Homilies on Romans, Homily 23

“Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities.” He places great importance on this subject in other epistles too, placing subjects under their rulers as household servants are under their masters. He does this to show that Christ introduced His laws to improve the ordering of the state, not to overthrow it, and to teach people not to start unnecessary and pointless wars. The plots formed against us for the truth’s sake are enough; we have no need to add needless and pointless trials. Notice too how well he times his introduction of this subject. After calling for that great heroic spirit, preparing people to deal with friends and enemies alike, making them useful to the prosperous and to those in trouble and need—in fact, to everyone—establishing a way of life worthy of angels, driving out anger, restraining recklessness, and making their minds steady in every way, he then introduces his exhortation on these matters too. For if it is right to repay those who injure us with the opposite, it is much more our duty to obey those who benefit us. But he states this toward the end of his exhortation. So far he does not enter into these arguments I am mentioning, but only those that command us to do this as an obligation. And to show that these rules apply to everyone, even priests and monks, and not only people in secular occupations, he makes this clear at the outset by saying, “Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities,” even if you are an Apostle, an Evangelist, a Prophet, or anything else, since this submission does not undermine religion. And he does not simply say “obey,” but “be subject.” The first claim such a command has on us, and the argument appropriate to believers, is that all this has been appointed by God. “For there is no authority,” he says, “except from God.” What are you saying? someone may ask. Is every ruler, then, chosen by God? That is not what I am saying, he answers. Nor am I speaking here about individual rulers, but about authority itself. That there should be rulers, that some should rule and others be ruled, and that everything should not simply collapse into confusion, with the people surging like waves this way and that—this, I say, is the work of God’s wisdom. That is why he does not say, “For there is no ruler except from God.” He speaks of authority itself and says, “There is no authority except from God. And the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” In the same way, when a certain wise man says, “It is by the Lord that a man is matched with a woman” (Prov. xix. 14, LXX.), he means that God established marriage, not that He joins together every man who comes to live with a woman. For we see many people come together for evil purposes, even within lawful marriage, and we should not attribute this to God. But as He Himself said, “He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two will be one flesh.” (Matt. xix. 4, 5; Gen. ii. 24.) This is what that wise man meant to explain. Since equality of honor often leads to fighting, He has established many forms of rule and submission: for example, between husband and wife, son and father, old and young, slave and free, ruler and ruled, teacher and disciple. And why are you surprised to find this among human beings, when He has done the same thing even in the body? Here too He has not given every part equal honor, but has made one lesser and another greater, and has made some members rule and others be ruled. You can notice this same principle among creatures without reason, among bees, cranes, and herds of wild cattle. Even the sea itself has this beautiful order of submission. There too, many groups of fish are organized under a single leader and are led like an army on long journeys away from home. For anarchy, wherever it exists, is an evil and a cause of confusion. After saying where governments come from, he continues, “Whoever therefore resists the authority resists what God has ordained.” See where he has taken the subject, how frightening he makes it, and how he shows that this is an obligation. For believers might say, You are making us cheap and contemptible when you subject us, who are to enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven, to rulers. To prevent this, he shows that in doing so he is subjecting them to God Himself, not merely to rulers. For whoever submits to the authorities obeys Him. Yet he does not put it this way—for instance, by saying that someone who obeys the authorities obeys God. Instead, he uses the opposite case to fill them with awe, and states it more sharply by saying that whoever refuses to obey them is fighting against God, Who established these laws. He takes pains in every case to show that we obey them as an obligation, not as a favor. In this way he was more likely to draw unbelieving governors to the faith and believers to obedience. For in those days a widespread report (Tert. Ap. 1, 31, 32) slandered the Apostles as guilty of sedition and a revolutionary plot, claiming that everything they did and said aimed to overthrow established institutions. When you show that our common Master gives this command to all His people, you