ACC ~ Hebrews 12 v5 - 6

TRIBULATIONS LEADING US ON TO GLORY. BASIL THE GREAT: In truth, tribulations are, for those well prepared, like certain foods and exercises for athletes which lead the contestant on to the hereditary glory, if, when reviled, we bless; if when maligned, we entreat; if ill-treated, we give thanks; if afflicted, we glory in our afflictions. It is indeed shameful for us to bless on propitious occasions but be silent on dark and difficult ones. On the contrary, we must bless even more at that time, knowing that “the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16.1 (PSALM 33).

WHIPPING THE SINS. ORIGEN: “I will punish with the rod” your saints; “I will visit with a whip their sins.”Why? So that “I may not take my mercy from them.” For when he leaves someone, he no longer punishes or whips them, since he does not whip everyone, but “every son the Lord receives.” SELECTIONS FROM EXODUS 127.

WE MUST PASS THROUGH AFFLICTION. CHRYSOSTOM: “The Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” You cannot say that any righteous person is without affliction; even if that one appears to be so, we do not know that person’s other afflictions. Of necessity every righteous person must pass through affliction. For it is a declaration of Christ that the wide and broad way leads to destruction but the straight and narrow one to life. If then it is possible to enter into life by that means and no other, then all have entered in by the narrow way, as many as have departed unto life. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 29.2.

THE MERCY OF THE GOOD GOD. ORIGEN: Therefore, if this “jealous God” asks for you and wishes your soul to cleave to him, if he keeps you from sin, if he corrects and chastises you, if he is indignant, if he is angry and uses a kind of jealousy against you, know that this is your hope of salvation. … See the compassion and loyalty of the good God. When he wishes to have mercy, he says he is indignant and angry. HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8.5.

LED TO HOPE THAT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. BASIL THE GREAT: Not in the amount of money, not in the pride of power, not in the height of glory is victory gained, but the Lord freely gives his help to those who seek him through excessive affliction. Such was Paul, who made his afflictions his boast. Therefore he was able to say, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” “Give us therefore, O Lord, help from trouble,” since “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint.”Do you see where affliction leads you? To hope that does not disappoint. Are you ill? Be of good cheer, because “the Lord disciplines him whom he loves.” HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 20.5 (PSALM 59).

COMPLETE JOY. BEDE: At this point we might consider and commit more actively to memory how almighty God allows God’s chosen ones and beloved servants—those God has predestined to life and the eternal kingdom—to be so stricken in this life by the persecution of the wicked and to be wasted by so many kinds and such fierce punishments and deaths. This is so that when we have viewed the sufferings of the maturely faithful, we may grieve less over the adversities that perhaps have happened to us and learn instead to esteem it complete joy when we fall into various kinds of struggles, keeping in mind that “the Lord disciplines him whom he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.23.

THE WRONG SENSE IS INFERRED FROM HUMAN HABITS. CASSIODORUS: The anger of the Lord is spoken of in two senses. First, when the Lord punishes in order to save, as in the following verse: “For he scourges every son whom he accepts.” Second, when he sends to eternal fire about which another psalm speaks: “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor reproach me in your wrath.”An improper meaning is surely drawn from the realm of human experiences. For when we punish some guilt, we go astray by getting upset at the deeds. But God executes judgment while in a state of tranquility, for he is unacquainted with the confusing experiences of emotion. EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 58.14.

Heb