ACC ~ Hebrews 12 v14 - 29

OVERVIEW:

In the midst of suffering, the early writers counsel the faithful to pray and avoid isolation (CHRYSOSTOM). Faith and hope in the mercy of God strengthen us in our pursuit of virtue (ORIGEN, BASIL, BEDE). We are to strive for peace that results in the absence of vengeance that is the result of mutual forgiveness and the encouraging of that peace that is the very condition of our seeing God (AUGUSTINE). The ultimate goal of our struggle is the joy of the heavenly kingdom (BEDE), healing from sin and suffering through the love of God (CHRYSOSTOM, ORIGEN, EPHREM) and sanctification (JEROME). Ministers of the church are especially expected to be holy (BASIL). There are many characteristics of Christianity, but more than all and better than all is love toward one another (CHRYSOSTOM) and peace, as quarrel blocks the light of God (GREGORY THE GREAT). Thus no one is to be left behind from grace in the community of faith (CHRYSOSTOM).

Esau counted his birthright as worthless and could not repent, but for us who have faith in Christ the door is always open (CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORE, OECUMENIUS). Esau is guilty of the thirst of control and pride (EPHREM). We are called to remember our sins for the sake of humility. In mutual forgiveness, bitterness does not develop. God was formerly revealed through wonderful and awesome things: the temple, the Holy of Holies, fire, darkness, gloom, and tempest.

The new covenant, however, has been given in simple discourse by God incarnate. We now have heard a voice not through darkness but the flesh. “Now what is sin to heaven?” (CHRYSOSTOM). Now we have come to the city of the living God. Jerusalem can be understood as the community of the faithful in heaven and on earth and the soul of every holy and faithful person (EUSEBIUS). The new Jerusalem, the city of God (BASIL), is built with living stones (AMBROSE), that is, made up of a myriad of angels, the baptized and the spirits of those made perfect by the God of the just. This God spoke more graciously with the blood of Jesus than Abel, for Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance but Christ’s for pardon (ATHANASIUS). The Lord Jesus offered his own self, that is, the firstlings of his own body (AMBROSE); thus we are called to imitate his sacrificial love and mercy (CHRYSOSTOM). Proclamation of the gospel shook the earth, yet God’s kingdom cannot be shaken (THEODORE, OECUMENIUS, SEVERIAN, GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). The end of the pericope, which portrays God as a consuming fire, was interpreted by the Fathers spiritually and figuratively (OECUMENIUS, ORIGEN, THEODORE).

12:14 | Strive for Peace

THE HELPLESSNESS OF ISOLATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Earlier he had spoken of “not neglecting to meet together,” and here he hints at it again. For nothing so especially makes persons easily vanquished and subdued in temptations as isolation. For scatter a phalanx in war, and the enemy will have no trouble but will take them prisoners, coming on them separately and thus the more helpless. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 30.2.

WITHOUT HOLINESS NO ONE WILL SEE THE LORD. AUGUSTINE: Many careful precepts have been given us, such as those concerning mutual forgiveness and the encouraging of that peace which is the very condition of our seeing God. One has only to recall the fearsome command given to the servant to pay the debt of ten thousand talents, from which he had been released, because he had not released his fellow servant from the debt that he owed of one hundred pence. When the Lord had proposed this parable, he added the words, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” CITY OF GOD 15.6.

THE INWARD PERSON ALONE IS ABLE TO SEE GOD. AUGUSTINE: It is better, then, that we affirm that concerning which we have no doubt—that God shall be seen by the inward person which alone is able, in our present state, to see that love in commendation of which the apostle says, “God is love.” This inward person alone is able to see “peace and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.” For no fleshly eye now sees love, peace and holiness, and such things. Yet all of them are seen, so far as they can be seen, by the eye of the mind, and the purer [the mind] is, the more clearly it sees. Therefore we may, without hesitation, believe that we shall see God. LETTER 148.18.