will immediately silence those who slander us as revolutionaries, and you will speak with great confidence in defense of the doctrines of truth. Do not be ashamed, then, he says, of such submission. God has laid down this law and powerfully avenges the authorities when they are treated with contempt. For if you disobey, He will exact no ordinary punishment from you, but the very greatest. Nothing you can say in your defense will exempt you. You will suffer the severest punishment at human hands, with no one to defend you, and you will also provoke God still more. He indicates all this when he says, “And those who resist will bring condemnation on themselves.” Then, after the warning, he shows the benefit of submission and also uses arguments to persuade them, as follows: Ver. 3. “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil ones.” After inflicting a deep wound and striking them down, he treats them more gently, like a wise physician applying soothing medicines. He comforts them and says, Why be afraid? Why shudder? Does the ruler punish someone who is doing good? Is he a terror to someone who lives virtuously? So he continues, “Do you want to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will receive praise from him.” You see how he has made the believer friends (ᾥκείωσεν) with the ruler by showing that the ruler even praises him from his throne. You see how he has removed any reason for anger. Ver. 4. “For he is God’s minister to you for good.” Far from terrifying you, he says, he even praises you; far from hindering you, he even works with you. When you have his praise and his help, how can you refuse to submit to him? He makes virtue easier for you in other ways too: by punishing the wicked, benefiting and honoring the good, and cooperating with God’s will. That is why he has even given him the name “Minister.” Consider this: I advise you to be sober-minded, and through the laws he says the same thing. I urge you not to be greedy and grasping, and he sits in judgment on such cases. So he works with us and helps us, and God has commissioned him for this purpose. Thus there are two reasons to respect him: because God commissioned him, and because He did so for this purpose. “But if you do what is evil, be afraid.” It is our own wickedness, then, that creates the fear, not the ruler. “For he does not carry the sword for nothing.” You see how he has armed him and stationed him like a soldier on guard, to terrify those who commit sin. “For he is God’s minister, an avenger who carries out punishment against the one who does evil.” Now, in case you recoil at hearing again about punishment, vengeance, and a sword, he says again that the ruler is carrying out God’s law. What if he does not know it himself? Still, it is God Who has arranged things this way (οὕτως ἐτύπωσεν). If, then, whether punishing or honoring, he is a Minister who defends the cause of virtue and drives vice away as God wills, why find fault with him, when he brings about so many good actions and prepares the way for yours too? For many people first practiced virtue through fear of God. There are people of duller understanding who are less influenced by future things than by present ones. So the person who uses fear and rewards to prepare the souls of the majority to become more receptive to the word of instruction is rightly called “the Minister of God.” Ver. 5. “Therefore you must be subject, not only because of punishment but also for conscience’s sake.” What does “not only because of punishment” mean? It means not only because you resist God when you refuse to submit, nor only because you bring great troubles on yourself from both God and the rulers, but also because the ruler benefits you in matters of the greatest importance, securing peace for you and the blessings of civil institutions. These authorities bring countless blessings to states. If you removed them, everything would collapse. Neither city nor countryside, neither private nor public buildings, nor anything else would stand. The whole world would be turned upside down, while the stronger devoured the weaker. So even if no punishment followed human disobedience, you should submit on this ground alone, so that you do not seem to lack conscience and feeling toward your benefactor. Ver. 6. “For this reason you also pay taxes; for they are God’s ministers, continually attending to this very thing.” Without listing one by one the benefits rulers bring to states—good order and peace, and other services involving the military and those who manage public affairs—he shows all this through a single example. You yourself testify that the ruler benefits you, he means, by paying him a salary. Notice the wisdom and judgment of the blessed Paul. What seemed burdensome and annoying—the system of taxation—he turns into proof of their care for people. Why, he asks, do we pay taxes to a king? Isn’t it because he provides for us? And we would not have paid them unless we had first known that we benefited from this oversight. This is why, from ancient times, everyone agreed that governors should be supported by us: they neglect their own affairs to take charge of public affairs and devote all their available