"I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this?" (Acts 8:34), and he receives the words with great attention. And not only this, but having received them, he did not procrastinate, he did not delay, he did not say, "I shall return to my homeland; I shall see my philosophers, my relatives, and my kinsmen." This is what many Christians say now when called to baptism: "I shall return home, I shall see my wife, I shall see my children and my relatives; with them present and celebrating the feast with me, so shall I enjoy baptism, so shall I be a partaker of grace." But that barbarian did not say these things then, even though he was a Jew A, and had been trained in much observance and worship of places, since it had been dinned into him repeatedly that he must observe that location, and for this reason he had undertaken a great pilgrimage so that he might worship in the place where God had commanded. But immediately casting aside such a custom, and withdrawing from such an observance, when the discourse was finished and he saw a spring near the road, he said, "See, here is water; what hinders me to be baptized?" (Acts 8:36). Do you see the harvest gathered in again? Do you see how no time was wasted, but the earth, as soon as it received the seed, sent forth the waving stalk and the ripe grape? "See, here is water," he said. He did not seek walls, nor a golden roof, nor an array of garments, nor shoes; but because he had a prepared soul and was burning and kindled with desire and eagerness, he ran at once to grace and urged the teacher to lead him to baptism and bestow on him those immortal and fearful mysteries. Therefore he also agreed immediately, approving his zeal, and baptized him. B For this reason the Gospel calls it a harvest, because of the ease it provided them. For it says elsewhere also that they were attending to what was said by Paul; for the Lord opened their hearts to attend to the things spoken by him. But when you hear that he humbles mountains, makes a harvest, returns ripe fruit, and prepares much ease, do not deprive those who believe of the greatest works; for he was not applying force to freedom, nor was he overturning free will, but he was cooperating, helping, and reaching out a hand. For if it were entirely his, nothing would prevent all from being saved; but as it is, part was his, part was theirs who approached—namely, that those who approached should will, and choose, and show much zeal and generous faith; and part was God's, in that he provided the good things and made the sermon manifest and the doctrine clear, and cast the seeds, and helped the hearing toward the maturity of the fruit. Thinking of these things, therefore, let us accept him as an assistant to the labor of virtue, contributing what is ours. For if he finished so difficult a matter so easily—not in one or two or twenty cities, but throughout the whole world, that is, the preaching and the doctrine, and these things being sown throughout the whole earth on which the sun looks, C brings forth this most beautiful fruit—it is manifest that he will bring us aid to bear the toils of virtue, provided only that we are not sluggish or lazy, but if we contribute our share together—namely, zeal, care, intention, thought, vigils, solicitude, if we withdraw ourselves from worldly affairs, if we seek the things that are to come, if we desire them daily. For if we exhibit these things with accuracy, the things that are his will also follow; and with him bringing aid, we shall attain to the heavenly good things, which may we all attain, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.
HOMILY XI
Homily by the same, delivered after another very old man had preached: on Eleazar and the seven boys.
1. How beautiful is this spiritual olive! Though its boughs have aged, it has nevertheless brought us ripe fruit. For the plants of the earth are not such as the trees of the Church; for those, when they have reached old age, then lose the most of their leaves and bring forth even immature fruit. But these, when they have come to old age, then especially bear fruit abundantly. And this is certainly to be seen in him who spoke today; and therefore it seemed best to me to be silent; for when so many old men were present who knew how to speak, it was fitting for the younger to be quiet. So do the divine Scriptures instruct us; for when they address the younger, they say: "Speak, young man, in your own cause, if you should be asked twice; speak little in many words" (Eccl. 32:10, 14). But to the elder, they do not speak with such a distinction, but allow him to run without these limits; and admiring the pleasure of his words, if he speaks with prudence, they said thus: "Speak, elder, for it is fitting for you, in accurate knowledge; and you will obstruct the music" (Eccl. 32:4, 5). What is the meaning of, "And you will obstruct the music"? The flute, the cithara, and the pipes are not so sweet to the hearers as the doctrine of an elder brought forth with accurate knowledge. For the Scripture, comparing pleasure with pleasure, says that this exercises a far greater force than that; that this conquers, and that yields to it. Therefore it says, "You will obstruct the music"; that is, you will not allow them to appear, you will darken them, you will overshadow them. D Therefore it was our duty also to be silent and listen, and for him to speak and teach; but, as I have often said, I shall say this now too: I can bear neither your tyranny nor the necessity of these others; therefore I am preparing myself again for the accustomed courses, handling a difficult task—namely, speaking—with much ease, not because of my own faculties, but because of your eagerness as listeners. For even lately the discourse was carried to such a depth...
