Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Give comfort, fainthearted in mind! Be strong; do not be frightened! Look, our God is repaying judgment, and he will repay! He himself will come and save us! Then blind people’s eyes will be opened, and dumb people’s ears will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the stammerer’s tongue will be clear, because water has broken forth in the desert, and a ravine in a thirsting land. And the waterless place will turn into marshes, and there will be a spring of water in the thirsty land; there birds’ happiness will be a dwelling of reed and marshes. (Isaiah 35:4–7 LXX)

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” (Mark 7:31–37)

Now what can [those who deny the incarnation] say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicated that God is to sojourn here but also announces the signs and the time of his coming. For they connect the blind recovering their sight, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the one who stammers being made plain, with the divine coming which is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have come to pass in Israel, or where in Judah anything of the sort has occurred. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elijah raised a dead man; so did Elisha; but none blind from birth regained his sight. For in good truth, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder wrought by the Savior. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper and of the dead son of the widow, certainly had it come to pass that a lame man also had walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have omitted to mention this also. Since, then, nothing is said in the Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never taken place before. When, then, have they taken place, save when the Word of God himself came in the body? Or when did he come, if not when lame men walked, and those who stammer were made to speak plainly, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight?

Athanasius, On the Incarnation 38

Deafened ears, of sound unconscious, every passage blocked and closed,
At the word of Christ responding, open all the portals wide,
Hear with joy friendly voices and the softly whispered speech.
Every sickness now surrenders, every listlessness departs,
Tongues long bound by chains of silence are unloosed and speak aright,
While the joyful paralytic bears his pallet through the streets.

Prudentius, Hymns 9.64–69

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Daniele da Volterra. Elijah on Mount Horab

He lay down and slept there under the tree. Look, someone touched him and spoke to him, “Arise and eat!” Elijah looked and behold, by his head a loaf of barley and a flask of water. He arose and ate and drank and returned to sleep. The angel of the Lord returned for a second time and touched him and said to him, “Arise, eat, because the way is difficult for you.” He arose and ate and drank. He went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights until he arrived at Mount Horeb. (1 Kings 19:5–8)

Elijah was sleeping under a tree. Now an angel came to him and woke him up (sleep was weighing him down because of his fatigue, affliction and discouragement) and provided him with strength and comfort through the meal that he prepared for him.… Allegorically, the bread baked in the ashes, which [the angel] offers to Elijah, has two different meanings: on the one side, it immediately shows the toils of penitence which the ashes symbolize perfectly, since they are a figure of mourning and of a contrite heart; the unleavened bread soaked in ashes and the water are also the food of the poor and the miserable. But we can say, with greater accuracy, that they are figures of all the righteous, for whom the providence of the Creator has established a course of life in the paths of privation. Therefore he leads them through much suffering, privation of food and a severe fast in order to purify them completely from all the filth of earthly things. Then he guides them to the mountain, which is the perfection and the accomplishment of the saints.

Ephrem the Syrian, On the First Book of Kings 19.4

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.… Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:35, 47–51)

Now wicked men hunger for bread like this, for weak souls will hunger; but the righteous alone, being prepared, shall be satisfied, saying, “But I will see Your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with the seeing of Your glory.” For he who partakes of divine bread always hungers with desire; and he who thus hungers has a never-failing gift, as Wisdom promises, saying, “The Lord will not let a righteous soul starve.” He promises too in the Psalms, “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.” We may also hear our Savior saying, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Well then do the saints and those who love the life which is in Christ raise themselves to a longing after this food. And one earnestly implores, saying, “Which way the deer yearns after the springs of waters, thus my soul yearns after You, O God. My soul thirsts for the living God. How long will I be present and appear before the face of God?” And another; “O God, my God, to You I rise early. My soul thirsts for You. How often my flesh longs for You in the desolate and inaccessible and waterless earth. Thus I appeared to You in the holy place, to see Your might and Your glory.”

