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 2:14a, 36-41)
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.
2:36 Lord and Christ
THE CRUCIFIED ONE IS EXALTED. IRENAEUS: Thus the apostles did not preach another God or another Fullness or that the Christ who suffered and rose again was one, while he who flew off on high was another and remained impassible; but that there was one and the same God the Father, and Christ Jesus who rose from the dead. They preached faith in him to those who did not believe on the Son of God and exhorted them out of the prophets, that the Christ whom God promised to send, he sent in Jesus, whom they crucified and God raised up. AGAINST HERESIES 3.12.2.
CHRIST’S TRUE IDENTITY REVEALED. GREGORY OF NYSSA: We, learning this from him, say that the whole context of the passage tends one way—the cross itself, the human name, the indicative turn of the phrase. For the word of the Scripture says that in regard to one person two things were wrought —by the Jews, the passion, and by God, honor. It is not as though one person had suffered and another had been honored by exaltation. He further explains this yet more clearly by his words in what follows, “being exalted by the right hand of God.” Who then was “exalted”? He that was lowly, or he that was the highest? and what else is the lowly but the humanity? what else is the highest but the divinity? Surely, God needs not to be exalted, seeing that he is the highest. It follows, then, that the apostle’s meaning is that the humanity was exalted: and its exaltation was effected by its becoming Lord and Christ. And this took place after the passion. It is not therefore the pretemporal existence of the Lord that the apostle indicates by the word made but that change of the lowly to the lofty that was effected “by the right hand of God.” AGAINST EUNOMIUS 5.3.
OVERVIEW: We see here the first instance of a Lukan narrative technique, the interrupted speech (e.g., Acts 7:54; 10:44; 22:22). Peter’s response includes four elements: repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus, forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit. Thus, while the question asked by the crowd echoes that asked of John the Baptist (Lk 3:10), the answer is quite different. Luke has a theology of the name of Jesus that “connotes the real and effective presence of Jesus himself.” The expression “were added” once again points to the divine causality governing the life of the church. Chrysostom is, as ever, looking for moral examples to move his audience to put their faith into practice. He is keen to point out the temperament of Peter, the character of gentleness that he conveys in order to bring his audience to repentance, but he does not hesitate to shame those who, unlike those recounted here, delay their repentance. Bede pulls the narrative together by setting out an analogy with nature (smoke causing tears) to explain how this repentance was a part of Joel’s prophecy that God would pour out his Spirit. He also calls attention to the significance of the time this event occurred, on Pentecost, the day the law was given and the day of the festival of first fruits. Here, the symbol of the fruits comes to light as the souls of the faithful.
2:37 Cut to the Heart
THE GENTLENESS OF PETER. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see what a great thing gentleness is, how it stings our hearts more than vehemence? It inflicts indeed a keener wound. For in the case of bodies that have become callous, a blow does not affect the sense so powerfully, but if someone first softens them and makes them tender, then a stab is effective. Likewise here one must first soften, and that which softens is not wrath, not vehement accusation, not reproach, but gentleness. . . . For notice how he gently reminded them of the outrages they have committed, adding no comment. He spoke of the gift of God, he brought in the grace that bears witness to the event, and he drew out his discourse to still greater length. They stood in awe of the gentleness of Peter, because he was speaking like a father and caring teacher to them who crucified his master and breathed murder against himself and his companions. They were not merely persuaded; they even condemned themselves. They came to a sense of their past behavior. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 7.
FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY. BEDE: Behold the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. Notice that after the fire of the Holy Spirit there followed the vapor of compunction, for smoke tends to cause tears. Those who have laughed in ridicule begin to weep. They beat their breasts. They present their prayer to God as a sacrifice, so that as people who are to be saved they may be able to taste of that blood that before, when they were damned, they had called down upon themselves and their children. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.37.
2:38 Repent and Be Baptized
PROVED BY THEIR DEEDS. CHRYSOSTOM: “What shall we do?” They did what must be done, but we the opposite. They condemned themselves and despaired of their salvation. This is what made them such as they were. They knew what a gift they had received. But how will you become like them, when you do everything in an opposite spirit? As soon as they heard, they were baptized. They did not speak these cold words that we do now, nor did they contrive delays, even though they heard all the requirements. For they did not hesitate when they were commanded to “save yourselves from this generation” but welcomed it. They showed their welcome through action and proved through deeds what sort of people they were. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 7.
2:41 Three Thousand Souls
FIRSTFRUITS. BEDE: On the fiftieth day of Passover, when the law was given, Moses indeed ordered the festival of firstfruits to be introduced. Now, however, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, it is not sheaves of grain but the firstfruits of souls that are consecrated to the Lord. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 2.41.
Psalm (23:1-6)
OVERVIEW: The twenty-third psalm transitions to the joys of resurrection life (ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER), enumerating the kindness we receive from the Lord (CASSIODORUS) and setting forth for our contemplation the heavenly sacraments (AMBROSE). Attention is focused on the Lord, the right shepherd (AUGUSTINE), the One who feeds the sheep (THEODORET). Acknowledgment of him is an act of complete dependence (AUGUSTINE). The Lord leads to pastures that feed the soul (AUGUSTINE), to the waters of baptism (AUGUSTINE, THEODORET, CASSIODORUS), because of what he did for us on the cross (ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER). We receive righteousness for his name’s sake, not by our merit (AUGUSTINE). The Lord illumines our darkness (AUGUSTINE), enabling us to walk through rather than remain in it (ORIGEN). We have assurance of salvation in Christ (CASSIODORUS). Faith eliminates fear (EVAGRIUS) because of the indwelling presence of Christ (AUGUSTINE).
The psalm goes on to speak of the support and guidance we have from him (THEODORET). He corrects us out of love (JEROME) and consoles us even in the pain of correction (CASSIODORUS). When threatened by his judgment, we look to his mercy (ORIGEN). The psalm then speaks to the food he gives us (AUGUSTINE), a spiritual table even in the midst of trials (ORIGEN). Symbolically, the psalm shows us the Lord’s table (EUSEBIUS), which gives us the true food of the Word of God (ORIGEN, AMBROSE). His cup sobers the mind and spirit (CYPRIAN, CASSIODORUS), granting us the grace of love (FULGENTIUS). He is our head that was anointed (CASSIODORUS). The table is a blessing for us but punishment for them (THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA). The Lord’s lovingkindness does not wait for our requests (THEODORET). His mercy precedes and follows us (AUGUSTINE, CASSIODORUS), putting us in the position of always receiving grace from him (AMBROSE). We find his blessings in the church (ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER) and in the kingdom to come (CASSIODORUS).
