Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

“I have said, ‘You are gods and all sons of the most high, but as human beings you die.’ ” He says this to those who did not accept the gift of adoption22 but who dishonor the taking of flesh through the pure birth of the Word of God, deprive humanity of the ascent to God and show ingratitude to God’s Word who was made flesh for them. For this is why the Word became a human being and the Son of God became a Son of man: that the human being, by embracing the Word and receiving adoption, might become a son of God.

John 1:18

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

So when we use religious arguments and rely on divine denials that explicitly state that “no one has ever seen God,” we are saying that they have seen, not the divine nature but certain visions adapted to their capability. …Let us think about the angels in the same way, then, when we hear, “They see the face of your Father daily.” For they do not see the divine substance, which is infinite, unlimited, incomprehensible and embraces all things, but rather a certain glory that is adapted to their own nature.…
After becoming human, however, he is also seen by angels, according to the divine apostle, not in a likeness of glory, but using the true and living cloak of flesh as though it were a veil. For he says, “Who was made manifest in flesh, was vindicated in spirit, was seen by angels.”

John 3:6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

If the only meaning of baptism were remission of sins, why would we baptize newborn children who have not yet tasted of sin? But the mystery of baptism is not limited to this. It is a promise of greater and more perfect gifts. In it are the promises of future delights. It is the type of the future resurrection, a communion with the master’s Passion, a participation in his resurrection, a mantle of salvation, a tunic of gladness, a garment of light, or rather it is light itself.

John 4:6

Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

The prophet Isaiah has said about the divine nature, “He will not be hungry, nor will he grow weary,” and so on, and the Evangelist says, “Jesus grew weary from the journey and therefore sat down by the well.” Now the phrase “he will not grow weary” is the opposite of growing weary. The prophecy therefore [appears to] contradict the account of the Gospels. But they are not really contradictory since they both come from one God. Not growing weary pertains, therefore, to the infinite nature, because it fills all things. But movement is proper to the body that is finite. And when that which moves is forced to walk, it becomes subject to the weariness of the journey. It was the body, therefore, that walked and grew weary. For the union did not mix the natures together.

John 5:19

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

The Word, therefore, came down, not as he is in himself, but by becoming flesh—not the form of God but the form of a slave. This, then, is the one who said that he could do nothing on his own, because lack of power is a sign of weakness. For as darkness is to light and death is to life, in the same way weakness is opposed to power. And yet Christ is God’s power. Power is usually not powerless, for, if power were weak, what would have power? When the Word proclaims that he can do nothing, therefore, he is clearly not attributing lack of power to the divinity of the only begotten One but is testifying that the lack of power is due to the weakness of our nature. And the flesh is weak, as Scripture says: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

John 10:33

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

But since they did not know the divine nature, they crucified [what they saw as] the human nature. Or didn’t you hear them say, “We are not stoning you because of a good work but because of blasphemy, since you, who are a man, make yourself God.” Through these words they show that they recognized the nature that they saw but had absolutely no knowledge of the invisible nature. If they had known that nature, however, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

John 14:28

Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Sometimes, therefore, I [Jesus] say that I am equal to the Father, and at other times I say that the Father is greater. I am not contradicting myself, but I am showing that I am God and a human being—God through the lofty words, and a human being through the humble ones. But if you want to know how the Father is greater than I, I was talking from the flesh, not from the person of the divinity.

John 15:5

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Just as the branches are of the same substance as the vine and [come] from it, so we, who have the same kind of body as the Lord’s body, receive from his fullness and have it as a root for resurrection and salvation. And the Father is called the vinedresser, because through the Word he took care of the vine, which is the Lord’s body.

John 19:34

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

When the soldiers pierced the Savior’s side with the lance, what flowed out of it according to the Gospel writers? Blood and water. He called the Savior’s blood, therefore, the blood of a grape. For if the Lord was called a vine, and if the fruit of the vine is called wine, and if springs of blood and water poured from the Lord’s side and ran over the rest of his body to the ground, then the patriarch’s prophecy was reasonable and appropriate: “He will wash his robe in wine and his garment in blood of the grape.” For just as we call the sacramental fruit of the vine the Lord’s blood after the consecration, so he called the blood of the true vine blood of the grape.

John 19:37

And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

He promised to come again. And so, he will be seen both by those who have believed and those who have crucified, for it is written, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.”

John 19:38

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

Observe how often mention is made of the body. See how often the Evangelist shows that it was the body that was nailed to the cross, the body begged by Joseph of Pilate, the body taken down from the tree, the body wrapped in linen clothes with the myrrh and aloes, and then the name of the person given to it. And Jesus is said to have been laid in a tomb. Thus the angel said, “Come see the place where the Lord lay,” naming the part by the name of the whole. And we constantly do just the same. In this place, we say, such a person was buried; not the body of such a person. Every one in his senses knows that we are speaking of the body, and such a mode of speech is customary in divine Scripture.

John 20:17

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

For the human being who died rises up on the third day. But when Mary strives with longing to touch his holy limbs, he objected and says to her, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’ ” God the Word, who comes from heaven and lives in the bosom of the Father, did not utter the phrase “I have not yet ascended to my Father.” The Wisdom that embraces all things that exists did not say it either. This was spoken by the very human being who was formed out of all kinds of limbs, who had been raised from the dead and who after death had not yet ascended to his Father but reserved for himself the firstfruit of his passage.

John 20:20

And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

And so the reason why the Lord stood in the midst of the disciples, even though the doors were closed, after the passion but not before it, was that you might know that your body was sown as a physical body but raised as a spiritual body. But in order that you might not think that what rises is something different, when Thomas did not believe in the resurrection, he shows him the marks of the nails. He shows him the scars of the wounds. He who healed everybody even before the resurrection could have healed himself—especially after the resurrection, could he not? Yes, but through the marks of the nails that he shows he teaches that it is this [body], while through the closed doors by which he enters, he reveals that it is not such a [body as it was]. It was this [body], in order that he might fulfill the goal of the divine plan by raising that which had died, but it was such a body [as it was], in order that it might not lapse into corruption again and not be subject to death again.

John 20:27

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

Before the passion he predicted his bodily death each time, saying that he would be handed over to the high priest’s followers and proclaiming the trophy of the cross. But after the passion, when he rose from the dead on the third day and, since the disciples doubted that he had been raised, he appeared to them in his actual body. [He] declares that he has real flesh with bones, presents his wounded side to their eyes and shows them the marks of the nails.

Jonah 2:1-2

Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

“I cried out,” he says, “to the Lord my God in my affliction, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell he heard my cry.” “I,” says Jonah, “who previously thought that God appears to prophets only in Jerusalem, found him present even in the whale’s belly. And having prayed to him, I was delivered by his love of humanity.” He calls the whale’s belly “the belly of hell” because the beast is deadly. In fact, Jonah was already presumed dead. He survived only by God’s grace. Moreover, Jonah says that he was in the “belly of hell” because this is also a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” It is especially surprising that the one who really tasted death said that he was three days and three nights in the belly of earth, yet the one who saw just the shadow of death called the whale’s belly “the belly of hell.” This was because the life of Jonah was beyond his control, while in the case of the Lord both his death and his resurrection were voluntary. That is why the Gospel calls the place of hell and death “the heart of earth,” while…

“I cried out,” he says, “to the Lord my God in my affliction, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell he heard my cry.” “I,” says Jonah, “who previously thought that God appears to prophets only in Jerusalem, found him present even in the whale’s belly. And having prayed to him, I was delivered by his love of humanity.” He calls the whale’s belly “the belly of hell” because the beast is deadly. In fact, Jonah was already presumed dead. He survived only by God’s grace. Moreover, Jonah says that he was in the “belly of hell” because this is also a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” It is especially surprising that the one who really tasted death said that he was three days and three nights in the belly of earth, yet the one who saw just the shadow of death called the whale’s belly “the belly of hell.” This was because the life of Jonah was beyond his control, while in the case of the Lord both his death and his resurrection were voluntary. That is why the Gospel calls the place of hell and death “the heart of earth,” while here the belly of whale is called “the belly of hell.” “He heard my voice,” says Jonah, since otherwise he would not be alive to say this.

