HOMILY I.
ROM. 1. 1, 2.
"Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated
unto the Gospel of
God, (which He promised afore by His prophets in
the Holy
Scriptures.)"
Moses having written
five books, has nowhere put his own name to
them, neither have
they who after him put together the history of
events after him, no
nor yet has Matthew, nor John, nor Mark, nor
Luke; but the blessed
Paul everywhere in his Epistles sets his own
name. Now why was
this? Because they were writing to people, who
were present, and it
had been superfluous to show themselves when
they were present.
But this man sent his writings froth afar and in
the form of a letter,
for which cause also the addition of the name
was necessary. But if
in the Epistle to the Hebrews he does not do
the same, this too is
after his own wise judgment. For since they felt
prejudiced against
him, lest on hearing the name at the outstart, they
should stop up all
admission to his discourse, he subtly won their
attention by
concealing the name. But if some Prophets and
Solomon have put
their names, this I leave as a subject for you to
look further into
hereafter, why some of them wished to put it so, and
some not. For you are
not to learn everything from me, but to take
pains yourselves also
and enquire further, lest ye become more dullwitted.
"Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ." Why did God change his name,
and call him Paul who
was Saul? It was, that he might not even in
this respect come
short of the Apostles, but that that pre minence
which the chief of
the Disciples had, he might also acquire (Mark iii.
16); and have whereon
to ground a closer union with them. And he
calls himself, the
servant of Christ, yet not merely this; for there be
many sorts of
servitude. One owing to the Creation, according to
which it says,
"for all are Thy servants" (Ps. cxix. 91); and according
to which it says,
"Nebuchadnezzar, My servant" (Jer. xxv. 9), for the
work is the servant
of Him which made it. Another kind is that from
the faith, of which
it saith, "But God be thanked that ye were the
servants of sin, but
ye have obeyed from a pure heart that form of
doctrine which was
delivered unto you: being then made free from
sin, ye became the
servants of righteousness." from. vi. 17, 18.)
Another is that from
civil subjection (toliteias), after which it saith,
"Moses my
servant is dead" (Jos. i. 2); and indeed all the Jews were
servants, but Moses
in a special way as shining most brightly in the
community. Since
then, in all the forms of the marvellous servitude,
Paul was a servant,
this he puts in the room of the greatest title of
dignity, saying,
"a servant of Jesus Christ." And the Names
appertaining to the
dispensation he sets forth, going on upwards
from the lowest. For
with the Name Jesus, did the Angel come from
Heaven when He was
conceived of the Virgin, and Christ He is called
from being anointed,
which also itself belonged to the flesh. And
with what oil, it may
be asked, was He anointed? It was not with oil
that He was anointed,
but with the Spirit. And Scripture has
instances of calling
such "Christs": inasmuch as the Spirit is the
chief point in the
unction, and that for which the oil is used. And
where does it call
those "Christs" who are not anointed with oil?
"Touch
not," it says, "Mine anointed, and do My prophets no
harm" (Ps. cv.
15), but at that time the institution of anointing with oil
did not yet even
exist. "Called an Apostle." He styles himself
"called" in
all his Epistles, so showing his own candor
(eugnwmosunhn), and
that it was not of his own seeking that he
found, but that when
called he came near and obeyed. And the
faithful, he styles,
"called to be saints," but while they had been
called so far as to
be believers, he had besides a different thing
committed to his
hands, namely, the Apostleship, a thing full of
countless blessings,
and at once greater than and comprehensive of,
all the gifts.
And what more need
one say of it, than that whatsoever Christ was
doing when present,
this he committed to their hands when He
departed. Which also
Paul cries aloud, speaking thereof and
magnifying the
dignity of the Apostles' office; "We are ambassadors
for Christ, as though
God did beseech by us;" i.e. in Christ's stead.
"Separated to
the Gospel of God." (2 Cor. v. 20.) For as in a house,
each one is set apart
for divers works; thus also in the Church, there
be divers
distributions of ministrations. And herein he seems to me
to hint, that he was
not appointed by lot only, but that of old and
from the first he was
ordained to this office; which also Jeremy saith,
that God spake
concerning himself, "Before thou camest forth out of
the womb, I
sanctified thee, I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations." (Jer.
i. 5.) For in that he was writing to a vainglorious city,
and one every way
puffed up, he therefore uses every mode of
showing that his
election was of God. For he Himself called him, and
Himself separated
him. And he does this, that he may make the
Epistle deserve
credit, and meet an easy reception. "To the Gospel of
God." Not
Matthew then alone is an Evangelist, nor Mark, as neither
was this man alone an
Apostle, but they also; even if he be said pr
eminently to be this,
and they that. And he calleth it the Gospel, not
for those good things
only which have been brought to pass, but
also for those which
are to come. And how comes he to say, that the
Gospel "of
God" is preached by himself? for he says, "separated to
the Gospel of
God"--for the Father was manifest, even before the
Gospels. Yet even if
He were manifest, it was to the Jews only, and
not even to all of
these as were fitting. For neither did they know Him
to be a Father, and
many, things did they conceive unworthily of
Him. Wherefore also
Christ saith, "The true worshippers" shall come,
and that "the
Father seeketh such to worship Him." (John iv. 23.) But
it was afterwards
that He Himself with the Son was unveiled to the
whole world, which
Christ also spake of beforehand, and said, "that
they might know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom
Thou has sent."
