ACC ~ Luke 6 v27 - 38

OVERVIEW:

The world loves its faults and hates its nature, while the Christian attitude to the world should be the opposite (AUGUSTINE). To love one’s enemies requires a counterintuitive act of the will, an act that Christians alone are capable of doing (TERTULLIAN). Love for one’s enemies is an expression of the charity that flows directly from the love of God. Christ prays for those slandering him while he suffered on the cross (AMBROSE). Jesus implies that the violence of being struck on the cheek is not punishment for a criminal act but comes from persecution. [1] To accomplish the unnatural act of nonresistance requires patience (AUGUSTINE). Disciples must be prepared to be treated violently and stripped of their clothes and their material goods. The merciful person suffers injustice (ISAAC OF NINEVEH). If people have the mind of Christ, as taught in the Beatitudes, then they will accept such persecution as to be expected because Christ is the fulfillment of the law and through his blood he has transformed the law (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, shows how he follows Christ’s example by loving his enemies (CYPRIAN). The hearer cannot help but think of Jesus’ passion, when he willingly was beaten and stripped. Jesus wants them to go beyond mere reciprocity into gift giving. But it is a gift and a loan, a gift from us but a loan because what we lend has been given to us by the Lord (BASIL THE GREAT).

God has left the deposit of his divine image and likeness in us, and this divine image is seen in those who are merciful as the Father in heaven is merciful (ORIGEN). Mercy is an attribute of God (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). All these verses characterize God as merciful to the just and the unjust (JUSTIN MARTYR).

After a great climax in the sermon, “Become merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” [2] there come practical examples of how this mercy is to be shown to others, namely, sacrificing the desire for vengeance and seeking compassion for the neighbor (AUGUSTINE). Sinners cannot judge sinners. Instead of judging others, one must consider his own misdoings (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Jesus’ disciples are to portray God’s character to the world and are to judge with justice and forgive with grace (EPHREM THE SYRIAN).

The mercy of Jesus expresses itself in two ways: forgiveness and generosity, the two forms of almsgiving and the two wings of prayer. Forgiveness is expressed through acts of mercy because of the mercy, charity and forgiveness that come from the Lord. This forgiveness spills over into generosity that overflows in abundance because it comes from God—the kind of generosity whereby Christians become granaries for the poor (AUGUSTINE). God’s bounty is a paradox, especially as he uses human standards to describe his own gift-giving (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

[1] See 1 Pet 4:13-16.

[2] Lk 6:36.

6:27-34 | Eight Imperatives: Love Your Enemies

TO LOVE YOUR ENEMIES IS TO LOVE THE WORLD

AUGUSTINE: We are also prohibited both from loving that world and, if we understand rightly, are commanded to love it. We are prohibited, of course, where it is said to us, “Do not love the world.” [1] But we are commanded when it is said to us, “Love your enemies.” They are the world, which hates us. Therefore we are both prohibited from loving in it what the world itself loves, and we are commanded to love in it what the world hates, namely, the handiwork of God and the various comforts of his goodness. We are prohibited from loving the fault in it and are commanded to love its nature. The world loves the fault in itself and hates its nature. So we rightly love and hate it, although it perversely loves and hates itself. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 87.4. [2]

[1] 1 Jn 2:15.

[2] FC 90:149-50*.

THE CUSTOM OF CHRISTIANS ONLY

TERTULLIAN: To love friends is the custom for all people, but to love enemies is customary only for Christians. TO SCAPULA 1. [1]

[1] FC 10:151.

THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY

AMBROSE: Love is commanded when it is said, “Love your enemies,” so that the saying which was uttered already before the church may be fulfilled: “Set in order love in me.” [1] For love is set in order when the precepts of love are formed. See how it began from the heights and cast the law undeneath the backs of the gospel’s blessing. The law commands the revenge of punishment. [2] The gospel bestows love for hostility, benevolence for hatred, prayer for curses, help for the persecuted, patience for the hungry and grace of reward. How much more perfect the athlete who does not feel injury! EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.73. [3]

[1] Song 2:4.

[2] See Ex 21:23-36.

[3] EHG 173**.

ON THE CROSS, CHRIST PRAYS FOR HIS SLANDERERS

AMBROSE: What Christ said in word, he proved also by example. Indeed, when he was on the cross, he said in reference to his persecutors who were slandering him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” so that he might pray for his slanderers, although he could have forgiven them himself. THE PRAYER OF JOB AND DAVID 2.2.6. [1]

[1] FC 65:356*.

TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK REQUIRES PATIENCE

AUGUSTINE: Temporal goods are to be despised in favor of eternal ones, as things on the left are to be despised in favor of those on the right. This has always been the aim of the holy martyrs. A final just vengeance is looked for, that is, the last supreme judgment, only when no chance of correction remains. But now we must be on our guard, more than anything else, not to lose patience in our eagerness to be justified, for patience is to be more highly prized than anything an enemy can take from us against our will. LETTER 138. [1]

[1] FC 20:45*.

THE MERCIFUL PERSON SUFFERS INJUSTICE

ISAAC OF NINEVEH: When a man overcomes justice by mercy, he is crowned, though not with crowns awarded under the Law to the righteous, but with the crowns of the perfect who are under the Gospel. For, the ancient Law also dictates that a man must give to the poor from his own means, and clothe the naked, and love his neighbour as himself, and forbids injustice and lying. But the perfection of the Gospel’s dispensation commands the following: “Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” And further, a man must not merely with joy suffer injustice as regards his possessions and the rest of the external things which come upon him, but he must also lay down his life for his brother. This is the merciful man. ASCETICAL HOMILIES 4. [1]

[1] AHSIS 30.

OLD TESTAMENT LAW TRANSFORMED

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “An eye for an eye” is the perfection of justice. “Whoever strikes you on the cheek, turn the other to him” is the consummation of grace. While both continually have their criteria, he proposed them to us through the two successive Testaments. The first Testament had the killing of animals for compensation, because justice did not permit that one should die in place of another. The second Testament was established through the blood of a man, who through his grace gave himself on behalf of all. [1] One therefore was the beginning, and the other the completion. He in whom are both the end and the beginning is perfect. In the case of those who do not understand, the beginning and end are estranged one from the other. In the study of them, however, they are one.

Therefore this principle of a blow for a blow [2] has indeed been transformed. If you strive for perfection, whoever strikes you, turn to him the other [cheek]. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 6.11B-12. [3]

[1] See Heb 9:11-14.

[2] See Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20.

[3] ECTD 115-16**.

STEPHEN IS AN EXAMPLE OF LOVE FOR ENEMIES

CYPRIAN: How will you love your enemies and pray for your adversaries and persecutors? [1] We see what happened in the case of Stephen. When he was being killed by the violence and stones of the Jews, he did not ask for vengeance but forgiveness for his murderers, saying: “O Lord, do not lay this sin against them.” [2] So it was most fitting that the first martyr for Christ who, in preceding by his glorious death the martyrs that were to come, was not only a preacher of the Lord’s suffering but also an imitator of his most patient gentleness. THE GOOD OF PATIENCE 16. [3]

[1] Mt 5:44.

[2] Acts 7:58-60.

[3] FC 36:278.

LEND WITHOUT HOPE OF RECEIVING

BASIL THE GREAT: “Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive in return.” “And what sort of a loan is this,” he says, “to which there is no hope of a return attached?” Consider the force of the statement, and you will admire the kindness of the Lawmaker. When you have the intention of providing for a poor person for the Lord’s sake, it is at the same time both a gift and a loan. It is a gift because of the expectation of no repayment, but a loan because of the great gift of the Master who pays in his place and who, receiving trifling things through a poor person, will give great things in return for them. HOMILY ON PSALM 14. [1]

[1] FC 46:190**.

6:35-36 | Imitate God

THE DIVINE IMAGE SEEN IN HUMAN MERCY

ORIGEN: The traces of the divine image are clearly recognized not through the likeness of the body, which undergoes corruption, but through the intelligence of the soul. We see the divine image in its righteousness, temperance, courage, wisdom, discipline, and through the entire chorus of virtues that are present essentially in God. These can be in people through effort and the imitation of God, as also the Lord points out in the Gospel when he says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” and “Be perfect, as your Father is perfect.” [1] ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 4.10. [2]

[1] Mt 5:48.

[2] OSW 216*.

MERCY AN ATTRIBUTE OF GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Closely neighboring, so to speak, upon the virtues which we have just mentioned is compassion, of which he next makes mention. For it is a most excelling thing, and very pleasing to God, and in the highest degree proper for pious souls. It may suffice for us to imprint upon our mind that compassion is an attribute of the divine nature. “Be merciful,” he says, “as your heavenly Father is merciful.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 29. [1]

[1] CGSL 133**.

MERCY ON THE JUST AND THE UNJUST

JUSTIN MARTYR: We pray for you that you might experience the mercy of Christ. He instructed us to pray for our enemies, when he said, “Be kind and merciful, even as your heavenly Father is merciful.” We can observe that almighty God is kind and merciful, causing his sun to shine on the ungrateful and on the just and sending rain to both the holy and the evil. All of them, he has told us, he will judge. [1] DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 96. [2]

[1] See Mt 5:45.

[2] FC 6:299-300**.

