Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 1 part 1/2

The former treatise I composed, O Theophilus, concerning all things which Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day when, having given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up.

To many this book is not even so much as known to exist—neither the book itself, nor the one who wrote and composed it.

For this very reason I have especially judged it right to devote myself to this labour, so as both to instruct those who are ignorant, and not to allow so great a treasure to remain thus hidden and concealed.

For it will be able to profit us no less than the Gospels themselves;

so filled is it with all wisdom and soundness of doctrine, and with the display of miracles, and especially of those wrought by the Spirit.

Let us not then hereafter pass it by, but let us examine it with all exactness.

For the predictions which Christ utters beforehand in the Gospels—here one may see them coming forth into deed, and the truth shining out from the very facts themselves, and the great change of the disciples for the better which the Spirit wrought within them.

For the things which they heard Christ saying—namely, that 'Everyone who believes in Me, the signs which I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do'—

and His foretelling to the disciples that they would be brought before governors and kings, and that in their synagogues they would scourge them, and that they would suffer things unbearable, and that they would prevail over all, and that the Gospel would be preached in all the world—all these things, fulfilled with all exactness, one may see in this book, and many others besides which He told them while He was with them.

Here too you will see the apostles themselves, like winged creatures, coursing over land and sea; and those timid and unintelligent men suddenly become other than they were, despisers of riches and of glory, and of anger and of desire, in a word raised above all things, holding much concord, and nowhere any envy as before, nor the lust for pre-eminence, but every virtue perfected in them, and love shining beyond measure; concerning which He also gave them much charge, saying, 'By this shall all know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.'

There are also doctrines to be found here which, had it not been for this book, would not have become so clearly known to anyone;

rather, the very sum of our salvation was hidden and obscure, both as regards manner of life and as regards doctrine.

The greater part of what is contained here consists of the acts of Paul, who laboured more abundantly than all.

And the reason is that the one who composed this book, the blessed Luke, was his disciple;

whose virtue one may see from many other quarters, but especially from his cleaving inseparably to his Teacher, and following him continually.

At all events, when Demas and Hermogenes had forsaken him—the one departing to Galatia, the other to Dalmatia—hear what he says concerning this man:

'Only Luke is with me.'

And writing to the Corinthians he says concerning him:

'Whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches.'

And when he says, 'He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve,'

and, 'According to the Gospel which you received,' it is this man's Gospel he means;

so that one would not err in ascribing this work to him.

But whenever I say 'to this one,' I mean Christ.

And why, then, did he not record everything, seeing that he was with him even to the end? To this we would reply, that even these things were sufficient for those willing to give heed; and that they were always intent upon what was pressing; and that their zeal did not lie in writing narratives;

for they delivered many things also by unwritten tradition.

Now all the things laid down in this book are worthy of wonder, but especially the condescension of the apostles, which the Spirit also prompted in them, disposing them to dwell upon the discourse of the divine economy.

For this very reason, though they discoursed so much concerning Christ, they said but little about His divinity, but discoursed more about His humanity, and His passion, and His resurrection, and His ascension.

For what was being sought for the time being was this: that it should be believed that He rose again and ascended into the heavens.

As therefore Christ Himself was above all things earnest to show that He came from the Father,

so also this man was earnest to show that He rose again and was taken up, and departed to Him, and had come from Him.

For if this had not first been believed, much more, when the addition was made concerning the resurrection and the ascension, would the whole doctrine have seemed incredible to the Jews.

Wherefore quietly and by little and little he leads them up to higher things.

And at Athens Paul calls Him simply a man, saying nothing more:

for if, when Christ Himself discoursed concerning His equality with the Father, they often attempted to stone Him, and on this account called Him a blasphemer, scarcely would they have received this doctrine from the fishermen—and that too when the cross had gone before.

And why speak of the Jews, when even the disciples themselves at that time, hearing the loftier doctrines, were often troubled and made to stumble? For this reason He also said:

'I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.'

