Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 26

Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to afflict certain of those from the Church.

And he slew James the brother of John with the sword.

And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.

Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.

What time does he mean? Certainly the time following.

But here it is thus, while elsewhere it is otherwise.

For when Matthew says:

'In those days John came preaching': he does not mean to indicate the days that immediately followed, but those in which the things he relates were about to take place.

For it is customary with the Scripture to use this manner of speech, at times setting forth things that are to happen later, and at times reporting things that are to happen later as though they came next in order.

And well does he say, 'Herod the king';

for this was not the one who lived in the time of Christ.

And observe, as I said from the beginning, how the events are interwoven, how all things are woven together through both relief and affliction.

It is no longer the Jews, nor the Sanhedrin;

but the king lays his hands upon them to do them harm.

The greater the authority, the more grievous the war, inasmuch as it was done to gratify the Jews.

'And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.'

But if anyone should inquire why God permitted this, we shall say that it was for the sake of these very men.

First, to persuade them that even when put to death they prevail—which indeed is so;

and secondly, giving them, after their fury had spent itself, the chance to recover from their madness;

and thirdly, to show that this came to pass by His permission.

'And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.'

Oh, the depth of their defilement!

For whose sake was he gratifying them, committing murders simply and at random? 'Now it was the day of Unleavened Bread.'

Again the superfluous scrupulosity of the Jews;

they did not forbid the killing, yet at such a season they did such things.

'And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers.'

This was the mark both of his rage and of his fear.

'He killed,' it says, 'James the brother of John with the sword.'

Do you see their courage? For lest anyone should say that they braved death without danger and without fear, on the ground that God was snatching them away, on this account He permits them to be slain—and especially the chief ones—thus persuading the very men who killed them that not even these things drove the apostles back or restrained them.

'Peter therefore was kept in the prison;'

'but earnest prayer was made to God for him by the Church.'

The struggle from this point on concerned matters of the utmost moment.

For both the killing of that one and the imprisonment of this one filled them with fear.

'And when Herod was about to bring him forth, that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains;'

'and guards before the door were keeping the prison.'

'And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, and a light shone in the cell.'

'Smiting Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, Rise up quickly.'

'And his chains fell off from his hands.'

Observe: on that very night He snatched him away.

'And a light shone in the cell,' so that he might not suppose it to be a mere phantasm;

and no one saw the light except him.

For even though this happened, he nevertheless supposed it to be a phantasm because of its unexpectedness;

had this not happened, much more would he have thought so;

so ready was he to meet death.

The very fact that, though he had remained there many days, he was not delivered—this produced that readiness.

'And why,' one asks, 'did He not let him fall into Herod's hands and then snatch him away?' Because that would have led to mere astonishment;

whereas this was done for their sake.

For they would not have been thought to be men, if He had done everything in a manner befitting God.

And in the case of Stephen, what did He not do? Did He not show them his face as the face of an angel? And what, even here, did He at all leave undone? 'And the angel said to him,'

'Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals.'

Here again He shows that it was not done by any crafty device;

for no one in haste, wishing to break through, takes such pains as even to pick up his sandals and to gird himself.

'Cast your garment about you, and follow me.'

'And he went out and followed him;'

'and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real;'

'And when they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them of its own accord.'

When the angel departed, then Peter understood.

'And going out, they went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.'

'And Peter, coming to himself, said:'

'Now I know truly that the Lord has sent forth His angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.'

'Now I know,' he says—not before.

But why does this happen, and why is Peter not aware of the things taking place, even though he had already enjoyed such a deliverance, when all the apostles were released? God wills the deliverance to come upon him all at once, and only after being delivered to receive the awareness of it.

And the falling of the chains from his hands was a great proof that he did not flee.

'And when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where many were gathered together and praying.'

'And when Peter knocked at the door of the gateway, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.'

'And recognizing Peter's voice, out of joy she did not open the gate.'

Observe Peter not immediately withdrawing, but first bringing the good news to his own.

'She announced that Peter stood before the gate.'

'But she kept insisting that it was so.'

Observe how the very maidservants too were full of piety.

'Out of joy she did not open the gate;'

but they, even when this had happened, would not believe it.

'She,' it says, 'kept insisting that it was so;'

'But Peter continued knocking.'

'And when they had opened, they saw him and were amazed.'

'But motioning to them with his hand to keep silence, he related to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.'

