Commentary on Luke (Greek fragments) 18.1–18.38

“That they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (18:1). We must pray without ceasing, then, according to the word of the blessed Paul, knowing well and believing firmly that he who is called upon can accomplish all things. “For let him ask,” he says, “in faith, with no doubting; for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” “For let that man not suppose,” he says, “that he will receive anything from the Lord”; for the one who doubts is admittedly insolent. For if you have not believed that he will fulfil your request, do not come at all, lest you be found an accuser of the Almighty, having been double-minded in folly. We must, then, refuse so shameful a disease. And that God will grant the petitions of those who make them not carelessly or negligently, but earnestly and without ceasing, the present parable will assure us. For if the widow’s continual approach shamed the unjust judge, who neither feared God nor respected man, so that he gave her justice even against his will, how will he who is compassionate and hates evil, who always extends his saving hand to those who love him, not receive those who come to him day and night, and give them justice as his elect? But come, come, let us consider who in general are those who wrong them. Very many wrong the saints, and in many things, when they rightly divide the word of truth: those ignorant of the sacred doctrines and carried away from all correctness. These are the foul and profane workshops of the heretics, which one might call gates of death; these bring persecutions and afflictions on those who walk straight in the faith. Against these those known to God make their supplications, imitating the holy apostles, who cried out against the perversity of the Jews and said: “And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness.” But perhaps someone will say: Christ said somewhere to the holy apostles, “Love your enemies, pray for those who abuse you.” How, then, shall we pray against them without disregarding the divine commandment? To this we say: shall we then pray that boldness and strength be given them by God, so that they may not allow those who hold the same faith as we to teach the mysteries? And how is the thing not altogether foolish? So when offences from anyone come against ourselves, then, yes then, we shall make our boast of bearing no grudge against them and of love for one another; then, imitating the holy fathers, even if they strike us, insult us, or bring on us other kinds of injustice, we shall free them from every charge and be superior to anger and grief. But when some sin against the very glory of God, heaping wars and afflictions on those who minister the divine proclamation as priests, then we approach God, seeking his help and crying out against those who fight against his glory—just as the great Moses did; for he said: “Arise, O Lord; let your enemies be scattered; let all who hate your name flee.” And the very thing said by the holy apostles would show that the weakening of the persecutors’ hand somehow contributes to the benefit of the divine proclamation: “Look,” it says, “upon their threats”—that is, bring their uprisings to nothing—“and grant to your servants to speak your word with boldness.” For that some were going to peddle the words of orthodoxy and carry many away from sound faith he declared beforehand, saying: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (18:8).

… this. How so? For he is God, who knows all things. He hints that the love of many will grow cold, and that some in the last times will run away from the right and blameless faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and to the lies of men seared in mind; against whom we approach God as his true servants, begging that their wickedness and their attempts against his glory may be shown to be ineffective. But others too wrong those who serve God, against whom our approach through prayer will be beyond reproach. And who are these again? The wicked and opposing powers, and Satan, the adversary of all, who savagely rises up against those who wish to live well, who casts the drowsy into the pits of baseness, who plants in us the seeds of every sin; for he presses on unbearably with his own shield-bearers. Over this very thing the Psalmist cried out against him, saying: “How long will you set upon a man? You all murder, as at a leaning wall and a pushed fence.” For as a wall that has already begun to lean, and a fence that has been pushed, or overturned, fall readily when someone pushes them, so the human mind, having of itself a very strong inclination toward worldly pleasures, falls readily toward them when someone draws and provokes it; and this is Satan’s work. About these, then, we shall say in our prayers to him who is able to save: “Give me justice against my adversary.” This the only-begotten Word of God did when he became man; for he cast the ruler of this age out of his tyranny over us, rescued and saved us, and brought us under the yokes of his own kingdom. For some of you, as true servants, will be kept by God in firmness of faith while on earth. Good, then, is the intercession made through frequent prayer; for Christ will receive our petitions and fulfil our requests. For if the widow’s persistence and endurance softened the judge of unrighteousness, who was shameless toward both God and men and full of all wickedness, how much more shall we draw the Father of mercy to compassion, even if he is long-suffering for the present? Some have tried to interpret this parable too curiously, saying that the widow is the soul that has cast off the devil, and her adversary the devil himself, against whom she approaches God, the judge of unrighteousness—that is, the one who condemns unrighteousness—who has no God whom he will fear, nor shows partiality to a man, and who pities the soul persisting before him. But some have taken these things rashly and badly. The Lord, however, to show that at the time of the consummation one must use prayer intensely against the dangers then, adds: “Will he find faith when he comes?”—setting forth its rarity in the form of a question. For he is accustomed to use the interrogative mode for what is rare, as here too, showing that those who keep the faith will be few, and that he will find it in few on the earth when he comes on the clouds. That you may learn how much loss there is in condemning others and not repenting of one’s own faults, we shall assure you from the Gospels themselves. This blessed Luke, then, says about Christ our Saviour: “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.” And what is the parable?

