Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Palm Sunday

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude. Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. (Luke 22:1–7)

By its shadows, the law prefigured from of old the mystery of Christ. He is himself the witness of this when he said to the Jews, “If you would have believed Moses, you would have also believed me, for he wrote concerning me.” Christ is presented everywhere by means of shadows and types, both as slain for us, as the innocent and true Lamb, and as sanctifying us by his life-giving blood. We further find the words of the holy prophets in complete agreement with those of most wise Moses. Paul says, “When the fullness of time was come,” the only-begotten Word of God submitted to the emptying of himself, the birth in the flesh of a woman, and subjection to the law according to the measure that was fitting for human nature. He was also then sacrificed for us, as the innocent and true lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. This feast day was called Pascha, a word belonging to the Hebrew language and signifying the passing over.…

As then Israel was delivered form the tyranny of the Egyptians, and having loosed its neck from the yoke 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 onward to the promised land: so must we too, who have accepted the salvation that is in Christ, be willing no longer to abide in our former faults, nor continue in our 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 temperance; from our former ignorance to the true knowledge of God; from wickedness into virtue: and in hope at least, from the blame of sin unto the glories of righteousness, and from death into incorruption. The name therefore of the feast on which Emmanuel bore for us the saving cross was the Passover.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 141.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” (Luke 20:9–16)

The lord of the vineyard thinks to himself saying, “What shall I do?” We must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does the householder use these words because he had no more servants? He certainly did not lack other ministers of his holy will. When a physician may say of a sick man, “What shall I do?” we should understand him to mean that every resource of medical skill had been tried without success. We affirm that the lord of the vineyard, having practiced all gentleness and care with his farm but without benefiting it in any way, says, “What shall I do?” What is the result? He advances to still greater purposes. “I will send,” he says, “my son, the beloved one. Perhaps they will reverence him.” Observe in this, that after the servants, he sends the Son as One not numbered among the servants but as a true Son and therefore the Lord. Although he put on the form of a servant for the dispensation's sake, he was God, very Son of God the Father who possessed natural dominion. Did they honor him who was sent as Son and Lord and as One who possesses by inheritance whatever belongs to God the Father? No, they murdered him outside the vineyard, having plotted among themselves a foolish and ignorant plan full of all wickedness. They say, “Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.”

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 134

The Reckoning

When we read of or hear someone mention reckoning, it is usually in the context of settling accounts. We use this in finance in relation to year-end in order to report earnings and pay taxes. In common usage the concept more often refers to an appointed time at which a debt must be repaid. In a biblical context, we see the financial aspect as it pertains to indentured servitude (Le 25:50, 52) and property (Le 27:18, 23). There is a finality in these arrangements that infer a certain objective judgment and complete separation—especially true in matters before God as in the decree to Noah after the flood:

Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of all the wild animals I will require it; and I will require the life of man at the hand of his fellow man. (Ge 9:5)

More poignant is the final judgment of Christ, commonly known as the ultimate day of reckoning, wherein all is made right: sin is judged, evil is banished, and all creation enters final, eternal rest. For the wicked, their reckoning is a cause of distress: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (He 10:31), However, the righteous have a certain hope of glory because they have already received the benefit of their reckoning, which St. Paul explores from the occasion of a promise that God gave to Abram and Sarai for a natural-born son (Ge 15:6):

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Ro 9:1–3)

The average Christian might look at Abraham’s life (personal call and task from God, periodic interaction with Him, promise of a miraculous birth) and ask, “How does this relate to me? Abraham was obviously in a class by himself, and I am not.” While his relationship with God was indeed special (call and promise of land, seed, and blessing), he is not the only one of whom we read received a certain reckoning of righteousness.

When Israel was camped near Moab, a plague broke out because the Moabites seduced the men of Israel with their women, notably a brazen defiance to the Lord by an Israelite man who took a foreign woman to his tent. When Aaron’s grandson Phinehas noticed, he thrust a javelin through both of them thus stopping the plague, after which the Lord commended his zeal with a promise.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, stopped My wrath from among the children of Israel when he was zealous with My zeal among them. So I did not utterly destroy the children of Israel in My zeal. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; and there shall be to him and his seed after him a covenant of an eternal priesthood; because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” (Nu 25:10–13)

The psalmist later remembered this event while comparing Israel’s incessant wanderlust with the Lord’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

Then Phinehas stood among them and made atonement,
And the destruction ceased;
And it was reckoned as righteousness to him
From generation to generation forever. (Ps 106:30–31)

