ACC ~ Hebrews 1 v5 - 14

OVERVIEW:

The early writers were intensely interested in the nature of angels (EPHREM), given that Christ is portrayed in Hebrews as superior to the angels (PHOTIUS). Gregory of Nazianzus catalogues them in Pauline terms as angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers, splendors, ascents, intelligent powers, pure and unalloyed, immovable to evil. They are ministers of God’s will, traveling through all space, readily present to all at any place through their zeal for ministry and agility of nature, guardians for different parts of the world or the universe. They are fellow ministers with us, our partners in service (CHRYSOSTOM). They are especially present when we apply ourselves to attending to the word of God, to prayer and to the mysteries (BEDE). According to Origen, though, Christ does not need the help of angels, being greater than the angels; indeed, the angels need the help of Jesus so as not to stumble.

According to Chrysostom, the statements of the epistle’s opening questions are said of Christ, according to the flesh, for the flesh partakes of the high things, just as the Godhead of the lowly. In the incarnation the Lord was “brought into the world” in order to bring fallen humanity back to God (CHRYSOSTOM). “Christ” means “Anointed” by the oil of gladness. Eusebius further develops the uniqueness of Christ by noting that while the prophets and kings of the Old Testament were also anointed, only Christ, who is anointed with the Spirit, is worshiped; they were types of Christ. These “christs” signify him who saves us from our sins as the high priest reconciles us with the Father, and as kings give us the eternal kingdom of the Father (BEDE). Ephrem asserts that in the eschaton, all the works of creation will be renewed rather than annihilated.

Christ is also unique in that he stands and reigns on a lowly footstool, that is, the incarnation. “By taking on such lowliness he made it as lofty as it had earlier been insignificant in the world.” Satan was overcome by the weakness of the flesh, and no other nature has been made one with Christ except that of our flesh, which he took and was glorified. Thus our miseries became strangers to us (CASSIODORUS). Christ offered human nature to the Father who accepted the offering (PHOTIUS).

The Fathers address the issue of the role of angels in our salvation. Thus they assert that all ministering spirits are sent for our sake and for our salvation (AUGUSTINE, CHRYSOSTOM, BEDE). They may dwell in our hearts if they are adorned by the practice of virtue. There is an angel at-tached to every given soul to guard it (ORIGEN). The angels teach us the divine mysteries (ISAAC OF NINEVEH).

1:5-7 | The Angels and the Son

ON ANGELS AND LUKE. ORIGEN: Let us see what the devil says to the Lord from the Scriptures: “It is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you; on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” See how crafty he is, even in the texts he quotes. For he wishes to diminish the Savior’s glory, as if the Savior needed the help of angels. It is as if he would strike his foot unless he were supported by their hands. The devil takes this verse from Scripture and applies it to Christ. Yet it is written not of Christ but about the saints in general. Freely and in total confidence I contradict the devil. This passage cannot be applied to the person of Christ, for Christ does not need the help of angels. He is greater than the angels and obtained a better name than they by inheritance. For God never said to any of the angels, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” He has spoken to none of them as to a son. “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” But to his own Son he speaks properly and says countless things about him in the prophets.

As I say, the Son of God does not need the help of angels. No, devil; learn rather that unless Jesus helps the angels, they dash their feet. We have just heard a passage about the angels, “that we are to judge angels.” If any of the angels is seen to stumble, he stumbles because he did not reach out his hand to Jesus. If Jesus had taken his hand, he would not have stumbled. For when someone trusts in his own strength and does not call upon the help of Jesus, he stumbles and falls. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 31.4-5.

CHRIST IS SUPERIOR TO THE ANGELS. PHOTIUS: When he introduces his only begotten, that is, when it was pleasing for him to reveal in the flesh his only begotten son to the inhabitants of the universe, he says, “Let all the angels who serve him, worship him,” and “you will see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.6.

