[5253] Matt. xiii. 53, 54.
[5254] Matt. xiii. 11.
[5255] Mark vi. 1.
[5256] Matt. ii. 23.
[5257] Matt. xiii. 57.
[5258] 1 Cor. i. 23.
[5259] Eph. ii. 12.
17. The Brethren of Jesus.
And the saying, "Whence hath this man this wisdom," [5260] indicates clearly that there was a great and surpassing wisdom in the words of Jesus worthy of the saying, "lo, a greater than Solomon is here." [5261] And He was wont to do greater miracles than those wrought through Elijah and Elisha, and at a still earlier date through Moses and Joshua the son of Nun. And they spoke, wondering, (not knowing that He was the son of a virgin, or not believing it even if it was told to them, but supposing that He was the son of Joseph the carpenter,) "is not this the carpenter's son?" [5262] And depreciating the whole of what appeared to be His nearest kindred, they said, "Is not His mother called Mary? And His brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?" [5263] They thought, then, that He was the son of Joseph and Mary. But some say, basing it on a tradition in the Gospel according to Peter, [5264] as it is entitled, or "The Book of James," [5265] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honour of Mary in virginity to the end, so that that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word which said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee," [5266] might not know intercourse with a man after that the Holy Ghost came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the first-fruit among men of the purity which consists in chastity, and Mary among women; for it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the first-fruit of virginity. And James is he whom Paul says in the Epistle to the Galatians that he saw, "But other of the Apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." [5267] And to so great a reputation among the people for righteousness did this James rise, that Flavius Josephus, who wrote the "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty books, when wishing to exhibit the cause why the people suffered so great misfortunes that even the temple was razed to the ground, said, that these things happened to them in accordance with the wrath of God in consequence of the things which they had dared to do against James the brother of Jesus who is called Christ. [5268] And the wonderful thing is, that, though he did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the righteousness of James was so great; and he says that the people thought that they had suffered these things because of James. And Jude, who wrote a letter of few lines, it is true, but filled with the healthful words of heavenly grace, said in the preface, "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James." [5269] With regard to Joseph and Simon we have nothing to tell; but the saying, "And His sisters are they not all with us," [5270] seems to me to signify something of this nature--they mind our things, not those of Jesus, and have no unusual portion of surpassing wisdom as Jesus has. And perhaps by these things is indicated a new doubt concerning Him, that Jesus was not a man but something diviner, inasmuch as He was, as they supposed, the son of Joseph and Mary, and the brother of four, and of the others--the women--as well, and yet had nothing like to any one of His kindred, and had not from education and teaching come to such a height of wisdom and power. For they also say elsewhere, "How knoweth this man letters having never learned?" [5271] which is similar to what is here said. Only, though they say these things and are so perplexed and astonished, they did not believe, but were offended in Him; as if they had been mastered in the eyes of their mind by the powers which, in the time of the passion, He was about to lead in triumph on the cross.
[5260] Matt. xiii. 54.
[5261] Matt. xii. 42.
[5262] Matt. xiii. 55.
[5263] Matt. xiii. 55, 56.
[5264] The Gospel of Peter, of which a fragment was recovered in 1886 and published in 1892.
[5265] Protevangelium Jacobi, c. 9.
[5266] Luke i. 35.
[5267] Gal. i. 19.
[5268] Jos. Ant. xviii. 4.
[5269] Jude 1.
[5270] Matt. xiii. 56.
[5271] John vii. 15.
18. Prophets in Their Country.
"But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country." [5272] We must inquire whether the expression has the same force when applied universally to every prophet (as if each one of the prophets was dishonoured in his own country only, but not as if every one who was dishonoured was dishonoured in his country); or, because of the expression being singular, these things were said about one. If, then, these words are spoken about one, these things which have been said suffice, if we refer that which is written to the Saviour. But if it is general, it is not historically true; for Elijah did not suffer dishonour in Tishbeth of Gilead, nor Elisha in Abelmeholah, nor Samuel in Ramathaim, nor Jeremiah in Anathoth. But, figuratively interpreted, it is absolutely true; for we must think of Judæa as their country, and that famous Israel as their kindred, and perhaps of the body as the house. For all suffered dishonour in Judæa from the Israel which is according to the flesh, while they were yet in the body, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, as having been spoken in censure to the people, "Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute, who showed before of the coming of the Righteous one?" [5273] And by Paul in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians like things are said: "For ye brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus, for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen even as they did of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drave out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men." [5274] A prophet, then, is not without honour among the Gentiles; for either they do not know him at all, or, having learned and received him as a prophet, they honour him. And such are those who are of the Church. Prophets suffer dishonour, first, when they are persecuted, according to historical fact, by the people, and, secondly, when their prophecy is not believed by the people. For if they had believed Moses and the prophets they would have believed Christ, who showed that when men believed Moses and the prophets, belief in Christ logically followed, and that when men did not believe Christ they did not believe Moses. [5275] Moreover, as by the transgression of the law he who sins is said to dishonour God, so by not believing in that which is prophesied the prophet is dishonoured by the man who disbelieves the prophecies. And so far as the literal truth is concerned, it is useful to recount what things Jeremiah suffered among the people in relation to which he said, "And I said, I will not speak, nor will I call upon the name of the Lord." [5276] And again, elsewhere, "I was continually being mocked." [5277] And how great sufferings he endured from the then king of Israel are written in his prophecy. And it is also written that some of the people often came to stone Moses to death; for