Excerpts adapted from the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. Passages attributed to “Anonymous” are from unnamed Christian writers from the patristic era (2nd–8th century), preserved in a reliably ancient source.
Reading 1 (Acts 2:14, 22-33)
2:14 Peter and the Eleven
ONCE FEARFUL, PETER IS NOW BOLD. CHRYSOSTOM: What is meant by “with the eleven”? They expressed themselves through a common voice, and he spoke for everyone. The eleven stood by as witnesses to what he said. “He raised his voice,” that is, he spoke with great confidence, that they might perceive the grace of the Spirit. He, who could not endure the questioning of a poor girl, now discourses with such great confidence in the middle of people all breathing murder upon him. This in itself became an indisputable proof of the resurrection. He spoke among people who could deride and make a joke of such sort things! . . . For wherever the Holy Spirit is present, people of clay are changed into people of gold. Look at Peter now, if you would, and scrutinize the timid one, the man without understanding (as Christ said, “Are you also still without understanding?”). This is the man who was called Satan after that marvelous confession. Consider also the unanimity of the apostles. Of their own accord they yielded to him the office of speaking, for there was no need for them all to speak. So “he raised his voice and addressed them” with every confidence. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 4.
OVERVIEW: After having announced, by his use of the text from Joel, that what his auditors are experiencing proves that a new era of prophecy has been inaugurated, Peter goes on to interpret prophetically the meaning of the event by linking it to the resurrection of Jesus. The event of the resurrection was prophesied by Psalm 16, while the fact that Jesus is now in a position of authority was foretold in Psalm 110 and is verified in his pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Peter concludes with a proclamation of the true identity of the crucified One as revealed by his being made Lord and Christ. The Fathers are sensitive to this important role of Peter (BEDE) and to the constant theme of the apostolic preaching that all that took place was the plan of God (ARATOR). They take a theological stance in dealing with the “pains of death,” pointing out that death could not hold Christ (CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE, BEDE), that his flesh or his humanity died but that the Godhead is immortal (THEODORET, GREGORY OF NYSSA) and that by his risen humanity we are given immortality (GREGORY OF NYSSA). Augustine, typically, comes to grips with the statement that Jesus is the “firstborn of the dead” in the light of the resurrection of the “saints” recorded by Matthew at the moment of Jesus’ death. The notion that the humanity of Christ is now the source of the Spirit is highlighted by Chrysostom and Bede, while many Fathers seem to take a contemplative delight in gazing on the transformation of the humanity of Jesus described by Peter’s phrase, “God has made him both Lord and Christ.”
2:22 People of Israel, Hear
A MAN APPROVED BY GOD. BEDE: As a learned teacher, Peter first admonishes unbelievers for the crime that had been committed, so that once their consciences had been stung by righteous fear, he might afterwards devote his discourse more advantageously to the plan of salvation. And because he is speaking to those who know the law, he shows that Christ himself is the one promised by the prophets. Nevertheless, here Peter does not at first give him the name Son of God on his own authority. Rather he calls him a man approved, a righteous man, a man raised from the dead—not raised with others in the ordinary and general resurrection (that is, the resurrection that is deferred to the end of the world), but raised in that resurrection celebrated on the third day, so that his assertion of a unique and glorious resurrection might acquire the value of a testimonial to his eternal divinity. For when he has proved that the bodies of others underwent corruption after death, he demonstrates that this man, of whom it is said, “I will not give over your holy one to see corruption,” was exempt from human impermanence. Peter also proves that he Christ exceeded the merits of the merely human condition and that he should therefore be considered to be God rather than merely human.
In the history of Cornelius the centurion and in the sermon given by the apostle Paul at Athens, you will be shown the sort of introduction that the apostles used in preaching among the Gentiles. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.22-23.
2:23 Delivered According to God’s Plan
THE WOUND BECOMES THE MEDICINE. ARATOR: Also, permitting himself to suffer in accordance with the law of flesh born from the womb of a mother, he himself preferred to die in order that the world might not lose life. But that which was born of a child-bearing virgin, that died. Innocent, he was hung from a tree, and the burden of the tree of Adam was removed. Thus the wound of the unrighteous Adam became the medicine of God. ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.
2:24 God Raised Christ
THE TRAVAIL OF DEATH. CHRYSOSTOM: “But God raised him up, having freed him from the pangs of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” Here he hinted at something great and sublime, for the expression “it was impossible” is in itself that of one assigning something. It shows that even death itself, when it held him, experienced birth pangs and suffered terribly (by pangs of death the Old Testament means danger and disaster). It also shows that he so rose as never again to die. For the words “because it was impossible for him to be held in its power” mean that his resurrection was not common to the rest. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 6.
NEVER HELD BY THE PANGS OF DEATH. AUGUSTINE: And if one is hard put to explain how the pangs of hell were loosed by him—for he did not stay in them as in bondage and hence did not loose them as if they were chains that bound him—it is easy to understand that they might have been loosed like the snares of hunters, not because they held him, but so that they might not hold him. That is how we can believe that he loosed the pangs that did not bind him but did bind others whom he knew he was to set free. LETTER 164.
HE DIED AND ROSE AS MAN. THEODORET OF CYR: Peter said, “God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ” and said too, “This Jesus whom you crucified God has raised up.” Now it was the humanity, not the Godhead, that became a corpse, and he who raised it was the Word, the power of God, who said in the Gospel, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” So when it is said that God has made him who became a corpse and rose from the dead both Lord and Christ, what is meant is the flesh, and not the Godhead of the Son. DIALOGUE 3.
WE CAN RISE WITH HIM. GREGORY OF NYSSA: But since it was also fitting that he should implant in our nature the power of rising again from the dead, he becomes the “firstfruits of them that slept” and the “firstborn from the dead,” in that he first by his own act loosed the pains of death, so that his new birth from the dead was made a way for us also, since the pains of death, wherein we were held, were loosed by the resurrection of the Lord. REFUTATION OF EUNOMIUS’S “CONFESSION OF FAITH” 2.8.
2:27 The Holy One Will Not See Corruption
HIS HUMANITY GIVES LIFE TO OURS. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Truly the prophet David also, according to the interpretation of the great Peter, said with foresight of him, “You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption,” while the apostle Peter thus expounds the saying, that “his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.” For his Godhead, which was the same before taking flesh and in the flesh and after his passion, remains immutably the same, being at all times what it was by nature and so continuing for ever. But in the suffering of his human nature the Godhead fulfilled the dispensation for our benefit by severing the soul for a season from the body, yet without being itself separated from either of those elements to which it was once for all united and by joining again the elements that had been thus parted. By this was given to all human nature a beginning and an example that it should follow of the resurrection from the dead, that all the corruptible may put on incorruption, and all the mortal may put on immortality, our firstfruits having been transformed to the divine nature by its union with God, as Peter said, “This same Jesus whom you crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.” And we might cite many passages of Scripture to support such a position, showing how the Lord, reconciling the world to himself by the humanity of Christ, apportioned his work of benevolence to humankind between his soul and his body, willing through his soul and touching them through his body. But it would be superfluous to encumber our argument by entering into every detail. REFUTATION OF EUNOMIUS’S “CONFESSION OF FAITH” 2.13.