(John xvii. 3.) But he calls it the "Gospel" of God, to
cheer the hearer at
the outstart. For he came not with tidings to make
the countenance sad,
as did the prophets with their accusations, and
charges, and
reproofs, but with glad tidings, even the "Gospel of
God;" countless
treasures of abiding and unchangeable blessings.
Ver. 2. "Which
He promised afore by His Prophets in the Holy
Scriptures."
For the Lord, saith
he, "shall give the word to them that proclaim
glad tidings with
great power" (Ps. lxviii. 12, Sept.); and again, "How
beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace." (Is.
lii. 7; Rom. x. 15.)
See here both the name of the Gospel expressly
and the temper of it,
laid down in the Old Testament. For, we do not
proclaim it by words
only, he means, but also by acts done; since
neither was it human,
but both divine and unspeakable, and
transcending all
nature. Now since they have laid against it the
charge of novelty
also, He shows it to be older than the Greeks, and
described aforetime
in the Prophets. And if He gave it not from the
beginning because of
those that were unwilling to receive it, still,
they that were
willing did hear it. "Your father Abraham," He says,
"rejoiced to see
My day, and he saw it, and was glad." (John viii. 56.)
How then comes He to
say, Many prophets desired to see the things
which ye. see, and
have not seen them?" (Matt. xiii. 17.) He means
not so, as ye see and
hear, the Flesh itself, and the very miracles
before your eyes. But
let me beg you to look and see what a very
long time ago these
things were foretold. For when God is about to
do openly some great
things, He announces them of a long time
before, to practise
men's hearing for the reception of them when they
come.
"In the Holy
Scriptures." Because the Prophets not only spake, but
also writ what they
spake; nor did they write only, but also shadowed
them forth by
actions, as Abraham when he led up Isaac, and Moses
when he lifted up the
Serpent, and when he spread out his hands
against Amalek, and
when he offered the Paschal Lamb.
Ver. 3.
"Concerning His Son which was made of the seed of David,
according to the
flesh."
What dost, thou, O
Paul, that after lifting up our souls so, and
elevating them, and
causing great and unutterable things to pass m
show before them, and
speaking of the Gospel, and that too the
Gospel of God, and
bringing in the chorus of the Prophets, and
showing the whole of
them heralding forth many years before those
things which were to
come: why dost thou again bring us down to
David? Art thou
conversing, oh tell me, of some man, and giving him
Jesse's son for a
father? And wherein are these things worthy of
what thou hast just
spoken of? Yea, they are fully worthy. For our
discourse is not,
saith he, of any bare man. Such was my reason for
adding,
"according to the flesh;" as hinting that there is also a
Generation of the
Same after the Spirit. And why did he begin from
that and not from
this the higher? It is because that was what
Matthew, and Luke,
and Mark, began from. For he who would lead
men by the hand to Heaven,
must needs lead them upwards from
below. So too was the
actual dispensation ordered. First, that is, they
saw Him a man upon
earth, and then they understood Him to be God.
In the same direction
then, as He Himself had framed His teaching,
did His disciple also
shape out the way which leadeth thither.
Therefore the
generation according to the flesh is in his language
placed first in
order, not because it was first, but because he was for
leading the hearer
from this up to that.
Ver. 4. "And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to
the Spirit of
Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus
Christ."
What is said has been
made obscure by the close-folding of the
words, and so it is
necessary, to divide it. What then is it, which he
says? We preach, says
he, Him Who was made of David. But this is
plain. Whence then is
it plain, that this incarnate "Person" was also
the Son of God? First,
it is so from the prophets; wherefore he says,
"Which He had
promised afore by the Prophets in the Holy
Scriptures." (v.
2.) And this way of demonstration is no weak one.
And next also from
the very way of His Generation: which also he
sets forth by saying,
"of the seed of David according to the flesh:"
for He broke the rule
of nature. Thirdly, from the miracles which He
did, yielding a
demonstration of much power, for "in power" means
this. Fourthly, from
the Spirit which He gave to them that believe
upon Him, and through
which He made them all holy, wherefore he
saith,
"according to the Spirit of holiness." For it was of God only to
grant such gifts.