FIRSTBORN AND WORSHIP. THEODORET OF CYR: Both phrases, “brings the firstborn” and “let them worship,” suggest the incarnation. Whence does he, the one who supports all things by the word of his power and is maker and creator of the ages, come into the world? How is he “firstborn” if he is only begotten? If even after the incarnation the angels adored him, did they not offer him this honor before the incarnation? He was everywhere as God, yet as man he came into the world. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

ANGELS ARE NOT MATERIALLY FORMED. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: And it was never announced to any man, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In fact, even though men are able to subject their fellow creatures, they will never force the angels to obey them. The angels are not materially formed. “He made,” Paul says, “his angels spirits and his ministers flames of fire.” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

WE GET DIZZY ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Since the Word knows the tabernacle of Moses to be a figure of the whole creation—I mean the entire system of things visible and invisible—shall we pass the first veil and, stepping beyond the realm of sense, look into the holy place, the intellectual and celestial creation? But not even this can we see in an incorporeal way, though it is incorporeal, since it is called—or is—fire and spirit. For he is said to make his angels spirits and his ministers flames of fire … though perhaps this “making” means preserving by that Word by which they came into existence. The angel then is called spirit and fire: spirit, as being a creature of the intellectual sphere; fire, as being of a purifying nature; for I know that the same names belong to the first nature. But, relative to us at least, we must reckon the angelic nature incorporeal or, at any rate, as nearly so as possible. Do you see how we get dizzy over this subject and cannot advance to any point unless it be as far as this: that we know there are angels and archangels, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers, splendors, ascents, intelligent powers or intelligences, pure natures and unalloyed, immovable to evil or scarcely movable; ever circling in chorus around the first cause, or how should we sing their praises? Illuminated thence with the purest illumination or one in one degree and one in another, proportionally to their nature and rank … so conformed to beauty and molded that they become secondary lights and can enlighten others by the overflowing and largess of the first light? They are ministers of God’s will, strong with both inborn and imparted strength, traversing all space, readily present to all at any place through their zeal for ministry and agility of nature … different individuals of them embracing different parts of the world, or appointed over different districts of the universe, as knows the one who ordered and distributed it all. They combine all things in one, solely with a view to the consent of the Creator of all things. [They are] choristers of the majesty of the Godhead, eternally contemplating the eternal glory, not that God may thereby gain an increase of glory, for nothing can be added to that which is full—to God, who supplies good to all outside God’s self—but that there may never be a cessation of blessings to these first natures after God. If we have told these things as they deserve, it is by the grace of the Trinity and of the one Godhead in three persons, but if less perfectly than we have desired, yet even so our discourse has gained its purpose. For this is what we were laboring to show—that, if even the secondary natures surpass the power of our intellect, much more then does the first and—for I fear to say merely—that which is above all the only nature. ON THEOLOGY, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2(28).31.

THE GODHEAD PARTAKES OF THE LOWLY. CHRYSOSTOM: “For to what angel did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’? Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be a son to me’”? For these things indeed are spoken with reference also to the flesh. … So also the word today seems to me to be spoken here with reference to the flesh. For when he has taken hold of it, he then speaks out boldly about everything. For indeed the flesh partakes of the high things, just as the Godhead partakes of the lowly. For he who did not disdain to become human and did not decline the reality, how should he have declined the expressions?

Seeing then that we know these things, let us be ashamed of nothing, nor have any high thoughts. For if he himself, being God and Lord and Son of God, did not decline to take the form of a slave, much more ought we to do all things, though they be lowly. For tell me, oh human, from where come your high thoughts? From things of this life? But these, as ever they appear, run by. Or from things spiritual? No, this is itself one spiritual essential: to have no high thoughts. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 2.2.

BIRTH IN THE FLESH. OECUMENIUS: Again let this also show how the Father accomplished the birth of the Son in the flesh. For the word “I will be” clearly is spoken about the incarnation. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.5.

PAUL CALLS IT A COMING IN. CHRYSOSTOM: Our Lord Jesus Christ calls his coming in the flesh an exodus [or going out], as when he says, “The sower went out to sow.” And again, “I came from the Father and have come into the world.” And in many places one may see this. But Paul calls it a “coming in [or eisodus],” saying, “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world,” meaning by this “bringing in” his taking flesh.