2:29 David Died and Was Buried
NO ONE ROSE BEFORE JESUS. AUGUSTINE: I know it seems to some that the death of the Lord brought to certain just souls the same resurrection that is promised to us at the end of time, since it is written that by the earthquake that occurred at his passion the rocks were rent and the graves opened and many bodies of the saints arose and were seen with him in the holy city after his resurrection. But, if these did not resume their sleep by the reburial of their bodies, and if so many preceded him in that resurrection, we must certainly examine and find out how Christ is the “firstborn from the dead.” The answer to this might be that it was said by anticipation, but it meant that the tombs were opened by the earthquake, while Christ hung on the cross, while the bodies of the just did not rise then, but later, after he had first risen, although it was added to that sentence by anticipation, as I said, so that we should unhesitatingly believe that Christ was the firstborn from the dead, and that it was then granted to the just to rise to eternal incorruption and immortality following his leadership. In that case, there still remains this difficulty, how Peter could say—and he said it with absolute truth, since he asserted that Christ, not David, was foretold by that prophecy—that his flesh did not see corruption, but he added that the tomb of David was still with them. And this would certainly not be a convincing argument, if David’s body were no longer there, because, if he had risen at the time of Christ’s death, his flesh would not have seen corruption, but his tomb would still be there. It seems hard that David should not have been in that resurrection of the just, when Christ was of his seed, as is so often, so distinctly and so honorably repeated to his praise. Those words also would be made ineffective that were said to the Hebrews concerning the just people of old: that they provided better things for us “that they should not be perfected without us,” which would happen if they were established in that incorrupt resurrection that is promised for our perfection at the end of the world. LETTER 164.
2:31 He Foresaw Christ’s Resurrection
NOT ABANDONED TO HELL. BEDE: Christ did indeed descend, with respect to his soul, to those in hell so that he might come to the aid of those for whom it was necessary; but he was not abandoned in hell, because returning immediately he sought his body, which was to rise again. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.31.
THE WORD ASSUMED A COMPLETE HUMANITY. THEODORET OF CYR: These and similar passages clearly point out that God the Word assumed not only a body but also a soul. DIALOGUE 2.
2:33 The Promise from the Father
CHRIST RECEIVES AND POURS OUT THE SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: “And having received the promise of the Holy Spirit.” This again is important. He speaks of “the promise,” because it was made before his passion. Observe how he now makes it all his, quietly making an important point. For if it was he who poured it out, it is of him that the prophet spoke above, “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon my servants, both men and women, and I will show portents in the heaven above.” Observe what Peter secretly inserted! . . . It also shows that the cross not only did not make him less but rendered him even more illustrious, seeing that formerly God promised it to him but now has given it. Alternatively, “the promise” refers to what he promised to us. He knew beforehand that it will come to pass and gave it to us greater after the resurrection. “He poured it out,” that is, not requiring worthiness, and not simply that, but indeed with abundance. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 6.
THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. BEDE: In reference to the Spirit whom you see in the tongues of fire; whom you hear in our discourse. Indeed, by saying that “he received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and he poured the Spirit forth, both natures of Christ are manifested, for he received the Spirit as a man and poured him forth as God.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.33B.
THE LOWLY ONE IS EXALTED. THEODORET OF CYR: Who then was exalted? The lowly or the most high? And what is the lowly if it be not the human? And what is the most high save the divine? But God being most high needs no exaltation, and so the apostle says that the human is exalted, exalted that is in being “made both Lord and Christ.” Therefore the apostle does not mean by this term “he made” the everlasting existence of the Lord but the change of the lowly to the exalted that took place on the right hand of God. By this word he declares the mystery of religion, for when he says “by the right hand of God exalted” he plainly reveals the ineffable economy of the mystery that the right hand of God, which created all things, which is the Lord by whom all things were made and without whom nothing consists of things that were made, through the union lifted up to its own exaltation the manhood united to it. DIALOGUE 2.
Psalm (16:1-11)
OVERVIEW: The sixteenth psalm is a prophecy about Christ (PSEUDO-ATHANASIUS) in two themes; deliverance and thanksgiving (CASSIODORUS). In response, we thank God for the gift of salvation (CASSIODORUS). The psalm opens with a request for protection (THEODORET) and an acknowledgment that all good things come from God (CASSIODORUS, THEODORET). Our own goods are nothing to God. He has no possible need of anything from us (AMBROSE). All our goods are his already (AUGUSTINE). Whatever we give to him, he gives back to us (JEROME). When we worship him, we are the beneficiaries, not he himself (AUGUSTINE).
Our inheritance is the understanding of God (EVAGRIUS), or more fully, the Lord is our inheritance (AUGUSTINE). We are to live now so as to possess the Lord (JEROME). He is everything for us (LEANDER). Let us express our love for him (AUGUSTINE). The measure of our inheritance depends on our capacity for God (EVAGRIUS). The measure of Christ’s inheritance is the full company of the redeemed (CASSIODORUS), and his passion for their salvation remained strong even in the nighttime of his suffering (JEROME). The path of righteousness is the line of sight fixed on God (CASSIODORUS). We have the responsibility to set the Lord before us (JEROME). Christ’s position at the right hand reveals the equality of worth he shares with the Father (HESYCHIUS).
The psalm goes on to speak of the resurrection of the flesh (ORIGEN). It was not just his soul, but his body had hope (JEROME). He speaks here as man, not as God (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA), of the salvation of his humanity through the presence of the Word (ATHANASIUS). He saved what he assumed (GREGORY OF NYSSA). We avoid an improper view of Christ’s body by understanding the meaning of “corruption” (JOHN OF DAMASCUS). Christ goes on to express his hope of resurrection (THEODORET) in a way that reveals the fact of his human soul (CASSIODORUS). Obviously, this is not just David speaking here (AUGUSTINE). While not excluding other referents, the words are more applicable to the Lord (DIODORE). As such, they serve as a refutation to major heresies (THEODORET).
The psalm ends in an expression of joy overflowing (CASSIODORUS, THEODORET). He who is the way learned the way (JEROME). And that way comes from him to us (MAXIMUS OF TURIN).
