pleasure, he is careless about piety to God. For
wealth renders men contemptuous, and sows in the minds of
those that possess it the seeds of all voluptuousness.
Is there then no way of salvation for the rich, and no means of making them partakers of the hope of the saints ? Have they fallen completely from God's grace ? Is hell and the fire necessarily prepared for them, such as is the fitting lot of the devil and his angels ? Not so : for lo ! the Saviour has shewn them a means of salvation in the present parable. They have been entrusted with worldly wealth by the merciful permission of Almighty God : s according nevertheless to His intention
r The Greek is ^oKao-are, which, " has given them this worldly
however, frequently bears the sense " wealth : whereas according to
given it by the Syriac translator, of " H'13 intention they have been ap-
devoting oneself entirely to some " pointed as stewards, &c." His
object. next sentence is an interpolation,
8 Mai punctuates this sentence ascribing to Cyril a false etymology,
so as to give it an entirely different " and they are called stewards, be-
sense, and produce an antithesis " cause they distribute to every one
between it and what follows; "they " his due," napa r<3 ra olxila <*a-
." feel sure that God in His mercy oru vtfit iv.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE.
509
they have been appointed stewards for the poor. But they discharge not their stewardship rightly, in that they scatter, so to speak, what has been given them of the Lord: for they waste it solely on their pleasures, and purchase temporal ho- nours, not remembering God, Who says, "Thou shalt open Deut.*r. 8. « wide thy mercy unto thy brother, even to him that hath « need of thee." Nor moreover Christ Himself, the Saviour of us all, Who savs, " Be ye merciful, even as your Father Lukevi.36. « Who is in heaven is merciful/' But they, as I said, make no account whatsoever of shewing mercy to their brethren but study only their own pride. And this it is which accuseth them before the Lord of all. And of course upon the approach of death they must cease from their stewardship, withdrawing them as it does from human affairs. For the net of death no man can escape from. What therefore would Christ have them to do ? It is, that while they are yet in this world, if they are unwilling to divide all their wealth among the poor, that at least they should gain friends by a part of it ; and numerous witnesses to their charitableness, even those who have received well at their hands : that when their earthly wealth fails them, they may gain a place in their tabernacles. For it is impos- sible for love to the poor ever to remain unrewarded. Whether therefore a man give away all his wealth, or but a part, he will certainly benefit his soul.
It is an act therefore that becometh the saints, and is worthy of perfect praises, and that wins the crowns above, to set no store by earthly wealth, but distributing it among those that are in need, to gather rather that which is in heaven, and ob- tain purses that grow not old, and possess a treasure that fail- ed not : and next in order comes the employment of a sort ot artifice, so as to obtain those for friends who are especially near unto God, by giving them some portion of their wealth, and comforting the many who are afflicted with poverty, that so they mav share what is theirs. And something of this sort the very wise Paul also advises, saying unto those who love wealth : « Let your abundance be for their want, that their J^or. vu, " abundance also may be for your want."
It is our duty therefore, if we are right-minded; if we fax the eye of the mind on what will be hereafter; if we remember
510 COMMENTARY UVON
iCor.v. 10. the sacred Scripture, which says plainly, "that we shall all be " manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one " may receive retribution for the things done by means of the " body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad;" if we fear the cruel and unappeasable flame ; to remember God, Who requires us to shew mercy upon the brethren, to suffer with those that are sick, to open our hand wide to those that are in need, and to honour the saints, of whom Christ says,
Mat. x. 40. " He that receiveth you receiveth Me : and he that receiveth " Me, receiveth Him That sent Me/' For that mercy towards the brethren is not without profit and benefit, the Saviour
Mat. x. 42. Himself teaches us, saying ; " Whosoever shall give only a " cup of cold [water] to drink in the name of a disciple, shall " not lose his reward." For the Saviour of all is bounteous in giving : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 511
SERMON CIX.
He that is faithful in little,' is faithful also in much; and C.xvi. ro- he that is unjust in little, is unjust also in much. If there- fore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will give you the true ? And if ye have not been faith- ful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own ? No servant can serve two lords : for either foirtpov B. he will hate the one, and love the other : or he will honour the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
THE most distinguished and experienced teachers, when they wish to fix any important doctrine deep in the minds of their disciples, omit no kind of reasoning able to throw light upon the chief object of their thoughts ; at one time weaving arguments together, at another employing apposite examples, and so gathering from every quarter whatever is serviceable for their use. And this we find Christ also, Who is the Giver unto us of all wisdom, doing in many places. For oftentimes He repeats the very same arguments upon the subject, what- ever it may be, that the mind of those who hear may be led on to an exact understanding of His words. For look again, I pray, at the purport of the lessons set before us : for so thou wilt find our words to be true. " He that is faithful in little," He says, " is faithful also in much : and he that is unjust in " little, is unjust also in much."
Before, however, I proceed further, I think it would be use- ful to consider, what was the occasion of a discourse such as this, and from what root it sprung : for so the sense of what is
t The Syriac, like the Semitic ancient times; for Clemens Rom. languages generally, possesses no says in his 2nd Ep. ad Cor. 8. A<7« degrees of comparison; and though 6 Kupios iv r<5 {vayye\«s ti to jxi- occasionally it employs a periphrasis kPov ovk i-njp^axf, to fitya tis v/xii/ to express them, it more frequently d«,<m; and Jacobson quotes there neglects them altogether. There from lrensus, " Si in modico fide- are, however, evident traces of the " les non fuistis, quod magnum est positive having been read in very " quis dabit vobis ? "
512 COMMENTARY UPON
said will become very evident. Christ then was teaching the rich to feel especial delight in shewing kindness to the poor, and in opening their hand to whoever are in need, so laying up treasures in heaven, and taking forethought for the riches that are in store. For He said, " Make for yourselves friends of " the unrighteous mammon : that when it has failed, they may " receive you into eternal tabernacles." But as being God by nature, He well knew the slothfulness of the human mind in every earnest and good work. It escaped not His knowledge, that men, in their greediness after wealth, giving up their mind to the love of lucre, and being tyrannized over by this passion, become hard-hearted and unsympathizing with afflic- tion, and shew no kindness whatsoever to the poor, even though they have heaped up much wealth in their stores. That those therefore who are thus minded, have no share in God's spiritual gifts, He shews by most evident examples, and says, "He that is faithful in little, is faithful also in " much : and he that is unjust in little, is unjust also in " much/' 0 Lord, explain unto us the meaning : open Thou the eye of our heart. Listen therefore while He explains clearly and exactly what He said. " If therefore ye have not " been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will give vou " the true f" The little therefore is the unrighteous mammon : that is, worldly wealth, gathered often by extortion and covet- ousness. But those who know how to live virtuously, and thirst after the hope that is in store, and withdraw their mind from earthly things, and think rather of those things that are above, utterly disregard earthly wealth ; for it offers nothing but pleasures, and voluptuousness, and base carnal lusts, and splendour that profiteth not, but is transitory and vain. And
iJohnii.i6. so one of the holy apostles teaches us, saying, " That all that is " in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, " and the pride of the world." But such things as these are absolutely nothing to those who lead a sober and virtuous life : for they are trifling, and temporary, and full of impurity, and provocative of the fire and judgment, and scarcely reaching to the end of the. life of the body, even if they do not, when any danger suddenly befalls those that possess them, unexpectedly de- part away. Christ's disciple therefore rebukes the rich, saying,
James v. i. " Come now, ye rich men, weep, and lament over the miseries
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" that are coming upon you. Your wealth is decayed, your " garments are motheaten. Your gold and your silver are " rusted, and the rust of them shall be your testimony. " How then are the gold and silver rusted ? By being stored up in excessive abundance; and this very thing is the witness against them before the divine judgment seat, of their being unmer- ciful. For having gathered into their treasuries a great and unnecessary abundance, they made no account of those who were in need, although it was in their power, had they so wished, to do good easily to many ; but they were not " faith- " ful in the little."
But in what way men may become faithful, the Saviour Himself next taught us : and I will explain how. A certain Pharisee besought Him to eat bread with him on the sabbath day, and Christ consented: and having gone there, He sat down to meat : and there were many others also feasting with them. And none of them by any means resembled men who possessed nothing, but, on the contrary, they were all persons of distinction, and great haughtiness, and lovers of the fore- most seats, and thirsting after vainglory, being clothed as it were in the pride of wealth. What then said Christ to His inviter ? " When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not Luke xW. " thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy I2- " rich neighbours, lest they also invite thee again, and a re- " compense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call " the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And thou " shalt be blessed, because they cannot recompense thee ; for " thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." This then I think is a man's being faithful in little, that he have pity upon those who are in need, and distribute assistance from his means to such as are in extreme distress. Bat we, despising a way thus glorious and sure of reward, choose one dishonourable and without reward, by treating with contempt those who are in utter poverty, and refusing even sometimes to admit their words into our ears; while, on the other hand, we luxuriously provide a costly table, either for friends who live in pomp, or for those whose habit it is to praise and flatter, making our bounty an occasion for indulging our love of praise. But this was not God's purpose in permitting us to possess wealth. If therefore we are unfaithful in the little, by
3U
514 .COMMENTARY UPON
not conforming ourselves to the will of God, and bestow the best portion of ourselves upon our pleasures and our boasts, how can we receive from Him that which is true ? And what is this ? The abundant bestowal of those divine gifts which adorn man's soul, and form in it a godlike beauty. This is the spiritual wealth, not that fattens the flesh, which is held by death, but rather that saves the soul, and makes it worthy of emulation, and honourable before God, and that wins for it true praises.
It is our duty therefore to be faithful unto God, pure in heart, merciful and kind, just and holy : for these things im- print in us the outlines of the divine likeness, and perfect us as heirs of eternal life. And this then is that which is true.
And that this is the purport and view of the Saviour's words, any one may readily learn from what follows. For He said, " If ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who "will give you that which is your own?" And again, we say that which is another's is the wealth we possess. For we were not born with riches, but, on the contrary, naked ; and
iTim.vi. 7. can truly affirm in the words of Scripture, "that we neither " brought anything into the world, nor can carry anything " out. For the patient Job also has said something of this
Job i. ix. kind: "Naked was I born from my mother's womb; naked " also shall I go onwards." It is therefore no man's own by richt of nature that he is rich, and lives in abundant wealth : but it is a thing added on from without, and is a chance mat- ter ; and if it cease and perish, it in no respect whatsoever harms the definitions of human nature. For it is not by virtue of our being rich that we are reasonable beings, and skilful in every good work : but it is the property of our nature to be capable of these things. That therefore, as I said, is another's which is not contained in the definitions of our nature, but, on the contrary, is manifestly added to us from without. But it is our own, and the property of human nature to be fitted for every good work : for as the blessed Paul writes,
Eph. ii. 10. " We have been created unto good works, which God hath " before prepared, that we should walk in them."
When therefore any are unfaithful in that which is another's, in those things namely, which are added unto them from with- out, how shall they receive that which is their own? How, that is, shall they be made partakers of the good things which God
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 515
gives, which adorn the soul of man, and imprint upon it a divine beauty, spiritually formed in it by righteousness and holiness, and those upright deeds which are done in the fear of God.
Let such of us then as possess earthly wealth open our hearts to those who are in need ; let us shew ourselves faithful and obedient to the laws of God, and followers of our Lord's will in those things which are from without, and not our own, that we may receive that which is our own, even that holy and admirable beauty which God forms in the souls of men, fashion- ing them like unto Himself, according to what we originally were.
And that it is a thing impossible for one and the same person to divide himself between contraries, and still be able to live blamelessly, He shews by saying, "No man can serve two " lords : for either he will hate the one, and love the other, " or he will honour the one, and despise the other." And this indeed is a plain and evident example, and very suitable for the elucidation of the subject before us. For that which follows is, so to speak, the conclusion of the whole argu- ment : " for ye cannot serve God and mammon." For if, He says, a man be a slave of two masters, of diverse and contrary wills, and whose minds are irreconcilable with one another, how can he please them both ? For being divided in endeavouring to do that which each one approves, he is in opposition to the will of both : and so the same person must inevitably appear bad and good. If therefore, He says, he determine to be true to the one, he will hate the other, and set him of course at nought. It is not therefore possible to serve God and mammon. For the unrighteous mammon, by which wealth is signified, is a thing given up to voluptuousness, and liable to every reproach, engendering boasting, and the love of pleasure, making men stiffnecked, the friends of the wicked, and contemptuous : yea, what base vice doth it not produce in them that possess it ?
But the goodwill of God renders men gentle, and quiet, and lowly in their thoughts; longsuffering, and merciful, and of exemplary patience, not loving lucre, nor desirous of wealth-, content with food only and raiment, and especially fleeing from " the love of money, which is the root of all evils :" joyfully JjJSm* n'
3 U3
516 COMMENTARY UPON
undertaking toils for piety's sake ; fleeing from the love of pleasure, and earnestly shunning all feeling of wearisomeness in good works, while constantly they value, as that which wins them reward, the endeavour to live uprightly, and the practice of all soberness. This is that which is our own, and the true. This God will bestow on those who love poverty, and know how to distribute to those who are in need that which is another's, and comes from without, even their wealth, which also has the name of mammon.
May it then be far from the mind of each of us to be its slaves, that so we may freely and without hindrance bow the neck of our mind to Christ the Saviour of us all ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion with the Holv Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 517
SERMON CX.
And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these C. xvi. 14- things, and they derided Him. And He said unto them, Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God know- eth your hearts : for that which is high among men, is an abomination before God. The law and the prophets until KVPiov B- John : thenceforth the kingdom of God is preached, and every one taketh it by force. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one point u of the law to fail.
THE love of money, ray brethren, is a most wicked passion, and not easy to abandon. For when Satan has planted this malady in a man's soul, he next proceeds to blind him, nor does he permit him to listen to the words of exhortation, lest there be found for us a wav of healing:, able to save from misery those who are ensnared thereby. And observe again, I pray, how true my words upon this subject are from the instance even of the Pharisees. For they were lovers of riches, and enamoured of gain, and regarded a bare sufficiencv with contempt. For even, so to speak, throughout the whole of the divinely inspired Scripture, one may see them blamed on this very account. For it is said by the voice of Isaiah to the mother of the Jews, I mean, Jerusalem, " Thy princes are Is. i. 23. " rebellious, the partners of thieves : loving bribes, pursuing " after reward : they judge not the fatherless, neither do they " regard the widow's suit." And the prophet Habbakuk also said, " How long, 0 Lord, shall I cry unto thee, and Thou wilt Hab. i. 2. " not hear ? and shout unto Thee, being oppressed, and Thou " wilt not deliver? Judgment is before me, and the judge hath " taken a bribe : therefore is the law of none avail, and judg- " ment cometh not forth unto completion : for the wicked pre- " vaileth over the righteous, therefore doth judgment come " forth perverted." For as being lovers, as I said, of lucre, they repeatedly gave judgment on the matters before them,
u By ^1;JB» apex, Gr. iccpaia, is Hebrew letter, namely, the * in meant the smallest portion of a \, to, b, Sec.
518 COMMENTARY UPON
not according to what was agreeable to the laws of God, but,
on the contrary, iniquitously, and in opposition to God's will.
Moreover, the Saviour Himself rebuked them, thus saying,
Mac. xxiii. " Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites : who tithe
*3" " anise, and mint, and cummin ; and have omitted the weightier
" matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith." For as the
law had set apart for them the right of receiving tithes of every
one, they extended the exactness of the search after them
down to the most insignificant vegetables, while they made but
slight account of the weightier matters of the law, that is, of
those commandments which were of necessary obligation and
for men's good.
" Because therefore the Pharisees, it says, were lovers of " money, they derided Jesus," for directing them by His salu- tary doctrines to a praiseworthy course of conduct, and ren- dering them desirous of saintly glories. For it was their duty, He tells them, to sell their possessions, and make distribution to the poor ; so would they possess in heaven a treasure that could not be plundered, and purses that could not be harmed, and wealth that would not have to be abandoned. And why then did they deride Him ? For certainly the doctrine was salutary, a pathway of hope in things to come, and a door leading unto the life incorruptible : for they were being taught by Him the manners of true prosperity, and learning how they must seize the crown of the heavenly calling ; how too they might become partakers with the saints, and children of the city that is above, the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and which is truly free, and Gal. iv. 16. the mother of the free. For as the blessed Paul writes, " Je- " rusalem, which is our mother and is above, is free." And why then did they mock Him ?
Let us see the cause of their wickedness. The passion of avarice had possession of their heart, and their mind being tyrannized over by it was in subjection even against its will ; humbled under the power of wickedness, and bound as it were by inevitable bonds. For so the writer of Proverbs somewhere Prov.v. 12. says, "that every man is bound by the cords of his sins." For as the more virulent diseases of the body do not admit of the remedies of medicine, and flee away as it were from heal- ing ; and if any one apply that which is naturally adapted to do good, are irritated the more, and grow angry, however
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 519
gently treated by the art : so also those passions to which the souls of men are liable, are sometimes obdurate, and refuse to listen to admonition, and will not hear a single word that sum- mons them to depart from evil, and directs them into a better course. And as horses that are hard-mouthed and unmanage- able, and excessively spirited will not obey the reins ; so also the mind of man when under the influence of passion, and thorouo-b.lv inclined to turn aside unto evil, is disobedient and intractable, and rejects with hatred the being healed.
When therefore the Saviour of all had expended upon them many words, but saw that they would not change from their crafty purposes and passions, but preferred rather to abide in their innate folly, He betakes Himself at leugth to sterner re- proofs, the very occasion calling them thereto. He shews there- fore that they are hypocrites, and liers in wait among the al- tarsx, and eager after the glory due to righteous and good men, without being such in reality : not being in earnest in meriting the approval of God, but hunting on the contrary eagerly after the honours which come from men. He said therefore, "Ye are " they which justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth " your hearts: for that which is high among men, is an abomi- " nation before God." This He is found also in another place saying unto them ; " How can ye believe, who receive honour John v. 44. " one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from " the one God." For the God of all crowns with praises unto righteousness those who are truly good : but those who love not virtue, but are hypocrites, steal perchance by their own votes solely the reputation of being honourable. But no one, 0 worthy sirs, some perchance may say, crowns himself; and the man is justly ridiculed, who devises praises for himself: for it is written, " Let thy neighbour praise thee, and not thy Prov.xxvii. " own mouth : a stranger, and not thy own lips." But though "' hypocrites may be able possibly to remain undetected, and seize the honours which men bestow, " yet God, He says,
x In the Greek /3ayioXdxov? : i. e. " gulosos victimarum appetitores,"
persons capable of committing any Just above be translates a-Kefipara
meanness for gain ; the Syriac trans- by cogitationes, but its employment
lation has at least the merit of being in many other places justifies the
literal, which Mai's wants, though sense given it in the Syriac of
equally curious; for he renders it ' tricks,' 'artifices.'
520 COMMENTARY UPON
" knoweth vour hearts." The Jud^e cannot be deceived ; He seeth the depth of our mind ; He knoweth who is the true combatant, and who steals by fraud the honour which an- other truly deserves : and while He honoureth him who is Ps. liii. 5. truly just, He " scattereth the bones of the men-pleasers," according to the Psalmist's expression. For the desire of pleasing men is constantly, so to speak, the nurse, and head, and root of that accursed pride which is hated alike by God and men. For he who is the victim of this passion lusteth after honour and praise : and this is hateful unto God: for He hateth the proud, but acceptcth and sheweth mercy to him who loveth not glory, and is lowly in mind.
And when Christ had crushed them with these reproofs He added thereto yet something more; even that which they were about to suffer by reason of their disobedience and wickedness; " For the law, He says, and the prophets until John : thence- " forth the kingdom of God is preached, and every one taketh " it by force. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass " away, than for one point of the law to fall." Again does He conceal in obscurity that which would give them pain, and veils, so to speak, the prediction of those things that were about to happen to all who would not obey Him. For Moses, He says, and with him the company of the holy prophets, before announced the import of My mystery to the inhabitants of earth : both the law declaring by shadows and types that to save the world I should even endure the death of the flesh, and abolish corruption by rising from the dead ; and the pro- phets also speaking words of the same import as the writings of Moses. It is nothing strange therefore, He says, or that was not known before, that ye spurn My words, and despise every- thing that would avail for your good. For the word of pro- phecy concerning Me, and you, extends until the holy Baptist Johry but "from the days of John, the kingdom of heaven is " preached, and every one taketh it by force." And by the kingdom of heaven He here means justification by faith, the washing away of sin by holy baptism, sanctificatiou by the Spirit, worshipping in the Spirit, the service that is superior to shadows and types, the honour of the adoption of sons, and the hope of the glory about to be given to the saints.
The kingdom of heaven therefore, He says, is preached, for
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 521
the Baptist has stood forth in the midst saying, " Prepare ye Luke Hi. 4.
*4 the way of the Lord:" and has shewn, that lo! He is already
near, and as it were within the doors, even the true Lamb of
God, Who beareth the sin of the world. Whosoever therefore
is a hearer and lover of the sacred message taketh it by force :
by which is meant, that he uses all his earnestness and all his
strength in his desire to enter within the hope. For, as He saith
in another place, " The kingdom of heaven is taken by violence Mat.xi. 12.
" and the violent seize upon it."
" And it is easier, He says, for heaven and earth to pass " away, before the clay that God commandeth this to be, than " for one point of the law to fall." Now sometimes by the word law He signifies collectively the whole divinely inspired Scripture, the writings, that is, of Moses and the prophets. What then did it foretell, which must also necessarily reach its accomplishment ? It foretold, that by reason of their exces- sive unbelief and immorality, Israel would fall from being of God's family, even though he be the eldest son : and that Jerusalem would be thrust away from His indulgence and His love. For so He spake concerning it by the voice of Jere- miah Y, "Behold! I will hedge up her way with stakes, and Hoj. U. 6. " block up her ways, and she shall not find her path." For the way of those who fear God is straight, nor is there any steep part therein, but all is level and well beaten. But the path of the mother of the Jews is hedged up with stakes, in that the way of piety has been rendered impassable for them.
And that they were darkened in mind, and did not accept the light of the glory of Christ, —for they knew Him not; — He before proclaimed saying unto the multitude of the Jews ; " I Hos. iv. 5. " have likened thy mother unto the night. My people is like " unto one that hath no knowledge. Because thou hast re- " jected knowledge, therefore will I reject thee from being My " priest. And thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, and I " will forget thy children." Thou hearest that the multitude of the disobedient are very justly compared unto darkness and the night : for the intellectual day star, and the Sun of right-
y Mai reads here 'Qo-rjf correctly, in the N. T. and the fathers, than but probably it is a later correction, for the minor prophets to be quoted for nothing is more common both under Jeremiah's name.
3 x
522 COMMENTARY UPON
eousness arises and shines in the mind and heart of those who believe : but the mind of those who treat with contumely a grace so splendid and worthy of our possessing, is blackened in darkness, and intellectual gloom. And thus much then con- cerning those things which the company of the holy prophets before announced respecting Israel.
But unto those who have acknowledged the revelation of the glory of Christ the Saviour of all, God the Father promised by Zech. x.tj. one of the holy prophets, thus saying ; " And I will strengthen " them in the Lord their God, and in the name of their God " they shall be established2. " And in accordance with this the Psalmist also says in the Spirit unto our Lord Jesus Ps. ixxxix. Christ : " They shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of Thy coun- " tenance : and in Thy Name shall they rejoice all the day. " For thou arc the glory of their strength, and in Thy right- " eousness shall our horn be exalted." For we glory in Christ, and as being justified by Him are exalted, having cast off the abasement of sin, and living; in the excellence of everv virtue, we have been enriched also with the exact and unadul- terate knowledge of the doctrines of truth. For this God pro- Is. xlii. 16. raised us where He says by the voice of Isaiah, " And I will " lead the blind by a way that they know not : and in paths " which they have not known I will make them walk. I will " make their darkness to be light, and all their steep places to " be smooth." For we, who were once blind, have been en- lightened, and travel in an unwonted pathway of righteousness; while those who boasted of the law as their schoolmaster, have Johnxii.40. become darkened. For as Christ Himself said*; "Darkness ' " hath blinded their eyes: and blindness in part hath happened " unto Israel, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not hear." For they sinned against the holy prophets ; and even ventured to lift their hands against Him Who was calling them to salvation and life. Even though therefore, He says, ye be disobedient, and though ye foolishly deride My words, which would guide you in the attainment of that which is useful and becoming, yet this conduct, He says, was not
r Tliere is a strange diversity raKavx^aovrai, they shall glory . here in the readings; Mai has {map- whereas the Syriac must have read £ou(7t they shall he ; the Sept. kq- KaTatrrqdTjaovrai.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 523
unforeknown, but already had been declared by the law and the prophets. And it is a thing impossible for the words of God to fail of their accomplishment : for He' declared that which He knew must altogether and necessarily happen.
Unbelief therefore brings upon men destruction, as also does the stretching out of the haughty neck of the mind from exces- sive pride against Christ the Saviour of us all ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
3x2
524
COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXI.
C. xvi. 19- 3»-
Til %v bv. A.
hs Gs.
om twv \!/i- \iuiV BT.
i-Jip3.K( S.
add. tjtir) S.
CLire\a0ts <rv Br. om.
av GST. add. avrov S.
w5f BTS. 55« y. iuB. M GSTs. om. oi B. om oZv S. om. yap S.
\tyti 8t ai/roj ST. om. St B. om. auTci Gj.
i Chron. i.
10.
i?<^ there was a certain rich man, and lie was clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. And a certain poor man whose name was Lazarus had been laid at his gate, full of sores ; and desiring to satisfy himself with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table : moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the poor man died, and the angels carried him to Abrahams bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried. And in Hades, having lifted up his eyes, being in torment, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for behold ! I am tormented in this fame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou receivedst thy good things in thy life time; and Lazarus in like manner his evil things: but now he is comforted here, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf is placed, so that those who would pass f-om hence to you cannot ; nor can those pass who would come from thence unto us. And he sdid, I pray thee, father, to send him to my father's house: I have five brethren ; that he may tes- tify u7ito them, lest they also come unto this place of tor- ment. But Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them. But he said, Nay, father Abraham : but if one go unto them from the dead they will repent. But he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they ivould not be persuaded even though one rose from the dead.
WHEN Solomon was offering up prayers in behalf of his kingdom, he somewhere said unto God, " Give me wisdom, " even that which abideth by Thy throne.'" And God praised him for earnestly desiring such blessings as these ; for there is nothing better for men than sacred gifts : of which one worthy of our acceptance, and that perfects in blessedness those who have been counted worthy of it, is the wisdom which
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 525
God bestows. For it is the sight of the mind and heart, and the knowledge of every good and profitable thing.
And it is our duty also to be enamoured of such gifts as these : that being counted worthy thereof we may rightly and without error approach the Saviour's words. For this is useful for us unto spiritual improvement, and leads unto a praiseworthy and blameless life. Come therefore, that being made partakers of the wisdom which is from above, we may examine the meaning of the parable now set before us.
It is necessary however, I think, in the first place to mention, what was the occasion which led to His speaking of these things ; or what Christ intended to illustrate in so excellently sketching and describing the parable set before us. The Saviour therefore was perfecting us in the art of well-doing, and commanding us to walk uprightly in every good work, and to be in earnest in adorning ourselves with the glories which arise from virtuous conduct. For He would have us be lovers one of another, and ready to communicate : prompt to give, and merciful, and careful of shewing love to the poor, and manfully persisting in the diligent discharge of this duty. And He especially admonished the rich in this world to be careful in so doing, and to guide them into the way which ' altogether becometh the saints, He said, " Sell your possessions, Luke xii. " and give alms : make you purses that grow not old ; a trea- 33' " sure that faileth not for ever in heaven." Now the com- mandment indeed is beautiful, and good, and salutarv : but it did not escape His knowledge, that it is impossible for the majority to practise it. For the mind of man has ever been, so to speak, infirm in the discharge of those duties which are arduous and difficult : and to abandon wealth and posses- sions and the enjoyment which they give, is not a thing very acceptable to any, inasmuch as the mind is early clothed and entangled, as it were, in indissoluble cords, which bind it to the desire of pleasure.
As being therefore good and loving unto men, He has pro- vided for them a special kind of help, lest eternal and never- ending poverty should follow upon wealth here, and everlasting torment succeed to the pleasures of the present time. " For Lukexvi.9. " make for yourselves friends, He says, of the unrighteous " mammon : that when it has failed, they may receive you into
526 COMMENTARY UPON
" eternal tabernacles/' And this then is the advice of One providing them with something which they can do. For if, He says, ye cannot be persuaded to give up this pleasure- loving wealth, and to sell your possessions, and make distri- bution to those who are in need, at least be diligent in the practice of inferior virtues." " Make for yourselves friends of " the unrighteous mammon :" that is, do not consider your riches as belonging to yourselves alone ; open wide your hand to those who are in need : assist those in poverty and pain : comfort those who have fallen into extreme distress : condole with those who are in sorrow, or oppressed with bodily mala- dies, and the want of necessaries : and comfort also the saints who embrace a voluntary poverty that they may serve God without distraction. Nor shall your so doing be unrewarded. For when your earthly wealth abandons you, as ye reach the end of your life, then shall they make you partakers of their hope, and of the consolation given them by God. For He being good and kind to man, will lovingly and bountifully refresh those who have laboured in this world: and more espe- cially such as have wisely and humbly and soberly borne the heavy burden of poverty. And somewhat similar advice the wise Paul also gives to those who live in wealth and abundance i Cor. viii. respecting those in misery : " Your abundance shall be to " supply their falling short : in order that also their abun- " dance may supply your falling short." But this is the advice of one who enjoins that simply which Christ spake ; " Make to yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon :" so that the commandment is well worthy- of our admiration.
And that our refusal so to act will cause our ruin, and bring us down to the inextinguishable flame, and to an unavailing remorse, He plainly shews by weaving for us the present para- ble. " For there was a certain rich man, He says, and he was " clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every " day. And a certain poor man whose name was Lazarus had " been cast down at his gate, full of sores."
Here observe, I pray, and mark accurately the Saviour's
words. For while it was easy to have said, " That there was
" such and such a rich man whoever it might bea," He does
not say so, but simply calls him a rich man : while He men-
.* The Catenist adds, "as was done in the case of Job."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 527
tions the poor man by name. What conclusion therefore must
we draw? That the rich man as being uncom passionate was
nameless in God's presence: for He has somewhere said by the
voice of the Psalmist, concerning those who do not fear Him,
" I will not make mention of their names with My lips :" while, Ps. xvi. 4.
as I said, the poor man is mentioned by name by the tongue
of God.
But let us look at the pride of the rich man puffed up for things of no real importance ; " he was clothed, it says, in " purple and fine linen," that is, his study was to deck himself in beautiful attire, so that his raiment was of great priee, and he lived in never-ceasing banquetings ; for such is the meaning of his feasting every day: besides which it adds that he feasted sumptuously, that is, prodigally. All the luxury therefore of that rich man consisted in things of this sort: in clothing clean, delicate, and embroidered with linen, and dyed with purple, so as to gratify the eyes of beholders. And what is the result 1 Differing but little from the figures in statuary and painting, the rich man is indeed admired by those who are destitute of sense, but his heart is full of pride and haughtiness : he has high thoughts of himself and is boastful, and while there is nothing of excellence in his mind, he makes variously coloured hues a reason for his empty pride. His delight is in expensive banquets ; in music and revellings ; he has numerous cooks, who labour to provoke gluttony by carefully prepared meats : his cupbearers are beautifully attired; he has singing men and singing women, and the voices of flatterers. Such were the things in which the rich man lived ; for the disciple of Christ certifies us. saving, " that all that is in the world is the lust of i John ii. " the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of the l " world."
Meanwhile Lazarus, bound fast by sickness and poverty, was cast down, He says, at his gate. For the rich man dwelt in lofty halls, and spacious mansions nobly built: whereas the poor man was not so much laid as cast down, thrown there in neglect, and not deemed worthy of any account. Cut off from compassion and care, he would fain, to satisfy his hunger, have gathered the worthless morsels that fell from the rich man's table0. He was tormented moreover by a severe and incu-
b The following passage is found neither by the principal MS. nor in MS. 14,725, but is acknowledged the Greek; besides the late date of
528
COMMENTARY UPON
rable malady ; " Yea, even the dogs, it says, licked his sores," and that, as it seems, not to injure him, but rather, so to speak, as sympathizing with him, and tending him : for with their tongues they allay their own sufferings, removing with them that which pains them, and gently soothing the sore.
But the rich man was more cruel than the beasts ; for he felt neither sympathy for him nor compassion ; but was full of all mercilessness. And what the result was, the outline of the parable teaches us in what follows • but it is too long to tell it now. For lest my discourse should prove more than suffi- cient for my hearers, and a fatigue beyond due measure to him who speaks, stopping now from a due regard for the good both of myself and you, I will speak to you again upon these things at our next meeting, if Christ our common Saviour grant me the ability so to do : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amenc.
the MS., which is on paper of the thirteenth century, I have little douht of its spuriousness, from, first, its extremely rhetorical style ; secondly, the strangeness of several of its words : and thirdly, the diffi- culties in its grammar. . It is how- ever as follows ;
" He desired verily to satisfy him- self with the morsels which re- mained over from the rich man's table, and nu one gave unto him. O the meanness of life! For the rich man was set in manifold en- joyments, and, the poor man had nothing, and was withering in the woe of poverty : and from the ex- cessiveness of his want his person was exposed to the hailstones. He had no lands nor cornfields to bring him increase : he had no vineyards nor trees to bear him fruits, but was cast down, exposed to the sun, and day and night his couch was the dunghill. Poor La- zarus was cast down at the rich man's door : he was not cast down at a distance, but close by, lest, were
he removed far away, some excuse might be found for the rich man's cruelty."
c Of the extracts gathered by Mai, thefirst is theonlyone not recognised by the Syriac. It starts the question, whether this parable, expressly men- tioning Lazarus by name, and thereby giving some colour to the tradition, that he was an actual per- son, may he taken as a proof, that the retribution of men's good or evil deeds take3 place immediately after death. This Cyril answers in the negative, shewing from Scrip- ture that the judgment does not take place till after the. resurrection. This Mai says requires " a some- " what more accurate explanation " on account of the fatal error of " the Greeks, that the reward of " human actions is delayed until " after the resurrection." But his explanation is in fact an attempt at a refutation of S. Cyril's doctrine : for the extract really is S. Cyril's, being the sixteenth chapter against the Anthropomorphitae.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 529
SERMON CXIL '
The same subject continued.
THE blessed prophet Isaiah has somewhere introduced those c. xvi. i$- who by faith in Christ have been won unto life, as calling out 3I' eagerly, so to speak, unto one another, and saying ; " Come, let Is. ii. 3. " us go up unto the mountain of the Lord, and unto the house " of the God of Jacob, and they shall teach us His way, and " we will walk in it." Now by the mountain here we affirm to be meant not any earthly mountain ; for to imagine this would be foolish : but rather the church which Christ has rescued for Himself. For it is high and conspicuous to people everywhere, and, so to say, exalted, because there is nothing in it which brings men down to earth. For those who dwell within it care nothing: for the things of earth, but rather desire those things that are above : and, as the Psalmist says, " They are exalted Ps. xlvii. 9. " far above the earth ;" as being altogether brave and cou- rageous, and practising uninterrupted endeavours after all things whatsoever which please God.
And such we believe you to be; and your earnest desire after instruction is a plain proof thereof. For ye have come of course to seek the fulfilment of the promise given unto you : but neither have we forgotten what we promised, but pay our debt, adding on to what has been already said that which is still wanting to the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
" For it came to pass, He says, that Lazarus died, and was " carried by angels to Abraham's bosom : and the rich man " also died, and was buried/' Observe carefully the Saviour's words. For of the poor man, He says, that he was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom : but of the rich man there is nothing of the sort, but only that he died and was buried. For those who have hope towards God find in their departure from the world a deliverance from anguish and pain. And something like this Solomon also has taught us, saying, " In the Wis. iii.2. " sight of men they seemed to die, and their departure was " considered an injury and their going from among us a break- " ing to pieces : but they are at peace, and their hope is full of
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" immortality." For there is given unto them a measure of consolation commensurate with their labours : or even perhaps one which surpasses and exceeds their toils: for Christ has some- Luke vi. 38. where said, that "good measure, pressed down, and heaped " up, and running over shall they give into your bosom." For like as ships that sail upon the sea stand the shock of savage waves, and struggle with the violence of mighty winds, but afterwards arriving at tranquil havens fit for their rest, cease there from tossing ; so in like manner I think that the souls of men, when they emerge from the turbulence of earthly things, enter the mansions that are above, as into a haven of sal- vation.
" Lazarus then, He says, was carried by the holy angels " unto Abraham's bosom : but the rich man died and was " buried." For to that rich man who had shewn himself harsh and unmerciful the separation from the body was death. For he was iroinsr from pleasure to torment : from glorv to shame : from light to darkness. Such were the things that the rich man must suffer, who had been voluptuous, and close-handed, and unready for mercy. And to torment him the more now that he dwells in Hades, he beheld, it says, Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham : and made supplication that he might be sent to drop a little water upon his tongue : for he was tor- mented, it says, as in a fierce flame. And what reply does the patriarch Abraham make ? " Son, thou receivedst thy good " things in thy life : and Lazarus his evil things." Thou wast enamoured, He says, of these temporal things ; thou wast clad in fine linen and purple d ;~thou wast boastful and haughty ; all thy time was spent in luxury ; thou offe^edst up thy wealth to thy appetite and to flatterers ; but thou never once calledst to mind the sick and sorrowful : tbou hadst no compassion on Lazarus when thou sawest him thrown down at thy portals. Thou beheldest the man suffering incurable misery, and a prey to intolerable griefs : for two maladies at once possessed him,
d The rest of the translation is XCI, beginning with the words,
from the Cod. 14,725, referred to " Withdraw your attention from
above. It is a volume of miscel- " these temporal things." Cf. p. 421.
laneous sermons, containing of S. In the main MS. the rest of this
Cyril's only the two upon this para- sermon, and the whole of the four
ble, made up into one, and ending following, have perished, with the latter portion of Sermon
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 531
each worse than the other, the cruel pain of his ulcers, and the want of the necessaries of life. The very beasts soothed Lazarus, because he was in pain ; " the dogs licked his sores/' but thou wast more hard-hearted than the beasts. " Thou " hast received therefore, He says, thy good things in thy life, " and Lazarus his evil : and now here he is comforted, and " thou art tormented f and, as the sacred Scripture saith, " they shall have judgment without mercy who have wrought Jamesii. 13 " no mercy/'' Thou wouldst have been a partner with Laza- rus, and a portion of his consolation would have been given thee by God, if thou hadst admitted him to be a partner of thy wealth. But this thou didst not do, and therefore thou alone art tormented : for such is the fitting punishment of the unmer- ciful, and of those whose mind feels no sympathy for the sick.
Let us therefore make for ourselves friends of the unright- eous mammon : let us listen to Moses and the prophets calling us unto mutual love and brotherly affection : let us not wait for any of those now in Hades to return hither to tell us the torments there : the sacred Scripture is necessarily true : we have heard, that " Christ shall sit upon the throne of His Mat. xxv. " glory to judge the world in righteousness, and that He shall 3I' " set the sheep indeed on His right hand, but the goats on "" His left. And to those on His right hand He shall say, " Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom pre- " pared for you from before the foundations of the world : for " I was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat ; and thirsty also, and " ye gave Me to drink : I was naked, and ye clothed Me ; in " prison, and ye came unto Me." But upon those upon the left hand He shall lay a heavy condemnation, saying, " Go to " the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'' And the charge against them is, that they have done the very op- posite of that for which the saints were praised. " For I was " hungry, and ye gave Me not to eat ; and thirsty, and ye " gave Me not to drink : for inasmuch as ye did it not, He " says, to one of these little ones, ye did it not to Me."
But to this perhaps some one will object, that there are many kinds of well living ; for virtue is diversified, so to speak, and manifold : why therefore, having omitted those other kinds, does He make mention only of love to the poor ? To this we reply, that the act is better than any other kind of
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well doing : for it works in our souls a certain divine likeness which moulds us, so to speak, after God's image. For Christ
Lukevi. 36. also has said, "Be ye merciful, as your Father also in heaven " is merciful." He who is quick to shew mercy, and compas- sionate and kind, is ranked with the true worshippers ; for it
James i. 2 7. is written, that "a pure and unpolluted sacrifice to God the " Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their poverty, " and that a man keep himself unspotted from the world."
Heb. xiii. And the wise Paul also has somewhere written, " But alms and " communication forget not : for with such sacrifices God is " content." For He loveth not the incense of the legal wor- ship, but requireth rather the pleasantness of the sweet spi- ritual savour. But the sweet spiritual savour unto God is to shew pity unto men, and to maintain love towards them. This
Rom.xiii.S. also Paul adviseth us, saying, '* Owe no man anything, but " that ye love one another :" and the daughter of love is pity for poverty.
Come therefore, ye rich, cease from transitory pleasure : be earnest after the hope that is set before you : clothe yourselves with mercy and kindness : hold out the hand to them that are in need : comfort those who are in necessity : count as your own the sorrows of those who are in extreme distress. * * ******
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SERMONS CXIII— CXVI.
It is impossible but that offences come. c. xvii. i.
WHAT are the offences which Christ mentions as being in From Mai. every way certain to happen ? Offences then are of two kinds : for some are against the glory of the Supreme Being, and assail That Substance Winch transcends all, as far at least as regards the purpose of the contrivers of them : while other offences happen from time to time against ourselves, and pro- ceed no further than to the injury of some of the brethren, who are our partners in the faith. For whatever heresies have been invented, and every argument which opposes itself to the truth, resist really the glory of the supreme Godhead, by drawing away those who are caught therein from the upright- ness and exactness of the sacred doctrines. And such were the offences concerning which the Saviour Himself again some- where said, " Woe to the world because of offences ! for it Mat. xviii. " must needs be that offences come : but woe to that man by "' " whom the offence cometh." For offences of this kind, caused I mean by unholy heretics, are not levelled against some single individual, but are aimed rather against the world, that is, against the inhabitants of the whole earth. And the inventors of such offences the blessed Paul rebukes, saying, " But in thus i Cor. viii. " sinning against the brethren, and wounding their weak con- " science, ye sin against Christ/' And that such offences might not prevail over the faithful, God somewhere spake unto those who are the ambassadors of the upright word of truth, and skilful in teaching it, saying, " Go through My gates, and Is. bcii. 10. " make a pathway for My people, and cast away the stones " out of the way.'1 And the Saviour has attached a bitter penalty against those who lay such stumblingblocks in men's road.
Perhaps, however, these are not the offences here referred to, but those rather, which very frequently from human infirmity happen between friends and brethren : and the ac- companying discourse which immediately follows these opening
534 COMMENTARY UPON
remarks, and which speaks of our pardoning the brethren in case they ever sin against us, leads us to the idea that these were the offences meant. And what then are these offences ? Mean and annoying actions, I suppose ; fits of anger, whether on orood ^rounds or without justification; insults; slanders verv frequently ; and other stumblingblocks akin and similar to these. Such, He says, must needs come. Is this then be- cause God, Who governs all, obliges men to their commission ? Away with the thought : for from Him comes nothing that is evil, yea ! rather He is the fountain of all virtue. Why then Jamesui.^. must they happen ? Plainly because of our infirmity : " for in " many things we all of us stumble," as it is written. Never- theless there will be woe, He says, to the man who lays the stumblingblocks in the way: for He does not leave indifference in these things without rebuke, but restrains it rather by fear of punishment. Nevertheless He commands us to bear with patience those who occasion them.
Ver. 4. If seven times in the day he sin against thee.
For if, He savs, he who sins against thee repent and ac- knowledge his fault, thou shalt forgive him : and that not once only, but very many times. For we must not shew ourselves deficient in mutual love, and neglect forbearance, because any one is weak, and again and again offends; but must rather imitate those whose business it is to heal our bodily maladies, and who do not tend a sick man once only or twice, but just as often as he chances to fall ill. For let us remember that we also are liable to infirmities, and overpowered by our passions : and such being the case, we pray that those whose duty it is to rebuke us, and who posse'ss the authority to punish us, may shew themselves kind to us and forgiving. It is our duty therefore, having a common feeling for our mutual infirmities, Gal. vi. i. « to bear one another's burdens ; for so we shall fulfil the law " of Christ/' And observe also, that in the Gospel according Mat. xviii. to Matthew, Peter makes the inquiry, u How oft shall my bro- "' " ther sin against me, and I forgive Him V And thereupon
the Lord tells the Apostles, ' that though he sin seven times in 1 the day ; that is, frequently, and shall as often acknowledge ' his fault, thou shalt forgive him.'
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 535
The Apostles said unto the Lord, Add unto us faith. Ver. 5.
That which necessarily gives joy to the soul of the saints is not the possession of transitory and earthly goods ; for they are corruptible, and easily lost ; but of such rather as render those that receive them reverend and blessed, even the spiritual graces which are God's gift. And of these one of special value is faith, by which I mean the having been brought unto a belief in Christ, the Saviour of us all : which also Paul recognised as being the chief of all our blessings ; for he said, that " without Heb. xi.6. " faith it was impossible ever to have pleased e (God) : for by " it the elders obtained their testimony.'" Observe therefore the holy apostles emulating the conduct of the saints of old time. For what do they ask of Christ ? "Add unto us faith," They do not ask faith simply, lest thou shouldst imagine them to be without faith ; but they rather ask of Christ an addition to their faith, and to be strengthened therein. For faith partly depends upon ourselves, and partly is the gift of the divine grace : for the commencement of it depends upon ourselves, and to maintain confidence and faith in God with all our power; but the confirmation and strength necessary for this comes from the divine grace: for which reason, because all -things are possible with God, the Lord says, that " all things are pos- Markix.23. " sible unto him that believeth.1' For the power which comes unto us through faith is of God. And knowing this, the blessed Paul also says in the first Epistle to the Corinthians : " For to iCor.xii.8. " one is given through *the Spirit the word of wisdom : and to " another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit: " and to another faith in the same Spirit." Thou seest that he has placed faith also in the catalogue of spiritual graces. And this the disciples requested they might receive of the' Sa- viour, contributing also that which was of themselves : and He
e It is to be noticed, that the ' to please God by our conduct.'
Sept. use evaptcTTiOi as the equiva- In Heb. xi. 6, 'Ei/w^ is understood
lent of "pnnrr, in Gen. v. 22, before evapeaTrjuat, and the correct
and elsewhere. Hence St. Paul's translation is ; " but without faith
assertion, that "Enoch had this "Enoch could not have pleased
" testimony, that he pleased God," " G°d by his conduct;" or, to retain
and also the means of arriving at the word used in the O.T., "could
the full force of the word, namely, " not have walked with Him."
536 COMMENTARY UPON
granted it unto them after the fulfilment of the dispensation, by the descent upon them of the Holy Ghost : for before the resurrection their faith was so feeble, f that they were liable even to the charge of littleness of faith.
For the Saviour of all was sailing once, for instance, with the holy apostles upon the lake or sea of Tiberias, and purposely permitted Himself to fall asleep : and when a violent storm agitated the surge, and raised a mighty wave against the ves- sel, they were greatly troubled, so that they even roused the Luke viii. Lord from sleep, saying, " Master, save us, we perish." And He, it says, arose, and rebuked the waves, and changed the savageness of the tempest into a calm. But He greatly blamed the holy apostles, saying, fk Where is your faith?" For they ought not to have been troubled in any respect whatsoever, when the Sovereign of the universe was present with them, at Whom all His works tremble and shake. And if we must add a further and similar example, I will mention one. He corn- Mat, xiv. manded the holy apostles to go on board the vessel, and pre- cede Him unto the opposite side of the lake : and they of John vi. 19. course did to. And when they had rowed, it says, about thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and were greatly terrified, imagining that they saw a spectre. But when He called out unto them, saying, " It is I : be not afraid ;" Peter said, " If it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water : " and He said, Come." And having leaped down from the ship, he began to walk unto Him. But when, it says, he saw the wind and the wave, he was terrified : and beginning to sink, he cried out, " Lord, help me :" and He saved him in his danger, but again rebuked him, saying, "0 thou of little " faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" And that at the season of the passion, when the band of soldiers, and wicked officers, came to seize Jesus, they all forsook Him and fled, and Peter also denied Him, being terrified at a maidservant, is well known.
