ACC ~ Romans 10 v15

THE BEAUTY OF THE PREACHER’S FEET. ORIGEN: It seems to me that there is some difficulty with this [verse]. For if we understand it to mean that nobody preaches because nobody is sent … then it would appear that the reason they are not saved is ultimately the fault of Christ for not having sent them.

But it is better for us to understand this as follows. It is as if the apostle were saying: “We, the heralds and preachers of Christ, would not be able to preach, nor would we have any power to proclaim, if he who sent us were not also present with us. So if you do not want to listen to us when we preach, that is your problem, if hearing you do not believe, and not believing, you do not call on him, and not calling on him, you are not saved.”

The beauty of the preacher’s feet must be understood in a spiritual, not in a physical sense. For it would make a mockery of the apostle’s meaning to suppose that the feet of the evangelists, which can be seen with the physical eye, should be regarded as beautiful in themselves. … Only those feet which walk in the way of life can make this claim. Given that Christ said that he is the way, you should understand that it is the feet of those evangelists who walk according to that way which deserve to be called beautiful. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE WAY OF PEACE. AMBROSIASTER: Nobody can be a true apostle unless he is sent by Christ, nor will he be able to preach without a mandate to do so, for his testimony will not reflect his signs of power.

Paul quotes the prophet Nahum. By talking about feet he means the coming of the apostles who went round the world preaching the coming of the kingdom of God. For their appearance enlightened mankind by showing them the way toward peace with God, which John the Baptist had come to prepare. This is the peace to which those who believe in Christ are hastening. Then St. Simeon, seeing the discord in the world, rejoiced at the coming of the Savior, saying: “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,”because the kingdom of God is peace, and all discord is taken away when everyone bows the knee to the one God. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HOW TO PREACH UNLESS ONE IS SENT? APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: It is clear even from the prophets that it is impossible to believe if nobody preaches the gospel. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

DISBELIEVING THE PROPHET AND THE APOSTLES. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is saying that by disbelieving, the Jews are not disbelieving the apostles only but also the prophet Isaiah, who foretold many years before that they would be sent to preach the gospel. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 18.

ESSENTIAL TEACHING. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: If the heralds of these things are deemed worthy of such great admiration, how essential and how advantageous a thing the teaching of the apostles must be. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

Rom