Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Do not be troubled, then, as if this word from Isaiah overturned your hope. Rather, let it drive you to a more watchful fear and a swifter repentance. For God surrenders men to calamity not to destroy them utterly, but to rouse those who have grown drowsy in sin. When you ask how the verse challenges our view of His justice, answer yourself thus: the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and the very sharpness of the stroke is proof of His care. But heed this: the disaster is not the deepest wound, despair is. To sin is not so ruinous as to despair. The soul that has offended, if it be watchful, straightway repairs its fall by a godly sorrow; but the soul that has learned to despond, by refusing the medicine of repentance, remains in its corruption and gains nothing. God gave Jacob to the robbers so that Jacob might seek again the Lord he had forsaken.
Consider the holy men of old. David had sinned greatly, yet after he heard the prophet’s words he came to that most excellent repentance. Peter denied the Master with oaths, but he went out and wept bitterly, and even so great a sin was forgiven him, because he repented as he ought. Esau, though, found no place for a change of mind, because he did not mourn as he should, but howled with a worldly grief. You see, then, that God’s justice is not a closed door but a severe mercy, pressing the soul until it pours out tears that cleanse. The sin itself often becomes its own punishment, and for those with understanding the very enormity of the offense is correction enough. When you feel the weight of His hand, do not fix your eyes on the pain alone, as if you heard these things carnally. That kind of seeing profits nothing; discern spiritually, and you will perceive that the blow is a call to return.
Put your repentance to work without delay. There is a medicine that heals every wound, if only we do not neglect it. Among all the remedies of the penitent, almsgiving is the essential herb, giving life to the rest. Thus it is written: “Give alms, and all things shall be clean.” And again: “Water will quench a flaming fire, and alms will do away with great sins.” As you ponder the spoil that came upon Israel, let your heart be moved to show mercy to the poor, for mercy triumphs over judgment.
Yet all this has its perfection in the Sinless One. He who needed no baptism came to Jordan as the Lamb who bears the sin of the world. Jesus Christ, who never walked in disobedience, took upon Himself the punishment we deserved. He was given for a spoil, as it were, so that through His stripes we might be restored. The law’s discipline drives us to Him, and in Him we find not only the perfect fulfillment of righteousness but the power to walk again in God’s ways without despair. Let this verse, then, challenge you no longer to debate but to repent, to give alms, and to cling to the One who turns the Father’s loving chastisement into eternal healing.
Consider the holy men of old. David had sinned greatly, yet after he heard the prophet’s words he came to that most excellent repentance. Peter denied the Master with oaths, but he went out and wept bitterly, and even so great a sin was forgiven him, because he repented as he ought. Esau, though, found no place for a change of mind, because he did not mourn as he should, but howled with a worldly grief. You see, then, that God’s justice is not a closed door but a severe mercy, pressing the soul until it pours out tears that cleanse. The sin itself often becomes its own punishment, and for those with understanding the very enormity of the offense is correction enough. When you feel the weight of His hand, do not fix your eyes on the pain alone, as if you heard these things carnally. That kind of seeing profits nothing; discern spiritually, and you will perceive that the blow is a call to return.
Put your repentance to work without delay. There is a medicine that heals every wound, if only we do not neglect it. Among all the remedies of the penitent, almsgiving is the essential herb, giving life to the rest. Thus it is written: “Give alms, and all things shall be clean.” And again: “Water will quench a flaming fire, and alms will do away with great sins.” As you ponder the spoil that came upon Israel, let your heart be moved to show mercy to the poor, for mercy triumphs over judgment.
Yet all this has its perfection in the Sinless One. He who needed no baptism came to Jordan as the Lamb who bears the sin of the world. Jesus Christ, who never walked in disobedience, took upon Himself the punishment we deserved. He was given for a spoil, as it were, so that through His stripes we might be restored. The law’s discipline drives us to Him, and in Him we find not only the perfect fulfillment of righteousness but the power to walk again in God’s ways without despair. Let this verse, then, challenge you no longer to debate but to repent, to give alms, and to cling to the One who turns the Father’s loving chastisement into eternal healing.
