Homilies on Hebrews 12

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God the Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything—first being interpreted as king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem (which is king of peace), without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest perpetually.

Paul, wishing to show the difference between the New and the Old, scatters this point in many places, and skirmishes, and rings it in the ears of his hearers, and exercises them beforehand.

For at once, even from the very preface, he laid down this point, saying that to those men He spoke through the prophets, but to us through the Son;

and to those men in many parts and in many ways, but to us through the Son.

Then, having discoursed concerning the Son—who He is and what He has wrought—and having exhorted them to obey Him, lest we suffer the same things as the Jews, and having said that He is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and having often wished to enter upon this distinction, and having made much preparation beforehand, and having rebuked them as weak, and again having healed and restored them so that they might take courage—

then at last he introduces the discourse of the distinction, while their ears were at their keenest;

for one who has grown slack would not readily give heed.

And that you may learn this, listen to the Scripture, which says:

'And they did not hearken to Moses because of their faintheartedness.'

For this reason, having first emptied out their despondency by many means—by things fearful and by things more comforting—then at last he lets himself down into the discourse of the distinction;

and what does he say? 'For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God the Most High.'

And what is indeed marvellous, he shows in the type itself that the difference is great.

For as I said, from the type he always confirms the truth—the present things from the things that are past—on account of the weakness of his hearers.

'For this Melchizedek,' he says, 'king of Salem, priest of God the Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;'

'to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything.'

Having set forth the whole narrative in brief, he contemplated it mystically;

and first, from the name;

'First,' he says, 'being interpreted, king of righteousness.'

For 'Sedek' means righteousness;

therefore Melchizedek is king of righteousness.

Do you see the exactness even in the names? And who is king of righteousness, but our Lord Jesus Christ? Then also king of Salem, from the city;

that is to say, king of peace;

for this is how 'Salem' is interpreted.

Which again belongs to Christ;

for He it is who made us righteous, and made peace between the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.

But what man is king of righteousness and of peace? No other, but our Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Then he adduces yet another difference, saying: 'Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.'

Since, then, there stood against him the saying, 'You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek,' whereas Melchizedek had died and did not become a priest for ever;

For lest anyone should object, saying, 'And who could say this of a man?'—he says, 'I do not speak according to the fact;'

that is to say, we do not at all know what father he had, or what mother, nor when he received his beginning, nor when he came to his end.

'And who is this?' he says. For because we do not know, did he therefore not come to an end, or not have parents? Well said—he did indeed come to an end, and did have parents.

How then is he 'without father, without mother'? How is he one 'having neither beginning of days nor end of life'? How? By his not being recorded in the Scripture.

And what of this? That, just as this man is 'without father' by reason of not being genealogized, so Christ is so by the very nature of the thing.

Behold the beginninglessness; behold the endlessness.

Just as of this man we know neither beginning of days nor end of life, because of its not being written;

so also of Jesus we know it not—not because it is not written, but because it does not exist.

The one is a type, and therefore it comes from its not being written;

but the other is truth, and therefore it comes from its not existing.

For just as with the names (for here they were merely titles—'king of righteousness' and 'of peace'—but there it was the truth of the realities), so also here they are titles, whereas there it is the truth of the realities.

How then does He have a beginning? You see the Son to be without beginning—not in the sense of having no cause;

for else, how would He be Son? But rather in the sense of having neither beginning of life nor end.

'And made like,' he says, 'unto the Son of God.'

And where is the likeness? In that of both this man and that One we are ignorant of the end.

But of this man it is because it is not written, while of that One it is because it does not exist.

But if the likeness were to be complete in every respect, there would no longer be type and truth, but both would be type.

One may see this same thing happening also in painted images sketched in outline;

for in these there is something like, and also something unlike;

for through the mere drawing there is a certain likeness of the form;

but when the colours are laid on, then the difference is plainly shown—both the like and the unlike.

'Consider,' he says, 'how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth out of the choicest spoils.'

Taking courage now, he shows him to be more illustrious than the true realities among the Jews.

But if he who bore so great a type of Christ was better—not merely than the priests, but even than the very forefather of the priests—

what might one say concerning the truth itself? You see out of how great an abundance he demonstrates the superiority.

'Consider,' he says, 'how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth out of the choicest spoils.'

The 'choicest spoils' (akrothinia) means the plunder.

