Homilies on Hebrews 12.1–12.4

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all, being first, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, that is, king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest forever.” Wishing to show the difference between the New and the Old, Paul scatters it in many places, and skirmishes … and tests the ears of the hearers and trains them beforehand. For right from the opening he laid this down, saying that to them he spoke by the prophets, but to us by a Son; and to them in many parts and in many ways, but to us through the Son. Then, having discoursed about the Son, who he is and what he has done, and having exhorted them to obey him, so that we might not suffer the same things as the Jews, and having said that he is high priest according to Melchizedek, and having often wished to enter on this difference, and having prepared much beforehand, and having rebuked them as weak, and having again treated them and restored them to confidence, he then brings in the discourse about the difference, when their ears were at their height; for one who has fallen back would not easily listen. And that you may learn this, hear Scripture saying, “And they did not listen to Moses because of their faintheartedness.” For this reason, having first emptied out their despondency by many things, both fearful and kinder, he then comes down to the discourse about the difference. And what does he say? “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High.” And the wonderful thing is that in the type he shows the difference to be great. For, as I said, he always confirms the truth from the type, the present from the past, because of the weakness of the hearers. “For this Melchizedek,” he says, “king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met [Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings] and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all.” Having set down the whole narrative briefly, he considered it mystically, and first from the name: “being first,” he says, “by interpretation king of righteousness.” Rightly; for sedek means righteousness, and melchi king; so Melchizedek is king of righteousness. Do you see the exactness even in the names? And who is king of righteousness, but our Lord Jesus Christ? “And then also king of Salem,” from the city, that is, king of peace; for so Salem is interpreted. Which again belongs to Christ; for he made us righteous, and made peace between the things in heaven and the things on earth. What man is king of righteousness and of peace? No other, but only our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he adds another difference too: “[without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither] beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest forever.” Since, then, the saying, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” was objected against him, while that man had died and did not become a priest forever, see how he has considered it. For so that no one might object, saying, “And who would say this of a man?”, I do not say it of the reality, he says; that is, we do not know who his father was, or who his mother, nor when he received his beginning, nor when he died. “And what of that?” one says. “Because we do not know, did he not die, or did he not have parents?” You say well: he both died and had parents. How then “without father, without mother”? How “having neither beginning of days nor end of life”? How? By not being mentioned in Scripture. And what of this? That, just as this man is “without father” by not having his genealogy given, so Christ is by the very nature of the thing.

See the being without beginning, see the being without end. Just as of this man we do not know either the beginning of days or the end of life, because it is not written, so we do not know them of Jesus either, not because it is not written, but because they do not exist. For that is a type, and therefore it is from not being written; but this is the truth, and therefore it is from not existing. For just as in the names too (for here they were titles, “king of righteousness” and “of peace,” but there the truth of the realities), so here too they are titles, but there the truth of the realities. How then does he have a beginning? You see that the Son is without beginning, not in the sense of having no cause (for this is impossible, since he has a Father; otherwise how is he a Son?), but in the sense of having no beginning of life nor end. “But made like,” he says, “the Son of God.” And where is the likeness? That of both this one and that one we do not know the end and the beginning; but of this one because it is not written, of that one because they do not exist. Here is the likeness. But if the likeness were to be in every respect, there would no longer be a type and a truth, but both would be type. So too one may see it happen in shaded drawings; for in them there is something like and something unlike; for through the mere outline there is some likeness of the features, but when the colors are laid on, then the difference appears plainly, both the like and the unlike. “But consider,” he says, “how great this man was, to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils.” So far he has fitted the type. Now with confidence he shows him [better] than the realities among the Jews. And if the one who bore the type of Christ is so much better, not than the priests only, but even than the forefather of the priests, what could one say of the truth? Do you see with what abundance he shows the superiority? “But consider,” he says, “how great this man was, to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils.” The spoils are called ἀκροθίνια. And one cannot say that he gave as to one who had shared in the war; for that is why [it says, “returning from the slaughter of] the kings,” showing that he sat at home, and that he gave him the firstfruits of what he had toiled for. “And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, though [these also have come out of the loins of Abraham].” So great, he says, is the excellence of the priesthood, that those who are equal in honor by ancestry and have the same forefather are much better than the