time to them, keeping our possessions safe as well. After describing these outward benefits, he returns to his earlier argument (for this was more likely to win over the believer) and shows again that this is God’s decree. On this he finally grounds his advice, in the words, “They are God’s ministers.” Then, to show the effort they make and the hard life they lead, he continues, “Continually attending to this very thing.” This is their life, their work: to make it possible for you to enjoy peace. So in another Epistle he tells believers not only to submit, but also to “pray” for them. And there too, to show that the benefit is shared by everyone, he adds, “That we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all things.” (1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.) They contribute greatly to the stability of this present life by keeping watch, driving off enemies, restraining those who stir up sedition in the cities, and settling disputes wherever they arise. Do not tell me about someone who abuses authority. Look at the good order within the institution itself, and you will see the great wisdom of Him Who established this law from the beginning. Ver. 7, 8. “Repay everyone what you owe them: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs duties to whom customs duties are due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due. Owe (or ye owe) no one anything, except to love one another.” He continues along the same line, telling them to pay the authorities not only money, but honor and fear as well. But how is it that, after saying above, “Do you want to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good,” he now says to give them fear? By this he means the deepest honor, not the fear that comes from a guilty conscience, which he referred to before. And he does not say “give,” but “repay” (or “give back,” ἀπόδοτε), and then adds what is “owed.” You are not doing them a favor by acting this way, since it is an obligation. If you do not do it, you will be punished for your stubbornness. Do not suppose that you lower yourself and diminish the dignity of your philosophy if you stand up when a ruler enters or uncover your head. For if he laid down these laws when the rulers were Gentiles, we should do this all the more now that they are believers. But if you mean to say that you have been entrusted with greater privileges, understand that this is not your time. You are a stranger and a temporary resident. A time will come when you will shine more brightly than everyone. Now your “life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ appears, then you too will appear with Him in glory” (Col. iii. 3, 4.) So do not seek your transformation in this life of changing circumstances. Even if you must stand in fear in a ruler’s presence, do not think this is unworthy of your noble birth. For God wills that the ruler, whose position He has defined, should exercise his own authority. And when someone conscious of no evil in himself stands in fear before the judge, the evildoer will be much more frightened, and you will be respected all the more in this way. You lower yourself by dishonoring him, not by honoring him. The ruler will treat you with greater respect and will glorify your Master because of this, even if he is an unbeliever. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” Again he turns to the mother of good deeds, the teacher of the things he has spoken about, who also produces every virtue. He says that this too is a debt, though unlike taxes or customs duties it is a continuing one. He never wants it to be paid off—or rather, he wants it always to be paid, yet never fully, so that it is always owed. For this is the nature of the debt: we keep giving and always keep owing. After saying how a person should love, he also shows its benefit, saying, “For whoever loves another has fulfilled the Law.” Please do not consider even this a favor, for this too is a debt. You owe love to your brother because of your spiritual relationship, and not only for this reason, but also because “we are members of one another.” If love leaves us, the whole body is torn apart. So love your brother. For if you gain so much from his friendship that you fulfill the whole Law, you owe him love because you benefit from him. Ver. 9. “For the commandments, You must not commit adultery, You must not kill, You must not steal, You must not bear false witness, and any other commandment, are briefly summed up in this saying, You must love your neighbor as yourself.” He does not simply say it is fulfilled, but “it is briefly summed up.” That is, the whole work of the commandments is completed concisely, in a few words. For love is the beginning and the end of virtue. Virtue has love for its root, its foundation, and its summit. If love is both its beginning and its fulfillment, what can equal it? But he calls for intense love, not simply love. He does not merely say “love your neighbor,” but “as yourself.” That is also why Christ said that “the Law and the Prophets hang on” it. And see how He has exalted this love by distinguishing two kinds of love! After saying that the first commandment is, “You must love the Lord your God,” He