CHRIST IS THAT SANCTIFICATION WITHOUT WHICH NO ONE SHALL SEE GOD. JEROME: The disciple of Christ must do more for the attainment of spiritual glory than the philosopher of the world, than the venal slave of flying rumors and the people’s whims. It is not enough for you to despise wealth unless you follow Christ as well. And only the one who follows Christ forsakes his sins and walks hand in hand with virtue. We know that Christ is wisdom. He is the treasure which in the Scriptures a man finds in his field. He is the peerless gem which is bought by selling many pearls. But if you love a captive woman, that is, worldly wisdom, and if no beauty but hers attracts you, make her bald and cut off her alluring hair, that is to say, her adornments and pare away her dead nails. Wash her with the soap of which the prophet speaks, and then take your ease with her and say, “Her left hand is under my head, and her right hand embraces me.” Then shall the captive bring to you many children; from a Moabitess she shall become an Israelite woman. Christ is that sanctification without which no one shall see the face of God. Christ is our redemption, for he is at once our redeemer and our ransom. Christ is everything, so that the one who has left everything for Christ may find one in place of everything and may be able to proclaim freely, “the Lord is my portion.” LETTER 66.8.

EXPECTATION OF HOLINESS FOR MINISTERS. BASIL THE GREAT: I am much distressed that the canons of the Fathers have fallen through and that the exact discipline of the church has been banished from among you. I am apprehensive lest, as this indifference grows, the affairs of the church should, little by little, fall into confusion. According to the ancient custom observed in the churches of God, ministers in the church were received after careful examination. The whole of their life was investigated; an enquiry was made as to their being neither partiers nor drunkards, not quick to quarrel, keeping their youth in subjection, so as to be able to maintain “the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” This examination was made by presbyters and deacons living with them. Then they brought them to the chorepiscopi; and the chorepiscopi, after receiving the suffrages of the witnesses as to the truth and giving information to the bishop, so admitted the minister to the sacerdotal order. Now, however, you have quite passed me over; you have not even had the grace to refer to me and have transferred the whole authority to yourselves. Furthermore, with complete indifference, you have allowed presbyters and deacons to introduce unworthy persons into the church, just any one they choose, without any previous examination of life and character, by mere favoritism, on the score of relationship or some other tie. The consequence is that in every village there are many who are considered ministers but not one single person worthy of the service of the altars. Of this you yourselves supply proof from your difficulty in finding suitable candidates for election. LETTER 54.

QUARRELS BLOCK THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL. GREGORY THE GREAT: It is written, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see God.” For in quarrels the very light of the soul, the light of good intent, is blocked. This is why the psalmist says, “My eye is troubled because of anger.” And what good works remain in us if we lose peace from the heart without which we cannot see the Lord? Therefore, act in such a way that you garner your reward even from those who through strife might have caused it to perish. May almighty God guard your love with heavenly grace and grant you to bear much fruit from those who are committed to you so that your measure may overflow with eternal joys. LETTER 46.

LOVE TOWARD ONE ANOTHER. CHRYSOSTOM: There are many things characteristic of Christianity, but more than all and better than all, love towards one another, and peace. Therefore Christ says, “My peace I give to you,” and again, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Therefore Paul too says, “Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness,” that is, purity, “without which no one will see the Lord.” ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 31.1.

STRIVE FOR HOLINESS. THEODORET OF CYR: By “holiness” he referred to self-control. It is possible even for those in wedlock to achieve it. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 12.

12:15 | Obtain the Grace of God

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND. CHRYSOSTOM: As if they were traveling together on some long journey, in a large company, he says, “Take heed that no one be left behind: I do not seek this only, that you should arrive yourselves, but also that you should look diligently after the others.” “That no one,” he says, “fails to obtain the grace of God.” He means the good things to come, the faith of the gospel, the best course of life, for they all are of “the grace of God.” Do not tell me, “It is only one that perishes.” Even for one Christ died. Have you no care for him “for whom Christ died”? ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 31.1.

12:16-17 | So That No One Is Immoral

ESAU’S BIRTHRIGHT. CHRYSOSTOM: He says, “strive after holiness, that no one be immoral or irreligious like Esau,” that is, gluttonous, without self-control, worldly, selling away things spiritual. “Who sold his birthright for a single meal,” who through his own slothfulness sold this honor which he had from God and, for a little pleasure, lost the greatest honor and glory. This was suitable to them, the conduct of an abominable, of an unclean person. So not only is the fornicator unclean, but also the glutton, the slave of his belly, for he also is a slave of a different pleasure. He is forced to be overreaching, to be rapacious, to behave himself unseemly in ten thousand ways, being the slave of that passion, and oftentimes he blasphemes. So he accounted “his birthright” to be worth nothing. That is, while providing for temporary refreshment, he even sacrificed his “birthright.” ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 31.2.