Fifthly, from the Resurrection; for He first and He
alone raised Himself:
and this Himself too said to be above all a
miracle sufficient to
stop the mouths even of them that behaved
shamelessly. For,
"Destroy this Temple," He says, "and in three days
I will raise it
up" (John xix.); and, "When ye have lifted" Me "up from
the earth, then shall
ye know that I am He" (ib. viii. 28); and again,
This "generation
seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be
given unto it, but
the sign of Jonas." (Matt. xxi. 39.) What then is the
being
"declared?" being shown, being manifested, being judged,
being confessed, by
the feeling and suffrage of all; by Prophets, by
the marvelous Birth
after the Flesh, by the power which was in the
miracles, by the
Spirit, through which He gave sanctification, by the
Resurrection, whereby
He put an end to the tyranny of death.
Ver. 5. "By Whom
we have received grace and Apostleship for
obedience to the
faith."
See the candor of the
servant. He wishes nothing to be his own, but
all his Master's. And
indeed it was the Spirit that gave this.
Wherefore He saith,
"I have many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is
come, He will guide
you into all truth" (John xvi.
12): and again,
"Separate Me Paul and Barnabas." (Acts xiii. 2.) And
in the Epistle to the
Corinthians, he says, that "to one is given by the
Spirit the word of
wisdom, to another the word of knowledge" (1 Cor.
xii. 8, 11); and that
It divideth all as It willeth. And in addressing the
Milesians, he says,
"Over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
shepherds and
overseers." (Acts xx. 28.) You see, he calls the things
of the Spirit, the
Son's, and the things of the Son, the Spirit's. "Grace
and Apostleship;"
that is, it is not we that have achieved for
ourselves, that we
should become Apostles. For it was not by having
toiled much and
labored that we had this dignity allotted to us, but
we received grace,
and the successful result is a part of he heavenly
gift. "For
obedience to the faith." So it was not the Apostles that
achieved it, but
grace that paved the way before them. For it was
their part to go
about and preach, but to persuade was of God, Who
wrought in them. As
also Luke saith, that "He opened their
heart" (Acts
xvi. 14); and again, To whom it was given to hear the
word of God. "To
obedience;" he says not, to questioning and
parade (kataskeuhn)
of argument but "to obedience." For we were
not sent, he means,
to argue, but to give those things which we had
trusted to our hands.
For when the Master declareth aught, they that
hear should not be
nice and curious handlers of what is told them,
but receivers only;
for this is why the Apostles were sent, to speak
what they had heard,
not to add aught from their own stock, and that
we for our part
should believe--that we should believe
what?--"concerning
His Name." Not that we should be curious about
the essence, but that
we should believe on the Name; for this it was
which also wrought
the miracles. For it says, "in the Name of Jesus
Christ rise up and
walk." (Acts iii. 6.) And this too requireth faith,
neither can one grasp
aught of these things by reasoning (logismp
katagabein).
"Among all nations, among whom are ye also the called
of Jesus
Christ." What? did Paul preach then to all the nations? Now
that he ran through
the whole space from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and
from thence again
went forth to the very ends of the earth, is plain
from what he writes
to the Romans; but even if he did not come to
all, yet still what
he says is not false, for he speaks not of himself
alone, but of the
twelve Apostles, and all who declared the word after
them. And in another
sense, one should not see any fault to find with
the phrase, if about
himself, when one considers his ready mind, and
how that after death
he ceaseth not to preach in all parts of the
world. And consider
how he extols the gift, and shows that it is great
and much more lofty
than the former, since the old things were with
one nation, but this
gift drew sea and land to itself. And attend to this
too, how free the
mind of Paul is from all flattery; for when
conversing with the
Romans, who were seated as it were upon a sort
of summit of the
whole world, he attaches no more to them than to
the other nations,
nor does he on the score of their being then in
power and ruling,
say, that they have in spiritual things also any
advantage. But as (he
means) we preach to all the nations, so do we
to you, numbering
them with Scythians and Thracians: for if he did
not wish to show
this, it were superfluous to say "Among whom are
ye also." And
this he does to take down their high spirit (kenpn to
fushma) and to
prostrate the swelling vanity of their minds, and to
teach them to honor
others alike to themselves: and so he proceeds
to speak upon this
very point.
Ver. 6. "Among
whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ."
That is, along with
whom ye also are: and he does not say, that he
called the others
with you, but you with the others. For if in Christ
Jesus there is
neither bond nor free, much less is there king and
private man. For even
ye were called and did not come over of
yourselves.
Ver. 7. "To all
that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ."
