Homilies on Second Corinthians: Homily III
For if He gave the principles and the foundations, and the root and the fount, (to wit, the true knowledge of Him, the partaking of the Spirit,) how shall He not give the things that come of these: for if for the sake of these those are given, much more will he supply those. And if to such as were enemies he gave these, much more when now made friends will He “freely give” to them those. Wherefore He said not simply “the Spirit,” but named “earnest,” that from this thou mightest have a good hope of the whole as well. For did He not purpose to give the whole, He would never have chosen to give “the earnest” and to waste it without object or result. And observe Paul’s candor. For why need I say, saith he, that the truth of the promises standeth not in us? The fact of your standing unwavering and fixed is not in us, but this too is of God; “for” saith he, “He who stablisheth us is God.” It is not we who strengthen you: for even we also need Him that stablisheth. So then let none imagine that the Preaching is hazardous in us. He hath undertaken the whole, He cared for the whole.
And what is, “anointed,” and “sealed?” Gave the Spirit by Whom He did both these things, making at once prophets and priests and kings, for in old times these three sorts were anointed. But we have now not one of these dignities, but all three preeminently. For we are both to enjoy a kingdom and are made priests by offering our bodies for a sacrifice, (for, saith he, “present your members a living sacrifice unto God;”) and withal we are constituted prophets too: for what things “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” (1 Cor. ii. 9.) these have been revealed unto us.
[5.] And in another way too we become kings: if we have the mind to get dominion over our unruly thoughts, for that such an one is a king and more than he who weareth the diadem, I will now make plain to you. He hath many armies, but we again have thoughts exceeding them in number; for it is impossible to number the infinite multitude of the thoughts within us. Nor is their multitude all that one is to consider, but also that in this multitude of thoughts, there are many generals, and colonels, and captains, and archers, and slingers. What else makes a king? His apparel? But this one too is arrayed in a better and braver robe, which neither doth moth devour nor age impair. A crown too he hath of curious workmanship, that of glory, that of the tender mercies of God. For saith [the Psalmist], “Bless the Lord, O my soul, that crowneth thee with pity and tender mercies.” (Ps. ciii. 2, 4.) Again, that of glory: “For thou hast crowned him with glory and honor.” (Ps. viii. 6.) And “with favor Thou hast crowned us with a shield.” (Ps. v. 12. LXX.) Again, that of grace: “For thou shalt receive a crown of grace upon thy head.” (Prov. i. 9. LXX.) Seest thou this diadem of many wreaths, and surpassing the other in grace. But let us institute anew and from the beginning a stricter inquiry into the condition of these kings. That king hath dominion over his guards, and issues orders to all, and all obey and serve him; but here I show you greater authority. For the number here is as great or even greater: it remains to inquire into their obedience. And bring me not forth those that have ruled amiss, since I too bring those that have been driven from their kingdom and murdered by their very body guards. Let us then bring forth these instances, but seek for those of either kind who have ordered well their kingdom. And do thou put forward whom thou wilt.
I oppose unto thee the patriarch against all. For when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, consider how many thoughts then rose up against him. Nevertheless, he brought all under submission, and all trembled before him more than before a king his guards; and with a look only he stilled them all and not one of them dared so much as mutter; but down they bowed and as unto a king gave place, one and all, though much exasperated and exceeding relentless.
For even the heads of spears raised upright by many soldiers are not as fearful as were then those fearful thoughts, armed not with spears, but what is harder to deal with than many spears, the sympathy of nature! Wherefore they had power to pierce his soul more than sharpened spear point. For never spear could be so sharp as were the goads of those thoughts, which, sharpened and upraised from beneath, from his affections, were piercing through and through the mind of that righteous man. For here there needs time and purpose and a stroke and pain, and then death follows; but there, there needed none of these, so much were the wounds speedier and acuter. But still though so many thoughts were then in arms against him, there was a deep calm, and they stood all in fair array; adorning rather than daunting him. See him at least stretching out the knife, and set forth as many as thou wilt, kings, emperors, Cæsars, yet shalt thou tell of nought like this, have no like mien to point to, so noble, so worthy of the heavens. For that righteous man erected a trophy at that movement over the most arbitrary of tyrannies. For nothing is so tyrannical as nature; and find ten thousand tyrannicides, one like this shalt thou never show us. For it was the triumph in that moment of an angel, not a man. For consider. Nature was dashed to the ground with all her weapons, with all her host: and he stood with outstretched hand, grasping not a crown, but a knife more glorious than any crown, and the throng of angels applauded, and God from heaven proclaimed him conquerer.