NOT BECAUSE OF HUNGER. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Scripture thus shows that Esau did not sell his birthright because of hunger, since it says that after he ate, “Esau rose and went away and despised his birthright.” He did not sell it because of hunger, therefore, but because he indeed considered it to be worthless and sold it for nothing. COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 23.2.

ESAU WANTED TO GAIN CONTROL. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Even if the door is closed before him, it is not closed in the same manner before us. “Know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent.” Moreover, Esau’s repentance and his tears did not mean that he wanted to be blessed more than his brother but that he wanted to gain control over his brother. “Even though he sought the blessing with tears,” it was not conceded to him. He did not demand blessing, as I said, but the right of the firstborn. In fact, if he had demanded to be superior to his brother in the kingdom of heaven, this would have not been denied to him. But, since he neglected what was useful to his soul and asked for an estate more fertile than that of his brother, he did not receive the blessing that he begged and was deprived of those things that Jacob, by prevailing on him, received through his faith. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

HE FOUND NO CHANCE TO REPENT. THEODORET OF CYR: Esau wept but did not repent; instead he envied his brother’s prosperity. … The divine apostle also suggested this in what he said: “for he found no chance to repent,” that is, he did not take the way to repentance, nor did he lament his evil intentions; instead, he grieved not for his sin but for Jacob’s success. … It was not without purpose that the divine apostle cited the story of Esau: it was to emphasize that, although the firstborn, he was stripped of the blessing for gluttony and depravity. Jews too, by honoring the firstborn and being enslaved to the obsolete requirements of the law through gluttony, lost their claim to salvation, whereas the Gentiles, the new people, of whom Jacob was a type, gained the privileges of the firstborn. So he urges the believers from Jews not to imitate the lawlessness of the firstborn but to participate in the blessing of the newer people. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 12.

HE DOES NOT WISH TO PRECLUDE REPENTANCE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Through these words he does not wish to preclude the chance of repentance, but to teach that it is not possible for those who do not receive correction at the present time to receive it later. … For he has not been eager to say contradictory things, especially in so close proximity. And anyone could figure this out from the example that he uses. For first he made mention of Esau, who partly was disheartened when he did not obtain the blessing, but partly abided the decision even after this event owing to the malice of his character. Then when he repented of his assent to sin, he did not obtain the blessing. For he was not asking for repentance, but for the blessing that had been given to his brother in accordance with the worthiness of his character. It was impossible that the blessing would again be taken away and given to him again. Also, however, it is possible to discover that his tears were not altogether unprofitable. His father seems to have grieved thereafter for his careless son and seems to have given him some blessings. So he does not wish to preclude repentance through these words. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.17.

SEEKING THE BLESSING WITH TEARS? OECUMENIUS: Some interpret “and yet seeking the blessing with tears” as a time during which “he did not find an opportunity for repentance.” FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.17.

REMEMBRANCE OF OUR SINS. CHRYSOSTOM: If you keep your sins continually in remembrance, you will never bear in mind the wrongs of your neighbor. I do not say, if you are persuaded that you are yourself a sinner; this does not avail so to humble the soul, as sins themselves, taken by themselves and examined specifically. You will have no remembrance of wrongs done you, if you have these things continually in remembrance; you will feel no anger, you will not revile, you will have no high thoughts, you will not fall again into the same sins, you will be more earnest toward good things. Do you see how many excellent effects are produced from the remembrance of our sins? Let us then write them in our minds. I know that the soul does not endure a recollection that is so bitter, but let us constrain and force it. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 31.6-7.

12:18-21 | You Have Not Come to What May Be Touched

TERRIBLE THINGS. CHRYSOSTOM: Wonderful indeed were the things in the temple, the Holy of Holies; awful were those things that occurred at Mount Sinai, “a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest.” For, it says, “God appeared in Sinai,” and long ago were these things celebrated. The new covenant, however, was not given with any of these things but has been given in simple discourse by God. See then how he makes the comparison in these points, putting them afterward with good reason. For when he had persuaded them by innumerable arguments, when he had also shown the difference between each covenant, then afterwards, the one having been already condemned, he easily begins on these points. And what says he? “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest.” … These things, he means, are terrible, and so terrible that they could not even bear to hear them, that not even “a beast” dared to go up. But things that come hereafter are not such, for what is Sinai to heaven? And what is the “blazing fire” to God who cannot be touched? For “God is a consuming fire.” For it is said, “You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” “And so fearful was that which was commanded, ‘Though even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned,’ Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’” What wonder as respects the people? He himself who entered into “the darkness where God was” says, “I tremble with fear.” ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 32.1.

