Homilies on Hebrews

Contents

Reading pages: 0.1–0.2 · 1.1 · 2.1–2.3 · 3.1–3.5 · 3.6–4.4 · 4.5–4.6 · 5.1–5.5 · 6.1–6.2 · 7.1–7.4 · 8.1–8.4 · 9.1–9.4 · 10.1–10.4 · 11.1–11.4 · 12.1–12.4 · 13.1–13.4 · 14.1–14.4 · 15.1–15.2 · 16.1–16.3 · 17.1–17.5 · 18.1–18.2 · 19.1–19.2 · 20.1–20.4 · 21.1–21.3 · 22.1–22.2 · 23.1–23.2 · 24.1–24.3 · 25.1–25.4 · 26.1–26.5 · 27.1–28.1 · 28.2–28.6 · 28.7–29.4 · 30.1 · 31.1–31.4 · 32.1–32.2 · 33.1–33.2 · 34.1

1. 0.1Chrysostom asks why Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, wrote to the Hebrews, and explains their hostility to him and his care for the believers in Jerusalem and Judea.
2. 0.2Chrysostom describes the persecution of believers in Judea and outlines the letter’s purpose: to encourage weary Jewish Christians with Christ’s sufferings, future rewards, and the superiority of the New Covenant.
3. 1.1On Heb 1:1–4, Chrysostom shows the Son’s superiority to the prophets and angels, explains Paul’s alternation of lofty and lowly language about Christ, and urges purity of speech, fear of hell, and almsgiving.
4. 2.1Chrysostom urges reverence in speaking of God and explains how Heb 1:2–3 (“radiance”, “imprint”, “upholding all things”) excludes both Sabellian and Arian errors.
5. 2.2Chrysostom shows how “through whom,” “heir,” “radiance” and “imprint” together refute Paul of Samosata, Arius, Sabellius, Marcellus, Photinus and Marcion, and observes that no name can express God’s essence.
6. 2.3On Heb 1:3–5, Chrysostom explains Christ’s upholding of creation, his session at the Father’s right hand, and his sonship, then warns against pride and praises the freedom of poverty over wealth.
7. 3.1On Heb 1:6–9, Chrysostom explains why Christ calls his incarnation a going out and Paul a bringing in, and shows from the angels’ worship and the Son’s throne the difference between Creator and creatures, against several heresies.
8. 3.2On Heb 1:10–2:3, Chrysostom shows that the Son is Creator, eternal and enthroned, that angels are ministering spirits sent for our salvation, and why the gospel demands more heed than the word spoken through angels.
9. 3.4On Heb 2:2–4, Chrysostom explains how the law was “spoken through angels,” why the gospel’s salvation is greater, and how God confirmed it through the apostles with signs and gifts of the Spirit.
10. 3.5Chrysostom explains that God distributes spiritual gifts by his own will for our good, and urges those without money or the gift of teaching to be faithful in the little they have.
11. 3.6Chrysostom teaches that love is a greater gift than miracles, open to all, and that true love for God’s sake extends to everyone, even enemies.
12. 4.1Chrysostom warns that he will question his hearers without notice on what they have heard, then explains “the world to come” and Ps 8 in Heb 2:5–8.
13. 4.2On Heb 2:8–10, Chrysostom explains that all things will yet be subjected to Christ, that his death “for everyone” was by God’s grace, and that he tasted death to free us from fearing it.
14. 4.3On Heb 2:10–14, Chrysostom shows that the Father perfected the Son through sufferings and that Christ, though our Sanctifier and of a different nature, is not ashamed to call us brothers.
15. 4.4On Heb 2:14–15, Chrysostom shows that Christ truly shared our flesh and by death destroyed the devil, freeing us from slavery to the fear of death.
16. 4.5Chrysostom rebukes loud mourning and hired wailers at Christian funerals as a denial of the resurrection, and threatens to exclude from the church those who hire mourners.
