Homilies on Acts 23.1–23.4

“The next day,” it says, “Peter rose and went with them; and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him to Caesarea. And Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his relatives and close friends.” After lodging the men, he goes out with them; rightly so. First he shows them kindness, since they were weary, and makes them his own, and then goes out with them. “The next day,” it says, “Peter rose and went with them, and some of the brothers.” Not alone; others come with him too; and this by design, so that they might be witnesses afterwards, when Peter would have to make his defense. “And Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his relatives and close friends.” This is the mark of a friend, of a God-fearing man: in such good things to make his close friends sharers before all others. Fittingly he calls those whom he always trusted when considering such matters, …, which it was for the present superfluous to bring out to others. It seems to me that both his friends and his relatives had been formed by him. “When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and worshiped. But Peter raised him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am a man.’” He does this to show his humility, and to instruct the others, and in thanksgiving to God, and to make clear that, even though he had been commanded, he had much piety of his own. What then does Peter say? “Stand up; for I too am a man.” Do you see how before anything else they teach them this, not to imagine anything great about themselves? “And talking with him he went in, and found many gathered; and he said to them, ‘You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man …’” … he speaks of God's love for humankind, and shows that he granted them great good things. And here one may wonder not only that he speaks so, but at how he at once speaks great things and is moderate. For he did not say, “Men whom no one deigns to associate with, we have come to you”; but what? “You know” (God commanded this, he means) “that it is unlawful to associate with or approach a foreigner.” Then, so as not to take the credit to himself, he adds, “But God has shown me …” he adds, so as not to seem to flatter him. “So I came without objection when I was sent for.” So that they might not think that, although the thing was unlawful, he obeyed because Cornelius was a ruler, but might reckon the whole to God; since it was not lawful, he says, not only to associate with them, but even to approach them. “So I ask for what reason you sent for me.” He does not ask from ignorance; for Peter knew the whole from the vision, and had heard it from the soldiers too; but he wishes them first to confess it, and to make them answerable to the faith. What then does Cornelius say? He did not say, “Did not the soldiers tell you?” but see how gently and humbly he speaks: “From the fourth day until this hour I was fasting, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have gone up as a memorial before God.’” “And at the ninth hour,” he says, “praying.” What is this? It seems to me that he had set himself times for a stricter life, and that on certain days. That is why he said, “From the fourth day.” See how great a thing prayer is. When he had advanced in piety, then the angel appears to him. This is one day; and the day on which those who were sent departed, one; and the day on which they came, again one; and on the fourth he appeared, so that it was the second after he had prayed. “And behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing.” He does not say “an angel”; so free from pride is he. “And he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea; when he comes he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you at once, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all here present before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” That is why Peter said, “For what reason did you send for me?”, so that he might say these words in this way. “And Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation the one who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.’” That is, whether he is uncircumcised or circumcised. Paul too makes this plain when he says, “For there is no partiality with God.” “Now therefore we are all here present,” he says, “before God.” See how great the faith, how great the piety. He knew that Peter said nothing merely human, since he had said, “God has shown me.” That is why he says, “We are present to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” What then? Is the man in Persia acceptable to him? If he is worthy, he will be acceptable in this way, by being counted worthy of the faith. Hence he did not overlook the eunuch from Ethiopia either. And what, someone says, would you say about the … God-fearing. For it is not possible, it is not possible, that any such person should ever be overlooked. “In every nation,” he says, “the one who fears God and works righteousness.” By “righteousness” he means all virtue.