16:1 Preserve me
CHRIST IN THE PSALM: AN OVERVIEW. PSEUDO-ATHANASIUS: The words in this psalm are sung as if by the person of Christ, who although he is noble as Lord by nature and has under his feet creation as a handmaid, yet he asks to be preserved by the Father as the head of the body of the church. . . . He made those sanctified by the Spirit a marvel in the land—in his church—teaching them the will of the Father as an angel of mighty counsel. They hastened to hear the preaching, not through blood sacrifices or practices of the law to please God, but through praise and bloodless sacrifice. Nor with names that befit their former works did he say, I shall call them, that is, idolaters and polytheists and atheists; but called and holy and pious, and who have a share in the Lord. Because the latter was obedient to the Father to death—which he calls a cup—for this reason he gave him as a portion and inheritance to the Gentiles. And he binds it to him with cords—fetters of spiritual life. . . . He is on the Father’s right hand in that we gain through his hands his heavenly Father as helper, and like a rod of power he has supported our weakness. Therefore he also says to him: My flesh will reside in hope. The hope, then, is that his flesh will again assume the soul that was constituted. For his soul was not left in Sheol, nor did his body see the corruption of the grave. . . . For these things are granted us in him as the head and firstborn of the resurrection and because we have grown rich with his poverty. And again we shall be in unfading delights, which the saints will receive on the day of his manifestation from him who is the Father’s right hand. EXPOSITION ON PSALMS 16.
CHRIST IN TWO THEMES. CASSIODORUS: The person of the Lord Savior is represented throughout the entire psalm. The first theme is undertaken from the perspective of his humanity in accordance with his custom. He speaks to the Father, asking to be saved because he has always placed his hope in him. In speaking this way, he does not minimize his own divinity in any way, but shows the nature of his humanity. . . . In the second theme, he returns thanks to the Father, who by appearing at his right hand, has overcome the iniquity of this age by the strength of his omnipotence. On this basis, he claims that his soul has been freed from hell, and he mentions that after the glory of the resurrection he has been placed among the delights at his right hand. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.1.
THE GIFT OF SALVATION. CASSIODORUS: Let us consider how this psalm teaches us about the tremendous gift of salvation. In times of suffering, it conveys confidence and promises eternal glory in hope, so that by teaching us that our future will be prosperous we do not fear adversity in the present. This psalm is a heavenly school, a source of learning for life, a lecture hall filled with truth, and without doubt a unique teaching which occupies its students with fruitful meanings rather than with the flattery of empty words. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.11.
PROTECTION OF THE INCARNATE LORD. THEODORET OF CYR: The psalm is spoken in the person of the Savior but is spoken from the viewpoint of his humanity, as are also many other such statements that we find in the sacred Gospels. . . . In this psalm also he asks to be protected and is protected by himself: while he asks as a human being, as God he grants the request, his own Father of course being pleased and cooperating. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 16.2.
16:2 No Good Apart from God
RECIPIENT OF GOOD THINGS. CASSIODORUS: He points all things back to the one who has freely given them, not to himself who has received what was conferred on him. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.2.
GRACE. THEODORET OF CYR: The abundance of good things, he is saying, comes to me from your grace. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 16.3.
16:2 My Goods Are Nothing to You
NO POSSIBLE NEED. AMBROSE: Who has ever given him anything, since “from him, and through him and in him” are all things? The fount of life is that highest Good that bestows the substance of life on all, because it has life abiding in itself. It receives from no one as though it were needy; it lavishes goods on all and borrows from others nothing for itself, for it has no need of us. It says, too, in the person of humankind: “You do not need my goods.” What is more lovely than to approach him and cling to him? What pleasure can be greater? What else can he desire who sees and tastes freely of this fount of living water? what realms? what powers? what riches? when he sees how pitiable are the conditions of kings, how changeable the status of their power, how short the span of this life, in how great bondage even sovereigns must live, since they live at the will of others and not their own. LETTER 29.
ALL MY GOODS ARE GOD’S GIFTS. AUGUSTINE: What in any case are my goods, if not what I have been given by you? And how can the one by whom every good is given be in need of any good? SERMON 331.2.
GOD GIVES BACK TO US. JEROME: God, the omnipotent, does not need our goods, nor do our virtuous acts contribute to the perfection of God, since increase is impossible to him. But whatever we produce by toil and bring forth in labor, that he exacts and takes from us in order to give back to us what he has received. HOMILY ON PSALM 15[16].
WE ARE THE BENEFICIARIES. AUGUSTINE: It is man, not God, who benefits from the whole economy of worship. CITY OF GOD 10.5.
IN OUR INTEREST. AUGUSTINE: God does not derive any benefit from our worship, but we do. When he reveals or teaches how he is to be worshiped, he does so in our own highest interest, with absolutely no need of anything for himself. All such sacrifices are symbolic; they are a representation of certain things by which our attention is aroused to study or understand or reflect on the realities represented by them. LETTER 102.3.
16:5 The Lord Is a Chosen Portion
UNDERSTANDING GOD. EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS: The inheritance is the contemplation of the present and future ages; the inheritance of Christ is the understanding of God. NOTES ON THE PSALMS.
OUR INHERITANCE IS THE LORD. AUGUSTINE: Let the others choose earthly and temporal portions to enjoy; the share of the saints is the Lord eternal. Let others drink deep of death-dealing pleasures; the Lord is the cup allotted to me. When I say “my,” I include the church, because where the Head is, there the body is too. I will gather together their assemblies to be my inheritance, and as I drink deep of the cup I will forget their old names. “You are he who will restore to me my inheritance,” that the glory I had with you before the existence or the world may be known to these also whom I set free. You will not restore to me what I never lost, but you will restore to those who have lost in the knowledge of that bright glory. Yet because I am among them, “you will restore it to me.” EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 16.5.
POSSESS THE LORD. JEROME: He who in his own person is the Lord’s portion, or has the Lord for his portion, must so bear himself as to possess the Lord and to be possessed by him. He who possesses the Lord and who says with the prophet, “The Lord is my portion,” can hold to nothing beside the Lord. For if he holds to something beside the Lord, the Lord will not be his portion. LETTER 52.5.
GOD IS EVERYTHING TO YOU. LEANDER OF SEVILLE: See, my blessed sister, how much you have achieved; see to what a high peak you have attained, how you have found the grace of many benefits in one and the same Christ. He is, indeed, your true Bridegroom, he is also your brother, he is likewise your friend, he is your inheritance, he is your reward, he is God and the Lord. You have in him a Bridegroom to love: “For he is fair in beauty above the sons of men.” He is a true brother for you to hold, for by adoption you are the daughter of him whose natural Son Christ is. He is a friend of whom you need not doubt. . . . You have in him the inheritance that you may embrace, for he is himself the portion of your inheritance. You have in him the reward that you may recognize, for his blood is your redemption. You have in him God by whom you may be ruled, the Lord to fear and honor. THE TRAINING OF NUNS, PROLOGUE.
I LOVE YOU, LORD. AUGUSTINE: The psalmist is saying “O Lord, why give me some other inheritance? Whatever you give, it isn’t worth much. You be my inheritance; I love you, I love you with all I am, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind I love you. What can it mean to me, anything you give me apart from yourself?” That is to love God freely, to hope in God for God, to hasten to be filled with God, to be satisfied with him. He, after all, is enough for you; apart from him, nothing is enough for you. SERMON 334.3.
16:6 A Goodly Heritage
THE MEASURE OF OUR CAPACITY. EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS: If the line is measured, how is it written the Gospel of John: “For God gives the Spirit without measure” and “I will pour out my spirit on you.” Perhaps by chance it is called “measure” not in terms of knowledge itself but on account of him who receives it, because its receptivity cannot be greater. The rain itself also may exceed the measure, yet it is measured in that vessel in which it is received. NOTES ON THE PSALMS 15[16].6.