“Two men went up into the temple to pray,” and so on (18:10). He teaches us in what manner we should make our petitions to him, so that the thing may not be found without reward for those who practise it, and so that no one, through the very things by which he thinks he is benefited, may provoke against himself God, the giver of the gifts from above; for it is written: “There is a righteous man perishing in his righteousness.” For see, here the Pharisee is condemned because he did not make his prayer with understanding. Many are the charges against him. First, he is tiresome and senseless; for he admired himself, though the sacred Writing cries: “Let your neighbour praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” Next, he did not know that to be better than the wicked does not by all means make anyone admirable; but to strive to rival those accustomed to be approved makes one bright and distinguished and numbered among those justly admired.

The tax collector, then, stood far off, not daring, so to speak, to lift his eyes on high, but with a blushing look showing the soul’s lack of boldness. Do you see that, having laid aside boldness as one who does not have it, he is struck by the reproofs of conscience? For he fears even to be seen by God, as having cared little for his laws; and by his very outward posture he accuses his own baseness: he beats his breast, confesses his offences, shows his disease as to a physician, and begs to be pitied.

So the tax collector was not despised. For what does the Judge of all, who knows the hearts and receives the prayers of all, say about him who confessed his own sins? “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.” For even if someone is kind and reasonable, let him not for this reason fall sick with arrogance; let him rather remember Christ, saying to the holy apostles: “When you have done these things”—clearly, what is commanded—“say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we ought to do.” For we owe the God over all service, as under a necessary yoke, submission in every matter. Do you see how the tax collector put off his sins by bearing meekly the Pharisee’s accusation? The one fell from glory into the pit of dishonour; the other, from a life of reproach, was set in the midst of nearness to God and returned to a blessed state, drawn up far into the place of boldness; the one was humbled from his swelling, the other exalted from his humility.

“They were bringing even infants to him, that he might touch them” (18:15). … women, and the mothers were bringing infants, that he might lay his hands on them; but the disciples, thinking the thing a nuisance, held them back. He, however, received them very gladly, saying: “Let them be; for of such is the kingdom.” From this it is easy to see that the newborn child is a symbol of innocence; for the infant is like a new creation. The disciples did not rebuke the infants out of envy, but rather rendered the teacher his due, as it were keeping off superfluous annoyances. But Christ does not wish us to be without understanding when he says, “For of such is the kingdom of heaven,” but to be infants in wickedness and mature in mind. For the infant, knowing either very little or nothing at all, would reasonably be free of the charge of baseness and wickedness; and we too must become like them, living a simple and guileless life. But we must be mature in mind, having a firm understanding, so as to know clearly who the God of all is, and to keep away from diabolical stumbling blocks. For this is the definition of philosophy: to be without pretence, together with understanding.

