Homilies on Luke 6–9

On the text: “When Elizabeth had conceived, she hid herself,” up to the place where he says, “He will be great.” Chapter 1. When Elizabeth conceived, she hid herself for five months, saying, “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.” I ask why, after she understood that she was pregnant, she avoided being seen in public. Unless I am mistaken, it is this: even those who are joined in marriage do not have every time free for intercourse with each other; there is a time when they withdraw from the work of marriage. For if the husband is old and the wife aged, it is a matter of the greatest shame for them to serve desire and to serve the marriage bed, when these things seem, by God’s will, to have been taken away from them by the condition of the body and by old age. So she, who at the angel’s word and by God’s dispensation had been joined again to her husband, was ashamed that, old and almost decrepit, she had returned to the work of the young. That is why she hid herself for five months: not until the ninth month, when the birth was coming on, but until Mary conceived. For when Mary conceived and came to her, and Mary’s greeting sounded in her ears, the infant leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb, and she prophesied, filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the words the Gospel narrative records; “and these words were talked about through all the hill country.” For when the rumour went out among the people that she had a prophet in her womb, and that the one carried by the Virgin was something greater than a man, then she no longer hides herself but shows herself in full freedom and exults that she carries in her womb the Forerunner of the Saviour. Next the Scripture records that in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. Again, turning it over in my mind, I ask why God, once he had decided that the Saviour should be born of a virgin, did not choose a girl without a betrothed, but precisely one who was already betrothed. Unless I am mistaken, this is the reason. He had to be born of a virgin who not only had a betrothed but, as Matthew writes, had already been given to her husband, though her husband did not yet know her (Matt 1:18, 25), so that her very condition might not display the shame of a virgin, if a virgin were seen with a swelling womb. Hence I have found it finely written in the letter of a certain martyr, I mean Ignatius, the second bishop of Antioch after Peter, who in a persecution fought with the beasts at Rome: “The virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this age.” It was hidden because of Joseph, hidden because of the marriage, hidden because she was thought to have a husband. For if she had not had a betrothed and, as was thought, a husband, she could never have been hidden from the prince of this world. At once the devil’s silent thought would have crept in: How is this woman, who has not lain with a man, pregnant? This conception must be divine; it must be something more sublime than human nature. On the contrary, the Saviour had arranged that the devil should not know of his dispensation and his taking up of a body; so in his birth he concealed it, and later he commanded his disciples not to make him known. And when he was tempted by the devil himself, he nowhere confessed that he was the Son of God, but only answered that it was not right for him to worship the devil, or to make these stones bread, or to throw himself down from on high (Matt 4:3–10). And in saying these things he always kept silent that he was the Son of God. Look in another Scripture too, and you will find that it was Christ’s will that the devil should not know of the coming of the Son of God. For the apostle, declaring that the opposing powers did not know of his passion, says: “We speak wisdom among the perfect; but not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being destroyed; but we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:6–8). The mystery of the Saviour, then, was hidden from the rulers of this age. But an objection that can be raised against this ought, I think, to be resolved before someone else puts it forward: how was what was hidden from the rulers of this age not hidden from a demon, especially the one who said in the Gospel, “You have come before the time to torment us; we know who you are, the Son of God” (Matt 8:29)? But consider that one lesser in wickedness knew the Saviour; whereas one who is greater in crime, crafty and wicked, is hindered from knowing the Son of God by the very fact that he is greater in evil. We too, if we have less evil in us, can more easily advance to virtue; but if there is more evil in us, we must sweat greatly to be freed from the greater wickedness. So much for Mary’s having a betrothed. But since the angel greeted Mary with a new expression, which I could not find anywhere in Scripture, a few words must be said about this too. For what he says, “Hail, full of grace,” which in Greek is κεχαριτωμένη, I do not remember having read anywhere else in the Scriptures; nor is such an expression, “Hail, full of grace,” ever addressed to a man. This greeting is reserved for Mary alone. For if Mary had known that a similar expression had been addressed to anyone else (and she had knowledge of the law, and was holy, and had come to know the oracles of the prophets by daily meditation), the greeting would never have frightened her as something strange. That is why the angel says to her: “Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favour with the Lord. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” It is said of John too, “He will be great,” and the angel Gabriel himself testifies to it; but when Jesus came, truly great, truly exalted, he who had been great before became less. For “he,” it says, “was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for an hour in his light” (John 5:35). The greatness of our Saviour did not appear when he was born; but now, after it seemed crushed by his adversaries, it has shone out. See the greatness of the Lord: “The sound of his teaching has gone out into all the earth, and his words to the ends of the world” (Ps 19:4). Our Lord Jesus, who is the power of God (1 Cor 1:24), has spread through the whole world and is here with us now, according to what we read in the apostle: “When you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 5:4). The power of the Lord Saviour is with those who are separated from our world in Britain, and with those in Mauretania, and with all under the sun who have believed in his name. See, then, the greatness of the Saviour, how it has spread through the whole world; and yet I have not yet set out his true greatness. Ascend to the heavens and see how he has filled the heavenly places; for he appeared to the angels. Descend in thought into the abysses, and you will see that he went down even there. For “he who descended is the same who ascended, that he might fill all things,” so that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth” (Eph 4:10; Phil 2:10). Consider the power of the Lord, that he has filled the world, that is, the heavenly, the earthly, and the infernal regions, how he has passed through heaven itself and ascended to the heights. For we read that the Son of God passed through the heavens (Heb 4:14). If you see these things, you will at the same time perceive that “He will be great” was not said in passing, but is a word fulfilled in deed. Great is our Lord Jesus, both present and absent, and he grants a share of his strength to this gathering and assembly of ours. That each of us may deserve to receive it, let us pray to the Lord God, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

On the text: “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country,” up to the place where he says, “There will be a fulfilment of the things spoken.” Chapter 1. The better come to the worse, so that by their coming they may bestow some benefit on them. So the Saviour came to John, to sanctify his baptism; and Mary, as soon as she heard the angel announce that she had conceived the Saviour and that her kinswoman Elizabeth was with child, arose with haste and went into the hill country and entered the house of Elizabeth. And Jesus, who was in her womb, was hastening to sanctify John, who was still in his mother’s womb. Indeed, before Mary came and greeted Elizabeth, the infant did not leap in the womb; but as soon as Mary spoke the word which the Son of God in his mother’s womb had prompted, the infant leaped for joy, and then for the first time Jesus made his forerunner a prophet. It was fitting too that Mary, with the most worthy offspring of God, after God had spoken with her, should go up into the hill country and dwell in the higher places. Hence it is written: “Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country.” She ought also, being diligent and not slothful, to hasten with diligence and, filled with the Holy Spirit, to be led to higher places and to be protected by the power of God, by which she had been overshadowed. She came, then, to a city of Judah, into the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. “And it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.” There is no doubt, then, that she who was then filled with the Holy Spirit was filled because of her son. For the mother did not first deserve the Holy Spirit; but when John, still shut up in the womb, had received the Holy Spirit, then she too, after the sanctification of her son, was filled with the Holy Spirit. You will be able to believe this if you learn something similar about the Saviour too. Blessed Mary is found prophesying, as we find in some copies; for we are not unaware that according to other manuscripts these words too are prophesied by Elizabeth. Mary, then, was filled with the Holy Spirit when she began to have the Saviour in her womb. For as soon as she received the Holy Spirit, the maker of the Lord’s body, and the Son of God began to be in her womb, she too was filled with the Holy Spirit. “The infant, then, leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice and said: Blessed are you among women.” At this point, so that simple people may not be deceived, we must refute what the heretics usually object. For someone, I do not know who, burst into such madness as to assert that Mary was denied by the Saviour because after his birth she was joined to Joseph; and he said it (with what mind, he who said it knows). If, then, heretics ever object something of this kind to you, answer them and say: Surely Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, says, “Blessed are you among women.” If Mary is proclaimed blessed by the Holy Spirit, how did the Saviour deny her? Moreover, as for their assertion that she married after giving birth, they have nothing from which to prove it. For those sons who were called Joseph’s were not born of Mary, nor is there any Scripture that records such things. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this come to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” When she says, “How does this come to me?” she does not speak in ignorance, especially being filled with the Holy Spirit, as though she did not know that the Mother of the Lord had come to her according to God’s will; she speaks in this sense: What good have I done? What works of mine are so great that the Mother of the Lord should come to me? By what righteousness, by what good deeds, by what faithfulness of mind have I deserved this, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? “For behold, as soon as your greeting came to my ears, the infant in my womb leaped with exultation.” The soul of blessed John was holy, and though still shut up in his mother’s womb and yet to come into the world, he knew, as if by the sense of experience, what Israel did not know. So he leaped; and not simply leaped, but