But if those men could not—men who had been with Him so long a time, and had shared in so many secret things, and had beheld so many miracles—how were men drawn but then for the first time from altars and idols and sacrifices, and cats and crocodiles (for such were the objects of the Greeks' worship), and from all their other evils, suddenly to receive the lofty words of the doctrines? And how could the Jews also, who day by day were taught and had it sounded in their ears by the Law:

'Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, and besides Him there is no other'—

having seen Him nailed upon the wood of the cross;

nay rather, having both crucified and buried Him, and not even having beheld Him risen;

hearing that this very One is God, and equal to the Father—would they not most of all have leapt away and broken off? For this very reason, quietly and by little and little they bring them forward, and make much use of the economy of condescension, but enjoy a more abundant grace of the Spirit, and work greater things than He Himself had done in His name, in order that from both sides they might raise up those who lay prostrate on the ground, and give assurance of the doctrine concerning the resurrection.

For this indeed is what this book most especially is: a demonstration of the resurrection.

And this being believed, the rest also went forward on its way.

The subject then, and the whole aim of the book, as one might say in summing it up roughly, is chiefly this.

But let us now hear the prologue itself.

'The former treatise I composed, O Theophilus, concerning all things which Jesus began both to do and to teach.'

For what reason does he remind him of the Gospel? In order to show his own exactness.

For in beginning that former work he says:

'It seemed good to me also, having followed all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order.'

And he is not content with his own testimony only, but refers the whole matter up to the apostles, saying:

'Even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word.'

Wherefore, having there made his account worthy of belief, he needs no other confirmation here, since he has once been believed, and through that former work has instructed him in the exactness of the truth.

For he who was accounted worthy of belief to write what he had heard, and

who was believed, much more would he who composed these things—which he had not received from others, but which he himself had seen and heard—be justly worthy of belief.

For if you received the things of Christ, he says, much more the things of the apostles.

What then? Is the matter mere history, and is the account devoid of the Spirit? By no means.

How so? Because the things which those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered to him were of the Spirit.

And why did he not say, 'Even as they delivered to us who were counted worthy of the Holy Spirit,' but, 'Those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses'? Because this is most of all worthy of credit for faith—to have learned from eyewitnesses;

whereas the other would have seemed to the foolish to be arrogance and pride.

Wherefore John also spoke thus:

'I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.'

And Christ too discourses thus to Nicodemus, who was of a somewhat gross understanding:

'What we know we speak, and what we have seen we bear witness, and no one receives our witness.'

And again, showing that it is possible to bear witness of many things also from sight, He said to the disciples:

'And you also bear witness of Me, because you have been with Me from the beginning.'

And the apostles themselves in many places speak thus:

'We are witnesses, and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.'

And after these things, giving assurance of the resurrection, Peter said:

'We who ate and drank with Him.'

For they more readily received the testimony of the men who had been with Him, because as yet they fell far short of the conception concerning the Spirit.

For this reason John too, in the composition of his Gospel, said that he himself saw, when he was discoursing about the blood and the water, setting down his own eyesight for them in place of the greatest testimony;

and yet the things that come from the Spirit are more exact than eyesight — but not among the unbelieving.

Now that this man partook of the Spirit is clear from many quarters: from the signs that are now wrought, from the fact that even ordinary people at that time received a share of the Spirit, from the testimony of Paul (for 'whose praise,' he says, 'is in the Gospel'), and from the vote cast at his ordination.

But he was also ordained by the Churches as our fellow-traveller in this grace which is ministered by us.

For he does not say, 'The first Gospel which I preached';

but, 'I made the first treatise,' reckoning the appellation of Gospel to be too great for himself.

And yet the Apostle adorns him from this very point, saying:

'Whose praise is in the Gospel.'

But he himself speaks modestly and says:

'I made the first treatise concerning all things, O Theophilus, which Jesus began both to do and to teach';

not simply 'concerning all things,' but from the beginning to the end.

'For until the day,' he says, 'in which He was taken up.'

And indeed John shows that it was not possible to write everything.

For wishing to declare this, after saying, 'Which if they were written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain,' he adds, 'the books that should be written.'

How then, one says, does this man speak 'concerning all things'? But he did not say 'all things,' but 'concerning all things';

as one might say, in a large and summary way;

or he speaks 'concerning all things,' meaning those that are essential and pressing.

Then he shows also of what sort of 'all things' he means.

'Which Jesus began both to do and to teach,' hinting at the miracles and the teachings.

And not this only, but that even while doing He was teaching.

Behold too his benevolent and apostolic disposition, if even for the sake of one person he took such pains as to write a whole Gospel.

'That you might have,' he says, 'the certainty concerning the words in which you were instructed.'