Thou hast seen the disciples while still possessed of but little faith: now wonder at them when they had obtained an increase
' For edpaia, which Mai violently not of unfrequent occurrence in S. translates segnis, I imagine that the Cyril : or that a negative has been reading ought to be d8pavfjs, a word omitted by the copyist.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 537
of their faith from Christ, the Saviour of us all. He commanded them " not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Fa- Acts i. +. " ther's promise," until they should be clothed with power from on high. But when the power from on high had de- scended upon them in the shape of fiery tongues, even the grace which is through the Holy Ghost, then indeed they be- came bold and manly and fervent in the Spirit, so as even to despise death, and to count as nothing the dangers with which they were threatened from unbelievers; yea, and then too thev became able to work miracles.
But that to be confirmed in the faith is a great and special grace, the Lord shews by saying, " If ye have faith as a grain Ver. 6. " of mustard seed, hot, that is, and fervent, ye might have said " to the sycamine tree, Be thou uprooted in the sea, and it « would have obeyed you." For he who confides in Christ trusts not to his own strength, but rather assigns to Him the power of performing all things. From Him then confessedly comes the accomplishment of all good things in men's^ souls: but they nevertheless must prepare themselves to receive this great grace. For if the power of faith remove that which is fixed and rooted in the ground, one may say absolutely that there is nothing so immovable as that faith cannot shake it, if its removal be required. The earth accordingly was shaken Acts hr.3i. when the apostles were praying, as the Acts of the Apostles record : and so, on the other hand, faith stays those things which are in motion, as the rapid course of a running river, joa. iii. 16. and the ceaseless way of the lights which move in heaven. Jos. x. 13. This, however, we must carefully notice, that God does not excite an empty astonishment or vain wondering, but that such things are far from the divine Substance, Which is free from pride and boasting, and altogether true, for the sole good and safety of mankind. And this I say, that no one may ex- pect from sacred faith and the divine power useless changes, for instance, of the elements, or the removal of mountains and plants ; nor give way to impiety, as though the word were not true, if these things come not so to pass : nor again count faith weak, if it cannot accomplish such things. Let the thing be but useful for some real benefit, and the power will not be
wanting.
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Vcr. 7. But which of you having a servant ploughing or feeding
cattle.
In the verses which precede a long and important discourse has been addressed to us by the Lord, to shew unto us the paths which lead unto honour, and to manifest the glories of the blameless life, that making progress therein, and advancing zealously unto whatsoever is admirable we may attain unto
Phil.iii.14. " the prize of our high calling." But since it is the nature of the mind of man ever to be carried away unto vaingloriousness, and to be afflicted most readily with a tendency thereto ; and since a pretext for this fault is often given by the being distin- guished before God for some of the noblest virtues ; and since it is a sin grievous and hateful unto God : — for the serpent, the author of evil, leads men sometimes into such a state of mind, as for them to imagine perhaps that God even owes them the highest honours, when their life is glorious and distinguished : — to draw us away from such passions, He sets before us the purport of the lessons which have just been read, teaching us thereby, under the form of an example, that the might of sovereign authority demands everywhere of its slaves sub- jection as a debt. For the lord, He says, will not acknowledge any gratitude to the slave, even if all that is due be done by him, according to what becomes the condition of a slave.
Here observe, I pray, that the disciples, yea, all who are subject to the sceptre of Christ the Saviour of us all, are encouraged unto industry, but that, not as though they ren- dered unto Him their service as a favour, but as discharging the debt of obedience incumbent" upon slaves. And hereby the accursed malady of vainglory is done away. For if thou doest that which is thy due, why pridest thou thyself? Seest thou not that if thou dischargest not thy debt, there is danger : and that if thou dost discharge it, no gratitude is owed thee ? Which truth that admirable servant Paul having well learnt
1 Cor. be. and understood, says, " If I preach the gospel, I have no cause " of boasting ; for a necessity is laid upon me : but woe unto
Rom. i. 14. " me if I preach not the gospel." And again, " I am a debtor, " he says, of the preaching of the doctrine, both to Greeks and " barbarians, both to wise and foolish." If therefore thou hast done well, and hast kept the divine commands, and hast obeyed
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 539
thy Lord, ask not honour of God as thy due, but rather draw near, supplicating for the gifts of His bounty. Bear in mind ^wn^a. that also among us, masters acknowledge no gratitude when any of their slaves perform their appointed service, though often by their bounty they gain the goodwill of their faithful servants, and so beget in them a more ready alacrity. Simi- larly God demands of us the service of slaves, using the right of His sovereign authority : but as being good and bountiful, He promises also rewards to those who labour. And the greatness of His bounty far surpasses the labours of His sub- jects, as Paul shall prove unto you, writing, " The sufferings of Rom. viii. " the present season are not worthy to the glory about to be " revealed upon us." Yea! though we are slaves, He calls us sons, and crowns us with the honour which becometh children. And observe that each one, having first attended to his own flesh, so must take charge of the good of others : for he " who iTim.iii.5. " cannot govern his own house well, how shall he take care of " the church ? "
Ten lepers met him. Ver- «•
Again the Saviour manifests unto us His glory, and by working godlike miracles, endeavours to win senseless Israel unto faith, obdurate though he was, and unbelieving. What argument then will avail him at the day of judgment for refusing to accept salvation through Christ? Especially when they themselves heard His words, and were eyewitnesses of His ineffable miracles ? For which reason He said Himself of them, " If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not John xv. " had sin." And again, "If I had not done among them the 2' " works which no other man did, they had not had sin, but " now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father." The cleansing of the lepers, as I said just above, was a plain demonstration (of His miraculous power) : for by the law of Moses they were shut out of the cities and villages, as being impure.
This then will suffice, I suppose, for introductory remarks. The lepers then having met the Saviour, earnestly besought Him to free them from their misery, and called Him Master, that is, Teacher.
No one pitied them when suffering this malady : but He Who
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had appeared on earth for this very reason, and had become man that He might shew pity unto all, He was moved with compassion for them, and had mercy upon them.
Ver. i4. ]je sa{ci un(0 them, Go and shew yourselves unto the priests.
And why did He not rather say, "I will, be ye cleansed ;" as Luke v. 13. he did in the case of another leper ; but commanded them rather to shew themselves unto the priests ? It was because the law gave directions to this effect to those who were delivered from Lev. xivvp. leprosy : for it commanded them to shew themselves to- the priests, and to offer a sacrifice for their cleansing. He com- manded them therefore to go, as being already healed, and, that they might, so to speak, bear witness to the priests, as the rulers of the Jews, and ever envious of His glory, that wonderfully, and beyond their hope, they had been delivered from their mis- fortune by Christ's willing that' they should be healed. He did not heal them first, but sent them to the priests, because the priests knew the marks of leprosy, and of its being healed. He sent them to the priests, and with them He sent also the healing. What however was the law of leprosy, and what the rules for its purification, and what the meaning of each of the particulars commanded by the law, we have more fully de- scribed at the commencement of our Saviour's miracles as Lukev. 1*. recorded by Luke, and referring thither such as are anxious for learning, let us now proceed to what follows. The nine then, as being Jews, falling into a thankless forgetfulness, did not return to give glory to God : by which He shews that Israel was hard of heart, and utterly unthankful : but the stranger, — for as being a Samaritan he was of foreign race, having been brought thither from Assyria : for the phrase is Lukexvii. not without meaning, "in the middle of Samaria and Galilee :" IX* — returned with a loud voice to glorify God. It shews there-
fore that the Samaritans were grateful, but that the Jews, even when benefited, were ungrateful.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 541
SERMON CXVII.
And having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom axvii. zo- of God cometh, He answered and said unto them, The prom the kingdom of God cometh not by patchings; neither shall s^apa: they say, Lo ! here, or Lo I there : for behold ! the kingdom t^^WS. of God is within you. And He said unto the disciples, * **" The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the daijs of the Son of man, and shall not see it. And if they *«i »» S. shall say unto you, Lo ! here, or Lo! there, go ye not, h&ta* neither run thither. For as the lightning that lighteneth Ss^ ^ {ioS from under heaven giveth light to that which is under A««GS». heaven, so shall the Son of man be in His day. But first ^.*«IB*. He must suffer many things, and be rejected by this gene- JJV^g ration. And as it ivas in the days of Noah, so shall it B. also be in the days of the Son of man. They were eating, and drinking, and were taking wives, and being made the add^ol wives of men, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot : they were eating and add^ol drinking; they were buying and selling; they were plant- ing, were building : but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, there rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all So shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
AGAIN is the Pharisee fighting against God, nor feels that he is kicking against the pricks : for while assuming the appearance of being anxious to learn, he makes a mock at divine mysteries so holy, that « the angels desire to look into , Pet.i.n. " them," according to the word of the blessed Peter. For this reason "blindness in part hath happened unto Israel," and r^.^. darkness hath blinded their eyes. For that they were dark and blind, so as even often to make the mystery of Christ an occasion of ridicule, any one may learn from what "has now been read to us. For they drew near asking Him, and saying, « When will the kingdom of God come?" Moderate thy pride, 0 foolish Pharisee : desist from a mockery that exposes thee to
542 COMMENTARY UPON
Johniii.18. heavv and inevitable guilt. " For he, it savs, that believeth 11 not the Son, is condemned already, because he hath not be- " lieved in the Name of the Son of God." For the divine Moses shewed before by type and shadow that the Word is the world's way and door of- salvation, in that though He is God, He appeared in human form, and endured the death of the flesh for the sake of the whole earth. And the declarations also of the holy prophets agree with what was said by Moses. For they foretold that He would come in due time in form like unto us. And this also came to pass : for He was mani- fested to those upon earth, having assumed the form of a slave ; but even so He retained His natural lordship, and power, and glory such as befitteth God, as is proved by the splendour of the works He wrought. But thou didst not believe in Him : thou didst not accept justification by His means, in that thou wast obdurate and proud. And after this thou askest, " When the kingdom of God shall come?"
As I said therefore, he mocks at a mystery thus truly holy and worthy of admiration. For because the Saviour of all in His public discourses spake from time to time of the kingdom of God, therefore these miserable men, in contempt of Him, — or perhaps even having it in their mind that being entrapped by their malice, He will have to endure the death upon the cross, — ask in mockery, " When the kingdom of God will " come ';" as much as to say, that before this kingdom which Thou talkest about, the cross and death will seize Thee. What therefore does Christ reply? Again He displays His long-
1Pet.ii.23. suffering and incomparable love unto man : for " being reviled, " He revileth not again : suffering, He threateneth not." He does not therefore harshly chide them, nor yet because of their wickedness does He deign to give them an answer to their question, but says that only which is for the benefit of all men, that " the kingdom of God cometh not by watchings : for , - " behold! the kingdom of God is within you." \ For ask not, He says, about the times in which the season of the kingdom of heaven shall again arise and come : but rather be in earnest, that ye may be found worthy of it, for " it is within you," that is, it depends upon your own wills, and is in your own power, whether or not you receive it. For every man who has attained to justification by means of faith in Christ, and is
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 543
adorned by all virtue, is counted worthy of the kingdom of
heaven s.
Having therefore made this plain to all men, He now trans- fers His words to the holy disciples, to whom as His true companions He says, "The days will come when ye shall « desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall " not see it." Is the Lord then in so speaking working cowardice in His disciples? Does He enervate them before- hand, and make them without heart for the endurance of those persecutions and temptations which they would have to bear ? This is not His meaning, but the contrary : for He would have them prepared for all that can grieve men, and ready to endure patiently, that so being approved, they may enter the king- dom of God. He forewarns them therefore that before His advent from heaven, at the consummation of the world, tribu- lation and persecution will precede Him, so that they will wish to see one of the days of the Son of man ; that is, one such as those when they were still going about with Christ, and con- versing with Him. And yet the Jews even then were guilty of no° little violence against Him. They stoned Him with stones : they persecuted Him not once only, but oftentimes : they led Him to the brow of the hill, that they might throw Him down from the precipice : they vexed Him with re- proaches and calumnies, and there was no form of wickedness which the Jews did not practise against Him. How then did He say that the disciples would desire to see one of His days ? It was because, by comparison with the greater evils, the less are, so to speak, desirable.
But that He will descend from heaven in the latter times of the world, not obscurely nor secretly, but with godlike glory, and as " dwelling in the light which no man can approach i Tim. vi. " unto," He declared, saying, that His coming shall be as the lightning. He was born indeed in the flesh of a woman, to
e Mai has a very curious interpo- « it not, and thought that at some
lation here, ■ For as a matter of fact « time or other from outside of them
' the kingdom of heaven is outside • it would come to have a local ex-
* those men from whose hearts pro- « istence, John shews where he says, ' ceed" evil thoughts : but virtually ' "There standeth One among you, « it is within all men. For that the ■ "Whom ye know not," meaning ' kingdom of God was even within * Christ.'
• the Pharisees, though they knew
544 COMMENTARY UPON
Phil. ii. 7. fulfil the dispensation for our sakes, and for this reason He emptied Himself, and made Himself poor, and no longer shewed Himself in the glory of the Godhead : for the season itself, and the necessity of the dispensation, summoned Him to this humiliation. But after the resurrection from the dead, having ascended to heaven, and sat down with God the Father, He shall descend again, not with His glory withdrawn, nor in the meanness of human nature, but in the majesty of the Father, with the companies of the angels guarding Him, and standing before Him as God and Lord of all. He shall come therefore as the lightning, and not secretly. CNor must we believe any one saying, " Lo ! Christ is here, " or lo ! He is there. But first He must suffer many things, " and be rejected by this generation." He cuts away another expectation from the heart of the disciples : for they supposed, that when He had gone round about Judasa, and afterwards been in Jerusalem, that He would immediately manifest the kingdom of God. They even drew near to Him and said, Act3 i. 6. " Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ?" Yea, even the mother of Zebedee's sons, expecting that this Matt. xx. would be the case, drew near and said, " Lord, say that my " two sons shall sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other " on Thy left, in Thy kingdom." That they might know therefore that He was about first to undergo His saving pas- sion, and to abolish death by the death of His flesh, and put away the sin of the world, and bring to nought the ruler of this world, and so to ascend unto the Father, and in due time P3.xcvi.13. to appear to "judge the world in righteousness," He says, that " He must first suffer many things."
And to shew that He will appear unexpectedly, and with no man knowing it, and the end of the world come, He says, that the end shall be " as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. For " they were eating, He says, and drinking : and were taking " wives, and being made the wives of men : they were selling " and buying, and building ; but the coming of the waters " destroyed the one, while the ' others were the prey and food " of brimstone and fire." What therefore is signified by this ? That He requires us to be always watchful, and ready to make our defence before the tribunal of God. For as Paul says, iCor.v.io. " We are all about to be revealed before the judgment-seat of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. HUKE. 545
" Christ, that every man may receive a retribution for the " tilings that are by the body, according to that he hath done, " whether good or bad/1 " Then shall He set the sheep on Mat. xxv. " His right hand, and the goats on His left : and He shall say 33' " unto the sheep, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the *" kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the " world." But upon the goats He will utter a terrible sen- tence ; for He will send them to the flame that shall never be appeased.
If therefore, 0 Pharisee, thou desirest to be accounted worthv of the kingdom of God, become one of the sheen. Offer unto Christ the fruit of faith in Him, and the praise of holy conduct, even that which is by the Gospel. But if thou continuest to be a goat, that is, one unfruitful, and destitute both of faith and good works, why dost thou enquire when the kingdom of God will come ? For it concerns not thee. Fear rather because of the torment which is decreed against the unbelieving, and the unappeasable flame appointed for those who sin against Christ : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
4^
54G COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXVIII.
C. xvii. 3 1 _ In that day, he ivho is upon the housetop, and his goods in
the house, let him not go down to carry them away : and
he who is in the field, let him in like manner not return
back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to
rtpiiroir,- save his life shall lose it : and whosoever shall lose it. shall
o-atrdaiBT. §ave ^ alive. I tell you, in that night there shall bt two
U 5' avBS. men in one bed : the one shall be taken, and the other left.
■ o.jtt,v Two women shall be grinding at a mill together ; the one
om.^«*B. shall be taken, and the other left. And they answer and
v de BT. saV unto Him, Where, Lord ? And He said unto them,
add. S6o Where the body is, there will also the eagles be gathered.
lh mtlaKri- THE sacred Scripture has somewhere said, " Prepare thy Hfiaerai, " works for thv departure, and make thyself ready for the a<ptdr]ff(Tai neld. jNow by our departure 1 imagine is meant our going *■ , from tins world, and removal hence. For this time must of
om. leal s.
Prov. xxiv. course overtake every one : for, as the Psalmist says, " What
*/■ '• man is there that shall live and not see death, and that can
Pa. Lxxxix. , *
48. " save his soul from the hand of hell V For the nature of man
was condemned in Adam, and fell away unto corruption, be- cause he foolishly transgressed the commandment given him. But those who are careless and contemptuous, lead a shameful and pleasure-loving life, not even perhaps admitting into their mind the thought of the world to come, and the hope prepared for the saints, nor feeling moreover any alarm at the torment that is appointed for those who love sin. But those who em- . brace a virtuous life rejoice in labours for probity's sake, bid- ding, so to speak, farewell to the desire after earthly things, and paying but slight attention to the vain turmoil of the world.
To a purpose thus excellent, and a proportionate earnestness the Saviour bids us hold fast, thus saying; " In that day he " who is upon the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him " not go down to carry them away : and he who is in the " field, let him in like manner not return back." He was speaking of the last day, that is, of the end of this world;
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 547
" for as it was, He said, in the days of Noah and Lot ; they '•' were eating, and drinking, and were taking wives, and being "made the wives of men, until the tiood came; and upon " Sodom fire descended, and destroyed them all : so shall it be " in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Strengthening them therefore for the remembrance of the last day. and the final time, He commands them to disregard all earthly and temporal matters, and look only unto one end, the duty namely of every one saving his soul. " He therefore, He says, that is " upon the housetop, let him not go down to the house to " carry away his goods." And in these words He apparently means the man who is at ease, living in wealth and worldly glory : for always those that stand upon the housetops are con- spicuous in the eyes of them who are round about the house. If therefore, He says, there be any one in this condition, let him at that time make no account of the goods stored up in his house. For vain henceforth are such things, and unavailing to his advantage. For. as it is written, "Treasures profit not Prov. x. 2. " the wicked : but righteousness delivereth from death."
But even " if any one be. He says, in the field, in like " manner let him not return back." That is, if any one be found devoted to industry, and occupied in labours, earnestly desirous of spiritual fruitfulness, and gathering the wages of virtuous toil, let him hold firmly to this diligence : " let him " not return back :" for, as Christ Himself again has some- where said, " No man that putteth his hand to the plough, and Lukeix.6*. " turneth back, is fit also for the kingdom of heaven." For it is our duty to maintain our religious exertions without waver- ing, and to persevere in them with undaunted wills, lest wo suffer some such fate as befel the woman at Sodom, taking whom as an example, He says, " Remember Lot's wife." For when she had been rescued from Sodom, but would afterwards have returned, she became a pillar of salt, became, that is, foolish and stonelike.
On that day therefore, He says, and at that time, both those who are accustomed to live in luxury must entirely abstain from such pride, and readily labour, in order that they may save themselves : and in like manner those who are industrious, and honour useful exertion, must bravely hold to the mark that has been set before them. " For whosoever shall seek to save
4 A 2
548 COMMENTARY UPON
" li is life shall lose it : and whosoever shall lose it, shall save it " alive."
But the way in which a man loses his life that he may save it, and how he who imagines that he is saving loses it, Paul
Gal. v. :4. clearly shews, where he says of the saints, " They that are " Jesus Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and " lusts." For those who have really become true [followers] of Christ our common Saviour, crucify their flesh, and put it to death, by being constantly engaged in labours and struggles unto piety, and by mortifying its natural desire. For it is
Col.iii. 5. written, "Mortify your members that are upon earth; forni- " cation, uncleanness, passion, evil lust, and- covetousness." But those who love a voluptuous course of life, imagine pro- bably that they are gaining their soul by living in pleasure and
Gal. vi. 3. effeminacy : whereas certainly they lose it. " For he that •' soweth, it says, to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap cor- " ruption."
But on the other hand, whosoever loses his life shall of a cer- tainty save it. This the blessed martyrs did, enduring conflicts even unto blood and life, and placing on their heads as their crown their true love unto Christ. But those who, from weak- ness of resolution and mind, denied the faith, and lied from the present death of the flesh, became their own murderers: for they will go down into hell to suffer the penalties of their wicked cowardice. For the Judge shall descend from heaven : and those who with all their heart have loved Him, and ear- nestly practised entire virtuousness of life, He will call, saying,
Mat. xxv. " Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom pre- " pared for you from the foundations of the world." - But those who have led careless and dissolute lives, nor maintained the glory of faith in Him, on them will He pass a severe and overwhelming sentence, saying unto them, " Depart, ye cursed, " into everlasting fire."
This He teaches us by saying, " In that night there shall be " two men in one bed : one shall be taken, and one shall be " left. Two women shall be grinding at a mill together, the " one shall be taken, and the other left." Now by the two who are in one bed, He seems to hint at those who live in rest and pleuty, and are equal to one another, as far as regards their being possessed of worldly affluence : for the bed is the
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 549
symbol of rest. " But one of them, He says, shall be taken, " and one shall be left." How, or in what manner ? It is because not all those who are possessed of wealth and ease in this world are wicked and merciless. For what if a man be rich, but be gentle and merciful, and not destitute of the praise of compassion upon the poor ; if he be ready to share his wealth with others, and affable of address; thoroughly liberal and sober-minded ; upright in the faith, and of an urgent zeal for piety ; if too, according to the Saviour's expression, he have made for himself friends by his use of the unrighteous mammon, this man is taken : but the other, who was not thus minded, shall be left.
" Two women, He says, shall be grinding at a mill ; the one " shall be taken, and the other left." And by these again He seems to mean such as live in poverty and labour : but even in these, He says, there is a certain vast difference. For some have borne the burden of poverty manfully, honouring a sober and virtuous course of life : while others have been of a dif- ferent character, crafty for every wicked practice, and the con- trivers of all baseness. There will be therefore even in their case a full and exact investigation of their manners, and he that is good will be taken, and he that is not so will be left.
As Christ however, our common Saviour, had used the ex- pression " shall be taken," the disciples usefully and necessa- rily ask, " Whither, Lord ? And He said unto them, Where " the body is, there will also the eagles be gathered." And what does this mean ? By the use of a common and very plain fact, He hints at a great and profound mystery. And what is this ? That He shall descend from heaven " to judge the world Acts xvii. " in righteousness." But, as He Himself says, " He will send Mat. xxiv. " His angels, and they shall choose the righteous and the holy 31- " from among the sinners, and bring them near unto Him :" but those others they will leave on earth, as doomed to torment and condemned to the punishment which is by fire.
Something to this effect the very wise Paul also declares, where he writes, " For I say unto you, that we who are left jThess.iv. " alive shall not arrive before those who have slept. Suddenly, r Cor. xv. " in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For it shall 5-- " sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible : and " we who are left alive shall be caught up together with them
550 COMMENTARY UPON
" in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we " ever be with the Lord."
Just therefore, He says, as when a dead corpse is exposed, carnivorous birds assemble unto it ; so when the Son of man shall appeal-, then certainly shall the eagles, even those who fly aloft, and rise superior to earthly and worldly things, hasten to Him.
And He calls the time of judgment night, because, as I ima- gine, of His advent being unknown and unexpected. For we remember also one of the holy prophets crying out to them
Amos v. who love sin, and saying, " Woe unto them that desire the day " of the Lord ! What will the day of the Lord be unto you? " and it is darkness and not light ; and thick darkness that " hath no brightness in it." And again, Christ Himself has
John ix. 4. somewhere said to the holy apostles : :' I must work the works " of Him That sent Me while it is day: the night cometh, " when no man can work." And one also of the holy apostles
1 Thess. v. wrote, " The day of the Lord cometh as a thief," that is, with- out beino- foreknown.
In order therefore that we may be taken by Christ, let us abandon all earthly anxieties, and devote ourselves to every kind of good work. For so will He accept us, and make us His own, and crown us with honours from on high : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holr Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 551
SERMON CXIX.
And He .spake a parable unto them, to the intent that menq. xviii. r- ought always to pray, and must not grow weary ; saying, ■ There ivas in a certain city a judge, who feared not God,GTs. add. neither felt shame at man. And there was a widow "' ^1°" ; s ' that city, and she came to hiin and said, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a time : but afterwards W^™ he said within himself, Though I fear not God, and have ^^ow s, no reverence for man, yet because this widow wearieth me, koI a»ep. I will avenge her, lest finally she annoy me by her coming. 0^ iv& ' And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.R-
OLKOIHTOV S.
And shall not God avenge His elect, who cry unto Him day Tpj>j a{,Tiv and night, and He is longsuffering towards them ? I tell^-^ you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith upon the earth?
THE fountain of every blessing is Christ ; " Who of God was i Cor. i. 30. " also made unto us wisdom :" for in Him we are made wise, and filled with spiritual gifts. Now any one who is right- minded will affirm that the knowledge of those things bv means of which we may prosper in every method of saintly excellence of life, and advance in virtue, is God's gift, and one well worthy of our winning. And we find one who asked it of God, saying, " Shew me Thy ways, 0 Lord : and teach me Thy Pa. xxr. 4. " paths." Now the paths which lead those onward to an uncorrupt life, who eagerly advance therein, are indeed nume- rous ; but one, which especially benefits those who practise it, is prayer: and the Saviour was Himself careful to teach us by the parable now set before us, that we must make diligent use of it. " For He spake, it says, a parable unto them, to the " intent that men ought always to pray, and must not grow " weary."
For it is, I affirm, the duty of those who set apart their lives for His service, not to be sluggish in their prayers, nor again to consider it as a hard a+kl laborious duty : but rather to rejoice, because of the freedom of access granted them by God ; for He would have us converse with Him as sons with a
.5.52 COMMENTARY UPON
father. Is not this then a privilege worthy of being valued by us most highly? For suppose that some one of those possessed of great earthly power were easy of access to us, and were to permit us to converse with him with full license, should we not consider it as a reason for extraordinary rejoicing? What possible doubt can there be of this ? When therefore God per- mits us each one to offer our addresses unto Him for whatever we wish, and has set before those who fear Him an honour so truly great and worthy of their gaining, let all slothfulness cease that would lead men to an injurious silence therein; and rather let us draw near with praises, and rejoicing that we have been commanded to converse with the Lord and God of all, having Christ as our Mediator, Who with God the Father grants us the accomplishment of our supplications. For the 2 Cor. i. i. blessed Paul somewhere writes, " Grace be unto you, and " peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus " Christ." And He somewhere Himself said to the holy apo- Johnxvi. sties, "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My Name: ask, and 24' " it shall be given unto you." For He is our Mediator, our
Propitiation, our Comforter, and the Bestower of every request.
i Thess. v. It is our dutv therefore to " prav without ceasing." according i r. *
to the words of the blessed Paul, as well knowing, and being
thoroughly assured, that He Whom we supplicate is able to James i. 6. accomplish all things. " For let a man, it says, ask in faith, " in nothing divided : for he who is divided is like a wave of " the sea, troubled and blown about by the wind. For let not, " it says, that man think that he will receive anything of the " Lord.'" For he that is divided is really guilty of mockery : for if thou dost not believe that He will incline unto thee, and gladden thee, and fulfil thy request, do not draw near to Him at all, lest thou be found an accuser of the Almighty, in that thou foolishly art divided. We must avoid therefore so base a malady.
But that God will incline His ear to those who offer Him their prayers, not carelessly nor negligently, but with earnest- ness and constancy, the present parable assures us. For if the constant coming of the oppressed widow prevailed upon the unjust judge, who feared not God, neither had any shame at men, so that even against his will he granted her redress, how shall not He Who loveth mercy, and hateth iniquity, and Who
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 553
ever giveth His helping hand to them that love Him, accept those who draw near to Him day and night, and avenge them as being His elect ?
But come now, and let us examine who it is that offend against them : for the examination of this question will beget much that is of profit to all who are well taught. For very many, and those of various classes, offend against the saints. For the holy ministers and teachers, who rightlv divide the word of truth, are assailed by all who are the truth's enemies ; men ignorant of the sacred doctrines, and estranged from all uprightness, who walk in the crooked path, remote from the straight and royal road. Such are the impure and polluted gangs of heretics, whom one may justly call the gates of de- struction, the snares of hell, the pitfalls of the devil, the slough of destruction. These bring persecutions and distresses upon such as walk uprightly in the faith ; and just as men drunk with wine, and unable to stand, take hold often of those near them, that they may not fall to the earth alone, so also these, as being lame and halt, often bring to ruin with them those who are not steadfast. Against such men must all who are known of God make supplications, imitating the holy apostles, who, calling out against the wickedness of the Jews, said, "-And Actsiv. 29 " now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy " servants that with freedom of speech they may declare Thy " word."
But perchance some one will say, ' But lo ! Christ somc- ' where said to the holy apostles, "Love your enemies: pray Lukevi.37, ' " for them who use you despitefully :" how then can we cry ' out against them, without despising the divine command ? ' To this we answer, Shall we then pray that boldness and power may be given them by God, that they may more strenuously attack those who praise His doings, not permitting them to teach, and resisting the glory of Him to Whom we address the supplication? But how would not this be thorough folly? Whenever therefore offences are committed by any against us personally, let us immediately even count it our glory to be forgiving towards them, and full of mutual love; and imi- tating the holy fathers, even though they smite and scorn us, yea, even though they inflict violence upon us of every kind, let us free them from all blame, and be superior both to wrath
4 B
55+ COMMENTARY UPON
and vexation. Such glorving becomes the saints, and is pleasing to God.
But when any sin against the glory of God, heaping up wars and distresses against those who are the ministers of the divine message, then indeed let us at once draw near unto God, beseeching His aid. and crvin!)- out against those who resist His glory : just as also the mighty Moses did ; for he said,
Num. x. 35. » ^\r\$G} 0 Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let " all those who hate Thy Name flee away." And the prayer also uttered by the holy apostles shews, that it is not with- out advantage for the success of the divine message for the hand, so to speak, of the persecutors to be weakened. " For " behold, they say, their threatening^/' that is. prove their opposition to be in vain, and grant unto " Thy servants, that " with freedom of speech they may speak Thy word."
But that men would make merchandize of the word of up- rightness, and prevail on many to abandon a sound faith, in-
Jer. xxiii. volving them in the inventions of devilish error, and " belching " forth, as Scripture saith, things out of their own hearts, and " not out of the mouth of the Lord," He foretold, saying, " When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith upon the " earth ?" It escaped not His knowledge : how could it, seeing that He is God Who knoweth all things? He tells us then, to
Matt. xxiv. use his own words, that "the love of many will grow cold,"
iTim iv 1 and tnat "m tne latter times some shall depart from a cor- " rect and blameless faith, going after seducing spirits, and " giving heed to the false words of men who arc seared in " mind." Against whom we draw near unto God as faithful servants, praying Him that their wickedness, and their at- tempts against His glory, may be brought to no eifect.
And others also there are who wrong the servants of God, and whom we may without sin attack in prayer. And who again are these ? They are the evil and opposing powers, and Satan the adversary of us all, who fiercely resists those who would live well ; who casts into the pitfalls of wickedness who- ever slumbers ; who plants in us the seeds of every sin. For with his satellites he presses upon us furiously. And on this
Ps. lxii. 3. account the Psalmist called out against them, saying, " How " long set ye yourselves against man? and ye slay all of you, " as it were a leaning wall, and a bowing fence." For just as a
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 55o
wall that already leans on one side, and a fence that bows over as having been loosened, readily fall when any one pushes against them, so also the mind of man, by reason of its own great in- clination of itself to the love of worldly pleasures, readily falls into them whenever any one draws and entices it thereto. And this is Satan's business : and therefore we say in oar prayers to Him Who is able to save, and to drive away from us that wicked being, " Avenge me of my adversary/' And this the Only-begotten Word of God has indeed done by having become Man : for He has ejected from his tyranny over us the ruler of this world, and has delivered and saved us, and put us under the yoke of His kingdom.
Excellent therefore is it to make request by constant prayer ; for Christ will receive our supplications, and fulfil our petitions : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.h
11 Mai ascribes here to S. Cyril an interpretation, which even Theo- phylact, from whom it is taken, (p. 474,) characterises as curious (Trepi- epyov). According to it the widow represents the human soul, which having divorced her first husband the devil, is therefore persecuted by him as her adversary. On which ac- count she prays to God, the Judge of
injustice, because He condemns the unjust, and Who fears not God, that is, Himself, nor regards man, as not accepting man's person : but Who, wearied by her constant prayers, at length delivers her. The rest of the extract is equally a sum- mary of what follows in Theophy- lact, but contains nothing remark- able.
4 B 2
556 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXX.
C. xviii. 9- And He spake also this parable unto certain who trust in
**• themselves that they are righteous, and despise others.
Two men went up unto the temple to pray, the one a Pha-
*al<5*ap.S. risee, and the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood
and prayed thus to himself : God, I thank Thee that 1
am not like the rest of mankind, extortioners, unjust, adul-
om.KalS. terers, or as this publican. I fast twice in the week: I
A 5c tca. pay tithe of all that I gain. But the publican, standing
?ia' GT* afar °ff> W0UM not Oft UP wen h™ eVes unt0 heaven, but
om. «i B. smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful unto me the
add. 8t« S. sinner. I tell you that this man went down to his house
fl yap i'om. justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth
^sLff* himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself shall
vos GST j. J
■nap infivov be exalted.
vos
B
YE who love instruction, and are eager to listen, receive once again the sacred words : delight yourselves in the honey
Prov. xvi. of wisdom ; for so it is written, " Good words are honeycombs,
*4- " and their sweetness is the healing of the soul." For the
labour of the bees is very sweet, and benefits in many ways the soul of man : but the divine and saving (honey) makes those in whom it dwells skilful in every good work, and teaches them the ways of (spiritual) improvement. Let us therefore, as I said, receive again in mind and heart the Saviour's words. For He teaches us in what manner we ought to make our re- quests unto Him, in order that the act may not prove un- rewarded to them who practise it ; and that no one may anger God, the Bestower of gifts from on high, by means of those very things by which he imagines that he shall gain some
Ecclea. vii. benefit. For it is written, (i There is a righteous man, who
*5- i< perisheth in his righteousness."
For see, I pray, an instance of this clearly painted, so to speak, in the parable set before us. One who prayed is con- demned because he did not offer his prayer wisely. " For " two men, it says, went up unto the temple to pray, the one a " Pharisee, and the other a publican." And here we must
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 557
admire the wise arrangement of Christ our common Saviour, in all things whatsoever He does and says. For by the parable previously read to us, He called us to diligence, and to the duty of offering prayer constantly: for the Evangelist said, "And ** He spake unto them also a parable, to the intent that men " ou^ht always to pray, and must not grow weary." Having then urged them to diligence in constant prayer, yet, as I said, lest by doing so sedulously but without discretion, we should enrage Him Whom we supplicate, He very excellently shews us in what way we ought to be diligent in prayer. " Two men " then, He says, went up unto the temple to pray." Observe here, I pray, the impartiality and entire fairness of the unerring- Nature : for He calls those who were praying men, since He looks not so much at wealth or power ; but regarding their natural equality, He considers all those who dwell upon earth as men, and as in no respect different from one another.
And what then was the manner of their prayer? " The Pha- " risee, it says, prayed thus to himself. God, I thank Thee " that I am not like the rest of mankind, extortioners, unjust, " adulterers, or as this publican." Many at once are the faults of the Pharisee : for first of all he is boastful, and without sense; for he praises himself, although the sacred Scripture cries aloud, " Let a neighbour praise thee, and not thy own Prov.xrvu. " mouth : a stranger and not thine own lips." But, 0 excel- *■ Jent sir, one may well say to him, Behold, those who live in the practice of good and holy actions, as any one may see, are not very reatiy to listen to the words of flatterers : yea, and even if men extol them, they often are covered with shame, and drop their eyes to the ground, and beg silence of those that praise them. But this shameless Pharisee praises and extols himself because he is better than extortioners, and the unjust, and adulterers. But how did it escape thy notice, that a man's being better than. the bad does not necessarily and of course prove him to be worthy of admiration : but that to vie with those who habitually excel, is a noble and honourable thing, and admits a man into the number of those who are justly praised.
Our virtue therefore must not be contaminated with fault, but must be singleminded and blameless, and free from all that can bring reproach. For what profit is there in fasting
5b8 COMMENTARY UPON
twice in the week, if thy so doing serve only as a pretext for ignorance and vanity, and make thee supercilious and haughty, and selfish ? Thou tithest thy possessions, and makest a boast thereof: but thou in another way provokest God's anger, by condemning men generallv on this account, and accusing others; and thou art thyself puffed up, though not crowned by the divine decree for righteousness, but heapest, on the con- trary, praises upon thyself. " For I am not, he says, as the
Pa. cxli. 3. « rest of mankind." Moderate thyself, 0 Pharisee : " put a " door to thy tongue, and a lock." Thou speakest to God Who knoweth all things. Await the decree of the Judge. None of those skilled in the practice of wrestling ever crowns himself: nor does any man receive the crown of himself, but awaits the summons of the arbiter. Lower thy pride : for arrogance is both accursed and hated by God. Although therefore thou fastest with puffed up mind, thy so doing will not avail thee : thy labour will be unrewarded ; for thou hast mingled dung with thy perfume. Even according to the law of Moses a sacrifice that had a blemish was not capable of being offered to God : for it was said unto him, " Of
Lev. xxii. " sheep, and ox, that is offered for sacrifice, there must be " no blemish therein." Since therefore thy fasting is ac- companied by pride, thou must expect to hear God saying,
Is. Iviii. 5. " This is not the fast that I have chosen, saith the Lord." Thou offerest tithes : but thou wrongest in another wav Him Who is honoured bv thee, in that thou conderanest men gene- rally. This is an act foreign to the mind that fears God : for
Lukevi.37. Christ even said, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: " condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.1"' And one also
James iv. of His disciples said, " There is one Lawgiver, and Judge : " why then judgest thou thy neighbour ?" No man because he is in health ridiculeth one who is sick for being laid up and bedridden : rather he is afraid, lest perchance he become himself the victim of similar suffering's. Nor does anv man in battle, because another has fallen, praise himself for having escaped from misfortune. For the infirmity of others is not a fit subject for praise for those who are in health : nay., even if any one be found of more than usually vigorous health, even then scarcely does he gain glory thereby. Such then was the state of the self-loving Pharisee.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 559
But what of the publican ? He stood, it says, " afar off," not even venturing, so to speak, to raise up his eyes on high. Thou seest him abstaining from all boldness of speech, as having no right thereto, and smitten by the reproaches of conscience : for he was afraid of being even seen by God, as one who had been careless of His laws, and had led an unchaste and dissolute life. Thou seost also that by his external manner, he accuses his own depravity. For the foolish Pharisee stood there bold and broad, lifting up his eyes without scruple, bearing witness of himself, and boastful. But the other feels shame at his conduct : he is afraid of his Judge, he smites upon his breast, he confesses his offences, he shews his malady as to the Physi- cian, he prays that he may have mercy. And what is the result ? Let us hear what the Judge saith, " This man, He " says, went down to his house justified rather than the " other."
Let us therefore " pray without ceasing," according to the i Thess. v. expression of the blessed Paul : but let us be careful to do so x ' ' aright. The love of self is displeasing to God, and He rejects empty haughtiness and a proud look, puffed up often on account of that which is by no means excellent. And even if a man be good and sober, let him not on this account suffer himself to fall away into shameful pride : but rather let him remember Christ, Who says to the holy apostles, " When ye Luke xvii. " have done all those things, those namely which have been IO- " commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we " have done that which was our duty to do." For we owe unto God over all, as from the yoke of necessity, the service of slaves, and ready obedience in all things *. Tea, though thou leadest an excellent and elect life, exact not wages of the Lord ; but rather ask of Him a gift. As being good, He will promise it thee : as a loving Father, He will aid thee. Restrain not thyself then from saying, " God be merciful to me the sinner." Remember Him Who says by the voice of Isaiah, " Declare is. xliii. »6. " thou thy sins first, that thou may est be justified :" remember too that He rebukes those who will not do so, and says, " Behold, I have a judgment against thee, because thou sayest Jer. ii. 35.
t Mai adds here a few lines from rical to belong to any but an infe- A and E, summing up the parable rior writer, in a string of antitheses, too rheto-
560 . COMMENTARY UPON
" I have not sinned.11 Examine the words of the saints: for
Prov. xviii. one saith, "The righteous is the accuser of himself in the
Ps. xxx^-. " beginning of his words.11 And another again, " I said, I will
" confess against myself my transgression unto the Lord : and
" thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart."
What answer then will those make to this, who embrace the new tenets of Novatus, and say of themselves that they are pure ? Whose prayer do they praise ? That of the Pharisee, who acquitted himself, or that of the Publican, who accused himself? If they say that of the Pharisee, they resist the divine sentence ; for he was condemned as being boastful : but if that of the Publican, why do they refuse to acknowledge their own impurity ? Certainly God justifies those who know well their transgressions, and are willing to confess them : but these men will have the portion of the Pharisee. Jame9iii.2. We then say, that in many things we "all of us offend," and that no man is pure from uncleanness, even though his life upon earth be but one day. Let us ask then of God mercy ; which if we do, Christ will justify us: by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holv Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 561
SERMON CXXL
And they brought also unto Him infants, that He should c.xviii.15- touch them : but when the disciples saw them, they rebuked rJ\ , , „ them. But Jesus called them and said. Suffer little chil- imrlnvv
dren to come unto Me, and hinder them not ; for of such is >.
e7reTiu77craj/
the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, that whoso- Gs ever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, ^J*j * shall not enter therein. a"Th *l*ev
GSTj.
EVERY manner of benefit does Christ weave for us, and opens ZParo\iyuv wide the pathways of salvation. For His purpose is to save B- the dwellers upon earth, and produce in them a knowledge of the pursuits of piety, and make them skilful in all virtue, that they may be acceptable, being filled with spiritual fruitful ness. Let us see therefore what benefit He begets in us by what has just been read. For ye have heard the holy Evangelist saying, " That they brought unto Him infants that He should touch " them : and when the disciples prevented them, He took them " and said, Suffer them to come unto Me, and hinder them " not : for of such is the kingdom of God." It was their mothers who brought the babes, desiring His blessing, and begging for their infants the touch of His holy hand. But the blessed disciples rebuked them for so doing, not because they envied the babes, but rather as paying to Him as their teacher a due respect, and preventing, so to speak, unnecessary fatigues, and as setting much value upon order.
And infants even to the present time are brought near and blessed by Christ by means of consecrated hands : and the pattern of the act continues even until this day, and descends unto us from the custom of Christ as its fountain. Only the bringing near of infants takes not place now in an unbecoming or disorderly manner, but with proper order, and sobriety and fear. k
k S. Cyril in these words refers in the ancient church immediately to the imposition of hands, or as it followed baptism even in the case of is now called confirmation, which infants. Cf. Bingham's Antiq. B.
4C
562 COMMENTARY UPON
Since then Christ has said, " Suffer the little children to " come unto Me, and hinder them not; for of such is the king- " dom of God," come then, yea come, and let us carefully exa- mine, what sort of persons those must be, who desire eternal life, and are enamoured of the kingdom of heaven. For some one forsooth may say, ' What is there in babes that is worthy ' of emulation ? Is it their want of firmness and intelligence ? ' And how then is it not incredible, -to affirm or imagine anything ' of the kind ?' Christ however does not wish us to be without understanding, but would have us perfectly know every thing that is useful and necessary for our salvation. For wisdom even
Prov. i. 4. promises that she will give " to them that are simple, craftiness, and to the young the beginning of sense and understanding." And she is found also in the book of Proverbs like one that
ProT.viii.4. raiseth her voice on high and saith, " You, 0 men, do I " beseech, and utter my voice unto the sons of men : under- " stand, 0 ye simple ones craftiness, and ye fools, put a heart " within you." It follows therefore, that the fool has no heart, and is deficient in craftiness ; not in that which is blamable| how could that be ? but in that which is praiseworthy. But how a man may at once be both simple and crafty, the Saviour
Mat. 1. 16. Himself elsewhere explains to us, saying, " Be ye crafty as ser- " pents, and simple as doves." And similarly the blessed
1 Cor. xiv. Paul also writes, "My brethren, be ye not children in your
20' " minds : but in wickedness be ye babes, and in your minds
" grown men."
It is necessary however to examine, what is the meaning of being babes in wickedness, and how a man becomes so, but in mind a grown man. A babe then, as knowing either very little, or nothing at all, is justly acquitted of the charge of depravity and wickedness : and so it is also our duty to endea- vour to be like them in the very same way, by putting entirely away from us habits of wickedness, that we too may be re- garded as men who do not even know the pathway which leads unto rmile, but who, unconscious of malice and fraud, live in a simple and innocent manner, practising gentleness, and a price- less humility, and readily forbearing from wrath and spiteful-
xii. c. I. §.2. The passage further the Latins used this rite of imposi- proves, that the Greeks as well as tion, cf. Antiq. xii. 3. §.5.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 563
ness. For such we affirm are the qualities found in those who are still babes.
But while such is our character in simplicity and innocence, we must be perfect in mind ; having our understanding firmly established in the clear knowledge of Him Who by nature and in truth is the Creator of the Universe, and God and Lord : acknowledging along with Him no other God whatsoever, new, and falsely so named : and avoiding as that which would bring upon us perdition, the being seduced into the abandonment of Him by the adoption of the customs of the heathen. Our mind then must be firmly fixed, so to speak, and safe, and unwavering in holding unto the living and true God : and we must further also flee far away from other pitfalls, and withdraw from the stumbling-blocks of the devil ; for such those men are, who corrupt the orthodox doctrine respecting God, and falsify the truth, and lift up their horn on high, and speak wickedly against God. For they belch forth things out of their own heart, and lead astray the souls of the simple, warring against the glory of the Only-begotten Son of God, and saying that He is to be numbered among things created, whereas it was by Him that they all were brought into existence. And bringing down severe and inevitable condemnation upon their own heads, they fear not to say the very same things also against the Holy Ghost. Whosoever then says of them that they are the gates of hell, errs not from the mark. And the wise Paul also pro- tests unto us, that we must turn away our faces from such men : " For if, he says, any one preach unto you other than Gal. i. 9. " that ye have received, let him be accursed."
The chief perfection therefore of the mind is to be established in the faith, and for our understanding to be un- corrupted therein : and the second, which neighbours upon this chief perfection, and is akin to it, and its constant com- <rw8Ponos. panion, is the clear knowledge of that way of conduct which pleases God, and is taught us in the Gospel, and is perfect and blameless.1 Those who travel thereon lead a life of simplicity
» The Catenists,who have summed in these words ; " for the definition up this homily in very few lines, " of philosophy is to he sincere, but (cf. Mai, p. 378. from A. B. and D.) " sagacious," ro fitra oWo-ewr give the purport of this paragraph a\a<rrov fivai.
4C2
564 COMMENTARY UPON
and innocence, while nevertheless they know what opinions thev ought to hold, and what acts are right tor them to do. These enter in by the narrow gate, refusing neither those la- bours which, piety unto God requires, nor such as are necessary for leading a glorious life. And so they duly advance into the broadness of the abundance which is to God-ward, and rejoice in His gifts, and win for themselves the kingdom of heaven by Christ ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 565
SERMON CXXII.
And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good Teacher, what C. xviii. shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto l *"' him, Why callest thou Me good ? None is good, but one, God. Thou knoivest the commandments : Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear witness falsely ; honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my om.cn™ post youth. And when Jesus heard these things, He said unto ^"JaDra him ; Yet lackest thou one thing : sell all that thou hast, BT. and distribute to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful : for he was very rich. And Jesus seeing it said, How hardly shall they that have gold enter add. aM, into the kingdom of God ! For it is easier for a camel to avrhv V€pi. 'enter in through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man Xv™£v6' to enter the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, XpU<rh S. And who can live? And He said, The things which mre*™^™' impossible with men, are possible with God. eltnropeiov
r rai BT.
TprifiaTOS
THOSE who believe that the Word, Who shone forth from flex^BT.
.. rpvfj.aXi.as
the very substance of God the Father, is by nature and verily pa<Pis0s Gs. God, draw near to Him as unto an omniscient God, Who, as the Psalmist says, " trieth the hearts and reins ;" and seefch all Ps. vii. 9. that passes in us : " for all things are naked, and spread out Heb.iv.13- " before His eyes," according to the expression of the blessed Paul. But we do not find the Jewish multitudes thus disposed : for they with their princes and teachers were in error, and saw not with the eyes of their mind the glory of Christ. Ra- ther they looked upon Him as one like unto us : as a mere man, I mean ; and not as God rather, Who^had become man. They approached Him therefore to make trial of Him, and lay for Him the nets of their craftiness.
