1 Timothy 3:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"And without controversy," he says, "great is the mystery of piety: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit" (1 Tim 3:16). That is, the divine economy of our salvation.

Do not speak to me of bells, or of the Holy of Holies, or of the high priest. The Church is the pillar of the universe.

Consider the mystery, and trembling will seize you. It is a mystery, and a great mystery, and a mystery of piety. It is beyond contradiction and does not admit of inquiry, since it is beyond every doubt.

Since the Apostle, in speaking about priests, said nothing like what is said in Leviticus, he raises the mind to another subject and says, "God was manifested in the flesh." That is, he says, the Creator was seen in the flesh.

"Justified in the Spirit." By this he says that Wisdom was justified by her children, or that Jesus Christ did not act deceitfully. As the Prophet also said, "Because He committed no sin, and there was no deceit in His mouth" (Is 53:9).

"Seen by angels" (1 Tim 3:16). Therefore the angels also saw the Son of God together with us, whereas previously they had not seen Him. Truly, this is a great mystery.

"Preached among the nations, believed on in the world." They heard of Him throughout the whole universe and believed in Him. The Prophet points to this when he says, "There is no speech, nor language, where their voice is not heard" (Ps 18:4).

Do not think that these are merely words without significance. No, they are not such. On the contrary, they are filled with hidden meaning.

"Taken up in glory," that is, on the clouds. "This Jesus," it says, "Who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Notice the prudence of blessed Paul. Wishing to instruct those who were counted worthy of the diaconal rank not to give themselves excessively to wine, he did not say, "They must not get drunk," but, "Not addicted to much wine."

And rightly so. If those who entered the sanctuary did not touch wine at all, much more ought these men not to do so.

Wine, he says, produces derangement. Even if it does not cause drunkenness, it weakens the strength of the soul and brings it to distraction.

Notice that everywhere he calls the divine economy of our salvation a mystery. And rightly so, because it is not known to all men. More precisely, it was not even revealed to the angels. Otherwise, how would it be revealed through the Church?

Therefore he says, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of piety." It is truly great, because God became Man and man became God. A sinless man appeared. Man was taken up. He was preached in the world. The angels saw Him together with us.

Therefore this is a mystery. Let us not reveal the mystery. Let us not proclaim it everywhere. Let us live in a manner worthy of this mystery.

Those to whom mysteries are entrusted are, in a certain sense, great people. If a king entrusted some mystery to us, tell me, would we not consider it a sign of his great favor toward us?

Yet now God entrusts His mystery to us, and we remain ungrateful to our Benefactor, as though no great kindness had been shown us. Let us tremble when we realize that we remain insensible to this benefit.

This is a mystery which all have come to know. Or rather, it is a mystery which formerly not all knew, but now it has become known to all. Therefore let us become trustworthy guardians of the mystery.

He has entrusted to us so great a mystery, yet we do not entrust even our possessions to Him. He Himself says, "Deposit them with Me. No one will be able to steal them. Neither moth nor robber will harm them."

He promises to repay a hundredfold more, and we do not listen. If we deposited our property with someone, we would receive nothing more back. On the contrary, we would have to be grateful if we received back everything we had deposited.

But here, even if a thief steals it, He says, "Charge this to Me. I will not say to you, 'A thief carried it off,' or, 'A moth devoured it.'" Here He repays a hundredfold, and there He also grants eternal life.

Yet even so, no one deposits his possessions for safekeeping. But He repays me too slowly, you say. This precisely is the greatest sign of His generosity, that He does not repay us here in this corruptible life.

Or rather, even here He repays a hundredfold. Tell me, did Paul not leave here his leather-working tool? Did Peter not leave his rod and hook? Did Matthew not leave the tax office?

Was not the whole universe opened before them more than before kings? Were not all possessions placed at their feet? Were they not made stewards and masters of all things? Were not even souls entrusted to them?

Did not all place themselves wholly in dependence upon their will? Did not all enroll themselves among their servants? Even now, do we not see many similar things happening?

Often many from a low and little-honored station, with only a hoe in their hands and not even abundantly supplied with necessary food, have become more renowned than all and honored by kings, having only the name of monk.