Now why has he so used the expression? The things signified are manifest. … For Christ indeed calls it a “going out” justly, for we were out from God. For as in royal palaces, prisoners and those who have offended the king stand without, and he who desires to reconcile them does not bring them in but, himself going out, discourses with them until, having made them ready for the king’s presence, he may bring them in, so also Christ has done. Having gone out to us—that is, having taken flesh—and having talked with us of the king’s matters, so he brought us in, having purged the sins and made reconciliation. Therefore he calls it a “going out.” But Paul names it a “coming in,” from the metaphor of those who come into an inheritance and receive any portion or possession. For the saying, “and again, when he brings the firstborn into the world,” means “when he puts the world into his hand.” For when he was made known, then also he obtained possession of the whole of it. He says these things not concerning God the Word but concerning that which is according to the flesh. For if, according to John, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him,” how is he “brought in,” other than in the flesh? ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.1.

SCRIPTURE FORBIDS THE WORSHIP OF CREATION. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: If all creation worships Christ—for by the name “angels” he denotes the higher rational beings, just as also in the passage “to what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand’?” he himself is also above them—and the word of the Scriptures forbid us to worship creation in as much as it says, “Beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them.” Just as one is kept from worshiping the fixtures of the heavens, so also one is kept from worshiping other created beings, even if one happens upon a certain individual surpassing others. One must maintain firmly that Christ was the Creator, not a creation, even if for our sake he united himself to created flesh endowed with a reasonable and intellectual soul, and thus is worshiped as God by all creation. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.6.

THE SERVICE AND MINISTRY OF ANGELS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The mention of the angels’ “service” (wind) shows their quickness, while the mention of “ministry” (flames) shows their power. When he says that the angels have been made these things, he presents how they also have the ability to be these things. And he distinguishes them from the “Creator” and “God” and “throne” and “scepter of the kingdom,” all of which are symbols of his highest honor and worthiness. For also the phrase God reveals his highest nature, and throne and scepter set forth the certainty of this apart from human honors and worthiness. Then also the phrase “forever and ever” proves this, for the word Creator shows those things that have come into existence have their beginning in time, but this passage demonstrates the eternity of his kingdom. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.7-8.

HE WHO HAS AN ETERNAL THRONE. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: For just as in the matter of “radiance” and “exact image of his nature” he imitated John, calling him “the Word” and saying that he was God, so also here he imitated John. Just as John said, “This one was in the beginning, all things were created through him,” so also does Paul, although he says, “these things were not” instead of saying, “This one was.” “To the angels is said, ‘who makes them’; but to the Son, ‘your throne.’” This proves the point: That which was made was not in existence previously, but he who has an eternal throne always was with his Father. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.7-8.

GOD’S ETERNAL THRONE. THEODORET OF CYR: “Your throne, O God, is forever.” Through this he teaches us that the phrase “he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high” was meant in human fashion. As God he has a throne that is eternal and a kingdom that is without beginning or end, but here human things are associated with it. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

THINGS WILL NOT BE AS THEY ARE. CHRYSOSTOM: Lest upon hearing the words “and when he brings the firstborn into the world” you should think of it as a gift afterwards superadded to him, the apostle both corrected this beforehand and again further corrects, saying, “in the beginning.” Not now, but from the first. See again how he strikes both Paul of Samosata and Arius a mortal blow, applying to the Son the things which relate to the Father. He has also intimated another thing, by the way, greater even than this. For surely he has incidentally pointed out as well the transfiguration of the world, saying, “they will all grow old like a garment; like a mantle you will roll them up, and they will be changed.” That he also says in the Epistle to the Romans, that he shall transfigure the world. And showing the facility thereof, he adds, as if a person should roll up a garment, so shall he both roll up and change it. But if he with so much ease works the transfiguration and the creation to what is better and more perfect, did he need another for the inferior creation? How far does your shamelessness go? Surely it is a very great consolation to know that things will not be as they are, but they all shall receive change, and all shall be altered; but he himself remains ever existing and living without end, “and your years,” he says, “will never end.” ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.3.

1:8-10 | The Son and His Anointing

SCRIPTURE FREQUENTLY USES THE PAST TENSE FOR THE FUTURE. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: It is when the Word was made flesh that we say he received the name of Christ Jesus. Since he was anointed with the oil of gladness—that is to say, anointed with the Spirit by God the Father—he is called Christ, or Anointed. That the anointing was of the humanity no right-minded person would doubt. And the renowned Athanasius says to this effect, somewhere in his discourse, on the saving coming of Christ, “God (the Word), as existing before coming to dwell in the flesh, was not man but God with God, being invisible and impassible. But when he became man, he took the name Christ, because the passion and death are consequent upon this name.”