For seeing that his citizenship was in heaven, thence also he received that proclamation. (Philip. iii. 20.) What could be more glorious than this? rather, what trophy could ever be equal to it? For if on occasion of a wrestler’s success, not a herald below but the king above should have risen up and himself proclaimed the Olympic Victor, would not this have seemed to him more glorious than the crown, and have turned the gaze of the whole theatre upon him? When then no mortal king, but God Himself, not in this theatre but in the theatre of the universe, in the assembly of the angels, the archangels, proclaimeth his name with uplifted voice shouting from heaven, tell me what place shall we assign to this holy man?
[6.] But if you will, let us listen too to the voice itself. What then was the voice? “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon Isaac, neither do thou any thing unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy son, thy well-beloved, for My sake.” (Gen. xxii. 11, 12.) What is this? He that knoweth all things before they are, did He now know? And yet even to man the Patriarch’s fear of God was evident: so many proofs had he given that his heart was right toward God, as when He said to him, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred;” (Gen. xii. 1.) when for His sake and the honor due to Him he relinquished to his sister’s son his priority; when He delivered him out of so great perils; when He bade him go into Egypt, and on his wife’s being taken from him, he repined not, and more instances besides; and as I said, from these things even man would have learned the Patriarch’s fear of God, much more than God Who waiteth not for the acts to know the end. And how too justified he him, if He knew not? For it is written, “Abraham believed, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” (Gen. xv. 6; Rom. iv. 3.)
What then means this, “Now I know?” The Syriac hath, “Now thou hast made known;” that is, to men. For I knew of old, even before all those commandments. And why, to men even, “now?” for were not those acts enough to prove his mind was right toward God? They were enough indeed, but this one so much greater than them all that they appear nothing beside it. As exalting then this good work and showing its superiority to all, He so spake. For of things which exceed and surpass all that went before, most men are wont to speak so: for instance, if one receive from another a gift greater than any former one, he often says, “Now I know that such an one loves me,” not hereby meaning that he knew not in the time past, but as intending to declare what is now given to be greater than all. So also God, speaking after the manner of men, saith, “Now I know,” intending only to mark the exceeding greatness of the exploit; not that He “then” came to know either his fear or the greatness of it.
For when He saith, “Come, let Us go down and see,” (Gen. xi. 7; xviii. 21.) He saith it not as needing to go down, (for He both filleth all things and knoweth all things certainly,) but to teach us not to give sentence lightly. And when He saith, “The Lord looked down from Heaven:” (Ps. xiv. 2.) it describeth His perfect knowledge by a metaphor taken from men. So also here He saith, “Now I know,” to declare this to be greater than all which had preceded it. Of this itself too He furnisheth proof by adding, “Because thou sparedst not thy son, thy well-beloved, for My sake;” He saith not “thy son” only, but yet more, “thy well-beloved.” For it was not nature only, but also parental fondness, which having both by natural disposition and by the great goodness of his child, he yet dared in him to spurn. And if about worthless children parents are not easily indifferent, but mourn even for them; when it is his son, his only-begotten, and his well-beloved, even Isaac, and the father himself is on the point of immolating him; who can describe the excessiveness of such philosophy? This exploit outshineth thousands of diadems and crowns innumerable. For the wearer of that crown, both death ofttimes assaileth and annoyeth, and before death, assaults of circumstances without number; but this diadem shall no one have strength to take from him that weareth it; no not even after death; neither of his own household, nor of strangers.