And this thou mayest learn by what has now been read. For a ruler, it says, asked Him, saying, " Good teacher, what " shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" And Jesus said unto him,
566 COMMENTARY UPON
" Wliy callest thou Me good ? None is good but one, God." Now he, who is here called a Ruler, and who fancied himself to be learned in the law, and supposed that he had been accu- rately taught therein, imagined that he could convict Christ of dishonouring the commandment spoken by the most wise Moses, and of introducing laws of His own. For it was the object of the Jews to prove that Christ opposed and resisted the former commandments, to establish, as I said, new laws, of His own authority, in opposition to those previously existing, that their wicked conduct towards Him might have a specious pretext. He draws near therefore, and makes pretence of speaking kindly : for he calls Him Teacher, and styles Him Good, and professes himself desirous of being a disciple. For " what, he says, shall I do to inherit eternal life?'"' Observe therefore how he mixes up flattery with fraud and deceit, like one who mingles wormwood with honey : for he supposed that he could in this way deceive Him. Of such men one of the Jer. is. 8. holy prophets said, " Their tongue is a piercing lance : the " words of their mouth are deceitful. To his neighbour he " speaketh peacefully : but there is enmity in his soul." And Ps. x. 7. again the wise Psalmist also thus speaks of them : " Their Pa. lv. 11. " mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." And again, " Their " words are smoother than oil : and yet are they spears."
He therefore flatters Jesus, and attempts to deceive Him, making pretence of being well-disposed to Him. And what Job v. 13. does the Omniscient reply, "Who, as it is written, taketh "the wise in their craftiness?0 "Why callest thou Me " good ? None is good but one, God." Thou seest how He proved at once that he was neither wise nor learned, though the ruler of a synagogue of the Jews. For if, He savs, thou didst not believe that I am God, and the clothing of the flesh hath led thee astray, why didst thou apply to Me epithets suitable to the supreme nature alone, while still thou supposedst Me to be a mere man like unto thyself, and not superior to the limits of human nature ? In the nature that transcends all, even in God only, is found the attribute of being by nature,, and unchangeably good : but the angels, and we upon earth, are good by resembling Him, or rather by participation of Ex. tii. 14. Him. For as He is what He is, and this is His Name, and His everlasting memorial for all generations ; but we exist and
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 567
come into being by being made partakers of Him Who really exists: so He indeed is good, or the o-ood absolutely, but angels and men are good, only by being made, as I said, partakers of the good God. Let therefore the being good be set apart as the special property of God over all alone, essentially attached to His nature, and His peculiar attribute. If. however, He says, I do not seem to thee to be truly God. then thou hast ignorantly and foolishly applied to Me the properties and vir- tues of the divine nature, at the very time when thou imaginest me to be a mere man, one that is who never is invested with goodness, the property of the unchangeable nature, but only gains it by the assent of the divine will. And such then was the purport of what Christ spake.
But those perchance will not assent to the correctness of this explanation, whose minds are perverted by sharing in the wick- edness of Arius. For they make the Son inferior to the supre- macy and glory of God the Father : or rather, they contend that He is not the Son ; for they both eject Him from being by nature and verily God, and thrust Him away from having really been born, lest men should believe that He is also equal in substance to Him Who begat Him. For they assert, as though they had obtained a reason for their blasphemy from the passage now before us, ' Behold, He has clearly and ex- ' pressly denied that He is good, and set it apart as something ' appropriate to God the Father only: but verily had He been ' equal to Him in substance, and sprung from Him by nature, ' how would not He also be good as being God?'
Let this then be our reply to our opponents. Since all cor- rect and exact reasoning acknowledges a son to be consubstan- tial with the father, how is He not good, as being God ? For He cannot but be God, if He be consubstantial with Him Who is by nature God. For surely they will not affirm, however extreme may be the audacity into which they have fallen, that from a good father a son has sprung who is not good. For to this we have the Saviour's own testimony, Who thus speaks ; "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits." How from a good Mat.vii.iS. root has there shot forth an evil sprout? Or how from a sweet fountain can there flow a bitter river ? Was there ever a time when there was no Father, seeing that He is the Father eter- nallv ? But He is the Father, because He has begotten, and
568 COMMENTARY UPON
this is the reason why He bears this name, and not as being one who borrows the title by resemblance to some other per- son. For from Him all paternity in heaven and earth is named. We conclude therefore that the fruit of the good God is the good Son.
Col. i. 15. And in another way: as most wise Paul says, " He is the " image of the invisible God :" and the image, because He dis- plays in His own nature the beauty of Him Who begat Him. How therefore can we see in the Son, Who is not good, the
Heb. i. 3. Father, Who is by nature and verily good: " He is the bright- " ness and likeness of His person :*' but if He be not good, as the senseless heretic asserts, but the Father is by nature good, it is a brightness different in nature, and that possesses not the splendour of Him Who bade it shine. And the likeness too is counterfeit, or rather is now no likeness at all: for it represents not Him Whose likeness it is, if, as all must allow, that which is not good is the contrary of that which is good.
And much more might one say in opposition to them upon this point : but that our discourse may not extend to an unrea- sonable length, and be burdensome to any, we will say no more at present, and hold in as with a bridle our earnestness in this matter ; but at our next meeting we will continue our explana- tion of the meaning of this passage from the Gospel, should Christ once again assemble us here : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 569
SERMON CXXIII.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
I PERCEIVE you assembled here with great earnest- ness and zeal ; and, as I suppose, ye have come to exact a debt. I then, for my part, acknowledge that I promised at our last meeting to complete what was wanting to my discourse : and I have come to pay it as unto children, praying Christ, our common Saviour, to impart to my mind His divine light, and give utterance to my tongue, that I may benefit both you and myself. For Paul has somewhere writteu, " The ? Tim. U.6. " husbandman who laboureth must first eat of the fruits."
Let me then bring back to your remembrance first of all what has already been considered, and then we will proceed to what remains.
The blessed Evangelist therefore said, ;' And a certain ruler " asked Him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit '* eternal life ? And He said unto him, Why callest thou Me " good? None is good, but one, God :" aud so on with the rest of the lesson. Now we have already explained what is the meaning of this passage in the Gospel, and enough has been said to you upon that point : for we shewed both that by na- ture and verily the Son is good as also He is Who begat Him ; and that the answer, " Why callest thou Me good ? None is " good, but one, God/' was spoken relatively to the questioner. Let us therefore direct our inquiry to the Scriptures which follow.
What then says this chief of the synagogue of the Jews ? "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?'1 He docs not ask with a view to learn ; for then his question would have been worthy of all praise : but his object was to prove, that Christ did not permit them to retain the Mosaic commandments, but led rather His disciples and followers unto new laws enacted by Himself. For on this pretext they rebuked the people under their charge, saying of Christ, our common Saviour, " He hath a devil, and is mad : why hear ye Him V For John x. :o
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they said that He had a devil, and was mad. on the supposi- tion that He had set up his own laws against those which had been given from above, from God. True rather would it be to affirm of them that they had a devil, and were utterly Mat. v. 17. mad, for resisting the Lord of the law, Who had come not so much to destroy the commandment which had been given of old, and of which Moses was the minister, as to fulfil it, ac- cording to His own words : for He transformed the shadow into the truth.
The chief of the synagogue therefore expected to hear Christ say, Cease, 0 man, from the writings of Moses ; abandon'the shadow; they were but types, and nothing more; draw near therefore rather to My commandments, which thou hast in the Gospel : but He did not so answer, because He discerned by His godlike knowledge the object of him who tempted Him. As though then He had no other command- ments, but those only given by Moses, He sends the man unto them, and says, "Thou knowest the commandments." And lest he should say, that He referred to His own command- ments, He enumerates those contained in the law, and says ; " Thou shalt not kill : thou shalt not commit adultery: neither " shalt thou bear false witness m." And what reply does this cunning schemer in wickedness make, or rather this very igno- rant and senseless person ? For he thought that even though He Whom he asked was God, yet nevertheless he could easily cajole Him into answering whatever he chose. But as the sa- Prov.xii.27. cred Scripture saith, "The prev falleth not to the lot of the (Sept) -crafty."
For though he had shot wide of his mark, and missed his prey, he yet ventures to bait for Him another snare : for he said, "All these have I kept from my youth.-" He might there- John viii. fore well hear from us in answer, 0 foolish Pharisee, " thou I3' " bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is not true." But
omitting now this argument, let us see in what way Christ re- pelled His bitter and malignant foe. For while He might have Mat. v. 3. said, " Blessed are the poor in spirit : for their's is the kingdom
m Mai adds here from A. a short the law forbids every kind of wick- summary of the five commandments edness. quoted by our Lord, to shew that
" THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 571
" of heaven : blessed are the meek : blessed are the pure in " heart :" He tells him nothing of this kind, but because he was fond of lucre and very rich, He proceeds at once to that which would grieve him, and says, " Sell all that thou hast, and " give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; " and come, follow Me.;' This was torture to the heart of that covetous man, who so prided himself upon his keeping of the law. It proved him at once both frail and weak, and alto- gether unfit for the reception of the new message of the gospel. And we too learn how true that is which Christ spake ; " No ^at- lx- " man puttetli new wine into old wine-skins ; else the skins " burst, and the wine is spilt : but new wine is put into new " wine-skins." For the chief of the synagogue of the Jews proves to be but an old wine-skin, that cannot hold the new wine, but bursts and becomes useless. For he was saddened, although he had received a lesson that would have won for him eternal life.
Bat those who have received in them by faith Him Who makes all things new, even Christ, are not rent asunder by receiving from Him the new wine. For when they have but newly received from Him the word of the gospel message, which gladdeneth the heart of man, they become superior to wealth and the love of lucre : their mind is established in courao-e : they set no value on temporal things, but thirst rather after things eternal : they honour a voluntary poverty, and are earnest in love to the brethren. For, as it is written in the Acts of the holy Apostles, "As many as were possessors Actsiv.34. " of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the " things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet ; " and distribution was made unto every one according to his " need."
As the ruler therefore was too infirm of purpose, and could not be pi*evailed upon even to listen to the advice of selling his possessions, although it would have been good for him, and full of reward, our Lord lays bare the malady which has its lair in the' rich, thus saying, " How hardly shall they that have riches " enter into the kingdom of God ! And I say unto you, that it is " easier for a camel to enter in through the eye of a needle, " than a rich man into the kingdom of God." Now ~ by a camel He means not the animal of that name, but a thick cable
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rather : for it is the custom of those well versed in navigation to call the thicker cables " camels."
Observe however, that He does not altogether cut away the hope of the rich, but reserves for them a place and way of sal- vation. For He did not say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter in, but that he does so with difficulty.
When the blessed disciples heard these words, they objected, Bavine. "And who can live?" And their plea was for those who had wealth and possessions. For we know, they say, that no one will ever be persuaded to abandon his wealth and riches : " Who then can be saved ? " But what does the Lord reply? " The things that are impossible with men, are possible " with God." He has reserved therefore for those who possess wealth the possibility of being counted worthy, if they will, of the kingdom of God : for even though they refuse entirely to abandon what they have, yet it is possible for them in another way to attain unto honour. And the Saviour has Himself shewed us how and in what way this can happen, savins, " Make to yourselves friends of the unrighteous " mammon : that when it has failed, they may receive you into " eternal tabernacles." For there is nothing to prevent the rich, if they will, from making the poor partakers and sharers of the abundance which they possess. What hinders him who has plentiful possessions from being affable of address, and ready to communicate to others, easily prevailed upon to give, and compassionate, and full of that generous pity which is wellpleasing to God. Not unrewarded, nor unprofitable shall
James ii. we find carefulness in this respect; for "mercy boasteth over
I3' " judgment," as it is written.
By every argument therefore, and in every way does our common Saviour and Lord benefit us : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 573
SERMON CXXIV.
And Peter said, Lo we have left all, and followed Thee. C.xviii. And He said unto them. Verily I say unto you, There is &*fa*in no man that hath left house, or wife, or brethren, or parents,
travra teal
or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not ra'rsia receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world ?GT" „ ,«
" L r) you. j] a5.
to come eternal life. f) yw. Gs.
HE Who is the fountain of sacred doctrines causes here also a healthful stream to flow for us, and the very season, as it seems, bids us say unto those who search into the divine words, " Ye who thirst, come to the waters." For there is set before Is. lv. i. you that ye may partake thereof "the torrent of pleasure," even Christ. For by this name the prophet David makes mention of Him, saying unto God the' Father in heaven ; "But the sons Pa. xxxvi. " of men shall trust in the protection of Thy wings : they shall ' " be satisfied with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou shalt " make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure.1''
And what the stream is which here gushes forth for us from Him, the purport of the evangelic lessons now set before us clearly teaches : " For Peter, it says, said unto Him, Lo ! " we have left all and followed Thee." And to this another Evangelist, Matthew, adds, " What then shall we have?" Let Mat. six. us however, before proceeding to any of the other points, first 2~' enquire into the occasion which brought the discourse to this present subject.
When therefore our common Saviour Christ said unto one of the chiefs of the synagogue of the Jews, " Go, sell all that thou " hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in " heaven, and come, follow Me," the disciples ask, What they shall have from God who keep this precept : and usefully they take upon themselves, as representing a class, the outline of the oIkovo/u- matter. But, as I imagine, to this some may reply, ' W^hat ' after all had the disciples given up ? for they were men who ' gained the necessaries of life by their sweat and labour, being ' by trade fishermen, who at most perhaps owned somewhere a ' boat and nets : who had neither well-built houses, nor any 1 other possessions. What therefore had they left, or for what
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' did they ask of Christ a recompense ?' What therefore do we answer to this ? Chiefly, that for this very reason they made this most necessary enquiry. For inasmuch as they possessed nothing but what was trifling and of slight value, thev would learn in what manner God will requite, and gladden with His gifts those who likewise have left but little for the sake of the kingdom of God, for the desire, that is. of being counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven for their love's sake towards Him. For the rich man, as one who has disregarded much, will confi- dently expect recompense : but he who possessed but little, and abandoned it, how was it not right to ask, what hopes he might entertain ? For this reason, as representing those in like condition with themselves, in respect of their having left but little, they say, " Behold, we have left all and followed Thee."
And it is further necessary to observe this also ; that, cor- rectly considered, the pain of abandoning is the same whether it be of much or little. For come let us see the real import of the matter by a trifling example. Supposing that two men had to stand naked, and in so doing the one stripped himself of raiment of great price, while the other put off only what was cheap and easy of acquisition, would not the pain of the naked- ness be equal in both eases ? What possible doubt can there be upon this point ? As far therefore as regards obedience and good-will, those must be placed upon an equal footing with the rich, who though differently circumstanced, yet practised equal readiness, and willingly bore the selling of what they had. And the very wise Paul also takes up their cause, where he i Cor. viii. thus wrote : "For if there be a ready mind, it is accepted " according to what a man hath, and not according to what he " hath not." The enquiry therefore of the holy apostles was not an unreasonable one.
What then said Christ unto them, Who accepteth not per- sons ? " Verily I say unto you, There is no man who hath left " houses or brethren, or children, or parents, for the kingdom " of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this " present time, and in that which is to come eternal life." Worthy of God is the declaration, and holy and admirable the decree. For observe how He raises up all who hear to an assured hope, promising not merely the fulness of the boun- teous gift which is bestowed upon the saints, but confirming
17
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 575
His promise by an oath, by prefixing to His declaration the word Verily, which, so to speak, performs the part of an oath. And not only does He include within His promises those who disregard wealth, but those also, He says, who leave father or mother, or wife or brethren, for the kingdom of God's sake, shall receive manifold more in this world, and in that which is to come eternal life.
But that those who have led a virtuous life necessarily gain the life eternal, there can be no doubt whatsoever : some inquiry is however necessary, in the first place, as to who they are who leave father and mother, and wife, and brethren, and houses : and secondly, a still more exact examination of the way in which those who thus act shall receive manifold more in this world.
Men thersfore leave father and mother, and wife and bre- thren, and oftentimes count for nought the natural affection due to the ties of kindred, for love's sake unto Christ. And in what manner they do so, He teaches us by saying, at one time, " He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy Mat. x. 37. " of Me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is " not worthy of Me :" and at another time again, " Think not Mat. x. 34. " that I am come to send peace on earth ; I tell you nay, I am " not come to send peace, but division : for I am come to divide " a man from his father, and the daughter from her mother, " and the daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law." For when the divine message of the gospel is catching as in a net the whole world' unto faith in Him, and raising it up unto the light of the true knowledge of God, there are those who would readily enter in, did they not suffer from an injurious shame, as being afraid either on their father's account, or their mother's, and taking too much into consideration their anger or their sorrow. For if these arc idolaters, they will not consent that their sons or daughters should yield themselves unto Christ's service, and abandon the error in which they have been brought up, and which has become habitual with them. And often when the sons are unbelieving and ill-disposed, their fathers have not the courage to vex them by hastening unto the faith, and seizing the salvation which is by Christ. And the same ex- planation may be given respecting brethren with brethren, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law, and the latter
576 COMMENTARY UPON
with the former. But those who are strong in mind, and prefer nothing to the love of Christ, eagerly grasp the faith, and earnestly endeavour to gain admission into His household by a spiritual relationship, heeding nothing the wars, or rather divisions which will follow, with those who are their kindred according to the flesh. And in this way then men leave house and kindred for Christ's sake, that they may win His Name n, being called Christians ; or rather for His glory's sake, for frequently His Name means His glory.
But next let us see, in what way one who leaves house or father or mother or brethren, or it may be his wife even, re- ceives manifold more in this present time. Shall he become the husband of many wives, or find on earth many fathers instead of one. and thus have his earthly kindred greatly mul- tiplied ? This is not what we say, but rather, that abandoning these carnal and temporal things, he shall receive what is far more valuable, and so to speak, manifold times as much as what was disregarded by him. For let us take, if you please, the holy apostles as our examples ; and we say then of them, that they were men not distinguished in worldly sta- tion, nor skilled in eloquence, nor did they possess a polished tongue, or elegance of words : on the contrary thev were un- trained in speech, and by trade fishermen, who gathered by their labour the means of life : but whatever they had they left, that they might be the constant attendants and ministers of Christ ; nor could any thing hinder them, or draw them away to other occupations, or worldly pursuits. -Having left them but little, what did they gain ? They were filled with the Holy Ghost : they received power over unclean spirits, to cast them out : they wrought miracles : the shadow of Peter healed those that were sick : they became illustrious among mankind everywhere : foremost in glory ; worthy of emulation, and renowned, b'»th while they were still living, and afterwords as well. For who knows not those who taught the world Christ's mystery ? Who wonders not at the -crown of glory that was bestowed upon them ?
But perchance thou sayest, ' Shall we all of us therefore
a As usual, the reading in St. " for the kingdom of God's sake," Matthew's Gospel was present in St. we find, "for My Name's sake.'' Cyril's mind; for there, instead of (Mat. xix. 29.)
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' become like them V To this we answer, that each one of us also who have believed in Christ and loved His Name, if he have left a house shall receive the mansions that are above : and if he have abandoned a father, shall gain that Father Who is in heaven. If he be abandoned by his brethren, yet will Christ admit him to brotherhood with Him. If he leave a wife, he shall have as the inmate of His house Wisdom who cometh down from above, from God. For it is written, "Say unto Prov.vii.4. " Wisdom that she is thy sister, and make Understanding thy " friend." By her shalt thou bring forth beautiful spiritual fruits, by means of which thou shalt be made a partaker of the hope of the saints, and join the company of the angels. And though thou leave thy mother, thou shalt find another incom- parably more excellent, — even " the Jerusalem that is above, Gal. iv. 26. " which is free, and our0 mother." How are not these things manifold times more than those that were left ? For they were but transitory, and rapidly do they waste, and lightly fail us utterly ! for as the dew, and like a dream, so they pass away. But he who is counted worthy of these things becomes even in this world illustrious and enviable, being adorned with glory both before God and men. Manifold more therefore are these thiugs than all that is earthly and carnal, and the Giver of them is our common Lord and Saviour : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
0 The Syriac is supported by the MSS. in the rejection of navruvj majority of the more important " all."
4E
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SERMON CXXV.
C. xviii. And He took the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go 3'"34' up to Jerusalem, and all those things shall be accomplished
which are written in the prophets of the Son of man. For He shall be delivered up to the heathen, and shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon. And when they have scourged Him, they shall put Him to death: and on the third day He shall rise again. And they un- derstood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they knew not what wa3 said.
THE blessed prophet David has spoken one of those things which are of great importance for our benefit, especially as it refers to what is of constant occurrence, so to speak, to men's
Ps.cxix.6o. minds. " For I was prepared, he says, and was not troubled." p For whatever happens unexpectedly, whenever it is of a serious character, exposes even courageous persons to agitation and alarm, and sometimes to unendurable terrors. But when it has been mentioned before that it will happen, its attack is easily averted. And this, 1 think, is the meaning of, " I was prepared, " and was not troubled."
For this reason the divinely-inspired Scripture very fitly says unto those who would attain unto glory by leading a
Ecclus.il x. course of holy conduct, " My son, if thou drawest near to " serve the Lord, prepare thyself for temptation. Direct thy " heart, and endure." For it does not so speak in order to produce in men an abject slothfulness which will win no reward, but that they may know that by practising patience and en- durance, they will overcome the temptations which befal all who would live virtuously, and prove superior to every thing that could harass them. And so here also the Saviour of all, to prepare beforehand the disciples' minds, tells them that He shall suffer the passion upon the cross, and death in the flesh, as soon as He has gone up to Jerusalem. And he added too, that He should also rise, wiping out the pain, and obliterating the shame of the passion by the greatness of the miracle. For
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 579
glorious was it, and worthy of God, to be able to sever the
bonds of death, and hasten back unto life. For testimony is Rom. L 4.
borne Him by the resurrection from the dead, according to
the expression of the wise Paul, that He is God and the Son
of God.
It is necessary, however, for us to explain what the benefit was which the holy apostles received from having learnt the approach of those things which were about to happen. By this means then He cuts away beforehand both unseemly thoughts and all occasion for stumbling. How, you ask, or in what way ? The blessed disciples then, I answer, had followed Christ, our common Saviour, in His circuit through Judaea : thev had seen that there was nothing, however ineffable, and worthy of all wonder, which He could not accomplish. For He called from their graves the dead when they had already decayed : to the blind He restored sight : and wrought also other works, worthy of God and glorious. They had heard Him say, " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? and one Mat. x. 19. " of them doth not fall to the ground without your Father." And now thev who had seen these things, and been emboldened by His woras unto courageousness, were about to behold Him enduring the ridicule of the Jews, crucified, and made a mock of, and receiving even buffets from the servants. It was possible therefore, that being offended because of these things, they might think thus within themselves, and say : He Who is so great in might, and possesses such godlike authority ; "Who performs miracles by His nod alone ; Whose word is almighty, so that even from their very graves He raises the dead ; Who says too that His Father's providence reaches even to the birds ; Who is the Only-begotten, and first-born : how did He not know what was about to happen ? Is He too taken in the nets of the foe, and made the prey of His enemies, Who even promised that He would save us ? Is He then dis- regarded and despised of that Father, without Whose will not even a tiny bird is taken ? These things perchance the holy apostles might have said or thought among themselves. And what would have been the consequence ? They too, like the rest of the Jewish multitude, would have become unbelieving, and ignorant of the truth.
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That they might therefore be aware both that He foreknew His passion, and though it was in his power easily to escape, that yet of His own will He advanced to meet it, He told them beforehand what would happen. In saying then, "Behold, we " go up to Jerusalem," He, so to speak, testified urgently and commanded them to remember what had been foretold. And He added necessarily, that all these things had been foretold by the holy prophets. For Isaiah, as in the person of Christ, la. l. 6. says ; " I have given My back to scourgings, and My cheeks u to buffetings : and My face I have not turned away from the " shame of spittings." Aud again, in another place, He says U. liii. 7. of Him, " As a sheep He was led unto the slaughter, and was Is. liii- 6. " silent, as a lamb before its shearer/' And again, " All we " like sheep have gone astray : every one hath gone astray in " his path : and the Lord hath delivered Him up because of " our sins." And again the blessed David also in the twenty- first P Psalm, painting as it were beforehand the sufferings upon the cross, has set before us Jesus speaking as one that lo ! Pa. xxii. 6. already was hanging upon the tree, " But I am a worm, and " not a man : the reproach of men, and a thing rejected of the " people. All those that have seen Me, have derided Me : " they have spoken with their lips, and shaken their heads ; " He trusted in the Lord : let Him deliver Him." For some of the Jews did shake their wicked heads at Him, deriding Mat. xxvii. Him, and saying, " If Thou art the Son of God, come down 4" " now from the cross, and we will believe Thee." And again
P3.xxii.18. He said, " They parted My garments among them, and upon " My vesture they cast the lot." And again in another place P3. lxix.21. He says of those that crucified Him, " They gave gall for My " food, and for My thirst they made Me drink vinegar."
Of all therefore that was about to befal Him, nothing was unforetold, God having so ordered it bv His Providence for our use, that when the time came for it to happen, no one might be offended. For it was in the power of one Who knew beforehand what was about to happen, to refuse to suffer alto-
P In the Septuagint, the ninth sequent Psalms are numbered one and tenth Psalms are incorporated less than in our version, into one, and therefore all the sub-
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gether. No man then compelled Him by force, nor again were the multitudes of the Jews stronger than His mi^ht : but He submitted to suffer, because He knew that His passion would be for the salvation of the whole world. For He endured indeed the death of the flesh, but rose again, having trampled upon corruption, and by His resurrection from the dead, He planted in the bodies of mankind the life that springs from Him. For the whole nature of man in Him hastened back to incorruption. And of this the wise Paul bears witness, savins:, at one time, " For since by man was death, by man was also rCor.xv.ai. the resurrection of the dead." And again, " For as in Adam " all die, so also in Christ shall all live." Let not those there- fore who crucified Him indulge in pride : for He remained not among the dead, seeing that as God He possesses an irresistible might : but rather let them lament for themselves, as being guilty of the crime of murdering the Lord. This the Saviour also is found saying to the women who were weeping for Him, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for Luke xxiii. " yourselves, and for your children." For it was not right 28' that they should lament for Him, Who was about to arise from the dead, destroying thereby corruption, and shaking death's dominion ; but more fitly, on the contrary, would they lament over their own afflictions.
The Saviour of all then declared these things beforehand to the holy apostles : " but they, it says, understood not what " was said, and the word was hid from them." For as yet they knew not accurately what had been before proclaimed by the holy prophets. For even He Who was first among the disciples heard the Saviour once say that He should be cru- cified, and die, and arise : but in that he did not as yet under- stand the depth of the mystery, he resisted it, saying, " That Mat. xvi. " be far from Thee, Lord : this shall not be unto Thee." But "" he was rebuked for so speaking : because he as yet knew not the purport of the Scripture inspired of God relating there- unto. But when Christ arose from the dead, He opened their Luke xxiv. eyes, as another of the holy Evangelists wrote ; for they were 3I' enlightened, being enriched with the abundant participation of the Spirit. For they who once understood not the words of the prophets, exhorted those who believed in Christ to study
582 COMMENTARY UPON
a Pet. i. 19. their words, saying, " We too have a more sure prophetic " word, whereurito ye do well to look, as unto a lamp that " shineth in a dark place, until the day shine forth, and the " light-star arise in your hearts." And this has also reached its fulfilment : for we have been enlightened in Christ ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holv Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 583
SERMON CXXVI.
And it came to pass, that as He drew near unto Jeri- c. xviii. cho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging : 3o~43' and hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me. And they who went before rebuked him that he should hold his peace. But he cried out so much the more, Son of David, have mercy upon me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded that they shoidd bring him to Him. And when he drew near, He asked him, What wilt add. \i-ywv thou that I should do unto thee ? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee live. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people when they saw it gave glory to God.
WHOSOEVER are yet without understanding, and accept not the faith in Christ, may justly have that said unto them which was spoken by the voice of David, " Come and see the Ps. xlvi. 8. " works of God, the miracles that He hath put upon earth.11 For He wrought miracles after no human fashion, though He was in appearance a man such as we are ; but with godlike dignity rather, for He was God in form like unto us, since He changed not from being what He was, as the purport of the passage now read from the Gospels proves to us. " For the " Saviour, it says, was passing by. And a blind man cried " out, saying, Son of David have mercy on me/' Let us then examine the expression of the man who had lost his sight ; for it is not a thing to pass by without enquiry, siuce possibly the examination of what was said will beget something highly ad- vantageous for our benefit.
In what character then does he address to Him his prayer : Is it as to a mere man, according to the babbling of the Jews, who stoned Him with stones, saying in their utter folly, " For John x. $3. ". a food work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy ; because
584 COMMENTARY UPON
" that Thou being a man makest Thyself God? " But must not that blind man have understood that the sight of the blind cannot be restored by human means, but requires, on the con- trary, a divine power, and an authority such as God only possesses ? for with God nothing whatsoever is impossible. He drew near to Him therefore as to the Omnipotent God ; but how then does he call Him the Son of David? What therefore can one answer unto this ? The following is perhaps, as 1 think, the explanation. As he had been brought up in Judaism, and ■was by birth of that race, the predictions contained iu the law and the holy prophets concerning Christ of course had not escaped his knowledge. He had heard them chant that pas- Pa. cxxxii. sage in the book of the P=alms : " The Lord hath sworn the "■ " truth unto David, and will not reject it, that of the fruit of
" thy loins will I set upon thy throne." He knew also that Is. xi. i. the blessed prophet Isaiah had said, " And there shall spring " forth a shoot from the root of Jesse, and from his root shall Mat. i. 13. "a flower grow up." And again this as well; "Behold, a 4' " virgin shall conceive and brino- forth a son, and thev shall " call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God " with us/1 x\s one therefore who already believed that the "Word, being God, had of His own will submitted to be born in the flesh of the holy virgin, he draws near to Him as unto God, and says, " Have mercy upon me, Son of David." For Christ bears witness that this was his state of mind in offer- ing his supplication, by saying unto him, " Thy faith hath " saved thee."
Let those then be ashamed who imagine themselves not to 2 Pet. i. 9. be blind, but who, as the wise Peter says, are " sightless, and " havedarkness in their mind." For they divide into two the one Lord Jesus Christ : even Him Wrho is the Word of the Father, [but*? Who became a man, and was made flesh. For they deny that He Who was born of the seed of David was really the Son of God the Father : for so, they say, to be born is proper to man only, rejecting in their great ignorance His flesh,] and treating with contempt that precious and ineffable dispensation by which we have been redeemed : and even
1 From the mutilated state of the MS. the text of this passage is chiefly conjectural.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 585
perhaps foolishly speaking against the Only-begotten, because He emptied Himself, and descended to the measure of human nature, and was obedient unto the Father even unto death, that by His death in the flesh He might abolish death, might wipe out corruption, and put away the sin of the world. Let such imitate this blind man : for he drew near unto Christ the Saviour of all as unto God, and called Him Lord and Son of the blessed David. He testifies also to His glory by asking of Him an act such as God only can accomplish. Let them wonder also at the constancy wherewith he confessed Him. For there were some who rebuked him when confessing his faith ; but he did not give way, nor cease his crying, but bade the ignorance of those who were rebuking him be still. He was justly therefore honoured by Christ : for he was called by Him, and commanded to draw near1". Understand from this, my beloved, that faith sets us also in Christ's presence, and so brings us unto God, as for us to be even counted worthy of His words. For when the blind man was brought unto Him, He asked him, saying, " "What wilt thou that I should do unto " thee ?" Was his request then unknown to Him ? For was it not plain that he sought deliverance from the malady that afflicted him? How can there be any doubt of this? He asked him therefore purposely, that those who were standing by, and accompanying Him, might learn, that it was not money he sought, but rather that regarding Him as God, he asked of Him a divine act, and one appropriate solely to the nature that transcends all.
When then he had declared the nature of his request, say- ing, " Lord, that I may receive my sight :" then, yea ! then the words that Christ spake were a rebuke of the unbelief of the Jews : for with supreme authority He said, " Receive thy " sight." Wonderful is the expression ! right worthy of God, and transcending: the bounds of human nature ! Which of the holy prophets ever spake ought such as this ? or used words of so -great authority ? For observe that He did not ask of another the power to restore vision to him who was deprived of sight, nor did He perform the divine miracle as the effect of
r Mai adds from A. and D. " that " Him by faith, might now approach " he who already had approached " Him also corporeally."
4*
586 COMMENTARY UPON
prayer unto God, but attributed it rather to His own power, and by His almighty will wrought whatever He would. " Re- " ceive, said He, thy sight ;" and the word was light to him that was blind : for it was the word of Him Who is the true light.
And now that he was delivered from his blindness, did he neglect the duty of loving Christ ? Certainly not : " For he " followed Him, it says, offering Him glory as unto God." He was set free therefore from double blindness : for not only did he escape from the blindness of the body, but also as well from that of the mind and heart : for he would not have glo- rified Him as God, had he not possessed spiritual vision. And further, he became the means of others also giving Him " glory, for all the people, it says, gave glory [tos God. It is plain therefore from this, that great is the guilt of the scribes and Pharisees ; for He rebukes them for refusing to accept Him though working miracles, while the multitude glo- rified Him as God because of the deeds which He wrought. No such praise is offered on their part : yea, rather] the mi- racle is made an occasion of insult and accusation ; for they said that the Lord wrought it by Beelzebub : and by thus act- ing they became the cause of the destruction of the people under their rule. Therefore the Lord protested against their
Jer.xiiii.i. wickedness by the voice of the prophet, saying ; " Alas for the " shepherds, who destroy and scatter the sheep of My inherit-
Jer. i. xi. " ance." And again ; " The shepherds have become foolish, " and have not sought the Lord : therefore did none of the " flock understand, and were scattered."
Such then was their state : but we are under the rule of the chief Shepherd of all, even Christ : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
8 Again the MS. is so mutilated, as to render the text chiefly conjectural.
,/:'
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 58^
SERMON CXXVIL* t?t
Behold a man named Zacch&us. Ver- 2.
Zacch^us was chief of the publicans, a man entirely aban- From Mai,
it iiii- i- & Cramer.
doned to covetousness, and whose sole object was the increase
of his gains : for such was the practice of the publicans, though
Paul calls it " idolatry," possibly as being fit only for those who Col. iii. 5.
have no knowledge of God. And as they shamelessly made
open profession of this vice, the Lord very justly joined them
with the harlots, thus saying to the chiefs of the Jews, " The Mat. xxi.
" harlots and the publicans go before you into the kingdom of31,
" God." But Zacchasus continued not among their number,
but was counted worthy of mercy at Christ's hands : for He it
is Who calls near those who are afar off, and gives light to
those who are in darkness.
But come then, and let us see what was the manner of Zacchaeus' conversion. He desired to see Jesus, and climbed therefore into a sycomore tree, and so a seed of salvation sprang up within him. And Christ saw this with the eyes of Deity : and therefore looking up, He saw him also with the eyes of the manhood, and as it was His purpose for all men to be saved, He extends His gentleness unto him, and encou- raging him, says, " Come down quickly." Foru he had sought
t The first half of this Sermon " the manhood." The passage con- having perished in the Syriac, its sists chiefly of a play upon <rvKopo>- place is supplied from Mai, p. 385. pala, "a sycomore tree," and pcopos, and Cramer, p. 137. " foolish," suggested by a mis-
u This passage, given by Mai spelling, which probably did not
from B., but omitted by Cramer, exist in Cyril's days, as the tree
in whose Catena the sense is car- correctly ia avicopoped, " the fig-
ried on unbroken to the next para- " mulberry :" and this pun is no
graph, " For God by His foreknow- less than thrice repeated, first in
" ledge knew what would happen," pwpdvas ra pfkij «ri ttjs yfjs, then
cannot possibly be S. Cyril's, but in ra pcopa rov Koapov f'£«Ae£aTo, belongs to some less earnest writer, • and finally in crvurj prj trotovo-a o-uxa
as also, in my opinion, does a line dX\d papa. I am aware that this
above, also omitted by Cramer, tree has met with much of this
namely, " And therefore looking up treatment at the hands of later Fa-
" He saw him also with the eyes of thers : Theophylact, for instance,
4 P 2
588 COMMENTARY UPON"
to see Him, but the multitude prevented him, not so much that of the people, as of his sins ; and he was little of stature, not merely in a bodily point of view, but also spiritually : and in no other way could he see Him, unless he were raised up from the earth, and climbed into the sycomore, by which Christ was about to pass. Now the story contains in it an enigma: for in no other wav can a man see Christ and believe in Him, except by mounting up into the sycomore, by render- ing foolish his members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, &c. And Christ, it says, was about to pass by the sycomore : for having taken for His path the conversation which is by the law, that is, the fig tree, He chose the foolish things of the world, that is, the cross and death. And every one who takes up his cross, and follows Christ's conversation, is saved, performing the law with understanding, which so be- comes a fig tree not bearing figs but follies ; for the secret con- duct of the faithful seems to the Jews to be folly, consisting as it does in circumcision from vice, and idleness from bad prac- tice, though they be not circumcised in the flesh, nor keep the
p. 487. C. says, ava&alvti an <tvko- this kind to Cyril, the Syriac has
uopeav rracrav fjdovrjv jiu>palvatv : and uniformly ignored them, and I have
Gregory, Moralia, xxvii. 27. Syco- almost always been successful in
moras quippe ficus fatua dicitur : tracing them up to their true au-
and Bede, cap. 78. in Lucam, Syco- thor. To a writer with a competent
moras namque ficus fatua dicitur : knowledge of Greek, the pun upon
but no instance of this style of cri- which this miserable jingle of words
ticism will be found in S. Cyril, is founded would not even have
For while he held that the Old Tes- suggested itself : and, to say no-
tament was entirely typical of the thing of several other difficulties,
New, and therefore saw its myste- there is an evident bungling in
ries shadowed out in the minutest uniting it to what really belongs to
occurrence, and simplest phrase con- S. Cyril, as any one may see by the
tained in the law and the prophets, triple repetition of virefifgaro airov
and consequently wherever types xaLP0>v> and by comparing with this
and prophecies are concerned, de- passage the extract given on v. 5.
8cends to much which appears to by Mai from A. as well as B., and
us to be laborious trifl'iDg; on the contained also by Cramer. Al-
contrary, in his treatment of the though therefore I have held myself
New Testament, nothing can be bound to follow Mai, so far as to
broader and more sensible than his admit it into the text, not having method of interpretation, and he ' been able to trace it to its real au-
himself expressly condemns this thor, I nevertheless have not the
minuteness in Serm. cviii. Wher- slightest hesitation in pronouncing
ever Mai has attributed passages of it spurious.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 589
sabbath. He knew therefore that he was prepared for obe- dience, and fervent for faith, and ready to change from vice to virtue ; wherefore also He calls him, and he will leave (the fig tree) to gain Him. And with haste he came down, and received Him joyfully, not only because he saw Him as he wished, but because he had also been called by Him, and be- cause he received Him (to lodge with him), which he never could have expected.
Zacchceus, come down quickly : for to-day I must abide at Ver. 5. thy house.
This was an act of divine foreknowledge ; for He well knew what would happen. He saw the man's soul prepared most readily to choose a holy life, and converted him therefore unto piety. The man therefore received Jesus joyfully : and this From the was the commencement of his turning himself unto good, of his s^nac- departure from his former faults, and of his manfully betaking himself unto a better course.
But perchance some one possibly may say to our common Saviour Christ, ' What dost Thou, 0 Lord 1 Goest Thou to ' lodge with Zacchaeus ? and deignest Thou to abide with the ' chief of the publicans ? He hath not yet washed away the 1 stain of his greedy love of lucre : he is still sick with covetous- ' ness, the mother of all crimes : still full of the blame of rapine ' and extortion.1 But yes, He says, I indeed know this, in that I am God by nature, and see the ways of every individual upon earth. And more than this, I know also things to come. I have called him to repentance, because he is ready thereto : and though men murmur, and blame My gentleness, facts themselves shall prove that they are wrong. " For Zacchaeus, " it says, stood up, and said unto the Lord, Behold, the half of " whatever I possess I give unto the poor, and if I have de- " frauded any man, I make fourfold restoration."
Thou beholdest his repentance ; his rapid change unto a better course ; his haste unto piety ; the bountifulness of his love for the poor. He who lately was a publican, or rather the chief of the publicans, given up to covetousness, and set upon gain, at once becomes merciful, and devoted to charity. He promises that he will distribute his wealth to those who are
590 COMMENTARY UPON
in need, that he will make restoration k to those who have been defrauded : and he who was the slave of avarice, makes himself poor, and ceases to care for gains.
Let not the Jewish multitudes therefore murmur when Christ saves sinners; but let them answer us this. Would they have physicians succeed in effecting cures when they visit the sick ? Do they praise them when they are able to deliver men from cruel ulcers, or do they blame them, and praise those who are unskilful in their art ? But, as I suppose, they will give the sentence of superiority in favour of those who are skilful in benefiting such as suffer from diseases. Why therefore do they blame Christ, if when Zacchaeus was, so to say, fallen and buried in spiritual maladies, He raised him from the pitfalls of destruction ?
And to teach them this He says, " To-day there is salvation " for this house, in that he also is a son of Abraham :" for where Christ enters, there necessarily is also salvation. May He therefore also be in us : and He is in us when we believe : for He dwells in our hearts by faith, and we are His abode. It would have been better then for the Jews to have rejoiced because Zacchagus was wonderfully saved, for he too was counted among the sons of Abraham, to whom God promised Is. lis. 20. salvation in Christ by the holy prophets, saying, M There shall " come a Saviour from Zion, and He shall take away iniquities " from Jacob, and this is my covenant with them, when I will " bear their sins."
Christ therefore arose, to deliver the inhabitants of the earth from their sins, and to seek them that were lost, and to save them that had perished. For this is His office, and, so to say, the fruit of His godlike gentleness. Of this will he also count all those worthy who have believed in Him : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost for everand ever, Amen.
k The Catenist adds, that fourfold Ex. xxii. i, and enjoined by David restitution was enacted by the law, in 2 Sara. xii. 6.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 591
SERMON CXXVIII.
And as they hear these things, He added and spake a c. six. 1 1- parable, because He was nigh unto Jerusalem, and they *"• thought that the kingdom of God was about immediately to be manifested. He said there/ore, A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And when he had called ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas*, and said unto them, Traffic until I & £ BT. come. But his citizens hated him, and sent an embassy after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass that when he had received the kingdom and returned, he commanded them to call unto om. ko.1 S. him those servants, to whom he had given the money, that he might know what they had gained by trading. And the r\ Suvpay- first came saying, Lord, thy mina hath gained ten minas bs/"t1s t2 more. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant : -<TaT0 GTj- because thou hast been faithfd in a little, thou shalt have authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy mina hath gained jive minas. And he said also unto him, And thou shalt be over five cities. And the om. <J G-*. other came, saying, Lord, behold thy mina that I had, laid up in a napkin. For I was afraid of thee, because thou art a hard man ; because thou takest up what thou layedst not add. 3-n S. down, and reapest what thou didst not sow. And he said om. 5e T. unto him, Out of thy mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that 1 am a hard man ; that I take up what I layed not down, and reap what I did not sow. Why didst thou not give my money to the table [of om. kq) S. the moneychanger], and I on my return should have^'^Lrj,' exacted it with its usury. And he said unto those that stood before him, Take from him the mina, and give it to him that hath ten minas. And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten minas ! For I say unto you, that unto every om. yap B. one that hath shall be given ; but f-om him that hath not,
1 The mina was worth rather more than 4/.
592 COMMENTARY UPON
om. oir' av- even that which he hath shall be taken away from him. rov b. gUf these my enemies, who would not that I should reign
BST. over them, bring hither and slay before me.
(KtivOVS Gt.
9dA.ainovs APPROACH yet once again, that opening widely the eye of the mind, we may receive the light of the sacred doctrines, which Christ richly sheds on those who love Him. For He also is the true light, Who enlighteneth angels, and princi- palities, and thrones and dominions, and even the holy sera- phim, and also shineth into the hearts of those that fear Him. Let us ask therefore the illumination which Pie bestows, that understanding exactly the force of the parable set before us, we may store up in our minds as a spiritual treasure the benefit which it offers us.
The scope therefore of the parable briefly' represents the whole purport of the dispensation that was to usward, and of the mystery of Christ from the beginning even unto the end. For the Word being God became man : but even though He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and on this account is also called a servant, yet He was and is freem born, by His being ineffably begotten of the Father : — yea ! and He is God also, transcending all in nature and in glory, and surpassing the things of our estate, or rather even the whole creation, by His incomparable fulness. The man therefore is freeborn, as being the Son of God : and not as we are called to this appellation by His goodness and love to mankind, but because it belongs to Him by nature, both to be of the Father by generation, and also to transcend every thing that is made. When then the Word, Who was in the likeness of, and equal with the Father,
Phil. ii. 8. was made like unto us, u He became obedient unto death, and " the death of the cross : and therefore, God also, it says, hath " highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name that is above " every name : that at the Name of Jesus Christ every knee " should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and of " those under the earth ; and every tongue confess that Jesus " Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Amen." Did the Father therefore give the Name Which is above every
m The word in the Greek d- 'free-born,' to which probably they yunjs, translated in the A. V. 'no- attached the idea of nobility, simi- ' bleman,' is in the Syriac rendered larly to the German use of Freiherr.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 593
name to the Son as one Who is not God by nature? And how then, if this be true, has there not been a new God ma- nifested unto us ? And yet the sacred Scripture cries aloud, " There shall no new God be in thee : neither shalt thou wor- Pa. lxxxi. " ship anv strange God." But He would be ditferent and 9' alien from God, were He not of Him by nature.
The Son therefore certainly is God by nature : and how then did the Father give Him that Name which is above every name ! To this we say, that when He was flesh, that is, man like unto us, He took the name of a servant, and assumed our poverty and low estate : but when He had finished the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh, He was raised11 to the glory that belonged to Him by nature ; not as to something unwonted and strange, and that accrued to Him from without, and was given Him from another, but rather as to that which was His own. For He spake unto God the Father in heaven, " Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with John xvii. " Thee before the world was." For existing before the ages, s' and before the worlds, as one That was of God, and was God, He was clothed with the glorv which belongs to the Godhead ; and when He became a man, as I said, He endured neither mutation nor change, but continued rather in that state*in which He had constantly existed, and such as the Father was Who begot Him, that is to say, like Him in every thing. For He is also " the Heb. i. 3. " image of His person," Who by right of His nature possesses every thing that He is Who begat Him, by being, I mean, of the selfsame substance, and of an equality admitting of no variation, and of a similarity to Him in every thing. Being therefore by nature God, He is said to have received of the Father the Name which is above every name, when He had become man, that He might be believed in as God and the King of all, even in the flesh, that was united unto Him.
But when He had endured for our sakes the passion upon the cross, and by the resurrection of His body from the dead had abolished death, He ascended unto the Father, and be- came as a man journeying unto a far country : for heaven is a different country from earth, — and He ascended that He might receive for Himself a kingdom. Here again remember,
. n In the Greek avanf^olrrjKf, ' He returned.' 4G
594 COMMENTARY UPON
i Cor. x. 5. I pray, the blessed Paul, who says, " That we must destroy " reasonings, and everv high thin? that exalteth itself against " the knowledge of God, and lead captive every thought to the " obedience of Christ." For how does He Who reigns over all with the Father ascend unto Him to receive a kingdom ? I answer, that the Father gives this also to the Son in respect of His having become man. For when He ascended into heaven, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, hence- forth expecting until His enemies are put under His feet. For
Pa. ex. 1. it was said unto Him of the Father, " Sit Thou at My right " hand, until I place Thy enemies as the footstool for Thy " feet/'
" But his citizens, it says, hated him." And similarly Christ
John xv. reproaches the Jewish multitudes, saying, " If I had not done
14' " among them the works which no one else hath done, they had
" not had sin : but now they have both seen and hated both Me " and My Father/' They would not have Him reign over them : and yet the holy prophets were constantly uttering predictions of Christ as of a King. For one of them even said,
Zach. ix. 9. " Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, for lo ! thy King cometh " unto thee, just, and a Saviour ; He is meek, and riding upon " an ass, and upttn a new foal." And the blessed Isaiah says
Is. xxxii.i. of Him and of the holy apostles, "Behold a just king shall " reign, and princes shall rule with judgment." And again, Christ Himself has somewhere said by the voice of the Psalmist,
Pa. ii. 6. " But I have been appointed King by Him upon Zion, His " holy mount, and I will declare the commandment of the " Lord."
