Homilies on Hebrews 5.1–5.5

“… to be made like his brothers in every respect.” Wishing to show God’s great loving-kindness and the love he had for the human race, Paul, after saying, “Since, then, the children share in blood and flesh, he himself likewise shared in the same things,” pursues this point and says, “For surely it is not angels that he takes hold of.” Do not attend to what is said lightly, he means, nor think it a slight thing that he took our flesh; for he did not grant this to angels. That is why he spoke so: “For surely it is not angels that he takes hold of, but the seed of Abraham.” What is it that he says? He took up not the nature of an angel, but that of a man. And what is “he takes hold of”? He did not lay hold of that nature, of the angels, he says, but of ours. And why did he not say “he took,” but used this word? … [a metaphor from those who pursue] those who turn away from them, and do everything … For when human nature was fleeing from him, and fleeing far (“for we were far from God,” he says, “alienated, and without God in the world”), he himself pursued and overtook it. From this it is shown that loving-kindness alone, and love and care, did this. Just as, then, when he says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”, he shows how highly he prized human nature, and that God makes great account of it, so here too he sets down the much greater thing by comparison, saying, “For it is not angels that he takes hold of.” And indeed it is truly great and wonderful and full of amazement, that our flesh should sit on high and be worshiped by angels and archangels and the seraphim and the cherubim. When I often turn this over in my mind, I stand amazed, and imagine great things of the human race; for I see great and splendid beginnings, and great zeal on God’s part for our nature. And he did not say, “He takes hold of men” simply, but, wishing to lift them up and to show that their race was great and honorable, he says, “but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham.” “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect.” What is “in every respect”? He was born, he says, he was brought up, he grew, he suffered all that he had to, finally he died; this is “to be made like his brothers in every respect.” For since he had discoursed at length about his majesty and the glory above, he now takes up the account of the dispensation. And see with what wisdom and power he shows him taking great pains to be made like us; which was the mark of great care. For having said above, “Since, then, the children share in blood and flesh, he himself likewise shared in the same things,” here too he says, “to be made like his brothers in every respect,”

all but saying: He who is so great, who is the radiance of the glory, who is the exact imprint of the substance, who made the ages, who sits at the right hand of the Father, he willed and was eager to become our brother in all things, and for this reason he left the angels and the powers above, and came down to us, and took hold of us. And consider how many good things he worked: he undid death, he cast us out of the devil’s tyranny, he freed us from slavery; becoming our brother, he honored us. And he honored us not only with brotherhood but with countless other things too; for he willed also to become our high priest with the Father; for he adds, “so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God.” For this reason, he says, he took our flesh, out of loving-kindness alone, that he might have mercy on us. For there is no other cause of the dispensation but this alone: he saw us cast on the ground, perishing, tyrannized by death, and he had mercy. “To make propitiation,” he says, “for the sins of the people, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” What is “faithful”? True, able; for the Son alone is a faithful high priest, able to free from their sins those whose high priest he is. So that he might offer a sacrifice able to cleanse us, for this reason he became man. At any rate he added, “in things relating to God,” that is, for the sake of things relating to God. We were at war with God, he says … a sacrifice on our behalf. He saw us in this state and had mercy, not by appointing a high priest for us, but by becoming himself a faithful high priest. Then, showing how he is faithful, he added, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” “For in that he himself has suffered,” he says, “being tempted …” This is very lowly and humble and unworthy of God. “For in that he himself has suffered,” he says. Here he speaks of the one who became flesh; and perhaps it is said also for the full assurance of the hearers, and because of their weakness. What he says is this: he came through the very experience of what we suffered; now he is not ignorant of our sufferings; for he knows them not only as God, but as man too he learned them through the experience by which he was tested; he suffered much, he knows how to suffer with us. And yet God is impassible; but here he is describing what belongs to the incarnation; as if he said, Even the very flesh of Christ suffered many terrible things. He knows what affliction is, he knows what temptation is, no less than we who have suffered; for he too suffered. What then is, “he is able to help those who are tempted”? As one might say: he will stretch out his hand with great eagerness, he will be sympathetic. For since they wished to have some great thing and something more than those from the Gentiles, he shows that they have more in this, in a way that did no harm to those from the Gentiles. In what is this? That salvation is from them, that he took hold of them first, that he took flesh from them. “For it is not angels,” he says, “that he takes hold of, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham.” By this he also honors the patriarch and shows what “the seed of Abraham” is. For he reminds them of the promise made to him which says, “To you and to your seed I will give this land,” showing by the smallest thing the nearness, that all are from one. But since that