Now, even though sacred Scripture does say, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness,” one must know that sacred Scripture frequently uses the past tense for the future. [It says,] for example, “Afterwards, he appeared upon earth and lived among men,” for God had not yet been seen by humanity nor had conversed with them when this was said. And again, “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept,” for these things had not yet taken place. ORTHODOX FAITH 4.6.

KING, PROPHET, PRIEST. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: It was not only those that were honored with the high priesthood and anointed for the sake of the symbol with prepared oil who were given tribute among the Hebrews with the name Christ. The kings too, at the bidding of God, were made Christs in a certain symbolism by the prophets who anointed them, inasmuch as they also bore in themselves the types of the royal and sovereign power of the only true Christ, the divine Logos who reigns over all. We have also received the tradition that some of the prophets themselves had by anointing already become Christs in type, seeing that they all refer to the true Christ—the divine and heavenly Logos, of the world the only high priest, of all creation the only king, of the prophets the only archprophet of the Father. The proof of this is that no one of those symbolically anointed of old, whether priests or kings or prophets, obtained such power of the divine virtue as our Savior and Lord, Jesus, the only real Christ, has exhibited. None indeed of them, though renowned in rank and honor for so many generations among their own people, ever gave the name of Christian to their subjects from the symbolic application to themselves of the name of Christ. The honor of worship was not paid to any of them by their subjects, nor did they hold them in such affection after their death as to be ready to die for him whom they honored.

For none of the men of those days was there such disturbance of all the nations throughout all the world, since the power of the symbol was incapable of producing such an effect among them as the presence of the reality manifested by our Savior; for he received from none the symbol and types of the high priesthood. Nor did he trace his physical descent from the race of priests; nor was he promoted to a kingdom by the armed force of men; nor did he become a prophet in the same way as those of old; nor did he hold any rank at all or precedence among the Jews. Yet with all these he had been adorned, not in symbols, but in actual reality by the Father. Though he did not obtain the honors of which we have spoken before, he is called Christ more than any of them, and inasmuch as he is himself the only true Christ of God, he filled the whole world with Christians—his truly revered and sacred name. He no longer gave to his initiates types or images but the uncovered virtues themselves and the heavenly life in the actual doctrines of truth, and he has received the chrism—not that which is prepared materially, but the divine anointing itself with the spirit of God, by sharing in the unbegotten divinity of the Father. Again, Isaiah teaches this very point, for in one place he exclaims as if from Christ himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind.”

And not only Isaiah but also David speaks with reference to him and says, “Your divine throne endures for ever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” In this the text calls him God in the first verse, and in the second honors him with the royal scepter, and then goes on, after royal and divine power, to present him in the third place as having become Christ, anointed not with oil made of material substances but with the divine “oil of gladness.”

And in addition to this he indicates his peculiar distinction and superiority to those who in the past had been more materially anointed as types. And in another place too the same David explains his position as follows: “The Lord says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.’” And “before the day-star I begot you from the womb. The Lord swore and will not repent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Now this Melchizedek is introduced in the sacred books as priest of the most high God, without having been so marked out by any material unction, or even as belonging by racial descent to the priesthood of the Hebrews. For this reason our Savior has been called Christ and priest, on the authority of an oath, according to this order and not according to that of the others who received symbols and types. For this reason too the narrative does not relate that he was anointed physically by the Jews or even that he was of the tribe of those who hold the priesthood, but that he received his being from God himself before the day-star, that is to say, before the construction of the world, and holds his priesthood to boundless eternity, ageless and immortal. A weighty and clear proof of the immaterial and divine anointing effected on him is that he alone, out of all who have ever yet been until now, is called Christ among all men throughout the whole world. Under this title he is confessed and borne witness to by all and is mentioned thus by Jews, Greeks, and barbarians. Until this present day he is honored by his worshipers throughout the world as king, wondered at more than a prophet, and glorified as the true and only high priest of God, and above all, as the Logos of God, preexistent, having his being before all ages and having received the right of reverence from the Father, and he is worshiped as God. Strangest of all, we, who have been consecrated to him, honor him not only with our voices and with the sound of words but with the whole disposition of our soul, so as to value testimony to him more than our very life itself. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 1.3.