See how continually
he puts the word "called," saying, "called to be
an Apostle; among
whom ye also are called; to all that be in Rome,
called:" and
this he does not out of superfluity of words, but out of a
wish to remind them
of the benefit. For since among them which
believed, it was
likely that there would be some of the consuls
(upatwn; Ben.
consulares) and rulers as well as poor and common
men, casting aside
the inequality of ranks, he writes to them all
under one
appellation. But if in things which are more needful and
which are spiritual,
all things are set forth as common both to slaves
and to free, for
instance, the love from God, the calling, the Gospel,
the adoption, the
grace, the peace, the sanctification, all things else,
how could it be other
than the uttermost folly, whom God had joined
together, and made to
be of equal honor in the greater things, those
to divide on account
of things on earth? on this ground, I presume,
from the very
outstart, this blessed Apostle, after casting out this
mischievous disease,
conducts them to the mother of blessings,
humble-mindedness.
This made servants better, since they learnt
that they should take
no harm from their servitude, while they had
the true freedom;
this would incline masters to be gentle, as being
instructed that they
have no advantage in being free, unless the
goods of faith have
the first place given them. And that you may
learn that he was not
doing this to work confusion, by dashing all
things, but still
knew the best distinction, he wrote not simply to all
that were in Rome,
but with a definition added, "beloved of God." For
this is the best
discrimination, and shows whence the sanctification
was. Whence then was
the sanctification? from Love. For after
saying,
"beloved," then he proceeds, "called to be saints," showing
that it is from this
that the fount of all blessings is. But saints he
calls all the
faithful. "Grace unto you and peace."
Oh address, that
bringeth countless blessings to us! This also Christ
bade the Apostles to
use as their first word when entering into
houses. (Luke x. 5.)
Wherefore it is from this that Paul also in all
places takes his
beginning, from grace and peace; for it was no
small war which
Christ put an end to, but indeed one varying and of
every kind and of a
long season (toikilon kai tantodaton); and this
not from our labors,
but through His grace. Since then love
presented us with
grace, and grace with peace, having set them
down in the due order
of an address, he prays over them that they
may abide perpetual
and unmoved, so that no other war may again
be blown into flame,
and beseeches Him that gave, to keep these
things firmly
settled, saying as follows, "Grace be unto you and
peace from God our
Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." See in this
passage, the
"from" is common to the Son and the Father, and this is
equivalent to
"of whom." For he did not say, Grace be unto you and
peace from God the
Father, "through" our Lord Jesus Christ; but,
"from God the
Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Strange! how
mighty is the love of
God! we which were enemies and disgraced,
have all at once
become saints and sons. For when he calls Him
Father, he shows them
to be sons; and when he says sons, he has
unveiled the whole
treasure of blessings.
Let us then keep
showing a conversation worthy of the gift, and hold
on in peace and
holiness. For other dignities are but for a time, and
are brought to an end
along with this life present, and may be bought
with money (whence
one might say they are not dignities at all but
names of dignities
only, having their strength in the investiture of
fine array and the
servility of attendants), but this as having been
given of God, the
gift of sanctification and adoption, is not broken
through even by
death, but even here maketh men conspicuous, and
also departs with us
upon our journey to the life to come.
For he that holdeth
on in the adoption, and keeps an exact watch
upon his holiness, is
much brighter and more happy even than he
that is arrayed with
the diadem itself, and has the purple; and has the
delight of abundant
peace in the present life and is nurtured up with
goodly hopes, and
hath no ground for worry and disturbance, but
enjoys constant
pleasure; for as for good spirits and joy, it is not
greatness of power,
not abundance of wealth, not pomp of authority,
not strength of body,
not sumptuousness of the table, not the
adorning of dresses,
nor any other of the things in man's reach that
ordinarily produces
them, but spiritual success, and a good
conscience alone.
And he that hath this
cleansed, even though he be clad in rags and
struggling with
famine, is of better spirits than they that live so
softly. So too he
that is conscious of wicked deeds, even though he
may gather to himself
all men's goods, is the most wretched of all
men. For this cause
Paul, living in continual hunger and nakedness,
and being scourged
every day was joyful, and went more softly than
they that were then
emperors. But Ahab though a king, and indulging
in a sumptuous
luxury, when he had done that one sin, groaned and
was out of spirits,
and his countenance was fallen both before the
sin and after the
sin. If then we wish to enjoy pleasure, above all
things else let us
shun wickedness, and follow after virtue; since it is
not in the nature of
things for one to have a share thereof on any
other terms, even if
we were mounted upon the king's throne itself.
Wherefore also Paul
saith, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace." (Gal. v.
22.) This fruit then let us keep growing by us, that we
may be in the
fruition of joy here, and may obtain the kingdom to
come, by the grace
and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through Whom and with
Whom, be glory to the Father, and to the
Holy Spirit, now and always, even unto all
ages. Amen.
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