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

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.… But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17)

Such is Paul's account. And we have reached the “falling away.” Men, that is, have fallen away from the true faith. Some proclaim the identity of Father and Son. Others dare to assert that one should believe Christ has come into existence out of nonexistence. Formerly heretics were quite evident, but now the church is full of masked heretics. For men have deserted the truth and want to have their ears tickled. Make a plausible case, and everyone is ready to listen to you. Talk of changing one's life, and everyone deserts you. The majority have fallen away from the sound doctrines and are readier to choose what is bad than to prefer what is good. So there you have the “falling away,” and the coming of the enemy is to be expected next. Meanwhile, he has begun to send out his forerunners here and there, so that the spoil may be prepared for him when he comes. Therefore, brothers, look to yourselves. Watch over your souls carefully.

The Antichrist just mentioned by Paul will come when the destined period of the Roman Empire has run its course and the subsequent end of the world is drawing near. Ten claimants to the empire will arise simultaneously, I suppose in different parts, but all wearing the purple at the same time. Antichrist will form an eleventh after them, having seized the imperial power by the use of magic arts. He will humble three of those who came to power before him and cause the remaining seven to be Caesars under him. At first he will feign mildness and will appear to be a learned and understanding man, with pretended prudence and kindness. Then he will take in the Jews, by making them suppose him to be their expected Messiah, by false signs and wonders produced by magical trickery. And afterwards his character will be written large in evil deeds of inhumanity and lawlessness of every kind, so as to outdo all wicked and godless men that were before him. He will display a murderous, most absolute, pitiless and unstable temper toward all people, but especially toward us Christians. He will act insolently for only three and a half years. Then he will be defeated by the second glorious coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ. He will destroy Antichrist “with the spirit of his mouth” and commit him to the flames of hell.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 15.9, 12

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Pentecost Sunday

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved. (Acts 2:1–21)

To prevent the magnitude of the surpassing gift from being unknown, a sort of heavenly trumpet sounded. For “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming”; signifying the advent of Him who grants the grace to men to bear away with violence the kingdom of heaven, to see with their eyes the fiery tongues, to hear with their ears the sound. “And it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” The house became the receptacle of the spiritual water. The disciples were within and the whole house was filled. Therefore they were completely baptized, according to the promise. They were clothed in body and soul with a divine and saving vesture. “And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” They partook not of burning but of saving fire, which consumes the thorns of sins but renders the soul radiant. This fire will come to you too, to strip away and destroy your thorn-like sins, and to make the precious possession of your souls shine yet more brightly; and He will give you grace, for He gave it then to the Apostles. He sat upon them in the form of fiery tongues, to crown them with new and spiritual diadems (by the fiery tongues on their heads). A flaming sword of old barred the gates of Paradise; a fiery tongue, bringing salvation, restored the grace.

Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lectures 17.15

“Like as of fire.” For when the Spirit was to be made known to John, then it came upon the head of Christ as in the form of a dove: but now, when a whole multitude was to be converted, it is “like as of fire. And it sat upon each of them.” This means, that it remained and rested upon them.” For the sitting is significant of settledness and continuance. Was it upon the twelve that it came? Not so; but upon the hundred and twenty. For Peter would not have quoted to no purpose the testimony of the prophet, saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord God, I will pour out of My spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday in Advent

St John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert, Claes Corneliszoon Moeyaert

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will observe the way before my face. And immediately, the Lord, whom you seek, will come into his own temple. And the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes,” says the Lord Almighty. “But who will endure the day of his entrance, or who will stand in his appearance? Because he enters as a fire of a furnace and as a kind of cleansing. He will sit, smeltering and cleansing, as if it were silver and as if it were gold; and he will purify the children of Levi and pour them out just like gold and like silver, and they will become those who bring to the Lord a sacrifice in righteousness. And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, just as in the days of old and just as the previous years. And I will approach you with justice, and I will become a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulteresses and against the ones who swear oaths in my name, against liars and against the ones who withhold wages of workers and the ones who oppress the widow and the ones who maltreat orphans and the ones who pervert justice of the resident alien and the ones who do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “Because I am the Lord, your God, and I do not change. (Malachi 3:1–6 LXX)

