Homilies on Ephesians 3

'For this cause I also, having heard of the faith among you in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have toward all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him;'

'the eyes of your heart being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of the might of His strength, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead.'

There was nothing equal to the tender affections of the apostles; nothing was there to match the sympathy and the fatherly love of the blessed Paul, who made all his prayers on behalf of whole cities and peoples.

And to all he writes this, that 'I give thanks to God for you, making mention of you in my prayers.'

Consider how many he held in his mind, of whom even to make mention was itself a labor;

how many he remembered in his prayers, giving thanks to God on behalf of them all, as though he himself were the recipient of the greatest benefits.

That is to say, on account of the things to come, and the good things laid up for those who rightly believe and live.

It is indeed worthy to give thanks to God both for all that has been bestowed by Him upon the human race, both before this and after it;

and it is worthy to give thanks to Him also for the faith of those who believe.

'Having heard,' he says, 'of the faith which is among you through Christ, and the love which is toward all the saints.'

Everywhere he joins together and welds faith and love, a wondrous pair.

He says not those of their own country only, but all.

'I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.'

What is his prayer, and what does he beseech? That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

He counts them worthy to learn two things, as one ought to learn them: for what ends they were called, and how they were delivered from their former state.

But he himself says these things are three.

How then are they three? If we learn concerning the things to come.

For from the good things laid up in store we shall come to know his unspeakable and surpassing riches;

and from learning who we were and how we came to believe, we shall know his power and authority, in that he turned back those who for so long a time had been estranged.

For the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For by the same power whereby he raised Christ, he also drew us unto himself.

And the power reaches not merely to the resurrection, but far beyond.

And he seated him at his own right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named;

and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Truly he has made us partakers of great and unspeakable mysteries.

And these things it is not possible to learn otherwise than by partaking of the Holy Spirit and enjoying much grace.

For this reason Paul also prays in this manner:

that is, he who has given us great good things.

For he ever names him from the things that lie before us, as when he says:

The Father of mercies, and God of all comfort;

and again the prophet says, The Lord is my strength and my help.

He cannot set them forth by name, and so everywhere he calls him glory, which among us is the name and appellation of all splendour.

Behold, he says, he is Father of the glory, but of Christ, God.

What then? Is the Son less than the glory? But no one, not even a madman, would say this.

May he give unto you, that is, to lift up your understanding and set it on wings.

For it is not possible to learn these things in any other way.

For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit;

Therefore there is need of spiritual wisdom, that we may apprehend spiritual things, that we may see the things that are hidden;

It reveals all things; it is about to declare the mysteries of God.

But the knowledge of the mysteries of God the Spirit alone knows, even he who searches also his depths;

not an angel, not an archangel, not any other created power. May he give, that is, may he grant you a spiritual gift.

But if this comes of revelation, then the finding of it by reasonings is superfluous.

For he who has learned God, and known God, will no longer dispute concerning anything;

This is impossible, and that is possible;

and, How did this come to pass? If we learn God as we ought to know him, if we learn God from him of whom we must learn, from the Spirit himself, we shall no longer dispute concerning anything.

The eyes of your heart being enlightened in the knowledge of him.

He who has learned what God is, will not dispute concerning the promises, nor disbelieve concerning the things that have already come to pass.

He prays, therefore, that there be given unto them a spirit of wisdom and revelation;

yet he himself also, so far as he is able, establishes it by reasonings and from the things that have already been.

For since he was about to speak of some things that had already come to pass, and others that had not yet happened, he confirms the things that have not been from the things that have been.

That ye may know, he says, what is the hope of his calling.

It is still unseen, he says, yet not to the faithful.

And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

And what is manifest? That we have believed, from his power, in that he raised Christ;

for than to raise a dead man, it is far more wonderful to persuade souls.

And how so? I will endeavour to make this plain;

Christ said to the dead man, Lazarus, come forth, and immediately he obeyed;

Peter said to Tabitha, Arise, and she did not gainsay.

He himself will speak on the last day, and all shall rise, and with such swiftness that those still living shall not precede those who are asleep, so that in a moment, in

the twinkling of an eye, all things come to pass and run together.

But in the matter of believing, it is not so;

but how? Hear him again saying:

How often would I have gathered your children together, and ye would not!

You see that this is the harder thing? So that from this he establishes the whole.

For it is far harder for human reasonings to persuade the will than to work upon nature.

And the reason is that he himself so wills that we should become good of our own accord.

The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe.

For when the prophets accomplished nothing, when angels and archangels did nothing, when all creation, both visible and invisible, the visible set forth in the midst and unable to lead us by the hand, and the invisible in its multitude, he then arranged his own coming, showing that the matter required divine power.

