Fragments on Luke 311–333

[Luke 1:1] Since the undertaking was enormous, for a man to write down the teaching and words of God, he rightly defends himself in the preface. Just as among the people of old many claimed to prophesy, but some of them were false prophets and some true prophets, and there was a gift, the discernment of spirits, by which the true prophet and the false prophet were distinguished, so now too, in the new covenant, many wished to write Gospels. But the approved money-changers did not accept them all; they chose some of them. And perhaps the word "undertook" contains a hidden charge against those who rashly, and without the gift, set about writing Gospels. For Matthew did not "undertake"; he wrote, moved by the Holy Spirit; so too Mark, and John likewise, and Luke. But the writers of the Gospel entitled "according to the Egyptians" and of the one entitled "of the Twelve" "undertook". The Gospel according to Thomas is also in circulation. And Basilides too has dared to write a Gospel according to Basilides. Many, then, undertook, including the Gospel according to Matthias and many others. But the church of God gives preference to the four alone. He did not say simply "believed", but "fully assured", bearing witness that what is said cannot be overturned. And he said "matters" to refute the heresy of those who say that what was done through the Saviour, and his taking flesh, happened only in appearance. In speaking of matters "fully assured" he shows his own disposition; for he was fully convinced, and did not doubt at all whether it was so or not. That he received it from those who had seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears he clearly confessed, saying: "Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word handed them down to us." And he affirms that he had followed from the first, not some of the things said, but all of them. It is likely, one may suppose, that he wrote the Gospel to a certain Theophilus

who was one of the believers, truly fervent in spirit and insatiable for the Lord's deeds and words; and what was now written made him more secure. Another says: If we are all such as to be loved and befriended by God, we are Theophiloi ("friends of God"). No Theophilus could be weak; every Theophilus is "most excellent", having the might and power that come from God and his Word; and so he will come to know the certainty of the words in which he was instructed. He promises, then, firmness of knowledge, so that what that man had received by hearing he might, reading it also in writing, keep his faith more securely. In Exodus it is written that the people "saw the voice of the Lord," although a voice is not seen but heard, so that it might be shown, paradoxically, that the voice of God is seen by those by whom it is seen. But in the Gospel it is not a voice that is seen, but the Word, which is greater than a voice. Therefore: "Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word handed them down to us." For if to have seen the Lord in the body were to become an eyewitness of him, then Pilate too was an eyewitness of the Word when he condemned him, and Judas the betrayer, and all who said, "Crucify, crucify him." To know the Word, then, was meant in the sense in which the Saviour said: "He who has seen me has seen the Father who sent me." And Luke here also quietly teaches us a fine lesson: that of some objects of contemplation the end is contemplation, of others the end is action. By "eyewitnesses" he indicates the contemplative, by "servants" the practical. You can also take "servants of the Word" in another way: either of the word of teaching that the Saviour handed on, or of the very Word of God, whom the disciples served while he was present. Luke shows his own disposition: he was fully assured and in nothing doubted whether it was so or not. This happens with those who believe firmly; for the apostle says of the firm: "that you may be rooted and grounded in the faith." Nothing gives such full assurance as mind and reason. Sight does not give full assurance, since things are not judged by visible signs and wonders; it is by reason that one judges which things are true and which false. And he says "matters" because Jesus did not stage his coming in the flesh as an appearance, as the children of the heretics say; being truth, he wrought these matters in truth. [Luke 1:3] Verse 3: "To write to you, most excellent Theophilus," [Luke 1:4] verse 4: "that you may know [the certainty] concerning the words in which you were instructed." [Luke 1:5] Verse 5: "There was in the days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was …"

