Homilies on Hebrews 4

For it was not to angels that He subjected the world to come, of which we speak.

But one somewhere testified, saying:

'What is man that You are mindful of him? Or the son of man that You visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels.'

I could wish to know clearly whether any listen to what is said with fitting diligence, whether we are not casting the seeds by the wayside;

for so I would carry on the teaching more eagerly.

For we will speak, even though no one listens, on account of the fear laid upon us by the Savior.

'For testify,' He says, 'to this people;

and though they do not hear, you shall be without blame.'

But if I were persuaded concerning your diligence, I should speak not on account of fear alone, but should do this also with pleasure.

For now, even though no one listens, even though the matter is without peril to me who fulfill my own part, yet nevertheless the labor is not accompanied with pleasure.

For what profit is there, when I am not called to account, but no one is benefited? But if some are going to give heed, we shall reap not so great a benefit from not being punished as from your progress.

How then shall I know this? By watching for some of you who do not much give heed, I shall question these when I meet them privately; and if I find any retaining what has been said—I do not say all,

for that is not very easy for you;

but if even a little out of much, it is plain that concerning the rest I no longer even doubt.

And indeed we ought, without forewarning of this, to have fallen upon you unawares;

yet it is a thing to be welcomed, if even thus we should be able to succeed;

or rather, even thus I am able to fall upon you unawares.

For that I will question you, I have foretold;

but when I will question, I do not make clear;

for perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps after twenty or even thirty days, perhaps after fewer, perhaps also after more.

So too did God make the day of our death uncertain;

and He has left it not clear to us whether it will come today, or tomorrow, or after a whole year, or after many years, in order that by the uncertainty of expectation we may continually hold ourselves in virtue;

and that we shall depart, He said; but when, He said no more.

So I too said that I will question, but I did not add when, wishing you to be in concern continually.

And let no one say, 'Four weeks ago and five and more I heard these things, and I cannot retain them;'

for I wish the hearer so to retain them as to have the memory unforgetting and not faded, and not to spit out the things spoken.

For I wish you to retain them, not that you may repeat them to me, but that you yourselves may gain;

and this is what I am earnest about.

But since all that had to be said for your security has been spoken by us, it is now necessary to begin the sequence of the text.

What then is it that lies before us to say today? 'For it was not to angels,' he says, 'that He subjected the world to come, of which we speak.'

Is he then speaking of some other world? It is not so, but of this very one.

For on this account he added, 'Of which we speak,' that he might not let the mind wander off and seek some other.

How then does he call it 'to come'? Just as elsewhere also he says, 'Who is a figure of Him that was to come,' speaking of Adam and Christ in the Epistle to the Romans, calling Christ according to the flesh 'to come' with respect to the times of Adam (for indeed He was to come);

so also now, since he had said, 'And when He brings the firstborn into the world,' lest you should suppose that he speaks of some other world, it is confirmed from many other places, and also from his very calling it 'to come.'

This world, then, which was to be, He subjected not to angels, but to Christ.

And that it was spoken concerning the Son, he says, is plain;

for neither could anyone say that it was concerning angels.

Then he brings forward yet another testimony, and says:

'But one somewhere testified, saying:'

Why did he not name the prophet, but conceal his name? He does the same thing in other testimonies as well.

And again, when he brings the Firstborn into the world, he says:

And let all the angels of God worship him.

And again, 'I will be to him a Father.'

And of the angels indeed he says:

'Who makes his angels spirits.'

But to the Son he says, 'And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth.'

And someone somewhere solemnly testified, saying:

And this very thing, I suppose—the concealing and not stating who it was that spoke the testimony, but rather introducing it as something in common circulation and well known—is the mark of one who is showing that they were exceedingly versed in the Scriptures.

'What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man, that you visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels;'

'you crowned him with glory and honour, and set him over the works of your hands;'

'you put all things in subjection under his feet.'

