C 9- ( 



A COMMENTARY 



UPON 




THE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO S. LUKE, 

BY 

S. CYRIL, 

PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. 

NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH 

FROM AN ANCIENT SYRIAC VERSION 

BY 
R. PAYNE SMITH, M.A., 

SUBLIBRARIAN OF THF, BODLEIAN LIBRARY. 



PART II. 



OXFORD: 

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
M.DCCC.LIX. 




THE SECOND BOOK 



THE SECOND BOOK 



OF THE 



EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, 



BY 



THE HOLY CYRIL, 

ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 869 



BOOK II. 



SERMON LXXXI. 

But if I by Beelzebub cast out the devils, by whom do your c. xi. 19 
* sons cast them out ? Therefore they shall be your judges. 26 
But if I by the finger of God cast out the devils, then the 
kingdom of God has come upon you. When the strong 
man armed guardeth his house, his goods are in peace : 
but when He Who is stronger than he shall come upon 
him, and overcome him, He takethfrom him all his armour 
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not 
with Me is against Me: and he that gathereth not with 
Me, scattereth for Me. When the unclean spirit hath gone (ncopirifa 
forth from the man, it wander eth about in places where ** OL Sl 
there is no water, seeking rest : and not having found it, 
then it saith, I will return to my house, whence I came out. r6re AeV< 
And when it cometh, it findeth it empty, swept, and gar- ^ r6rf 
nished. Then it goeth, and bringeth seven other spirits GTs. 
worse than itself, and they enter in and dwell there. And 
the last state of that man is made worse than the first. 

THE God of all, blaming the haughtiness of the Jews, and 
their constant tendency to run into disobedience, thus spake by 
the voice of Isaiah; "Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth; is. i. i. 
" for the Lord hath spoken. I have begotten, and brought up 
" sons ; and they have rejected Me." For they rejected God 
the Father, by setting in manifold ways the Son at nought, 
Who, though sprung from Him by nature, yet afterwards 
was made like unto us for our sakes : and yet He called them 
unto the grace that is by faith, and would have fulfilled the 
promise given unto their fathers. For of this the sacred Paul 
bears witness, where he writes, " For I say that Christ was a Rom.xv.8. 
" minister of the circumcision, to fulfil the promises of the 
" fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for mercy." 
The Only-begotten Word of God therefore was made man, 
that He might fulfil the promise of the blessing granted unto 



370 COMMENTARY UPON 

them. And that they might know that it was He Whom the 
law had prefigured hy shadows, and Whom the company also 
of the holy prophets had foretold, He wrought these godlike 
deeds, and rebuked the unclean spirits. But they, though it 
was their duty to have praised Him, as doing wonders, as One 
Who possessed a power and authority beyond that of nature, 
and incomparable in degree, on the contrary disparaged His 
glory, saying, " This man casteth not out devils but by Beel- 
" zebub the prince of the devils." And what doth Christ reply 
to this? " If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your 
" sons cast them out ?" 

Now this subject was explained by me to you at length at 
our last meeting. But inasmuch as it is right that the wicked 
ness of the Jews, in thus idly prating against Him, should still 
further be rebuked by many and convincing arguments, He 
adds on this account to what had been already said, an unan 
swerable consideration. And what this is, I will now mention 
to you as to my children. 

The blessed disciples were Jews, and the children of Jews, 
according to the flesh ; but they had obtained authority from 
Christ over unclean spirits, nnd set free those that were pos 
sessed by them, by calling over them these words, " In the 
" Name of Jesus Christ." For Paul also once with apostolic 
Acts xvi. authority commanded an unclean spirit, saying, " I command 
181 " thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her." 

When therefore He says, your own children in My Name 
trample upon Beelzebub, by rebuking his satellites, and ex 
pelling them forthwith from those in whom they are, what else 
is it but manifest blasphemy, joined with great ignorance, to 
say that I borrow this power from Beelzebub ? Ye are con 
victed therefore, He says, by the faith of your own children, 
if, as is the case, they having received of Me authority and 
power, overthrow Satan, and against his will drive him from 
those in whom he dwells ; while ye affirm, that I make use of 
his agency in working divine miracles. But inasmuch as what 
ye say is not true, but, on the contrary, empty and false, and 
liable to the charge of calumny, it is plain that I cast out 
Mat, xii. devils by the finger of God. And by the finger of God He 
means the Holy Ghost. For the Son is called the hand and 
arm of God the Father; for He d^th all things by the Son, 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 371 

and the Son in like mariner worketh by the Spirit. For just 
as the finger is appended to the hand, as something not foreign 
from it, but belonging to it by nature, so also the Holy Ghost, 
by reason of His being equal in substance, is joined in oneness to 
the Son, even though He proceed from God the Father. For, 
as 1 said, the Son does every thing by the consubstantial 
Spirit. Here, however, purposely He says, that by the finger 
of God He casts out devils, speaking as a man : because the 
Jews in the infirmity and folly of their mind, would not have 
endured it, if He had said, "by My own Spirit I cast out 
" devils." Appeasing therefore their excessive readiness to 
anger, and the proneness of their mind unto insolence and 
phrensy, He spake as a man, although He is by nature God, 
and Himself the Giver of the Spirit from God the Father 
to those who are worthy, and employs as His own that power 
which is from Him. For He is consubstantial with Him, 
and whatsoever is said to be done by God the Father, this 
necessarily is by the Son in the Spirit. If therefore, He says, 
I, being a man, and having become like unto you, cast out 
devils in the Spirit of God, human nature has in Me first 
attained to a godlike kingdom. For it has become glorious by 
breaking the power of Satan, and rebuking the impure and 
abominable spirits : for such is the meaning of the words, that 
" the kingdom of God has come upon you." But the Jews did 
not understand the mystery of the dispensation of the Only- 
begotten in. the flesh : and yet how ought they not rather to 
have reflected, that by the Only -begotten Word of God having 
become man, without ceasing to be that which He was, He 
glorified the nature of man, in that He did not disdain to take 
upon Him its meanness, in order that He might bestow upon 
it His own riches. 

And inasmuch as it was necessary, as I shewed, that the 
argument upon this subject should travel through many consi 
derations, He makes use of a most plain and evident compa 
rison, by means of which those who will may see, that He has 
conquered the ruler of this world, and having, so to speak, 
hamstrung him, and stripped him of the power which he pos 
sessed, has given him over for a prey unto His followers. 
" For when, He says, the strong man being armed guardeth 
" his house, all his goods arc in peace : but when One That is 

3 B 2 



372 COMMENTARY UPON 

" stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, 
" He taketh away all his armour wherein he trusted, and divi- 
" deth his spoil." This is, as I said, a plain demonstration, and 
type of the matter depicted after the manner of human affairs. 
For as long as a strong man retains the superiority, and guards 
his own property, he is in no danger of being plundered. 
But when one who is stronger than he, and more powerful, 
comes upon him, and prevails against him, then forthwith he is 
spoiled. And such has been the fate of our common enemy, 
the wicked Satan, that many headed serpent, the inventor of 
sin. For before the coming of the Saviour, he was in great 
power, driving and shutting up, so to speak, in his own stall 
flocks not his own, but belonging to God over all, like some 
rapacious and most insolent robber. But inasmuch as the Word 
of God Who is above all, the Giver of all might, and Lord of 
powers assailed Him, having become man, all his goods 
have been plundered, and his spoil divided. For those who of 
old had been ensnared by him into ungodliness and error have 
been called by the holy apostles to the acknowledgment of the 
truth, and been brought near unto God the Father by faith in 
His Son. 

Wouldst thou also hear and learn another convincing argu 
ment besides these ? " He that is not with Me," He says, " is 
" against Me : and he that gather eth not with Me, scatter eth 
for Me." For I, He says, have come to save every man from 
the hands of the devil ; to deliver from his guile those whom 
he had ensnared ; to set the prisoners free ; to give light to 
those in darkness ; to raise up them that had fallen ; to heal 
the broken-spirited : and to gather together the children of 
God who were scattered abroad. Such was the object of 
My coming. But Satan is not with Me ; on the contrary he 
is against Me. For he ventures to scatter those whom I have 
gathered and saved. How then can he, who wars against Me, 
and sets his wickedness in array against My purposes, give Me 
power against himself? How is it not foolish even barely to 
imagine the possibility of such a thing as this ? 

The cause however which made the Jewish multitudes fall 
into such thoughts concerning Christ He Himself makes plain, 
by saying ; " When the wicked spirit hath gone forth from 
" the man, it returneth with seven other spirits more bitter 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 373 

" than itself ; and the last state of that man is worse than the 
" first." For as long as they were in bondage in Egypt, and 
lived according to the customs and laws of the Egyptians, 
which were full of all impurity, they led polluted lives ; an 
evil spirit dwelt in them : for it dwells in the hearts of the 
wicked. But when in the mercy of God they had been delivered 
by^MoseSj and received the law as a schoolmaster, calling them 
to the light of the true knowledge of God, the impure and pol 
luted spirit was driven out z . But because they did not believe 
in Christ, but rejected the Saviour, the impure spirit again 
attacked them: for he found their heart empty, and devoid 
of all fear of God, and, swept as it were, and took up his 
abode in them. For just as the Holy Ghost, when He sees 
any one s heart free from all impurity, and clean, dwells and 
abides there, and rests therein ; so also the impure spirit is 
wont to dwell in the souls of the wicked. For they are devoid, 
as I said, of all virtue : and there is in them no fear of God. 
The last state therefore of the Israelites has become worse 
than the first. For as the disciple of the Saviour said ; " It 2 Pet. ii. 
" had been better for them not to have known the way of 7I- 
" truth, than that when they have known it, they should turn 
" back again from the holy commandment that was delivered 
" unto them. It has happened to them according to the true 
" proverb ; The dog that returned to its vomit ; and the 
" washed sow to wallow in the mire." Let us flee therefore 
from being like the Jews ; let Christ Who worketh miracles, 
be extolled by us: by Whom and with Whom to God the 
Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever 
and ever, Amen. 

z An instance occurs in this place p. 334 C, to the effect that the ex- 

of the neatness with which the Ca- pulsion of the spirit took place, 

tenists inserted passages from other " when they sacrificed the lamb as 

works of S. Cyril in the body of the " a type of Christ, and were anoint- 

Commentary. For two lines merely " ed with its blood, and escaped 

are here added from the Glaphyra, " the destroyer." 



374 COMMENTARY UPON 



SERMON LXXXII. 

c. xi. 29- And when the multitudes were gathered together, He began to 
om. yewi say ; This generation is an evil generation. It seeketh 
aiterumGs. a s ig n . an d a sign shall not be given it, except the sign of 
Jonah*. 

From Mai. THE request originated in malice, and therefore was not 
Hoa. v. 6. granted them, according to the text, " The wicked shall seek 

" Me, and shall not find Me." * * 

From the * * * * and which He spake to the divine 

Syriac. M oses . the rod was changed into a serpent. And what thing 
is this? some one, forsooth, may say; or what is the truth it 
hints at ? And this certainly we must examine : for I say that 
of all that is contained in the sacred Scriptures, there is nothing 
which is not useful for edification. When Israel then had 
dwelt for a lengthened period in Egypt, and been brought up 
in the customs of its inhabitants, he wandered far from God, 
and became like one that had fallen from His hand, and been 
made a serpent, by which is meant one naturally of a 
thoroughly wicked disposition. But inasmuch as God again 
took hold of him, he was restored to his former state, and 
became a rod, that is to say, a plant of Paradise. For he was 
called to the true knowledge of God, and enriched with the 
law as the means of a virtuous life. 

Moreover God wrought also something further of an equally 
Ex. iv. 6. miraculous character. For He said unto Moses, " Put thy 
" hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom ; 
" and he drew forth his hand from his bosom, and his 
" hand had become leprous, like snow. And he said again, 
" Put thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his 
" bosom ; and he drew it forth from his bosom, and it had 
" gained again the colour of his flesh." For as long as Israel 
adhered to the customs of his fathers, and represented in his 

a A folium in the Syriac has seldom preserving the Exordia of 
perished, of which Mai has reco- these discourses. Of the next folium 
vered but one sentence, the Catenas lost most has been preserved. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 375 

own manners the type of virtuous living which he had in 

Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, he was, as it were, in the 

bosom of God, that is, under His guardianship and protection : 

but by abandoning the virtue of his ancestors, he became, so 

to speak, leprous ; and fell into impurity : for the leper by the 

law of Moses was impure. But when He was again accepted by 

God, and placed under His protection, he was delivered from 

his leprosy ; and put away the impurity of the Egyptian mode 

of life. And when these signs were wrought in their presence, 

they believed Moses, saying, " The Lord God of your fathers Ex. iv. 31. 

" hath sent me unto you." 

Observe therefore that they did not make the display of 
miracles a reason for fault finding. They did not revile the 
divine Moses ; they did not give free license to an unbridled 
tongue, and say that he wrought the miracles which he dis 
played before them by means of Beelzebub : they did not ask 
a sign from heaven, in contempt of his mighty deeds. But 
thou assignedst to Beelzebub works thus honourable and mira 
culous, and wast not ashamed in bringing to perdition others 
as well as thy own self, by means of those very things which 
ought to have made thee possess a steadfast faith in Christ. 
But He will not grant thee another sign, that He may not 
give holy things unto dogs, nor cast pearls before swine. For 
how can they who are hot calumniators of the miracles already 
wrought, deserve yet more ? On the contrary we see* that 
very skilful husbandmen, when they observe land sluggish in 
bearing fruit, withhold their hand, and refuse to plough it any 
more, that they may not suffer the loss at once both of their 
labour and of the seed. 

