Chapter 2

And again, how is it that, if the Spirit had not yet come, He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”? One may say, then, that He said this in order to make them receptive and fully fit and sufficient for the reception of the Spirit; but they actually received it when it descended upon them. Or else He spoke of what was yet to be as though already present and at hand, as when He says, “Tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.” It may also be put another way: that the giving of the Spirit is something varied and manifold. For one gift is purifying, another perfecting; one sanctifies, another makes men able to sanctify; one furnishes tongues, another prophecy; one works wonders, another supplies interpretation; and so on through countless others. Nothing, then, prevents us from holding that, in keeping with the varied and manifold distribution of the Spirit, they received the grace of the Holy Spirit at different times and in different ways. Yet that visitation of the Spirit which was perfect and perfecting—so that they could even perfect others—came upon the apostles at the time of Pentecost, when, appearing to them in the form of fiery tongues, it filled them with the whole of its operation. For this reason He Himself withdrew, and the Spirit came only then—and even then not at once—so that, coming to long for it, they might thus receive the grace. For had the Spirit come while He was still present, and He departed while the Spirit remained, the consolation would not have been so great. They were very loath to be parted from Him; therefore He goes up, and the Spirit does not come upon them immediately, so that, after being a little disheartened and brought into longing and need of the promise, they might receive in pure and complete measure the joy of His coming. Besides, our nature had first to appear in heaven and the reconciliation to be made complete, and only then was the Spirit to come. Observe too how great a necessity He laid upon them, by His promise, to remain in Jerusalem. For that they might not scatter again after the Ascension, He holds them all there by this expectation, as by a bond, making them hang in suspense through the better hopes set before them, because of the uncertainty of when those hopes would be fulfilled. Nor would one be wrong in saying that even then they received a certain authority and spiritual grace—not so as to raise the dead, but so as to forgive sins. Hence He added, “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them,” and what follows, showing what kind of operation He was giving. For now He clothes them with this power, but after forty days He bestows the working of signs. Therefore He says, “You shall receive power,” and so on. “John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Having told them to wait for the promise of the Father, “which you heard from Me,” He added that “John indeed baptized with water,” and so on; and now He shows plainly the difference between Himself and John, and no longer in veiled fashion as before, as when He said, “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” But now He says plainly, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and He shows that they had already become greater than John, since they too were to baptize with the Holy Spirit. He did not say, “I will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,” but, “You shall be baptized,” everywhere leaving us measures and patterns of humility; for this was already clear from John’s testimony, that He Himself was the One who baptizes, for “He will baptize us with the Spirit and with fire.” But how did He say, “You shall be baptized,” when there was no water in the upper room? Because the Spirit is the more authoritative, through whom the water also works—just as He Himself is said to have been anointed, though He was nowhere anointed with oil, but received the Spirit. Moreover, one can find that they were baptized with water at various times; for with us both take place together, but then they were separated. For at the beginning the apostles were baptized with water by John, and afterward with the Holy Spirit also. Why did the Master not make clear when the Spirit would come, but only said, “not many days from now”? He says “not many,” that they might not fall into despondency; but He did not say definitely when, that they might always be watchful in expectation. Why then do you wonder if He does not tell them the day of the consummation, when even this term, so near at hand, He was unwilling—for the reason we have given—to make plain? The word “to be baptized” signifies the abundance and, as it were, the wealth of participation in the Holy Spirit, as is the case with sensible things too: one baptized in water wets the whole body of the one who simply receives water, though he is not necessarily made wet in every part. So what is now said is not contrary to the divine Gospels. For it is shown that, although it was said to the apostles after Christ’s resurrection from the dead, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and they received it—yet there it is said that they “received the Holy Spirit,” while here, “You shall be baptized,” which signifies the outpouring and the wealth of the supply that He gave them when He ascended to the Father. For just as, though they had faith, they came saying, “Increase our faith,” so here too, to the communion of the Spirit which they already had, they received an addition of intensified participation when the Holy Spirit came upon them. “They therefore, having come together, asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ But He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set in His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.’” When they are about to ask, they approach together, so as to prevail by their numbers; for they knew that what had been said before was the word of One who was putting them off—not in ignorance, but deferring the answer—as, “No one knows the day”; and therefore they ask again. For since they heard that they were about to receive the Spirit, they wished now, as worthy, to learn, and longed to be rid of their troubles; for they did not want to cast themselves again into the utmost dangers. They did not ask, “When?” but, “Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”—“Is it now?” they say; so eagerly did they long for the day. It seems to me that it was not even clear to them what the kingdom was; for the Spirit was not yet teaching them. They did not say, “When is it?” but, “Will You Yourself restore it?”—so much greater were now their thoughts of Him. Therefore He too speaks with them more gently; for He no longer says that “not even the Son knows the day,” but what? “It is not for you to know times or seasons.” For it was not because He was ignorant of the conclusion of the times that He referred the knowledge to the Father, but because the question was superfluous He profitably passed it over in silence. For His aim was to check the disciples’ curiosity about this. He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of heaven, not to mark out the measure of the times. He does not tell them the time, though He had taught them things far greater—so that, as we have often said, they might be watchful, and because they suffered no harm by not knowing; since He had taught them things far greater than this: that He is the Son of God, that He is equal in honor with the Father, that He rose, that there will be a resurrection, that there will be a judgment, that He sat at the right hand of the Father. For which, tell me, is greater—to learn that He will reign, or when? Paul learned things which it is not lawful for a man to utter; and Moses learned the beginning of the world, and when and how many ages before, and he numbers the years—although the beginning is, on the whole, harder to come to know than the end. Besides, they were not even asking Him about the universal consummation, but, “Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”—and not even this did He disclose to them; but just as there He answered so as to lead them away from supposing that their release from