Homilies on First Corinthians 24

which may it be granted us all to attain, and so forth. Homily XXIV.

'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man' [that is, but what is human].

'But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it,' and so forth.

Since he had sufficiently frightened them by rehearsing the ancient examples, and had cast them into anxiety, saying, 'He that

thinketh he standeth, let him take heed lest he fall'—and they had also borne many temptations, and had often been exercised in these;

for 'in weakness,' he says, 'and in fear and in much trembling I was with you'—

in order that they might not say, 'Why do you frighten us and cow us? We are not unpracticed in these evils;

for we too have been driven out and persecuted, and have endured many and continual dangers'—

checking their swelling pride again, he says, 'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man;'

that is, small, brief, proportionate.

For 'human' he uses of the small, as when he says:

'I speak after the manner of men because of the weakness of your flesh.'

'Do not therefore,' he says, 'be high-minded, as though you had surmounted the surge;

for never yet have you seen a danger threatening death, nor a temptation holding out slaughter over you.'

'Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.'

Then, since he had frightened them, see how he again raises them up, together with persuading them to be moderate, saying:

'But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.'

So then there are temptations which it is not possible to bear.

And what are these? All, so to speak;

for the being able lies in the inclining of God's help, which we draw to ourselves through our own will.

Wherefore, that you might learn exactly that not only those temptations which surpass our strength, but not even these human ones can easily be borne without the help from above, he added:

'But he will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'

'For not even those moderate ones, as I said,' he says, 'shall we carry through by our own strength;

but here too we need the alliance that comes from him, so as to pass through them, and, before passing through, to bear them.'

For he himself both gives the endurance, and brings on the speedy release, so that by this too the temptation may become bearable.

For this he hinted at when he said, 'He will make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'

'Wherefore, my brethren, flee from idolatry.'

Again he soothes them by the name of kinship, and with much speed urges them to be delivered from this sin.

For he did not say, 'Depart,' simply, but 'Flee;'

and he calls the thing idolatry, and no longer bids them stand aloof merely because of the harm to one's neighbor, but shows that it is itself of itself sufficient to bring great ruin.

For since he had uttered a great thing, and had heightened the accusation by calling it idolatry, in order that he might not seem to be harsh with them and to make his word burdensome, he thenceforth commits the judgment to them, and with a word of praise sets them up as the judges.

'For I speak as to wise men,' he says;

which is the mark of one greatly confident in his own just claims—to make the very party accused himself the judge of what is said.

This too lifts up the hearer more greatly, when one discourses not as commanding, nor as laying down a law, but as counseling and as submitting oneself to the very judgment of those addressed.

For with the Jews, since they were more foolishly and childishly disposed, God did not discourse in this way, nor did He everywhere tell them the reasons for His commands, but merely gave the order;

but here, since we have come to enjoy much freedom, and partake also of counsel, He discourses with us as with friends and says:

'I have no need of other judges;'

you yourselves cast this vote for me, I take you as my arbiters.

'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?' What are you saying, O blessed Paul? Wishing to abash the hearer and calling to mind the awful mysteries, do you name that fearful and most awesome cup the cup of blessing? 'Yes,' he says;

for what has been said is no small thing.

For when I say 'blessing,' I unfold the whole treasure of God's beneficence, and call to remembrance those great gifts.

For indeed we too, recounting over the cup the unspeakable benefits of God and all that we have enjoyed, thus bring it forward and partake, giving thanks that He has delivered the race of mankind from error;

that those who were far off, He has made near;

that those who had no hope and

were without God in the world, He has made His own brethren and fellow-heirs.

Giving thanks for these and for all such things, thus we approach.

'How then,' he says, 'do you not act contrary to yourselves, O Corinthians, blessing God because He has delivered you from idols, and yet again running to their tables?' 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?' Very faithfully and awesomely has he spoken.

For what he means is this: that which is in the cup is that very thing which flowed from His side, and of that we partake.