17. 4.6Chrysostom forbids hired mourners at Christian funerals, threatens church discipline, and defends the church’s power to bind as given by Christ.
18. 5.1On Heb 2:16–17, Chrysostom marvels that Christ laid hold not of angels but of human nature, pursuing it as it fled, and became like his brothers in every respect.
19. 5.4On Heb 2:17–3:6, Chrysostom explains Christ’s merciful and faithful high priesthood and his superiority to Moses as Son over servant, then urges patience: the wicked may prosper here, but rewards and punishments come hereafter, and Christians should neither seek nor flee trials.
20. 5.5Chrysostom urges Christians to be like soldiers ready to shed their own blood for Christ but not to provoke conflict, and expounds the armor of God against the passions.
21. 6.1On Heb 3:7–13, Chrysostom distinguishes three rests (the Sabbath, Canaan, and the kingdom of heaven), retells Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness, and argues that Ps 95 points to the heavenly rest.
22. 6.2On Heb 3:13–4:13, Chrysostom explains the “today” of Ps 95, the remaining Sabbath rest of God’s people, and the danger of unbelief, then describes the joys of the heavenly rest.
23. 7.1On Heb 4:11–14, Chrysostom teaches that faith must be joined by a right life, warns from Israel’s example, and explains the piercing word of God before whom all things lie bare.
24. 7.2On Heb 4:14–16, Chrysostom explains that our high priest, who passed through the heavens, sympathizes with us because he was tested in every way without sin, and urges us to approach the throne of grace now, before the judgment.
25. 7.3Chrysostom urges Christians to run the race without slackening to the end, and rebukes old men who disgrace their gray hair by behaving like the young.
26. 7.4Chrysostom contrasts true and false old age, holds the young accountable for self-control, and insists that married people living in the world are bound to the same virtue as monks.
27. 8.1On Heb 5:1–14, Chrysostom compares Christ with the Levitical high priest, explains his prayers “with loud crying” and his learning obedience as said of the flesh, and rebukes the Hebrews for remaining infants who need milk instead of solid food.
28. 8.4Chrysostom warns that heresies err by excess or defect, urges Christians to hold the received faith and train their judgment by reading the Scriptures, recounts how God preserved the Scriptures, and rebukes ignorance of them.
29. 9.1On Heb 6:1–3, Chrysostom explains why he repeats the same teaching to inattentive hearers, and identifies the “foundation” as repentance and faith in the resurrection and judgment, on which a life must be built.
30. 9.2On Heb 6:1–6, Chrysostom teaches that faith is the foundation on which a good life must be built, and explains “impossible to renew again” as excluding a second baptism, not repentance, since baptism is a crucifixion with Christ that cannot be repeated.
31. 9.4Chrysostom teaches that though there is no second baptism, repentance remains powerful, and describes its remedy: self-condemnation and confession, humility, prayer and tears, almsgiving, and forgiveness; he ends by showing the emptiness of worldly honors compared with the glory of the saints.
32. 10.1On Heb 6:7–12, Chrysostom urges fear of God’s word, explains the parable of the land that bears thorns, and shows how Paul tempers rebuke with praise and hope.
33. 10.3On Heb 6:11–12, Chrysostom shows how gently Paul urges perseverance in hope, and how patience in waiting for God’s promise is itself faith, while their service to the saints was done for God.
34. 10.4Chrysostom urges Christians to help every believer in need, not only monks, and indeed every man in distress, Greek or Jew, worthy or not, as the Good Samaritan did.
35. 11.1On Heb 6:13–17, Chrysostom shows that Abraham obtained the promise through patience, and that God confirmed his promise with an oath for our sake.
36. 11.2On Heb 6:17–20, Chrysostom explains the anchor of hope that enters within the veil, then describes the spiritual sacrifices of Christians, especially mercy to the poor, and rebukes those who despise beggars.