troubles was near—telling them rather that they would fall into many dangers—so here too, only more gently: “You shall receive power.” Then, that they might not question Him again, He was immediately taken up. And that they might not say, “Why do You put the matter off?” the Son says, “[the times] which the Father set in His own authority”—and the Father’s authority is plainly the Son’s as well; for as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. And if, where the awesome and ineffable works must be done, the Father works with authority, much more where it is merely a matter of knowing. For it is far greater to raise the dead with the same and equal authority as the Father than to know the day. Why, then, did Christ not answer what the disciples asked, but said, “You shall receive power”? He answered, saying, “It is not for you to know,” and then He added, “but you shall receive power.” For this expression also signifies a certain coming and, so to speak, an inflowing of the Spirit. We must speak, then, against the heresy of the Phrygians, who suppose that the Paraclete was sent some two hundred years after the Ascension of Christ, in the women whom they think to be prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla, and in Montanus who shared their madness; for they hold that the promise, “I will send you the Paraclete,” was then fulfilled. By teaching what they did not ask—“You shall receive power”—He shows that a teacher is one who teaches not what the disciple wishes, but what is profitable to learn. “And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Since before He had said, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans,” wishing the word to be preached first to the Jews, but now the preaching had to be poured out into the whole world, He reasonably adds, “both in Judea and Samaria,” and then, “and to the end of the earth.” The words “You shall be My witnesses” are both an exhortation and an unfailing prophecy; for they bore witness to the preaching as far as the end of the earth. “And when He had said these things, while they watched He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went up”—while they watched He did not rise from the tomb, but while they watched He was taken up; since here too sight did not avail for everything. For of the resurrection they saw the end but not the beginning, while of the ascension they saw the beginning but not the end. Why? Because there it was needless to see the beginning, since the risen One was Himself present, speaking, and the tomb showed that He was not there. But here there was need to learn the end as well; for the eyes did not suffice to show the height, nor to teach whether He went up into heaven itself, or stopped somewhere short of it. Therefore angels stood by and taught what could not be grasped by sight. A cloud received Him up, for the cloud is a sign of lordship and of divine power; for nowhere does any other power appear upon a cloud. Hence David also says concerning the Father, “Who makes the clouds His chariot,” and again, “God sits upon a light cloud,” and countless other passages. Nor did He do even this at random or without purpose. For the Lord, knowing that, if He went up from them invisibly, as He had also come down—or rather, as He had come down together with the Spirit—the Spirit, even when it appeared, would not be believed to be that very thing which a few days before He had promised to send them, and He would have caused Himself to be suspected of not having come from the heavens; and knowing that, neither when later He should call Paul from above, nor when from there He should send to Peter the sheet not made with hands, would it be believed that He does these things after His bodily departure—therefore He ascended while they watched. From the cloud of the Virgin He came into a cloud, and through a cloud He ascended to where He was before. But “where He was”—do not take it in a crude sense, as though, having laid aside the flesh, He has His incarnate Godhead fleshless as before; rather understand “where He was” as referring to the height of incorporeality within His embodiment, to the majesty of the fleshless state within His enfleshment, to His dignity of unchangeableness even in His enfleshed state, the dignity of His voluntary humiliation, and to His no longer associating with men visibly or dwelling among them. “And behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in the same manner as you saw Him going into heaven.’” They used the word demonstratively, saying, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in the same manner as you saw Him going into heaven.” It does not say “being taken up” or “being carried,” but “going.” For if before the cross He walked upon the waters while still clothed with a passible and heavy body, let no one be perplexed if, after it had become incorruptible, He clove the air. “He shall come,” it says, not “He shall be sent.” “So shall He come”—that is, with a body, which they longed to hear—and that this same One will come again at the judgment upon a cloud. It calls them “men,” indicating the clearness of the appearance; for the angels had exactly fashioned themselves into the likeness of men, so as not to frighten them. Two men stood by, because “at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” By saying, “Why do you stand gazing into heaven?” they no longer let them linger at that place and expect to see Him again, but turned them from that spectacle back to Jerusalem, to the task and word of the preaching that lay ahead. Everywhere the angels minister to Him as to their Master—at His birth, at His resurrection, at His ascension, and before these, when He was about to sojourn in the world through the flesh. The angels appeared in such a way as it was possible for men to see them. The phrase “in white clothing” signifies either the purity of the angels, or the illumination that was to be given to the holy apostles. And again, as to “while they watched”: the Lord, knowing that men corrupted in mind would arise, saying that He was neither from heaven nor had come from there, nor, having been taken up, was taken up into heaven, but was removed to some place outside the inhabited world—among whom are also those of the heresy of Vitalius—ascended into heaven before their very eyes as they gazed. “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.” “Then”—when? When they had heard; for they would not have endured it, had not the angels deferred them to a second coming. It seems to me that these things happened on a Sabbath; for otherwise he would not have so described the distance: “from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.” For the length of the journey that the Jews were permitted to walk on the Sabbath day was fixed. Josephus also relates, in the twentieth book of the Antiquities, that it is seven stadia distant from Jerusalem. And Origen says in the fifth Stromateus that the Sabbath day’s journey was of a set measure. Rather, the holy Tabernacle and the Ark used to go before the camp by so great a distance, and pitched at that distance; and it was this distance that those who worshipped at the holy tabernacle were permitted to walk on the Sabbath—which is about a mile. “And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where were staying both Peter and James, and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Well did he mention the disciples; for one had betrayed, another denied, another disbelieved. He shows that, except for the traitor, all were safe. How then does it say, “with the Mother of Jesus,” although it was said, “and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home”? It is by no means contradictory; for since the disciple himself was present, there was nothing to prevent her also being present with them. Why then does he not mention Joseph here? Because he had died. For if the brothers, who had often disbelieved before, now believed and were present, much more would he, had he still been alive, have believed and not been absent from such a gathering. And so Peter, who never anywhere showed himself a coward, rose up. “And in these days Peter, rising up in the midst of