nearness was not great, he comes back again to this, and dwells now on the dispensation according to the flesh, and says, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” For even the very willing to become man was a mark of great care and love; but now it is not only this, but also the immortal good things provided to us through him; “to make propitiation,” he says, “for the sins of the people.” Why did he not say “of the world,” but “of the people”? For he truly bore the sins of us all. Because so far his discourse was about them; since the angel too said to Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people.” For this had to happen first, and he came for this, to save these, and then through these those others, even if the opposite happened. This the apostles too said from the first: “To you God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you”; and again, “To you the word of this salvation was sent.” Here he shows the nobility of the Jews, saying, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” For the present he speaks so. For that he is the one who forgives the sins of all, he made plain both in the case of the paralytic, saying, “Your sins are forgiven you,” and in baptism; for he says to the disciples, “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” But when Paul takes hold of the flesh, he then speaks all lowly things, fearing nothing. For see what he says next: “Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was in all his house.” Being about to set him above Moses by comparison, he brought his discourse to the law of the high priesthood; for all had no small opinion of Moses. And he already lays down beforehand the seeds of the superiority. He begins, then, from the flesh, and rises to the Godhead, where there could no longer be a comparison. He began from the flesh, for the time setting them on a level, and says, “as Moses also was in all his house.” And at the beginning he does not show the superiority, so that the hearer may not leap away and at once stop his ears; for even if they were believers, they still had much regard for Moses. “Who was faithful,” he says, “to him who appointed him.” Appointed him what? Apostle and high priest. Here he says nothing about essence, nor about the Godhead, but for the present about human dignities. “As Moses also was in all his house,” that is, in the people, or in the temple. But here he says “in his house” as one might say, “concerning those in the household.” For just as a steward and manager of a house, so was Moses among the people. For that by “house” here he means the people, he added, “whose house we are,” that is, we are in his creation. Then the superiority: “For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.” Again about the flesh: “by as much as he who built the house has more honor than the house.” He too, he means, belonged to the household. And he did not say, “For this one was a slave, that one a Master,” but he showed this covertly. If, then, the house was the people, and he too was of the people, he too, then, belonged to the household; for so it is our custom too to say, So-and-so is of the household of So-and-so. And here he does not call the temple a house; for God did not build it, but men. “But he who made him is God”: he means Moses. And see how he shows the superiority covertly: “faithful,” he says, “in all his house,” he too being of the house, that is, of the people. The craftsman has more honor than his works; and so does “he who built the house” than the house. “But he who built all things is God.” Do you see that he speaks not about the temple, but about the whole people? “And Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of the things that were to be spoken.” See another superiority too, that of the Son over the servants. Do you see again that he hints at genuineness by the title of Son? “But Christ as a Son over his house.” Have you seen how he distinguishes the thing made from the maker, the servant from the Son? The one enters into the paternal possessions as Master, the other as a servant. “Whose house we are, if we hold fast the boldness and the boast of the hope firm to the end.” Here again he urges them to stand nobly and not to fall down. For we shall be God’s house, he says, as Moses was, if we hold fast the boldness and the boast of the hope firm to the end; so that he who is pained in trials and falls down does not boast; he who is ashamed, who hides himself, has no boldness; he who is distraught does not boast. Then he also praises them, saying, “if we hold fast the boldness and the boast of the hope firm to the end,” showing that they had begun. But the end too is needed, and not simply to stand, but to have the hope firm in full assurance of faith, not shaken by trials. And do not wonder if “he himself having been tempted” is said in a rather human way. For if Scripture says of the Father, who did not become flesh, “The Lord looked down from heaven and saw all the sons of men,” that is, he learned all things exactly; and again, “I will go down and see whether they are doing according to their outcry”; and again, “God cannot bear the wickedness of men,” the divine Scripture showing the greatness of his wrath; much more might these words of human feeling be said of Christ, who also suffered in the flesh. For since many men think experience more trustworthy than anything for knowledge, he wishes to show that he who suffered knows what human nature suffers. “Therefore, holy brothers.” He says “therefore” in place of “for this reason.” “Partakers of a heavenly calling.” Seek nothing here, then, if you have been called there; for there is the reward, there the recompense. What then? “Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was in all his house.” What is “who was faithful to him who appointed him”? That is, provident, protecting his own, and not letting them be carried along at random. “As Moses also was in all his house.” That is, know who your high priest is and of what kind, and you will need no other consolation or encouragement. He calls him “apostle” because