Homilies on Acts 28.1–28.3

[Lemma] “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had also …” (Acts 13:4–5)

… As soon as they were ordained they went out and sailed to Cyprus, since there was no plotting there and the word had already been sown. For in Antioch there were enough teachers; and Phoenicia was near Palestine, but Cyprus was not. Do not ask why, from now on, when they are moved by the Spirit; for they were not only ordained by the Spirit, but also sent out by him. “And when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” Do you see them making every effort to proclaim the word to the Jews first, so as not to make them more contentious? Those others too spoke to no one but Jews only, and these went into the synagogues. “And having gone through the whole island … a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding, who … to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) opposed them …” the faith. Again a Jewish magician, like Simon. And see this man: when they were preaching to the others, he was not much provoked; but when they approached the proconsul, then he was. The wonderful thing about the proconsul is that, though he had been taken over beforehand by that man’s magic, he wanted to hear the apostles. So the Samaritans also did; and the victory is seen by comparison, when the magic is overcome. Everywhere vainglory and love of power are the causes of the evils …

“… the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.’” Here his name is changed together with his ordination, as happened with Peter too. And see: the thing is not insult but a striking of terror. For the bold and shameless must be struck with terror in this way. “O full of all deceit,” he says, “and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness.” Here he lays bare what was in the man’s mind, as one who under a pretense of salvation was destroying the proconsul. “Will you not stop,” he says, “making crooked the ways of the Lord?” And convincingly: “It is not against us that you war,” he says, “nor us that you fight, but you are making crooked the straight ways of the Lord,” and that with praise of those ways. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind.” By the sign by which he himself was brought in, by this he wished to bring this man in too. And “for a time” was the word not of one punishing but of one seeking to convert. For if it had been the word of one punishing, he would have made him blind for ever; but as it is, not this, but for a time, so that he might win the proconsul. “And immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” Rightly; for one who had been taken over beforehand by magic had to be taught by this punishment. So too the magicians in Egypt were taught long ago by the boils. And see them not lingering there, now that the proconsul had believed, nor softened by flattery and honor, but at once keeping to the work: “And … from Cyprus, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia; and going into the synagogue on the sabbath day they sat down.” Again they went into the synagogues in the manner of Jews, so as not to be fought against or driven out, and in this way they succeeded in everything. “After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them … of exhortation for the people, speak.” From here on, then, we learn about Paul, having learned not a little about Peter in what was said before.

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “And when they arrived,” he says, “at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God”: in the metropolis of Cyprus. They had spent a year in Antioch. They had to go there too, and not sit here all the time; those there needed greater teachers. See how they do not stay in Seleucia either, knowing that from the neighboring city they would have reaped much benefit; but they hasten to what is urgent, there too. For coming to the metropolis of the island, they hastened to set the proconsul right. And that it was not flattery to say, “He was with the proconsul, a man of understanding,” learn from the fact: how he did not need many words, how he wished to hear them. He also lists the names of the cities, showing that since they had received the word so readily, they needed to be strengthened to abide in the faith; that is why they constantly visited them. See that he said nothing to the magician until that man gave him occasion, but only proclaimed the word of the Lord. For since the magician saw the others paying attention, he aimed at this one thing, that the proconsul should not be persuaded. And why did Paul not do another sign? Because there was none equal to this, to overcome the enemy.

[2] And see: first he accuses, and then he punishes. He shows that the man suffered justly by saying, “O full of all deceit,” that is, lacking in nothing, he says. And he said well, “all deceit”; for he was playing the hypocrite. “Son of the devil,” for he was doing the devil’s work. “Enemy of all righteousness,” for this, the gospel, was truly all righteousness. It seems to me that in saying this he also convicts the man’s life. And to show that the words were not of anger, he said beforehand, “of the Holy Spirit,” that is, of his working. “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you.” So it was not punishment but healing. For he was all but saying, “It is not I who do this, but the hand of God.” See his freedom from pride. “You will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” He says this to give him room to repent. For they nowhere wished to make themselves known by the harsher miracles, even when these were done against enemies. With their own people, rightly; but with outsiders not, so that the thing might not be thought to come from compulsion and fear. A proof of the blindness is the seeking of people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul sees the maiming and at once believes; and not simply, but being astonished; for he saw that these things were not words or deceit. See how great a love of teaching he had, though in so high an office. Paul did not say to the magician, “Will you not stop perverting the proconsul?” but, “the ways of the Lord,” which was more, so that he might not seem to flatter.

