希伯來書講道集 第 5 章

For surely it is not of angels that He takes hold, but He takes hold of the seed of Abraham.

Wherefore He was bound to be made like His brethren in all things.

Paul, wishing to show forth the great lovingkindness of God, and the love which He had toward the human race, after saying this—

Since then the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also in like manner partook of the same things; he dwells upon this passage and says:

For surely it is not of angels that He takes hold;

For do not attend to what is said merely in passing, nor suppose this to be some slight matter—that He took upon Himself flesh from us;

for He did not bestow this grace upon angels;

For surely it is not of angels that He takes hold, but of the seed of Abraham.

What is it that he says? He did not take upon Himself the nature of an angel, but of a man.

And what does 'He takes hold of' mean? He did not lay hold, he says, of that nature of the angels, but of ours.

But why did he not say 'He took up,'

but used this expression, 'He takes hold of'? It is drawn from the metaphor of those who pursue people fleeing from them and do everything to overtake the fugitives and lay hold of those darting away.

For human nature was fleeing from Him, and fleeing far off (for we were, he says, alienated far from God, and were without God in the world); yet He, pursuing after it, overtook it.

From this it is shown that lovingkindness alone, and love, and tender care wrought this.

Just as, then, when he says, Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation?—he shows how greatly prized human nature is by Him, and that God has much regard for it;

so also here he sets down a far greater thing, speaking by way of comparison:

For it is not of angels that He takes hold.

For indeed it is a great and wondrous thing, full of astonishment, that flesh taken from us should be seated on high and be worshiped by angels and archangels and the Seraphim and the Cherubim.

Often, when I take this into my mind, I am beside myself and imagine great things concerning the human race;

for I behold great and glorious beginnings, and much earnest care on God's part for our nature.

It is not simply of men that He takes hold, but wishing to raise them up and to show their race to be great and honorable, he says:

But of the seed of Abraham He takes hold.

Wherefore He was bound to be made like His brethren in all things.

What is 'in all things'? He was born, he says, was nourished, grew up, suffered all that was necessary, and finally died;

this is what 'to be made like His brethren in all things' means.

For since he had discoursed at length concerning His majesty and His glory on high, he now sets in motion the discourse concerning the dispensation;

and behold with how much understanding and power he shows Him bestowing great earnestness that He might be made like to us;

which was a mark of great tender care.

For having said above, 'Since then the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also in like manner partook of the same,' here too he says:

That in all things He should be made like unto His brethren;

as though he were saying: He who is so great, who is the brightness of the glory, who is the express image of the substance, who made the ages, who sits at the right hand of the Father—this One willed and was eager to become in all things our brother, and for this cause He left the angels and the powers above, and came down to us, and laid hold of us.

And consider also how many good things He wrought:

He abolished death, He cast us out from the tyranny of the devil, He freed us from bondage, He honored us by becoming our brother;

and He honored us not with the brotherhood alone, but also with ten thousand other things:

for He willed also to become our High Priest before the Father:

That He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God.

For this reason, he says, He took upon Him our flesh—out of love for mankind alone—that He might have mercy on us.

For there is no other cause of the dispensation than this alone:

for He saw us cast down upon the ground, perishing, tyrannized by death, and He had mercy.

'To make propitiation,' he says, 'for the sins of the people, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.'

What does 'faithful' mean? True, able.

For the Son alone is a faithful High Priest, able to deliver from their sins those of whom He is High Priest.

Therefore, that He might offer a sacrifice able to cleanse us, for this cause He became man.

That is, in the things pertaining to God.

We had been made enemies to God, he says, condemned, dishonored;

there was no one to offer a sacrifice on our behalf;

He saw us in this state and had mercy, not appointing a high priest for us, but Himself becoming a faithful High Priest.

Then, showing in what way He is faithful, he added, 'To make propitiation for the sins of the people.'

For in that He Himself hath suffered, he says, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.

This is very lowly and mean and unworthy of God.

For in that He Himself hath suffered, he says.

Here he speaks concerning Him who was made flesh; and perhaps it was said also for the full assurance of the hearers, and because of their weakness.

Through the very experience of the things we suffered He came;

now He is not ignorant of our sufferings;

for He knows them not as God only, but also as man He came to know them through the experience by which He was tempted;

He suffered many things; He knows how to suffer along with us.

And yet God is impassible;

but here he is recounting the things of the Incarnation;

and the very flesh of Christ suffered many dreadful things.

He knows what affliction is, He knows what temptation is, and no less than we who have suffered;

What then is the meaning of, 'He is able to succor them that are tempted'? As one might say:

With great readiness He will stretch out His hand, He will be full of compassion.

For since they wished to have something great and more than those from the Gentiles, he shows them having more precisely in this, wherein it did no harm at all to those from the Gentiles.