For what word shall be able to set forth that glory of which the saints shall then partake? None;

but there is truly need of grace, even in order to learn it in the understanding and to receive at all even some small ray thereof.

For some things they knew even before, but he wished them now to learn more and to know more clearly.

You see how many things he wrought? He raised Christ;

is this a small thing? But behold yet again;

what word then shall be able to set this forth? Him that was of the earth, more voiceless than the fishes, who had become the plaything of demons, he straightway led up on high.

Truly the exceeding greatness of his power.

In the heavenly places he made him higher than all created nature, far above all rule and authority.

Far above all rule, he says.

Truly there is need of the Spirit, of a wise understanding in the knowledge of him;

Consider how great is the gulf between the nature of man and of God;

from this lowliness he led him up to that honour;

he passed over not one step and a second and a third.

he said not simply, Above, but, Far above.

For God is higher than the powers above.

Thus He led Him up thither—Him who is of us—raising Him from the lowest starting-post to the highest beginning, beyond which there is no other honor.

Not above some and not others, but 'far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named'—whatever there is in heaven, He has become higher than all.

This is said of Him who was raised from the dead;

for concerning God the Word this could in no way be said.

For what gnats are to men, that is the whole creation to God.

And why do I speak of gnats? If all men shall be accounted as spittle, and were reckoned as the turning of a scale, set the invisible powers themselves as gnats.

Not, then, of God the Word did he speak thus, but of Him who is of us;

this is truly great and marvelous.

For from the lowest parts of the earth He led Him up.

If all the nations are as a drop, how great a part of the drop is one man? Yet this one He made higher than all, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

So there are names of certain powers unknown to us and unrecognized.

'And He put all things under His feet.'

He did not simply make Him higher, so as to be merely preferred above them, nor by way of comparison, but that He might preside over them as over slaves.

Wonder of wonders! Truly awesome are these things!

Every created power has become the servant of a man, on account of God the Word who dwells within Him.

For it is possible to be set above some without having them obey, yet only being preferred;

but here it is not so; rather, 'He put all things under His feet;'

and He did not simply subject them, but with the uttermost subjection, after which there is no other.

'And gave Him to be head over all things to the Church.'

Wonder! See to what a height He has again exalted the Church!

As if drawing her up by some engine, He led her up to a great height, and seated her upon that very throne;

for where the head is, there also is the body;

for by no intervening space is the head divided from the body;

for if it were divided, it would no longer be a body, it would no longer be a head.

What means 'over all things'? Either Christ, who is over all things visible and intelligible;

these good things did this accomplish—the giving of the Son to be head.

Neither angel, nor archangel, nor any other did He leave higher.

And not only in this did He honor us, by raising up Him who is of us, but also in that He prepared the whole common race to follow Him, to hold fast to Him, to accompany Him.

For, lest on hearing 'head' you should think only of rule, but also of firm constancy, and lest you should see Him only as a ruler, but as the head of a body, 'the fullness,' he says, 'of Him who fills all in all.'

As though this were not enough to show the kinship and the nearness, what does he say? 'The Church is the fullness of Christ.'

For indeed the body is the fullness of the head, and the head is the fullness of the body.

See with how great order Paul proceeds, how he spares no word, so as to set forth the glory of God.

That is to say, in the manner that a head is made full by the body;

for the body is composed of all its parts, and has need of each single one.

See how he introduces Him as having need of all in common.

For unless we are many—and one be a hand, another a foot, another some other member—the whole body is not made full.

Through all, then, is His body made full.

Then is the head made full, then does the body become perfect, when we are all together joined and knit together.

Did you see the riches of the glory of the inheritance? Did you see the exceeding greatness of the power toward those who believe? Did you see the hope of the calling? Let us reverence our Head; let us consider of what Head we are the body—the Head to which all things are subjected.

And according to this pattern we ought to be better than the angels, and greater than the archangels, as having been preferred above them all.

'For God took not hold of angels,' as he says when writing to the Hebrews, 'but of the seed of Abraham;'

not of rule, nor authority, nor dominion, nor any other power;

but our nature He took upon Himself, and seated it on high.

And why do I say 'seated'? He made it His own garment, and not simply that, but 'He put all things under His feet.'

How many deaths do you wish to lay down? How many souls? Ten thousand and many times more? Yet you will say nothing equal to it.

For He wrought two of the greatest things: He Himself came to the uttermost of lowliness, and He raised man up to a great height of exaltation.

He said that first—that He humbled Himself so greatly;

now he tells the thing higher than this, the great matter—truly the very crown of all.

And yet, even had we been counted worthy of nothing, it would have sufficed;

or again, if we had been counted worthy of this, apart from His being slain, it would have sufficed;

but when both are together, what excess of speech could ever surpass or overtop it? The resurrection is no great thing when I reckon these things.