[Luke 1:6] Verse 6: "And they were both righteous before God." It is likely, one may suppose, that he wrote the Gospel to a certain Theophilus, who was one of the believers, so fervent in spirit and insatiable for the Lord's deeds and words; and what was now written made him more secure. If we are all such as to be loved and befriended by God, we are Theophiloi; and no one could be a weak Theophilus. For just as it is written of the people coming out of Egypt, "There was no one weak among their tribes," so I would say that every Theophilus is "most excellent", having the might and the power that come from God and his Word. And so one will come to know the certainty of the words in which he was instructed, by understanding the word of the Gospel. He promises, then, firmness of knowledge, so that what that man had received by hearing he might, reading it also in writing, hold more securely, and keep his faith. To be righteous before God is perfect praise, for he alone knows people's hearts. For it is possible for someone to be righteous before people in appearance, and yet in the hidden part of the heart not to be so, harbouring wicked thoughts that lurk there. Such too is the apostle's saying: "whose praise is not from men but from God." For people do not praise worthily, since they see only the appearance; but God worthily makes both the judgment of what deserves blame and the praise of what deserves praise. Verse 6: "Walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord." [Luke 1:7] Verse 7: "And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days." [Luke 1:8] Verse 8: "And it happened, while he was serving as priest in the order of his division before God," [Luke 1:9] verse 9: "that, according to the custom of the priesthood, the lot fell to him to burn incense, entering the temple of the Lord." [Luke 1:10] … praying outside at the hour of incense. Someone may perhaps say: Why is "blameless" added for them? It would have been enough for them to walk in all the ways and ordinances of God, unless it is possible to walk in all the commandments, but not blamelessly. I say to him, then, that if this were not so, it would not have been said: "Justly you shall pursue what is just." When, therefore, we do the commandments so as to have in our conscience no stain of vainglory, or of pleasing people, or of anything else of the kind, we do the commandments blamelessly. [Luke 1:11] Verse 11: "And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing

[Luke 1:14] Verse 14: "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth." It was by condescension that the angel appeared to Zacharias; for no one can see an incorruptible body with the eyes of a corruptible body. The angel appeared standing at the right of the altar because he was going to announce good tidings to him. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him; for a strange sight appearing to a man is not bearable. Nevertheless the angel turns Zacharias back from his trouble and restores him, saying: "Do not fear, Zacharias." Know that God and the angels do not appear to everyone, but to those who have a pure heart and are worthy to see. For "he is found by those who do not test him, and shows himself to those who do not distrust him." (Of the same.) Since all who saw angels were afraid that they had come to take their souls, as Manoah too says, the angel, relieving his anguish, said: "Do not fear. For not only will you not die, which brings grief and tears, but you will live and have a child, and you will have great joy; for Elizabeth will bear you a son, than whom no one greater has arisen among those born of women." Then he says: "And many will rejoice at his birth." For even if not all the Jews, yet many rejoiced at the coming of the forerunner who announced the Saviour's arrival. According to the spiritual sense, this is the silence of the prophets among the former people of God. For God no longer speaks to them, but the Word who was in the beginning has passed over to us. Among us he is not silent, but among them he has fallen silent. That is why the prophet Zacharias is silent; and he makes signs while he remains mute. [Luke 1:22] Verse 22: "And when he came out he could not speak to them, and they recognized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute." [Luke 1:23] Verse 23: "And when the days of his service were completed, he went away to his house." [Luke 1:24] Verse 24: "After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself for five months, saying," [Luke 1:25] verse 25: "Thus has the Lord done to me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people." [Luke 1:26] Verse 26: "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth," [Luke 1:27] verse 27: "to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mariam." But he, though he had heard beforehand that something longed for was going to happen to him, did not hurry before the time