Is this a small matter? But consider that this is an addition. The principal thing has been prepared in the age to come.

Despise possessions if you wish to acquire possessions. If you desire to become rich, become poor. Such are the wondrous works of God. He does not want you to be rich through your own efforts, but through His mercy.

"Leave this to Me," He says, "and you care for spiritual things, so that you may know My power also. Flee the slavery and yoke of possessions."

You are poor as long as you are attached to them. When you begin to disregard them, you will become doubly rich. They will flow to you from every side, and you will not need what many need.

To be rich does not mean acquiring much, but not needing much. If need is present, even a king differs in no way from a beggar. Poverty consists in our needing others.

Thus even a king may be called a beggar for this reason, since he needs his subjects. But the one nailed to the Cross is not such. He has need of nothing. His hands are sufficient for His nourishment.

"These hands," the Apostle says, "served my needs and the needs of those who were with me" (Acts 20:34). This was said by the one who elsewhere said, "We are poor, but make many rich" (2 Cor 6:10), and who in Lystra was considered a god.

If you wish to acquire worldly goods, seek heaven. If you desire to enjoy the present, despise it. "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Mt 6:33).

Why do you marvel at what is insignificant? Why do you thirst for what is not even worth speaking about? How long will you remain poor? How long a beggar?

Look up to heaven. Consider the wealth found there. Laugh at gold. Learn what use should be made of it.

We use it only in the present, only in the present life, which is loose and shifting like sand. Or rather, what a drop is compared with a boundless deep, the present life is compared with the future.

This is not acquisition, but only use. It is not true possession. Otherwise, why, when you are dying, do others take everything you have, whether you wish it or not? Then they again hand it on to others, and those to still others.

We are all strangers. Perhaps the owner of a house is more truly the one who rents it. Often, when the first dies, the last remains and uses the house for a longer time.

If the latter uses it for a certain payment, so does the former, since he built, labored, and arranged it. Possession exists only in name. In reality, we all hold what belongs to another.

Only what we send ahead there belongs to us. What is here is not ours, but belongs to those who live after us. Or rather, even while we live, it departs from us.

Only the struggles of our soul belong to us, namely almsgiving and love for mankind. The rest is called external even by those outside, because it exists outside us. Therefore let us strive to make it an inner possession.

We cannot depart taking money with us, but we can depart taking almsgiving. Let us send it ahead there above all, so that it may prepare us a dwelling in the eternal habitations.

The name of money comes from use, not from possession. Property itself consists in use, not in mastery. Tell me, how many owners has each field had, and how many more will it have?

There is a very wise saying, for one must not despise popular sayings when they contain some wise thought. They say: O field, how many masters have you had, and how many will you yet have!

The same must be said of houses and money. Virtue alone is able to accompany us. Virtue alone passes into the future life.

Therefore let us free ourselves and quench within us attachment to money, so that we may kindle within ourselves the desire for heavenly things. These two longings cannot coexist in one soul.

"For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other" (Mt 6:24).

Tell me, do you see a man with a large retinue, walking proudly through the marketplace, dressed in silk garments, riding on a horse, and stretching out his neck? Do not be amazed, but laugh at him.

Just as you laugh when you see children pretending to be rulers in their games, so laugh here too. The one differs in nothing from the other. The first is even more pleasing, because it belongs to childhood and is joined to the greatest simplicity.

There there is laughter and delight. Here the man becomes ridiculous and full of shamelessness. Glorify God that He has delivered you from such a spectacle and such arrogance.

If you wish, you who walk on the earth will be higher than the one seated in a chariot. How? He has been raised a little from the earth in body, but in soul he clings to the earth. It is said, "My flesh cleaves to my bones" (Ps 101:6).

But you are carried in mind in heaven. Yet he has a large staff that clears the road for him. What greater honor does he have than a horse? What could be more irrational than driving men away so that an animal may pass more freely?

But riding on a horse is honorable. Yet servants also share in this. There are some so blinded that, without any need, they make attendants walk behind them.

What is more senseless than this? They wish to gain fame through horses, costly clothes, and companions. What is more worthless than a glory that consists in horses and servants?