23:1 The Lord Is My Shepherd
THE JOY OF RESURRECTION. ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER: We have in the previous psalm the tribulation of the passion. In this one let us receive the joy of the resurrection. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.
THANKSGIVING FOR TEN KINDNESSES. CASSIODORUS: Throughout the entire psalm, the speaker is the most faithful Christian, who has been reborn through water and the Holy Spirit, for whom the old age of the first man has been set aside. He gives thanks that he has been brought from the dryness of sin to places of pasture and to restoring water through the Lord’s generosity. We should also observe that, as he accepted the Ten Commandments of the Law, so here he rejoices that he has been enriched with ten kindnesses. These kindnesses are not related in separate verses, but are described briefly in phrases. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.1.
HEAVENLY SACRAMENTS. AMBROSE: How often have you heard Psalm 23 and not understood it! See how it is applicable to the heavenly sacraments: “The Lord feeds me, and I shall want nothing; he has set me in a place of pasture; he has brought me on the water of refreshment; he has converted my soul. He has led me on the paths of justice for his own name’s sake. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for you are with me. . . . Your rod is power, the staff suffering, that is, the eternal divinity of Christ, but also corporeal suffering; the one created, the other redeemed. You have prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. You have anointed my head with oil; and my chalice that inebriates me, how goodly it is!” ON THE SACRAMENTS 5.3.13.
THE RIGHT SHEPHERD. AUGUSTINE: Since my shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall not lack anything. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 23.1-2.
THE ONE WHO FEEDS THE SHEEP. THEODORET OF CYR: Having said in the psalm before this, “The needy eat and will be filled, and those who seek him out will praise the Lord,” and again, “All the prosperous of the earth ate and adored him,” here he suggests the provider of such food and calls the feeder shepherd. This in fact is the name Christ the Lord also gave himself: “I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and I am known by my own.” It is also what he called himself through the prophet Ezekiel. So here, too, all who enjoyed the saving food cry out, “The Lord shepherds me, and nothing will be wanting for me”: this shepherd regales those shepherded by him with enjoyment of good things of all kinds. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.1.
COMPLETE DEPENDENCE. AUGUSTINE: When you say, “The Lord is my shepherd,” no proper grounds are left for you to trust in yourself. SERMON 366.2.
23:2 Green Pastures and Still Waters
FOOD FOR THE SOUL. AUGUSTINE: The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, “How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!” SERMON 366.3.
THE WATER OF REBIRTH. THEODORET OF CYR: He hints at the water of rebirth, in which the baptized person longs for grace and sheds the old age of sin and is made young instead of being old. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.2.
THE WATERS OF BAPTISM. AUGUSTINE: He nurtured me beside the water of baptism, where those who have lost their soundness and strength are made new. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 23.1-2.
THE REFRESHING WATER OF BAPTISM. CASSIODORUS: “The water of refreshment” is the baptismal font through which the soul, barren because of the dryness of sin, is watered by divine gifts in order that it may produce good fruits. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.2.
BECAUSE OF WHAT THE LORD DID FOR US. ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER: The Lord leads me. That is the word of the one who the church, settled in a place of pasture and drawn from the water of reflection, has received, the one who is made complete from the suffering of the Lord. When the stream flows, it pours forth from deep veins, there freshness, there pleasantness, there renewal. These things will happen to me because he has transformed my soul through his suffering. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.
23:3 Righteousness for His Name’s Sake
NOT BY OUR MERIT. AUGUSTINE: “He has converted my soul.” This is a confession rightly to boast about. . . . You will make it truly . . . and with an unalterable conscience, if you say it, not on account of your merits but for the sake of his name. SERMON 366.4.
GUIDING ALONG THE NARROW PATH. AUGUSTINE: He has guided me along the narrow paths of his righteousness, where few people walk; and this not for any merit of mine but for the sake of his own name. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 23.3.
23:4 Guidance and Comfort
A LAMP IN A DARK PLACE. AUGUSTINE: As long as you remain in this present life, you are walking in the midst of vices, of worldly pressures, which are the shadow of death. Let Christ shine in your heart, who lights the lamp of our minds with the love of God and neighbor; and you will not fear any evils, since he is with you. SERMON 366.5.
WALKING, NOT SITTING. ORIGEN: To walk in the midst of the shadow of death is not the same as to sit in the shadow of death; one who sits in the shadow of death is firmly fixed in that shadow and strengthened in evil. On account of this, he is in darkness and lacks mercy so that the light may rise for him. He who does not sit, but who passes or walks through the midst of the shadow of death, not standing and hurrying across, does not walk alone because the Lord goes through with him. SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 23.4.
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION. CASSIODORUS: The shadow of death . . . is the devil, who lays traps for us in secret so that, once we have been misled by the mists, we might fall headlong into eternal death. But this situation is not feared by the true believer, even if, while relying on divine mercy, he ventures to walk in the midst of these traps. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.4.
FAITH ELIMINATES FEAR. EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS: One who cultivates pure prayer will hear noises, crashings, voices and tormenting screams that come from the demons; yet he will not suffer collapse or surrender his thoughts if he says to God, “I shall fear no evil, for you are with me.” CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 97.
CHRIST IN ME. AUGUSTINE: I shall not be afraid of evil happenings, because you live in my heart through faith; you are with me now to ensure that when this shadow of death has passed away, I may be with you. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 23.4.
SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE. THEODORET OF CYR: “Your rod and your staff comforted me”: with one he supports my weakness, with the other he guides toward the right way. You would not be wrong, however, to apply this to the saving cross: by its seal and remembrance we are rid of the hostile demons and guided to the true path. This is the meaning of “your rod and your staff comforted me”: the cross is assembled from two rods, with the upright staff confirming and directing those who believe in him and strengthening those who are weak, and using the crossbar as a rod against the demons. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.3.
