Paschal Homilies 1 part 23/28

'that you put off, concerning your former manner of life, the old man which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit,'

'and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth.' Who then is the old man? Clearly, the one who is being corrupted according to the desires of the flesh. But the new man is the one who is being transformed into newness of life in Christ, his mind having been renewed within him, delighting in the rays of the true vision of God, and having by now attained to strength sufficient for this, and indeed also knowing how to run his course such that he cannot be captured by inclinations toward baseness, but thirsts only for, and chooses to fulfill, those things by which he might come to be wholly within wonder.

For the law was given through Moses to those of the blood of Israel;

but it existed in shadows and types, since those of that time were not yet able to receive the perfectly good thing, that is, the knowledge of him who possesses goodness perfectly;

but were rather in need of a lesson suited to infants, so that, still practicing the truth by means of types, they might rightly come to know the end of the law, I mean, Christ;

for Christ is the end of the Law and the Prophets, as it is written.

How, or in what manner? For the law given through Moses agrees with the teachings of the Gospel, if it is understood by us spiritually.

For it leads to the mystery of Christ.

And he himself is witness, saying to the Jews:

'If you believed Moses, you would believe me;'

'for he wrote about me.' What then did Moses write? Not that Christ has come to give aid to those of the blood of Israel alone, but rather to all who are under heaven, and to every nation.

For all belong to God, inasmuch as he is also the Maker and Lord of all.

the altar facing toward the north.

But what is the meaning of this? someone might perhaps say.

What is the profound riddle of the sacred rite, veiled in dim obscurities? Such a person will therefore inquire of us.

The land of the Jews, my good friend, is the southernmost;

but the land of the nations, they say, lies further to the north, and is greater in extent than the sea.

The lamb, then, was indeed sacrificed among them;

yet it is not out of place that it has effect also for the land of the nations.

For it has turned toward that land, according to what is sung in the Psalms:

'His eyes look upon the nations;'

'let not those who provoke him be exalted in themselves;'

'Bless our God, O nations.' For Israel gave offense and provoked him not a little;

and that, once Israel had been thrust out from intimacy with God, the nations were destined to be received through faith, is easy to see, if one cares to search diligently the sayings of the holy prophets.

'Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Zion, for behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst,' says the Lord, 'and many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall become a people to him, and I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.' And who is the one sent, if not surely Christ, who refashions the two peoples into one new man, and has broken down the dividing wall of the fence, and abolished in his decrees the law of commandments, and preached the good news of peace to those far off and those near, that is, to Greeks and to Jews? For indeed he said, 'And I have other sheep which are not of this fold;'

'those also I must bring, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.' Now that the only-begotten Word of God, having become man and been made flesh, was indeed recognized and honored by those among Israel more learned in the Law and more understanding — while those who were carried away into ingrained insolence, and who by their disobedience grieved the Savior and Redeemer of all, have exacted upon themselves the penalties befitting them;

It is written, then, in the Second Book of Kingdoms:

'Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.'

'And yesterday and the day before, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in.'

'You shall shepherd my people Israel,'

'you shall be ruler over Israel.'

'And all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron.'

For those who accept the faith in Christ are indeed not ignorant of the manner of his economy in the flesh.

Rather, they confess that, being God by nature, he became man.

For thus we would be his bones and his flesh — that is, I mean, according to the kinship that is in our common humanity.

They add further that, even while Saul was reigning, it was he who was leading and guiding Israel;

for even before the incarnation, as God, he held essentially the sovereignty over all things, weighing human affairs in the balance, and by ineffable decrees sustaining in being those who were well yoked beneath his ordinances.

And that he reigned over Israel according to the good pleasure and will of God the Father, they believe most firmly, saying:

'You shall shepherd my people Israel, and you shall become ruler.' So too the divinely inspired Peter somewhere says:

'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And indeed Nathanael too, whose sincerity and genuineness Christ himself bore witness to, said:

'I have been set as king by him' — clearly meaning God the Father — 'upon Zion, his holy mountain, proclaiming the ordinance of the Lord.' Yet to reign was nothing new for him;

for being God by nature, and enthroned together with the one who begot him, he holds all creation beneath his feet.

He is said to have been appointed king because he has now consented at last to lay the yoke of his kingdom upon those who were once outside and subject to another.