And one cannot say that he gave it to him as to one who had shared in the war;

for on this account he said, 'He met him returning from the slaughter of the kings;'

showing that he sat at home, and that Abraham gave the firstfruits of the labours accomplished by himself.

And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law—that is, from their own brethren—although these had come forth from the loins of Abraham.

'So great,' he says, 'is the surpassing dignity of the priesthood, that those who are of equal honour by descent and have the same forefather are far better than the rest.'

At any rate, they receive tithes from those men.

When, therefore, someone is found receiving tithes even from these very men, are not these in the rank of laymen, and that one among the priests? And not this only, but he was not even of equal honour with them, but of another race.

So that Abraham would not have given tithes to one of another tribe, unless the honour had been great.

What did he accomplish? He made this clearer than the things concerning faith which he handled in the Epistle to the Romans.

For there he says that Abraham is the forefather both of our own polity and of the Jewish;

but here he is very bold concerning him, and shows the uncircumcised man to be much better.

How then did he show it? That Levi gave tithes? 'Abraham,' he says, 'gave them.'

And what has this to do with us? Nay rather, it has very much to do with you;

for surely you will not contend that the Levites are greater than Abraham.

But he who is not reckoned in their genealogy took tithes of Abraham.

Then too he did not pass it over simply, but added: And he blessed him that had the promises.

Since this was, up and down, the ground of the Jews' pride, he shows that the one was more honourable than the other, and that from the common judgement of all.

And beyond all contradiction, he says, the less is blessed of the better.

That is, it is the judgement of all that the less is blessed by the greater.

Therefore the type of Christ is greater even than him that had the promises.

And here indeed dying men receive tithes;

but there one of whom it is witnessed that he lives.

But lest they should say those things—Why do you go so far back? What is it to our priests, if Abraham gave tithes? Tell us of the things that concern us;

and well did he chasten this point, not saying it openly, that he might not wound them.

Through Abraham, Levi also, who receives tithes, has been tithed.

How so? For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

That is, Levi was in him, and though not yet born, through him he paid the tithe.

the greater point, as he wished, gathering from thence also unto a hyperbole.

Did you see how great is the interval between Abraham and Melchizedek, who bears the type of our High Priest? And he shows that the pre-eminence came about by authority, not by necessity.

For the one gave the tithe, which is the part of a priest;

the other blessed, which is the part of a superior.

This pre-eminence passes over also to his descendants.

Wonderfully and superabundantly did he cast out the Jewish things.

For this reason then he said, You have become dull, since he wished to lay down these things, so that they might not start away.

For such is the wisdom of Paul;

preparing the ground first, he thus casts them into the things which he desires.

For the human race is hard to persuade, and needs much care, and more than plants.

For there indeed there is a nature of bodies and of earth, yielding to the hands of the husbandmen;

but here there is a will, which admits of many changes, and now chooses this, now that;

for it is prone to slip swiftly toward evil.

Wherefore we must always guard ourselves, lest we should ever fall asleep.

For behold, he says, He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep;

Suffer not your foot to be moved.

He did not say, Be not moved, but, Suffer it not.

Therefore to give way rests with us, and not with any other.

For if we are willing to stand firm and immovable, we shall not be shaken;

for by speaking thus, he hinted this.

What then? Does nothing rest with God? All things indeed rest with God;

but not in such a way that our free will should be harmed.

If then it rests with God, he says, why does He blame us? For this reason I said, Not in such a way that our free will should be harmed.

It rests then both with us and with Him;

for we must first choose the good things, and when we have chosen, then He also brings in what is from Himself.

He does not anticipate our wills, lest He should destroy our free will;

but when we have chosen, then He brings in much help to us.

How then, if it also rests with us, does Paul say:

It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy? First, he did not bring it in as his own opinion, but gathered it from what lay before him, and from what had been set forth.

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, he added;

So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.

Why does He yet find fault? And secondly, one may say this, that to whom the greater part belongs, of him he says that the whole belongs.

For ours is the choosing and the willing, but God's is the accomplishing and the bringing to an end.

Since then the greater part is His, he says that the whole is His, speaking this according to human custom.

For so also we do;

We see a house well built, and we say:

The whole is the craftsman's;

and yet the whole is not his, but also the workmen's, and the master's who furnished the material, and many others';

but nevertheless, since he contributed the greater part, we say the whole is his.

And again, in the case of a multitude, where the many are, we say that all are;

So also Paul here says, Not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.