37. 11.4Chrysostom rebukes those who suspect beggars of fraud, urging Christians to give food and shelter to all without inquiry, after the example of God and of Abraham’s hospitality, keeping careful examination for those who claim clerical rank.
38. 12.1On Heb 7:1–3, Chrysostom explains how Melchizedek, “king of righteousness” and “king of peace,” without recorded parents or death, is a type of Christ, who is truly without beginning or end.
39. 12.2On Heb 7:3–10, Chrysostom shows Melchizedek’s superiority over Abraham and Levi as a type of Christ, then explains that salvation is both in our power and in God’s: we choose, God accomplishes, and the greater part is his.
40. 12.4Chrysostom laments that Christians are not taught by frequent deaths and misfortunes, contrasts outward dirt with the inward defilement of sin, and urges repentance and works of mercy, by which God makes sins white as snow.
41. 13.1On Heb 7:11–16, Chrysostom argues that a new priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, from the royal tribe of Judah, shows the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood and requires a change of law and covenant.
42. 13.2On Heb 7:16–25, Chrysostom explains that the law’s “fleshly commandment” was set aside for weakness, not wickedness, and that Christ’s priesthood, confirmed by an oath and resting on an indestructible life, is single, eternal, and able to save completely.
43. 13.3On Heb 7:25–28, Chrysostom explains Christ’s intercession as said of his humanity and as condescension, describes the holy and sinless high priest, and stresses that his one sacrifice, offered once, is never repeated.
44. 13.4Chrysostom warns the baptized against falling away and catechumens against delaying baptism in order to sin, showing that even if saved by grace alone they would stand ashamed and lowest in the kingdom, and that God’s commands are not burdensome.
45. 14.1On Heb 8:1–5, Chrysostom shows that Christ, seated at God’s right hand, ministers in the true tabernacle of heaven, that his priesthood could not be on earth, and that the church’s mysteries are heavenly things.
46. 14.2On Heb 8:5–13, Chrysostom calls the church’s worship heavenly, explains that the new covenant is better because it is written on hearts and brings knowledge of God to all, and that the old covenant was set aside not as evil but as old and insufficient.
47. 14.4Chrysostom urges those who have grown old in sin to renew themselves by repentance, to forget their evils by remembering God, especially in prayer at night and dawn, and to keep vigil like contestants in the games before Christ, the judge.
48. 15.1On Heb 9:1–9, Chrysostom interprets the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies as figures of the former time and of heaven, explains the contents of the ark as reminders of Israel’s ingratitude, and shows that the high priest’s yearly entry with blood foreshadowed Christ’s one sacrifice.
49. 15.2On Heb 9:9–14, Chrysostom contrasts the Law’s fleshly purifications with Christ’s blood, which cleanses the conscience from dead works, then compares covetousness to harlotry and rebukes laughter and frivolity in church.
50. 16.1On Heb 9:15–18, Chrysostom explains that a covenant becomes valid at the death of the one who makes it, that Christ as mediator reconciled us to the angry Father by dying for us, and that the first covenant too was sealed with blood.
51. 16.2On Heb 9:19–23, Chrysostom explains the sprinkling of the book and the people as a type of Christ’s blood, which cleanses not the body but the soul, so that believers themselves become the books, vessels and tabernacle of the new covenant.
52. 16.3Chrysostom urges Christians to become heaven by drawing near to God, unmoved by afflictions like the sky in winter, as Paul did, and insists that virtue is easier than many arts and requires only a will that sets to work, with God working alongside.
53. 17.1On Heb 9:24–27, Chrysostom contrasts the famous Jerusalem temple with heaven itself, where Christ, both priest and victim, appears before God for us, having been sacrificed once at the consummation of the ages.
54. 17.2On Heb 9:27–10:9, Chrysostom explains that Christ, both priest and victim, died once for all, bearing to the Father the sins of the many who believe, and that the law’s repeated sacrifices were only a shadow, replaced by his doing of God’s will.
