Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” And they could not answer Him regarding these things. So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:1–14)

For a Pharisee, of higher rank than usual, invited Jesus to a banquet: and He, although He knew their malice, went with him, and dined in their company. And He submitted to this act of condescension, not to honor His inviter, but rather to benefit those in whose company He was, by such words and miraculous deeds as might lead them to the acknowledgment of the true service, even that which is taught us by the gospel. For He knew that even against their will He would make them eyewitnesses both of His power, and of His more than human glory, if perchance even so they might believe that He is God and the Son of God, Who assumed indeed our likeness, but continued unchanged, nor ceased to be that which He had been.…

What benefit then He has here too discovered for us, we learn from the passage now read. For He was dining on the sabbath day with one of the Pharisees, at his special request. And his purpose in so doing, and motive we explained unto you when last we met together. But inasmuch as He saw certain of those who were invited foolishly seizing the uppermost seats as a thing of importance, and worth the taking, and that they were eager after vainglory, for the benefit both of them and us He utters an urgent warning, saying; “When you are bidden of any one, seat not yourself at the head of the seat, lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him, and when he that bade you and him comes, he say unto you, Give this man place; and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.”

Now such things may seem perchance to some to be but trifling matters, and not worthy of much attention. But when any one fixes upon them the eye of his mind, he will then learn, from what blame they deliver a man, and how great orderliness they produce in him. For in the first place to hurry inconsiderately after honors neither suitable, nor due to us, shews us to be foolish, rude, and arrogant, seizing what is not fitting for us, but for others rather, who are greater than and superior to ourselves. Whoever he be that thus acts, is hated, and often too becomes an object of ridicule, when he has to restore to others, and that often against his will, the honor which in no respect belongs unto him. “For when, He says, a more honorable man than thou comes, he that bade thee and him will say, Give this man place.” O! what great ignominy is there in having so to do! It is like a theft, so to speak, and the restitution of the stolen goods. He must restore what he has seized; for he had no right to take it. But the modest and praiseworthy man, who might without fear of blame have claimed the dignity of sitting among the foremost, seeks it not, but yields to others what might be called his own, that he may not even seem to be overcome by vainglory; and such an one shall receive honor as his due: for he shall hear, He says, him who bade him say, “Come up here.”

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 101, 102

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:22–30)

Let us listen therefore to the Savior’s words, which He addressed unto those who wanted to learn, whether they be few who are saved: and to whom the Savior answered, “Strive to enter in by the strait door.” Now this reply may seem perhaps, to wander from the scope of the question. For the man wanted to learn, whether they be few who are saved: but He described unto him the way whereby he might be saved himself, saying, “Strive to enter in by the strait door.” What reply then do we make to this objection? We answer as follows; that it was the custom of our common Savior Christ to meet His questioners, not of course according to what might seem good to them, but as having regard to what was useful and necessary for His hearers. And this He especially did when any one wanted to learn what was superfluous and unedifying. For what good was there in wishing to learn, whether there be many or few that be saved? What benefit resulted from it to the hearers? On the contrary it was a necessary and valuable thing to know in what way a man may attain to salvation. He is purposely silent therefore with respect to the useless question which had been asked Him, but proceeds to speak of what was essential, namely, of the knowledge necessary for the performance of those duties by which men can enter in at the strait and narrow door. For this He has also taught us in another place, saying; “Enter in at the strait door: for wide is the door, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are they that go in thereby. For strait is the door, and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few are they that find it.”

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 99

I must, however, on my side, dispel one fond conceit by another, and contend with even leaven is suitable for the kingdom of the Creator, because after it comes the oven, or, if you please, the furnace of hell. How often has He already displayed Himself as a Judge, and in the Judge the Creator? How often, indeed, has He repelled, and in the repulse condemned? In the present passage, for instance, He says, “When once the master of the house is risen up;” but in what sense except that in which Isaiah said, “When He arises to shake terribly the earth?” “And hath shut to the door,” thereby shutting out the wicked, of course; and when these knock, He will answer, “I know you not whence ye are;” and when they recount how “they have eaten and drunk in His presence,” He will further say to them, “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But where? Outside, no doubt, when they shall have been excluded with the door shut on them by Him. There will therefore be punishment inflicted by Him who excludes for punishment, when they shall behold the righteous entering the kingdom of God, but themselves detained without. By whom detained outside? If by the Creator, who shall be within receiving the righteous into the kingdom? The good God.

Tertullian, Against Marcion IV.30

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:49–56)

Spiritual understanding is at work in every passage of the Gospels. In the present case, fearing that the rigidity of a simple explanation may offend someone, the sequence of the sense is to be qualified by spiritual depth.… We will believe that the Lord took care to advise reverence for the Godhead at the same time as the grace of piety. He said, “You will love the Lord your God, and you will love your neighbor.” Is the present so changed as to erase the names of close kin and set affections at variance? Are we to believe that He has commanded discord within families? How is He our peace, who has made both one? How does He himself say, “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you,” if He has come to separate fathers from sons and sons from fathers by the division of households? How is he cursed who dishonors his father and devout who forsakes him? If we observe that the first is because of religion and the second through piety, we shall think this question is simple. It is necessary that we should esteem the human less than the divine. If honor is to be paid to parents, how much more to your parents’ Creator, to whom you owe gratitude for your parents! If they by no means recognize their Father, how do you recognize them? He does not say children should reject a father but that God is to be set before all. Then you have in another book, “He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” You are not forbidden to love your parents, but you are forbidden to prefer them to God. Natural children are true blessings from the Lord, and no one must love the blessing that he has received more than God by whom the blessing, once received, is preserved.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 7.134–36