his fatherland was not the stones of any place, but the people who followed him, among whom also he was dishonoured. And Isaiah is reported to have been sawn asunder by the people; and if any one does not accept the statement because of its being found in the Apocryphal Isaiah, [5278] let him believe what is written thus in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted;" [5279] for the expression, "They were sawn asunder," refers to Isaiah, just as the words, "They were slain with the sword," refer to Zacharias, who was slain "between the sanctuary and the altar," [5280] as the Saviour taught, bearing testimony, as I think, to a Scripture, though not extant in the common and widely circulated books, but perhaps in apocryphal books. And they, too, were dishonoured in their own country among the Jews who went about "in sheep-skins, in goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted," and so on; [5281] "For all that will to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." [5282] And probably because Paul knew this, "That a prophet has no honour in his own country," though he preached the Word in many places he did not preach it in Tarsus. And the Apostles on this account left Israel and did that which had been enjoined on them by the Saviour, "Make disciples of all the nations," [5283] and, "Ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." [5284] For they did that which had been commanded them in Judæa and Jerusalem; but, since a prophet has no honour in his own country, when the Jews did not receive the Word, they went away to the Gentiles. Consider, too, if, because of the fact that the saying, "I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy," [5285] has been fulfilled in the churches from the Gentiles, you can say that those formerly of the world and who by believing became no longer of the world, having received the Holy Spirit in their own country--that is, the world--and prophesying, have not honour, but are dishonoured. Wherefore blessed are they who suffer the same things as the prophets, according to what was said by the Saviour, "For in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets." [5286] Now if any one who attends carefully to these things be hated and attacked, because of his living with rigorous austerity, and his reproof of sinners, as a man who is persecuted and reproached for the sake of righteousness, he will not only not be grieved, but will rejoice and be exceeding glad, being assured that, because of these things, he has great reward in heaven from Him who likened him to the prophets on the ground of his having suffered the same things. Therefore, he who zealously imitates the prophetic life, and attains to the spirit which was in them, must be dishonoured in the world, and in the eyes of sinners, to whom the life of the righteous man is a burden.
[5272] Matt. xiii. 57.
[5273] Acts vii. 52.
[5274] 1 Thess. ii. 14, 15.
[5275] John v. 46.
[5276] Jer. xx. 9.
[5277] Jer. xx. 7.
[5278] Probably the Ascensio Isaiæ. Cf. Orig. Ep. ad Afric. c. 9.
[5279] Heb. xi. 37.
[5280] Matt. xxiii. 35. Cf. Orig. Ep. ad Afric. c. 9.
[5281] Heb. xi. 37.
[5282] 2 Tim. iii. 12.
[5283] Matt. xxviii. 19.
[5284] Acts i. 8.
[5285] Joel ii. 28.
[5286] Luke vi. 23.
19. Relation of Faith and Unbelief to the Supernatural Powers of Jesus.
Following this you may see, "He did not there many mighty works because of their unbelief." [5287] We are taught by these things that powers were found in those who believed, since "to every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance," [5288] but among unbelievers not only did the powers not work, but as Mark wrote, "They could not work." [5289] For attend to the words, "He could not there do any mighty works," for it is not said, "He would not," but "He could not; "as if there came to the power when working co-operation from the faith of him on whom the power was working, but this co-operation was hindered in its exercise by unbelief. See, then, that to those who said, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said, "Because of your little faith." [5290] And to Peter, when he began to sink, it was said, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" [5291] But, moreover, she who had the issue of blood, who did not ask for the cure, but only reasoned that if she were to touch the hem of His garment she would be healed, was healed on the spot. And the Saviour, acknowledging the method of healing, says, "Who touched Me? For I perceived that power went forth from Me." [5292] And perhaps, as in the case of material things there exists in some things a natural attraction towards some other thing, as in the magnet for iron, and in what is called naphtha for fire, so there is an attraction in such faith towards the divine power, according to what is said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove." [5293] And Matthew and Mark, wishing to set forth the excellency of the divine power, that it has power even in unbelief, but not so great power as it has in the faith of those who are being benefited, seem to me to have said with accuracy, not that He did not "any" mighty works because of their unbelief, but that He did not "many" there. [5294] And Mark also does not say, that He could not do any mighty work there, and stop at that point, but added, "Save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk and healed them," [5295] the power in Him thus overcoming the unbelief. Now it seems to me that, as in the case of material things, tillage is not sufficient in itself for the gathering in of the fruits, unless the air cooperates to this end, nay, rather, He who forms the air with whatever quality He wills and makes it whatever He wills; nor the air apart from tillage, but rather He who by His providence has enacted that the things which spring up from the earth could not spring up apart from tillage; for this He has done once for all in the law, "Let the earth put forth grass sowing seed after its kind and after its likeness;" [5296] so also neither do the operations of the powers, apart from the faith of those who are being healed, exhibit the absolute work of healing, nor faith, however great it may be, apart from the divine power. And that which is written about wisdom, you may apply also to faith, and to the virtues specifically, so as to make a precept of this kind, "If any one be perfect in wisdom among the sons of men, and the power that comes from Thee be wanting, he will be reckoned as nothing;" [5297] or, "If any one be perfect in self-control, so far as is possible for the sons of men, and the control that is from Thee be wanting, he will be reckoned as nothing;" or, "If any one be perfect in righteousness, and in the rest of virtues, and the righteousness and the rest of the virtues that are from Thee be wanting to him, he will be reckoned as nothing." Wherefore, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength," [5298] for that which is fit matter for glorying is not ours, but is the gift of God; the wisdom is from Him, and the strength is from Him; and so with the rest.