Now even if these words were spoken concerning humanity in general, nevertheless they would more properly fit Christ according to the flesh;

for the phrase, 'You put all things in subjection under his feet,' belongs rather to him than to us.

For the Son of God visited us when we were nothing, and having taken up what was ours and united it to himself, he became higher than all.

'For in that he put all things in subjection under him,' he says, 'he left nothing that is not put under him.'

'But now we do not yet see all things put under him.'

And what he means is of this sort:

Since he had said, 'Till I make your enemies your footstool,' and it was likely that they were still distressed, then after inserting a few things in between, he added this testimony to confirm the former.

For lest they should say, 'How has he put the enemies under his feet, when we have suffered so many things?'—he had already sufficiently hinted at it in the former passage;

for the word 'Till' did not indicate what happens immediately, but what takes place in time;

and here he pursues it further.

'For do not,' he says, 'because they are not yet made subject, suppose that they are not being made subject at all;'

for that they must be made subject is clear;

and indeed the prophecy was spoken for this very reason;

'For in that he put all things in subjection under him,' he says, 'he left nothing that is not put under him.'

How then are not all things put in subjection? Because they are about to be put in subjection.

If therefore all things ought to be made subject, but are not yet made subject, do not be distressed, nor be troubled.

For if, when the end had come and all things had been made subject, you suffered these things, you would rightly grieve;

but as it is, we do not yet see all things put under him; the King has not yet fully prevailed.

Why then are you troubled, though you suffer ill? The proclamation has not yet reached all; it is not yet the time for the complete subjection.

Then again another consolation:

He who is destined to have all put in subjection to him himself died and suffered ten thousand things.

'But we see Jesus,' he says, 'who was made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death.'

Then again the good things: 'crowned with glory and honour.'

Do you see how he fitted everything to him? For even the phrase 'a little' would fit him rather, who was in Hades three days only, and not us who are corrupted for a long time;

likewise also the phrase 'with glory and honour' will fit him far more than us.

Again he reminds them of the cross, being eager to accomplish these two things: both to show his care for them, and to persuade them to bear all things nobly, looking to the Teacher.

For if he who is worshipped by angels, he says, endured to be a little lower than the angels for your sake,

how much more ought you, who are lower than the angels, to bear all things for his sake.

Then he shows that the cross is glory and honour;

just as he himself also calls it glory, saying:

'The hour has come, that the Son of man should be glorified.'

If then he calls the things suffered for the servants glory, how much more should you the things suffered for the Master.

Do you see how great is the fruit of the cross? Do not fear the matter;

for it seems gloomy to you, yet it brings forth ten thousand blessings.

From these things he shows the benefit of temptation.

'That by the grace of God he should taste death for every man.'

And he indeed suffered these things because of the grace of God toward us;

'He that spared not his own Son,' he says, 'but delivered him up for us all.'

For what reason? He did not owe this to us, but did it out of grace.

And again in the Epistle to the Romans he says, 'Much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto the many.'

'That by the grace of God he should taste death for every man;'

not for the faithful only, but also for the whole world;

for he himself died for all.

But what if not all believed? He has fulfilled his own part.

'He should taste death for every man.'

For as one who truly tasted, having thus made a brief interval in it, he immediately rose again.

By 'the suffering of death' he signified the real death;

and by 'better than the angels' he made plain the resurrection.

For just as a physician, though having no need to taste of the food prepared for the sick man, out of his care for him first tastes it himself, in order to persuade the sick man to take courage and boldly venture upon the food;

so also Christ, since all men dreaded death, in persuading them to make bold against death, himself also tasted of it, though having no need.

'For the prince of this world comes,' he says, 'and finds nothing in me.'

Thus both the phrase 'by grace' and the phrase 'that he should taste death for every man' establish this.

'For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.'

Here he is speaking about the Father.

Do you see how the phrase 'by whom' again fits him? He would not have used it, if indeed it belonged to inferiority and were proper to the Son alone.

And what he means is of this sort:

He has done things, he says, worthy of his love toward mankind, by showing the Firstborn more illustrious than all, and by setting him, like a noble athlete who surpasses the rest, as an example to the others.