“A certain ruler asked him,” and so on (18:18). The ruler spoken of here, supposed to be someone exact in the law, thought he could convict Christ of dishonouring the commandment given through Moses and introducing laws of his own. So he comes and pretends to speak kindly; for he calls him teacher and names him good, and professes a wish to become a disciple. But since he asked to test him, he who catches the wise in their craftiness fittingly says to him: “If you have not believed that I am God, how have you applied to me what befits only the supreme nature, and call me good, whom you have thought to be a man like you?” For God is good by nature, and to be good is his own dignity, essentially inherent and exceptional; but angels and we are good by participation. This was the aim of Christ’s saying. But perhaps one who shares in Arius’s impiety will not endure the correctness of these thoughts, saying: “See, he plainly denied that he is good, and ascribes it as fitting only to God the Father. But if he were consubstantial with him,” he says, “and from him by nature, would he not himself also be good as God?” But we must say to them: since every right and exact account knows the Son to be consubstantial with the Father, how is he not good, being God? For a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor does a river that is not sweet come forth from a sweet spring. The Son, then, is the good fruit of the good God, and as his image shows in his own nature the beauty of the one who begot him. But this suffices for the present. It has also been said in Matthew …

While the ruler expected to hear Christ say, “Leap away from the writings of Moses and come over to my decrees,” he did not say this, seeing in a manner most befitting God the purpose in the one testing him; but as though there were no other commandments except those given through Moses, he sends the man to them and says: “You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder,” and so on (18:20). The law, indeed, forbids every kind of baseness and exposes the ways of impiety as counterfeit. “For you shall not commit adultery,” it says, “you shall not murder,” and the rest, plainly forbidding both murder and lusting madly after other men’s marriages, and condemning also theft and perjury and false witness, and fixing penalties for those who offend. Then it commanded us to take care to revere our parents, setting rewards worth acquiring before those who wish to be approved: “For honour your father and your mother,” it says, “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” The perverse man, clever at wrongdoing, thought, though the one he questioned was God, that he would trap him without effort into answering as suited him; but Christ, though he was wicked, did not drive him away. “But when he heard these things, he became very sad.”

The ruler of the synagogue of the Jews, being an old wineskin, could not hold the new wine, but burst and was useless; for he was grieved, though he had received a lesson that brings eternal life.

… not the animal, but the thick rope used on ships …

For it is possible for them, if they do not choose to slip away from all that they have, to win approval in another way: to make friends by means of the unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails, they may receive them into the eternal dwellings.

“We have left everything and followed you” (18:28). Matthew adds to these words: “What then will we have?” To this someone will say: What in fact did the disciples leave, or for what do they ask Christ for a repayment? What do we say to this? It was chiefly for this reason that they made the question most necessary. For having possessed nothing except small and paltry things, they wish to learn in what way God will reward even those who have left very little for the sake of the kingdom of God—that is, through desiring to attain the kingdom of heaven, through love for him. For the rich man who has despised much will confidently expect the rewards; but the one who possessed little and then gave it up—how should he not learn what hopes he will have? Besides this, this too must be said: to lose much or little would be equal for those who suffer it, by right reasoning. So, as regards obedience and purpose, those who are not like the rich, but use equal eagerness and willingly endure the giving up of what they have, would be reckoned in equal rank with those who possess much. Then what does Christ say to them?

“Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or parents,” and so on (18:29). The voice befits God, and the sentence is holy; for it brings all the hearers back to firm hope; and he makes the promise sworn, as it were, placing “amen” before the saying, as if fulfilling the function of an oath. We must inquire who those may be who leave father or mother, wife and brothers and houses, and then examine closely how such people may receive many times more in the present time. Some leave a father, then, and sometimes neglect affection for their whole family, through love for Christ; and in what way, he himself will teach us, saying: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” And: “I came to divide a man from his father,” and what follows. For when the divine proclamation was drawing the world under heaven into the net of faith in him, some wished to go toward it, but perhaps were wary of fathers or mothers who were unbelieving and wicked; and fathers often could not bear to grieve their sons by running to the faith. The same account would hold of brothers toward brothers, and of a daughter-in-law toward her mother-in-law and of her toward her. But those firm in faith put nothing before their love for Christ, making no account of their kin according to the flesh. It remains to consider how one who leaves these will receive many times more in the present age. Will he then be the husband of many wives, or find many fathers on earth instead of one, his kin according to the flesh thus multiplied? We do not say this; but that he who has left fleshly and temporary things will receive things far better, and as it were many times more than those he despised. For the apostles too, having left little, were filled with the Holy Spirit, obtained gifts of every kind, and became chosen and celebrated by those everywhere. So all of us who have believed in Christ and loved his name shall be like them. Even if someone leaves a house, he will receive the dwellings above; even if he loses a father, he has the Father in heaven; even if he comes to be far from his brothers, Christ will take him into brotherhood; when he leaves the wife who shares his home, he will find the wisdom from above and from God, from whom he will beget a fruitful offspring; even if he leaves his mother, he will find the Jerusalem above, which is free and is our mother. “All the things written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished” (18:31).