He said, however, the sign only of Jonah shall be given 
them, by which is meant the passion upon the cross, and the 
resurrection from the dead. " For as Jonah," He says, " was 
" in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall 
" also the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days 
" and three nights." But had it been possible for Jesus not 
to have willed to suffer death in the flesh upon the cross, 
neither would this sign have been given to the Jews : but 
inasmuch as the passion, wrought for the salvation of the 
world, was indispensable, it was given these unbelievers for 
their condemnation. For also in speaking to the Jews, He 



376 COMMENTARY UPON 

Jolmii. 19. said, " Loose this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 
But that the abolishing of death, and restoration of corruption 
by the resurrection from the dead, is a very great sign of the 
power and godlike authority of the Incarnate Word, will be 
sufficiently proved, as I imagine, in the judgment of serious 
men, by the soldiers of Pilate, who were appointed to guard 
the tomb, having been bribed with a large sum of money to 
Mat.xxviii. say, that " the disciples came by night, and stole Him." It 
was therefore no unavailing sign, but rather one sufficient to 
convince all the inhabitants of the whole earth, that Christ is 
God, that of His own choice He suffered death in the flesh, but 
rose again, having commanded the bonds of death to depart, 
and overthrown corruption. But the Jews did not believe 
even this : for which reason it was very justly said of them, 
that "the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment 
" against this generation." * 

From Mai. * * This woman, though a barbarian, earnestly sought to 
hear Solomon, and for this purpose travelled so vast a distance, 
to listen to his wisdom upon the nature of things visible, and 
animals, and plants. But ye, though already present, and 
listening to Wisdom Itself, Who came to you, discoursing upon 
things invisible and heavenly, and confirming what He said by 
deeds and miracles, turn away from the word, and pass by with 
indifference the wonderful nature of His oracles. How then is 
there* not more than Solomon here, that is in Me ? And again 
observe, I pray, the skilfulness of His language ; for why does 
He say " here/ and not rather " in Me ?" It is to persuade us 
to be humble, even though we be largely endowed with spiri 
tual gifts. And besides, it is not at all unlikely, that had the 
Jews heard Him say, " that there is more than Solomon in 
" Me," they would have ventured to speak of Him in their 
usual way : See ! He says, that He is superior even to the 
4 kings who have gloriously reigned over us/ The Saviour, 
therefore, for the economy s sake, uses moderate language, 
saying, " here," instead of " in Me." 

He says, moreover, that the Ninevites will appear for the 
condemnation of the Jews at the season of judgment : for they 
were rude and barbarous people, ignorant of Him Who by 
nature and in truth is God, who had never even heard of the 
predictions of Moses, and were without knowledge of the glo- 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 377 

rious tidings of prophecy : but even though this was their 
mental state, they repented, He says, at the preaching of 
Jonah. Far better therefore were they than the Israelites, 
and will condemn them. But listen to the very words : " The 
" men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this genc- 
" ration, and shall condemn it ; for they repented at the 
" preaching of Jonah, and behold ! more than Jonah is here." 

"No man, having lighted a lamp, putteth it into a cellar, V 
" nor under the bushel, but upon the lampstand, that they who 
" enter in may see the light." And what was the object of 
such words as these ? He combats the Jews by an objec 
tion drawn from their own folly and ignorance : for they said 
that He wrought miracles, not that He might be more fully 
believed in, but that He might have numbers of followers, and 
catch the applause of those who saw his wondrous acts. And 
this calumny He refutes by taking as an example the use of a 
lamp. For a lamp, He says, is always elevated, and put upon 
a stand, to be of use to those who see. And let us consider 
the inference which follows from this. Before then the coming 
of our Saviour, the father of darkness, even Satan, had made 
the world dark, and blackened all things with an intellectual 
gloom ; but in this state the Father gave us the Son, to be as 
it were a lamp to the world, to irradiate us with divine light, 
and rescue us from Satanic darkness. But, Jew, if thou 
blamest the lamp, because it is not hidden, but on the con 
trary, being set on high on a stand, gives its light to those who 
see, then blame Christ for not wishing to be concealed, but on 
the contrary to be seen of all, illuminating those in darkness, 
and shedding on them the light of the true knowledge of God. 
He did not therefore fulfil His miracles so much in order to be 
wondered at, nor seek by them to become famous, as that 
we might rather believe, that whereas He is God by nature, 
yet He became man for our sakes, but without ceasing to 
be what He was. And upon the holy church as a lamp- 
stand, shining by the doctrine He proclaims, He gives light to 
the minds of all by filling them with divine knowledge. 



378 COMMENTARY UPON 



SERMON LXXXIII. 

c. xi. 37- And as He was speaking, a certain Pharisee besought Him 
41 to dine with him : and He went in and lay down to meat. 

Oin. T/jUl. -F77 TT 7 7 

But the Pharisee, when he saw it, wondered that He had 
not first washed before dinner. But the Lord said unto 
him, Now do ye Pharisees make dean the outside of the 
cup and the dish, but that which is within you is full of 
rapine and wickedness. ye little minded, did not He 
Who made that which is without, make that which is 
within also ? But whatever there is give as alms, and be 
hold ! every thing is clean unto you. 

iTim.i 15. THE very wise Paul truly tells us, that "Christ came into 
" the world to save sinners." For this was His aim, and for 
this purpose He humbled Himself to the emptying of His 
glory, and appeared upon earth in the flesh, and conversed 
with men. For it was right, that as being the Creator and 
Lord of all, He should give a saving hand to those who had 
fallen into sin, and show unto them that were wandering in 
error, a pathway that would lead them straight unto every 
good work, and the excellence of virtuous deeds. And it is 
said somewhere also by one of the holy prophets, concerning 
those who have been called by faith to the knowledge of His 

Is. liv. 13. glory "And they shall be all taught of God." How, there 
fore, does He lead us into every thing that is useful? By hum 
bling Himself to be with sinners, and condescending sometimes 
even to those things that He would not, that so He might save 
many. That this was the case we may see by the lessons from 
the gospel now set before us; for one of the Pharisees, it says, 
besought Him to dine at His house : " and He went in, and 
" lay down to meat." And yet how is it not plain to every 
one, that the Pharisees b as a class were always wicked and 
impure, hateful to God, and envious, ready for anger, of innate 
pride, and ever bold of speech against Christ the Saviour of us 
all ? For they found fault with His divine miracles, and gather 
ing wicked troops of counsellors, plotted His death. How then 
b Literally, the gang of the Pharisees. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 879 

did He become their guest ? Was He not aware of their mali 
ciousness ? But how can this be safely affirmed ? For as God 
He knoweth all things. What therefore is the explanation ? 
It is this, that He was especially anxious to admonish them, 
therein resembling the most excellent physicians. For they 
apply the remedies of their art to those who are most danger 
ously ill, struggling against the disease under which they 
suffer, and assuaging its cruel attacks. As they therefore 
without restraint gave way to an infatuated mind, it was ne 
cessary for Christ to speak unto them what was requisite 
and useful for their salvation. For as He Himself some 
where says, "He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to Mat. ix. 13. 
" repentance." And again He also said, that " they who are ib. 12. 
" whole need not a physician, but they who are sick." 

The Pharisee therefore for some purpose of his own invites 
Him to an entertainment : and the Saviour of all submits, as I 
said, to this, for the economy s sake. But He made the matter 
an opportunity of giving instruction, not consuming the time of 
their meeting in the enjoyment of food and delicacies, but in 
the task of making those more virtuous who were assembled 
there. And the dull Pharisee himself supplied an occasion for 
His discourse, for " he wondered," it says, " that He had not 
" washed before dinner." Did he then wonder at Him, as 
having done something of which he approved, as being espe 
cially worthy of the saints ? This was not his view : how 
could it be ? On the contrary he was offended, because having 
the reputation among them of a righteous man and a prophet, 
He did not conform Himself to their unreasonable customs. 
For they washed before meat, as though they so freed them 
selves from all pollution. But this was very absurd. For the 
washing with water is highly useful for those who are unclean 
in body ; but how can it free men from the defilement of the 
mind and heart ? 

Our argument however is this: foolish Pharisee, thou 
vauntest much of thy knowledge of the sacred Scriptures : 
thou art ever quoting the law of Moses. Tell us therefore 
where Moses gave thee this precept? What commandment 
canst thou mention, ordained by God, requiring men to wash 
before meat ? The waters of sprinkling were indeed given by 
the command of Moses for the cleansing of corporeal unclean- 



380 COMMENTARY UPON 

ness, as being a type of the baptism which really is holy and 
cleansing, even that in Christ. Those also who were called 
unto the priesthood were bathed in water: for so did the 
divine Moses bathe Aaron, and the Levites with him, the law 
thereby declaring by means of the baptism enacted in type 
and shadow, that even its priesthood had not that which suf- 
ficeth for sanctification, but, on the contrary, needs divine 
and holy baptism for the true cleansing : and further, beauti 
fully shewing us that the Saviour of all is sufficient to sanctify 
and cleanse from all defilement, by means of holy and precious 
baptism, ourselves, who are the generation consecrated to and 
elect of God. Plainly however, he nowhere commands it as a 
duty to wash before eating. Why therefore dost thou wonder, 
or for what reason art thou offended, Pharisee ? He Who 
Himself spake it in old time has not violated the precept of 
Moses : and, as I said, the law, which thou makest a profes 
sion of honouring, has nowhere given thee any such com 
mandment. 

But what said the Saviour ? He most opportunely rebuked 
them, saying, " Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside 
" of the cup, and the dish ; but that which is within you is full 
" of rapine and wickedness." For it would have been easy for 
the Lord to have used other words with the view of instructing 
the foolish Pharisee, but He found an opportunity, and, so to 
speak, connects His teaching with what was before their eyes. 
For as it was the time of eating, and of sitting at table, He takes 
as a plain comparison the cup and the dish, and shows that 
those who sincerely serve God must be pure and clean, not 
only from bodily impurity, but also from that hidden within 
in the mind ; just, for instance, as those utensils also that serve 
the table must be cleansed both from those impurities that are 
on the outside, and also as well from those that are within. 
" For He who made," He says, " that which is without, made 
" also that which is within :" by which is meant, that He Who 
created the body made also the soul. As therefore they are 
both the works of one virtue-loving God, their purification 
must be uniform. 

But this was not the practice of the Scribes and Pharisees ; 
for so far as the mere reputation went of being clean, they 
were anxious to do every thing. They went about with sad 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 381 

looks, as though pale from fasting ; and as the Saviour says, 
" made broad the hems of their robes, and widened their Mat. xxiii. 
" phylacteries, and stood in the streets and prayed, that they ^j at vi 
" might be seen of many/ wishing rather to have praise of 
men than God, and to carry off the applause of the spectators. 
And, to speak briefly, while they exhibited themselves to the 
lookers on as the very pattern of the life of virtue that is by 
the law, they in every possible way withdrew from being lovers 
of God. "Whitened sepulchres Avere they," as the Saviour said, Mat. xxiii. 
" which on the outside arc beautiful, but inside are full of 2 
" bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness c ." But Christ 
willeth not that we be such as these, but rather spiritual wor 
shippers, holy and without blame both in soul and body. For 
one also of our communion said, "Cleanse your hands ye James iv.8. 
" sinners, and sanctify your hearts, ye double-minded." And 
the prophet David somewhere sings, " Create in me a clean Ps. li. 10. 
" heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." And 
again the prophet Isaiah speaks as in the person of God, 
" Wash you, make you clean ; put away iniquities from your is. i. 16. 
" souls from before My eyes. Cease from your iniquities." 
Observe the exactness of the expression : for His words are, 
" From before My eyes put away iniquities from your souls." 
For the wicked do sometimes escape the eyes of men, but 
never can they escape those of God. It is our duty therefore, 
inasmuch as God sees what is secret, to put away wickedness 
from before His eyes. 

But the Pharisees had no knowledge of any such method 
of virtuous living : what medicine therefore did the Saviour 
offer them after His rebukes ? How did He Who smote them 
make them whole ? " Whatever ye have," He says, " give as 
" alms : and lo ! every thing is pure unto you." And yet we 
affirm that there are many ways of virtuous conduct, such for 
instance as meekness, humility, and other kindred virtues : 
why therefore did He omit these, and command them to be 

c Mai mentions, that in one of bis mentary. As the Syriac however 

Codices, A, a passage here inserted does not recognise it, the alterations 

is said to be from the Julian books ; are probably rather to be regarded 

but as it differs in some respects from as made by the Catenist to fit the 

its form there, he thinks it possible passage to its new position, 
that S. Cyril repeated it in the Com- 



382 COMMENTARY UPON 

compassionate ? What answer do we make to this ? The Pha 
risees then were exceedingly avaricious, and the slaves of base 
gains, and accumulated with greedy hand stores of wealth. 
For the God of all even somewhere said concerning them, 

is. i. i. How has the faithful city Zion, that was full of judgment, 
" become a harlot ! Righteousness lodged in her, but now 
l murderers ! Your silver is adulterate ; thy merchants mingle 
" the wine with water ; thy princes are disobedient, the part- 
" ners of thieves, loving bribes, running after recompense; 
" they judge not the fatherless, and regard not the suit of the 
" widow." He purposely therefore had regard to that malady 
which had possession of them, and tears their avarice up by 
the root, that being delivered from its wickedness, and at 
taining to purity in mind and heart, they might become true 
worshippers. 

The Saviour therefore in all these things acted in accordance 
with the plan of salvation ; and being invited to a banquet, 
bestowed spiritual food, not only upon His entertainer, but 
upon all those who were feasting with Him. And let us too 

John vi. 5 r. pray Him for this spiritual food; for " He is that living 
" Bread, which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto 
" the world :" by Whom and with Whom to God the Father 
be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and 
ever, Amen. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 383 



SERMON LXXXIV. 