Since these things are so, my brethren, let us mortify our members which are on the earth, and be nourished with living bread, by faith and love to God, knowing that without faith it is impossible to be partakers of such bread as this. For our Savior, when He called all men to him, and said, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink,” immediately spoke of the faith without which a man cannot receive such food; “He that believes on Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Athanasius, Festal Letter 7.6–7

Jacopo Bassano, The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The Lord is good to those who wait for him;
to the soul who will seek him, it is a good thing.
And it will remain and keep quiet for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man when he carries a yoke in his youth.
He will sit alone and be silent, for he lifted it up upon himself.
He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him; he will be fed with reproaches.
For the Lord will not thrust away forever.
For He who humbled will have pity, even according to the abundance of His compassion.
He did not answer from His heart, and He humbled the sons of a man. (Lam 3:25–33)

But all those who call their lands by their own names and have wood and hay and stubble in their thoughts; such as these, since they are strangers to difficulties, become aliens from the kingdom of heaven. Had they however known that “tribulation perfects patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope makes not ashamed,” they would have exercised themselves, after the example of Paul. He said, “I bring my body into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” They would easily have borne the afflictions that were brought on them to prove them from time to time, if the prophetic admonition had been listened to by them: It is good for a person to take up your yoke in his youth. He shall sit alone and shall be silent, because he has taken your yoke on him. He will give his cheek to him who strikes him. He will be filled with reproaches. The Lord does not cast away forever. When He abases, He is gracious, according to the multitude of His tender mercies. For though all these things should proceed from the enemies, stripes, insults, reproaches, yet shall they avail nothing against the multitude of God's tender mercies; for we shall quickly recover from them since they are merely temporal, but God is always gracious, pouring out his tender mercies on those who please Him. Therefore, my beloved, we should not look at these temporal things but fix our attention on those that are eternal. Though affliction may come, it will have an end; though insult and persecution, yet are they nothing to the hope that is set before us. For all present matters are trifling compared with those that are future; the sufferings of this present time not being worthy to be compared with the hope that is to come. For what can be compared with the kingdom? Or what is there in comparison with life eternal? Or what is all we could give here, to that which we shall inherit yonder? For we are “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” Therefore it is not right, my beloved, to consider afflictions and persecutions but the hopes that are laid up for us because of persecutions.

Athanasius, Festal Letters 13.4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. (Mark 1:21–28)

Even the demons cried out, on beholding the Son: “I know who You are, the Holy One of God.” Later the devil looking at him and tempting him, would say: “If You are the Son of God.” All of these thus recognized the Son and the Father, yet without believing. So it was fitting that the truth should receive testimony from all, and should become a means of judgment for the salvation not only of those who believe, but also for the condemnation of those who do not believe. The result is that all should be fairly judged, and that the faith in the Father and Son should be a matter of decision for all, so that one means of salvation should be established for all, receiving testimony from all, both from those belonging to it who were its friends, and by those having no connection with it who were its enemies. For that evidence is most trustworthy and true which elicits even from its adversaries striking testimonies on its behalf.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.6.6–7

And again, when He put a curb in the mouths of the demons that cried after Him from the tombs. For although what they said was true, and they lied not then, saying, ‘You are the Son of God,’ and ‘the Holy One of God;’ yet He would not that the truth should proceed from an unclean mouth, and especially from such as them, lest under pretense thereof they should mingle with it their own malicious devices, and sow these also while men slept. Therefore He suffered them not to speak such words, neither would He have us to suffer such, but hath charged us by His own mouth, saying, ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves;’ and by the mouth of His Holy Apostles, ‘Believe not every spirit.’ Such is the method of our adversary’s operations; and of the like nature are all these inventions of heresies, each of which has for the father of its own device the devil, who changed and became a murderer and a liar from the beginning. But being ashamed to profess his hateful name, they usurp the glorious Name of our Savior ‘which is above every name,’ and deck themselves out in the language of Scripture, speaking indeed the words, but stealing away the true meaning thereof; and so disguising by some artifice their false inventions, they also become the murderers of those whom they have led astray.