In what respect is this? That from them is salvation, that He laid hold of them first, that from them He took flesh.

For, he says, He does not lay hold of angels, but He lays hold of the seed of Abraham.

By this he also honors the patriarch, and shows too what 'the seed of Abraham' means.

For he reminds them of the promise made to him, which says:

'To thee and to thy seed will I give this land,' by the smallest thing showing the nearness—that all are of one.

But since that nearness was not very great, he comes back again to this one, and thereafter dwells upon the dispensation according to the flesh, and says:

'To make propitiation for the sins of the people.'

For the very willing to become man was itself a mark of great care and love;

but now it is not this alone, but also the immortal good things which through Him have been bestowed on us:

'For to make propitiation,' he says, 'for the sins of the people.'

Not 'of the world,' but 'of the people'? Yet in truth He bore the sins of us all.

Because for the present his discourse was concerning them;

since the angel also said to Joseph, 'Thou shalt call His name Jesus;

for He shall save His people.'

For this had to happen first, and for this He came—that He might save these, and then through these save those—even though the contrary came to pass.

This too the apostles said from the beginning: 'Unto you first God, having raised up His Servant, sent Him to bless you;'

and again, 'To you was the word of this salvation sent.'

Here he shows the Jewish nobility, saying:

'To make propitiation for the sins of the people.'

For that it is He who forgives the sins of all, He showed also in the case of the paralytic, when He said:

'Thy sins are forgiven thee;'

for He says to the disciples:

'Go ye and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.'

But whenever Paul lays hold of the flesh, thereafter he utters all lowly things, fearing nothing:

'Partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to Him that made Him, as also Moses was in all His house.'

Being about to set Him above Moses by way of comparison, he brought his discourse to the law of the high priesthood;

for they all held no small opinion concerning Moses.

And he already lays down beforehand the seeds of the superiority.

He begins therefore from the flesh, but ascends to the Godhead, where there was no longer any comparison to be made.

He began from the flesh, for the present placing them on an equal footing, and says:

'As also Moses was in all His house.'

And he does not show the superiority at the outset, lest the hearer leap away and immediately stop up his ears;

for even though they were believers, yet nevertheless they still had much conscience toward Moses.

'Being faithful,' he says, 'to Him that made Him.'

Made Him what? An Apostle and a High Priest.

Here he says nothing about essence, nor about the Godhead, but for the present speaks of human dignities.

As also Moses was faithful in all his house;

that is, among the people, or in the temple.

But here the expression, 'In his house,' he says;

For just as some steward and manager of a household, so was Moses among the people.

For that he here calls the people a house, he added, 'Whose house we are;'

For this one has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses,

inasmuch as he who built the house has more honour than the house.

And he himself, he says, was of the household.

And he did not say, 'For the one is a servant, but the other a Master,' but he indicated this covertly.

If then the house was the people, and he himself also belonged to the people, then he too belonged to the household;

for thus we too are accustomed to speak, saying that such a one belongs to the household of such a one.

But here by 'house' he does not mean the temple;

for it was not God who built it, but men.

But he who made him is God;

And observe how he shows the superiority covertly;

'Faithful,' he says, 'in all his house,' he himself also being of the house, that is, of the people.

The craftsman has more honour than his works, but also he who built the house more than the house.

But he who built all things is God.

Do you see that he speaks not of the temple, but of the whole people? 'And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken.'

Behold yet another superiority, that drawn from the Son and the servants.

Do you see again that by the appellation of 'Son' he hints at genuine sonship? 'But Christ as a Son over his own house.'

Do you see how he distinguishes the creature from the Creator, how the servant from the Son? And the one enters into his Father's possessions as a Master, but the other as a servant.

'Whose house we are, if we hold fast the boldness and the boasting of hope firm unto the end.'

Here again he exhorts them to stand nobly, and not to fall down.

'For we shall be,' he says, 'the house of God, as Moses was, if we hold fast the boldness and the boasting of hope firm unto the end;'

so that he who grieves in temptations and falls down does not boast;

he who is ashamed, who hides himself, has no boldness;

Then he also commends them, saying:

'If indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boasting of hope firm unto the end;'

But there is need of the end also, and not merely to stand, but to hold the hope firm in full assurance of faith, not being shaken by temptations.

And do not be surprised if the phrase, 'He himself having been tempted,' is spoken in a more human way.

For if concerning the Father, who was not incarnate, the Scripture says, 'The Lord looked down from heaven and saw all the sons of men,' that is, he accurately learned all things;

and again, 'I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it;'

and again, 'God cannot bear the wickednesses of men;'

the divine Scripture thereby showing the greatness of his wrath;

much more may these human-like affections be said concerning Christ, who also suffered in the flesh.