And he called it the cup of blessing, because holding it in our hands we thus hymn Him, marveling and astonished at the unspeakable gift, blessing Him because He poured out even this very thing, that we might not remain in error;

and He not only poured it out, but also gave it to all of us to share.

So that if you long for blood, he says, redden not the altar of idols with the slaughter of irrational beasts, but crimson my altar with my blood.

What is more awesome than this? And what more full of tender love? Tell me.

This is what lovers also do.

When they see their beloved ones longing after what belongs to others and despising their own, they, by giving what is theirs, persuade them to withdraw from the things of those others.

But lovers display this liberality in money and garments and possessions, in blood never anyone at any time;

but Christ even in this displayed His care and His fervent love toward us.

And in the Old Covenant, since they were more imperfectly disposed, the blood which they offered to idols He Himself endured to accept, that He might draw them away from those idols, which itself again was of unspeakable tender love;

but here He transformed the sacred service into something far more awesome and magnificent, changing the sacrifice itself, and in place of the slaughter of irrational beasts commanding Himself to be offered.

'The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?' Why did he not say 'a partaking'? Because he wished to declare something more, and to indicate the great closeness of union.

For not by partaking only and receiving, but also by being made one, do we have communion.

For just as that body has been united to Christ, so also we are united to Him through this bread.

But why did he add, 'which we break'? For this may be seen taking place in the Eucharist;

yet on the cross it is no longer so, but rather the very opposite of this;

'For a bone of Him,' he says, 'shall not be broken.'

But what He did not suffer on the cross, this He suffers in the offering for your sake, and endures to be broken in pieces, that He may fill all men.

Then, since he had said 'the communion of the body,' and that which has communion is other than that with which it has communion, he removed even this difference, small as it seemed to be.

For having said 'the communion of the body,' he sought again to say something still closer;

wherefore he added, 'For we, being many, are one bread and one body.'

'For why do I speak of communion?' he says;

'we are that very body.'

For what is the bread? The body of Christ.

And what do they become who partake of it? The body of Christ;

not many bodies, but one body.

For just as the bread, though composed of many grains, is made one, so that the grains nowhere appear, but though they are there, their difference is invisible by reason of their union;

so also are we joined together both with one another and with Christ.

For you are not nourished from one body and he from another, but all from the same;

'For we all partake of the one bread.'

And if from the same, and we all become the same, why do we not also display the same love, and become one in this respect too? For indeed of old, among our forefathers, this was so.

'For the multitude of them that believed,' he says, 'were of one heart and one soul.'

But not now; rather, quite the contrary;

many and manifold are the wars among all, and we are disposed toward one another's members more cruelly than wild beasts.

And Christ united you to Himself, though you stood so far apart;

yet you do not deign to be united to your brother with the exactness that befits, but tear yourself away, though you have enjoyed such great love and life from Him.

For neither did He simply give His body;

but since the former nature of the flesh, which was formed from the earth, had through sin come to be deadened and bereft of life, He introduced, as one might say, another kneading and leaven, His own flesh, which by nature was indeed the same, but freed from sin and full of life, and gave it to all to partake, so that being nourished by this, and laying aside the former dead flesh, we might be blended, through this table, into immortal life.

'Behold Israel after the flesh;

are not they who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar?' Again from the Old Covenant he leads on to this point.

For since they were far lower than the greatness of what had been said, he persuades them also from the earlier and familiar things.

And well does he say 'after the flesh,' as though these were after the spirit.

And what he means is this:

Even if you be taught from the grosser things, that they who eat the sacrifices are partakers of the altar.

Do you see how he shows that those who seemed to be perfect had no perfect knowledge, if indeed they did not even know this, that from these things a certain communion and friendship with demons often arises for many, as habit little by little draws them on? For if among men the sharing of salt and table becomes an occasion and token of friendship, it is possible that this should come about with demons also;

but observe for me how, in the case of the Jews, he did not say that they have communion with God, but 'They are partakers of the altar;'

for indeed what was placed there was burned up;

but in the case of the body of Christ it is not so;

but how? It is the communion of the body of the Lord.