Athanasius, To the Bishops of Egypt 1.3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb 10:11–25)

If any of our own people inquire, not from love of debate but from love of learning, why He suffered death in no other way save on the cross, let them also be told that no other way than this was good for us, and that it was well that the Lord suffered this for our sakes. For if He came Himself to bear the curse laid upon us, how else could he have “become a curse” unless He received the death set for a curse? And that is the cross. For this is exactly what is written: “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.” Again, if the Lord's death is the ransom of all, and by His death “the dividing wall of hostility” is broken down, and the calling of the nations is brought about, how would He have called us to Him had He not been crucified? For it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out. Thus it was fitting for the Lord to bear this also and to spread out His hands, that with the one He might draw the ancient people and with the other those from the Gentiles and unite both in Himself. For this is what He Himself has said, signifying by what manner of death He was ransom to all: “I, when I am lifted up,” He says, “will draw all men to myself.” For the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower atmosphere and there, bearing rule over his fellow spirits, as the devil's peers in disobedience, not only works illusions by their means in them that are deceived but tries to hinder them that are going up. About this the apostle says, “Following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience,” while the Lord came to cast down the devil and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven, as said the apostle, “Through the curtain, that is to say, His flesh”—and this must be by death. Well, by what other kind of death could this have come to pass than by one which took place in the air, I mean, the cross? For only He that is perfected on the cross dies in the air. Therefore, it was quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up, He cleared the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds, as He says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” and made a new opening of the way up into heaven, as He says once more, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors!” For it was not the Word Himself that needed an opening of the gates, being Lord of all; nor were any of His works closed to their maker; but it was we who needed it, whom He carried up by His own body. For as He offered it to death on behalf of all, so by it He once more made ready the way up into the heavens.

Athanasius, On the Incarnation 25

Patristic Wisdom for Maundy Thursday

Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. They shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, nor shall you break a bone of it; and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. Thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Pascha. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute vengeance: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. (Exo 12:7–14)

The sacrifice of this lamb was so great that even the shadow of its truth was sufficient for salvation in freeing the Jews from the slavery of Pharaoh, as though already the liberation of the creature from the slavery of corruption was prefigured, the image of Christ's coming passion worked for the advent of salvation. Therefore it was declared by God that in the first month of the year on the fourteenth day of the moon, a year-old lamb without blemish should be sacrificed. With its blood they were to make signs upon the doorposts of their houses, lest they be frightened by the angel of destruction. And on that very night when the lamb was eaten in their homes, which was the celebration of the Passover, they should receive liberation through the figure of slavery. It is not difficult to interpret the spotless lamb of Christ and his sacrifice made to free the slavery of our death. For, marked by the sign of His cross as by the sprinkling of blood, we shall be saved from the angels of destruction even to the consummation of the world.

Martin of Braga, On the Pascha 2

As also the Word of God, when desirous said to his disciples, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.” Now that is a wonderful account, for a man might have seen them at that time girded as for a procession or a dance and going out with staves and sandals and unleavened bread. These things, which took place before in shadows, were typical anticipatory symbols. But now the truth has drawn near to us, “the image of the invisible God,” our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light. Instead of a staff, He is our scepter; instead of unleavened bread, He is the bread which came down from heaven; who instead of sandals has furnished us with the preparation of the gospel. It is He who, to speak briefly, by all these means has guided us to his Father. And if enemies afflict us and persecute us, He again, instead of Moses, will encourage us with better words, saying, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the wicked one.” And if after we have passed over the Red Sea, heat should again vex us or some bitterness of the waters befall us, even then again the Lord will appear to us, imparting to us of His sweetness and His life-giving fountain, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.”