but stayed to complete his service, teaching that everything must be put second to the honour owed to God. And with great wisdom Elizabeth hid herself until her pregnancy was known and the matter was beyond doubt, so that those who heard of these things, being unwilling to be persuaded by hearsay, should not fall under the same charge as Zacharias. The transposed word order runs thus: "The angel was sent to a virgin of the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mariam, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph." The angel was not sent to Joseph, since Joseph had no part in the Lord's birth. As sin began from a woman, so good things too had to begin from a woman. [Luke 1:34] Verse 34: "And Mariam said to the angel: How will this be, since I do not know a man?" [Luke 1:35] Verse 35: "And the angel answered," and so on. "You have found favour" was common, for others before her had also found favour. But to say "you will conceive" was no longer common; it was peculiar to the promise, a strange thing for a virgin. "For you have found favour with God." Therefore, "Do not fear"; for the Saviour's coming is the removal of all fear. [Luke 1:36] Verse 36: "And behold, Elizabeth your relative," … [Luke 1:41] The forerunner, moved by the working of the Holy Spirit, heard the greeting of Mary, which Christ, the Word of God, had taken up, and leaped with exultation in his mother's womb, to display his joy and to declare a prophecy. For it was as though from then on Jesus began to make him a prophet, giving him inwardly the revelation of the mystery. And since he did not grant speech to the unborn, because it was not yet time, the mother lent the Baptist, eager to proclaim the Redeemer, the instrument of the body. For she was not filled with the Holy Spirit before the woman who carried Christ arrived. First the babe was filled with the Spirit and leaped, and then he shared it with his mother, and Elizabeth cried out prophetic words because of the babe she carried. (Of the same.) The people did not know the Saviour though he did signs and wonders; but John, while still in the womb, leaped when the mother of Jesus came. "For behold," she says, "when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the babe leaped in exultation in my womb." It was fitting that this blessed Mariam, after Gabriel's visit, should go up into the hill country. She went with haste, led by the Spirit within her, which had come upon her, and by the power of the Most High, which overshadowed her. Just as sin began from a woman and

afterwards reached the man, so good things too began from women, so that women may turn away from weakness and, putting off womanish ways, emulate the lives of these blessed women. [Luke 1:43] Verse 43: "And how does this come to me, that the [mother of my Lord] should come …" (Of the same.) Elizabeth speaks in harmony with her son, calling herself unworthy of the presence of the God-bearer, as John called himself unworthy to stand before Christ. "For what good thing so great have I done," she says, "that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" She calls her mother who is still a virgin, anticipating the outcome by a prophetic word. It was by divine dispensation, then, that the testimony was brought to Elizabeth, so that John's testimony to the Lord from the womb might be given full assurance through his own mother Elizabeth; and so that Mary, seeing Elizabeth according to the angel's word, and the wondrous conception in her, might through this believe the greater thing too, I mean the birth without seed from the virgin herself. And Elizabeth's word contributes to this faith as well, when she says: "And blessed is she who believed that there will be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." For by these words the virgin became firmer in faith, being called blessed because she believed, with an angel foretelling it and her kinswoman likewise prophesying. (Of the same.) Let us now look at the virgin's prophecy. [Luke 1:46] Verse 46: "My soul magnifies the Lord." We must consider how "my soul magnifies the Lord." If we live worthily, according to the image of the one who created us, and are made like the archetype as far as possible through good works, we magnify the Lord in words, deeds and thoughts. But a person makes him small in proportion to the wickedness within him. Mary's soul, then, magnified the Lord, and her spirit rejoiced in God her Saviour. First her soul magnified him, then her spirit rejoiced. [Luke 1:57] One should look through the whole of the Old and the New Scripture to see whether it is anywhere said at the birth of sinners, "The time was fulfilled for her to give birth." One would not find it, I think, except where it is stated that the one being born is righteous. And this, and the rest. [Luke 1:60] Elizabeth, being a prophetess, though she had not heard the revelation given to her husband, learned by the Holy Spirit the name spoken by the angel, and said that the child would be named John. And when they sought to learn it from the father as well, and made signs to him as to one who could neither hear nor speak, he took a tablet and wrote the child's name, in agreement with his wife, so that all were amazed at this. Then he says: "And his mouth was opened": clearly, after he had written on the tablet that "John"

would be his name, the voice that had been bound was released. He received back his own tongue, no longer bound by unbelief as before, but blessing God and prophesying what is written. It is superfluous to say "and the rest." [Luke 1:72–73] As I think, our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the whole choir of his holy prophets and righteous men, enjoyed the coming of Christ. For if "he made peace through the blood of his cross" for the things on earth and those in heaven, according to the divine apostle, why do you hesitate to accept that his visitation reached the fathers too, and that his descent into Hades accomplished this because of his unsearchable mercy? This, even if it took place now, was proclaimed long ago, and it was impossible for the words not to issue in deed. For he confirmed the promises with an oath, because they cannot be overturned, so that they will surely come to pass. And now the faithful are delivered without fear from the hand of their spiritual enemies.

[Luke 2:49] … hints at a mystery: If any of you belongs to the Father, has he Christ in himself? For he looks rather on the Father's living temple, beautiful and good, than on that temple; for he went out from that temple, saying, "Your house is left to you," and departed to the temple of the Father, the churches everywhere. [Luke 2:51] Verse 51: "And he was subject to them," and the rest. [Luke 3:1] For the prophetic word proclaimed among the Jews alone, only the kingdom of the Jews is recorded: "The vision," it says, "which Isaiah saw against Judea and against Jerusalem in the reign of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz and Hezekiah"; and I know no other king recorded in the time of the prophecy than the king of Judea, though in some prophecies the king of Israel is named as well. But when John was going to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel, it is not Herod alone, king of Judea, nor Tiberius alone, of the Romans, who is recorded.

[Luke 3:4] "… of the Lord": what does it mean, if not "Make yourselves ready to receive whatever he may wish to lay down as law"? "Make his paths straight" means "Stop doing what is crooked." [Luke 3:5] A valley, deep and hollow, is every unbeliever who, believing in Christ, is filled with the fruits of the Spirit, that is, the virtues. The mountain and hill brought low is the proud people of the Jews. Or else the mountains and hills are the opposing powers, which were brought low by Christ's care, and the valleys are the people who have been filled with good works. Our life was rough, and our speech uneven; but our Lord came and made everything smooth. These things have happened among the nations; but as for the people that has been brought down, "every mountain and hill will be brought low." For it was once a mountain and a hill, but they were pulled down and humbled. [Luke 3:7] He rightly calls all the unbelievers "offspring of vipers." For whoever does not leave behind the customs within him does not receive baptism rightly, but is still the offspring of a viper, having in himself the poison of wickedness. (Of the same.) [Luke 3:8] He calls stones the gentiles, who have a heart of stone and in great insensibility serve the creature rather than the Creator, and worship stones. He prophesies, then, the pulling down of that people and the calling of the nations. To those who boasted of Abraham he says: "Do not begin to say among yourselves, We have Abraham as our father"; but the nations, he says, God can make children of Abraham. What stones? He was not pointing to lifeless stones, but to people who were insensible, stones because they worshipped stones. And in them was fulfilled what is written: "May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them." Again, concerning stones it is written in the song in Exodus: "Let the nations be turned to stone, until this people whom you acquired passes by," which clearly implies that after the people has passed by they should no longer be turned to stone. [Luke 3:10] Verse 10: "And the crowds asked him, saying: What then shall we do?" [Luke 3:11] Verse 11: "He answered and said to them: Whoever has two tunics, let him share with the one who has none." What they are saying is this: "The customs given us by Moses and the fathers about sacrifices and about sprinklings: shall we keep them, or are you bringing in for us the way of another manner of life? For if the Jewish observances profit us nothing, tell us what we must do; for we know no way of any other manner of life." What, then, does the Baptist do? Not daring, as a servant, to remove the shadow and bring in worship in spirit and truth, he leads them to the fulfilment of the law, that is, love, whose fruit is to be generous, ready to share, and a lover of the poor. For the Jews had their boast in love for their brothers, and in the distinction of love for the poor,

which did not have the whole of the Gospel, but brought in the beginning of the New Covenant. He brings in three things, and the rest. … [Luke 1:22] See the type in Zacharias. For having cast the Word out from among themselves, and being unable to give an account of any word of the law or the prophets, they remain mute and speechless. [Luke 1:63] Verse 63: "And asking for a tablet he wrote: John is his name." Since Zacharias is interpreted "memory of God" and John "one who shows", and one remembers what is absent but shows what is present, the parents of this child did not allow him to be called Zacharias, but wished rather to name him John. For he was not merely going to remember God as absent, but to point with his finger to that very one as present and say: "Behold the Lamb of God." [Luke 2:48] The all-holy Virgin knew that he was not the child of Joseph, but in their presence she includes her betrothed because of the suspicion of the Jews, who thought he had been born of sexual immorality. More simply, it might be said that the Holy Spirit honoured Joseph with the title of father, and the rest … lest he had left them. But the Lord, refraining from giving a human answer, gives a divine one, showing that he was God made flesh. [Luke 3:5] Or else you will understand it thus: the mountains and hills, the opposing powers, were brought low through Christ's coming, and the valleys, the people, have been filled with good works. And all crooked things have become straight; for each of us was crooked. In Christ's coming, then, which takes place in the soul, the crooked things become straight. And again: our life was rough and our speech uneven; but the Lord came and made all things smooth. [Luke 3:1] Verse 1: "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." For the prophetic word proclaimed among the Jews alone, only the kingship of Judea is recorded: "The vision," it says, "which Isaiah saw in the days of Uzziah and Jotham and Ahaz, who reigned over Judah." But for the mystery of the

Gospel, which was to be proclaimed in the whole world, the reign of Tiberius Caesar is recorded, who was thought to be king of the whole world. And if only those from the nations were going to be saved, and salvation were wholly shut off from the sons of Israel, it would have been enough to mention Tiberius alone. But since those from Galilee and Ituraea and Trachonitis must also believe, these kingdoms, or rather tetrarchies, are recorded too. [Luke 3:2] The word of God never came to any of the prophets in the desert, except now only, for the sake of a mystical meaning. For the children of the desert, that is, of the church from the nations, were to be more than those of her who has the husband, I mean the law: the synagogue of the Jews. And "the word of God came to John" means a command. [Luke 3:3] Verse 3: "And he came into all the region around the Jordan." Where should the Baptist go about but in the region around the Jordan, so that anyone who wished to repent would have the river at hand at once? Jordan is interpreted "descending". For truly the river of God is descending: the true water, the saving water. [Luke 3:7] Verse 7: They say that the viper, as she conceives, kills the male from whom she conceives; and her offspring, as it grows, kills the one who conceived it, and so comes out into the light by bursting its mother's belly, as a penalty, as it were, for the father who was destroyed … Such too are the Jews, who destroy their spiritual fathers and teachers with their own hands. This has been said more fully on Matthew. [Luke 4:9] Chapter 4, verse 9: "And he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple." See how wickedly, by using the Scriptures, he wishes to pull down the Lord's glory, as though he needed angelic help and would stumble unless angels helped him. For the psalm he uses is not said of Christ: the Master of the angels does not need angels. I say the reverse to you, O devil: if Jesus does not help the angels, they stumble. And that is why you fell from heaven, because you thought yourself self-sufficient and not in need of Jesus' help. That you may know that what is written was not said of Jesus but refers to a righteous man, listen: it is written, "He who dwells in the help of the Most High will lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven." This fits a righteous man rather than the Son of God. And again: "A thousand will fall at your side, and ten thousand," and so on, which also refer to the righteous man. [Luke 4:40] Verse 40: "When the sun was setting, all who had any who were sick with various diseases brought

them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and healed them." They brought them about sunset, either because they were ashamed to do so by day, or because they feared the Pharisees, or were busy with other things; or perhaps they thought it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath, for the evangelist noted that he was teaching them on the Sabbath. That is why their relatives brought the sick around sunset, and he healed them. [Luke 5:14] According to the history: after the bird has been sent away, the one cleansed first washes his clothes, then shaves off all his hair, and after this bathes in water; then follows: "He shall be clean." The clothes might be a way of life not wholly badly woven, since otherwise he would have put them off. The hair is the dead things that have sprouted in the soul; contrary to these is the hair of Samuel and of the Nazirites, and of their disciples, which is counted. For no iron came upon the head of the Nazirites, … who prosper in all that they do, so that not even their leaves fall as they bear fruit. Then he puts off the defilement from his body with water, baptism being signified by this. After this he becomes worthy of the camp, but he does not enter his own house for seven days, and until his head is shaved again: through the hair of the head, the finer points of doctrines, and to put away knowledge, the man's sins; through the eyebrows, all conceit.