the disciples, said—and the number of names together was about a hundred and twenty—‘Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became guide to those who seized Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a share in this ministry.’” “In these days,” that is, those before Pentecost, Peter rose up—as fervent, and as one entrusted by Christ with the flock, and as chief. Observe that he does everything by common consent, nothing on his own authority or by his own power. He comforts them also from the prophecy, and does not say, “David said,” but, “the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David,” and then, “concerning Judas, who became guide to those who seized Jesus.” See here too the man’s magnanimity—how, in narrating, he does not revile or say “the foul and utterly polluted one,” but simply states what happened. And he does not say that the Jews acquired it, but that Judas himself acquired it—rightly so. For he who paid the price, even if others were the buyers, would justly be reckoned the owner; for the price was his. For listen: “This man, then, acquired a field with the wages of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his entrails gushed out; and it became known to all who dwelt in Jerusalem.” He speaks of the present penalty that Judas paid, not of the one to come; for the souls of the weaker did not look so much to things future as to things present. Notice that he dwelt in his discourse not on the sin but on the punishment; for Judas did not die in the noose, but survived, being taken down before he was choked to death. And this Papias, the disciple of John, relates more clearly in the fourth book of his Exposition of the Lord’s Sayings, saying thus: “Judas walked about in this world as a great example of impiety, his flesh so bloated that he could not pass through where a wagon easily passes—not even the mere bulk of his head could pass.” For they say the eyelids of his eyes were so swollen that he could not see the light at all, and that his eyes could not be seen even by a physician’s lens, so deep had they sunk below the outer surface; and that his privy parts appeared more loathsome and larger than any indecency, and that there flowed through them the discharges and worms gathering from his whole body, to his shame, through the necessary parts alone. And after many torments and punishments, they say, he died in his own field, and the field became desolate and uninhabited until now; nor even to this day can anyone pass by that place unless he stops his nostrils with his hands, so great was the discharge that flowed out from his flesh upon the ground. This brought consolation to the apostles. And just as the entrails of Judas gushed out, so also did those of Arius the heretic, “so that that field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘Let another take his office.’” Now the Jews called it by this name not for this reason, but because of Judas; and Peter turned it to this very point, bringing forward the enemies as witnesses by the name they had given. The words “Let his habitation be made desolate” are spoken of this field and of his house; and “Let another take his office” means the rank of the priesthood. “Let his habitation be made desolate.” What could be more desolate than a tomb, and a common tomb at that?—which is what that field became. “Therefore, of the men who accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” He consults them, so that the matter might not become a cause of strife and they fall into contention. Therefore at the outset of his speech he said, “Men and brethren, you must choose from among yourselves,” entrusting the decision to the multitude—at once making those chosen respected, and freeing himself from any ill-will toward others. That it had to happen he himself states, and he brings in the prophet as witness. From whom must the choice be made? From those who accompanied us the whole time; for this was a necessary requirement. He did not say, “from the worthy among us,” for thus he would have seemed to insult the rest; instead he committed the matter to the criterion of time. “To become with us a witness of His resurrection”—so that the band of disciples might not be left maimed. He says a witness of the resurrection, not of the other things. For he who showed himself trustworthy to testify that the One who ate and drank with us and was crucified is Himself risen, would be readily accepted to testify about the rest as well. For what was in question was the resurrection; for this happened in secret, while the other things were manifest. “And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” “And they put forward two.” Why not many? So that the disappointment might not be greater, nor spread among many. Fittingly, as they pray, they call Him the Knower of hearts. Then they do not say, “Choose,” but, “Show which one You have chosen,” knowing that everything is determined with God even before men’s thoughts. He everywhere calls it a “lot,” showing that the whole of the election belongs to God’s love for mankind, and reminding them of the things of old—that, just as He took the Levites for Himself by lot, so also these. Who were the men? Perhaps the seventy among the twelve, and of the rest who believed the more fervent and worthy—such as were Joseph and Matthias among them. He calls Joseph both Barsabbas and Justus, perhaps because of cases of identical names among them, but also because of a change of life; perhaps too the naming reflected his disposition. Why is it that James, who had received the bishopric in Jerusalem, does not begin the speech, but yields the address to Peter? Because he was modest; because they thought nothing in a merely human way, but looked to the common benefit; for they too, for the same reason, yield the throne to him and neither contend nor quarrel with him. “To go to his own place.” He calls his own place that which Matthias was worthily to occupy. For just as the place became alien to Judas even before he fell from it, from the time he sickened with avarice and betrayal, so it became Matthias’s own even before he occupied it, from the time his worthiness fitted him for so great a gift. Why do they make the choice rather by lots? Because they did not yet think themselves worthy to learn through some sign; nor indeed had the Spirit yet come upon them. One need not wonder that the lot prevailed so greatly; for if, where there was neither prayer nor men of note, the lot prevailed so greatly in the case of Jonah—because it proceeded from an upright purpose—much more here. And in another sense: “his own place”—each man, by what he does, procures for himself a place, good or evil. So this means that Judas went to that evil place which he built for himself by the betrayal of Jesus. For places are not by nature either good or evil for us; rather, by what we do, we raise up a place for ourselves. So too the Hebrew midwives, fearing God, built houses for themselves; and so the impious hear, “Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled.” The word “place” has many meanings. Among other things it signifies a rank; for thus we speak of the place of a bishop, and also of a presbyter; and the same may be observed in the opposite direction, each man making by his deeds his own proper place. So a man may come to hold the place of a false teacher and false apostle, and also of a tyrant and of the other wicked. Since now Judas too, swept away by his deliberate craving for money, chose the rank of a traitor, he is rightly said to go to his own place. For having lost, through his deeds, his place among the apostles, he assigned to himself his own place. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all together with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter. Why “when the day of Pentecost was fully come”? Because when the sickle had to be put to the harvest, when the fruits had to be gathered, then the sickle of the word also had to be put in; for, as it were in place of a sickle, the Holy Spirit, sharpened, flew down. And Christ says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” and elsewhere, “Look at the fields, that they are already white for harvest.” Having received the firstfruits, Christ Himself first brought them up; He Himself first put in the sickle. And why “when the day was fully come”? Because, a feast being at hand again, these things had to happen, so that those who had been present at the cross of Christ might see these things too. “Divided tongues as of fire.” For God, having suffered in the flesh the voluntary passion, and having risen from the dead, raised up with Himself us who had been dead in sin, and dissolved the power of the devil. For this reason, until Pentecost, we do not bow to the earth in prayer, chanting the victory over our enemies: “They were fettered and fell, but we have risen and are set upright.” But when the Spirit appears to us in fiery tongues, we bend the knee, unable to bear the sight, and showing that through the Spirit we have learned the perfect worship of the Trinity. For “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” The visitation of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost for the following reason. On the day of Pentecost, under the Old Covenant, the law was given. It was fitting, then, that on the very day on which the law was given through tablets, the legislation of the Holy Spirit should be given—written not on tablets, but on hearts. On the day of Pentecost the people received the law in the wilderness of Sinai; for on the fourteenth day of the first month, reckoned by the moon, when they kept the Unleavened Bread and the mystery of the Passover, the sons of Israel went out from Egypt. From the fourteenth day count the remainder of the month, then thirty days of the second month and three of the third: that is how far Pentecost is from the feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, from the Passover. So from the fourteenth of the first month to the third of the third month there are fifty days. Therefore it says, “And it came to pass in the third month after they had gone out of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses: Go down, sanctify the people today and tomorrow”—He speaks at their new moon—“and on the third day,” it says, “the Lord will appear upon Mount Sinai.” It was fitting, then, that on the very day on which the old law was given, the grace of the Spirit should also be given. For just as the Savior, about to accomplish the holy passion, did not endure to give Himself over to that passion at any other time, but at the very time when the lamb was being slain, that He might join the truth to the type itself, so also the visitation of the Holy Spirit did not endure to be given at any other time than that at which the law was given, that it might be shown that the Holy Spirit both then gave the law and now gives the law. The law, then, was given under the Old Covenant on the fiftieth day; and after they came into the land of promise, this became for them a symbol of the feast: from the firstfruits of the new crops and from the new sheaves they offered to God; and that was a symbol of this feast. For since on the day of Pentecost a sheaf of the new fruits was gathered, and people of different sorts came together under one sky, on this very day it was to come to pass that the firstfruits from every nation of all peoples under heaven should be gathered, from different nations, into one sheaf of piety, and through the apostolic word be brought to God. The sheaf of ears prefigured this, that it might foreshadow the sheaves of souls, gathered from various lands and brought to God as one offering of firstfruits. Why did the visitation of the Spirit not take place without sensible symbols? Because if, even when this happened, they said, “They are filled with new wine,” what would they not have said had this not happened? And it was not simply a sound, but a sound from heaven, and a sudden one, that they might be the more roused. “As of a rushing mighty wind.” He means that the rush of the Spirit was great and violent, and made everyone run together and assemble there. “And it filled all the house.” The Spirit filled the whole house, that the gift given might be shown to be not partial to anyone, but for the whole fullness of the Church; for the house was a symbol of the world. As a font is of water, so this is a token of abundance and force. But the fire did not fill the house, for that would have driven them away; rather, what is more wonderful, it was divided and sat upon each one of them. Well does he say “divided,” that you may learn that this is an operation sent from the Paraclete. Well too does he say “as of fire,” and “as of a wind,” that you may not think anything sensible about the Spirit. It was not, then, simply a wind, nor simply fire, but the Holy Spirit appearing there. Observe that, when the Spirit had to be made known to John, it was fitting that it be as a dove, but to the apostles it had to be seen as fire. “And it sat upon each one of them”—that is, it remained, it rested; for “to sit” is a sign of what is firm and abiding. Upon how many did the Spirit sit—upon the twelve only, or upon the hundred and twenty? Plainly upon all. For Peter would not have simply brought forward the prophet, saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh.” And they did not simply receive, but “were filled”—and all, he says, not the apostles only. Observe that, when they continue in prayer and supplication, when they have love, then the Spirit comes. And why did it appear in the form of fire? To show that it is of the same essence as that which appeared upon the bush in the form of fire. And it sat upon the head, and from the head the whole man was filled; for one could see above their heads a fire that did not burn, but sanctified and shone. And why did they receive the tongues not upon the mouth, but upon the head? The Spirit was not given to the tongue—that is, to the organ of nature—lest they be thought to bring forth out of their own bowels and out of their own mouth what they did not have; but, just as the waters lifted up to heaven take possession of the mountain peaks and from the heights are carried down to the valleys, so the grace of the Spirit, taking possession of the crown of the head as of a mountain, then supplied from the crown to the brain, then to the mouth and the heart, and from the head filled the whole man through and through. And why again upon the head? Because the apostles were being ordained teachers of the world; and ordination simply does not take place except upon the head. So by the tongues being above the heads is shown the form of ordination; for ordination is set above the head, as the practice has prevailed even to now. Since the visitation of the Holy Spirit is invisible, the Gospel is laid upon the head of the bishop being ordained, and when it is laid on, one must see in it nothing other than a tongue of fire resting upon the head—a tongue of fire for the sake of preaching, by virtue of the words, “I came to cast fire upon the earth.” He did not say “it was fixed” or “it settled,” but “it sat”; nor “it spread over the surface,” but “it sat above,” to show that every man who undertakes a ministry is a throne of God. “And they began to speak with other tongues.” The grace of God arranged from the beginning that the word of the apostles should be effective; for what need was there of heralds, when there were no hearers? Since, then, the firstfruits of the nations had to take their place from the very first, the writer adds, “And they began to speak with other tongues.” And why did the apostles receive the gift of tongues before the other gifts? Because they were to pass through every land; and just as at the building of the tower the one tongue was divided into many, so now the many tongues were joined together in one man, and the same man, the Spirit sounding in him, spoke in the Persian, the Roman, the Indian, and many other tongues. And the gift was called the gift of tongues, because they were able to speak at once in many languages, as the Spirit gave them to utter. For they spoke not of themselves, but uttered from the Holy Spirit, prophesying—that is, understanding and proclaiming the testimonies concerning Christ given through the holy prophets.