OBJECTS OF SENSE AND SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. CHRYSOSTOM: Fearful were those things, but these are far more admirable and glorious. For here there is not “darkness” or “gloom” or “tempest.” It seems to me that by these words he hints at the obscurity of the Old Testament and the overshadowed and veiled character of the law. And, besides, the giver of the law appears in fire terrible and apt to punish those who transgress.

But what are “the sounds of the trumpet”? Probably it is as though some king were coming. This at all events will also be at the second coming. “At the last trumpet” all must be raised, but it is the trumpet of his voice which effects this. At that time then all things were objects of sense and sights and sounds. Now all are objects of the understanding and invisible. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 32.3.

SO TERRIFYING WAS THE SIGHT. THEODORET OF CYR: While he brought out the fearsome things, he did not reveal the fruit springing from them. He did not say he “appeared,” because what they saw was not the God of all in person but some impression of the divine coming. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 12.

12:22-24 | You Have Come to the City of the Living God

JESUS INSTEAD OF MOSES. CHRYSOSTOM: Instead of “Moses,” Jesus. Instead of the people, “innumerable angels.” Of what “firstborn” does he speak? Of the faithful. “And to the spirits of just men made perfect.” ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 32.2.

THE CHURCH ESTABLISHED BY CHRIST. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: Zion and Jerusalem that have the good news told them the apostle knew to be heavenly, when he said, “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother,” and, “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels.” Zion might also mean the church established by Christ in every part of the world, and Jerusalem the holy constitution that, once established of old time among the ancient Jews alone, was driven into the wilderness by their impiety and then again was restored far better than before through the coming of our Savior. Therefore the prophecy says, “Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.”

Nor would you be wrong in calling Zion the soul of every holy and godly person, so far as it is lifted above this life, having its city in heaven, seeing the things beyond the world. For it means “a watchtower.” And insofar as such a person remains calm and free from passion, you could call that one Jerusalem—for Jerusalem means “vision of peace.” PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6.24.

YOU HAVE HEARD A VOICE THROUGH FLESH. CHRYSOSTOM: From the first, therefore, the Israelites were themselves the cause of God’s being manifested through the flesh. Let Moses speak with us, and “Let not God speak with us.” They who make comparisons elevate the one side more that they may show the other to be far greater. In this respect also our privileges are more gentle and more admirable. For they are great in a twofold respect, because, while they are glorious and greater, they are more accessible. This he says also in the epistle to the Corinthians, “with unveiled face,” and “not as Moses put a veil over his face.” They, he means, were not counted worthy as we are. For of what were they thought worthy? They saw “darkness, gloom”; they heard “a voice.” But you also have heard a voice, not through darkness but through flesh. You have not been disturbed, neither troubled, but you have stood and held discourse with the Mediator.

And in another way, by the “darkness” he shows the invisibleness. “And darkness,” it says, “was under his feet.” Then even Moses feared, but now no one. … The Son is near to God, but not as Moses. There was a wilderness, here a city.

“And to innumerable angels.” Here he shows the joy, the delight, in place of the “darkness” and “gloom” and “tempest.” “And to the assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all.” They did not draw near but stood afar off, even Moses, but “you have come near.” Here he makes them stand in awe by saying, “And to a judge who is God of all,” not of the Jews alone and the faithful, but even of the whole world. “And to the spirits of just men made perfect.” He means the souls of those who are approved. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 32.3-4.

JERUSALEM BUILT OF LIVING STONES. AMBROSE: The Lord says, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mount Zion is there, and so is the city of peace, Jerusalem, built not of earthly stones but of living stones, with ten thousand angels and the church of the firstborn and the spirits of those made perfect and the God of the just, who spoke better with his blood than Abel. For one cried out for vengeance, but the other for pardon. The one was a reproach to his brother’s sin. The other forgave the world’s sin; the one was the revelation of a crime, the other covered a crime according to what was written, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.” FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 5.31.

