Caesarius of Arles — Commentary on Scripture

2 Thessalonians 3:1

Just as it is expedient for us to implore God’s mercy for the salvation of your souls, so you ought to pour forth prayers to the Lord on our behalf. We should not consider the apostle’s actions inappropriate. To so great an extent did he long to be commended to God through prayer that he himself implored the people and said, “Pray for us.” Therefore we ought to say what can both encourage ourselves and instruct you. Just as we must reflect with great fear and anxiety on how we may fulfill the office of bishop without reproach, so you should observe that you ought to strive to practice humble obedience in everything that has been commanded you. So let us pray, dearly beloved, that my episcopacy may be profitable for both you and me.

SERMONS 232

2 Thessalonians 3:10

We read in sacred Scripture, dearly beloved, that a holy understanding should keep those who are concerned about their soul’s salvation, as the divine Word puts it, “Holy understanding shall protect you.” If such holy understanding keeps a soul, that which is unholy not only fails to keep it but even kills it. Perhaps someone says, “Who can always be thinking of God and eternal bliss, since all men must be concerned about food, clothing and the management of their household?” God does not ask us to be free from all anxiety over the present life, for he instructs us through his apostle, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.” The same apostle repeats the idea with reference to himself when he says, “We worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you.” Since God especially advises reasonable concern for food and clothing, so long as avarice and ambition … are not linked with it, an ordinary action or thought can be most rightly considered holy. The only provision is that those preoccupations should not be so excessive that they do not allow us to have time for God…

We read in sacred Scripture, dearly beloved, that a holy understanding should keep those who are concerned about their soul’s salvation, as the divine Word puts it, “Holy understanding shall protect you.” If such holy understanding keeps a soul, that which is unholy not only fails to keep it but even kills it. Perhaps someone says, “Who can always be thinking of God and eternal bliss, since all men must be concerned about food, clothing and the management of their household?” God does not ask us to be free from all anxiety over the present life, for he instructs us through his apostle, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.” The same apostle repeats the idea with reference to himself when he says, “We worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you.” Since God especially advises reasonable concern for food and clothing, so long as avarice and ambition … are not linked with it, an ordinary action or thought can be most rightly considered holy. The only provision is that those preoccupations should not be so excessive that they do not allow us to have time for God, according to the words, “The burdens of the world have made them miserable.”

SERMONS 45.1

2 Timothy 3:1

We see his prediction verified to such an extent, dearly beloved, that there is no more fidelity in the fear of God, in laws of justice, in charity or in good works. Blessed Paul foretold this.… Therefore, let us consider, dearly beloved, whether almost the whole world is not filled with these vices. Why? We reply: Because no one has any fear of the future or trembles within himself over the day of the Lord and God’s wrath, the punishment prepared for unbelievers and the eternal torments to come for the unfaithful.

SERMONS 71.3

2 Timothy 3:12

Do not seek on the journey what is being kept for you in your fatherland. Because it is necessary for you to fight against the devil every day under the leadership of Christ, do not seek in the midst of battle the reward which is being saved for you in the kingdom. During the fight you ought not to look for what is being kept for you when victory has been attained. Rather pay attention to what the apostle says, “Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ can expect to be persecuted,” and again, “We must undergo many trials if we are to enter the reign of God.”

SERMONS 215.3

2 Timothy 3:12

“All who want to live piously in Christ suffer persecution,” says the apostle. They are under attack from the enemy. For this reason, with Christ’s help, everyone who travels the journey of this life should be armed unceasingly and always stand in camp. So if you want to be constantly vigilant so that you may know you serve in the Lord’s camp, observe what the same apostle says, “No one serving as God’s soldier entangles himself in worldly affairs, that he may please him whose approval he has secured.”

SERMONS 103.1

Amos 4:7

If we cannot gather spiritual fruits through our own labor, it is just that we dispense with holy zeal and most fervent charity those which have been collected by others. Since the Lord threatens that, because of the sins of the people, “I will cause it to rain upon one city and cause it not to rain upon another city,” we ought to strive with great care that we may not be that city upon which the rain of the Word of God either does not come at all or, at least, only late and rarely. Without any doubt, if the dew or rain of the Word of God is provided too late, the fruits of souls will be the same as earthly fruits which do not receive rain.

SERMON 1:15

Colossians 4:2

This seems to indicate that the people of God did not fight with the hand or weapons so much as with the voice and tongue, that is, they poured forth prayer to God, and thus overcame their adversaries. Therefore, you, too, if you want to be victorious, listen to the apostle say, “Be assiduous in prayer, being wakeful.” This is the most glorious fight of the Christian, not to presume upon his own strength but always to implore the assistance of God.

