ACC ~ Luke 12 v1 - 12

OVERVIEW:

The beginning of this discourse could be a fitting summary of Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees and lawyers, [1] now labeled as hypocrisy, which, as Jesus just told them, takes away the key of knowledge. To love Christ is to be like-minded with him and imitate the faith of the ancestors like Abraham, who feared neither life nor death (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Those who fear people who can kill the body are the ones who will be cast into hell, for they were ashamed to confess Jesus in the face of persecution; Jesus will not confess them before the Father in heaven (ORIGEN). In the world to come, nothing that is part of the natural body will be lost, for all will be restored, even ugly outgrowths, even all our hair (AUGUSTINE). God’s care for sparrows and his knowledge of the number of hairs on our head give comfort to those who doubt his providential care (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Jesus describes here the strength of an uncorrupted faith.The gospel cannot be firm in part and waver in part (CYPRIAN). Eternal life is given to those who acknowledge Christ, through whom they have been saved (PSEUDO-CLEMENT OF ROME). To blaspheme against the Spirit is to blaspheme against the holy Trinity (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The Holy Spirit will be their catechist, giving them the teaching they will need at the critical hour, as he inspires the martyrs in the face of death (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). They are warned not to resist the Spirit, and they have Jesus’ promise that they will be taught by the Spirit (BASIL THE GREAT).

[1] Lk 11:37-54.

12:1-3 | Beware the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees

HYPOCRISY TAKES AWAY THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Being angry at this reproof, it says they began to urge him vehemently. This means to attack him with cunning, oppose him and show their hatred of him. They also tried, it says, to silence him about many things. What again is the meaning of their silencing him? It is that they required him to answer immediately and without consideration their wicked questions, expecting that he would fall and say something objectionable. They did not know that he was God. They despised him, were proud and disrespectful. Christ told his friends, that is, his disciples, to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and scribes, meaning by leaven their false pretense. Hypocrisy is hateful to God and humanity. It does not bring a reward, and it is utterly useless for the salvation of the soul. It is rather the cause of its damnation. Although sometimes it may escape detection for a little while, before long, it is sure to be uncovered and bring disgrace on them. It is like an unattractive woman when she is stripped of that external embellishment which she produced by artificial means. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 86. [1]

[1] CGSL 351**.

12:4-7 | Whom to Fear and Not Fear

IMITATING THE FAITH OF THE ANCESTORS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: To put it in another light, as being his friends, we should not fear death but rather imitate the faith of the holy ancestors. When he was tempted, the patriarch Abraham offered his only-begotten son Isaac, considering that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. [1] What terror of death can assail us, now that life has abolished death? [2] Christ is the resurrection and the life. [3] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 87. [4]

[1] Heb 11:19.

[2] 2 Tim 1:10.

[3] Jn 11:25.

[4] CGSL 353**.

FEAR THE ONE WHO CAN KILL THE BODY

ORIGEN: Notice that this commandment is not given to Jesus’ servants but to his friends. [1] “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” The One to fear is he “who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” [2] He alone, “after he has killed,” has “power to throw into hell.” He throws into hell those who fear those who kill the body and do not fear “him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.” We may suppose that no matter who else has the hair of his head numbered, the verse is obviously true of those who are cut off for Jesus. We will confess the Son of God before people and not before gods, that he who is confessed may confess us in turn before God and his Father, and confess in heaven the one who confessed him on earth. EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM 34. [3]

[1] Jn 15:15.

[2] Mt 10:28.

[3] OSW 64:66*.

NO HAIR LOSS IN THE WORLD TO COME

AUGUSTINE: When our Lord said, “not a hair,” he was not thinking of length but of the number of hairs, as we see from these words, “The hairs of your head are numbered.” I still think that nothing that was a natural part of the body should be lost. Ugly outgrowths, which have the purpose of reminding us of the penal condition of mortal life, will be integrated into the substance as a whole so that no deformity will appear in any one part. After all, a human artist can make a botch of a statue and then reshape it into beauty without a loss of any of his material. It is not a matter of chiseling away some paticular part that was ugly or out of proportion. He can break down and remold the same mass of material so that nothing but the blemish disappears. Of course, the omnipotent Artist can do this even better. There is no deformity of any human body, whether normal, exceptional or even monstrous, which he cannot so eliminate as to leave the total substance intact, while the ugliness disappears. Such outgrowths are not out of place among the other miseries of temporal existence, but they are incompatible with the happiness of the saints in the life to come. CITY OF GOD 22.19. [1]

[1] FC 24:468-69*.