They then denied His kingdom : for when they drew near
John xix. unto Pilate saying, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify
I5' " Him," he asked them, or rather said unto them in derision,
" Shall I crucify your king V And they answering with wicked word?, said, " "We have no king bub Caesar.1' Having denied therefore the kingdom of Christ, they fell under the dominion of Satan, and brought upon themselves the yoke of sin, which cannot be thrown off. For they would not have their neck free, though Christ invited them thereunto, saying, that
John viii. " Every one that doeth sin is the slave of sin : but the slave
34- " continueth not in the house for ever ; the Son abideth for
" ever : if therefore the Son make you free, ye will become
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 595
" truly free." And again, " If ye abide in My Word, ye are John viii. " truly My disciples. And ye shall know the truth, and the 3I" " truth shall set you free." But Israel in its madness was not open to instruction, and therefore it has continued in slavery, because it refused to know Christ, Who maketh free.
And thus far I will proceed on the present occasion, re- serving: for some other time the consideration of the rest of the parable; lest too long a discourse be found both fatiguing to him who speaks, and wearisome to those who hear. And may He Who is the Bestower and Giver of all good bless you all, even Christ : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
402
596 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXXIX.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
MEN who are in debt run away from their creditors, be- cause they know them to be importunate. But not so with me ; for I have come to pay my debt, and to fulfil what I promised : and I rather pursue after my creditors than am pursued by them. What therefore is that which I promised, or what is the debt ? At our last meeting then, a long parable having been read to us, we completed our exposition only of a certain por- tion of it, and reserved the remainder for this our holy meeting. And the parable was as follows ; " A certain nobleman went " into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to " return. And when he had called ten of his servants, he " gave them ten minas, and said unto them, Traffic until I " come. But his citizens hated him, and sent an embassy after " him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us." And moreover to this He added, that when the nobleman re- turned after he had received the kingdom, he demanded of those servants to whom he had distributed the talents an ac- count of their trafficking.
Now in our previous exposition we reined in our words, which, so to speak, were at full speed, at the sentence " but " his citizens hated him : and would not have him reign over " them." Now then I shall address you upon those servants who had been entrusted by their Lord with the rainas ; enquiring both who they were that traded and therefore were honoured; and who, on the other hand, is signified by that indolent and sluggish servant, who hid the talent, and added nothing there- unto, and thereby brought upon himself severe condemnation.
The Saviour therefore distributes to those who believe in Him a variety of divine gifts : for this we affirm to be the meaning of the talent. And great indeed is the difference between these [who receive the talents], and those who have even completely denied His kingdom. For they are rebels,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 597
who throw off the joke of His sceptre :b while the others are invested with the glory of serving Him. As faithful servants therefore they are entrusted with their Lord's wealth, that gaining something by trafficking therewith, they may earn the praises due to faithful service, and also be accounted worthy of those honours which abide for ever.
The man;;er therefore of the distribution and who the persons are, and what the talents signify which He distributes, — for He continues to distribute even unto this day, — the sacred Scripture clearly shews. For the blessed Paul has said; "There are iCor.xii.4. " distributions of gifts, but the same Spirit : and there are " distributions of ministries, but the same Lord : and there " are distributions of things to be done, but the same God " Who worketh all in every man." And subsequently, ex- plaining what he said, he further states the kinds of the gifts, as follows; " For to one is given the word of wisdom : and to iCor.xii.s. " another the word of knowledge : and to another faith : and " to another gifts of healing :J1 and so on. The diversity therefore of the gifts is made plain in these words.
But next I think that I ought to mention who they are who have been entrusted by Christ with these gifts, according to the measure of each one's readiness and disposition. For He knoweth whatsoever is in us, in that He is very God, Who spieth the reins and hearts. Let us notice, however, that an- other Evangelist is aware of a difference in the amount of the distribution that was made of the talents. "For to one, he Mat xxv. " says, He gave five talents ; and to another two, and to an- '5' " other one." Thou seest that the distribution was made suit- ably to the measure of each one's faculties. And as to those who were entrusted with them, come, and let us declare who they are to the best of our ability. They are then those who are "perfect in mind, to whom also strong meat is fitting, and Heb. v. 14. " whose intellectual senses are exercised for the discerning of " good and evil." They are those who are skilled in instructing rightly, and acquainted with the sacred doctrines : who know how to direct both themselves and others unto every better work: such, in short, as above all others the wise disciples were. And
b A note in the margin explains " the yoke of His sceptre" by " the " yoke of His kingdom."
598 COMMENTARY UPON
again, next to these come such as succeeded to their ministry, or who hold it at this day, even the holy teachers, who stand at the head of the holy churches : who are the rulers of the nations, and know how to order unto every thing that is useful those who are subject unto them. Upon these the Saviour bestows
Phil. ii. 15. a diversity of divine gifts, that they may be " lights in the " world, holding the word of life :" and they, by admonish- ing the people under their charge, and giving them such counsel as" is useful for life, and rendering them steadfast, and of an upright and blameless faith, gain by traffic unto their talent, and seek spiritual increase. Greatly blessed are they, and win the portion that becometh the saints. For when the nobleman, even Christ, shall have returned after he hath re- ceived'the kingdom, they will be accounted worthy of praises, and rejoice in surpassing honours. For having multiplied the talent tenfold, or fivefold, by winning many men, they will be set over ten or five cities ; that is, they will again be rulers, not merely over those whom they ruled before, but even also over many others. For on this account we find the saints, by the voice of the Psalmist, extolling and making the praises of their gratitude mount up to Christ, Who crowneth them ; and
Pa. xlvii. 3. saying, " HVhath subjected the Gentiles unto us, and nations " under our feet." And that it is the practice and earnest purpose of the saints to make those who are taught by them partakers of the grace given them by Christ, any one may learn from the message which the blessed Paul sent unto
Rom. i. ir. certain, saying, " For I desired to see you, that I might give " you some spiritual gift, that ye may be established." And
1 Tim. iv. he testifies also to his disciple Timothy, " Despise not the gift " that is in thee, which was given thee by the laying on of my " hands." For he wished him to excel in his teaching. And the Saviour Himself also somewhere said in another parable,
Luke xii. (( who therefore is the faithful and wise servant, whom his " lord shall set over his household, to give them their food at " its season ? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he " cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he " will set him over all that he hath." And what is the meaning of his giving his fellow servants food, except it be the distri- buting to the people committed to his charge the benefit of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 599
spiritual instruction, and the satisfying, so to speak, with spi- ritual victuals those who hunger after righteousness?
There are honours, therefore, and triumphs, and crowns for those who have laboured, and loved service : but shame for those who have been overcome by sloth. For he who hid his mina in a napkin became liable to a terrible condemnation. He drew near, saying, " Lo ! thou hast that is thine!" But the purpose, He says, for which thou receivedst it, was not that thou shouldst keep it in concealment. And if thou knewest that I am a hard man, that I reap where I have not sowed, and that I gather whence I have not scattered ; lo ! this very thing, He savs, even makes thv guilt the heavier, and gives no spe- cious pretext for thy slothfulness. For if I am a hard man who reap where I have not sowed, why didst thou not give the grace that was bestowed upon thee ; — for this is the meaning of the mina; — to the money-changers : why, that is, didst thou not lay it out for the happiness or the benefit of those who would well know how to put to the test what they had received from thee ? " For so when I came, I should have exacted, that is, " should have received back my own with its increase." For it is the duty of teachers to sow, and plant, as it were, in their hearers beneficial and saving counsel : but to call unto obedi- ence those whom they teach, and render their mind very fruit- ful, is-the effect of that power which God bestows. And this is the increase. For when those who have heard the divine words, receive into their mind the benefit of them, and labour with joy in doing good, then do they offer that which was given them with increase.
" Take therefore, he says, from him the mina, and give it " unto him that hath ten minas ; for to him that hath, there " shall more be given : but from him that hath not, even that " which he seemeth to have shall be taken away from him." For that slothful servant was stripped even of the gift which had been bestowed upon him : but those who have advanced in the better course, and proved superior to indolence and sloth, will receive fresh blessings from above, and being filled with divine gifts, will mount up to a glorious and admirable lot.
We have seen the honours of the saints : come and let us examine the torments of the wicked, who would not have that
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man of noble lineage to rule over them. " But those, my ene- " mies, He says, -who would not that I should reign over them, " bring hither, and slay them before Me." This was the fate of the Israelitish race : for having denied the kingdom of Christ, they fell into extreme miseries : being evil, they evilly perished. And the gangs too of wicked heretics deny the king- dom of Christ, and so also do all those, who, disregarding the duty of living uprightly, spend their lives in impurity and sin. And these also suffering a penalty like unto that of those men- tioned above shall go unto perdition.
But over us Christ rules as King, and we have a good hope, that we shall also be counted worthy of the portion of the saints, and twine around our heads the crown that besometh the steadfast ; for this also is the gift of Christ our common Saviour ; by "Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Araen.c
c Mai contains two extracts not found in the Syriac : the first from B. (from A. rather ?) is a general introduction to the parable ; the se- cond from A. and B. is said ex- pressly in the margin to lie " a Ho- mily of Cyril's." It belongs, how-
ever, rather to St. Matthew's Gos- pel, as it closely adheres to the ex- pressions there used by our Lord ; but is well worth a careful com- parison with the exposition given above.
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SERMON CXXX.
This Exposition is fit to be read on the holy day
OF HOSANNAS. d
And when He had said these things, He went onwards, going c. xix. 28- up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, that when He was 4°' come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying, Go into the om. abrov village over against us, in which at your entering ye shall K^wv BS find a colt, tied, whereon yet never man sat : loose, and *l*fy GTV
t tttt 1 •* 5 .ii add.*aiBT.
bring it. And if any man ask you, Why loose ye it t thus ^d.abrb^. shall ye say unto him, It is wanted for the Lord. And °£;^sf' when they that were sent had gone their way, they found even as He had said unto them. And as they loosed the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, It is wanted for the Lord. And they brought add. St. B. it unto Jesus: and when they had cast their garments upon the colt, they made Jesus ride thereon : and as He went, they spread their garments before Him in the way. And when He had now arrived at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began with joy to praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the mul- titude said unto Him, Teacher, rebuke Thy disciples. And He answered, and said unto them, I tell you, that if these om. a.lroh be silent, the stones will cry out.
THE disciples praise Christ the Saviour of all, calling Him King and Lord, and the peace of heaven and earth : and let us also praise Him, taking, so to speak, the Psalmist's harp, and
d By the day of Hosannas, Palm rejoicing among the Jews, may be Sunday is meant. That the palm seen by 1 Mac. xiii. 51. branch was an ordinary symbol of
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Pa. civ. 24. saying ; " How great are thy works, 0 Lord : in wisdom hast " Thou made them." For there is nothing: whatsoever of the works wrought by Him but is in wisdom ; for He guideth all useful things each in its proper manner, and assigns to his acts that season which suiteth them. As long then as it was fitting that He should traverse the country of the Jews, en- deavouring to win by lessons and admonitions superior to the law many unto the grace that is by faith, He ceased not so to do : but inasmuch as the time was now at length calling: Him to that Passion which was for the salvation of the whole world, to free the inhabitants of the earth from the tyranny of the enemy, and abolish death, and destroy the sin of the world, He goeth up unto Jerusalem, pointing out first to the Israelites by a plain fact, that a new people from among the heathen shall be subject unto Him, while themselves are rejected as the murderers of the Lord.
What then was the sign ? He sat upon a colt, as we have just heard the blessed Evangelist clearly telling us. And yet perchance some one will say, ' that when He traversed the f whole of Judaea; — for He taught in their synagogues, adding f also to His words the working of miracles ; — He had not 1 asked for an animal to ride upon. For when He might have * purchased one, He would not, though wearied often by His ' long journeys by the way. For when traversing Samaria, He
John iv. 6. f was " wearied with His journey," as it is written. Who there- ' fore can make us believe, that when He was going: from the ' Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, places separated from one an- ' other by so short an interval, that He would require a colt ? 1 And why, when the colt was accompanied by its dam, did He ' not rather take the mother, instead of choosing the colt? For ' that the ass also, that bore the colt, was brought unto Him,
Mat.xxi. s. f We learn from the words of Matthew, who says, "that He ' " sent the disciples unto a village over against them ; and f " said unto them, that ye will find an ass tied, and a colt ' " with her : loose and bring them unto Me. And they ' " brought, it says, the ass, and the colt with her." ' We must consider therefore what is the explanation, and what the benefit which we derive from this occurrence, and how we make Christ's riding upon the colt a type of the calling of the Gentiles.
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The God of all then created man upon the earth with a mind capable of wisdom, and possessed of powers of under- standing. But Satan deceived him, though made in the image of God, and led him astray even until he had no knowledge of the Creator and Artificer of all. He humbled the dwellers upon earth down to the lowest stage of irra- tionality and ignorance. And the blessed prophet David knowing this, and even, so to speak, weeping bitterly for it, says, "Man being in honour understood it not: he is to be Pa.slix.12. " compared to the beast without understanding, and has be- " come like unto it." It is probable therefore that that older ass contains the type of the synagogue of the Jews, which, so to speak, had become brutish, because it had paid but small heed to the law given by Moses, and had despised the holy prophets, and had added thereto disobedience unto Christ, Who was calling it unto faith, and the opening of its eyes. For He said, " I am the light of the world ; he that believeth in Me John viii. " shall not walk in darkness, but poss'esseth the light of life." But the darkness which He speaks of is undoubtedly that of the mind, even ignorance and blindness, and the malady of ex- ' treme irrationality.
But the colt, which as yet had not been broken in, repre- sents the new people, called from among the heathen. For it also was by nature destitute of reason, having wandered into error. But Christ became its wisdom, " for in Him Col. ii. 3. " are all the treasures of wisdom, and the secret things of " knowledp-e e."
O p
The colt therefore is brought, two disciples having been sent by Christ for this purpose. And what does this signify? It means that Christ calls the heathen, by causing the light of truth to shine upon them : and there minister unto him for this purpose two orders of His subjects, the prophets, namely, and the apostles. For the heathen are won unto the faith by means of the preachings of the apostles ; and they always add unto their words proofs derived from the law and the pro- phets. For one of them even said to those who have been called by faith unto the acknowledgment of the glory of Christ,
6 In the Greek it is -rijs yvmvtas the Syriac always renders it as if it aTTOKpv(f>oi : which latter word is an were ra ttJc yvaxreoos airoKpvcpa. adj. agreeing with drjiravpot. But
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iPet. i. 19. » ^(i we }jave ^e more sure prophetic word, unto which ye " do well to look, as unto a torch that shineth in a dark place, " until the day dawn, and the light-star arise in your hearts/' For before the coming of the Saviour, the predictions of the law and the prophets concerning Christ, were as some torch in a dark place. For the mind of the Jews was always gross, and, so to speak, full of thick darkness. For they understood not in the least what was said concerning Christ. But when the day dawned, when the light that is of truth arose, hence- forth the prophetic word is no small torch, but resembles rather the bright rays of the morning star.
And next the colt is brought from a village, in. order that He may by this means also point out the uncivilized state of mind of the heathen, who, so to speak, had not been educated in the city, nor in lawful habits, but, on the contrary, lived boorishly and rudely. For constantly those who dwell in vil- lages live in this way. But they did not continue in this un- civilized state of mind, but, on the contrary, were changed unto peacefulness and wiseness. For they became subject unto Christ, Who teacheth these things.
The ass then was rejected, for Christ rode not thereon, although it had been broken in already, and practised to submit itself to its riders : but He took the colt, although it was un- trained and unproved in carrying a rider, and in yielding to the reins. For, as I said, He rejected the synagogue of the Jews, although it had once borne a rider in the law, nor was obe- dience a thing to which it was untrained : still He refused it as aged, and spoiled, and as having gone astray already into wilful disobedience unto God over all : but He accepted the colt, a people, that is, taken from among the Gentiles.
And this is the meaning of the praise rendered by the voice of the Psalmist unto Christ the Saviour of all, where he says Pa.xixii.9. of those that were in error, " With bridle and bit shalt Thou " restrain the jaws of them that draw not nigh unto Thee." And it is easy to see from sacred Scripture, that the multitude of the Gentiles was also summoned unto repentance and obedi- ence by the holy prophets. For God thus spake in a certain Is. xlv. :o. place, " Be assembled and come : take counsel together, ye who " are saved from among the Gentiles."
Christ therefore sits upon the colt : and as He had now
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 605
come to the descent of the mount of Olives, close, that is, to Jerusalem, the disciples went before Him, praising Him. For they were called to bear witness of the wonderful works which He had wrought, and of His godlike glory and sovereignty. And in like manner we also ought always to praise Him, con- sidering Who and how great He is Who is praised by us.
But another of the holy Evangelists has mentioned, that Mat. xxi. s. children also, holding aloft branches of palm trees, ran before Jo^rn ^V Him, and, together with the rest of the disciples, celebrated 13- His glory ; so that by their means also we see the new people, gathered from among the heathen, represented as in a paint- ing. For it is written, that " the people that shall be created P3. cii. 18. shall praise the Lord."
And the Pharisees indeed murmured because Christ was praised ; and drew near and said, " Rebuke thy disciples." But what wrong action have they done, 0 Pharisee? What charge bringest thou against the disciples, or how wouldst thou have them rebuked ? For they have not in any way sinned, but have rather done that which is praiseworthy. For they extol, as King and Lord, Him Whom the law had before pointed out by many figures and types ; and Whom the com- pany of the holy prophets had preached of old : but thou hast despised Him, and grievest Him by thy numberless envyings- Thy duty rather it was to join the rest in their praises : thy duty it was to withdraw far from thy innate wickedness, and to change thy manner for the better : thy duty it was to fol- low the sacred Scriptures, and to thirst after the knowledge of the truth. But this thou didst not do, but transferring thy words to the very contrary, thou desiredst that the heralds of the truth might be rebuked. What therefore doth Christ an- swer to these things ? "I tell you, that if these be silent, the " stones will cry out."
For it is impossible for God not to be glorified, even though those of the race of Israel refuse so to do. For the wor- shippers of idols were once as stones, and, so to speak, hard- ened ; but they have been delivered from their former error, and rescued from the hand of the enemy. They have escaped from demoniacal darkness ; they have been called unto the light of truth : they have awakened as from druken- ness : they have acknowledged the Creator. They praise
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Him not secretly, and in concealment ; not in a hidden man- ner, and, so to speak, silently, but with freedom of speech, and loud voice ; diligently, as it were, calling out to one another, and saying, " Come, let us praise the Lord, and sing psalms w unto God our Saviour." For they have acknowledged, as I said, Christ the Saviour of all ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen f.
f Mai contains only three ex- tracts upon this sermon, and even of those, two frum A. are not ac- knowledged by the Syriac. The first is a narrative, almost in the words of the Evangelists, of our Lord's entry; after the hymn, how- ever, it proceeds thus ; " Peace in " heaven, for God is no longer " treated by us as our enemy («- " Treiro\ena>fj.euov), but walks in the " country of us His foes, and there- *' fore is glorified by the angels. " For the King above has descend- " ed below, and made all obedient " unto Him." These last words, y.iav v-rraKOTjv Trexoirjicfv, Mai sug-
gests should be translated " and " has made one hymn of praise ;" such being the meaning of viraKOTj in Greek ecclesiastical language. That the extract is Cyril's, I very much doubt. Theophylact, p. 492, has a similar interpretation, but in a better style, and free from the antithesis, 6 auut Pacriktvs Karej3r) k6.tco. The second extract is cer- tainly Cyril's, though not from the Commentary, and is levelled against the Nestorians, showing that Christ did not refuse to be honoured as God, at the very time when He was riding as the Son of David upon the ass.
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SERMON CXXXI.
And as He drew near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, C. xix. 4i- saying, Would that thou hadst known on this day, even t^ . , thou, the things of thy peace : but now they are hid from T^v ««* thy eyes: that the days shall come upon thee, when thy Ka\ah'Kaiyi enemies shall raise a rampart against thee, and encircle iv 'f w*p*
* ~ aov ravr-p
thee, and keep thee in on every side ; and shall dash thee GTj. to the ground, and thy children within thee, and shall not °™'t™U'„ „ leave in thee stone upon stone, because thou knewest not the B. time of thy visitation.
THE blessed prophet Jeremiah loudly condemned the igno- rance, at once, and pride of the Jews, rebuking them in these words; " How say ye that we are wise, and the word of the Jer. viii. 8. " Lord is with us? In vain is the lying cord of the scribes. " The wise men are ashamed : they trembled, and were taken: " what wisdom have they, in that they have rejected the Word "of the Lord!" For being neither wise, nor acquainted with the sacred Scriptures, though the scribes and Pharisees falsely assumed to themselves the reputation of being learned in the law, they rejected the "Word of God. For when the Only Begotten had become man, they did not- receive Him, nor yield their neck obediently to the summons which He ad- dressed to them by the Gospel. Because therefore by their wicked conduct they rejected the Word of God, they were themselves rejected, being condemned by God's just decree. • For He said, by the voice of Jeremiah, " Call them rejected Jer. vi. 30. " silver : because the Lord hath rejected them." And again, " Shave thy head, and cast it away, and take lamentation Jer. vii. 29. " upon thy lips, because the Lord hath rejected and thrust " away the generation that hath done these things." And what these things are, the God of all hath Himself declared to us, saying, " Hear, 0 earth: behold! I am bringing upon Jer. vi. 19. " this people evils ; the fruit of their turning away ; because " they regarded not My word, and have rejected My law." For neither did they keep the commandment that was given unto them by Moses, " teaching for doctrines the command- Mat. xv. 9.
• 608 COMMENTARY UPON
" ments of men :" and further, they also rejected the Word of God the Father, having refused to honour by faith Christ, when He called them thereunto. The fruits therefore of their turning away were plainly the calamities which happened unto them : for they suffered all misery, as the retribution due for murdering the Lord.
But their falling into this affliction was not in accordance with the good will of God. For He would rather have had them attain unto happiness by faith and obedience. But they were disobedient, and arrogant : yet even so, though this was their
r Tim. ii. 4. state of mind, Christ pitied them : for " He willeth that all " men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the " truth." For it even says, that " when He saw the city, He " wept •" that we hereby might learn that He feels grief, if we may so speak of God, Who transcends all. But we could not have known that He pitied them, wicked as they were, had He not made manifest by some human action that sorrow which we could not see. For the tear which drops from the eye is a symbol of grief, or rather, a plain demonstration of it. So He wept also over Lazarus, that we again might under- stand that it grieved Him that the nature of man had fallen
Wisd.ii.23. under the power of death. For "He created all things unto " incorruption ; but by the envy of the devil death entered into " the world:11 not indeed because the envy of the devil is more powerful than the will of the Creator, but because it was ne- cessary that there should follow, upon the transgression of the divine commandment, a penalty that would humble to corrup- tion whosoever had despised the law of life.
We say therefore that He wept also over Jerusalem for a similar reason : for He desired, as I said, to see it in happi- ness, by its accepting faith in Him, and welcoming peace with God. For it was to this that the prophet Isaiah also
Is. xxvii. 5. invited them, saying, "Let us make peace with Him: let us
( ePw « wh0 come make peace." For that by faith peace is made by us with God, the wise Paul teaches us, where he writes,
Rom. v. 1. " Being justified therefore by faith, we have peace with God " by our Lord Jesus Christ." But they, as I said, having hurried with unbridled violence into arrogancy and contumely, persisted in despising the salvation which is by Christ : and Christ therefore blames them for this very thing, saying,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 609
" Would that thou hadst known, even thou, the things of thy
" peace :" the things, that is, useful and necessary for thee to
make thy peace with God. And these were faith, obedience,
the abandonment of types, the discontinuance of the legal
service, and the choice in preference of that which is in spirit
and in truth, even that which is by Christ, of a sweet savour,
and admirable, and precious before God. " For God, He says, j0hn iv. 24.
" is a Spirit : and they that worship Him must worship Him
" in spirit and in truth."
" But they are hid, He says, from thy eyes." For they were not worthy to know, or rather to understand, the Scrip- tures inspired of God, and which speak of the mystery of Christ. For Paul said, " Seeing then that we have so great a 2 Cor. iii, " hope, we use great freedom of speech: and not as Moses, who I*' " put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel might not " behold the glorv of his countenance, which was being done " away. But their minds were blinded ; for even to this day " the same veil remaineth upon the reading of the old cove- " nant : for when Moses is read, the veil is laid upon their " hearts, and is not taken off, because it is done away in " Christ." But in what way is the veil done away in Christ? It is because He, as being the reality, makes the shadow cease : for that it is His mystery which is represented by the shadow of the law, He assures us, saying unto the Jews, " Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed also Me : John v. 46. " for he wrote of Me." For it was because they had not carefully examined the types of the law, that they did not see the truth. "For callousness s in part hath happened unto Rom. xi. 25. " Israel," as Paul, who was really learned in the law, tells us. But callousness is the certain cause of ignorance and darkness : for so Christ once spake ; " It is not any thing that goeth into fifat.x7.11. " the mouth which defileth the man." And even then the Pharisees again reproached Him, for so speaking, with the breaking of the law, and overthrowing of the commandment
s The Greek Trcipwcrir properly for a dry skin upon the eye. I have
signifies " callousness," and thence therefore always translated it by
the blindness caused by cataract, a blindness, except in this place,
callous mass growing over the eye : - where evidently S. Cyril uses it in
and jZ.oj_.oii. has in Syriac a sirni- the general sense of " hardness,"
lar meaning, |;oi. being the name "obduracy."
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610 COMMENTARY UPON
given them by Moses. And afterwards the disciples drew near unto Him, saying, " Knowest thou that the Pharisees, " who heard the word, were offended ? And He answered " them, Every plant that My heavenly Father hath not " planted shall be rooted up : let them alone: blind are they, " leaders of the blind." The plant therefore which the Fa- ther planted not, — for He calls unto the acknowledgment of the Son those who shall be accounted worthy of His salvation, — shall be rooted up.
Far different is the case with those who have believed in Him : how could it be otherwise 1 For, as the Psalmist says concern-
Ps. xcii. 13. ing them, "They are planted in the house of the Lord, and " shall flourish in the courts of our God." For they are the building and workmanship of God, -as the sacred Scripture declares. For it is said unto God by the voice of David,
Ps. exxviii. " Thy sons shall be as the young olive plants round about thy
3" « table."
But the Israelites, even before the Incarnation, proved them- selves unworthy of the salvation which is by Christ, in that they rejected communion with God, and set up for themselves gods falsely so called, and slew the prophets, although they warned them not to depart from the living God, but to hold fast unto His sacred commandments. But they would not consent so to do, but grieved Him in many ways, even when He invited them unto salvation. .
Mat. xxSL And this the Saviour Himself teaches us, thus saying, " Je- " rusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth " them that are sent unto her, how often would I have ga- " thered thy sons, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her " wings, and ye would not." Thou seest that He indeed often desired to bestow upon them His mercy, but they rejected His aid. And therefore they were condemned by God's holy decree, and put away from being members of His spiritual household. For He even said by one of the holy prophets
Hos. iv. 5. unto the people of the Jews, " I have compared thy mother " unto the night : My people is like unto him that hath no " knowledge. Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I also " will reject thee from being My priest : and because thou " hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy " sons." Observe therefore that He compares Jerusalem to
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 6*11
the night ; for the darkness of ignorance veiled the heart of the Jews, and blinded their eyes : and for this reason they were given over to destruction and slaughter. For the God of all spake by the voice of Ezechiel : " As I live, saith the Ezek.7.11. " Lord, surely inasmuch as thou hast defiled My holy things " with all thy impurities, I will also reject thee ; My eye shall " not spare, nor will I pity/' " They that are in the plain Ezek. vii. " shall die by the sword : and them that are in the city ls' " famine and pestilence shall consume. And those of them " that are saved shall be delivered, and shall be upon the " mountains as meditative doves V For Israel did not perish from the very roots, nor, so to speak, stock and branch : but a remnant was delivered, of which the foremost and the first- fruits were the blessed disciples, of whom it is that he says, that they were upon the mountains as meditative doves. For they were as heralds throughout the whole world, forth- telling the mystery of Christ, and their office is praise and song, and, so to speak, to cry aloud in psalms, " My tongue Pa- **xv. " shall meditate on Thy righteousness : and all the day on " Thy praise."
The means therefore of her peace with God were hidden from Jerusalem : and of these the first and foremost is the faith which justifies the wicked, and unites by holiness and righteousness those who possess it unto the all pure God.
That the city then, once so holy and illustrious, even Jeru- salem, fell into the distresses of war, may be seen from history : but the prophet Isaiah also assures us of it, where he cries aloud unto the multitudes of the Jews, " Your country is deso- i3. i. 7. " late : your cities are burnt with fire : your land, strangers " devour it in your presence : and it is desolate as overthrown " by foreign nations." This was the wages of the vainglory of the Jews, the punishment of their disobedience, the torment that was the just penalty of their pride. But we have won
h This translation is taken from convallium, " the doves of the val-
TheOdotion, who renders us ntpi- " leys," and so the A. V. S. Cyril
an-epal fxeXeTrjTLKal, having errone- has apparently also in other places
ously imagined that n"P» : ft is de- used Theodotion's translation in
rived from mrt, to meditate. Je- preference to that of the Sept., which
rome translates it rightly columbce latter omits the passage altogether.
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the hope of the saints, and are in all happiness, because we have honoured Christ by faith : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen1.
1 Mai adds a short extract upon has the passage sentence by sen- Christ's "visitation," and the escape tence, though in different order, and of the Christians from the over- probably it was from him that the throw of Jerusalem. Theophylact Catenist took it.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 613
SERMON CXXXII.
And having entered into the temple, He began to cast out C- xix- 45- them that sold therein, saying unto them, It is written that x_8. My house is a house of prayer : but ye have made it a den °™- *v **r* of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple : but the ayopa(ov chief priests and scribes and rulers of the people sought to ™* ^ s destroy Him ; and found not what they might do unto om. on G*. Him, for all the people were hanging upon Him to hear ^ . ** Him. And it came to pass on one of the days, as He add. <ivt<z taught the people in the temple, and preached, the chief ^^^ a{,. priests and scribes, with the elders, rose up against Him, r\\s: . and said unto Him, Tell us by what authority Thou doest Gs. these things? or who it is that gave Thee this authority? Tes's*yo" But He answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one word, and tell Me : the baptism, of John, was it from om.eVaBT. heaven, or of men? And they considered with themselves, saying, That if we shall say, From heaven ; He will say, Why therefore did ye not believe him? But if we say, Of om. oScBT. men ; all the people will stone us : for they are persuaded that John is a prophet. And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Nei- ther tell I you by what authority I do these things.
IT is written, that " there is a light always for the right- Prov.xiii.9. " eous ; but the light of the wicked shall be put out." For to those who have embraced the righteousness that is in Christ, God the Father imparts the inextinguishable light of the true knowledge of the true vision of God : for He revealeth unto them the Son ; as the Saviour Himself also in a certain place said unto the Jews, " Murmur not one with another: no man John vi. 43. " can come unto Me, except the Father Who sent Me draw " him." But He draws, of course, by light and knowledge, and tne cords of love. But those who are not so disposed in will, but wickedly reject Christ's commandments, from their mind even that light, which they had by the commandment of Moses, vanishes away, and is extinguished, while the darkness of ignorance usurps its place.
614 COMMENTARY UPON"
And that this is true, and the real state of the case, the blindness of the Jews proves to us. For they were dark, and unable to see the glory of the Word, Who became man for our sakes, although He revealed Himself to them by the work- ing of many miracles, and a godlike authority, an instance of which we have in what happened in the temple. For there was in it a multitude of merchants, and others also, guilty of the charge of the base love of lucre, moneychangers, I mean, or keepers of exchange tables ; sellers of oxen, moreover, and dealers in sheep, and sellers of turtle doves and pigeons ; all which things were used for the sacrifices according to the legal ritual. But the time had now come for the shadow to draw to an end, and for the truth, so to speak, to shine forth ; even the lovely beauty of Christian conduct, and the glories of the blameless life, and the sweet rational savour of the worship in spirit and in truth.
For this reason very justly did the Truth, even Christ, as One Who with His Father was also honoured in their temple, command that those things that were by the law should be carried away, even the materials for sacrifices and burning of incense, and that the temple should manifestly be a house of prayer. For His rebuking the dealers, and driving them from the sacred courts, when they were selling what was wanted for sacrifice, means certainly this, as I suppose, and this alone. John ii. 15. We must observe however that another of the holy Evan- gelists mentions, that not only did the Lord rebuke those dealers by words, but that He also made a scourge of cords, and threatened to inflict stripes upon them ; for it was right for those who honoured the lesral service after the manifesta- tion of the truth, to know, that by retaining the spirit of bondage, and refusing to be set free, they became subject to stripes, and liable to slavish torture k. The Saviour therefore
k In Mai this passage from A. " and doves, as John has mention-
and B., which has agreed thus far " ed, and other like things; and
with the Syriac, now takes a very " others bought. But the koXXv-
different direction, as follows, " See, " /3«<rral were moneychangers : for
" I pray, their contempt ! for they " the koWv&os was an obol, and
" traded in the temple, and some " by KoWvfiifa is meant, ' giving
" sold what was required for sacri- " ' change ;' for so doe3 custom
" fices, sheep, I mean, and oxen, " alter words. But Christ en-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 615
of all, and Lord, manifests unto them His glory for their benefit, in order that they- may believe in Him. For as one Who possessed authority over the temple, He both took care of it, and also called God His Father. For as that other holy Evangelist wrote, He said to the dealers, "Make not My John ii. 16. "Father's house a house of merchandize." And again, " It Markxi.17. " is written, that My house shall be called a house of prayer : " but ye have made it a den of thieves." It was their duty therefore, I say their duty, rather to worship Him, as One who with God the Father was Lord of the temple. But this in their great follv thev did not do : but rather bein°- savagelv eager for hatred, they both set up against Him the sharp sting of wickedness, and hastened unto murder, the neighbour and brother of envy. For " they sought, it says, to destroy " Him, but could not : for all the people were hanging upon " Him to hear Hirn." And does not this then make the punishment of the scribes and pharisees, and all the rulers of the Jewish ranks, more heavy? that the whole people, con- sisting of unlearned persons, hung upon the sacred doctrines, and drank in the saving word as the rain, and were ready to bring forth also the fruits of faith, and place their neck under His commandments : but thev whose office it was to uro-e on their people to this very thing, savagely rebelled, and wick- edly sought the opportunity for murder, and with unbridled violence ran upon the rocks, not accepting the faith, and wick- edly hindering others also.
And how is not what I have said true? For the Saviour Himself reproached them, saying, "And to you, lawyers, woe! Luke.xi.52. " for ye have taken away the key of knowledge : ye enter not " in yourselves, and those that are entering in ye have " hindered." They rise up therefore against Christ as He teaches, and wickedly and abominably call out and say, " Tell " us, by what authority Thou doest these things ? Who gave " Thee this authority V ' The law, they say, given by .
" tered the temple with boldness, " fices, and teaching us also to act
" as being Lord, and cast out those " resolutely in defence of the
" mentioned above, both laying " church." The passage belongs
" bare His power over all as God, probably to the Catenist himself,
" and being emboldened by His being partly however suggested by
" sinlessness, and further signify- S. Cyril's words. " ing the abolition of bloody sacri-
616 COMMENTARY UPON
' Moses, and the commandment which regulates all these our ' institutions, enjoined that those only who are of the lineage ' of Levi should approach these sacred duties : they offer the ' sacrifices: they regulate whatever is done in the divine tem- ' pie : to them is given the office of instructing, and the go- ' vernment of the sacred trusts. But Thou, as being of an- ' other tribe, — for Thou art sprung from Judah, — seizest ' upon honours which have been set apart for us. " Who ' " gave Thee this authority ?" ' 0 foolish Pharisee, come and let me tell thee somewhat thou canst not gainsay, plead- ing to thee the cause of Christ our common Saviour. If thou wert acquainted with the Scriptures, which are inspired of God, and the words and predictions of the holy prophets, thou wouldst have remembered perchance the blessed David, who
Ps. ex. 4. says in the Spirit unto Christ the Saviour of all, " The Lord " hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever " after the order of Melchisedek." Explain, therefore, what Pharisee or Scribe has ministered unto God after the order of Melchisedek, who blessed and received tithes of Abraham?
Heb. vii. 7. And as the very wise Paul writes, " Without all contradiction " the less is blessed of the better." The root and commence- ment therefore of the very existence of Israel, even the patri- arch Abraham, was blessed by the priesthood of Melchisedek : but Melchisedek and his priesthood was a type of Christ the Saviour of us all, Who has been made our High Priest and Apostle ; not bringing near unto God the Father those who believe in Him, by means of bloody sacrifices and offerings of incense, but perfecting them unto holiness by a service supe-
Heb. viii.r. rior to the law : for "such a High Priest have we, Who has
" sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on
" high."
The difference, however, between the two services is very
great : for the Saviour of all offers as a priest unto God the
Pa. xxxvi. Father the confession of our faith, and the " torrent of the
8
Johniv.24. " sweet spiritual savour:" — for "God is a Spirit: and they
" that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." But
the bloody sacrifices which they offer are not well-pleasing to
Amos v.? r. Q0^ Yot He even said unto them, " I have hated, and have
" rejected your festivals, and I will not smell at your solemn
" assemblies. Because even though ye bring Me whole burnt
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 617
" offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept them, nor will I re- " gard the salvation of your appearance. Take away from Me " the sounding of thy praises : nor will I hear the psalmody " of thy instruments." Understand therefore that He says, that He hated their festivals, and that as well their praises as their sacrifices were rejected by Him. And yet God rejoieeth in being praised ; but not by impure mouths, nor by a defiled tongue : for it is written in the book of Psalms, " But unto the Pa. l. 16. " sinner God hath said, Why dost thou declare My command- " ments, and take My covenant in thy mouth ; whereas thou " hast hated instruction, and hast cast out My words behind "thee?" And again He said, " Add no more to tread My Is. i. 12. " court : if ye bring fine wheaten flour, it is in vain : and your " spices are an abomination unto Me/' Why therefore, 0 Pha- risee, dost thou murmur at those things being expelled from the sacred courts which were employed for the legal sacrifices, when the appointed time now summoned men to a life better than types, and to true justification by faith in Christ, Who is Himself the truth.
But the series of subjects now set before us leads us on to discussions of too great length : and whatever is beyond duo limit, is everywhere disagreeable as well to those who hear, as to those who teach. Let then what has been said suffice for the present : and whatever still remains, we will complete when Christ again assembles us here ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
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618 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXXXIII.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
YE have again assembled, I suppose, to be taught ; and I praise your conduct, and count your willingness worthy of all Prov viu. admiration : for it is written, that " wisdom is better than "" "stones of costly price; and all precious things are not com-
" parable unto her." For the wisdom that comes from above, from God, is an incomparable blessing ; and when we attain unto it by means of the holy Scripture, inspired of God, and gain the divine light to dwell in our minds, we then advance without wandering unto whatsoever is useful for our spiritual profit. Come therefore, and let us now also scrupulously examine the meaning of the Evangelic lessons which have already been read to us.
At our previous meeting then the discourse which we ad- dressed unto you was upon the ignorance of the Pharisees, and their utter madness, and base attacks. For they drew near unto Christ, the Saviour of us all, saying, " By what authority " doest Thou these things, and who gave Thee this authority V For what had Christ done ? He had cast out of the temple those who were selling sheep and oxen, turtle doves and pi- geons ; and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, say- John ii. 16. ing, "Take these things hence: and make not My Father's Luke xix. " house a house of merchandize." And again, "My house is 4 ' "a house of prayer : but ye make it a den of thieves."
We then spoke of these things as follows; that as the Lord was gathering1 up the shadow of the law, as a thing already unprofitable and superfluous, He sought to prohibit the sacri- fices that were by the shedding of blood, because the time was now close at hand, and present, at which the worship in spirit and in truth must be declared. For He was Himself the truth,
1 The margin explains " gather- phor. Probably S. Cyril's word was
ing up" by " destroying." But evi- a-uareWa, which he constantly uses
dently this was not intended to ex- in the sense of "contracting." plain the word, but only the meta-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 619
and as the truth had now appeared, types necessarily had be- come superfluous. Yet for this reason those wretched beings furiously attacked the Lord of all. And thus far our discourse Kwiuri. had proceeded at our last meeting.
We will now shew that the chiefs and teachers of the Jew- ish synagogue in another way also violently attacked Christ. For the Saviour was teachiug in the temple, setting forth most certainly for the instruction of His hearers things superior to the law ; even the pathway of evangelic conduct. But they, being indignant at this also, wickedly drew near questioning Him, and saying, "Who gave Thee this authority?" What then again does this mean ? ' Thou art teaching, they say, in ' the temple, and yet Thou art sprung from the tribe of Judah, ' and art not numbered among those whose office it is to min- ' ister as priests in the temple. And why dost Thou teach ' what is repugnant to the commandment of Moses, and agrees ' not with the law that was given us of old V
To those therefore who thus speak let us say, Doth this bite thy mind, and provoke thee to savage envy ? Tell me, accusest thou the Lawgiver with the abrogation of the law ? Dost thou blame Him, and make an outcry, because He does not obey His own laws ? Tell me therefore, is God subject to His own law ? Was it for us, or for Himself perhaps I suppose, that He enacted the commandments spoken by the holy prophets? But it is certain, even though thou ownest it not, that God transcends all law, and that it is we who are under the yoke of His commandments. When therefore any man, such as we are, transgresses the law. blame and condemn him for his transgression : but He Who enacted laws, not for Himself, but rather for us to obey, from time to time changes according to His own good pleasure whatever has been com- manded; intending thereby not to humble those who are under the law to any thing evil, but rather to raise them up to that which is better. And so then now the season had arrived for the cessation of those things which were by types, and when that teaching of the law, which was given for the instruction of them of old time must pass away, in order that something better might be revealed, even the instruction given us in the Gospel.
But thou sayest, ' Was this therefore in accordance with the 4 K 2
G20 COMMENTARY UPON
' will of Him Who instituted by Moses that former command- ' ment for those of old time?' Yes, I answer; and I arrive at this conclusion, not of ray own mind, but as having proof thereof in the prophetic Scriptures. For God has somewhere Mic. vi. 15. said by the voice of Isaiah, M And the laws of My people shall ' ti[' " be made to disappear/" How have the laws of the people been made to disappear ? Because, as I said, they have been brought to nought by the manifestation of a new and better commandment, which the Son has spoken unto us by Himself; and which also He proclaimed of old by the voice of Ezechiel,
Jer. xxxii. thus speaking of those of the race of Israel ; " Behold, I will " gather them from every land whither I have scattered them " in My anger, and hot displeasure, and great wrath ; and I " will make them return unto this place, and I will cause them " to dwell safely, and they shall be to Me a people, and I will " be to them a God, and I will give them another way and an- " other heart, that they may fear Me all their days." Another way therefore has been given them, by the gathering up, as I said, of the legal service, and of the teaching which consisted in writings and types, and the entrance in of that of the Gos- pel, of which the very beginning and pathway is faith, which by a spiritual service perfects unto justification, and raises up unto sanctification those who draw near unto God.
For that the institutions of Moses were intended to come to an end, and a new law and a new covenant to be given by Christ, any one may easily see, inasmuch as Ho says plainly ;
Jer. xxxi. " Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will appoint a " new covenant for the house of Israel, and for the house of " Judah ; not according to the covenant that I appointed for " their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to " bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not " abide in My covenant, and I despised them, saith the Lord." He promises therefore a new covenant : and as the very wise
Heb. viii. Paul writes, " In that He said, a new, He hath made the for- u iner one old : but that which is made old, and growing old, " is ready for destruction." Inasmuch therefore as the former (covenant) was made old, it was necessary that that which is new should enter in its place : and this was done not by one of the holy prophets, but by Him rather Who is the Lord of the prophets.
TIIE GOSPEL OF ST, LUKE. 621
Why therefore dost thou murmur, 0 Pharisee, at seeing the divinely inspired Scripture fulfilled, and those things which had been spoken of old by the holy prophets attaining also their fulfilment ?
When then they asked, " By what authority doest Thou " these things?" the Saviour replied, " I also will ask you one " word, and tell Mo : the baptism of John, was it from heaven " or of men? And they, it says, considered with themselves, " saying, that if we shall say, From heaven, He will say, Why " therefore did ye not believe him ? but if we say, Of men, all " the people will stone us : for they are persuaded that John " is a prophet. And they answered, that they knew not " whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell " I you by what authority 1 do these things." Observe the great malice of the Pharisees : they flee from the truth ; they refuse the light ; they feel no horror at committing sin. For God the Father sent the blessed Bcxptist as the forerunner of Christ, crying out and saying, "Prepare ye the way of the la. ri. 3. " Lord : and make straight the pathways of our God." Ot him too the wise evangelist John wrote ; " There was a man John i. 6. " sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a testi- " mony to bear witness of the light: he was not the light, but " to bear witness of the light ;" even of Christ. And he bore witness by saying, that " He That sent me to baptize in water, John i. 33- " He said unto me, that upon Whom thou seest the Spirit de- " scend from heaven, and abide upon Him, He it is That bap- '« tizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bore witness, " that This is the Son of God." The blessed Baptist therefore, as being so great and admirable, is one worthy of our accept- ance to° move us unto faith, and to be a witness concerning Christ. But because it was the custom of the* Jews lightly to slander the saints, and to call them false speakers, and to say that they had not been sent of God, but falsely assumed a knowledge of prophecy of their own mind, Christ asked them, what opinion they entertained of the Baptist? was he one who came from above, from God ; did they honour him, that is, as one who had been sent to baptize in accordance with the will of God ? or according to their custom, did they, from hu- man considerations and wishes, deny that he came for this pur- pose? And they were afraid indeed to speak the truth, lost they
622 COMMENTARY UPON
should be told, Why then did ye not believe Him ? but neither will they accuse the forerunner, not however from being afraid of God, but rather of the multitudes. And therefore they hide the truth, and say, " We know not."
As not being then worthy to learn the truth, and to see the pathway which leadeth directly unto every good work, Christ answered them, " And neither do I tell you by what authority " I do these things/' The Jews therefore knew not the truth : Is. Hv. 13. for they were not "taught of God," that is, of Christ. But to us who have believed in Him, Christ Himself revealeth it, so that we, receiving in mind and heart His divine and adorable mystery, or rather the knowledge of it, and being careful to fulfil those things which are well-pleasing to Him, shall reign with Him : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 623
SERMON CXXXIV.
C. xx. 9-18. And He began to speak unto the people this parable : A man add. m 5. planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went on a journey for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant unto the husbandmen, that they might give him of the fruit of the vineyard : but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent to them add. airoh another servant, but they beat him also, and shamefully entreated him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third : and they wounded him also, and cast him out. And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son : perhaps they will reverence *d*L 'W"T€S him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned vp},s a^- among themselves, saying, TJiis is the heir: come, let twjjjjjl kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. And they cast robs GSr. him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore °™; ££€ ' shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall -Be- come and destroy those husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard unto others. And when they heard it, they said, »i 5h htoi- Heaven forbid. But He looked upon them, and said, What is this then that is written, That the stone which the build- in \Ldov S. ers rejected has become the head of the comer ? Every one that fcdleth upon this stone shall be broken : but upon & irlirrw S. whomsoever it shall fall, it will winnow him.
CHRIST has somewhere said, " The kingdom of heaven is Mat. xiii. " like unto a treasure hid in a field." And there is nothing 44' more certain than that those who love lucre, and seek for treasures, most certainly do not find them ready for them, nor placed above ground, but hidden rather and buried out of sight; and only by digging laboriously do they find them, and that with difficulty. Come therefore, and let us seek after the knowledge of the lessons of the Gospel as for some treasure ; let us search deep into the thoughts therein contained : for so shall we find what we seek by Christ revealing this also unto us : " for in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, and the Col. ii. 3.
6*24 COMMENTARY UPON
" hidden things of knowledge;" and He is the Giver of wisdom and understanding to the whole rational creation.