Acts 2:5–6. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. “Devout men.” The very fact that they dwelt there, having left their own countries, was a mark of devotion—especially since they had set out from various nations and, leaving homes, kinsfolk, and relatives, settled in Jerusalem. The phrase “from every nation” is used instead of “from many nations”; for Scripture often uses “all” for “many” by way of hyperbole. So it is said, “I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh,” and, “All seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ,” and, “There is none righteous, no, not one”—signifying the many by the universal term. Then, when the sound occurred, “the multitude came together and was confounded,” that is, was troubled and amazed; for since what happened took place in a house, naturally they ran together from outside, “because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” For they knew that they were Galileans—especially the apostles, for it was upon them that they looked most—and yet they spoke those countless tongues. The multitude was confounded, and naturally; for they supposed that trouble was being brought upon them for the audacity they had committed against Christ, and their conscience shook their souls, the slaying being still fresh in hand, and everything terrified them. But this strengthened the apostles, since even from the hearers they learned the grace of the wonder; for they themselves did not know that a given utterance was, say, Parthian, but learned it from those hearers. He mentions also nations hostile to them—Cretans, Arabians, and the rest—and this was a sign that they would prevail over all; for there were many captives there. So the testimony comes from every side—from citizens, from strangers, from proselytes.

Acts 2:7–13. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how do we each hear in our own language in which we were born—Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those dwelling in Mesopotamia and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the great things of God?” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.” Everywhere, alongside virtue, wickedness. Some marveled, others mocked. Those who marveled were devout—indeed they dwelt there for this very reason, that, according to the law, they might appear three times a year in the temple. But look at the senselessness of the others: “They are filled,” they say, “with new wine”—though it was not even a season for such a thing, for it was Pentecost and the third hour; but malice shrinks from nothing. And what is worse: while those others—being Jews, being Romans, being proselytes, perhaps even some of those who had crucified Him, from almost every nation—marveled and confessed that the apostles were speaking in their tongues, there were nevertheless some found mocking. Now did the mockers understand the apostles speaking in tongues, or not? For if they did not understand, how were the apostles speaking in all tongues? But if they did understand, how did they dare to charge them with drunkenness, having close at hand the refutation—the very hearers who heard and understood that they were speaking in tongues and were not drunk? So one might be perplexed. But I assert the opposite: that if they had not understood, they would not have slandered the wonder as drunkenness; for what would anyone attempt to slander that does him no harm? Therefore Luke says “mocking”—that is, sneering and slandering. They slandered, then, as those who understood, but were displeased with what was said; for those men were telling the great things of God. How then, understanding, did they refer what was said to drunkenness? Out of great folly, out of excessive savagery. For it is the custom of many, if they are displeased with what is said, to consider the speaker possessed or raving, or to charge him with drunkenness and with not understanding what he says—though the speaker speaks soundly, and the mocker, while accusing him, nonetheless hears and understands him. And these men dared all the more to charge drunkenness because, while they themselves heard in their own language, they supposed that the others—people of all sorts of tongues—did not understand. They themselves understood what was said, but about the rest, on whose account they slandered the apostles as drunk, they supposed that they did not understand the wonder. For just as, when the Master cast out the demons, they understood and saw the wonders, yet—when they should have praised—disparaged them as done by Beelzebul, and, seeing every sickness and suffering healed, made the miracles material for envy, accusation, and murder; so now too, unable to deny the strange and supernatural gift of tongues, they nonetheless dared to disparage the wonder as drunkenness. And observe their malice. Since it was incredible that anyone should be drunk at such an hour—especially men examined amid dangers and fears—they ascribe the whole thing to the quality of the wine, saying it was “new wine.” For where there is effrontery, it seeks only to say something, no matter what, not to say anything that holds together; and so what they think they say in veiled fashion is full of much folly and madness. See how their wickedness is convicted both by the time of year and by the hour of day: at Pentecost, where would new wine come from? For “new wine” means freshly pressed wine. Again, does drunkenness give the power to speak various tongues—drunkenness, which takes away even the natural tongue one has? See the malice. But see what God contrives: had the mockery not been suspected, the Jews would have refused to come in and listen; God permitted the mockery, that the scoffing might gather many together.

