Commentary on Luke (Greek fragments) 4.35–5.17

“And Jesus rebuked him,” and so on (4:35). And with authority befitting God he rebuked the unclean spirits. So that we should not disbelieve, he made the divine sign a neighbour to his words. — We saw the accursed Satan conquered by him in the wilderness and dashed down in three falls; we saw again his power shaken and his authority over us falling; we saw ourselves, in Christ as our firstfruits, rebuking the evil spirits. That this too looks to the boast of human nature you will learn from the very words of the Saviour. For the Jews spoke falsely against his glory and said: “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Then, after saying very many necessary things to them, he afterwards said: “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” “For if,” he says, “having become man like you, I rebuke the unclean spirits with authority and kingship befitting God, it is your nature that is crowned with such glory; for you are seen, through me and in me, to have been enriched with the kingdom of God.” The evil demons, then, were driven out; and being brought to perceive his invincible power, and unable to bear the assaults of the Godhead, they cried out something tyrannical and crafty, saying, “Ha! What have we to do with you?” that is, “Why do you not let us have a place, but remove the error of impiety?” Then they pretend to speak well of him and call him the Holy One of God; for they thought that by such praise they would make him a lover of vainglory, and get him to refrain from rebuking them, as if returning a favour for a favour. But the crafty hunter will not succeed. For God is not mocked; and the Lord stops their unclean tongues. Then he commands them to depart from those who had them. And those who had become spectators of such great things are amazed at the authority of his word; for he did not perform the divine signs by lifting up a prayer, or asking at any time for the power to accomplish them from another; but being himself the Word of God the Father, living and active, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, he was the one who crushed Satan and stopped the profane mouth of the unclean demons.

“He entered the house of Simon” (4:38). See, then, how he lodged with one of the disciples, a poor man of no note in life—he who for our sake endured voluntary poverty, so that we by his poverty might become rich, and might learn to associate with the lowly and not to look down on those in want and affliction. — Jesus comes to Simon’s house and finds his mother-in-law in a fever; and standing over her he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Perhaps, then, in the words “The fever left her,” spoken by Matthew and Mark, there is no indication of any living being causing this fever; but in the words spoken by Luke, “Standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her,” I do not know whether we shall not be compelled to say that the thing rebuked is a living being that could not withstand the power of the one rebuking; for it is not reasonable to say that something soulless and incapable of perceiving a rebuke is rebuked. It is no wonder that there are certain harmful powers acting on the human body, and we shall not in every case accuse the soul of the sufferers as harmed by them. For when the devil, having received authority to try Job through his body, struck him with an evil sore, Job is not to be accused on that account, since he contended and nobly endured the blow. Only let it be said, whenever we are tried by bodily pains, “But do not touch his soul”; as the Lord too, rebuking, heals those who have them. And he lays his hands on each one of the sick and freed them from their disease, showing that the holy flesh, which he made his own, implanting in it a power befitting God, bore the working of the Word’s power; or that we might learn that, though the only-begotten Word of God has become as we are, he is no less God even so, fulfilling all things easily even through his own flesh; for he worked wonders through it too. Do not marvel overmuch, but consider rather that fire, when it has come to be in a bronze vessel, puts into it the working of its own heat. So too the all-powerful Word of God, having truly united to himself the temple from the holy Virgin, animated and endowed with mind, implanted in it the working of his own power befitting God. And indeed, shaming the Jews, he says: “If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe my works.” One can see, then, with truth itself bearing witness, that the Only-begotten did not give his own glory to the one from the woman as to a man existing and thought of separately, by himself; but, being one Son with the holy body united to him, he worked the divine signs; and he is worshipped by creation as God. And indeed he entered the house of Peter because a woman lay thrown on a bed, consumed by a violent fever; though he could have said as God, “Put off the disease, rise up,” he did not do so; but showing his own flesh to be effective for healing—for it was God’s flesh—he touched her hand, and immediately, says Scripture, the fever left her. — But let us too receive Jesus; for when he comes into us as well, and we hold him in mind and heart, then he will quench the burning of unnatural pleasures, and will raise us up and make us strong—spiritually, that is—so that we may serve him, that is, fulfil what pleases him. See again, I pray, how great a benefit the touch of his holy flesh has: it drives out various diseases and a crowd of demons, overthrows the power of the devil, and heals so great a throng in a single moment of time. For though he could perform the wonders by word and nod, he lays his hands too on those who are in sicknesses, so that he might teach something necessary. For we had, we had to learn that the holy flesh, which he made his own, implanting in it a power befitting God, bore the working of the Word’s power. Let him touch us, then, or rather let us touch him through the mystical blessing, so that he may free us too from the sicknesses of the soul and from the attack and greed of the demons. “And rebuking them, he did not allow them to speak” (4:41). He did not let the unclean demons confess him; for they ought not to seize the glory of the apostolic ministry, nor ought the mystery of Christ to be spoken by an unclean tongue. So even if they say something true, let no one believe them; for the light is not known through darkness. And this the disciple of Christ will teach, saying: “For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what agreement has Christ with Beliar?”

