Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Epiphany

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone). (John 1:29–42)

Andrew, after having tarried with Jesus and learned what He did, did not keep the treasure to himself, but hastens and runs quickly to his brother, to impart to him of the good things which he had received. “But why hasn't John mentioned what matters Christ conversed with them? Is it not clear that it was for this that they stayed with Him? It was proved by us the other day; but we may learn it from what has been read today as well. Observe what Andrew says to his brother; We have found the Messiah, (which is, being interpreted, the Christ). You see how, as far as he had learned in a short time, he showed the wisdom of the teacher who persuaded them, and their own zeal, who cared for these things long ago, and from the beginning. For this word, we have found, is the expression of a soul which longs for His presence, and looks for His coming from above, and is made overjoyed when the looked for thing has happened, and hastens to impart to others the good tidings. This is the part of brotherly affection, of natural friendship, of a sincere disposition, to be eager to stretch out the hand to each other in spiritual things. Hear him also speak with the addition of the article; for he does not say “Messiah,” but the Messiah; thus they were expecting some one Christ, having nothing in common with the others.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John 19.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Jesus' Baptism

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13–17)

Many raise the question, What in fact was the nature of this baptism with which the Lord was baptized? What did it amount to, the baptism of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who, for the sake of the salvation of all, became human? As such He was to show Himself to be the beginning of a certain paradoxical life on account of which He is called Adam, since for Adam's sake and for the rest of those who have arisen from Adam He becomes the beginning of everlasting life, in the same way that Adam was the original of this temporary and mortal life. This Jesus, I say, recapitulated in Himself everything that pertains to our salvation. For just as He both died and rose again, we also shall do so, in the same way. Since necessarily we were to be symbolically transferred from this present life by baptism and settled in that life which is to come, he saw to it that this baptism should be fulfilled first of all in Himself. In His providential dispensation of things, He had received, before all others, this baptism of adoption which is by water and the Spirit. He thereby showed this baptism to be great and honorable, in that He Himself, first of all, truly accepted it. Moreover, He Himself identified Himself with that part of society outside the law of grace, in which we also take part. For it was fitting that the Lord, in humility of spirit, should become subject both to the prophet and Baptist, like a common person from among the people. He was baptized that He might hallow the waters and bestow upon us, through the basin, regeneration and adoption and remission of sins and all the other blessings that came to us through baptism, prefiguring them in Himself. As God, however, He is the One “who takes away the sin of the world,” and as such He has no need of baptism.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragment 14

Patristic Wisdom for Epiphany

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.”

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. (Matthew 2:1–12)

What means this, that it was in the time of a very wicked king that God descended to earth, divinity entered into flesh, a heavenly union occurred with an earthly body? What does this mean? When does one not truly a king come to drive out a tyrant, avenge his country, renew the face of the earth, and restore freedom? Herod, an apostate, invaded the kingdom of the Jewish race, took away the Jews’ liberty, profaned their holy places, disrupted the established order, abolished whatever there was of discipline and religious worship. Rightly, therefore, did divine aid succor that holy race which had no human help. Rightly did God support the race which had no man to be its helper. In just this way will Christ come again, to undo the Antichrist, free the world, restore the fatherland of Paradise, perpetuate the liberty of the world, take away all the slavery of this world.

Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 156.5

But now, after the service of the star, after the course of the Magi, let us see how glorious was the dignity that attended the king who had been born. For immediately the Magi fall down and worship the one born as Lord, and there in his very cradle they venerate the infancy of the crying child by offering him gifts. They perceive one thing with the eyes of the body, something else with the vision of their mind. The humbleness of the body he assumed is seen, but the glory of his divinity is not concealed. It is a child who is seen, but it is God who is adored. How inexpressible is this mystery of the divine condescension! For our sake that incomprehensible and eternal nature does not disdain taking on the infirmities of our flesh. The Son of God, who is God of the universe, is born as a human being in a body. He permits himself to be placed in a manger, within which are the heavens. He is confined to a cradle, one whom the world does not have room for. He is heard in the voice of a crying infant, at whose voice the whole world trembled in the time of his passion. And so, the Magi recognize this God of glory and Lord of majesty when they see him as a child. Isaiah likewise shows that this child was both God and the eternal king, when he said, “For a child has been born to you; a son has been given to you, whose empire has been made on his shoulders.”

Chromatius of Aquileia, Tractate on Matthew 5.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Christmas

How I loved your law, O Lord.
        The whole day it is my meditation.
Beyond my enemies you instructed me in your commands,
        for it is for me forever.
Beyond all those who teach me I understood,
        because your testimonies are my meditation.
Beyond elders I understood,
        because I sought out your commandments.
From every evil way I withheld my feet,
        so that I keep your words.
From your region I did not turn away,
        because you gave laws to me.
How sweet to my throat are your words,
        more than honey and honeycomb for my mouth.
From your commandments I understood;
        on account of this I hated every way of injustice,
        because you gave laws to me. (Psalm 119:97–104 LXX)

Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:46–52)

These enemies are to be understood as the obdurate Jews, the heretics or the pagans, who have either failed totally to understand the Lord’s commands, or are known to refuse to carry them out through misguided zeal. The people say that they have been made wiser than these enemies because they both devotedly accepted the Lord’s command and abided by it with genuine integrity.…

They appear to part company with that most holy humility of the blessed if we seek to interpret this as a claim to be superior to Moses, the prophets and the apostles who have instructed the Church with the purest faith. But let us advert to the previous verse, and here this entire false objection vanishes. There they said not “more than our fathers,” but Wiser than my enemies, who are precisely those who taught the Lord’s law with debased purpose. Here they refute rather than rebuke the teachers, denoting the Pharisees who restricted themselves to the letter, and disregarded spiritual understanding. The Lord often refutes them in the gospel, but their stony hearts did not deserve to experience the way of truth. So the evangelical band rightly claims that their understanding is better than that of all such teachers, because they rejected their teachers’ base errors, and received the true teaching of the Lord Savior.…

In this passage the people term as elders those hoary in body rather than in mind. They rightly say that they have understood more than these, for they venerated as their Creator one whom those others despised with sacrilegious minds. Often younger persons understand the divine Scriptures better than their elders; for example, Jacob, who submitted himself to the blessing and received the reward of the first benediction promised to his brother; or Samuel, who understood better than the priest; or Daniel, who knew better than the false elders whom he condemned to death when filled with the spirit of God. Certainly the new people had better understanding than the older Jewish people, for they happily accepted the Lord Christ who the Jews with mortal damage to themselves believed was to be despised. To enable the people to prove this with the testimony of truth, there follows the reason why they had understanding above the elders; it was because I have sought thy commandments.

Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 118.98–100