But woe unto you, Pharisees ! ivho tithe mint and rue and C. xi. 42- 
all herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God. 44 
But these things ought ye to have done, and not to leave ravra BTy. 
the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees I for ye love mptunu 
the uppermost seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the ? T -, 
markets. Woe unto you ! for ye are as those graves which GS S . 
appear not, and the men that ivalk over them know it not. add- 

fj-areis 



THOSE who are exact observers of the sacred command- 
ments do not venture in any way whatsoever to offend the 
God of all. For they feel the truth of what is written, " That James ii. 
" whosoever shall keep the whole law, but shall offend in one K 
" particular, becomes guilty of all. For He Who said, Thou 
" shalt not commit adultery, said also, Thou shalt not kill. If 
" then thou commit not adultery, but yet killest, thou art 
" become a transgressor of the law." The transgression there 
fore of one commandment transgresses the law, that is, proves 
the man to be without the law. But when any one disre 
gards those commandments, which especially are important 
above the rest, what words will he find able to save him from 
deserved punishment ? That the Pharisees then merited these 
severe censures, the Lord proved against them, saying, " Woe 
" unto you, Pharisees ! who tithe mint and rue and all herbs, 
" and pass over judgment and the love of God. These things 
" ought ye to have done, and not to pass by d the other, that 
" is, to leave them undone." For while they omitted, as of no 
importance, those duties which they were especially bound to 
practice, as, for instance, judgment and the love of God, they 
carefully and scrupulously observed, or rather commanded the 
people subject to their authority to observe, those command 
ments only which were a way and means of great revenues for 
themselves. 



d From this it is possible that S. explaining it by d(f>tevai, his own 
Cyril really read napflvai, as other- reading in the text, 
wise one can see no reason for his 



384 COMMENTARY UPON 

But more fully to explain these things to thee, my beloved, 
I must speak as follows. The law of Moses commanded tithes 
to be offered to the priests by the Israelites. For it spake 

Deut.xviii. thus ; "The sons of Levi shall have no inheritance among the 
" children of Israel. The offerings of the Lord are their 
" inheritance." For whatsoever was offered by any one for 
the glory of God, on the score I mean of tithe, this God set 
apart for those whose office it was to minister ; and this was 
their inheritance. But inasmuch as the Pharisees above all 
others were covetous, and fond of disgraceful gains, they com 
manded that this law of tithing should be observed carefully 
and scrupulously, so as not even to omit the most paltry and 
insignificant herbs ; while they carelessly disregarded what 
they ought to have observed, namely, the more essential com 
mandments given by Moses ; such, for instance, as judgment, 
by which is meant justice in passing judgment, and the love of 
God. For it would have been a jnst judgment, and an upright 
sentence, to have considered every thing that was commanded 
deserving of equal care and attention, and not to neglect things 
of primary importance, while they paid a scrupulous regard to 
those only which were to their profit. And the effect of love 
to God would have been to avoid making Him angry in any 
respect, and to dread the violation of any part whatsoever of 
the law. 

Or to put it in another light, one may say, that judgment 
would have been to decree just sentences, and to make upon no 
matter whatsoever an unfair decision. And this too was disre 
garded by the Pharisees ; for the Spirit rebuked them by the 

Ps. Ixxxii. voice of David, thus saying, " God arose in the congregation of 
" the Gods, and in the midst of the Gods He judgeth. How 
" long judge ye unjustly, and accept the persons of the 
" wicked 1" He accused them also by the voice of Isaiah, 

Is. i. 21. saying, " How has the faithful city Zion, that was full of 
"judgment, become a harlot? Righteousness lodged in her, 
" but now murderers. Your silver is adulterate : thy mer- 
" chants mingle the wine with water : thy princes are disobe- 
" dient, the partners of thieves, loving bribes, running after 
" recompense : they judge not the fatherless, and regard not 
" the suit of the widow." For to judge unjustly is not the part 
of those who practice love to the brethren, but the crime rather 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 385 

of an iniquitous mind, and a plain proof of a falling away into 
sin. While therefore ye tithe mint, He says, and rue, and 
every herb, and ordain that the commandment upon these 
points is to be strictly kept, ye deign no attention to the 
weightier matters of the law, to those commandments, I mean, 
which are more especially necessary and beneficial to the soul, 
and by means of which ye might prove yourselves honourable 
and holy, and full of such praises as become those whose desire 
it is to love God, and please Him. 

And He adds yet another woe to those already spoken, 

saying, "Woe unto you, Pharisees, who love the uppermost 

" seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the market places." 

Is then this reproof useful to the Pharisees only ? Not so : for 

the benefit of it extends even unto us : for by the rebukes 

He addressed to them, He effects also our improvement. For 

rue it is, that those who are perfect in mind, and lovers of up- 

ight conduct, find in the rebukes of others the means of their 

>wn safety. For they of course avoid imitating them, and do 

lot expose themselves to being caught in similar faults. The 

iccusation therefore which Christ brings against the Pharisees, 

hat they seek for greetings in the market places, and the 

uppermost seats in the synagogues, or meetings, shews that 

ihey were fond of praise, and wont to indulge themselves in 

mpty ostentation, and an absurd superciliousness. And what 

an be worse than this? or how must not such conduct be 

lateful to every man, as being boastful and annoying, and des- 

itute of the praises of virtue, and intent solely upon stealing 

be reputation of being honourable. And how must not he be 

ncomparably superior to men thus disposed, who is poor in 

pirit, and gentle, and affable ; not loving boasting, but court- 

ous ; not deceiving men by outside and fictitious disguises, but 

eing rather a true worshipper, and adorned with that rational 

eauty which the divine Word imprinteth in us by means of all 

irtue and holiness and righteousness. 

For if we must prove ourselves better than others, and 
here is nothing to prevent this, let the sentence of superiority 
>e given us of God, by our excelling them in point of conduct 
nd morals, and in a wise and blameless knowledge of the sa- 
:red scriptures. For to be saluted by others, and seated higher 

3 D 



386 COMMENTARY UPON 

than one s friends e , does not at all prove us to be persons of 
merit : for this is possessed by many, who, so far from being 
virtuous, are rather lovers of pleasure, and lovers of sin. For 
they wrest honours from every one, because of their possessing 
either vast wealth or worldly power. 

But that our being admired by others without investigation 
and inconsiderately, and without their knowing our real state, 
does not at all make us elect in the presence of God, Who 
knoweth all things, the Saviour at once demonstrates by say 
ing ; a Woe unto you, for ye are as those graves which appear 
" not, and the men who walk over them know it not." Ob 
serve, I pray, very clearly the force of the example. Those 
who desire to be saluted by every one in the marketplace, 
and anxiously consider it a great matter to have the foremost 
seats in the synagogues, differ in no respect from graves that 
appear not, which on the outside are beautifully adorned, but 
are full of all impurity. See here, I pray, that hypocrisy is 
utterly blamed : for it is a hateful malady, both towards God 
and men. For whatsoever the hypocrite seems, and is thought 
to be, that he is not : but he borrows, so to speak, the reputa 
tion of goodness, and thereby accuses his real baseness: for 
the very thing which he praises and admires, he will not prac- j 
tise. But it is a thing impossible for thee long to hide thy ! 
hypocrisy : for just as the figures painted in pictures fall off, 
as time dries up the colours, so also hypocrisies, after escaping 
observation for a very little time, are soon convicted of being 
really nothing. 

We then must be true worshippers, and not as wishing to 
please men, lest we fall from being servants of Christ. For so the 
Gal. i. io. blessed Paul somewhere speaks ; " For now do I persuade menj 
1 or God ? or do I seek to please men ? If I yet pleased men, j 
" I should not be the servant of Christ." For suppositions ini 
matters of moral excellence are simply ridiculous, and worthy 
neither of account nor admiration. For just as in gold coins 
that which is counterfeit and faulty is rejected, so the hypocrit 
is regarded with scorn both by God and men. But he who is 



e The Syriac translator evidently has TrpoeSpeGo-ai <piAe>, which is, n 
read n-poedpevo-ai (pi Acoi/, but Mai doubt, the right reading. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 387 

true meets with admiration ; just, for instance, as Nathaniel, 

of whom Christ said, " Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom 

" is no guile." He who is such is esteemed before God ; he is 

counted worthy of crowns and honours ; has a glorious hope 

given him ; and is " a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the E P h. ii. 19. 

" household of God." 

Let us therefore flee from the malady of hypocrisy : and 
may there rather dwell within us a pure and uncorrupt mind, 
resplendent with glorious virtues. For this will unite us unto 
Christ* by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be 
praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, 
Amen. 



3 D 2 



388 COMMENTARY UPON 



SERMON LXXXV. 

c. xi. 45- Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto Him, 

4 8 - Teacher, in saying these things thou reproachest us also. 

And He said, Also unto you, lawyers, woe ! for ye lade 

add. flapta men with burdens heavy and grievous to be borne ; and ye 

Kals - yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 

Woe unto you ! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, 

and your fathers killed them. Therefore ye bear witness, 

and approve of the deeds of your fathers : for they indeed 

om. avrwv killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. 

ra /j.vrjfjLe ia 
TVT 

REPROOF is ever, so to speak, a thing difficult for any 
man to bear : but it is not without profit to the soberminded : 
for it leads them to the duty of performing those things which 
make them worthy of honour, and lovers of virtuous pursuits. 
But those who run into wickedness with all eagerness, and 
whose heart is set against admonition, are hurried into greater 
sins by the very things that should have made them more 
soberminded, and are only hardened by the words of those 
who try to benefit them. And, as an example of this state of 
mind, behold those who among the Jews were called lawyers. 
For the Saviour of all was rebuking the Pharisees, as men that 
were wandering far from the right way, and fallen into unbe 
coming practices. For He blamed them as being boasters, as 
hypocrites, as loving greetings in the markets, and as wishing 
to sit in front of everybody else in the synagogues : and He 
Mat. xxiii. further called them " whited sepulchres, which on the outside 
27 " are beautiful, but inside are full of dead men s bones and all 

" impurity/ At these things the band of wicked lawyers was 
indignant, and one of them stood up to controvert the Saviour s 
declarations, and said ; " Teacher, in saying these things, Thou 
" reproachest us also." Oh what great ignorance ! what blind 
ness in mind and understanding unto every thing necessary ! 
These men subject themselves to blame : or rather the force of 
truth shewed them to be liable to the same accusations as the 
Pharisees, and of one mind with them, and partners of their 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 389 

evil deeds, if they thus consider that what Christ said unto the 
others was spoken also against them. For tell me, for what 
reason art thou angry ? When any reproof is addressed to the 
Pharisees, thou sayest that thou art reproached. Thou con- 
fessest therefore thy deeds. Thou art conscious, of course, to 
thyself of being a similar character. But if thou considerest it 
a reproach for ought of this sort to be said of thee, and never 
theless dost not alter thy behaviour, it is thy own conduct thou 
art found blaming. If thou hatest reproof as being a re 
proach, shew thyself superior to the faults with which thou art 
charged : or rather do not regard as a reproach the word of 
correction. Dost thou not see that those who heal the bodies 
of men converse with the sick upon the causes which have 
>rought on their maladies, and use pungent drugs to coun 
teract what has happened : but no one is angry with them on 
this account, or regards what they say as a reproach. But 
;hou art weak-minded in bearing admonitions, nor consentest 
;o learn what those passions are which are bringing injury to 
;hy heart. Far better would it be to love reproof, and ask for 
deliverance from thy maladies, and healing for the ulcers of 
;hy soul. Far better were it rather to say, " Heal me, O Lord, j e r. xvii. 
lt and I shall be healed : save me, and I shall be saved : for I4> 
" Thou art my praise." 

Nothing however of this sort enters the mind of the lawyers, 
but they venture even to say; "In speaking these things, Thou 
" reproachest us also :" ignorantly giving the name of reproach 
to a reproof which was for their benefit and advantage. What 
then does Christ reply ? He makes His reproof yet more se 
vere, and humbles their empty pride, thus saying ; " Also to 
" you, lawyers, woe ! for ye lade men with burdens heavy and 
ie grievous to be borne : and ye yourselves touch not the bur- 
" dens with one of your fingers." He frames His argument 
against them out of a plain example. For the law was confess 
edly grievous to the Israelites, as the divine disciples also ac 
knowledged. For they even rebuked those who were endea 
vouring to make such as had already believed desire to return 
to the legal ritual : for they said; " And now why tempt ye Actsxv.io. 
God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which 
neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" And the 
Saviour Himself taught us this, crying out and saying; "Come Mat.xi.28. 



390 COMMENTARY UPON 

" unto Me, all ye weary, and heavy laden ; and I will give you 
" rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am 
meek and lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest for your- 
" selves." Weary then and heavy laden are those, He says, 
who are under the law: while He calls Himself meek, as 
though the law had nothing in it of this character. For, as 

Heb. x. 28. Paul says ; " Whosoever has despised Moses law is put to 
" death without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses." 
Woe to you, therefore, He says, lawyers : for while ye bind 
burdens grievous to be borne, and intolerable to carry, and lay 
them on those who are under the law, ye yourselves will not 
touch them. For while commanding that the ordinance of 
Moses should be kept inviolate, and passing sentence of death 
upon any who despise it, they themselves paid not the slightest 
heed to the duty of performing its precepts. As accustomed 

Kom.ii. 17. thus to act, the wise Paul also rebukes them, saying ; " Behold 

" thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest 

" thy boast of God; and knowest His will, and discernest the 

" things that are more excellent, being instructed by the law ; 

" and art confident of thyself, that thou art a guide of the 

" blind ; an instructor of those without understanding ; a 

" teacher of babes ; and that thou hast the form of knowledge 

" and of truth in the law. Thou therefore that teachest others, 

" teachest thou not thyself? thou that sayest that men should 

" not steal, dost thou steal ? thou that sayest that men should 

" not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? And thou 

" that despisest idols, dost thou plunder the sanctuary ? And 

" thou that boastest in the law, by the transgression of the 

" law despisest thou God ? " For the teacher is rejected with 

infamy when his conduct does not agree with his words. Upon 

him our Saviour also passes the sentence of severe punishment : 

Mat. v. 19. for whosoever," He says, " has taught and done, shall be 

" called great : but whosoever shall teach and not do, he shall 

" be called small in the kingdom of heaven." And for the same 

James iii. i. reason the disciple of the Saviour also writes to us; " Let 

" there not be many teachers among you, my brethren ; know- 

" ing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in 

" many things we all of us commit wrong." 