A that it leaped from our tongue, and all received it with open hands, even though it contained much difficulty; such indeed was the nature of the thoughts previously. But yet, by the excess of your eagerness and the attention of your mind with all accuracy, you have consoled our labor and made the difficult things easy. For you did not allow it to be cast upon a rock, or into thorns, or onto the road, but you received all into a rich and deep-soiled field, into the depth of your understanding. Wherefore even every day we see the crops flourishing, nourished not by the west wind but by the breezes of the Spirit, and the theater becoming brilliant for us each day. Therefore I also wished to touch upon the remaining matters today. But what shall I do? The choir of the Maccabees stands before my eyes, and by the radiance of its own wounds illuminating my mind, it calls our tongue to its own beauty. But let no one condemn the word for being inopportune, B because although the day of the contests is tomorrow, today we are weaving the crowns, and before the time of the battles we are proclaiming the trophy. For if, when marriages are being celebrated, those who attend even before the main day weave bridal chambers and decorate houses with crowns and curtains, much more shall we do this, inasmuch as this marriage is more spiritual, where not a man is joining a woman, but God is joining the souls of men. Wherefore, one would not be wrong to call the soul of the martyrs a bride, a spiritual bride; for they bring their blood as a dowry, a dowry that is never spent. But let the time for praises await us for tomorrow; today, however, let us correct the weaker of our brothers. For since many of the simpler-minded, limping in their understanding and being dragged away by the enemies of the Church, do not have the proper opinion concerning these saints, nor do they count them in the same choir as the rest of the martyrs, saying that they did not pour out their blood for Christ, but for the law and the letters in the law, and were slaughtered for swine's flesh—come, let us correct their understanding; for it would be shameful for those celebrating a festival to be ignorant of the subject of the festival.
B 2. So that those who are suffering from such things may not be the only ones to feel pain in the common joy of all, but that they may embrace the contestants with a sincere mind and look upon them with clear eyes, we shall today sweep away what is undermining their minds; and with a sincere intent and a pure mind, we shall prepare them to come tomorrow to the spiritual festival. For I am so far from refusing to count them with the other martyrs that I even declare them to be more brilliant. For they struggled when C the gates of bronze had not yet been broken, nor the iron bar removed, when sin still reigned, and the curse was flourishing, and the citadel of the devil was standing, and the road to such virtue was still untrodden. For now, even children and many virgins, tender and inexperienced in marriage, have stripped for battle against the tyranny of death in many parts of the world; but then, before the coming of Christ, even those who were very righteous trembled before it. D Moses fled for fear of this, and Elijah fled hence a distance of forty days, and the patriarch Abraham for this reason advised his wife to say that "I am his sister and not his wife." And what need is there to speak of others? For Peter himself so feared death that he could not even bear the threat of a doorkeeper; for it was terrible and inaccessible, his nerves not yet having been cut, nor his power loosened. But nevertheless, these men, at that time, because it breathed so terribly, overcame it and wrestled it down. For since the Sun of righteousness was about to rise, which happens during the day, it happened then too. Just as when the sun has not yet appeared, the dawn looks bright to us—the rays not yet being manifest, but the light of the rays illuminating the world even from afar—so it happened then too. For since the Sun of righteousness was about to arrive, the darkness of cowardice was already dissolving, and though He was not yet present according to the flesh, He was near and in the opening stages, and the things themselves were already being touched by him.
That they displayed great bravery when struggling in such times is evident to everyone; but that they received their wounds for Christ’s sake, I shall now attempt to show. For tell me, for what reason did they suffer? For the sake of the law, he says, and the letters contained in the law. If therefore Christ appears as the One who gave that law, is it not plain that they, having suffered for the law, displayed all that endurance for the sake of the Lawgiver? Come, let us demonstrate this today, that it is Christ who gave the law. Who then says these things? He who clearly knows these things, both the old and the new, Paul, the teacher of the world. For writing to the Corinthians, he speaks in this way: "I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food," referring to the manna, "and all drank the same spiritual drink," referring to the water from the rock. Then, showing that Christ performed these miracles, he added: "For they drank from the pursuing spiritual rock; and the rock was Christ" (1 Cor. 10.1-4). And rightly so; for the nature of the rock did not discharge that water and those rivers, but Christ’s operation, striking the stone, caused the springs to be given forth. For this reason he also called it a spiritual rock, and said it pursued them; for the sensible rock does not pursue, but is fixed in one place; but that power which is present everywhere and performs all wonders, that is what even burst the rock open. And if the Jew will not accept these words, come, let us take him with his own weapons, discussing with him not from Paul and Peter and John, but from the prophets, so that he may learn that the events belong to him, but the meanings to us.
