ACC ~ John 19 v15

THE JEWS GIVE AWAY THEIR BLESSING TO THE CHRISTIANS

[1] IRENAEUS: [Jacob] received the rights of the firstborn when his brother looked on them with contempt. In the same way, the younger nation [i.e., the Christians] received Christ, the first-begotten, when the elder nation [i.e., the Jews] rejected him, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” But in Christ every blessing [is summed up], and therefore the latter people has snatched away the blessings of the former from the Father, just as Jacob took away the blessing of this Esau. This is why his brother suffered the plots and persecutions of a brother, just as the church suffers this self-same thing from the Jews. AGAINST HERESIES 4.21.3. [2]

[1] This passage was used often in polemics of Christians against Jews in the patristic period.

[2] ANF 1:493*.

ISRAEL REJECTS GOD’S RULE

CHRYSOSTOM: Of their own will they subjected themselves to punishment. Therefore God also gave them up, because they were the first to cast themselves out from his providence and governance. And since with one voice they rejected his rule, he allowed them to fall by their own expressed wish. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 84.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:315*.

Jn