And so, that we might not inquire of what God the Word became flesh, He Himself teaches further, There was a man, one sent from God, whose name was John. He for testimony, to bear witness to the light … he was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. By what God, then, was John sent—the forerunner who bore witness concerning the light? It was indeed by that God of whom Gabriel is the messenger, who also announced the good news of His birth. By the God who also promised through His prophets that He would send His messenger before the face of His Son, and He would prepare His way, that is, bear witness concerning the light in the spirit and power of Elias. And Elias, in turn, of what God was he servant and prophet? Of Him who made heaven and earth, as he himself acknowledges. Therefore, if John was sent by the Creator and Maker of this world, how could he bear witness concerning that light which descended from the beings that are unnameable and invisible? For all the heretics have given out as certain that Demiurge is ignorant of the power that is above him, of which John is recognized to be the witness and the revealer. On this account the Lord said He considered him more than a prophet. For all the other prophets announced the coming of the Father’s light; moreover, they desired to be worthy of seeing Him whom they prophesied. But John both foretold Him, just as the others had, and saw and pointed Him out when He came, and persuaded many to believe in Him, so that he held the office of both prophet and apostle. In this he is more than a prophet, because first are apostles, then prophets. But all things come from one and the same God.

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies, 3.11.4

Of these two comings the Prophet Malachi says: “And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek”; that is one coming. Of the second coming he says: “And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying.” In what immediately follows the Savior Himself says: “I will draw near to you for judgment, and I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers.” It was with this in view that Paul says in due warning: “But if anyone builds upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each will be made manifest, for the day of the Lord will declare it, since the day is to be revealed in fire.” Paul indicates these two comings also in writing to Titus in these words: “The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men, instructing us, in order that, rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live temperately and justly and piously in this world; looking for the blessed hope and glorious coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Do you see how he speaks of a first coming, for which he gives thanks, and of a second we are to look for? We find the same lesson in the wording of the Creed we profess, as delivered to us, that is, to believe in Him who “ascended into heaven and sat down on the right of the Father, and is to come in glory to judge living and dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end.”

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 15.2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
        announce, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, your king comes to you,
        righteous and able to keep alive;
he is humble and mounted upon a mule,
        even a young foal of an ass.
And he will utterly destroy chariots from Ephraim,
        and a horse out of Jerusalem,
and a warlike bow will be utterly destroyed,
        even a number of them;
and there will be peace from the nations,
        and he will rule waters to seas and rivers,
        the passageway of the land.
And you, in the blood of your covenant,
        sent away your prisoners from a pit that has no water.
Drop down in the strongholds,
        O prisoners of the assembly,
and in place of one day ⌊of your exile.
        I will repay you double. (Zech 9:9–12)

Be glad, therefore, O Jerusalem, since of such a kind is a king appointed for you by God, and he has come to you, capable of saving his own on account of the divine influence accruing to him and justly inflicting total punishment on the adversaries. While he is riding a lowly animal for the reason that he has just arrived back from captivity, he assumes great power through divine grace, and so from Ephraim and from Jerusalem he will remove all the chariots of the adversaries, every war horse and every battle bow—that is to say, he will drive off all enemies so that there will be no longer any adversary against the country of Judah. He will also wipe out a great multitude of the adversaries and completely deprive them of peace, crushed and destroyed in a war waged by him.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on Zechariah 9.8–10

The sun was darkened because of the Sun of justice. The rocks were rent because of “the spiritual rock.” Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of him who was “free among the dead.” He “sent forth his prisoners out of the pit, wherein there is no water.” Do not be ashamed, then, of the Crucified, but say with confidence, “He bears our sins and carries our sorrows, and by his bruises we are healed.” Let us not be ungrateful to our Benefactor. Again, “For the wickedness of my people was he led to death; and I shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death.” And Paul says clearly “that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.”

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 13.34

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Pentecost

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again. But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel. (Num 11:24–30)

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4)

This Spirit descended upon the seventy elders in Moses’ day; my object is to prove that He knows all things and works as He will. The seventy elders were chosen: “The Lord then came down in the cloud, and taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders”; not that the Spirit was divided, but His grace was divided according to the vessels and the capacity of the recipients. Now there were sixty-eight present, and they prophesied; Eldad and Medad were not present. To make it clear that it was not Moses who bestowed the gift, but the Spirit who wrought, Eldad and Medad, who had been called but had not yet presented themselves, also prophesied.