“JESUS” AND “CHRIST.” BEDE: Jesus is the name of the son who was born of a virgin, and, as the angel explained, this name signified that he would save his people from their sins. He who saves from sins is doubtlessly the same one who will save from the corruption of mind and body that happens as a result of sins. “Christ” is a term of priestly and royal dignity, for from “chrism”—that is, an anointing with holy oil—priests and kings were in the law called “christs,” and they signified him who appeared in the world as true king and high priest and was anointed with the oil of gladness above those who shared with him. From this anointing, that is, the chrism, he himself is called “Christ,” and those who share this anointing, that is, spiritual grace, are called “Christians.” In that he is Savior, may he deign to save us from sin. In that he is high priest, may he deign to reconcile us to God the Father. In that he is king, may he deign to give us the eternal kingdom of his Father. He is Jesus Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God for all ages. Amen. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 1.5.

1:11-13 | They Perish but You Remain

THE WORKS OF HEAVEN WILL BE RENEWED. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Paul also said, “They will perish,” and all the other things, and again the apostle took up the same words of David. But if all the works of creation perish completely, then paradise, which is not perishable, will also perish. In truth, because of paradise, which does not cease, it is evident that all the works of creation will be renewed for us, as some assert, and they will not perish, as others have said. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

THE SAME. THEODORET OF CYR: He indicated creation’s change for the better that was due to him, and his own lack of beginning or extinction. “You are the same, and your years will never end,” he says, note, meaning, “You were not made, but you are, and you admit of no change, being always the same.” This suggests also the impassibility of the divinity. If it suffered, how is it the same? After all, it would be changed, and if it passed three days in death, its years would fail. Both the prophet and the apostle, however, the one writing the testimony and the other using it, emphasize that he is always the same and his years will not fail. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

THE OLD TESTAMENT DOES NOT SPEAK ABOUT THE FATHER ALONE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: It is possible to see in a glance that whenever the Old Testament speaks about the divine nature, it does not speak distinctly about the Father alone, as the heretics suppose when they attempt to apply “I am God and there is no other besides me” and similar passages to the Father alone. On the contrary, whatever it says concerning God as it expounds upon the divine nature, it says in such a way that those attributes may be joined together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, owing to the fellowship of their nature. Otherwise how has the apostle dragged in this second scriptural witness from it? … Has not Paul done the same in his epistle to the Romans, where he says, “For it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me’”? For no one would find here something that would clearly distinguish between them. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.12.

SHIFT TO THE HUMAN. THEODORET OF CYR: Having thus dealt with divine things, he shifts once more to the human. It is not to him as God that he says, “Sit at my right hand”: how could it be, when “his throne is for ever and ever”? So as human he shared in this honor, having as God the eternal throne. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

CHRIST AS SACRED FOOTSTOOL. CASSIODORUS: “In a pillar of cloud he used to speak to them, because they were keeping his testimonies and the commandments which he gave them.” The words “in a pillar of cloud” are not empty words, for a pillar is always placed in a house to strengthen and beautify it. So the Lord was communicating to them by this image, announcing the imminent building that is the church. Though at that time he imparted these words to them through the cloud, he has deigned to speak to us and to appear to us more visibly through the sacred footstool, that is, through the incarnation. O footstool more exalted than every temple and more excellent than all spiritual creatures! As the Apostle says: “To which of the angels did he say, ‘Sit at my right hand’?” But why is it surprising if he is called a footstool since he also compares himself to a worm, to a beetle, to the fullers’ herb, and to a cornerstone, not with respect to his ordinariness, but because of his humble disposition. EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 98.7.