JERUSALEM IS BESIEGED BY CHRIST. AMBROSE: But because we ought always to be anxious, always attentive, and because the Word of God leaps forth like the gazelle or the young stag, let the soul who searches after the Christ and longs to possess Christ always be on watch and maintain its senses. “Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves,” as if Christ had stolen in upon her. Let one who seeks carefully seek while in his bed; let him seek at night. Let there be neither nights nor holiday, let no time be free from service, and if one does not find Christ at first, let him persevere in searching after Christ. And so the soul says, “I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares.” And perhaps [the soul] still does not find Christ, because it sought in the public places, where there are court cases, in the streets, where there are markets with goods for sale; for Christ cannot be obtained for any amount of money. … That soul searches for Christ who seeks after Christ with tranquility and peace. It searches at night because Christ spoke through parables—“he made darkness his covering around him,” and “night to night declares knowledge”—and also because “the things we say in our heart we ought also to be sorry for on our beds.” But [the soul] does not find Christ in this way, and so it says, “I am a strong city, a city besieged.” The city is besieged through Christ; the city is that heavenly Jerusalem, in which there are interpreters of God’s law and people skilled in doctrine in great abundance; through them one seeks the Word of God. ISAAC OR THE SOUL 5.38-39.

YOUR ANCIENT FATHERS. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: In it there are the firstborn, that is, the first ones and the most excellent, and “the spirits of just men,” that is, of your ancient fathers who accomplished perfection. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

SEEK WHAT PERTAINS TO THE CITY OF GOD. BASIL THE GREAT: Some give the definition that a city is an established community, administered according to law. And the definition that has been handed down of the city is in harmony with the celestial city, Jerusalem above. For there it is a community of the firstborn who have been enrolled in heaven, and this is established because of the unchanging manner of the life of the saints, and it is administered according to the heavenly law. Therefore, it is not the privilege of human nature to learn the arrangement of that city and all its adornment. Those are the things “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,” but there are myriads of angels there, an assembly of saints and a church of the firstborn that are enrolled in heaven. Concerning that, David said, “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.” To that city through Isaiah God has promised, “I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. Devastation and destruction shall no more be within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation.” Therefore, having raised the eyes of your soul, seek, in a manner worthy of things above, what pertains to the city of God. What could anyone consider as deserving of the happiness in that city which the river of God makes joyful and of which God is the craftsman and creator? HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18.4 (PSALM 45).

JESUS CAME TO RAISE ADAM. AMBROSE: The Lord Jesus came to raise up Adam; Abel also was raised up, for his offerings were pleasing to God. The Lord Jesus offered his own self, that is, the firstlings of his own body, in the sprinkling of blood that speaks better than the blood of Abel spoke upon the earth. THE PRAYER OF JOB AND DAVID 4.9.32.

HIS BLOOD DOES NOT CRY OUT FOR VENGEANCE. ATHANASIUS: The prophet Nahum proclaimed the good news of what was to come, “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace.” Then he went on to tell them, “Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For they shall no more go to that which is old; it is finished; it is taken away. He is gone up who breathed upon the face and delivered you from affliction.”

Now who is he who went up? Notice, by the way, that the one who went up went to the Jews, so there is no way they can ignore the end of those practices that foreshadowed his coming. And the prophet did say, “It is finished.” But as I asked, who was he? It would be absurd to say that he was Moses, because when he was with Israel they had not even entered the land in which these sacrificial rites were to be carried out. Or suppose that he was Samuel or some other one of the prophets. That would not do either, because, while they were around, the sacrifices were being made and Jerusalem was still standing. Thus it was none of these men who went up.

But if you want to know the truth … look to our Savior, who went up and who “breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” As soon as these things were done, all the old things came to an end. The altar was broken; the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. And although the city was not yet sacked and destroyed, its time was coming. As the prophecy foretold, the abomination of desolation was soon to rest upon the temple and the city. The consummation of the ancient ceremonies was at hand.

Thankfully, then, we have come far beyond these shadows of reality, having turned to the Lord himself. And we know that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Therefore, as the ears of our hearts hear the call of the priestly trumpet, we do not look with our physical eyes and see an animal lamb slain, but we see the true Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ. For as Isaiah said, he “was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb.”

We are purified by his precious blood, which cleanses us from sin. His blood does not cry out for vengeance as did the blood of Abel. FESTAL LETTER 1.8-9.

