John Chrysostom — Commentary on Scripture

Isaiah 29:13

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

If we do not see our children deriving any benefit from the teachers we send them to, then we blame the teachers and take our children to other teachers. What excuse will we have for putting so much emphasis on earthly things but not putting emphasis on virtue? Our teachers here [at church] are far more numerous. No less than the prophets and apostles and patriarchs and all righteous people are set over you as teachers in every church. And there is no profit in merely chanting out two or three psalms, making the accustomed prayers at random and then being dismissed. Do you think this is enough for your salvation? Have you not heard the prophet (or rather God through the prophet) say, “These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”?To keep this from being the case with us as well, then wipe out the letters and impressions the devil has engraved on your souls, and bring me a heart that has been set free from worldly tumults so I can write on it what I want to.

Isaiah 29:16

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

If a man seems more comely 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 cinerary urn convince you. And you will know that this is the truth if you have gone to visit the tombs of your forebearers. Therefore there is no difference between the clay and the potter.

Isaiah 30:1

Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

Let every man and woman among us, whether meeting together at church or remaining at home, call upon God with much earnestness, and he will doubtless accede to these petitions. Whence does this appear evident? Because he is exceedingly desirous that we should always take refuge in him and in everything make our requests to him; [he desires that we] do nothing and speak nothing without him. For men, when we trouble them repeatedly concerning our affairs, become slothful and evasive and conduct themselves unpleasantly toward us; but with God it is quite the reverse. Not when we apply to him continually respecting our affairs, but when we fail to do so, then is he especially displeased. Hear at least what he reproves the Jews for, when he says, “You have taken counsel, but not of me, and made treaties but not by my Spirit.” For this is the custom of those who love; they desire that all the concerns of their beloved should be accomplished by means of themselves; and that they should neither do anything, nor say anything, without them.… Let us not then be slow to take refuge in him contin…

Let every man and woman among us, whether meeting together at church or remaining at home, call upon God with much earnestness, and he will doubtless accede to these petitions. Whence does this appear evident? Because he is exceedingly desirous that we should always take refuge in him and in everything make our requests to him; [he desires that we] do nothing and speak nothing without him. For men, when we trouble them repeatedly concerning our affairs, become slothful and evasive and conduct themselves unpleasantly toward us; but with God it is quite the reverse. Not when we apply to him continually respecting our affairs, but when we fail to do so, then is he especially displeased. Hear at least what he reproves the Jews for, when he says, “You have taken counsel, but not of me, and made treaties but not by my Spirit.” For this is the custom of those who love; they desire that all the concerns of their beloved should be accomplished by means of themselves; and that they should neither do anything, nor say anything, without them.… Let us not then be slow to take refuge in him continually; and whatever be the evil, it will in any case find its appropriate solution.

Isaiah 30:8

Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:

[Isaiah] set his prophecy down in writing in a new book so that, after his prophecy was fulfilled, what he had written might bear witness against the Jews of what the inspired prophet predicted to them a long time before. This is why he did not simply write it in a book, but in a new book, a book capable of staying sturdy for a long time without easily falling apart, a book which could last until the events described in it would come to pass.

Isaiah 30:10

Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

What insults a person more: when he says something and receives no answer or when he is silent and receives no answer? Obviously a person is most insulted when he speaks and receives no answer. God is insulted when he speaks and you will not heed what he says. They said in ancient days to the prophets, “Do not speak to us.” But you do worse. You say, “Speak to us, but we will not obey.” They turned the prophets away in order to keep them from speaking, sensing that there was some sort of awe or obligation in the voice itself. But you, with excessive contempt, do not even do this. Believe me, if you stopped our mouths by putting your hand over them, it would not be as great of an insult as it is for you to hear but not obey.

Isaiah 33:2

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

The master of the church has many names: being called the Father, the way, the life, the light, the arm, the propitiation, the foundation, the door, the sinless one, the treasure, Lord, God, Son, the only begotten, the form of God, the image of God. So it is with the church itself. Does one name suffice to present the whole truth? By no means. But for this reason there are countless names, that we may learn something concerning God, though it is but a small part.

Isaiah 34:4

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

Daniel said, “I beheld in the night a vision, and saw one coming with the clouds of heaven as the Son of man, and he came on to the Ancient of Days and was brought near to him. To him was given the dominion and the honor and the kingdom. And all people, tribes and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an eternal dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom shall not be destroyed.” … Then all the gates of heaven will be opened, or rather the heaven itself is taken away. For we read, “The heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll,” wrapped up to the middle like the skin and covering of some tent, so as to be made into a more useful shape.

Isaiah 35:5

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

And Isaiah went on to tell of other marvels and showed how Christ cured the lame, how he made the blind to see, and the mute to speak: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, then will the ears of the deaf hear.” And thereafter he spoke of the other marvels: “Then will the lame man leap like a stag, and the tongue of those with impediments of speech will be clear and distinct.” And this did not happen until his coming.