leaped for joy. For he had perceived that his Lord had come to sanctify his servant before he came forth from his mother’s womb. Would that it might befall me to be called a fool by unbelievers for having believed such things! The deed itself and the truth show that I have believed not folly but wisdom, and that what is thought foolish among them is an occasion of salvation for me. For unless the birth of the Saviour had been heavenly and blessed, unless it had had something divine, surpassing humanity, his teaching would never have penetrated the whole world. If he had only been in Mary’s womb and had not been the Son of God, how could it have happened, both at that time and now, that manifold diseases not only of bodies but also of souls should be cured? Which of us was not foolish, we who now, through the mercy of God, have understanding and thirst for God? Which of us was not without faith in righteousness, we who now through Christ have righteousness and pursue righteousness? Which of us was not wandering and astray, we who now, because of the coming of the Saviour, are not tossed about and troubled, but are on the way, namely in him who said, “I am the way” (John 14:6)? We can gather the rest too and see that everything written of him is recorded as worthy of divine wonder: his birth, his upbringing, his power, his passion, and his resurrection work in us not only at that time but now as well. Who gathered you, catechumens, into the church? What spur drove you to leave your homes and come together in this assembly? For we did not go round your houses one by one; but the almighty Father by invisible power puts this ardour into the hearts of those he knows to be worthy, so that you come to the faith as if unwilling and reluctant, especially at the beginning of your religion, when you receive the faith of salvation with fear, as if trembling and afraid. I beseech you, catechumens, do not draw back: let none of you be fearful and afraid, but follow Jesus, who goes before you. He draws you to salvation; he gathers you into the church, now indeed upon earth, but, if you bring forth worthy fruits, into the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her by the Lord.” For these things blessed Mary too magnifies the Lord Jesus. The soul magnifies the Lord, the spirit God. What interpretation these words have we shall seek, sift, and discuss, if the Lord grants that we gather again in the church, so that you may come festively to the house of God and lend your ears to the divine reading, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

On the text: “My soul magnifies the Lord,” up to the place where he says, “He shows strength to those who fear him.” Chapter 1. Elizabeth prophesies before John; Mary prophesies before the birth of the Lord Saviour. And just as sin began from a woman and then reached the man, so also salvation had its beginning from women, so that the rest of women too, laying aside the frailty of their sex, might imitate the life and conduct of those holy women who are described above all now in the Gospel. Let us look, then, at the virgin’s prophecy. “My soul,” she says, “magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Two things, the soul and the spirit, perform a twofold praise. The soul proclaims the Lord, the spirit God; not that the praise of the Lord is one thing and the praise of God another, but because he who is God is also Lord, and he who is Lord is also God. It is asked how she magnifies the Lord. For if the Lord can receive neither increase nor decrease, and is what he is, in what sense does Mary now say, “My soul magnifies the Lord”? If I consider that the Lord Saviour is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), and see that my soul was made after the image of the Creator, so as to be an image of the image (for my soul is not itself, properly speaking, the image of God, but was made after the likeness of the prior image), then I shall see this. Like those who paint portraits and, taking for instance a single face of a king, apply the skill of their art to expressing the original likeness, each of us, forming his soul after the image of Christ, makes of it a greater or lesser image, either faded and dirty or clear and shining, bright with the likeness of the original image. When, therefore, I make the image of the image, that is, my soul, great, and magnify it in deed, thought, and word, then the image of God is made great, and the Lord himself, whose image is in our soul, is magnified. And as the Lord grows in our image, so, if we are sinners, he is diminished and decreases. But instead of the image of the Saviour we put on other images: instead of the image of the Word, of wisdom, of righteousness, and of the other virtues, we take on the form of the devil, so that it is said of us, “Serpents, brood of vipers” (Matt 23:33). We put on the mask of a lion, of a dragon, and of foxes, when we are venomous, cruel, and cunning; and also of a goat or a pig, when we are more prone to lust. I remember that once, when I was discussing Deuteronomy at the place where it is written, “You shall not make any likeness of any animal” (Deut 4:16–17), I said that, since the law is spiritual, some make in themselves the image of a male, others of a female; one has the likeness of birds, another of reptiles and serpents, and another makes the likeness of God. How this is to be understood, whoever reads that discussion will know. Mary’s soul, then, first magnifies the Lord and afterwards rejoices in God. For unless we first believed, we could not rejoice. “For he has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid.” What lowliness of Mary did the Lord look upon? What did the Mother of the Saviour have that was lowly and abject, she who carried the Son of God in her womb? What she says, then, “He has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid,” is as if she had said: He has looked upon the righteousness of his handmaid, he has looked