For indeed he had heard Christ saying:

'It is not the will of My Father that one of these little ones should perish.'

And why did he not make one book, writing to the one Theophilus, but divided it into two subjects? For the sake of clearness, and to give the hearer a breathing-space;

and moreover, the treatises are also distinct in their subject-matter.

Consider how Christ made His own words worthy of belief through His deeds.

He exhorted concerning gentleness, and said:

'Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.'

He taught men to be without possessions, and this too was shown through His deeds:

'The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,' He says.

Again, He commanded men to love their enemies.

He taught this upon the cross, praying for those who were crucifying Him.

He said, 'To him who would go to law with you and take your tunic, leave him your cloak also.'

But He gave not His garments only, but even His blood.

Thus also He commanded His disciples to do.

For nothing is colder than a teacher who philosophizes only in words.

For this is the mark not of a teacher, but of a hypocrite.

For this reason the apostles first taught by their manner of life, and then by their words;

or rather, they had no need even of words, since their deeds cried aloud.

Nor would one err in calling even His Passion an action;

for in suffering He accomplished that great and marvellous work, abolishing death and effecting all the rest.

'Until the day on which, having given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up.'

'Having given commandment through the Spirit,' that is, having spoken to them spiritual words, nothing human.

So then one may say either this, or that He gave them commandment through the Spirit.

Do you see how he still discourses humbly concerning Him, as He Himself also did concerning Himself, saying:

'But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons'? For indeed the Holy Spirit also wrought in that temple.

And what did He command? 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'

Great is the encomium of the apostles, when such things are entrusted to them;

I mean the salvation of the whole world;

when their words are full of the Spirit;

which indeed He hinted at when He said, 'through the Holy Spirit';

that is, 'And the words which I have spoken to you are Spirit.'

And he says this, thereby leading the hearer on to a desire to learn the commandments, and rendering the apostles worthy of belief, seeing that they were about to speak the things of the Spirit and the commandments of Christ.

'Having therefore given commandment,' he says, 'He was taken up.'

He did not say 'He ascended,' since he is still discoursing as concerning a man.

So then, even after the resurrection He taught the disciples;

but this period of time no one has related to us with full accuracy.

But John indeed dwells upon it more than the others, and this one too;

yet no one has reported all things clearly (for they were hastening on to another matter);

but we learned these things through the apostles;

'To whom also He presented Himself alive.'

Having spoken first about the ascension, he speaks also about the resurrection.

For since he had said that 'He was taken up,' lest you should suppose that He was taken up by others, he added:

'To whom also He presented Himself alive.'

For if in the greater matter He presented Himself, much more in the lesser.

Do you see how imperceptibly he scatters in these great doctrines? 'Being seen by them through forty days.'

For He was not with them continually then, as He was before the resurrection.

He did not say 'forty days,' but 'through forty days.'

For He would come and stand by them, and then fly away again.

Why so? Because He was lifting up their minds and no longer permitting them to be disposed toward Him in the same way as before.

And He did not do this without purpose, but was establishing both points with exactness: that the resurrection should be believed, and that henceforth He should be reckoned as greater than merely a man.

And yet these two things were opposed to one another.

For in order that the resurrection might be believed, many human things had to occur;

but for the other purpose, the very opposite.

Nevertheless both came to pass, each at its fitting season.

But why did He appear not to all, but only to the apostles? Because to the multitude He would have seemed to be a phantom, since they did not know the ineffable nature of the mystery.

For if even the disciples themselves at first disbelieved and were troubled, and needed to touch Him with the hand and to share a table, what was it likely the multitude would have felt? For this very reason He makes the proof of the resurrection indubitable by the signs, so that the resurrection might be made manifest not only to those then living, but also to all who came afterward.

For what came to those men from the sight of the signs, this same thing was destined to come afterward to all men from faith.

For this reason too we reason with the unbelievers on this very ground.

For if He did not rise, but remains dead, how did the apostles work signs in His name? But did they not work signs? How then was our nation formed? For surely they will not contend against this too, nor fight against what is plainly seen.

So that whenever they say no signs were done, they only shame themselves the more.

For this is the greatest sign of all: that the whole inhabited world ran to Him without signs, having been caught as in a net by twelve poor and unlettered men.

For it was not by wealth of money, nor by wisdom of words, nor by any other such thing that these fishermen prevailed;

so that even against their will they will confess that there was a divine power in them, for it is impossible that human strength could ever have accomplished so much.