CORRECTION A SIGN OF LOVE. JEROME: He whom the Lord loves, he corrects. BRIEF COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 23.
CONSOLATION. CASSIODORUS: The rod refers to the justice and strength of the Lord Savior, as he says in another psalm: “A rod of fairness is the rod of your kingdom.” The staff evokes the notion of support for human beings. With the staff, the foot itself is planted securely and the whole body of those who lean on it with their weight from above is supported. . . . The faithful claim that they have found consolation in these two things. . . . There is no doubt that the staff brings consolation; it is always taken up to bring help for human weakness. What should we say about the rod, which strikes, beats and punishes our vices with the courtroom’s severity? This too also clearly consoles the faithful when improvement results, and it leads people back to the Lord’s path. It is appropriate to say that everything that helps us comforts us, even if something saddens us for the sake of correction. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.4.
LOOK TO HIS MERCY. ORIGEN: Scripture is a witness that “rod” speaks of punishments and scourges. If you have sinned and you see the rod of God threatening you, know that the mercy of God will not be far from you. SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 23.4.
23:5 A Table Prepared
THE PROGRESS OF DIVINE CARE. AUGUSTINE: The time for the rod has passed, that time when I was small and animal-like and was instructed amid the flocks in the pasture; now after that era of the rod I have begun to be guided under your staff, and now you have prepared a table before me, so that I may be no longer fed on milk like a baby, but as an adult eat solid food and be strengthened against those who oppress me. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 23.5.
THE TABLE IN THE MIDST OF TRIAL. ORIGEN: Just as certain rewards are given to the contender in mighty contests, so also in any trial, when that which afflicts is nearby and the powers of the adversaries bring tribulation, know that a spiritual and intellectual table is prepared on account of this trial. Therefore, however many times you will be afflicted, equally many times a spiritual table is placed before you. Fix firm your eyes attentive only to my tables, and, giving thanks, you may say with the apostle, “Not I alone, but we are made glorious in tribulation.” SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 23.5.
THE LORD’S TABLE. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: In place of the ancient sacrifices and whole burnt offerings the incarnate presence of Christ . . . was offered. And this very thing he proclaims to his church as a great mystery expressed with prophetic voice. . . . As we have received a memorial of this offering that we celebrate on a table by means of symbols of his body and saving blood according to the laws of the new covenant, we are taught again by the prophet David to say, “You have prepared a table before me.” . . . Here plainly the mystic chrism and the holy sacrifices of Christ’s table are meant, by which we are taught to offer to almighty God through our great High Priest all through our life the celebration of our sacrifices, bloodless, reasonable and well-pleasing to him. PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 1.10.39.
TRUE FOOD. ORIGEN: This bread that God the Word declares is his body is the word that feeds souls, word proceeding from God the Word and bread from heavenly Bread. It has been placed on the table about which was written, “You have prepared a table in my sight against those who afflict me.” And this drink that God the Word declares is his blood is the word that gives drink and wonderfully intoxicates the hearts of those who drink. This is the cup concerning which was written, “and your intoxicating cup, how glorious it is!” Also, this drink is the fruit of the true Vine, who said, “I am the true vine,” and it is the blood of that Grape that produced this drink when it was cast into the winepress of the passion, just as the bread too is the word of Christ, made from that Wheat that “falling into the earth produces much fruit.” For God the Word was not saying that the visible bread that he was holding in his hands was his body, but rather the Word, in whose mystery the bread was to be broken. He was not saying that the visible drink was his blood, but the Word, in whose mystery the drink was to be poured out. For what else could the body and the blood of God the Word be except the Word that nourishes and the Word that “makes glad the heart”? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 26.26-28.
THE BREAD AND CUP OF THE FEAST. AMBROSE: “You have prepared a banquet in my sight.” This banquet consists of the living Bread, the Word of God. At this banquet there is the oil of sanctification, poured richly over the head of the just. This oil strengthens the inner senses. It does away with the oil of the sinner that fattens the head. In this banquet, too, you have the cup that inebriates: “how excellent” it is, or “how powerful,” for the Greek has kratiston, meaning most mighty, strong or powerful. Surely it is a powerful cup that washes away every stain of sin. COMMENTARY ON TWELVE PSALMS 35.19.
THE CUP THAT SOBERS. CYPRIAN: The inebriation of the cup and of the blood of the Lord is not like the inebriation coming from worldly wine, since the Holy Spirit says in the psalm, “Your cup that inebriates,” and adds, “how excellent it is,” because the cup of the Lord inebriates in such a way that it makes people sober, that it brings minds to spiritual wisdom, that from the taste for this world each one returns to the knowledge of God. And, as the mind is relaxed by that ordinary wine and the soul is eased and all sadness is set aside, so, when the blood of the Lord and the lifegiving cup have been drunk, the memory of the old man is set aside, and there is induced forgetfulness of former, worldly behavior, and the sorrowful and sad heart, which was formerly pressed down with distressing sins, is now eased by the joy of the divine mercy. This can delight the one who drinks in the church of the Lord, but only if what is drunk keeps to the truth of the Lord. LETTER 63.11.
THE LORD’S BLOOD. CASSIODORUS: The cup is . . . the Lord’s blood, which inebriates in such a way that it heals the mind, restraining it from wrongs, not inducing it to sins. This intoxication renders us sober; this fullness empties us of evils. He who is not filled from this cup ends up hungry and in perpetual need. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.5.
SATED WITH BLESSINGS. CASSIODORUS: It is a blessed drunkenness, a fullness that brings salvation; the more abundantly it is consumed, the more apt it is to grant sobriety to the minds of the recipients. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 64(65).10.
THE CUP OF LOVE. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: The word cup is to be understood as the perfect grace of charity by which the strength for undergoing suffering for the name of Christ is infused. This is given in such a way that even if the opportunity by which anyone may undergo suffering for Christ is lacking, there is still such great strength in the heart by a divine gift that nothing is lacking for putting up with punishment, scorning life and undergoing death for the name of Christ. This is well understood in that text in the psalm where it is said, “My cup overflows,” and he had just said before, “You anoint my head with oil.” What must be understood by “head anointed with oil” except a mind strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit? The shining quality of this oil is the unconquerable fortitude of spiritual grace by which the holy drunkenness is poured into the inner depths of the heart so that every affection of the heart, overcome, is consigned to oblivion. Filled with this drunkenness, the spirit learns to rejoice always in the Lord and to consign to contempt whatever he loved in the world. We drink this drunkenness when, having received the Holy Spirit, we possess the grace of perfect charity that drives out fear. LETTER 14.42.