3. Who then among the prophets says these things, that He Himself gave the Old Covenant? He who was sanctified from the womb, Jeremiah, he who shone in his youth. Where and when? Hear the words themselves, and learn clearly from what is said. What then are the words? "Behold, days"
A coming, says the Lord. From the outset he immediately rouses the listener, and awakens the minds of those who hear, showing that the words are not his own, but of Him who sends him, God. "Behold, days coming." Then he signifies that he is speaking of things to come. How then, if he is speaking of things to come, did he himself give the Old Testament? Wait and do not be troubled, and then you shall see clearly the splendor of the truth. For when these things were spoken, the law had already been given and violated, but the New Testament had not yet been. With these things thus clearly deposited in your minds, receive the solution to the difficulties which many raise. "Behold, days coming," says the Lord, signifying the present time, "and I will arrange for you a new testament, not according to the testament which I arranged for your fathers" (Jer. 31:31-32). I ask the Jew, I ask the infirm brother, who gave the New Testament? Beyond a doubt, both will answer that Christ gave it. Therefore, he also gave the old one. For he who said, "I will arrange a new testament, not according to the testament which I arranged," shows that he also arranged the former one. Therefore, the legislator of both Testaments is one. And when, I pray, did he arrange the Old Testament? "In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt" (ibid.). See how he shows both the ease B of the leading out, and his own affection, and the security of that departure, and that he himself performed all the miracles in Egypt. For when he says, "I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt," he signifies all the miracles: for that exit was made by those stupendous wonders. "And they did not remain in my testament; and I neglected them," says the Lord (ibid.). That the legislator of the New and Old Testament is one, is manifest from this. But if anyone considers this saying accurately, he will see that it is full of no small difficulty. For when he tells the cause for which he is about to give another testament—he calls it "new," that is, stupendous—he says, "I will arrange a new testament, not according to the testament which I arranged for their fathers, because they did not remain in my testament; and I neglected them," says the Lord. And yet, for this reason they ought to have been punished and to have undergone extreme penalties and intolerable torment, because after so many miracles done for their sake, and having received the law, they did not become better. Truly, here he does not seek penalties from them; rather, he promises things greater than before. It would indeed be necessary to bring the solution of this difficulty today; but because the discourse beckons us to another matter, and I wish to instruct you in such a way that you do not learn everything from us, but might find it out from yourselves, I leave this for you to seek and find. If, however, we see that you have searched and not found, then we ourselves shall stretch forth our hands; but so that you may be able to find it more easily, I now announce to you in advance the apostolic passages in which it is most of all possible to find the treasure and the solution to this difficulty: namely, by handling this argument in the epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, and to the Hebrews, he dissolves it. And all those who are studious will be able, by approaching those epistles, to find that solution, if in the coming C days you do not give yourselves to untimely gatherings and useless conversations, but by applying yourselves to the meditation of what is said, you dig up the treasure. Leaving this for the moment unsolved, let us proceed to what follows.
What are those things? "For this is the testament which I will arrange for you," says the Lord: "I will give my laws into their mind, and on their heart I will inscribe them. And they shall not teach each his citizen, and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because all shall know me from the least to the greatest of them, because I will be propitious to their iniquities and to their sins, and I shall not remember their iniquities any more" (Jer. 31:33-34). Having mentioned the Old Testament which he gave, and having mentioned the New which he is about to give, he now describes the beauty of the latter and shows its characteristics, and adds frequent insignia so that you may know how great is the difference between the New and the Old—a difference, not a contradiction; how great is the preeminence of the New, how great the splendor, how great the brilliance of the gifts and the grace. "I will give my laws into their mind, and on their heart I will inscribe them." For the old law was written on stone tablets; and because the first tablets were broken, he hewed others again, and when he had inscribed the letters there, Moses descended, having tablets that were by nature similar to the insensibility of the recipients. But the New is not so; for tablets were not inscribed when the New Testament was given; but how and in what manner? Hear Luke narrating: "They were all together in the same place," he says, "and suddenly there came from heaven a sound as if a violent wind were approaching, and there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in various tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4). Do you see how the Prophet clearly foretold this long ago, speaking thus: "I will give my laws into their mind, and on their heart I will inscribe them"? For the grace of the Spirit given by God, in order to dwell in their minds, made them living columns, and the glory overshadows the mind, because it was sent to preach, "Not in wisdom of word, that the cross of Christ might not be D emptied"; and again, "God made foolish the wisdom of this world" (1 Cor. 1:17 and 20); and everywhere he revolves around the cross. For since, he says, "The Jews seek signs, and the Greeks look for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and to the nations foolishness, but to them the called Jews and nations, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God; because what is foolish of God is wiser than men; and what is weak of God is stronger than men" (1 Cor. 1:22-25), calling the cross the "foolishness of God" and "weakness of God," not because it is foolish; for what is wiser than this? Neither because it is weak; for what is stronger than this? But referring to the opinion of the incredulous, which they had about this matter. Therefore he also said above: "For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to those who follow salvation it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). But judgments are not to be made from those who are perishing; since those who are being weakened—
