Homilies on Acts 4.1–4.4

[Lemma] “And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all with one mind in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound.”

What is this Pentecost? The time when the sickle had to be put to the harvest, when the fruits had to be gathered in. Do you see the type? See again the reality. When the sickle of the word had to be put in, when the harvest had to be gathered, then the Spirit flies down like a sharpened sickle. For hear Christ saying, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are already white for harvest”; and again, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” So he himself first put in the sickle. For he himself carried up to heaven the firstfruits, having taken what is ours. That is why he calls this a harvest. “When the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled,” it says; that is, not before Pentecost, but at Pentecost itself, so to speak. For these things had to happen again at a feast, so that those who had been present at Christ's cross might also see these. “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound.” Why did this not happen without signs that the senses could perceive? Because if, even when this happened, they said, “They are filled with new wine,” what would they not have said if it had not happened? And the sound did not simply occur, but “from heaven.” And the suddenness too roused them. “And it filled the whole house.” He means the great force of the Spirit. See: it gathered all there, so that those present also believe and are shown worthy of these things. And not this only, but what is much more awesome than this: “tongues as of fire,” it says. The “as” is always well added, so that you may not think anything sensible about the Spirit. “As of fire,” it says, and “as of a wind.” So it was not simply a wind in the air. For when the Spirit had to be made known to John, he came upon the head of Christ as in the form of a dove; but now, when a whole multitude had to be converted, as of fire. “And it sat upon each one of them”; that is, it remained and rested on them; for sitting signifies firmness and remaining. Did it then come upon the twelve only, and not upon the rest as well? By no means; but upon the hundred and twenty too. For Peter would not have brought forward the testimony of the prophet idly, saying, “And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” And consider: so that it might not only amaze them but also fill them with grace, it was therefore “in the Holy Spirit and fire.” For he adds, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter.” They receive no other sign, but this one first; for it was strange, and there was no need of another sign. “It sat,” he says, “upon each one of them.” So also upon the one left out; that is why he no longer grieves at not having been chosen like Matthias. “And they were all filled,” it says. They did not simply receive the grace of the Spirit, but were filled. “And they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter.” He would not have said “all,” since the apostles were there, unless the others too had shared in it. Besides, having named them separately and by name above, he would not now have joined them together with the rest in the same matter. For if, where it was only to say that they were present, he mentions the apostles separately, [much more would he have done so here]. Consider, I ask you, how, when they continue in supplication, when they have love, then the Spirit comes. And he reminded them of another vision too, saying “as of fire”; for in the bush too he appeared as fire. “As the Spirit gave them to utter.” For what they said were inspired utterances. “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem,” it says; this was a sign of piety. How so? Being from so many nations, and having left their countries, households and kinsmen, they dwelt there. “For there were dwelling in Jerusalem,” it says, “Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confounded.” Since what happened took place in a house, they naturally ran together from outside. “The multitude was confounded.” What is “the multitude was confounded”? It was troubled, it marveled. Then, to show that they marveled, he adds, “because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” “And the multitude came together, and they said to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’” They looked at once to the apostles. “And how,” it says, “do we hear, each of us, in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.” “And they were all amazed, [and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does] this [mean?’]” Do you see them running from east to west? “But others, mocking, said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”

Oh, the folly! Oh, the great malice! And yet it was not even the season for new wine, for it was Pentecost. And what is worse, when all were confessing, Romans, proselytes, perhaps even those who had crucified him, these men after so many signs say, “They are filled with new wine.”