What therefore does He say to the chiefs of the Jews, when setting forth unto them those things which are useful for sal- vation ? " A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to hus- " bandmen, and went on a journey for a long time." Now if any one will examine with the penetrating eyes of the mind the purport of what is hero said, he will find the whole history of the children of Israel briefly summed up in these words. For who the man is who planted the vineyard, and what, in fact, is to be understood by the vineyard which was planted, the Psalmist makes clear, where he says unto Christ, the Sa- Ps. Ixxx. 8. viour of all, respecting the Israelites ; " Thou broughtest a " vine out of Egypt ; Thou removedst the nations, and plant- " edst it: Thou madest a way before it, and plantedst its roots, " and it filled the land." And further, the blessed prophet la. v. i. Isaiah also, declaring this very thing, says, " My beloved " had a vineyard on a hill, in a fertile place." And afterwards he adds thereto, making more evident the force of what had Is. v. 7. been spoken enigmatically, " For the vineyard of the Lord of " hosts is the man of Judah, a plant new and beloved." He therefore Who planted the vineyard is God ; Who also went abroad for a long time. And yet God fills every thing, and in no way whatsoever is absent from any thing that exists ; how therefore did the Lord of the vineyard go abroad for a long time ? It means, that after He had been seen by them in the shape of fire at His descent upon Mount Sinai with Moses, who spake unto them the law as the mediator, He did not again grant them His presence in a visible manner, but, to use a metaphor taken from human affairs, His relation unto them was, so to speak, like that of one who had made a long journey abroad.
As I said, then, He went abroad : but plainly He had care for His farm, and kept it in His mind. For He sent faithful servants to them at three different times to receive produce, or fruit, from the tillers of the vineyard. For there was no period in the interval, duting which there were not sent by God pro- phets and righteous men to admonish Israel, and urge it to bring forth as fruits the glories of a life in accordance with the law. But they were wicked, and disobedient, and obdurate,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 625
and their heart was hardened against admonition, so that they would in no way listen to the word that ^ould have pro- fited them. For even the prophet Isaiah, as one who was, so to speak, fainting under labours and fatigues without avail, says : " Lord, who hath believed our report?" By disregard- in. liii. r. ing therefore those who had been sent unto them, " they drove " them awav empty," as havinfj, that is, nothing good to sav of them unto God Who sent them. For the prophet Jeremiah also blamed the Jewish multitudes with their rulers because of their excessive arrogance, saying, " To whom shall I speak, jer. vi. i " and testify, and he will hear ? Behold, their ears are un- " circumcised, and they cannot hear ; behold the Word of the '; Lord has become to them a derision : they will not hear it." And in another place He thus spake of Jerusalem : " We jer. li. 9. " healed Babel, and she was not healed : let us leave her, and " depart every one to his land, because her judgment has " reached unto the heaven." And as I said then, he calls Jeru- salem Babel, because it differed not from Persia"1 in its dis- obedience and apostasy, and because it would not submit itself to the sacred laws : or even perhaps because it was reckoned as having no knowledge of God, for having chosen to worship the creature instead of the Creator, and the works of its own hands. For Israel was guilty of the charge both of apostasy and of idol-worship. And this then was the way in which they shamefully cast out those who were sent unto them.
But the lord of the vineyard considers with himself, saying, " What shall I do?" And we must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does then the householder use these words because he had no more servants ? Certainly not : for there were not wanting to Him other ministers of His holy will. But just as if a physician were to say of a sick man, What shall I do ? we should understand him to mean, that every resource of medical skill had been tried, but without avail : so we affirm that the lord also of the vineyard, having practised all gentle- ness and care with his farm, but without in any respect bene-
m Regarding Babylon as the ca- by the name of the capital of Persia pital of Persia, S. Cyril treats the because it resembled that famous terms as identical, and means that city in the greatness of its wicked- Jerusalem was called by the prophet ness.
4L
626 COMMENTARY UPON
fiting it, says, What shall I do ? And what is the result ? He advances to still greater purposes ; for " I will send, He says, " My Son, the beloved one. Perhaps they will reverence Him." Observe in this, that after the servants the Son is sent, as One not numbered among the servants, but as a true Son, and therefore the Lord. For even though He put on the form of a servant for the dispensation's sake, yet even so He was God, and very Son of God the Father, and possessed of natural" dominion. Did they then honour Him Who was sent as Sou and Lord, and as One Who possesses by inheritance whatso- ever belongs to God the Father ? By no means. Fur they slew Him outside the vineyard, having plotted among them- selves a purpose foolish and ignorant and full of all wickedness. For they say, " Let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be " ours/' But tell me, How didst thou imagine this ? For art thou also son of God the Father ? Does the inheritance de- scend bv rio;ht of nature to thee ? If thou removest the heir out of the way, how wilt thou become lord of what thou covet- est ? But further, How is not thy supposition ridiculous ? For the Lord indeed, as being Son, and Heir by right of His sub- stance of the authority of God the Father, having become man, called those who believed in Him unto communion and participation of His kingdom : but these men wanted to take possession of the kingdom solely for themselves, without admit- ting even Him to any participation at all therein, usurping for themselves alone the lordly inheritance. But this was a pur- pose impossible, and full of ignorance : and therefore the
P3. ii. 4. blessed David says of them in the Psalms, " He that dwelleth " in the heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride " them."
The chiefs therefore of the synagogue of the Jews were cast out for resisting the Lord's will by rendering the vineyard which had been entrusted to them unfruitful. For God has
Jer. xii. 10. somewhere said, " Many shepherds have destroyed My vine- " yard : they have profaned My portion : they have made My
n That is, a dominion which be- peatedly it will be noticed how con- longs to Him by right of His sub- stantly S. Cyril calls Him " the Son stance, and not as a thing given or "by nature," in opposition to adopt- imparted to Him. Elsewhere re- ed sons.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 627
" desirable inheritance into a pathless wilderness : it has be- " come a desolation of destruction." And it is also said by the voice of Isaiah, " But the Lord will immediately arise in judg- Is. iii. 13. " ment : the Lord Himself shall come for judgment with the " elders and princes of the people. But ye, why have ye burnt " My vineyard?" As those therefore who had rendered the land sterile, being evil, they perished evilly. For it was just, most just, that as being slothful, and murderers of the Lord, they should be the prey of extreme miseries.
" And the farm was given unto other husbandmen." And who are they 1 I answer, the company of the holy apostles, the preachers of the evangelic commandments, the ministers of the new covenant ; who were the teachers of a spiritual ser- vice, and knew how to instruct men correctly and blamelessly, and to lead them most excellently unto every thing whatsoever that is well-pleasing to God. And this thou learnest by what God says by the voice of Isaiah to the mother of the Jews, that is, the synagogue : "And I will turn My hand upon thee, Is. i. 25. " and search thee to purify thee : and those who obey not I " will destroy, and I will take out of thee all wicked doers, " and will humble all that boast : and I will establish thy "judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as in the begin- " ning." And by these, as I said, are signified the preachers of the new covenant, unto whom God somewhere said by the voice of Isaiah ; " But ye shall be called the priests of the Is. lxi. 6. " Lord, and the ministers of God."" But that the farm was given to other husbandmen, and not solely to the holy apostles, but to those also who come after them, even though not of Israelitish blood, the God of all plainly reveals, where He says by the voice of Isaiah unto the church of the Gentiles, and to the remnant of Israel ; " And aliens in race shall come ; they Is. lxi. 5. " shall feed thy flocks : and aliens in tribe shall be ploughmen " and vinedressers." For many indeed of the Gentiles were called, and holy men of their number became teachers and instructors ; and even unto this day men of Gentile race hold high place in the churches, sowing the seeds of piety unto Christ in the hearts of believers, and rendering the nations entrusted to their charge like beautiful vineyards in the sight of God.
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628 COMMENTARY UPON
What therefore did the scribes and pharisees say when they heard the parable ? '' Heaven forbid/' were their words. And by this one may see, that having understood its profounder signification, they put away from them the impending suffer- ing, and were afraid of the coming danger. But they did not escape, because they could not be restrained from disobedience, nor would they submit to believe in Christ.
" But He, it proceeds, looked upon them, and said, What is " this then that is written, That the stone which the builders " rejected has become the head of the corner 1 Every one that " falleth upon this stone shall be broken : but upon whomsoever " it shall fall, it will winnow him." For the Saviour, although He was a chosen stone, was rejected by those whose duty it was to build up the synagogue of the Jews in every thing that was edifying : and yet He became the head of the corner. Now the sacred Scripture compares to a corner the gathering together, or joining of the two people, Israel I mean, and the Gentiles, in sameness of sentiment and faith.
Eph. ii. 15. " For the Saviour has built the two people into one new man, " by making peace and reconciling the two in one body unto " the Father." And the so doing resembles a corner, which unites two walls, and, so to speak, binds them together. And this very corner, or gathering together of the two people into one and the same, the blessed David wondered at, and said ;
p3. cxviii. " The stone which the builders rejected has become the
*-• " head of the corner. This — that is the corner — has been done
u of the Lord, and is marvellous in our eyes." For Christ, as I said, has girded together the two people in the bonds of love, and in sameness as well of sentiment as of faith.
The stone therefore is the safety ofthe corner which is formed by it : but breaking and destruction to those who have remained apart from this rational and spiritual union. " For " he that falleth, He says, upon this stone shall be broken : " but upon whomsoever it shall fall it will winnow him." For when the multitudes of the Jews stumbled at Christ, and fell against Him, they were broken : for they would not
la. viii. 1 j. hearken to the voice of Isaiah, where he says, " Sanctify the " Lord Himself, and He shall be thy fear : and ye shall not u strike against Him as upon a stone of stumbling, nor as a
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE.
629
" rock of falling." Those therefore who did not believe were broken : but Christ hath blessed us who have believed in Him : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen0.
0 The Syriac omits several short sentences found in the Catenae, in- teresting chiefly as shewing the na- ture of the remarks occasionally inserted by the Catenists, wherever they imagined that explanation was required. Thus after the sentence, " He Who planted the vineyard is " God," the Catena adds in a pa- renthesis, " God is here called a " man, because of His kindness to " men, and after the custom of pa- " rabies." And immediately after- wards, in the account of the descent upon Mount Sinai, it adds, that " God visibly displayed there His " ineffable form." Next there fol- lows a passage of some length, quoting several texts to prove that both our Lord and the prophets foretold the guilt of the Jews. The next passage however, of four lines
at the commencement of the Com- mentary on v. 17, is from Theophy- lact, p. 497, and finally, the con- cluding portion of this extract I have been unable to trace. It be- gins as follows ; " Christ was a ' stone of offence to the unbelieving ' heathen, and a rock of scandal to * the Jews, but to us who believe ' a foundation stone, binding toge- ' ther the whole basement of the ' church. And the word rock im- ' plies the firmness and infallibi- ' lity of the confession of our faith, ' against which the triple waves of ' heresies beat, and are dissolved ' into foam." Subsequently it proceeds to harmonize the different statements made by the two evan- gelists, Matthew and Luke, in their account of the latter portion of this parable.
CrtO
COMMENTARY UPON
0. xx. 19- 26.
add.auT<£S.
avrov \6yav B.
\6you GTv. eV \6y. S. wsre EST. els rb Gs. rjfuv GSr. ^m°j BT.
add. ti /x# ireipd^eTt ; Gj.
om. 01 5e e5ei|av Kal fine BGTy. ol 5« (lirav
BS.
airoKpidiv- GTj.
TOU (5l7jUaTOJ
BS. Tot GTr.
SERMON CXXXV.
.4ncZ £/«? chief priests and scribes sought that same hour to lay hands upon Him ; and they feared the people : for they knew that He had spoken this parable concerning them. And having watched for an opportunity, they sent unto Him spies P, making pretence of being just men, to find oc- casion against Him in His speech, that they might deliver Him unto the ride and authority of the governor. And they asked Him, saying. Teacher, we knou< that Thou spedkest and teachest rightly, neither accepAest persons, but teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Ccesar, or not ? But He perceived their wickedness, and said, unto them, Shew me a denarius. And they shelved one unto Him. And He said, Whose is the image upon it and superscription? And they said, Casar's. And He said unto them, Give therefore unto Caisar the things which are Ccesar 3, and unto God the things which are God's. And they could not blame the word before the people; and they wondered at His anszver, and were silent.
AGAIN is the sans of the Pharisees inflamed with unbridled rage: they draw the bow of their envy; they gnash their teeth at Him Who calleth them unto life ; they savagely at- tack Him Who seeketh to save, and Who humbled Himself from His supreme and godlike glory unto our estate ; and they plot His death Who became man that He might abolish death. And the sole cause which hindered their shameless audacity, the wise Evangelist shews us by saying, that " they " feared the people." He understood therefore that they were restrained by no feeling whatsoever of piety towards God ; the commandment given by Moses, which plainly Says, Ex.xxiii.7. " Thou shalt not kill the holy and the just," put no bridle
P The Greek iyicadtTovs means, to feel, — palpare, — " persons to feel persons suborned;" buttheSyriac " and find Him out."
1 :.. u_ J _ C ._
renders it by j_»
iN. from e*-^
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 631
upon their violence : but they had regard to the fear of man far more than to the reverence due unto God.
But what was the cause of their giving way to such harsh and unmitigated fury ? " They knew, it says, that He had " spoken $his parable concerning them/' And what parable ? Plainly" that bv which He had shown that as beino; wicked and faithless husbandmen, they had mocked and slain the holy prophets, who had been sent unto them by God, to stir them up to honour Him, by bringing forth abundant spiritual fruits : and had similarly treated even the Son Himself, the Lord of the vineyard. For they slew Him also, saying, " This is the heir : come, let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours." But they missed their mark, and provoked God to anger, or rather resisted the decrees from above, and whetted against themselves the divine wrath. For " being evil, they perished " evilly ;" and were rejected from being husbandmen, and the Lord of the farm gave the vineyard unto others. This then was the reason for which they murmured against Christ : and yet, how was it not rather their duty, having been taughi what was about to happen, to escape from the danger, and leap over its toils ? And the way so to do was straightforward and easy. Let them accept Him Who calleth them unto salvation : let them honour by faith Him Who justifieth the wicked ; Who absolveth from all guilt ; and by His grace, that remembereth not evil, saveth those who are entangled in sins.
But these bold and obdurate men, being ready for evil only, entertain no such purpose as this, but with their mind full of the craftiness of the devil, betake themselves to wicked de- vices. They lay snares for Christ, and contrive a trap for an accusation against Him, and gather pretexts for falsely accus- ing Him. Already are they meditating, and plotting in their bitterness, the lying words they uttered against Him before Pilate. They suborned men therefore who falsely assumed to themselves the reputation of goodness, like a borrowed mask; while really they were wicked in their characters, and their heart full of gall and error and all false speaking. They made pretence then of being kind and just : they imagined that they could deceive Him Who knoweth secrets, , when having one purpose in mind and heart, they utter words alto- gether unlike their wicked knaveries. For they perchance
632 COMMENTARY UPON
Job xlii. 3. forgot God, Who says, " Who is this that hideth from Me his " purpose? and shutteth up his words in his heart, and think- " eth that from Me he hideth them I" For, as Solomon says,
Prov. xv. " Hell and destruction are open unto the Lord : how therefore " must not also the minds of men?" But thou drewest near unto Christ the Saviour of all as unto a mere man, and there- fore thou thoughtest that thou couldst deceive Him. This was the cause of thy ignorant behaviour : but it had been better to have reflected, that the Word being God was made in fashion like unto us ; but was nevertheless proved by divine and ineffable miracles, and by His godlike glory, not to be a mere man only, such as thou art, but to be God, as the splen- dour of His deeds proclaimed. He was in appearance a man like unto us, but He gave sight to the blind-, He raised the dead from their graves ; He commanded those who already had seen corruption to hasten back to life ; He rebuked the seas, and appeared unto the disciples, walking upon the waves, as they were sailing once upon the sea of Tiberias. It was in their power therefore to have seen from actual facts that He was not a man only, but rather God also as well as man.
But this they would not even admit into their minds : how could they ? but drew near, tempting Him ; and hiding from Him their fraudulent purpose, they address Him with gentle words, being like savage beasts wrapt in lambs' clothing. Such were they whom the prophet David also rebuked, saying,
Ps. lv. 21. « Their words are smoother than oil : and yet are they the
Jer. ix. 8. " points of spears." And again, " Their tongue pierceth like " the point of a spear: the words of their mouth are deceitful : t( he speaketh peaceably to his neighbour: and there is enmity " in his soul." But what do they say ? " Teacher, we know " that Thou speakest and teachest rightly, nor dost Thou ac- " cept persons, but teachest the way of God in truth : Is it "lawful for us to give tribute unto Cassar, or not?" 0 what polluted knavery ! For the God of all willed indeed for Israel to be exempt from human dominion : but because they trampled under foot the divine laws, and despising utterly the commandment given unto them, betook themselves to their own devices, thev had fallen under the hand of those who at that time held dominion over them : who also imposed upon them tribute, and tax, and the yoke of an unwonted slavery.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 633
For the prophet Jeremiah also lamented over Jerusalem as though she had already suffered this fate, saying, " How hath Lam. i. r. " the populous city sat solitary ! She that was chief of the " countries hath become tributary !""
Their object therefore, it says, was to deliver " Him unto " the authority of the governor :" for they expected that cer- tainly and without doubt they would hear Him say, that it was not lawful to give tribute unto Caesar. How therefore did Christ overcome their craftiness ? " Shew Me, He says, " a denarius." And when it was shewn Him, again He asks, " Whose is the image upon it and superscription ? And they " said, Caesar's." And what does Christ reply thereto ? " Give " unto Csesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the " things which are God's." For those whose office it is to go- vern impose a tribute of money upon their subjects : but God requires of us of things corruptible and transitory even nothing, but rather willing obedience and submission ; faith and love ; and the sweet" savour of good works. These things the Israel- ites ought to have offered unto God : but they were careless and contemptuous, and too ready to betake themselves to every thing that was base.
"They wondered therefore at His answer," and that '"before all "the people," that is, before many witnesses. And yet, as though they had forgotten these things, when they led Jesus unto Pilate, they brought this very accusation against Him : for they said, '" We found this man perverting the people, and Luke xxiii. « forbidding to give tribute unto Caesar." Thou wonderedst at His answer ; thou wast unable to deceive Him ; thou went- est awav ashamed : and how then madest thou thy own wick- edness the point of an accusation against Him ? What there- fore does the Saviour say of them by the voice of the Psalmist? « That without cause have they hid for Me the destruction of Ps.xsxv.7. « their snare : Without reason have they reproached My soul. « Let a snare come upon them which they know not : and let «« the net which they hid for Me catch themselves, and let « them fall into their own snare." For so verily they did fall; for because they delivered Jesus unto Pilate, they were them- selves given over to destruction, and the Roman host consumed them with fire and sword, and burnt up all their land, and even the glorious temple that was among them.
4M
634 COMMENTARY UPON
Such were the wages of their wicked behaviour against Christ : but let us, carefully avoiding these sins, and honour- ing by faith the Word of God, Who for our sakes and in our stead became man, be diligent in crowning Him with unceas- ing praises : bv Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 635
SERMON CXXXVI. c xx ,._
38. And certain Sadducees drew near, who say there is no re- \4yorr*s
surrection ; and they asked Him, saying, Teacher, Moses Kiy &Ty<
wrote unto us, that if any man's brother die having a wife, add. 8t« S.
and he die without children, that his brother shall take his ^°^^
_ , j • 7 7 mi. GrSTs. r\ B.
wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Ihere were therefore seven brethren, and the first took a wife, and died without children. And the seconds and the third took n*l 6 Sevrs- her ; and in like manner also the seven : and they died, £°;T*° *Aa. anal left no children. And afterwards the woman died ^"(-^j^ also. Therefore at the resurrection whose wife of them Kai ^9. will she be ? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus said JJ^JJJJ^ unto them, The children of this world marry, and are mar- zM.-xivruv ried: but they who have been accounted worthy to attain ad^ i7ro_ unto that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither KpiBttt Gs. marry nor are married; for neither can they die any more ; for they are equal with the angels, and are the children of God, in that they are the children of the re- rod q«>0 surrection. But that the dead rise, even Moses indicated BT\ at the bush, saying, The Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob : but God is notj******
t TT. l<r. koX rbv
of the dead, but of the living : for all live unto Him. @ioy 'i^.
Gr. om. rbv
IGNORANCE is constantly, so to speak, accompanied by rashness, and leads men on to attach great importance to their wretched fancies ; and thus those who are the victims of this malady entertain a great idea of themselves, and imagine themselves possessed of such knowledge as no man can gain- sav. For they forget, as it seems, Solomon, who says, " Be Prov. iii. 7. " not wise in thine own eyes," that is, accordiug to thine own sino-le judgment : and again, that " wisdom not put to the proof " croeth astray." For we do not necessarily possess true opinions upon every individual doctrine that we hold, but often
1 The reading of Gs. is <al (\a@ev p-ovcriv ovre yaixicrKovrai (Gs. iicyafj..) 6 SfCrepot tt]v yvvaiica,' ko.\ ovto: the Syriac uses the masc. and fem. arrtdavev aracvos' <a\ 6 rpiros TKa- pi. of the participle. fiev avrqv. Subsequently for ovrf ya-
4 M 3
636 COMMENTARY UPON
perhaps abandoning the right path, we err, and fall into that •which is not fitting. But I think it right, that exercising an impartial and unprejudiced judgment, and not rendered rash by passion, we should love the truth, and eagerly pursue it. But the foolish Sadducees had no great regard for such
atptiris- considerations. They were a sect of the Jews, and what was the nature of the opinion which they entertained concerning the resurrection of the dead, Luke has explained to us in the
Acts xxiii. A.cts of the Apostles, thus writing, ;' For the Sadducees say " that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit : but " the Pharisees confess all." They draw near therefore to Christ our common Saviour, Who is the Life and Resurrec- tion, and endeavour to disprove the resurrection : and being men contemptuous and unbelieving, they invent a story replete with ignorance, and by a string of frigid suppositions wickedly endeavour violently to shake into nothingness the hope of the whole world. For we affirm, that the hope of the whole world is the resurrection from the dead, of whom Christ was the first-born and first-fruits : and therefore the wise Paul also,
i Cor. xv. making our resurrection to depend upon His, says, "If the dead " rise not, neither did Christ rise :" and again adds thereto,
i Cor- xv. as if urging the converse thought to its conclusion, " But if " Christ rose from the dead, how say some among you that " there is no resurrection from the dead?" And those who said this were the Sadducees, of whom we are now speaking.
But let us examine, if you will, this senseless fiction of their framing. They say then that there were seven brethren, who successively became the husbands of one wife, according to the requirements of the law of Moses ; and she died without children : at the resurrection therefore whose wife will she be? The enquiry however was but a senseless one, nor did the question at all accord with the inspired Scriptures : and the answer of our Saviour amply suffices to prove the folly of their narrative, and make us reject both their fiction, and the idea upon which it was founded.
Still I think it right to convict them plainly of foolishly re- sisting the inspired Scriptures, and to shew that they com- pletely mistook the sense of what the sacred writings teach. For come and let us see what the company of the holy pro- phets has spoken to us upon this point, and what are the de-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 637
clarations which the Lord of hosts has made by their means. He said therefore of those that sleep, <; I will deliver them Ho.s. xiii. " from the hand of the grave; I will redeem them from deatli : l4' " Where is thy condemnation, 0 death ? 0 grave, where is thy " sting ?" Now what is meant by the condemnation of death, and by its sting also, the blessed Paid has taught us, saying, " But the sting of death is sin : and the strength of sin is the « Cor. xv. "law." For he compares deatli to a scorpion, the sting of? which is sin : for by its poison it slays the soul. And the law, he says, was the strength of sin : for so he himself again else- where protests, saying, "I had not known sin but by the Rom. vii. -,. " law:" "for where there is no law, there is no transgression Rom.iv.15. " of the law." For this reason Christ has removed those who believe in Him from the jurisdiction of the law that con- demneth : and has also abolished the sting of deatli, even sin: and sin being taken away, death, as a necessary consequence, departed with it ; for it was from it, and because of it, that death came into the world.
As God therefore gives the promise, " I will deliver them " from the hand of the grave, and from death I will redeem " them ;" so the blessed prophets also accord with the decrees from on high: for they speak unto us, "not of their own heart, Jer. xxiii. " nor of the will of man, but from the mouth of God," as it is -k . .
'2 Pet. i.2 1.
written; inasmuch as it is the Holy Ghost which speaking with- in them declares upon every matter, what is the sentence of God, and His almighty and unalterable will. The prophet Isaiah therefore has said unto us, "Thy dead men shall arise: and Is.xxvi i<). " those in the graves shall be raised ; and they who are in " the earth shall rejoice : for the dew from Thee is healing " unto them." And by the dew I imagine he means the life- giving power of the Holy Ghost, and that influence which abo- lishes death, as being that of God and of life.
And the blessed David also somewhere in the Psalms says of all those upon earth, " Thou takest away their spirit, and Ps. civ. 29. " they die, and return to their dust : Thou sendest Thy Spirit, " and they are created, and Thou renewest the face of the " earth." Hearest thou that the working and life-giving grace of the Holy Ghost will renew the face of the earth ? And by its face is meant its beauty ; and the beauty of human
nature is justly understood to be incorruption. " For it is r Cor. xv.
+1.
638 COMMENTARY UPON
" sown, it says, in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; " it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown in " dishonour, it is raised in glory." For the prophet Isaiah again assures us that death which entered in because of sin does not retain its power over the dwellers upon earth forever, but is abolished by the resurrection from the dead of Christ,
Wisd. i. 14. Who renews the universe, and refashions it unto that which it was at the beginning — " for God created all things for incor-
Is. xxv. 8. << ruption," as it is written; for he says, "He hath swallowed " up death, having waxed mighty : and God shall again take " away all weeping from every countenance ; He shall remove " the reproach of the people from the whole earth." Now sin is what he calls the reproach of the people, and when this has been taken away, death also is extinguished with it, and corruption departs from the midst : and by having brought it to an end, He removes every one's weeping ; and lamenta- tion also is put to silence ; for henceforth there is no more cause for men to weep and lament.
And thus much for our own argument in refutation of the infidelity of the Jews : but let us see also what Christ said unto them : " The children indeed of this world," He says, those, that is, who lead worldly carnal lives, full of fleshly lustr, for the procreation of children "marry and are married:" but those who have maintained an honourable and elect life, full of all excellence, and have therefore been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvellous resurrection, will be ne- cessarily raised far above the life which men lead in this world ; for they will live as becometh saints, who already have been brought near unto God. " For they are equal with the angels, " and are the children of God." As therefore all fleshly lust is taken away, and no place whatsoever is left in them for bodily pleasure, they resemble the holy angels, fulfilling a spiritual and not a material service, such as becometh holy spirits ; and are at the same time counted worthy of a glory such as that which the angels enjoy s.
r Cramer reads, o2 tov Koa-fii.<6v s Mai adds here a rather remark-
Kai «Wa>/xaroi> ku\ 0iXo(ro0i'ar y«- able passage, either from A. or C.
ixoura Bia(<ovTti fiiov. As (piXoaocpia " And just as the angelic multitude
means continence, such a life could " is vast, but does not increase by
neither be worldly nor carnal : the " generation, but remains as it was
reading ought to be (pikocrapiclas. " created, so also is it with the risen
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 639
But the Saviour also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees, by bringing forward their own hierophant Moses, as well and clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. For he has set before us God, He says, as saying in the bush, " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of " Isaac, and the God of Jacob." But of whom is He God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live ? for He is the God of the living : and therefore certainly and altoo-e- ther they will rise, when His almighty right hand brings them thereunto ; and not them only, but also all who are upon the earth.
And for men not to believe that this will happen, is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees; but altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. For we believe in Him who says, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." For He Johnxi.:5. will raise the dead, " suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, i Cor. xv. 11 at the last trump. For it shall resound, and the dead in 52' " Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be chano-ed." For Christ, our common Saviour, shall transfer us unto incor- ruption, and to glory, and to a life incorruptible : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
" saints. Nor is there any longer " the mind (vavs), which now urges
" need of marriage : for here indeed " us into vice, will not then even
" after Adam lost through sin the " exist, the Creator maintaining us
" grace of immortality, the succes- " in conformity to His own will,
" sion of the race is maintained by " by the influence of the Holy
" the procreation of children ; and " Ghost, as certainly He does the
" God provided by His foreknow- " holy angels also." The passage
" ledge this resource from the very relating to the annihilation of the
" beginning ; for when He made vovs, and in fact the whole extract,
" man, He made them male and can scarcely be S. Cyril's : possibly
'• female. We shall be therefore much belonging to Titus Bostrensis
" superior to our present condition, is confused with what really is
" by haying put off corruption, and Cyril's, as so frequently the latter
"receiving a spiritual body, one, portion of an extract differs so con-
" that is, which has regard only siderably from the commencement. " to the things of the Spirit : and
G40
COMMENTARY UPON
C. xx. 41-
47-
aurbs yap BS. Ka'i au- xin GTV
Tots ixolBt)- rals avTov GSj.
om.ouTotJB. trphs auroiis T.
SERMON CXXXVIL
And He said unto them, How say they of Christ that He is David's Son ? For David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand until I place Thy enemies as a footstool under Thy feet. David therefore calleth Him Lord; and how is He his Son ? And in the hearing of all the people, He said unto His disciples, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in stoles, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and the foremost seats in the synagogues, and the highest part of the couches at feasts : who devour widows' houses, and in pretence prolong their prayers: these shall receive more abundant condemnation.
John xvii 3-
THOSE who love instruction and are fond of hearing receive with joy the profitable word of God, and store it up in the treasure-house of their heart as the seed of life. And what is the result of their so doing ? The divine light rises upon them, and they gain a correct and unerring knowledge of the sacred doctrines. And this quickens them unto life, as the Son Him- self teaches us, where He says unto God the Father in heaven, " And this is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and " Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent."
See therefore, I say, see Him Who is the Giver unto us of all wisdom and understanding, even Christ, endeavouring to implant this great and invaluable blessing in those first of all who were the chiefs of the Jews, the scribes, I mean, and Phari- sees. For it was right, as they were the pastors and teachers and governors of the people, that His mystery should not be hidden from them : even that which the law of Moses had proclaimed of old, delineating it by type and shadow in mani- fold ways ; and which the great and glorious company also of the holy prophets had preached. For it is for this reason Rom. x. 4. that Christ is called "the accomplishment of the law and the prophets."
The Saviour therefore asked them, saying, " How say they " of Christ that He is David's Son ? For David himself saith
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 641
" in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit " Thou on My right hand, until I place Thy enemies as a " footstool under Thy feet. David therefore calieth Him " Lord: and how is He his son?" The beginning of under- standing is faith : " for if, He says, ye will not believe, neither Is. v-ii. 9. " can ye understand :" but the examination also of important truths tends unto salvation. Confessedly then Emanuel is both the Son and the Lord of David : but if any one would learn in what manner he is to understand this, he must cer- tainly betake himself to the exact and blameless examination of His mystery, which was " kept in silence indeed from the Rom. xvi. " foundation of the world, but has been revealed in the latter 2;' " ages of the world."
The Pharisees however gave no answer to Christ's question : and this they did in malice, or rather against their own selves, lest being pricked by the enquiry, the word of salvation should shine forth in them. For they did not wish to know the truth, but sinfully seizing for themselves the Lord's inheritance, they denied the heir, or rather wickedly slew Him. For from love of rule, and greed of lucre, and for their base gains, they re- jected the faith. For once indeed they even stoned Him with stones, and when asked the reason of their violence, they fool- ishly said, "For a good work we stone Thee not, but for John x. 33. " blasphemy : because that Thou being a man makest Thyself " God." And on another occasion they called Him a Sama- ritan, a drunkard, and a winebibber, and the carpenter's son, meaning that He was an ignoble person, and born of ignoble parents. IN or verily canst thou wonder at this, when they ventured even to accuse His birth in the flesh of the holy virgin, saying, darkly and bitterly, " We are not born of John vtfi. " harlotry *." 4I"
To remove therefore from them the habit of thinking and speaking of Him in a derogatory and contemptuous manner,
* Whoever would learn the bias- been suppressed, I believe, in most phemies of the later Jews against or all editions subsequent to that of our Lord, may consult Buxtorf's Venice 1523, and even in it they Rab. Lex. under ItQD, and the Li- are in most cases carefully oblite- ber Toldoth Jesu, at the end of the rated with a pen : but the know- second volume of Wagenseil's Tela ledge of them is retained by the Ignea Satanae. The passages quoted Jews among their arcana, from the Talmud by Buxtorf have
4*
642 COMMENTARY UPON
He asked them, saying, " How say they that Christ is David's " Son?" But they, as I have already remarked, were silent from malicious motives, and thereby condemned themselves as unworthy of eternal life, and of the knowledge of the truth.
And we too will put to the Pharisees u of later days a similar question : Let them, who deny that He "Who was born of the holy virgin is very Son of God the Father, and Himself also God, and divide the one Christ into two sons ; let them, I say, explain to us, in what manner David's son is his Lord, and that not so much with regard to human lordship as divine. For to sit at all at the right hand of the Father is the assur- ance and pledge of supreme glory. For those who share the same throne are equal also in dignity : and those who are crowned with equal honours are understood of course to be equal in nature. But to sit by God can signify nothing else than sovereign authority, and the throne declares to us that He possesses empire over every thing, and supremacy by right of His substance. How therefore is the Son of David David's Lord, and seated also at the right hand of God the Father, and on the throne of Deity ? Or is it not altogether according to the unerring word of the mystery, that the Word being God, and sprung from the very substance of God the Father, and being in His likeness and on an equality with Him, be- came flesh, that is, man, perfectly, and yet without departing from the incomparable excellence of the divine dignities, con- tinuing rather in that estate in which He had ever been, and
D The Nestorians, as explained " from God the Father, not without
in the margin. I have before how- " flesh ;" and concludes with these
ever shewn that Nestorius denied words, "Thou then who sayest that
that he held the doctrine of two " we ought not to speak of two
sons : and so S. Cyril quotes his " Christs, nor to acknowledge two
words in lib. ii. c. 6. adversus Nest. " Sons, putting on the semblance
(Aub. vol. vi. 44.) " For we hold " of dogmatic orthodoxy upon this
" not two Christs, nor two Sons ; " point, art nevertheless convicted
" for in our view there is no first " of saying that there are two
" and second, nor one and another, " Christs, and of separating into
" nor one again and again another : " their specific diflerence man and
" but the same one Son is twofold " God." In Cyril's view therefore
" (a\\' airot 6 els tori 8iir\ovs), not the essence of Nestorianism consists
" in rank, but in nature." Against in the endeavour to distinguish the
this Cyril argues, that " Christ is limits of the two natures in Christ :
" not twofold, but one and the same and so to do, he argued, was virtu-
" Lord and Son, being the Word ally to make two Sons.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 643
still being God, though He had become flesh and in form like unto us. He is David's Lord therefore according to that which belongs to His divine glory and nature and sovereignty : but his son according to the flesh.
It was the duty therefore, the duty, I say, of the chiefs of the Jews, as they prided themselves so much upon their know- ledge of the divine laws, not to let .the words of the holy pro- phets escape their notice. For the blessed Isaiah says, " Be- is. vii. i4. " hold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son : and they shall " call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God Mat. i. 23. " with us." But the Word was with us as God, when He took our likeness, and despised not the low estate of human kind, in order that He might save all beneath the heaven. And it is written again, " And thou Bethlehem, the house of Mic. v. 1. " Ephrata, art small to be among the thousands of Judah: " out of thee shall He come forth for Me Who shall be the " Head of Israel." For Bethlehem was indeed small, and in comparison with the general populousness of the Jews, its in- habitants were very few ; yet from it came forth Christ, as having been born in it of the holy virgin : not as one subject to the shadows of the law, but rather as ruler both over the law and the prophets.
We therefore follow neither the ignorance nor the newness of the foolish talking of men, lest with them we fall into a re- probate mind : but join ourselves rather to the pure teachings of the holy apostles and evangelists, who every where shew that Christ the Saviour of all is at once both the Son and the Lord of David, in the manner we have already described.
" There is therefore one Lord, one faith, one baptism :" one Eph. iv. 5. Lord has purchased us, " not with corruptible things, with sil- 1 Pet. i. 18. " ver or with gold, but with His own blood rather," as it is written, in order that we may serve Him, and by and with Him the Father. For in Him and by Him we have an access (unto the Father).
But, as I said, the rulers of the Jews had no regard what- soever for the truth : and if any one would learn the reason of their obdurate dislike of instruction, he shall hear it from me. It was their determination not to depart from their inbred love of praise, nor to abandon their accursed lust of lucre. For the Saviour Himself once rebuked them, saying; "How can ye John v. 44.
4 N 2
644 COMMENTARY UPON
'• believe, who receive glory one of another, and wish not for " the glory that cometh from the one God ?" For it was their duty to desire the glory which cometh from God, rather than that of men, which is but for a time, and like a dream vanish- eth away.
Usefully therefore, that He may keep the company of the holy disciples free from faults so disgraceful, He testifies, say- ing, " Beware of the Scribes and Pharisees \" that is, expose not yourselves to be the prey of their vices, nor be ye par- takers of their disregard of God. For what was their cus- tom ? To walk in the streets beautifully attired, dragging with them a pompous dignity, to catch thereby the praises of those who saw them. And while they were wicked, and their heart full of all improbity, they falsely assumed to themselves the re- putation of piety : and with a gravity of manners not founded on reality, they diligently lengthened out their speaking in their prayers, supposing perchance that unless they expended many words, God would not know what their requests were. But the Saviour of all did not permit His worshippers to act so Mat. vi. 7. shamefully, saying, "When ye pray, babble not as the heathen " do : for they think that they shall be heard for their much " speaking :" but He commanded them to be humble, and not lovers of boasting, nor to pay any regard to the desire of vain glory, but rather to seek the honour that cometh from above, from God. In such He deposits the knowledge of His mystery : such He appoints instructors of others, as possessing an exact and blameless knowledge of the sacred doctrines : such He makes to know how David's Son is also David's Lord : with whom we also will range ourselves, God the Father illuminating us with divine light in Christ : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 64^
SERMON CXXXVIII.
And as He looked He saw the rich casting their gifts into the C. xxi. 1-4. treasury : and He saw also a certain poor widow who cast nva B. mi in thither two farthings : and He said, Of a truth I say ™*a Kals^ unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For they all of their superabundance have cast in unto the offerings ; but she of her want hath cast in all the sub- add. too stance that she had.
TO-DAY opens to us the sight of a spectacle of piety, with efarpo*. Christ as the exhibitor of the games, Who by just decree dis- tributes the honours to those who are called unto the course. And the men whom these games bring forward and offer to our admiration, are neither trillers of harps, nor skilful wrest- lers, nor again such as are accustomed to gain glory by the tuneful sounds of pipes ; but such rather as the Saviour of all deigns to regard because He loves virtue : and of these the most honoured class, preferred before all others, are those who are kind and merciful, and of whom the Saviour Himself bears witness, saying, "Blessed are the merciful:1 for upon them Mat. v. 7. " shall be shewn mercy."
These Christ watches as they cast their offerings into the treasury : for so we have heard the holy evangelist here de- claring unto us. But what mouth will suffice for those who would praise God over all ! " The praise of the Lord, as Prov.xxv.2. " Scripture saith, concealeth the word." For it is impossible worthily to praise His surpassing gentleness, and the great- ness of His incomparable love to mankind. He counts as offer- ings, and takes unto Himself, what we do for the brethren who are grieved by poverty. For He has said, " Verily I say unto Mat. xxv. " you, that whatsoever ye have done to one of these little ones, 40,
* The Greek iXt^oves, and the " charitable," and in this sense the
Syriac ],w..y-. were both con- word " merciful" is taken by S. Cy-
fined in ordinary use to the same ril throughout this homily, sense which we attach to the word
646 COMMENTARY UPON
Ptov. six. « ye have done it to Me." And it is written, that " he that is " charitable unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord." At this one of the saints very beautifully expressed his admiration, thus saying somewhere unto us, or rather unto all the sons of Jobrxxv.7. men; "For in that thou art righteous, what wilt thou give " Him ? Or what will He receive at thy hand ? Thy wicked- " ness is unto the man that is thy equal : and thy righteous- " ness unto- the son of man." Our deeds then are indeed done, as I said, unto those who are our fellows and brethren, but God takes it unto Himself, because He is loving unto man, and counts it as spiritual fruitfulness, in order that He may have an occasion of shewing mercy upon those who habitually^ thus act, and may free them from all sin. For it is written, that James ii. 13. " mercy glorieth against judgment.1'
Let us then watch, if you please, the contest of the merciful, and see what is its nature, and to whom the Saviour chiefly assigns His praises by His holy and godlike decree. Some of the rich then drew near, bringing the appointed gifts, and casting their offerings into the treasury : and as being pos- sessed of great wealth, and ample riches, the gifts that each one offered were, as is likely, in themselves large : and yet, on the other hand, small, and not in proportion to the offerers'1 means. And so after them there came in a woman oppressed by hard and unendurable poverty, and whose whole hope of sustenance lay in the kindness of the compassionate, and who by scraps scarcely and laboriously gathered a scant and miser- able provision, barely sufficient for the day. And finally, she offered two farthings : for it was not possible for her to bestow more, but rather, so to speak, she had stripped herself of all that she had, and was leaving the sacred courts with empty hands. Wonderful deed ! She who constantly asked alms of others, lends unto God, making even poverty itself fruitful to His honour. She therefore vanquishes the rest, and by a just sentence is crowned by God.
But this perchance may vex some among the rich : and therefore we will address a few remarks unto them. Thou delightest, 0 rich man, in the abundance of thy possessions : thy portion is fertile beyond what thy necessities require. Thou reapest fields and districts : thou hast numerous and
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 647
broad vineyards, and orchards laden with flavourless/ delica- cies : winepresses, and granaries, and an excessive abundance of cattle : a house beautifully built at great expense, and plen- tiful stores therein ; garments woven in divers colours : and finally thou offerest, not so much in proportion to thy means, as merelv that which when thou givest, thou wilt never miss : — out of great abundance, a little. The woman offered two far- things : but she possessed nothing more than what she offered: she had nothing left : with empty hand, but a hand bountiful of the little she possessed, she went away from the treasury. Did she not therefore justly carry off the crown ? Did not the decree of superiority befal her by a holy judgment ? Did she not surpass thy bountifulness, in regard at least of her readi- ness ?
Something of this sort the wise Paul also writes ; " For if a Cor. vffi. " the will be ready, a man is accepted according to that he " hath, and not according to that he hath not." Not only may the rich man obtain favour with God by offering fruit unto the brethren: — for the Saviour of all will accept his sacrifice: — but even he who possesses but very little may also obtain favour by offering his little; nor will he suffer any loss on this account. For the Omniscient will praise his readiness, and accept his intention, and make him equal with the rich : or rather, will crown him with more distinguished honour.
And this further deserves both our regard and admiration : that multitudes were going up to the temple, some of whom were offering fatted oxen ; and some sheep ; and frankincense, and other things besides, indispensable for the due performance of the sacrifices commanded by the law : but the Saviour's look was not fixed upon these so much as upon those who were making their offerings to the treasury : on those, that is, who were kind and charitable. For He accepts the sweet savour of the spiritual service, but turns away His eyes from what is done in types and shadows. For He knew that types profit not, and that the shadow is weak. He therefore honours cha- rity to the poor ; and knowing this, one of the holy apostles
7 Explained in the margin thus : " fruit which has passed the ^ sea- " Plantations of trees laden with " son, and become flavourless."
648 COMMENTARY UPON
James i.: 7. wrote ; "that a pure and undefiled sacrifice before God the " Father is this ; to visit the fatherless and widows in their " afflictions, and that a man should keep himself unspotted " from the world."
And we find also that the commandment given bv Moses urges us unto love for the poor, and arouses us imto charity. For it was not one God Who of old appointed the command- ment by Moses, and another Who set before us the pathway of Gospel conduct ; but rather it was One and the Same, inas- much as He changeth not. For by one of the holy prophets
Is. Hi. 6. He has said, " I that speak unto thee am near." He therefore
Deut.xv. 7. thus spake by Moses; "But if there be among you a poor " man of thy brethren in one of thy cities in the land which " the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not turn2 away thy " heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother that is in need. " Thou shalt open thy hands wide unto him ; lend him readily " whatsoever he needeth, and according to that which he lack- " eth." Thou hearest him call their almsgiving a loan ; for it is God that receiveth, and requiteth it, not with equal, but ra-
Lukevi.33. ther with overflowing measure. "For good measure, He says, " pressed down, and running over, shall they pour into your
1 Cor. ix. 7. " bosom." And as the very wise Paul says, " God loveth a " cheerful giver." And that it is right to be compassionate unto the brethren, not niggardly, nor as a matter of necessity, but of love rather without respect of persons, and blameless mutual affection, even the law of old made clear by saying,
Deut. xv. « And thou shalt not be grieved in thy heart when thou givest " unto him : for therefore the Lord thy God shall bless thee " in all thy works, in whatsoever thou puttest thereto thy
Rom.xii.8. " hand." As therefore Paul saith, "He that giveth, (let him " do so) with bountifulness : he that holdeth preeminence with " earnestness : he that hath compassion, with cheerfulness." For love shewn unto poverty is not unfruitful, but is a debt that will be largely repaid.
We ought therefore to be diligent in fulfilling this duty, as being well assured, that if we distribute with bountiful hand, we shall benefit ourselves : for so the blessed Paul again
z Cyril must have read diroarptyj/tis for diroarip^at.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 649
teaches us. saying, " But this, — he that soweth sparingly shall 2 Cor. ix. 6.
" reap also sparingly : and he that soweth with blessings shall
" also reap in blessings : every man as he is prepared in his
" heart." And, as if to cut away the slothfulness of our good
exertions, immediately he adds these words ; " And God is able 2 Cor. ix. 8.
" to make all grace abound in you, that in every thing always
" possessing every sufficiency ye may abound in every good
" work. As it is written, He hath dispersed and given to the
" poor : his righteousness abideth for ever." For he who shew-
eth mercy unto the poor, shall never be forsaken, but shall be
counted worthy rather of indulgence from Christ, the Saviour
of us all ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be
praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever,
Amen.
40
650 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXXXIX.
C. xxi. 5- And as some spake of the temple, that it was adorned with J3- goodly stones and offerings, He said; As for these things
that ye behold, the days will come in which there shall not am. £5e be left here stone upon stone vjhich shall not be thrown
GTy*. down. And they asked Him, saying, Teacher, when there-
fore shall these things be, and what is the sign when these things are about to happen ? But He said, Look I Be not om 5t« B deceived : for many shall come in My name, saying, That om. olv B. I am He : and the time is near. Go ye therefore not after them. And when ye have heard of wars and commotions, be not troubled : for these things must first happen; but the end is not immediately. Then said He unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : great earthquakes shall be in all places, and famines, 'and pestilences : and terrors from heaven, and there shall be great sigyis.3- But before all these things they shall lay add. v^as S. their hands upon you, and persecute you, delivering you up ainlyovT<s t0 Synag0gues and prisons, and bringing you before kings
add. rovro and rulers for My name sake : but this shall prove unto
s
you a untnessing.
FROM Christ we have received the knowledge of things i Cor. iv. 5. about to happen : for it is even He Who " revealeth the deep " things out of darkness," and knoweth those that are hidden : Col. ii. 3. and " in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, and the hidden " things of knowledge.11 He changeth times and seasons : and refashioneth the creation unto that which it was at the begin- ning. For it was by His means that when it existed not, it was brought into existence according to the will of God the Father; for He is His living and personal power and wisdom : and again by His means it will easily be changed into that which is bet- 2Pet.iii.13. ter. For as His disciple says, "We expect new heavens, and " a new earth, and His promises."
a The readings of this passage iaovrai, (poQrjdpd re xa\ a^/iua drr'
are as follow : The Syriac, a-ficrp.o\ oipavov p.eya\a carat. (B. places
fieyakoi Kara nomas ronovs ecroi/rcu, o-rjp.ua after oipavov.) Aod with
Kat Xtfiol ko.\ \otfiol' (po^rjrpa 8« an this G. and s. agree, except in
oipavov /cat o~np.t~ia p,eya\a tarai. making the <a\ follow Kara rorrovs,
but B. and T., ati.ay.ol re yeyaXot, and the spelling of (popqrpa. Ka\ Kara roVour Xotyol Ka\ \iyo\
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 651
Now the cause of this digression has been in part the ques- tion put to our common Saviour Christ respecting the temple, and the things therein, and partly the answer He made thereto. For some of them showed Him the mighty works that were in the temple, and the beauty of the offerings ; expecting that He would admire as they did the spectacle, though He is God, and heaven is His throne. But He deigned, so to speak, no regard whatsoever^ these earthly buildings, trifling as they are, and absolutely nothing, compared I mean to the mansions that are above; and dismissing the conversation respecting them, turned Himself rather', to'that which was necessary for their use. For He forewarned them, that however worthy the temple might be accounted by them of all admiration, yet at its season it would be destroyed from its foundations, being thrown down by the power of the Romans, and all Jerusalem burnt with fire, and retribution exacted of Israel for the slaughter of the Lord. For after the Saviour's crucifixion, such were the things which it* was their lot to suffer.