“And he saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets” (5:2).

… let us marvel at the skill of the economy, at the catching of those who caught the world under heaven—I mean the holy apostles—who, knowing how to fish, became a net in Christ’s hands, so that they too, letting down the dragnet of the Gospel proclamations, might bring him those throughout all the earth. And indeed he said somewhere through one of the holy prophets: “Behold, I send many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall fish for them; and after that I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them.” By the fishermen he means the holy apostles, and by the hunters those who from time to time are the leaders and teachers of the holy churches. But consider, I pray, that he does not only preach but also shows signs, giving pledges of his power and confirming what is said by the display of wonders. For when he had spoken sufficiently to the crowds, he turns again to his usual mighty working and catches the disciples by means of their fishing trade, so that they might know that his will is all-powerful and that creation serves his nods befitting God. “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into the deep,” and so on (5:4).

And so, after sufficient teaching, since a divine work also had to be added to the words for the benefit of those who watched, he commanded Simon and his companions to put out a little from the land and let down the net for a catch. They said they had toiled all night and taken nothing; yet in the name of Christ they let down the net, and at once had it full of the catch, so that through a plain event, as from a type and image of what was wonderfully accomplished, they might be fully assured that their toil would not be without reward, nor their effort fruitless, when they spread the net of the evangelical teaching, but that in it they would by all means and everywhere gather the flocks of the nations. But consider this: Simon and those with him were not able to haul up the net, and for this reason, not daring to speak from fear and astonishment—for from wonder they were reduced to speechlessness—they signalled, it says, to their partners, clearly in the fishing trade, to help them and save the catch together. For many have joined and still join in the labours of the holy apostles: before others, those who search out for us the sacred writings of the holy Gospels, and after them other pastors and teachers, leaders of peoples and experts in the doctrines of the truth. For the net is still being drawn up, Christ filling it and calling to conversion those in the depths of the sea, as it is written, that is, those who are in the storm and waves of the world. — Origen gives a wonderful contemplation on the prophetic saying of the divine Jeremiah, which the holy Cyril explained above: “Behold, I will send many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall fish for them; and after that I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them.” “But when Simon Peter saw it,” and so on (5:8).

For this reason Peter too, falling into the memory of his former sins, trembles and is afraid, and as one unclean does not dare to receive the pure one, out of a praiseworthy timidity; for he had learned, according to the law, to distinguish between holy and profane.

“And behold, a man full of leprosy,” and so on (5:12). The faith of the man who approached is worthy of all praise; for he bore witness that Emmanuel can accomplish all things, and he seeks to be freed through nods befitting God, though the ailment was incurable; for leprosy does not yield to the skill of physicians. “But I have seen,” he says, “the unclean demons driven out with authority befitting God, and others released from many diseases. I understood that such things are done by a divine and invincible hand; and besides, I see that he is kind and most ready, pitying those who come to him. What, then, prevents me too from receiving mercy?” And what does Christ say to this? He confirms the faith in him and brings about full assurance on this very point; for he accepts the request, acknowledges that he can, and says: “I will; be cleansed.” He also grants him the touch of his holy and all-powerful hand, and at once the leprosy left him and the ailment was gone. But marvel, I pray, at Christ in these things, working at once divinely and bodily: divine, to will in such a way that all he willed was present to him; human, to stretch out the hand. From both, then, one Christ is understood, even though the Word became flesh.

