Homilies on Hebrews 31

Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.

Many indeed are the marks that characterize Christianity, but above all and better than all is love toward one another and peace.

For this reason Christ also says:

'My peace I give to you;'

and again, 'By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.'

For this reason Paul too now says:

Pursue peace with all men, and holiness—that is, seemliness of life—without which no one shall see the Lord.

Watching diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God.

As though of those traveling some long road in a great company, he says, See to it that no one has been left behind;

for I do not seek this alone, that you should arrive, but that you should also watch over the others.

Lest anyone, he says, fall short of the grace of God.

By the grace of God he calls the good things to come—the evangelical faith, the most excellent manner of life;

for all things are of the grace of God.

Do not therefore say to me that it is but one who is perishing;

even for one Christ died.

For one Christ died, and do you not take thought? Watching, he says;

that is, searching diligently, overseeing, inquiring carefully—which is what is done in the case of the weak—and examining through all things, taking careful note.

Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.

This is found in Deuteronomy;

and he took it from the metaphor of plants.

Lest any root, he says, of bitterness;

which elsewhere too, in writing, he expresses: 'A little leaven leavens the whole lump.'

Not for that man's sake alone, he says, do I desire this, but also because of the harm that comes from him.

That is, even if there be some such root, do not let a single shoot come up, but let it be cut off, so that it may not bear its own fruits, and so that it may not defile and pollute the others as well.

For lest any root of bitterness, he says, springing up trouble you, and by it many be defiled.

And fittingly he called sin bitter;

for truly nothing is more bitter than sin;

and this those know who, after committing it, are consumed by conscience, who endure much bitterness;

for being most bitter, it perverts the very reasoning faculty.

Such is the nature of that which is bitter: it is useless.

He did not say 'a bitter thing,' but 'of bitterness';

for a bitter root can bring forth sweet fruits, but a root and fountain and source of bitterness cannot;

it can never bring forth sweet fruit;

for all its produce is bitter, it has nothing pleasant, all is bitter, all is disagreeable, all is full of hatred and loathing.

'And by it,' he says, 'many be defiled.'

That is, In order that this may not happen, cut off the licentious.

'Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his own birthright.'

Was Esau a fornicator? He does not here say that Esau was a fornicator, but the phrase stands in contrast to the words, 'Follow after sanctification';

and the word 'profane' is what was said with reference to him.

Let no one, then, be like Esau, profane, that is, gluttonous, intemperate, worldly, one who barters away spiritual things.

'Who for one morsel of food sold his own birthright.'

That is, who through his own slothfulness gave away this honor from God, and for the sake of a little pleasure lost the greatest honor and glory.

This is fitting language toward them, this is the mark of a foul man, this of an unclean man.

So that not only the fornicator is unclean, but also the glutton, who is a slave of his belly.

For this man too is a slave of another kind of pleasure; he is compelled to be covetous, compelled to plunder, to behave disgracefully in countless ways, being a slave to that passion, and he often blasphemes.

This man reckoned the birthright to be worth nothing.

Therefore, providing for his momentary ease, he went so far even as to give up his birthright.

So that the birthright is henceforth ours, not the Jews'.

At the same time this also bears upon their condition;

for by this he all but hints that the first has become last, and the second first;

this one first through endurance, that one last through slothfulness.

'For ye know,' he says, 'that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected;

for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.'

What then does this mean? Does it perhaps do away with repentance? By no means.

But how, one asks, did he find no place of repentance? For if he condemned himself, if he lamented greatly, why did he not find place of repentance? Because the matter was not one of repentance.

For just as the grief of Cain was not of repentance—as the murder showed—

so here too the words were not of repentance, and afterward the murder showed it;

for he too in his purpose slew Jacob.

'For the days of mourning for my father are at hand,' he says, 'and I will slay my brother Jacob.'

For this reason his tears had no power to give him repentance.

And he did not say simply 'of repentance,' but 'though he sought it even with tears, he found no place of repentance.'

Why so? Because he did not repent in the way he ought;

since how else could he speak these things? how could he again exhort those who had grown sluggish? those who had become lame? those who were paralyzed? those who had grown slack? those who were enfeebled? for this is the beginning of a fall.

It seems to me that he is hinting at certain fornicators among them, yet not wishing to convict them for the present, but feigning ignorance, so that they may amend themselves.

For one must first feign ignorance, but afterward, when they persist, then bring the reproof to bear, so that they may not be past shame.

This is just what Moses also did in the case of Zambri and the Midianitess.

'For he found no place,' he says, 'of repentance.'