But let us look at what was said from the beginning. “It filled,” it says, “the house.” The wind became like a pool of water. This was a proof of the abundance, as the fire was of the vehemence. Nothing of the kind ever happened with the prophets; it was so then for these men, but otherwise for the prophets. For a roll of a book is given to Ezekiel, and he eats what he was going to say: “For it became,” it says, “in his mouth as sweet honey.” And again the hand of God touches the tongue of another prophet. But here it is the Holy Spirit himself: so equal in honor is he to the Father and the Son. And again elsewhere it is otherwise: “Lamentation, and a song, and woe.” To those men it fittingly came in a book, for they still needed examples; they had to do with one nation only, and with their own people; but these with the whole world, and with people they had never known. Elisha receives the grace through a mantle, another through oil, as David did, and Moses is called through the fire of the bush. But here it is not so: the fire itself sat upon them. And why did the fire not appear filling the house? Because they would have been terrified. But he shows that this is the same as that. For [do not stop at] his saying, “There appeared to them [tongues as] of fire.” Such a fire can kindle countless fuel. And he did well to say “divided”: for they were from one root, so that you may learn that it is an operation sent from the Paraclete. See too how those men were first shown worthy, and then counted worthy of the Spirit; as, for example, David: what he did among the flocks, the same he did after his victory and trophy, so that his faith might be shown bare. See again Moses himself despising the royal palace, and after forty years taking up the leadership of the people; Samuel brought up in the temple; Elisha leaving everything; Ezekiel again. That it happened so is clear from what followed too; for these men too left all that was theirs. That is why they receive the Spirit then, when they had displayed their own virtue. They learned also human weakness through what they suffered; they learned that it was not in vain that they had done these right things. So Saul too was first attested to be good, and then received the Spirit. But no one [received it] in this way. … Moses was greater than the prophets. For when others had to become spiritual, he himself was diminished. But here it is not so; but just as with fire one may light as many lamps as one wishes without diminishing the fire, so it happened with the apostles then. For through the fire not only was the abundance of the grace shown, but each received a spring of the Spirit, just as he himself said that those who believe in him would have a spring of water welling up to eternal life; and very fittingly. For not with Pharaoh [were they going to contend] … And what is more wonderful, when they were sent they made no objection, nor did they say that they were weak in voice and slow of tongue, for Moses had taught them better; they did not say that they were too young, for Jeremiah had brought them to their senses. And yet they heard many fearful things, much greater than those men did; but even so they were afraid to object. From this it is clear that they were angels of light and ministers of the things above. And to those men no one appears from heaven … they still pursue the things on earth; but since a man went up on high, the Spirit too is borne from on high: “as of a violent wind rushing,” it says. By this he makes plain that nothing will be able to withstand them, but they will winnow their opponents like dust. “And it filled the whole house.” The house was a symbol of the world. “And it sat upon each one of them. And the multitude came together and was confounded.” Do you see the piety of these men, and how they do not at once pronounce a verdict, but are in perplexity? But those ungrateful men pronounce one, saying, “They are filled with new wine.” Since the law permitted them to appear in the temple three times a year, therefore devout men from all the nations lived there. See here how the writer does not flatter them. For he did not say that they pronounced a verdict, but what? “And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confounded.” Naturally; for they thought that the matter would come to an end for them because of the outrage committed against Christ. Besides, their conscience too shook their souls, since the slaughter was still fresh on their hands, and everything frightened them. “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” He said this well; for this was acknowledged. The sound so frightened them that the greater part of the world gathered there. And this put strength into the apostles themselves, that they did not know how to speak Parthian, but then learned it from them. And he mentions nations hostile to them, Cretans, Arabs, Egyptians, Persians, showing that … Since the Jews had been in captivity, it was likely that many of the nations were present with them at that time; or else the doctrines had already been sown among the nations too, and for this reason many of them were there in memory of what they had heard. So from every side the testimony is undeniable: from citizens, from strangers, from proselytes. “We hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.” For they were not simply speaking, but saying wonderful