ACC ~ Matthew 24 v50 - 51

THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT PUNISHED

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: “He will cut him off” means that the Lord will cut him off from the fellowship of Christians. The unfaithful servant will neither be glorified with the saints nor gently punished with those who have committed venial sins. Instead, he will be thrown in with the hypocrites and infidels, where he will suffer the destruction of those whose behavior he imitated. A good priest is glorified above all others, not only on account of his own righteousness but also on account of theirs as well, since he is the cause of their righteousness. In the same way, a sinful priest is punished more severely than anyone else, not only for his own sins, but also for theirs, since he made himself the cause of their sin. The Lord calls them not only hypocrites but also infidels, because every hypocrite is an infidel, but not every infidel is a hypocrite. Whoever gives the appearance of being in the church and then acts against the church is properly called a hypocrite. HOMILY 51. [1]

[1] PG 56:928.

THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT CUT OFF

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Let us investigate carefully what “to be cut into pieces” means. [1] When in ancient times Adam came into being, God made him a partaker of his own Spirit, giving to his nature a most perfect beauty. For “he breathed on his face the breath of life.” [2] For to truly give life is to have the Spirit of life, that is, of Christ. But because Adam was deceived and slipped into sin, he was cut off from the Spirit. For it pleased our God and father “to bring all things together under one head in Christ” [3] and to restore the ancient beauty to human nature. We have received this through grace, but the stealthy entrance of sin stripped it from us. For Christ breathed into us after the resurrection, restoring ancient beauty to us. “Receive,” he says, “the Holy Spirit.” [4] And so the Spirit is united to us. For “he who unites himself to the Lord is one with him in spirit.” [5] Surely, just as we have been compelled to be zealous in our efforts by a sense of devotion, we are receiving the utmost fullness since we now have the pledge of the Spirit at the appropriate time. We are deprived of that same foretaste of the Spirit when we stand accused in our own sin since the gift of the Spirit is cut off and sent away from us as in the time of the judgment. We affirm that it is this judgment that Jesus speaks of when he mentions cutting something apart. For one such as this who has the Spirit is not delivered over to punishment. FRAGMENT 278. [6]

[1] The act of punishment for which the evil servant is cut off indicates symbolically that the divine Spirit has departed because of sin. Cyril argues that the presence of this Spirit, restored by Christ after the sin of Adam, depends in every person on moral conduct.

[2] Gen 2:7.

[3] Eph 1:10.

[4] Jn 20:22.

[5] 1 Cor 6:17.

[6] MKGK 249.