And having thus shewn the worthlessness of this abominable 
crew of lawyers, He goes on to utter a common reproof to all 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 391 

the chiefs of the Jews : " Woe unto you ! for ye build the 
" sepulchres of the prophets : and your fathers killed them. 
" Therefore ye bear witness, and approve of the deeds of your 
" fathers ; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their se- 
" pulchres." Let us then carefully examine what the Saviour 
means ; for what wicked act can we say that they were guilty 
of in building the tombs of the saints ? Were they not rather 
doing them distinguished honour ? What doubt can there be 
of this? It is necessary therefore to see what it is which 
Christ teaches us. The ancestors then of the Jews had from 
time to time put the holy prophets to death, when bringing 
them the word of God, and leading them unto the right way : 
but their descendants, acknowledging that the prophets were 
holy and venerable men, built over them sepulchres or tombs, 
as bestowing upon them an honour suitable to the saints. 
Their fathers therefore slew them ; but they, as believing that 
they were prophets and holy men. became the judges of those 
that slew them. For by determining to pay honour to those 
who had been put to death, they thereby accused the others 
of having done wrongfully. But they, who condemned their 
fathers for such cruel murders, were about to incur the guilt 
of equal crimes, and to commit the same, or rather more 
abominable offences. For they slew the Prince of Life, the 
Saviour and Deliverer of all : and added also to their wicked 
ness towards Him other abominable murders. For Stephen 
was put to death, not as being accused of any thing base, but 
rather for admonishing them, and speaking unto them what is 
contained in the inspired Scriptures. And other crimes besides 
were committed by them against every saint who preached 
unto them the Gospel message of salvation. 

The lawyers therefore and Pharisees were reproved in every 
way, as being haters of God, and boastful, and lovers of plea 
sure more than lovers of God : and as everywhere hating to be 
saved. For this reason Christ added always that word " woe," 
as something peculiarly theirs : by Whom and with Whom to 
God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, 
for ever and ever, Amen f . 

f In the Syriac the 4Qth and two repeatedly occur. In filling up this 

following verses are omitted, other lacuna, the Catenists first attribute 

instances of which habit of S. Cyril to him an explanation of v. 49, to 



392 



COMMENTARY UPON 



the effect that by the prophets 
whom the wisdom of God sends are 
meant the apostles, and their suc 
cessors, the chief pastors of the 
church: but as the apostles are 
mentioned by name in the text, 
there is no reason for making the 
prophets identical with them in 
meaning, especially as our Lord was 
plainly referring to 2 Chron. xxiv. 
19 21. Next on v. 51, two of 
Mai s codices C and D assign to 
Cyril a passage closely resembling, 
as he remarks, one in Gregory of 
Nyssa s sermon in diem nat. Do 
mini, and actually referred to him 
by B, and by Cramer s MS. : and 
though there are many verbal dis 
crepancies in Gregory s text, yet 
other portions, especially towards 
the end, so exactly agree, that there 
can be no doubt that it is really his. 
It records an " unwritten tradition," 
to use Severus words, to the effect 
that by Zacharias is meant John 
Baptist s father, and that he was 
put to death at the altar for assert 
ing the virginity of Mary, who after 



her conception had nevertheless 
taken her place in that part of the 
temple appropriated to virgins. 
Upon the Jews wishing to remove 
her, Zacharias prophesied that she 
would be the mother of God, and 
that her offspring would be " God 
" the Saviour Jesus Christ, the 
" King and Ruler of their race." 
The Jews then in alarm at the pre 
diction of a king, slew Zacharias at 
the altar. Of such a tradition it is 
enough to say in the words of Je 
rome ; Quia de scripturis non 
habet auctoritatem, eadem facili- 
tate contemnitur, qua probatur. 
Com. in Mat. xxiii. 35. Lastly, a 
few lines are assigned to Cyril in A. 
to the effect, that when our Lord 
says that the punishment of murder 
would be required of that genera 
tion, He does not mean that mur 
derers of other generations were to 
escape: for generation sometimes 
means the whole of any class, as 
where the Psalmist says, "This is 
" the generation of them that seek 
" the Lord." 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 393 



SERMON LXXXVI. 

Woe unto you, lawyers : for ye have taken away the key 0/" c .-. xi - 5^ 
knowledge : ye entered not in, and those that are entering 
in ye hindered. And as He came out from thence, the 
scribes and Pharisees began to urge Him vehemently, and 
to put Him to silences about many things, lying in wait to 

. avTovravra 

catch something out of his mouth. Meamuhile many 



myriads of the people having assembled, so that they trode ^ ^ - 
one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first rofWes Gy. 
of all, Beware in yourselves of the leaven of the Pharisees, ^ aT ^j^_ 
which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that <nv afoot 
shall not be revealed: neither hid, that shall not be known. 
All things whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be 
heard in the light : and that which ye have spoken in the 
ear in chambers, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 

THOSE who search the sacred Scriptures, and know the 
jord s will, if they are virtuous men, and anxious for the peo- 
le s good, and skilled in leading them aright unto every thing 
hat is admirable, shall be rewarded with every blessing, if 
hey discharge their duties with earnestness. And of this the 
Saviour assures us where He says, " Who then is a faithful Mat. xxiv. 
and wise servant, whom his Lord hath set over his household, 45< 

to give them meat in its season? Blessed is that servant, 
whom his Lord shall come and find so doing : verily, I say 
unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath." But 
if he be indolent, and neglectful, and a^ cause of offence to those 
ntrusted to his charge, so as for them to fall from the right 
way, most miserable is he, and in danger of hopeless punish 
ment. For again Christ Himself has said; " Whosoever there- Mat. xviii. 
fore shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in Me, 
it were better for him that the millstone of an ass h were 
hung about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths 
of the sea." 



By aTToo-ro/iari ^tj/ is rather h That is, the stone of a mill 

neant " to question." The Phi- turned by an ass, and so of the 

oxenian nevertheless translates it in largest size, hand mills being gene- 

he same way as the text. rally used. 

3 K 



394 COMMENTARY UPON 

Of faults thus grievous, Christ proved them guilty who pro 
fessed to be skilled in the law ; the scribes, I mean, and law 
yers : and for this reason he said unto them ; " Also to you 
" lawyers woe ! who have taken away the key of knowledge." 
By the key of knowledge we consider that the law itself is 
meant, and justification in Christ, by faith I mean in Him. 
For though the law was in shadow and type, yet those types 
shape out to us the truth, and those shadows depict to us in 
manifold ways the mystery of Christ. A lamb was sacrificed 
according to the law of Moses; they ate its flesh, they anointed 
the lintels with its blood, and overcame the destroyer. But 
the blood of a mere sheep could not turn away death. It was 
Christ then Who was typified under the form of a lamb, Who 
endures to be the victim for the life of the world, and saves by 
His blood those who are partakers of Him. And one might 
mention many other instances as well, by means of which we 
can discern the mystery of Christ, sketched out in the shadows 
of the law. And He Himself once when speaking to the Jews 

John v. 45. said, " There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom 
* ye trusted. For if ye had believed Moses, ye would have 
" also believed Me ; for he wrote of Me. " And again ; 

John v. 39. (( Search the Scriptures : for in them ye think that ye have 
" eternal life ; and it is they that testify of Me. And ye are 
" not willing to come unto Me, that ye may have life." For 
every word of divinely inspired Scripture looks unto Him, and 
refers to Him. And whether it be Moses who speaks, he, as 
has been shewn, was typifying Christ : or be it the holy pro 
phets that thou namest, they also proclaimed to us in mani-j 
fold ways the mystery of Christ, preaching beforehand the sal 
vation that is by Him. 

It was the duty therefore of those who were called lawyers, 
because they studied the law of Moses, and were well ac 
quainted with the words of the holy prophets, to open, so to 
speak, to the Jewish multitudes the doors of knowledge. For 
the law directs men unto Christ, and the pious announcements 
of the holy prophets lead, as I said, to the acknowledgment of 
Him. But this the so-called lawyers did not do, but on the 
contrary they took away the key of knowledge, by which you 
are to understand the guidance of the law, or really faith in 
Christ. For by faith is the knowledge of the truth, as the 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 395 

prophet Isaiah somewhere says ; " If ye will not believe, nci- is. vii. 9. 
" ther shall ye understand." This same way of salvation by 
faith in Christ He before declared unto us by the holy pro 
phets, saying; " Yet a little, a little while, and he that cometh Hab. 11.3. 
" shall come, and shall not tarry. And whosoever shall draw Heb Xl 37- 
" back, in him My soul shall have no pleasure/ And what is 
meant by a person s drawing back is his giving way to sloth- 
fulness. When therefore He says, that no one of those who 
have been called must draw back, it means, that if he grow 
slothful in his progress towards the grace which is by faith, My 
soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

But that the fathers were proved by faith, the examination 
of their deeds demonstrates. Take, for instance, the patriarch 
Abraham, who was called the friend of God : what is written 
of him? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him James ii. 
" for righteousness : and he was called the friend of God." 23> 
And it is written again; "By faith Noah, when it was revealed Heb. xi. 7. 
" to him of things not seen as yet, prepared the ark for the 
" saving of his house, in which few, that is, eight persons, were i Pet. iii. 
" saved by water/ And the blessed Paul has laid down for 2 
us a definition, so to speak, or rather a general law, thus 
saying; "Without faith it is impossible for anyone whatso- Heb. xi. 6. 
ever to please God." " For by it, he said, the elders, that 
" is, those in old time, obtained a good report/ 

But these so-called lawyers had taken away the key of 
knowledge ; for they would not let men believe in Christ the 
Saviour of all. He wrought miracles in manifold ways; raising 
the dead from their graves ; restoring beyond all hope their 
sight to the blind ; making the lame whole in their feet ; 
cleansing lepers; and rebuking unclean spirits. But they, 
:hough it was their duty to regard Him with admiration 
Because of these things, despised His divine signs : and making 
.he people entrusted to their charge to stumble, they said ; 
This man casteth not out devils but in Beelzebub the prince Mat. xii. 
of the devils." Here then thou seest them taking away the 24 
key of knowledge. He taught in their synagogues ; He re 
pealed to His hearers that good and acceptable and perfect R om . xii. 2. 

l of God the Father ; but they cannot leave even these His 
nstructions without blame : for they called out to the multi 
tudes, " He hath a devil, and is utterly mad. Why hear ye Johnx. 20 . 



396 COMMENTARY UPON 

" Him?" In truth therefore they took away the key of know 
ledge : they went not in themselves, and the others they 
hindered. 

And thus being indignant at this reproof, " they began," it 
says, " to urge Him vehemently ;" by which is meant, to 
attack Him with cunning, and oppose Him, and shew their 
hatred of Him. And they ventured also, it says, even " to put 
" Him to silence about many things." And what again is the 
meaning of their putting Him to silence ? It is that they re 
quired Him at once, and so to speak, without consideration to 
make answer to their wicked questions ; expecting forsooth that 
he would fall, and say something or other open to objection. 
But they knew not that He was God ; or rather, they were de- 
spisers, and proud and contemptuous. And therefore it was 
that Christ told His friends, that is, His disciples, to " beware 
" of the leaven of the Pharisees and scribes," meaning by leaven 
their false pretence. For hypocrisy is a thing hateful to God, 
and abominated by man, bringing no reward, and utterly use 
less for the salvation of the soul, or rather the cause of its per 
dition. For though sometimes it may escape detection for a 
little, yet before long it is sure to be laid bare, and bring upon 
them disgrace ; like ill-featured women, when they are stripped 
of that external embellishment which they had produced by 
artificial means. 

Hypocrisy therefore is a thing foreign to the character of 
the saints : for that it is impossible for those things that are 
done and said by us to escape the eye of the Deity, He shewed 
by saying ; " For there is nothing covered that shall not be 
" revealed : neither hid that shall not be known." For all 
our words and deeds shall be revealed at the day of judgment. 
Hypocrisy therefore is superfluous trouble ; and our duty is to 
prove ourselves true worshippers, serving God with free and 
open countenance, not submitting our judgment to those who 
take away the key of knowledge, but seeing even in the law ] 
the mystery of Christ, and seizing upon the words of the holy 
prophets to confirm our knowledge of Him. For this His dis- I 
Pet. i. 19. ciple also taught us thus saying ; " We have for confirmation I 
" the word of prophecy, into which ye do well to look, as upon 
" a torch shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the 
" star of light arise in your hearts." 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 397 

On us then who are in Christ the day has shone, and the 
star of the rational dawn has arisen, possessing as we do a cor 
rect and blameless knowledge of Him : for He has Himself 
put into our mind and heart divine knowledge, being the 
Saviour and Lord of all; by Whom and with Whom to God the 
Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever 
and ever, Amen*. 

1 Mai adds a few lines from A. are known unto God, and shall be 
explaining v. 3, as possibly signi- revealed unto everybody, 
fying that all our deeds and words 



398 COMMENTARY UPON 



SERMON LXXXVII. 

THIS HOMILY IS FIT TO BE READ IN A TIME 

OF STRUGGLE AND PERSECUTION FOR 

FAITH IN GOD. 

C. xii. 4-7. And I say unto you. My friends, Fear not them that kill the 
body, and afterwards have nothing more to do. But I 
will shew you Whom ye shall fear : fear Him Who after 
He hath killed hath power to cast into hell : yea, I say 
unto you, fear Him. Are not five sparroiffs sold for two 
halfpence ; and not one of them is forgotten before God. 
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear 

rib BST. not . y e are o f more value than many sparroivs. 