'The author of their salvation.'

That is to say, the Author of salvation.

Do you see how great the interval is? He too is a Son, and we also are sons; but He saves, while we are saved.

But He is the one who saves, while we are those who are saved.

Do you see how he both draws us together and sets us apart? 'In bringing many sons,' he says, 'unto glory.'

'The Author of their salvation.'

Therefore the sufferings are a perfecting, and a cause of salvation.

Do you see that to suffer ill is not the mark of those who have been forsaken? And if God honored the Son with this above all—by leading Him through sufferings—

then in truth, compared with making the world and bringing it into being out of nothing, that He should take flesh and suffer the things He suffered is by far the greater.

And so this indeed belongs to His love toward mankind, but that other is much more so.

And showing this very thing himself also, he says:

'That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His kindness, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'

'For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.'

'For it became Him,' he says—Him who is the guardian and who brought all things into being—to give up the Son for the salvation of the rest, the one on behalf of the many.

But he did not put it so; rather, 'to make perfect through sufferings,' showing that he who suffers on another's behalf does not benefit that one alone, but himself also becomes more glorious and more perfect.

And this he says with a view to the faithful, encouraging them.

For Christ too was then glorified, when He suffered.

But when I say that He 'was glorified,' do not suppose that any addition of glory came to Him;

for that glory which belongs to His nature He had always, having received no addition.

'For both He that sanctifies,' he says, 'and they who are sanctified, are all of one.'

'For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.'

Behold again how he draws them together, honoring them and consoling them and making them brethren of Christ, in this respect.

Then again, guarding his statement, and showing that he speaks of what is according to the flesh, he added: 'He that sanctifies, and they who are sanctified.'

Do you see how great the interval is? For He sanctifies, but we are sanctified.

And above he had said, 'the Author of their salvation.'

For there is one God, of whom are all things.

'For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.'

Do you see how again he shows the superiority? For by saying:

'He is not ashamed,' he shows that it is not from the nature of the thing, but from the tender affection of Him who—being all—is not ashamed, and from His great humility.

For though we are of one, yet He sanctifies, while we are sanctified.

And He is of the Father, as a genuine Son, that is, of His very substance;

but we are as a creature, that is, out of things that were not.

'He is not ashamed to call them brethren,' saying:

'I will declare Thy name unto my brethren.'

For having put on the flesh, He put on also the brotherhood, and together with the flesh the brotherhood entered in as well.

But this indeed he brings forward fittingly;

but the words, 'I will put my trust in Him,' what do they mean? And what follows also is fittingly spoken:

'Behold, I and the children whom God hath given me.'

For just as here He shows Himself to be a father, so there a brother:

'I will declare,' he says, 'Thy name unto my brethren.'

And again he shows the superiority, and the great interval, by what follows:

'Forasmuch then as the children,' he says, 'are partakers of blood and flesh.'

'Do you see wherein lies the likeness?' he says—according to the flesh.

'He also Himself likewise partook of the same.'

Let all the heretics be ashamed, let them hide their faces—those who say that He came in appearance and not in truth.

For he did not say merely that 'He partook of these,' and then keep silent;

and yet even if he had spoken so, it would have been sufficient;

but he indicated something else, something greater, by adding, 'likewise.'

'Not in fantasy nor in a mere image,' he says, 'but in truth;'

since otherwise the word 'likewise' is not preserved.

Then, having shown the brotherhood, he sets down also the cause of the dispensation:

'That through death,' he says, 'He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.'

Here he shows the marvelous thing: that by that whereby the devil had prevailed, by this same he was overthrown; and the very weapon which was mighty for him against the world—death—with this Christ smote him;

and he sets forth the greatness of the power of Him who conquered.

Do you see how great a good death has wrought? 'And deliver them,' he says, 'who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'

'Why do you shudder?' he says. 'Why do you dread him who has been brought to nothing? He is no longer terrible, but has been trampled underfoot, despised; he is worthless and of no account.'