THE COMPANY OF THE REDEEMED. CASSIODORUS: According to an ancient custom, an inheritance used to be divided by roping off the lands, so that each person might obtain a portion of land by measurement, allotted by the size of the tract and the status of the individual. In this way, it says in the Old Testament that Moses commanded Joshua to distribute the inheritance of the promised land to the children of Israel through the use of cords. So he now rightly said “cords,” because he spoke about the breadth and glory of his inheritance. . . .The inheritance of Christ is the predestined multitude of the saints. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.6.
16:7 In the Night
EVEN IN THE NIGHT. JEROME: What the Lord is saying . . . is this: My knowledge, deepest thought and the inmost desire of my heart was with me, not only in my heavenly mansions but also when I dwelled in the night of this world and in darkness; it remained in me as man, and it instructed me and never left me, so that whatever the weakness of the flesh was unable to achieve, divine thought and power accomplished. HOMILY ON PSALM 15[16].
16:8 The Lord Always Before Me
THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. CASSIODORUS: By explaining what he did, he passes on to us the unique remedy through which we can avoid sins. For the person who constantly keeps him in his mental line of sight does not turn toward transgressions in any way. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.8.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY. JEROME: Consider here that it is always in our power to set the Lord before us. The one who resembles the Savior in his integrity places God at his right side and says, he is at my right hand to keep me steadfast. The just person places the Lord at his right hand because he keeps his eyes on him whom he follows, but the sinner casts the word of the Lord behind him. . . . For the Lord Savior, or through the Lord Savior for his saints, God is always standing at the right side. The just person has, in fact, no left side, and in whatever directions he turns, “the angel of the Lord encamps round about those who fear him and delivers them.” HOMILY ON PSALM 15[16].
THE RIGHT HAND. HESYCHIUS OF JERUSALEM: Do you see the equal worth of the Son with the Father? Sometimes the Son is said to stand or to sit on the right; now they grant the right to the Father, so that you may say that there is one power, that of the Father (the begetter) and that of the begotten (the Son), even if now he is humbled on account of the flesh. LARGE COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 16.7.
16:9 Joy and Security
RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH. ORIGEN: “My flesh will rest in hope.” The Lord Jesus Christ says these words, whose flesh is the first to rest in hope. Crucified, made the first fruit of the dead and having been taken into heaven after the resurrection, he carried the earthly body with him so that even the heavenly powers were awestruck and terrified seeing the flesh ascending into heaven. Concerning Elijah it was written that he was taken up into heaven; and about Enoch, that he was translated. Now, however, it is said that Jesus ascended into heaven. Let him be offended who so wishes at our word. I, however, guard it will all faith because just as Christ is the first fruit from the dead, so also he is the first to carry his flesh to heaven. SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 16.9.
HIS BODY HAD HOPE. JEROME: There are some who, from the fact that the Lord entered through closed doors, adduce proof that a different body arose from that which died. Let these heretics hear what the Lord recounts in this verse. . . . Most certainly, after the Savior suffered and died, that body was laid in the tomb that had been alive; that same body, therefore, that had been lying lifeless and dead in the tomb rose from the dead. If, moreover, that same body arose from the dead in the Lord, how do some come to the conclusion that, though it was wonderful and spiritual, it was not a human body? We are not saying that we deny the body of Christ assumed that glory that we believe we also are going to receive as saints, for then indeed, this corruptible body will put on incorruption, and this mortal body will put on immortality. Just as before the Lord suffered his passion, when he was transformed and glorified on the mountain, he certainly had the same body that he had had down below, although of a different glory, so also after the resurrection, his body was of the same nature as it had been before the passion but of a higher state of glory and in more majestic appearance. HOMILY ON PSALM 15[16].
AS MAN, NOT AS GOD. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Let us see Jesus . . . in his suffering as man but not suffering as God, and in his dying in the flesh but being greater than death, and in not remaining . . . in the tomb as we do and not being held fast by the gates of the underworld together with the other dead. . . . For he rose again, despoiling death and “saying to the prisoners: Come out, to those in darkness: Show yourselves,” and he ascended to his Father above in the heavens to a position inaccessible to people, having taken on himself our sins and being the propitiation for them. LETTER 41.13.
BECAUSE OF THE WORD. ATHANASIUS: We die not by our own choice but by necessity of nature and against our will. However, the Lord, being himself immortal yet having mortal flesh, had power, as God, to separate from his body and to take it back again, when he would. . . . For it was fitting that the flesh, corruptible as it was, should no longer after its own nature remain mortal, but because of the Word who had put it on, should abide incorruptible. For as he, having come in our body, was conformed to our condition, so we, receiving him, partake of the immortality that is from him. DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 3.28.57.
CHRIST SAVED WHAT HE ASSUMED. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Christ’s Godhead, alike before taking flesh and in the flesh and after his passion, is immutably the same, being at all times what it was by nature and so continuing forever. But in the suffering of his human nature the Godhead fulfilled the dispensation for our benefit by severing the soul for a season from the body, yet without being itself separated from either of those elements to which it was once for all united, and by joining again the elements that had been thus parted, so as to give to all human nature a beginning and an example that it should follow of the resurrection from the dead, that all the corruptible may put on incorruption, and all the mortal may put on immortality, our firstfruits having been transformed to the divine nature by its union with God . . . the Lord, reconciling the world to himself by the humanity of Christ, apportioned his work of benevolence to people between his soul and his body, willing through his soul and touching them through his body. AGAINST EUNOMIUS 2.13.
THE MEANING OF CORRUPTION. JOHN OF DAMASCUS: The word destruction (phthora) has two meanings. First, it means human sufferings such as hunger, thirst, weariness, piercing with nails, death—that is separation of the soul from the body—and the like. In this sense, we say that the Lord’s body was destructible, because he endured all these things freely. Destruction, however, also means the complete dissolution of the body and its reduction to the elements of which it was composed. By many this is more generally called corruption (diaphthora). This the Lord’s body did not experience, as the prophet David says in this psalm. . . . Therefore, it is impious to say with the insane Julian and Gaianus that before the resurrection the Lord’s body was indestructible in the first sense. For, if it was thus incorruptible, then it was not consubstantial with us, and the things such as the hunger, the thirst, the nails, the piercing of the side and death that the gospel says happened did not really happen but only seemed to. But if they only seemed to happen, then the mystery of the incarnation is a hoax and a stage trick; it was in appearance and not in truth that he was made man and in appearance and not in truth that we have been saved. But far be it, and let those who say this have no part in salvation. We, however, have gained and shall obtain the true salvation. Moreover, in the second sense of the word destruction, we confess that the Lord’s body was indestructible, that is to say, incorruptible, even as has been handed down to us by the inspired fathers. ORTHODOX FAITH 3.28.