he was sent; and he calls him “high priest of our confession,” that is, of our faith. He rightly said, “as Moses”; for he too has been entrusted with a people, as that one with the leadership of a people, even if a greater one and over greater things. For Moses was as a servant, Christ as a Son; and the one cares for what belongs to another, the other for what is his own. “For a testimony of the things that were to be spoken.” What do you say? Does God accept the testimony of a man? Certainly. For if he calls heaven and earth and the hills to witness, saying through the prophet, “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken,” and, “Hear, you valleys, foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a case against his people,” much more men. What is “for a testimony”? That they may be witnesses, he says, when they themselves act shamelessly. “But Christ as a Son.” For the one cares for what belongs to another, but this one for what is his own. “And the boast of the hope.” He rightly said “of the hope,” since all the good things were in hopes. And one must hold it so as to boast already as over things accomplished. That is why he says, “the boast of the hope,” and adds, “firm to the end”; “for in hope we were saved.” If, then, we were saved in hope, and wait for it with patience, let us not be distressed at present things, nor seek already what has been promised for afterward. “For hope that is seen,” he says, “is not hope.” For since the good things are great, he says, we cannot receive them here in this perishable life. Why then did he even foretell them to us, if he was not going to give them here? So that by the promise he might restore our souls, that by the undertaking he might strengthen our eagerness, that he might anoint and rouse our mind. For this reason all these things have been done. Let us not, then, be troubled; let no one be troubled at seeing the wicked prosper. Here there is no recompense either of wickedness or of virtue; and if somewhere there is a recompense of wickedness and of virtue, it is not according to desert, but simply as a taste of the judgment, so that those who disbelieve the resurrection may be brought to their senses at least by these things here. When, then, we see a wicked man rich, let us not fall down; when we see a good man suffering ill, let us not be troubled; for there are the crowns, there too the punishments. And besides, it is not possible for the wicked man to be wholly wicked, but he may have some good things too; nor for the good man to be wholly good, but he may have some sins too. When, then, the wicked man prospers, know that it is to the harm of his own head; for he receives here so that, having received here the recompense for those few good things, he may be punished there completely. And that man is most blessed who is punished here, so that, having put away all his sins, he may depart approved and pure and free from account. And teaching us this, Paul says, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a good number have fallen asleep”; and again, “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in that day.” And the prophet says, “She has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins.” And again David: “See my enemies, that they have multiplied above the hairs of my head, and have hated me with an unjust hatred, and forgive all my sins”; and again another: “O Lord our God, give us peace; for you have repaid us everything.” But these show that the good receive here the penalties for their sins; where do the wicked, receiving the good things here, get punished completely there? Hear Abraham saying to the rich man, “You received your good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise evil things.” What good things? For by saying “you received back,” not “you received,” he shows that each suffered what was owed, the one being in prosperity, the other in adversity; and he says, for this reason “he is comforted here” (for you see that he is clean of sins), “and you are in anguish.” Let us not, then, be distraught when we see sinners prospering here; but when we ourselves suffer ill, let us rejoice; for the thing is a payment of sins. Let us not seek ease; for Christ promised affliction to his disciples, and Paul says, “All who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” No noble athlete in the ring seeks baths and a table full of food and wine; this belongs not to an athlete but to a sluggard. For the athlete contends with dust, with oil, with the heat of the sun, with much sweat, with pressure and the straits of the contest. This is the time for boxing too; therefore also for receiving wounds, bleeding and feeling pain. Hear what the blessed Paul says: “So I box, not as one beating the air.” Let us consider the whole of life a contest, and we shall not think our sufferings strange; for not even a boxer, when he is in the contest, thinks what he suffers strange. The time of ease is another; we must be made perfect through affliction. Even if there is no persecution or affliction, there are other afflictions that befall us every day; and if we do not bear these, we would hardly bear those. “No temptation has taken you,” he says, “except what is human.” Let us pray to God, then, not to enter into temptation; but if we enter, let us bear it nobly. For the one belongs to prudent men, not to throw themselves into dangers; the other to noble and wise men, to stand firm when they have fallen into them. Let us not, then, throw ourselves in at random, for that is rashness; nor, when we are led and circumstances call us, give way, for that is cowardice. But if the preaching calls, let us not refuse; but without cause, when neither need nor any necessity of godliness calls, let us not run forward; for the thing is a display and superfluous ambition. But if anything happens that harms godliness, even if we must undergo countless deaths, let us refuse nothing. Do not call temptations on yourself when the things of godliness go forward as you desire; why draw on yourself superfluous dangers that bring no gain?

