Homilies on Acts 49.1–49.4

“But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of … ’ … there arose a dissension between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge both.” Again he speaks in a human way, and does not everywhere enjoy grace, but is allowed to contribute something of his own; which he does, both in this and in what follows when he makes his defense, wishing to divide the crowd that was wickedly of one mind against him. And he does not lie here either in calling himself a Pharisee; for he was a Pharisee by descent. That is why he makes his defense thus: “I am a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee, and concerning the hope …” Since those men did not want to say why they were judging him, he is now forced to declare it himself. “But the Pharisees,” it says, “acknowledge both.” And yet there are three; how, then, does it say “both”? Either because spirit and angel are one, or because the word is taken not only of two but also of three. So he spoke loosely, not in the strict sense. And see: when he took his stand with them, then they make a defense for him. “For there arose,” it says, “a great clamor; and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended, saying, ‘We find nothing wrong in this man. If a spirit spoke to him, or an angel, let us not fight against God.’” And why did they not make a defense for him before this? Because he had not yet mixed with them, nor was it clear that [he would] make his defense as one who was a Pharisee from the first. Do you see how, when passion gives way, the truth is found? What they say is this: What charge is there, if an angel spoke to him, if a spirit, and, instructed by it, he teaches what concerns the resurrection? So let us let him go, so that we may not be found fighting against him and fighting against God. See them wisely defending him, and Paul giving them no handle. “And when the dissension became great …” “… Paul [be torn to pieces] by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him [into the barracks].” [He feared that he might] be torn to pieces, since Paul had said that he was a Roman; hence the matter was not without danger. Do you see that he rightly declared himself a Roman? For otherwise the tribune would not have been afraid even now. And so the troops now seize him. But when the defiled men saw that everything was coming to nothing, they do the whole thing by themselves, having wanted to before this too, but having been prevented. So wickedness never stops, though cut off so many times. And yet how much was arranged by dispensation, so that they might both lower their anger and learn from what they could recover themselves. But nonetheless they press on. That defense was enough, at any rate: that the man who was about to be torn apart was snatched away and escaped so many dangers. “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’ When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.” “They bound themselves under a curse,” it says. Do you see how vehement and how vindictive they are in wickedness? What is “They bound themselves under a curse”? Instead of saying: they declared themselves outside the faith in God unless they did what they had decided against Paul. Then those men are under a curse forever, for they did not kill Paul. And forty come together at once. For such is that nation: when they must agree on something good, not even two run together; but when on something evil, a whole people. And they take the rulers too as partners; and so, to show this, it adds: “They went to the chief priests and the elders [and said, ‘We have bound ourselves under a great curse] to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now, therefore, you with the council give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly; and we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’ But the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush, and he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. And Paul called one of the [centurions and said, ‘Take this young man] to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.’ So he took him and brought him to the tribune.” Again he is saved by human foresight. And see: Paul lets no one learn of it, not even the centurion, so that the matter might not become known. “And the centurion came and reported to the tribune, saying, ‘The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to tell you.’ The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside privately asked him, ‘What is it that you have to report to me?’ And he said, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more exactly about him. But do not be persuaded by them; for more than forty of their men are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed Paul; and now they are ready, waiting for your promise.’ So the tribune dismissed the young man, [charging him to tell no one that he had disclosed] these things to me.”