COMFORT FOR THOSE WHO DOUBT GOD’S PROVIDENCE IN CHRIST

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: To bestow yet another means of comfort on our minds, he forcibly added that five sparrows are scarcely perhaps worth a penny, and yet God does not forget even one of them. He also said that the separate hairs of your head are all numbered. Consider how great care he takes of those that love him. The Preserver of the universe extends his aid to things so worthless and descends to the smallest animals. How can he forget those who love him, especially when he takes so great care of them? He condescends to visit them, to know exactly each particular of their state, and even how many are the hairs of their heads. …

Let us not doubt that with a rich hand he will give his grace to those who love him. He will not permit us to fall into temptation. If, by his wise purpose he permits 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. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 87. [1]

[1] CGSL 353-54**.

12:8-10 | Confessing and Denying Now and in the Eschaton

THE STRENGTH OF AN UNCORRUPTED FAITH

CYPRIAN: In the Gospel, the Lord speaks saying, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me, even I will deny him.” He does not deny him who denies or acknowledge him who acknowledges. The gospel cannot be firm in part and waver in part. Either both must be strong or both must lose the force of truth. If those who deny will not be guilty of a crime, those who acknowledge him will not receive the reward of virtue. If he crowns the faith that has conquered, he must punish the treachery that has been conquered. If the gospel can be broken, the martyrs can be of no benefit. If the gospel cannot be broken, they who become martyrs, according to the gospel, cannot act contrary to the gospel. Most beloved brothers and sisters, let no one defame the dignity of the martyrs. Let no one destroy their glories and crowns. The strength of an uncorrupted faith is sound. No one can say or do anything against Christ whose hope, faith, virtue and glory are entirely in Christ. They who have performed the commands of God cannot be the authors of anything done by the bishops contrary to the command of God. THE LAPSED 20. [1]

[1] FC 36:75**; ACW 25:29-30**.

ACKNOWLEDGE HIM THROUGH WHOM WE ARE SAVED

PSEUDO-CLEMENT OF ROME: “He who acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father.” This is our reward, if we acknowledge him who saves us. How do we acknowledge him? We acknowledge him by doing what he says and by obeying his commands, and by honoring him not only with our lips but with all our heart and mind. [1] He says in Isaiah as well, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” [2] 2 CLEMENT 3.1-5. [3]

[1] Cf. Mk 12:30.

[2] Is 29:13; cf. Mt 15:8; Mk 7:6.

[3] LCC 1:194*.

BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AGAINST THE TRINITY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He has taught us that blasphemy is the most wicked crime for people to commit. He said that whoever speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. In what way is this to be understood? If the Savior means that if any one of us uses any scornful word toward some mere man, he will receive forgiveness if he repents, the matter is free from all difficulty. Since God is by nature good, he will free from blame all those who repent. If the declaration has reference to Christ, the Savior of all, how can he who has spoken against him be innocent or secure from condemnation? Some one who has not learned the meaning of his mystery or understood that being by nature God he humbled himself to our estate and became man may say something blasphemous to a certain extent against him. If this is not so wicked as to pass forgiveness, God will pardon those who have sinned from ignorance. …

On another hand, condemnation and the eternal punishment both in this world and in that which is to come is inevitable for those who have blasphemed the Godhead itself.

By “the Spirit,” he means not only the Holy Spirit but also the whole nature of the Godhead, as understood [to consist] in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Savior also somewhere said, “God is a Spirit.” [1] Blasphemy against the Spirit is against the whole supreme substance. The nature of the Deity, as offered for our understanding in the holy and adorable Trinity, is one. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 88. [2]

[1] Jn 4:24.

[2] CGSL 357-58**.

12:11-12 | The Spirit Will Teach Believers

THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRES THE MARTYRS

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: You must also know that the Holy Spirit empowers the martyrs to bear witness. … A person cannot testify as a martyr for Christ’s sake except through the Holy Spirit. If “no man can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except in the Holy Spirit,” [1] will any man give his life for Jesus’ sake except through the Holy Spirit? CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.21. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 12:3.

[2] FC 64:89*.

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S INSTRUCTION

BASIL THE GREAT: The Christian should not fear or be distressed in difficult circumstances and thus be distracted from trust in God. He should take courage as if the Lord were at hand directing his affairs and strengthening him against all his adversaries. It is as if the Holy Spirit were instructing him even as to the very replies he should make to his enemies. THE MORALS 63. [1]

[1] FC 9:150*