16:10 Not Given Up to Sheol
THE HOPE OF RESURRECTION. THEODORET OF CYR: So at this place, too, Christ the Lord in human fashion says, “Constantly supported by the divine nature, I am in the midst of my saving passion and find gladness in the hope of resurrection. My soul, you see, will not be abandoned in hades, nor will my flesh suffer natural corruption. I shall achieve a rapid resurrection and return to life, giving all people a glimpse of this path.” COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 16.7.
CHRIST’S HUMAN SOUL. CASSIODORUS: Where are the false statements of the Apollinarians who say that the Lord Christ did not have a rational soul? Here he cries out and gives thanks to the Father because his soul is not abandoned to hell in the normal way, but is glorified by a swift resurrection and has passed to the realms of heaven. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.10.
NOT DAVID. AUGUSTINE: Who save him who rose on the third day was in a position to say that his flesh rested in hope, that his soul, not left in hell, would swiftly return to reanimate his flesh, that his flesh would not undergo corruption as other corpses rot away? Surely, no one can maintain that all of this was verified in David, king and prophet! CITY OF GOD 17.18.
HERESY REFUTED. THEODORET OF CYR: This psalm refutes the folly of Arius, of Eunomius and of Apollinaris: the former ones said God the Word assumed a body without a soul, whereas Apollinaris called the body that was assumed ensouled though denying it a rational soul; I do not know where he found his doctrine of these two souls—the divine Scripture nowhere teaches it. Yet the all-Holy Spirit through blessed David made undisguised mention of a soul, thus giving clear refutation of each heresy. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 16.8.
THE LITERAL WORDS OF PETER IN ACTS. DIODORE OF TARSUS: Blessed Peter in the Acts of the Apostles took these words as applied to the Lord. . . . He did not, however, take the words as though he were undermining their factual basis, but as more applicable to the Lord than to those of whom they were said, especially since it was also in the case of the Lord that the outcome of the events more appropriately brought out these words than in the case of those who live for a while but later are consigned to death—the Israelites themselves, I mean. Nothing therefore prevents either the factual basis being preserved or these words being understood of the Lord. COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 16.
16:11 Fullness of Joy
JOY OVERFLOWING. CASSIODORUS: To “fill up from full” means to make something more than full, and he who brings more pours into a container that is already full. That joy fills up in such a way that the vessel always remains full. This text also indicates that all the righteous are going to be filled with the joy of the Lord’s face in that blessedness, and because it is the Lord who speaks, he testifies that he is able to be filled up among them. But we should consider more carefully what it means when he says here that he will be filled with delights at the right hand of the Father, although he said earlier “for he is at my right hand so that I may not be moved.” Without a doubt, in this age after he assumed human flesh, he was whipped, bruised by slaps, and splattered with spittle. Since he was not overcome at all by any of these adversities, the Scripture rightly says that the Lord was always there at his right hand. For he overcame the opposition of the world because he did not depart at all from the contemplation of his Father. But after the glory of the resurrection, he can rightly say that he found delight at the right hand of the Father since by that time the opposition of the world had come to an end, his humanity had become filled by the glorification of his full majesty, and he now reigns united with the Word together with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and forever. “Even to the end” refers to perfection and eternity. His glory remains in his perfection and will not come to an end at any time. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 16.11.
HAVING BECOME IMMUNE TO SUFFERING. THEODORET OF CYR: He will be in unceasing joy, having become immune to suffering, to change, to death, even in his human nature. As God, you see, this was always the case, and of course even in his human nature once formed in the womb it was easy to provide him with this. But he allowed the nature he had assumed to travel through the sufferings so as by these means to loose the sway of sin, put a stop to the tyranny of the devil, undo the power of death and provide all people with the basis of a new life. So as man he assumes both incorruption and immortality. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 16.8.
HE LEARNED THE WAY. JEROME: He who is the Way and the Life said that he had learned the ways to life; he had learned in what way people would follow him who said he is the Way and the Life. . . . The body he had received—and in his body, the entire human race—rejoiced that the divinity of the Son was made known to it. That is why he rejoices, he says, and has the fullness of joy with the Father . . . and his delight is full and perfect and his happiness ineffable because he sits at the right hand of the Father. . . . This is his delight, this his happiness to the end of the divine decree . . . because the Lord suffered and rose from the dead and entered heaven as victor in order to establish humanity at the right hand of the Lord. HOMILY ON PSALM 15[16].
FROM HIM TO US. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: This is certainly said in the person of the Savior at the time of the resurrection. When after his death he returned to the heavenly heights from the lower regions, he began to make known the path of life, which was previously unknown. The path of life was unknown before Christ, since it was still untouched by the foot of anyone who rose from the dead. But when the Lord rose, once the path become known, it become well worn by the soles of many, about whom the Evangelist says: “The bodies of many holy people arose along with him and entered into the holy city.” So too, since the Lord said at his own resurrection: “You have made known to me the paths of life,” we are also now able to say to the Lord, “You have made known to us the paths of life.” For he who showed us the way to life has himself made known to us the paths of life. He made known to me the paths of life when he taught me faith, mercy, righteousness and chastity. By journeying along these, one arrives at salvation. Even though the shadow of death encompasses us at the destruction of our body, still life does not forsake its steps; we walk quickly through the very midst of the decrees of hell by the power of Christ. For this reason, the holy prophet says: “Even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, for you are with me.” The Lord says this same thing about the believer even more clearly: “He who believes in me will not die, and although he dies, he will live.” SERMON 14.1.
Reading 2 (1 Peter 1:17-21)
OVERVIEW: The duty of the Christian is to live in the hope that Christ will soon return to fulfill his promises. In practical terms that means that we must strive to be holy, because God himself is holy. Having been rescued from the vanity and folly of this world, it is our privilege to be able to purify our souls by obeying the truth. The effort that we devote to this ought to reflect the price that has been paid for our lives. This price cannot be measured in silver and gold, because we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, the incarnate Son of God himself. That knowledge ought to fire our devotion and ensure that we shall do our utmost to reflect in our behavior the kind of new people that God wants us to be. Those called and baptized should live here and now as obedient children of God, ready to receive grace (Didymus, Bede), holding fast to faith (Andreas), being conformed not to the world but to God’s will (Theophylact), imitating God’s holiness (Andreas). The time we have been given on earth is limited (Ambrose), given to allow us to act in ways worthy of our sonship to the Father (Oecumenius, Bede). You owe that price with which you have been bought, even though God does not demand it. What Christ claims from you is his own (Ambrose, Caesarius of Arles, Maximus of Turin).
1:17 Fear God
TIME ON EARTH LIMITED. AMBROSE OF MILAN: You have been given time on this earth, not eternity. Use the time as those who know that they are setting out from here. LETTERS TO PRIESTS 59.10.