For this reason too He Himself remained forty days after the resurrection, furnishing proof over the long span of time by the sight of His own person, that they might not suppose what they saw to be a phantom.

And not even with this was He content, but He added also the sharing of a table.

Which very thing He also says as He proceeds:

And this too the apostles themselves always made a proof of the resurrection, saying:

'We who ate and drank together with Him.'

And what He did while appearing, He shows by what He adds, saying:

'Being seen by them, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God.'

But since they had also grown weary and were troubled at what had already happened, and were about henceforth to go forth to great contests, He revived them with words about things to come: He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father.

First He led them out into Galilee, while they were still fearful and trembling, that they might hear what was said with a sense of security.

Then, after they had heard and had spent forty days together with Him, He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem.

Why so? Just as no one allows soldiers who are about to plunge into a throng to go forth until they are armed;

nor allows horses to spring forward from the barrier until they have taken on their charioteer;

so also He did not permit them to appear in the battle-line before the descent of the Spirit, lest they should become easy to overcome and easy to capture by the multitude.

And not for this reason alone, but also because there were many who were about to believe there in that very place.

And besides this, again, that none might say that they had left those who knew them and had come to boast among strangers, for this reason they furnish the proofs of the resurrection among the very men who had killed Him, among the very men who had crucified Him and had buried Him, in the very city in which the lawless deed had been dared, so that all those outside as well might be silenced.

For when the very men who had crucified Him are seen also to have believed, it is quite plain that both the cross and the lawlessness of the deed were exposed, and that the proof of the resurrection was abundant.

Then, that they might not say, 'How then shall we be able to remain among defiled and murderous men, and among so great a multitude, being few and of low estate?'—see how He dissolves their anxiety, saying:

'But to await the promise of the Father, which you heard from Me.'

And when did they hear it, one may ask? When He said:

'It is expedient for you that I go away.'

'For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you.'

And again, 'I will ask the Father, and He will send you another Comforter, that He may abide with you.'

And why did the Spirit come neither while He was present nor immediately after He had departed, but He Himself ascended on the fortieth day, while the Spirit came when the day of Pentecost was fully accomplished? And how, if He had not yet come, did He say, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'? It was in order that He might make them receptive and sufficient for the reception.

For if Daniel, when about to see an angel, was left utterly spent, how much more these men, when about to receive so great a grace.

Either, then, this is what one must say, or that He spoke of what was to be as though it had already happened, just as when He says, 'You shall tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.'

But why did the Spirit not come at once, right then? They had to come into a longing for the thing, and so receive the grace.

For this reason, when He Himself had flown away, then that other came.

For while He was present, they would not have been in so great an expectation.

For this reason the Spirit does not come immediately after His ascent, but after eight or nine days.

So we too are then most aroused toward God, when we are placed in need.

For this reason too John then most of all sends his disciples to Christ, when they were about to be in need of Jesus, while he himself was dwelling in the prison.

And otherwise too: it was necessary that our nature should first appear in heaven, and that the reconciliation should be brought to completion, and then that the Spirit should come, and that the joy should become pure.

For if, while He was present, the one had departed and the other had remained, the consolation would not have been so great;

for indeed they clung to Him and could scarcely be torn away.

Wherefore also, consoling them, He said:

'It is expedient for you that I go away.'

For this reason too He waits out the intervening days, so that, having grieved a little and having been placed in need (as I said), they might reap the joy whole and pure.

But if the Spirit were something lesser, the consolation would not have been sufficient.

And how too did He say, 'It is expedient for you'? For this reason the greater parts of the teaching were reserved for the Spirit, that they might not reckon Him something lesser.

But consider how great a necessity He laid upon them to be in Jerusalem, by promising that the Spirit would be given there.

For in order that they might not flee again after His ascension, by this expectation He holds them all fast there, as by some bond.

And having said, 'To await the promise of the Father, which you heard from Me,' He added:

'For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'

He now shows the difference between Himself and John, no longer in a veiled manner as before this (for indeed He greatly veiled the saying when He said:

'But he that is least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he'), but now more openly.

'John,' He says, 'baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.'

He no longer makes use of the testimony, but merely calls to remembrance the person, leading them to the memory of the things said by him, and shows that they had now become greater than John, seeing that they too were about to baptize in the Spirit.

