Homilies on Romans 19 part 2/2

calling it here a 'mystery,' that which is unknown and unspeakable, and which has much of wonder and much of the paradoxical about it;

'Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.'

What, then, is the mystery? 'That blindness in part is happened to Israel.'

Here again he strikes at the Jew, while seeming to restrain the one from the Gentiles.

And what he says is of this sort, the same as he had said before, that the unbelief is not entire but partial—just as when he says:

'But if any have caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in part—that I may not overcharge you all;'

and, 'If first I be somewhat filled with your company in part.'

So indeed here also he says this, the same which he had said above:

'God has not cast away his people, whom he foreknew?' And again, 'What then? Did they stumble that they should fall? God forbid.'

This same thing he says here also:

that the nation is not utterly plucked up, but even now many have believed, and are again about to believe.

Then, since he had promised a great thing, he brings forward the prophet as a witness, thus speaking.

For that blindness had come to pass, he adduces no testimony;

but that they shall believe and be saved, he again brings in Isaiah crying aloud and saying:

'There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.'

setting a mark of the salvation, that no one may draw it back and join it to the former times, he says:

'And this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins;'

not when they are circumcised, not when they sacrifice, not when they perform the other legal ordinances, but when they obtain remission of sins.

If therefore this has been promised, but has not yet come to pass upon them, nor have they enjoyed the remission that is through baptism, it shall assuredly be;

'For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.'

And not by this alone does he comfort them, but also by what has already come to pass;

And what came to pass as a consequence, this he sets down as though it were the primary purpose, speaking thus:

As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake; but as touching the election they are beloved for the fathers' sake.

For lest he who is of the Gentiles should be puffed up, saying, 'I stand fast,' he does not say to him, 'What might have been?' but 'What has come to pass?'—and by this he restrains him, saying: As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake.

For since you were called, they became the more contentious.

Yet even so God did not cut short your calling, but waits for all those of the Gentiles who are to believe to come in, and then they too shall come.

Then he bestows upon them yet another grace, saying:

But as touching the election they are beloved for the fathers' sake.

And what does this mean? For where they are enemies, there is their punishment;

but where they are beloved, the virtue of their forefathers profits them nothing, unless they believe.

Yet nevertheless, as I said before, he does not cease consoling them with his words, that he may draw them on. Wherefore, establishing from another quarter what he had said before, he declares:

For as ye in times past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy through their disobedience;

even so have these also now been disobedient to your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy.

For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

Here he shows that those of the Gentiles were first called, then, when they would not, the Jews were chosen, and that the same thing happened again afterwards;

for when the Jews would not believe, the Gentiles were brought in again.

But he does not stop at this point, nor does he bring the whole matter to a close in their casting away, but in their being shown mercy once more.

See how much he grants to those of the Gentiles;

as much as before he granted to the Jews.

For since you, he says—you who were once of the Gentiles—were disobedient, the Jews came in;

again, since these were disobedient, you came in.

Yet they shall not perish utterly to the end;

For God hath shut up all unto disobedience;

that is, he convicted them, he showed them to be disobedient, not that they should remain disobedient, but that through the contention of the one party he might save the other—these through those, and those through these.

You were disobedient, and these were saved;

again these were disobedient, and you were saved;

yet you were not saved in such a way as to be cast out again, as the Jews were, but so that, abiding, you might draw them on by your zeal.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgments!

Here, having gone back to former times, and having considered God's dispensation from on high—that dispensation which reaches from the making of the world unto the present—and having reckoned how variously he had ordered all things, Paul was amazed and cried aloud, giving his hearers assurance that what he had said would assuredly come to pass.

For he would not have cried aloud and been amazed, unless this were altogether certain to come to pass.

And that it is a depth, he knows;

for the utterance is that of one who wonders, not of one who knows the whole.

But having marveled and been amazed at his goodness, and as far as it lay within his power, he proclaimed it by two intensive words, riches and depth; and he was astonished that God both willed and had power to do these things, and by means of contraries wrought the contraries.

How unsearchable are his judgments!

For it is not only impossible to comprehend them, but impossible even to search them out.

And his ways past finding out.

For these too can not only not be known, but not even be sought out.

For not even I, he says, have found out all things, but a small part only, not the whole;

for he alone knows his own things clearly.

of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? Now what he means is this:

that being thus wise, he is not wise from any other source, but he himself is the fountain of good things;

and having wrought so great things and freely bestowed them upon us, he did not give them as having borrowed them from another, but making them well up from his own store; nor as owing a return to anyone, as though he had received something from him, but himself ever taking the lead in his benefactions.

For this most of all belongs to wealth: to overflow and to have no need of another.

For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things.

He himself devised, he himself made, he himself holds all together;

for he is both rich, and needs not to receive from another;

and he is wise, and needs no counsellor.

Why do I speak of a counsellor? No one can even know his things, save only he himself, the rich and the wise one.

For indeed it is a mark of great riches to make those of the Gentiles thus wealthy, and of great wisdom to make those who were inferior to the Jews into teachers of the Jews.

Then, since he was amazed, he also offers up thanksgiving, saying:

To him be the glory for ever.

For whenever he says some such great and unutterable thing, he ends in wonder with a doxology of glory.

