John Chrysostom — Commentary on Scripture

Jeremiah 18:3-6

What do you mean, Paul? Am I to be subject to God in the same way the clay is to the potter? Yes, Paul says. For the distance between God and man is as great as the distance between the potter and the clay. Rather the distance is not merely as great but much greater. The potter and the clay are of one and the same substance. It is just as Job said: “I admit it as for those who dwell in houses of clay, because we are ourselves formed from the same clay.” If a man seems more beautiful to look upon than clay, this difference was not produced by a change of nature but by the wisdom of the craftsman. Why? Because you are no different from the clay. If you refuse to believe this, let the coffins and the cremation urn convince you. And you will know that this is the truth if you have gone to visit the tombs of your ancestors. Therefore, there is no difference between the clay and the potter.

AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 2:35-36

Jeremiah 20:8-10

Jeremiah, having borne many temptations, gave in on these, and when he was rebuked, said, “I will not prophesy, neither will I name the name of the Lord.” And David, too, in many places complains of rebuke. Isaiah also, after many things, admonishes concerning this, saying, “Do not fear the reproach of people, neither be overcome by their reviling.” And again, Christ also to his disciples: “When they shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

HOMILIES ON 2 CORINTHIANS 12:3

Jeremiah 23:23

If God were distant from us in place, you might well doubt, but he is present everywhere. To him who strives with purposeful intent, God is near. For this reason also the psalmist said, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me,” and God again, “I am a God near at hand and not a God afar off.” Then, just as our sins separate us from him, so do our righteous deeds draw us near to him. “For while you are yet speaking,” it is said, “I will say, ‘Here I am.’ ”

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 54:8

Jeremiah 23:23

From this time on, bid everything farewell for these five days and begin to observe the feast. Away with the business of the law courts! Away with the business of the city council! Away with daily affairs together with their contracts and business deals! I wish to save my soul. “What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?” The Magi went forth from Persia. You go forth from the affairs of daily life. Make your journey to Jesus. It is not far to travel if we are willing to make the trip. We need not cross the sea or climb the mountain crests. If you prove your piety and full compunction, you can see him without leaving home, you can tear down the whole wall, remove every obstacle and shorten the length of the journey. As the prophet said, “I am a God near at hand and not a God afar off,” and, “The Lord is close to all who call on him in truth.”

AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 6:34

Jeremiah 31:15

Herod sought him after his birth. He was to kill all the children in that place. And the prophet revealed this, too, foretelling it long beforehand when he said, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, mourning and much weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not.” The Scriptures also predicted that he would come to Egypt when they said, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 3:7

Jeremiah 31:31

Don’t you see how their reasoning comes around to the very contrary? The God of the old covenant, whom they call cruel, will be found mild and meek. The God of the new, whom they acknowledged to be good, will be hard and grievous, according to their madness. But we say that there is but one and the same Legislator of both covenants, who dispensed all correctly and adapted to the difference of the times the difference between the two systems of law. Therefore the first commandments are not cruel, nor are the second hard and grievous, but all come from one and the same providential care. Hear the affirmation of the prophet that God gave the old covenant also, or rather (so we must speak), the affirmation of him who is both the one and the other: “I will make a covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.”

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 16:8

Jeremiah 31:31

From the prophets I will prove that the Old and New Covenants have one Lawgiver. And so, what does Jeremiah say? “I will give you a new covenant.” Do you see Jeremiah’s prophetic reference to a new covenant that shines forth brilliantly for so many years before Christ’s coming? “I will give you a new covenant.” But how does it seem that he gave even the Old? When he said, “I will give you a new covenant,” he added, “not like the covenant that I gave to your ancestors.”

HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 6:4.15

Jeremiah 31:32

There was a law before, and there is a law now: “The law of the Spirit of life has delivered me.” There was worship before, and there is worship now: “Whose worship,” Paul says, and again, “Who serve God in spirit.” There was a covenant before, and there is a covenant now: “I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.” There was holiness before, and there is holiness now. There was a baptism before, and there is a baptism now. There was a sacrifice before, and there is a sacrifice now. There was a temple before, and there is a temple now. There was a circumcision before, and there is a circumcision now. So also there was grace before, and there is a grace now. But the first-named as types, and the others as the reality, have kept the same name but not the same meaning. Thus, even in pictures and images one that is done in black and white shades is said to be a person, and likewise one that has been done in realistic colors. Similarly, in the case of statues, both the gold one and clay one are called statues, but the one as a mode…

There was a law before, and there is a law now: “The law of the Spirit of life has delivered me.” There was worship before, and there is worship now: “Whose worship,” Paul says, and again, “Who serve God in spirit.” There was a covenant before, and there is a covenant now: “I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors.” There was holiness before, and there is holiness now. There was a baptism before, and there is a baptism now. There was a sacrifice before, and there is a sacrifice now. There was a temple before, and there is a temple now. There was a circumcision before, and there is a circumcision now. So also there was grace before, and there is a grace now. But the first-named as types, and the others as the reality, have kept the same name but not the same meaning. Thus, even in pictures and images one that is done in black and white shades is said to be a person, and likewise one that has been done in realistic colors. Similarly, in the case of statues, both the gold one and clay one are called statues, but the one as a model, the other as the real statue.

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14

Jeremiah 31:34

To show the rapidity of the change and the facility with which they would embrace Christ’s teaching, the prophet went on to say, “And they shall no more teach everyone his neighbor and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” On his coming, Christ would also pardon the transgressions of all people and no more remember their sins. What could be clearer than this? By these predictions the prophet revealed the calling of the Gentiles, the superiority of the new law over the old law, the ease of access, the grace possessed by those who have believed and the gift given in baptism.

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 10:9-10

Jeremiah 31:34

Consider how easy it is for people to obey. For Jeremiah said, “They shall no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: ‘Know the Lord.’ For all men will know me from the least of them to the greatest.” And Isaiah showed how indestructible the Church would be. “For in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be conspicuous, and the house of the Lord will be on top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills. And to this mountaintop will come many peoples and many nations.”

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 6:5

Jeremiah 31:34

Let me beg you to consider then this simple and single-hearted person and take notice of him in the affairs of life, and you will see him a pattern of the utmost scrupulousness, such that if he would have shown it in spiritual matters he would not have been overlooked. The facts of the truth are clearer than the sun. And wherever a person may go, he might easily lay hold of his own salvation, if he wanted to, that is, to be obedient and not to look on this as a byproduct. For were these events confined to Palestine or to a little corner of the world? Didn’t you hear the prophet say, “All shall know me, from the least even to the greatest”?

HOMILIES ON ROMANS 26

Jeremiah 36:23

And what manner of prophet said this? Do not be curious nor too busy, for many of the prophetic writings have been lost. This may be seen from the history of the Chronicles. For being negligent and continually falling into ungodliness, some they suffered to perish, others they themselves burned up and cut to pieces. The latter fact Jeremiah relates. The former, he who composed the fourth book of Kings, saying that after a long time the book of Deuteronomy was hardly found, buried somewhere and lost.

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 9:6

Jeremiah 38:5-6

How distressed I am, mind you, when I call to mind that on the festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but now not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered together here. Where are they now who oppress us with their presence on the feast days?… Now if they make the summer season their excuse, for I hear of their saying things of this kind, “the present stifling heat is excessive, the scorching sun is intolerable, we cannot bear being trampled and crushed in the crowd and to be steaming all over with perspiration and oppressed by the heat and confined space.” … What then am I to say to those who advance these pretexts? I would remind them of the three children in the furnace and the flame, who when they saw the fire encircling them on all sides, enveloping their mouth and their eyes and even their breath, did not cease singing that sacred and mystical hymn to God, in company with the universe but standing in the midst of the pyre, sent up their song of praise to the common Lord of all with greater cheerfulness than they who abide in so…

How distressed I am, mind you, when I call to mind that on the festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but now not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered together here. Where are they now who oppress us with their presence on the feast days?… Now if they make the summer season their excuse, for I hear of their saying things of this kind, “the present stifling heat is excessive, the scorching sun is intolerable, we cannot bear being trampled and crushed in the crowd and to be steaming all over with perspiration and oppressed by the heat and confined space.” … What then am I to say to those who advance these pretexts? I would remind them of the three children in the furnace and the flame, who when they saw the fire encircling them on all sides, enveloping their mouth and their eyes and even their breath, did not cease singing that sacred and mystical hymn to God, in company with the universe but standing in the midst of the pyre, sent up their song of praise to the common Lord of all with greater cheerfulness than they who abide in some flowery field. Together with these three children I should think it proper to remind them also of the lions that were in Babylon, and of Daniel and the den: 2 and not of this one only but also of another den, and the prophet Jeremiah and the mire in which he was smothered up to the neck.