'Report these things to James and to the brethren.'

And going out, he journeyed to another place.

Let us then consider from the beginning the sequence of what has been said.

At that time, it says, King Herod stretched forth his hands to afflict certain ones of the Church.

Like a wild beast, simply and without reason, he attacked all indiscriminately.

This is what Christ had spoken:

The cup which I am about to drink, you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you shall be baptized.

And he killed, it says, James the brother of John with the sword.

And why, one may ask, did he not immediately kill Peter also? The writer states the reason:

For it was, it says, the days of Unleavened Bread;

and he wished all the more to make a public spectacle of him by his slaughter.

They themselves, then, in consequence of Gamaliel's exhortation, thereafter restrained themselves from murders;

and besides, they could find no charge against them;

but they contrived these things through others.

And since there was also another James, the brother of the Lord, for this reason he marked it distinctly by saying:

Do you see that the chief matter lay in these three, and above all in Peter and James? This most of all was their condemnation;

for the preaching was no longer shown to be human, and truly that word was being fulfilled: We were reckoned as sheep for the slaughter.

And seeing, it says, that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.

A murder pleasing to them, and an unjust murder.

Great was the folly of Herod;

he was subserving their monstrous desires.

For he ought to have done the opposite, and to have checked their impulse;

but he intensified it, like some executioner of the sick, and not a physician;

and this though he had countless examples both of his grandfather and of his father Herod, and how the one, on account of the slaying of the infants, suffered the greatest evils, while the other, having killed John, stirred up a grievous war.

Whom also having seized, it says, he put in prison.

He feared that on account of the murder of James Peter might withdraw, and wishing to have him in safe custody, he cast him into the dungeon.

The stricter the guard, the more wonderful the display.

And this was on Peter's behalf, since from this he became all the more approved, and displayed his own manliness.

And prayer, it says, was being made earnestly.

The prayer was a proof of their tender affection.

All were seeking a father, a gentle father.

Earnest, it says, was the prayer being made on his behalf.

Hear how they were disposed toward their teachers.

They did not rise in revolt, they were not thrown into confusion, but they turned to prayer, to that truly invincible ally; to it they fled for refuge.

I, lowly and of no account, pray on his behalf!

for since they acted out of love, they took no account of these things.

Do you wish to learn how much they accomplished even unwillingly? They rendered those the more approved, and made these the more zealous.

And observe how at the feast the trials were brought on, that these might appear the more approved.

And when Herod was about to bring him forth, it says, on that night Peter was sleeping.

See Peter sleeping, and not being in anguish nor in fear.

On the very night on which he was to be brought forth, he slept, having cast the whole matter upon God.

And he slept not simply, but in the midst of soldiers and bound.

For, it says, he was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains.

Do you see how strict the guard was? And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, it says, saying:

The guards were sleeping together with him;

wherefore they perceived nothing of what was taking place.

And a light shone, so that Peter might both see and hear, and not suppose it to be an apparition.

And that he might not be sluggish, he is also smitten on the side.

but, Quickly, with an addition;

And he thought he was seeing a vision, it says.

And he passed through the first and second guard.

Where now are the heretics? How did he pass through? Let them tell us;

And indeed for this reason he bids him also gird himself and put on his sandals, thereby persuading him that it is not a phantom;

and that he might shake off sleep, and know that it is real.

For this reason too the chains immediately fell off from his hands, and he hears: Rise up quickly.

This is not the manner of one causing a disturbance, but of one persuading him not to delay.

And he knew not, it says, that what was being done through the angel was real;

Naturally so, because of the exceeding greatness of what was happening.

Do you see how great is the surpassing nature of the sign? how it astounds the beholder? how it does not allow itself to be believed? For if Peter thought he was seeing a vision during so long a time, though he himself had girded and shod himself,

what would another not have experienced? And having passed through, it says, the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate;

and going out, they went forward through one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

Yet the things that had taken place within were more wonderful;

but this last was more within human capacity.

When there was no longer any hindrance, then the angel departed.

For Peter would not have gone forward with so many hindrances present;

for truly, truly it was a thing of amazement.

Now I know, he says, that the Lord has truly sent forth his angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

Now, not then, when I was in the bond.

And when he had considered the matter, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, it says.