Acts 2:14–15. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is the third hour of the day.” You saw His providence there; now observe the courage here. For if all the hearers were marveling, was it not marvelous in itself that an unlettered and ordinary man should break into speech among so many? And when they were also laughing and raving, how was this not beyond human power? But notice: immediately, from his very voice, he refutes the slander, that they are not drunk. Nor yet that they are beside themselves, like men possessed. And what does “with the eleven” mean? He put forward a common judgment and voice, and was himself the mouth of them all; and the eleven stood by, bearing witness to what was said. The phrase “he lifted up his voice”—that is, with great boldness—so that, from the very beginning, they might recognize the grace of the Spirit. For he who could not bear the question of a worthless servant girl now speaks amid murderous crowds with such boldness. Before he received the tongues, Peter, questioned by a single maidservant, was afraid and said, “I do not know the man.” There, one maidservant and great cowardice; here, a countless multitude and a voice full of boldness. He did not say, “as you mock, these are drunk,” but, “as you suppose,” speaking more gently, and not wishing deliberately, out of harshness, to show that they said this from malice, but for the time attributing to them ignorance, not a charge of wickedness, preparing for them the way to conversion. And what of this—that it is not the custom to be drunk at the third hour? But he does not dwell on this, for they themselves did not really think this of the apostles, but said so only in mockery and slander.

Acts 2:16–18. This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” Nowhere as yet the name of Christ, nor His promise, but the promise of the Father. Observe his prudence. He did not go straight on and speak at once of the things concerning Christ—that He, after being crucified, promised these things to us. For had he spoken thus, he would have overturned everything; though these things were sufficient to prove His divinity, yet they were disbelieved. And the thing sought was that they should believe; and what was disbelieved would have made them stone the apostles. Nothing else resolves perplexities than prophetic testimony. So when some perplexing question arises, do not take refuge in reasonings. For the conceptions of reasonings are both overturned and set up again; but who can dissolve the voice of God? Reasoning is dissolved; Scripture is not dissolved. He did not say, “I will pour out My Spirit,” but, “of My Spirit.” It is not the Spirit that is poured out, but the gift of the Spirit—“upon all flesh,” namely the believing, that is, upon the nations; but he does not yet reveal this to them. The phrase “upon all flesh” gives them too good hopes, and does not allow the advantage to be their own alone, thereby cutting envy off at the root. Observe how varied is the revelation of the Holy Spirit. One prophesies, having the grace of the Spirit; another, too weak to serve such a task, receives the gift of visions—as Peter at the sixth hour saw the vision, and Cornelius at the ninth hour saw the angel. What is in the heart is not called a “sight” but a “vision.” In one way a man sees a vision, as the seer says, “Go”; in another way he beholds the thing contemplated, not seeing it with the eye; in yet another way he is instructed when a dream is set before his imagination.

Acts 2:19–21. And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. By these words the prophet clearly foretells beforehand both the judgment to come, and the things concerning Jerusalem and the captivity then, and the events that would take place at the cross of Christ, and, finally, what befell the Jews through the Roman war, when a great deal of blood was shed by the Romans throughout Judea, and smoke arose as the cities and villages were burned—the Jews paying the penalty for their insolence against Christ, an insolence which not even the sun itself could bear, but withdrew its own eye, its illuminating power; and the moon changed its silvery appearance into red. This also comes to pass from the disposition of those who suffer; and indeed many such things are said to have happened in heaven at the time of the capture, as Josephus testifies. Moreover, by saying that the moon is turned to blood, the prophet indicates the excess of the slaughter. But why do these things happen at the third hour? Because the brightness of the fire is shown when the day is bright, when all are in the marketplace. The hymnographer, however, takes this saying otherwise: blood, the Incarnation; fire, the Godhead; vapor of smoke, the Holy Spirit, who came upon the Virgin and made the world fragrant; and by “the day of the Lord” he understands the day of the resurrection. But it is God who says, “I will pour out of My Spirit before the day of the Lord comes.” Say to the Jew: if there is one person and one divine name, and He speaks of Himself, why did He not say, “before My day comes”? “Do not,” He says, “because you now sin unpunished, take courage; for these are the preludes of a certain great and grievous day.” Then, having shaken and terrified their hearts by these words, He gives them room to breathe and to hold good hopes: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”—whether slave, whether free, whether priest, whether Greek, whether Jew. “In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, neither slave nor free.” But he will call upon it not simply, of course; for “not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord,” but with disposition, with a most excellent life. For the present he makes his message light, introducing the matter of faith—that salvation is in the calling upon Him. And the “name of the Lord” is spoken of by Christ, as Paul makes plain; but for the present he did not venture to reveal this to them.