Joshua, the son of Nun and successor of Moses, was amazed, and coming to Moses said to him: Have you heard that Eldad and Medad are prophesying? They were called and did not come forward; “Moses, my lord, stop them.” I cannot forbid them, he said, for the grace is from heaven. So far am I from forbidding them that I consider it a favor. But I think you have not spoken thus in envy. Be not overzealous on my account, because they have prophesied, and you do not yet prophesy. Await the proper time. “Would that all the people of the Lord might prophesy, whenever the Lord shall give them his spirit.” He spoke the words “whenever the Lord shall give,” prophetically. For He has not given it as yet; so you do not have it yet. Did not Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph have His spirit? Did not the men of old have it? It is clear that the words, “whenever the Lord shall give,” means “give to all”; now the grace is partial, then it shall be granted profusely. He intimated what was to come to pass among us on the day of Pentecost; for He Himself came down among us. He had come down before upon many, it is true; for it is written: “Now Josue, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him.” Note the same ceremonial everywhere, both in the Old and the New Testament. In Moses’ day the Spirit was given by the imposition of hands; and Peter imparted the Spirit by the imposition of hands. Upon you also, who are to be baptized, the grace will come. In what manner I do not say, for I do not anticipate the proper time.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 16.25–26

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday in Lent

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 37:1–14)

The root of all well-doing is the hope of the resurrection. The expectation of the recompense strengthens the soul to undertake good works. Every laborer is ready to endure the toils if he foresees the reward of his toils; but when men weary themselves without return, their spirit soon fails along with their body. A soldier who expects rewards is ready for war; but no soldier serving an undiscerning king, who bestows no premiums for toils, is ready to die for him. So every soul believing in the resurrection is naturally solicitous for itself, but the unbelieving soul abandons itself to perdition. He who believes that the body is destined for resurrection is careful of his robe and does not defile it by fornication; but he who does not believe in the resurrection gives way to fornication, abusing his body as though it were not part of himself. Faith in the resurrection of the dead is a central precept and teaching of the holy Catholic Church; it is both central and essential; though denied by many, it is fully confirmed by the truth. Greeks gainsay it, Samaritans disbelieve it, heretics attack it viciously; the denial takes many forms, the truth is uniform.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 18.1

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Then the people came to Moses, and were saying, “We sinned, for we spoke against the Lord and against you; therefore, pray to the Lord, and let Him take away the serpent from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a serpent for yourself and put it on a signal pole; and it shall be if a serpent should bite someone, when the one bitten looks at it, he shall live.” So Moses made a copper serpent and put it on a signal pole; and it happened, when a serpent bit anyone, and he looked at the copper serpent, he lived. (Num 21:7–9)

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:14–17)

This was the figure which Moses completed by fixing the serpent to a cross, that whoever had been bitten by the living serpent, and looked to the brazen serpent, might be saved by believing. Does then the brazen serpent save when crucified, and shall not the Son of God incarnate save when crucified also? On each occasion, life comes by means of wood. For in the time of Noah the preservation of life was by an ark of wood. In the time of Moses, the sea, on beholding the emblematical rod, was abashed at him who smote it; is then Moses’ rod mighty, and is the Cross of the Saviour powerless? But I pass by the greater part of the types, to keep within measure. The wood in Moses’ case sweetened the water; and from the side of Jesus, the water flowed upon the wood.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 13.20

On what principle did the Blood of His Only-begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim? Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him; but on account of the Incarnation, and because Humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God, that He might deliver us Himself, and overcome the tyrant, and draw us to Himself by the mediation of His Son, Who also arranged this to the honor of the Father, Whom it is manifest that He obeys in all things? So much we have said of Christ; the greater part of what we might say shall be reverenced with silence. But that brazen serpent was hung up as a remedy for the biting serpents, not as a type of Him that suffered for us, but as a contrast; and it saved those that looked upon it, not because they believed it to live, but because it was killed, and killed with it the powers that were subject to it, being destroyed as it deserved. And what is the fitting epitaph for it from us? “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” You are overthrown by the Cross; you are slain by Him who is the Giver of life; you are without breath, dead, without motion, even though you keep the form of a serpent lifted up on high on a pole.

Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 45.22 

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Pentecost Sunday

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lord descended in the cloud and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit upon him, and put Him upon the seventy men of the elders; and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, although they never did so again. But two men remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad, and the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those registered but had not come to the tabernacle, yet they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Then Joshua, the son of Nun, who was near Moses, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Lord Moses, forbid them.” Then Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people might be prophets when the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.” So Moses returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel. (Num 11:24–30)

This Spirit descended upon the seventy Elders in the days of Moses. (Now let not the length of the discourse, beloved, produce weariness in you: but may He the very subject of our discourse grant strength to everyone, both to us who speak and to you who listen!) This Spirit, as I was saying, came down upon the seventy Elders in the time of Moses; and this I say to you, that I may now prove, that He knows all things and works as He will. The seventy Elders were chosen: And the Lord came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy Elders. Not that the Spirit was divided, but that His grace was distributed in proportion to the vessels and the capacity of the recipients. Now there were present sixty-eight, and they prophesied, but Eldad and Modad were not present. therefore that it might be shown that it was not Moses who bestowed the gift, but the Spirit who worked, Eldad and Modad, who though called, had not as yet presented themselves, did also prophesy.

Joshua the son of Nun, the successor of Moses, was amazed; and came to him and said, “Have you heard that Eldad and Modad are prophesying? They were called, and they came not; my lord Moses, forbid them.” “I cannot forbid them,” he says, “for this grace is from Heaven; no, so far am I from forbidding them, that I myself am thankful for it. I think not, however, that you have said this in envy; are you jealous for my sake, because they prophesy, and you do no yet prophesy? Wait for the proper season; and oh that all the Lord’s people may be prophets, whenever the Lord shall give His Spirit upon them!” saying this also prophetically, whenever the Lord shall give; “For as yet then He has not given it; so you do not have it yet.”—Had not then Abraham this, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph? And they of old, did they not have it? No, but the words, “whenever the Lord shall give” evidently mean “give it upon all; as yet indeed the grace is partial, then it shall be given lavishly.” And he secretly alluded to what was to happen among us on the day of Pentecost; for He Himself came down among us. He had however also come down upon many before. For it is written, And Joshua the son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him. You see the figure everywhere the same in the Old and New Testament;—in the days of Moses, the Spirit was given by laying on of hands; and by laying on of hands Peter also gives the Spirit. And on you also, who are about to be baptized, shall His grace come; yet in what manner I will not say, for I will not anticipate the proper season.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 16.25–26

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Year

Simone Martini, “Crucifixion”

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:13–20)

Freed thus from the condition of darkness, that is, plucked from the infernal place, in which we were held by the devil both because of our own and because of Adam's transgression, who is the father of sinners, we were translated by faith into the heavenly kingdom of the Son of God. This was so that He might show us by what love God loved us, when, raising us from deepest hell, He led us into heaven with His true Son.

Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Colossians

The Savior endured all this, “making peace through the blood of the cross, for all things whether in the heavens or on the earth.” For we were enemies of God through sin, and God had decreed the death of the sinner. One of two things, therefore, was necessary, either that God, in His truth, should destroy all men, or that in His loving-kindness, He should remit the sentence. But see the wisdom of God; He preserved the truth of His sentence and the exercise of his loving-kindness. Christ took our sins “in His body upon the tree; that we, having died to sin,” by his death “might live to righteousness.” [1 Pet 2:24] He who died for us was of no small worth; He was no material sheep; He was no mere man. He was more than an angel, He was God made man. The iniquity of sinners was not as great as the righteousness of Him who died for them. The sins we committed were not as great as the righteousness He wrought, who laid down His life for us.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 13.33

Hearts Sprinkled; Bodies Washed

In recent years I have changed my position on baptism from something done to show what was spiritually accomplished at an earlier time to being the defining moment for identification with Christ. Why? Simply put, Scripture refers to baptism as the active agent (cf. Rom 6:1–4, Col 2:11–14, 1 Pet 3:21–22 Acts 2:28; 22:16). There are also passages like Titus 3:4–7 that do not reference baptism by name, but clearly bring out what is being done through washing. For years I had been taught to spiritualize this text because of the preconception that baptism is for making your faith public—which it does—but a good lexicon will tell you it refers to a ceremonial religious washing with H₂O. A few months ago, my attention was drawn to another example of washing that I had previously read and spiritualized.