And why did John leave them and return to Jerusalem? Because he was an attendant, while they bore the danger. Again, coming to Perga, they pass by the other cities; for they were hurrying to the metropolis, Antioch. And see how the writer abridges. “They sat down in the synagogue,” he says, “on the sabbath day,” so as to prepare the way for the word. And they do not speak first, but when permitted, since they had been invited as strangers. If they had not waited, there would have been no speaking. Here Paul preaches for the first time. And see his good judgment: where the word had been sown, he passes by; where there was no one, there he spends his time, as he himself says in writing: “Thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has been named.” This too is a mark of great courage. Truly the man is admirable from the very start: crucified, drawn up for battle, he knew how great a grace he had enjoyed, and brought in a zeal to match it. He was not angry with John; for he did not keep to John, but to the work. He did not lose heart, he was not afraid, though caught in the midst of a multitude. See how it is arranged that Paul should not preach in Jerusalem: it is enough for them to hear this, that he believed; but if he preached they would not have borne it, because of their hatred; and he goes far away, where he was not known. First he exposed the magician, what kind of man he was … and the sign showed that he was such. This was a sign of the blindness in his soul. And he suffers “for a time,” so as to repent. And well did they enter the synagogue on the sabbath, when all were gathered. “And after the reading of the law and the prophets,” he says, “the rulers of the synagogue sent … for the people, speak.” See them doing this ungrudgingly then, but afterwards no longer. If you wished this, you ought rather to have been the ones to exhort.

But oh, love of power! Oh, vainglory! How it overturns and destroys everything! It makes men take their stand against their own salvation and against one another’s; it makes them maimed and blind in this way … would that they had at least sought people to lead them by the hand! But they no longer endure this, but entrust everything to themselves. It lets no one see; it settles on them like a mist and gloom. What defense shall we have, if we master one passion for the sake of another passion, but not for the fear of God? For instance, many who were both licentious and lovers of money have bridled their pleasure through sparing their money; others, the reverse, have despised money for the sake of pleasure. Again, those overcome by vainglory have got the better of both, spending money unsparingly and being chaste to no purpose. Others again, being very vainglorious, have despised that passion, enduring many shameful things both for love affairs and for money. Others again, to satisfy their anger, have chosen to suffer countless losses, and cared for none of these things, if only they might do their own will. And what a passion has the power to do, the fear of God has not had power to do with us. And why do I say a passion? What respect for men has power to do, the fear of God has not. We do many good deeds and commit many sins out of respect for men; but God we have not feared. How many have thrown away money from shame? How many have been ambitious to no purpose, serving their friends to their harm? How many, out of regard for friendship, countless …

If, then, both passion and respect for men can drive us into sins as well as into good deeds, it is idle for us to say that we cannot; for we can, if we will; and all must will. Tell me, why can you not master the love of glory, when others master it, who have the same soul, the same body, the same form, and live the same life? Think of God, think of the glory above; set the present things against it, and you will quickly spring away from this. In short, if you desire glory, desire the true glory. What sort of glory is it, when it brings dishonor? What sort of glory, when it compels you to aim at honor from those who are lesser, and to need that? Honor is to enjoy glory from those who are greater. In short, if you love glory, love rather the glory that comes from God. If, loving that, you despise this, you will see that this is without honor; until you see that, you will not be able to see this either, how shameful it is, how ridiculous. For just as those who have been captivated by some wicked woman, hideous and ugly, cannot see her ugliness as long as they love her, because the passion darkens their judgment, so too here: as long as we are held by the passion, we cannot perceive what an evil it is.

How then, someone says, might we be rid of it? Think of those who spent money and reaped nothing from it; think of the dead, how much glory they enjoyed, and it is nowhere secure, but has perished and decayed; consider that it is only a name and has no reality. For what is glory? Tell me; give some definition. To be admired by all, he says. Justly, or unjustly as well? If unjustly, this would not be admiration but accusation, flattery and slander; if justly, this is not possible; for the crowd does not judge rightly, but admires those who serve its desires. And if you will, look at those who give their goods to harlots, to charioteers, to dancers. But we do not mean these, someone says, but the just and the upright and those able to do great good. Would that they wished it! They would quickly do good things; but as it is, they do none of these. Tell me, who now praises the just and upright man? Quite the contrary. And what is more absurd than a just man, if, while achieving so great a thing, he aims at the glory that comes from the many? He does the same as if a painter, being excellent and painting a portrait …, were to welcome the praises of the unskilled. Besides, a man who looks to human glory will quickly fall away from virtuous deeds. For if he means to gape after praise, he will do whatever they wish, not what he himself wishes.

What, then, would I advise you to do from now on? To attend to God, to be content with the praises that come from him, to do all that seems good to him, and to do what is good, gaping after nothing human. For this spoils fasting and prayer and almsgiving, and empties all our good things. That we may not suffer this, let us flee this passion. Let us look to one thing only, the praise from God, the approval from there, the commendation of our common Master; so that, having passed the present life with virtue, we may attain the promised good things with those who love him, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.