They however understood not the meaning of what was said, but rather imagined that the words He spake referred to the consummation of the world. They asked therefore, "When " shall these things be 1 and what is the sign when they are " about to happen t" What therefore is Christ's answer ? He meets the view of those who put to Him the enquiry, and omit- tino- for the present what He was saying about the capture of Jerusalem, He explains15 what will happen at the consummation of the world, and, so to speak, warns them and testifies, saying, « Look ! Be not deceived : for many shall come in My Name, " saying, that I am He, and the time is near. Go ye not after " them." For before the advent of Christ the Saviour of us all from heaven, various false Christs and false prophets will appear preceding Him, falsely assuming to themselves His person, and coming into the world like eddies of smoke spring- ing up from a fire about to break forth. " But follow them not," He says. For the Only-begotten Word of God consented to take upon Him our likeness, and to endure the birth in the flesh of a woman, in order that He might save all under hea- ven. And this to Him was an emptying of Himself, and a hu- miliation. For what is the measure of humanity compared with
» Mai reads v(f>aiu(t, for which the Syriac must have read «><£atV«.
402
652 COMMENTARY UPON
the divine and supreme majesty and glory ? As one therefore Who had humbled Himself to emptiness, He deigned to remain Mat.xvii.9. unknown, even charging the holy apostles before His precious cross that they should not reveal Him. For it was necessary that the manner of His dispensation in the flesh should remain hid, that by enduring as a man for our sakes even the precious cross, He might abolish death, and drive away Satan from his i Cor. ii. 8. tyranny over us all. For, as Paul says ; " The wisdom that " was in Christ, by which is meant that which is by Christ, " none of the rulers of this world knew: for if they had known " it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory/' It was necessary therefore that He should remain unknown during the time that preceded His passion : but His second advent from heaven will not happen secretly as did His coming at first, but will be illustrious and terrible. For He shall descend with the holy angels guarding Him, and in the glory of God the Father, to judge the world in righteousness. And there- fore He says, " when there arise false Christs and false pro- " phets, go ye not after them."
And He gives them clear and evident signs of the time when the consummation of the world is now near. " For there shall " be wars, He says, and tumults : and famines and pestilences '• everywhere : and terrors from heaven, and great signs/' For, Mat. xxiv. as another evangelist says, " all the stars, shall fall : and the " heaven be rolled up like a scroll, and its powers shall be " shaken."
But in the middle the Saviour places what refers'to the cap- ture of Jerusalem : for He mixes the accounts together in both parts of the narrative. " For before all these things, He says, " they shall lay their hands upon you, and persecute you, de- " livering you up to synagogues and to* prisons, and bringing " you before kings and rulers for My Name's sake. But " this shall prove unto you a witnessing." For before the times of consummation the land of the Jews was taken captive, being overrun by the Roman host; the temple was burnt, their national government overthrown, the means for the legal worship ceased ; — for they no longer had sacrifices, now that the temple was destroyed, — and, as I said, the country of the Jews, together with Jerusalem itself, was utterly laid waste. And before these things happened, the blessed disciples were
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 653
persecuted by them. They were imprisoned : had part in un- endurable trials : were brought before judges : were sent unto kings; for Paul was sent unto Rome to Caisar.0 But these things that were brought upon them were unto them for a wit- nessing, even to win for them the glory of martyrdom. d
And He testifies unto them, ' Meditate not beforehand what f defence ye will make : for ye shall receive of Me wisdom and 1 a tongue which all those who stand against you shall not be ' able to resist or to speak against.' And cutting away the grounds of human pusillanimity, He tells them, ' that they shall ' be delivered up by brethren and friends and kinsfolk :' but He promises that certainly and altogether He will deliver them, saying, that " a hair of your head shall not perish."
And, to make His prediction yet again more clear, and more plainly to mark the time of its capture, He says, " When ye " have seen Jerusalem girt about with armies, then know that " its destruction is nigh." And afterwards again He transfers His words from this subject unto the time of the consumma- tion,8 and says ; " And there shall be signs in the sun, and in " the moon, and in the stars ; and on the earth distress of na- " tions in perplexity : from the sound of the sea, and its surg- " ing, as the souls of men depart : from fear and expectation " of the things which are coming upon the world : for the " hosts of heaven shall be shaken." For inasmuch as creation begins, so to speak, to be changed, and brings unendurable terrors upon the inhabitants of earth, there will be a certain fearful tribulation, and a departing of souls unto death. For the unendurable fear of those things that are coming will suf- fice for the destruction of many.
" Then, He says, they shall see the Son of man coming in " a cloud with power and great glory." Christ therefore will come not secretly nor obscurely, but as God and Lord, in glory
c The Greek adds, " and he stood " nity of bearing testimony of Me
" before Festus and Agrippa." " in a more public manner, and in
d In the Greek the word for wit- " places not otherwise accessible to
ness is martyr, and S. Cyril inter- " you."
prets our Lord's declaration in the e An unconnected passage, re- sense to which the word had been ferring to the famine in the days of limited in the fourth century, "of Claudius Caesar, inserted here by " bearing witness with one'3 life." Mai, is expressly quoted in Cra- The original passage rather means, mer's Catena from Titus Bostren- " This shall give you an opportu- sis.
654 COMMENTARY UPON
such as becometh Deity ; and will transform all things for the better. For He will renew creation, and refashion the nature of man to that which it was at the beginning. " For when " these things, He says, come to pass, lift up your heads, and " look upwards : for your redemption is near." For the dead shall rise, and this earthly and infirm body shall put off cor- ruption, and shall clothe itself with incorruption by Christ's sift, Who grants unto those that believe in Him to be con- formed unto the likeness of His glorious body. As therefore
2Pet.jii.16. His disciple says, " The day of the Lord will come as a thief; " in which the heavens indeed shall suddenly pass away, and " the elements being on fire shall be dissolved, and the earth " and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up." And further, he adds thereunto, " Since therefore all these things " are being dissolved, what sort of persons ought we to be, " that we may be found holy, and without blame, and unre-
Luke xii. " proved before Him?" And Christ also Himself says, " Be
3 " ye therefore always watching, supplicating that ye may be
" able to escape from all those things that are about to happen,
Eom. xiv. " and to stand before the Son of Man." " For we shall all " stand before His judgment seat," to give an account of those things that we have done. But in that He is good and loving to mankind, Christ will shew mercy on those that love Him ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Araen.f
t Mai has two passages on v. 27. " reign authority : for the Only-be-
not found in the Syriac, the first of " gotten is inseparable from God as
which is principally a string of quo- " the light is from the sun ; for He
tations to prove that the Deity is " exists in Him by nature, and all
always described as sitting on a " that the Father hath is the Son's,
cloud : and the second is as fol- " and nee versa." He has also a
lows ; " For just as if one say of a rather fuller exposition of vv. 29-36,
" man, that he received of his fa- consisting evidently of short de-
" ther the property of being ra- tached passages collected from va-
" tional, it really signifies that the rious places, and given as such in
" rational is begotten of the rational, Cramer. One of them to the effect
" so also the Only-begotten God of that by " generation" is meant not
" God proceeded as Judge from the people then living, but those
" Him Who judges all the earth, like them in morals, has occurred
" And though the Father gave all verbatim before, and was not then
" judgment unto the Son, He is acknowledged by the Syriac. " not Himself left destitute of sove-
10
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 655
SERMON CXL.
This Exposition is fit to be read on the Thursday of the Mystery. 5
And by day He ivas teaching in the temple, and at night He Cc.xxi.37- ivent out and abode in the mount called of Olives : and all the people came early to Him in the temple to hmr Him. And the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover, and the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill Him : for they feared the peo- ple. But Satan entered into Judah, surnamed Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve, and he went and spake to the chief priests and captains, how he might de- liver Him unto them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money : and he promised, and sought a fitting season when he could deliver Him unto them without the multitude.
THE throng of the Jews, together with their ruler, stood up against the glory of Christ, and contended with the Lord of all. But any one may perceive that it was against their own souls that they prepared their snare, for they dug for them- selves pitfalls of destruction, and, as the Psalmist says, " The Ps. ix. 15. " heathen are taken in the snare which they have made : in " the trap which they have laid is their foot taken." For the Saviour and Lord of all, though His right hand is almighty, and His power overthroweth both corruption and death, yet submitted Himself of His own accord by becoming flesh unto the tasting of death for the life of all, in order that He might make corruption cease, and do away with the sin of the world, and deliver those that were under the hand of the enemy from his unendurable tyranny. But that rebellious serpent perhaps imagined that He had prevailed even over Him, in that He suffered, as I said, death in the flesh for our sakes, as the dis- pensation required : but the wretched being was disappointed of his expectation.
e By the Thursday of the Mystery is meant Thursday in Passion week.
656 COMMENTARY UPON
Let us then see hem he missed his game, and shot wide of his mark, when he made Christ his prey, and delivered Him into the hands of those murderers. It says then, that " by day " He taught in the temple, but lodged during the nights in the " mount called of olives." Now plainly what He taught were things which surpass the legal service : for the time had come when the shadow must be changed into the reality. And they heard Him gladly ; for oftentimes they had wondered at Him,
Lukeiv.32. " because His word was with power." For He did not, like one of tke holy prophets, or as the hierophant Moses, call out to men, " These things saith the Lord :" but as Himself being He Who of old spake by Moses and the prophets, and the Lord of all, He transferred with godlike authority unto a spi- ritual worship what had been prefigured in types, and the
Heb.vii.19. weakness of the letter: "for the law made nothing perfect." And He lodged during the nights, as I said, in the Mount of Olives, avoiding the uproars there were in the city, that He might in this also be a pattern unto us. For it is the duty of those who would lead a life quiet and calm, and, so to speak, full of rest, to avoid as far as possible the crowd and tumult.
But let us see the course of the devil's malice, and what was the result of his craftv designs against Him. He had then implanted in the chiefs of the synagogue of the Jews envy against Christ, which proceeded even to murder. For always, so to speak, this malady tends to the guilt of murder. Such, at least, is the natural course of this vice : so it was with Cain and Abel ; so plainly it was in the case of Joseph and his bre- thren ; and therefore the divine Paul also very clearly makes these sins neighbours, so to speak, of one another, and akin :
Rom. i. 29. for he spake of some as " full of envy, murder." They sought therefore to slay Jesus, at the instigation of Satan, who had implanted this wickedness in them., and who also was their captain in their wicked enterprises. For he is himself the inventor of murder, and the root of sin, and the fouutain of all wickedness. And what was the contrivance of this many-headed serpent ? " He entered, it says, into Judah Iscariot, who was " one of the twelve." Why not rather into the blessed Peter, or into James, or John, or some other of the rest of the apo- stles, but into Judah Iscariot ? What place did Satan find in him ? Of all whom we have here mentioned he could approach
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 657
none, because their heart was steadfast, and their love to Christ immoveable ; but there was a place for him in the traitor. For the bitter malady of covetousness, which the blessed Paul says is " the root of all evil/' had overpowered i Tim. vi. him. For once also when a woman had poured ointment upon the Saviour, he alone of all rebuked her, saying, " To " what purpose is this waste ? For it could have been sold for " much, and given to the poor." But the wise Evangelist rose, so to speak, against his feigned words: for immediately he adds : " But this he spake, not because he had forethought for the John xii. 6. " poor, but because he was a thief, and carried the purse, and " whatever fell therein, he was the bearer of." And Satan, being- crafty in working evil, whenever he would gain possession of any man's soul, does not attack him by means of vice generally, but searches out rather that particular passion which has power over him, and by its means makes him his prey. As he knew therefore that he was covetous, he leads him to the Pharisees and captains ; and to them he promised that he would betray his teacher. And they purchase the tretfchery, or rather their own destruction, with sacred money. Oh ! what tears could suffice, either for him who betrayed Jesus for hire, or for those who hired him, and purchased with consecrated money a guilty murder ! What darkness had come upon the soul of him who received the bribe ! For a little silver, he lost heaven ; he missed the crown of immortality, and the desirable honour of the apostleship, and to be numbered among the twelve, unto whom Christ somewhere said, " Ye are the light Mat. v 14. " of the world." He cared not to be a light of the world : he forgot Christ, Who says, " Ye who have followed Me in My Mat. xix. " temptations, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne 2 " of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, and judge " the twelve tribes of Israel." But he wanted not to reign with Christ. What a confusion too of error blinded the mind of that covetous man ! He delivered unto death Him Who is greater than death. Didst thou not know that Lazarus was raised on the fourth day from the grave, and that at His nod the widow's son also revived, and the daughter of the chief of the syna- gogue ? Didst thou not hear Him say to the Jews concern- ing His body, "Destroy this temple: and in three days I John ii. 19. " will raise it up again ?" Didst thou forget His words, " I am John xi. 25.
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"the resurrection and the life?" What therefore was the cause of such utter phrensy ? The Evangelist tells us, where he says, " Satan entered into him," having obtained as his
iTim.vi.6. pathway and door the passion of avarice. And yet " the fear " of God with a sufficiency is great gain :" and, as the sacred Scripture says, " We neither brought anything into the world, " nor can we carry [anything] out." And " those who seek " to be rich, fall into numerous and unprofitable lusts, which " sink men in pitfalls and destruction." And of this the dis- ciple who became a traitor is a manifest proof : for he perished for the sake of a few wretched shekels.
And what shall one say of those who hired him ? That they fell into the very same pitfalls with him. Plainly they were the victims of a like intoxication, even though they had the reputation of being well acquainted with the law and the words of the holy prophets. It was their duty to have known the meaning of what had been spoken of old, as being before de- creed by God concerning them. For among others are words
Zech. x. 3. like these, " My wrath is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit the lambs." For the wicked shepherds perished mi- serably : while the calling of those who were obedient unto salvation was a kind of visitation ; for a remnant of Israel was saved. And, as if already, so to speak, they had fallen into ruin and destruction, and were wailing and weeping on this
Zech. xi. 3. account, the prophet heard, he says, " the voice of shepherds " wailing, because their might was brought low : the voice of " lions roaring, because the pride of Jordan was spoiled." He calls the lions the pride of Jordan, by whom were figured the chiefs of the Jewish synagogue : who, in just requital of their wickedness against Christ, wailed with their fathers and chil- dren, being consumed as with fire and sword, while the temple at Jerusalem was also burnt, and the cities throughout all Judaea abandoned unto utter desolation.
Such then was their fate : bui Christ saves us by His mer- ciful will ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.- Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 659
SERMON CXLI.
This Exposition is fit to be read on Thursday in the week of the Mystery.
Then came the day of unleavened bread, on which it was c. xxii. -- fitting for the passover to be sacrificed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare for us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare ? And He said unto them, Behold, add. <rm <pa- when ye have entered into the city, there shall meet you a o^b. man carrying a pitcher of water : follow him unto the house into which he entereth. And say unto the master o/""/ *j;LBS- the house, The Teacher saith unto thee, Wliere is the guest- chamber, where I may eat the passover with My disciples ? And he will shew you a large upper room, provided with couches ; there make ready. And they went, and found as He said unto them ; and they made ready the passover. eipfaei B. And when the time was come, He lay down to meat, and qxSj." the twelve apostles with Him. And He said unto them, Tom. SwScko.
• BT
have desired a desire to eat this passover with you before
I suffer : for 1 say unto you, that henceforth I will not eat om. ovKtn
of it, until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
B.
THE law by its shadows prefigured from of old the mystery of Christ : and of this He is Himself the witness where He said to the Jews, " If ye had believed Moses, ye would have be- John v. 4.6. " lieved also Me : for he wrote concerning Me." For every- where He is set forth, by means of shadows and types, both as slain for us, as the Lamb without blame and true ; and as sanc- tifying us by His life-giving blood. And we further find the words of the holy prophets in complete accordance with those of most wise Moses. But when " the fulness of time was come," Gal. iv. 4. as Paul says, in which the Only-begotten Word of God was about to submit unto the emptying of Himself, and to endure the birth in the flesh of a woman, and subjection also unto the law, according to the measure that was fitting for human
4 p 2
660 COMMENTARY UPON
nature, then He was also sacrificed for us, as the lamb without blame and true, on the fourteenth day of the first month. And this feast-time was called Phasck. a word belonging to the He- brew language, and signifying the passing over:h for so they explain it, and say that this is its meaning.
We must explain then what it is from which we pass over, and on our journey to what country, and in what manner we effect it.
As then Israel was delivered from the tyranny of the Egyptians, and having loosed its neck from the voke of bondage, was now free ; and fleeing from the violence of the tyrant passed with dry foot in a manner wonderful and beyond the power of language to describe through the midst of the sea, and journeyed onwards to the promised land : so must we too, who have accepted the salvation that is in Christ, be will- ing no longer to abide in our former faults, nor continue in our
DO '
evil ways, but manfully cross over the sea, as it were, of the vain trouble of this world, and the tempest of affairs that is therein. We pass over therefore from the love of the flesh to temper- ance ; from our former ignorance to the true knowledge of God ; from wickedness unto virtue : and in hope at least, from the blame of sin unto the glories of righteousness, and from death unto incorruption. The name therefore of the feast on which Emmanuel bore for us the saving cross, was the Pass- over.
But let us behold Him Who is the Truth still honouring the types, and Him Who was represented therein still permitting the shadows to hold good. " For when the day, it says, had " come, on which it was fitting for the passover to be sacri- " ficed, He sent unto the city two men chosen from the holy " apostles, Peter namely and John, saying, that there shall
h As this interpretation has been " phrates ;" and that the Arabic,
frequently attacked in modern times, with its more exact alphabet, dis-
and the word explained as signify- tinguishes the two roots, -^i and ing the " halting" of the angel at C
the sight of the blood upon the £wi, which in Hebrew coalesce
doorposts, it may not be out of int0 one form In Is xixi g< the
place to observe, that the sense of sen3e evidently j8 that of "sparing,"
" passing over" is clearly preserved a3 the first.born were spare(i by the
in the name of Thapsacus, neon, passjng over of the aDgel. " the place for crossing the Eu-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 661
" meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water : follow him "'unto the house into which he entereth; and say unto the mas- " ter of the house, The Teacher saith unto thee, where is the " guestchamber, where I may eat the passover with My dis- " ciples ?" ' But why, some one perchance may say, did He ' not plainly mention the man to those whom He sent? For 1 He did not say, Having gone unto such and such a person, ' whoever it might be, there prepare for us at his house the f passover : but simply gave them a sign,— a man bearing a ' pitcher of water/ To this then what do we reply ? That lo ! already Judas the traitor had promised the Jews to deliver Him unto them, and was continuing in His company watching for an opportunity ; and while still making profession of the love that was the duty of a disciple, he had admitted Satan into his heart, and was travailing with the crime of murder against our common Saviour Christ. He gives a sign therefore, to prevent him from learning who the man was, and running to tell those who had hired him. " For there shall meet you, " He says, a man carrying a pitcher of water."
Or even perchance He so speaks signifying something mys- tical and necessary thereby. For whither the waters enter, even those of holy baptism, there lodgeth Christ. How, or in what manner ? In that they free us from all impurity, and we are washed by them from the stains of sin, that we may also become a holy temple of God, and partakers of His divine na- ture, by participation of the Holy Ghost. In order therefore that Christ may rest and lodge in us, let us receive the savin"- waters, confessing moreover the faith that justifieth the wicked, and raiseth us aloft so as for us to be accounted " an upper room."' For those in whom Christ dwells by faith have a mind raised aloft, unwilling to creep upon the dust, and re- fusing so to speak, to be set upon the earth, and everywhere seekino- that which is exalted in virtue. For it is written, that " the mighty ones of God are raised high above the earth." Ps xlvii. 9. " For here they have no abiding city, but seek that which is Heb. xiii. " to come :" and while walking upon earth, their thoughts are l4- set upon those things which are above, and " their dwelling is phil.Ui.^o. " in heaven."
» Mai's Codex has avayeiov, for substitutes dyytlov. The reading which, contrary to the sense, he should be avuyeov.
662 COMMENTARY UPON
We mar also notice something true, but wonderful, that happens, so to speak, constantly among us : namely that those who prize their carnal life are often puffed up, and have their heart full of pride accursed and hated of God ; but yet perhaps they are brought to humiliation even upon earth : while those who are poor in spirit obtain exaltation by the honour and glory which cometh from God. For as the disciple of Christ Jam. i. 9. writes, " Let the humble brother glory in his exaltation, but " the rich in suffering humiliation : because as the flower of " the grass he shall pass away." He therefore would not miss the truth, who should say that the soul of every saint is " an " upper room."
When then the disciples had prepared the passover, Christ ate it with them, being longsuffering towards the traitor, and deigning to admit him to the table from His infinite loving- kindness : for he was already a traitor, because Satan was lodging within him. And what did Christ also say to the holy apostles ? "I have desired a desire to eat this passover with " you." Let us examine the deep purport of this expression : let us search out the meaning concealed therein, and what it is which the Saviour intends.
As then I have already said that covetous disciple was seek- ing an opportunity to betray Him : and, that he might not deliver Him to His murderers before the feast of the passover, the Saviour did not declare either the house or the person with whom He would celebrate the feast. To explain therefore to them the cause of His unwillingness openly to tell them with whom He would lodge, He says, " I have desired a desire to " eat with you this passover :" apparently meaning, I have used all diligence to enable me to escape the wickedness of the traitor, that I might not endure My passion before the time. , " But I will not eat of this passover until it is fulfilled in the " kingdom of God." And in this again Christ utters a pro- found and mysterious truth, of which He Himself, however, reveals to us the meaning. For it is His custom to give the name of " the kingdom of heaven" to justification by faith, to the cleansing that is by holy baptism and the participation of the Holy Ghost, and to the offering of spiritual service, now ren- dered possible by the entering in of the gospel laws. But these things are the means of our being made partakers of the pro-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 663
mises, and of our reigning together with Christ : and therefore
O o o
He says, " I will no more draw near unto such a passover as " this," one namely that consisted in the typical eating, — for a lamb of the flock was slain to be the type of the true Lamb, — " until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God :1? that is, until the time has appeared in which the kingdom of heaven is preached. For this is fulfilled in us, who honour the worship that is supe- rior to the law, even the true passover ; nor is it a lamb of the flock which sanctifies those who are in Christ, but Himself rather, being made a holy sacrifice for us, by the offering of bloodless oblations, and the mystical giving of thanks, in which we are blessed and quickened with life.k For He became for us " the living bread that came down from heaven, and giveth John vi. 50. " life unto the world :" by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.1
k The Greek of this important " the Lord of all came, the truth passage is as follows ; avros 8e p.a\- " entered with Him : on which ac- \ov aylcos iepnvpyovp.evos 8ia rrjs " count the Jews err in still eating fiva-TiKr/s evXoyias, <aff r\v evXoyov- " unleavened bread : for food com- (icda iea\ faoiroiovpeda. 'lepovpyeoi " mendeth us not to God : but is an apostolic word, occurring " Christians, by a spiritual service, Rom. xv. 16, iepovpyovura to eiay- " and a life of holiness, enter with yikiov. and tlXoyla, as I have be- " Christ the upper room, the hea- fore mentioned, was constantly ap- " venly Jerusalem." The second, plied in primitive times to the Holy shewing that the sheaf of the first- Communion from 1 Cor. x. 16. fruits is a type of Christ, is from 1 Two passages of some length in the De Adorat. vol. i. p. 611. Mai Mai are not acknowledged by the also gives as Cyril's a few words Syriac. The first, p. 410, shows evidently the Catenist's own, quot- that " the types, as was fitting, were ing the fuller form of v. 16. as it " ministered by servants, but when appears in Mat. xxvi. 29.
664:
COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXLIT.
C.xxii. 17- And He took a cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it with one another : for I say unto you, that I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God is fidfilled. And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to them, saying, This is My body, which is given for you : do this in remembrance of Me. In like manner also the cup, after He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you. But, behold ! the hand of him that be- tray eth Me is with Me at the table. And the Son of man indeed goeth, according to that which was determined: but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed !
eavrois
BGj.
(Is eavTOvs
T.
om. Sti B.
Om. &7rb TOV
vZv GTs.
ir\ripa)9fj S. e\6v BGTs.
Kal GS 3t; BT
Ezech. xxxvii
TO be made partakers of Christ, both intellectually and by our senses m, fills us with every blessing. For He dwells in us, first, by the Holy Ghost, and we are His abode, according to that which was said of old by one of the holy prophets. " For I will dwell in them, He says, and lead them : and I " will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people."
But He is also within us in another way by means of our partaking in the oblation of bloodless offerings, which we cele- brate in the churches, having received from Him the saving pattern of the rite, as the blessed Evangelist plainly shews us in the passage which has just been read. For He tells us that " He took a cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, " and divide it with one another." Now by His giving thanks, by which is meant His speaking unto God the Father in the manner of prayer, He signified unto us that He, so to o-wtvSoicv speak, shares and takes part in His good pleasure in granting us the life-£ivinf blessing which was then bestowed upon us : for every grace, and every perfect gift cometh unto us from
rr)s
m The Greek of this was most prohably foi/rcov rt Kal alad-qra^ : the former of these adverbs, though strictly referring to the operations of the reason, is constantly used by
S.Cyril in a sense approaching very nearly to "spiritually," .though else- where he more correctly expresses this by -rrvevixaTiKuis.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 665
the Father by the Son in the Holy Ghost. And this act then was a pattern for our use of the prayer which ought to be offered, whenever the grace of the mystical and life-giving ob- lation n is about to be spread before Him by us : and so ac- cordingly we are wont to do. For first offering up our thanks- givings, and joining in our praises unto God the Father both the Son and the Holy Ghost, we so draw near unto the holy tables, believing that we receive life and blessing both spiritu- ally and corporeally : for we receive in us the Word of the Fa- ther, Who for our sakes became man, and Who is Life, and the Giver of life.
Let us then enquire, to the best of our ability, what is the view held among us of this mystery : for it is our duty to be "ready to give an answer concerning the hope that is in 1Pet.iii.15. " us," as the wise Peter says. " The God of all therefore Wisd.ii.23. " created all things for immortality, and the beginnings of the " world were life ; but by the envy of the devil death entered " the world :" for it was that rebel serpent who led the first man unto the transgression of the commandment, and to dis- obedience, by means of which he fell under the divine curse, and into the net of death: for it was said unto him, " Earth Gen. iii.19. " thou art, and unto the earth thou shalt return." Was it then right that one who was created for life and immortality should be made mortal, and condemned to death without power of escape ? Must the envy of the devil be more unassailable and enduring than the will of God ? Not so : for it has been brought to nought ; and the clemency of the Creator has tran- scended the evil effects of his malignity. He has given aid to those upon earth. And what then was the manner in which He aided them ? One truly great, and admirable, and worthy of God ; yea, worthy in the very highest degree of the su- preme Mind. For God the Father is by His own nature Life; and as alone being so, He caused the Son to shine forth Who also Himself is Life : for it could not be otherwise with Him
n The Syriac offers us in this 8u>pov, " a gift," being a term fre-
place a remarkable instance both of quently applied by the Fathers to
its scrupulous accuracy, and also of the Eucharist. The Syriac renders
its awkwardness in rendering Greek this by ]_LO;co £oOf Q^C?) " the
compound words. The original is " bringing or offering of offer-
Suipcxpopias, " the gift-bringing ; " " ings."
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666 COMMENTARY UPON
Who is the Word That proceeded substantially from the Life : for He must, I say must, also Himself be Life, as being One Who sprang forth from Life, from Him Who begat Him.
God the Father therefore giveth life to all things by the Son in the Holy Ghost : and every thing that exists and breathes in heaven and on earth, its existence and life is from God the Father by the Son in the Holy Ghost. Neither therefore the nature of angels, nor any thing else whatsoever that was made, nor aught that from non-existence was brought into being, possesses life as the fruit of its own nature : but, on the contrary, life proceeds, as I said, from the Substance which . transcends all : and to it only it belongs, and is possible that it can give life, because it is by nature life.
In what manner therefore can man upon earth, clothed as he is with mortality, return to incorruption ? I answer, that this dying flesh must, be made partaker of the life-giving power which cometh from God. But the life-giving power of God the Father is the Only-begotten Word : and Him He sent to us as a Saviour and Deliverer. And how He sent Him, the blessed John the Evangelist clearly tells us, saying,
John i. 14. " And the Word became flesh, and dwelt in us." But He be- came flesh, not by having undergone any change or alteration into what He had not been, nor again by having ceased to be the Word ; — for He knoweth not what it is to suffer the shadow of a change ; — but rather by having been born in the flesh of a woman, and taken unto Himself that body which He received from her, in order that, having implanted0 Himself in us by an inseparable union, He might raise us above the power both of death and corruption. And Paul is our witness, where he says
Heb. ii. 14. of Him and of us, " For inasmuch as the children are par- " takers of blood and flesh, so He in like manner was partaker " of the same, that by death He might bring him to nought " who has dominion over death, that is, the devil ; and deliver " all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime " subject unto bondage. For He taketh not hold of angels, " but He took hold of the seed of Abraham : for which " reason it behoved Him in all things to be made like unto " His brethren :" that is, unto us. For He was made in our
0 Mai's reading is (pcfrvrdo-j], for which the Syriac reads (p<$>vTtv<ras.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 667
likeness, and clothed Himself in our flesh, that by raising it from the dead He might prepare a way henceforth, by which the flesh which had been humbled unto death might return anew unto incorruption. For we are united unto Him just as also we were united unto Adam, when he brought upon himself the penalty of death. And Paul testifies there- unto, thus writing on one occasion, " For because by man is i Cor. xv. "death, by man is also the resurrection of the dead:" and21' again upon another, " For as in Adam all die, even so -in Christ i Cor. xv. " shall all live." The Word therefore, by having united unto "' Himself that flesh which was subject unto death, as being God and Life drove away from it corruption, and made it also to be the source of life : for such must the body of (Him Who is) the Life be.
And do not disbelieve what I have said, but rather accept the word in faith, having gathered proofs thereof from a few examples. When you cast a piece of bread into wine or oil, or any other liquid, you find that it becomes charged with the quality of that particular thing. When iron is brought into contact with fire, it becomes full of its activity; and while it is by nature iron, it exerts the power of fire. And so the life- giving Word of God, having united Himself to His own flesh in a way known unto Himself, endowed it with the power of giving life. And of this He certifies us Himself, saying, " Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath ever- John vi.47. " lasting life. I am the bread of life." And again, "I am the Johnvi.sr. " living bread, that came down from heaven ; if a man eat of " this bread, he shall live for ever : and the bread that I shall " give is My flesh for the rife of the world. Verily, I say unto " you, that if ye eat not the flesh of the Son of man, and " drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My " flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will " raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is true food, and " My blood is true drink. He that eateth My flesh, and " drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the " living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father ; so " He that eateth Me shall also live because of Me." When therefore we eat the holy flesh of Christ, the Saviour of us all, and drink His precious blood, we have life in us, being made
4 Q 2
668 COAJLUEN'TAIIV UPON*
as it were, one with Him, and abiding in Him, and possessing Him also in us.
And let none of those whose wont it is to disbelieve say, ' Since therefore the Word of God, being by nature life, dwells ' in us also, is the body of each one of us too endowed with ' the power of giving life?' Rather let him know that it is a
trxfT'Kyv- perfectly different thing for the Son to be in us by a relative participation, and for Himself to become flesh, that is, to make that body His own which was taken from the blessed Virgin. For He is not said to become incarnate and be made flesh by being in us : but rather this happened once for all when He became man without ceasing to be God. The body therefore of the Word was that assumed by Him from the holy virgin, and made one with Him ; but how, or in what manner this was done, we cannot tell : for it is incapable of explanation, and altogether beyond the powers of the mind, and to Himself alone is the manner of the union known.
It was fitting therefore for Him to be in us both divinely by the Holy Ghost, and also, so to speak, to be mingled with our bodies by His holy flesh and precious blood : which things also
tv\oyia. we possess as a life-giving eucharist, in the form of bread and wine. For lest we should be terrified by seeing (actual) flesh and blood placed upon the holy tables of our churches, God, hum- bling Himself to our infirmities, infuses into the things set be- fore us the power of life, and transforms them into the efficacy of His flesh, that we may have them for a life-giving partici- pation, and that the body of (Him Who is the) Life may be found in us as a life-producing seed. And do not doubt that this is true, since Himself plainly says, " This is My body : 44 This is Mv blood:" but rather receive in faith the Saviour's word ; for He, being the Truth, cannot lie. And so wilt thou
John iii.33. honour Him ; for as the very wise John says, " He that re- " ceiveth His witness hath set his seal that God is true. For 44 He Whom God sent speaketh the words of God." For the words of God are of course true, and in no manner whatsoever can they be false : for even though we understand not in what way God worketh acts such as these, yet He Himself knoweth the way of His works. For when Nicodemus could not under- stand His words concerning holy baptism, and foolishly said,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 669
" How cau these things be?" he heard Christ in answer say, Johniii. 9 " Verily I say unto you, that we speak that which we know, " and testify that which we see, and ye receive not our testi- " mony. If I have spoken unto you the earthly things, and " ye believe not, how will ye believe if I tell you the heavenly " things?" For how indeed can a man learn those things which transcend the powers of our mind and reason ? Let therefore this our divine mystery be honoured by faith.
But Judas the traitor, who was eating with Him, was re- proved in those words which Christ spake, " But behold the " hand of him who betrayeth Me is with Me at the table." For he imagined perchance in his great senselessness, or rather as being filled with the haughtiness of the devil, that he could deceive Christ, though He be God. But, as I said, he was convicted of bein^r altogether wicked, and hateful to God, and traitorous : and yet admission was deigned him to the table, and he was counted worthv of the divine gentleness even to the end : but thereby is his punishment made the more severe. For Christ has somewhere said of him by the Psalmist's voice, " That if an enemy had reproached Me, I had borne it: and Ps. Iv. 12. " if he that hated Me had spoken against Me proud things, " I had hid myself from him. But it was thou, My like in " soul, My neighbour and My acquaintance, who in My com- " pany hadst sweetened for Me meats, and we went to the " house of the Lord in concord." Woe therefore to him, ac- cording to the Saviour's word ! For He indeed, according to the good will of God the Father, gave Himself in our stead, that He might deliver us from all evil : but the man who be- trayed into the hands of murderers the Saviour and Deliverer of all, will have for his inheritance the condemnation which is the devil's fitting punishment. For his guilt was not against one such as we are, but against the Lord of all : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holv Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
670 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXLIII.
C. xxii. :+ And there was also a strife among them, Which of them seems ~ia' to be the great one. And He said unto them, The kings of
the Gentiles are their lords : and they who nde over them are called benefactors. But with you it is not so ; but he who is great among you, let him be as the youngest P : and add W- iet frfon wjw (j0vermth be as he that doth serve. For which is the chief he that reclineth at table, or he that serveth ? Is not he that reclineth ? But I am in the midst of you as he that serveth. But ye are they who have remained oiiaonaiSta- with Me in My temptations: and I will make a covenant enx-nv S. ^ft ^o?^ as ^ pataer fiath appointed for Me a king-
dom, that ye shall eat and drink at My table in My king- add. 5u5«(fo dom : and ye shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
iThes.v.6. "AWAKE ye, and watch," is the summons to us of one of the holy apostles : for every where the net of sin is spread, and Satan maketh us his prey in divers ways, seizing hold of us by many passions, and so leading us on to a reprobate mind. Those therefore must be awake who would not willingly be subject to his power: for thereby they will gain the victory by Christ's help, Who careth for our souls, and delivereth them from every passion, that so with sound and vigorous mind they may run along the praiseworthy and gainful pathway of that mode of life which is pleasing to Him. For how great His mercy is towards us, the purport of the lessons set before us once again declares. For the disciples had given way to a human in- firmity," and were contending with one another, who of them is the chief, and superior to the rest ; for those perchance who held the second rank among them were not willing to give way to those who held the first. But even this arose, and was recorded for our benefit, that that which happened to the holy apostles may prove a reason for humility in us. For Christ immediately rebukes the malady, and like a vigorous phy- sician cut away, by an earnest and deep-reaching command- ment, the passion which had sprung up among them. P Or rather, "as the serving-boy."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 671
Now it was from an unprofitable love of glory, the root of which is pride, that this vain and senseless ambition had, so to speak, shot up. For the very fact of wishing at all to be set over others, and to strive for this end, renders a man liable to be justly blamed : though, on the other hand, it is not ab- solutely destitute of that which may fitly be praised. For to be exalted in virtue is worthy of all estimation : but those who would attain to it must be of modest mind, and possess such humbleness of feeling as to abandon out of love to the brethren all idea of preeminence. And such the blessed Paul would also have us be, thus writing, " Consider as regards your com- Rom xii. " pardons, that in honour they are better than you." For so IO' to feel is highly worthy of the saints, and renders them glori- ous, and makes our piety unto God more worthy of honour : it tears the net of the devil's malice, and breaks his manifold snares, and rescues us from the pitfalls of depravity : and finally, it perfects us in the likeness of Christ the Saviour of us all. For listen how He sets Himself before us as the pat- tern of a humble mind, and of a will not set on vainglory : for " Learn, He says, of Me, Who am meek and lowly in heart." Mat.xi.29.
Here, however, in the passage which has just been read He says, " For which is the chief, he that reclineth at table, " or be that serveth ? Is not he that reclineth ? But I am in " the midst of you as he that serveth.1' And when Christ thus speaks, who can be so obdurate and unyielding as not to cast away all vaingloriousness, and banish from his mind the love of empty honour? For He Who is ministered unto by the whole creation of rational and holy beings ; Who is lauded by the seraphim ; Who is tended by the services of the universe ; He Who is the equal of God the Father in His throne and kingdom ; taking a servant's place, washed the holy apostles" feet. And in another way moreover He holds the post of ser- vitude, by reason of the dispensation in the flesh. And of this the blessed Paul bears witness, where he writes; "For I say Rom. xv. s. " that Christ was a minister of the circumcision to fulfil the " promises of the fathers ; and the Gentiles shall praise God " for mercy."" He therefore Who is ministered unto became a minister; and the Lord of glory made Himself poor, "leaving 1 Pet. ii 21. " us an example," as it is written. Let us therefore avoid the love of vainglory, and deliver our-
672 COMMENTARY UPON
selves from the blame attached to the desire of chieftainship. For so to act makes us like unto Him,Who submitted to empty Himself for our sakes : while superciliousness and haughtiness of mind make us plainly resemble the princes of the Gentiles, to whom an arrogant bearing is ever, so to speak, dear, or even perhaps fitting. " For they are called, He says, benefactors,"" that is, are flattered as such by their inferiors. Be it so then, that they, as not being within the pale of the sacred laws, nor obedient to the Lord's will, are the victims of these maladies : but let it not be so with us ; rather let our exaltation consist in humility, and our glorying in not loving glory ; and let our desire be set upon those things which are well-pleasing to God, Ecclus. iii. while we bear in mind what the wise man says unto us, " The " greater thou art, humble thyself the more, and thou shalt " find grace before the Lord." For He rejecteth the proud, and counteth the boastful as His enemies, but crowneth with honours the meek and lowly in mind.
The Saviour therefore drives away from the holy apostles the malady of vaingloriousness : but they perchance might think among themselves, and even say, ' What therefore will ' be the reward of fidelity ? or what advantage shall they ' receive, who have laboured in attendance upon Him, when ' temptations from time to time beta!?' In order therefore that being confirmed by the hope of the blessings that are in store, they may cast away from their minds all slothfulness in vir- tuous pursuits, and choose rather with earnest mind to follow Him, and take pleasure in labours for His sake, and count the doing so a cause of gain, and the pathway of joy, and the means of eternal glory, He necessarily says, " Ye are they who " have remained with Me in My temptations : and I will make " a covenant with you, as My Father hath appointed for Me a " kingdom, that ye shall eat and drink at My table in My "kingdom: and ye shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging " the twelve tribes of Israel." Observe, I pray, that He does not yet quit the limits of humanity, but for the present confines Himself within them, because He had not as yet endured the precious cross ; for He speaks as one of us : but after the re- surrection from the dead He revealed His glory, the season Mat.ixviii. calling Him thereto: for He said, "All power hath been given l8' " Me in heaven and in earth." He speaks therefore, as I said,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 673
in human fashion, as not having yet mounted above the mea- sure of His humiliation. For this reason He says, that " as My " Father hath made with Me a covenant of a kingdom, so I also " will make a covenant with you, that ye shall eat and drink " constantly at My table in My kingdom." Is it the case then, that even after the resurrection from the dead, when the time has come in which we shall be with Christ, and He will endow us with the likeness of His glorified body ; even after we have thus put on incorruption, is it, I say, the case, that we shall again be in need of food and of tables ? Or is it not then utterlv foolish to sav or wish to imagine anvthing of the sort ? For when we have put off corruption, of what bodily refreshment shall we henceforth be in need? And if so, what is the meaning of the expression, " Ye shall eat at My table in " My kingdom 1" I answer, that once again from the ordinary matters of life He declares to us things spiritual. For those who enjoy the foremost honours with earthly kings banquet with them, and eat in their company : and this is counted by them the summit of glory. And there are too others, esteemed worthy of honour by those in power, who nevertheless are not permitted to draw near to the same table with them. To shew then that they will enjoy the highest honours with Him, He uses an example taken from ordinary life, and says, " I will " make a covenant with you, that ye shall eat and drink at " My table in My kingdom : and ye shall sit also upon twelve " thrones judging Israel."
How or in what manner ? It means that the disciples being of Israelitish race, obtained the foremost honours with Christ, the Saviour of all, because by faith and constancy they seized upon the gift : whom may we also endeavour to imitate, for so will He Who is the Saviour and Lord of all receive us into His kingdom : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost for ever and ever, Amen.
4 a
674 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXLIV.
C. xxii. 31- Simeon, Simeon, behold Satan hath asked you, that he may 34' sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy
5« iKiptos faith fail not : and do thou also hereafter when converted Gs- strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto Him, Lord,
I am ready to go -with thee both unto prison and to death.
But He said, I tell thee, Peter, that the cock shall not
tus BT. crow to-day until thou hast thrice denied that Thou know-
tP\„ fj Gf. est Me
THE prophet Isaiah bids those who embrace a life of piety towards Christ to go unto the proclamations of the Gospel, say- la. lv. 1. ing, "Ye who thirst, go unto the waters." But these waters are not the material waters of earth, but rather are divine and spiritual, poured forth for us by Christ Himself. For He is the river of peace, and the torrent of pleasure, and the fountain of Johnvii.37. life. And so we have heard Himself plainly saying, " Whoso- " ever thirsteth, let him come unto Me and drink." Come therefore, that here also we may delight ourselves in the sacred and divine streams which flow from Kim : for what says He unto Peter 1 " Simeon, Simeon, behold Satan hath asked you " to sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee that thy " faith fail not."
Now it is, I think, both necessary and profitable for us to know what the occasion was which led our Saviour's words to this point. The blessed disciples then had been disputing with one another, " which of them was the great one :" but the Sa- viour of all, as the means whereby they obtained whatsoever was useful and necessary for their good, delivered them from the guilt of ambition, by putting away from them the striving after objects such as this, and persuading them to escape from the lust of preeminence, as from a pitfall of the devil. For He said, " he who is great among you, let him be as the youngest, " and he who governeth as he that doth serve." And He further taught them that the season of honour is not so much this present time as that which is to be at the coming of His kingdom. For thero thev shall receive the rewards of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 675
their fidelity, and be partakers of His eternal glory, and wear a crown of surpassing honour, eating at His table, and sitting also upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
But lo ! He also offers them a third assistance, as we read in the lessons before us. For He teaches us, that we must think humbly of ourselves, as being nothing, both as regards the nature of man and the readiness of our mind to fall away into sin, and as strengthened and being what we are only through Him and of Him. If therefore it is from Him that we borrow both our salvation, and our seeming to be something in virtue and piety, what reason have we for proud thoughts? For all we have is from Him, and of ourselves we have nothing. " For i Cor. iv. 7. " what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? But if thou also " receivedst it, why dost thou glory, as though thou didst not " receive it ?" So spake the very wise Paul : and further, the blessed David also at one time says, " In God we shall make Ps. Ix. 12. " strength:" and at another again, " Our God is our house of P3. xlvi. r. " refuge and our strength." And the prophet Jeremiah also has somewhere said, "0 Lord, my strength and my house of Jer. xvi.19. " refuge, and my help in the days of trouble." And the blessed Paul also may be brought forward, who says with great clear- ness, " I can do all things through Christ, Who strengtheneth Phil. iv. 13. "me." Tea, Christ Himself also somewhere says unto us, " Without Me ye can do nothing." John xv. 5.
Let us then glory not in ourselves, but rather in His gifts. And if this be the state of any one's mind, what place can the desire of being set above other men find in him, when thus we are all both partakers of the same one grace, and also have the same Lord of hosts as the Giver both of our existence and of our ability to do well. To humble therefore our tendency to superciliousness, and to repress ambitious feelings, Christ shews that even he who seemed to be great is nothing and in- firm. He therefore passes by the other disciples, and turns to him who is the foremost, and set at the head of the company, and says ; " that Satan hath many times desired to sift you as " wheat r'1 that is, to search and try you, and expose you to intolerable blows. For it is Satan's wont to attack men of more than ordinary excellence, and, like some fierce and arrogant barbarian, he challenges to single combat those of chief repute in the ways of piety. So he challenged Job, but was defeated
4 r 2
676 COMMENTARY UPON
by his patience, and the boaster fell, being vanquished by the endurance of that triumphant hero. But human nature he makes his prey, for it is infirm, and easy to be overcome : while he is harsh and pitiless and unappeasable in heart. For,
Job xli. 24. as the sacred Scripture says of him, " His heart is hard as a " stone: and he standeth like an anvil that cannot be beaten 1 " out.'" Yet he is placed under the feet of the saints by Christ's
Lukex. 19 might: for He has said, " Behold, I have given you to tread on " serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, " and nothing shall hurt you." " Satan therefore, He says, " hath desired to sift you as wheat : but I have offered suppli- v cation in thy behalf, that thy faith fail not."
See again, He humbles Himself unto us, and speaks accord- ing to the limits of man's estate, and yet He is God by nature, even though He became flesh. For though He is the power of the Father, by Whom all things are preserved, and from Whom they obtain the ability to continue in well-being, He yet says that He offers supplication as a man. For it was necessary, yea necessary, for Him Who, for the dispensation's sake, became like unto us, to use also our words, when the occasion called Him thereto in accordance with what the dispensation itself required. " I have supplicated tkere- " fore, He says, that thy faith fail not." Now by this then He shows, that if he had been yielded up to Satan to be tempted, he would have proved altogether unfaithful : since, even when not so yielded up, he proved weak from human fee- bleness, being unable to bear the fear of death. For he denied Christ, when a young girl troubled him in the high priest's
John xviii. palace by saying, " And thou also art one of His disciples."
The Saviour then forewarned him what would have been the result had he been yielded up to Satan's temptation : but at the same time He offers him the word of consolation, and says, "And do thou also hereafter, when converted, strengthen " thy brethren :" that is, be the support, and instructor and teacher of those who draw near unto Me by faith. And more- over, admire the beautiful skill of the passage, and the sur- passing greatness of the divine gentleness ! For, lest his im- pending fall should lead the disciple to desperation, as though he would be expelled from the glories of the apostleship, and <i That is, not ductile, incapable of being spread out by hammering.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 677
his former following (of Christ) lose its reward, because of his proving unable to bear the fear of death, and denying Him, at once Christ fills him with good hope, and grants him the con- fident assurance that he shall be counted worthy of the pro- mised blessings, and gather the fruits of steadfastness. For He says, " And do thou also, when converted, strengthen thy bre- " thren." 0 what great and incomparable kindness ! The dis- ciple had not yet sickened with the malady of faithlessness, and already he has received the medicine of forgiveness : not yet had the sin been committed, and he receives pardon : not yet had he fallen, and the saving hand is held out : not yet had he faltered, and he is confirmed : for " do thou, He says, when " converted, strengthen thy brethren." So to speak belongs to One Who pardons, and restores him again to apostolic powers.