And what does 'who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage' mean? 'What is this?' he says. It is that he who fears death is a slave, and submits to everything for the sake of not dying;

or this, that all were slaves of death, he says, and were held fast by the fact that it had not yet been loosed;

or, [if not this,] that men lived their whole life in perpetual fear.

For always expecting to die, and dreading death, they were unable to take the perception of any pleasure, this fear being ever present with them;

He shows here that those who are afflicted, driven out, persecuted, deprived of country and property and all the rest, pass their days more pleasantly and more freely than those of old who lived in luxury, who suffered no such thing, who abounded in prosperity;

seeing that the latter were, all their lifetime, under this fear and were slaves, while the former are set free from it, and laugh at that very thing at which the others shuddered.

For just as if one were to fatten with much luxury a prisoner about to be led away to death and ever expecting this;

such a thing was death in the old time.

But now the same thing has come to pass as if one, having cast out that fear, should exhort him to contend along with the enjoyment, and, setting before him the contest, should promise to lead him no longer to death, but to a kingdom.

Of which sort, then, would you have chosen to be—of those fattened in the prison while daily awaiting the sentence, or of those

who contend much and toil willingly, so as to bind on the diadem of the kingdom? Do you see how he lifted up their soul and made them soar aloft? And he shows not only that death has been stopped, but that through this that other one too—who is ever waging implacable war against us and displaying it, I mean the devil—has been brought to nothing;

for he who does not fear death is outside the tyranny of the devil.

'For skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life;'

when a man judges that he should despise even this, whose slave will he be thereafter? He dreads no one, he fears no one, he is above all, and freer than all.

For he who despises his own life, much more does he despise other things.

But when the devil finds a soul of this kind, he will be able to work in it none of the things that are his own.

For tell me, what will he threaten? Loss of money, and dishonour, and banishment from one's country? But these are small things to him who counts not even his own soul precious, according to the blessed Paul.

Do you see that in casting out the tyranny of death, He at the same time also destroyed the strength of the devil? For how should he who has learned to reason ten thousand things concerning the resurrection fear death? How then should he any longer tremble? Do not therefore be vexed, saying, 「Why have we suffered this and that?」 For thus the victory becomes the more glorious;

and it would not have been glorious, unless He had destroyed death by death.

But this is the wonder, that He overcame him by the very things through which he had prevailed, showing that His resourcefulness and skill are everywhere manifest.

Let us not, then, betray the gift that has been given to us.

「For we have not received,」 he says, 「a spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of power and of love and of self-control.」

Let us therefore stand nobly, laughing death to scorn.

But indeed there came upon me an occasion to groan bitterly, at the thought of whither Christ has raised us up, but whither we have brought ourselves down.

For when I see the wailings in the marketplace, the lamentations which they make over those departing this life, the shrieks, and the other unseemly behaviour—believe me, I am ashamed before the Greeks and the Jews and the heretics who look on, and before all, in short, who on this account laugh us to scorn;

for whatever else I may say hereafter, I shall be speaking to no purpose when I discourse on the resurrection.

Why so? Because the Greeks give heed not to the things said by me, but to the things done by you;

When will any of these be able to despise death, seeing that he cannot even bear to look upon another who has died? Fair are the things spoken by Paul, fair, and worthy of the heavens, and of God's love for man;

for what does he say? 「And He shall deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.」

But you do not allow these things to be believed, warring against them by your deeds;

although God has raised up many bulwarks toward this end, that He might do away with this evil custom.

For tell me, what mean the bright torches? Do we not escort them forth as champions? And what mean the hymns? Do we not glorify God, and give thanks that He has now crowned him who has departed, that He has freed him from his labours, that having cast out fear He keeps him with Himself? Is it not for this the hymns? Is it not for this the singing of psalms? All these are the marks of those who rejoice;

「For is any cheerful?」 he says, 「let him sing psalms.」

But the Greeks give no heed to these things.