upon her temperance, he has looked upon her fortitude and wisdom. For it is fitting that he should look upon virtues. Someone may reply and say: I understand how God looks upon the righteousness and wisdom of his handmaid; but how he regards lowliness is not clear enough. Let one who asks such things consider that in the Scriptures humility is proclaimed specifically as one of the virtues. For the Saviour says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:29). And if you want to hear the name of this virtue as the philosophers too call it, listen: the humility which God regards is the same as what they call ἀτυφία or μετριότης. We too can name it by a kind of circumlocution: when someone is not puffed up but humbles himself. For one who is puffed up falls, according to the apostle, into the judgment of the devil; for the devil too began from being puffed up and from pride. “Lest,” he says, “being puffed up he fall into the judgment of the devil” (1 Tim 3:6). “He has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid”: God has looked upon me, she says, lowly and pursuing the virtue of gentleness and self-abasement. “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” If I understand “all generations” simply, I interpret it of believers. But if I search out something deeper, I shall notice how much it profits to say, “For he who is mighty has done great things for me,” since everyone who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14). God looked upon the lowliness of blessed Mary; therefore he who is mighty has done great things for her, “and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation to generation.” The mercy of God extends not to one generation, nor two, nor three, nor even five, but for ever, from generation to generation, to those who fear his power. “He has shown strength with his arm.” Though you come to the Lord weak, if you fear him, you will be able to hear the promise which the Lord makes to you because of your fear. What is this promise? “To those who fear him,” it says, “he has shown strength.” Strength, or sovereignty, is royal power. For κράτος, which we can call imperium, is so called because it holds all things under itself. If, then, you fear the Lord, he gives you strength, or sovereignty; he gives you a kingdom, so that, made subject to the King of kings, you may possess the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

On the text: “She remained with her three months,” up to the place where he says, “And he spoke, blessing the Lord.” Chapter 1. The reason both for what is said and for what is recorded as done must be worthy of the Holy Spirit and of the faith of Christ, to which we believers are called. So now too we must seek the cause why Mary, after conceiving, came to Elizabeth and remained with her three months, or what reason Luke, who was writing the history of the Gospel, had for writing this too, that she remained with her three months and afterwards returned to her home. Surely there must be some reason, which the following discourse will show, if the Lord opens our heart. For if, merely because Mary came to Elizabeth and greeted her, the infant leaped for joy, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied what is written in the Gospel and in one hour made such progress, it is left to our conjecture how much John progressed in three months while Mary stayed with Elizabeth. For it would be quite unfitting that in a single moment of an hour the infant leaped and, as it were, frolicked for joy, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, but that over three months neither John nor Elizabeth progressed from the close presence of the Mother of the Lord and of the Saviour himself. John, then, was being trained; as if in the athletic school of his holy mother he was exercised for three months and prepared in his mother’s womb, so that, born wonderfully, he might be nourished more wonderfully still. For since he was nourished beyond the usual way, nothing is written of how he was suckled at his mother’s breasts or held in a nurse’s lap; at once there follows: “And he was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” Then we read: “Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.” Many think it superfluous to say, “Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.” For what woman can give birth unless she has first completed the time of bearing? But let one who contemplates the Scriptures most carefully, and hears the people speaking, attend to the reading and observe whether, in the Old or the New Testament, he finds written at the birth of a sinner, “The time was fulfilled for her to give birth”: he will never find it at all. But wherever a righteous man is born, there the days are fulfilled; there the fulness of his coming into the world is completed. The birth of a righteous man has fulness; the birth of a sinner has, so to speak, emptiness and void. So much for the words, “The time was fulfilled for her to give birth.” “Her neighbours and kinsfolk rejoiced with his mother,” and wanted to give the child a name in honour of his father, so that he would be called Zechariah. But Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, said, “John is his name.” Then, when they sought good reasons why he should be called John in particular, since no one in his family had this name, they asked the father, who, unable to answer, spoke by hand and letters. For he wrote on a tablet, “John is his name”; and as soon as the stylus was pressed into the wax, his tongue, which had been bound before, was loosed. He recovered speech, but not merely human speech: his tongue had been bound, yet not by a human bond, for unbelief had bound it. As soon as it was loosed, it ceased to be merely human, and he spoke, blessing God, and prophesied what is written in the Gospel, which, the Lord Jesus Christ granting it, we shall discuss when the time comes; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.