others. At any rate they receive tithes from them. When, then, someone is found receiving tithes from these very men, are not these in the rank of laymen, and he among the priests? And not only this, but he was not even of equal honor with them, but of another race. So he would not have given tithes to a foreigner unless the honor had been great. Oh, what has he accomplished! Something greater than what he made plain in the Epistle to the Romans when he treated of faith. For there he says that Abraham is the forefather of both our polity and the Jewish one; but here he is very bold against him, and shows the uncircumcised man to be much better. How then did he show it? That Levi gave tithes? Abraham gave them, he says. And what is this to us? To you most of all; for you will surely not contend that the Levites are better than Abraham. “But he whose genealogy is not counted from them has received tithes from Abraham.” Then he did not simply pass by, but added, “and has blessed him who had the promises,” in which the Jews took pride. He shows that one more venerable than him, and from the common judgment of all: “[Without any dispute the lesser is blessed] by the better.” That is, all agree that the lesser is blessed by the better. So the type of Christ is better even than the one who had the promises. “And here men who die receive tithes, but there one of whom it is testified that he lives.” But so that they might not say, “Why do you go up so far? What has it to do with our priests if Abraham gave a tithe? Tell us what concerns us,” he adds and says, “And, so to speak …” not saying it openly, so as not to wound them. “Through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes.” How? “For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” That is, Levi was in him, and though not yet born, gave the tithe through him. See, he did not say “the Levites” but “Levi,” drawing even from this the greater thing, as he wished, to excess. Have you seen how great the difference is between Abraham and Melchizedek, who bore the type of our high priest? And he shows the superiority to have come about by authority, not by necessity. For the one gave the tithe, which marks the other as priest; the other blessed, which marks the better. This superiority passes on to the descendants too. Wonderfully and triumphantly he threw out the Jewish things. That is why he said, “You have become dull,” since he wished to lay these things down beforehand … so that they might not leap away. For such is Paul’s wisdom: preparing first, so he brings in what he wishes. For the human race is hard to persuade and needs much care, more than plants. For there it is the nature of bodies and of earth, yielding to the farmers’ hands; but here it is the will, which admits many changes and chooses now this, now that; for it is quick to run toward vice.

3. That is why we must always guard ourselves, lest we fall asleep. “For see,” it says, “he who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep”; and, “Do not give your foot to be moved.” He did not say, “Do not be moved,” but “Do not give.” So the giving is in our power, and not in another’s. For if we will stand firm and unmoved, we shall not be shaken; by speaking so he hinted at this. What then? Is nothing in God’s power? All things are in God’s power, but not so that our free will is harmed. “If, then, it is in God’s power,” one says, “why does he blame us?” For this reason I said, not so that our free will is harmed. It is, then, in our power and in his; for we must first choose the good things, and when we have chosen, then he too brings in his own part. He does not anticipate our wills, so that he may not damage our free will; but when we have chosen, then he brings in great help to us. How then, if it is in our power, does Paul say, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy”? First, he did not bring it in as his own opinion, but drew it as a conclusion from what lay before him and was put forward. For having said, “It is written, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion,” he added, “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” “You will say to me then, Why does he still find fault?” Second, one may say this: that he says the whole is his whose is the greater part. For ours is the choosing and willing, but God’s the accomplishing and bringing to completion. Since, then, the greater part is his, he says the whole is his, saying this according to human custom. For so we too do. I mean, for example: we see a house well built, and we say, “The whole is the architect’s”; and yet the whole is not his, but also the workmen’s, and the owner’s who provided the material, and many others’; but nevertheless, since he contributed the greater part, we say the whole is his. So too here. And again in the case of a crowd: where there are many, we say “all”; where few, “no one.” So too Paul says here, “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” And in saying this he achieves two very great things: one, that we should not be lifted up by our achievements; second, that those who achieve should ascribe the cause of their achievements to God. Even if you run, then, even if you are earnest, he says, do not think the achievement yours; for unless you obtain the help from above, all is in vain. Yet that you will obtain what you are earnest for with the alliance from there is plain; but only if you too run, if you will. So he did not say that we run in vain, but that we run in vain if we think the whole ours, if we do not assign the greater part to God. For God did not wish the whole to be his, so that he might not seem to crown us for nothing; nor again ours, so that we might not fall into folly. For if, having the lesser part, we think highly of ourselves, what if we were masters of the whole? For God has done much to cut out our arrogance. “And his hand is still stretched out,” it says. With how many sufferings has he surrounded us … with how many wild beasts? For when some say, “What is this? To what end is this?”, they say these things against what seems good to God. He has set you in so great fear, and not even so are you humble; but if you ever lay hold of a little prosperity, you reach heaven itself in your pride.