HE MADE OUR MISERIES STRANGERS TO US. CASSIODORUS: We have heard a psalm which is amazing in its heavenly arrangement. In this text, it is clear that the humility in his humanity is as great as the power in his divinity. The holy Word took upon himself the nature of our weakness, as the heading of the psalm says, “for those who will be changed,” so that through his undeserving death he might free us from a death that was well deserved. He entered the gates of hell so that the regions of hell might be thrown open. Destruction was conquered by the arrival of the Savior, and it rightly gave up perpetual darkness after it received eternal light. He vanquished the devil through the very human nature that Satan held subject, and the strong man was overcome through the weakness of the flesh when God exalted above all rational creatures what was even weaker than all spiritual creatures. As the Apostle says: “For to which of the angels did he say, ‘Sit at my right hand’?” For no other nature was united with Christ, but only the nature of our flesh, which was taken up and glorified. He is truly omnipotent and merciful who blessed what was damned, restored what was lost, freed what was subject, rendered our miseries strangers to us, and through his death made it possible for humanity to live, an immortal creature, which the devil had caused to die. Grant, almighty God, that, since you deigned to suffer in the flesh for us, you may grant us the crown which for which you considered us worthy. EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 68.37.

ANGELS WERE CREATED BUT HE WAS NOT. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: He does not say that a change of nature took place, but by way of comparison, that he permits these things to be destroyed and they do perish in contrast to the eternity of the Son. For also the Lord, when predicting his second coming, says “the stars will fall” and there will no longer be sun or moon or heavens.

“But to what angel has he ever said?” Leaving aside all the rest of creation he speaks about that which is higher than the rest of creation, namely, the angels. For if the Son differed from the angels in that they were created but he was not, how much more does he differ from all invisible things? And one must demonstrate in addition that he revealed through the statement “but you are the same” Christ’s eternal existence and the immutability of his nature. Through the phrase “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve” he shows that the Son is not a servant, but a fellow worker with God. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.12-14.

CHRIST ELEVATED HUMAN NATURE. PHOTIUS: He lifted up the first offering of our nature to the Father, and the Father marveled at this offering. And because of the high esteem of the one who offered it and because of the purity of the offering, he, as the father of the household shows him with his hand the place close to himself and also places the offering nearby and says, “sit at my right hand.” FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.13.

1:14 | Angels for Our Sake

SENT TO SAVE. THEODORET OF CYR: Whereas he sits at the right hand [he is saying], they are sent as ministers of salvation for the sake of human beings. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

THESE THINGS WERE DONE FOR OUR SAKE. AUGUSTINE: Now certainly in the epistle to the Hebrews, when a distinction was to be made between the dispensation of the New Testament and the dispensation of the Old Testament in regard to the fitness of the ages and times, it was written most plainly that not only those visible things but also the word itself were wrought by the mediation of the angels. For it speaks as follows: “To what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a stool for your feet’? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” It is evident from this passage that all those things were not only done by angels but were also done for our sake, that is, for the people of God, to whom the inheritance of eternal life is promised. ON THE TRINITY 11.22.

THIS IS THEIR MINISTRY. CHRYSOSTOM: What marvel says he if [angels] minister to the Son, when they minister even to our salvation? See how he lifts up their minds and shows the great honor that God has for us, since he has assigned to angels who are above us this ministration on our behalf. As if, one should say, for this purpose he says he employs them; this is the office of angels, to minister to God for our salvation. So that it is an angelic work to do all for the salvation of the brethren; or rather it is the work of Christ himself, for he indeed saves as Lord, but they as servants. And we, though servants, are yet angels’ fellow servants. Why do you gaze so earnestly on the angels, says he? They are servants of the Son of God and are sent many ways for our sake and minister to our salvation. And so they are partners in service with us. Consider how he ascribes no great difference to the kinds of creatures. And yet the space between angels and humans is great. Nevertheless, he brings them down near to us, all but saying, “For us they labor, for our sake they run to and fro. On us, one might say, they wait.” This is their ministry, for our sake to be sent every way.

And of these examples the Old Testament is full, as well as the New. For when angels bring glad tidings to the shepherds or to Mary or to Joseph; when they sit at the sepulcher; when they are sent to say to the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?”; when they release Peter out of the prison; when they discourse with Philip, consider how great the honor is. When God sends the angels for ministers as to friends; when an angel appears to Cornelius; when an angel brings forth all the apostles from the prison, and says, “Go and stand in the temple, and speak to the people all the words of this life.” And even to Paul himself an angel appears. Do you see that they minister to us on God’s behalf and that they minister to us in the greatest matters? Thus Paul says, “All things are yours, whether life or death, or the world, or things present, or things to come.” Well then the Son was also sent, but not as a servant or as a minister, but as a Son and only begotten, desiring the same things with the Father. Indeed, he was not “sent,” for he did not pass from place to place but took on him flesh, whereas these change their places, and, leaving those in which they were before, so come to others in which they were not. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.4.