JUDGE AS FATHER. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: If the one whom we call the Father is also our judge, and if he pays no attention to classes of persons, let us hasten to do our best in the time of our sojourn here on earth, with all fear and holy behavior. In this way we shall recognize that the same Father is the one who gives us promises, and we shall persevere without any punishment. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. ANDREAS: If the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, what are we to think about this passage? For if it is the Father who is indicated here, how is he a judge, judging everyone according to his work? But if it is the Son who judges, taking all judgment on himself, why does Peter mention the Father? The solution here is that if the Father and the Son are one Godhead, the judgment of the Son is the judgment of the Father also, but the Son can also be called the Father of the creatures, having given them birth by partaking in holiness. For on many occasions he called his disciples his children, and to others he said things like: “Child, your sins are forgiven,” and “Daughter, your faith has saved you.” CATENA.
SONS OF THE FATHER. BEDE: God is not like an earthly father, who is more inclined to pardon his erring sons than he is to spare other members of his household. God the Father is so holy and just that he adopts as his sons not only humble and obedient servants but also enemies who have lifted up their hands against him. On the other hand, he has also disinherited those who appeared to enjoy the benefits of sonship because of their disobedience. ON 1 PETER.
WORTHY OF THE FATHER. OECUMENIUS: Those who desire the adoption of sons must do the things which are worthy of the Father. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
1:18a You Were Ransomed
YOU OWE THE PRICE. AMBROSE OF MILAN: You owe that price with which you have been bought. Even though God does not always demand it, you still owe it. Buy Christ for yourself, not with what few men possess but with what all men possess by nature but few offer on account of fear. What Christ claims from you is his own. He gave his life for all men. He offered his death for all men. Pay on behalf of your creator what you are going to pay by law. He is not bargained for at a low price, and not all men see him readily. ON JOSEPH 7.42.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE PRICE. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: If the unfortunate Jews observe the sabbath in such a way that they do not dare to do any secular work on it, how much more should those who have been “redeemed, not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ,” pay attention to their price and devote themselves to God on the day of his resurrection, thinking more diligently of the salvation of their souls? SERMONS 73.4.
BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: If the price of our life is the blood of the Lord, see to it that it is not an ephemeral earthly field which has been purchased but rather the eternal salvation of the whole world. SERMONS 59.2.
THE PRICE OF YOUR REDEMPTION. BEDE: The greater the price of your redemption, the more respectful to God you ought to be, and not risk offending your Redeemer by falling back into your previous life of wickedness. ON 1 PETER.
1:19 The Precious Blood of Christ
A SOUL MADE CLEAN. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: This recalls the ancient ceremonies of the Levites and the priests, and relates to a soul made clean by righteousness, which is offered to God. ADUMBRATIONS.
BOUGHT AT A PRICE. CHRYSOSTOM: We are God’s creatures, but because of sin we have passed under the rule of the devil. Because of that, the Savior has bought us back with his own blood—“you are bought with a price.” Indeed, we have been bought with Christ’s precious blood. Think of a righteous and good householder who does not regard a wicked servant as worthy to serve in his house but hands him over to someone who will correct him. If he then sees his servant being punished by a wicked master and saying: “I will go back to my first master, for he was good to me then and he will be good to me now,” he will give him back his honor and redeem him, so that he might become a productive person. This is what God has done for us. How is it that we both belong to him and do not belong to him at the same time? As creatures we belong to him, but as sinners we have become alien to him and do not belong to him any more. Do not think that you belong to God if you are a sinner, for in that case the devil has got hold of you, and you are his creature. The man of sin, the son of destruction, it is he who has bought you, with blood which is not precious but impure. Indeed, you have been bought by sin, you have been bought by harlotry, and you are impure. CATENA.
1:20 Predestination and Fulfillment
BELONGING TO CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: Those belonging to the grace of Christ, who are foreknown, predestined and chosen from before the foundation of the world, shall die only insofar as Christ himself died for us, that is, by the death of the flesh only, not of the spirit. ON THE TRINITY 13.15.
FULLY AND PERFECTLY REVEALED. OECUMENIUS: Christ existed in earlier times and even before the foundation of the world, when he was hidden by divine providence until the right time should come. He was manifested to the prophets who did their best to examine these matters, as Peter has already mentioned, and now he is even more manifest, since he has been fully and perfectly revealed. Furthermore, Peter adds that he has been revealed for our sake. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
1:21 Confidence in God
HOLDING EVERYTHING IN COMMON. ANDREAS: Peter did not stop at Christ’s death but went on immediately to remember his resurrection as well. Just because you hear that the Father has raised the Son, do not retort that the Son cannot raise himself. For listen to what Christ says: “Destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it up again” and again: “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again.” The apostle says these things in order to teach us that the Father and the Son hold everything in common. CATENA.
Gospel (Luke 24:13-35)
OVERVIEW: The two Emmaus disciples are not among the Eleven but could well be from among the seventy (Cyril of Alexandria). Jesus’ identity is hidden from the Emmaus disciples, as the light of his star appeared upon humanity at his birth and then was hidden at his death (Ephrem the Syrian). Their recognition of him is deferred until there is time for more catechesis on the road. The eyes of the Emmaus disciples are held from recognizing Jesus because he is now to be recognized in the breaking of the bread (Augustine).
Jesus enters their conversation in order to hear from them what they think about his death. But it is precisely these facts that caused the Emmaus disciples to stand there in sorrow, for they were scandalized by the crucifixion, even though Jesus had predicted he would die (Augustine). The assumption of the early church’s tradition, mentioned by Hegesippus (cited by Eusebius), is that Cleopas is Clopas, brother of Joseph, making Cleopas the uncle of Jesus, and that the unnamed Emmaus disciple is Cleopas’s son Simeon, later the second bishop of Jerusalem, the leader of the Jerusalem church after 70. Tradition reports that Simeon died a martyr’s death (Eusebius).
The Emmaus disciples respond with their interpretation of the events of Jesus’ life, confessing to Jesus their despair and their doubts, showing that like Moses they do not fully understand God’s ways. The Emmaus disciples who are scandalized by the cross need to become like the penitent thief, who through the cross saw that he might enter into the kingdom (Augustine).
Jesus must open the Scriptures for the Emmaus disciples to show them that unless he suffered and died, he could not be the Messiah (Augustine). The kerygmatic passion and resurrection formulae are supported by the scriptural foundation given by the risen Lord as he interprets for the Emmaus disciples what has remained hidden to them (Cyril of Alexandria). The implication is that the very fabric of the entire Old Testament is christological, for every thread and theme leads to and centers in the crucified and risen Christ (Augustine).
24:13-16 Conversing on the Road to Emmaus
EMMAUS DISCIPLES COME FROM THE SEVENTY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: As two of the disciples walked to a village called Emmaus, they talked about Christ, regarding him as no longer living but mourning him as dead. As they conversed, Jesus drew near and went with them, without being recognized by them, for their eyes were restrained, so that they should not know him. You must know that these two disciples belonged to the number of the seventy, and that Cleopas’s companion was Simon—not Peter or the one of Cana—but another Simon, of the seventy. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, CHAPTER 24.