He found no repentance, either because he had sinned a sin too great for repentance, or because he did not show a repentance worthy of it.

There are then sins too great for repentance.

Let us not fall an incurable fall;

so long as the matter is but a limping, it is easy to become upright again;

but if we are wrenched clean out of joint, what then remains? For to those who have not yet fallen he thus speaks, bracing them by fear, and says that one who has fallen cannot obtain consolation;

but to those who have fallen, so that they may not sink into despair, he exhorts the contrary, speaking thus:

'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you';

and again, 'Whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.'

Behold, he testifies that they had fallen away.

For he who stands, hearing that one who has fallen cannot obtain pardon, will be the more vehement and the more secure in his standing;

yet if you use the same vehemence toward the one who has fallen, he will never rise again;

for with what hope will he show a change? But he does not only say 'He wept,' but also 'He sought earnestly';

he does not therefore do away with repentance when he says, 'He found no place of repentance';

rather he thereby the more secures them against falling.

Let all, then, who disbelieve in hell call these things to mind;

let all who suppose that they sin unpunished reckon on these things.

Why did Esau not obtain pardon? Because he did not repent as he ought.

Do you wish to see an exact repentance?

Hear Peter's repentance after his denial.

For the Evangelist, relating to us what befell him, says, 'And he went out, and wept bitterly.'

For this reason such a sin was forgiven him, because he repented in the way he ought.

And yet the sacrifice had not yet been offered, the offering had not yet been made, sin had not yet been taken away, but still held sway and tyrannized.

And that you may learn that the denial was not so much a matter of slothfulness as of God's forsaking him, to teach him to know the measures of human nature, and not to gainsay what was said by his Teacher, nor to think himself greater than the rest, but to know that apart from God nothing is possible to be done, and that, 'Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it';

hear how, to make him secure and to persuade him to be moderate, Christ said to him alone:

'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.'

For since it was likely that he would be highminded, being conscious to himself that he loved Christ more than all, for this reason he is suffered to fall, to deny his Teacher; for this reason too he weeps bitterly, and does likewise all the rest that follows upon his weeping.

For what did he not do? He cast himself into countless dangers thereafter, showing through all his manliness and the steadfastness of his soul.

Judas too repented, but in an evil way;

Esau too repented, as I said;

or rather, this man did not even repent;

for his tears were not of repentance, but rather of spite and of wrath.

The blessed David repented, speaking thus:

Every night I will wash my bed; with my tears I will drench my couch.

And the sin committed long ago—after so many years, after so many generations—he mourned as though it had just now happened.

For the one who repents ought not to be angry nor to grow fierce, but to be broken as one condemned, as one who has no boldness, as one under sentence, as one who must be saved by mercy alone, as one who has proved thankless toward his Benefactor, as ungrateful, as reprobate, as worthy of ten thousand punishments.

If he reckons upon these things, he will not be angry, will not be indignant, but will mourn, weep, groan, and lament night and day.

The one who repents must never consign his sin to forgetfulness, but must entreat God not to remember it, while he himself must never forget it.

If we remember it, God will forget it.

Let us exact the penalty from our own selves; let us accuse our own selves.

In this way we shall propitiate the Judge.

For sin, when confessed, becomes less; but when not confessed, becomes worse.

For if sin takes on shamelessness and ingratitude, it will never come to a stand.

And how at all will such a man be able to guard himself again from falling into the same faults, when he did not even before know that he had sinned? Let us not, then, I beg you, deny our sins nor grow shameless, lest even against our will we pay the penalty.

Cain heard from God, 'Where is Abel your brother?' and he says, 'I do not know.'

'Am I my brother's keeper?' Do you see how this made the sin more grievous? But his father was not so; rather, what? When he heard, 'Adam, where are you?' he says, 'I heard your voice, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself.'

It is a great good to acknowledge one's sins and to remember them continually.

Nothing so heals a fault as unceasing remembrance.

Nothing makes a man so slow toward wickedness.

I know that the conscience recoils and cannot bear to be scourged by the memory of its evils.

But constrain the soul, and put a muzzle upon it.

For like a horse hard to rein, so it chafes and refuses to persuade itself that it has sinned.

And this whole thing is satanic.

But let us persuade the soul that it has sinned, so that it may both repent, and, having repented, be delivered from the punishments.

How do you claim to obtain pardon, tell me, for your sins, when you have not yet confessed them? Surely it is he who has sinned and confessed who is worthy of mercy and loving-kindness;

but you, who have not yet persuaded yourself that you have sinned, how do you claim to be pitied, while you remain so shameless about your transgressions?

Let us persuade ourselves that we have sinned.