added a second. And He did not stop there, but added, “Like it; You must love your neighbor as yourself.” What can equal this love for humanity, this gentleness? When we were infinitely distant from Him, He compares love for us with love for Himself and says that it “is like this.” So, to make the measures of the two as nearly the same as possible, of the one He says, “With all your heart and with all your soul,” and of love toward one’s neighbor He says, “As yourself.” But Paul said that when this love was absent, even the other was of little benefit to us. Just as we, when we are fond of someone, say, If you love him, you love me, so He too says, to show this, “Is like it”; and to Peter, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” (John xxi. 16.) Ver. 10. “Love does no harm to its neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.” Notice how love has both virtues: refraining from evil (for it “does no harm,” he says) and doing good deeds. “For it is,” he says, “the fulfillment (or filling up) of the Law.” It not only presents instruction about moral duties in a concise form, but also makes carrying them out easy. For his concern was not only that we should learn what benefits us (which is the Law’s concern); love also gave us great help in doing these things, accomplishing in us not just some of the commandments, but the whole of virtue. Let us then love one another, since in this way we will also love God, Who loves us. Among human beings, if you love someone’s beloved, the one who loves that person resents it. But here He considers you worthy to share His love and hates you when you do not share it. Human love is burdened with envy and jealousy, but God’s love is free from every passion, and so He seeks people to share His love. For He says, Love along with Me, and then I will love you all the more. You see the words of a passionate lover! If you love My beloved, then I too will consider Myself greatly loved by you. For He passionately desires our salvation, and He has shown this from ancient times. Now hear what He says when He was forming man: “Let Us make man in Our Image”; and again, “Let Us make a helper suitable for him. It is not good for him to be alone.” (Gen. i. 26; ii. 18.) And when man had transgressed, notice how gently He rebuked him. He does not say, You wretch, you utter wretch! After receiving such great benefits, have you trusted the devil after all? Have you left your Benefactor to take up with the evil spirit? What does He say instead? “Who told you that you are naked, unless you have eaten from the Tree, the only one from which I commanded you not to eat?” (ib. iii. 11.) It is as if a father said to a child who had been told not to touch a sword, but disobeyed and was wounded, “How did you get wounded? You got this way by not listening to me.” You see that these are the words of a friend rather than a master, a friend who has been despised and still does not abandon him. Let us imitate Him, then, and preserve this moderation when we rebuke. For He also rebukes the woman with the same gentleness. Or rather, what He said was less a rebuke than a warning and correction, and a safeguard for the future. This is why He says nothing to the serpent. For the serpent had devised the evils and could not shift the accusation to anyone else, so He punished him severely. And He did not stop even here, but made the earth share in the curse as well. But if He drove them out of paradise and condemned them to labor, we should adore and revere Him all the more even for this. Since self-indulgence leads to apathy, He cuts into pleasure by building a fortress of pain against apathy, so that we may return to loving Him. And what about Cain? Does he not meet with the same gentleness? Although Cain too insults Him, He does not reproach (same word as insult) him in return, but appeals to (or comforts) him and says, “Why has your face fallen?” (Gen. iv. 6.) Yet what Cain had done admitted no excuse at all, as his younger brother shows. But even then He does not rebuke him. What does He say? “Have you sinned? Keep peace”; “do so no more.” “His turning will be toward you, and you will rule over him” (ib. 7, LXX.), meaning his brother. “For if you are afraid,” He means, “that because of this sacrifice I will deprive you of the preeminence of the firstborn, take heart: I place full authority over him in your hands. Only become better, and love the one who has done you no wrong, for I care about you both. What makes Me happiest is that you should not be at odds with one another.” Like a devoted mother, God does and plans everything to keep one person from being torn away from another. But to see my meaning more clearly through an example, please recall Rebekah in her distress, running about everywhere when her older son was hostile to the younger. For although she loved Jacob, she still did not dislike Esau. That is why she said, So that “I do not lose both of you, my children, in one day.” (ib. xxvii. 