People focus their attention on things of this kind. From long observation and practice they tell beforehand when rain will fall or violent winds will blow. One especially sees that sailors are very skillful in this matter. He says that it would be suitable for those who can calculate things of this sort and may foretell storms that are about to happen to focus the penetrating eyes of the mind also on important matters. What are these? The law showed beforehand the mystery of Christ, that He would shine out in the last ages of the world on the inhabitants of the earth and submit to be a sacrifice for the salvation of all. It even commanded a lamb to be sacrificed as a type of him who died towards evening and at lighting of lamps. We might now understand that when, like the day, this world was declining to its close, the great, precious and truly saving passion would be fulfilled. The door of salvation would be thrown wide open to those who believe in him, and abundant happiness be their share. In the Song of Songs, we also find Christ calling to the bride described there. The bride personally represents the church, in these words, “Arise, come, my neighbor, my beautiful dove. Look, the winter is past, and the rain is gone. It has passed away. The flowers appear on the ground. The time of the pruning has come.” As I said, a certain springlike calm was about to arise for those who believe in Him.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 95

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:1–20)

Consider the great authority he gave the holy apostles, how he declared them praiseworthy, and how he decorated them with the highest honors.… “He that hears you,” He says, “hears Me, and he that rejects you, rejects Me; and he that rejects Me, rejects Him that sent Me.” O what great honor! What incomparable dignities! O what a gift worthy of God! Although men, the children of earth, He clothes them with a godlike glory. He entrusts His words to them that they who resist anything or venture to reject them may be condemned. When they are rejected, He assures them that He suffers this. Then again, He shows that the guilt of this wickedness, as being committed against Him, rises up to God the Father. See with the eyes of the mind how vast a height He raises the sin committed by men in rejecting the saints! What a wall He builds around them! How great security He contrives for them! He makes them such as must be feared and in every way plainly provides for their being uninjured.… Christ gives those who love instruction the assurance that whatever is said concerning Him by the holy apostles or evangelists is to be received necessarily without any doubt and to be crowned with the words of truth. He who hears them, hears Christ. For the blessed Paul also said, “You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me.” Christ Himself somewhere also said to the holy disciples, “For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you.” Christ speaks in them by the consubstantial Spirit. If it is true, and plainly it is, that they speak by Christ, how can they err? He affirms that he who does not hear them, does not hear Christ, and that he who rejects them rejects Christ, and with him the Father.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 63

“I was looking at Satan, who fell like lightning from the heavens.” It was not that he was actually in the heavens. He was not in them when he said, “I will place my throne above the stars,” but he fell from his greatness and his dominion. “I was looking at Satan, who fell like lightning from the heavens.” He did not fall from heaven, because lightning does not fall from heaven, since the clouds create it. Why then did he say “from the heavens”? This was because it was as though it was from the heavens, as if lightning which comes suddenly. In one second, Satan fell beneath the victory of the cross. Ordinary people were anointed and sent out by reason of their mission and were highly successful in a second, through miracles of healing those in pain, sickness and evil spirits. It was affirmed that Satan suddenly fell from his dominion, like lightning from the clouds. Just as lightning goes out and does not return to its place, so too did Satan fall and did not again have control over his dominion. “Behold, I am giving you dominion.”

Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 10.13

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26–39)

Did not the devils know the real nature of this name? It is fitting that the heretics should be found guilty, not by the teachings of the apostles but by the mouth of demons. The latter often exclaim, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The truth drew out this reluctant confession, and being forced to obey, their grief testifies to the strength of this nature. This power overcomes them, since they abandon bodies that they have possessed for a long time. They pay their tribute of honor when they acknowledge the nature of Christ. In the meantime, Christ testifies that he is the Son by his miracles as well as by his name. O heretic, where do you find the name of a creature or the favor of an adoption among those words by which the demons admit who he is?

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 6.49

Christ asked him and commanded him to tell what his name was. He said, “Legion,” because many devils had entered him. Did Christ ask this because he did not know it, and like one of us, wished to learn something that had escaped him? Is it not perfectly absurd for us to say or imagine any thing like this? Being God, he knows all things and searches the hearts and inner parts. He asked for the plan of salvation's sake, that we might learn that a great crowd of devils shared the one soul of the man, giving birth a wretched and impure madness in him. He was their work. They certainly are wise to do evil, as the Scripture says, but they have no knowledge to do good.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 44

It says, “The herdsmen saw this and fled.” Neither professors of philosophy nor leaders of the synagogue can offer any cure when people perish. Christ alone takes away the sins of the people, provided they do not refuse to submit to healing. He does not want to cure the unwilling and soon abandon the weak for whom it seems that his presence is a burden, like the peoples of the Gerasenes. They went out from that country, which appears to be an image of the synagogue, and begged him to depart from them, because they were very afraid.… Why does Christ not accept the healed man but advise him to return home? Perhaps this occurs to avoid a cause of boasting and give an example to unbelievers, although that home may be an inn by nature. Since he received the healing of his mind, Christ commanded him to depart from the tombs and the graves and to return to that spiritual home. He who had in him the grave of the mind became a temple of God.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 6.50, 53