For Satan had gained mastery, through covetousness, over those upon the earth.

Having confessed the faith, they receive from him a covenant at Hebron.

And what does 'Hebron' mean? Indeed the word signifies union.

In Christ all things have become one, and the things above have been joined to the things below, and the things below to the things above.

Through faith they have run together into unity and one accord, both those of the blood of Israel and also those who were formerly worshippers of idols.

Yet that certain ones of Israel, lifting a haughty neck against him, perished miserably as evil men, we shall know no less from what follows:

'You shall not enter here, for the lame and the blind have risen up,' saying:

'The blind and the lame shall not enter the house of the Lord.' Consider, then, consider the multitude of those who resisted him.

And they were lame and blind.

We remember that Christ said concerning the Scribes and Pharisees:

'Foreign sons have lied to me, foreign sons have grown old, and have gone lame from their paths.' For those made Christ unacceptable who neither knew how to walk uprightly, nor had let the intelligible and divine light take up its dwelling in mind and heart, but have fallen by the short blade, that is, by the sword.

And that, once those of Israel had taken offense at him, the multitude of the nations rushed in and was received, and inscribed Christ as Lord and King, what is written will again make clear:

but rather an idolater, and from the flock of those who wander astray.

But besides this, consider also the following:

They will come straight to the goal of every virtue, and, as it were with an upright and firmly-planted foot, will press along the path of piety toward him, while the divinely inspired Paul cries out to them:

Then how, tell me, could anyone say that at times, although he endured the cross and death in the flesh, this event should be thought or called a feast? And indeed, noble friend, we shall answer:

If he had allowed death to keep hold of his own body and had remained among the dead, let no one keep festival.

But if — though it was not possible for him to suffer unless he willed to suffer, nor to be caught in the hand of those who plotted against him — by the grace of God, as the celebrant of his mysteries says, he tasted death on behalf of all, so that, having been raised from the dead, he might trample down death, and thus secure incorruption for the whole nature of man, having become firstborn from the dead and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep — how is this not a cause to us of every gladness? We who were bound in the snares of death because of the sin that tyrannized over us are now in hope of eternal life, because of him who, according to the flesh, is from among us the firstborn from the dead.

The Jews, then, crucified him, when Christ, as I have said, permitted according to the economy to taste death in his own flesh; but he came back to life for them, all but bidding the bonds of death farewell, and having said to those in bonds, 'Come forth,' and to those in darkness, 'Be uncovered.' Then, having shown himself openly to the holy apostles, and having said that it was necessary to make disciples of all under the sun, and to initiate all the nations into the mysteries, and to baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to keep all things commanded, urging them to press on to accomplish the exact and well-approved way of life, he ascended to the Father and God who is in the heavens, the holy angels glorifying him, and the host above acclaiming him as God;

and he will come at the appointed time in the glory of the Father, as he himself says, to render to each according to his works;

'For he will judge the world in righteousness.' 4.

Since, then, the judge and master and king of all is to come, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit,

and let us perfect holiness in the fear of God, let us live with moderation, and let us brighten our own souls with zealous efforts toward good works;

visiting widows, showing mercy to orphans, standing by those in want, and tending with our own hands those who are bodily infirm, visiting those in bonds, and holding toward him a faith that is secure, firmly established, and altogether beyond reproach — beginning the holy Forty Days on the twenty-fourth of the month Mechir;

and the week of the saving Passover from the twenty-ninth of the month Phamenoth, ending the fasts on the fourth of the month Phamenoth, late in the evening, according to the traditions of the Gospel;

and keeping the feast on the following dawning Lord's Day, the fifth of the same month Pharmouthi;

joining thereafter also the seven weeks of the holy Pentecost.

For thus, thus again shall we delight in the divine words, in Christ Jesus our Lord;

through whom, and with whom, be honor, glory, and dominion to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages.

I shall again make use of the words of the blessed Paul, and indeed I shall say:

'Rejoice in the Lord always;'

'let your gentleness be known to all men.' For the season of the feast of our Savior is now dawning upon us.

And come, let us again, as it were issuing a kind of challenge to those for whom noble and excellent deeds are matters of renown, say to them fittingly:

'This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.' As for the day thrice-longed-for and truly lovely, and the acceptable season, the Spirit-bearing prophets say it is nothing other than the manifestation of the glory of Christ, the Savior of us all;

on account of which it would be fitting that all who are upon the earth should be filled with the highest of all joys.