Acts 2:22–23. Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you took and, nailing Him up by the hands of lawless men, you put to death. “But God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death.” This saying is no flattery; but since he had touched them sharply, he now relieves them and reminds them of their forefathers, urging them to call to mind the faith of those men and to imitate it. And again he begins from an introduction, so as not to trouble them, since he was about to remind them of Jesus. For earlier they would not have been disturbed at hearing the Prophet. And observe how he says nothing of the lofty things, but begins from what is very lowly. “The Nazarene,” he says, naming Him from His native place, which seemed to be of no account. For just as, when Christ is called the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, we understand what is said of His divinity, so when He is called a man, and one who died for our sins, we understand what is said of His flesh. For observe that He Himself at one time says, “You seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth,” and at another, “I and the Father are one.” From the former text the followers of Artemas went mad, and those of Samosata who followed them, supposing Jesus to be a mere man, because of the wording set before them. “With mighty works and wonders and signs.” To this same thought tends also what is said in the Epistle to the Romans: “who was declared the Son of God in power”; that is, who was demonstrated by His works and by the power of His miracles to be truly the Son of the Father. For there is no difference at all between saying that He was declared the Son of God in power, and saying that He was demonstrated by mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst. So then God works as through a Son; for through Him, in a manner befitting God, He also made the ages. And by the words “in your midst” he calls them as witnesses of what is said: not secretly, nor in a corner. Then, falling upon their reckless deed, he tries to deliver them from it, and says: “By the determined counsel,” showing that they did not by their own strength accomplish what they dared, but that He consented to it willingly, and that it had been determined from above. Then, lest they seem again to be guiltless—for even though it was determined, nonetheless they were no less murderers—he adds: “By the hands of lawless men,” that is, either through Judas the betrayer, or through the soldiers who crucified Him. And if those who nailed Him up were lawless, then plainly so were those who slew Him; yet for the present he says this in a veiled way, so as not to cast them into despair. “Whom God raised up.” Astonishing—what a thing he dared to say in the midst of the murderers, that He had risen! And that He is said to have been raised by the Father is on account of the weakness of the hearers; for by what does the Father work? By His own Power, clearly; and the Power of the Father is Christ. Therefore He raised Himself, even though He is said to have been raised by the Father. “Having loosed the pangs of death.” He shows that death too was in travail while holding Him fast, and suffered grievously; for the Old Testament calls the pang of death a peril and a calamity. He who is in travail does not retain what is held within, nor act, but suffers and hastens to cast it forth. And he well called the resurrection a loosing of the pangs of death, as if to say: He broke and burst open the pregnant and swollen and travailing womb of death—as out of some womb in labor, I mean out of the bonds of death and the recesses of Hades, the Savior Christ rose up and came forth as from a strange birth, the resurrection. For this reason He is also named the firstborn from the dead.

Acts 2:24–28. Because it was not possible that He should be held fast by it. For David says concerning Him: “I foresaw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand, that I should not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope, because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You give Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will fill me with gladness in Your presence.” “Because it was not possible.” Athletes who are anointed are not to be caught by their adversaries; and exorcists who are anointed become untouched and unapproachable by the teeth of the serpent. So Christ, anointed mystically by His own Spirit, having grappled with death and subdued the destroyer, when the adversary drew near, shattered him. And the word “because” refers to the fact that He was found to be God begotten of God, and not subject to any change or alteration, and that He so rose as no longer to die. Then he brings forward David, who removes all human reasoning; for such a thing is prophecy. And he says: “For David says concerning Him”—not concerning himself. And again he begins from the humbler things. “For even if it has now come to pass,” he says, “yet it is ancient; and from of old God willed this and so foreordained it.” “I foresaw the Lord always before me.” He calls the Father his Lord, because He took the form of a servant. And that the Father is now said to stand at the right hand of the Son, while at another time the Son is said to sit at the right hand of the Father, signifies their equality. “Moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Since Jesus, inasmuch as He accepted death, laid aside the flesh which He had taken according to the divine plan, in order to raise it up again from death, it was fitting that this flesh, being His own, rested in hope through the expectation of the resurrection. And as for “You will not abandon my soul to Hades”—even though some take it as spoken in the person of David (though they are not able to establish what they hold), nevertheless they are piously disposed in affirming that the flesh rises so as to be incorruptible and spiritual. For the flesh that is raised is, after the resurrection, a spiritual and incorruptible body. By “ways of life” he means those ways which the souls of the righteous trod, ascending with the Savior from the regions below. And as for “You will fill me with gladness in Your presence”—by the “presence” of the Lord we must understand the most God-befitting manifestation of God, and His watchful care over us, by which He visits us more perfectly.

Acts 2:29–31. Men and brothers, I may say to you with confidence concerning the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is among us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not abandoned in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. Having completed the testimony of David, he adds: “Men and brothers.” Whenever he is about to say something great, he uses this introduction, rousing them and drawing them to himself; but where nothing was harmful, he uses great modesty. For if he had simply said, “These things were spoken by David,” he would have seemed harsh, and would rather have stirred them to anger than made them compliant. But by the great honor he pays to the blessed David he makes it readily acceptable that the prophecy was spoken concerning Christ; and his whole discourse here is arranged in this way. For having said that he “both died and was buried,” he did not say, “and he did not rise,” but, “and his tomb is among us”—which is equivalent to saying, “He did not rise.” Then not even so does he come to Christ, but again David is praised, and through the praises of him the aim advances; for he says these things precisely so that, for the sake of the honor they pay to David and his lineage, the Jews may receive the word about the resurrection of Christ—since the prophecy too would be undermined if this were not so, and the honor due to themselves would be destroyed. “God swore to him with an oath.” He did not say, “He promised,” but, “He swore,” setting forth the inviolability of the promise. “To sit upon his throne.” In many places of the divine Scripture the throne is named instead of the kingdom, as also here, and in the words, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” And “to raise up the Christ according to the flesh.” “According to the flesh,” he says; for as to His divinity, He is enthroned eternally together with the Father. But he refers everything to the Father, so that for the present they may accept what is said. But how did He sit upon the throne of David? In that He reigns over the Jews also, and much more over those who crucified Him.