55. 17.3On Heb 10:1–10, Chrysostom argues that the law’s repeated sacrifices proved their weakness, while Christ’s single sacrifice sufficed forever, and explains that the church’s daily offering is not many sacrifices but the one sacrifice of Christ, offered as a remembrance.
56. 17.4Chrysostom teaches that frequency of communion matters less than a clean conscience and a blameless life, warns against receiving after a token Lenten preparation only to return to sin, and explains the priest’s cry “Holy things for the holy” as a separation of the unworthy.
57. 17.5Chrysostom explains the cry “The holy things for the holy” as a herald’s summons that makes each communicant his own accuser, calls for holiness and not mere freedom from sin, and urges Christians to train the eye of the soul on heavenly things.
58. 18.1Chrysostom shows from Psalm 40 that God never primarily willed the sacrifices and that Christ's one offering, followed by his sitting at God's right hand, has perfected believers and ended the need for any further offering for sin.
59. 18.2Chrysostom urges his hearers to cast out fleshly thinking and to embrace voluntary poverty, which gives freedom and boldness before God and people, while wealth enslaves.
60. 19.1Expounding Heb 10:19–25, Chrysostom explains the boldness, the new and living way, and the full assurance of faith that Christ's sacrifice gives, and urges believers not to abandon their common assembly, which kindles love and good works.
61. 19.2Chrysostom praises love as the easy road to every virtue, urges his hearers to love their neighbors as themselves and even their enemies after the example of Paul, Moses, and David, and calls for a long-suffering, large-souled spirit.
62. 20.1Expounding Heb 10:26–29, Chrysostom argues that the warning of “no further sacrifice” rules out a second baptism, not repentance or forgiveness after baptism, and describes the fierce fire that awaits those who scorn Christ's sacrifice.
63. 20.2Chrysostom warns that sinning after sharing in the mysteries tramples on Christ, comforts those wronged with the thought of God's judgment, and urges contempt for wealth, with the example of Job, whose losses the devil used to tempt him to blasphemy.
64. 20.4Chrysostom shows from Job's wife that the devil works through those closest to us, teaches that God gives earthly goods only to those who prefer spiritual ones, and warns that wicked heirs who enjoy unearned wealth will be punished more heavily.
65. 21.1Chrysostom shows how Paul, after the stern warnings of Heb 10:26–31, comforts the Hebrews by recalling their earlier contest of sufferings: public reproach, sympathy with prisoners, and the joyful acceptance of the plundering of their goods.
66. 21.2Expounding Heb 10:35–11:1, Chrysostom encourages the Hebrews, like athletes awaiting their crown, to keep their boldness and endure the short delay, and explains faith as the substance of things hoped for and the proof of things unseen.
67. 21.3Chrysostom applies Heb 10:37 to the faint-hearted, proves from Christ's fulfilled prophecies that judgment will come, and warns against slander and gossip, urging his hearers to confess their own sins to God and judge themselves rather than others.
68. 22.1Chrysostom explains that faith rises above reasoning, shows from creation out of nothing (Heb 11:3) that the greatest truths are grasped by faith, and presents Abel as the first example of one who honored God and suffered for it at a brother's hands.
69. 22.2Chrysostom explains how Abel still speaks and how Enoch, taken up alive, pleased God by faith in a rewarder, then urges his hearers to seek God as one seeks lost gold or a lost son, to lift up their minds in prayer, and to overcome the devil's darts and anger by long-suffering.
70. 23.1Expounding Heb 11:7–13, Chrysostom presents Noah's faith in a warning about things unseen, which condemned the unbelieving world, and Abraham's faith in leaving his country for a promise that neither he nor Isaac nor Jacob received.
71. 23.2Chrysostom explains that the patriarchs saw the promises from afar and sought the heavenly city, praises Sarah's faith, then breaks into a lament over his congregation's greed, slander and indifference to the good things God has prepared for those who love him.