If you are virtuous, seek none of this. Wear your own adornment, and do not adorn yourself by the presence of others. Dishonorable men, corrupt men, ignorant men, and all who are richly supplied with wealth can have these things.

Jesters and dancers also ride on horses, and a servant walks before them too. Yet they remain jesters and dancers, and do not become more worthy of respect through horses and servants.

When such people have no virtue in the soul, we would add something outwardly in vain and without benefit. Just as a half-ruined wall or a decayed body remains ugly and decayed no matter what you attach to it, so it is here.

The soul receives no benefit from outward goods, but remains as it was before, even if you surround it with countless golden ornaments.

Let us not marvel at all these things. Let us leave what is temporary and cleave to what is better and spiritual, to what truly makes us worthy of respect. Thus we may be counted worthy to receive the future good things in Christ Jesus, to Whom be glory unto the ages. Amen.

"If you had known My essence and dignity," says the Lord, "you would have known the Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (Jn 14:7), that is, through Me.

By seeing He means knowledge with the mind. Those whom we see, we can both see and know. But those whom we know, we cannot both know and not know.

"And confessedly, great is the mystery of piety."

The divine economy of our salvation is a mystery. This mystery is great, the mystery of piety, for it is beyond every doubt. What, then, is this mystery that all know? Very many know it, but not all. Even if all know it, they know it now, while formerly not all knew it. Moreover, all know that God became incarnate, but how He became incarnate is hidden. Therefore it is a mystery.

Notice what love God has shown toward us, since He has wholly revealed His mystery to us.

"God was manifested in the flesh."

The sacred minister of the divine mysteries, the God-inspired Paul, writes: "Confessedly, great is the mystery of piety: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory" (1 Tim 3:16).

What, then, does "manifested in the flesh" mean? It means that the Word of God the Father became flesh. This does not mean that He changed or transformed His essence into flesh, as we have already said above. Rather, He made His own the flesh taken from the holy Virgin. He is one and the same Son before the Incarnation, while still the bodiless Word. After the Incarnation He is the same Word, now in the flesh.

When the fullness of time came, Wisdom was sent in the flesh. She was not sent in order to fill the angels, nor in order to be an angel, except in the sense of announcing the counsel of the Father, which was also Her own counsel.

She was not sent in order to be with men and in men, for this had already been so before, among the forefathers and the prophets. Rather, She was sent so that the Word Himself might become flesh, that is, become man.

This future mystery of the revelation of God was also the salvation of those wise and holy men who had been born of women before He Himself was born of the Virgin. From the time it was accomplished and preached, it became the salvation of all who believe, hope, and love.

We think that the God who appeared through the Cross must be honored as the Father is honored. But for the Eunomians, suffering becomes an obstacle to glorifying the Only-begotten God as equal to the Father who begot Him.

Eunomius makes the sufferings on the Cross a sign that He differs in essence from the Father, and differs for the worse. I do not know how he makes the extraordinary action of power, by which even this became possible, into a sign of weakness.

He does not understand that nothing acting according to its own nature is wondered at as extraordinary. Rather, what goes beyond nature is most of all admired. To it all attention turns, and every thought is strained, marveling at the extraordinary.

And it is reliably attested that great is the mystery of this righteousness which we preach. He was manifested in the flesh from the Virgin. He was justified in the Spirit, that is, through the justification of the Holy Spirit. He was shown to the angels at His birth, preached among the nations with signs and wonders, received by faith in the world through the teaching of His Gospel, and taken up in the glory of the angels and disciples when the cloud received Him (Acts 1:9).

"And confessedly, great is the mystery of piety." The Apostle calls this a "mystery" because it was foretold from ancient times, but was manifested afterward.

"God was manifested in the flesh." For He who is God and the Son of God has an invisible nature. Yet when He became man, He became manifest to all. The Apostle clearly taught us about the two natures when he said that the divine nature was manifested in the flesh.

Truly great is the mystery of piety, as Paul, the initiate of the mysteries, wrote. It is not called great because it is altogether unknown, but because it is incomprehensible to everyone, since it surpasses every word and every thought.