I say these things wishing you to keep the laws of Christ, who commands us to pray not to enter into temptation, and again commands us to take up the cross and follow him. For these things are not contrary, but in close harmony. Be prepared, then, like a noble soldier; be always under arms, sober, watchful, always expecting the enemy; but do not beget wars, for this belongs not to a soldier but to a rebel. But if the trumpet of godliness calls, go out at once, and despise your life, and enter the contests with great eagerness, break the phalanx of the enemy, smash the face of the devil, set up the trophy. But if godliness suffers no harm, and no one is laying waste our doctrines (I mean those concerning the soul), nor compelling you to do any of the things that do not please God, do not be officious. The Christian’s life must be full of blood: blood, not in shedding that of others, but in being ready to shed his own. With as much eagerness, then, let us pour out our own blood, when it is for Christ, as one would pour out water (for the blood that flows round the body is indeed water); and let us strip off the flesh with as much ease as one would a garment. And this will be, if we are not bound to money, nor to houses, nor hanging upon attachment to present things. For if those who live this military life renounce everything, and wherever war calls, they go there and march, and endure everything with eagerness, much more must we, the soldiers of Christ, prepare ourselves so and be drawn up for the war against the passions. There is no persecution now, and may there never be; but there is another war, that of the desire for money, that of envy, that of the other passions. Describing this war Paul says, “Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh.” This war is always at hand. That is why he wishes us always to stand armed. “Stand, then,” he says, “having girded yourselves”; which itself belongs to the present time; and he showed that we must always be armed. For great is the war through the tongue, great through the eyes; let us restrain this, then; great is the war of the desires. That is why he begins to arm the soldier of Christ from there: “Stand, then,” he says, “having girded your loins”; and he added, “with truth.” Why “with truth”? Because desire is mockery and falsehood; as David too said somewhere, “My loins are filled with mockeries.” The thing is not pleasure, but a shadow of pleasure. That is why he says, “having girded your loins with truth,” that is, with true pleasure, with self-control, with modesty … For this reason he exhorts, knowing the absurdity of sin, and wishing all our members to be [fenced round]. And he wishes us to put on a breastplate and a shield. For anger is a beast that leaps out easily, and we need countless walls and partitions to overcome and restrain it. And for this reason above all God built this part of us, as it were, out of stones, the bones, setting these around it as a support, so that this creature, the heart, should not easily burst through or cut its way out and do harm. For it is fire, it says, and a great storm, and no other member could withstand this violence. And the children of physicians too say that for this reason the lung has been spread beneath the heart, so that the heart, leaping as into something soft, as into a sponge, may come to rest, and not be harmed by the frequency of its leaps against the resisting and hard breastbone. We need, then, a strong breastplate, so as always to keep this beast in quiet. And we need a helmet too. For since the reasoning faculty is there, and by it one can be saved if what is right is done, or perish if what is not right, for this reason he says, “and the helmet of salvation.” For the brain is by nature soft; that is why it too is covered from above by the skull, as by a shell. And it becomes for us the cause of all good things and evil, whether it knows what is right or what is not. And the feet and the hands need arms; not these hands nor these feet, but again those of the soul: the hands, so that they may practice what is right; the feet, so that they may walk where they should. Let us arm ourselves so, then, and we shall be able to overcome our enemies and bind on the crown of victory, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.