Athanasius, Festal Letters 14.3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Palm Sunday

The Lord gives Me the tongue of the learned, so as to know when to speak a word at a fitting time; and He causes My ear to listen each morning. The Lord’s instruction opens My ears, and I am not disobedient, nor do I contradict Him. I gave My back to whips, and My cheeks to blows; and I turned not away My face from the shame of spitting. The Lord became My helper; therefore, I was not disgraced. But I made My face like a solid rock and knew I would not be ashamed. For He who pronounces Me righteous draws near. Who is he who judges Me? Let him oppose Me at the same time. Who is he who judges Me? Let him come near Me. Behold, the Lord will help Me. Who will harm Me? (Isa 50:4-9a)

The Jews, separating this chapter from what has been said previously, wish to refer it to the person of Isaiah, in that he would say that he received the word from the Lord and how he put up with a lazy and wandering people and called them back to salvation, and in the manner of small children who are trained early in the morning, Isaiah recited what he heard from the Holy Spirit.... But these verses should be applied to the person of the Lord in which the older book is fulfilled, since according to the dispensation of the flesh that Christ assumed, He was trained and accepted the lash of discipline so that He would know when He ought to speak and when to keep quiet. And He who in His passion was silent, through the apostles and apostolic people speaks throughout the whole world.

To Christ was added through the grace of the ear things that He did not have by nature, that we might understand that we ought to accept with the ears not of our body but of the mind.... The breast that contained God was beaten.... This discipline and training opened His ears that He was able to communicate the knowledge of the Father to us.... We learned more fully in the gospel that the Son, according to the flesh He took on, spoke the mystery that He had heard from the Father.

Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah 14.2

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ comes before us, when He would show how to suffer, who when He was struck bore it patiently, being reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but He gave his back to the smiters and His cheeks to buffetings, and He turned not his face from spitting; and at last, He was willingly led to death, that we might behold in Him the image of all that is virtuous and immortal, and that we, conducting ourselves after these examples, might truly tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy.

Athanasius, Letter 10.7

Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Day

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1–5, 14)

The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father's Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection. It was by surrendering to death the body which He had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from every stain, that He forthwith abolished death for His human brethren by the offering of the equivalent. For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled in death all that was required. Naturally also, through this union of the immortal Son of God with our human nature, all men were clothed with incorruption in the promise of the resurrection. For the solidarity of mankind is such that, by virtue of the Word's indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all. You know how it is when some great king enters a large city and dwells in one of its houses; because of his dwelling in that single house, the whole city is honored, and enemies and robbers cease to molest it. Even so is it with the King of all; He has come into our country and dwelt in one body amidst the many, and in consequence the designs of the enemy against mankind have been foiled and the corruption of death, which formerly held them in its power, has simply ceased to be. For the human race would have perished utterly had not the Lord and Savior of all, the Son of God, come among us to put an end to death.

Athanasius, On the Incarnation 9

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35–41)

“For the fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings.” Of such as are fools in their thoughts, the actions are wicked, as He says, “can you, being evil, speak good things;” for they were evil, because they thought wickedness. Or how can those do just acts, whose minds are set upon fraud? Or how shall he love, who is prepared beforehand to hate? How shall he be merciful, who is bent upon the love of money? How shall he be chaste, who looks upon a woman to lust after her? “For from the heart proceed evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries, murders.” By them the fool is wrecked, as by the waves of the sea, being led away and enticed by his fleshly pleasures; for this stands written, “All flesh of fools is greatly tempest-tossed.” While he associates with folly, he is tossed by a tempest, and perishes, as Solomon says in the Proverbs, “The fool and he who lacks understanding shall perish together, and shall leave their wealth to strangers.” Now they suffer such things, because there is not among them one sound of mind to guide them. For where there is sagacity, there the Word, who is the Pilot of souls, is with the vessel; “for he that has understanding shall possess guidance;” but they who are without guidance fall like the leaves. Who has so completely fallen away as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who held evil opinions respecting the resurrection, and concerning faith in it suffered shipwreck? And Judas being a traitor, fell away from the Pilot, and perished with the Jews. But the disciples since they were wise, and therefore remained with the Lord, although the sea was agitated, and the ship covered with the waves, for there was a storm, and the wind was contrary, yet fell not away. For they awoke the Word, Who was sailing with them, and immediately the sea became smooth at the command of its Lord, and they were saved. They became preachers and teachers at the same time; relating the miracles of our Savior, and teaching us also to imitate their example. These things were written on our account and for our profit, so that through these signs we may acknowledge the Lord Who wrought them.

Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, hold frequent converse with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brethren, of which it is written, “This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the Leviathan, which You have created to play therein.” We float on this sea, as with the wind, through our own free-will, for every one directs his course according to his will, and either, under the guidance of the Word, he enters into rest, or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers shipwreck, and is in peril by storm. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world there are many afflictions and trials. The unbelieving therefore “when affliction or persecution arise is offended,” as the Lord said. For not being confirmed in the faith, and having his regard towards temporal things, he cannot resist the difficulties which arise from afflictions. But like that house, built on the sand by the foolish man, so he, being without understanding, falls before the assault of temptations, as it were by the winds. But the saints, having their senses exercised in self-possession, and being strong in faith, and understanding the word, do not faint under trials; but although, from time to time, circumstances of greater trial are set against them, yet they continue faithful, and awaking the Lord Who is with them, they are delivered. So, passing through water and fire, they find relief and duly keep the feast, offering up prayers with thanksgiving to God Who has redeemed them.

Athanasius, Letter 19.6–7

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. (Mark 2:23–3:6)

In the synagogue of the Jews was a man who had a withered hand. If he was withered in his hand, the ones who stood by were withered in their minds. And they were not looking at the crippled man nor were they expecting the miraculous deed of the One who was about to work. But before doing the work, the Savior plowed up their minds with words. For knowing the evil of the mind and its bitter depth, He first softened them up in advance with words so as to tame the wildness of their understanding, asking: “Is it permitted to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil; to save a life or to destroy one?” For if He had said to them, “Is it permitted to work?” immediately they would have said, “You are speaking contrary to the Law.” Then He told them what was intended by the Law, for He spoke as the One who established the laws concerning the Sabbath, adding, “except this: that which will be done for the sake of a life.” Again if a person falls into a hole on a sabbath, Jews are permitted to pull the person out. This not only applies to a person, but also an ox or a donkey. In this way the Law agrees that things relating to preservation may be done, hence Jews prepare meals on the Sabbath. Then He asked them about a point on which they could hardly disagree: “Is it permitted to do good?” But they did not even so much as say, “Yes,” because by then they were not in a good temper.

Athanasius, Homilies 28

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Sunday

The Lᴏʀᴅ has remembered us; He will bless us;
    He will bless the house of Israel;
    He will bless the house of Aaron;
He will bless those who fear the Lᴏʀᴅ,
    both the small and the great.  (Ps 115:12-13)

He made the same distinction here, too, and gave a glimpse of the fruit of hope: he linked blessing to hope and said a share of it would be not only to the house of Israel and the house of Aaron but also to those who fear Him.  Then in turn he makes the distinction of ages and positions: not only the young but also the elderly, not only those bedecked with wealth but also those living a life of need, not only those furnished with liberty but also those forced to carry the yoke of slavery.  For those possessing hope in God, the inspired word prays for increase and abundance.  You will attain this above all, he is saying, to the extent that you receive the blessing from the Maker of all things.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms

The heavens are the Lᴏʀᴅ's heavens,
    but the earth he has given to the children of man.
The dead do not praise the Lᴏʀᴅ,
    nor do any who go down into silence.
But we will bless the Lᴏʀᴅ
    from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lᴏʀᴅ!  (Ps 115:16-18)

For the feast does not consist in pleasant intercourse at meals, nor splendor of clothing, nor days of leisure, but in the acknowledgment of God, and the offering of thanksgiving and of praise to Him.  Now this belongs to the saints alone, who live in Christ; for it is written, “The dead shall not praise You, O Lord, neither all those who go down into silence; but we who live will bless the Lord, from henceforth even forever.”  So was it with Hezekiah, who was delivered from death, and therefore praised God, saying, “Those who are in Hades cannot praise You; the dead cannot bless You; but the living shall bless You, as I also do.”  For to praise and bless God belongs to those only who live in Christ, and by means of this they go up to the feast.  For the Passover is not of the Gentiles, nor of those who are yet Jews in the flesh, but of those who acknowledge the truth in Christ, as he declares who was sent to proclaim such a feast: “Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed.”