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. (Heb 10:19–22)

Access to God had previously been restricted to the priesthood, and only the High Priest could enter the Holiest, and only on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:11–16). Since Jesus, in His high-priestly office, applied His precious blood on the heavenly mercy seat as the full final atonement, all believers, in their vocation as a priesthood, have gained access.

While the people were consecrated corporately as a chosen people through the sprinkling of blood and the Word of God (Exod 24:3–8), priests were consecrated individually (Exod 29:1–37) with their primary duty being the daily service (Exod 29:38–46). Part of the consecration rite involved the following actions:

Bodies washed

And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water. (Exod 29:4)

Blood sprinkled

And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. (Exod 29:21)

The parallels should be obvious: as the Levitical priests were washed with water and sprinkled with blood, in similar fashion, believers receive the same consecration for priestly service—though with a difference. The Mosaic covenant stipulated that Aaron and his sons were sprinkled with blood so that it spattered on their garments, whereas the author of Hebrews speaks of application on the heart, turning what had been a physical act to one that is spiritual. Since Christ was the last sacrifice, the blood would need to be Divinely applied. One might think that the washing is also solely spiritual in nature, however, the writer is careful to specify that their washing had been with actual water. Had he intended the communicate solely the spiritual, we might have expected “washing with the Holy Spirit” or some such wording. As written, we must conclude that water is used, and that the Holy Spirit is actively involved in the transaction in order to give the full sanctifying and consecrating effect as Cyril of Jerusalem instructs:

For since man is of twofold nature, soul and body, the purification also is twofold, the one incorporeal for the incorporeal part, and the other bodily for the body: the water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul; that we may draw near unto God, having our heart sprinkled by the Spirit, and our body washed with pure water. When going down, therefore, into the water, think not of the bare element, but look for salvation by the power of the Holy Ghost: for without both you cannot possibly be made perfect. (“On Baptism,” Catechetical Lectures III.4)

The author of Hebrews used this association to the priest in order to build the case that these believers stood in a unique position with a holy vocation that their past life in Judaism could never afford: the recipients had the holy privilege of open access to God’s presence, so they should not lose heart and return to Judaism but persevere in their adversity. To do so, he recounts what has been accomplished in them through working of each Person of the Godhead, demonstrating how each part of the work stands within redemptive history as it was promised to His people and fulfilled in Christ. To turn back now would be paramount to unbelief and God’s wrath, but the writer was confident that they would remember their baptisms and confidently continue in the faith they had received.

What's Natural for You

I remember a product from my youth that ran commercials reminding us that “natural means what’s natural for you.” While the slogan might be useful to advertise a dietary supplement, social progressives are using the same philosophy to promote alternate lifestyles. Postmodern thought has so infiltrated humanity that we are now believing, practicing, and crusading for any number of social constructs having no objective basis but are deemed appropriate because individuals have decided they should be. In an increasing effort to eliminate differences and level societal patterns, an individual can have any belief system whatsoever. The current trend is the enablement and promotion of gender fluidity. No longer content to remain content with binary constructs, individuals are seeking to assign themselves other designations with which they have affinity. The only acceptable caveat, then, is that the belief cannot interfere with the collective belief system for that cultural group. While the intent to have a society and culture that allows individuality and equality seems laudable, attempts to deconstruct natural phenomena leads to chaos, not contentment.

The physical world functions steadily according to a definite set of parameters. Every person born into that world has preset DNA and chromosome characteristics inherited from a man and woman, again according to preexisting physical parameters and functions. In addition, each person learns to interact with like beings in relationships defined by type: family, gender, locale, etc. Eventually, we interact with objects and nonhuman beings so as to understand strengths, weaknesses, limits, and dangers for our general welfare and that of others. The one constant in these interactions is the nature of the world: everything operates according to its design and function. True, there is variety within design and function, however the physical limitations prevent us from operating outside those parameters. Knowledge and experience of these designs and functions allows individuals and societal groups to continue, grow, and aspire to workable goals.