HOMILY TO THOSE WHO HAD NOT ATTENDED THE ASSEMBLY 2

Jeremiah 44:1-7

What was the reason for this? It was because the Jews were so arrogant and obstinate. They immediately forgot what God had done for them; they ascribed his kindness to demons and reckoned that his blessings had come from them. Even when the sea was divided for them, as they went forth from Egypt, and while other wonderful things were happening to them, they forgot the God who was performing these miracles and attributed them to others who were not gods. For they said to Aaron, “Make for us gods who will be our leaders.” And they said to Jeremiah, “We will not listen to what you say in the name of the Lord. Rather, we will continue doing what we had proposed: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, as we and our ancestors, our kings and princes have done. Then we had enough food to eat and we were well off; we suffered no misfortune. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we are in need of everything and are being destroyed by the sword and by hunger.” The inspired prophets, then, foretold what w…

What was the reason for this? It was because the Jews were so arrogant and obstinate. They immediately forgot what God had done for them; they ascribed his kindness to demons and reckoned that his blessings had come from them. Even when the sea was divided for them, as they went forth from Egypt, and while other wonderful things were happening to them, they forgot the God who was performing these miracles and attributed them to others who were not gods. For they said to Aaron, “Make for us gods who will be our leaders.” And they said to Jeremiah, “We will not listen to what you say in the name of the Lord. Rather, we will continue doing what we had proposed: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her, as we and our ancestors, our kings and princes have done. Then we had enough food to eat and we were well off; we suffered no misfortune. But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we are in need of everything and are being destroyed by the sword and by hunger.” The inspired prophets, then, foretold what would happen to the Jews so that they would ascribe none of the events to idols but would believe that both punishments and blessings always come from God: the punishment came for their sins and the blessings because of God’s love and kindness.

DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 5:4.4

Jeremiah 44:8-10

Then, since they kept on in a state of incurable madness and were not to be sobered even by the rest being carried away, he first exhorts them to remain there. But when they kept not up to this but deserted to Egypt, this indeed God allowed them but requires of them not to desert to pagan religion as well as to Egypt. But when they did not comply in this either, he sends the prophet along with them, so that they might not after all suffer total disaster. For since they did not follow him when he called, he next follows them to discipline them and prevent their being hurried further into vice, as a father full of affection does to a child who takes all treatment in the same peevish way, conducting him about everywhere with himself and following him about. This was the reason why God sent not Jeremiah only into Egypt but also Ezekiel into Babylon, and they did not refuse to go.

HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14

Jeremiah 51:44-45

Therefore, Paul also urged us to this and said, “Expel the wicked man from your midst” and “so that he who has done this deed might be put away from your midst.” Indeed, bad companionship is a terrible thing, a terrible thing! A pestilence does not infect and scabies corrupt those tainted as quickly as the wickedness of evil people does those affected by this malady. For “evil companionships corrupt good morals.” The prophet also said, “Go out of the midst of them, and separate yourselves from them.”

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 57

Jeremiah 52:15-16

And as Isaiah said before, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been as Sodom and would have been made like to Gomorrah.” Here again he shows another thing, that not even those few were saved by their own resources. They too would have perished and met with Sodom’s fate, that is, they would have had to undergo utter destruction. They (of Sodom) were destroyed root and branch and left not even the slightest remnant of themselves. They too, he means, would have been like these, unless God had used much kindness to them and had saved them by faith. This happened also in the case of the visible captivity, the majority having been taken away captive and perished and some few only being saved.

HOMILIES ON ROMANS 16