JESUS’ IDENTITY HIDDEN. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: At his radiant birth therefore a radiant star appeared, and at his dark death there appeared a dark gloom. . . . The Lord of the star appeared in his own person to the two who were traveling with him along the road, but his identity was hidden from them. His star too was like this, for its light appeared to all humanity while its pathway was hidden from all humanity. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 2.24.
RECOGNITION IS DEFERRED UNTIL THEY RECEIVE MORE CATECHESIS. AUGUSTINE: Here we are with two others, walking along the road and talking to each other about the things that had been happening in Jerusalem—about the iniquity of the Jews, about the death of Christ. They were walking along, talking the matter over, grieving for him as if he were dead, not knowing he had risen again. He appeared and joined them as a third traveler, and entered into friendly conversation with them. Their eyes were held from recognizing him; their hearts, you see, needed more thorough instruction. Recognition is deferred. SERMON 232.3.
JESUS IS TO BE RECOGNIZED IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. AUGUSTINE: “We,” they said, “had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” O my dear disciples, you had hoped! So now you no longer hope? Look, Christ is alive! Is hope dead in you? Certainly, certainly, Christ is alive! Christ, being alive, found the hearts of his disciples dead, as he appeared and did not appear to their eyes. He was at one and the same time seen and concealed. I mean, if he wasn’t seen, how could they have heard him questioning them and answered his questions? He was walking with them along the road like a companion and was himself the leader. Of course he was seen, but he wasn’t recognized. For their eyes were restrained, as we heard, so that they wouldn’t recognize him. They weren’t restrained so that they wouldn’t see him, but they were held so that they wouldn’t recognize him.
Ah yes, brothers and sisters, but where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of bread. We’re all right, nothing to worry about—we break bread, and we recognize the Lord. It was for our sake that he didn’t want to be recognized anywhere but there, because we weren’t going to see him in the flesh, and yet we were going to eat his flesh. So if you’re a believer, any of you, if you’re not called a Christian for nothing, if you don’t come to church pointlessly, if you listen to the Word of God in fear and hope, you may take comfort in the breaking of bread. The Lord’s absence is not an absence. Have faith, and the one you cannot see is with you. Those two, even when the Lord was talking to them, did not have faith, because they didn’t believe he had risen. Nor did they have any hope that he could rise again. They had lost faith, lost hope. They were walking along, dead, with Christ alive. They were walking along, dead, with life itself. Life was walking along with them, but in their hearts life had not yet been restored. SERMON 235.2-3.
24:17-18 The Setting for the Catechesis on the Road
THE EMMAUS DISCIPLES SCANDALIZED BY THE CROSS. AUGUSTINE: You heard just now that the Lord Jesus, after rising from the dead, found two of his disciples on the road, talking to each other about all that had happened, and said to them, “What is this conversation you are having with each other, and why are you so sad?” . . . So what is the benefit of this reading for us? A very considerable one, if we understand it rightly. Jesus appeared. They saw him with their eyes and did not recognize him. The Master was walking with them along the way, and he himself was the way. But they weren’t yet walking along the way. He found, you see, that they had wandered off the way. After all, when he had been with them before the passion, he had foretold everything: that he was going to suffer, to die and to rise again on the third day. He had foretold it all, but his death had erased it from their memories. They were so shattered when they saw him hanging on the tree that they forgot about his teaching. They did not expect him to rise, nor did they hold on to what he had promised. SERMON 235.1-2.
THE MARTYRDOM OF SIMON. EUSEBIUS: After Nero and Domitian . . . persecution was raised against us sporadically among the cities as a result of insurrection among the people. In this persecution we have learned that Simon [Symeon], the son of Clopas, whom we have shown to have been the second bishop of the church at Jerusalem, gave up his life by martyrdom. The witness of this is Hegesippus, whom we have already quoted. When relating about certain heretics, he goes on to show that Symeon was accused by them at this time and was tortured in many ways for a great many days because he was clearly a Christian. He astonished to the highest degree both the judge himself and those with him, and won for himself an end similar to the passion of the Lord. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.32.
24:19-24 The Christology of the Emmaus Disciples
THE DOUBTS OF MOSES AND THE DOUBTS OF THE EMMAUS DISCIPLES. AUGUSTINE: So then, what kind of consideration does the doubting of Moses demand of us? . . . Moses doubted when the wood came into contact with the rock. . . . The disciples doubted when they saw the Lord crucified. He came to them after his resurrection, as they were talking to each other about this matter in a sad conversation. He kept their eyes from recognizing him, not in order to remove himself from believers but to put them off while they were still doubters. He joined in their conversation as a third party and asked them what they were talking about. They were astonished that he should be the only person not to know what had happened—to the very man, in fact, who was asking about it. “Are you,” they said, “the only stranger in Jerusalem?” And they went over all that had happened to Jesus. Straightaway they proceeded to open up all the depth of their despair and, although unwittingly, they showed the doctor their wounds: “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” The doubt arose because wood had come into contact with the rock. What Moses figuratively stood for was fulfilled. SERMON 352.4.
EMMAUS DISCIPLES NEED TO BECOME LIKE THE PENITENT THIEF. AUGUSTINE: Recognition, though, happened only when Jesus opened up the Scriptures for them, because they had given up hope and said, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” O my dear disciples, if he was the one that was going to redeem Israel, it means you have defected. But he has reinstated you; he didn’t abandon you. By becoming your companion on the way, he himself became for you the way. Cry out, robber, from the cross! You, a criminal, win over the saints! What did they say? “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” What did this man say? “Jesus, remember me, when you come in your kingdom.” So you had hoped, had you, that it was he who would redeem Israel? O my dear disciples, if he was the one that was going to redeem Israel, it means you have defected. But he has reinstated you; he didn’t abandon you. By becoming your companion on the way, he himself became for you the way. SERMON 236a.4.
24:25-27 The Kerygma of the Catechetical Lectures
CHRIST OPENS SCRIPTURE TO SHOW THEM THE CHRIST MUST DIE. AUGUSTINE: So he began to expound the Scriptures to them to help them recognize Christ precisely in the point on which they had forsaken Christ. The reason, you see, that they had despaired of Christ was that they had seen him dead. He, however, opened the Scriptures to them, so that they would realize that if he hadn’t died, he couldn’t be the Christ. He taught them from Moses, he taught them from the following Scriptures, he taught them from the prophets what he himself had told them: that it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory. They listened, they were filled with joy, they breathed again, and, as they said themselves, their hearts burned within them. And still they didn’t recognize the presence of the light. SERMON 236.2.
JESUS INTERPRETS THE OLD TESTAMENT. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: In this discourse the Lord shows that the law was necessary to make ready the way and the ministry of the prophets to prepare people for faith in this marvelous act, so that when the resurrection really took place, those who were troubled at its greatness might remember what was said of old and be induced to believe. He brings forward, therefore, Moses and the prophets, interpreting their hidden meaning and making plain to the worthy what to the unworthy was obscure. In this way he settles in them the ancient and hereditary faith taught them by the sacred books which they possessed. For nothing which comes from God is without its use, but all have their appointed place and service. In their due place servants were sent to make ready for the presence of the Master. They brought in beforehand prophecy as the necessary preparative for faith, so that, like some royal treasure, what had been foretold might in due season be brought forward from the concealment of its former obscurity, unveiled and made plain by the clearness of the interpretation. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, CHAPTER 24.