“And he charged him to tell no one” (5:14). The very nature of the event, even with him silent, was enough to announce to all who knew the man the power of the one who had healed him; yet he charges him to tell no one. Why? So that those who receive from God the grace of healings may learn from this not to seek praise from those they heal, nor commendation from anyone, lest they fall into arrogance, the most shameful and last of all evils. And by the economy he tells the leper to offer the gift to the priests according to the law of Moses. For admittedly he wished to remove the shadow and refashion the types into spiritual worship; but since the Jews, not yet believing in him, clung to the commandments of Moses, as though the ancient customs were still in force, he allows the leper to do this “for a testimony to them.” And what is this? Always making reverence for the law their pretext, and saying that the hierophant Moses had been the minister of the commandment from above, they were eager to think little of Christ the Saviour of us all; and indeed they plainly said: “We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he is from.” They had, then, to be persuaded by the facts themselves that the measure of Moses comes behind the glory of Christ; for the one was as a faithful servant over his house, the other as Son over the house of the Father. And from the very healing of the leper one can see quite clearly that Christ stands in incomparable superiority to the laws of Moses. For Miriam, Moses’ sister, became leprous because she spoke against him; and Moses was much grieved at this; but since he was not able to remove the disease from the woman, he fell before God, saying: “O God, I beseech you, heal her.” Pay close attention, then: there it was a request; he asked to obtain gentleness from above through prayer; but the Saviour of all said with authority befitting God: “I will; be cleansed.” The removal of the leprosy, then, was a testimony to the priests, and from it those who gave the higher vote to Moses could know that they were walking outside the truth. For it was necessary, it was necessary, to admire Moses as minister of the law spoken through angels, but to admire Emmanuel far more, as minister of grace, and to glorify him as the true Son of God the Father. One might see the deep and great mystery of Christ written for us in Leviticus. The law given through Moses declares the leper defiled, and has commanded that he be sent out of the camp as unclean; but when the ailment happens to abate, then, and only then, it orders that he be received back. Then it also explains in what way he will be clean, saying: “This is the law of the leper, on the day he is cleansed: he shall be brought to the priest; and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look, and behold, the plague of the leprosy is healed in the leper; and the priest shall command, and they shall take for the one who is cleansed two clean living birds; and the priest shall command, and they shall slaughter one into an earthen vessel over living water; and he shall take the living bird and dip it into the blood of the bird slaughtered over living water, and sprinkle it seven times on the one cleansed of the leprosy, and he shall be clean; and he shall send away the living bird into the field.” So there are two birds, unblemished, that is, clean, having not one fault in the eyes of the law; and one was slaughtered over living water, while the other, remaining outside the slaughter, was then dipped in the blood of the dead one and sent away. The type would intimate to us the great and august mystery of our Saviour. For the Word was from above, that is, from the Father and from heaven; for this reason he is very fittingly likened to a bird. And he came down by the economy into likeness with us and took the form of a servant; yet even so he was from above; and indeed he said, speaking plainly to the Jews: “You are from below; I am from above; I am not of this world.” And again: “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man.” For, as I said just now, even having become flesh, that is, a complete man, he was not earthly, not of dust like us, but heavenly and above the world, inasmuch as he is understood to be God. Yet in the birds one can see him suffering in the flesh according to the Scriptures, yet remaining beyond suffering; dying humanly, but living divinely; for the Word is life. — And indeed the all-wise disciple said that he was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. But even though the Word had no share in suffering death in his own nature, yet he makes the suffering of his own flesh his own. For the living bird was dipped in the blood of the dead one; and stained with the blood, all but sharing in the suffering, it was sent out into the wilderness; for the only-begotten Word of God went back up into the heavens with the flesh united to him; and the sight in heaven was strange. The multitude of the angels was amazed, then, seeing in our form the King of the earth and Lord of the powers; and indeed they said: “Who is this who comes from Edom?”