ACC ~ Matthew 24 v27

TRUTH RADIATES FROM EAST TO WEST

ORIGEN: Christ is shown to be the Word and Truth and Wisdom of God from the very first creature of the world to the last of the writings of the apostles (that is, from Genesis through the apostolic books of the Bible). No Scripture written after these is to be believed in the same way. Because “the law and the prophets prophesied until the coming of John,” [1] the law and the prophets represent the lightning or radiance of truth which “comes from the East and shines as far as the West.” The East represents the law, and the West represents the “end of the law,” [2] which is marked by “the coming of John.” The church alone has neither removed one word from this radiance nor added any prophecy of its own. If we were to consider carefully why the Evangelist does not use the singular here but writes of a plurality shining “from the Easts to the Wests,” [3] we would see that the law and the prophets are one thing and Jesus Christ himself is yet another reality which extends from East to West, appearing to the apostle Paul “last of all, as to one untimely born.” [4] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 47. [5]

[1] Mt 11:13; Lk 16:16.

[2] Rom 10:4.

[3] Origen highlights the fact that the Greek text of Matthew 24:27 has the plural of east and west.

[4] 1 Cor 15:8. Symbolically the spreading of the horizon from east to west signifies both (1) the display of the truth in the entirety of the sacred Scriptures, begun by the will of God with the law and ended with the Passion of Christ, and (2) the story of the origins of Christianity, from Christ himself to Paul.

[5] GCS 38.2:96.

ILLUMINATING THE FULLNESS OF TRUTH

THEODORE OF HERACLEA: For it is much the same with lightning. Lightning is figuratively compared with truth. It is likened to the coming of the Son of man, which is explained in every Scripture, whether it concerns the law, prophecy, the gospel or apostolic testimony. It flashes out from the east, the region of principalities and spiritual powers, and shines all the way to the west, the realm of darkness and Satan, in the time of the Passion. Note that if the law is rising in the east, the end of the law is setting in the west. But from Jesus Christ to Paul is a rising and setting. He was revealed to Paul last of all as “to one abnormally born.” [1] FRAGMENT 124-25. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 15:8.

[2] MKGK 91.