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Patristic Wisdom for Easter

Maxim Dergachev, The Holy Myrrh-bearing Women at the Tomb of the Risen Christ

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. (Luke 24:1–12)

THE women came to the sepulcher, and when they could not find the body of Christ,—for He had risen,—they were much perplexed. And what followed? For their love’s sake unto Christ, and their earnest zeal thereunto, they were counted worthy of seeing holy angels, who even told them the joyful tidings, and became the heralds of the resurrection, saying, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” For the Word of God ever lives, and is by His own nature Life: but when He humbled Himself unto emptying, and submitted to be made like unto us, He tasted death. But this proved to be the death of death: for He arose from the dead, to be the way whereby not Himself so much but we rather return unto incorruption. And let no one seek Him Who ever lives among the dead; for He is not here, with mortality, that is, and in the tomb: but where rather is He? in heaven plainly, and in godlike glory. And more firmly to settle the faith of the women in these things, they recall to their minds what Christ had said, that “He must necessarily be given up into the hands of sinners, and suffer, and the third day rise again.”

Angels too brought the joyful tidings of the nativity to the shepherds in Bethlehem, and now they tell His resurrection: and heaven yields its service to proclaim Him, and the hosts of the spirits which are above attend the Son as God, even when He had become flesh.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 24

Let us believe in Christ crucified, but let us also believe in Him who rose again on the third day. This is the faith which distinguishes us from others, from pagans and from Jews; namely, the faith by which we believe that Christ rose again from the dead. The Apostle said to Timothy: “Remember that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and was descended from David; this is my gospel.” …

Behold, I have told you that the faith which marks us off from pagans is that by which we believe that Christ Jesus rose from the dead. Ask any pagan whether Christ was crucified: he declares emphatically: “Certainly, He was.” Then ask whether He rose again; he denies it. Ask any Jew whether Christ was crucified; he acknowledges the sin of his ancestors, in which he, too, shares for he drinks the cup which those ancestors passed down to him with the words: “His blood be on us and on our children.” But ask the Jew whether Christ rose again from the dead; he will deny it, ridicule it, and accuse you. Thus we are separated. We believe that Christ, born of the seed of David according to the flesh, rose from the dead. Were the demons unaware of this, or did they not believe the things which they saw? Yet, even before He had arisen, they shouted and said: “We know who you are, O Son of God.” We have distinguished ourselves from the pagans by our belief that Christ has risen. If we can, let us now distinguish ourselves from the demons. What is it, I ask you, what is it that the demons said? “We know who you are, O Son of God.” And they hear the reply: “Hold thy peace.” Did they not say just what Peter said when the Lord questioned the disciples, saying: “Who do men say I am?” When they had reported the opinions of others, He repeated His question, saying: “But who do you say I am?” Then Peter answered: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The same statement was made by the demons and by Peter; the same by evil spirits and by the Apostle. Yet, the demons hear: “Hold thy peace,” while Peter hears: “Blessed art thou.” May what differentiated them also differentiate us from the demons. Why did the demons make that declaration? From fear. Why did Peter? From love. Choose, then, and cherish.

Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 234.3

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Transfiguration

Luca Giordano, Transfiguration of Christ

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. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:28–36)

“I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the kingdom of God.” ... By the “kingdom of God” He means the sight of the glory in which He will appear at His revelation to the inhabitants of earth. He will come in the glory of God the Father and not in a humble condition like ours. How did He make those who received the promise spectators of a thing so wonderful? He goes up into the mountain taking three chosen disciples with him. He is transformed to such a surpassing and godlike brightness that His garments even glittered with rays of fire and seemed to flash like lightning. Besides, Moses and Elijah stood at Jesus’ side and spoke with one another about his departure that He was about, it says, to accomplish at Jerusalem. This meant the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh and of His precious suffering upon the cross. It is also true that the law of Moses and the word of the holy prophets foreshadowed the mystery of Christ. The law of Moses foreshadowed it by types and shadows, painting it as in a picture. The holy prophets in different ways declared beforehand that in due time He would appear in our likeness and for the salvation and life of us all, agree to suffer death on the tree. Moses and Elijah standing before him and talking with one another was a sort of representation. It excellently displayed our Lord Jesus Christ as having the law and the prophets for his bodyguard. It displayed Christ as being the Lord of the Law and the Prophets, as foretold in them by those things that they proclaimed in mutual agreement beforehand. The words of the prophets are not different from the teachings of the law. I imagine this was what the most priestly Moses and the most distinguished of the prophets Elijah were talking about with one another.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 51

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.

Since the disciples were fleshly and still fragile in substance, they were afraid and fell upon their faces when they heard God's voice. Since the Lord was a benevolent master in everything, He consoled them at the same time by His word and His touch, and He lifted them up.

Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.24

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Epiphany

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until My righteousness goes forth as light, and My salvation burns like a lamp. The Gentiles will see your righteousness, and kings your glory; and one will call you by your new name, which the Lord shall name. You shall also be a crown of beauty in the Lord’s hand, and the diadem of a kingdom in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be called Forsaken, and your land shall not be called Desert; for you shall be called My Will, and in your land, the Inhabited Earth. As a young man lives in wedlock with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell with you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so the Lord shall rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:1–5 LXX)

Christ appeared to those on earth as righteousness and as salvation. He makes righteous and he saves, being himself the true light, a torch in the darkness as it were. He himself said, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Everything had remained in mist and darkness. The devil had darkened the hearts of all, and there was no one who does good or knows righteousness, that is, the way to salvation. No one possessed the light from above that enlightens the mind, nor was anyone able to perceive with the eyes of understanding the true nature of God, who is Creator and Lord of all. However, after the Savior rose like a light and a torch, the world was illuminated and through Him we have seen the way of salvation.

Then the prophet speaks to the Church that was gathered from the company of the Jews. The multitude of the Gentiles had not yet been drawn in. Nations shall see your righteousness, and kings your glory. The righteousness mentioned in this verse, as well as the glory, is nothing else than our Lord Jesus the Christ. We have been justified in Him, and we have been enriched by His glory. We have become His, and we are called His chosen ones. We have been placed under His yoke and scepter and delivered from the cruel tyranny of the one who ruled us.

Because Zion no longer worships God according to the law and has embraced the new life according to the gospel, she casts off her old name and has been given a new name that befits the God of all, as is indicated in the words: He shall call you by your name, which the Lord will name. No longer will she be called synagogue but Church of the living God, His city and His house. The inspired David was thinking of her when he said, Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.

Isaiah teaches that the Church will shine with splendor and be crowned with incomparable beauty. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. Every soul will be holy, together with the whole Church, and the ranks of the saints will be like a crown woven from many flowers or a royal tiara shining with stones from India and sparkling with splendor. For the deeds of the saints are valorous and many; like different ornaments they are not all alike but varied. Thus, the inspired David describes the Church of Christ clothed in a many-colored garment. The prophet also adds that the crown of beauty is in the hand of the Lord, that is, I will hide you in the shadow of my hand.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah 5.5.62

Patristic Wisdom for Epiphany

Shine, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Behold, darkness and gloom shall cover the earth upon the nations, but the Lord will shine on you; and His glory shall be seen upon you. Kings shall come to your light, and the Gentiles to your brightness. Lift up your eyes all around, and see your children gathered together. Behold, all your sons come from afar, and your daughters shall be lifted upon their shoulders. Then you will see, fear and be amazed in your heart, because the wealth of the sea and of nations and peoples shall change their course and turn to you. Herds of camels shall come to you, and the camels of Midian and Ephah shall cover you. All those from Sheba shall come bearing gold, and they shall bring frankincense and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s salvation. (Isaiah 60:1–6 LXX)

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.(Matthew 2:9–11)

How could anyone doubt that the nature of God the Word is filled with true and regal dominion? Certainly we must understand this nature as being in the very heights befitting to God. Since He appeared as a man, however, a being upon whom all things are bestowed as gifts, He received as a man, even though He is full and gives to all from His own fullness. He made our poverty His own, and we see in Christ the strange and rare paradox of Lordship in servant’s form and divine glory in human abasement. That which was under the yoke in terms of the limitations of manhood was crowned with royal dignities, and that which was humble was raised to the most supreme excellence. The Only Begotten did not become man only to remain in the limits of the emptying. The point was that He who was God by nature should, in the act of self-emptying, assume everything that went along with it. This was how He would be revealed as ennobling the nature of man in Himself by making it participate in his own sacred and divine honors. We shall find that even the saints call the Son of God the “Glory” of God the Father, and King, and Lord, even when He became a man. Isaiah, for example, says in one place:… “Shine forth Jerusalem for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold, darkness and gloom may cover the earth, but over you the Lord shall be made manifest and his glory shall be seen upon you.”

Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ

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 Third Sunday in Advent

Rejoice, O daughter of Zion!
        Make a proclamation, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Rejoice and enjoy yourself from your whole heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away your injustices;
        he has ransomed you from the hand of your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst,
        you shall not see evil any longer.
In that time the Lord will say to Jerusalem,
“Take courage, Zion!
        Do not let your hands get weak.
The Lord your God is among you;
        the Mighty One will save you.
And he will bring upon you the festivity
        and renew you in his affection,
and he will rejoice because of you in delight
        as in a day of festival.
And I will gather together those who are crushed.
        Alas, who took up a reproach against her?
Behold, I will act among you for your sake
        in that time,” says the Lord.
“And I will save the oppressed one
        and the rejected one.
I will gather them for glory,
        and they will be renowned in all the earth.
And they will be ashamed in that time,
        when I do well for you,
and in the time when I will gather you,
        because I will give you renowned ones,
and for glory among all the peoples of the earth,
        when I return your captives before you,” says the Lord.