For since many men consider experience to be more trustworthy than all things for knowledge, he wishes to show that he who has suffered knows what human nature suffers.

'Wherefore,' he says, 'holy brethren,'

The word 'Wherefore' stands for 'on this account,' he says. 'Partakers of a heavenly calling.'

Therefore seek nothing here, if you have been called there;

for there is the reward, there is the recompense.

What then? 'Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to him that made him, as also was Moses in all his house.'

What is, 'Being faithful to him that made him'? That is, provident, presiding over his own, and not permitting them to be simply carried along.

'As also Moses in all his house.'

That is, 'Know who the High Priest is and of what kind, and you will not need other consolation nor exhortation.'

He calls him 'Apostle' because he was sent;

and he says 'High Priest of our confession,' that is, of our faith. He said it well;

for this one also has been entrusted with a people, just as that one with the charge of a people, though a greater one, and over greater things.

For Moses indeed as a household servant, but Christ as a Son;

and the one cares for what is another's, but this one for what is his own.

'For a testimony of those things which were to be spoken.'

What do you say? Does God accept the testimony of a man? Yes, indeed.

For if he calls heaven and earth and the hills to witness, saying through the prophet:

'Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken,' and:

'Hear, O ye ravines, ye foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a controversy with his people;'

What is, 'For a testimony'? 'That they may be,' he says, 'witnesses, when these men act shamelessly.'

For the one cares for what is another's, but this one for what is his own.

'And the boasting of hope.'

'Of hope,' since all the good things were in hope.

And one must so hold it fast as already to boast as over things that have come to pass.

and he adds, 'Let us hold it firm unto the end;'

If then we were saved by hope, and through patience we wait for it, let us not then be vexed at present things, nor seek already the things promised for hereafter.

'For hope,' he says, 'that is seen is not hope.'

For since the good things are great, he says, we cannot receive them here in this perishable life.

For what reason then did he foretell these things to us, when he was not going to give them here? That he might revive our souls by the promise, that he might strengthen our eagerness by the pledge, that he might anoint and rouse our understanding.

For this very reason all these things have come to pass.

Let us therefore not be troubled; let no one who sees the wicked prospering be troubled.

The recompense is not here, neither of wickedness nor of virtue;

but if anywhere there comes some recompense of both wickedness and virtue, yet it is not according to desert, but simply, as it were a foretaste of the judgment, that those who disbelieve the resurrection may at least by these things be brought to soberness here.

Therefore, when we see a wicked man growing rich, let us not be cast down;

and when we see a good man suffering ill, let us not be troubled;

for it is there that the crowns are, and there also the punishments.

And besides, it is not possible either that the wicked man should be wholly wicked, but he too may possess certain good qualities;

nor that the good man should be wholly good, but he too may have certain faults.

When, therefore, the wicked man prospers, know that it is to the hurt of his own head;

for in order that, having received here the recompense for those few good deeds, he may thereafter be wholly punished yonder, for this reason he receives his reward here.

And most blessed of all is he who is punished here, that having laid aside all his sins, he may depart approved and pure and free from blame.

And Paul, teaching us this very thing, says:

'For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.'

And again, 'Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in that day.'

And the prophet says that 'She hath received of the Lord's hand double for her sins.'

And again David: 'Consider mine enemies, for they are multiplied above the hairs of my head, and they have hated me with an unjust hatred; and forgive all my sins.'

And again another says: 'O Lord our God, give us peace.'

But these passages show the good receiving here the penalties for their sins;

do the wicked, receiving good things here, suffer complete punishment yonder? Hear Abraham saying to the rich man:

'Thou didst receive thy good things in thy lifetime, and Lazarus likewise the evil things.'

[What good things?] For here by saying 'Thou didst receive back,' and not 'Thou didst receive,' He shows that each suffered according to what was due, the one being in prosperity, the other in adversity;

and He says, for this reason 'This man is now comforted here';

for you see him pure of sins.

Let us not, then, be distressed when we see sinners faring well here, but when we ourselves suffer ill, let us rejoice;

for the matter is a paying-off of sins.

For Christ promised tribulation to His own disciples;

'All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted.'

No noble athlete looks for baths in the arena, nor for a table heaped with meats and wine;

this belongs not to an athlete, but to a sluggard;

for the athlete contends amid dust, oil, the heat of the sun's rays, much sweat, distress, and the straitness of the contest.

This is also the season for boxing;

therefore also for receiving wounds, and being bloodied, and feeling pain.

Hear what the blessed Paul says:

'So fight I, as not beating the air.'

Let us consider the whole of life to be a contest, and let us never seek rest, nor ever, when afflicted, feel it strange;

since neither does the boxer, when he is in the contest, feel it strange.

There is another season for relaxation;

through tribulation we must be made perfect.