CHRIST ANOINTED FOR US. CASSIODORUS: The head of the faithful is the Lord Christ; he is described rightly as anointed with oil, since he does not become dry by the dryness of the sinner. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.5.
BLESSING FOR YOU, PUNISHMENT FOR THEM. THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA: I am the true vine, . . . intoxicating like the most powerful antidote, joy, against the grief that sprouted in Adam. Behold, I have prepared a table for you over against those who afflict you. Opposite Eden I settled Adam, who had violated that celebrated place, that by his seeing the delight no longer permitted he might suffer a ceaselessly smoldering distress. Again, over against those who afflict you have I given you a table, life-giving and joy-creating, which offers in exchange for distress unspeakable joy before those who have envied you. Eat the bread that renews your nature. Drink the wine, the exultation of immortality. Eat the bread that purges away the old bitterness, and drink the wine that eases the pain of the wound. This is the healing of your nature; this is the punishment of the one who did the injury. SERMON ON THE MYSTICAL SUPPER.
23:6 Goodness and Mercy
THE LORD’S LOVINGKINDNESS. THEODORET OF CYR: Providing these good things is your ineffable lovingkindness, not awaiting our request but closely following us like fugitives, anticipating our needs, giving us a share in salvation, providing residence in the divine dwellings, one in the present life, one in the future. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.4.
MERCY THAT PRECEDES AND FOLLOWS. AUGUSTINE: In the sacred Eloquence we read, “His mercy goes before me,” and, “His mercy shall follow me.” It predisposes a person before he wills, to prompt his willing. It follows the act of willing, lest one’s will be frustrated. Otherwise, why are we admonished to pray for our enemies, who are plainly not now willing to live piously, unless it is that God is even now at work in them and in their wills? Or again, why are we admonished to ask in order to receive, unless it is that he who grants us what we will is he through whom it comes to pass that we will? We pray for enemies, therefore, that the mercy of God should go before them, as it goes before us; we pray for ourselves that his mercy shall follow us. ENCHRIDION 9.32.
MERCY’S PROTECTION. CASSIODORUS: Even though the Lord’s mercy always goes before us, he says here, “it will follow me.” It follows, particularly to guard, but it goes in front to grant grace. For if it were merely following, no one would perceive the gifts that are granted. If it were only going in front, then no one would be able to preserve the gifts that had been received. For the ambushes that the devil prepares behind us are quite substantial, and unless the Lord’s mercy follows, our human weakness is very easily deceived. For precisely when a person believes that he has moved beyond a vice, he is more easily deceived because of his unwary ignorance. For this reason, it is most essential both that the Lord’s grace go before us and that his mercy follows us. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.6.
WE ALWAYS RECEIVE. AMBROSE: When do you not have something that you owe to God? Or when are you without a gift of God, since your daily enjoyment of living is from God? “For what have you, that you have not received?” Therefore, because you always receive, always call on God; and since what you have is from God, always acknowledge that you are his debtor. I prefer that you pay your debts rather through love than as one forced to do so. ON THE DEATH OF THEODOSIUS 22.
BLESSINGS GIVEN IN THE CHURCH. ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER: What he now has, let us look within the church. He has a rod with which he warns the delinquent ones. He has a staff by which he succors the penitent. He has a table where he gives bread to the believing. He has oil with which he anoints the head of those being present for freedom of conscience. He has a cup from which he will drink preaching the word in such a way that when it is the third hour of the day he is thought to be drunk in his preaching. He has mercy that follows him all the days of his life so he may dwell the length of his days in the house of the Lord, praising the Lord Jesus Christ who rules forever. Amen. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 23.
EVERLASTING BLESSING. CASSIODORUS: For this is the final perfection of all good things. . . . “The house of the Lord indicates the Jerusalem to come, which endures “for the length of days,” without uncertainty, for it is an enduring blessedness and a joy that never ends. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 23.6.
Reading 2 (1 Peter 2:20b-25)
OVERVIEW: As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, God’s people must regard themselves as resident aliens here on earth. God’s people occupy the middle ground between heavenly and earthly delights (Augustine). When soul and body are joined together, the soul naturally feels the disordered passions of the flesh (Didymus). Evil desires operate through the flesh yet involve the soul (Hilary of Arles). Pagans who once reviled the faith of Christians, because they had abandoned their gods, stop doing so after they see what a holy life they lead in Christ (Bede). When our lives are laid bare, it will become apparent that the truth is the opposite of what pagan critics suspect (Oecumenius).
Yet we must respect the customs of the countries in which we live and obey the civil authorities who have been instituted by God so that we will not bring the witness of the gospel into disrepute. When the government is shaken, all other institutions are shaken with it (Tertullian). We are to be subject to the governing authorities when it is clear that they are doing something in accordance with just laws (Didymus). But if they command something that is contrary to God’s will, we must not obey them (Andreas). When they see us submitting to rulers because it is God’s will, then they are stunned into silence (Andreas, Bede, Theophylact). It is as free people that we obey these rulers, honoring the one who has delivered us and who has told us to do this for his sake (Oecumenius). If we have really received so great a gift as forgiveness, we must not fall back into sin, because if we do so, we are falling back into the old slavery (Bede). We do not use our freedom as a pretext for rebellion (Hilary of Arles). Let no one say that we have already been set free from the orders of the world just because we have become citizens of heaven (Andreas). The respect the believer has for persons in authority is not based on abject fear but rational conscience (Andreas, Oecumenius). Do not split the unity of the worshiping community (Augustine).
It is possible that we shall be forced to suffer, not for doing things which are wrong but for living up to what we know to be right. Suffering for doing what is right may seem unfair, but it is what Christ did when he came to earth in order to die for our salvation. He was a perfect person who was made to suffer unjustly, but he did not try to retaliate. His death has made it possible for us to die to the old life of sin and to return to him like lost sheep who have come back to their spiritual shepherd. If Christ suffered unjust punishment, so must we be prepared to do so if necessary (Hilary of Arles, Augustine, Bede, Andreas). Christ was nailed to the cross, paying the penalty not for his own sins (Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria) but paying for the debt of our nature (Theodoret). He bore our transgressions in himself and was made a sacrifice for them (Eusebius of Emesa, Basil, Severus). As physician (Theodoret) and guardian of our souls (Hilary of Arles), Jesus wanted to redeem us so much that he put our sins on his shoulder and bore them for us on the tree, in order to give us eternal life as well as blessings in this world (Bede).
2:20 Suffering for Doing Right
NOT FOR DOING WRONG. HILARY OF ARLES: Peter shows here that those who deserve punishment receive no mercy or grace from God if they perish. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
CHRIST TOO WAS BEATEN. BEDE: Be sure to note carefully the extent to which Peter beholds glory even in the state of slavery, by saying that those who do well and are blameless but who are beaten by cruel and dishonest masters, are following in the footsteps of Christ, who suffered unjustly on our behalf. That is something to rejoice about! ON 1 PETER.
2:21a Christ Suffered for You
FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW. AUGUSTINE: In this sentence the apostle Peter appears to have realized that Christ suffered for those who follow in his footsteps and that Christ’s passion profits none but those who follow in his footsteps. SERMONS 304.2.
2:21b Leaving You an Example
HIS GOODNESS BY NATURE, OURS BY GRACE. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The praises referred to here are those of a person who is good, not by nature but by grace, and who invites us to join him in praising the One who is good by nature. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
BY SUFFERING HIMSELF. AUGUSTINE: Christ taught you to suffer, and he did so by suffering himself. Words would not be enough unless example were added. And how, precisely did he teach us, brothers and sisters? He was hanging on the cross, and the Jews were raging . . . he was hanging there, yet at the same time he was healing them. SERMONS 284.6.
BEHOLD HIS EXAMPLE. ANDREAS: Having told servants to put up with unjust suffering, which was a bitter pill for them to swallow, Peter now comforts them by referring to Christ’s longsuffering. It is as if he were saying: “I am not trying to persuade you to put up with injustice simply by arguments. Rather stand back and look at your master as freemen in Christ, and you will be comforted.” CATENA.
2:22 He Committed No Sin
NO SIN IN HIM. AUGUSTINE: Note that the apostle holds this statement that Christ did no sin sufficient to prove that there was no sin in him. He who did not sin could not have had sin in him. . . . Certainly the adult man would have committed sin if there had been sin in the infant. Apart from him there is no one who has not committed sin after reaching his majority, and the reason for this is that there is no one who is without sin at the beginning of infancy. AGAINST JULIAN 5.15.57.
NO GUILE ON HIS LIPS. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Since human flesh became that of the Word of God, its subjection to corruption has come to an end. He put an end to the sickness of loving pleasure. The only-begotten Word of God has not done this for himself, for his motive is not his own pleasure, but obviously he has done it for us. SERMONS 45.9.
HE PAID FOR OUR SINS. THEODORET OF CYR: Christ was nailed to the cross, paying the penalty not for his own sins but paying the debt of our nature. For our nature was in debt after transgressing the laws of its maker. And since it was in debt and unable to pay, the creator himself in his wisdom devised a way of paying the debt. By taking a human body as capital, he invested it wisely and justly in paying the debt and thereby freeing human nature. ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 10.26.
2:23 When Reviled He Did Not Revile
CHRIST DID NOT ANSWER HIS ACCUSERS. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Jesus did not curse those who insulted him but handed them over to God, who is a just judge. For although the divine union of God and man in Christ is holy and undivided, yet there is a distinction to be made between the mind of the man assumed and the mind of the person assuming him. COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
2:24 He Bore Our Sins in His Body on the Tree
PENAL SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT. BASIL THE GREAT: By the blood of Christ, through faith, we have been cleansed from all sin, and by water we were baptized into the death of our Lord. We have sworn in effect that we are dead to sin and to the world but alive unto righteousness. ON BAPTISM 1.3.
HE BORE OUR TRANSGRESSIONS. SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH: The one who offered himself for our sins had no sin of his own. Instead he bore our transgressions in himself and was made a sacrifice for them. This principle is set out in the law, for what sin did the lamb or the goat have, which were sacrificed for sins and which were even called “sin” for this reason? CATENA.
2:24b By His Wounds You Have Been Healed
HIS WOUNDS ARE OUR SAVIORS. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: He bore the blows and wounds in his body, he was beaten and scourged and thrashed, his head was bruised with a reed. But his wounds became our saviors, for “by his stripes we are healed.” For who are we, but those who were once deceived and who did not recognize him, nor were we aware of who he was? CATENA.
A STRANGE KIND OF HEALING. THEODORET OF CYR: This is a new and strange kind of healing. For in this case it is the doctor who receives the honor but the patient who is healed. CATENA.
2:25 The Lost Sheep Have Returned
THE GUARDIAN OF YOUR SOULS. HILARY OF ARLES: Error has three causes—darkness, loneliness and ignorance. The Gentile sheep were wandering among idols because of their foolish ignorance, and they found themselves lost in the darkness of sin and in the loneliness of a strange nation. Peter goes on to add that now they have turned to the guardian [bishop] of their souls, because although there are many guardians around who care about the things of the flesh, there are few who can look deep into the soul and take care of it. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 PETER.
SHEPHERD AND GUARDIAN. BEDE: Here Peter alludes to the parable in the Gospels where the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep in the desert and goes after the one who has gone astray. For as it is said there, when he finds it he puts it on his shoulder and rejoices. Jesus wanted to redeem us so much that he put our sins on his shoulder and bore them for us on the tree, in order to give us eternal life as well as blessings in this world. He comes to us daily to visit the light which he has given us, in order to tend it and to help it grow. This is why he is called not only the shepherd but also the guardian of our souls. ON 1 PETER.
Gospel (John 10:1-10)
OVERVIEW: The shepherd leads the sheep rather than following them, and he gathers them in rather than letting them wander (Chrysologus). He instructs them in Scripture, which is the door of entry into the sheepfold of Christ (Chrysostom). Those who confess the true Christ enter through that door (Augustine). Shepherds use the door while thieves use whatever entrance is possible (Theodore), including the side door (Clement). When the true shepherd enters by the door, he enters in by Christ (Augustine) and demonstrates he is a worthy shepherd by faithfully teaching the flock and keeping from them any doctrine that might lead to their slaughter (Theodore). Moses is one of the gatekeepers of Scripture (Chrysostom), along with Christ and the Holy Spirit (Augustine) and the angel of Revelation who presides over the churches (Cyril of Alexandria). The door of Scripture is opened with study and prayer (Origen).
Sheep hear the voice of their Shepherd and do not listen to strangers (Gregory of Nazianzus). Christ leads his sheep in the midst of the wolves (Chrysostom), leading them to freedom (Augustine). With the condition of our world the way it is, sheep need a shepherd (Clement). Our shepherd, Christ, leads his sheep instead of following them as some shepherds might do (Chrysostom). He leads them from death to life (Augustine). Can you discern the voice of the shepherd (Gregory of Nazianzus)? The good shepherd goes after the strays feeding the sheep with plain words and exercising them by obscure ones (Augustine).
BRINGING IN THE SHEEP. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Each year, when spring with its breezes begins to usher in the birth of so many sheep and to deposit the numerous young of the fruitful flock about the fields, the meadows and the paths, a good shepherd puts aside his songs and leisure. He anxiously searches for the tender little sheep, picks them up and gathers them together. Happy to carry them, he places them about his neck, on his shoulders and in his arms. He wants them to be safe as he carries or leads them to the protecting sheepfolds.
That is the case with ourselves, too. When we see our ecclesiastical flock gaining rich increase under the favoring smile of the spring of Lent, we put aside the resonant tones of our treatise and the customary fare of our discourse. Concerned about our very heavy labor, we give all our concern to gathering and carrying in the heavenly [lambs]. SERMON 40.
10:1 A Thief Does Not Enter the Sheepfold by the Door
SCRIPTURE IS THE DOOR. CHRYSOSTOM: Observe the marks of a robber. First, that he does not enter openly. Second, he does not enter according to the Scriptures, for this is, “not by the door.” Here also, Jesus refers to those who had been before and to those who would come after him: antichrist and the false christs, Judas and Theudas, and whoever else there have been of the same kind. And he rightly calls the Scriptures “a door,” for they bring us to God and open to us the knowledge of God. They make us his sheep. They guard us and do not let the wolves come in after us. For Scripture, like some sure door, bars the passage against the heretics, placing us in a state of safety as to all that we desire and not allowing us to wander. And, if we do not undo Scripture, we shall not easily be conquered by our enemies. By Scripture we can know all, both those who are and those who are not shepherds. But what does “into the fold” mean? It refers to the sheep and their care. For whoever does not use the Scriptures but “climbs up some other way,” that is, who cuts out for himself another and an unusual way, “the same is a thief.” . . . When our Lord further on calls himself the door, we should not be surprised. According to the office that he bears, he is in one place the shepherd, in another the sheep. In that he introduces us to the Father, he is the door; in that he takes care of us, he is the shepherd. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.2-3.
THE TRUE CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: Keep hold of this, that Christ’s sheepfold is the church. Whoever would enter the sheepfold, let him enter by the door; let him preach the true Christ. Not only let him preach the true Christ but also seek Christ’s glory, not his own. For many, by seeking their own glory, have scattered Christ’s sheep instead of gathering them. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.5.
ONLY THE SHEPHERD HAS AUTHORITY TO USE THE ENTRANCE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Our current circumstance is a lot like the sheepfold: the thief comes from wherever it is possible for him to hide. His desire is to steal. But the shepherd who has authority to use the entrance leads the sheep out to pasture, and they follow him, knowing their own shepherd, while they avoid the others whose voice they do not know. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.1.
ENTER THROUGH THE TRADITION OF THE LORD. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Those, then, who follow impious words and dictate them to others, inasmuch as they pervert the divine words instead of using them rightly, neither enter into the kingdom of heaven themselves, nor do they permit those whom they have deluded to attain the truth. They do not have the key for the entrance but a false key. Using this counterfeit key, they do not enter in as we enter in, that is, through the tradition of the Lord by drawing aside the curtain. Instead they burst through the side door and dig clandestinely through the wall of the church. They step over the truth and constitute themselves the Mystagogues of the soul of the impious. STROMATEIS 7.17.
10:2 The Shepherd Enters by the Door
ENTER BY THE DOOR IMITATING CHRIST’S HUMILITY. AUGUSTINE: Who is he who enters by the door? It is he who enters in by Christ. Who is he? He is the one who imitates the suffering of Christ, who is acquainted with the humility of Christ, so as to feel and know that if God became man for us, [a] man should not think himself God but man [humankind]. He who being man wishes to appear God does not imitate him who, being God, became man. You are not asked to think less of yourself than you are but to know what you are. SERMON 87(137).4.
WHO IS WORTHY TO BE A SHEPHERD? THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The shepherd of the sheep is the one who is worthily endowed with the gift of teaching. He is the one who uses the lawful entrance, that is, who lives with all his heart according to the doctrine of the law and so enters into the sheepfold, as is only right. Then he leads all the others, like sheep, to the pastures of doctrine by showing them the food of the Word with which they must nourish themselves first and continually afterwards. He also leads them by showing them the power of the Word, how Scripture must be understood and from which doctrine they must abstain—doctrine that others may deceitfully propose to them for the slaughter of the sheep. . . . The thief and bandit is the exact opposite. He neither uses the lawful entrance, nor does he show respect for the precepts of the law. This is how he teaches the people given to him. In vain he tries to take hold of the entrance and of the dignity of the teacher, even though he does nothing that is required for such an honor. He is inconsiderate and does everything without regard to how it may harm the sheep. Indeed how can he be useful to others when he does not exercise himself in the precepts of the law? Take a look if you want, our Lord says, and discern between me and you as to who uses the lawful entrance. See who diligently follows the precepts of the law. See to whom Moses, the gatekeeper of the sheepfold, opens the gate and whom he praises for finishing his work. See whose works themselves testify to his worthiness to be called the Shepherd. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.1-6.
10:3 The Gatekeeper Opens the Door for the Shepherd
MOSES THE GATEKEEPER. CHRYSOSTOM: The gatekeeper perhaps is Moses, for to him the oracles of God were committed. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.3.