things. Naturally, then, they were perplexed; for nothing of the kind had ever happened. See the fairness of the men: “They were amazed and perplexed, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ But others, mocking, said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” Oh, the shamelessness! … and that is why they mocked. And what wonder? When they said that the Master himself, while driving out demons, had a demon. For where there is impudence, it seeks one thing only, to say something, anything; not how to say something reasonable, but how to say anything whatever. “They are filled with new wine.” Indeed! Because men in such dangers, trembling for their very lives, in such dejection, dare to utter such things! And see: since this was unconvincing, misleading the hearers and making out that they were drunk, they put it all down to the quality of the wine. “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and declared to them.” You see there his care, here his courage. For if they marveled, if they were astonished, was it not wonderful even so that an unlettered and ordinary man could raise his voice in the midst of so many? For if a man speaking among his own people is troubled, much more before enemies and men thirsting for blood. That they were not drunk he showed at once by his voice: that they were not out of their senses like soothsayers, that they were not held by compulsion. And what is “with the eleven”? They put forward a common voice, and he was the mouth of all. The eleven stood by bearing witness to what was said. “He lifted up his voice,” it says; that is, he spoke with great boldness. And he does this so that they may learn the grace of the Spirit. For the man who could not bear the question of a mean servant girl, this man, in the midst of crowds all thirsting for blood, speaks with such boldness that this became an undeniable proof of the resurrection; for he speaks boldly among men who laugh and mock at such things. How great a shamelessness do you think it is to reckon the marvel of the tongues the work of drunkenness? But none of this grieved the apostles, nor made them less daring when they heard the mockery. For by the presence of the Spirit they had already been transformed, and were above all bodily things. Wherever the Holy Spirit comes, he makes men of gold out of men of clay. See then Peter, and examine him: the timid one, the one without understanding, as Christ says, “Are you also still without understanding?”; the one who after that wonderful confession was called Satan. And consider also the concord of the apostles: they yield the speaking to him, for not all had to speak. “And he lifted up his voice,” it says, “and declared to them” with great boldness. Such a thing it is to be a spiritual man. Only let us too make ourselves worthy of the grace from above, and everything will be easy. For just as a man of fire who fell into the midst of straw would suffer no harm, but would rather do harm (for he suffers nothing himself, but those who fight with him destroy themselves), so it happened now too. Or rather, it was as if someone holding straw were to box with a man carrying fire: so these men attacked them with great courage. For what harm did so great a multitude do them? Tell me, were they not fighting against poverty and hunger? Against dishonor and ill repute (for they were thought to be deceivers)? Were they not exposed to the laughter and mockery of those present? For both fell upon them: some laughed at them, others mocked … with iron and with wild beasts? Did not a countless war surround them on every side? Were they not disposed as men who saw these terrors in a dream or in a picture? What then? Did they not exhaust their opponents' rage? Did they not turn the perplexity back on them? Were not those men, above all, gripped by rage and fear? Were they not in anguish, afraid and trembling? Hear them saying, “You intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” And the wonder is that with bare bodies they stood in battle against armed men, against rulers who had authority over them; inexperienced, without eloquence, very ordinary men, they stood their ground and fought against sorcerers, against deceivers, against a crowd of sophists, rhetoricians and philosophers grown mouldy in the Academy and the Peripatos. And the man who had been busy about lakes so mastered them as if his contest were with speechless fish; for like a fisherman of fish more dumb than these, so he overcame them. And Plato, after much idle talk, is silent; but this man speaks, not only among his own people, but among Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and in India, and everywhere on earth, and to the ends of the world. Where now is the pride of Greece? Where is the name of Athens? Where is the nonsense of the philosophers? The man from Galilee, the man from … Are you not ashamed, tell me, at the name of the country of the man who conquered you? And if you hear his name too, and that he was called Cephas, you will hide your faces much more. For this is what has destroyed you: that you think this a disgrace, and think eloquence a matter for praise and lack of eloquence a disgrace. You did not come by the road you should have come, but leaving the royal road, easy and smooth, you walked the rough, steep and hard one. That is why you did not reach the kingdom of heaven.