Let us not say it with the tongue only, but also with the mind.

Let us not merely call ourselves sinners, but let us also reckon up our sins, recounting each one according to its kind.

I do not say to you, Parade yourself, nor accuse yourself before others; rather I counsel you to obey the prophet who says:

'Reveal your way unto the Lord.'

Confess these things before God; before the Judge confess your sins, praying—if not with the tongue, yet with the memory—and thus ask to be pitied.

If you keep your sins continually in memory, you will never bear a grudge against your neighbor.

And I do not say this merely if you are persuaded that you are a sinner;

for nothing can so humble the soul as the sins themselves, considered in themselves and examined according to their kind.

You will bear no grudge, keeping these throughout in memory; you will not be angered, you will not revile, you will not think highly of yourself, you will not fall again into the same faults;

you will be the more ardent toward good things.

Do you see how many good things are born from the memory of sins? Let us then inscribe them upon our minds.

I know that the soul does not endure a memory so bitter;

but let us constrain it and force it.

It is better for it to be stung by the memory now than at that time by the punishment.

Now, if you are mindful of them, and continually bring them before God, and pray concerning them, you will quickly blot them out;

but if you now forget them, then you will remember them even against your will, when they are brought into the midst before the whole inhabited world, and paraded before all—friends and enemies and angels alike.

For he did not say to David alone, 'What you did in secret, I will make manifest to all,' but also to all of us.

'You feared men,' he says, 'and were ashamed before them more than before God;

and though God was watching you gave no heed, but you had regard for men;

for the eyes of men—that,' he says, 'is their fear.'

For this very reason you shall pay the penalty in these very things;

for I will convict you, setting your sins before the eyes of all.

That this is true, and that on that day the sins of us all are paraded—unless we now do away with them by unceasing remembrance—hear how the cruelty and inhumanity of those who showed no mercy here are paraded.

'I was hungry,' he says, 'and you gave me nothing to eat.'

When are these things spoken? Perhaps in a corner?

Perhaps in some hidden place? By no means. But when? When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and gathers all the nations, when he separates these from those—then, in the hearing of all, having set some on the right and some on the left, he will say:

'I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.'

See again the five virgins also, hearing in the presence of all, 'I do not know you.'

For the 'five' and 'five' do not signify merely the number five, but all the wicked and cruel and inhuman among the virgins, and all who are not such.

So too the one who buried the single talent heard his sentence in the presence of all, both of those who had brought the five and of those the two.

It is not through words only, but also through deeds that he then convicts them;

just as the evangelist also says, 'They shall look on him whom they pierced.'

For the resurrection will be at once of all, both sinners and righteous;

at once he will be present, judging all.

Consider, then, who they will be at that time—those in dejection, those in anguish, those being dragged into the fire, while others are being crowned.

'Come,' he says, 'you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;'

and again, 'Depart from me into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'

Let us not simply hear the words, but let us also sketch them before our eyes, and imagine that he is now present and speaking these things, and that we are being led away into that fire.

What soul shall we have? What consolation? And what, when we are cut asunder? What, when we are called to account for rapacity? What excuse shall we have to offer? What specious plea? None;

but there will be nothing for it but, bound and bowed down, to be dragged to the mouths of the furnaces, to the river of fire,

to the darkness, to the deathless punishments, and to be able to find no one to appeal to for release.

'For it is not possible,' he says, 'it is not possible to cross over from here to there;

for a great chasm is fixed between us and you;'

and not even to those who wish it is it possible to cross over and stretch out a hand;

but there will be the necessity of burning forever, with no one to defend us—be it father, be it mother, be it whoever it may be, even if he have much boldness before God.

'For a brother,' he says, 'does not redeem.'

Shall a man redeem himself? Since, then, it is not possible to place the hopes of salvation in another, but in oneself, after the loving-kindness of God, I beseech you, let us do everything so that our life may become pure and our conduct excellent, and that we may not from the very outset receive any stain;

but if we have received one, then at least after the stain let us not sleep, but continually persevere in washing away the filth through repentance, through tears, through prayers, through almsgiving.

What then, someone says, if I have no means to practise almsgiving? But you have a cup of cold water, however poor you may be;

but you have two mites, however deep your poverty may be;

but you have feet, so as to visit the sick, so as to enter into the prison; but you have a roof, so as to receive strangers.

For there is not, there is no pardon whatsoever for the one who does not practise almsgiving.

These things we say to you continually, that we may accomplish at least a little through this persistence;

these things we say, not out of care for those who receive kindness, but for you.

For to them you give the things of this present world, but you receive in return the things of heaven;

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