'The God of our Lord Jesus Christ'—this is not said of God the Word.

Let us reverence the nearness of the kinship; let us fear lest anyone be cut off from this body, lest anyone fall away, lest anyone be found unworthy.

If someone placed a diadem about our head, a golden crown, would we not do everything to be seen worthy of the lifeless stones? But now it is not a diadem that is set about our head; rather, Christ Himself has become our Head, which is far greater, and we make no account of it.

But angels reverence her, and archangels, and all those powers;

shall we, who are His body, reverence neither for this cause nor for that? And what hope of salvation will there be for us? Consider the royal throne; consider the exceeding greatness of the honor;

this, if we are willing, will be able to make us fear even more than hell itself.

For even if there were no hell, to be honored with so great an honor and yet to be found unworthy and evil—what chastisement, what punishment would this not deserve? Consider near to whom your Head is seated;

this alone is enough for anything whatsoever;

But she indeed is far above all rule and authority and power;

and shall her body be trodden underfoot even by demons? Nay, God forbid;

for if it were so, such a body would no longer remain a body.

Even the well-approved of His servants tremble at your Head, and do you subject the body to those who have offended? And of how great a chastisement will you not be worthy? If someone were to bind the feet of the king with collars and fetters, would he not be liable to the uttermost penalty? And you—the whole

body you cast to fierce wild beasts, and do you not shudder? But since our discourse concerns the Lord's body, come, let us also make mention of that body—the one that was crucified, nailed, offered in sacrifice.

If you are the body of Christ, bear the cross;

bear the spittings, bear the blows, bear the nails.

Such was that body.

That body was without sin;

'For He did no sin,' he says, 'neither was deceit found in His mouth;'

His hands wrought all things for the well-doing of those in need;

His mouth uttered nothing unbecoming.

'You have a demon,' He heard, and answered nothing back.

But since our discourse concerns the body—all we who partake of the body, all we who taste of this blood—consider that we partake of that which in no way differs from Him nor is separated from Him; that we taste of Him who is seated on high, who is worshipped by the angels, who is near the incorruptible Power.

Alas, how many are the roads set before us unto salvation!

He made us His own body; He imparted to us His own body; and none of these things turns us away from our evils.

O the darkness, and the great abyss!

'Set your minds,' he says, 'on the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.'

and after this, some are anxious about money, while others are taken captive by the passions.

Do you not see that even in our own body, whatever is superfluous and useless is cut off and pared away? And it is no gain that a member has become part of the body, when it is maimed, when it is deadened, when it is rotted, when it also harms the rest. Let us not, then, take confidence merely because we have once become part of the body.

But if this body, which is by nature part of us, is nevertheless cut off, what dreadful thing will the things of the will not suffer if they do not abide? When the body does not partake of this nourishment, when the passages are blocked, then it is deadened.

when the channels are blocked, then it is maimed.

So too, when we stop up our ears, our soul is maimed.

when we do not partake of the spiritual nourishment, when certain wickednesses, like corrupted humors, ravage us—all these things give birth to a grievous disease, a disease that works consumption;

and it will then need that fire, it will need to be cut asunder. For Christ does not endure to enter the bridal chamber with such a body.

If He led away and cast out the man clothed in filthy garments, what will He not do to the one who adds filth to the body itself? What will He not inflict upon him? I see many partaking of the body of Christ carelessly and at random, and rather by custom and rule than by reason and understanding.

'When the season of the holy Forty Days arrives,' someone says, 'whatever sort of person one may be, he partakes of the mysteries; and when the day of the Epiphany arrives, likewise.'

And yet the season is not what makes one fit to approach.

For it is not the Epiphany, nor Lent, that makes men worthy to approach, but the sincerity and purity of the soul.

With this always approach; without it, never.

'For as often,' he says, 'as you do this, you proclaim the Lord's death;'

that is: You make remembrance of the salvation that was for your sake, of My benefaction.

Consider how great was the care used by those who partook of the sacrifice under the old covenant.

For what did they not do? What did they not perform? They were always purifying themselves.

But you, approaching a sacrifice at which even the angels tremble, do you limit the matter to the cycles of the seasons? And how will you stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, daring to touch His very body with defiled hands and lips? You would not choose to kiss a king if your mouth stank;

yet do you kiss the King of heaven with a stinking soul? The thing is an outrage.

Tell me, would you choose to approach the sacrifice with unwashed hands? I think not;

rather you would prefer not to approach at all than to do so with filthy hands.

Then, being so scrupulous in the small matter, do you approach with a filthy soul and dare to touch? And yet by the hands it is held only for a moment, but into the soul it is wholly dissolved.

What then? Do you not see the sacred vessels so thoroughly rinsed, so gleaming? Our souls must be purer than these, holier and more resplendent than these.