But Peter, in the ardour of his zeal, made profession of steadfastness and endurance to the last extremity, saying that he would manfully resist the terrors of death, and count no- thing of bonds ; but in so doing he erred from what was right. For he ought not, when the Saviour told him that he would prove weak to have contradicted Him, loudly protesting the contrary ; for the Truth could not lie : but rather he ought to have asked strength of Him, that either he might not suffer this, or be rescued immediately from harm. But, as I have already said, being fervent in spirit, and warm in his love to- wards Christ, and of unrestrainable zeal in rightly performing those duties which become a disciple in his attendance upon his Master, he declares that he will endure to the last extre- mity : but he was rebuked for foolishly speaking against what was foreknown, and for his unreasonable haste in contradicting the Saviour's words. For this reason He says, " Verily I tell " thee, that the cock shall not crow to-night, until thou hast " thrice denied Me." And this proved* true. Let us not there- fore think highly of ourselves, even if we see ourselves greatly distinguished for our virtues : rather let us offer up the praises of our thanksgivings unto Christ Who redeems us, and Who also it is that grants us even the desire to be able to act rio-htly : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
678 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXLV.
c. xxii. 35- And He said unto them, When I sent yon without purse and Kal&Tfpirri- without scrip and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they pas S. ^ said, Nothing. And He said unto them, But noiv, he that
(hfV St ES. - - IT- 7 T • /•» I
flirev oZv hath a purse, let him take it : and in Like manner also a
GTl* scrip : and he that hath not one, let him sell his garment,
add. in and buy a sword. For I say unto you, that this that is written must be accomplished in Me, that he was numbered
Kal yap also with the transgressors. For that which concerns Me
tT™>U'uo>3 hath an end. And they said, Lord, behold here are two
BS.^rairepi swords. And Be said unto them, It is enough.
ifj-ov GTr.
THE blessed Moses impressed the fear of God upon the Heb. x. 31. Israelites by saying, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the Deut.iv.24. " hands of the living God : for our God is a consuming fire." Nahumi.6. And another holy prophet has -also said concerning Him, " His " wrath consuineth the princes, and the rocks are melted at " Him." Moreover the blessed David says of Him somewhere Ps. lxxvi.7. in the Psalms, " Thou art to be feared, and who shall rise up " before Thee at Thy wrath ?" For what power of man, or of ought whatsoever that is created, can stand against the irre- sistible force of Almighty God ? But His wrath descends not upon any righteous man whatsoever ; — for God committeth not injustice; — but upon those rather whose sins are numerous and intolerable, and their wickedness beyond bounds.
And as an example of what we have said, take that which happened to the Jewish multitudes after Christ rose from the dead, and ascended up to heaven. For God the Father sent unto them His Son, inviting them unto a service superior to the law, and to the knowledge of all good : He sent Him to free them from all guilt, and deliver them from the stains of sin ; to bring them unto the adoption of sons, to glory, to ho- nour, and to the communion of the Holy Ghost ; to life incor- ruptible; to never-ending glory; and to the kingdom of heaven. But though thev ought eagerly to have hastened unto this
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 679
grace, and with grateful praises have honoured Him Who
came to aid them, and joyfully have accepted the grace that
is by faith, they did verily nothing of the kind, but betook
themselves to the very reverse : for they rose up against Him,
setting Him at nought by their disobedience, reviling even His
divine signs, and after doing and saying every thing that was
abominable, finally they crucified Him. And so it became their
lot to suffer those things which the company also of the holy
prophets had before proclaimed. For one of them said, iC God Hos. ix. 17.
" shall put them far away, because they did not hear Him, and
" they shall be wanderers among the nations." And again,
" Because Jerusalem is forsaken, and Judah is fallen, and their Is. iii. 8.
" tongues are with iniquity ; they disobey the Lord ; therefore
" now is their glory brought low, and the shame of their faces
" hath stood up against them." And in another place they are
thus addressed as in the person of God over all ; " And now, Jer. rii. 13.
" because ye have done all these works, and I spake unto you
" and ye did not hear, and I called unto you and ye answered
" not : therefore will I do unto this house, on which My name
" is called, and wherein ye trust ; and to this place which I
" have given to you and to your fathers as I did to Shilom :
" and I will cast you from before My face, as I cast away your
" brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." For they were
delivered up, as I have said, to desolation, and were dispersed
over all the earth, their temple being consumed with fire, and
all Judaea taken captive.
That this would be the case Christ had before announced to the disciples, the occasion which caused Him to speak upon this subject being some such as follows : He had forewarned the admirable Peter, that he would thrice deny Him, at the time namely of His seizure, when the band of Pilate's sol- diers with the officers of the Jews brought Him to the chief priests for judgment : for there Peter denied Him. And inasmuch as mention had now once been made of His seizure, and of his being taken before Caiaphas, there naturally fol- lowed upon this allusion a reference to that also which was next to come to pass, even His passion upon the cross : and then it was that He foretold the war about to burst upon the Jews, and which with unendurable violence spread like some
680 COMMENTARY UPON
river over all their land. On this account He says ; " When I " sent you without purse and without scrip and shoes, lacked " ye anything ? And they said, No."" For the Saviour sent the holy apostles, with the command to preach to the inha- bitants of every village and city the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and to heal every grief and every sickness among the people. And on their journey He bade them not to occupy themselves with things that concern the body, but rather with- out baggage and unencumbered, and resting all their hope of sustenance on Him, so to traverse the land : and this they also did, making themselves an example of praiseworthy and apo- stolic conduct. " But now, He saith, he that hath a purse, let " him take it, and a scrip in like manner/' Tell me then, was this because on second thoughts a more serviceable plan was devised 1 Would it have been better on the former occasion also to have had scrip and purse ? Or if not, what was the cause of so sudden a change ? What need had the holy apostles of purse and scrip ? What answer must we give to this? That the saying in appearance had reference to them, but in reality applied to the person of every Jew : for they it rather was whom Christ addressed. For He did not say that the holy apostles must get purse and scrip, but that " whosoever hath a " purse, let him take it," meaning thereby, that whosoever had property in the Jewish territories, should collect all that he had together, and flee, so that if he could any how save himself, he might do so. But any one who had not the means of equipping himself for travel, and who from extreme poverty must continue in the land, let even such one, He says, sell bis cloak, and buy a sword : for henceforth the question with all those who continue in the land will not be whether they pos- sess anything or not, but whether they can exist and preserve their lives. For war shall befal them with such unendurable impetuosity, that nothing shall be able to stand against it.
And next He tells them the cause of the evil, and of a tribulation so severe and irremediable befalling them, saying, 11 that He is about according to the Scriptures to be numbered " with the transgressors," plainly referring to His being hung upon the cross with the thieves who were crucified with Him, and so enduring a transgressor's punishment : " and the dis-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 681
" pensation, having come to this, will now have an end." For
He endured indeed for our sakes His saving passion, and thus
far the daring wickedness of the Jews proceeded, and this was
the consummation of their unbridled fury: but after the passion
upon the cross every hand was powerless, ,; for the enemy had Ps lxxxix.
" no advantage over Him, and the Son of wickedness could no "'
" more hurt Him." For He arose, having trampled upon the
grave ; He ascended up into heaven, He sat down on the right
hand of God the Father; and hereafter He shall come, not in
mean estate, as of old, nor in the measure of human nature,
but in the glory of the Father, with the holy angels as His
body-guard ; and He shall sit also upon the throne of His
glory, "judging the world in righteousness," as it is written. Is. xi. 4.
Then, as the prophet saith, " they shall look on Him Whom Zech. xii.
" they pierced :" and Him Whom these wretched beings ridi- I0'
culed, as they saw Him hang on the precious cross, they shall
behold crowned with godlike glory, and in just retribution of their
wickedness towards Him, shall fall into the pit of destruction.
" What therefore, He says, concerns Me, hath an end," as far,
that is, as relates to My suffering death in the flesh. And then
shall those things which were foretold by the holy prophets in
old time, happen unto those who slew Him.
And in foretelling these things, the Lord was speaking of what was about to happen to the country of the Jews. But the divine disciples did not understand the deep meaning of what was said, but supposed rather that He meant that swords were necessary, because of the attack about to be made upon Him by the disciple who betrayed Him, and by those who were assembled to seize Him. For this reason they say, " Lord, " behold, here are two swords."" And what is the Saviour's reply? "It is enough." Observe how, so to say. He even ridicules their speech, well knowing that the disciples not hav- ing understood the force of what was said, thought that swords were required, because of the attack about to be made upon Himself. Fixing His look therefore upon those things which befel the Jews because of their wicked conduct towards Him, the Saviour, as I said, ridicules their speech, and says, " It is " enough :" yes, forsooth, two swords are enough to bear the brunt of the war about to come upon them, to meet which
43
682 COMMENTARY UPON
many thousand swords were of no avail. For a mighty re- sistance was made by the pride of the Jews against the forces of Augustus Caesar : but they availed nothing ; for they were besieged with overpowering might, and suffered all misery. la. xiv. 27. For as the prophet Isaiah saith, " That which the holy God " purposeth, who shall bring to nought ? and His hand, when " lifted up, who shall turn aside ?" Let us beware therefore of provoking God to anger : for it is a fearful thing to fall into His hands. But to those who believe in Christ He is merciful ; even to those who praise Him ; who call Him their Redeemer and Deliverer; who minister to Him with spiritual service, and by all virtuous conduct : for if so we act and speak, Christ will make us His own ; by "Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 683
SERMON CXLVL
And He came out and went, as He was wont, to the Mount C. xxii. 39- of Olives ; and the disciples also followed Him. And when acid. abroi He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye BGy- enter not into temptation. And He went apart from them about a stone's throw, and knelt doivn and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou wilt, put away this cup from Me: but not J*?*™*? My will, but Thine be done. And He rose up from prayer, gTj. and went unto the disciples, and found them asleep from om '^*r43' sorrow. And He said unto them, Why sleep ye ? Arise, add. abrud pray that ye enter not into temptation.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ requires those who love Him to be accurate investigators of whatsoever is written concerning Him : for He has said, " that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a Mat. xiii. " treasure hid in a field." For the mystery of Christ is de- 44> posited, so to speak, at a great depth, nor is it plain to the many : but he who uncovers it by means of an accurate know- ledge, finds the riches which are therein, and resembles that wise woman, even Mary, of whom Christ said, that " she had Luke x. 42. " chosen the good part, that should not be taken away from " her." For these earthly and temporal things fade away with the flesh : but those which are divine and intellectual, and that benefit the life of the soul, are firmly established, and their possession cannot be shaken. Let us look therefore into the meaning of the lessons set before us. " By day then " the Saviour abode in Jerusalem," instructing evidently the Israelites, and revealing to them the way of the kingdom of heaven ; but when the evening came, He continued with the holy disciples on the Mount of Olives at a spot called Gethse- mane : for so the wise Evangelist Matthew tells us.
r These verses, containing the plurimis Hil.) copies, both Greek
account of the angel appearing unto and Latin, of St. Luke's Gospel,
our Lord to strengthen Him, and They are, however, retained by
of His sweating drops of blood, not Tischendorf, and the evidence in
only are omitted by B., hut are also their favour may be seen in the
expressly said by Hilary and Jerome notes to his Greek Test. Ed. vii.
to be wanting in very many (com- in loc.
4 3 2
684 COMMENTARY UPON
When therefore Christ came thither, as the same Matthew Mac. \<vi. again somewhere says, " He took Peter and James and John, " and began to be grieved and sore distressed ; and to say " unto them, My soul is sorrowful even unto death. And " again, having gone a little forward, He kneeled and prayed, " saying, Father, if Thou wilt, put away from Me this cup ; " but not My will, but Thine be done/' Behold here, I pray, the profoundness of the dispensation in the flesh, and the height of that wisdom which no words can tell : fix upon it the penetrating eye of the mind : and if thou canst see the
Rom.xi.33. beautiful art of the mystery, thou also wilt say, " 0! the depth " of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! " His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding " out." " He began, it says, to be grieved, and sore dis- " tressed." For what reason, 0 Lord ? "Wast Thou also terrified at death ? Didst Thou being seized with fear draw back from suffering ? And yet didst not Thou teach the holy apostles to make no account of the terrors of death, saying,
Mat. x. 28. " Fear not them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the " soul." And if too any one were to say that the grace of spiritual fortitude is Thy gift to the elect, he would not err from the truth : for all strength is from Thee, and all con- fidence and heartiness of mind in every more excellent en- counter. Thou art by nature Life, and the cause of life. Thee we look for as a Saviour and Deliverer, and the De- stroyer of corruption. From Thee all receive their life and being. Thou hast made every thing that breathes. The angels are for Thee, and from Thee, and by Thee, and so is the whole rational creation. Unto Thee the blessed David spake con-
Ps. civ. 30. cerning us, " Thou sendest Thy Spirit, and they are created : " and Thou renewest the face of the ground." How therefore art Thou grieved, and sore distressed, and sorrowful, even unto death ? For plainly Thou knewest, in that Thou art God by nature, and knowest whatsoever is about to happen, that by enduring death in the flesh Thou wouldst free from death the inhabitants of all the earth, and bring Satan unto shame : — that Thou wouldst set up a trophy of victory over every evil and opposing power : that Thou wouldst be known by every one, and worshipped as the God and Creator of all. Thou knewest that Thou wouldst spoil hell : — that Thou wouldst
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deliver those that are therein, from bonds that had endured
for many ages : that Thou wouldst turn unto Thee all that is
under heaven. These things Thou didst Thyself announce to
us of old by the holy prophets. We have heard Thee clearly
saying, when Thou wast like unto us, " Now is the judgment John xu.
" of this world: now will the prince of this world be cast out. 31'
" And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, shall draw all men
" unto Me." " Verily I say unto you, that if a grain of wheat John xu.
" fall not into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it "4"
" die, it bringeth forth much fruit." For what reason there-
fore art Thou grieved and sore distressed ? Yes, He says, not
unbefittingly am I found thus in anguish. For I know indeed
that by consenting to suffer the passion upon the cross, I shall
deliver all beneath the heaven from every evil, and be the
cause of unending blessings to the inhabitants of the whole
earth. I am not unaware of the unloosing of death, and the
abolition of corporeal corruption, and the overthrow of the
tyranny of the devil, and the remission of sin. But withal
it grieveth Me for Israel the firstborn, that henceforth He is
not even among the servants. The portion of the Lord, and
the cord of My inheritance, will be " the portion of foxes," as Pa lxiii to.
it is written. He Who was the beloved one is greatly hated :
he who had the promises is utterly stripped of My gifts : the
pleasant vineyard with its rich grapes henceforth will be a
desert land, a place dried up, and without water. " For I will is- ▼ 6.
" command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." " I Is. v. 5.
" will break through its hedge, and it shall be a spoil : and I
" will beat down its wall, and it shall be trampled under foot."
And tell me then, what husbandman, when his vineyard is
desert, and waste, will feel no anguish for it ? What shepherd
would be so harsh and stern as, when his flock was perishing,
to suffer nothing on its account ? These are the causes of My
grief : for these things I am sorrowful. For I am God, gentle,
and that loveth to spare. " I have no pleasure in the death Ez.xviii :j.
" of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his evil way
." and live." Right therefore is it, most right, that as being
good and merciful, I should not only be glad at what is joyful,
but also should feel sorrow at whatsoever is grievous. 1
But that He pitied Jerusalem, as being well aware of what was about to happen, and that it would have to endure all (
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misery because of its crimes against Him, thou mayest learn even from this. For He went up from Judaea to Jerusalem, Luke six. and, as the Evangelist says, " When He beheld the city, He " wept over it, and said, Would that thou, even thou, hadst " known the things of thy peace ; but now they are hid from " thine eyes." For as He wept over Lazarus, in pity for the whole race of mankind, which had become the prey of corrup- tion and of death ; so we say that He was grieved at seeing Jerusalem all but involved in extreme miseries, and in calami- ties for which there was no cure.
And that we mi^ht learn what was Hi3 wish concerning: Israel s, He told the disciples, that He is in grief and anguish. For it would have been impossible for them to have learnt what was hidden within Him, if He had not revealed by words what His feelings were.
And this too I think it necessary to add to what has been said : that the passion of grief, or malady, as we may call it, of sore distress, cannot have reference to the divine and im- passive nature of the Word ; for that is impossible, inasmuch as It transcends all passion : but we say that the Incarnate Word willed also to submit Himself to the measure of human nature, by being supposed to suffer what belongs to it. As therefore He is said to have hungered, although He is Life and the cause of life, and the living bread; and was weary also from a long journey, although He is the Lord of powers ; so also it is said that He was grieved, and seemed to be capa- ble of anguish. For it would not have been fitting for Him Who submitted Himself to emptiness, and stood in the measure of human nature, to have seemed unwilling to endure human things. The Word therefore of God the Father is altogether free from all passion : but wisely and for the dispensation's sake He submitted Himself to the infirmities of mankind, in order that He might not seem to refuse that which the dispen- sation required : yea, He even yielded obedience to human
8 Mai refers this paragraph to is evident, first, because the verba
Jerusalem, reading in the fem. hf used are those of the text : and,
qvtt] : the Syriac however has the secondly, because in the case both
pronoun in the inasc, but as the of Lazarus and Jerusalem, our Lord
antecedent is very remote, I had shewed His sorrow not by words,
supplied it, and translated Israel, but by tears. That the masc. is the right reading
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customs and laws, only, as I said, He did not bear ought of this in His own nature.
There is however much, yea, very much, to be added to what has been said ; but for the present we hold in our nar- ration, and reserve what is wanting for another meeting, should Christ our common Saviour gather us here once again : by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and do- minion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen*.
'A passage of considerable length " Him as our representative human
follows in Mai, p. 425, explaining " nature might overcome its infe-
our Lord's " fear of death as being " rior passions by the power of the
" intended, first, to prove Him very " word, and our Lord thus become
" man, fear being a part of human " the perfect type of Christian con-
" nature ; and, secondly, that in " duct."
688 COMMENTARY UPON
SERMON CXLVII.
UPON THE SAME SUBJECT.
ONCE again I am come to pay you what I promised, and to add a fitting conclusion to my discourse concerning Christ. For on all occasions it is dangerous to be guilty of untruth ; but when anv thing; of the kind is committed in those things which are important for our edification, well may we then fear lest we bring down upon us condemnation from on high, and also become an object of general ridicule.
We said therefore at our last meeting, that Christ the Sa- viour of all was with the holy disciples upon the mount of Olives, while that many-headed serpent, even Satan, was pre- paring for Him the snare of death ; and the chiefs of the Jewish synagogue and the disciple that betrayed Him were, so to speak, leaving nothing undone to gain possession of His person, and had already gathered those who were to seize Him, and who consisted of a band of the soldiers of Pilate, and a multitude of wicked officers. Just therefore as the at- tempt was about to be made, He was sorrowful, and ad- monished the disciples to act in like manner suitably to the season, saying, "Watch and pray, that ye fall not into tempta- tion/' And that He might not benefit them by words only, but be Himself au example of what they should do, " having " gone apart a little, about a stone's throw, He knelt down, it " says, and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove " this cup from Me." Now some one perhaps may ask, ' Why ' did He not pray with the holy disciples, but having gone 'apart from the rest, prayed by Himself?' It was that we might learn the pattern of that mode of prayer which is well pleasing to God. For it is not right when we pray that we should expose ourselves to the public gaze, nor seek to be beheld of many, lest perchance, sinking ourselves in the mire of endea- vours after pleading men, we make the labour of our prayers altogether unprofitable. Of this fault the scribes and Phari- sees were guilty ; for our Lord even once rebuked them for loving to pray in the corners of the streets, and for the long
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 689
supplications which they offered in the synagogues, that they
might be seen of men. But for those whose purpose it is to
live uprightly, and who are anxious to hold fast by their love
unto Him, He lays down the law of prayers in these words :
" But thou, when thou prayest, enter thy chamber, and close Mat. vi. 6.
" thy door, and pray to thy Father Who is in secret, and thy
" Father Who seeth in secret shall reward thee." Every
where therefore we find Him praying alone, that thou also
mayest learn that we ought to hold converse with God over
all with a quiet mind, and a heart calm and free from all
disturbance. For the wise Paul writes, "I will therefore i Tim. ii. 8.
" that men pray, lifting up pious hands, without wrath and
" doubtings."
He was praying therefore, when already those who were to seize Him were at the door. And let no man of understanding say, that He offered these supplications as being in need of strength11 or help from another : — for He is Himself the Fa- ther's almighty strength and power: — but it was that we might hereby learn, ever to put away from us carelessness when temptation harasses, and persecution presses upon us, and perfidy contrives for us its snare, and makes ready the net of death. For it is the very means of our salvation to watch and fall upon our knees, and make constant supplica- tions, and ask for the aid that cometh from above, lest per- chance it be our lot to grow weak, and suffer a most terrible shipwreck.
For spiritual bravery is indeed a thing right worthy of the saints : but those who would resist the violence of temptations must, I tell you, have a determined and, so to speak, an un- flinching mind : for it is the act of utter ignorance to be over confident in conflicts, nor is a man free from the charge of boastfulness, who is thus disposed: we must therefore, I re- peat, unite courage and patience with humbleness of mind ; and should any temptation then befal, our mind will be pre- pared bravely to resist it. Yet let us ask of God the ability to endure manfully : for we are commanded in our prayers to say, " Lead us not into temptation : but deliver us from evil."
u The word translated strength, is constantly used in Syriac to ex- literally means "the hand," but this press "strength."
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Behold then, yea, see, the pattern for thy conduct depicted for thee in Christ the Saviour of us all : and let us also ob- serve the manner of His prayer. " Father, He says, if Thou " be willing, remove this cup from Me." Seest thou that Christ made His prayer against temptation with a reverence befitting man ? " For if Thou be willing, He says, remove it." And here too remember what the blessed Paul wrote concern-
Heb. v. 7. ing Him ; " He Who in the days of His flesh offered up " prayers and supplications to Him Who was able to save Him " from death, with strong crying and tears, and was heard " because of His reverence, even though He was a Son, yet " learned obedience by what He suffered, and being made per- " feet became the cause of eternal life unto all them that obey " Him." For as though one of us, He assigns to His Father's will the carrying out of whatever was about to be done. And if therefore it happen that we also at any time fall into unex- pected troubles, and have to endure any mental conflict, let us beseech God not so much that it may end according to our will, but rather let us ask that whatever He knows to be fit and expedient for the benefit of our souls may be brought to
Eom. viii. pass. " For we know not what to pray for as we ought :" but He is a treasure house of every thing, and to those who love Him He gives whatever is suitable for them.
Now what I have said is, I trust, useful for the benefit of you all ; but if we must further contrive some other explanation for the prayer, we may also say, that it rebukes the wicked- ness of the Jews : and in what way let us now explain. Thou hast heard Christ say, " Father, if Thou wilt, remove this cup "from Me." Was then His passion an involuntary act? and was the necessity for Him to suffer, or rather the violence of those who plotted against Him, stronger than His own will ? Not so, we say. For His passion was not an involuntary act, though yet in another respect it was grievous, because it implied the rejection and destruction of the synagogue of the Jews. For it was not His will that Israel should be the murderer of its Lord, because by so doing it would be exposed to utter condemnation, and become reprobate, and rejected from having part in His gifts, and in the hope prepared for the saints, whereas once it had been His people, and His only one, and His elect, and adopted heir. For Moses said unto
%6
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 691
them, " Behold, the heavens and the earth are the Lord's thy Deut.x.i4.
" God : and thee hath the Lord chosen out of all nations to be
" His people." It was right therefore that we should clearly
know, that through pity for Israel He would have put from
Him the necessity to suffer : but as it was not possible for Him
not to endure the passion, He submitted to it also, because God
the Father so willed it with Him.
But come and let us examine further this also. ' Did the de- ' cree of God the Father, and the will of the Son Himself, call ' Him as of necessity to His passion ? And if so, and what I • have said be true, was it not a matter of necessity for some « one to be the traitor, and for the Israelites to proceed to such ' a pitch of daring as to reject Christ, and put Him to shame in ' manifold ways, and contrive for Him also the death upon the 'cross?' But if this were so, how would He be found saying, " Woe unto that man by whom the Son. of man is betrayed : Mat. xxvi. " good had it been for him if he had not been born?" And "4" what just cause would there have been for Israel to perish, and be condemned to the miseries of war ? For how could it oppose God's decree, and His irresistible purposes ? God is not unjust, but weighs what we do with holy judgment. How therefore can He treat as voluntary that which was involun- tary ? For God the Father had pity upon the dwellers upon earth, who were in misery, caught in the snares of sin, and liable to death and corruption ; bowed also beneath a tyrant's hand, and enslaved to herds of devils. He sent from heaven His Son to be a Saviour and Deliverer: Who also was made in form like unto us. But even though He foreknew what He would suffer, and the shame of His passion was not the fruit of His own will, yet He consented to undergo it that He might save the earth, God the Father so willing it with Him, from His srreat kindness and love unto mankind. "For He so Johniii.i6. " loved the world, that He gave even His Only-begotten Son, " that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have " everlasting life." As regards therefore the ignominy of His passion, He willed not to suffer : but as it was not possible for Him not to suffer, because of the cruelty of the Jews, and their disobedience, and unbridled violence, " He endured the cross, Heb. xii. 2. " despising the shame," " and was obedient unto the Father, Phil. ii. 8.
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" even unto death, and that the death of the cross. But God, " it says, hath greatly exalted Him, and given Him a name that " is above every name ; that at the name of Jesus Christ every " knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, " and of things under the earth, and that every tongue should " confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the " Father." Amen.
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SERMON CXLVIIL
While He was speaking, behold a multitude ; and he that C. xxii. 47- was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him. For he had given them add. rod™
_,..__. _ r . , yap ffT]ij.(lov
this sign, Whomsoever I kiss is He. nut Jesus said unto ^Zuko. av-
him, Judas, betray est thou the Son of man with a kiss?™"', hv hv,
But when they that were with Him saw what was about to r6s laru> S.
be done, they said, Lord, shall we smite with the sxvord ? add. afoQ
And one of them smote the servant of the chief priest, and
cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered, and said, Let
alone thus far. And He touched his ear and healed him. om, ainov
And Jesus said unto those who had come out against Him,
and who were the chief priests, and captains of the temple,
and elders, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords
and staves to take Me ? When I was daily with you in add. cn\\a~
the temple, ye stretched not out your hands against Me : tiV M*
but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
MANY and bitter passions wage war with the soul of man, and, attacking it with unendurable violence, humble it to un- seemly deeds : but worse than all the rest is that root of all evil, the love of money, into whose inextricable nets that trai- torous disciple so fell, that he even consented to become the minister of the devil's guile, and the instrument of the wicked chiefs of the synagogue of the Jews in their iniquity against Christ.
And this the purport of the evangelic lessons again plainly shows. For the Saviour had forewarned the holy apostles that He should be seized, and endure by the hand of sinners His passion upon the cross. And with this He also commanded, that when temptation pressed upon them they must not be weary, nor sleep at an unseasonable time, but rather must watch and be constant in prayers. When then He was still speaking of these things, " Behold, it says, a multitude, and he " that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them." Dost thou see that the blessed Evangelist grieves, and, so to speak,
694 COMMENTARY UPON
even faints ? For he does not permit himself even to retain in his remembrance the disciple who was so easily bought : he refuses even to name that wicked one : for he says, " he that u was called Judas." For what ? did he not know that the man was numbered with the elect, and counted in the company of the holy apostles ? But, as I have already said, he hated even his name, and therefore the expression, "he that was called " Judas."
To this, however, he adds, that he was one of the twelve : and this also is a matter of great importance to demonstrate more fully the guilt of the traitor's crime. For he who had been equally honoured with the rest, and adorned with apo- stolic dignities ; he, the elect and beloved, deigned admittance to the holy table, and the highest honours, became the path- way and the means for the murderers of Christ. What lamen- tation can suffice for him, or what floods of tears must not each shed from his eyes, when he considers from what happiness that wretched being fell into such utter misery ! For the sake of worthless pence he ceased to be with Christ, and lost his hope toward God, and the honour, and crowns, and life, and glory prepared for Christ's true followers, and the right of reigning with Him.
It will be worth while, however, to see what the nature was of his artifice. He had given then those murderers a sign, saying, " Whomsoever I kiss is He." Completely had he for- gotten the glory of Christ, and in his utter folly imagined per- haps that he could remain undetected when offering indeed a kiss, which is the type of love, but with his heart full of bitter and iniquitous deceit. And yet even when he was accompany- ing Christ our common Saviour in His journeys with the other apostles, he often had heard Him foretelling what was about to happen : for, as being God by nature, He knew all things, and expressly told him of his treachery ; for He said unto the Mat. xivi. holy apostles, " Verily I say unto you, that one of you betray- " eth Me." How then could his purposes remain unknown ? No : but there was the serpent within him struggling against God; he was the dwelling-place of the devil: for one of the holy evangelists has said, that as he was reclining at table with the rest of the disciples, the Saviour gave him a piece of
John xiii. bread, having dipped it in the dish : " and after the bread *7-
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" Satan entered into him." He approaches Christ therefore as one beside himself with wine ; and though the instrument of fraud and treachery, he makes a show of extraordinary af- fection : and therefore Christ very justly condemned him "with the greater severity, saying, " Judas, betrayest thou the Son " of man with a kiss V And Matthew says, that when the traitor drew near to Christ, our common Saviour, he both kissed Him, and added thereto, « Hail, Master." Sayest thou Mat. xxri. hail to Him Who by thy instrumentality is made the prey of49' death ? How could such a word possibly be true ? So that we see, that inasmuch as that false one, Satan, was within Him, he used falsehood even in saying, Hail. Because of such deeds the prophet somewhere says, " Their tongue is a piercing spear- Jer. ix. 8. " head : the words of their mouth are deceitful : to his neigh- " bour he speaketh things of peace, but in his soul there is " enmity."
But further, we must also call to mind what is written by the divine John respecting this event ; for he has related, " that the officers of the Jews drew near to seize Jesus : and John xviii. " He advanced to meet them, saying, Whom seek ye ? When 3- " then the officers said, Jesus of Nazareth, He yielded Himself " into the hands of those murderers, saying, I am He. But " they, it says, went back ; and this happened three times." What therefore was the purpose of this ? and for what reason did the Saviour offer Himself unto them, but they fell down when they heard Him say, "I am He?" It was that they might learn that His passion did not happen to Him without His own will, nor could they have seized Him, had He not consented to be taken. For it was not the effect of their own strength that they took Christ, and brought Him unto the wicked rulers, but He yielded Himself up to suffer, as well knowing that His passion upon the cross was for the salvation of the whole world.
And the blessed disciples, pricked with the goading of divine love, drew their swords to repel the attack. But Christ would not permit this to be done, but rebuked Peter, saying, "Put " up thy sword into its sheath : for all who have taken swords " shall die by swords." And herein He has given us also a pattern of the manner in which we must hold fast by our love unto Him, and of the extent to which the burning zeal of our
696 COMMENTARY UPON
piety may proceed. For He would not have us use swords wherewith to resist our enemies, but rather employing love and prudence, we so must mightily prevail over those who oppose 4 Cor. x. 5. us. And similarly Paul teaches us, saying, "Casting down " reasonings and every high thing that exalteth itself against " the knowledge of God, and bringing captive every thought " unto obedience to Him." For the war for truth's sake is spiritual, and the panoply that becometh saints is intellectual, EPh. vi. i4. and full of love to God. " For we must put on the breastplate " of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation ; and take the " shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word '* of God." And so then the Saviour moderates the unmeasured heat of the holy apostles : and by preventing the example of such an act, declares that those who are the chief in His re- ligion have no need in any way whatsoever of swords. And He healed with divine dignity him who had received the blow, so giving to those who came to seize Him this godlike sign also for their condemnation.
But that no one prevailed by force over His power and will, He shews by saying; "Are ye come out as against a thief with " swords and staves to take Me ? When I was daily with you " in the temple, ye stretched not out your hands against Me." Does Christ then blame the chiefs of the Jews for not having: prematurely contrived for Him the deadly snare ? Not such is His meaning, but this rather : when it was easy for you to take Me, as each day I taught in the temple, ye seized Me not. And why ? Because I did not will as yet to suffer, but rather was waiting for a fitting season for My passion. And this sea- son has now arrived : for be not ignorant that " this is your " hour and the power of darkness :" that is, that a short time is granted you during which you have power over Me. But how has it been given you, and in what manner ? By the will of the Father consenting thereunto with My will. For I willed that for the salvation and life of the world I should submit Myself to My passion. You have therefore one hour against Me, that is a very short and limited time, being that between the precious cross and the resurrection from the dead. And this too is the power given unto darkness : but darkness is the name of Satan, for he is utter night and darkness, and the 1 Cor. iv. 4. blessed Paul also says of him, u that the God of this world
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 697
" hath blinded the minds of those that believe not, lest the " light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine unto " them." Power therefore was granted unto Satan and the Jews to rise up against Christ: but they dug for themselves the pitfall of destruction. For He indeed saved by means of His passion all under heaven, and rose the third day, havino- tram- pled under toot the empire of death : but they brought down upon their own heads inevitable condemnation in company with that traitorous disciple. x Let them hear therefore the Holy Ghost, Who says by the voice of the Psalmist, " Why Ps. ii. r. " have the heathen raged, and the nations meditated vain " things ? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers " were gathered together against the Lord and against His " Christ." But what follows this ? " He that dwelleth in hea- " ven, it says, shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall deride " them." These wretched beings then involved themselves in the crime of murdering their Lord ; but we praise as our Saviour and Deliverer our Lord Jesus Christ : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.
x Mai adds from A. a passage to them thereby that they could not
giving exactly the same explanation now have seized Him had not His
as that above to our Lord's ques- own will concurred, tion, namely, that He pointed out
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COMMENTARY UPON
C. xxii. 54- 62.
om. avrhv BT.
irtpiKadi- ffdvruy B. (Tuyxadicraf- row GSTr. add. avr&v Qs. om.auToVB.
om. <rr)fjLtpov Gs.
add. & rie- rpos Tr.
Mat. xxvi. 74-
SERMON CXLIX.
And they took Him, and led Him away, and brought Him into the high priest's house : and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and were set down together, Peter sat doivn among them : and a certain maid beholding him as he sat at the light, looked earnestly at him and said, This man also was with Him. But he denied Him, saying, Woman, 1 know Him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou also art one of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of an hour after, another confi- dently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this man also was with Him : for he is a Galilosan. But Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately while he was yet speaking the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter : and Peter remembered the word of the Lord that He had said unto him, To-day before the cock crow thou shalt deny Me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, to make us careful in whatever holy occupations we undertake, commanded us to offer up our supplications continually, and to make it a portion of our prayer to say, " Lead us not into temptation." For the violence of temptations is often sufficient to shake even a thoroughly steadfast mind, and to humble unto wavering, and expose to extreme terrors even a courageous and strong- hearted man. And this it was the lot of the chosen dis- ciple to experience, by whom I mean the sacred Peter. For he proved weak, and denied Christ the Saviour of all. And this denial he made not once only, but thrice, and with oaths. For Matthew has said, that " he began to curse and to swear, " I know not the Man." Now there are some who would have us believe that what the disciple swore was, that he did not know that Jesus was a man : but their argument fails them,
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 699
though their object was to give the disciple loving help. For it" he swore, as the}' say, that he did not know that Jesus was a man, what else did he than deny Him in thus overturning thejmystery of the dispensation in the flesh '. For he knew that the Onlv-begotten Word of God was made like unto us, that is, a man: for this he openly confessed, saying, " Thou Mat. xvi " art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Xow he did not l intend in savins this to affirm, that as beino; one merelv such as we are He is the Son of God, but that though he saw Him standing there in the limits of human nature, — Him Who is the "Word Which transcends everything that is made, and Who sprung forth from the Substance of God the Father, — even so, I say, he did not shrink from acknowledging and confessing that He is the Son of the living God. It is therefore a thing very absurd to suppose, that though he knew the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh, he yet said that he did not know that Jesus was a man. What therefore is the fact ? He was really infirm : for it was not possible for Jesus to speak falsely, Who forewarned him, that " before the cock crow thou shalt " deny Me three times."
Nor verily do we say, that the denial took place in order that Christ's words might come true, but rather that His object was to forewarn the disciple, inasmuch as what was about to happen did not escape His knowledge. The misfortune there- fore befel the disciple from the cowardice of human nature. For as Christ had not jet risen from the dead, nor death as yet been abolished, and corruption wiped away, the fear of undergoing death was a thing past men's endurance. For that this miserable act arose, as I said, from the malady of human cowardice, and that the disciple was condemned by his own conscience, is proved both by his lamentation immediately after- wards, and by his tears upon his repentance, which fell from his eyes as for a grievous sin. " For having gone out, it says, " he wept bitterly," after Christ had looked upon him, and recalled to his remembrance what He had said unto him.
But next, it is worth our while observing, in what way his sin was forgiven, and how he put away his fault ; for the event may prove of no slight benefit to us also ourselves. He did not then defer his repentance, nor was he careless about
4 U 2
698
COMMENTARY UPON
C. xxii. 54-
62.
om. avrbv
BT.
irtpiKadt- ffdvTuy B. ffwyKadurav- ruiv GSTy. add. avrSiv Gs. om.auroVB.
Om. ITT]fJLipOV
Gr.
add. i n«-
rpos Tr.
Mat. xxvi.
74-
SERMON CXLIX.
And they took Him, and led Him away, and brought Him into the high priest's house : and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled afire in the midst of the court, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them : and a certain maid beholding him as he sat at the light, looked earnestly at him and said, This man also was with Him. But he denied Him, saying, Woman, 1 know Him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou also art one of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of an hour after, another confi- dently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this man also was with Him :for he is a Galilozan. But Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately while he was yet speaking the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter : and Peter remembered the word of the Lord that He had said unto him, To-day before the cock crow thou shalt deny Me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, to make us careful in whatever holy occupations we undertake, commanded us to offer up our supplications continually, and to make it a portion of our prayer to say, " Lead us not into temptation." For the violence of temptations is often sufficient to shake even a thoroughly steadfast mind, and to humble unto wavering, and expose to extreme terrors even a courageous and strong- hearted man. And this it was the lot of the chosen dis- ciple to experience, by whom I mean the sacred Peter. For he proved weak, and denied Christ the Saviour of all. And this denial he made not once only, but thrice, and with oaths. For Matthew has said, that " he began to curse and to swear, " I know not the Man." Now there are some who would have us believe that what the disciple swore was, that he did not know that Jesus was a man : but their argument fails them,
-
■.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE.
699
16.
though their object was to give the disciple loving help. For if he swore, as they say, that he did not know that Jesus was a man, what else did he than deny Him in thus overturning thejmystery of the dispensation in the flesh .; For he knew that the Onlv-be°:otten Word of God was made liko unto us. that is, a man: for this he openly confessed, saying, "Thou Ma:. x\ " art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Xow he did not intend in saying this to affirm, that as being one merely such as we are He is the Son of God, but that though he saw Him standing there in the limits of human nature, — Him "Who is the "Word Which transcends everything that is made, and Who sprung forth from the Substance of God the Father, — even so, I say, he did not shrink from acknowledging and confessing that He is the Son of the living God. It is therefore a thing- very absurd to suppose, that though he knew the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh, he yet said that he did not know that Jesus was a man. What therefore is the fact ? He was really infirm : for it was not possible for Jesus to speak falsely, Who forewarned him, that " before the cock crow thou shalt " deny Me three times."
Nor verily do we say, that the denial took place in order that Christ's words might come true, but rather that His object was to forewarn the disciple, inasmuch as what was about to happen did not escape His knowledge. The misfortune there- fore befel the disciple from the cowardice of human nature. For as Christ had not jet risen from the dead, nor death as yet been abolished, and corruption wiped away, the fear of undergoing death was a thing past men's endurance. For that this miserable act arose, as I said, from the malady of human cowardice, and that the disciple was condemned by his own conscience, is proved both by his lamentation immediately after- wards, and by his tears upon his repentance, which fell from his eyes as for a grievous sin. " For having gone out, it says, " he wept bitterly," after Christ had looked upon him, and recalled to his remembrance what He had said unto him.
But next, it is worth our while observing, in what way his sin was forgiven, and how he put away his fault ; for the event may prove of no slight benefit to us also ourselves. He did not then defer his repentance, nor was he careless about
4 U 2
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m
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m m
m
;
<;■#
700 COMMENTARY UPON
it : for as rapid as was his descent into sin, so quick were his tears because of it; nor did he merely weep, but wept bitterly; and as one that had fallen, so bravely did he spring up again. For he knew that the merciful God somewhere says by one of
Jer. viii. 4. the prophets, " Shall not he that falleth arise ? and he that " backslideth, shall he not return?" In returning therefore he missed not the mark : for he continued to be what he had been before, a true disciple. For when he was warned that he should thrice deny before the cock crow, even then he won also the hope of forgiveness : for Christ's words unto him were, " And do thou also, in time to come, when thou art converted, " strengthen thy brethren." Words such as these belong to One "Who again appoints and restores him to apostolic powers : for He entrusts him again with the office of strengthening the brethren ; a thing which also he did.
And this too we say ; that though we are taught the falls of the saints in the sacred Scriptures, it is not that we may be caught in similar snares from disregarding the duty of stead- fastness, but that if it do chance that we prove weak in aught that is necessary for salvation, we may not despair of being able once again to mount up unto fortitude, and, so to speak, recover our health after an unexpected illness. For the mer- ciful God has provided for the inhabitants of earth repentance as the medicine of salvation : and this I know not how meny endeavour to dispense with, saying of themselves that they are clean, and in their great madness not understanding, that to entertain such an idea of themselves is full of all impurity. For
Prov. xx 9. " no man is free from defilement," as it is written. And besides this we say, that it makes God angry for us to imagine that we are free from all impurity : for He is even found saying
Jer. ii. 35. Unto one of those who led polluted lives, " Behold I have a " suit with thee because thou sayest I have not sinned, in that " thou hast acted very contemptuously in repeating thy ways." For the repetition of the way unto sin is for us, when we are overtaken by offences, to refuse to believe that we are guilty of the defilement which arises from them.
' But yes, verily ! they say, the God of all pardons the sins
T Said in the margin to be " against the Novatians."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 701
' of those who are not as yet baptized, but not so of those who ' have been already admitted to His grace/ And what do we say to this ? That if they lay down laws according to their own fancy, their words do not much concern us. But if thev cleave to the divinely-inspired Scriptures, when was the God of all unmerciful ? Let them hear Him when He cries aloud, " Tell thou thy former2 iniquities, that thou mayest be justi- Is. xliii. ?6. " fied." Let them also call to mind the blessed David, who says in the Psalms, " Shall God forget to be merciful : or shall Ps.lxxrii.9. " He gather up His mercies in His wrath 1" And again, " I Ps.xxxii.5. " said, I will acknowledge against myself my iniquity unto the " Lord : and Thou forgavest the wickedness of my heart." And besides this, they ought not to forget that before Christ was seized, or Peter denied Him, he had been a partaker of the body of Christ, and of His precious blood. " For He took Mat. xxvi. " bread and blessed, and gave to them, saying, This is My 2(5- " body. And in like manner also of the cup, saying, Drink ye " all of it : for this is My blood of the new covenant." Behold then, manifestly, that after having been a partaker of the mystical eucharist, he fell into sin, and received forgiveness upon his repentance. Let them then not find fault with the gentleness of God : let them not think scorn of His love to mankind, but call to mind Him Who plainly says, " The wickedness of the Ez. xxxiii. " wicked shall not hurt him in the day wherein he turneth l2- " away from his iniquity." And when God thus offers us con- version on whatever day a man be willing to practise it, why do they not rather crown with grateful praises Him Who aids them, instead of foolishly, and, so to say, contumaciously op- posing Him ? for by so doing they bring condemnation upon their own heads, and call down upon themselves inevitable wrath. For the merciful God ceaseth not so to be ; since, ac- cording'to the voice of the prophet, "He willeth mercy.'" Mic.vii.18.
Let us therefore strive with all our might, lest we fall into
z In the Animadvertenda to the but as the Syriac constantly so
Syriac edition, I have hazarded the points it, it is evident that S. Cyril
conjecture that the sign of the plu- read npuras for vrpmros, and con-
ral was erroneously attached to the sequently the verse should always
word former, as the Sept. reads, have been translated as above. "Tell thou thy iniquities first;"
702 COMMENTARY UPON
sin, and let a steadfast love unto Christ be fixed unchangeably
Rom. viii. in us while we say in the words of the blessed Paul, " Who shall
35- « separate me from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation or
" distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
" sword V But if temptation assail us, and so it chance that
, we prove but weak, let us weep bitterly ; let us ask forgiveness
of God : for He healeth those that are contrite ; He raiseth
up the fallen ; He stretcheth out His saving hand to those who
have gone astray : for He is the Saviour of all, by Whom and
with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with
the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, A.inen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 703
SERMON CL.
And the men who held Him mocked and smote Him: and -ft. when they had blindfolded Him, they asked Him, saying, a^* BST. Prophesy, who is he that smote thee ? And many other J. " r"ro'
things blasphemously spake they against Him. And when add- *™" „ it was day, the council of the elders of the people, composed rb vpS**.- of the chief priests and scribes, came together, and they led "ov "? ,Gy- Him into their assembly : and they said, If Thou be the BT. Christ, tell us. And He said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe : and if I also ask you, ye will not return om. *ol, et Me an answer. But hereafter shall the Son of man sit on add. a \wo- the right hand of the power of God. Tlien they all said, *W"« G*- Art Thou therefore the Son of God ? And He said unto them, Ye say that I am. And they said, What further need have we of witness ? For we ourselves have heard of His mouth.
HERE too let the prophet Jeremiah say of the race of Israel, " Who will grant for my head to be waters, and my Jer ix. i. " eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep for this people • " day and night ?" For what lamentation can suffice for those who fell into the pit of destruction because of their wicked conduct unto Christ, and for guilt so great, that not with words only did they grieve Him, and mock Him with blas- phemous cries, but even laid sinful hands upon Him, and made ready for Him the snare of death? And so contumeliously did they treat him, wickedly making Him their sport, as even to venture to smite Him : for so we have this day heard the holy evangelist say, " For the men who held Him mocked and " smote Him, saying, Prophesy, who is he that smote Thee ?" " But He, when He was reviled, reviled not again: and when 1Pet.ii.23. " He suffered, He threatened not, but committed His cause to " Him that judgeth righteously/' Well therefore might we utter that which was said of certain men by one of the holy prophets, " The heavens were astonished thereat, and shud- Jer. ii. 12. " dered very greatly, saith the Lord." For the Lord of earth and heaven, the Creator and Artificer of all, the Kino- of kino-s and Lord of lords, Who is of such surpassing greatness in glory and majesty, the foundation of everything, and that in which
704 COMMENTARY UPON
Col. i. 17. it exists and abides — " for all things exist in Him" — He Who is the breath of all the holy spirits in heaven, is scorned like one of us, and patiently endures bufferings, and submits to the ridicule of the wicked, offering Himself to us as a perfect pat- tern of longsuffering, or rather manifesting the incomparable greatness of His godlike gentleness.
Or perhaps even He thus endures to rebuke the infirmity of our minds, and shew that the things of men fall as far below the divine excellencies as our nature is inferior to His. For we who are of earth, mere corruption and ashes, attack at once those who would molest us, having a heart full of fierceness like savage beasts. But He, Who in nature and glory tran- scends the limits of our understanding and our powers of speech, patiently endured those officers when they not merely mocked, but even smote Him. "For when they had blind- " folded Him, it says, and afterwards smitten Him, they asked " Him, Prophesy, who is he that smote Thee ?" They ridicule, as if He were some ignorant person, Him Who is the Giver of all knowledge, and Who even sees what is hidden within us : for He has somewhere said by one of the holy prophets, Jobxxxviii. " Who is this that hideth from Me counsel, and shutteth up " words in his heart, and thinketh that from Me he hideth " them V* He therefore Who trieth hearts and reins, and Who is the Giver of all prophecy, how could He not know who Johnxii.40. it was that smote Him? But as Christ Himself said, " Dark- " ness hath blinded their eyes, and their minds are blinded." Is. xxbc. 9. Of them too therefore may one say, " Woe to them that are Deut.xxxii. " drunken, but not with wine!11 " For their vine is of the vine " of Sodom, and their tendril of Gomorrah."