For if a child is the fruit of marriage, how did the Virgin bring forth the fruit of marriage? How was the corruptible united to the Incorruptible? How is the Uncircumscribed conceived in what is circumscribed, while the divine and most pure Nature is not diminished, and the mortal receives honor for a certain ineffable cause beyond every interpretation?

God did not decide concerning human affairs by a new counsel or because of delayed mercy. From the creation of the world He established the one and same cause of salvation for all. The grace of God, by which the fullness of the saints is always justified, increased when Christ was born. It did not begin then. This is the mystery of great piety, by which the whole world is filled. It is so mighty in its meanings that those who believed in it as promised received it no less than those who received it as given.

On this great day, having nothing else with which to congratulate you except the joy of all the world, I congratulate you with that joy. What is it? The Son of God came to save sinners.

Rejoice, sinners! God and our Lord came into the world for our sake, to save us. "Great is the mystery of piety: God was manifested in the flesh!" The King of heaven appeared on earth, and He who is unapproachable to the cherubim dwelt with men.

O goodness and inexpressible love for mankind of the Lord who appeared! O blessedness of those for whose sake their God and Lord came and appeared to them! Blessed are the eyes that saw God in the flesh, and the ears that heard His divine words. Many prophets desired to "see, and did not see; and to hear, and did not hear" (Mt 13:17).

Great is the mystery of piety. God was manifested in the flesh. He proved that He is God by the Spirit, that is, by His teaching, which is Spirit and life, by His works accomplished by the finger of God, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit to men.

Having clothed Himself in flesh, He became visible not only to men, but also to the angels, to whom in His Godhead He is invisible. The Gentiles, who were perishing from ignorance of God, heard the preaching of salvation.

The teaching about God is received not by earthly wisdom, not by exalted reason, not by extensive learning, and not by what is rich, high, and glorious in the world. It is received by the humble pledge of the heart, through faith.

Another great truth, for which the universal Church serves as pillar and foundation, is the confessed by all, ομολογουμένως, great mystery of piety. It is the Incarnation of God and His work on earth.

This truth is called the mystery of piety because until then it was unknown both to men and to angels. Even after revelation, it remained incomprehensible to the mind, accessible only to faith, and life-giving for piety.

"God was manifested in the flesh" (Θεός έφανερώθη ε̉ν σαρκὶ). This is how the passage is read in almost all ancient Greek manuscripts and among the Greek Fathers. But the ancient Latin translation and the present Vulgate, instead of Deus manifestatus est in carne, read quod manifestatum est in carne. That means, as though the Greek had ὸ, quod, "which" or "what."

This is the truth of which the Church is the pillar and ground: God was manifested in the flesh. The holy Church proclaims and confirms this truth by her very existence.

For she is a building whose foundation is Christ the Lord; cf. 1 Cor 3:11. She is a body whose Head is He Himself, God the Word made flesh.

When someone sees a living body, he is thereby assured of its head. When he sees a firm building, he is assured of its foundation. So one who sees the Church is assured that God was truly manifested in the flesh.

In recalling this, the Apostle wished to show that this truth is not hidden in some obscure corner. It is universal, proclaimed and acknowledged everywhere, in heaven among the angels and on earth among all nations.

It is preached, believed, and glorified throughout all creation. This had to be shown, so that the urgent demand might be imprinted on Saint Timothy's mind: hold fast to this truth.

Measure every teaching by it, and reject everything that does not accord with it. But before saying this, he judged it necessary to indicate that what is proclaimed everywhere is not something slight.

It presents no easy matter for acceptance. On the contrary, it is a mystery, and a great mystery. By this he strongly awakens attention to it, teaches us to prize it, and gives us to understand that no one can reveal or show anything greater.

'And confessedly great is the mystery of piety.' By piety the Apostle means our Christian faith; cf. Oecumenius. By the mystery of piety he means that the essence of our faith is hidden.

It is hidden both because it is incomprehensible, and because its action in us is hidden. It took its beginning in the mystery of the tri-hypostatic God before the ages.

It was brought to fulfillment in a manner most incomprehensible to every created mind. It also appropriates believers, or makes them its participants, in a hidden way.