—that is, from the earth—“the red of his garments from Bosor?” (Bosor is interpreted “flesh,” or “constraint and affliction.”) Then they asked further: “What are these wounds between your hands?” And he said to them: “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my beloved.” For just as, most fittingly, even after his return to life from the dead he showed his hands to the unbelieving Thomas and bade him feel the marks of the nails in them and the piercing in his side, so, having come to be in heaven, he fully assured the holy angels that Israel had justly been cast out of kinship with him and had slipped away. For this reason he showed his robe stained with blood and the wounds in his hands—not that he could not put them off; for having risen from the dead he put off corruption, and with it all that comes from it; but so that now, by the economy, the manifold wisdom of God, which he wrought in Christ, might be made known through the Church to the principalities and authorities. But perhaps someone will say: “How, then, do you say that the Son and Lord Jesus Christ is one and the same, though two birds were brought? Or would the law not show rather clearly that there are two sons and Christs?” Some indeed have already been brought down to such impiety as to think and say that the Word from God the Father is one Christ by himself, and the one from the seed of David another. But we say to those who out of ignorance have supposed this to be so: The divine Paul writes, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” If, then, they say there are two sons, there would surely be two lords, two faiths, and as many baptisms. Then he who has Christ speaking in him, as he himself says, would be teaching falsely. But this is not so; far from it. We know, then, one Lord, that is, the only-begotten Word of God made flesh, not setting man and God apart, but affirming that the very Word from God the Father became man while remaining God. Since they say otherwise, let those of the opposite opinion tell us: If they speak of two sons—one by himself, the one from the seed of David, and another apart, the Word from God the Father—is not the Word from God the Father better by nature than the one from the seed of David? What, then, shall we do, seeing the two birds, which are not of different natures from each other but rather of the same kind, and differ in nothing as to being what they are? Let them grant, then, because the birds are of one kind, that the Word of God differs in nothing from a man. But they will not allow it; for the distance between Godhead and humanity is great. Yet examples must be understood according to the account fitting them; for they fall short of the realities and sometimes give only a partial indication of what they signify. We say, then, that the law was a shadow and type, and like a painting setting things before the eyes of those who look. And shadows are, in the art of those who paint on a panel, the first layer of the colours; if the bloom of the colours is laid on them, then, and only then, the beauty of the painting will flash out. Since, then, the law given through Moses had to depict clearly the mystery of Christ, it does not show him dying and living at once in one of the birds, lest what was done should seem a stage trick; but it received him as suffering the slaughter in one, and showed the same one living and released in the other. I shall try to show by another story that the account of this does not go beyond what is reasonable. If one of us wished to see the story of Abraham painted as on a panel, how would the painter have drawn him? Doing everything in one figure? Or the same man separately and differently, that is, in different forms in many places? For example, at one point seated on the ass, with the boy taken along and the servants following; at another, the ass left below with the servants, having loaded Isaac with the wood and holding the knife and the fire in his hands; and elsewhere again the same man in another form, having bound the lad on the wood and armed his right hand with the knife to strike. But there was not one Abraham and another, though the painting is seen differently in many places, but the same everywhere, the painter’s art always adapting itself to the needs of the events; for it was not possible to see him in one figure doing all that has been said. The law, then, was a painting and type, pregnant with the truth of realities; so that though there was a pair of birds, yet one was the one in both, as in suffering and beyond suffering, in death and above death, and ascending into heaven as a kind of second firstfruits of humanity renewed for incorruption; for he opened for us the road upward, and we shall follow him in due time. And the slaughter of one bird and the dipping of the other in the blood of the one slaughtered, while it was sent away from the slaughter, would be the antitype of the true things; for Christ died for us, and we have been baptized into his death, and he has saved us by his own blood. “And he was teaching, and Pharisees were sitting by,” and so on (5:17).

Around him was the audience of the envious: these were scribes and Pharisees, who became spectators of what was wonderfully done and listened to him teaching. “And the power of God,” it says, “was there for him to heal.” Was it as though God gave him the ability to accomplish the divine signs? Did he borrow power from another? And who would dare to say this? Rather, he himself was acting by his own strength as God and Lord, and not as a sharer in divine grace. For men are often counted worthy of spiritual gifts, but one can see them sometimes weak in places, for reasons known to the distributor of the divine gifts himself; but in the Saviour of us all there was nothing of the kind: there was in him, for healing, not a human but a divine and invincible strength; for he was God and Son of God. — … Christ teaches as teacher, being the wisdom of the Father; for all the others teach by receiving from him. “And the power of the Lord,” it says, “was upon him to heal all,” that is, he had not a human strength for healing but a divine and invincible one. The other saints at some times receive the ability to work healings and at others do not; but Jesus, as God and as the power of the Father, always healed all. “And behold, men bringing on a bed a man who was paralysed,” and so on (5:18).