(Zephaniah 3:14–20 LXX)

As far as the factual account goes, he clearly promises them peace after the return from Babylon, when their former faults are forgotten and God promises to accompany and protect them. On the other hand, as far as the deeper meaning goes, he necessarily ordered them to rejoice exceedingly, and as well to be glad with their whole heart at the removal of their sins—through Christ, obviously. That is to say, the spiritual and holy Zion, that is, the Church or vast company of the believers, has been justified by Christ and by Him alone; we have been saved through Him and by Him, escaping harm from the unseen foe, with Him as our mediator appearing in a form like ours as God and King of all, the Word of God the Father. Because of Him, we shall witness troubles no longer, that is, we shall be liberated from everyone able to do harm; after all, He is the instrument of benevolence, He is peace, the wall, the provider of immortality, the dispenser of crowns, who repels war waged by the spiritual Assyrians and annuls the schemes of the demons.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Zephaniah 3.14

I am aware that some commentators understood this of the return from Babylon and the renovation of Jerusalem, and I do not contradict their words: the prophecy applies also to what happened at that time. But you can find a more exact outcome after the Incarnation of our Savior: then it was that He healed the oppressed in heart in the washing of regeneration, then it was that He renewed human nature, loving us so much as to give His life for us. After all, “greater love than this no one can show than for one to lay down one's life for one's friend,” and again, “God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son so that everyone believing in Him might not be lost but have eternal life.” … The salvation of human beings rests with divine lovingkindness alone: we do not earn it as the wages of righteousness; rather, it is a gift of divine goodness. Hence the Lord says, “on your behalf I shall save and welcome” and make My own what has become another's, render it conspicuous, make it more famous than all others, free it from its former shame, and from being captives and slaves I shall make them free people and My own. Now, as I have said, this He both made a gift of to those returning from Babylon at that time and also granted to all people later: we who were once in thrall to the devil, but are now freed from that harsh captivity and unmindful of the error of polytheism, have become God's own, being famous beyond pagans and barbarians, according to the prophecy, and we who were once far off have become near, according to the divine apostle.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Zephaniah 3.16–20

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

And now, fear the Lord and serve him in uprightness and in righteousness and put away the foreign gods that our fathers served in the region of them beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if it is not pleasing to you to serve the Lord, choose for you yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers in the region of them beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites among whom you live upon their land. I and my household will serve the Lord because he is holy.’” And in response, the people said, “May it never happen to us that we should depart from the Lord to serve other gods. The Lord our God, he is God. He brought us up and our fathers from Egypt and protected us on the whole way that we went on it and among all the nations that we passed by. And the Lord drove out the Amorites and all the nations dwelling in the land from our presence, but we also will serve the Lord for he is our God.” (Joshua 24:14–18 LXX)

Therefore, what Joshua said to the people when he settled them in the holy land, the Scripture might also say now to us. The text reads as follows, “Now fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and righteousness.” And it will tell us, if we are being misled to worship idols, what follows, “Destroy the foreign gods which your fathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.”

Origen, Exhortation to Martyrdom 17

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”… From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:60, 66–69)

“To whom shall we go?” Peter asks. In other words, “Who else will instruct us the way you do?” or “To whom shall we go to find anything better?” “You have the words of eternal life”; not hard words, as those other disciples say, but words that will bring us to the loftiest goal, unceasing, endless life removed from all corruption. These words surely make quite obvious to us the necessity for sitting at the feet of Christ, taking Him as our one and only teacher and giving Him our constant and undivided attention. He must be our guide who knows well how to lead us to everlasting life. In this way, we shall ascend to the divine court of heaven, and entering the church of the firstborn, delight in blessings passing all human understanding.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 4.4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday of Easter

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:36–49)

When He had quieted their reasonings by what He said, by the touch of their hands, and by partaking of food, He then opened their mind to understand, that “so it behooved Him to suffer,” even upon the wood of the cross. The Lord therefore recalls the minds of the disciples to what He had before said: for He had forewarned them of His sufferings upon the cross, according to what the prophets had long before spoken: and He opens also the eyes of their heart, so as for them to understand the ancient prophecies.

The Savior promises the disciples the descent of the Holy Ghost, which God had announced of old by Joel, and power from above, that they might be strong and invincible, and without all fear preach to men everywhere the divine mystery.

He says unto them now that they had received the Spirit after the resurrection, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” and adds, “But tarry ye at Jerusalem, and wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of Me. For John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost;” in water no longer, for that they had received, but with the Holy Ghost: He does not add water to water, but completes that which was deficient by adding what was wanting to it.

Having blessed them, and gone a little in advance, He was carried up unto heaven, that He might share the Father’s throne even with the flesh that was united unto Him. And this new pathway the Word made for us when He appeared in human form: and hereafter in due time He will come again in the glory of His Father with the angels, and will take us up to be with Him.

Let us glorify therefore Him Who being God the Word became man for our sakes: Who suffered willingly in the flesh, and arose from the dead, and abolished corruption: Who was taken up, and hereafter shall come with great glory to judge the living and the dead, and to give to every one according to his deeds: by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and power with the Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 24

Patristic Wisdom for the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus

And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)

On the eighth day, therefore, Christ is circumcised, and receives, as I said, His Name: for then, even then, were we saved by Him and through Him, “in Whom, it saith, ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands in the putting off of the fleshly body, with Christ’s circumcision, having been buried together with Him in baptism, wherein also ye were raised with Him.” His death, therefore, was for our sakes as were also His resurrection and His circumcision. For He died, that we who have died together with Him in His dying unto sin, may no longer live unto sin: for which reason it is said, “If we have died together with Him, we shall also live together with Him.” And He is said to have died unto sin, not because He had sinned, “for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth,” but because of our sin. Like as therefore we died together with Him when He died, so shall we also rise together with Him.

