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Translated by R. Payne Smith
St Cyril of Alexandria Resources Online and in Print
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This Part: 128 Pages
Page 68
For come, and let us see by what takes place among us the blame to which we become liable by disobedience. We are ourselves accustomed to require of our servants [13] obedience mingled with tear: and when they plan rebellion, and throw off the yoke of servitude; we make them humble by bonds and tortures and the scourge. When therefore we, who are of earth, and by nature the brethren of those who are bowed beneath the yoke, cannot tolerate them when rebellious, how will God endure it;----He Whom principalities, thrones, and lordships worship: in Whose presence the high-exalted Seraphs stand, readily rendering their service? For the divine David somewhere says of them in the Psalms; "Bless the Lord, all ye His angels, who hearken to the voice of His words. Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts: His ministers, who do all of them His pleasure."
It is dangerous, therefore, and merits final condemnation, to be unwilling to submit to Christ the Almighty: but those who prize His service, shall receive the most excellent blessings. For He has said by one of the holy prophets to those who run away from His yoke, and will not submit to be set under His authority; "Behold, they that serve Me shall eat; but ye shall suffer hunger: behold, they that serve Me shall drink; but ye shall suffer thirst: behold, they that serve Me shall exult; but ye shall mourn: behold, they that obey Me, shall be merry with joy; but ye shall cry out for the grief of your heart, and howl for contrition of your spirit." Thou seest that the crown of those who bear the yoke of servitude is very beautiful, worthy of being acquired, and precious: while severe and manifold condemnation is decreed against the rest.
And yet again in another place thou mayest see that the true servant is adorned with surpassing honour, while the disobedient and careless is rejected with disgrace, or rather is banished to the outer darkness. For they who received the talents, and doubled for the owner what had been given them, were honoured by him with praises: for he said to each one of them, "O good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things: enter the joy of thy lord." But him who hid in the ground what had been given him, as not loving service and indolent, he condemned to severe and inevitable punishment.
Elsewhere too He has said, "Who then is that faithful and wise servant, whom his lord [14] shall set over his household to give them meat at its season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord shall come and find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath."
Those therefore who keep our Saviour's will are made glorious, and worthy of emulation, and adorned with praises for their fidelity: yea, moreover, they have a name given them, for He has said again of them in a certain place, "On them that serve Me, there shall be called a new name,[15] even That Which is blessed upon earth."
And there is yet another point which I think must be added to what has been already said, namely, that by being willing to submit to our Saviour's words and serve Him, we shall gain in return the honour of freedom by His decree. For He said to those that believe in Him, "If ye abide in My Word, ye are truly My disciples, and ye shall acknowledge the truth, and the truth shall make you free." We gain therefore the glory of freedom by subjection: that is, by servitude under Him. This makes us sons and heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ: of which He again shall be thy proof, saying; "that every one that doeth sin is the servant of sin: but the servant abideth not in the house for ever. If therefore the Son make you free, ye are really free."
The being willing therefore to serve is that which invites us to freedom, and the honour which is the especial prerogative of sons: but disobedience humbles us to a base and ignominious servitude, if it be true, as true certainly it is, that "every one that doeth sin is the servant of sin."
13.[h] Domestic service in old time by freemen was all but unknown, and therefore "servant" is equivalent to "slave." Hence the full force of Luke xvi. 13., xvii. 9., &c.; and such expressions as "sold under sin." (Rom. vii. 14.) Of their treatment, S. Chrysostom (Hom. iv. in Titium) complains that masters generally neglected their morals, and thought only of their service; and that therefore "it was a difficult thing for a slave to be a good man:" for being left without education, and not admitted into the society of freemen, there was nothing to counteract the debasing associations of his degraded position. That Christianity gradually, though very slowly, led to the amelioration of their state, we may see by the acknowledgment in the text that the slave was by nature his master's brother; and by S. Chrysostom's appeals in their behalf, as, for instance, 'If Paul was not ashamed to call a slave his son, and his own bowels, and brother and beloved, why should we be ashamed? And what say I? Paul's Lord was not ashamed to call our slaves His brothers, and are we ashamed thereat?' (Hom. ii. in Phil.)
14.[i] As servant meant slave, so the "lord," despo&thj, was the master or owner of the household. Hence the well-known objection of the Romans to the title of Dominus, as implying the relation between master and slave. Each slave had usually a monthly allowance of food, which one of them was commissioned to distribute.
15.[k] The name of Christ, fulfilled in the title of Christians; of which S. Gregory of Nyssa, (de perf. Chr. forma, iii. 277.) says, "The goodness of God has granted us to share in that great and most divine and chief of names, being honoured with Christ's own title, and so called Christians."
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/cyril-alexandria/luke-commentary.asp?pg=68