Athanasius, Festal Letter for Easter Day 4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Sunday

For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.  Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.  But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.  (1 Thess 2:5-7)

To those, therefore, that have made progress in the Word, He has proclaimed this utterance, bidding them dismiss anxious care of the things of this world, and exhorting them to adhere to the Father alone, in imitation of children.… Then it is right to notice, with respect to the appellation of “little one” is not used in the sense of lacking intelligence.  The notion of childishness has that pejorative meaning, but the term “little one” really means “one newly become gentle,” just as the word gentle means being mild-mannered.  So, a “little one” means one just recently become gentle and meek in disposition.  This the blessed Paul most clearly pointed out when he said, “When we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ, we were gentle among you, as a nurse cherishes her children.”  The little one is therefore gentle, and therefore more tender, delicate, and simple, guileless, and destitute of hypocrisy, straightforward and upright in mind, which is the basis of simplicity and truth.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 1.5

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But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.  For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?  Is it not you?  For you are our glory and joy. (1 Thess 2:17-20)

For we ought to walk by the standard of the saints and the fathers, and imitate them, and to be sure that if we depart from them we put ourselves also out of their fellowship.  Whom then do they wish you to imitate?  The one who hesitated, and while wishing to follow, delayed it and took counsel because of his family, or blessed Paul, who, the moment the stewardship was entrusted to him, “straightway conferred not with flesh and blood?”  For although he said, “I am not worthy to be called an Apostle,” yet, knowing what he had received, and being not ignorant of the giver, he wrote, “For woe is me if I preach not the gospel.”  But, as it was “woe to me” if he did not preach, so, in teaching and preaching the gospel, he had his converts as his joy and crown.  This explains why the saint was zealous to preach as far as Illyricum, and not to shrink from proceeding to Rome, or even going as far as the Spains, in order that the more he labored, he might receive so much the greater reward for his labor.  He boasted then that he had fought the good fight, and was confident that he should receive the great crown.

Athanasius, Letters to Dracontius 49.4

Psalms: Useful for All of Life

[T]he Lord, the true Lord of all, Who cares for all His works, did not only lay down precepts but also gave Himself as model of how they should be carried out, for all who would to know and imitate.  And therefore, before He came among us, He sketched the likeness of this perfect life for us in words, in this same book of Psalms; in order that, just as He revealed Himself in flesh to be the perfect, heavenly Man, so in the Psalms also men of goodwill might see the pattern of life portrayed, and find therein the healing and correction of their own.

Briefly, then, if indeed any more is needed to drive home the point, the whole divine Scripture is the teacher of virtue and true faith, but the Psalter gives a picture of the spiritual life.  And, just as one who draws near to an earthly king observes the formalities in regard to dress and bearing and the correct forms of words lest, transgressing in these matters, he be deemed a boor, so he who seeks to live the good life and learn about the Savior’s conduct in the body is by the reading of this holy book first put in mind of his own soul’s condition and then supplied with fit words for a suppliant’s use.… It is possible for us, therefore, to find in the Psalter not only the reflection of our own soul’s state, together with precept and example for all possible conditions, but also a fit form of words wherewith to please the Lord on each of life’s occasions, words both of repentance and of thankfulness, so that we fall not into sin; for it is not for our actions only that we must give account before the Judge, but also for our every idle word.

Athanasius of Alexandria

To Marcellinus: On the Interpretation of the Psalms