This he does also in the case of the Son;

for there too, having marveled, he added this very same thing which he added here also:

Of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever.

Him therefore let us also imitate, and everywhere glorify God through diligence in our manner of life; nor let us trust in the virtues of forefathers, knowing the example of the Jews.

For this kinship is not, no, it is not the one that holds among Christians, but rather kinship according to the Spirit.

Thus even the Scythian becomes a child of Abraham, while Abraham's own child again becomes more of a stranger than the Scythian.

Let us therefore not trust in the good deeds of our fathers; but even if you have an admirable parent, do not think this suffices you for salvation, or for honor and glory, unless you become his kinsman in your ways;

just as, on the other hand, even if you have a base parent, do not think you are thereby condemned and put to shame, provided you order your own affairs well.

For what is more dishonorable than the Gentiles? Yet nevertheless by faith they quickly became kinsmen of the saints.

And what is more nearly related than the Jews? Yet nevertheless because of their unbelief they were made strangers.

For that kinship is one of nature and of necessity, according to which we are all kinsmen;

for we have all come from Adam, and one man could not be more of a kinsman to another than any other is, whether by reason of Adam, or by reason of Noah, or by reason of the earth, the common mother of all;

but the kinship worthy of crowns is that which separates us from the base.

For here it is not possible for all to be kinsmen, but only those of like manners;

nor do we call brothers those who were born of the same birth-pangs as ourselves, but those who display the same zeal.

Thus also Christ calls them children of God, and thus again, on the contrary, sons of the devil, and thus of disobedience, and thus of Gehenna, and thus of perdition.

Thus also Timothy was Paul's child by virtue, and was called his true child, whereas of his sister's son we do not so much as know the name;

and yet the latter was related to him according to nature.

But this man was separated both by nature and by place (for he was a citizen of Lystra);

and yet, for all that, he became nearer than all others.

Let us therefore ourselves also become children of the saints; or rather, let us become children of God as well.

For that it is indeed possible to become children of God, hear what He says:

'Be therefore perfect, as your Father who is in the heavens.'

For this reason too, when we pray we call Him Father, not only reminding ourselves of His grace, but also of virtue, that we may do nothing unworthy of such kinship.

'And how,' one asks, 'is it possible to be a son of God?' By being freed from all the passions, and by showing gentleness toward those who insult and wrong us;

for your Father too is such toward those who blaspheme Him.

For this reason, though He said much on many occasions, nowhere does He say, 'That you may become like your Father';

but when He said, 'Pray for those who despitefully use you, do good to those who hate you,' then it was that He appointed this reward.

For nothing so brings us near to God and makes us like Him as this good achievement.

For this reason Paul too, when he says, 'Be imitators of God,' says, 'Become so in this respect.'

For while we have need of all good achievements, we have need most of all of loving-kindness and gentleness, since we ourselves also stand in need of much loving-kindness.

For indeed we transgress in many things every day;

wherefore we have great need of mercy.

But the 'much' and the 'less' are not judged by the measure of what is given, but by the capacity of the substance of those who give.

Let not, then, the rich man be high-minded, nor let the poor man be cast down as one who gives but little;

for often this latter has given more than the former.

We ought not, therefore, to bewail ourselves on account of poverty;

for it even makes almsgiving easier for us.

For he who possesses much is held fast by pride and by a greater craving for his possessions;

but he who has little is freed from both these tyrannies;

and thus he finds more occasions for doing good.

For this man will readily go even to the prison, and will visit the sick, and will give a cup of cold water;

but that other man will accept none of these things, being inflamed as he is by his wealth.

Do not, then, be despondent on account of poverty;

for poverty even makes the commerce of the heavens easier for you.

And even if you have nothing, but have a soul that suffers with others, for this too a reward shall be laid up for you.

For this reason Paul too enjoined us to weep with those who weep, and commanded that we be as those bound together with the prisoners.

For not only to those who weep does it bring some comfort that there are many who suffer with them, but also to those who are in other circumstances;

for there are cases where a word is no less able than money to restore one who has been afflicted.

For it was for this reason that God commanded us to give money to those in need—not only that He might relieve their poverty, but also that He might teach us to suffer together with the ills of our neighbor.

For this reason too the lover of money is hateful, not only because he overlooks those who are in poverty, but because he also trains himself in cruelty and much inhumanity;

just as, on the other hand, he who despises money for their sake is for that very reason lovable, because he becomes merciful and full of loving-kindness.

And Christ too, when He calls the merciful blessed, does not pronounce blessed and praise only those who show mercy through money, but also those who do this through their disposition of will.

Let us therefore make this soul of ours ready for mercy, and all good things will follow.

For he who has a loving-kind and merciful disposition, if he has money, will give it forth; if he sees anyone in calamity, he will weep and lament; if he comes upon one who is being wronged, he will stand up for him; if he beholds one being maltreated, he will stretch out a hand.

For having the treasure of good things, namely the loving-kind and merciful soul, he will pour forth from it all things on behalf of the brethren, and will enjoy all the rewards laid up with God.

In order, then, that we too may attain these things, let us before all else make our soul gentle.

For thus, even while we are here, we shall work countless good deeds, and shall enjoy the crowns that are to come;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and loving-kindness [of our Lord Jesus Christ], and so forth.