When we attempt to change the operation of either design or function, we lose the ability to interact and function. Postmodernism makes such an attempt by espousing deconstruction of norms in order to allow societal shifts. Consider this portion of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass as Alice tries to understand Humpty Dumpty’s use of a word:

Humpty Dumpty and Alice

    “I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’ ” Alice said.
    Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’ ”
    “But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’,” Alice objected.
    “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
    “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
    “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

This instructive interchange helps to illuminate the fundamental question: Is the standard derived from the established construct or societal, even personal, use? While deconstruction attempts to level the societal norms, the logical progression has been to elevate individual desires above the societal and force acceptance via the postmodern method, effectively deconstructing deconstructionism. As long as an overarching semblance of cohesion exists among individuals, society can continue, however, the inevitable result of this trend will be a chaotic amalgam akin to that described by Arnobius of Sicca (c. 255–330 AD):

All these various opinions cannot be true, but it is not possible to discover on which side is the error, so powerfully is each sustained by argument. And yet not only do these opinions differ from each other, but they are self-contradictory. Such would not be the case if human curiosity could attain to anything certain, or if after having, as it is believed, discovered anything certain, it could obtain universal assent to it. It is the height of presumption to pretend to possess any certainty or to aspire to it, since truth itself can be refuted, or that may be accepted as real, which has no existence, as in cases of mental hallucination. (Against the Pagans, II.57)

Twelve hundred years later, the Lutheran reformers would similarly point out the self-contradiction of the celibacy of priests being promulgated by the Church of Rome.

Therefore it is ridiculous for the adversaries to prate that marriage was commanded in the beginning, but is not now. This is the same as if they would say: Formerly, when men were born, they brought with them sex; now they do not. Formerly, when they were born, they brought with them natural right; now they do not. No craftsman could produce anything more crafty than these absurdities, which were devised to elude a right of nature. (Augsburg Confession, Apology XXIII.10)

Yet, this self-contradiction is the state of that collective mindset which currently seeks to redefine definitions and relationships solely from selfishness and pride. Once understood for mutual edification, intimate relational bonds have been sexualized and individualized, devaluing and destroying their natural place and function. Family units built on a natural attraction of man and woman with the desire for offspring has dissolved into any group that desires to be together—again ultimately for selfish ends. Children, once the natural desire and outcome of a committed man and woman, are prevented from occurring or killed, when deemed necessary, for the good of the adults. And while these fall within the realm of natural phenomena, adults and children now are eschewing established gender definitions to be known according to self-defined terms; or they are refusing their natural physiology by seeking out means to live as the opposite gender. This mindset has focused on what might feed the basest of personal desires without consequence, albeit in an increasingly bizarre manner. Whereas ancient or primitive cultures may have allowed concubines or polygamy to satisfy desire, the current impetus appears to be self-determination, even self-deification. In essence they are saying, “I am god of my body: nature be damned.”

Those seeking to fulfill their desires through unnatural means are doomed to failure. While the pleasure or satisfaction may last for a time, detrimental consequences are inevitable. Long-term participation in unnatural sexual activities has been directly linked to the increased transmission of specific bacteria and viruses. As the degree of deviancy increases, so does the severity of the health concern (HIV, Hepatitis, and a disproportionate increase in STD among same-sex couples); finally, attempts to change gender through pharmaceutical and surgical means carries both the short-term risk of these procedures, but also the unknown and unpredicted long-term effects. If this was not enough, the mindset that these unions are intended solely for personal pleasure brings with it the need to prevent the natural outcome of childbirth. Pregnancy prevention has been problematic as medical solutions have led to unexpected health concerns and complications when children were later desired. Coupled with this is the yet ongoing practice of aborting unwanted children. The result has been a gradual depopulation of American society. By giving way to our basest desires, we are slowly bringing about our demise.

So What Exactly Is Natural for You?

I have spoken of a natural order of things as made manifest by observable phenomena, inferences, and deduction; and this order, with its manifestations, is in accord with the opening chapters of Genesis. Therein, God is described as the Creator of an ordered and systematic world with caretakers given specific duties and mandates for that creation. And all of this He considered very good (Ge 1:31). Only after Adam rebelled do we see corruption enter in. Generation after generation pursued greater degrees of decadence and abomination in a continual cycle of self-destruction, yet God held His creation together as a continual witness that He was present (Ro 1:19–20).

