Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday after Christmas

The works of His hands are truth and judgment;
Faithful are all His commandments,
Established unto ages of ages,
Made in truth and uprightness.
He sent redemption to His people;
He commanded His covenant forever;
Holy and fearful is His name.  Psalm 110 (111):7–9

The proposition is: He has sent redemption to His people, He has commanded his covenant forever. The anticipated conclusion ensues: Therefore holy and fearful is His name. Let us listen to the rest that follows. They have reached the beginning of the third section, in which they proclaim that the Lord Savior will come, and that He is worthy of fear, love, and praise in unremitting exultation. The words: He has sent redemption to His people, are aptly used, for as captives they were seen to be in need of this; but the price was not one which a tyrant could exact, but one which the person who was forgiven could obtain. The captive gained his redemption; he who had been held in subjection obtained the greater price for it. Next comes: He has commanded his eternal covenant. We speak of mandating when instructions are given to absent people through intermediaries; this clearly happened when He transmitted the New Testament through the apostles and evangelists to the Gentiles. The word eternal is rightly used, because it denotes that no other testament will succeed it in the way in which the Old Testament was seen to be supplanted. The New Testament was a universal consummation, for it rendered the fullness which had been previously promised. Hence it is rightly called eternal, because it is seen to require nothing in addition. They added: Holy and fearful is His name. Holy has reference to the incarnation; as He Himself says: Preserve my soul, for I am holy. Fearful indicates the omnipotence of the exalted Godhead; as another psalm has it: You are fearsome, and who shall stand against You? [Ps 75 (76):8] The two epithets have the purpose of making us love our Patron, and making us fear our Judge. The two are fittingly combined to ensure that love alone may not make us indifferent, and fear alone may not make us despair.

Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 110.9

Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Day

But I was appointed king by Him
in Mount Zion, His holy place,
announcing the ordinance of the Lord.
The Lord said to Me, “You are My Son;
today I have begotten You.
Ask from Me, and I will give to You the nations as Your inheritance,
and as Your possession the ends of the earth.
You will rule them with a steel rod.
Like a vessel of a potter You will break them.” (Ps 2:6–9 LXX)

Now, the verse, I have been established as king by Him, is expressed in human fashion: as God He possesses His kingship by nature, as human being He receives it by election. The fact that as God He possesses power without beginning the same inspired author teaches in the words, Your throne, O God, is for all ages, the scepter of your kingship a scepter of equity. Now, this psalm blessed Paul says refers to the Son; all the same, as God He possesses kingship and as human being He receives it. Likewise, as God He is called Most High, as human being He is raised on high. David for his part proclaims the divine highness in his cry, Let them know that your name is Lord, you alone are the Most High over all the earth. Zechariah, too, says to John, You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High. Blessed Paul it is, on the other hand, who teaches us the human highness in his words, Accordingly, God also raised Him on high, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. To be sure, God the Word had the name “only-begotten Son” before the ages as connatural with His condition, yet while still possessing the title of the Son as God, He also receives it as human being. Hence in the present psalm he added the words, The Lord said to me, “You are my son, today I have begotten you.” Now, no one who believes the teaching of the divine Spirit would apply this verse to the divinity of Christ the Lord. In fact, let us listen in this regard to the God of all speaking through David, From the womb before the morning star I begot you. So as man He both receives this verse, and as man hears what follows.

As God, you see, He is maker of all things: Through Him everything was made, and without Him nothing was made, and through Him all things were created, things visible and invisible. If He is Lord and Creator of all things, He is Lord and Master of what He created; yet while Lord by nature insofar as He is God, as man He also receives the lordship of all things. Since in former times particular care seemed to be lavished only on the Jews—The people of Jacob, Scripture says, became the Lord’s portion, Israel his allotted inheritance—and yet were rejected for gaining no advantage from the special care, properly He transfers his care to the nations, without having been uncaring towards them in former times. Thus he fulfilled the oracle of Moses, whose words were, remember, Rejoice, nations, with His people.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms 2.7–8

Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Eve

 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)

And so, God the Son of God, equal to and of the same nature as the Father (from the Father and with the Father), Creator and Lord of the universe, wholly present everywhere and wholly surpassing all things, Himself chose this day in the passage of time (which moves according to his own arrangement) to be born for the salvation of the world from blessed Mary, who keeps her honor unsullied through all the stages of procreation. As her virginity was not violated in giving birth, so it had not been defiled in conception. As the Evangelist said, “To fulfill what was said by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold a virgin will conceive in her womb and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel, which means “God-with-us.” ’ ”… It is, therefore, with an unmistakable tenderness that so great a wealth of divine goodness has been poured out on us, dearly beloved. Not only has the usefulness of foregoing examples served for calling us to eternity, but the Truth himself has even “appeared” in a visible body. We ought, then, to celebrate this day of the Lord’s Birth with no listless and no worldly joy.

