Methodius of Olympus — Commentary on Scripture

Luke 12:32

For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, and that you should tread upon the necks of your enemies.

Luke 12:35

Blessed are ye, when he shall make you sit down, and shall come and serve you. And if he come in the second, or in the third watch, ye are blessed."

Methodius Discourse V. Thallousa

Luke 12:49

For the flesh is truly, as it were, our five-lighted lamp, which the soul will bear like a torch, when it stands before Christ the Bridegroom, on the day of the resurrection, showing her faith springing out clear and bright through all the senses, as He Himself taught, saying.
Wicked demons who once fell from light; but when the Creator and Framer of all things had, as the most divine Paul says, laid hold of the seed of Abraham, and through him of the whole human race, He was made man for ever, and without change, in order that by His fellowship with us, and our joining on to Him, the ingress of sin into us might be stopped, its strength being broken by degrees, and itself as wax being melted, by that fire which the Lord, when He came, sent upon the earth.

Methodius Discourse VI. Agathe

Luke 15:8

For the mind being cleansed by laborious exercises from the distracting thoughts which darken it, quickly perceives the truth; as the widow in the Gospels

Methodius Discourse IX. Tusiane

Luke 15:23

Hence the Word has with deep perception called the souls of the prophets concubines, because He did not espouse them openly, as He did the Church, having killed for her the fatted calf.

Methodius Discourse VII. Procilla

Luke 16:9

As also the Lord showed, when He said: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

Methodius From the Discourse on the Resurrection

Luke 16:28

For the rich man says: "I have five brethren; . lest they also come into this place of torment, "

Luke 19:27

-Let no one amongst us be found to receive Him with a sad countenance, lest he be condemned with those wicked citizens-the citizens, I mean, who refused to receive the Lord as King over them.

Methodius Oration on the Psalms

Luke 19:37

But while these things were doing, and the disciples were rejoicing and praising God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest;

Methodius Oration on the Psalms

Luke 21:34

And therefore it is ordered that a virgin shall not taste of this vine, so that she may be sober and watchful from the cares of life, and may kindle the shining torch of the light of righteousness for the Word. "Take heed to yourselves "says the Lord,

Methodius Discourse V. Thallousa

Mark 1:22

Hence the aged Simeon, putting off the weakness of the flesh, and putting on the strength of hope, in the face of the law hastened to receive the Minister of the law, the Teacher

Methodius Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna

Mark 2:10

And it has seemed good to Thee, by means of our Lord and Creator, to fashion us again unto immortality; and Thou hast graciously given unto us a return to Paradise by means of Him who separated us from the joys of Paradise; and by means of Him who hath power to forgive sins Thou hast

Mark 9:50

According to levitical law, every gift, unless it be seasoned with salt, is forbidden to be offered as an oblation to the Lord God. Now the whole spiritual meditation of the Scriptures is given to us as salt which stings in order to benefit. Without this disinfection, it is impossible for a soul, by means of reason, to be brought to the almighty.

THE BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 1.1

Mark 11:8

Instead of our garments, let us spread our hearts before him.

ORATION ON THE PALMS 1

Mark 13:31

It is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present dire condition to a better and more glorious one by the idiom of “destruction.” For its earlier form is thereby lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splendor. This is not a contradiction or absurdity. Paul says that it is not the world as such but the “fashion of this world” that passes away. So it is Scripture’s habit to call the passing from worse to better as “destruction.” Think of a child who passes from a childish stage to amore mature stage. We sometimes express this as an undoing of outmoded patterns.

Micah 4:4

The vine, and that not in a few places, refers to the Lord himself, and the fig tree to the Holy Spirit, as the Lord “makes glad the hearts of men,” and the Spirit heals them. Hezekiah is commanded to make plaster with a lump of figs—that is, the fruit of the Spirit—that he may be healed. According to the apostle this healing begins with love. For he says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” On account of their great pleasantness, the prophet calls these spiritual fruits figs. Of them Micah also says, “They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.” Now it is certain that those who have taken refuge and rested under the Spirit and under the shadow of the Word shall not be alarmed or frightened by the one who troubles the hearts of humankind.

BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10:5

Philippians 2:5

For martyrdom is so admirable and desirable, that the Lord, the Son of God Himself, honouring it, testified, "He thought it not robbery to be equal with God"

Methodius Fragments

Philippians 2:6

Being in the image of God, [humanity] still needed to receive the likeness. The Word, having been sent into the world to perfect this, first of all took on our own form, even though in history it has been stained by many sins, so that we for our part, on whose account he bore it, should be once again capable of partaking in his divine nature. Hence it is now possible for us to receive God’s likeness. Think of a skilled painter painting a likeness of himself on a surface. So we may now imitate the same characteristics that God himself has displayed in his becoming a human being. We hold these characteristics before us as we go in discipleship along the path he set out. His purpose in consenting to put on human flesh when he was God was this: that we, upon seeing the divine image in this tablet, so to speak, might imitate this incomparable artist.

SYMPOSIUM 1.4.24

Philippians 2:7

Now the numbers into which it is divided, when put together, make seven, and one is wanting to its completion, not being in all points harmonious with itself, like six, which has reference to the Son of God, who came from tile fulness of the Godhead into a human life. For having emptied Himself,

Methodius Discourse VIII. Thekla

Philippians 2:10

Might escape from the darts of the destroyer; and that Christ having thus suffered in the flesh, and having risen again the third day, might, with equal honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be by all created things equally adored; for to Him every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth,