Exposition of the Epistle of St. Jude the Apostle

THEOPHYLACT, ARCHBISHOP OF BULGARIA, EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE JUDE

^AARGUMENT OF THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. Judas writes this Epistle to those who had already believed. The occasion for it is as follows: since certain men had risen up teaching that sin is a matter of indifference, and were even denying Christ, it became necessary for him to write this Epistle, by which he might admonish and strengthen the brethren. And first, indeed, he exhorts them to strive strenuously and to remain firmly in the faith that had been handed down to them. Then he exposes such men as seducers, and commands that they have no communion with such people, knowing that it is not enough merely to be called, if we do not also walk worthily of the calling. For even when the Lord led the former people out of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not remain in the faith. And He did not even spare the angels who did not keep their own order. Therefore, one must withdraw from such men. For indeed, even Michael the archangel did not endure the blasphemy of the devil. He teaches, therefore, that their destruction will be like that of the Sodomites. Then he advises them regarding their conduct. And after having prayed for them to receive steadfastness of faith from the Lord, he brings the Epistle to an end.

CHAPTERS OF THIS EPISTLE

4. Regarding their stability in the faith, and compassion and kindness towards their neighbor for the sake of salvation in holiness. 5. A prayer for their sanctification and pure boldness, with the glorification of God.

EPISTLE OF SAINT JUDE THE APOSTLE

^A Ver. 1. *Judas, servant of Jesus Christ, but brother of James, to them that are beloved in God the Father.* It was indeed sufficient for the splendor of this apostle’s glory, after he had named himself a servant of Christ, to boast that he was the brother of James. For the reputation of James, celebrated among all for the eminence of his virtue, made him more acceptable to the hearers in delivering his doctrine; as it is not likely that one who is joined by birth and blood would be foreign in character and life to him whom he was related to; especially since, while serving the same Christ the Lord, he is found to draw the yoke of servitude equally with his brother.

^B Ver. 1, 2. *And to them that are called and preserved in Christ Jesus. Mercy unto you, and peace, and charity be accomplished.* The Lord having said: *No man can come to me, except my Father draw him* (John VI, 44), this blessed man now shows that statement to be true. For he says ^C that those who are beloved by the Father are preserved in Jesus Christ. Wherefore he also calls them "called"; for they have it not from themselves, but from the Father, from the fact that they have been "drawn" and "called." He prays, moreover, that mercy, and peace, and charity may be accomplished for them; mercy, indeed, because through the bowels of the mercy of God (Luke I, 78) we have been called and taken up by Him as servants; peace, because God the Father himself granted this to us also, reconciling to Himself those of us who had offended, through His Son Jesus Christ; and charity, because for the love He had for us, His only-begotten Son was delivered up to death for our sake. These things, therefore, he prays may be granted to them in superabundance, in harmony with blessed David, who says: *Extend thy mercy to them that know thee* (Ps. XXXV, 11). Stimulated, therefore, by these salutary examples, let us also, with sincere love toward our fellow men, lead a life worthy of Him who has called us.

Exposition on the Epistle of St. Jude

^A Ver. 3. "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you." By these words he indicates the subject of the Epistle: namely, that the care which he bore for their salvation, and the fear that, because of their excessive simplicity, they might be captured by the most wicked heretics, prompted him to use expressions by which he might mark the heretics themselves and, by an exposition of their impure life, make them manifest to those who did not know them. Peter has also spoken concerning these, but this writer [speaks] more fully. Now he calls them "set forth" [or "written of beforehand"], because both Peter and Paul had spoken concerning them, that in the last times such deceivers would come; and before them, Christ himself said: "Many shall come in my name, and shall deceive many. Go not therefore after them" [Matt. XXIV, 5]. For by calling themselves Christians, they deceive many by this name. He speaks, moreover, of those from Nicolaus, and Valentinus, and Simon, who were most wicked. For these, being gluttons and unchaste, feigned ^B the doctrine, so that by insinuating themselves into houses, they might find and "capture" [women] "laden with sins." For having devised certain nocturnal rites, they abandoned themselves to beds and lewdness. The phrase, "turning into lasciviousness" [Ver. 4], signifies "changing" or "distorting" from temperance to lasciviousness; from which it also followed that they denied our Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed, how could they not deny Him—those who, by the impurity of their life, as though with a loud and clear voice, cast away from themselves the divine Master of temperance and continence? For "what communion hath light with darkness?" [II Cor. VI, 14].

^C Ver. 3, 4. "Exhorting that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." He exhorts those who once had accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, and had believed in Him, to continue to contend incessantly for His faith. For if we who have received the incarnate Word say that He who was begotten of the Father before the ages is one, and He who was born of the Mother in His own hypostasis is another, how should we not be denying the one Lord and Master? For there is one Lord through the union of the incarnation. For the Word of God, who is before the ages and is God, having the flesh—which He took from the holy Virgin at the beginning of His conception—reaching ^D toward the glory of His divinity, is one and the same Lord of all.

Ver. 5-7. "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah,"

^A and the cities about them, having in like manner given themselves over to fornication. Having mentioned the licentiousness of the impure Nicolaitans, Valentinians, and Marcionists, he adds these words: "That the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt," and so forth; simultaneously showing that He Himself is the God of the Old Testament and the herald of the New, and not, as those wicked men asserted, one who is the God of the Old Testament, covetous of vengeance and cruel, and another who is the God of the New, gentle and benevolent. Whence he says that those also who sin under the New Covenant shall by no means escape punishment, just as those Israelites who were led out of Egypt did not escape it. For although God, to manifest His immense power and on account of the oath He had sworn to their fathers, willed to deliver them from Egyptian tyranny, nevertheless, when they subsequently acted perversely, He did not leave them unpunished but visited them with a fitting penalty. Neither the kindness with which He had embraced their fathers, nor the extraordinary miracles which He had performed for their sake, availed them in any way. Wherefore, after they had crossed the Red Sea on dry land, they fell away from faith and perished. ^B Those who had obtained the dignity of the angelic state, because they did not remain in their own principality due to their sloth, but instead held in low esteem the heavenly manner of life granted to them as a supreme gift, He has reserved for judgment, that is, for the condemnation of the great day, to be punished—for this is what "hath reserved" signifies here—just as it is also said: "Which is prepared for the devil and his angels." And so, the Sodomites also are set forth as an example of the everlasting fire that will receive them. "And going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." That phrase, "going after strange flesh," is equivalent to "committing fornication." He calls the male nature "strange flesh," because it is unfit for congress for the sake of procreation. For flesh that is suitable for such congress is feminine, according to the dictum of the protoparent: "Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." But masculine flesh is "strange," or alien, to this congress, as I have said. ^C Furthermore, even in the feminine sex, that which is joined to one according to the laws is alone the proper and domestic flesh, whereas that which is prostituted and public is alien, and left almost to the impurity of masculine flesh. ^D VERSE 8. "Likewise also these, dreamers, defile the flesh, despise dominion." Having brought forward the examples which were set forth above, he leaves it for his auditor to understand that which follows from them. And what is this? This, evidently, is the inference: If, therefore, He dealt so with those, having no regard for their former lot, will He exempt from this law those who at this time are so exceedingly lascivious, for whom the Son of God came into the world and endured so many insults and suffered the temptations of passions?

^A No one would say this. For although He is merciful, He is also truly just. And indeed, because He is truly just, He did not spare those who had sinned; yet because He is merciful, He brought harlots and tax collectors into the kingdom of heaven. The sacred author passed over this inference, which flowed spontaneously, either because of the things we have already mentioned, or because he imitated the manner of speaking of blessed Peter, who said: *If God did not spare the angels who sinned*, and so on. And so much for these matters.

In the passage, *“Likewise these dreamers indeed defile the flesh,”* the modesty and reserve of the language is worthy of admiration. ^B For he indicated the supreme turpitude of the act only obscurely for the sake of decency by the word “dreamers,” which we shall explain a little more fully, as much as is appropriate, by drawing knowledge from the book by the blessed Epiphanius of Cyprus, which he entitled the *Panarion*. For he says that those wicked Borborites, when they had intercourse with women, were accustomed not to effuse their seed into the womb of the woman, but rather, by an incomplete and abominable act, they would take it in their own hands and immediately put it into the mouth of the women with whom they had been defiled; and thus these impure wretches would depart from one another, thinking they had done something great. He calls this impure act a “dream” because it lacks the completion of its kind, on account of a certain resemblance to dreams in its imperfection. Therefore, defiling their own flesh through this filthy offering, they go further, ^C for they also rage against the divine nature, rejecting its Lordship, or the dominion which it has over the universe. The blessed Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, speaks more broadly about these matters in the book he entitled *Against Heresies*. In another interpretation he sets their luxury before our eyes, saying that they are impure in their life and most shameless in their mind. He says they reject “Lordship,” meaning the celebration of the mystery of Christ, since they exercised their own impurities in place of angelic mysteries.

*“And they blaspheme dignities.”* By “dignities” here, one must understand the propositions of excellent men, which the most approved among the Greeks call *theses*, defining them as unexpected propositions—not indeed of common men, but of those who have become famous in philosophy. ^D Since, therefore, both Moses introduced into life many things foreign to those who were living at that time, and the divine apostles likewise introduced those things which God inspired, their discourses appeared paradoxical because they abhorred the customs of those times; therefore, he did not hesitate to call these *doxai*, or “opinions.” Let the proof for this matter be the divine Paul, who, when led by the Athenians to the Areopagus and having discoursed there about divine things, was seen to have lapsed into babbling. Therefore, just as those things which were said by them were called “babbling,” so also he called the aforementioned things “opinions.” Wherefore, being accustomed to this and to what is known to all, this divine man used the word “opinions,” calling those the God-given...

^A men. Another explanation regarding the same: He calls the Old and New Testament "glories," just as Paul also says: "For if that which is passing away was with glory, much more is that which remains in glory." Or perhaps he calls the ecclesiastical authorities "glories," which those men were blaspheming, as is also to be learned from the third Epistle of the beloved John, from which he says that Diotrephes was slandering them with evil words. Since he mentioned blasphemy, in order to instruct not only them but all men to keep their tongues pure from such an evil, and not even to use it against those deserving of reproach, he says: "Yet Michael the archangel, etc." Why does he say this? It is because these men use blasphemy readily and unrestrainedly against everyone. But this should not be, since it is not right to blaspheme even those deserving of blasphemy, as is clear from the archangel Michael. For when he was present, contending with the devil over the body of Moses, even though he could have justly blasphemed the devil because of his impudence, he did not do so, but only utilized the expression, "The Lord rebuke you, O devil," and brought it against him. Otherwise: If the archangel acted thus, then surely we, in a dispute with a brother who is of the same nature as ourselves, ought to refrain entirely from insults. ^B Now the dispute concerning the body of Moses took place in this way: It is said in the apocryphal books that the archangel Michael took upon himself the care of Moses' burial. Because the devil bore this ill, he raised an accusation against Moses as if it were a crime, namely the killing of the Egyptian, and contended that for this cause he should be deprived of the honor of burial. This the apostle here brings forward, not only to teach that no one should be quick to use maledictions, but also to show what is due to all men after their departure from this life, and that the God of the Old and New Testament is the same; and also that the devil, with his worst companions, opposes our souls once they are loosed from the body, desiring, if possible, to cut off their happy journey (and he indeed opposes them, while good angels fight for them, as the blessed Antony saw). He allowed these things to take place; nevertheless, he says that while the devil was held back by Michael, he was not rebuked by him with authority, but rather that the judgment was referred to God, and he said, "The Lord rebuke you, O devil." ^C Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the devil over the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a judgment of blasphemy, but said: "The Lord rebuke you." But these men blaspheme whatever they do not know, and whatever they understand naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and have run greedily in the error of Balaam for the sake of reward, and have perished in the rebellion of Korah. Michael, he says, did not even endure to bring the devil’s curses against a man, that is, Moses. But these men, indeed, against dogmas which ^D

they do not know, compose blasphemous speeches. But whatever they know by natural instinct without reason, like irrational animals, these they pursue—just like horses, when they are crazed with lust for females. Woe to them! For they have journeyed on the path of Cain through fratricide; because they themselves, teaching such things to their brothers—that is, to men of the same nature—slay them with their wicked teachings; or even, by consuming their seed, they slay those who are potential brothers, whom the fruition of the seed would have brought into life. And in the way of Balaam, because for the sake of gain they also, like him, do these things. And in the contradiction of Korah, because they also, like him, snatched the office of teaching, being unworthy.

^B VERSE 12. "These are they who are hidden reefs in your love feasts, while they banquet with you." Further, at that time tables were set in the churches, as Paul also says in the Epistle to the Corinthians, which they called *agapae*, or charites, or feasts of love. These, he says, they frequent, not for the purpose for which they were instituted, but so that they might seize the opportunity to lure unstable souls, as Peter also says in his second Epistle. He likens them to reefs in the sea, and to clouds without water, and to autumnal trees, and to wandering stars. For what belongs to those things by nature, these men adopt by their own choice. For as reefs are destructive to those sailing, appearing unexpectedly, so they too, attaching themselves to those feasting, are the cause of unexpected evil. And just as clouds without water, driven about by winds, do not cool the places to which they are brought ^C with rain (for they do not have it), but produce darkness for them; so too these men, they do not water the souls of those they meet with saving discourse, but darken them with their most abominable suggestions, being driven by the wicked pursuits of the demons. But also the autumnal trees, which die twice, both in the shedding of fruit and in the falling of the leaves (for then they appear dry, being deprived of their beauty, of the splendor from the fruit, and of the flowery adornment of the leaves) suffer something corresponding to this. For these men also die twice, losing their own fruit through the consumption of the seed, and being stripped of the decorum that comes from a prudent manner of life. Wherefore they are uprooted from the paradise of the Lord, the Church, and are cast outside to be gathered into the eternal fire. For what root can he have, who is loathed by all on account of the baseness of his life? They are also called wandering stars, not because they shine brightly in the firmament of our faith, having the Sun of justice, Christ, passing through them, and perfecting the seasons of the virtues, and quickening those faithful to them, but because, seeming to transform themselves into an angel of light, as their own leader, the wicked demon, does, they bring forth dogmas contrary to those of the Lord; by which they both darken those who approach them and obtain for themselves eternal darkness. And they are rightly likened to the wild waves of the sea, because they sufficiently display their likeness: for insanely

^A driven and unrestrained by the blasts of the spirits of wickedness, they foam out their own shames, ending in froth, together with the world of blasphemy, from the insupportable and easily dissolvable vileness of their life. For such is the foam of the waves to which they have been likened.

Vers. 12, 13. *Feeding themselves without fear, clouds without water, carried about by winds; autumn trees, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shames; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever.* The reading "feeding themselves without fear" must be connected with "reefs" [hidden rocks], so that the meaning is thus: Reefs feasting without fear—that is, expecting no harm from those dining with them—suddenly, like reefs, bringing destruction upon their souls. Or it must be connected with "feeding themselves," from which such a meaning is carved out: Feeding themselves without fear, that is, not fearing the imminent judgment from the fact that they do not know how to feed [the flock], blind men leading blind men; and, to use the Lord's word, they fall into the ditch together with those whom they feed.

^{B C} Vers. 14-18. *And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But, beloved, be ye mindful of the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you that there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.* Having said what preceded, he brings forward also Enoch, who prophesied of the punishment prepared for them by God in the final ^D and clearly righteous judgment of the Lord. An ungodly man differs from a sinner in that the ungodly man has his fault toward God, whereas the sinner misses the mark of justice regarding the things done in this life. After this, leaving off the comparison of the ungodly, he immediately proceeds to designate them exactly, calling them murmurers and complainers. Now, a murmurer is one who grumbles into his teeth and obscurely finds fault with and condemns that which does not please him. But a complainer is one who is accustomed to cavil at all things and attack them with taunts. These, he says, are murmurers and complainers: because they dare not use their doctrine freely on account of its vileness; for it is not without danger to publish impiety joined with luxury and blasphemy. But they are complainers, inasmuch as they calumniate all things of others and the truth itself, that thence they might establish their own wickedness and lasciviousness. As for what he had said above concerning Balaam, that

for reward these also have been poured forth just like him, now he speaks more clearly, that they admire persons for the sake of gain. To admire ^A here signifies to behave flatteringly toward those in positions of authority; and gain signifies profit.

VERS. 19. "These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." Behold another crime of these most polluted men. For not only do they themselves perish, he says, but they also despoil the pupils of the Church—for this is what "separating" signifies here—that is, they make them to be outside the ecclesiastical boundaries, whether of the faith, or of the ecclesiastical tabernacle itself. For by rendering their own congregations holes of robbers, they try to lead them away from the Church and draw them to themselves. They do this because they are "sensual" men, that is, living according to the behavior of this world. For we have said already that holy Scripture is wont often to call the soul "life," as in Job: "All that a man has he will give for his soul," that is, for his life. And Paul says that "sensual" men cannot perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God. Since, therefore, they are sensual, they also employ a sensual doctrine, concerning which it has been said: "This is not that wisdom ^B descending from the Father of lights, but is earthly, sensual, devilish," not having the Spirit of God speaking within it.

VERS. 20-23. "But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And some, indeed, convict, when they make a distinction; but others save with fear, snatching them out of the fire." The sensual, he says, are as we have expounded. But you, building yourselves up in the Holy Spirit and in your most holy faith—that is, re-establishing yourselves in the Holy Spirit, which is to say, making your congregations according to the instruction of the Holy Spirit in your prayers—keep yourselves "in the love of God," that is, guard yourselves, awaiting the mercy of the Lord, which in the last day will bestow eternal life upon you. And as for those, if indeed they are at variance with you (for this is what it signifies here to "make a distinction"), convict them—that is, make their impiety manifest to all—but if they incline toward amendment, do not reject them, but by the oil of your charity kindly receiving them, save them from the threatened fire. Receive them ^C indeed, not only with mercy, but also with "fear," being cautiously circumspect, lest the receiving of such, if you are less than attentive, might become to you a cause of perdition; for it is possible, even if you are strengthened in the faith, to be swept away by them into the confusion of impiety: for wickedness easily clings. Receive them therefore, he says, but with fear, or circumspection, approach them, and let your mercy toward them have as a companion

^A hatred toward their impure works, so that you hate and loathe even their very garment, as if polluted by their own flesh; for by contact with their flesh, the garment itself also becomes abominable. By taking them up, see to it that, owing to their fear of future punishment, they may repent and be seen worthy of mercy.

VERS. 23-25. *Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.*

A life corrupted by many sins arising from carnal passions is a spotted garment: for from one's way of life, as from a kind of garment, every man is naturally known to be either just or unjust: the one possessing a clean garment through a virtuous life, but the other possessing a life spotted by wicked works. ^B Or rather, the garment spotted by the flesh is the habit and disposition of the conscience, which informs the soul with the memory of the wicked impulses and effects of the flesh; seeing these incessantly, the soul is filled with the stench of the passions, as if with a kind of garment around it. For just as a garment of immortality for the soul is woven by the Spirit through virtues joined to one another in due order—a garment which, when the soul is clothed in it, appears beautiful and glorious ^C—so also, from the flesh, through passions coupled together by a certain proportion, a garment is fashioned that is impure and spotted, which in itself renders the soul notorious, imposing upon it a different form and image, contrary to the divine. Having said these things, he finally seals the Epistle with a prayer.

The end of the Epistle of the holy apostle Jude, 68 verses.

THEOPHYLACT, ARCHBISHOP OF BULGARIA, DISCOURSE ON THE ADORATION OF THE VENERABLE CROSS, AT THE MIDPOINT OF THE FASTS

^A 1. What then? Shall we remain silent before this miracle set before us, and shall we pass by the cross of God without offering it praise, and not greet it also with our tongues? For all members, without exception, owe it suitable honor, since all have attained salvation through it. For it is not because it is celebrated by many that it will not be exalted by our own praises; rather, because it is for us the cause of every good, it shall be honored as much as it is possible for us to honor it. Certainly, if we wish to look at it this way, not even God Himself would be glorified by us, because He has had glory from eternity. And where then would that saying be: "Generation and generation shall praise thy works"? And: "The people that shall be created shall praise the Lord" (which, in my judgment, means the people that is always being born); and other such things that signify the perpetual and unceasing declaration of divine works? For divine things are not contained by a single mouth, even if it be inspired by the Spirit; and let David convince you, saying, "I declared and I spoke; they are multiplied beyond number."

^B 2. But neither shall poverty of speech constrain ^B our tongue, lest we be found wanting in things that pertain to thanksgiving, and possess a double shame, not