Isaiah 35:10

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I ask you to consider the condition of the other life, so far as it is possible to consider it; for no words will suffice for an adequate description. But from the things which are told us, as if by means of certain riddles, let us try and get some indistinct vision of it. “Pain and sorrow and sighing,” we read, “have fled away.” What then could be more blessed than this life? It is not possible there to fear poverty and disease. It is not possible to see any one injuring or being injured, provoking or being provoked, or angry, or envious, or burning with any outrageous lust, or anxious concerning the supply of the necessities of life, or bemoaning himself over the loss of some dignity and power. For all the tempest of passion in us is quelled and brought to nothing, and all will be in a condition of peace and gladness and joy, all things serene and tranquil, all will be daylight and brightness, and light, not this present light but one excelling this in splendor as much as daylight is brighter than a lamp. For things are not concealed in that world by night or by a gathering of clou…

I ask you to consider the condition of the other life, so far as it is possible to consider it; for no words will suffice for an adequate description. But from the things which are told us, as if by means of certain riddles, let us try and get some indistinct vision of it. “Pain and sorrow and sighing,” we read, “have fled away.” What then could be more blessed than this life? It is not possible there to fear poverty and disease. It is not possible to see any one injuring or being injured, provoking or being provoked, or angry, or envious, or burning with any outrageous lust, or anxious concerning the supply of the necessities of life, or bemoaning himself over the loss of some dignity and power. For all the tempest of passion in us is quelled and brought to nothing, and all will be in a condition of peace and gladness and joy, all things serene and tranquil, all will be daylight and brightness, and light, not this present light but one excelling this in splendor as much as daylight is brighter than a lamp. For things are not concealed in that world by night or by a gathering of clouds. Bodies there are not set on fire and burned. For there is neither night nor evening there, nor cold nor heat, nor any other variation of seasons. But the condition is of a different kind, such as only they will know who have been deemed worthy of it. There is no old age there, nor any of the evils of old age, but all things relating to decay are utterly removed, and incorruptible glory reigns in every part. But greater than all these things is the perpetual enjoyment of relationship with Christ in the company of angels and archangels and the higher powers.

Isaiah 36:12

But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

In order … that both our houses may be continually open to [the poor] and our ears to [the apostles], we should purge away the filth from the ears of our soul. For as filth and mud close up our fleshly ears, so do the prostitute’s songs, worldly talking, debts and the business of borrowing and paying interest close up the mind’s ear even worse than dirt. Not only do these things close up the ear, but also they make it unclean. Those who cause you to listen to the prostitute’s songs put dung in your ears. They make you endure not just in word but in deeds, what the barbarian threatened: “You shall eat your own dung,” and what follows.

Isaiah 40:3

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Do you see that both by the words of the prophet and by his own preaching, this one and only thing is manifested, that he came, making a way and preparing beforehand, not bestowing the gift, which was the remission, but ordering in good time the souls of such as should receive the God of all?

Isaiah 40:22-23

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

When he spoke of the heavens, Isaiah said, “It is he who set up the heaven as a vaulted chamber and stretched it out as a tent over the earth.” And he said of the earth, “It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth and made the earth as if it were nothing,” even though the earth is so great and vast.… Despite the fact that the earth is so great and so vast, God made it with such ease that the prophet could find no fitting example. So he said that God made the earth “as if it were nothing.”

Isaiah 43:10

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Still I would like to ask of our opponents what the words mean that were once uttered by the prophet, “Before me there was no God, and after me there is none.” If the Son is younger than the Father, how can the Father say, “after me there shall be none”? You will not, therefore, also deprive the Only Begotten himself of his substance, will you? Indeed, you must dare to do this or else to accept the one Godhead with the distinct persons of the Father and the Son.

Isaiah 43:25 · 3 passages

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Groan bitterly, sacrifice confession (for, he says, “Declare first your transgressions that you may be justified”), sacrifice contrition of heart. These victims turn not to ashes or dissolve into smoke or melt into air. They do not need wood and fire but only a deep-pricked heart. This is wood; this is fire to burn, yet not consume them. For one who prays with earnestness is burned yet not consumed, but like gold that is tested by fire becomes brighter.

We must always have these sins before our eyes, so we may be purified from them. And though God, by clemency, forgives you every sin, yet you, for the safety of your soul, must always have the sin before your eyes. For the memory of past sins hinders future ones; and one who is bitten by his past sins demonstrates the will to be steadfast about the next ones. For David says, “And my sin is ever before me,” in order to have the past ones before his eyes and not to fall into future ones. That God demands this firm stance from us, listen to him say, “I am the one who blots out your sins, and I will not remember them; you, however, remember them, and we shall settle accounts, says the Lord. First state your sin so you may be justified.” … Time does not excuse; rather, the manner of the repentant individual erases the sin.

God does not wait for time to elapse after repentance. You stated your sin, you are justified. You repented, you have been shown mercy. Time does not excuse; rather, the manner of the repentant individual erases the sin. One individual may wait a long time and not gain salvation, and another, who confesses genuinely, is stripped of the sin inside a short time.

Isaiah 43:26

Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Do you wish that I shall speak of the ways of repentance? They are many and various and different, and all lead to heaven. The first way of repentance is condemnation of sins. “First declare your sins, that you may be justified.”

Isaiah 45:2

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

Let us not fear punishment. By this faith we shall escape punishment.… This is the correct attitude of the servants of God to be. For if those who were brought up under the old dispensation, when death was not yet slain, or his “brazen gates broken down” or his “iron bars cut into pieces” so nobly encountered their end, how destitute of all defense or excuse shall we be, if, after having had the benefit of such great grace, we attain not even to the same measure of virtue as they did, now when death is only a name, devoid of reality. For death is nothing more than a sleep, a journey, a migration, a rest, a tranquil haven, an escape from trouble and a freedom from the cares of this present life!

Isaiah 45:3

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

“I will give you the treasures of darkness.” … This is the way [Isaiah] referred to hell. Even if it was hell, it still preserved the sacred souls and precious vessels, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is why Isaiah called it a place of treasures, even if in darkness, because the Sun of justice had not yet penetrated there with its rays or with any message on the resurrection.

Isaiah 45:6

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

The prophets were not denying the Son (God forbid!), but they wished to cure the Jews of their weakness and, meanwhile, to persuade them to give up their belief in the many gods that did not exist.