Jonah 4:8

And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

When he admitted to feeling this way to the extent of preferring death to life on this account, God said, I call you as judge. Consider, then, if it is right for you to grieve over the pumpkin vine, which you did not cultivate, neither planting it nor watering it. It came into being at dawn, and a worm and the sun proved its ruin at day’s end. For my part, on the contrary, is it right for me to treat without mercy this city, which was brought into being by me, containing more than 120, inhabitants who do not know their right hand from their left, and many cattle? Give thought to this, then, and marvel at the lovingkindness for its reasonableness.

Joshua 2:8-11

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

For he selected this one nation to teach the knowledge of God to all the others. Just as he had selected one man—at one time Moses, at another Joshua, at another Samuel, at another some other of the prophets—to look after the welfare of this race, one man who benefited his fellows by practicing true wisdom, so through the one race, Israel, he called all the races of the earth that shared the same nature to share the same religion. Rahab, the harlot, testifies that this is so. Though she belonged to a different race and was a harlot, she relied solely on their reputation, accepted their religion, abandoned her own beliefs and entrusted herself to strangers. “We have heard,” she said, “what things the Lord your God has done to the Egyptians, and fear of you fell on us.” Accordingly, she made a pact with the spies and sealed it with an oath.

Lamentations 3:26

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Up then, I beseech you, let us fight for the Lord’s sheep. Their Lord is near. He will certainly appear and scatter the wolves and glorify the shepherds. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” Let us not murmur at the storm that has arisen, for the Lord of all knows what is good for us. Wherefore also when the apostle asked for release from his trials he would not grant his supplication but said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Let us then bravely bear the evils that befall us; it is in war that heroes are discerned, in conflicts that athletes are crowned, in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shown, in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, heed only ourselves; let us rather have forethought for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept that exclaims, “Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak.” Let us then stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fig…

Up then, I beseech you, let us fight for the Lord’s sheep. Their Lord is near. He will certainly appear and scatter the wolves and glorify the shepherds. “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” Let us not murmur at the storm that has arisen, for the Lord of all knows what is good for us. Wherefore also when the apostle asked for release from his trials he would not grant his supplication but said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Let us then bravely bear the evils that befall us; it is in war that heroes are discerned, in conflicts that athletes are crowned, in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shown, in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, heed only ourselves; let us rather have forethought for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept that exclaims, “Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak.” Let us then stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and striking again. Our Lord is full of lovingkindness. He receives the repentance of sinners. Let us hear his words: “As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” So he prefaced his words with an oath, and he who forbids oaths to others swore himself to convince us how he desires our repentance and salvation. Of this teaching the divine books, both the old and the new, are full, and the precepts of the holy Fathers teach the same.But not as though you were ignorant have I written to you; rather have I reminded you of what you know, like those who standing safe on the shore help those who are tossed by the storm and show them a rock, or give warning of a hidden shallow or catch and haul in a rope that has been thrown. “And the God of peace shall bring Satan under your feet shortly” and shall gladden our ears with news that you have passed from storm to calm, at his word to the waves, “peace be still.” And you also should offer prayers for us, for you who have undergone peril for his sake can speak with greater boldness.

Leviticus 16:8

And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

I will however mention the sacrifice in which two goats were offered, the one being slain and the other let go. In these two goats there is an anticipative image of the two natures of the Savior; in the one let go, of the impassible Godhead, in the one slain, of the passible manhood.

Malachi 4:2

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

This applies both to the first coming of our Savior and the second: in the first he rose like a kind of sun for us who were seated in darkness and shadow, freed us from sin, gave us a share in righteousness, covered us with spiritual gifts like wings, and provided healing for our souls. In the second coming for those worn out in the present life he will appear either in accord with their will or against it, and as a just judge he will judge justly and provide the promised good things. Just as the material sun in its rising awakens to work those in the grip of sleep, so in his coming he raises up those in the grip of the long sleep of death.