Deuteronomy 16:19

Those who hear cases should decide them justly and not accept bribes at the expense of the innocent, “for gifts blind the hearts of the wise and change the words of the just.” Otherwise, while they are acquiring money, they may lose their soul. No one obtains unjust profit without a just loss. Where the gain is, there is the loss: a gain in the money coffer but a loss in the conscience.

SERMONS 13.2

Deuteronomy 22:1-4

You are commanded to pull out the ass or the ox which is lying in the mud. Do you then see a Christian like yourself, who was redeemed by the blood of Christ, lying in the sewer of drunkenness and wallowing in the mud of dissipation, and remain silent? Do you pass by and not stretch forth the hand of mercy? Do you merely shout at him or rebuke him or instill fright in him?

SERMON 225.4

Deuteronomy 30:19

Behold, man, you have before you “water and fire, life and death, good and evil,” heaven and hell, the legitimate king and a cruel tyrant, the false sweetness of the world and the true blessedness of paradise. Power is given to you through the grace of Christ: “Stretch forth your hand to whichever you choose.” “Choose life, that you may live”; leave the broad way on the left which drags you to death and cling to the narrow path on the right which happily leads you to life. Do not allow the wideness of that road on the left to keep you or give you pleasure.

SERMON 151.5

Deuteronomy 30:19

As he himself said … “Behold before you are fire and water, death and life. Choose life, that you may live.” Everything we mentioned above, that is, good and evil, is contained in these two. For heaven and hell, Christ and the devil, height and depth are proposed to us in them. Through his grace God has put it into the power of each one to choose and to stretch out his hand to whatever he wishes.

SERMON 149.1

Deuteronomy 32:2

Behold the nature of the rain which is given only to the just and denied to sinners. Therefore the rain is the Word of God. Only the just are prepared to receive it. Lovers of the world, however, who are proud, dissolute or avaricious are unwilling to receive the rain of God’s Word even if it is forced upon them. Why is this? Because they are unwilling to hunger or thirst after justice. Those who are saturated with the filth of dissipation do not deserve to be refreshed with the rain of God’s Word.

SERMON 105.2

Deuteronomy 32:2

All of us wish to have refreshing waters in our gardens. If there are no waters in them, we draw them from the sea with great effort in order to provide vegetables for our bodies. If so how much more solicitous should we be for the Lord’s garden, that is, the church of God, that the dry places be watered and the hard places softened by the rivers of sacred Scripture and the spiritual streams or fountains of the ancient Fathers, so that afterwards what is harmful may be uprooted and what is useful planted?

SERMON 1.15

Ecclesiastes 3:4

Let no one believe that he possesses any happiness or true joy in this world. Happiness can be prepared for, but it cannot be possessed here. Two times succeed each other in their own order, “a time to weep, and a time to laugh.” Let no one deceive himself, brethren; there is no time to laugh in this world. I know, indeed, that everyone wants to rejoice, but people do not all look for joy in the place where it should be sought. True joy never did exist in this world, it does not do so now, and it never will. For thus the Lord himself warned his disciples in the Gospel when he said: “You will suffer in the world,” and again, “While the world rejoices, you will grieve for a time, but your grief will be turned into joy.” For this reason, with the Lord’s help let us do good in this life through labor and sorrow, so that in the future life we may be able to gather the fruits of our good deeds with joy and exultation according to that sentence: “Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”

SERMON 215:2

Ecclesiastes 5:4

It does a person no good to say that he possesses faith if he neglects to fulfill in deed what he promises in word. As the Scriptures say, “If you have vowed anything to God, defer not to pay it. For an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases him. It is much better not to vow than after a vow not to perform the things promised.” In order that we may understand these facts clearly from our relations with our servants, let someone tell me whether it is enough for him if his servant says all day that he is his lord and ceases not to commend him with praises but refuses to do what has been commanded. Therefore, if words without deeds do not please us, how much more can faith without works fail to benefit us in the sight of God? Above all, we must fear lest someone believes so strongly that he will receive God’s mercy that he does not dread his justice. If a person does this, he has no faith. Likewise, if he dreads God’s justice so much that he despairs of his mercy, there is no faith. Since God is not only merciful but also just, let us believe in both. Let us not despair of his mercy…