The tribune fittingly orders him to keep it secret, so that it might not become known. And he tells the centurions only when it had to be done; and so Paul is sent to Caesarea, so that … of the hearing; so that the Jews may not be able to say, “If we had seen Paul, if we had heard him teaching, we would have believed.” So this excuse too is cut off from them from here on. “And the Lord stood by him,” it says, “and said to him, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’” See: even after appearing, he again lets him be saved in a human way. And Paul is worth admiring, how he was not disturbed and did not say, “What is this? Have I been deceived by Christ?” He neither thought nor felt anything of the kind, but simply believed; not, however, that because he believed he went to sleep; but he did not neglect to see what was possible by human wisdom. And consider what necessity those men laid on themselves by the curse. See, fasting the mother of murder! Just as Herod laid on himself the necessity of his oath, so did these too. For such are the devil’s snares: he sets his traps under a pretense, forsooth, of piety. And yet they ought to have come forward, to have brought charges, to have convened a court; for these are the deeds not of priests but of robber chiefs, not of rulers but of destroyers. And see the excess of wickedness: not content with corrupting one another, they try to corrupt the ruler along with them; that is why it was arranged that he too should learn of their plot. And they convicted themselves of being nothing, not only from having nothing to say, but also from making their attempt in secret. It is likely, too, that after he had been sent away the chief priests came asking for him, and were put to shame, dismissed with nothing accomplished. And the tribune does this fittingly; for he did not wish either to grant their favor or to consent. “And how,” one says, “did he believe that what the young man reported was true?” He guessed from what had already happened that it was likely they would do this too. And see the villainy: they laid a kind of necessity on the chief priests too. And do not be surprised: for if they themselves chose so much and took the whole danger on themselves, much more was it likely that those would do this. Do you see how by the vote of outsiders Paul is declared innocent, as Christ too was by Pilate? But see also wickedness destroyed by itself. For they handed him over to kill and condemn him; but the opposite happens: he is saved and found innocent. For if not so, he would have been torn apart; if not so, he would have perished, would have been condemned. And the tribune not only rescues him from that attack, but also becomes his servant, so that he is brought safely through with so great an escort; and how, hear; for it goes on: “And calling two of the centurions, he said, ‘Get ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, … [two hun]dred, at the third hour of the night; [and provide mounts, to set Paul on and bring him safely] to Felix the governor’; and he wrote a letter to this effect: ‘Claudius Lysias to … This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And wishing to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. I found that he was accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or bonds. And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man by the Jews, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him. Farewell.’” See: the letter contains a defense on his behalf (“For I found him,” he says, “charged with nothing deserving death”), and an accusation against them rather than against him; so eager were they to kill. And first he says, “He was about to be killed by the Jews and I rescued him”; then he adds, “And I brought him down to them”; and not even so did they find anything to charge; and when they ought to have been struck and ashamed over the first attempt, they try again to kill him, so that the case for him might again become more brilliant. And why does he send the accusers? So that in the court, where … Let us, then, [look at] what was said from the beginning. “I,” he says, “am a Pharisee.” He said this so as to draw them over. Then, so that he might not seem to flatter, he adds: “Concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am on trial.” He commends himself from their own accusation and slander. “For the Sadducees say that there is no angel, nor spirit.” The Sadducees know nothing incorporeal, perhaps not even God, being gross men; hence they will not believe that there is a resurrection either. “And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party,” it says, “stood up and contended, saying, ‘We find nothing wrong in this man.’”

See: the tribune too hears that the Pharisees cleared him of the charges and voted in his favor, and he seizes him with greater confidence. And the very words spoken to Paul were full of wisdom. “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage; for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome too.’” See how great the encouragement is: first he praises him, then he does not let him fear even the uncertainty of the journey to Rome; as if he were saying, “You will not only go there, but you will also enjoy such boldness.” From this it was shown not that he would be saved, but that he would bear witness for great crowns in the great city. And why did he not appear to him before he fell into the danger? Because God always comforts in afflictions (for then he appears more longed for), and exercises us in dangers. Besides, he was then at ease, freed from his bonds, but now terrors were about to succeed. “That we have bound ourselves under a curse,” it says, “neither to eat nor to drink.” Wonderful, how great … “That he may bring him down,” it says, “to you, as though you were going …” What are you saying? Did he not address you a second time? Did he not call himself a Pharisee? What, then, is the need of more … So they feared nothing, not courts, not laws; so nothing was beyond their daring. They both propose the plan and promise the deed. “But the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush.” This was, finally, of God’s dispensation, that they did not perceive that he would hear. What then of Paul? He was not disturbed, but perceived that this was God’s work; and casting everything on him, he obtained his safety in fact. And consider how God arranged everything for good. The young man told of the plot … of the cause: why did they send the accusers? So that the examination might be more exact, so that the man might be cleared the more. Such are God’s dispensations: through the things by which we are harmed, through