Light and Bread

I had mentioned previously that we are going through Leviticus in our Friday morning Bible study. One of the things that popped into my head while reading this section was the connection of the Levitical duties to Christians. Part of the priest’s daily routine was to care for the lampstand.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. Outside the veil in the tabernacle of testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it burning from evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be an ordinance forever in your generations. Upon the pure lampstand, you shall burn the lamps before the Lord until morning.” (Lev 24:1–4)

The Lord restates an instruction given previously for the construction of the Tabernacle (Ex 27:20–21) that the lampstand was to shed light continuously, day and night. We can understand why light would need to be shone during daylight hours: when the priest went inside the Holy Place to perform duties, the light would keep him from stumbling. The reason for nocturnal use is not so obvious unless we understand that the light being given is God’s light: He has provided it for the priest to properly do his work. Therefore, because the light is God’s, it must shine perpetually, so the priest must attend to the lampstand daily to ensure the light never goes out. In a similar fashion, Christians are asked to do the same with the light of the Scriptures. God’s Word is a lamp and light (Ps 119:105), and while it is eternal, it needs our attention for effective use. True, nothing needs to be added in order for the light to shine; however, for it to shine in and through us during our priestly work, we need to daily spend time in its illumination that the light we work by and reflect does not dim or become extinguished.

The loaves on the table were the Lord’s provision that the priests would be nourished in their daily duties.

“You shall also take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. You shall set them as two deposits, six loaves in each deposit, on the pure table before the Lord. Then you shall put pure frankincense and salt on each deposit, that it may be on the bread for a memorial offering to the Lord. Every Sabbath day it shall be placed before the Lord continually, in the presence of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat these things in a holy place; for this is most holy to him from the things sacrificed to the Lord, as a perpetual ordinance.” (Lev 24:5–9)

Here, too, we find another type of Scripture. Once each week we are called to ensure the bread supply for the week. The Christian needs to be fed regularly in order to go about his duties as part of the priesthood. What God has revealed nourishes us as we take it in throughout each day, so that it works to be the gladness and joy of our hearts (Jer 15:16).

While I agree that these furnishings point ultimately to Christ as the Light of the World and Bread of Life; yet, it is the Scriptures that speak of Christ, and through them, we know Him.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Get behind Me, Satan!

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” (Matt 16:21–28)

He shows by these words that, to will to come after Jesus and to follow Him, springs from no ordinary manly courage, and that no one who has not denied himself can come after Jesus. And the man denies himself who wipes out by a striking revolution his own former life which had been spent in wickedness; as by way of illustration he who was once licentious denies his licentious self, having become self-controlled even abidingly. But it is probable that someone may put the objection, whether as he denied himself so he also confesses himself, when he denied himself, the unjust, and confesses himself, the righteous one. But, if Christ is righteousness, he who has received righteousness confesses not himself but Christ; so also he who has found wisdom, by the very possession of wisdom, confesses Christ. And such a one indeed as, “with the heart believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth makes confession unto salvation,” and bears testimony to the works of Christ, as making confession by all these things of Christ before men, will be confessed by Him before His Father in heaven. So also he who has not denied himself but denied the Christ will experience the saying, “I also will deny him.” On this account let every thought and every purpose and every word and every action become a denial of ourselves, but a testimony about Christ and in Christ.…

For whoever would save his own life shall lose it. The first expression is ambiguous; for it may be understood in one way thus. If anyone as being a lover of life, and thinking that the present life is good, tends carefully his own life with a view to living in the flesh, being afraid to die, as through death going to lose it, this man, by the very willing to save in this way his own life will lose it, placing it outside of the borders of blessedness. But if anyone despising the present life because of My word, which has persuaded him to strive in regard to eternal life even unto death for truth, loses his own life, surrendering it for the sake of piety to that which is commonly called death, this man, as for My sake he has lost his life, will save it rather, and keep it in possession. And according to a second way, we might interpret the saying as follows. If anyone, who has grasped what salvation really is, wishes to procure the salvation of his own life, let this man having taken farewell of this life, and denied himself and taken up his own cross, and following Me, lose his own life to the world; for having lost it for My sake and for the sake of all My teaching, he will gain the end of loss of this kind—salvation.