MERCY SPEAKS A BETTER WORD THAN THE BLOOD OF ABEL. CHRYSOSTOM: The work of mercy is, as it were, a most excellent art and a protector of those who labor at it. For it is dear to God and ever stands near God, readily asking favor for whomsoever it will, if only it be not wronged by us. … So, if it is pure, it gives great confidence to those who offer it up. It intercedes even for those who have offended, so great is its power, even for those who have sinned. It breaks the chains, disperses the darkness, quenches the fire, kills the worm, drives away the gnashing of teeth. The gates of heaven open to it with great security. And as, when a queen is entering, none of the guards stationed at the doors dares to inquire who she is, but all straightway receive her, so also indeed with mercifulness. For she is truly a queen indeed, making humans like God, for, he says, “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.” She is winged and buoyant, having golden pinions, with a flight which greatly delights the angels. There, it is said, are “the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with green gold.” As some dove, golden and living, she flies, with gentle look and mild eye. Nothing is better than that eye. The peacock is beautiful, but, in comparison with her, is a jackdaw. So beautiful and worthy of admiration is this bird. She continually looks upwards; she is surrounded abundantly with God’s glory. She is a virgin with golden wings, decked out, with a fair and mild countenance. She is winged and buoyant, standing by the royal throne. When we are judged, she suddenly flies in and shows herself and rescues us from punishment, sheltering us with her own wings. God would rather have her than sacrifices. Much does God discourse concerning her, God loves her so. “He upholds,” it is said, “the widow” and “the fatherless” and the poor. God wishes to be called by her. “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,” and true. The mercy of God is over all the earth. She has saved the race of humankind, for, unless she had pitied us, all things would have perished. “While we were enemies,” she “reconciled” us, she wrought innumerable blessings; she persuaded the Son of God to become a slave and to empty himself of his glory.

Let us earnestly emulate her by whom we have been saved; let us love her, let us prize her before wealth and apart from wealth; let us have a merciful soul. Nothing is so characteristic of a Christian as mercy. There is nothing that both unbelievers and all people so admire as when we are merciful. For often we are ourselves also in need of this mercy and say to God, “Have mercy upon us, according to your steadfast love.” Let us begin first ourselves, or rather it is not we that begin first, for God has already shown his mercy toward us. At least let us follow second. For if people have mercy on a merciful person, even if that person has done innumerable wrongs, so much more does God. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 32.7.

SPEAKS MORE GRACIOUSLY THAN THE BLOOD OF ABEL. THEODORET OF CYR: There you find dread, he is saying, here on the contrary festival and assembly. The former happens on earth, the latter in heaven; there thousands of people, here tens of thousands of angels. There unbelievers and lawbreakers, here church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven and spirits of the just who have been made perfect; there an old covenant, here a new one; there a slave as mediator, here a Son; there blood of brute beasts, here blood of a rational lamb. The phrase “speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel” means communicating through deeds and betraying its own activity: while the blood of Abel is celebrated, this blood is responsible for the salvation of human beings. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 12.

12:25-27 | What Cannot Be Shaken

“ON EARTH” AND “FROM HEAVEN.” PHOTIUS: “The one who warned them on earth” can be understood to mean the one promising them earthly things that will pass away: the land flowing with milk and honey, the conquest of enemies, goodly offspring and long life. But from heaven speaks the one who promises heaven itself as an inheritance, who graciously bestows the enjoyment of that unspeakable and eternal glory. Or “warned them on earth” can be said to mean that bodily purifications pervaded nearly everything of the law given through Moses. But the giving of the law that took place through Christ is a cleansing and illumination of the soul for us. Then “on earth” are the things proclaimed, because they are lowly and applied to the body made of dirt; and the things of the New Testament are “from heaven” because they are divine and exalted and cleanse the soul in a truly divine manner and bear it up into heaven. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.25.

THE STEADFASTNESS TO COME. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Quite rightly on the basis of the prophetic verse does he establish the instability of the present order and the steadfastness of the things which shall be later. For the “shaking” shows that he is proclaiming the alteration of the present order exactly as it will be. And by adding the word once he shows that what will be afterwards cannot be changed. COMMENTARY ON HEBREWS 12.26.