Why so? Because those things become such for our sake.

It does not partake of what is within; it does not perceive.

But as it is, you would not choose to use a filthy vessel, yet do you approach with a filthy soul? I see great inconsistency in the matter.

At other times you often do not approach even when you are clean, but at Pascha, even if something reckless has been done by you, you come forward.

In vain is the daily sacrifice, in vain do we stand beside the altar, when there is no one who partakes.

These things I say, not that you should simply partake, but that you should render yourselves worthy.

Are you not worthy of the sacrifice, nor of the communion? Then neither are you worthy of the prayer.

You hear the herald standing and saying:

'All you who are in penance, depart.'

All who do not partake are in penance.

If you are among those in penance, you ought not to partake;

for he who does not partake is among those in penance.

Why then does he say, 'Depart, you who are unable to pray,' while you stand there brazenly? But suppose you are not one of these, but of those able to partake—and yet you take no thought? Do you count the matter as nothing?

A royal table is set, angels ministering at the table, the King Himself is present—and do you stand gaping? Are your garments filthy, and do you give it no thought? But are they clean? Then recline, and partake.

He comes each day to look upon those reclining; He converses with all;

and even now He will say within your conscience:

'Friends, how is it that you stand here, not having a wedding garment?' He did not say, 'Why did you recline?' but before the reclining and the entering He declares him unworthy;

for He did not say, 'Why did you recline?' but, 'Why did you enter?' These things He speaks even now to all of us who stand shamelessly and brazenly.

For everyone who does not partake of the mysteries stands there shamelessly and brazenly.

For this reason those who are in sins are cast out first.

For just as, when the master has arrived at the table, those of the servants who have given offense ought not to be present but withdraw out of the way,

so too here: when the sacrifice is brought forth, and Christ is offered up, even the Master's own Lamb—when you hear, 'Let us all pray together,' when you see the veils drawn up, then reckon that heaven is parted from above, and that the angels are descending.

As, therefore, none of the uninitiated ought to be present, so neither any of the initiated who are filthy.

Tell me, if someone invited to a banquet were to wash his hands, recline, and make himself ready for the table, and then not partake—does he not insult the one who invited him? Would it not be better for such a one not even to have come? So too you have come;

you sang the hymn; together with all you confessed to be among the worthy, by not having withdrawn with the unworthy;

how is it that you have remained, and yet do not partake of the table? 'I am unworthy,' you say.

Then you are also unworthy of that fellowship which is in the prayers.

For not through the offerings set forth alone, but also through those hymns, the Spirit descends from every side.

Do you not see our servants rinsing the table all around with the sponge, and cleansing the house, and only then setting out the platters? This is done through the prayers, through the cry of the herald;

as with a sponge we rinse the church all around, that in a cleansed church all things may be set forth, that there be no spot nor wrinkle.

Unworthy are even the eyes of these sights, unworthy also the ears.

'Even if a beast touch the mountain,' he says, 'it shall be stoned.'

Thus they were not even worthy to set foot upon it;

and yet afterward they both drew near and saw where God stood.

It is permitted afterward to draw near and to see;

it is no more permitted to you than to the catechumen.

For it is not the same thing never yet to have obtained the mysteries, and, after obtaining them, to give offense and despise them, and to render oneself unworthy of the matter.

It were possible to say still more, and things more fearful, but so as not to burden your understanding, these too suffice;

for those who are not brought to their senses by these things will not be brought to their senses by more either.

In order, then, that we may not work a greater judgment for you, we exhort you—not that you should stay away, but that you should render yourselves worthy both of the presence and of the approach.

Tell me, if some king had given a command and said, 'If anyone does such a thing, let him keep away from my table,' would you not, for its sake…

would you not have done everything for its sake? He has called us to the heavens, to the table of the great and wondrous King, and yet we draw back and delay, and neither hasten nor run eagerly to the matter? And what hope of salvation is there for us? It is not possible to plead weakness, it is not possible to plead nature.

It is sloth alone that renders us unworthy.

These things, then, have been said on our part;

but may He who pierces hearts, who gives the spirit of compunction, pierce your hearts, and cast the seed into the depths, so that out of the fear of Him you may conceive in the womb and bring forth a spirit of salvation, and come with boldness.

For 'your sons,' He says, 'are like young olive plants round about your table.'

Let there be, therefore, nothing old, nothing wild, nothing untamed, nothing raw.

For such young plants are fit for fruit—and by fruit I mean that wondrous fruit, the fruit of the olive—and strong, so that all may be around the table, and may not come together here at random or by chance, but with fear and awe.

For thus you shall also behold Christ Himself there with boldness, and shall be counted worthy of the heavenly kingdom;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honour, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.