EVERYTHING IN SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: All that we read in holy Scripture for our instruction and salvation demands an attentive ear. You have just heard how the eyes of those two disciples whom the Lord joined on their way were kept from recognizing him. He found them in despair of the redemption that was in Christ, supposing him now to have suffered and died as a man, not imagining him to live forever as the Son of God. So he opened to them the Scriptures and showed them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and for all things to be fulfilled that were written concerning him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms—in short, the whole of the Old Testament. Everything in those Scriptures speaks of Christ, but only to him who has ears. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And so let us pray that he will open our own. HOMILY 2.1 ON 1 JOHN.
OVERVIEW: Only after hearing the Word of the Old Testament opened up to them does he then open their eyes to see that he is the crucified and risen Lord. Broken bread is the key to open eyes (Ephrem the Syrian). The Emmaus meal is pivotal because it continues Jesus’ preresurrection table fellowship and begins the church’s table fellowship in celebration of Easter through the sacrament. Jesus continues to reveal himself in the breaking of the bread that has received his blessing (Augustine).
Jesus disappears from them, for from now on he will be possessed by faith in word and meal. Jesus continues to be recognized today in the breaking of the bread (Augustine). They experience burning hearts from the teaching of Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit (Origen). The wings of fire that create the burning hearts in the disciples are the flames of the divine Scripture as they were interpreted by Jesus (Ambrose). The Lamb who has opened Scriptures for the Emmaus disciples is the cause of their burning hearts (Origen). Faith goes on to create the fire of charity that now reigns in their hearts (Augustine). It is unclear whether these disciples meet with the eleven disciples to relate what had happened at the end of this day of resurrection or on the fortieth day when Jesus was taken up (Cyril of Alexandria).
24:28-30 The Breaking of Bread at Emmaus
BROKEN BREAD THE KEY TO OPEN EYES. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Even when the army surrounded Elisha a voice proved the key to the eyes of the shepherd. When the disciples’ eyes were held closed, bread too was the key whereby their eyes were opened to recognize the omniscient: saddened eyes beheld a vision of joy and were instantly filled with happiness. HYMNS ON PARADISE 15.4.
THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD IS THE SACRAMENT. AUGUSTINE: And no one should doubt that his being recognized in the breaking of bread is the sacrament, which brings us together in recognizing him. LETTER 149.
JESUS REVEALS HIMSELF IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. AUGUSTINE: Remember, though, dearly beloved, how the Lord Jesus desired to be recognized in the breaking of bread, by those whose eyes had been kept till then from recognizing him. The faithful know what I’m talking about. They know Christ in the breaking of bread. It isn’t every loaf of bread, you see, but the one that receives Christ’s blessing and becomes the body of Christ. That’s where they recognized him. They were overjoyed and went straight to the others. They found whom they already knew. By telling what they had seen, they added to the gospel. It was all said, all done, all written down. And it has reached us. SERMON 234.2.
24:31-34 The Recognition and Return to Jerusalem
JESUS DISAPPEARED. AUGUSTINE: The Lord Jesus was made known, and after being made known he appeared no more. He withdrew from them in the body, since he was held by them in faith. That indeed is why the Lord absented himself in the body from the whole church, and ascended into heaven, for the building up of faith. SERMON 235.4.
CHRIST CONTINUES TO BE RECOGNIZED IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. AUGUSTINE: He blessed the bread, broke it, and they recognized him. That’s how you recognize Christ—those of you who believe he is the Christ. But your graces should consider what all the disciples were like before the Lord’s resurrection. I beg their pardon for saying so, but they weren’t yet believers. They became great believers later on, but before that they were even inferior to us. We, I mean to say, believe that Christ has risen again, which they didn’t yet believe. But afterward they saw, they touched, they went over him with eyes and hands, and in that way they believed, and their hearts were given strength from the holy Scriptures. So they drank, they burst forth, and they filled us up too. SERMON 236a.2.
THE HOLY SPIRIT CAUSES THE HEARTS TO BURN. ORIGEN: Do you want me to show you how the fire goes out from the words of the Holy Spirit and ignites the fire the hearts of believers? . . . And again in the Gospel it was written, after the Lord spoke to Cleopas, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Where will your burning come from? What “coals of fire” will be found in you who are never set on fire by the declaration of the Lord, never inflamed by the words of the Holy Spirit? Hear also in another place David himself saying, “My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned.” HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 9.9.7.8.
THE FLAMES OF DIVINE SCRIPTURE. AMBROSE: Good then is love, having wings of burning fire, that flies through the breasts and hearts of the saints and consumes whatever is material and earthly but tests whatever is pure and with its fire makes better whatever it has touched. This fire the Lord Jesus sent upon earth. Faith shone bright, devotion was enkindled, love was illuminated, and justice was resplendent. With this fire he inflamed the heart of his apostles, as Cleopas bears witness, saying, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Therefore the wings of fire are the flames of the divine Scripture. ISAAC, OR THE SOUL 8.77.
THE LAMB KINDLES THE HEARTS OF THE DISCIPLES. ORIGEN: This shows that we must not only employ zeal to learn the sacred literature but also pray to the Lord and entreat “day and night” that the lamb “of the tribe of Judah” may come and, himself taking “the sealed book,” may deign to open it. For it is he who “opening the Scriptures” kindles the hearts of the disciples so that they say, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the scriptures?” HOMILIES ON EXODUS 12.4.
BURNING HEARTS FROM THE FIRE OF CHARITY. AUGUSTINE: Just as we are distinguished from others by faith, so let us also be distinguished by morals and by works. Let us be on fire with charity, which the demons never had. It is the fire those two also were burning with on the road. When Christ, you see, had been recognized and had left them, they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Burn then, in order not to burn with the fire the demons are going to burn with. Be on fire with the fervor of charity, in order to differentiate yourselves from demons. This fervor whirls you upward, takes you upward, lifts you up to heaven. Whatever vexations you suffer on earth, however much the enemy may humiliate Christian hearts and press them downward, the fervor of love seeks the heights. SERMON 234.3.
24:34-35 The Faithful Response
THE EMMAUS DISCIPLES CONSULT WITH THE ELEVEN. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Cleopas, it says, and his companions rose up that same hour, the same of course in which Jesus had vanished out of their sight, and returned to Jerusalem. But it does not say that they found the Eleven gathered together that same hour and told them what had happened concerning Jesus. This took place on the fortieth day after his resurrection—the day on which he was also taken up. The Evangelist therefore has omitted the events which took place in the intervening time. It was then that Cleopas and his companion found the Eleven discussing in private and saying that the Lord was risen and had been seen by Simon. Regarding this appearance, there is no mention where or when or how this took place. It was during these days that the events in Galilee also took place, which Matthew has recorded. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, CHAPTER 24.
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