And in justice thou shalt be built up, and in the day of affliction thou shalt be remembered: and thy sins shall melt away as the ice in the fair warm weather.18 Of what an evil fame is he that forsaketh his father: and he is cursed of God that angereth his mother.20 The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God:28 A heart that goeth two ways shall not have success, and the perverse of heart shall be scandalized therein.29 A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner will add sin to sin.
The activity of a soul that aspires to rest in quietness must be humble and gentle, which is appropriate for the follower of Christ the Way. It also should not be lazy or less than fully committed but should instead be committed to running the race to its end. It is, in fact, written, "Do your work thoroughly in a spirit of meekness," where the admonition, "Do your work thoroughly" is aimed at preventing you from allowing your meekness to degenerate into laziness.
You should listen to John, you heretic. You should listen to the one who runs forward as you run backwards. You should listen to the humble, you who are proud. You should listen to the burning oil lamp, you unlit lamp. Listen to what John said when people came to him. "I baptize you with water." You too, if you would only acknowledge what you really are, are a minister of water. "I," he says, "baptize you with water; but he who shall come is far greater than I." How much greater than you is he? "I am not worthy to undo the lace of his sandal." How much would he have humiliated himself had he said he was worthy of this? In reality, he said he was not even worthy to do this—to undo the lace of his sandal. "It is he who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit." … Repeat what the friend of the Bridegroom says instead of drawing attention to yourself and away from the Bridegroom. "Neither is he that plants anything, nor he that waters, but God who lets it grow."12Listen again to the one we are talking about, the friend of the Bridegroom. It is true that he had, it seems, his own disciples and that he himself was not a disciple of Christ. Listen to him though as he recognizes himself as a disciple of Christ. See him there among the disciples of Christ, both more true and more humble. The humbler he was, the greater he was. Notice how he behaves himself according to what is written: "The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord." He rightly says, "I am not worthy to loosen the lace of his sandals," but this was not how he showed himself to be a disciple. "He who comes from above," he says, "is above everyone," "but we all have received from his fullness." Therefore, he too was among the disciples who had disciples around him, just as Christ did. Listen to him admitting with utmost clarity to being a disciple: "The one who possesses the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom stands there and listens."
Let us, therefore, listen together to the admonition and to the words of Scripture: "Do not seek out the things that are too high for you, neither search the things that are above your strength." Not that such things are forbidden to us, since the divine Master says, "There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed." But if we continue along the way we have undertaken, as the apostle tells us, God not only will reveal to us what we do not know and ought to know but also anything else we care to know about. The way we have undertaken is the way of faith: let us keep to it without wavering. Let it introduce us to the secrets of the King in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For it was surely not out of envy that the Lord Jesus Christ acted toward those great and specially chosen disciples of his when he said, "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." We must be walking, making progress and growing so that our hearts may become fit to receive the things that we cannot receive at present. And if the last day shall find us sufficiently advanced, we shall then learn what here we were unable to know.
And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness.5 Sing ye to God, sing a psalm to his name, make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west: the Lord is his name. Rejoice ye before him: but the wicked shall be troubled at his presence,6 Who is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows. God in his holy place:7 God who maketh men of one manner to dwell in a house: Who bringeth out them that were bound in strength; in like manner them that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres.10 Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God: and it was weakened, but thou hast made it perfect.11 In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou hast provided for the poor.
Again, Aeschylus the tragedian, setting forth the power of God, does not shrink from calling him the Highest, in these words:Place God apart from mortals; and think not
That he is, like yourself, corporeal.
You know him not. Now he appears as fire,
Dread force; as water now; and now as gloom;
And in the beasts is dimly shadowed forth,
In wind, and cloud, in lightning, thunder, rain;
And minister to him the seas and rocks,
Each fountain and the water's floods and streams.
The mountains tremble, and the earth, the vast
Abyss of sea, and towering height of hills,
When on them looks the Sovereign's awful eye:
Almighty is the glory of the Most High God.
Does he not seem to you to paraphrase that text, "At the presence of the Lord the earth trembles"?
For you are not come to a mountain that might be touched, and a burning fire, and a whirlwind, and darkness, and storm,19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard excused themselves, that the word might not be spoken to them:22 But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels,23 And to the church of the firstborn, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect,24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel.
What, then, is the Paraclete's administrative office but this: the direction of discipline, the revelation of the Scriptures, the reformation of the intellect, the advancement toward the "better things? " Nothing is without stages of growth: all things await their season.
And it came to pass, when Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, on the sabbath day, to eat bread, that they watched him.7 And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them:8 When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him:9 And he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee, Give this man place: and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.10 But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that when he who invited thee, cometh, he may say to thee: Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee.11 Because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.†12 And he said to him also that had invited him: When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy neighbours who are rich; lest perhaps they also invite thee again, and a recompense be made to thee.13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind;†14 And thou shalt be blessed, because they have not wherewith to make thee recompense: for recompense shall be made thee at the resurrection of the just.
But mystically, he who shuns vain-glory calls to a spiritual banquet the poor, that is, the ignorant, that he may enrich them; the weak, that is, those with offended consciences, that he may heal them; the lame, that is, those who have wandered from reason, that he may make their paths straight; the blind, that is, those who discern not the truth, that they may behold the true light. But it is said, They cannot recompense thee, i. e. they know not how to return an answer.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)