CHRIST OR THE HOLY SPIRIT THE GATEKEEPER. AUGUSTINE: Whoever you understand here, be careful that you do not think that the porter is greater than the door; for in our houses the doorman usually ranks above the door, not the door above the doorman. . . . The doorman is our Lord himself. There is much less difference between a door and a doorman than between a door and a shepherd. And he has called himself both the door and the shepherd. Why then not the door and the doorman? . . . For what is the door? The way of entrance. Who is the doorkeeper? He who opens it. Who, then, is he that opens himself, but he who reveals himself to sight? . . . If you seek another person for doorman, take the Holy Spirit . . . of whom our Lord below said, “He will guide you into all truth.” What is the door? Christ. What is Christ? The truth. Who opens the door but the one who will guide you into all truth? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.2-4.
THE GATEKEEPER. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The gatekeeper is either the angel who is appointed to preside over the churches and to assist those whose lot is to minister in holy things for the good of the people, or else [the gatekeeper is] the Savior himself, who is at the same time both the Door and the Lord of the door. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1.
THE DOOR OF SCRIPTURE OPENED WITH STUDY AND PRAYER. ORIGEN: My child, diligently apply yourself to the reading of the sacred Scriptures. Apply yourself, I say. For we who read the things of God need to do so often, otherwise we might say or think something too rashly about them. And applying yourself in this way to the study of the things of God, with faithful preconceptions that are well pleasing to God, knock at its locked door, and it will be opened to you by the gatekeeper, of whom Jesus says, “To him the gatekeeper opens.” And applying yourself in this way to the divine study, seek the meaning of the holy Scriptures that so many have missed, but do so in the right way and with unwavering trust in God. Do not be satisfied with knocking and seeking; for prayer is, of all things, indispensable to the knowledge of the things of God. This is what the Savior encourages us to do, saying not only, “Knock, and it shall be opened to you; and seek, and you shall find,” but also, “Ask, and it shall be given to you.” LETTER TO GREGORY 4.
DO NOT LISTEN TO STRANGERS. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: These I call by name . . . and they follow me, for I herd them up beside the waters of rest. They follow every shepherd whose voice they love to hear. . . . But they will not follow a stranger. Instead, they will flee from him because they have a habit of distinguishing the voice of their own from that of strangers. AGAINST THE ARIANS AND ON HIMSELF, ORATION 33.16.
HE LEADS THEM OUT AMID THE WOLVES. CHRYSOSTOM: When he sent out the sheep, he sent them not out of the reach of, but into the midst of, the wolves. For far more wonderful is this way of keeping sheep than what we do. There also seems to be a secret allusion to the blind man. He called him out of the midst of the Jews, and he heard his voice. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.3.
CHRIST LEADS SHEEP TO FREEDOM. AUGUSTINE: And who else leads them out but the same one who loosens the chain of their sins so that, unfettered, they may follow him? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.14.
10:4 The Sheep Follow the Shepherd
SHEEP NEED A SHEPHERD. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: In our sickness we need a Savior, in our wanderings a guide, in our blindness someone to show us the light, in our thirst the fountain of living water that quenches forever the thirst of those who drink from it. We dead people need life, we sheep need a shepherd, we children need a teacher, the whole world needs Jesus! CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.9.83.
SHEPHERDS USUALLY FOLLOW SHEEP. CHRYSOSTOM: Shepherds always follow behind their sheep, but he, on the contrary, goes before them to show that he would lead all of them to the truth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.3.
CHRIST LEADS SHEEP FROM DEATH. AUGUSTINE: And who has gone before the sheep to the place where they are to follow him but he who rising from the dead, dies no more. . . . And who when he was seen here in the flesh said, “Father, I will also that they whom you have given me be with me where I am”? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.14.
10:5 Sheep Will Not Follow a Stranger
CAN YOU DISCERN THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD? GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: He offers you a shepherd. For this is what your good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep is hoping and praying for. . . . Do you on your side offer to God and to us obedience to your pastors? Will you dwell in a place of pasture and be fed by refreshing waters, knowing your Shepherd well and being known by him? Will you follow when he earnestly calls you as a Shepherd through the door? Or will you follow a stranger climbing up into the fold like a robber and a traitor? Will you listen to a strange voice when that voice would take you away by stealth and scatter you from the truth on mountains, and in deserts, and pitfalls, and places that the Lord does not visit? And would you be led away from the sound faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one power and Godhead whose voice my sheep always heard—and may they always hear it—to follow deceitful and corrupt words that would tear them from their true Shepherd? May we all be kept from this, both shepherd and flock. May we guide and be guided away from such a poisoned and deadly pasture so that we may all be one in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and unto our heavenly rest. ON EASTER AND HIS RELUCTANCE, ORATION 1.6-7.
WHAT ABOUT THE STRAYS? AUGUSTINE: What are we to think? Were all those who heard Christ’s voice sheep? Judas heard, and he was a wolf but wore sheepskin as he followed, laying snares for the Shepherd. And sometimes some of the sheep do not hear him, as for instance those who crucified Christ. . . . Now you might say, When they did not hear, they were not yet sheep so they must have been wolves at the time; the voice, when they heard it, however, changed them from wolves into sheep. . . .
Still I am disturbed by the Lord’s rebuke to the shepherds in Ezekiel, “Neither have you brought again that which strayed.” He calls it a stray sheep, and yet it never stops being a sheep, although if it strayed, it could not have heard the voice of the Shepherd but the voice of a stranger—the voice of the thief and robber. . . .
What I say then is this: The Lord knows those that are his. He knows the foreknown, he knows the predestined. . . . They are the sheep. For a time they do not even know what they are themselves, but the Shepherd knows them. . . . According to this divine knowledge and predestination, how many sheep are outside, how many wolves within! And how many sheep are inside, how many wolves without! . . . But these [wolves] are not the sheep, for we speak of those who were predestined—of those whom the Lord knows are his. And yet, even these wolves, as long as they rightly obey, are still listening to the voice of Christ. In fact they are the ones who hear, the others do not. And yet, according to predestination, they are not sheep while the others are.
