THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
After saying, "gentle," the Apostle is not content with this, but adds, "in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves." Here above all the teacher must act with meekness. A soul that needs instruction cannot receive anything useful when it is taught with severity and abuse.
Even if it is ready to listen, once it has been thrown into confusion it will take in nothing. Whoever wishes to learn something useful must first be well disposed toward the teacher. If this has not first been established, nothing fitting or useful can occur.
No one can be well disposed toward a man who grows angry and reviles. How, then, does the Apostle say, "A heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject"? He says this of an incorrigible man, one known to be incurably sick.
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The meaning of these words is this: perhaps there may yet be some correction. The phrase perhaps is used of matters not known with certainty. Therefore we must withdraw only from those of whom we can say with certainty that they will not be corrected, whatever measures are used.
"In meekness," he says. Do you see how one must approach those who wish to learn? We must not abandon conversation with them before they have been persuaded.
What forgiveness shall there be for us, beloved, and what defense, if the evil demon acts against us with such frenzy, while we do not show even a small part of such zeal for the salvation of our brothers, although we have God as our helper?
Therefore, when you see a brother harsh, disobedient, and inattentive to you, say to yourself: perhaps in time we may succeed in persuading him. Paul also commanded us to act so: "The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all... in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, if perhaps God may grant them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth."
Do you not see how fathers, often already despairing of their sons, sit beside them, weep, grieve, kiss them, and do everything in their power until their last breath? Act in the same way with your brother.
By weeping and tears they cannot drive away disease or avert approaching death. But you can often, by patience and perseverance, by weeping and tears, draw back and restore a soul that has fallen into despair.
You gave counsel and did not persuade him? Weep, and come to him often. Groan bitterly, so that, ashamed by your care, he may turn toward salvation.
What can I accomplish alone? I cannot be with all of you every day. I do not have strength to converse alone with so great a multitude.
But if you choose to take part in one another's salvation, and each of you takes upon himself one negligent brother, then the work of edification will advance quickly among us.
Need I speak of those who are corrected after careful exhortation? Even of those who suffer from an incurable disease, we must not despair or grow negligent, even if we clearly foresee that after long care and admonition they will receive no benefit.
If these words seem strange to you, I will confirm their truth by what Christ did and said. We are men and do not know the future. Therefore we cannot affirm about our hearers whether they will be persuaded by our words or not.
But Christ, clearly knowing both things, did not cease until the end to correct the one who would prove disobedient to Him. Though He knew that Judas would not turn away from betrayal, Christ did not cease turning him away from that betrayal.
He did this by counsels, exhortations, benefits, threats, and every form of admonition. He constantly restrained him by His word, as though by a bridle.
He did this to teach us also, that even if we know beforehand that the brethren will not listen, we should fulfill everything in our power. For a reward is prepared for us for giving counsel.
See, then, how constantly and wisely He restrained Judas by His words: "One of you will betray Me" (Mt 26:21). And again: "I do not speak of all of you; I know whom I have chosen" (Jn 13:18).
And again: "One of you is a devil" (Jn 6:70). He was pleased to trouble them all, so as not to expose the traitor to shame. He did not wish, by open reproofs, to make him more shameless.
That these words caused anxiety and fear also to the other disciples, although they were conscious of no evil in themselves, hear how each of them said in distress, "Is it I, Lord?" (Mt 26:22).
But Christ instructed Judas not only by words, but also by deeds. Since He often and in all things showed His love for mankind, cleansing lepers, casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, strengthening paralytics, and doing good to all, He punished no one.
He constantly said, "I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world" (Jn 12:47). Yet lest Judas think that Christ could only do good and not punish, the Lord teaches him this also.
That is, He teaches him that He is able both to punish and to chastise those who sin. See how wisely and fittingly He taught Judas, while He subjected no man to punishment or chastisement.
How did He act, so that the disciple might know His power to punish? If He had punished someone, it would have seemed that He contradicted His own words: "I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."
On the other hand, if He punished no one, the disciple would have remained without instruction, not having learned His power to punish by deed. What, then, had to take place?
So that the disciple might be afraid and not become worse through negligence, and so that no man would be struck or suffer punishment and chastisement, Christ manifests this power on the fig tree.
He said, "Let no fruit ever come from you again" (Mt 21:19), and by a simple word He at once withered it. Thus all men remained unharmed, and He manifested His power when a tree underwent punishment.
If the disciple had been attentive, he would have gained great profit from this punishment. Yet even through this he was not corrected.
Christ, although He foresaw this, did something else besides, far greater than this. When the Jews, armed with swords and clubs, wished to lay hands on Him, He blinded them all. For this is what He expresses by the words, "Whom do you seek?" (Jn 18:4).
Since Judas often said, "What will you give me, and I will deliver Him to you?" (Mt 26:15), the Lord wished to persuade the Jews and instruct him. He wished to show that He went voluntarily to His Passion.
He showed that everything depended on Him, and that the malice of Judas could not overcome Him. Therefore, while the betrayer himself stood with all the rest, He said, "Whom do you seek?"
Did Judas not know the One whom he intended to betray? But the Lord blinded his sight. And He did not only this, but by His words cast them all to the ground (Jn 18:6).
When even this did not make them more meek, and did not turn the impious man away from betrayal, since he remained incurable, Christ even then did not abandon His good will and care for him.
But see how movingly He touches his shameless soul, and utters words that could have softened even a soul of stone. When Judas rushed forward to kiss Him, what does He say?
"Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Lk 22:48). Are you not ashamed even of the very manner of your betrayal? Christ said this to touch him and remind him of their former fellowship.
Yet though the Lord did and said so much, Judas did not become better, not because of the weakness of the One who admonished him, but because of his own negligence. Christ, although He foresaw all this, did not cease from beginning to end to do everything in His power.
Knowing all this, beloved, we also must ceaselessly and constantly correct and in friendship admonish our negligent brethren, even if no benefit comes from the exhortation.
If He who knew what the end would be had such care for a man who did not wish to profit from admonition, can we be worthy of forgiveness when, not knowing the outcome of matters, we are so negligent about the salvation of our neighbors?
Can we be forgiven when we abandon them after the first and second exhortation? After all that has been said, let us also turn our attention to ourselves.
We daily disobey God, who speaks to us every day through the prophets and apostles. Yet He does not cease always to speak and persuade the disobedient and inattentive.
Paul also cries out thus: "We beseech you on behalf of Christ, as though God were beseeching through us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20).
If something still more wonderful may be said, the one who offers exhortation, knowing beforehand that the one receiving it will surely obey, is not worthy of such praise as the one who has spoken and counseled many times without success.
Yet he does not cease doing this. The hope that the hearer will be persuaded rouses the first man to exhortation, even if he were lazier than all.
But the latter, who constantly exhorts, sees no obedience, and still does not cease, gives proof of the most fervent and sincere love. He is not encouraged by any such hope, but solely through love for the hearer does not abandon care for his brother.
However, it has already been sufficiently proved that we must never abandon the fallen, even if we know beforehand that they will not listen to us.