Leo the Great, Sermon 23.1, 5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Advent

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (Matt 1:18–25)

For blessed Matthew, after enumerating the genealogy of Christ, added the following regarding hope for our salvation: “After Mary, mother of Jesus, had been betrothed to Joseph, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit before they were married.” This is the heavenly mystery, this sacrament obscured and hidden by the Holy Spirit. Luke describes in greater detail the manner of the Lord's incarnation, for he recounts how an angel came to Mary and greeted her saying, “Hail woman full of grace,” and the rest that follows. And when Mary asked him how what he had been proclaiming to her could take place—because she had never had relations with a man—he said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And thus what is born from you will be called the Son of God.” It was right that holy Mary, who was about to conceive the Lord of glory in her womb, be informed about the Holy Spirit and the excellence of the Most High when she received into her blessed womb the Creator of the world. Indeed, both Matthew and Luke began their narratives with the corporeal birth of the Lord. John, however, addresses the issue of Jesus’ divine birth in the preface to his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. This was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made.” The Evangelists help us to recognize both the divine and corporeal birth of the Lord, which they describe as a twofold mystery and a kind of double path. Indeed, both the divine and the bodily birth of the Lord are indescribable, but that from the Father vastly exceeds every means of description and wonder. The bodily birth of Christ was in time; His divine birth was before time. The one in this age, the other before the ages. The one from a virgin mother, the other from God the Father. Angels and men stood as witnesses at the corporeal birth of the Lord, yet at His divine birth there was no witness except the Father and the Son, because nothing existed before the Father and the Son. But because the Word could not be seen as God in the glory of His own divinity, He assumed visible flesh to demonstrate His invisible divinity. He took from us what is ours in order to give generously what is His.

Chromatius, Tractate on Matthew 2.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Advent

And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Matt 11:2–6)

But a deeper understanding is revealed in these things which happened concerning John. As we perceive in John a grace expressed with the effectiveness of reality, he also is the prophet that prophesies according to the manner in which he was the embodiment of the Law. For the Law announced Christ and preached the remission of sins, promising the Kingdom of heaven. John completely fulfilled all of the works of the Law. Now that the Law has become inactive, confined, so to speak, by the sins of the masses and chained as a result of the people’s sins, John is restrained in chains and in prison so that Christ may not be understood by them. The Law, therefore, points to the Gospel so that unbelief may consider the truth of Christ’s words in his deeds. Whatever of the Law was bound through the deceit of sins is delivered when one learns the freedom of the Gospel. For this reason, John was not seeking insight as a remedy for his own ignorance, but for that of his disciples, since he himself had preached about the One who was to come for the remission of sins. So that they should know none other than the One whom John had preached, he sent his disciples to learn about His works. John knew that those works would confer an authority on His words and that no other Christ should be expected than the One to whom His works bore witness.

John, however, was not believed by the people; the works of Christ did not win authority; the cross was going to become a scandal. Now prophecy is ceased; now the Law is fulfilled; now all preaching is concluded; now the spirit of Elijah is sent ahead in the voice of John. Christ is preached to some and acknowledged by others; He is born in some and loved by others. His own people spew Him out, while strangers receive Him; His closest attack Him, while His enemies embrace Him. Those who are adopted seek His heritage, while His family rejects Him. The children repudiate the Covenant, while the servants acknowledge it. And so it is that the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence. Those who seek to attack it do so because the glory pledged to Israel by the patriarchs, announced by the prophets, and offered by Christ, is now appropriated and seized by the faith of the pagans.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 11.2, 7

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Advent

James Tissot, “St. John the Baptist and the Pharisees”

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’” Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matt 3:1–12)

It is in such clothing that John preaches and publicly identifies the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming for baptism as a race of vipers. He warns them to bear fruit which is worthy of repentance and not to gloat over having Abraham as a father since God is capable of raising up sons of Abraham out of stones. What John seeks is not a carnal succession but the heredity of faith. Worthiness of origin consists in the examples of one’s deeds, and the glory of one’s race is preserved by the imitation of faith. The devil is without faith; Abraham has faith. As the former was a betrayer of man into transgression, so the latter was justified by faith. The characteristics and manner of life of each one are acquired by a proximity of resemblance; that is, those who have faith are the descendants of Abraham because of their faith, whereas those who have no faith are transformed by their lack of faith into the offspring of the devil. When the Pharisees are scorned as a race of vipers, and their gloating of a holy parentage is checked, it is out of rocks and boulders that sons of Abraham are raised up. The Pharisees are then urged to produce fruit worthy of repentance. They who began with the devil as a father, along with those who are raised up from stones, can become sons of Abraham through faith once more.

That the axe is now placed at the root of the trees testifies to the prerogative of holy power that is present in Christ which indicates that, by the cutting down and burning of unfruitful trees, the destruction of an unfruitful faithlessness is being prepared for the conflagration of judgment. And because the work of the Law was ineffective for salvation, John had appeared as a messenger for the baptizing of those who repent. It was the duty of the prophets to recall the people from their sins, whereas it now belongs to Christ to save those who believe, John says that he baptizes for repentance. Yet, he says, there will come one greater whose shoes he is unworthy to carry in the fulfillment of his ministry, surrendering to the apostles the glory of preaching everywhere, to whose “beautiful feet” it was assigned to proclaim the peace of God. He points to the time of our salvation and judgment when he says of the Lord: He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and by fire. It remains only for those baptized in the Holy Spirit to be brought to perfection by the fire of judgment: his winnowing fork is in his hand, he will clean his threshing floor, and he will gather his wheat into the barn, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. The job of the winnowing fork is to separate that which is fruitful from the unfruitful. That fork which is in the Lord’s hand indicates the resolve of his power for storing up the wheat into his barns, that is, the perfected fruit of believers. But the chaff of those who are unprofitable as well as the uselessness of those who are unfruitful are for the fire of burning judgment.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 3:3–4