Do you see how he humbles Cornelius's pride by saying, “In every nation the one who fears God is acceptable to him”? As if he said, “He rejects no one; he receives all who believe.” Then, so that they might not seem to be in the rank of the rejected, he adds: “The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ: he is Lord of all.” He says these things because of those present, so as to persuade them too. That is why he also prepares Cornelius to speak. “The word,” he says, “which he sent to the sons of …”: to them he gives the pre-eminence for the present. Then he brings them in as witnesses too, saying, “You know the word that went through all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached.” That this is so he confirms from what follows as well: “Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.” He did not say, “You know Jesus,” for they did not know him; but he recounts the things done by him: “who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” From this he shows that many maimings and distortions of the body were caused by the devil. “For God was with him.” Again he speaks humbly, not idly, I think, but because of the human nature. “And we are witnesses of all that he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.” Both you, he says, and we. “Whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.” Here he proclaims the passion. “God raised him on the third day and granted that he be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” This is the greatest proof of the resurrection. “And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” This too is a great thing for showing them to be trustworthy. And he brings in testimony as well, saying, “To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” This is a foretelling of what was to happen afterwards; and to confirm it, he fittingly brings in the prophets as witnesses. But let us look from the beginning at what concerns Cornelius. “He sent,” it says, “to Joppa to summon Peter.” He believed that he would certainly come; that is why he sends. “And talking with him,” it says, “he went in.” Talking about what? Saying, I think, what has been told above. “And falling at his feet he worshiped.” See how his speech is everywhere free from flattery and full of humility. From this the eunuch too is shown to be worthy. For he bade Philip come up and sit in the carriage, though he did not know who he was, except from the message of the prophet alone. But this man even fell at his feet. Did you see a character free of pride? But consider, I ask you, how Peter shows that his coming was divine, by saying, “You know how unlawful it is.” And why did he not mention the sheet at once? Because he was very free of vainglory. That he had been sent by God he says; but how, he does not yet say, only when necessity arose. Then he also said, “You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or approach a foreigner”; so far was he from vainglory. “You know.” In saying this he also takes their own judgment as security. What then of Cornelius? “We are present,” he says, “before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by God.” He did not say, “before a man,” but “before God,” showing that this is how one must attend to God's servants. Did you see a mind that was awake? Did you see how worthy he was of all these things? “And Peter,” it says, “opened his mouth and said, ‘Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.’” He said this also as a defense before the Jews present. For since he was going to turn his speech to them, he first sets out a kind of defense. What then? Was God a respecter of persons before this? God forbid; even before this it was so. “Everyone who fears him and works righteousness,” he says, “is acceptable to him.” Paul too says this when he writes, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires.” He introduces both a doctrine and a way of life. For if God did not overlook magi, nor an Ethiopian, nor a thief, nor a prostitute, much more will he surely not overlook those who work righteousness and are willing. What then, someone says, if there are reasonable and gentle men, and they will not believe? See, you have stated the cause yourself: they are not willing. Besides, by “reasonable” here he does not mean the mild man, but the one who works righteousness; that is, the one who is pleasing in all things, who is such only when he has the fear of God as he ought. And such a man God alone knows. See how this man was acceptable: as soon as he heard, he was persuaded. “And now,” someone says, “if an angel came, everyone would be persuaded, whoever he was.” But the signs now are much greater than those, and nevertheless many disbelieve. Then he begins his teaching, and preserves for the Jews their noble rank. “The word,” he says, “which he sent … he is Lord of all.” First he speaks of his lordship, and very loftily, as far as he could, since he had to do with a soul already become lofty and receiving warmly everything he commended to it; then, establishing how he is Lord of all, he adds and says, “which he sent … ”; that is, one who calls to good things, not one who brings judgment.