For through it we have obtained the means by which human nature could return to its original state;

and be reshaped, in a certain manner, through a holy way of life, toward the Mind that is beyond all things, so that, enriched through sanctification with the divine features upon itself, it might rejoice and be glad.

For Christ himself foretold through a prophet that his own coming would procure for us such blessings, saying:

'Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Zion, for behold, I myself come, and I will dwell in your midst,' says the Lord, 'and many nations will flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall become a people to him, and they will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.' For since the Only-Begotten became man, and came to be in likeness to us (for thus we say he was sent by God the Father), it is necessary that we leap for joy, being enlarged unto gladness;

And what, then, is the reason for this?

For there were among us very many occasions for weeping.

For unbearable to all beneath heaven was the deviser of every vileness and sin, terrible and pressing hard, raising up, as it were, an invincible tyrant against those upon the earth — namely, the death brought in through the transgression in Adam.

And his weapon and spear, and his terrible, unapproachable full armor, was manifold sin.

For through it he had reigned over those upon the earth.

For this reason, as the prophet Isaiah says, 'Hades enlarged its soul, and opened wide its mouth without ceasing.' On account of all these things, then, and quite reasonably, pleasure and joy had been removed from among us, and there sprang up instead, as it were, the necessity of lamenting, since inescapable calamity had been prepared, all but pouring the tear from the eyes upon everyone's cheeks.

But, as the prophet Isaiah says, 'Death, having prevailed, swallowed up.'

But God has wiped away every tear from every face; he has removed the reproach of his people from all the earth. For sin has been dissolved, and its man-slaying sting has been weakened.

And together with its own root there was extinguished, as it were, the evil that had sprung up from it — I mean death.

Rejoicing, then, was after all not somehow unfitting for us now, but rather proper and appropriate.

For this reason he who is both the giver and dispenser of all our prosperity says:

'Delight and rejoice, O daughter of Zion.' But it was necessary, since we hold the season of the feast close at hand, first to wash away the stains arising from our transgressions, and to scour off defilements both of soul and of body.

For this reason, and very fittingly, having first taken up residence with fasting — the nurse and matchmaker of all good order for us — let us run with endurance the race set before us, according to what is written, brightening our minds with the glories of piety, and ascending to a wholly pure and blameless life.

For we remember God, the Savior of us all, saying:

'You shall be holy, because I am holy.' Let us therefore be sanctified through a reverent manner of life and a most lawful conduct, wrapping ourselves, as with some beautiful garment fitting for those who keep festival, in the brightness that comes from the virtues;

and thus, henceforth, walking with boldness in the sight of him who keeps the festival for us

'For the eyes of the Lord,' it says, 'are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their supplication.' Therefore, when he sees us radiant, he will keep our good cheer unshaken;

but if we are not so disposed in mind, he will not permit us to share in the great generosity that comes from him.

And this the parable in the Gospels will teach clearly.

For he said that a certain man was making a wedding feast for his son, and that not a few had been invited

and that the bridegroom came in to see them, those reclining at table.

But when he saw, mixed in among those well arrayed, one who was defiled and did not have the garment fitting for those who keep festival, he rebuked him, saying:

'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he subjected him to the utmost penalties.

Then how did the defiled man get in at all? For surely from the very beginning it was necessary not even to permit one whose garment was unsuitable for the festival to burst in.

We say, then, that the Savior calls all men through faith;

and he wishes them to come to share in the generosity from above, and indeed all rush in without distinction

For indeed the grace that comes through faith extends to us all.

But those who add to their faith the brightness and blamelessness that comes from doing good, and who wear, as it were in the manner of a garment, the splendor that comes from the virtues, will feast together with the bridegroom, and will share in the holy and spiritual festival.

But those who have added nothing to their faith, and have remained in the filth of wickedness, bearing the stain of their old transgressions, which is hard to wash away — these will altogether and in every way be cast out from the sacred wedding feast.

And they will lament their own indolence;

for they rushed in without having a wedding garment.

Most beneficial, therefore, is fasting, which scours away what is defiled, washes out what is unclean, and through a little labor delivers us from everlasting punishment.