This is how we solve the difficulty. The sheep do hear the Shepherd’s voice, and they only. When is that? It is when that voice said, “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” No one who is his is indifferent to such a voice; a stranger does not hear it. . . . But maybe there was someone who treated this voice with disdain and heard it as that of a stranger. If he was predestined, he strayed for the time, but he was not lost forever. He returns to hear what he has neglected, to do what he has heard. For if he is one of those who are predestined, then both his very wandering and his future conversion have been foreknown by God. If he has strayed, he will return to hear that voice of the Shepherd and follow him. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.10-13.
10:6 They Did Not Understand the Figure
TWO REACTIONS TO THE GOSPEL. AUGUSTINE: Our Lord feeds by plain words, he exercises by obscure ones. . . . For when two people are listening to the words of the gospel, the one godly, the other ungodly, both can hear the words of the gospel, but it can also be the case that neither one of them understands the words. One person says, “What Jesus said is true and good, but we do not understand it.” The other says, “It is not worth attending to.” The first one knocks [on the door] in faith. Yes, and, if he continues to knock, it shall be opened to him. The second one, however, will hear the words in Isaiah, “If you do not believe, you shall not understand.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.6-7.
10:7 I Am the Door of the Sheep
WHO IS THE ONE WHO ENTERS BY THE GATE? AUGUSTINE: Our Lord just said now that he was a shepherd. He also said he was a gate. . . . He is the gate in the head and the shepherd in the body. You see, he says to Peter, whom he singles out to represent his [body the] church, “Peter, do you love me?” . . . as though to say, What will you give me, what proof will you provide me with that you love me? . . . If you love me, feed my sheep; enter in by the Door and do not go up another way. . . . Who is the one who enters by the door? The one who enters by Christ. And who is that? The one who imitates Christ’s passion, who understands Christ’s humility, understands that while God has become man for us, he himself as a human being is not God, just a man [person]. I mean to say, anyone who wishes to play God while he is just a man is not imitating the one who, while he was God, became a man. SERMON 137.3-4.
JESUS IS THE SOURCE OF LEADERSHIP. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Jesus sees that the foolish Pharisees wanted to be rulers and that they were unwisely boastful of the name and character of leadership. And so it is good that he teaches them that he himself is the one who confers leadership in the church. And he bestows this authority without difficulty. For since Jesus is “the door” of the sacred and divine fold, he will both admit the one who is fit for leadership but also will block the entrance to the one who is unfit to lead the flock. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.1.
THE PRINCIPLE OF ACCESS TO TRUTH. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He says that he is the door of the sheep because he is the principal access to truth for everyone. His doctrine that he has uniquely established calls everyone that is summoned by it. He established laws, as was his prerogative, so that we might live through them according to his will. And he was the Word through which all might know the Father. Therefore let us abandon the works of the law and apply ourselves to obey the precepts of Christ. Let us devote our entire being to the principles of the gospel and employ all diligence in fulfilling his laws. Thus, he very appropriately called himself the door of the sheep, since there is no other way to seek out the truth except by believing first of all in our Lord, and by drawing near to the entrance of truth through his commandments, finding pleasure in the good things we possess because of our nearness to God the Father. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 4.10.7.
10:8 Those Who Came Before Are Thieves and Robbers
“GOOD SHEPHERD” IMPLIES “BAD SHEPHERDS” EXIST TOO. AUGUSTINE: He could not have added good if there were not bad shepherds as well. They are thieves and robbers, or at best mercenaries. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.1.
WOLVES TAKE ADVANTAGE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: These are rapacious wolves hidden in sheepskins, human traffickers, and opportunistic soul seducers, secretly, but [later] proved to be robbers. They strive by fraud and force to catch us who are unsophisticated and have less power of speech. STROMATEIS 1.8.
STRANGERS TO THE GOSPEL CANNOT PROCLAIM IT. ORIGEN: Those who teach with a dishonest and defiled soul steal. Of them it might be said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers.” Such people use the gospel without being affected by it in faith or in living. Instead, they use the good news of the word in a way in which it was not intended. Such a person is a thief, and it will be said of him, “you who preach not to steal—you still steal.” FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 21.
10:9 Jesus Is the Door
CHRIST IS THE DOOR. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: [Christ] is the door of the Father through which Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the prophets, the apostles and the church all enter. All these enter into the unity of God. EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS 9.
THE SHEPHERD’S ULTIMATE CONCERN FOR THE SHEEP. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: He is the Way, because he leads us through himself. He is the Door who lets us in, the Shepherd who makes us dwell in green pastures, bringing us up by waters of rest and leading us there. He protects us from wild beasts, converts the erring, brings back what was lost and binds up what was broken. He guards the strong and brings them together into the fold beyond with words of pastoral knowledge. ON THE SON, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 4(30).21.
THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. CHRYSOSTOM: Here it is as though Jesus had said: They shall be safe and secure, that is, they shall remain within and no one shall throw them out. This is in reference to the apostles who went in and out boldly as though they had become masters of all the world. None could turn them out of their kingdom. But by “pasture,” Jesus means his own nurturing and feeding of the sheep as well as his power and lordship. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.3.
FINDING THE PASTURE THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE. GREGORY OF NYSSA: Where do you pasture your sheep, O good Shepherd who carries all your flock on your shoulders? For the one lamb that you took up is the entire human race, which you raised on your shoulders. Show me then the place of pasture, make known to me the waters of rest, lead me out to the good grass, call me by name that I, your sheep, may listen to your voice and may your call be the gift of eternal life. . . . “Show me, then,” she says, “where you feed,” so that I may find the pasture of salvation and be filled with the food of heaven which all people must eat if they would enter into life. HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2.
10:10 Abundant Life
THE LIFE OF FAITH. AUGUSTINE: Therefore, he said, “I came that they may have life,” that is, faith that works by love. By this faith they enter the fold so that they may live, for the just lives by faith. And not only may those who endure to the end have life, but “they may have it more abundantly,” as they pass through this same door, that is, by the faith of Christ. For as true believers they die, and they will have life more abundantly when they come to the place where the Shepherd has preceded them—a place where they shall die no more. Although there is no want of pasture even here in the fold—for we may understand the words “and shall find pasture” as referring to both, that is, both to their going in and their going out—yet only there will they find the true pasture where they shall be filled who hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is the pasture that was found by the one who heard, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.15.
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