72. 24.1Expounding Heb 11:13–16, Chrysostom teaches that the whole of virtue is to live as strangers in this world, rebukes his hearers for living as citizens of earth in a kind of drunken sleep, and shows that even the wicked condemn their own vices by their shame.
73. 24.2Chrysostom shows how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David lived as strangers on earth, detached from possessions and longing for the heavenly homeland, and explains why God calls himself their God as a mark of friendship.
74. 24.3Chrysostom urges his hearers to live as strangers so that God will not be ashamed of them, warns that even miracle-workers and clergy will be disowned without a pure life, and proposes training in one virtue after another, month by month, as farmers divide their work.
75. 25.1Expounding Heb 11:17–19, Chrysostom shows that Abraham's faith overcame the apparent conflict between God's command and God's promise, believing God could raise the dead, and that the ram received in Isaac's place was a type of the Son of God's sacrifice.
76. 25.2Chrysostom teaches that God gives earthly goods only to those who despise them, that by not avenging or insulting we rise above injury, and that greed is a filth worse than dung; with Paul (1 Cor 5:11) he forbids believers to dine with greedy or drunken fellow Christians.
77. 25.4Chrysostom laments that Christians dine with the greedy and drunken instead of shunning them, warns that slaves of sin will not remain in God's house, and condemns alms given from ill-gotten gains, which silence the church's rebuke.
78. 26.1Expounding Heb 11:20–22, Chrysostom explains how Isaac, Jacob and Joseph blessed and gave orders by faith about things to come, notes that the righteous have always suffered while the wicked prospered, and explains that Joseph's command about his bones expressed faith in the promised return, not concern for a tomb.
79. 26.2Chrysostom teaches that burial in a foreign land is no loss, expounds the faith of Moses' parents and Moses' choice of the reproach of Christ over Egypt's treasures, urges his hearers to keep God always in mind, and holds up Daniel and the three youths as captives honored even by their captor, raising the question why Daniel accepted the king's worship.
80. 26.5Chrysostom poses, and partly answers, the question why the humble Daniel accepted Nebuchadnezzar's worship and a golden chain, contrasting him with Herod, who was struck for accepting divine honor, and with the apostles at Lystra.
81. 27.1Expounding Heb 11:28–30, Chrysostom shows that the Passover blood was a type of Christ's blood, which protects souls far more surely, and that by faith Israel crossed the Red Sea and brought down the walls of Jericho.
82. 27.2Chrysostom explains Rahab's faith, defends Paul's inclusion of Barak, Samson and Jephthah, applies Heb 11:32–38 to Daniel, the three youths, the return from Babylon, the prophets and the martyrs, and presents Joshua, whose name was a type of Jesus, commanding the sun and moon.
83. 27.4Chrysostom contrasts Joshua's command to the sun and moon with Christ's greater promise to dwell with believers, explains that Christ prayed by condescension to teach us to pray, and shows from the parables and the Canaanite woman the power of persistent prayer.
84. 27.5Chrysostom urges humble, persevering prayer like the tax collector's, warns that small sins and resentment are still sins, and exposes the vainglory of calling oneself a sinner while resenting reproach from others, citing David's patience under Shimei's curses.
85. 28.1Expounding Heb 11:37–12:1, Chrysostom describes Elijah and the persecuted saints wandering homeless in deserts, and explains that the righteous of old still wait to be crowned together with believers today, so that the whole body may be glorified at once.
86. 28.2Expounding Heb 12:1–3, Chrysostom shows how the cloud of witnesses refreshes the afflicted, explains the race to be run looking to Jesus, and recounts the insults, mockery and sufferings of Christ and of Paul to show that disciples must follow their teacher by the way of affliction.
87. 28.4Chrysostom shows from Paul's sufferings that affliction does not overthrow those who cling to God, warns that present hardships are nothing beside eternal punishment or glory, and urges his hearers, especially wealthy women, to give their surplus as alms, to go about with few servants, and to dress modestly for the theater of heaven.