From this he shows that he was sent from God to the Jews first. Then he demonstrates this as well from what he achieved throughout all Judea, and says, “You know the word that went through all Judea”; and, the wonderful thing, “beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John preached.” First he told of his achievement, and then he ventures to speak of his homeland: “Jesus of Nazareth.” So well did he know that the homeland was a stumbling block. “How God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power.” Again a proof. For lest anyone say, “And how is this plain?”, he adds, saying, “who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” Then, along with the good he did, he shows his power too, that it was great; for when it overcomes the devil, it is something great and mighty. And the cause: “For God was with him,” he says. That is why the Jews too said, “We know that you have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs unless God is with him.” Then, when he had shown that he had been sent from God, he says that he was killed, so that you might not imagine anything amiss. Do you see them nowhere hiding the cross, but setting out, along with the rest, the manner of it too? “Whom they also killed,” he says, “hanging him on a tree.” “And granted that he be made manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us.” And yet he himself chose them; but he ascribes this too to God: “chosen beforehand,” he says. See from what he confirms the resurrection: from his eating. And why, after rising, did he do no sign, but ate and drank? Because the resurrection itself was in itself a great sign; and for proving it nothing was so strong as … eating and drinking. “To testify,” he says. Here he spoke fearfully too, so that they might not be able to take refuge in ignorance. And he did not say, “He is the Son of God,” but what most frightened them: “He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” Then the principal proof, from the prophets; for they had great repute. “To him all the prophets bear witness.” When he had shaken them with fear, then he brings in the pardon, not as said by himself, but by the prophets: the fearful thing from himself, the gentle from the prophets. All you who have obtained this forgiveness, all who have been counted worthy of the faith, now that you have learned the greatness of the gift, I urge you, be eager not to insult the benefactor. For we obtained forgiveness not so that we might become worse, but so that we might become much better. Let no one then say that God is to blame for our evils because he did not punish or exact a penalty. For tell me, if a ruler catches a murderer and lets him go, is he judged to be the cause of the murders committed afterwards? Not at all. And how is it that we, who by what we dare give godless tongues occasion to insult God, are not afraid and do not shudder? For what will they not say? What will they not utter? “He himself gave them license,” they say; “for he should have punished them, as they deserved, not honored them nor crowned them nor given them a share of the first places, but punished and chastised them. But by doing nothing of the kind to them, and honoring them instead, he makes them such as they are.” Let no one, I beg and entreat you, give occasion for this voice to be raised about us. It would be better to be buried ten thousand times than for God to hear these things because of us. The Jews too said to him, “You who destroy the temple and raise it in three days, save yourself”; and again, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” But these things are worse than those. So that it may not be possible, because of us, for him to be called a teacher of wickedness, nor for us to be liable to punishment for this very blasphemy (“For because of you,” it says, “my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles”), let us cause the opposite to be said, living worthily of him who calls us, and coming to the baptism of adoption. For truly great is the power of baptism: it makes those who share in the gift other than they were; it does not let men remain mere men. Make the Greek believe that the power of the Spirit is great, that it has refashioned you, that it has reformed you. Why do you wait for your last breaths, like a runaway slave, like a criminal, as if you owed God nothing by way of living for him? Why are you so disposed, as if you had a harsh and cruel Master? What is colder, what more wretched than those who receive illumination at that point? God made you a friend, and counted you worthy of all good things, so that you too might show the conduct of a friend. Tell me, if you had wronged someone greatly and insulted him, and heaped countless reproaches on him, and then fell into the hands of the man you had insulted, and he instead honored you and shared all his possessions with you, and before the very friends in whose presence he had been insulted, before them he crowned you and said that he had you as his true son, and then at once died, would you not have thought the thing a loss? Would you not have said, “I wished him to be alive, so that I might be able to repay him, so that I might return his kindness, so that I might not appear wicked toward my benefactor”? So in the case of a man you would feel this way; but in the case of God are you eager to depart, so as not to repay the benefactor of such great gifts? Yet come now, when … you can repay him in equal measure. Why do you flee? … he says, “but I cannot keep it.” So God has commanded impossible things? From this everything has been turned upside down; from this the affairs of the world have been ruined, because no one has the aim of living according to God. The catechumens, eager … take no care for their life; and of those already baptized, some, since they received it …, others in sickness, and …, since they had no desire to live …, these take pains; while those who received it in health show this same …, and having been warm …, afterwards these too … For is it not possible to make use of things? Do I keep you from a wife? I keep you from sexual immorality. From the enjoyment of money? From greed and … Do I compel you to empty out everything? … to give a little of what you have to those in need (“Your abundance,” it says, “for their need”), and not even this … Do I force you to fast? … to get drunk, … which even before hell … to be shunned and hateful, as you yourself agree. Do I forbid you to eat and rejoice? But not shamefully … unworthily.

