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This Part: 128 Pages
Page 29
10:21. In that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of the heaven and the earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it was good in Thy sight.
ONE of the holy prophets has said; "Whoever thirst, come ye to the waters." For he sends us to the writings of the holy Evangelists as to fountains of water. For just as "waters are pleasant to the thirsty soul," as Scripture saith, so to the mind that loveth instruction is the life-giving knowledge of the mysteries of our Saviour. Let us, therefore, draw from the sacred springs the living and life-giving waters, even those that are rational and spiritual. Let us take our fill: and weary not in thy drinking: for in these things more than enough is still for edification: and greediness is great praise. What then it was the Saviour said:----That fountain which came down from heaven, That river of delight,----we learn from what has here been read to us. "In that same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, and said,"----Whosoever then loveth instruction, must approach the words of God not carelessly, and without earnestness; but, on the contrary, with eagerness: for it is written, "That for every one that taketh care, there is something over." Let us, therefore, examine them, and especially what is meant by the expression, that He "rejoiced in the Holy Ghost."
The Holy Ghost then proceedeth from God the Father as from the fountain; but is not foreign from the Son: for every property of the Father belongeth to the Word, Who by nature and verily was begotten of Him. Christ saw therefore that many had been won by the operation of the Spirit, Whom He bestowed on them that were worthy, and whom He had also commanded to be ministers of the divine message: He saw that wonderful signs were wrought by their hands, and that the salvation of the world by Him,----I mean by faith,----had now begun: and therefore He rejoiced in the Holy Ghost, that is, in the works and miracles wrought by means of the Holy Ghost. For He had appointed the twelve disciples, whom He also called apostles, and after them again seventy others, whom He sent as His forerunners to go before Him unto every village and city of Judaea, preaching Him, and the things concerning Him. And He sent them, nobly adorned with apostolic dignities, and distinguished by the operation of the grace of the Holy Ghost. "For He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out." They then, having wrought many miracles, returned saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in Thy Name."And therefore as I have already said, well knowing that those who had been sent by Him had benefited many, and that above all others, they had themselves learned by experience His glory, He was full of joy, or rather of exultation. For being good and loving unto men, and wishing that all should be saved, He found His cause of rejoicing in the conversion of those that were in error, in the enlightenment of those that were, in darkness, and in the answer of the understanding to the acknowledgment of His glory, of those who had been without knowledge and without instruction.
What then does He say? "Father, I confess Thee, Lord of the heaven and the earth." And these words, "I confess Thee," He says after the manner of men, instead of, "I accept Thy kindness," that is, "I praise Thee [13]." For it is the custom of the divinely inspired Scripture to use the word confession in some such way as this. For it is written, that "they shall confess, O Lord, Thy great name; for it is terrible and holy." And again, "I will confess Thee, O Lord, with all my heart, and I will tell all Thy wonders."
13.[s] As the English translation "I thank " has already obviated the difficulty in the original, it may be necessary to say, that it literally means as rendered above, "I confess," "I make confession to Thee, O Father:" but as the Greek language has no word strictly meaning "to thank," the Sept. use this verb to express the Hebrew [Hebrew], gratias egit, laudavit, and hence its use in biblical Greek in this sense. The Syriac periphrasis is also remarkable, being, "I accept thy grace or kindness," the acceptance of it; as a favour being supposed to convey an acknowledgment of gratitude. The Latin of Corderius gives the general sense of the passage very correctly: Confiteor Tibi, Pater, dicit more hominum, pro gratiam agnosco, quare laudo Te, gratias ago tibi. Solet enim divinitus inspirata scriptura confessionis nomen secundum talem aliquem modum sumere. Scriptum est enim; Confiteantur nomini Tuo magno: et iterum; Confitebor Tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo. The Greek has not been preserved.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/cyril-alexandria/luke-commentary-2.asp?pg=29