But at the same time also observe that at the beginning it is said, “Whoever wills,” but afterward, “Whoever shall lose.” If we then wish it to be saved let us lose it to the world, as those who have been crucified with Christ and have for our glorying that which is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is to be crucified unto us and we unto the world, that we may gain our end, even the salvation of our lives, which begins from the time when we lose it for the sake of the word. But if we think that the salvation of our life is a blessed thing, with reference to the salvation which is in God and the blessednesses with Him, then any loss of life ought to be a good thing, and, for the sake of Christ must prove to be the prelude to the blessed salvation.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew 12.24, 26–27

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twelfth 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. (Matt 16:13–20)

When they had presented diverse human origins concerning Him, He asked what they themselves thought about him. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But Peter had pondered the nature of the question. For the Lord had said, “Whom do men say that the Son of man is?” Certainly, His human body indicated He was a Son of man. But by adding “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus indicated that they should consider something besides what He seemed in Himself, for He was a Son of man. Therefore what judgment concerning himself did He desire? It was a secret He was asking about, into which the faith of those who believe ought to extend itself.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 16.6

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.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragment 92

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matt 15:21–28)

Then, in the face of Jews who were rejecting Him, this Gentile woman asked Him to heal her daughter. But the Lord turned a deaf ear to her. She fell down at his feet and adored him, saying, “Lord, help me.” The Lord then said to her, “It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” What have the Jews to say to this? Plainly He implied that they were children and called the Gentiles “dogs.” The woman agreed, saying to the Savior, “Yes, Lord.” That is to say, I know, Lord, that the Gentile people are dogs in worshiping idols and barking at God. “Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” In other words, You came to the Jews and manifested Yourself to them, and they didn't want You to make exceptions. What they rejected, give to us who are asking for it. Knowing the importunate faith of this woman, our Lord said, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” Faith accepts what work does not merit, and through faith the Gentiles were made children out of dogs. As the Lord spoke through the prophet: “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’ it shall be said to them, ‘Sons of the living God.’” On the other hand, the unreceptive Jews were made loathsome dogs out of children, as the Lord Himself said in His Passion through the prophet: “Many dogs surround me; a company of evildoers encircles me.”

Epiphanius, Interpretation of the Gospels 58.

Having seen her advocates unsuccessful, the woman then appeals for herself and does not stop but in effect says to the Lord, “Help me, I haven't been asking this for my own sake.” Then the Savior in turn says, “It is not good to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.” He uses the term dog on account of the Gentiles’ unclean lifestyle and proneness to idolatry, while he calls the Jews children on account of the fact that they appeared to be devoted to God. But He uses the word bread not only to speak of his teaching, which was through words, but also of that which nourished the faithful by means of signs. But in this case the word preceded the condemnation of the Jews, since when life in the Lord had been given to them as bread, they did not accept it. The woman does not complain, even when insulted. What does the Savior do? By His answer, He showed what He had premeditated from the outset. For it was for this reason that He postponed giving a reply: that the woman might cry aloud with this word. Thereby He would show her to be worthy of a thousand crowns. For it was not because He did not want to give her the gift that He delayed but because He sought and took care beforehand to reveal her faith. With His accolades He honors her as presenting a type of the church that is from the Gentiles. Note that He did not say, “Let your child be healed,” but “Be it done for you as you desire,” in order to show that it was the power of her faith that elicited the healing. Even if she were worthy of even greater things, nevertheless that which she wanted was what was given to her.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragment 83.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” (Matt 14:22–33)

[T]he disciples are tossed with the waves again and undergo a storm, equal even to the former. But whereas before they had Him in the ship when this befell them, now they were alone by themselves. Thus gently and by degrees, He excites and urges them on for the better, even to the bearing all nobly. Accordingly, we see, that when they were first near that danger, He was present, though asleep, so as readily to give them relief; but now leading them to a greater degree of endurance, He does not even this, but departs, and in mid-sea permits the storm to arise, so that they might not so much as look for a hope of preservation from any quarter; and He lets them be tempest-tossed all the night, thoroughly to awaken, as I suppose, their hardened heart. For such is the nature of the fear, which the time concurs with the rough weather in producing. And together with the compunction, He cast them also into a greater longing for Himself, and a continual remembrance of Him.…