For it puts pleasures to death, checks the assault of desires toward shamefulness and love of the flesh, and, as with a bridle, turns us back toward good order; it renders us lovers of all fairness, and tames, as it were some raging and savage beast, the law of sin that is in the members of the flesh; and, in short, it makes us keepers of every good thing, and, illuminating the ether of the mind, causes the truly desirable light of the vision of God to take up its dwelling within us.

The thing is life-giving and beneficial, and truly worth possessing, if anything is, and it is reckoned to be worth everything.

And that, as I said, to be firmly established in faith toward Christ is a source of life eternal, he himself will confirm, saying to the Father and God in heaven:

'And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' Now faith, among those who are fair-minded and have a heart that loves God, is a simple and true thing, having nothing at all that distorts it.

It does not much tolerate examination and scrutiny;

for to meddle overmuch with what has been received simply by faith is not without harm.

But this does not seem right to those who are especially fond of disputation, who know nothing of the truth, but are accustomed to pride themselves on being inventors of rotten reasonings;

whose paths are crooked, and whose tracks are winding, as it is written.

For they carry off whomever they can toward ruin and destruction, leading them away from the straight road. Therefore, as the divinely-inspired apostle writes, it is fitting to put outside the evil workers, outside the dogs, who bark against the doctrines of the truth, 'speaking from their own heart,' as it is written, 'and not from the mouth of the Lord.' For no one shall accuse Christ, the Savior of us all, and behave insolently against his glory, dragging it as it were into disgrace, without first having conceived within himself the inventor of falsehood and father, the devil.

For as the all-wise Paul writes:

'No one says, "Jesus is accursed," except one who is in Beelzebul.' Those, therefore, who attempt both to think and to speak such things must be shunned, the wretched men having already, by this very act, cast themselves ahead of others into inescapable judgment.

And by sinning also against the brethren, and wounding their weak conscience, they sin against Christ, and heavily weigh down their own yoke, as the prophet Jeremiah says.

But those who have enriched their mind and heart with the intelligible and divine light would not be caught by their baits.

...in each of the things to be done, virtue, and a path to be marveled at,

and indeed the things that lead to an exceptional and admirable manner of life — both to deem them worthy of all diligence, and to be eager to accomplish them vigorously.

For it is written, 'Cursed be those who do the work of the Lord negligently.' For just as it is not enough, as a demonstration of manly courage, for those who wish to be distinguished in battles, merely to enjoy splendid good fortune and to rely on the mere appearance of being able to conquer;

but it is rather necessary for them also to possess the brilliance that comes from the deeds themselves;

in just the same way, I think, no one would attain a good standing in virtue while still harboring in his mind indolence and negligence;

but I say it is necessary, using all one's strength and all eagerness, to strive after the pursuits that lead to piety.

For such a one will also be worthy of praise as a final reward, and will truly carry off exceptional glory, having been shown to be well approved both before God and men.

These things Moses legislated for the ancients through riddles and shadow; but Christ has shone forth to bring them into open manifestation, he himself being the truth.

But since it was not possible, through the shadow of the world, to discover clearly the knowledge of what must be done, nor indeed a cleansing from transgressions;

for the law has justified no one, condemning rather than releasing from charges those who transgress;

God the Father took forethought for the salvation and life of us all.

For as one who knew our formation, and how easily led astray toward what is not lawful the mind indwelling us is, he gave us justification through faith in Christ, which releases us from the ancient charges, and does away with the condemnation of those transgressions already committed, but rather transfers us into a newness of life unaccustomed to those of old.

For in Christ all things are new, and the old things have passed away, according to the word of Paul.

The only-begotten Word of God, being God and Lord, has therefore shone forth to us.

But in what manner did he shine forth? By letting himself down into voluntary self-emptying, and being seen, paradoxically, as a man upon the earth.

For he took hold of the seed of Abraham, and was made like his brethren in all things, apart from sin alone.

For it was not possible for the divine and undefiled nature, which is beyond all understanding, and beyond speech and wonder, to be caught in the snares of sin.

For he is the true light, and the darkness did not overcome him. But since he was seen as a man like us, lest he be thought by those who have not accurately known the mystery concerning him to exist as this alone, while yet, together with this, he is known also as God of all — through very many mighty works wrought among us he showed himself to be of equal nature and consubstantial with the Father.