SHAKINGS OF THE EARTH. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: There have been two remarkable transformations of the human way of life in the course of the world’s history. These two are called two “covenants” and, so famous was the business involved, two “shakings of the earth.” The first was the transition from idols to the law; the second, from law to gospel. The gospel also tells of the third “shaking,” the change from this present state of things to what lies unmoved, unshaken, beyond. An identical feature occurs in both covenants. The feature? There was nothing sudden involved in the first movement to take their transformations in hand. We need to know why. It was so that we should be persuaded, not forced. The unspontaneous is the impermanent—as when force is used to keep stems or plants in check. The spontaneous both lasts longer and is more secure. It belongs to despotic power to use force; it is a mark of God’s reasonableness that the issue should be ours. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5(31).25.

“TO SHAKE” “ONCE AND FOR ALL.” THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Based on the voice of the prophet he proves both the change from the things that now exist and the establishment of the things that follow. For the promise “to shake” makes clear that they will change altogether in the future. By the addition of the word “once and for all” he shows clearly that thereafter they will be unchangeable. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.26.

YET ONE MORE SHAKING. OECUMENIUS: The phrase “yet once more” makes clear that another “one time” would be added after the second. For the world was shaken for the first time when the law was given on Sinai: “For the earth shook,” David said. Again the earth was shaken during the sojourn in the flesh: “For all Jerusalem was shaken” and “the idols of Egypt built by human hands.” And he calls an earthquake that which was heard of the proclamation, through which people were shaken from their old condition in error and brought into a new condition. So says Cyril. He speaks of yet one more occasion, namely, at his second coming with glory, when he will alter and change creation. For then creation will especially be shaken with a real shaking and crash—a more drastic change than of people who were corrupt at the time turning from evil to good. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.27.

COMING OF THE ETERNITY. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: That is why Paul says elsewhere, “For the form of this world is passing away.” So that the temporary may pass away and the eternal may come. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.27.

12:28-29 | A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

AWE OR ENCOURAGEMENT? OECUMENIUS: Either he wishes to scare them not to be ungrateful and not to grumble about their tribulations, lest somehow, he says, you chance upon God in his wrath and vengeance; or he wishes to encourage them, as if he had said, “We will give thanks for our afflictions, for we have a Lord able to destroy those opposed to him.” FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12.29.

OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE. ORIGEN: In sacred language God is called a fire, as when Scripture says, “Our God is a consuming fire.” Concerning the substance of the angels, it also speaks as follows: “Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire.” And in another place, “The angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire in the bush.” In addition, we have received a command to be “fervent in spirit” by which expression undoubtedly the word of God is shown to be hot and fiery. The prophet Jeremiah also hears from him who gave him oracles, “Behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire.” As God, then, is a “fire” and the angels are “flames of fire” and all the saints are “fervent in spirit,” so, on the contrary, those who have fallen away from the love of God are undoubtedly said to have cooled in their affection for God and to have become cold. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.8.3.

GOD’S JUDGMENT AS A FIRE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The apostle did not think it possible to describe God’s judgment sufficiently in any other way than through an analogy from our experience, and for this reason he did not hesitate to call God “fire.” COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.1.1.

GOD’S ESSENCE. ORIGEN: Many have produced lengthy discussions of God and God’s essence. Some have even said that God has a bodily nature that is composed of fine particles and is like ether. Others have said that God is incorporeal and is of a different essence that transcends bodies in dignity and power. For this reason it is worthwhile for us to see if we have resources from the divine Scriptures to say something about God’s essence. In John 4:24 it is stated as if God’s essence were spirit, for it says, “God is spirit.” But in the law, it is instead as if God’s essence were fire, for it is written, “Our God is a consuming fire.” In John, however, it is stated as if God were light, for John says, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” If, then, we should listen to these words literally, making no inquiry beyond the letter, we would have to say that God is a body. … But because we do not see the consequences if we attribute a body to God when we say, even on the basis of Scripture, that God is some such body as spirit, or consuming fire, or light, unless we accept the conclusions that necessarily follow these assertions, we will disgrace ourselves as foolish and contradicting the obvious. For every fire is subject to extinction because it needs fuel; and every spirit, even if we take the spirit to be simple, because it is a body, admits of change to what is coarser in its own nature. In these matters, then, we must either accept so many absurd and blasphemous things about God in preserving the literal meanings, or, as we also do in many other cases, examine and inquire what can be meant when it is said that God is spirit or fire or light. First we must say that just as when we find it written that God has eyes, eyelids, ears, hands, arms, feet, and even wings, we change what is written into an allegory, despising those who bestow on God a form resembling humans; and we do this with good reason. So also must we act consistently with our practice in the case of the names mentioned above. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.123-131.