「Do not,」 he says, 「point me to the man who plays the philosopher while outside the suffering; for that is nothing great nor wonderful; but show me the man who plays the philosopher in the very midst of the suffering, and then I will believe in the resurrection.」

And that women immersed in this life should do this is nothing to wonder at;

and yet even that too is terrible;

for even they are required to show the same self-discipline;

「But concerning those who are asleep I would not have you to be ignorant, that you sorrow not, even as the rest who have no hope.」

It was not to monks that he wrote these things, nor to perpetual virgins, but also to women of the world, who had entered into marriage, and to those engaged in worldly affairs.

Nevertheless, this is not so terrible;

but when someone, whether woman or man, who professes to have been crucified to the world—the man tearing out his hair, the woman wailing aloud—what is more unseemly than this? Believe me when I say it:

if things were done as they ought to be, such persons ought for a long time to be kept away from the thresholds of the church.

For those who are truly worthy of mourning are these: those who fear and shudder at death,

those who still fear and shudder, those who disbelieve the resurrection.

「But I do not disbelieve the resurrection,」 she says, 「rather I am seeking the accustomed presence.」

Why then, tell me, when he goes abroad, and on a long journey, do you not do the same? 「But I weep then too,」 she says, 「and I lament, longing for him.」

But that is indeed the mark of one who longs for the accustomed presence, whereas this is the mark of one who has despaired of his return.

Consider what you chant at that time;

「Return, O my soul, unto your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you;」

and again, 「I will not fear evil, for You are with me;」

and again, 「You are my refuge from the affliction that encompasses me.」

Consider what these psalms mean.

But you do not give heed; rather you are as one drunk with grief.

Even at the funerals of others take careful note, so that you may have a remedy for your own.

「Return, O my soul, unto your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you」—do you say this, and shed tears? Is this not play-acting? Is this not hypocrisy? For if you truly believe the things you say, you mourn to no purpose;

but if you are jesting and playing the hypocrite and think these things to be but fables, why then do you chant at all? Why do you even tolerate those who are present? Why do you not drive away those who sing? 「But this,」 she says, 「is the act of madmen.」

But as time goes on, I shall deal with the matter more sternly;

for I greatly fear lest by this means some grievous disease should creep into the Church.

This wailing, then, let us set right hereafter;

but for the present I charge and solemnly testify both to rich and poor, both to women and to men.

May it indeed be granted that you all depart this life without mourning, and that, according to the fitting law of nature, fathers grown old be escorted forth by their sons, and mothers by their daughters and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, in a ripe old age, and that nowhere may there be an untimely death.

May this indeed come to pass, and this I pray for; and I exhort both the presiding elders and all of you to beseech God on one another's behalf, and to make this a common prayer;

but if—which God forbid, and may it never befall—some bitter death should occur (and I call it bitter, not in its own nature;

for death is no longer bitter;

for it differs in nothing from sleep;

but I call it bitter with respect to our own disposition)—

if then this should happen, and some should hire these wailing women, believe me when I say it—for I will not speak otherwise, but as I truly feel—

I will keep that person a long time away from the church, as an idolater.

For if Paul calls the covetous man an idolater, much more the one who brings in the practices of idolaters over a believer.

For to what end, tell me, do you summon the elders and those who sing? Is it not to console, is it not to honour the departed? Why then do you outrage him? Why do you hold him up as a spectacle? Why do you play, as though on a stage? We come discoursing on the resurrection, instructing all, even those not yet stricken, through the honour shown to that one, to bear it nobly, should any such thing ever befall;

but you bring in, for your own part, those who tear down what is ours?

What is worse than this laughter and this mockery? What is more grievous than this inconsistency? Be ashamed and abashed;

but if you will not, we for our part will not endure to bring in such customs, so ruinous to the church;

「For them that sin,」 he says, 「rebuke before all.」

And to those wretched and miserable women too we forbid, through you, ever to come to the funerals of the faithful, lest we truly compel them to bewail their own evils, and teach them to do these things not among strangers, but rather to lament their own calamities;

for even a loving father, when he has an unruly son, admonishes not only him not to associate with wicked companions, but also frightens those companions themselves.