these we are helped. So too Joseph was plotted against by his mistress; and she seemed to be plotting against him, but by plotting she set him in safety; for the prison was much gentler than the house where that beast was kept. For while he was there, even though he was in favor, he was in constant fear that his mistress might set upon him, and the fear that lay on him was harsher than a prison; but after the accusation he was thereafter in freedom from fear and in quiet, released from that beast and from the shame and the plotting; for it was better for him to be with wretched men than with a raging mistress. Here he could comfort himself that he had fallen into this because of chastity; there he was afraid of receiving the wound in his soul; for nothing is more burdensome to an unwilling young man than a woman in love with him, nothing more accursed, nothing heavier: this is harsher than all bonds. So he did not fall into a prison, but was released from a prison. She made his master his enemy, but she reconciled God to him, made him more intimate with the true Master, who truly is; she cast him out of his stewardship in the house, but made him the Master’s own. Again, his brothers sold him, but they freed him from enemies living with him, from envy and much spite, from daily plotting; they set him far from those who hated him. For what is worse than this, when someone is forced to live with envious brothers, when he is under suspicion, when he is plotted against? So they did one thing, and she another, but great things were being arranged for the righteous man. When he was in honor, then he was in danger; when he was in dishonor, then he was in safety. The eunuchs did not remember him; and rightly, so that the occasion of his release might become more brilliant; so that the whole might be ascribed not to human favor but to divine dispensation; so that he might bring him out at the right moment when need arose; so that Pharaoh might bring him out of prison not as a benefactor but as one benefited. The gift was not to become a slave, but the king was to be brought into need; his wisdom had to become manifest. That is why the eunuch forgets, so that Egypt might not overlook him, so that the king might not be ignorant of him. If he had been brought out then, perhaps he would have desired to go off to his own country; that is why he is held by countless necessities: first by the household, second by the prison, third in the kingdom, so that these things might be arranged. Like a noble colt wanting to leap away to its own, God held him there by glorious causes. For that he desired to see his father and to free him from his grief is clear from his calling him there.

Would you like us to look at other plots too, how they turn out for our good, not only by our having a reward, but also by their doing things for us at the very right time? Joseph’s uncle plotted against Joseph’s father and drove him from his homeland. What then? He too set him far from danger; for he too came to be in safety; it made him wiser, it made him see the dream. But he served as a slave in a foreign land? But going to his own people he takes a bride, and appears worthy to his kinsman. But that man too deceived him? But this too turned out for good, so that he became the father of many children. But he wanted to plot against him? But this too was for good, so that he might return to his own country at last; for if he had been prospering, he would not have longed so much for his own. But he took away his wages? But they became more. So everywhere: the more they were plotted against, the more their affairs flourished. If he had not received the elder, he would not quickly have become the father of so many children, but would have dragged on a long time in childlessness, and would have grieved, as his wife did. For she grieved with reason, not having become a mother; but he has a consolation; that is why he even rebuffs her. Again, if he had not deprived him of his wages, he would not have longed to see his own country, the man’s wisdom would not have appeared, they would not have become more devoted to him. For see what they say: “He has quite devoured us and our money.” So this became the cause of their affection. From then on he had the women as his servants rather than as wives, and was loved by them; and no possession could equal this; for nothing, nothing is more precious than to be so loved by a wife and to love. “And a wife,” it says, “who agrees with her husband.” The wise man counts this one thing among the blessings; for when this is present, all wealth, all prosperity is present; just as, when it is absent, nothing else is of any use, but everything is overturned and full of unpleasantness and confusion. Let us too, then, seek this before all things. He who seeks money does not seek this. Let us seek the things that can be lasting. Let us not seek a marriage from the wealthy, so that the excess of property may not breed arrogance in the wife, so that the arrogance may not be the cause of ruin. Do you not see what God did, how he subjected her? Why are you ungrateful? Why insensible? What he gave you as a favor from nature, do not you ruin its help. So one must not seek a wealthy woman, but take one as a partner of life for the bearing of children. It was not so that a wife might bring money that God gave her, but so that she might be a helper. But one who brings money is both a plotter … and a mistress instead of a wife, … perhaps a beast instead of a wife, thinking herself entitled to be proud because of her wealth. Nothing is more shameful than a man who plans to get rich in this way. For if getting rich itself is full of temptations, where shall we put getting rich in this way? For do not look at it if someone, rarely, and against the usual course and against reason, has succeeded; for in other matters too we must not attend to things that some enjoy and obtain unexpectedly; but let us look at what follows reason, whether the thing is not full of countless unpleasantnesses. Not only are you yourself in disrepute, but … you give her many occasions to associate again with a second bridegroom. Or do you not see that for many women this has become the pretext for a second marriage: not to be despised, to look for people to manage their property? Let us not, then, do so many evils for the sake of money; but let us let everything go and seek a good soul, so that we may also obtain love. This is the great wealth, this the great treasure, these the countless good things; may we all enjoy them as we ought, and live according to the laws of God, so that we may be able to attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.