By foretelling what would happen, he cuts away beforehand both absurd reasonings and every occasion of stumbling. For those who had seen his divine signs and had been strengthened by his words toward courage were going to see him enduring the mockery of the Jews, being crucified and dishonoured. It was likely, then, that, stumbling at these very things, they would think and say within themselves: “He who is so great in strength, who works wonders by a nod alone, who says that the Father’s providence reaches even to sparrows, the Only-begotten and Firstborn—how was he ignorant of what would happen, and how has he been hunted down by enemies, he who promises to save even us?” So that they might know, then, that he both foreknew his passion and, though he could easily have escaped, went to it willingly, he declares beforehand what would happen. And he necessarily added that everything had been foretold through the holy prophets, God having arranged even this beforehand usefully, so that when it happened no one might stumble. For he who foreknew what would happen could have avoided suffering altogether; but he was not forced by anyone; he chose to suffer willingly, knowing well that his suffering would be salvation for the whole world. For he underwent death according to the flesh, but he rose, having trampled corruption, and through his resurrection from the dead planted his own life in human bodies; for the whole of human nature was in him, running back to incorruption.

“They understood none of these things” (18:34). The Saviour of all foretold these things to the holy apostles, but they did not understand, it says, what was said; for they did not yet know exactly what had been proclaimed beforehand by the holy prophets. Indeed the foremost among the disciples, not yet understanding the depth of the mystery, opposed him, saying: “God forbid, Lord; this shall never happen to you.” And he was rebuked for saying this. But when Christ came back to life from the dead, he opened their eyes, as one of the holy evangelists wrote; for they were enlightened, having become rich in an abundant share of the Spirit, so as to say: “And we have the prophetic word more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (18:38). This man came to him as to God, who can do all things; but he calls him Son of David; for, having been brought up in Judaism and being a native, he was not ignorant of what had been foretold about him through the law and the holy prophets, and that according to the flesh he was of the family of David. So, as having already believed that the Word, being God, willingly underwent birth according to the flesh—from the holy Virgin, I mean—he approaches him as God, saying: “Have mercy on me, Son of David.” That he made his supplication with this disposition Christ will bear witness when he says to him: “Your faith has saved you.” Let those who divide the one Lord Jesus Christ into two imitate this man who was sick in his eyes: he approaches Christ the Saviour of all as God, and names him both Lord and Son of David. He bears witness to his glory by seeking from him an activity most befitting God; let them marvel at the steadfastness of his confession. For some rebuked him as he confessed his faith; but he did not give up, nor was his boldness hindered by those who tried to stop him. Faith knows how to fight against all things and conquer all things; so they rebuked him, but the believer did not shrink back, but followed the Master, knowing that shamelessness on behalf of piety is good. For if many are shameless for the sake of money, ought we not to put on good shamelessness for the salvation of the soul? … the voice of one who calls on the Lord with faith; and the blind man was fittingly honoured by Christ; for he was called by him and ordered to come near, so that he who had first drawn near to him by faith might draw near also in body. So faith presents us too and brings us near to Christ, so that we are counted worthy of words from him. When the blind man had been brought near, he asked him, saying: “What do you want me to do for you?” Was he then ignorant of the request? And how could this make sense? He asked, then, by design, so that those standing around, or walking along with him, might learn that he was not asking him for money, but for a divine activity, as from God. Was the blind man, then, freed from his sickness but careless of being a lover of Christ? Not at all; rather he showed his gratitude by his deeds. And he was freed from a double blindness, both the bodily one and that of mind and heart; for he would not have glorified him as God if he had not truly received sight. And he became for others too an occasion of glorifying him.