Homilies on Acts, Homily 16

And God spoke in this way: that his descendants would live as foreigners in a strange land, and that they would enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years. And I will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved, said God, and after that they will come out and serve Me in this place. See how many years ago the Promise was given, and what kind of Promise it was, and nowhere is there sacrifice, nowhere circumcision! Here he shows how God Himself allowed them to be afflicted, not because He had anything to charge them with. And they will enslave them, etc. But even so, they did not do these things with impunity. And I will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved, said God. For, so that they would not use this as their measure of who is godly (since they said, He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him), the very One who made the promise, the One who gave the land, first permits the evils. So it is now too: though He has promised a Kingdom, He still lets us be trained through trials. If here freedom was not to come until after four hundred years, why be surprised when it comes to the Kingdom? Yet He did carry it out, and the passing of time could not make His word false. Besides, the slavery they endured was no ordinary slavery. And the matter does not end just with the punishment of their oppressors; they themselves too, He says, will enjoy a great salvation. Here he also reminds them of the benefit they had enjoyed. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so he became the father of Isaac. Here he comes down to lesser matters. And circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. Here he now seems to hint at the type. And the patriarchs, moved by envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. Here again is the type of Christ. Though they had no fault to find with him, and though he had come expressly to bring them food, they treated him this badly. Still, here again the promise is fulfilled, though only after a long time. And God was with him (this too is aimed at them) and rescued him from all his afflictions. He shows that without knowing it they helped fulfill the prophecy, that they themselves were the cause, and that the evils came back on their own heads. And gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. He gave him favor in the eyes of a barbarian: him, the slave, the captive. His brothers sold him; this barbarian honored him. Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers out the first time. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers. They came down to buy, and had to depend on him for everything. What did he do then? [He made himself known to his brethren:] his kindness did not stop there; he also introduced them to Pharaoh and brought them down into the land. And Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and summoned his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people. So Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and they were carried over to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem. But as the time of the promise that God had sworn to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose who did not know Joseph. Then came fresh grounds for despair: first, famine, but they came through that; second, falling into the hands of their enemy; third, being destroyed by the king. Then, to show God's wealth of ways and means: At this time, it says, Moses was born, and he was exceptionally beautiful. If the earlier circumstance was remarkable, that Joseph was sold by his brothers, here is another one more remarkable still: the king raised the very person who was to overthrow his rule, though he himself was the one who was to perish. Do you notice throughout what amounts to a figurative acting-out, so to speak, of the resurrection of the dead? But it is not the same thing for God Himself to do something and for something to happen in connection with human purpose. For these things did happen in connection with human purpose [but the Resurrection by itself, independently.] And he was powerful, it says, in word and deed: the one who was supposed to have died. Then again he shows how ungrateful they were to their benefactor. For just as in the earlier case they were saved by Joseph, whom they had wronged, so here again they were saved by another man they had wronged, I mean Moses. And when he was fully forty years old, etc. For what does it matter that they did not actually kill him? In intention they did kill him, just as the others did in the earlier case. There, they sold him out of their own land into a foreign one; here, they drive him from one foreign land into another. In the first case, it was a man in the act of bringing them food; in this one, a man in the act of giving them good advice, a man to whom, under God, the man owed his life! Notice how it bears out the truth of Gamaliel's saying, If it is of God, you cannot overthrow it. See how those who were plotted against end up bringing salvation to those who plotted against them: the people plotting against itself, and plotted against by others, and in spite of all this, saved! A famine, and it did not destroy them. And that was not all: they were saved by the very person they had expected would be destroyed by their doing. A royal decree, and it did not destroy them: no, their numbers grew most of all precisely when the one who knew them was dead. They wanted to kill their own Savior, but even so they did not have the power to do it. Do you notice that the very means by which the devil tried to wreck God's promise were the means by which it was advanced? And God spoke in this way, etc. This can fittingly be said here too: God has plenty of ways and means to bring us up out of this place. For this above all showed the richness of God's resources: that the nation increased in the very midst of its reversals, while enslaved, while mistreated, while marked for extermination. And this is the greatness of the Promise. For if it had increased in its own land, it would not have been so remarkable. Besides, they were not in the foreign land for a short time either, but for four hundred years. From this we learn a great lesson in philosophic