That is why there are very swift changes and reversals, and not even so are we instructed; that is why there are deaths frequent and untimely, yet we think as though immortal, as though never to die; so we seize …; so we build, as though remaining here forever; and neither the word of God sounding in our ears every day, nor the events themselves, instruct us. There is no day, there is no hour to be named, in which one may not see continual funerals; but all is in vain, and nothing reaches through our hardness. Nor can we become better through others’ misfortunes, or rather, we do not even wish to; but when we ourselves alone mourn, then we are humbled; and if God relaxes his hand, we in turn raise our hand again. No one thinks of the things above, no one despises the things on earth, no one looks toward heaven; but just as swine bend downward, stooping toward the belly, and wallowing in the mire, so too the many … do not perceive. For it is better to be defiled with unclean mud than with sins. For he who is defiled from that washes himself in a short time, and becomes like one who never fell into that pool at the beginning; but he who has fallen into the pit of sin has received a defilement not cleansed with water, but needing much time, and exactness, and tears, and beatings of the breast, and lamentation greater and warmer than you show over your dearest. For this filth comes upon us from outside; that is why we quickly put it off; but that is born from within; that is why we are cleansed with difficulty, scarcely washing it off. “For out of the heart,” he says, “come forth [evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,] thefts, false testimonies.” That is why the prophet said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God”; and another, “Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem.” Do you see that achieving belongs both to us and to God? And again, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Let us, then, become pure as far as is in our power; let us wipe away our sins. And how is it possible to wipe them away? The prophet teaches, saying, “Wash yourselves, become clean, put away your evils from your souls before my eyes.” What is “before my eyes”? Since some seem to be free from wickedness, but to men, while to God they are plain, being whitewashed tombs; for this reason he says, Put them away so, as I see. “Learn to do good, seek justice, vindicate the humble and the poor; and come, and let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins are as purple, I will make them white as snow; and if they are as scarlet, I will make them white as wool.” Do you see that we must first cleanse ourselves, and then God cleanses? For having first said, “Wash yourselves, become clean,” he then added, “I will make white.” Let no one, then, of those who have come to the extreme of wickedness despair of himself; for even if you have come into a habit, he says, and almost into the very nature of wickedness, do not fear. For this reason, taking colors not fading but almost united in substance with what underlies them, he said that they would come to the contrary state. For he did not say simply that he would wash them, but would make them white as snow and as wool, so that he might hold out good hopes to us. Great, then, is the power of repentance, since it makes us as snow and whitens us as wool, even though sin has already dyed our souls. Let us be eager, then, to become pure; he commanded nothing burdensome: “Judge for the orphan,” he says, “and vindicate the widow.” Do you see how everywhere God makes great account of mercy and of the protection of the wronged? Let us pursue these achievements, and we shall be able by the grace of God to obtain the good things to come too; which may we all be counted worthy of, in Christ Jesus our Lord …