For as the Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, but do not know whence He comes or whither He goes, so is everyone born of the Spirit; cf. Jn 3:8.

Hidden also is that in which such a beginning of new birth is completed. This is living communion with God through the Lord and Savior, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

In this communion God is He who works all things in all; cf. 1 Cor 12:6. Yet He does this without violating freedom, and without taking away the value and dignity of its actions.

Great is this mystery of our piety: great because of the Person who ordered it, and because of the powers and means used to appropriate it.

It is greater still because of the end in which its action will be completed. This end is the renewal of heaven and earth and the shining forth of the blessed Kingdom of God.

It is confessed to be great. As soon as anyone learns of it and surveys with the mind's eye all that it proclaims and promises, he cannot restrain himself from crying out: Great mystery!

Its greatness is confessed by all, undeniably and irresistibly. Even unbelievers, though they do not acknowledge the truth of our faith, cannot fail to acknowledge that its content is heavenly and exalted.

It is higher and more majestic than anything the greatest angelic minds could devise. Or it is a great mystery as mystery, since it is profoundly mysterious and incomprehensible.

This too is confessed. It is acknowledged by all, without dispute, as incomprehensible, unthinkable, unsearchable, and 'not subject to inquiry,' as Saint Chrysostom says.

Contemplate it as it has been revealed, and marvel, as all the saints did who ascended to such contemplation. Confess both its greatness and its impenetrable mystery.

Do not try to penetrate its depth. Do not strain your little mind, lest you lose even that.

'God was manifested in the flesh ... received up in glory.' The Apostle describes this mystery, or depicts it, not from the side of its essence, but from the side of its manifestation.

He presents the whole course of its disclosure. God was moved from heaven and came down to earth. He took upon Himself human fleshly nature.

He performed great signs and wonders, even in death itself, which compelled men to believe that He is truly God.

He ascended into heaven, met, accompanied, confessed, and glorified by the angels. From there He sent down the Divine Spirit.

Enlightened, strengthened, and inspired by Him, the Apostles went through the whole earth. They announced to all nations this most wondrous deed, the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Everywhere they planted faith in the world. This planting gave being to the Church, which is the pillar and ground of this truth.

In these few words the Apostle has gathered the whole confession of our faith. 'God was manifested in the flesh,' not with the manifestation by which He appeared to the forefathers.

Rather, He was manifested in that manner in which the Word, who is God, became flesh and dwelt among us; cf. Jn 1:14.

He lived humanly with men, taking our fleshly nature into His own hypostasis. He did this in order to accomplish the incarnate divine economy of our salvation.

Afterward He remains forever God not naked, and man not merely ordinary, so that He may ever intercede for us.

Blessed Theodoret writes: 'Being God and the Son of God, and possessing an invisible nature, when He became man He became manifest to all. The Apostle clearly taught us the two natures, saying that the divine nature appeared in flesh.'

'Surely this is a great mystery,' says Saint Chrysostom, 'because man became God, and God became man.' All saw a man, yet they could not but confess that He is God.

So irresistibly did He impress on everyone's consciousness that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; cf. Col 2:9.

For this reason the Apostle immediately says: 'justified in the Spirit.' He was acknowledged truly, or rightly, to be what He called Himself, namely the Son of God and God.

He openly told all that He is the Son of God, equal to God the Father. In this word of His He was justified. How? 'In the Spirit.'

This means by manifestations of divine omnipotence, omniscience, and holiness, and by authority over visible nature and invisible spirits.

The word 'justified' can in no way be applied to God incarnate in the same sense in which it is applied to men who are justified.

'By what righteousness was Righteousness itself justified, the Sun of righteousness according to Malachi; cf. Mal 4:2? He signifies the most manifest and purest righteousness. As such, He is not justified, but justifies.

For this reason the Prophet also said of Him: He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; cf. Is 53:9' (Oecumenius).

'Justified in the Spirit' means that He worked miracles by the Spirit of God, as He Himself says: 'If I cast out demons by the Spirit'; cf. Mt 12:28.

By miracles it was proved and made manifest that Christ is true God and the Son of God.

So also the centurion at the Cross, seeing the earth shaken and the universe filled with darkness, cried out: 'Truly this Man was the Son of God'; cf. Mk 15:39 (Blessed Theodoret).