“Why then,” someone says, “did Christ not work upon Plato, nor upon Pythagoras?” Because Peter's soul was much more philosophical than those souls. For they were truly children, turned about everywhere by vainglory; but this man was a philosopher, and receptive of grace. If you laugh on hearing this, it is no wonder; for those men too laughed then and said that the apostles were filled with new wine. But afterward, when they had suffered those bitter things, harsher than any, when they saw their city in ruins, and the fire kindled, and the walls thrown to the ground, and those manifold frenzies which no one can describe in words, they laughed no longer. So you too will not laugh then, when the time of judgment comes, when the fire of hell is kindled. But why do I speak of things to come? Shall I show you who Peter is and who Plato is? Let us examine their characters for the present, if you like, and see what each of them undertook. The one spent his whole time turning about doctrines that were useless and superfluous. For what profit is there in learning that the soul of the philosopher becomes a fly? A fly indeed! Not that it changed into a fly, but a fly came to settle on the soul that dwelt in Plato. What idle talk is this not? Where did he get the idea of talking such nonsense? The man was full of irony and disposed jealously toward everyone. As though he were striving to bring in nothing useful either of his own or from anyone else, he took the transmigration of souls from another, and from himself he brought in the Republic, in which he legislated things full of great shamefulness. “Let the women be common,” he says, “and let the virgins wrestle naked before the eyes of their lovers, and let there be common fathers, and let the children born be common.” What folly do these things not surpass? But such are his teachings. Here, however, it is not nature that makes common fathers, but the philosophy of Peter; whereas that system even abolished fatherhood. For it did nothing else than make the real father all but unknown and bring in one who is not the father. It cast the soul into a kind of drunkenness and filth. “Let all,” he says, “use the women without fear.” That is why I do not examine the doctrines of the poets, so that no one may say that I am examining myths; and yet I am speaking of other myths, much more ridiculous than those. Where did the poets ever invent such a monstrosity? But the chief of the philosophers, as he was thought to be, even puts arms on women, and helmets and greaves, and says that the human race differs in nothing from dogs. “For since the female dog,” he says, “and the male share in the work, let the women share too”; and let everything be turned upside down. For the devil has always been eager through them to show that our race is no more honorable than the irrational animals; so much so that some came to such a pitch of vainglory as to say that the irrational animals too are rational. And see how variously he raved in their souls. Their leaders said that our soul passes into flies and dogs and irrational animals; those after them, ashamed of this, fell into another shame, granting all rational knowledge to the irrational animals and everywhere making out that the creatures made for our sake are more honorable than we. And not only this, but they say that there is foreknowledge and piety among them. “The raven,” they say, “knows God, and so does the crow; and they have gifts of prophecy and foretell the future; and there is justice among them, and a polity, and laws; and among them the dog is jealous,” according to Plato. Perhaps you do not believe what is said; naturally, since you have been brought up on sound doctrines; for if someone were brought up on this food, he would not believe that there is a man who enjoys eating dung. So when we tell them that these are myths and full of folly, “You have not grasped the meaning,” they say. May we never grasp such great laughingstocks of yours! Of course; for no deep mind is needed for us to learn what such great impiety and confusion means. Are you not talking the language of crows, you fools, like children at play? For you are truly children, just like them. But Peter said nothing of the kind; he uttered a voice which, shining out like a great light in darkness, scattered the mist that lay over the world. And his character: how gentle it was, how reasonable, how he stood above all vainglory, how he looked to heaven without conceit, and that while raising the dead! If it had been in the power of one of those fools to do some such thing, even in appearance, would he not at once have sought an altar and a temple, and wished to be thought equal to the gods? When even without any of these things they are forever indulging such fancies. For what do they mean by their Athena, Apollo and Hera? These are kinds of demons among them. And there is a king among them who thought fit to die for this very reason, so that he might be thought equal to the gods. But these men were not so, but the very opposite. Hear them saying at the healing of the lame man, “Men of Israel, why do you look at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” And elsewhere, “We too are men of like nature with you.” But there, great is the conceit, great the boastfulness; everything is for the sake of honors from men, nothing for the sake of philosophy. For when anything is done for glory, everything remains worthless. For even if one has everything but does not master this, he has fallen from all philosophy, through the most tyrannical and shameful passion. Contempt of glory is enough to teach every good thing and to banish from the soul every destructive passion. That is why I exhort you too to make great efforts to pluck this passion out by the roots; for there is no other way to be approved before God and to draw to oneself the favor of that sleepless eye. Let us, then, make every effort to enjoy the help that comes from there, so that we may escape the experience of present sorrows and be counted worthy of the good things to come, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.