Why are you afraid? Why do you fear? Why do you tremble? … where there is enjoyment of money, where food in moderation … an occasion of sin? And yet those outside impose … and are obeyed. For they do not demand from …, but they say, “Give so much”; and if you plead poverty, not even so do they desist. But Christ is not so; he says, “Give from what you have, and I will enroll you in the … rank.” Again, those say, “If you wish to be …, attend at the palace and wear yourself out”; but Christ is not so; he says, “Stay at home with your wife, with your children, and order these very things; live a life free of business, and …” “Yes,” someone says, “but that one promises money, …” this one promises a kingdom, or rather money too along with it. “Seek,” he says, “the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.” And … not even by way of addition, but this one even abundantly. “I have been young,” he says, “and now am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.” Let us begin …, let us make a beginning of virtue; let us only lay hold of it, and you will see what the good things are. For do you succeed in those things, that you grow faint toward these? … “those are without toil, these with toil.” It is not so, it is not so; but if one must say something …, it is rather those that are yoked with toils … are achieved with more toil, but these, if …, easily. Let us not then leap away from the divine mysteries, I urge you. Do not look at this, that the one baptized before you became … and fell from his hope, … become worse than yourself; since among soldiers too we do not emulate those who make no proper use of their service, but those who succeed. … consider how many after baptism have become angels instead of … Fear the uncertainty of the future. “Like a thief in the night,” so death comes; and not simply like a thief, but it attacks us while we sleep, and having caught us off guard, departs. That is why God made the future uncertain, so that because of the uncertainty of the expectation we may always live in virtue. “But he loves humankind,” someone says. How long shall we keep saying this cold and laughable word? I do not only say that God loves humankind and stop there, but that nothing loves humankind more than he, and that he arranges all our affairs for our good. How many do you see living with elephantiasis at every age? How many blind from earliest youth until old age, others maimed later on, others in poverty, others in chains, others in the mines, others buried together, others destroyed in wars? Are these things not of his love for humankind? Tell me: could he not prevent them if he wished? But he lets them be. “Yes,” someone says; “but you tell me, why are some blind from birth?” I will not tell you, until you promise me that you will be baptized, and that once baptized you will live rightly. It is not right for you to have such things solved for you; for the discourse is not for entertainment. For even if I solve this, another question comes in; for Scripture is an abyss of questions. So accustom yourselves not only to seek a solution, but also not to seek; since otherwise we shall never stop seeking. See, if I solve this, I show you countless snowstorms of questions. So let us learn rather to seek this than to solve the questions asked. For even if we solve them, we have not wholly solved them; but for human reasoning the proper solution of such things is faith: to know that God does all things justly and with love for humankind and for our good, and that it is not possible to grasp their reason. This is one solution, and there is no other better than it. For what, tell me, is the work of a solution? Surely, that one no longer seeks what has been solved. If you persuade yourself of this, that all things are governed by God's providence, some by his permitting them for a reason he knows, others by his working them, you are rid of seeking, and you have received the gain of the solution. But let us return to the subject before us. Since, then, you see so many under punishments, and God permits all these things, use the health of the body for the health of the soul. But you will say, “What need have I of toils and hardship, when I can be released from everything without toil?” Above all, this is not even certain. For it happens not only that one is not released without toil, but even that one departs with everything still on him. But even if this were certain, not even so is this word tolerable. He has drawn you into contests; golden arms lie ready. You ought to take them up and wield them; but you want to be saved without glory, and to do nothing good. Tell me, if a war were on and the king were present, and you saw some who had fallen upon the very middle of the enemy's ranks and were cutting them down, and others leaping …, others riding on horses and …, being crowned; and others again thinking it enough if they suffered no harm, keeping to the last rank and sitting still; and then after the end of the war, the former called, welcomed with great gifts, proclaimed, while the names of the others were not even made known, and their reward of good things went no further than their safety: which would you have wished to be? For unless you were made of stone, unless you were duller than senseless and lifeless things, would you not have desired ten thousand times to be one of the former? Yes, I beg and entreat you. For even if one had to fall fighting, should one not choose this eagerly? Do you not see those who fall in these wars, how illustrious they are, how glorious? And yet they die a death after which they cannot be honored by the king. But in that war there is nothing of the kind: you will surely present yourself bearing your wounds; which may it be granted to all of us to show, even without persecutions, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.