6:37-38 | Four Imperatives: Do Not Judge

THE PRACTICE OF MERCY

AUGUSTINE: The practice of mercy is twofold: when vengeance is sacrificed and when compassion is shown. The Lord included both of these in his brief sentence: “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given to you.” This work has the effect of purifying the heart, so that, even under the limitations of this life, we are enabled with pure mind to see the immutable reality of God. There is something holding us back, which has to be loosed so that our sight may break through to the light. In connection with this the Lord said, “Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you.” [1] Therefore the next and sixth step is that cleansing of the heart. LETTER 171A. [2]

[1] Lk 11:41.

[2] FC 30:70*.

DO NOT JUDGE, BUT CONSIDER YOUR OWN MISDOINGS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He cuts away from our minds a very unmanageable passion, the commencement and begetter of pride. While it is people’s duty to examine themselves and to order their conduct according to God’s will, they leave this alone to busy themselves with the affairs of others. He that judges the brother, as the disciple of Christ says, speaks against the law and judges the law. [1] The lawgiver and judge are One. The judge of the sinning soul must be higher than that soul. Since you are not, the sinner will object to you as judge. Why judge your neighbor? But if you venture to condemn him, having no authority to do it, it is yourself rather that will be condemned, because the law does not permit you to judge others.

Whoever therefore is guided by good sense, does not look at the sins of others, does not busy himself about the faults of his neighbor, but closely reviews his own misdoings. Such was the blessed psalmist, falling down before God and saying on account of his own offenses, “If you, Lord, closely regard iniquities, who can endure?” [2] Once again, putting forward the infirmity of human nature as an excuse, he prays for a reasonable pardon, saying, “Remember that we are dirt.” [3] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 29. [4]

[1] Jas 4:11.

[2] Ps 129:3.

[3] Ps 102:14.

[4] CGSL 137-38**.

JUDGE FROM JUSTICE, FORGIVE FROM GRACE

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Do not judge, that is, unjustly, so that you may not be judged, with regard to injustice. With the judgment that you judge shall you be judged. [1] This is like the phrase “Forgive, and it will be forgiven you.” For once someone has judged in accordance with justice, he should forgive in accordance with grace, so that when he himself is judged in accordance with justice, he may be worthy of forgiveness through grace. Alternatively, it was on account of the judges, those who seek vengeance for themselves, that he said, “Do not condemn.” That is, do not seek vengeance for yourselves. Or, do not judge, from appearances and opinion and then condemn, but admonish and advise. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 6.18B. [2]

[1] Mt 7:2.

[2] JSSS 2:122*.

TWO KINDS OF ALMSGIVING:

GIVING AND FORGIVING

AUGUSTINE: The Christian soul understands how far removed he should be from theft of another’s goods when he realizes that failure to share his surplus with the needy is like to theft. The Lord says, “Give, and it shall be given to you. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.” Let us graciously and fervently perform these two types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn pray the Lord to give us good things and not to repay our evil deeds. SERMON 206.2. [1]

[1] FC 38:87.

TWO WINGS OF PRAYER

AUGUSTINE: “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” “Give, and it will be given you.” These are the two wings of prayer, on which it flies to God. Pardon the offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need. SERMON 205.3. [1]

[1] WSA 3 6:105.

MERCY, CHARITY AND FORGIVENESS

AUGUSTINE: So there is hope in God’s mercy, if our misery is not so barren as to yield no work of mercy. What do you want from the Lord? Mercy. Give, and it shall be given to you. What do you want from the Lord? Pardon. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. SERMON 179A.1. [1]

[1] WSA 3 5:306.

CHRISTIANS ARE THE GRANARIES OF THE POOR

AUGUSTINE: You give alms. You receive alms. You pardon. You are pardoned. You are generous. You are treated generously. Listen to God saying, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and things will be given to you.”

Keep the poor in mind. I say this to all of you. Give alms, my brothers and sisters, and you won’t lose what you give. Trust God. I’m not only telling you you won’t lose what you do for the poor, but I’m telling you plainly, this is all that you won’t lose. … Come now, let’s see if you can cheer the poor up today. You be their granaries, so that God may give to you what you can give to them, and so that he may forgive whatever sins you have committed. SERMON 376A.3. [1]

[1] WSA 3 10:350*.

THE PARADOX OF GOD’S BOUNTY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He has given us full assurance that God, who gives all things abundantly to those who love him, shall reward us with bountiful hand. He said, “Good measure, and squeezed down, and running over shall they give into your bosom.” He added this too, “For with what measure you give, it shall be measured to you.” There is, however, an apparent incompatibility between the two declarations. If we are to receive good measure, and squeezed down, and running over, how shall we be paid back the same measure we give? For this implies an equal reward, and not one of far-surpassing abundance. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 29. [1]

[1] CGSL 133-34**.