It does a person no good to say that he possesses faith if he neglects to fulfill in deed what he promises in word. As the Scriptures say, “If you have vowed anything to God, defer not to pay it. For an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases him. It is much better not to vow than after a vow not to perform the things promised.” In order that we may understand these facts clearly from our relations with our servants, let someone tell me whether it is enough for him if his servant says all day that he is his lord and ceases not to commend him with praises but refuses to do what has been commanded. Therefore, if words without deeds do not please us, how much more can faith without works fail to benefit us in the sight of God? Above all, we must fear lest someone believes so strongly that he will receive God’s mercy that he does not dread his justice. If a person does this, he has no faith. Likewise, if he dreads God’s justice so much that he despairs of his mercy, there is no faith. Since God is not only merciful but also just, let us believe in both. Let us not despair of his mercy because we fear his justice or love his mercy so much that we disregard his justice. Therefore we should neither hope wrongly nor despair wickedly.

SERMON 12:5

Ecclesiastes 7:19

Perhaps a person possesses no bread to extend as an alms to the needy, but still greater is what a person who has a tongue is able to give. It is more important to refresh a mind that will live forever with the food of the word than to satisfy with earthly food the stomach of a body that is going to die. Therefore, brethren, do not take from your neighbors the alms of the word. Paul says, “If we have sown for you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap from you carnal things?” “Do good to the just, and you shall find great recompense: and if not of him, assuredly of God.” “It is good that you should hold up the just, and from him withdraw not your hand, for he that fears God neglects nothing.”

SERMON 8:5

Exodus 1:7

We have heard in the lesson which was read, dearly beloved, that “when Joseph was dead, the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful and prolific, and they sprang up like grass.” What does this mean, brethren? As long as Joseph lived the children of Israel are not recorded to have increased or multiplied very much, but after he died they are said to have sprung up like the grass. Surely they should have increased and multiplied more when they were under the patronage and protection of Joseph. These words were prefigured in that Joseph, dearly beloved; but in our Joseph, that is, in Christ the Lord, they were fulfilled in truth. Before our Joseph died, that is, before he was crucified, few people believed in him, but after he died and rose again throughout the world the Israelites, that is, the Christian people, increased and multiplied. Thus even the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” After the precious grain of wheat died and was buried through the passion, from that o…

We have heard in the lesson which was read, dearly beloved, that “when Joseph was dead, the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful and prolific, and they sprang up like grass.” What does this mean, brethren? As long as Joseph lived the children of Israel are not recorded to have increased or multiplied very much, but after he died they are said to have sprung up like the grass. Surely they should have increased and multiplied more when they were under the patronage and protection of Joseph. These words were prefigured in that Joseph, dearly beloved; but in our Joseph, that is, in Christ the Lord, they were fulfilled in truth. Before our Joseph died, that is, before he was crucified, few people believed in him, but after he died and rose again throughout the world the Israelites, that is, the Christian people, increased and multiplied. Thus even the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” After the precious grain of wheat died and was buried through the passion, from that one grain a harvest of the church sprang up throughout the world. Not as formerly was “God renowned in Judah” alone, nor is “his great name” worshiped only “in Israel”; but “from the rising of the sun unto the going down” his name is praised.

SERMON 94.1

Exodus 3:2

It was not without reason, beloved brethren, nor without the signification of some mystery that there was a flame in the bush: “And the bush was not consumed.” Indeed, the bush was a genus of thorns. What the earth has produced for sinful man cannot be put in any kind of praise, for it was first said to man when he sinned: “Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to you.” The fact that the bush was not burned, that is, was not seized by the flames, is understood to signify no good. In the flame is recognized the Holy Ghost; in the bush and thorns is represented the hard, haughty Jewish people.

SERMON 96.1

Exodus 3:5

Finally see what the Lord said to Moses and Joshua: “Remove the strap of your shoe, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Can this be understood according to the letter, beloved brethren? How could that ground upon which they trod be holy, since doubtless it was like the rest of the earth? However, notice carefully what was said: “For the place whereon you stand is holy ground.” That is to say, Christ, whose figure you bear and of whom you seem to be a type, is holy ground. True holy ground is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom everything heavenly and earthly is sanctified.

SERMON 96.4

Exodus 4:2-3

That staff, dearly beloved, prefigured the mystery of the cross. Just as through the staff Egypt was struck by ten plagues, so also the whole world was humiliated and conquered by the cross. Just as Pharaoh and his people were afflicted by the power of the staff, with the result that he released the Jewish people to serve God, so the devil and his angels are wearied and oppressed by the mystery of the cross to such an extent that they cannot recall the Christian people from God’s service.

SERMON 95.5