At this point, we might think that something is askew: Abraham was noted for his belief, but Phinehas for his works. What accounts for the apparent discrepancy? Looking more deeply, we can see that both men receive righteousness for the same criteria. When Abraham is introduced in Scripture, he is responding to a call from God, after which he receives the definitive promise of a son through whom the originally promised land, seed, and blessing (Ge 12:1–3) would come. Later, he would be asked to offer that son as a sacrifice, a command he willingly followed though not needing to fulfill. The writer of Hebrews looks back on these events and offers the common trait:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country,… By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac,… (He 11:8–9, 17)

We are comfortable with this concept of internalized faith with God’s subsequent declaration of righteousness, however, we stumble when coming to St. James’ summary wherein he states that Abraham was justified by his works:

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.… For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (Jm 2:18–24, 26)

The key lies in verse 23: And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Wait. Scripture was fulfilled? Yes. While Abraham received the righteous reckoning when he believed the Lord’s promise of a son, that reckoning was not fulfilled until he offered up Isaac: the act demonstrated faith in the promise. In the case of Phinehas, then, we are presented the deed and reckoning without knowledge of a prior declaration: it must be assumed. This assumption is not without warrant because we are told elsewhere that “the righteous (just) live by faith” (Hb 2:4; Ro 1:17; Ga 3:11) and “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hb 11:6). For Phinehas to have pleased God in such a way as to merit an everlasting reward of priesthood (Nu 25:12–13), the work he performed would have needed to come from obedience borne of faith, not that earned or merited by virtue of the person or deed.

We can see from the above examples that Abraham’s faith was not superior to that of anyone else, rather what faith he had was sufficient. This same faith from the same Source is given freely to all who believe even when the outworking appears spotty. Indeed, all who appear in the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11), save for possibly Abel and Enoch, are notorious in some measure for lapsing into sinful conduct, yet all received commendation for the work accomplished. Believers today are called to live by this same faith and also are given the responsibility of walking in the good works God has created us to perform (Ep 2:10) to the end that we receive in Christ the fulfillment of our being reckoned righteous.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Lent

And in that day, you will say, “I will bless You, O Lord. Although You were angry with me, You turned away Your anger and had mercy on me. Behold, God is my Savior and Lord. I will trust in Him and be saved by Him. I will not be afraid, for the Lord is my glory and my praise. He has become my salvation.” You will draw water with gladness from the wells of salvation. In that day, you will say, “Praise the Lord; call upon His name. Declare His glorious things among the Gentiles and make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the name of the Lord, for He has done great things. Declare this in all the earth. Exult and be glad, O inhabitants of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is exalted in her midst.” (Isaiah 12:1–6 LXX)

You who had previously said in the desert, when you came up out of the land of Egypt and the Red Sea was dried up, “Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnificent,” and the rest, now that the tongue of the sea of Egypt has been struck and its river has dried up, cut up, and laid low, you glorify the Lord and say, I will confess to you, O Lord, because I who deserved your anger and fury have attained mercy; for You are my Savior, that is, Jesus, and I will not have confidence in idols, nor will I fear things that are not to be feared, but You are my strength and my praise, You who have become my salvation. Let the most depraved heresy hear that He has become the Lord for those who are saved and those for whom He was not the Lord before. Consequently, we understand creation and becoming in the Scriptures not always as the establishment of those things that did not exist before, but as, occasionally, grace, for those who merited that He become their God.

The one whom he above called “Emmanuel,” then “take away the spoils, hasten to plunder,” and other terms, he now calls Savior, lest there appear to be another besides Him whom Gabriel announced to the Virgin, saying, “And you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people.” He also prophesies that waters must be drawn out of His fountains—not out of the waters of the rivers of Egypt, which were struck, nor out of the waters of the rivers of Rezin, but out of the fountains of Jesus, for this is what savior expresses in the Hebrew language. This is why Jesus himself cried out in the Gospel, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me, and let anyone who believes in me drink; as the Scripture has said, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his belly.’ This,” says the evangelist, “he said of the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive.” And in another Gospel he says, “The one who drinks from the water that I will give him will never thirst again, for the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” We should understand the Savior’s fountains to be the Gospel teaching, about which we read in the sixty-seventh Psalm, “In the churches bless God the Lord, from the fountains of Israel.”

The apostles and the remnant of Israel are commanding these things to those who have believed from the Gentiles, that they confess to the Lord alone, and call upon His name, after they have forsaken their idols. Let them declare all His works to the unbelievers, that they may know that He alone is exalted, to whom one must sing that He has done great things, and let His mercy be declared in all the earth.

Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 4.12

Worship Improvement

God is not enlarged by our worship of Him nor is He somehow improved by it. We cannot add to Him nor can we subtract from Him. But we are enlarged by His gracious gifts and improved by His work in us and we are added to by His mercy and diminished by the lack of it.

In other words, the benefit of worship is not in the worship but in the doing of what the Lord asks us to do (hear, eat, drink, pray…) because He is at work in them even more than we are. Let me put it another way. Worship does not provide other things—it is not a means to get something greater or more profound. Worship provides its own reward in the God who comes to us where He has promised, delivers to us the grace our Lord has earned, and shows to us the mercy that forgives our sins, redeems our life from the grave, and saves us to be His own now and forevermore.

God Is Not Improved. . . but We Are. . .
Pr. Larry Peters

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Lent

He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ” (Luke 13:6–9)

Now the literal sense of this passage does not need a single word of explanation. When we search into its inward, secret and unseen meaning, we affirm it as follows. The Israelites, after our Savior's crucifixion, were doomed to fall into the miseries they deserved, Jerusalem being captured, and its inhabitants slaughtered by the enemy's sword. Their houses would be burned with fire, and even the temple of God demolished. It is probable that He compares the synagogue of the Jews with a fig tree. The sacred Scripture also compares them with various plants: the vine, the olive, and even to a forest.… He says, “Look, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?” It is as if He would say, “Let the place of this barren fig tree be laid bare; then some other tree will come up or may be planted there.” This was also done. The crowds of the Gentiles were called into its place and took possession of the inheritance of the Israelites. It became the people of God, the plant of paradise, a good and honorable seed. It knows how to produce fruit, not in shadows and types but rather by a pure and perfectly stainless service that is in spirit and truth, as being offered to God, who is an immaterial Being.

Now it is necessary to to inquire, who is to be understood as the vinedresser.… If anyone should say that the vinedresser is the Son, this view also has a suitable reason on its side. He is our Advocate with the Father, our propitiation, and the gardener of our souls. He constantly prunes away whatever is harmful and fills us with rational and holy seeds so we may produce fruits for him. He spoke of Himself, “A sower went out to sow his seed.” It does not influence the glory of the Son to assume the character of the vinedresser. The Father assumes it Himself, without being exposed to any blame for so doing. The Son said to the holy apostles, “I am the Vine; you are the branches; My Father is the Vinedresser.”

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on St. Luke 96

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Lent

On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:31–35)

But what did He tell them to say? “Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.” You see that He declares His intention of performing what He knew would grieve the troop of Pharisees. So they drive Him from Jerusalem, fearing that by the display of miracles He will win many to faith in Himself. But inasmuch as their purpose there did not escape Him since He was God, He declares His intention of performing what they hated and says that He shall also rebuke unclean spirits and deliver the sick from their sufferings and be perfected. This means that of His own will He will endure the passion on 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.… Let not therefore those murders of the Lord pride themselves, or superciliously vaunt themselves against Him. You did not win a victory over One Who fled from suffering. You did not seize One unwilling. You did not prevail over One Who refused to be caught in the meshes of your craftiness. 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.

Cyril of  Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke 100

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday in Lent

He who dwells in the help of the Most High
Shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven.
He shall say to the Lord,
“You are my protector and my refuge,
My God; I will hope in Him;
For He shall free me from the snare of the hunters,
And from every troubling word.”
He shall overshadow you with His shoulders,
And under His wings you shall hope;
His truth shall encircle you with a shield.
You shall not be frightened by fear at night,
Nor from an arrow that flies by day,
Nor by a thing moving in darkness,
Nor by mishap and a demon of noonday.
A thousand shall fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
Yet it shall not come near you;
But you shall observe with your eyes,
And you shall see the reward of sinners.
For You, O Lord, are my hope;
You made the Most High your refuge.
Evils shall not come to you,
And a scourge shall not draw near your dwelling;
For He shall command His angels concerning you,
To keep you in all your ways;
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you strike your foot against a stone;
You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk,
And you shall trample the lion and the dragon. (Psalm 91:1–13 LXX)

Whoever is confident of the divine care will enjoy the protection of the God of heaven and will have this secure rampart and safe refuge. When he bears this shield and is kept safe and sound by being helped by Him, then he will say, You are my protector and my refuge, my God, and I hope in in him (v. 2): having a firm hope in Him, he will call Him leader, caretaker, and impregnable rampart. Here then he goes on to address his remarks to the one who trusts, saying that he renders him superior not only to obvious enemies but also to those who lie in wait, watching and hatching secret schemes, by snare suggesting the furtive scheme. Such people spread lies and calumnies, yet many proved superior even to them by means of hope in God. This was the way the great Joseph, subjected to the calumny of the adulteress, escaped her wiles; this the way the remarkable Susannah enjoyed assistance from on high—and not only they, but even up to the present time we have heard also of vast numbers beyond counting and know them to be saved.…

