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Theodore of Heraclea

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · d. AD 355 · 52 passages across 3 books

Commentary

41–52 of 52
Matthew 16:23

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

When, contrary to what he had hoped, Peter heard this, he was troubled. For the revelation had exhibited Christ as Son of God and the living God, on the one hand. Yet on the other hand, he was found to be preparing for the dreadful events of the Passion. In rebuking Peter, Christ brings to light his own righteous judgment. When Peter confessed Christ, Christ praised him. But when he was irrationally terrified, Christ rebuked him, acting without respect of persons.

Fragment 102

Matthew 18:10

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

But see, he says, that you do not at all despise those forced out of the church for wickedness. He does not want them to be cast out with any hatred or curse. But he spares those who are guilty of some damage or disorder and often hardened in their own depravity. It is as if it were possible to see even these change again for the better. By “little ones” he means those imperfect in their knowledge or those recently baptized. He does not want these to be looked down upon as ignorant in his teaching.

Fragment 105

Matthew 19:29

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

“A hundredfold” means that which is incomparably better as regards the future in heaven. When Mark says he will receive a hundredfold “in this age,” we should understand him as speaking about spiritual joys far exceeding earthly ones, inasmuch as they are pledges of future blessings.

Fragment 107

Matthew 23:16-17

Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

Jesus is saying that the gold in the temple, the gold objects dedicated in the temple to the glory of God, whether these be the gold cherubim or the gold jar containing the manna, were considered by the Jews to be worthy of much more honor than the temple. Therefore they were condemned by the Lord.… But the saying possesses a figurative meaning directed against them because they are not receiving the truth regarding Christ. Instead, they were judging Moses and the types given through him as more valuable than Christ.… They were rejecting the Christ who sanctifies Moses while simultaneously praising the law. Just as the law was praiseworthy, not because it possesses the types and the symbols but because it prefigures the true mystery of worship in Christ, in the same way the gold is precious because of the one who sanctifies the temple, and heaven is beautiful because of the God who sanctifies it and dwells within it.

Fragment 115.16

Matthew 24:27

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For it is much the same with lightning. Lightning is figuratively compared with truth. It is likened to the coming of the Son of man, which is explained in every Scripture, whether it concerns the law, prophecy, the gospel or apostolic testimony. It flashes out from the east, the region of principalities and spiritual powers, and shines all the way to the west, the realm of darkness and Satan, in the time of the Passion. Note that if the law is rising in the east, the end of the law is setting in the west. But from Jesus Christ to Paul is a rising and setting. He was revealed to Paul last of all as “to one abnormally born.”

Fragment 124-25

John 2:1

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

According to the theoria [of this passage], the Word of God descended from heaven in order that the bridegroom, having made the punishment of the human nature his own, might persuade [his bride] to become pregnant with the spiritual seed of wisdom. He convened the wedding on the third day, that is, in the last times of the age. For he struck the transgression that was in Adam and again bandaged us on the third day, that is, in the last times when, becoming human for us he took on the whole fleshly nature that he resurrected in himself from the dead. Therefore, because of this [John] mentions the third as the day when he consecrated the wedding.

Fragments on John 12

John 6:35 · 2 passages

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Because we have all died to sin—or because after the eternal, incorruptible resurrection he will give life to those who believe, when there will be neither food nor drink perceived by the senses—therefore we “will certainly not hunger.” To be sure, the manna of those who ate it “in the desert” nourished the body for a little while, but it did not contribute anything to the soul to help it live virtuously and nobly. All of them (except for a few) were discovered to have been godless. But the living Bread recovered the souls of the believers by his words of life and procured real life for the world.

Fragments on John 31

Since earthly bread customarily does give life to our weak nature of the flesh, [Christ] also does this through the energy of the Spirit by making the spirit alive and preserving the body for incorruptible incorruption after the resurrection and giving this to those who believe in him. Certainly he calls his flesh the bread of life in this place since it is eaten in the sacrament.

Fragments on John 33

John 9:5

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

He calls himself light both because he enlightens the souls of those who believe and because he was about to open the eyes of the one who was blind from birth.

Fragments on John 71

John 9:22-23

These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

Thus evil mastered the rulers who not only disabled themselves through unbelief but also through their threatening shut the way of salvation for the rest.

Fragment on John 82

John 10:30

I and my Father are one.

One, he says of himself, with the Father according to ousia, not according to hypostasis, and he is equal with the Father in all things. For he is to be counted as two according to hypostases, both himself and the Father, who, he said is greater than he.

Fragments in John 126

John 14:12

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

This refers to the other miracles that the apostles did, such as healing a man through their shadow falling on him. But this incident did not reveal the fullness of this saying, but rather it was fulfilled in the fact that, when he used the power of the Godhead for an act of kindness, the disciples on the one hand worked through the power given to them for the service of those who believe and the punishment of the extremely wicked, and on the other hand they exceeded the power of their teacher, even though he was mightier in his ability to punish the godless, since he chose to restrain and control his power to punish in the meantime until the right moment of judgment.

Fragments on John 259

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