88. 28.6Chrysostom argues that a wife who needs nothing from her husband wins more respect than one decked in gold, condemns wearing jewelry to church where Paul's prohibition is read, and shows that plain dress brings true glory, spares the poor envy and blasphemy, and pleases a chaste husband better.
89. 28.7Chrysostom urges women to seek the inner beauty that God loves rather than outward adornment that attracts licentious men, and teaches that true virginity is purity of soul, open to married and unmarried alike, which with the oil of almsgiving admits believers to the heavenly bridal chamber.
90. 29.1Expounding Heb 12:4–8, Chrysostom balances encouragement with a check to pride, reminding the Hebrews that they have not yet shed their blood as Christ did, and teaching that God's discipline is proof of sonship and is meant for correction, not punishment.
91. 29.2Chrysostom shows that discipline marks true sons and that God, unlike earthly fathers, disciplines only for our good and holiness, proves from Noah, Abraham, Jacob and the prophets that the righteous shone through affliction, and warns that luxury destroyed many and weakens both body and soul.
92. 29.4Chrysostom argues that luxury and overeating ruin health, beauty and pleasure itself, that only moderate food truly nourishes, and that a pampered body becomes a breeding ground for lust, citing Paul's command to make no provision for the flesh.
93. 30.1Expounding Heb 12:11–15, Chrysostom shows that discipline seems grievous but yields peaceful fruits, explains “holiness” as chastity in or out of marriage, and urges his hearers to build one another up by friendly, private, gentle correction, as those entrusted with talents must use them.
94. 31.1Expounding Heb 12:14–17, Chrysostom teaches that peace and love mark Christians, that each must watch over others so that no one falls short of God's grace, that the root of bitterness must be cut off, and that Esau, profane and gluttonous, sold his birthright for a little pleasure.
95. 31.2Chrysostom explains that Esau found no place for repentance not because repentance is excluded, but because his tears, like Cain's grief, were not true repentance, and that Paul uses fear to secure those who stand while offering hope to those who have fallen.
96. 31.3Chrysostom contrasts Peter's true repentance with Judas's despair and Esau's angry tears, holds up David's lifelong sorrow, and urges his hearers to confess their sins to God one by one and remember them constantly, so that God may forget them and they may grow humble and gentle.
97. 31.4Chrysostom urges his hearers to remember and confess their sins now so that they are not exposed before all at the judgment, describes the public judgment and the fire from which no one can deliver, and insists that everyone, however poor, can and must give alms.
98. 32.1Expounding Heb 12:18–29, Chrysostom contrasts the terrors of Sinai with the joyful assembly of the heavenly Jerusalem to which believers have come, explains how the blood of Christ speaks better than Abel's, and warns that those who refuse him who speaks from heaven will not escape.
99. 32.2Chrysostom explains the trumpet, fire and gloom at Sinai and shows the new covenant to be both greater and gentler, warns that this shaken world will pass, and urges his hearers to build their eternal homes through almsgiving, which he praises as a queen and a golden dove that intercedes before God's throne.
100. 33.1Expounding Heb 12:28–13:9, Chrysostom urges thankful, reverent service, steadfast brotherly love and hospitality, honor for marriage with judgment on the sexually immoral and adulterers, freedom from the love of money, and imitation of the faith of their leaders.
101. 33.2Expounding Heb 13:8–16, Chrysostom teaches that Christ is unchanging, that faith and not food laws strengthens the heart, that believers must go out with Christ outside the camp bearing his reproach and offer the sacrifice of praise, and that affliction and poverty, borne with thanksgiving, lead through the narrow way to heaven.
102. 34.1Expounding Heb 13:17–25, Chrysostom teaches that church leaders must be obeyed in matters of life (though not if they teach false faith), warns leaders of their accountability and those who seek office of its danger, explains Paul's closing prayer and greetings, and urges his hearers to keep the grace of the Spirit by stretching the sails of their will toward heaven.