And He did not say, 'But I baptize you in the Holy Spirit,' but, 'You shall be baptized,' teaching us to be humble-minded.

For this was now plain from the testimony of John, that it was He who baptized, since John had said that 'He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire';

wherefore He made mention of him alone.

The Gospels, then, are a history of the things which Christ did and said;

but the Acts are of the things which the other Comforter said and did.

And indeed at that time He Himself did many things, just as even now Christ works, as He did then also;

but then through the temple, and now through the apostles;

and then He came into a virgin's womb and fashioned a temple, but now into apostolic souls;

And then indeed in the likeness of a dove, but now in the likeness of fire.

Why so? There, to signify gentleness; here, to signify also the power to punish.

And He also opportunely calls to mind the judgment.

For when sins had to be forgiven, there was need of much gentleness;

but since we have obtained the gift, it is thenceforth a time also for judgment and for scrutiny.

But how does He say, 'Ye shall be baptized,' when there was no water in the upper room? Because the more principal thing is the Spirit, through whom the water also works its effect;

just as He Himself too is said to have been anointed, though He was nowhere anointed with oil, but received the Spirit;

and in another way too one may find that they were baptized with water as well, and at various times.

For in our case both take place at one and the same time, but then they took place separately.

For at the beginning they were baptized by John;

for if harlots and publicans went to that baptism, much more those who were afterward to be baptized by the Spirit.

Then, lest they should say that the matter was forever in promises (for indeed much had already been discoursed concerning it), and lest they should suppose it to be some unsubstantial working, leading them away from such a suspicion, He says, 'Not after these many days.'

And He did not make plain when, so that they might always be watchful; but that it would be near, He said, that they might not grow slack;

yet when, He did not further add, that they might ever be sober.

He confirms it, I mean, by the nearness of the time, but also by saying, 'The promise which ye have heard of me.'

'Not now for the first time do I tell you,' He says, 'but I have already promised what I will most certainly do.'

Why then dost thou marvel if He does not tell the day of the consummation, when this day, so near at hand, He was unwilling to make manifest? And that with good reason, that they might always be watchful and in expectation and in earnest care.

For it is not possible, no, it is not possible, to enjoy grace while not being sober.

Or dost thou not see what Elijah too says to his disciple? 'If thou see me taken up, it shall be so unto thee';

that is, 'This which thou askest shall come to pass for thee.'

And Christ too everywhere said to those who came to Him:

'Dost thou believe?' For unless we are made intimate with what is given, we do not even perceive the benefit very keenly.

Grace did not come immediately, but three days intervened, during which he was blind, being scoured by fear and prepared beforehand.

For just as those who dye purple first prepare with certain other things that which is to receive the dye, so that the color may not fade;

even so here too God first makes ready the soul that has been thus prepared with care, and then pours out the grace.

For this reason too He did not send the Spirit immediately, but at Pentecost.

But if anyone should say, 'For what reason do we too not baptize at this season?' we would say this: that the grace is the same both then and now;

but the mind is made loftier now, being prepared beforehand by fasting.

And the season of Pentecost too has a certain reason not unfitting.

What manner of reason is this? The Fathers deemed baptism to be a sufficient bridle for evil desire and a great instruction, so as to be temperate even in a season of luxury.

Even as, therefore, gathering together with Christ Himself and sharing His table, let us do nothing carelessly, but pass our days in fastings and prayers and much temperance.

For if one who is about to enter upon a worldly office prepares for himself all his life long, and, in order to obtain some rank, both spends money and consumes time and endures ten thousand toils;

of what should we be worthy, who approach the kingdom of heaven with so great slothfulness, and are neither earnest before receiving nor careful after receiving? For it is because of this that we are slothful after receiving, because before receiving we were not watchful.

For this reason many, immediately after receiving, returned to their former vomit, and became worse, and drew upon themselves a more grievous punishment; being freed indeed from their former sins, but by this the more greatly provoking the Judge, in that, having been freed from so great a sickness, not even so were they brought to sobriety, but suffered that very thing which Christ threatened to the paralytic, saying:

'Sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee';

and that which He foretold concerning the Jews, showing that they would suffer things irremediable through their thanklessness:

'If I had not come and spoken to them,' He says, 'they had not had sin.'

So that the sins committed afterward become double and fourfold.