ACC ~ Mark 10 v44

WHAT LOWLINESS ACCOMPLISHED

CHRYSOSTOM: He erased the curse, [1] he triumphed over death, [2] he opened paradise. [3] He struck down sin, he opened wide the vaults of the sky, he lifted our first fruits [4] to heaven, he filled the whole world with godliness. He drove out error, he led back the truth, he made our firstfruits mount to the royal throne. He accomplished so many good deeds that neither I nor all humanity together could set them before your minds in words. [5] Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him. After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him. You see how his humbling of himself did not make him have less but produced countless benefits, countless deeds of virtue, and made his glory shine forth with greater brightness. [6] God wants for nothing and has need of nothing. Yet, when he humbled himself, he produced such great good, increased his household, and extended his kingdom. Why, then, are you afraid that you will become less if you humble yourself? ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 8.46-47. [7]

[1] Gal 3:10-13.

[2] 1 Cor 15:55-57; 2 Tim 1:10.

[3] Lk 23:43; 2 Cor 12:4.

[4] 1 Cor 15:20.

[5] Cf. Jn 21:25.

[6] Cf. Phil 2:6-11.

[7] TLG 2062.016, 48.777. 9-778.4; FC 72:231; cf. JF B 127; Homilies Against the Anomeans, OCJC 8.2, 253-54. Without his humiliation, only the angels would have known his identity. Humility produces surprising fruit in unexpected places.