You will prevail not only over visible adversaries but also over those of the mind, thanks to hope in God, and you will escape the schemes working at night and the assaults made by the enemy during the day; having confidence as one under God’s protection, you will drive out fear and, far from being in difficulties at midday, you will escape the demons’ stratagems, sharing in the assistance from on high. Even if a vast multitude approach from the right or the left, no harm will come to you, and instead you will see them stricken with a divine blow.…

You would enjoy this providence if you exercised hope in God and made it your refuge. Since you hope in God and call Him to your assistance, you will encounter care on His part. You will be proof against the devil’s shafts and suffer no harm from them. In this way divine grace fenced round the house of Job, to which the enemy testifies in his loud cry, “Have you not put a fence round both what is inside and what is outside his house?” When allowed, on the other hand, he demonstrated his characteristic wickedness, and the just Judge crowned the victorious athlete.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms

Patristic Wisdom for Ash Wednesday

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground from which you were taken. For earth you are, and to earth you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)

How can he who is earth and ashes be arrogant?
Because even while living, his insides are decaying. (Ecclesiasticus 10:9)

The humble and the proud are admonished differently. For the humble, it is to be insinuated how true that excellence is that they hold in hoping for it. For the proud, it is to be intimated how that temporal glory is as nothing, that even when they embrace it they are not holding it. Let the humble hear how eternal the things are that they long for, how transitory the things are that they despise. Let the proud hear how transitory the things are that they court and how eternal the things are that they lose. Let the humble hear from the authoritative voice of the Truth, “Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted.” Let the proud hear, “Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled.” Let the humble hear, “Humility goes before glory”; let the proud hear, “The spirit is exalted before a fall.” Let the humble hear, “To whom shall I have respect, but to one who is humble and quiet and trembles at my words?” Let the proud hear, “Why are earth and ashes proud?” Let the humble hear, “God respects the humble.” Let the proud hear, “And the proud he knows from afar.” Let the humble hear, “That the Son of man came not to be ministered to but to minister.” Let the proud hear that “the beginning of all sin is pride.” Let the humble hear that “our Redeemer humbled himself, being made obedient even to death.” Let the proud hear what is written concerning their head: “He is king over all the children of pride.” The pride, therefore, of the devil became the occasion of our perdition, and the humility of God has been found as the argument for our redemption. For our enemy, who is among the created beings, desired to appear exalted above all things. But our Redeemer, remaining great above all things, decided instead to become little among all things. Let the humble, then, be told that when they abase themselves, they ascend to the likeness of God. Let the proud be told that when they exalt themselves, they fall into imitation of the apostate angel.

Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule 3.17

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Transfiguration

Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. (Luke 9:28–35)

Luke writes more clearly of how they appeared and what they spoke about with Him. Luke says that Moses and Elijah were seen in majesty, and they spoke of His passing away which He was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah, who talked with the Lord on the mountain and spoke about his passion and resurrection, represent the revelations of the law and prophets that were fulfilled in the Lord....

It is appropriate that the Evangelist reported Moses and Elijah were “seen in majesty.” The mark of the favor with which they are to be crowned is shown by the preeminence of their majesty. It is also appropriately recorded that they spoke about His passing away, which was to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. To His faithful, the Redeemer's passion has become a unique subject for praise. The more they remember that they could not have been saved apart from His grace, the more they should always ponder the greater memory of this grace in a faithful heart, and bear faithful witness to it.

The Father’s voice did not forbid them to listen to Moses and Elijah (that is, to the Law and the Prophets). It rather suggested to all of them that listening to His Son was to take precedence since He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. It impressed on them that the light of gospel truth was to be put ahead of all the types and obscure signs of the Old Testament. By the benevolent, divinely arranged plan when the moment of the cross was drawing near, He strengthened them so that the disciples’ faith might not falter when the Lord was crucified. He revealed to them how also His humanity was to be lifted up by heavenly light through His resurrection. The heavenly voice of the Father gave assurance that the Son was co-eternal to the Father in His divinity so that when the hour of the passion approached, they would be less sorrowful at His dying. They remembered that after His death He would soon be glorified as a human being, although in His divinity He had always been glorified by God his Father.

Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.24