'If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me;'

'but if I do, even though you do not believe me, believe the works.' For by a mere nod and will alone he fulfilled things beyond speech, bearing up all things by the word of the power of him who begot him, and being attended, as by a bodyguard, by the holy angels;

for after the temptation by the devil, angels came and ministered to him;

and in a manner befitting God, rebuking creation at various times;

'Be silent, be muzzled,' and he commanded the raging winds to be still, at which time all the disciples too, crowning him with fitting acclamations, said:

'Truly you are the Son of God.' It was, then, as I said, possible without any struggle to perceive from the mighty deeds accomplished that he is truly God, and the Son of God by nature.

But I do not know how it is that those of Israel, although they had received the tutelage of the law, and had encountered the writings of the holy prophets, fell into such poor judgment as both to be ignorant of him, and to rise up bitterly against him, and impiously to slander the very things through which they were likely to gain no small benefit, and from the brilliance of the deeds performed easily to perceive the surpassing and immeasurable excellence of the power dwelling in him.

'He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth,' as it is written.

And indeed, reproving those who spoke unrestrainedly, and taming those who were embittered into monstrous fits of rage, he said:

'Which of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?' For that he was convicted by them on no charge whatsoever, and yet those wretched men, having been rashly incensed, rather voted the sentence of death against him — this you may learn even from this.

For they brought him to Pilate, and indeed urged that he be crucified.

Then, when Pilate said, 'What evil has he done?', they made the truth itself into a written charge against Christ — for he did not rightly understand the nature of the matter.

'He made himself Son of God.' But the champion of the truth will rise up against their abominations, saying:

He did not make himself Son of God, but this he is in truth.

For this reality is not something external to him, nor imported or adopted, but what he is by nature — this is what we believe him to be.

For we are sons of God by adoption, as compared with the Son who is by nature and begotten from Him.

If the true Son did not exist, then in relation to whom are we shaped as sons by adoption? Whose character do we bear? And where at all is there room for imitation, unless we affirm that the truth exists? But they were utterly ignorant of the revered and saving proclamation of the incarnation; they did not understand the writings of Moses, nor indeed what was prophesied concerning him to the holy prophets through the Holy Spirit.

For it was not a man who made himself Son of God; rather, the reverse is true.

For being by nature and in truth the Son of the God who is over all, he became man, so that by giving his own blood as the ransom price for the life of all, he might deliver all from both death and sin.

You have this reality written in the Law as on a tablet.

Search diligently the writings of Moses, take away the shadow, enter for a little into the inner part beyond the veil.

Do not remain in the first tabernacle, which still stands.

For what does he say, in his discourse to us concerning these things? 'For a tabernacle was constructed, the first, which is called holy.'

And after the second veil, the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. 'Now into the first tabernacle,' he says, 'the priests enter continually, performing the services.'

'But into the second, only the high priest enters, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of ignorance of the people' — the Holy Spirit thereby signifying that the way into the holy places had not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle still had standing.

Therefore the first tabernacle's continued standing would signify the power of the worship under the Law — that it brought no one into the Holy of Holies, nor sent anyone within the veil.

For it was for us alone that Christ inaugurated this holy and thrice-desired entrance.

Since we have now altogether been brought in, and the veil has been taken away from the minds of us all, come then, let us seek out the hidden things carefully and with the purest eyes, and as it were tearing away the shadow of the Law, let us behold the truth.

So then, as I said, those of Israel supposed, out of very great folly, that they were able to render Life itself — that is, Christ — subject to death.

For he permitted his own flesh to taste death, according to what is written, so that, having shown it to be superior to death through the resurrection from the dead, he might secure for those on earth the power to prevail over both death and corruption.

For he himself became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and the firstborn of the dead, so that we too, following in his footsteps, might be raised together with the firstfruits, and all of us who have been called through him into brotherhood with him might follow the firstborn.

'For as many as received him,' it says, 'he gave to them the power to become children of God.' And that in the death of Christ we have become superior to corruption, contentious Israel might learn even from the writings of Moses themselves.

For in Egypt they sacrificed the lamb;

then, having eaten of its flesh, and having smeared with its blood the entrances of their houses, that is, the doorposts, they did not perish along with the Egyptians.