45.) So on that occasion God too said, “You have sinned: be at peace: his turning will be toward you” (ib. iv. 7), seeking to prevent the murder beforehand and aiming at peace between them both. But after Cain murdered him, He did not stop caring for Cain even then. Again He speaks gently to the brother-killer, saying, “Where is your brother Abel?” so that even now, if he wished, he could make a full confession. But Cain fought to defend his earlier crimes with an even greater and sadder shamelessness. Even then God does not abandon him, but again speaks like an injured and despised lover and says, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me.” (Gen. iv. 10.) And again He rebukes the earth along with the murderer, turning His anger toward it and saying, “Cursed be the earth, which opened her mouth to receive your brother’s blood” (ib. xi.). He acts like those who lament (ἀνακαλοὕντας), as David also did when Saul fell. For David addressed the mountains that received Saul as he died, saying, “Mountains of Gilboa, let neither rain nor dew fall on you, because there the shields of the mighty were cast away.” (2 Sam. i. 21.) So God too, as though singing a solitary dirge (μονῳδίαν), says, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me; and now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” He said this to humble Cain’s fiery passion and persuade him to love his brother at least now that he was gone. Have you extinguished his life? He would say. Why do you not now extinguish your hatred too? But what does He do? He loves both of them, since He made them both. What then? Does (4 mss. will) He let the murderer go unpunished? No, he would only have grown worse. Will He punish him, then? No, He has more tenderness than a father. See, then, how He both punishes and, even in this, displays His love. Or rather, He does not even punish, but only corrects. He does not kill Cain, but only binds him with trembling, so that he may rid himself of the crime, and at least in this way return to a natural tenderness for his brother, and finally make peace with him now that he is gone. For He wanted Cain not to depart to the other world still hostile to the one who had died. This is how those who love, when their kindness receives no love in return, are driven to become fierce and threaten. They do not really wish to do so, but their love drives them to it, so that at least this way they may win over those who scorn them. Yet affection obtained this way is forced, and still even this comforts them because their love is so intense. So punishment itself comes from affection, since if they were not hurt by being hated, they would not choose to punish either. Now notice how this is what Paul says to the Corinthians: “For who is it,” he says, “who makes me glad, except the very person whom I make sorrowful?” (2 Cor. ii. 2.) And so, when he goes to the full extent of punishment, he shows his love. The Egyptian woman too, because of her passionate love, punished Joseph with equal passion. She did so to harm him, because her love was unchaste; God does so for good, because His love was worthy of Him Who loved. That is why He does not refuse even to come down to more earthly language, to use the names of human passions, and to call Himself jealous. For He says, “I am a jealous God” (Ex. xx. 5), so that you may learn the intensity of His love. Let us love Him, then, as He wants us to, for He values this greatly. If we turn away, He keeps inviting us; and if we will not return, He disciplines us out of His affection, not from a desire to exact punishment from us. And see what He says in Ezekiel to the city that was beloved but had despised Him: “I will bring your lovers against you and deliver you into their hands, and they will stone you and kill you, and My jealousy will be taken away from you, and I will rest, and I will no longer trouble Myself.” (From Ezek. xvi. 37–42.) What more could a passionate lover have said when despised by his beloved, yet still loving her ardently after everything? For God does everything to be loved by us, and for this reason He did not spare even His Son. But we are unyielding and savage. Yet let us become gentle at last and love God as we ought, so that we may enjoy virtue with pleasure. For if someone with a beloved wife does not notice any of the troubles that come day after day, just consider how much pleasure someone who loves with this divine and pure love will enjoy! For this is—indeed it is—the kingdom of Heaven; this is the enjoyment of good things, pleasure, cheerfulness, joy, and blessedness. Or rather, however much I say, I will still be unable to give you an adequate picture of it. Only experiencing it can give you knowledge of this beautiful thing. That is why the Prophet also says, “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Ps. xxxvii. 4), and, “Taste and see that the Lord is gracious.” (Ib. xxxiv. 8.) Let us be persuaded, then, and take our delight in His love. In this way we will both see His Kingdom even from this life and live the life of Angels. While we remain on earth, we will be in as blessed a condition as those who dwell in heaven; and after we depart from here, we will stand as the brightest of beings beside the judgment seat of Christ and enjoy that indescribable glory. May we all attain it through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. For to Him is the glory forever, Amen.