PATIENCE, arid an enduring and courageous mind, form 

the impenetrable armour of the saints : for they render them 

approved and resplendent with the praises of piety. For one 

Luke xxi. also of the holy apostles thus spake, at one time ; " In patience 

Heb x q6 " possess ye your souls : " at another ; "Ye have need of 

" patience, that by doing the will of God, ye may receive the 

" promise." By such manly virtues we become famous, and 

praiseworthy, and renowned among men everywhere, and 

worthy of honours and the blessings that are prepared for the 

i Cor. ii.p. saints : even those which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 

as wise Paul says. And how must not those things be worth 

the gaining and admirable, which surpass our understanding 

and reason? And therefore, as I said, He prepares k those who 

love Him for spiritual fortitude, thus speaking ; " I say unto 

" you, My friends." 

His present discourse therefore does not, as it seems, belong 
to every one absolutely : but, on the contrary, to those only 
who evidently love Him with all their heart, and can fitly 

Rom. viii. say ; " Who shall separate me from the love of Christ ? shall 

35- 

k Literally " He anoints," a me- the struggle began. To anoint 

taphor taken from the palestra, therefore is to prepare for imme- 

where the combatant was rubbed diate exertion, 
over with oil, immediately before 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 399 

" tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or naked- 
" ness, or peril, or sword ? " For those who have as yet no 
sure and certain and well-founded love of Him, as long as they 
live in tranquil times, may forsooth possibly preserve their 
faith in Him : but if distress or persecution harass them a 
little, they turn away and forsake Him, losing, together with 
their faith, that which stirred them up to love Him. For just 
as young plants, which have lately sprung up, cannot endure 
the violence of too tempestuous a wind, because they have not 
as yet struck their roots deep ; while those which are firmly 
fixed, and well rooted, remain secure in the ground, even 
though a gale of fierce winds shake them : so those whose 
mind is not yet firmly and securely fixed upon Him are very 
easily drawn aside, and readily desert ; while those who have 
stored up and possess in mind and heart a secure and unwa 
vering love of Him, are unalterable in mind, and unwavering 
in heart, being superior to all indolence, and looking with con 
tempt upon the most intolerable dangers, and making a mock 
at terrors, so as even to ridicule the violence of death. The 
commandment therefore so to act belongs to those who love 
Him. 

But who are those who love Him ? They are, so to speak, 
such as are like-minded with Him, and anxious to follow in His 
footsteps. And to this His disciple encourages us by saying ; 
" Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, iPet. iv. i. 
" do ye for His sake 1 arm yourselves with the same mind." 
He laid down His life for us, and was "among the dead as one Ps.lxxxviii. 
" free." For death did not attack Him, as it attacks us, be- 5- 
cause of sin : for He was and is far removed from all sin, and 
incapable of iniquity : but of His own will He endured it for 
our sakes, because of His boundless love toward us. For listen 
to Him as He plainly says ; " Greater love hath no man than 
" this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And how 
then is it not a most base thing not to return to Christ, 
as a most necessary debt, that which we have received of 
Him? 



1 This addition of v-rrep avrov to the text is not supported by any MS. 
authority. 



400 COMMENTARY UPON 

And, to put it in another light ; as being His friends, we 

ought not to fear death, but rather imitate the faith of the 

holy fathers. The patriarch Abraham, when tempted, offered 

Heb.xi.i9. his only-begotten son Isaac, " accounting that God was able to 

" raise him up even from the dead." What terror of death, 

2 Tim. i. 10. therefore, can assail us, now that " Life hath abolished death ?" 

Johnxi.25. for Christ is "the Resurrection and the Life." 

And this too we must bear in mind, that the crowns are to 
be won by labour. It is strong exertion united with skill that 
perfects those mighty athletes in the games. It is courage and 
a brave mind that are most serviceable to those who are skilled 
in battles : while the man who throws away his shield is ridi 
culed even by the foe : and if the runaway live, he leads a life 
of disgrace. But he who was steadfast in the battle, and stood 
stoutly and courageously with all his might against the enemy, 
is honoured if he win the victory ; and if he fall, is looked upon 
with admiration. And so ought we to reckon for ourselves ; for 
to endure patiently, and maintain the conflict with courage, 
brings with it great reward, and is highly desirable, and wins 
for us the blessings bestowed by God : while to refuse to suffer 
death in the flesh for the love of Christ, brings upon us lasting, 
or rather never-ending punishment. For the wrath of man 
reaches at most to the body, and the death of the flesh is the 
utmost that they can contrive against us : but when God pun 
ishes, the loss reaches not to the flesh alone ; how could it ? 
but the wretched 01 soul also is cast along with it into torments. 
Let our lot therefore rather be the honoured death; for it 
makes us mount up to the commencement of an eternal life, to 
which of necessity are attached those blessings also which come 
from the divine bounty : and let us flee from and despise a life 
of shame; a life accursed, and of short duration, and which 
leads down to bitter and everlasting torment. 

And to bestow yet another means of succour upon our 
minds, He forcibly added; " that five sparrows are scarcely 
" perhaps worth two halfpence, and yet not one of them is for- 
" gotten before God." And further, He said ; that also the 



m Mai reads fj dOdvaros ^x 7 ?, d6\ia, which the Syriac and Cramer 
but notices that some MSS. have confirm. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 401 

" separate hairs of your head are all numbered." Consider, 
therefore, how great care He takes of those that love Him. 
For if the Preserver of the universe extends His aid to things 
thus worthless, and descends, so to speak, to the smallest ani 
mals, how can He forget those who love Him, especially when 
He takes so great care of them, and deigns so to visit them, 
as to know exactly each particular of their state, and even how 
many are the hairs of their head ? 

Where, then, is the vain and senseless babbling of heathen 
boasting ? " Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? Where i Cor. i. 1 
" is the disputer of this world ? hath not God made foolish the 
" wisdom of the world ?" For some of them entirely deny the 
providence of God : while others make it reach down as far 
only as the moon, and set bounds to it, as though they had 
bad this authority committed to them. Unto such we would 
say : Is the providence of God too weak to reach down to that 
which is below, and even as far as unto us, or is the Creator 
of all too weary to see what we do ? If then they say that it 
is too weak, this is mere stupidity, and nothing else. But if 
they represent the divine nature as subject to indolence, they 
make it thereby liable also to envy. And this again is blas 
phemy, and a crime than which none is greater. But they 
answer, it is giving trouble to the divine and supreme will 
to impose upon it the care of all these earthly matters. They 
:now not how great is that nature which the mind cannot un 
derstand nor speech describe, and which ruleth over all. For 
;o it all things are small : and so the blessed prophet Isaiah 
teaches us where he says ; " If it be true that all the nations Is. xl. 15. 
are as a drop from a cask, and are reckoned as the turn 
of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle, to what have 
ye likened the Lord ? " For what is one drop from a cask ? 
and what is the turn of a balance ? and what too is spittle ? 
that is, a single expectoration ? If therefore this be the posi- 
ion of all things towards God, how can it be a great matter 
;o Him, or one that occasions Him trouble, to have the care 
>f all things ? The noxious sentiments therefore of the heathen 
are bereft of reason. 

Let us therefore not doubt but that with rich hand He will 
)estow His grace upon those who love Him. For either He 



402 COMMENTARY UPON 

will not permit us to fall into temptation : or if, by His wise 
purpose, He permit us to be taken in the snare, in order that 
we may gain glory by suffering, He will most assuredly grant 
us the power to bear it. And of this the blessed Paul is our 
witness, who says; " God is powerful, Who will not suffer you 
" to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the 
" temptation also make a way of egress, that ye may be able 
" to bear it." For He Who is the Saviour and Lord of us all, 
is the Lord of powers : by Whom and with Whom, to God the 
Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever 
and ever, Amen. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 403 



SERMON LXXXVIII. 

THIS HOMILY ALSO is FIT TO BE READ IN A TIME OP STRUGGLE 

AND PERSECUTION FOR FAITH IN GOD. 

And I say unto you, that whosoever shall confess Me before C. xii. 8- 
men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the I0 
angels of God. But he that shall deny Me before men, 
shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever 
shall speak a word against the son of man, it shall be 
forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the 
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. 

HERE too, ye who love to hear, replenish yourselves with 
;he words of holiness : receive within you the knowledge of the 
sacred doctrines, that advancing prosperously in the faith, ye 
may obtain the crown of love and steadfastness in Christ. For 
He bestows it, not upon those whose heart is faint and easily 
shaken, but rather on those who can with fitness say ; " For to Phil. i. 21. 
( me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." For those who live 
lolily, live unto Christ ; and those, who for piety towards Him, 
endure dangers, gain the life incorruptible, being crowned by 
His decree before the judgment seat of God. And this He 
teaches us, saying ; " Whosoever shall confess Me before men, 

him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of 

God/ 

It is then a thing above all others worthy of our attention to 
see who it is that confesses Christ, and in what way one may 
rightly and blamelessly confess Him. Most wise Paul therefore 
writes to us, " Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend unto Eom. x. 6. 
" heaven ? that is to bring Christ down : or who shall descend 
into the deep ? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 
" But what saith the Scripture ? The Word is nigh thee, in 
" thy mouth and in thy heart; that is, the Word of faith which 
" we preach : because if thou shalt say with thy mouth that 
" Jesus is the Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God 
" raised Him from the dead, thou shalt live. For with the 
" heart man belie veth unto righteousness, and with the mouth 

3 P 2 



404 COMMENTARY UPON 

< ( confession is made unto salvation." In which words the mystery 
of Christ is most excellently explained. For first of all it is our 
duty to confess that the Son, Who sprang from God the Fa 
ther, and Who is the Only-begotten of His substance, even 
God the Word, is Lord of all : not as one on whom lordship 
has been bestowed from without, and by imputation, but as 
being by nature and in truth Lord, as the Father also is. And 
next we must believe, that " God raised Him from the dead," 
that is, when having become man, He had suffered in the flesh 
for our sakes : for so He arose from the dead. The Son there 
fore is, as I said, Lord ; yet must He not be reckoned with 
those other lords, to whom the name of lordship is given and 
imputed : for He alone, as I said, is Lord by nature, being 
God the AVord, Who transcends every created thing. And 
i Cor. viii. this the wise Paul teaches us saying ; " That though there be 
5- " in heaven or in earth certain Gods many, and Lordships 

" many : yet to us there is one God the Father, from Whom 
11 is evervthirio; and we from Him : and one Lord Jesus Christ, 

t, 

" by Whom is everything and we by Him." But even though 
there be but one God, Whose name is the Father ; and one 
Lord, Who is the Son ; yet neither is the Father put aside 
from being Lord, by reason of His being God by nature : nor 
does the Son cease from being God, because He is Lord by 
nature. For perfect freedom is the attribute of the divine and 
supreme substance only, and to be entirely separate from the 
yoke of servitude : or rather, to have the creation put in 
subjection under Its feet. And therefore, though the Only- 
begotten Word of God became like unto us, and, as far as 
regarded the measure of the human nature, was placed un 
der the yoke of slavery : for He purposely paid the Jewish 
tax-gatherers the two drachms according to the law of Moses ; 
yet He did not conceal the splendour of the glory that dwelt 
Mat. xvii. in Him. For He asked the blessed Peter ; " The kings of the 
" earth, of whom do they receive tribute and poll-tax; of their 
" own children, or of strangers ? And when he had said, Of 
" strangers : Then, said He, are the children free." The Son 
therefore is in His own nature Lord as being free : as the wise 
2 Cor. iii. Paul has again taught us, thus writing : " But we all, with 
l8 - " open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 

" changed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 405 

" the Lord, the Spirit." "Now the Spirit is the Lord: but 2Cor.iii.i7. 
" where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Observe 
therefore how he affirms that the Spirit is Lord : not as pos 
sessed of sonship ; for He is the Spirit, and not the Son ; but 
as being co-essential with the Son, Who is Lord and free, and 
proved by this natural equality with Him to possess that free 
dom which befitteth God. 

Whosoever therefore confesseth Christ before men, as God 
and Lord, shall be acknowledged by Him before the angels of 
God. But where and how ? Evidently at that time, when He 
shall descend from heaven in the glory of His Father with the 
holy angels at the end of this world : then shall He crown His 
true confessor, who possessed an unwavering and genuine 
faith, and so made profession. There also shall the company 
of the holy martyrs shine, who endured the conflict even unto 
life and blood, and honoured Christ by their patient en 
durance : for they denied not the Saviour, nor was His glory 
unknown to them, but they kept their fealty to Him. Such 
shall be praised by the holy angels ; and shall themselves glo 
rify Christ the Saviour of all, for bestowing upon the saints 
those honours which especially are their due. And so the 
Psalmist also declares, " And the heavens shall declare His P*. l. 6. 
" righteousness; because God is judge. 1 And such then shall 
be the lot of those who confess Him. 

But the rest, those who denied and despised him, shall be 
denied : when the Judge shall say to them that, as it were, 
which was spoken by the holy prophets to certain of old ; " As Obad. 15. 
" thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee ; and thy requital 
" shall be requited upon thine own head ;" and shall deny 
them in these words : " Depart from Me, ye workers of ini- Luke xiii. 
" quity, I know you not." And who then are they that shall 2 
be denied ? First of all, those who when persecution was 
pressing upon them, and tribulation had overtaken them, de 
serted the faith. The hope of such shall depart utterly from 
its very root : for such no human words can suffice ; for 
wrath and judgment and the unappeasable fire shall receive 
them. 

And in like manner both the followers and teachers of heresy 
deny him. For they venture to say that the Only-begotten 
Word of God is not by nature and in truth God ; and they 



406 COMMENTARY UPON 

traduce His ineffable generation, by saying that He is not of 
the substance of the Father : yea rather, they count among 
things created Him Who is the Creator of all, and wickedly 
class with those who are under the yoke Him Who is Lord of 

Phil. ii. 1 1. all; although Paul affirms, that we must say that "Jesus is 
"Lord." 