Yet mankind distorted what was natural, seeking to chase after lust rather than the Creator. To this attitude Cyril of Jerusalem had poignant remarks:

There is nothing polluted in the human frame except a man defile this with fornication and adultery. He who formed Adam formed Eve also, and male and female were formed by God’s hands. None of the members of the body as formed from the beginning is polluted. Let the mouths of all heretics be stopped who slander their bodies, or rather Him who formed them. (Catechetical Lectures XII.26)

What our Lord had intended for our good, derived through natural means, was and is being subverted and polluted, yet it remains as a reminder that the vehicle which humanity is using to its own ruin still remains as a testament to His faithfulness. Teachers pollute and slander what our God gave us in these beautifully made bodies; yet, what is being demeaned, devalued, and deconstructed into a new reality is still the very thing our Lord uses to show Himself.

In our natural state, we were to take care of the world and be in communion with God. We failed, and continue to fail, miserably. Only by the work of Jesus, the Christ and Son of God, to pay for our sin and we might be made righteous. In one sense, things go on as they are with our sin working against us and God. Yet, in another sense, there is for those baptized into Christ, an anticipated new natural in the final resurrection with the new heavens and new earth.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Pentecost Sunday

So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the Lᴏʀᴅ came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.… Then Moses said to [Joshua], “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lᴏʀᴅ’s people were prophets and that the Lᴏʀᴅ would put His Spirit upon them!” (Nu 11:24–25, 29)

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Ac 2:1–4)

This Spirit descended upon the seventy Elders in the days of Moses. (Now let not the length of the discourse, beloved, produce weariness in you: but may He the very subject of our discourse grant strength to every one, both to us who speak, and to you who listen!) This Spirit, as I was saying, came down upon the seventy Elders in the time of Moses; and this I say to you, that I may now prove, that He knows all things, and works as He will. The seventy Elders were chosen; And the Lord came down in a cloud, and took of the Spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy Elders; not that the Spirit was divided, but that His grace was distributed in proportion to the vessels, and the capacity of the recipients. Now there were present sixty and eight, and they prophesied; but Eldad and Medad were not present: therefore that it might be shewn that it was not Moses who bestowed the gift, but the Spirit who wrought, Eldad and Medad, who though called, had not as yet presented themselves, also prophesied.

Joshua the Son of Nun, the successor of Moses, was amazed; and came to him and said, “Have you heard that Eldad and Medad are prophesying? They were called, and they came not; my lord Moses, forbid them.” “I cannot forbid them,” he says, “for this grace is from Heaven; no, so far am I from forbidding them, that I myself am thankful for it. I think not, however, that you have said this in envy; are you jealous for my sake, because they prophesy, and you do not yet prophesy? Wait for the proper season; and oh that all the Lord’s people may be prophets, whenever the Lord shall give His Spirit upon them!” saying this also prophetically, whenever the Lord shall give; “For as yet then He has not given it; so thou hast it not yet.”—Did not Abraham have this then, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph? And they of old, did they not have it? No, but the words, “whenever the Lord shall give” evidently mean “give it upon all; as yet indeed the grace is partial, then it shall be given lavishly.” And he secretly alluded to what was to happen among us on the day of Pentecost; for He Himself came down among us.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 6:25–26

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Lent

Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (Jn 4:10–14)

Let then this much suffice concerning those outcasts; and now let us return to the divine Scriptures, and let us drink waters out of our own cisterns and out of our own springing wells. We drink of living water, springing up into everlasting life; but the Savior spoke this of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. For observe what He says: He that believes on Me (not simply this, but), as the Scripture has said (thus He has sent you back to the Old Testament), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, not rivers perceived by sense, and merely watering the earth with its thorns and trees, but bringing souls to the light. And in another place He says: But the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of living water springing up into everlasting life—a new kind of water living and springing up, springing up unto them who are worthy.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 16.11

Jesus shows the incomparable difference that there is between spiritual water and earthly perceptible water by saying, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again.” But those who have their fill of my water, He says, not only will be raised beyond ever thirsting again but also will have in themselves a spring that is able to nourish them to eternal life. The one who gives greater gifts is greater, He says, than the one who has less, and the one who is inferior will not come away with the same glory as the one who conquers.