Again, when the Son was present among us, though by nature God and the Lord of all, He does not on that account despise our measure, but along with us is subject to the same law, although as God He was Himself the legislator. Like the Jews, He is circumcised when eight days old, to prove His descent from their stock, that they may not deny Him. For Christ was expected of the seed of David, and offered them the proof of His relationship. But if even when He was circumcised they said, “As for This man, we know not whence He is;” there would have been a show of reason in their denial, had He not been circumcised in the flesh, and kept the law.

But after His circumcision, the rite was done away by the introduction of that which had been signified by it, even baptism: for which reason we are no longer circumcised. For circumcision seems to me to have effected three several ends: in the first place, it separated the posterity of Abraham by a sort of sign and seal, and distinguished them from all other nations. In the second, it prefigured in itself the grace and efficacy of Divine baptism; for as in old time he that was circumcised, was reckoned among the people of God by that seal, so also he that is baptized, having formed in himself Christ the seal, is enrolled into God’s adopted family. And, thirdly, it is the symbol of the faithful when established in grace, who cut away and mortify the tumultuous risings of carnal pleasures and passions by the sharp surgery of faith, and by ascetic labors; not cutting the body, but purifying the heart, and being circumcised in the spirit, and not in the letter: whose praise, as the divine Paul testifies, needs not the sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 3

Patristic Wisdom for Christmas Day

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:1–20)

For He Whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. He Who is now Man was once the Uncompounded. What He was He continued to be; what He was not He took to Himself. In the beginning He was, uncaused; for what is the Cause of God? But afterwards for a cause He was born. And that came was that you might be saved, who insult Him and despise His Godhead, because of this, that He took upon Him your denser nature, having converse with Flesh by means of Mind. While His inferior Nature, the Humanity, became God, because it was united to God, and became One Person because the Higher Nature prevailed in order that I too might be made God so far as He is made Man. He was born—but He had been begotten: He was born of a woman—but she was a Virgin. The first is human the second Divine. In His Human nature He had no Father, but also in His Divine Nature no Mother. Both these belong to Godhead. He dwelt in the womb—but He was recognized by the Prophet, himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for Whose sake He came into being. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes—but He took off the swathing bands of the grave by His rising again. He was laid in a manger—but He was glorified by Angels, and proclaimed by a star, and worshiped by the Magi.

Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 29.19 “On the Son”

Look not therefore upon Him Who was laid in the manger as a babe merely, but in our poverty see Him Who as God is rich, and in the measure of our humanity Him Who excels the inhabitants of heaven, and Who therefore is glorified even by the holy angels. And how noble was the hymn, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and among men good will!” For the angels and archangels, thrones and lordships, and high above them the Seraphim, preserving their settled order, are at peace with God: for never in any way do they transgress His good pleasure, but are firmly established in righteousness and holiness. But we, wretched beings, by having set up our own lusts in opposition to the will of our Lord, had put ourselves into the position of enemies unto Him. But by Christ this has been done away: for He is our peace; for He has united us by Himself unto God the Father, having taken away from the middle the cause of the enmity, even sin, and so justifies us by faith, and makes us holy and without blame, and calls near unto Him those who were afar off: and besides this, He has created the two people into one new man, so making peace, and reconciling both in one body to the Father. For it pleased God the Father to form into one new whole all things in Him, and to bind together things below and things above, and to make those in heaven and those on earth into one flock. Christ therefore has been made for us both Peace and Goodwill; by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and honor and might with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Reformation Sunday

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31–36)

Obscure as yet and not wholly clear is the word, none the less it is replete with force akin to those before it, and though after other fashion wrought will go through the same reflections. For it too persuades those who have once believed gladly to depart and remove from the worship according to the law, instructing that the shadow is our guide to the knowledge of Him, and that leaving the types and figures, we should go resolutely forward to the Truth Itself, i. e., Christ the Giver of true freedom and the Redeemer. Ye shall know therefore (He says) the Truth, if ye abide in My Words, and from knowing the Truth ye shall find the profit that is therefrom. Take then our Lord as saying some such thing as this to the Jews (for we ought I think to enlarge our meditation on what is now before us, for the profit’s sake of the readers): A bitter bondage in Egypt, (He says) ye endured, and lengthened toil consumed you who had come into bitter serfdom under Pharaoh, but ye cried then to God, and ye have moved Him to mercy towards you, bewailing the misfortunes which were upon you ye were seeking a Redeemer from Heaven: forthwith I visited you even then, and brought you forth from a strange land, liberating you from most savage oppression I was inviting you unto freedom. But that ye might learn who is your aider and Redeemer, I was limning for you the mystery of Myself in the sacrifice of the sheep, and bidding it then to prefigure the salvation through blood: for ye were saved by anointing both yourselves and the doorposts with the blood of the lamb. Hence by advancing a little forth from the types, when ye learn the Truth, ye shall be wholly and truly free. And let none (He says) doubt about this. For if the type was then to you the bestower of so great goods, how does not the Truth rather give you richer grace?