For we become partakers not of the altar, but of Christ Himself.

But having said, 'They are partakers of the altar,' then fearing lest he should seem to be speaking as though the idols had strength and could do some harm;

see how he demolishes them again, saying:

'What then do I say? That an idol is anything? Or that what is offered to idols is anything?'

'These things I say,' he means, 'and I draw you away, not as though the idols could harm anything or had strength;

but I wish you to despise them.'

'And if you wish us to despise them,' he says, 'why does he draw us away from them with such earnestness?' Because one is not being led to your Master.

For that which the Gentiles sacrifice, he says, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God.

Do not, then, run to the things that are opposed to Him.

For if you were a king's son, and enjoyed your father's table, and then, forsaking that, you should choose to share in the table of the condemned and of prisoners within the prison, your father would not permit it;

but with much vehemence he would lead you away from it, not as though the table could do you harm, but as putting your nobility and the royal table to shame.

For these too are servants who have given offense, men in dishonor, condemned, prisoners held in intolerable punishment, liable to countless evils.

How then are you not ashamed, after the manner of gluttons and base-minded men, when these condemned ones spread a table, to run there and to partake of what is set before you? For this very reason I lead you away;

for the purpose of those who sacrifice, and the person of those who receive it, make unclean the things set before you.

I do not wish you to become partakers of demons.

Do you see the affection of a careful father? Do you see how even the very word carries great force in expressing his disposition? For I wish, he says, that you should have nothing in common with those beings.

Then, since he had introduced the discourse in the form of exhortation, lest any of the grosser sort should despise it as if he had liberty, after he had said, 'I do not wish' and 'Judge for yourselves,' he thereupon makes his declaration and lays down the law, saying:

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;

you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.

And he is content with the names alone to effect the deterrence.

Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? That is: Do we test Him, whether He is able to punish us, and provoke Him by departing to the adversaries and ranging ourselves with His enemies? And this he said, reminding them of an ancient history and of their fathers' transgression.

He uses that same word which Moses once used against the Jews, accusing them of idolatry in the person of God:

For they, He says, provoked Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they provoked Me to anger with their idols.

Are we stronger than He? Do you see how fearfully, how awfully he rebuked them, shaking their very sinews, and by leading them to an absurdity strongly laying hold of them and casting down their arrogance? And why, one asks, did he not set forth these things from the beginning, which would most of all have drawn them away? Because it is his custom to establish what he intends through many arguments, to place the stronger points later, and to conquer with an abundance to spare.

For this reason, beginning from the lesser points, he came to the chief of the evils.

For thus this too became more readily acceptable, their understanding having been smoothed down by the earlier points.

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient;

all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

Let no one seek his own, but each one that of the other.

Do you see his exact discernment? For since it was likely that they would say, 'I am perfect and master of myself, and, taking no harm, I taste of the things set before me,'—

'Yes,' he says, 'you are indeed perfect and master of yourself;

but do not look to this, but rather whether the thing done brings no harm, whether it brings no ruin.'

For indeed he has said both, saying, 'Not all things are expedient, not all things edify,' setting the one for a man's own sake, and the other for his brother's sake.

For to say 'It is not expedient' is to hint at that man's own destruction;

and to say 'It does not edify' points to the stumbling of the brother.

Therefore also he added, 'Let no one seek his own;'

which he establishes everywhere and throughout every epistle, and in that to the Romans as well;

For even Christ pleased not Himself;

and again, 'Even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit;'

yet he does not work it out in detail here.

For since in what went before he had established and proved it through many arguments—that he nowhere seeks his own, but became to the Jews as a Jew, and to those without law as without law, and used his own freedom and authority not simply, but for the benefit of all, being a servant to all—

content with a few words here, he passed on, by means of these few referring them back to the memory of all that had been said.

Knowing these things, therefore, beloved, let us also take thought for the brethren, and preserve the unity we have with them.