Do you see, how by degrees He was leading them all higher and higher? For both by His walking on the sea, and by His commanding another to do so, and preserving him in jeopardy; their faith was henceforth great. For then indeed He rebuked the sea, but now He rebukes it not, in another way signifying His power more abundantly. Wherefore also they said, “Truly, You are the Son of God.” What then? Did He rebuke them on their so speaking? Nay, quite the contrary, He rather confirmed what they said, with greater authority healing such as approached Him, and not as before.

John Chrysostom, Homiles on Matthew 50.1, 2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matt 14:13-21)

Once He received the loaves and fish, the Lord looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them, giving thanks to the Father that He was changed into the food of the Gospel following the era of the Law and the prophets. Then He told the people to sit down on the grass. These people are supported not only by lying on the ground but by the Law; each one is borne up by the fruit of his works no less than by the grass of the ground. Bread is also given to the apostles because through them the gifts of divine grace were to be offered.

After the people were fed and filled by the five loaves and the two fish, and were satisfied, there was so much bread and fish left over that it filled twelve baskets. So the multitude was satisfied by the Word of God coming from the teaching of the Law and the prophets, while an overabundance of divine power through the serving of eternal food (which abounded in the twelve apostles) was preserved for the Gentiles. The same number of those who ate is found among those who would be future believers. It is contained in the book of Acts how out of the countless number of people in Israel, five thousand men believed.

The wonder produced at these miraculous events stands in relation to the proportion of its underlying purpose. From the broken bread and fish gathered after the people were satisfied, the amount collected corresponds to the destined number of the people who believe, those who would be filled by the heavenly grace of the apostles. The measures taken comply with the number, and the number complies with the measures taken. An underlying principle closely adheres to and continues within the means of divine power for the fulfillment of what follows.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 14.11

Blood and Body, Sprinkling and Washing

I recently heard a good message on Hebrews 10:19–25, and it spurred thoughts on blood, body, and water as they apply to the Christian life.

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,… (Heb 10:19–21)

Notice that Jesus provided two things that give access. The first was His precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot by which we were redeemed (see 1 Pet 1:19). He completed the sin offering necessary on the Day of Atonement wherein the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the Holy Place (Lev 16:16) and to carry away the transgressions and sins of His chosen people (Lev 16:21). Second, instead of a heavy veil or curtain preventing us from God’s very presence, we have a new and living way in Jesus’ flesh that parallels entrance by His blood, so that what had been accomplished some 2000 years ago continues unabated, allowing us priestly access as we take the Lord’s Supper “which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but that we should live forever in Jesus Christ” (Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians 20).

… 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 10:22)

Because of what our Lord Jesus accomplished, the writer encouraged his audience to draw near, to complete the full function of their priesthood. Notice the application of sprinkling and washing. These are taken from the consecration ritual for the priests, further connecting us to our new office and duty. Before the priest could properly enter into his role, he needed to be prepared by the Lord. This included washing with water (Lev 8:6) and the sprinkling of blood mixed with anointing oil (Lev 8:30). These both point to the work of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, we receive “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Tit 3:5), thus fulfilling what God had promised:

I shall sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your uncleanness, and I will also cleanse you from all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall take the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My requirements, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezek 36:25–27)

By virtue of God’s consecrating and purifying work, we have both a right and duty to continually come before Him and live out our priesthood. How?