But when at the dawn of day their wicked assembly was gathered together, He Who is the Lord of Moses, and the Sender of the prophets, after having been thus lawlessly mocked, was brought into the midst ; and they asked if He were the Christ ? 0 senseless Pharisee, if thou askest because thou knowest not, surely until thou hadst learnt the truth thou oughtest in no wise to have grieved Him, lest haply thou shouldest grieve God: but if thou makest pretence of igno- rance, while really thou knowest well that He is the Christ, Gal. vi. 7. thou must hear what the sacred Scripture saith, "God is not " deceived."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 705
But tell rae, why dost thou question Him, and wish to learn of Himself, whether He be the Christ? For it is easy enough to obtain the knowledge of Him from the law and the pro- phets. Search the writings of Moses : thou wilt see Him de- picted there in manifold ways. For He was sacrificed as a lamb : He vanquished the destroyer by His blood : and was prefigured also in many other forms. Examine too the writ- ings of the prophets ; thou wilt hear them proclaiming His divine and wonderful miracles. " For then, they say, shall the Is. xx.w. 5. " eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the dumb shall " hear : then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the " tongue of the stammerers shall be plain." And again, " The Ts. xxvi.19. " dead shall arise, and those who are in the graves shall " awake : for the dew from Thee is healing to them." Since therefore even ye yourselves see the perfect clearness of the accomplishment of the prophecies respecting Him, why do ye not rather acknowledge Him on the evidence of His divine miracles, and of His ineffable works? And this too Christ Himself said unto you ; " The works which My Father gave John v. 16. " Me to do, those works bear witness of Me that He sent Me." And again, " If I had not done among them the works which John xv. 34. " no other man did, they had not had sin : but now they have " both seen and hated both Me and My Father." The rulers therefore of the Jews, together with the people under their charge, were in very truth unbelieving, and thoroughly with- out understanding.
I think, however, that we ought to examine th# words used by Christ : for they were a reproof of the want of love to God of which the Scribes and Pharisees were guilty. When there- fore they ask whether He is in truth the Christ, and would learn this very thing, He says, " If I tell you, ye will not be- " lieve ; and if I ask, ye will not return an answer." Come therefore, and let me explain to you, as to men glad to be taught, what the occasion was on which they heard, and would not believe ; and that on which they were silent when ques- tioned. When Christ then went up to Jerusalem, He found John H. 13. in the temple people selling sheep and oxen and doves, and moneychangers sitting : and having made, it says, a kind of scourge of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, saying, " Take these things hence : and make not My Father's house
4x
706 COMMENTARY UPON
" a house of merchandize." Because therefore He called God His Father, those who were sacrificing in the temple murmured Mat. xxi. and attacked Him, saying, " By what authority doest Thou *3« " these things ? And who gave Thee this authority?" And to
this Christ replied, " I will also ask you a word, which if you " tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these " things. The baptism of John, whence was it, from heaven, " or of men? And they, it says, reasoned with themselves, " saying, If we say, From heaven. He will say unto us, Why " did ye not believe him ? But if we say, Of men, we fear the " multitude : for all held John as a prophet. And they an- " swered and said, We do not know. And Christ said thereto, " Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." Mat. xxii. And on another occasion He asked them, saying, " What **• " say ye of Christ? Whose Son is He ? And they said, David's.
" And afterwards the Lord said unto them, How therefore does " David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto " my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I place Thy ene- " mies as a footstool under Thy feet. If therefore David call " Him Lord, how is He his Son?" And to this again they were silent3. Thou seest that Christ speaks truly when He says, ;' And if I ask you, ye will not return Me an answer."
Thou shalt see too that the other declaration is equally true: and what is this ? " If I tell you, ye will not believe." For the John x. 12. blessed John the Evangelist writes, that " it was the feast of " the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter : and Jesus " was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch. The Jews " therefore came round about Him, and said unto Him, How " long wilt Thou lift up our soul ? If Thou art the Christ, tell " us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye " will not believe : the works that I do in My Father's name, " they bear witness of Me ; but ye will not believe."
And to make their condemnation more severe, in respect, I mean, of their refusing to believe on Him, He further clearly sets before them His glory, saying, " But hereafter the Son of " man shall sit on the right hand of the power of God." When, He says, I was in form like unto you, though by nature and in
» Mai, who has given the main the Syriac, to explain how Christ is points of the sermon thus far cor- both David's Son and his Lord, rectly, now (p. 421.) separates from
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 707
truth the Son of God the Father, ye made no account of Me. And jet how was it not right that the excellent art of the dis- pensation in the flesh should not escape your notice, inasmuch as ye are learned in the law, and nurtured in the writings of Moses, nor are the predictions of the holy prophets unknown to you. But since ye have brought yourselves to so great want of knowledge, and being filled with utter ignorance, recognise not the mystery concerning Me, I tell you of necessity that there is granted you but a short and narrow season for your pride and wickedness against Me, even until My precious cross. For immediately after this I clothe Myself in honour : I ascend to the glory which I had from the beginning : I am made even in the flesh the partner of God the Father on His throne, and possess sovereignty over all, even though I have taken upon Me your likeness. When Christ was thus speaking, the troop of Pharisees was inflamed with uncontrollable wrath : they catch at the expression as a pretext for blasphemy, and accuse the truth itself: they say, that " no longer need we any testimony,'' as being themselves the hearers of His words. And what then had they heard Him say? 0 vile and senseless men, ye •wanted to learn whether He were the Christ : He taught you therefore that by nature and in truth He is the Son of God the Father, and with Him shares the throne of Deity. There- fore, as ye confessed, henceforth ye have no need of testimony, for ye have heard Him speak : hence might ye best have learnt that He is the Christ : and this would have proved for thee the pathway unto faith, hadst thou only been one of those who would know the truth. But they, making even the path- way of salvation an occasion for their souls" ruin, understand not : senselessly they slay Him, keeping but one aim in view in contempt of all law, and utter disregard of the divine com- mands: for it is written, "The holy and the just thou shalt Ex. xxiii. 7. " not kill." But they, as I said, paid no regard whatsoever to the sacred commands, but rushed down, as it were, some steep descent, to fall into the snares of destruction.
Such then was their conduct : but we offer our praises to God the Word, Who for our salvation became man ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion,, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
4x2
ros
COMMENTARY UPON
C.xxiii. i-j, 18, 19.
OIU. aliru/v
s.
om. fjfuuy
Gs.
om. Kal GTs.
om. teat Gs.
Is. iii.
SERMON CLI.
And the whole multitude arose and led Him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this man -perverting our -people, and forbidding to give tribute to Cesar, and saying of Himself that He is Christ, a King. And Pilate asked Him, saying, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answered him, and said, Thou say est. Then said Pilate unto the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no cause* at all in this Man. But they vehemently asserted, that He perverteth the people, teaching in all Ju- doza, and having begun from Galilee even to this place. Andc they cried out, the whole multitude at once, saying, Away with this Man, and release unto us Barabbas : who for some sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into prison.
A disgraceful malady, my brethren, is want of understand- ing and folly of heart, accompanied by the inventions of base thoughts, which lead men on to every thing that is wicked, and often even make us sin against the glory of God. And this we can see was the case with the synagogue of the Jews ; for they sinned against Christ, and therefore they have suf- fered all misery, being condemned by the just sentence of God unto that fate to which they brought Him, Who would have raised them up unto life. For they led Jesus unto Pilate, and were themselves too delivered up to the hosts of the Romans, who took all their land captive, and stormed also their city which erewhile had been the holy and the noble, and gave those who were dwelling therein as a prey to sword and fire. In them therefore were fulfilled the predictions of the holy prophets : for one saith, " Woe unto the wicked : evils shall " happen unto him, according to the works of his hands."
b The Syriac has taken atnov as a substantive, and translated it as in the text.
c The Syriac omits vv. 6-17, but only to bring the several parts of
the narrative nearer together, as these verses are acknowledged in the body of the Sermon. Subse- quently it passes over vv. 20-23, but of these again it quotes v. 21.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 709
And another, "As thou hast done, so shall it be done unto thee: Obad. 15. " thy retribution shall be recompensed upon thy head/'
But let us see what was the manner of their wickedness, and what also they said unto Pilate, when framing their ac- cusations against our common Saviour Christ. " We found " this man perverting our people, and forbidding to give tri- " bute to Caesar, and saying of Himself that He is Christ a " King." And yet, but a short time before He was tried by you, and of questions such as this no point was raised ; only He was asked, whether He were the Christ. This it was which ye then sought to learn, and beside it absolutely no- thing. And so, meeting your questions, He sought to shew both that He is the Christ, and that by nature and truly He is the Son of God the Father. For He said, " Ye shall see " the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power." And tell me, I pray, whose is it to sit with the Father, but His "Who by nature is the Son? For of all that is made nothing whatsoever may boast of sitting on the throne of Deity : for every created being is put under the feet of the divine and supreme nature, Which rules over all, and transcends every thing whatsoever which has been brought into being. God the Father alone is set upon the throne high and lifted up, but He shares His seat with the Son, Who is ever with Him, and sprang by nature from Him. Ye had obtained therefore for yourselves by your question the full assurance that He is the Christ. But in your eagerness to accuse of blasphemy Him Who had revealed to you His glory, ye said, " Why need " we any further witnesses d ? for we have heard from His " mouth." And how then forgetting all this, or rather in your malice passing by those things for which He was judged by you, make ye an array of charges of an entirely different na- ture, saying, "We found this man perverting our people?" Tell us in what this perversion consisted ! What He taught was repentance. Where did He forbid to give tribute to Cesar? In reality ye sent certain of your body unto Him,
d The word which in the text at fathers, e. g. Ambrose, but proba-
the head of Serm. CL. had been bly, as in this instance, only by a
pointed for the received reading, confusion of the memory with bt.
Haprvplas, is now pointed for pap- Matthew. Tvpvv, a word read also by other
710 COMMENTARY UPON
with those who are called Herodians, to tempt Him, saying, Mat. xxii. " Teacher, is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar, or not?" And thereupon Christ said unto them, " Shew me a denarius of the " poll tax e : and asked, Whose is the image and superscrip- " tion on the denarius which you have brought? And when " they replied, Cesar's, He said, Give unto Cesar the things " that are Cesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Where then did He forbid to give tribute to Cesar? But their sole purpose was to bring down to death Him Who was raising them up to life. This was the object of their strata- gems, and of the base deeds which thev contrived, and of the falsehoods they invented, and the bitter words which ran from their wicked tongue. And yet the law loudly proclaims to Ex. xx. 16. thee, " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neigh- Ex.xxiii.;. " bour." And again, " The holy and the just thou shalt not " kill."
At lano^uao-e thus unbridled in its violence God in his anger Is. ML 3. has somewhere said, by one of the holy prophets, " But draw " ye near, ye wicked children, ye seed of adulterers and the " harlot : at Whom made ye merry? and against Whom opened " ye your mouth ? and against Whom sent ye forth your " tongue ? Are ye not sons of perdition ; and an iniquitous "seed?" And the prophet David also somewhere describes them in the Psalms, thus addressing God the Father in hea- Pa. lix. 11. yen, " Scatter them in Thy might, and restrain them. 0 Lord, " my helper. The sin of their mouth is the word of their lips, " and they shall be taken in their pride." For having given loose to their unbridled tongue against Christ, and, so to speak, Pd. lxxr. 5. " lifted up their horn on high, and spoken iniquity against " God," as it is written, they fell in their pride. Surely it was their duty, priding themselves as they did upon their knowledge of the divine laws, to have remembered that God says, " The pious and the just thou shalt* not kill :" but they had no regard whatsoever to the respect due to the law, but being led on by an unrestrainable impetuosity into whatsoever pleased themselves alone, without examination of its nature, they invented numerous charges, heaping up against Christ accusations which were neither true nor capable of being
e The Syriac renders rov ktjvo-ov, "of the head-money, i.e. poll-tax."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 711
proved. But they were convicted of being even more wicked than an idolater. For Pilate, acquitting Jesus of all blame, openly said, " I find no cause at all in this Man :" and this, not once only, but three times.
" But they vehemently protested, He perverteth the people, " teaching in all Juda?a, and having begun from Galilee (con- " tinueth) even to this place." Again they change from their former accusations, and invent pretexts for laving sins to His charge, and gather fresh opportunities for slandering Him. " For He perverteth, they say, the people, teaching through- " out all Galilee even to this place." But while they accuse Him of teaching, they are silent as to what He taught, being afraid, I imagine, lest perhaps even Pilate himself should be found amono- the number of the believers. For if he had heard Christ unfold His mystery, he might have ceased per- haps from serving henceforth gods falsely so called, as having admitted the light of the true knowledge of God to dwell within him, and possessing in his mind and heart the medicine of that sacred and saving message which is by Christ. For what were the doctrines of Christ ? He called unto the true knowledge of God them that were in error, and serving the creature in His stead. "Whoever drew near unto Him He desired should be resplendent with the glories of righteous- ness ; that they should be irreproachable and good ; gentle and merciful ; wise and holy ; of upright and blameless lives. With great cunning therefore they say that He taught, but were silent as to the nature of His doctrines. But even when so speaking, Pilate rebuked them, excusing himself, and saying, "I find no cause at all in Him." " For ye have brought me, he says, " This Man, as one Who upturneth the people, and behold, I " having tried Him in your presence, have not found in This " Man any cause of those things whereof ye accuse Him. No, " nor yet Herod : for he hath sent Him back unto us : and, " behold, nothing is done by Him worthy of death." Lo ! those who know the divine laws, and with haughty countenance say, " We are Moses1 disciples," beseech that He may be con- demned to death, Who is guilty of no base action, yea, rather Who is the Head and Teacher of all piety, and Who renders those who believe in Him skilful in every virtue : and when he whose duty it was to judge Him acquitted Him, to make their
712 COMMENTARY UPON
doom of torment more severe, they earnestly beg that He Who was guilty of no base deed might suffer as from them the penalty of death. " For the whole multitude cried out, " saying, Away with this Man : but loose unto us Barabbas."
Act8iii.i4. Plainly therefore " they denied the Holy and the Just, and, as " the blessed Peter says, asked for a murderer to be granted " unto them," that they might be sharers of his lot, and part- ners in his guilt. And this it was their lot to suffer. For they were given up to destruction and slaughter, and perished together with their whole race. " For they cried out, it says, " saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him." And this their unholy
Jer. xii. 7. cry the Lord blamed, saying, by the voice of Jeremiah, " I " have left My house, I have abandoned My inheritance : I " have given My dearly beloved, My soul, into the hand of her " enemies. My inheritance has become unto Me like a lion in a " thicket : it has uttered its voice against Me ; therefore I have " hated it." It was hated therefore because as a lion it sprang upon Christ, and uttered a cruel and pitiless cry against Him : but we praise Christ, Who for our sakes and in our stead suf- fered in the flesh : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 713
SERMON CLII. c_iii:+
~31' And Pilate qave sentence that their request should be done. ««* ntA.
T3ST
And he released him who for sedition and murder was & $ n. Gy. cast into prison, for whom they asked : but he delivered gdd- avroiS Jesus to their will. And as they led Him away, they laid hiHtyayov hold upon Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country ; r~ .*" B and on him they laid the cross to carry it after Jesus, roii ipx- *. And there folloiued Him a great company of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him. And Jesus add. *ai
. GTr.
turned Himself to them, and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children. For behold the days come, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave nurture. Then shall they begin to «0peiW say unto the mountains, Fall upon us : and to the hills, ^^aaav Cover its. For if they do these things in a green tree, what G*- shall be done in the dry ?
" THE fear of God is an abomination to evildoers:" and Ecclua. i. the saying is true ; for the sacred Scripture cannot lie. For °' the desire to live in an upright and holy manner is altogether alien from those who love wickedness : and because the vio- lence of their passions attacks them like a savage beast, they will not listen to the words of those who admonish them, but reckon as their enemies whoever would instruct them in the duty of living well. It was this feeling which made the Jewish multitudes hate Christ : and yet what He summoned them to was salvation, and the forgiveness of sin : to a mode of life worthy of admiration : to a righteousness superior to the law ; and to a spiritual service higher than types and shadows.
They had brought the holy One and the Just unto Pilate, uttering against Him language violent and unrestrained, and pouring forth falsely-invented accusations : and so long did they persist in the vehemence wherewith they accused Him, that at length Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they desired, although he had publicly said,"" I find no wicked- " ness in this man." But. they, it says, cried out, " Away
4 y
714 COMMENTARY UPON
" with Him, crucify Him." For this very cry, unmerciful and unlawful, the Lord had reproved them by the voice of the is. v. 7. prophet Isaiah ; for thus it is written, " For the vineyard of " the Lord of hosts, a plant new and beloved, is the man of " Judah : and I looked that he should do justice, but he " wrought iniquity : and not righteousness, but a cry/' And
Hoa.vii.13. in another place He said of them, " Woe unto them, in that " they have gone far from Me: wretched are they, for they have " sinned against Me : but I redeemed them, and they spake
Hos.vii. (6. " falsely against Me." And again, "Their princes shall fall " by the sword, because of the rudeness of their tongue."
Pilate therefore, it says, gave sentence that what they de- sired should be done : but better for them had it been, if the will of Pilate had prevailed, and the sentence had been, to set the Lord free from all fault, and to deliver the Innocent and the Just from His bonds. But they resisted, and vehemently opposed, and so gained a victory that was the mother of their undoing ; that prepared for them the snare ; that was the nurse of their ruin ; and affianced them unto severe and inevit- able misery.
Yet here behold, I pray, that rebellious serpent driven from his empire over us all, and digging for himself and the wicked hosts that serve him the pit of destruction. For as the Psalmist
Ps. lx. 15. says, " The heathen are caught in the destruction they have " made : in the snare which they set is their own foot taken. " The Lord is known as executing judgments : in the works of " his hands is the sinner taken." For the works of his hands
Ps. vii. 15. proved his snare, and "he fell into the pit that he had made : " and his labour returned upon his head, and his iniquity de- " scended upon his own pate:" for he was driven away, as I said, from his pride over us. And this the Saviour has taught us: for when He was about to endure for us His saving passion,
John xii. He said, " Now is the judgment of this world : now is the " prince of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from " the earth, shall draw all men unto Me." He led Jesus there- fore to the cross, that being lifted up He might draw all men unto Him, and that thus he might be left stripped of his wor- shippers, who in the height of his pride had ventured to say,
la. 1. t4. " The whole world will I hold in my hand as a nest, and as " eggs that are left will I take it up, and there is no one shall
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 715
"escape from me, or speak against me." Thou didst not expect then that any one would rise up against thee when thou wast seizing what was not thine own. The prophets however dared to do so, though by thy instigations the Israelites were incited continually unto violence and foul murders. Then there rose up against thee and spake against thee the Lord of all, having taken the form of a slave ; appearing in prophetic measure, though the Giver of all prophecy and knowledge ; in lowliness of glory, though high and transcending all ; in weakness such as ours, though the Lord of hosts. And thou didst not recog- nise the Saviour, and as the prophet Jeremiah says, " Thou Jer. 1. 24. " wast found and caught, because thou stoodest up against the " Lord/' And how wast thou caught ? In that those who were in darkness and the ignorance which thou causest received light ; those who wandered in error were brought into the right way ; thy harsh and overbearing dominion fell ; the sting of sin was done away ; and death was slain by Christ's death. Such are the benefits wrought for us by the Redeemer's pas- sion. Lead therefore, aye, lead Jesus to the cross that shall be thy ruin : pile up for thyself the inextinguishable flame : dig the pit into which thou shalt be cast, being trampled under foot of those that fear Him. If thou beholdest Him crucified and hung upon a tree, and laughest therefore ; thou shalt see Him, and that soon, risen from the dead, and then shalt thou wail for death because it has fallen. Weep without restraint at the sight of destruction overthrown : weep as He refashions man's nature unto life ; as He reduces sin into subjection which with thee had savagely tyrannized over us : and henceforth no more accuse any one who is weak ; " for it is God That justi- Rom. viii. " fieth : who is he that conderaneth ?" and as the Psalmist says, 33' "All iniquity shall stop its mouth.1' pa. cvii.42.
The Redeemer therefore was led to His saving passion : but they laid His cross, it says, upon Simon the Cyronian. Another holy evangelist, however, tells us that the Lord Himself carried John xix. the tree : and necessarily both the one and the other are true. T"' For the Saviour indeed bore the cross, but in the middle of the way perhaps the Cvrenian met them, and they seized him, and made him carry it instead. And there is an important reason for the fact, that Christ the Saviour of all did carry the cross : for it is said of Him by the voice of Isaiah, that " unto l3. ix. 6.
4 t 2
716 COMMENTARY UPON
" us a Child is born : a Son also is given us, Whose govern- " ment is upon His shoulder." For His government was the cross, by which He became King over the world, if so be that Phil. ii. 3. it is true that " He became obedient to the Father unto death, " even the death of the cross : for this reason God also hath " greatly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above " every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee " should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and of " things under the earth : and every tongue shall confess that " Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.'"
And this also, I think, it is important here to observe, that when the blessed Abraham went up unto the mountain that had been shewn him, that there he might sacrifice Isaac, according to God's command, he laid the wood upon the lad ; and he was a type of Christ carrying His own cross upon His shoulders, and going up to the glory of His passion. For that His passion was Christ's glory, He has Himself taught us, John xiii. saving-, " Now is the Son of man o-lorified, and God is glorified 3I' " in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify
" Him in Himself, and shall immediately glorify Him."
He was going therefore to the place of crucifixion : and there followed Him women weeping, as well as many others. For constantly, so to speak, the female sex is given to tears, and of a disposition ready to sink at the approach of aught that is sorrowful. ' But, 0 daughters of Jerusalem, He says, stay ' those tears on My account : cease your wailings : and weep ' rather for yourselves, and your children : for the days, He 1 says, shall come, in which barrenness shall be preferable to ' women than to have borne children." How, or in what manner ? Because when the war fell upon the country of the Jews, they all perished utterly, small Jjnd great : and infants with their mothers, and sons with their fathers, were destroyed without distinction. Then, He says, shall men count it above all price to be crushed under hills and mountains ; for in ex- treme miseries those misfortunes which are less severely cruel become, so to speak, desirable. " For if, saith He, they do " these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" But it is worth our while to see what the Saviour's meaning is in these words. For the saying is shaped in the form of a parable, or an example rather, but is pregnant with a spiritual
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 717
signification : and it intends, I think, to suggest perhaps what follows. He calls Himself the green tree, that namely which has leaves and fruit and flowers. But His fruits were doctrines and exhortations and the manifestation of a godlike power in His divine and ineffable miracles. For which of His works is not more than our admiration can equal ? He raised the dead to life, He cleansed lepers, He healed the blind, and the other deeds He wrought are such as arouse in us the most perfect praise. But though these were His works, yet did the Roman officers, or rather Pilate who condemned Him, and passed upon Him an unjust sentence, inflict upon Him these cruel mock- eries. When therefore, He says, the Roman commanders have inflicted upon Me such things, though they see Me adorned with such great glory and praise, what will they do to Israel, perceiving him to be a dry and fruitless stock ? For in him they will behold nothing admirable, for the sake of which he might perchance have been counted by them worthy of honour and mercy. Plainly they will burn him with fire, without shewing him mercy, yea rather he will suffer the cruelties prompted by savage rage. For such were the miseries into which the Israelites fell, when God, Who judgeth righteously, exacted of them the punishment of their wickedness against Christ. But upon us, who have believed in Him, Christ be- stoweth grace and blessing ; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.
718
COMMENTARY UPON
C. xxiii. 32-43-
<Ki)povs ST. Kki\pov Br. add. <tvv av- rots Gs. ovrosGSTs. vT6s B. ivercufap GSTr. ivfTrai^av'B. om.Kaiante 6£os BT. om. yeypau- pcvv BT.
om. Keywv BT.
oiiXl BT. « GSs.
avrco iipTj BST.
hrtri^a av- r$ \4yaiv
Gs.
rut 'ItjcoC. . Kupit Gs.
SERMON CLIII.
And there were led also two others, who were malefactors, to be put to death with Him, And when they came to the place which is called a skull, there they crucified Him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the leftS And dividing His garments, they cast lots. And the people stood looking on. And the rulers also derided Him, saying, He saved others ; let Him save Himself if This is the Christ the elect of God. And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Tlwu art the King of the Jews, save TJiyself And there was also a writing written over Him, This is the King of the Jews. And one of the malefactors which were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, If Thou art the Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other answered rebuking him, and said, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation ? And we indeed justly ; for we receive the due retribution of our deeds : but this man hath done nothing that is hateful. And he said, Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.
THE blessed Paul counts the mystery of the incarnation of the Only-begotten worthy of all admiration, and, so to speak, is in amaze at the wisdom and excellence of the plan of salva- Rom.xi.33. tion, saying, " 0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom " and the knowledge of God." For consider how the Saviour of all and Lord, by Whom the Father brought all things into existence, refashions man's nature, restoring it to that which it was in the beginning by becoming Himself like unto us, and
f Both the Syriac and B. omit endorf joins the Syriac and B. in
the clause, 6 §< 'I^o-ovr TKfytv ai- rejecting ypap.pa<riv 'EWtjvikois xa\
rots, Uarep, a<pts avrois' ov yap ol- 'Pupat/ccas Ka\ 'EQpatKots : and in
baaiv ri iroiovaiv. It is, however, the inscription itself GSr read ovro'r
retained by the Peshito and Philox., forty 6 j3. r. 'I., but BT. 6 j3a<r. t<jv
as well as by all modern editors of 'low. ovtoc. note. Subsequently in v. 38. Tisch-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 719
bearing our suffering's for our sakes. For the first man was indeed in the beginning in the paradise of delight, being en- nobled by the absence both of suffering and of corruption : but when he despised the commandment that had been given him, and fell under a curse and condemnation, and into the snare of • death, by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, Christ, as I said, by the very same thing restores him again to his original con- dition. For He became the fruit of the tree by having endured the precious cross for our sakes, that He might destroy death, which by means of the tree had invaded the bodies of man- kind. He bore suffering that He might deliver us from suffer- ings : " He was despised and not esteemed/' as it is written, i3. mi. 3. that He might make us honourable : He did no sin, that He might crown our nature with similar glory : He Who for our sakes was man submitted also to our lot ; and He Who giveth life to the world submitted to death in the flesh. Is not therefore the mystery profound ? Must we not own that the dispensation is more than language can describe ? What doubt can there be of this ? ' Let us therefore, as we offer Him our praise, repeat that which was sung by the Psalmist's harp ; " How great are pa. civ. 24. " Thy works, 0 Lord ! in wisdom hast Thou made them all."
When therefore He hung- upon the precious cross, two thieves were hung with Him. And what follows from this? It was verily mockery as far as regards the object of the Jews ; but the commemoration of prophecy : for it is written, that " He was also numbered with the transgressors." For our la. liii. 12. sakes He became a curse, that is, accursed : for it is written again, that " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Deut. xxi. But this act of His did away with the curse that was upon 23" us : for we with Him and because of Him are blessed. And knowing this, the blessed David says : " Blessed are we of the p3. Cxr. 15. " Lord, Who made heaven and earth :" for by His sufferings (Septeuii. blessings descend to us. He in our stead paid our debts : He bore our sins ; and as it is written, " in our stead He was la. liii. 6. "stricken." "He took them up in His own body on the iPet. ii.24. " tree :" for it is true that " by His bruises we are healed." la. mi. 5. He too was sick because of our sins, and we are delivered from the sicknesses of the soul. He bore derision, and mockeries, and spittings : for the rulers of the synagogue of the Jews scoffed Him, shaking their polluted heads, and pouring out
720 COMMENTARY UPON
upon Him bitter laughter, as they said, " He saved others : let " Him save Himself, if He be the Christ." But if thou didst not really believe that He was the Christ, why didst thou kill Him as the heir ? Why didst thou wish to seize His inherit- ance ? If He saved others, and thou knowest that this verily was so, how could He want the power to save Himself from thy hands ? Thou heardest in the temple those whose office it P3.3jdi.r6. was to sing and recite in chorus constantly chanting ; " They " pierced My hands and My feet : they counted all My bones: " and themselves watched and gazed at Me. They divided My " garments among them, and on My clothing did they cast Ps.Uix.n. " the lot." And again, "They gave gall for My eating, and " for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."" Since then thou wast learned in the law, — for such thou consideredst thy- self to be, — how earnest thou to leave prophecy, and what had been foretold concerning these things unexamined ? It was thy duty to have enquired Who it was That spake these things ; to Whose person, I mean, it behoved thee to refer these verses. Thou heardest thy great chieftain Moses foretelling the sa- Deut. vageness of thy attacks : for he said, that " ye shall see your xivui. . C( -jj£Q hanging upon a tree :" thou shalt see, that is, Him Who is the cause of life, or rather Life Itself, hung upon a tree. And how then didst thou entirely disregard the pro- phecy of Moses, of whom thou madest so great boast ? For Johnix.28. we have heard you expressly declaring, " We are Moses1 " disciples." Tell me what thou meanest by shaking thy head at Him \ Is it the meek endurance of the Sufferer that thou despisest ? or is it to prove the stony hardness of thy mind ? Are ye eager to subject the Prince of Life to the death of the flesh I Why meddle ye with holy cares? Why purpose Ps. ii. 4. ye a counsel that ye will not be able to establish ? " He that " dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them : and the Lord shall " deride them," as it is written.
Two thieves therefore were hauged with Him, as I said, in mockery even of the passion which brings salvation to the whole world : but of these, the one, it says, resembled in his conduct the impiety of the Jews, belching forth the same words as they did, and giving free utterance to blasphemous expressions. " For if, saith he, Thou be the Christ, save Thyself, and us." But the other, following a different course, is justly worthy of
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 721
our admiration : for he believed in Him : and while suffering so bitter a punishment, he rebuked the vehement outcries' of the Jews, and the words of him who was hanging with him. He " confessed his sin, that he might be justified f he became la. xliii.26. the accuser of his own wicked ways, that God might remit his guilt; for it is written, "I said that I will confess of myself P3.xxxii.5- " my iniquity to the Lord, and Thou forgavest the wickedness " of my heart." He bore unto Christ a blameless testimony, and reproved the Jewish want of love to God, and condemned the sentence of Pilate : " for This Man, he says, hath done " nothing that is hateful." 0 how beautiful is this confession ! how wise the reasonings, and how excellent the thoughts ! He became the confessor of the Saviour's glorv, and the accuser of the pride of those who crucified Him. What reward there- fore did he receive ? Of what honours was he counted worthy ? Or what benefit did the thief gain who was the first to profess faith ? He lit upon a treasure worth the having : he became rich unexpectedly, and possessed of every blessing : he won the inheritance of the saints, and to have his name written above, in heaven : he was in the book of life who was bearing the sentence of death, and is numbered with the dwellers in the city that is above.
And let us look at his most beautiful confession of faith. " Jesus, he says, remember me when Thou comest in Thy " kingdom." Thou seest Him crucified, and callest Him a king: Him Who was bearing scorn and suffering, thou ex- pectest to come in godlike glory : thou seest Him surrounded by a multitude of the Jews, and the wicked gang of the Pha- risees, and Pilate's band of soldiers, — all these were mocking Him, and no single one of them confessed s * * *
s Two passages ascribed in Mai not belong to the Commentary, for
to this Homily are not acknow- It is a mystical explanation of the
ledged by the Syriac : the first, threefold language of the super-
however, p. 434, is said in the Co- scription, which was not read by
dex to be taken from S. Cyril's S. Cyril in his copy of S. Luke's
Sermons, and is an argument Gospel, and is in fact probably an
against the Docetae, who thought interpolation from S. John. As the
that our Lord's body was a phan- Syriac now finally fails, what fol-
tom, drawn from the reality of His lows is taken from Mai, though
sufferings : the second, p. 435, can- probably some portion of it does
4z
722 COMMENTARY UPON
Ver. 44. There was darkness over all the, land.
From Mai. He who excels all created things, and shares the Father's throne, humbled Himself unto emptying, and took the form of a slave, and endured the limits of human nature, that He might fulfil the promise made of God to the forefathers of the Jews : but they were so obdurate and disobedient as even to rise up against their Master. For they made it their business to deliver the Prince of life unto death, and crucified the Lord of glory. But when they had affixed to the cross the Lord of all, the sun over their heads withdrew, and the light at
Amos v. 18. midday was wrapped in darkness, as the divine Amos had foretold. For there was " darkness from the sixth hour until " the ninth hour :" and this was a plain sign unto the Jews, that the minds of those who crucified Him were wrapped in
Eom.xi.25. spiritual darkness, for " blindness in part hath happened unto " Israel." And David in his love unto God even curses them,
P3. hrix.23. saying, " Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see." Yea ! creation itself bewailed its Lord : for the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent, and the very temple as- sumed the garb of mourners, for its " veil was rent from the " top to the bottom." And this is what God signified to us
Is. 1. 3. by the voice of Isaiah, saying, " And I will clothe the heaven " with darkness, and wrap it around with sackcloth."
"Ver. 47. And when the centurion saiv what was done, he glorified
God.
AlsoinCra- Again observe, I pray, that no sooner had He endured the passion upon the cross for our sakes, than He began to win many unto a knowledge of the truth : " for the centurion, it " says, when he saw what had happened, glorified God, say- " ing, that truly This Man was righteous." And certain Jews also smote upon their breasts, being pricked doubtless by their
not belong to the Commentary. 54 . . .; and Serm.CLVI.on c. xxiv.
For in the Index to the Sermons 36 S. Cyril therefore must
prefixed to part ii. of the Syriac, we have passed over most of the cir-
find only three more enumerated, cumstances of Christ's resurrection
namely, Sermon CLIV. on c. xxiii. and ascension, or have referred to
44 .... ; Serm. CLV. on c. xxiii. them very briefly.
mer avamv-
fJLUS
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 723
consciences, and looking up with the eyes of their mind unto the Lord, and it may be perhaps clearing themselves of their impious conduct against Christ by crying out against those who cruci6ed Him, even though they dared not do so openly, because of the impiety of the rulers. With truth therefore did our Lord say, " When I have been lifted up from the earth, I John xii. " shall draw all men unto Me." 3"'
And women also followed, who had come with Him from Ver. ^.
Galilee.
Wise women followed our common Saviour Christ, satherino; whatever was both useful and necessary for faith in Him. And when He gave His flesh as a ransom for the life of us all, thev wisely betook themselves to tend His body : for they supposed that the corpse would continue in the grave.
4 z
724 COMMENTARY UPON
CHAPTER XXIV.
ver. 4. It came to pass, as they were perplexed at this.
THE women came to the sepulchre, and when they could not find the body of Christ, — for He had risen, — they were much perplexed. And what followed 'i For their love's sake unto Christ, and their earnest zeal thereunto, they were counted worthy of seeing holy angels, who even told them the joyful tidings, and became the heralds of the resurrection,
Ver. 5. saying, " Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not " here, but is risen." For the Word of God ever lives, and is by His own nature Life : but when He humbled Himself unto emptying, and submitted to be made like unto us, He tasted death. But this proved to be the death of death : for He arose from the dead, to be the way whereby not Himself so much but we rather return unto incorruption. And let no one seek Him Who ever lives among the dead ; for He is not here, with mortality, that is, and in the tomb : but where ra- ther is He? in heaven plainly, and in godlike glory. And more firmly to settle the faith of the women in these things,
"Ver. 7. they recal to their minds what Christ had said, that " He must " necessarily be given up into the hands of sinners, and suffer, " and the third day rise again.'"
Angels too brought the joyful tidings of the nativity to the shepherds in Bethlehem, and now they tell His resurrection : and heaven yields its service to proclaim Him, and the hosts of the spirits which are above attend the Son as God, even when He had become flesh.
Ver. 9. And they returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest.
The women having been taught the mvsterv bv the voice of angels, run to tell these things to the disciples. For it was fitting that this grace, though so splendid, should be granted unto women. For she who of old was the minister of death is now freed from her guilt by ministering unto the voice of the holy angels, and by being the first both to learn and tell
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 725
the adorable mystery of the resurrection. The female sex therefore gained both acquittal from their reproach and the reversal of their curse. For He Who of old had said unto them, « In pains shalt thou bear children," gave them deliver- Gen. iii.16. ance from their misfortune, by having met them in the garden, as another Evangelist mentions, and said, Hail. To the holy HktsviH. apostles however the account of the resurrection seemed^ abso- lutely but an idle tale, and falsehood ; for even they did not know the inspired Scripture, and so they were incredulous, and mocked at the news and rejected it.
How did the disciples in John's Gospel, having heard Mary, and having run to the sepulchre, believe? For to this also the Scripture bears witness in their behalf, saying, " When John xx. S. " therefore they entered, the other disciple who came first to " the sepulchre both saw and believed." But in Luke it is said, "And they returned from the sepulchre, and told all « these things unto the eleven and to all the rest,— -it was " Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the wifeh of James, " and the rest with them, who told these things to the apostles, « — and they disbelieved them l."
Behold two of them went that same day to a village. Ver' >3- Ask two of the disciples walk to a village called Emmaus, they conversed with one another concerning Christ, regarding Him as no longer living, but mourning Him as dead. ^ And as they conversed, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, without being recognised by them, " for their eyes were held Ver. .4. « that they should not know Him. And He saith unto them,
h Or possibly the mother; but if exists in words only, S. Luke's dis-
so she is described in three dif- belief being one merely of surprise
fer'ent ways, l°. Mapia f, 'Jwca^ov; and astonishment at the startling
ao Mapi'a i; 'Ia^TOf, and 3°. Mapta news brought by the women. It is
h Iok&Pov rov fiiKpov Kal 'luxnjros found only in the small Catena D.
Lnrvp, in the course of nine verses of * The whole of the remainder is
S Mark's Gospel. That our Lord's contained in Cramer's Catena, but
brethrenweremarried,Cf.iCor.ix.3. with the constant omission of sen-
l The statement of this discre- tences, and given as a string ot te- nancy is to be referred rather to the tached extracts without the author s Catenist than to S. Cyril, as the name. The present passage is also latter would most probably have given in the Aurea Catena, but re- criven some explanation of it, had ferred simply to " Grsecus, i. e. he noticed at all a difference which some Greek commentator.
726 COMMENTARY UPON
" What is it, I pray, of which ye converse with one another as " ye walk thus mournfully ? And one of them whose name " was Cleopas answered and said, Art Thou only a stranger in " Jerusalem," &c. And then they tell Him of the rumours of the resurrection Drought by the women, and of that by Peter, Ver. 22. but believe them not. For by saying, " And women also " astonished us, who found not the body/' they shew that they had not been induced to believe the news, nor regard it as true tidings, but as a cause of trouble and astonishment : and Peter's testimony, who had seen only the linen bandages at the sepulchre, they did not consider as a trustworthy proof of the resurrection, because he did not say that he had seen Him, but inferred that He had risen from His being no longer there. And vou must know that these two belonged to the number of the seventy, and that Cleopas' companion was Si- mon1,— not Peter, nor he of Cana, — but another of the seventy.
Ver. 27. Having begun from Moses and from all the prophets.
In this discourse the Lord shews that the law was necessary to make ready the way, and the ministry of the prophets to prepare men for faith in this marvellous act, that so when the resurrection really took place, those who were troubled at its greatness might remember what was said of old, and be in- duced to believe. He brings forward therefore Moses and the prophets, interpreting their hidden meaning, and making plain to the worthy what to the unworthy was obscure m, so settling in them that ancient and hereditary faith taught them by the
1 Origen also in the exordium to nected with the journey to Em- his Commentary on S. John re- maus. But even otherwise the lan- cords the same tradition, that Cleo- guage used has not the true Cyrillic pas' companion was named Simon. " ring," as may be seen by this Later authorities, like Theophylact, sentence ; ra rots dva£iois ao-a<pfj think that it was Luke himself. tra(f>t}vi^m> rots d£(W. And again, Cramer's Catena omits this pas- npo(3\ri3(iq ra irpoti.pqp.iva r£ ano- sage, but begins again at " He icpv<pov ttjs trportpov acracpdas tit " brings forward Moses, &c." rovpcpavis 81a ttjs o-acpqvflat airo-
m The index to the Sermons has KaXxmroptva. The three extracts
already made it probable that S. upon the journey to Emmaus are
Cyril entirely omitted, or only very taken, the first and third from D,
cursorily mentioned in the Com- the second from B. mentary, the circumstances con-
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 727
sacred books which they possessed. For nothing which comes from God is without its use, but all aud several of them have their appointed place and service. In their due place servants were sent before to make ready for the presence of the Master, by bringing in beforehand prophecy as the necessary preparative for faith, that, like some royal treasure, what had been foretold might in due season be brought forward from the concealment of its former obscurity, being unveiled and made plain by the clearness of the interpretation. Having" thus then stirred up their minds by the writings of the law and the prophets, He afterwards more plainly sets Himself before them, when, having consented to their request to go with them to the village, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and divided it among them. " For their eyes, it says, Ver. 16. " were held that they might not know Him," until namely the word had entered stirring up their heart unto faith, and then, rendering what they had before heard and believed visible, He offered them the sight seasonably after the hearing. He does not, however, continue with them, for •' He vanished, it says, " out of their sight." For our Lord's relation unto men after His resurrection does not continue the same as before, for they too have need of renovation, and a second life in Christ, that the renewed may associate with the renewed, and the incor- ruptible approach the incorruptible. For which reason, as John tells us, He did not permit Mary to touch Him, until He Jolin xx- should go awav and return again.
They rose up that same hour. Ver. $$.
Cleopas, it says, and his companions, rose up that same Caute hour, the same of course in which Jesus had vanished out of esas' their sight, and returned to Jerusalem : but it does not say that they found the eleven gathered together that same hour,
n Again ascribed in the Aurea the meaning of the Latin — for the
Catena to " some Greek expositor." English has no meaning — being,
The English translation is as usual that after our Lord had prepared
an absurdity : for it renders Conve- the minds of the disciples to believe
nienter opportunum siii aspectum in the resurrection by arguments
auditui subjungit, by • He fitly af- addressed to their hearing, He sea-
' fords, in addition to their hearing, sonably permitted them at length
' a favourable object to their sight;' to see Him visibly.
728 COMMENTARY UPON
and told them what had* happened concerning Jesus,0 but this took place on the fortieth day after His resurrection, on which day He was also taken up. This evangelist therefore has omitted the events which took place in the intervening time, and which Cleopas and his companions found the eleven dia-
Ver. 34. cussing in private, and saying, that " the Lord is risen, and " has been seen by Simon :" and of him he has not mentioned either where, or when, or how this took place. It was during these days that those events also took place which were done
Mat. in Galilee, and which Matthew has recorded.
xxviii. 16.
Ver. 36. Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them.
AndP now, keeping to the order of events, we say, that the account of the resurrection having already reached the apostles from many quarters, and their desire to see Him having thus been roused, He comes according to their desire, and stands visible and revealed before them as they seek for and expect Him. And no longer does He appear to them with their eyes held, nor converse with them as concerning some other person, but permits them to see Him plainly, and bids them be of good cheer. But they even so were in doubt and affright ; for they thought that they saw not Himself, but some apparition and shadow : but He quiets the perturbation occasioned by such thoughts, addressing them with His usual and customary speech, and saying, " Peace be unto you."l
Ver. 38. He said unto them, Why are ye troubled ? and why do rea- sonings arise in your hearts ?
To convince them firmly and indubitably, that He is the same Who suffered, He immediately shews that being God
0 This passage is given so much * that the Lord waa seen by Simon.' more probably in Cramer, that I V The Aurea Catena ascribes this
append it : ' But not that they to Cyril.
' found the eleven gathered toge- 1 A passage upon peace ascribed
' ther that same hour, and told to Cyril in the Aurea Catena, and
• them what had happened con- given by Mai as probably belong-
' cerning the Lord Jesus, but after ing to the Commentary, is taken
' the lapse of as many hours as suf- from the commencement of Gre-
1 ficed for walking the sixty fur- gory Nazianzen's eighteenth Ho-
1 longs between the two places ; mily, being his third " Oratio de
' and during this interval it was " pace."
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 729
by nature, He knows what is hidden, and that the tumultuous thoughts within them escape Him not : for He said, "Why are " ye troubled?" And this is a very plain proof that He Whom they see before them is not some other person, but the very same Whom they had seen both suffering death upou the cross and laid in the tomb, even Him Who sees reins and heart, and from Whom nothing that is in us is hid. This therefore He gives them as a sign, His knowledge namely of the tumult of thoughts that was within them. And to prove moreover in another way that both death is conquered, and that human nature has put off corruption in Him as the foremost, He shews His hands and His feet, and the holes of the nails, and permits them to handle Him, and in every way convince themselves that the very body which had suffered was, as I said, risen. Let no one therefore cavil at the resurrection1, : and though thou hearest the sacred Scripture say of the human body, that " it is sown an animal body, it is raised a spiritual body," do i Cor. xv. not deny the return even of human bodies to incorruption. 44' For as the animal is that which follows after, and is subject to animal, that is, to fleshly lusts, so also the spiritual is that which submits itself to the will of the Holy Ghost. For after the resurrection from the dead, there will be no longer the opportunity for carnal affection, but the goad of sin will be entirely powerless. That very (body) therefore which has been brought down to the earth, shall be clothed with incor- ruption.
That the disciples therefore might be quite sure that it is the very same Who suffered and was buried and rose again, He shews, as I said, both His hands and feet : and He bids them be fully convinced that it is not a spirit, as they thought, but rather in very truth a body, saying, " And ye see that a " spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have." For a shadow and spirit and apparition merely could not endure the touch of the hand.
Having3 then, as we have said, shewn His hands and feet to
r Cramer's reading is, " Let no edition, however, by Nicolaus, it is
" one cavil at the common resur- said to be taken from "an anony-
** rection of us all." mous author in the Greek Catena."
s This extract is in the Aurea S. Cyril can scarcely have repeated
Catena ascribed to Cyril ; in the himself in so confused a manner,
5a
730 COMMENTARY UPON
the disciples, the Lord fully convinced them that the body which had suffered had risen : but, to produce in them still further a yet more firmly-settled faith therein, He asked for something to eat. And what was brought was a piece of broiled fish, which He took and ate in the presence of them all. Now this He did for no other reason than clearly to shew them that He Who had risen from the dead was the same Who in old time had eaten and drunk with them during the whole period of the dispensation, and conversed with them as
Bar. iii. 37. a man, according to the prophet's voice : intending them to perceive that the human body does indeed need sustenance of this kind, but a spirit by no means so. Who therefore that claims to be faithful, and receives unhesitatingly the witness of the holy evangelists, can any longer listen to the fictions of
SoK7]ffia6- heretics, can any longer endure the apparition-mongers ? For the power of Christ surpasses human enquiry, nor is it on the level of the understanding of ordinary events. He ate then a piece of fish because of the resurrection : but the natural con- sequences of eating by no means followed in the case of Christ,
Mat. xv. as the unbeliever might object, knowing that " whatsoever en- " tereth in at the mouth, must necessarily be cast out and go " into the draught." But the believer will admit no such cavils into his mind, but leave the matter to the power of God.
Ver. 45. Then opened He their mind to understand the Scriptures.
When* He had quieted their reasonings by what He said, by the touch of their hands, and by partaking of food, He then opened their mind to understand, that " so it behoved Him to " suffer," even upon the wood of the cross. The Lord there- fore recalls the minds of the disciples to what He had before said : for He had forewarned them of His sufferings upon the cross, according to what the prophets had long before spoken : and He opens also the eyes of their heart, so as for them to understand the ancient prophecies.
The Saviour promises the disciples the descent of the Holy Joel U. 28. Ghost, which God had announced of old by Joel, and power
and the discussion at the end is matter thus : ov (frvviKus aXX' oIko- scarcely worthy of him. Theophy- m/iucfic (^i^pdxxKfro. lact, within whose range it much * This and the two following ex- more properly comes, settles the tracts are omitted by Cramer.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 731
from above, that they might be strong and invincible, and without all fear preach to men everywhere the divine mystery.
He says unto them now that they had received the Spirit after the resurrection, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and John xx. adds, " But tarry ye at Jerusalem, and wait for the promise ^ct3 : " of the Father, which ye have heard of 2Ie. For John indeed " baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holv " Ghost ;" in water no longer, for that they had received, but with the Holy Ghost : He does not add water to water, but completes that which was deficient by adding what was want- ing to it.
Having blessed them, and gone a little in advance, He was carried up unto heaven, that He might share the Father's throne even with the flesh that was united unto Him. And this new pathway the Word made for us when He appeared in human form : and hereafter in dne time He will come again in the glory of His Father with the angels, and will take us up to be with Him.
Let us glorify therefore Him Who being God the Word be- came man for our sakes : Who suffered willingly in the flesh, and arose from the dead, and abolished corruption : Who was taken up, and hereafter shall come with great glory to judge the living and the dead, and to give to every one according to his deeds : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and power with the Spirit u for ever and ever. Amen.
u Cramer adds navayla, " with the all-holy Spirit."
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