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 5.5.32

This is what he means: The subject of what I am talking about is not corporeal bondage. I want to talk to you about real freedom. In one instance a master, at his discretion, drives away from the house a servant in whom he sees an evil will and subjects him to any punishment he considers to be appropriate. But… no master drives away his son from the house. So, one who is a slave to sin, since he is far removed from all divine goodness, is given a perpetual punishment. But the one who has been made worthy of freedom and has been given the status of son always enjoys divine goodness and can never be removed from it. If you, he says, are freed through me and are made worthy of the title of sons, then you will possess real freedom.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on John 3.8.34–36

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:13–20)

Peter did not say “you are a Christ” or “a son of God” but “the Christ, the Son of God.” For there are many christs by grace, who have attained the rank of adoption, but only One who is by nature the Son of God. Thus, using the definite article, he said, the Christ, the Son of God. And in calling him Son of the living God, Peter indicates that Christ Himself is life and that death has no authority over Him. And even if the flesh, for a short while, was weak and died, nevertheless it rose again, since the Word, who indwelled it, could not be held under the bonds of death.

Cyril of Alexandria, Fragment 190

This is not the property of Peter alone, but it came about on behalf of every human being. Having said that His confession is a rock, He stated that upon this rock I will build my church. This means he will build his church upon this same confession and faith. For this reason, addressing the one who first confessed Him with this title, on account of his confession He applied to him this authority, too, as something that would become his, speaking of the common and special good of the church as pertaining to him alone. It was from this confession, which was going to become the common property of all believers, that He bestowed upon him this name, the rock. In the same way also Jesus attributes to him the special character of the church, as though it existed beforehand in him on account of his confession. By this He shows, in consequence, that this is the common good of the church, since also the common element of the confession was to come to be first in Peter. This then is what He says, that in the church would be the key of the kingdom of heaven. If anyone holds the key to this, to the church, in the same way he will also hold it for all heavenly things. He who is counted as belonging to the church and is recognized as its member is a partaker and an inheritor of heaven. He who is a stranger to it, whatever his status may be, will have no communion in heavenly things. To this very day the priests of the church have expelled those who are unworthy by this saying and admitted those who have become worthy by repentance.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragment 92

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday of Easter

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:1–4)

But in bidding them not be troubled, He placed them as it were on the borderland betwixt hope and fear: so that, if they fell into weakness and suffering in their human frailty, the hope of His clemency might help them to recovery; while the fear of stumbling might urge them to fall but seldom, since they had not yet been endowed with the power never to fail at all, not having as yet been clothed with the power from above, from on high, I mean the grace that comes through the Spirit. He bids them therefore not to be troubled, teaching them at once that it was fitting that those who were prepared for the conflict, and ready to enter on the struggles for the sake of the glory that is on high, should be altogether superior to feelings of cowardice: for an untroubled mind is a great help towards a courageous temper.…

He is making an able soldier out of one who but now was a coward, and while the disciples were smarting with the anxieties of fear He bids them take to themselves the terrible power of faith. For thus are we safe, and not otherwise, according surely to the song of the Psalmist: The Lord is my light and my savior; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the shield of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? For if the all-powerful God fights for us and shields us, who could ever have power to harm us? And who will by any chance advance to such a height of power as to keep the elect in subjection to him, and to force them to submit to the evil designs of his perverse imagination? Or who could take by his spear and lead captive those that wear the panoply of God? Faith therefore is a weapon whose blade is stout and broad, that drives away all cowardice that may spring from expectation of coming suffering, and that renders the darts of evil-doers utterly void of effect and utterly profitless of success in their temptations.…

Therefore if the mansions in God the Father’s home had not been many in number, He would have said that He was going on before them, namely to prepare beforehand the habitations of the saints: but knowing that there are many such, already fully prepared and awaiting the arrival of those who love God, He says that He will depart not for this purpose, but for the sake of securing the way to the mansions above, to prepare a passage of safety for you, and to smooth the path that was impassable in old time. For heaven was then utterly inaccessible to mortal man, and no flesh as yet had ever trodden that pure and all-holy realm of the angels; but Christ was the first Who consecrated for us the means of access to Himself, and granted to flesh a way of entrance into heaven; presenting Himself as an offering to God the Father, as it were the first-fruits of them that are asleep and are lying in the tomb, and the first of mankind that ever appeared in heaven.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 9

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.… They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (John 9:1–7, 13–17)

They imagine those who are disposed to judge fairly to be wandering in their wits, and they seem to me to have forgotten altogether Him Who says: Judge with righteous judgment; and having been taken captive as it were in the bonds of envy, they cannot endure to listen at all to any word that honors Christ. Turning away from any one wishing to speak of His miracles as from some one most hostile to themselves, and mistrusting their own powers of explanation, they haughtily address their words to the man that had been healed. Again they ask what had been many times told them, having already proclaimed their belief that He Who had performed an action contrary to the sabbath was both worthless and wicked. They think that in this way the blind man will join them in condemning Him, and take his cue from their words; that he will suppress all outward signs of gratitude, out of fear and trembling before their anger, and readily charge Jesus with contempt of the law, because of its being the sabbath. Evil therefore was the design of the Pharisees, and it cannot be doubted that it was foolish also. For how could the voice of one thankless man weaken the force of the miracle? And would not Christ’s Divine glory appear, if it so happened that the blind man, overcome by fear, should deny the kindness he had received, in order to avoid suffering anything from those wont to inflict pain? But envy is powerful to persuade those who are bursting with it to eagerly do any thing in their passion, even though it involves conduct very fairly open to ridicule. The mind which is free from such thoughts, however, is not entangled by foolish arguments; but, ever preserving its natural excellence untarnished, is borne directly towards a right conclusion, and does not go beyond the limits of truth. Mean therefore and insolent are the Pharisees, thinking that those who choose to think and speak rightly are wandering in their wits, and endeavoring to compel the man to speak evil words concerning Him Who had miraculously bestowed on him an unhoped-for blessing. But he was disposed to express gratitude and had been brought near to a clear knowledge by means of the miracle.