The disciples also of the vain babbling of Nestorius deny 
Him by acknowledging two sons, one false, and one true ; the 
true one, the Word of God the Father : the false one, to whom 
the honour and name of a son belongs by imputation only, 
who in their phrase is the son only, and sprung from the 
seed of the blessed David, according to the flesh. Most heavy 

2 Pet. ii. i. is the judgment of these also ; for they have denied " the Lord 
" Who bought them." They have not understood the mystery 

Eph. iv.5. of His dispensation in the flesh: for "there is one Lord, one 
" faith," as it is written. For we do not believe in a man and 
a God, but in one Lord, the Word Who is from God the 
Father, Who became man, and took upon Him our flesh. And 
thus then these also are numbered among those Who deny 
Him. 

And that blasphemy is a most wicked crime for men to 
commit, He has further taught us by saying, " that whosoever 
" shall speak a word against the son of man", it shall be for- 
" given him : but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy 
" Ghost, it shall not be forgiven." And in what way is this too 
to be understood ? Now if the Saviour means this, that 
if any scornful word be used by any one of us towards some 
mere man, he will obtain forgiveness if he repent, the matter is 
free from all difficulty . For as God is by nature good, He will 
free from blame all those who repent. But if the declaration 



n As I have before mention- but that blasphemy against God is 

ed, the Syriac language possesses so serious a sin, that under ordi- 

no single word for "man," CJN.J] nary circumstances it can expect 

signifying "some one:" its place no forgiveness. In this way S. 

therefore is supplied by the peri- Cyril first of all explains it, and 

phrasis J*j.o, the son of some then takes the other alternative, 

one, or as it is usually rendered, which as being acquainted with the 

" the son of man." The meaning Greek language only, he probably 

therefore of the text is, that whoso- considered equally tenable, of our 

ever shall speak ill of a man, shall Lord by the son of man signifying 

upon his repentance be forgiven : Himself. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 407 

has reference to Christ himself, the Saviour of all, how can he 
be innocent, or secure from condemnation, who has spoken 
against Him ? What then we say is this ; that whenever any 
one, who has not yet learnt the meaning of His mystery, nor 
understood that being by nature God, He humbled Himself 
to our estate, and became man, speaks anything against Him, 
blasphemous to a certain extent, but yet not so wicked as to 
pass forgiveness, such things God will pardon in those who 
have sinned from ignorance. And to explain my meaning by 
an example; Christ somewhere said, "I am the living bread John vi.5i. 
" which came down from heaven, and giveth life to the world." 
Because therefore some did not know His glory, but thought 
that he was a mere man, they said, " Is not this the car 
penter s son, Whose father and mother we know ? How 
" doth He now say that I came down from heaven ?" And 
again, He was once standing teaching in a synagogue, arid was 
wondered at by them all. But some, it tells us, said, " How Johnvii.is. 
" knoweth this man learning, having never been taught ? " For 
of course they knew not that " in Him are all the treasures of Col. ii. 3. 
" wisdom, and the hidden things of knowledge." Such things 
might well be forgiven, as being spoken inconsiderately from 
ignorance. 

But for those who have blasphemed the Godhead itself, con 
demnation is inevitable, and the punishment eternal both in 
this world and in that which is to come. 

For by the Spirit He here means not only the Holy Ghost, 
but also the whole nature of the Godhead, as understood (to 
consist) in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And 
the Saviour Himself also somewhere said, "God is a Spirit." John iv. 24. 
Blasphemy therefore against the Spirit, is against the whole 
supreme substance : for as I said, the nature of the Deity, 
as offered to our understanding in the holy and adorable voCnm. 
Trinity, is one. 

Let us therefore, as the writer of the book of Proverbs 
saith, "put a door and a bar to the tongue," and draw near to Ecclus. 
the God over all, thus saying, " Set a watch, O Lord, upon my 
" mouth ; and a door of safety about my lips ; incline not my 
" heart to wicked words ;" for those are wicked words which 
are against God. And if thus we rightly fear Him, Christ 



408 COMMENTARY UPON 

will bless us : by Whom and with Whom to God the Father 
be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and 
ever, Amen. 

o S. Cyril having omitted vv. 1 1, effect that our Lord would have His 

12, the Catenist has inserted, pos- disciples anxious only to defend the 

sibly from the Commentary on faith, and trust all besides to His 

Mark xiii. n, a few words to the care. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 409 



SERMON LXXXIX. 

And one of the multitude said unto Him, Teacher, bid my c. xii. 13- 
brother divide with me the inheritance. But He said unto " 
him, Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you ? 
And He said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves 
from, all greediness : for a man s life is not from his pos- a ^ T0 y GSs. 
sessions by reason of his having a superfluity. And He T $ BT - 
spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain 
rich man brought forth unto him plentifully. And he adda^S. 
thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I lv aury B. 
have not tuhere to gather my fruits ? And he said, This 
will I do : I will pull doiun my storehouses, and build 
greater: and there will I gather all my crops and my T&J/O-?T<>B. 
goods. And I will say to myself, Self, thou hast much 
goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, *) 
enjoy thyself. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this 
night they demand of thee thy soul. But whose shall 
those things be which thou hast provided ? So is he that 
layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward H> B. 
God. 

PAUL, as a wise man, recommends constancy in prayer : for 
he said, " Pray without ceasing." And in very truth it is a i Thes. v 
thing full of benefit. But I say this, that whosoever draws r7 
near unto God, ought not to do so carelessly ; nor may he 
offer unbefitting petitions. And one may very justly affirm, 
of a multitude of petitions, that they are unbefitting, and such 
as are not suitable for God to give, nor beneficial for us to 
receive. And if we will direct the penetrating glance of the 
mind upon the passage before us, we shall see without difficulty 
the truth of what I have said. For a certain man drew near 
to Christ, the Saviour of us all, and said, " Teacher, bid my 

brother divide with me the inheritance. But He said unto 
" him, Man, who set Me as judge or divider over you ? " For 
the Son indeed, when He appeared in our likeness, was set by 
God the Father as " Head and King over Sion, His holy p s . ii. 6. 
" mount/ according to the Psalmist s words : and the nature 



410 COMMENTARY UPON 

of His office He again Himself makes plain, " For I am come, 

" He says, to preach the commandment of the Lord." And 

what is this ? Our virtue-loving Master wisheth us to depart 

far from all earthly and temporal matters; to flee from the 

love of the flesh, and from the vain anxiety of business, and 

from base lusts ; to set no value on hoards, to despise wealth, 

and the love of gain; to be good and loving unto one another ; 

not to lay up treasures upon earth ; to be superior to strife and 

envy, not quarrelling with the brethren, but rather giving way 

to them, even though they seek to gain an advantage over us ; 

Luke vi. 29. for from him, He saith, who taketh away what is thine, 

" demand it not again;" and rather to strive after all those things 

which are useful and necessary for the salvation of the soul. 

And for those who habitually thus live, Christ lays down laws 

by which they become illustrious and praiseworthy. For He 

Mat. x. 9. said, " Possess neither silver nor gold : nor two coats, nor 

Luke xii. " scrip, nor brass in your purses/ And again, " Make for 

33 " yourselves purses that grow not old : a treasure that failcth 

" not for ever in heaven." And when a young man drew near 

Mat. xix. saying, " Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" 

161 " Go, He answered, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, 

" and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come after Me." 

To those therefore who bow down to Him the obedient neck of 

their minds, He both gives commandments and appoints laws : 

He lays down for them precepts, distributes to them the hea 

venly inheritance, gives them spiritual blessings, and is a store 

house for them of never-failing gifts. While for those who 

think only of earthly things, and whose heart is set on wealth, 

and their mind hardened, and unmerciful, and without gen 

tleness or love for the poor, to such He will justly say, " Who 

" set Me as ruler or divider over you ?" He rejects the man 

therefore as troublesome, and as having no desire to learn 

ought fitting for him to know. 

But He does not leave us without instruction: for having 
found, so to speak, a seasonable opportunity, He frames a pro 
fitable and saving discourse ; and protesting as it were against 
them, declares, "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all 
" covetousness p ." He shewed us that pitfall of the devil, 



P In the text the translator had as here he has JZ-QOQ^A., the 
used i^niV . "greediness," where- word constantly elsewhere used by 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 411 

covetousness, a thing hateful to God, and which the wise Paul 

even calls idolatry, perhaps as being suitable for those only Col. iii. 5. 

who know not God, or as being equal in the balance with the 

defilement of those men who choose to serve stocks and stones. 

It is a snare of evil spirits, by which they drag down man s soul 

to the meshes of hell. For this reason He says very justly, as 

setting them on their guard, " Take heed and keep yourselves 

" from all covetousness :" that is, from great and small, and 

from defrauding any one whoever ho may be. For as I said, 

it is a thing hateful to God and men. For who does not flee 

from him who uses violence, and is rapacious and greedy, and 

ready for iniquity in those things to which he has no right, 

and who with avaricious hand gathers that which is not his ? 

What beast of prey does not such a man surpass in savagcness ? 

Than what rocks is he not more hard ? For the heart of him 

who is defrauded is torn, and even melted sometimes by the 

penetrating pain as it were by fire: but he takes pleasure 

therein, and is merry, and makes the pains of them that suffer 

a cause of rejoicing. For the wronged man is sure generally 

to be one without power, who can but raise his eyes to Him 

Who alone is able to be angry for what he has suffered. And 

He, because He is just and good, accepts his supplication, and 

pities the tears of the sufferer, and brings punishment on those 

who have done the wrong. 

And this thou mayest learn from what He Himself says 
thereupon by the mouth of the holy prophets; " Therefore Amos v.n. 
" because ye have bruised the heads of the poor, and taken 
" from them chosen gifts, ye shall build houses of carved stone, 
" but ye shall not dwell therein : and ye shall plant desirable 
" vineyards, but ye shall not drink of their wine. For I know 

him as the equivalent of ir\foveia. " Spirit" feminine, whereas his own 

As |oi\ . is also used in the custom is, wherever it refers to the 

Peschito, (and the Philox.) I ima- Godhead, to make it masculine, in 

gine that though the translator ren- the same way as " the Word" is 

dered the Greek directly into Sy- masculine, and not feminine, where- 

iac, yet that in the quotations his ever it refers to Christ. That he 

nemory frequently suggested to did not however use a translation 

lira the words and phrases of the directly, I infer from the fact, that 

Peschito, as there frequently occur he so frequently varies in his quo- 

n texts archaic forms unlike his tations, using synonyms even where 

)wn more polished language. He evidently rendering exactly the same 

las even once or twice made the Greek text. 

3 G 2 



COMMENTARY UPON 

" your many wickednesses, and mighty are your sins." And 
is. v. 8. again, " Woe unto those who add house to house, and join 
" field to field, that they may take away something from their 
" neighbour. Will ye dwell alone in the earth ? For these 
" things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts. 
" For though your houses be many, they shall be a desolation : 
" though they be great and fair, there shall be none to inhabit 
" them. For the ground that ten yoke of oxen till shall pro- 
" duce one pitcher full : and he that soweth six artaba?q shall 
" gather three measures/ Although therefore houses and 
fields may be the fruit of the oppression of others, yet these, 
He says, shall lie waste, without inhabitants, and shall yield no 
profit whatsoever to those who will act wickedly, because the 
just wrath of God is poured out upon them. In every way 
therefore there is no profit in covetousness. 

And to view it in yet another light ; it availeth nothing, 
because a man s life, as He saith, is not from his possessions, 
by reason of his having a superfluity. And this is plainly 
true : for the duration of a man s life is not extended in pro 
portion to his wealth, nor does the sum of his life run parallel 
with that of his wicked gains. And this the Saviour has 
clearly and manifestly shewn us, by very excellently adding 
the present parable in connexion with His previous argument. 
" For the ground, He said, of a certain rich man brought forth 
" abundant crops." Consider it exactly, that thou mayest 
admire the beautiful art of the discourse. For He has not 
pointed out to us an estate of which one portion only brought 
forth abundant harvests; but the whole of it was fertile for its! 
owner, shewing thereby the vastness of his wealth. Similar 
to this is that passage of one of the holy apostles ; " Be-| 
James v. 4. t( hold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped your land, 
" which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth : and the suppli- 
" cations of those that reaped have entered into the ears of the 
" Lord of Sabaoth." The Saviour therefore said that all his 
estate brought forth abundant harvests. 