Even if there is no persecution nor tribulation, yet there are other tribulations, those which befall us every single day;

and if we do not bear these, hardly could we bear those greater ones.

'There hath no temptation taken you,' he says, 'but such as is common to man.'

Let us therefore pray to God not to enter into temptation;

but having entered, let us bear it nobly.

For that is the mark of prudent men, not to cast themselves into dangers;

but this is the mark of the noble and philosophic, to stand firm when they have fallen into them.

Let us therefore neither cast ourselves in rashly;

nor, when we are led on and circumstances call, let us give way;

but if the preaching of the Gospel call, let us not decline it;

yet without cause, when there is no reason, no need, no necessity that calls in the service of godliness, let us not rush in;

for the thing is display, and superfluous ambition.

But if anything come to pass that harms godliness, then, even if we must undergo ten thousand deaths, let us decline nothing.

Do not summon temptations, when the concerns of godliness proceed for you as you desire;

why draw upon yourself superfluous dangers that bring no gain? 5.

I say these things because I wish you to keep the laws of Christ, who commands us to pray not to enter into temptation, and who again commands us to take up the cross and follow Him.

For these things are not contrary to one another, but are exceedingly in harmony.

Do you then so prepare yourself as a noble soldier: be continually in your armor, sober, watchful, ever expecting the enemy;

yet do not breed wars;

for this belongs not to a soldier, but to a rebel.

But if the trumpet of godliness call, straightway go forth, and despise your life, and enter with much eagerness into the contests, break the phalanx of the adversaries, cut down the face of the devil, set up the trophy;

but if godliness is in no way harmed, nor is any of our doctrines, I mean those concerning the soul, laid waste, nor are you compelled to do anything that does not please God, be not superfluous.

The Christian's life must be full of blood—of blood, not in shedding the blood of others, but in being ready to shed one's own.

With such eagerness, then, let us shed our own blood, when it is for Christ's sake, as one would shed water (for indeed the blood that flows about the body is water);

and let us put off the flesh with as much readiness as one would put off a garment.

And this shall come to pass, if we be not bound fast to riches, nor to houses, nor be held in thrall by attachment to the things present.

For if those who live this soldier's life renounce all things, and wherever the war may call, thither they come and journey,

and endure all things with eagerness;

much more ought we, the soldiers of Christ, so to prepare ourselves, and to set ourselves in array against the war of the passions.

There is no persecution now—nor may it ever come to pass;

but there is another war, that of the desire for riches, that of envy, that of the other passions.

Describing this war, Paul says:

'For we wrestle not against blood and flesh.'

This war is ever at hand.

For this reason He wishes us to stand ever armed.

'Stand therefore,' he says, 'having girded yourselves.'

This very thing also belongs to the present time;

and he made plain that we must always be armed.

For great is the war waged through the tongue, and great too the war through the eyes.

For this reason he begins from there to arm the soldier of Christ.

'For stand,' he says, 'having girded your loins.'

Why 'with truth'? Because desire is a mockery and a lie, as David too somewhere said:

'My loins are filled with mockeries.'

The thing is no pleasure, but a shadow of pleasure.

Therefore, 'Having girded,' he says, 'your loins with truth';

that is, with true pleasure, with temperance, with orderliness.

And he exhorts them to these things, knowing the absurdity of sin, and wishing that all our members be fortified all around.

'For unrighteous wrath,' he says, 'shall not be held guiltless.'

And he wishes us to be encompassed with a breastplate and a shield.

For wrath is a beast that easily springs upon us, and we need countless enclosures and partitions in order to prevail over it and hold it fast.

And for this reason especially God built up this part for us out of the bones, as it were out of certain stones, setting these round it as a support, so that it might never, by bursting or easily cleaving through, do harm to the whole living creature.

'For it is fire,' he says, 'and a great tempest, and no other member could endure this violence.'

And the sons of physicians say that for this reason the lung is spread out beneath the heart, so that the heart, being soft, might as it were leap into a kind of sponge and find rest, and not, by leaping against the resistant and hard breastbone, be injured by the frequency of its throbbings.

We therefore need a strong breastplate, so as to keep this beast in continual quiet;

and we need also a helmet.

For since the reasoning faculty resides there, and from it we can either be saved, if what is needful takes place, or perish, if what is not needful;

'And the helmet of salvation.'

For the brain is by nature soft;

therefore it too is covered above, as with a kind of shell, by the skull.

But it becomes for us the cause of all our good things and evil things, whether it has known what is needful, or what is not such.

And the feet too and the hands need weapons for us;

not these hands nor these feet, but again those of the soul;

the hands, that they may practice what is needful; the feet, that they may go where it is fitting.

Let us therefore arm ourselves in this way, and we shall be able to prevail over our enemies, and to bind on the crown of victory, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of the ages.