GOD’S MINISTERS MUST FIND A PLACE IN US. ORIGEN: On this account our heart must be kept with all carefulness both by day and night, and no place be given to the devil. But every effort must be used that the ministers of God—those spirits who were sent to minister to those who are called to be heirs of salvation—may find a place within us, and be delighted to enter into the guest-chamber of our soul. And, dwelling within us [they] may guide us by their counsel; if, so, they shall find the habitation of our heart adorned by the practice of virtue and holiness. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.3.6.

WHERE THE MYSTERIES ARE BEING ENACTED. BEDE: It is no secret that angels are frequently present, invisibly, at the side of the elect, in order to defend them from the snares of the cunning enemy and uphold them by the great gift of heavenly desire. The apostle attests to this when he says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” Nevertheless, we should believe that the angelic spirits are especially present to us when we give ourselves in a special way to divine services, that is, when we enter a church and open our ears to sacred reading, or give our attention to psalm singing, or apply ourselves to prayer, or celebrate the solemnity of the mass. Hence the apostle advises women to have a veil over their heads in church on account of the angels. And a prophet says, “I will sing psalms to you in the sight of the angels.” We are not permitted to doubt that where the mysteries of the Lord’s body and blood are being enacted, a gathering of the citizens from on high is present—those who were keeping such careful watch at the tomb where Christ’s venerable body had been placed and from which he had departed by rising. Hence we must strive meticulously, my brothers, when we come into the church to pay the due service of divine praise or to perform the solemnity of the mass, to be always mindful of the angelic presence, and to fulfill our heavenly duty with fear and fitting veneration, following the example of the women devoted to God who were afraid when the angels appeared to them at the tomb, and who, we are told, bowed their faces to the earth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.10.

THEY ARE ALLOTTED AS GUARDS TO EACH ONE OF US. ORIGEN: With respect to the fact that both good and evil angels attend to humans—a doctrine we have often taught following the Holy Scriptures—it is not by chance and without a divine judgment that a given angel is assigned to a given soul. For example, one is allotted to Peter and another to Paul. … Therefore, there can be no doubt that by a judgment of God, who sees clearly their worth and the quality of our soul, they are allotted as guards to each one of us by a mystical lot directed by the economy of Christ. HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 23.3.

MYSTERIES TRANSMITTED BY ANGELS. ISAAC OF NINEVEH: Whenever the perception of the revelation of a mystery descends into the intellects of the saints, this is also from the angels. When it is permitted by God, a mystery is revealed from a higher angelic order to a lower one [even unto the lowest]; and in the same manner, when it is permitted by the Divine nod that a mystery should come even to human nature, it is transmitted by those [angels] who are wholly worthy of it. For by their intermediary the saints receive the light of divine vision, [leading] even to the glorious Eternal Being, the mystery which cannot be taught; and the angels receive from one another, “for they are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” [through the awareness of true intuitions that are proper to them]. In the future age, however, this order of things will be abolished. For then one will not receive from another the revelation of God’s glory unto the gladness and joy of his soul; but to each by himself the Master will give according to the measure of his excellence and his worthiness, and he will not receive the gift from his comrade as he does here. Then there will be no teacher and no pupil, nor one whose deficiency must be filled up by another. For one is the Giver there, Who gives without mediation to those who receive; and those who win joy, procure it from Him. [[For they do not perceive Him through diverse intellections, but by [direct] revelation of Him, without departing from Him through thoughts.]] There the order of those who teach and those who learn ceases, and on One alone hangs the ardent love of all. ASCETICAL HOMILIES 28.

WE NEED TO KNOW THE NEED FOR ASSISTANCE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: That the angels were “ministering spirits” he has established from previous testimony, but now he finally renews the image of their service, saying that they do everything in service for the things needful for our salvation. For it is not a small thing to know the need for the assistance of their service. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.14-2:1.