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works (Heb 10:23–24)

We have been qualified as a royal and holy priesthood (1 Pet 2:5, 9). Let us go on as those who serve in the face of the living God.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” (Matt 13:44–52)

Now, these things being said, we must hold that “the kingdom of heaven is likened to a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind,” in order to set forth the varied character of the principles of action among men, which are as different as possible from each other, so that the expression “gathered from every kind” embraces both those worthy of praise and those worthy of blame in respect of their proclivities towards the forms of virtues or of vices. And the kingdom of heaven is likened unto the variegated texture of a net, with reference to the Old and the New Scripture which is woven of thoughts of all kinds and greatly varied.… And this net has been cast into the sea—the wave—tossed life of men in every part of the world, and which swims in the bitter affairs of life. And before our Savior Jesus Christ this net was not wholly filled; for the net of the law and the prophets had to be completed by Him who says, “Think not that I came to destroy the law and the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill.” And the texture of the net has been completed in the Gospels, and in the words of Christ through the Apostles. On this account, therefore, “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind.” And, apart from what has been said, the expression, “gathered from every kind,” may show forth the calling of the Gentiles from every race. And those who attended to the net which was cast into the sea are Jesus Christ, the master of the net, and “the angels who came and ministered unto Him,” who do not draw up the net from the sea, nor carry it to the shore beyond the sea,—namely, to things beyond this life, unless the net be filled full, that is, unless the “fulness of the Gentiles” has come into it. But when it has come, then they draw it up from things here below, and carry it to what is figuratively called the shore, where it will be the work of those who have drawn it up, both to sit by the shore, and there to settle themselves, in order that they may place each of the good in the net into its own order, according to what are here called “vessels,” but cast without and away those that are of an opposite character and are called bad. By “without” is meant the furnace of fire as the Saviour interpreted, saying, “So shall it be at the consummation of the age. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.” Only it must be observed, that we are already taught by the parable of the tares and the similitude set forth, that the angels are to be entrusted with the power to distinguish and separate the evil from the righteous; for it is said above, “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But here it is said, “The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.”

Origen, Commentary on Matthew 10.12

Worship as Education

St. Paul's Lutheran, Hamel, IL

Pastor Larry Peters has posted on the benefits of worship for our theological education. Here is a choice nugget:

It is a profound truth that we discover who we are and whose we are primarily through worship. It is our encounter with the living God. It is where we tread lightly upon the holy ground of His real presence. It is the place where we surrender preference to truth and where we learn to love that living truth instead of turning that truth into something we can love. I wonder if this was not at the root of Luther's bold phrase that he was captive to the Word of God. I hope that we are all captive to the Word in that way. Oh, that is not to say that Luther is the end all but if submitting reason and experience to the living Word is what he meant, then he got that right.

I recommend giving the entire post a read.

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”… Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt 13:24-30, 36-43)

And consider now, if in addition to what we have already recounted, you can otherwise take the good seed to be the children of the kingdom, because whatsoever good things are sown in the human soul, these are the offspring of the kingdom of God and have been sown by God the Word who was in the beginning with God, so that wholesome words about anything are children of the kingdom. But while men are asleep who do not act according to the command of Jesus, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation,” the devil on the watch sows what are called tares—that is, evil opinions—over and among what are called by some natural conceptions, even the good seeds which are from the Word. And according to this, the whole world might be called a field, and not the Church of God only, for in the whole world the Son of Man sowed the good seed, but the wicked one tares,—that is, evil words,—which, springing from wickedness, are children of the evil one. And at the end of things, which is called “the consummation of the age,” there will of necessity be a harvest, in order that the angels of God who have been appointed for this work may gather up the bad opinions that have grown upon the soul, and overturning them may give them over to fire which is said to burn, that they may be consumed. And so the angels and servants of the Word will gather from all the kingdom of Christ all things that cause a stumbling-block to souls and reasonings that create iniquity, which they will scatter and cast into the burning furnace of fire. Then those who become conscious that they have received the seeds of the evil one in themselves, because of their having been asleep, shall wail and, as it were, be angry against themselves; for this is the “gnashing of teeth.” Wherefore, also, in the Psalms, it is said, “They gnashed upon me with their teeth.” Then above all “shall the righteous shine,” no longer differently as at the first, but all “as one sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Then, as if to indicate that there was indeed a hidden meaning, perhaps, in all that is concerned with the explanation of the parable, perhaps most of all in the saying, “Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” the Savior adds, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” thereby teaching those who think that in the exposition, the parable has been set forth with such perfect clearness that it can be understood by the vulgar, that even the things connected with the interpretation of the parable stand in need of explanation.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew 10.2