Next we must realize that the Savior here calls the grace of the Holy Spirit “water.” If anyone should become a participant of it, they will then have a supply of divine knowledge springing up in them so that they no longer need admonition from others. Instead they will be sufficient and capable to exhort with ease those who thirst for the divine and heavenly word. These were the saints, prophets, and apostles during their lives while they were still living here on earth, and the heirs of their service, concerning whom it is written, “Draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.” [Is 12:3]

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John 4.14

Glorify Him!

Continuing my posts of patristic texts coinciding with this Sunday’s Psalm study.

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Let everything that has breath praise the Lᴏʀᴅ!
Praise the Lᴏʀᴅ!  (Ps 150:6)

But someone will say, “If the Divine substance is incomprehensible, why then do you discourse of these things?”  So then, because I cannot drink up all the river, am I not even to take in moderation what is expedient for me?  Because with eyes so constituted as mine I cannot take in all the sun, am I not even to look upon him enough to satisfy my wants?  Or again, because I have entered into a great garden, and cannot eat all the supply of fruits, would you have me go away completely hungry?  I praise and glorify Him that made us, for it is a divine command which says, Let every breath praise the Lord.  I am attempting now to glorify the Lord, but not to describe Him, knowing nevertheless that I shall fall short of glorifying Him worthily, yet deeming it a work of piety even to attempt it at all.  For the Lord Jesus encourages my weakness, by saying, No man has seen God at any time.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 6.5

Baptized into His Death

This Sunday we have multiple baptisms.  In view of that event, I am offering some patristic commentary referencing baptismal texts.

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Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  (Rom 6:3-4)

What does being “baptized into His Death” mean?  That it is with a view to our dying as He did. For Baptism is the Cross.  What the Cross then, and Burial, is to Christ, that Baptism hath been to us, even if not in the same respects.  For He died Himself and was buried in the Flesh, but we have done both to sin.  Therefore he does not say, planted together in His Death, but in the likeness of His Death.  For both the one and the other is a death, but not of the same subject—since the one is of the Flesh, that of Christ; the other of sin, which is our own.  As then that is real, so is this.  But if it be real, then what is of our part again must be contributed.  Here he hints, along with the duty of a careful walk, at the subject of the resurrection.  In what way?  Do you believe, he means, that Christ died, and that He was raised again?  Believe then the same of yourself.  For this is like to the other, since both Cross and Burial is yours.  For if you have shared in Death and Burial, much more will you in Resurrection and Life.  For now the greater is done away with (the sin I mean), it is not right to doubt any longer about the lesser (the doing away of death).

John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans, X

O strange and inconceivable thing!  We did not really die, we were not really buried, we were not really crucified and raised again; but our imitation was in a figure, and our salvation in reality.  Christ was actually crucified, and actually buried, and truly rose again; and all these things He has freely bestowed upon us, that we, sharing His sufferings by imitation, might gain salvation in reality.  O surpassing loving-kindness!  Christ received nails in His undefiled hands and feet, and suffered anguish; while on me without pain or toil by the fellowship of His suffering He freely bestows salvation.

Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Mysteries: Of Baptism, 5

Know the Difference

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  (Col 2:8)

Vice mimics virtue, and the tares strive to be thought wheat, growing like the wheat in appearance, but being detected by good judges from the taste.  The devil also transfigures himself into an angel of light [2 Cor 11:14]; not that he may re-ascend to where he was, for having made his heart hard as an anvil, he henceforth has a will that cannot repent; but in order that he may envelope those who are living an Angelic life in a mist of blindness, and a pestilent condition of unbelief.  Many wolves are going about in sheep’s clothing [Matt 7:15], their clothing being that of sheep, not so their claws and teeth: but clad in their soft skin, and deceiving the innocent by their appearance, they shed upon them from their fangs the destructive poison of ungodliness.  We have need therefore of divine grace, and of a sober mind, and of eyes that see, lest from eating tares as wheat we suffer harm from ignorance, and lest from taking the wolf to be a sheep we become his prey, and from supposing the destroying Devil to be a beneficent Angel we be devoured, for as the Scripture says: he goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour [1 Pet 5:8].  This is the cause of the Church’s admonitions, the cause of the present instructions, and of the lessons which are read.

Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Ten Points of Doctrine, 1