endurance: their oppressors did not treat them the way masters treat slaves, but the way enemies and tyrants do. And he foretold that they would be set in great freedom, for that is the meaning of the expression, They will serve Me, and they will come back here again; and with impunity. And notice how, while he seems to grant something to circumcision, he actually allows it nothing, since the Promise came before it, and circumcision followed afterward. And the patriarchs, he says, moved by envy. Where it does no harm, he humors them, for they took great pride in these too. And he shows that the saints were not exempt from tribulation, but that in their very tribulations they received help. And that the very people who wanted to cut these afflictions short themselves helped bring about the outcome: just as these men made Joseph all the more glorious; just as the king did for Moses by ordering the children to be killed, since if he had not given that order, this would not have happened; just as that Hebrew too drove Moses into exile, so that there, having become worthy, he might see the Vision. So too He makes the man sold as a slave reign as king in the very place where he was considered a slave. So too Christ gives proof of His power in His death; so too He reigns as king in the very place where they sold Him. And gave him favor and wisdom, etc. This was not only to honor him, but so that he would have confidence in his own power. And he made him governor over Egypt and all his household. Now a famine came, etc. Because of a famine (such are the preparations he is making), with seventy-five people, he says, Jacob went down into Egypt and died, he and our fathers, and they were carried over to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem. It shows that they did not own even so much as a burial place. But as the time of the promise that God had sworn to Abraham drew near, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose who did not know Joseph. Notice that it is not during the four hundred years that He multiplies them, but only when the end was about to approach. And yet four hundred years, and more, had already passed in Egypt. But this is what makes it wonderful. He dealt craftily with our people and mistreated our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so that they would not survive. Dealt craftily: he hints that they did not want to exterminate them openly. Forcing them to abandon their infants, it says. At this time Moses was born, and he was exceptionally beautiful. This is the wonder: that the one who is to be their champion is born neither after these things nor before them, but in the very midst of the storm. And he was raised in his father's house for three months. But when human help had been given up as hopeless and they abandoned him, then God's kindness shone out clearly. And when he was abandoned, Pharaoh's daughter took him in and raised him as her own son. Not a word about the Temple, not a word about Sacrifice, while all these acts of Providence are taking place. And he was raised in a barbarian household. And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in words and deeds. Was educated: in both discipline and letters. And when he was fully forty years old. For forty years he was there, and his circumcision did not give him away. Notice how, while they themselves are safe, they both disregard their own interests, he and Joseph alike, in order to save others: And when he was fully forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended him and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian; for he assumed his brothers would understand that God was going to deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. See how up to this point he still does not offend them; how they listened to him while he said all this. And his face, we read, was like the face of an angel. For he assumed, etc. And yet it was by deeds that his championship was shown; what understanding was needed here? But still, in spite of all this, they did not understand. And the next day he appeared to them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you are brothers; why are you wronging each other? Do you notice how gently he speaks to them? He who had shown his anger in the other man's case shows his gentleness in his own. But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed him away, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? Notice: these are the very words they said to Christ: Who made You ruler and judge over us? So habitual was it for the Jews to wrong their benefactors in the very act of receiving benefits! And again, notice the outrageous baseness: As you killed the Egyptian yesterday! At this, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he fathered two sons. But flight did not snuff out the plan of Providence, any more than death did. And when forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush. Do you notice that it is not hindered by the passing of time? For when he was an exile, a foreigner, when he had already spent a long time in a foreign land, long enough to have two sons, when he no longer expected to return, that is when the Angel appears to him. He calls the Son of God an Angel, just as he also calls Him a man. He appears in the desert, not in a temple. See how many miracles are taking place, and not a word about the Temple, not a word about Sacrifice. And here, too, not simply in the desert, but in the bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he came closer to look, the voice of the Lord came to him. See! He was found worthy of the Voice as well. I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. See how He shows that He is none other than the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: He, the Angel of the Great Counsel. Here he shows how great a loving-kindness God displays in this. Then Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, Take the shoes off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Not a word about the Temple, and the place is holy through the appearance and action of Christ. This is far more wonderful than the place in the Holy of Holies: for there God is nowhere said to have appeared in this way, nor Moses to have trembled like this. And