They receive a sharp arrow into their hearts, who do not admit fair and just reasoning, and are eager to seek only that which gratifies their malice. For, as it is written, the crafty man shall not meet with prey. For their zealous design is upset, contrary to their expectation; and they are greatly disappointed of their hope when to their surprise they receive the reply: He is a prophet. For the man who had been healed, judging very rightly, agrees with the opinion of the other party. For they, not unwisely considering the nature of the action, maintain that a man who was a sinner could not perform such a deed: and he upon whom the marvel has been wrought, all but pursuing the same track of argument, declares Jesus to be a prophet, not yet having accurately learned Who He is in truth, but adopting a notion current among the Jews. For it was customary with them to call wonder-workers prophets, deeming that their holiness was thereby borne witness to by God.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Epiphany

And now this is what the Lord—who formed me from the belly as his bondservant in order to gather Jacob and Israel to himself—says: “I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and God will be strength for me.” And he said to me, “It is a great thing for you to be called my child, to establish the tribes of Jacob and to return the dispersion of Israel. Look! I have given you as a covenant for a nation, as a light for the nations so that you may become salvation as far as the end of the earth.” This is what the Lord who rescues you, the God of Israel, says: “Sanctify the one who despises his life, who is abhorred by the nations, the servants of rulers. Kings will see him and arise; rulers also will worship him for the sake of the Lord, because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.” (Isaiah 49:5–7 LXX)

On becoming man, in fact, God, the Only-begotten Word of God, laid down His life for us, and chose to suffer for us death in the flesh, though experiencing nothing in His own nature; after all, as God He is beyond suffering, but for the sake of sinners He forfeited that privilege.… So He gave His life for us, for we were healed by His bruising,

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah 49

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.” (John 1:29–34)

No longer has prepare the way fit place, since He at length is seen and is before the eyes for Whom the preparation is made: the nature of the thing began to need other words. It needed to explain, Who He is Who is come, and to whom He makes His descent Who hath come to us from Heaven. Behold, therefore, he says, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, Whom the Prophet Isaiah did signify to us, saying, He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb: Whom of old, too, he says, the law of Moses typified, but then it saved in part, not extending mercy to all (for it was a type and shadow): but now He Who of old was dimly pictured, the very Lamb, the spotless Sacrifice, is led to the slaughter for all, that He might drive away the sin of the world, that He might overturn the destroyer of the earth, that dying for all He might bring to nought death, that He might undo the curse that is upon us, that He might at length end Dust you are, and unto dust shall you return, that He might become the second Adam, not of the earth, but from heaven, and might be the beginning of all good to the nature of man, deliverance from the imported corruption, Bestower of eternal life, foundation of our reconciliation to God, beginning of godliness and righteousness, way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Jesus' Baptism

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. 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 the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:15–22)

The divine Word became man, even “He Who was in the form of God the Father, and thought it not robbery to be equal unto God,” as most wise Paul says, “but took the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men, and humbling Himself to poverty.” Inquire therefore Who He was that was first in the likeness of God the Father, and could be regarded as on an equality with Him, but took the form of a slave, and became then a man, and besides this made Himself poor. Was it He of the seed of David, as they argue, Whom they specially regard separately and by Himself as the other Son, distinct from the Word of God the Father? If so, let them show that He ever was on an equality with the Father. Let them show how He assumed the form of a slave. Or what shall we say was that form of a slave? And how did He empty Himself? For what is poorer than human nature? He therefore Who is the exact image of God the Father, the likeness, and visible expression of His person, Who shines resplendent in equality unto Him, Who by right of nature is free, and the yoke of Whose kingdom is put upon all creation,—He it is Who took the form of a slave, that is, became a man, and made Himself poor by consenting to endure these human things, sin only excepted.

But how then, they object, was He baptized, and received also the Spirit? To which we reply, that He had no need of holy baptism, being wholly pure and spotless, and holy of the holy. Nor had He need of the Holy Ghost: for the Spirit That proceeds from God the Father is of Him, and equal to Him in substance. We must now therefore at length hear what is the explanation of the economy. God in his love to man provided for us a way of salvation and of life. For believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and making this confession before many witnesses, we wash away all the filth of sin, and are enriched by the communication of the Holy Spirit, and made partakers of the divine nature, and gain the grace of adoption. It was necessary therefore that the Word of the Father, when He humbled Himself unto emptiness, and deigned to assume our likeness, should become for our sakes the pattern and way of every good work. For it follows, that He Who in everything is first, must in this also set the example.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 11