For to this that fearful and awful sacrifice leads us, bidding us approach it especially with concord and fervent love, and, becoming eagles thereby, so to fly up to heaven itself.

For where the carcass is, He says, there also are the eagles;

calling the body a carcass because of the death.

For unless He had fallen, we should not have risen.

And He calls them eagles, showing that he who approaches this body must be lofty, and have nothing in common with the earth, nor be dragged downward and creep along, but must ever soar upward, and gaze upon the Sun of righteousness, and have the eye of the understanding keen-sighted;

for this is a table of eagles, not of jackdaws.

These same ones who now worthily partake shall then meet Him as He descends from the heavens, just as those who partake unworthily shall suffer the extremest of evils.

For if one would not lightly receive a king;

why do I speak of a king? A royal garment indeed no one would lightly touch with unclean hands, even were he in a desert, even were he alone, even were no one present;

and yet the garment is nothing else than the threads of worms.

And if you admire the dye, this too is the blood of a dead fish;

but nevertheless no one would choose to lay hold of it with filthy hands.

But if no one would dare lightly to touch a human garment, how shall we receive with so much insolence the Body of the God who is over all—the spotless, the pure, that which has communed with that divine nature, through which we exist and live, through which the gates of death were shattered and the vaults of heaven opened? Let us not, I beseech you, let us not slay ourselves through our shamelessness, but let us approach Him with trembling and with all purity;

and when you see it set before you, say to yourself:

Because of this Body I am no longer earth and

ashes, no longer a captive, but free;

because of this I hope for the heavens, and to receive the good things in them, immortal life, the portion of the angels, converse with Christ;

this Body, nailed and scourged, death could not endure;

at the sight of this Body being crucified even the sun turned away its rays;

because of this the veil also was then rent, and the rocks were split, and all the earth was shaken;

this is that same Body which was bloodstained, which was pierced by the spear, and which caused the saving fountains to gush forth—that of the blood, that of the water—for the whole world.

Would you learn its power from yet another quarter? Ask the woman with the issue of blood, who touched not Him, but the garment wrapped about Him—nay, not even the whole of this, but its hem;

ask the sea, which bore Him up upon its back;

ask the devil himself, and say:

Whence have you the incurable wound? Whence are you no longer of any strength? Whence were you taken captive? By whom were you seized in your flight? And it will name nothing else than the Body that was crucified.

By this his stings were shattered;

by this his head was crushed;

by this the principalities and the powers were made a public spectacle;

For having put off from Himself, he says, the principalities and the powers, He made a show of them, triumphing over them in it with boldness.

Ask death also, and say:

Whence was your sting destroyed? Whence was your victory undone? Whence were your sinews cut off? And you have become a laughingstock even to maidens and little children, you who before this were fearful even to tyrants and to all the righteous? And it will lay the blame upon this Body.

For when this was being crucified, then the dead arose, then that prison-house was burst open, and the brazen gates were shattered, and the dead were set free, and all the gatekeepers of Hades cowered in fear.

And yet, if He had been one of the many, the contrary ought to have happened—that death should have proved the mightier;

for indeed He was not one of the many.

For this reason that one was undone.

And just as those who take in food which they are unable to retain vomit up even what was previously lodged within them along with it, so also it came to pass in the case of death.

For having taken the body which it was not able to master, it cast out even those things which it held within.

For indeed it travailed while holding Him, and was in anguish, until it vomited Him forth.

Wherefore the Apostle says, 'Having loosed the pangs of death.'

For no woman carrying a child travails so as that one did, holding the Lord's body: it was rent asunder, torn to pieces.

And what happened in the case of the Babylonian dragon, when, having taken the food, it burst asunder in the midst, this same thing happened here also.

For Christ did not again come forth out of death by the mouth, but having burst asunder its very belly in the midst and cut through the dragon, thus He proceeded forth from the inmost recesses with much splendour, sending out His rays not only as far as this heaven, but even unto the throne on high.