by illness think honey is bitter, A but this is the affliction of the disease, not a condemnation of the honey. Thus, the cross seems a foolish thing to those who are outside, but it is not. Then, demonstrating that the thing is not only not foolish, but very wise, and not only not weak, but very strong, he compares its accomplishments with creation, and with the Old Testament, and with external wisdom; and he shows that what neither internal nor external wisdom discovered, and what many men did not learn from creation, nor gain from the Old Testament, this thing, which seems foolish and weak—which seems so, I say, not what it truly is—was able to accomplish. B Therefore, having the proof from the facts themselves, he sets out with great boldness, first against external wisdom, saying, "Where is the wise man?" (1 Cor. 1:20). What is meant by "Where is the wise man?" As if he were saying: Where are the philosophers? Where are the rhetoricians? Where are the sophists? Where are the writers? All have vanished, perished, and been put aside. For the victory became so brilliant that their works no longer even appear. Because of this, as these things became invisible, and as if some dust had been scattered, he asks and says: "Where is the wise man?" The cross appeared, and all those things were undone; the preaching sounded, and they were torn apart more easily than spiderwebs. Where is the wise man? Where is the pomposity of words? Where is the beauty of eloquence? Where is the cleverness of sophistries? Where is the vehemence of arguments? Where is the sharp tongue? Where are the assemblies and the sessions? All those things have been swept away, perished, corrupted, and have departed and turned their backs. "Where is the scribe?" (1 Cor. 1:20). Where are the things of the Jews, he says? The preaching mastered those as well, and like the sun, it hid the shadow. For what the Law could not achieve over such a long time in one nation, the cross accomplished everywhere with greater abundance, dissolving sins, granting righteousness, making men holy, teaching the knowledge of God, C and leading them by the hand to heaven. Then, again leaving behind the Jewish things, he comes to the Hellenic: "Where is the debater of this age?" (1 Cor. 1:20). He alludes here to the heretics and the syllogizers, who before this were sharper than swords, but since the cross appeared, they have been broken more easily than any clay. "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. 1:20). Again he strips for the contest against the Hellenic. What is meant by "made foolish"? He proved it to be foolish; for it was indeed. "And of their sins and of their iniquities I will remember no more" (Jer. 31:34). But the prophet of the Old Testament depicts the radiance for us; the apostle, since he was contending against the Jews, sets both side by side: saying above, "Not in tablets of stone, but in tablets of fleshly hearts" (2 Cor. 3:3); and here, "Not of letter, but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6).
5. On the Sabbath, someone gathered wood and was stoned (Num. 15:32-36). You saw how the letter kills, that is, how the Law punished; learn how the spirit gives life. Someone enters full of myriad evils, having been a fornicator, a plunderer, a greedy man, an adulterer, having run through every form of wickedness, already dead to sin; the grace of the Spirit receives him into the font and makes the fornicator a son of God, D and brings to life him who was dead in his sins. This is what it means: "The spirit gives life." And how does it give life? By not demanding an account of offenses according to the prophet: "I will be merciful to their iniquities, and of their sins and of their iniquities I will remember no more" (Jer. 31:34). Ask the Jew again, where has this happened in the Law? But he would not be able to show it. For indeed, he who gathered the wood was stoned, and the woman committing adultery was burned, and Moses, because of one sin, fell from the promised land; but under grace, those who have committed myriad terrible deeds, by enjoying baptism, are brought to life, and no penalty is demanded of them for their offenses. Therefore, Paul also said: "Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the revilers, nor the robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:9-11). You saw how the prophetic word shines, that "I will be merciful to their iniquities"? How the apostolic word flashes, that "the spirit gives life"? Do you wish to learn the other point, the apostle Paul saying how in a short moment of time he went around the whole inhabited world? Hear him saying: "So that from Jerusalem and even to Illyricum I have fulfilled the Gospel" (Rom. 15:19); and again, "But now, no longer having a place in these regions, and having a desire to see you, as if I should go to Spain, I hope to see you, if first I be filled with you in part" (Rom. 15:23-24). If one apostle in a short moment of time traversed the greater part of the inhabited world, consider how the others also drew the whole of it in like a net. Therefore he also said: "Of the Gospel which has been preached in all creation under heaven" (Col. 1:23); interpreting that prophetic word, "That all shall know me, from the small even to the great of them" (Jer. 31:34). But that Christ gave the Law is clear from these facts; and that they were slaughtered for the Law, pouring out their blood for the Lawgiver, this too is clear; but I exhort your love henceforth to attend the festival with great eagerness; like bees, fly from your hives to the wounds of the martyrs, and embrace their torments, shrinking not at all from the length of the journey. For if the old man Eleazar dared the fire, and the mother of those blessed ones in extreme old age endured such great pains, what defense, what pardon would you have, if you do not travel even a few stadia for the spectacle of those contests?