And in saying this, he achieves two very great things;

one, that we should not be lifted up over the good deeds we do;

and secondly, that when we do well, we should ascribe to God the cause of the good things done.

Though therefore you run, though you be zealous, he says, do not think the good deed to be your own;

for unless you obtain the impulse from above, all is in vain.

Except that you will attain what you strive for with the help from thence, is very plain;

but only if you also run, if you also will.

He did not therefore say this, that we run in vain, but that we run in vain if we think the whole to be ours, if we do not assign the greater part to God.

For neither did God will the whole to be His, lest He should seem to crown us in vain;

nor again ours, lest we should fall into arrogance.

For if, having the lesser part, we are high-minded, what would we be if we were lords of the whole? For God did many things in order to cut off our boastfulness.

And still His hand is high, he says.

With how many sufferings did He surround us, so as to cut off our high-mindedness? With how many wild beasts did He encircle us?

For indeed when some say, What is this? To what end is this? they say these things contrary to what seems good to God.

He set you in so great a fear, and not even so are you humble-minded; but if ever you should lay hold of a little prosperity, you reach heaven itself in your pride.

For this reason come the swiftest changes and reversals; and not even so are we chastened.

For this reason there are continual and untimely deaths, yet we think as though immortal, as though we shall never die.

So we plunder, so we grasp for more, as though we shall never render an account.

So we build, as though we should abide here forever; and neither the word of God, sounding in our ears each day, nor the very events themselves, instruct us.

There is no day, no hour to be named, in which one may not see continual funerals;

yet all is in vain, and nothing reaches through to our hardness.

Not even in the misfortunes of others are we able to become better; or rather, we do not even wish to.

But only when we ourselves are in mourning, then are we humbled;

and if God relaxes His hand, again we lift up our hand against Him.

No one minds the things above, no one despises the things on earth, no one looks toward heaven;

but just as swine bend downward, stooping toward the belly and wallowing in the mire,

so also the many among men, defiling themselves with the most grievous mire, do not perceive it;

for it is better to be defiled with unclean mud than with sins.

For he who is defiled by the former washes it off in a short time, and becomes like one who never fell into that slough at all in the first place;

but he who has fallen into the pit of sin has received a defilement that is not cleansed by water, but requires much time, and exact repentance, and tears, and beatings of the breast, and lamentation greater and more fervent than that which you display over those dearest to you.

For this filth comes upon us from without;

wherefore we quickly put it off;

but that other is begotten from within;

wherefore only with difficulty do we wash it away and are cleansed.

For 'out of the heart,' He says, 'proceed evil thoughts, fornications, adulteries, thefts, false witnessings.'

Wherefore also the prophet said:

'Create in me a clean heart, O God;'

'Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem.'

Do you see that the right-doing is both ours and God's? And again, 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'

Let us then become pure according to our power;

let us wipe away our sins.

And how is it possible to wipe them away? The prophet teaches, saying, 'Wash yourselves, become clean, remove your wickednesses from your souls before My eyes.'

What is 'before My eyes'? Since some seem to be free from wickedness, but only to men, while to God they are plainly whitewashed tombs;

for this reason He says, 'Remove them in such a way as I see.'

'Learn to do good, seek judgment, do justice to the lowly and the poor;'

'and come, and let us reason together, says the Lord;'

'and though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow;'

'but though they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool.'

Do you see that we must first cleanse ourselves, and then God cleanses? For having first said, 'Wash yourselves, become clean,' then He added, 'I will make you white.'

Let no one, then, of those who have come to the utmost wickedness despair of himself;

for even if, He says, you have come into a fixed habit, and almost into the very nature of that wickedness, do not be afraid.

For this reason, taking colors that do not fade, but are almost made one in substance with the materials that receive them, He declared that they would come into the opposite condition.

For He did not say simply to wash, but to whiten as snow and as wool, that He might hold out to us good hopes.

Great, then, is the power of repentance, if indeed it works us white as snow, and whitens us as wool, even though sin had beforehand dyed our souls.

Let us then be diligent to become clean;

'Judge for the orphan, and do justice to the widow,' He says.

Do you see everywhere how great with God is the theme of mercy, and of the defense of those who are wronged? Let us pursue these good deeds, and we shall be able, by the

grace of God, to attain also to the good things to come;

of which may it be granted us all to be deemed worthy, in Christ Jesus our Lord.