then the greatness of His tender care: I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you into Egypt. See how he shows that God was drawing them to Himself by kindnesses, by punishments, and by miracles, but they remained the same. They learned that God is present everywhere. Hearing these things, let us flee to Him in our afflictions. And their groaning, He says, I have heard: not simply, because of their calamities. But if anyone should ask, Why then did He allow them to be mistreated there? Well, in the first place, for every righteous person his sufferings are the cause of his rewards. And in the next place, as to why He afflicted them: it was to show His power, that He can do all things, and not only that, but also so that He might train them. Just look: when they were in the desert, then they grew fat, they grew thick, they spread out wide, they kicked; and always and everywhere ease has been a bad thing. That is why from the very beginning He said to Adam: By the sweat of your face you will eat your bread. It was also so that, having come out of much suffering into rest, they might give thanks to God. For affliction is a great good. Just listen to the Prophet saying, It is good for me that You have humbled me. But if affliction is a great good for great and wonderful men, much more is it for us. And, if you like, let us examine the nature of affliction in itself. Picture someone rejoicing beyond measure, giddy, giving free rein to merriment: what is more inappropriate, what is more senseless than that? Picture someone sorrowful and downcast: what is more truly philosophic than that? For, It is better, we read, to go to the house of mourning than to the house of laughter. But you probably do not like this saying and want to dodge it. Still, let us see what sort of man Adam was in Paradise, and what he was afterward; what sort of man Cain was before, and what he was afterward. The soul does not stand firm in its proper place, but, as if carried by a rushing current, it is lifted and buoyed up by pleasure, with no steadiness: quick to make professions, ready to promise, its thoughts all in restless turmoil: laughter at the wrong time, cheerfulness without cause, the empty clatter of meaningless talk. But why talk about others? Let us take one of the saints and see what he was like in pleasure, and again what he was like in distress. Shall we look at David himself? When he was enjoying himself and rejoicing over his many trophies, his victory, his crowns, his luxurious living, his confidence, see what sort of things he said and did: But I said in my prosperity, he says, I will never be moved. But when he comes into affliction, hear what he says: And if He says to me, I have no pleasure in you, here I am; let Him do what is pleasing in His sight. What could be more truly philosophic than these words? Whatever pleases God, he says, let it be so. And again he said to Saul: If the Lord is stirring you up against me, may your sacrifice be acceptable. And at that time too, being in affliction, he spared even his enemies; but later he did not spare even friends, or people who had done him no harm. Again, Jacob, when he was in affliction, said: If the Lord will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear. Likewise the son of Noah did nothing of the kind earlier; but when he was no longer afraid for his safety, you hear how shameless he became. Hezekiah too: when he was in affliction, see what he did to obtain deliverance; he put on sackcloth, and so on; but when he was enjoying himself, he fell through the arrogance of his heart. For, says the Scripture, When you have eaten and drunk and are full, watch yourself. For a position of wealth is as dangerous as the edge of a cliff. Watch yourself, he says. When the Israelites were afflicted, they grew all the more in number; but when He left them to themselves, then they all went to ruin. And why cite examples from the ancients? Let us look at our own times, if you like: is it not true that when most people are doing well, they become puffed up, hostile to everyone, hot-tempered, while the power is in their hands; but if it is taken away, they become gentle and humble, and, as human beings, are brought to awareness of their own natural condition? That is why the Scripture says, Pride has gripped them to the end; their iniquity will come out as from fatness. Now I have said these things so that we would not make enjoyment our goal in every way. How then does Paul say, Rejoice always? He does not simply say, Rejoice, but adds, in the Lord. This is the greatest joy, the kind the Apostles rejoiced in: the joy whose source, root, and occasion are prisons and scourgings and persecutions and slander and every painful thing; and that is also why it comes to a happy end. But the world's joy, on the contrary, begins with sweetness and ends in bitterness. Nor do I forbid rejoicing in the Lord; on the contrary, I urge it earnestly. The Apostles were flogged, and they rejoiced; were chained, and they gave thanks; were stoned, and they preached. This is the joy I too would want: it has its origin in nothing bodily, but in spiritual things. Someone who rejoices in the world's way cannot also rejoice in a godly way: for everyone who rejoices in the world's way finds his joy in wealth, in luxury, in honor, in power, in arrogance; but whoever rejoices according to the mind of God finds his joy in dishonor for God's sake, in poverty, in need, in fasting, in humility. Do you see how opposite the grounds of joy are? To go without joy here is also to be without grief; and to be without grief here is to go without pleasure too. And in fact these are the things that produce real joy, since the others have only the name of joy but consist entirely of pain. What misery the arrogant man endures! How he is cut short in the middle of his arrogance, bringing on himself countless insults, much hatred, great hostility, extreme spite, and many an envious eye! If he is insulted by greater men, he grieves; if he cannot stand up to everyone, he is mortified. The humble man, on the other hand, lives in great enjoyment: expecting honor from no one, he is pleased if he receives honor, and if not, he does not grieve. He is content not to be honored; above all, no one