<i In the margin the translator an Ephah, i. e. i bushels. As the] 

has remarked that " one Artaba Sept. however here translate a Ho- 

" equals three measures." But three mer by six Artaba?, whereas it isj 

measures, rpia perpa, is the usual generally represented as equal ten 

rendering of the Sept. for rtQ N, ten Ephahs, there is still some diffi- 

Ephah, cf. Ex. xvi. 36. An Ar- culty in reconciling the translation 

taba therefore must be the same as with the Hebrew. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 413 

What therefore does the rich man do, surrounded by a pro 
fusion of so many blessings beyond all numbering ? In distress 
and anxiety he utters the words of poverty. " For what, he 
" says, shall I do ?" The man who is in want of necessaries 
constantly ejaculates this miserable language : but lo ! one 
here of boundless wealth uses similar expressions. He deter 
mined then to build more spacious storehouses : he purposed to 
enjoy for himself alone those revenues that were sufficient for a 
populous city. He looks not to the future ; he raises not his 
eyes to God ; he does not count it worth his while to gain for 
the mind those treasures which are above in heaven : he does 
not cherish love for the poor, nor desire the estimation to 
be gained thereby : he sympathizes not with suffering ; it 
gives him no pain, nor awakens his pity. And what is still 
more irrational, he settles for himself the duration of his life, 
as if he would reap this too from the ground : for he says, 
" I will say to myself, Self, thou hast goods laid up for many 
" years ; eat, drink, enjoy thyself." But, rich man, one 
f may say, thou hast indeed storehouses for thy fruits, but 
* whence wilt thou obtain thy many years ? for by the decree 
of God thy life is shortened. For God, it tells us, said unto 
him, Thou fool, this night they shall require of thee thy 
soul. But whose shall these things be that thou hast pre- 
4 pared 1 *? 1 

It is true therefore, that a man s life is not from his posses 
sions, by reason of his having a superfluity : but very blessed, 
and of glorious hope is he who is rich towards God. And who 
is he? Evidently one who loveth not wealth, but virtue rather, 
and to whom few things are sufficient: and Avhosc hand is open Luke x. 42. 
to the necessities of the indigent, comforting the sorrows of 
those in poverty, according to his means, and the utmost of his 
power. It is he who gathers in the storehouses that are above, 
and lays up treasures in heaven. Such a one shall find the 
usury of his virtue, and the recompense of his upright and 
blameless life ; Christ shall bless him : by Whom, and with 
Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion with the 
Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen. 

r A passage inserted in this place Com. on Luke, at all events is not 
by Mai, as quoted in a catena upon rightly placed here, 
the minor prophets from Cyril s 



414 



COMMENTARY UPON 



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Heb. i. i. 



SERMON XC. 

//e 5-iW unto His disciples ; Therefore I say unto you, 
Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat : nor for 
your body, what ye shall put on. For the life is more 
than meat, and the body than raiment. Consider the 
ravens, that they soiv not nor reap : which have neither 
closet nor store, and God feedeth them : hoiv much more 
are ye better than the birds ! And which of you by being 
anxious can add to his stature one cubit ? If ye then be 
not able to do even that which is least, ivhy are ye anxious 
about any thing else ? Consider the lilies how they groiv : 
they toil not, neither do they spin : but I say unto you, 
that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is 
today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how 
much more will He you, ye of little faith ? And seek not 
what ye shall eat, nor ivhat ye shall drink, neither let your 
mind be unsettled : for all these things the nations of the 
world seek after : but your Father knoweth that ye have 
need of them. But seek His kingdom, and all these things 
shall be added unto you. 

THE law of Moses was ordained for the Israelites, to guide 
them unto all which it was their duty to do, and to set clearly be 
fore them whatever was for their benefit. And they made this a 
matter of the greatest joy, saying, " Blessed are the children 
" of Israel : for unto us are made known the things that please 
" the Lord." But I affirm, that we can even more fitly and 
appropriately use these words : for it was not a prophet, nor 
yet an angel, who spake unto us, but the Son in His own 
person, even He Who is Lord of the holy angels and of the 
prophets. And this the wise Paul, the minister of His myste 
ries, clearly teaches us, thus writing ; " God, Who in manifold 
" parts and manifold manners spake in old times to the 
" fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken 
" unto us by the Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all ; 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 415 

" and by Whom also He made the worlds." Blessed therefore 
are we, in that we are taught by Himself His good and saving 
will, by which we are guided into all virtuous pursuits, that 
having so fulfilled a life worthy of emulation, such as befits the 
elect, we may reign with Him. 

Observe therefore how carefully, and with what great skill 
He fashions the lives of the holy apostles unto spiritual excel 
lence. But with them He benefits us also : for He wills that 
all mankind should be saved, and should choose the wise and 
more excellent life. For this reason He makes them abandon 
superfluous anxiety, and does not permit them to practise a 
careworn and urgent industry through the wish of gathering 
what exceeds their necessities ; for in these matters a super 
fluity adds nothing to our benefit. " Be not anxious therefore, 
" He says, for your life, what ye shall eat : nor for your body, 
" what ye shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and 
" the body than raiment." He did not simply say, " Bo not 
" anxious;" but added " for your life :" that is, do not expend 
any careful study on these things, but bestow your earnestness 
on things of far higher importance. For the life indeed is of 
more importance than food, and the body than raiment. Since 
therefore a risk is laid upon us that concerns both life and 
body, and pain and punishment are decreed against those who 
will not live uprightly, let all anxiety be laid aside respecting 
raiment and food. 

And besides how is it not a base thing for those who are 
lovers of virtue, and earnest followers after such manly virtues 
as are excellent and approved of God, to be intoxicated with 
fine apparel like young boys, and to run after expensive ban 
quets ! For there follow immediately upon these things a 
savage crowd also of other lusts : and the result is apostasy 
from God : for it is written, " Love not the world, neither the i John ii. 
" things that are in the world." And again ; " Know ye not 
" that the love of the world is enmity with God !" It is our 
duty therefore to keep our foot apart from all worldly desires, 
and rather to take delight in those things which please God. 
But perchance thou wilt reply to this, Who then will give 
us the necessaries of life? And to this be our answer as fol 
lows; The Lord is worthy to be trusted; and He clearly 
promises it to thee, and by little things gives thce full assur- 



416 COMMENTARY UPON 

ance that He will be true also in that which is great. " For 
" consider, He says, the ravens : that they sow not,, nor reap : 
" they have neither closet nor store : and God feedeth them." 
For just as, when He was strengthening us unto spiritual forti 
tude, He taught us to despise even death itself by saying, 
Lukexii.4. Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the 
" soul ;" and in the same way to make His providence plain to 
thee, used for His proof things utterly valueless, saying ; 
" Are not two sparrows sold for one halfpenny ? and not one 
" of them falleth to the ground without your Father : " and 
" the individual hairs of your head are all counted : fear not 
" therefore ; for ye are of more value than many sparrows :" 
so also here, from the birds and the flowers of the field, he 
produces in thee a firm and unwavering faith. Nor does He 
permit us at all to doubt, but that most certainly He will grant 
us His mercy, and stretch out His comforting hand, to bestow 
upon us in all things a sufficiency. It is moreover a very 
wicked thing, that while those who are placed under the yoke 
of bodily slavery depend upon their masters, as sufficient to 
supply them with food and clothing ; we will not consent to 
put our trust in Almighty God, when He promises us the 
necessaries of life. 

And what benefit at all is there in living luxuriously ? Or 
rather, will it not bring with it utter destruction ? For quickly 
of a certainty there enter along with luxurious pleasures 
the infamies of sensuality, and the assaults of base and con 
temptible lusts ; things whose approach is difficult to combat. 
And the being clad too in splendid apparel is of no benefit 
whatsoever. " For consider," He says, " the lilies, how they 
" grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. I tell you, that 
" not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of 
" these." And this also is true : for both in lilies and other 
flowers that spring up in the fields, the lustre of the colours 
possesses an admirable beauty, both by the diversity of the 
hues, and the variety of the arrangement, as they glitter in 
their natural purple, or shine with the brilliancy of other 
colours : but all that is made by the art of man in imitation of 
them, whether by the painter s skill, or in embroidery, alto- 1 
gether falls short of the reality : and even though it be sue- j 
cessful as a work of art, it scarcely even approaches the truth. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 417 

If therefore these representations by means of art, are so infe 
rior to the glory of the lily, and the beautiful colours of other 
flowers, how is it not true, that even Solomon, though so mag 
nificent a king, in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
these ? Vain therefore is our toil for beautiful apparel. Suffi 
cient is it for men of sense that their raiment being such as 
necessity requires should be decorous, and easily procurable ; 
and with it such a bare sufficiency of food as merely satisfies 
the demands of nature. Let their banquet in Christ be suffi 
cient for the saints : a banquet spiritual, divine, and intellec 
tual: and the glory that will follow. "For He shall change Phil, iii.ai. 
" the body of our humiliation into the likeness of the body of 
" His glory ;" and as He Himself says, " They shall shine like Mat. xiii. 
" the sun in the glory of their Father." What garments 43 
therefore are not surpassed in splendour by the magnificence 
that is in Christ ? 

And in another view it was unbefitting for those who were to 
be the type and pattern for others of holy conduct, themselves 
carelessly to fall into those things, which as soon as they be 
came the world s teachers, they would have to warn others to 
abandon. And it would have been no slight injury both to 
their zeal, and to the usefulness of their sacred preaching, for 
the disciples to have been burdened with the care of worldly 
pursuits. On the contrary, it was their duty with determined 
mind entirely to disregard such things, and simply and ear 
nestly to be anxious for apostolic victories 8 . Very justly for 
this reason He openly reprobates the pursuit of the things of 

8 Some additions are here made bably taken from some other work 

by Mai, who first gives what wears of S. Cyril. Arid lastly, from the 

the appearance of a deduction of the same Codex A, supported by B, a 

Catenist, namely, that our Lord sentence is inserted as an introduc- 

took no slight care of the preacher s tion to the subsequent passage in 

office in thus making him abstain the Syriac, viz., " Shall not so good 

from worldly business. In the Ox- " a Lord, Who nourishes the tiniest 

ford translation of Aquinas, who " bird, feed him who was made in 

has correctly given Dominus con- " his own image ? Very justly for 

suluit non modicum studio sacra- " this reason," &c. On more than 

rum predicationum, this passage is one occasion I have noticed the 

changed into, " Our Lord strongly same habit of the Catenists, to in- 

" recommends the study of holy troduce some extract quoted ver- 

" preaching." Next from A 178, batim by a short summary of the 

there is an exhortation to value the previous argument, 
soul above meat and clothing, pro- 

3 H 



418 COMMENTARY UPON 

time, " for the nations of the world," He says, "seek after 
" them :" and raises them to the unwavering conviction, that 
certainly and under all circumstances they will have enough, 
because their Father well knoweth of what things they have 
need, even He Who is in heaven. And at a most fitting season 
He calls Him Father, that they may know, that He will not 
forget His children, but be kind and loving unto them. 

Let us seek, therefore, not such food as is unnecessary and 
superfluous, but whatsoever tends unto the salvation of the 
soul : not raiment of great price, but how to deliver our body 
from the fire, and from judgment. And this let us do, seeking 
His kingdom ; even all that will aid us in becoming partakers 
of the kingdom of Christ : by Whom and with Whom, to God 
the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, 
for ever and ever. Amen. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 419 



SERMON XCI. 

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father s good pleasure C. xii. 32- 

tojjive you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give 34 
I alms : make you purses that grow not old : and a treasure add. al S. 
thatfaileth not in heaven, ivhere thief approacheth not, nor 
moth destroy eth. For where your treasure is, there will 
your heart be also. 

AGAIN the Saviour deigns to bestow upon us a pathway to 
eternal life,, and opens wide the door of salvation ; that travel 
ling thereon, and adorning the soul with every virtue, we may 
attain to the city which is above, and of which the prophet 
Isaiah also bore witness, saying ; " Thine eyes shall see Jeru- Is. xxxiii. 
" salem, the wealthy city, even the tents that shake not." For 2a 
immoveable is that tabernacle which is in heaven, and unend 
ing Jy is the lot of those that dwell therein. And the nature 
of the way that leads us thereto He shews us, by saying ; 
" Fear not, little flock : for it is your Father s good pleasure 
" to give you the kingdom." This therefore is indeed spiritual 
consolation, and the pathway that leads us to assured faith. 

I think, however, that I ought first of all to shew you the 
reason why the Saviour spake words such as these ; for so 
the full signification of the passage before us will become the 
more plain to the hearers. In teaching therefore His dis 
ciples not to be covetous of wealth, He also withdraws them 
from worldly anxiety, and from vain toils and luxury and 
splendour of attire, and whatsoever evil habits follow upon 
these things : and bids them rather courageously be earnest in 
the pursuit of these things, [which* are good and more excel 
lent, by saying ; " Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall 
eat: nor for your body, what ye shall put on. For the life 
" is more than meat, and the body than raiment ? " And He 
also] added to this, that " your Father which is in heaven 
" knoweth that these things are needed by you." And, so to 

* The MS. having suffered in rent, the words within brackets are 
this place a slight injury from a added to complete the sense. 

3 H 2 



420 COMMENTARY UPON 

speak, He enounced as a general law, useful and necessary for 
salvation, not only to the holy apostles, but to all who dwell 
upon the earth, that men must seek His kingdom, as being 
sure that what He gives will be sufficient, so as for them to 
be in need of nothing. For what does He say ? " Fear not, 
" little flock/ And by Do not fear, He means that they 
must believe that certainly and without doubt their heavenly 
Father will give the means of life to them that love Him. He 

Ps. civ. 28. will not neglect His own : rather He will open unto them His 
hand, which ever filleth the universe with goodness. 

And what is the proof of these things ? "It is," He says, 
" your Father s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." And 
He Who gives things thus great and precious, and bestows^the 
kingdom of heaven, what unwillingness can there be on His 
part to be kind towards us ; or how will He not supply us with 
food and clothing ? For what earthly good is equal to the 
kingdom of heaven ? or what is worthy to be compared with 
those blessings, which God is about to bestow, and which nei 
ther the understanding can conceive, nor words describe ? 

i Cor. ii. 9. " For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have enterec 
" into the heart of man, the things which God hath preparec 
" for them that love Him." When thou praisest earthly wealth 
and admirest worldly power, these things are but as nothing 

i Pet.i. 24. compared with that which is in store. " For all flesh," it says 
" is grass : and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
And if thou speakest of temporal affluence and luxuries am 

i John ii. banquets, yet " the world," it says, " passeth away, and th( 
" desire thereof." The things therefore which are of God sur 
pass in an incomparable degree ought which this world pos 
sesses. If therefore God bestow the kingdom of heaven upon 
those that love Him, how can He be unwilling to give foo( 
and raiment ? 