For thither He also brought it up.

This body He gave us both to hold and to eat, which was the mark of intense love.

For those whom we love vehemently we oftentimes even bite.

Wherefore Job also, showing forth the love of his servants toward him, said,

that they, loving him exceedingly, would often say, 'Oh that we might be filled with his flesh!' So also Christ gave us to be filled with His flesh, drawing us on to a greater friendship with Him.

Let us therefore draw near to Him with fervour and with a love kindled to a flame, that we may not incur punishment.

For the greater the benefits we have received, the more severely are we punished, whenever we show ourselves unworthy of the benefaction.

This body, even as it lay in a manger, the Magi reverenced.

And men, ungodly and barbarian, forsaking their fatherland and their home, set out on a long journey, and coming with fear and much trembling, worshipped Him.

Let us then, who are citizens of heaven, at least imitate the barbarians.

For they, though they beheld Him but in a manger and in a hut, and saw nothing such as you do now, approached Him with much awe;

but you behold Him not in a manger but on an altar, not a woman holding Him but a priest standing by, and the Spirit with

much lavishness hovering over the offerings that are set forth.

You do not behold merely this same body, as they did, but you know also its power and the whole dispensation, and are ignorant of none of the things accomplished through it, having been accurately initiated into all.

Let us therefore rouse ourselves and be filled with awe, and let us show forth far greater reverence than those barbarians, that we may not, having drawn near carelessly and as it may chance, heap fire upon our own head.

But I say these things, not that we may not draw near, but that we may not draw near carelessly.

For as to approach in a chance manner is perilous, so not to partake of those mystical suppers is famine and death.

For this table is the sinews of our soul, the bond of our mind, the ground of our confidence, our hope, our salvation, our light, our life.

Departing thither with this sacrifice, we shall set foot upon the sacred vestibules with much confidence, as though fenced round on every side with golden armour.

And why do I speak of things to come? For here on earth this mystery makes the earth heaven for you.

Throw open, then, the gates of heaven and peep in;

or rather, not of heaven, but of the heaven of heavens, and then you shall see what has been spoken of.

For that which is the most precious of all things there, this I will show you lying here upon the earth.

For as in a palace the most august thing of all is not the walls nor the golden roof, but the royal body seated upon the throne;

so also in the heavens is the body of the King.

But this it is now permitted you to see upon earth.

For it is not angels, nor archangels, nor heavens, nor heavens of heavens, but the very Lord of these that I show you.

Have you perceived how you behold on earth that which is the most precious of all? and not only behold, but also touch? and not only touch, but also eat, and having received it, return home? Cleanse then your soul, prepare your mind for the reception of these mysteries.

For if you were entrusted to carry a royal infant with its adornments and its purple robe and its diadem, you would have cast away all the things upon the earth;

but now it is not a royal man's infant, but the very Only-begotten Son of God that you receive; and do you not shudder, tell me, and cast out all love of the things of this life, and adorn yourself with that world alone? Yet do you still look toward the earth, and love money, and are agog after gold? And what pardon could you have? What defence? Do you not know how your Master turns away from all worldly extravagance? Was it not for this that, being born, He was laid in a manger, and took a lowly mother? Was it not for this that He said to him who looked to trafficking:

'But the Son of Man has not where to lay His head'? And what of the disciples? Did they not keep the same law, lodging in the houses of the poor, one abiding with a tanner, another with a tentmaker, and with the seller of purple? For they sought not the splendour of houses, but the virtues of souls.

Let us therefore, we also, emulate these men;

passing by the beauties of pillars and of marbles, and seeking the mansions above, and let us tread underfoot all the pomp that is here together with the desire for money, and take up a lofty mind.

For if we are sober, not even this world is worthy of us, much less porticoes and cloistered walks.

Wherefore, I beseech you, let us adorn our own soul, let us furnish this house, which having taken up we shall depart hence, that we may also attain the eternal good things, by the grace and lovingkindness, and so forth.