dishonors him. Now not to seek honor and yet to be honored: the enjoyment of this must be great. But with the other man it is just the reverse: he seeks honor and is not honored. And the pleasure that honor gives is not the same for the person who seeks it as for the one who does not. The one, however much he receives, thinks he has received nothing; the other, however little you give him, takes it as though he had received everything. Then again, the man who lives in wealth and luxury has countless business affairs, and however easily his income flows in to him, as if from full fountains, he still fears the ills that come from luxurious living, and the uncertainty of the future; but the other is always secure and content, having accustomed himself to a sparse diet. For he does not so much lament missing out on a lavish table as he delights in not fearing the uncertainty of the future. As for the ills that come from luxurious living, how many and how great they are, no one can be unaware; still, it is necessary to mention them now. The war is twofold, in the body and in the soul; the storm is twofold; the diseases are twofold, not only in this respect, but because both are incurable and bring great calamities with them. Not so with frugality: here there is twofold health, twofold benefit. Healthy sleep, we read, comes from moderate eating.⁠a For everywhere, what keeps within measure is pleasant; what goes beyond measure stops being pleasant. Consider: put a huge pile of kindling on a small spark, and you will no longer see the fire shining, only a lot of unpleasant smoke. Lay a load that exceeds his strength on a very strong, big man, and you will see him lying flat on the ground under his load. Load too large a cargo onto your ship, and you have guaranteed a terrible shipwreck. It is just the same here. For just as on overloaded ships there is a great uproar among the sailors, the pilot, the man at the bow, and the passengers, as they throw overboard what is on deck and what is below; so here too, by vomiting up and purging down, they ruin their constitutions and destroy themselves. And the most shameful thing of all: the mouth is made to do the job of the lower parts, and becomes the more shameful organ. But if the mouth suffers such disgrace, think what it must be like for the soul! For there it is all fog, all storm, all darkness; the thoughts are in a great uproar at being so crowded and crushed, the soul itself crying out at the abuse done to it; all its parts complaining about one another, begging and pleading for the filth to be discharged somewhere. And after it is thrown out, the turmoil still does not end; then come fever and diseases. And how is it, you say, that one can see these luxurious livers in fine shape, riding on horseback? What idle talk is this, you say, telling us about diseases? I am the one who is sick, I am the one who is racked with pain, I am the one who is disgusting, since I have nothing to eat. Alas! For one may well lament at such words. But the people with gout, the men carried on litters, the men wrapped in bandages: from what class of people, I ask you, do these come? And in fact, if they would not take it as an insult and consider my words offensive, I would before now have called them out by name. But, you say, some of them are healthy as well. That is because they devote themselves not only to luxurious living but also to hard work. Otherwise, show me a man who does nothing at all but fatten himself, and who lies there free from pain and without an anxious thought. For even if a countless host of physicians came together, they could not rescue him from his diseases. It is not in the nature of things. For I will give you a medical lecture. Of what is sent down into the belly, not all becomes nourishment; for even in the food itself not everything is nutritious, but part of it, in the process of digestion, passes off as waste, and part is turned into nourishment. If, then, the process of digestion works perfectly, this is the result, and each finds its proper place: the wholesome and useful part goes to its appropriate place, while what is superfluous and useless separates itself and passes off. But if there is too much, then even the nutritious part becomes harmful. And to give an example, so that my meaning may be clearer to you: in wheat, part is fine flour, part coarse meal, part bran; now if the mill is able to grind what is put in, it separates all these, but if you put in too much, everything gets mixed up together. Wine, again, if it goes through its proper process of formation, with the right influence of the seasons, then, although at first everything is mixed together, soon part settles as dregs, part rises as scum, and part remains for the enjoyment of those who drink it; this is the good part, and it will not easily spoil. But what they call nourishment is neither wine nor dregs, while everything is mixed up together. The same thing can be seen in a river when its waters churn into a flood. Just as at such times we see the fish floating on top, dead, their eyes first blinded by the muddy slime, so it is with us. For when gluttony, like a flood of rain, has drenched the inner parts, it throws everything into a whirl and makes the faculties, which until then were healthy and living in a pure element, drift lifeless on the surface. Since, then, we have shown by all these examples how great the harm is, let us stop counting these men happy for what should make us think them wretched, and stop lamenting ourselves for what should make us count ourselves happy, and let us welcome having enough with a contented mind. Or do you not even hear what physicians tell you, that going without is the mother of health? But what I say is that going without is the mother not only of bodily health, but also of the health of the soul. Paul too, that true physician, proclaims these things loudly when he says, Having food and clothing, let us be content with these. So let us do as he tells us, so that, being in sound health, we may do the work we ought to do, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with Whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit together, be glory, dominion, honor, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.