What is the meaning of 'when he had considered'? Reckoning where he was;

or that he must not simply depart, but requite his benefactor;

And having perceived this, he came to the house of Mary.

Who is this John? Perhaps he was the one who was always in their company;

for this reason too the text adds his distinguishing mark.

See how great a good affliction is: see how much they accomplished by praying in the night, and how it made them vigilant and wakeful.

Do you see how great the gain from Stephen's murder? Do you see how great the profit from this imprisonment? For God, not by taking vengeance on those who wrong them, shows the Gospel to be great;

but in the very midst of those who wrong them, while the apostles suffer nothing dreadful, He shows the afflictions themselves, in and of themselves, to be a great thing, so that we may not by all means seek deliverance from them, nor vengeance.

And observe how their very maidservants were henceforth of equal honor with them.

For joy, it says, she did not open.

This too happened well, so that they should not be immediately amazed at the sight and disbelieve, but that their minds might be exercised beforehand.

And what we are wont to do, she also was found doing;

for she was eager to be the one to bring the good tidings herself.

But she kept insisting that it was so;

and they said, 'It is his angel.'

From this it is clear that each one of us has an angel.

And how did it occur to them then to suppose that it was an angel? From the circumstance of the time they conjectured this.

But as he continued knocking, it says, they opened and saw him, and were astonished.

But he, beckoning to them with his hand, made great silence, so that they might hear the things from him.

He was henceforth far more longed-for by the disciples, not only because he was saved, but also because he had appeared and come to them at once.

Henceforth those of the household also learn everything clearly;

the outsiders also learn, if indeed they were willing to believe.

This too happened in the case of Christ.

Report these things, he says, to James and to the brethren.

See how he is not vainglorious.

Make these things known to those everywhere.

And he withdrew to another place.

For he did not tempt God, nor cast himself into temptations;

since, when they were commanded even this, they did it.

For go, it says, stand in the temple and speak to the people.

They heard, and were straightway persuaded.

But this the angel did not say; rather, by his departing in silence and leading him out by night, he gave him leave to withdraw.

And this too takes place, that we may learn that many things were also arranged after a human manner, so that he might not again fall into their hands.

It is his angel, they say this first, after his having departed;

and then they see him overturning that opinion.

If it had been the angel, he would not have knocked at the door, nor withdrawn to another place.

And the fact that it did not happen in the daytime also assures them.

The others were free, engaged in prayers;

but he who was bound was in sleep; if he had thought that what was happening was real, he would have been amazed, or would not have remembered it;

but as it was, seeing as though in a dream, he was undisturbed.

They came, it says, to the iron gate.

And having passed, it says, the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate.

And why does this not come about through themselves? Why? Because in this too God honors them, in snatching them away by means of angels.

What then? Did it not happen thus in Paul's case? There it was fitting, because the jailer had to believe; but here only that the Apostle should be set free.

And in other ways too God orders all things variously.

There Paul sings hymns; here Peter was sleeping.

Let us not therefore hide the wonders of God, but for our own benefit let us be zealous to proclaim these things openly, and for the edification of others.

For just as he is admirable in choosing to be bound, so he is more admirable in not withdrawing sooner, until he had reported everything to his own people.

Tell James and the brethren.

Why ever does he bid them tell? That they may rejoice, that they may not be anxious, that through these things those men may learn, and not the apostles through them;

thus he took thought for the humbler part.

Nothing, then, is better than affliction in due measure.

What sort of soul do you think theirs was then? How full of pleasure? Where now are the women who sleep the whole night through? And where the men who do not even turn over on their bed? Do you see a sober soul? Together with women and children and maidservants they hymned God, having become purer than heaven through affliction.

But now, if we see a little danger, we collapse.

Nothing was more splendid than that Church.

Let us imitate these men, let us emulate them.

Night did not come about for this, that we should sleep all through it and be idle.

And to this the artisans bear witness, the muleteers, the merchants, and the Church of God rising up from the midst of the nights.

Rise up yourself also, and behold the dance of the stars, the deep silence, the great stillness;

be astonished at the providential ordering of your Master.

The soul is then purer;

it is lighter and more refined, aloft and buoyant;

the very darkness, the great silence, are sufficient to lead to compunction.

And if you also behold the heaven bespangled with the stars as with countless eyes, you will reap every delight, taking at once the thought of the Creator.