Therefore Saint John testifies: 'We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father'; cf. Jn 1:14.

How this was accomplished among all men is said elsewhere by Saint Paul. He affirms that He who was of the seed of David according to the flesh was declared, that is, acknowledged by all, to be the Son of God with power.

This was according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; cf. Rom 1:4.

'Seen by angels.' Seen, ophthe, that is, He was beheld. For even the angels do not see the divine nature as it is, but only in its manifestations.

The Savior's words, 'Their angels always behold the face of My Father in heaven'; cf. Mt 18:10, indicate an intellectual vision of God.

They see Him in that by which it is pleasing to Him to manifest His invisible presence to them. But in the Lord and Savior they beheld Him more tangibly.

The soul is visible in the eyes. In the eyes of the God-man, God may be beheld to the measure that eyes looking upon Him can receive the rays of the Godhead's radiance.

Saint Chrysostom says: 'Therefore the angels, together with us, saw the Son of God, whom before they had not seen. Truly, a great mystery!'

Blessed Theodoret writes the same: 'The angels did not see the invisible nature of God, but they saw Him incarnate.'

For from the very birth of God in the flesh until the Ascension, they were with Him. At the Ascension they accompanied Him, and after the Ascension they surround His throne.

Blessed Theophylact writes: 'O mystery! Together with us, the angels saw the Son of God, whom before they had not seen.

For the Gospel says: behold, angels came and ministered to Him; cf. Mt 4:11. And not only there, but from His very birth until the Ascension they ministered to Him.

At His birth the angels sing a hymn to Him and announce Him to the shepherds. At the Ascension they also minister to Him.'

Or does Saint Paul here mean some special manifestation of the Lord and Savior to the angelic world after the Ascension?

This would be a manifestation in which they beheld His God-manhood in all its heavenly glory.

That something of this kind was probably accomplished in the heavens is indicated by the Apostle Paul's words: 'When He again brings the Firstborn into the world, He says: Let all the angels of God worship Him'; Heb 1:6.

This was fitting only after the state of humiliation had passed, and after He had entered into the glory which He had before the world was; Jn 17:5.

The words of the Apostle Peter point to the same thing: He 'is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him'; cf. 1 Pet 3:22.

Such a thought is visible in Ambrosiaster: 'He appeared to angels, no longer in humble form, but in the majesty of power and authority.

Until then He had been seen in a lowly appearance because of the flesh. But when He conquered death and rose from the dead, the majesty of Him who was born as man, yet was not wholly man, was seen.

And the angels, having learned the mystery formerly hidden and now manifested in the flesh, bowed their knees before Him as before God, rendering thanks.'

'Preached among the nations,' by the Apostles, to whom the commandment was given to teach all nations; cf. Mt 28:19.

They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed; cf. Mk 16:20.

By the time this Epistle was written, hardly any nation remained that had not heard the good tidings of the Gospel.

The nations, in a sense rejected and lying in despair as no people, were called into the people. Alongside that people, they were enriched with all the treasures hidden in the incarnate divine economy.

Through this, that economy appears as the blessedness of the whole human race.

'Believed on in the world.' 'Throughout the whole universe they heard of Him and believed in Him. The Prophet points to this when he says: Their sound has gone out into all the earth; Ps 18:5' (Saint Chrysostom).

'He was not only preached, but they also believed in Him. From those who believed He receives divine worship' (Blessed Theodoret).

'This is a great sign of the power of Him who was preached and of the truth of the preaching' (Blessed Theophylact).

'Received up in glory.' 'Although this took place before the preaching, the Apostle placed it at the end.

He teaches that they rightly believed the preaching, because He who commanded the preaching is in heaven and has His sitting at the right hand' (Blessed Theodoret).

But in what glory was He received up? Although 'the very fact of being received up is most glorious' (Oecumenius), we must suppose that the Lord's Ascension was accompanied by some special glory.

This glory was not seen by men, but was beheld by the angels and hymned by their doxology.

At the moment of the Ascension we see angels present. They announced to the Apostles only the future appearance of the Lord in glory.