And He calls these on earth a " little flock." For we are 
inferior to the multitude of the angels, who are innumerable 
and incomparably surpass in might our mortal things. Am 
this too the Saviour has Himself taught us, in that parable in 
the Gospels so excellently framed for our instruction : for He 

Luke xv. 4. said, " What man of you, that has a hundred sheep, and one 
" of them go astray, will not leave the ninety and nine upon 
" the mountains, and go to seek that which has strayed ? Am 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 421 

" if ho chance to find it, verily I say unto you, that he will 
" rejoice in it more than in the ninety and nine which went not 
" astray." Observe therefore, that while the number of ra 
tional created beings extends to ten times ten, the flock that is 
upon earth is but as one out of a hundred. But though it is 
little, both by nature and number and dignity, compared with 
the countless troops of the spirits that are above, yet has the 
goodness of the Father, which surpasses all description, given 
also to it the portion of those transcendent spirits, I mean the 
kingdom of heaven : for permission is given to whosoever will 
to attain thereunto. 

u [And the means by which we may attain to it, we learn 
from the Saviour s words: for He says, "Sell that ye have, 
" and give alms." Arid this perchance] is a commandment 
hard and difficult for the rich to endure: for so He Him 
self has somewhere said; " That hardly shall they that have Luke xviii. 
" riches enter the kingdom of God." And yet the command- ?4- 
ment is not impossible for them that are of perfect mind. For 
come, let me address a few words to those who are rich. With 
draw your attention a little from these temporal things ; cease 
from too worldly a mind ; fix the eye of the understanding 
upon the world that is to be hereafter : for that is of long dura 
tion ; but this is limited and short : the time of every indivi 
dual s life here is allotted by measure ; but his life in the world 
to come is incorruptible and enduring. Let our earnestness 
therefore after things to come be unwavering: let us store 
up as our treasure the hope of what will be hereafter : let us 
gather beforehand for ourselves those things, by which we 
shall even then be counted worthy of the gifts which God 
bestows. 

To persuade us, however, to take due care of our souls, 
come, and let us consider the matter among ourselves with 
reference to men s ordinary calculations. Suppose one of us 
wanted to sell a. fertile and productive farm, or, if you will, a 

u The words within brackets have the Greek text in Mai, to supply 

been added to supply the lacuna on the place of those which have pe- 

the obverse side of the leaf occa- rished in the Syriac, the whole fo- 

sioned by the rent spoken of above, lium being in an extremely muti- 

Many single words have also been lated state, 
added chiefly on the authority of 



COMMENTARY UPON 

very beautifully-built house; and so one of you, who had plenty 
of gold and plenty of silver, were to conceive the desire of pur 
chasing it; would he not feel pleasure in buying it, and readily 
give the money that was laid up in his coffers, and even add to 
what he had by him other money on loan ? Of this I think 
there can be no doubt, and that he would feel pleasure in giv 
ing it : for the transaction would not expose him to loss, but 
rather the expectation of his future gains would make him in 
a flutter of joy. Now what I say is somewhat similar to this. 
The God of all offers to sell thee paradise. There thou wilt 
reap eternal life; an unending joy; an honourable and glorious 
habitation. Once there, right blessed wilt thou be, and wilt 
reign with Christ. Draw near therefore with eagerness : pur 
chase the estate : with these earthly things obtain things eter 
nal : give that which abideth not, and gain that which is se 
cure : give these earthly things, and win that which is in hea 
ven : give that which thou must leave, even against thy will, 
that thou rnayest not lose things hereafter : lend to God thy 
wealth, that thou mayest be really rich. 

And the way in which to lend it He next teaches us, saying ; 
" Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make you purses that 
" grow not old: and a treasure that faileth not, eternal x , in 
" heaven." And the very same the blessed David also teaches 
us in the Psalms, where he says by inspiration of every merciful 
Ps. cxii. 9. and good man: "He hath dispersed, and given to the poor, 
" and his righteousness is stored up for ever." For worldly 
wealth has many foes : for thieves are numerous, and this 
world of ours is full of oppressors ; of whom some are wont to 
plunder by secret means, while others use violence, and tear it 
away even from those who resist. But the wealth that is laid 
up above in heaven, no one injures: for God is its Keeper, Who 
sleepeth not. 

And besides it is a very absurd thing, that while we often 
entrust men of probity with our earthly wealth, and feel no 
fear lest any loss should result from our confidence in the up 
rightness of those who receive it ; we will not trust it to God, 

x " Eternal" is an erroneous ad- memory, as he does not read it in 
dition, occasioned probably by S. the heading, nor has it any MS. 
Cyril having quoted the text from authority. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 423 

Who receives from us these earthly things, so to speak, as a 
loan, and promises to give us things eternal, and that with 
usury. " For good measure," He says, " and pressed close, and Lukevi.38. 
" weighing down the scale, and running over, shall they give 
" into your bosom." And for the measure to run over, is a 
direct proof of its great abundance. Away then with this plea 
sure-loving wealth ; this parent of base lusts ; this inciter to 
carnal impurity ; this friend of covetousness ; this worker of 
boasting : which, as with indissoluble bonds, chains the human 
mind in effeminacy and indolence towards all that is good, and 
stretches out, so to speak, a stiff and haughty neck against 
God : for it yields not itself to that yoke which would lead it 
unto piety. And be gentle, and merciful, ready to communi 
cate, and courteous. For the Lord is true, Who says; tc that 
" where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also/ For the 
whole earnestness of those who value these temporal things is 
set upon them ; while those who wish for that which is in hea 
ven, direct thither the eye of the mind. Be therefore, as I 
said, friendly to thy companions, and merciful. And the blessed 
Paul makes me speak unto thee, where he writes ; " Charge i Tim. vi. 
" them who are rich in this world, that they be not high- I? 
" minded, nor trust in riches, wherein is no reliance, but on 
" God, Who giveth us all things richly to enjoy : that they do 
" good : that they be rich in good works, ready to give, and 
" willing to share with others ; laying up for themselves trea- 
" sures that shall be a good foundation for that which is to 
" come, that they may lay hold upon true life." These are the 
things which, if we earnestly practise, we shall become heirs of 
the kingdom of heaven, by Christ ; by Whom and with Whom 
to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy 
Ghost, for ever and over, Amen.y 

y Mai s first extract from this ing partly his, but that the" Ca- 
Sermon, from A. and D., is par- tenae do not uniformly ascribe it to 
tially an abbreviation of S. Cyril, him appears from Aquinas, who as- 
but with additional explanations signs half of it to Theophylact, and 
from Theophylact, and some other half to Bede. Theophylact always 
author, of the reason why our Lord borrows largely from Cyril, but in- 
called his disciples a little flock : terweaves his own very marked 
Cf. Th. p. 412. The passage may style of interpretation, 
have been assigned to Cyril as be- 



COMMENTARY UPON 



C. xii. 35- 

40. 

vuwv bis S. 



add. 



om. t\ey et 



om. ol Sov- 
Aot BT> 



om. olv B. 



SERMON XCIL 

,et your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, and ye like 
unto men that wait for their lord, ivhen he will return 

from, the banquet : that when he hath come and knocked 
they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those ser 
vants, whom their lord at his coming shall find watching. 
Verily I say unto you, that he will gird up his loins, and 
make them sit down to meat, and pass 2 by and minister 
unto them. And if he come in the second watch, or if he 
come in the third ivatch, and find them so, blessed are 
those servants. And know this, that if the master of the 
house had known at what hour the thief would come, he 
ivould be awake, and not have suffered his house to be dug 
through. Be ye therefore also ready, for in an hour that 
ye expect not the Son of man cometh. 



THE Psalmist has somewhere said unto Christ, the Saviour 
Ps.cxix.96. of all; ".Thy commandment is exceeding broad/ And any 
one may see if he will from the very facts that this saying is 
true : for He establishes for us pathways in countless numbers, 
so to speak, to lead us unto salvation, and make us acquainted 
with every good work, that we, winning for our heads the 
crown of piety, and imitating the noble conduct of the saints, 
may attain to that portion which is fitly prepared for them. For 
this reason He says, " Let your loins be girt, and your lamps^ 
" burning." For He speaks to them as to spiritually-minded 
persons, and describes once again things intellectual by such as 
are apparent and visible. 

For let no one say, that He wishes us to have our bodily 
loins girt, and burning lamps in our hands : such an interpre- 



z The Greek 7rapc\d<av probably 
means " coming forward ;" Alford 
translates " coming in turn to each :" 
the Syriac, however, translates it 
quite literally, and so do both the 
Peschito and Philox. versions. It 
will be noticed also above that the 



translator renders -ya/ioi by a " ban- 
" quet," and so does the Peschito, 
following in this the Greek usage, 
which had gradually widened the 
meaning of ydp.oi to any sumptuous 
entertainment. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 45 

tation would suit only Jewish dullness : but our loins being 
girt, signifies the readiness of the mind to labour industriously 
in every thing praiseworthy ; for such as apply themselves to 
bodily labours, and are engaged in strenuous toil, have their 
loins girt. And the lamp apparently represents the wakefulness 
of the mind, and intellectual cheerfulness.* And we say that 
tlie human mind is awake when it repels any tendency to 
slumber off into that carelessness, which often is the means of 
>ringing it into subjection to every kind of wickedness, when 
>eing sunk in stupor the heavenly light within it is liable 
,o be endangered, or even already is in danger from a vio- 
ent and impetuous blast, as it were, of wind. Christ therefore 
commands us to be awake: and to this His disciple also arouses 
us by saying ; Be awake : be watchful." And further, the very t Pet. v. 8. 
wise Paul also says ; " Awake, sleeper, and arise from the Eph. v. r 4 . 
* dead : and Christ shall give thee light." 

It is the duty therefore of those who would be partakers of 
eternal life, and firmly believe that in due season Christ will 
descend from heaven as Judge, not to be lax, and dissolved in 
Measures ; nor, so to speak, poured out and melted in worldly 
dissipation : but rather let them have their will tightly girt, 
and distinguish themselves by their zeal in labouring in those 
duties with which God is well pleased. And they must further 
)ossess a vigilant and wakeful mind, distinguished by the 
knowledge of the truth, and richly endowed with the radiance 
of the vision of God ; so as for them, rejoicing therein, to say, 
Thou, Lord, will light my lamp : Thou, my Gocl, wilt Ps - xviii - 
( lighten my darkness." 

Quite unbefitting is an expression like this for heretics, 
whether they be the sectaries or the teachers. For as Christ 
Himself said, " Darkness b has blinded their eyes." And this John xii. 
Paul explains to us, saying, that " the god of this world hath 4C 
" blinded the minds of them that believe not, that the light of 
the glorious Gospel of Christ may not shine upon them." 
It is our duty therefore carefully to avoid their false speaking, 

a Mai has a short interpolation " watch with unwinking eyes for 

here, possibly from some other " our Master s nod." 

work of S. Cyril, as follows : "And b In this quotation S. Cyril s me- 

that we must daily be prepared mory has apparently confounded 

for our departure hence, and John xii. 40. with i John ii. n. 

3 1 



426 COMMENTARY UPON 

and not to turn aside from the doctrines of the truth, and 
admit into our minds the darkness of the devil ; but rather to 
draw near to the true light, even Christ, praising Him in psalms 

Ps. xiii. 3. and saying, "Lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not for death." 
For it is in very deed death, and that not of the body, but of 
the soul, to fall from the uprightness of true doctrines, and 
choose falsehood instead of the truth. Let therefore our loins 
be girt, and our lamps burning, according to what has here 
been spoken unto us. 

And let us know that the law also of the very wise Moses 
is found to have commanded something of the kind to the 

Ex. xii. 6. Israelites. For a lamb was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of 

i Cor. v. 7. the first month, as a type of Christ. " For our passover, Christ 
" is sacrificed," according to the testimony of most sacred 
Paul. The hierophant Moses then, or rather God by his means, 

Ex. xii. ii. commanded them, when eating its flesh, saying, " Let your; 
" loins be girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in 
" your hands." For I affirm that it is the duty of those who 
are partakers of Christ, to beware of a barren indolence ; and 
yet further, not to have as it were their loins ungirt and loose, 
but be ready cheerfully to undertake whatever labours become 
the saints ; and to hasten besides with alacrity whithersoever 
the law of God leads them. And for this reason He very 
appropriately made them wear [at the passover] the garb of 
travellers c . 

And that we ought to look for the coming again of Christ 
from heaven ; for He will come in the glory of the Father with 
the holy angels ; He has taught us saying, " That we must be 
" like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return 
" from the banqueting-house, that when he hath come and 
" knocked, they may open to him immediately." For Christ 
will return as from a feast : by which is plainly shown, that 
God ever dwells in festivals, such as befit Him. For above 

c Again, Mai adds the following * " the loin, embolden thy strength 

from B, For the dress of travellers " greatly." For He bids them, as 

is very fitting for those who preach though about to proceed immedi- 

the divine gospel : and so God ately to Judsea, to strengthen the 

* bids the captives in Babylon, when * loin ; which means, to be ready 

foretelling their restoration, and and prepared for the labours of 

encouraging them to prepare for wayfaring, and, using resistless ear- 

it ; " Examine the way, strengthen nestness, to prevail over every toil. 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE. 427 

there is no sadness whatsoever : since nothing can grieve That 
nature Which is incapable of passion, and of being affected by 
anything whatsoever of this kind. 

When therefore He comes and finds us girt and wakeful, 
and with our heart enlightened, then forthwith He will make 
us blessed : for < He will gird up His loins, and serve them." 
By which we learn that he will requite us proportionately : 
and because we are as it were weary with toil, He will comfort 
us, setting before us spiritual banquets, and spreading the 
abundant table of His gifts. 

" And whether He come in the second watch, it says, or 
whether He come in the third watch, blessed are they." 
Here observe I pray, the breadth of the divine gentleness, and 
ihe bountifulness of His mildness towards us. For verily He 
knoweth our frame, and the readiness with which man s mind 
wanders into sin. He knoweth that the power of fleshly lust 
yrannizeth over us, and that the distractions of this world 
ven, so to spe