Behold then, I admonish both you and, through you, those women too, that neither should you summon such women, nor should they come.

And may the word indeed accomplish something further, and the threat prevail;

but if—which God forbid—we should be despised, we shall then be compelled to carry the threat into action, disciplining you by the laws of the church,

and those women as is fitting for them.

But if anyone, acting insolently, despises this, let him hear Christ saying even now:

「If your brother sin against you, go, rebuke him between you and him alone;」

「but if he will not be persuaded, take with you one or two;」

「and if even so he contradicts you, tell it to the Church.」

And if he refuses to hear even the Church, let him be to you as the heathen and the tax collector.

But if He commands that the one who sins against me, when he will not be persuaded, be so turned away,

namely, him who sins against himself,

then how ought I to stand toward God? You yourselves be the judges.

For you condemn us, seeing that we do not deal gently with you.

But if anyone despises the bonds that come from us, let Christ again instruct him, saying:

Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

For even though we are wretched and of no account and worthy to be despised—as indeed we are worthy—yet we do not avenge ourselves, nor requite anger, but rather take thought for your salvation.

Have reverence, I beseech you, and be ashamed.

For if a man endures a friend who bears down upon him more severely than is fitting, considering the friend's purpose, and that he does this out of goodwill and not from arrogance,

how much more should he endure a teacher when he rebukes—a teacher who does not even say these things on his own authority, nor as one in the rank of a ruler, but as one in the rank of a guardian.

For we do not say these things because we wish to display authority.

For how could we, who pray never even to come to the trial of them? Rather it is because we grieve and are torn with anguish for you.

Forgive us, then, and let no one despise the bonds of the Church.

For it is not a man who binds, but Christ, who has given us this authority and makes men lords of so great an honor.

For our part, we wish to use this authority for loosing;

or rather, we do not even wish to have need of that.

For we desire that no one be a prisoner in our charge.

We are not so miserable and wretched, even if we are indeed of very little account.

But if we should be compelled, forgive us;

for it is not willingly nor of our own desire, but rather grieving over you who are bound, that we cast the bonds around you.

But if anyone should despise these things, the time of judgment will come, which will teach him.

The rest I do not wish to say, lest I wound your minds.

For we, first of all, pray that it may not come to necessity;

but if we should come to it, we fulfill our own part—we cast the bonds around.

And if anyone should break these asunder, I have done my own part and am henceforth without blame; but your reckoning will be with Him who commanded me to bind.

For suppose, while the king sits enthroned, one of the bodyguards standing by is commanded to bind and cast bonds around one of those in the ranks, and that man not only thrusts him away but also shatters the bonds—it is not the bodyguard who has suffered the outrage, but much rather the king who gave the command.

For if He makes His own the things that are done to the faithful, then when you insult those appointed to teach, He will be affected much more as though He Himself were being insulted.

But God forbid that any of those in this church should come to the necessity of these bonds.

For just as it is a good thing not to sin,

so it is profitable to bear rebuke.

Let us therefore bear the rebuke, and let us be earnest not to sin;

and if we should sin, let us bear the reproof.

For just as it is a good thing not to be struck, yet if this should happen, it is profitable that the remedy be applied to the wound;

yet God forbid that any should have need of such remedies.

But we are persuaded of better things concerning you, things that belong to salvation, even though we speak in this way.

We have spoken more severely for the sake of greater safety.

For it is better that I be suspected by you of being rash and harsh and self-willed, than that you should do the things that are not pleasing to God.

And we trust in God that this rebuke will not be without profit to you, but that you will be so changed that these words will be spent upon your praises and commendations.

And may it be granted you to live according to what is pleasing to God, that we all may be counted worthy to attain

to those good things which God has promised to those who love Him, in Christ Jesus our Lord.