Acts 2:32–36. This Jesus God raised up, of which we all are witnesses. Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies the footstool of Your feet.” Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified. Again he takes refuge in the Father, although it would have sufficed to say what he said before; but he knows how greatly this serves the hearers toward the acceptance of pressing truths. The word “exalted” hinted also at the ascension, and that He is in the heavens—but not even this openly as yet. Observe how, at the beginning of his discourse, he did not say that Christ had sent down the Spirit, but the Father, when he also brought forward the prophet Joel as a witness. But once he had made mention of His signs, and of what had been done against Him, and had spoken with boldness about the resurrection, then at last he says that He poured out the Spirit; so that the prophet had spoken concerning Him, “And it shall come to pass in the last days.” By “promise” he means either that which He Himself promised to us the apostles, or that which the Father promised to Him before the cross and before the passion. For since he was about to say a great and lofty thing—that Christ poured out the Spirit—he overshadows it by saying that the Father had given Him this promise; for whatever a man may say, if he does not bring his word to a useful end, he speaks in vain and to no purpose. And he shows that the cross not only did not diminish Him, but rendered Him more glorious, seeing that then He promised, according to the voice of John, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” while now, after the cross, He has given it. “And he himself says: The Lord said to my Lord.” Here he speaks no longer with reserve, having taken courage from what has been said; but what did the Lord say to my Lord? And if David calls Him Lord, much more will they not count Him unworthy. And by the words “until I make Your enemies,” he brought fear upon them—the overthrow of their dominion. But that he might not be disbelieved, he refers it to the Father. And since he had uttered great things, he again brings his discourse down to lowly things. “Sit at My right hand.” By “Sit at My right hand” we understand the equal honor of the Son and the Father; for in the bodiless nature it is not possible to conceive of right hand or left. And who the enemies are, the Apostle makes clear, crying out: “When He shall have abolished every authority, the last enemy to be abolished is death.” “That God has made Him both Lord and Christ.” The word “made” is used instead of “appointed,” for there is no question here of His essence or His subsistence. Then he still does not depart from the lowly things. For he ought to have added, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that He sits at the right hand,” since this followed from what had been said; but he does not say this, but something far humbler: that “God has appointed Him both Lord and Christ”—for this is what “made” signifies. Thus must one everywhere consider those things by which benefit accrues to the hearers.

Acts 2:37–40. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What shall we do, men and brothers?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation.” You see how great a thing gentleness is—how it, more than severity, pierces and softens the hearts of men. For here too the blessed Peter reminded them of their own reckless deeds, but gently, and added nothing of punishment. They were therefore put to shame by Peter’s forbearance, in that toward those who had delivered his Master to death, and who still raged against the apostles themselves and desired to destroy them, he nonetheless spoke with fatherly care, in the place of a father and teacher. “For they were pierced to the heart,” he says: not simply persuaded, but condemning themselves. For they say, “What shall we do, brothers?” — as those who are at a loss, who are in anguish over what they have dared. And those whom they once called deceivers they now call brothers; and this not as taking liberties with them by such an appellation, but showing their affection and how greatly they had been made akin to them. For this reason the apostles too had called them by this name, at the beginning of Peter’s address. And when all had asked, again Peter answers; for they put him forward as their mouth. And he says: “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.” This does not contradict the words, “Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”; for the Church understands the Holy Trinity as undivided, so that, on account of the consubstantial union in three persons, the one baptized in the name of Christ is baptized into the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit being undivided in essence. For if the name of the Father were not God, and that of the Son God, and that of the Holy Spirit God, it would have been necessary to say, “In the name of God Jesus Christ,” or even, “into the Son alone.” But he says, “in the name of Jesus Christ,” knowing that the name of Jesus is God, just as is that of the Father and that of the Spirit. “And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Observe how he showed the gift of Christ and the gift of the Spirit to be one and the same gift, since their dignity is one and the same—which he had called a promise when speaking above. Then, “and to your children”; for the gift is the greater when they also have heirs of the good things. “And to all who are far off.” But if to those far off, much more to you who are near. And observe when he hinted at the calling of the Gentiles by saying, “to those far off.” When? When he found them pierced to the heart and condemning themselves. For when the soul condemns itself, it can no longer envy.

Acts 2:41–47. So those who gladly received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles, and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together, and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people; and the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved. Here is fulfilled the prophecy which says: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen the like of this? Did a land come to birth in one day? Was a nation brought forth at one time, as Zion, scarcely having begun to travail, brought forth her children?” “And fear came upon every soul,” for they did not despise what was happening as though it were something accidental. For since Peter had been from the outset flowing with abundant grace, and had set forth the promises and the things to come, it was natural that they were astounded with fear; for the wonders and signs that were accomplished bore witness to what was said. For just as in the case of Christ there were first signs, then teaching, then miracles, so also now. “And all who believed were together”—not in place, but in disposition and judgment, and in their unbroken concord and love toward one another. And as for “according as anyone had need,” he does not say it simply, but with a view to good stewardship; for this is what “according as anyone had need” means. They did not act like the wise men among the Greeks, of whom some let their land lie fallow, while others cast much gold into the sea. But this was not contempt of wealth, but folly and senselessness; for the devil was eager to slander the creatures of God. To make good use of wealth is no empty thing. “And continuing daily”—not one day, or two, or three, but every day, and with one accord, as in one soul. And consider how the believing Jews did nothing else, but attended constantly at the temple; for, having become more zealous, they had greater reverence also for that holy place. And the apostles did not draw them away from there for the present, so as not to harm them. “Breaking bread from house to house.” By “house” he means the temple here also, for they ate in it. And the words “breaking bread” show their great self-control and frugality in food; for it says “they partook of food,” not “they feasted.” Thus by their faith they were transforming their very life to the better. And how did they have favor with all the people? Luke says, “having favor with all the people.” How so? By their deeds—by almsgiving, by purity of conduct. For even if the priests, out of envy and malice, set themselves against them and attacked them, yet with the people they had favor.