If you consider that those who by day are shouting, laughing, leaping, jumping, wronging others, grasping for gain, threatening, holding out countless terrors, now differ in nothing from the dead, you will condemn all human arrogance.

Sleep came upon them, and convicted their nature;

it is an image of death, an image of the consummation.

If you peer down into the alley, you will not hear so much as a voice;

if you look into the house, you will see all lying as though in a tomb.

All these things are sufficient to rouse up the soul, and to bring it to the thought of the consummation.

This word of mine is addressed both to men and to women.

Bend your knees, groan, entreat your Master to become merciful to you;

He is bent still more toward mercy in the prayers of the night, when you make the season of rest a season of lamentation.

Remember what words the king used to say:

I am weary with my groaning; every night I will wash my bed; I will water my couch with my tears.

However luxurious you may be, you are not more luxurious than he;

however rich you may be, you are not richer than David.

At midnight I rose to give thanks unto you because of the judgments of your righteousness.

Then vainglory does not trouble you;

for how should it, when all are sleeping and none behold? Then neither does sloth nor yawning assail you;

for how should they, when the soul is roused by so many things? After such vigils come sweet slumbers too

and wondrous revelations.

Do this yourself too, O husband, and not the wife alone.

Let the household be a church, made up of men and women together.

For do not suppose it a hindrance that you are the only man, or that she is the only woman.

For where two are gathered together in my name, he says, there am I in the midst of them.

Where Christ is in the midst, there is a great multitude;

where Christ is, there must needs be angels also, there must needs be archangels and the other powers.

You are not, then, alone, having as you do the Master of all.

And again, hear the prophet saying:

Better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand transgressors.

Nothing is weaker than many transgressors, nothing stronger than one who lives according to the law of God.

If you have children too, rouse the children as well, and let the whole house become a church throughout the night;

but if they are tender and cannot endure the watching, let them stay up for one prayer or a second, and then let them rest;

only rouse yourself, only establish yourself in the habit.

There is no treasury better than that which receives such prayers.

Hear the prophet saying:

If I remembered you upon my bed, I meditated on you in the early dawn.

But I am weary, he says, from many labors in the day, and I cannot.

These are excuses and pretexts;

for however you may toil, you will not labor as the coppersmith who brings down so heavy a hammer from a great height upon the sparks, and receives the smoke over his whole body;

and yet he spends the greater part of the night at this.

You women too know, whenever we have had need to go into the country, or to set out for a night-vigil, how they keep watch all through the night.

Let there be for you also a forge, a spiritual one, not for pots or kettles, but to fashion your own soul, which is far better than any coppersmith's or goldsmith's work.

Bring the soul, grown old in sins, into the crucible of confession;

bring down the hammer from a great height;

that is, the condemnation pronounced by your words;

kindle the fire of the Spirit.

You have a far greater art.

You do not shape vessels of gold, but the soul, which is more precious than all gold, even as the smith shapes the vessel.

For you do not shape a bodily vessel, but you free the soul from every worldly fantasy.

Let a lamp lie beside you, not this one that burns, but that which the prophet had when he said:

For your law is a lamp unto my feet.

Set the soul aflame through prayer;

and when you see it sufficiently heated, bring it out and mold it to whatever you wish.

Believe me, fire is not so wont to cleanse away rust as the nightly prayer cleanses the rust of our sins.

Let us feel shame, if before no one else, at least before the night-watchmen.

They, for the sake of a human ordinance, go about in the frost crying aloud, and walking through the narrow lanes, often drenched, frozen stiff, for your sake and for your safety and for the guarding of your goods.

That man takes such forethought for your goods;

but you take none even for your own soul.

And indeed I do not compel you to go about in the open air as he does, nor to cry aloud and strain your voice to bursting;

but while in your very chamber, in your very bedroom, bend your knees, entreat the Master.

Why did Christ himself spend the night on the mountain? Was it not that he might become an example to us? Then it is that plants breathe again, in the night I mean;

then too the soul, even more than they, receives the dew.

What the sun has scorched by day, this is cooled again in the night.

More than any dew, the tears of the night descend upon the desires and upon every inflammation and burning heat, and do not allow us to suffer any grievous harm.

But if it does not enjoy that dew, it will be scorched by day.

But God forbid that any of you should become fuel for that fire; rather, having been refreshed and having enjoyed the loving-kindness that comes from God, so may we all be freed from the burden of our sins, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.