Ephesians 5:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Listen, I exhort all who do not wish to be angry in vain. He steals, and you do not rebuke him? Are you afraid of anger?

Even if the indignation is not vain, even if you rebuke justly, are you still afraid of anger?

Rebuke your brother. Show enmity, out of love for Christ and out of love for him himself. Stop him if he is going toward the abyss.

Sharing a table, pleasant words, friendliness, and tenderness are a small matter of love. Let us give friends such gifts as would deliver their soul from the wrath of God.

Let us raise them up when we see them cast into the furnace of impiety.

But, you say, he does not correct himself. Do your part, and you will be right before God.

Do not hide the talent. For this you have reason, for this a tongue and lips, that you may correct your neighbor.

Only irrational creatures do not care for their neighbor and have no thought of others.

But you call God Father and your neighbor brother. Then, seeing him commit many evils, do you prefer his liking for you to his benefit?

May this not be so, I beseech you. There is no greater proof of love than not despising erring brethren.

Have you seen people at enmity? Reconcile them. Have you seen people acquiring property by deceit? Prevent them. Have you seen people being wronged? Defend them.

By this you will show love first to yourself, not to them. We are friends precisely in order to benefit one another.

A friend listens to a friend differently than to some stranger. Perhaps he will not even trust a stranger, nor a teacher, but he will not act so toward a friend.

"For it is shameful even to speak of what they do in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light."

What does he wish to say by this? He says this because some sins are committed here secretly, and others openly.

There it will not be so, because there is no one who will not be conscious of sin in himself.

Therefore he says: "But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light."

What then? Is he not speaking here also of idolatry, you will say? No. Here the discussion is about life and sins.

Everything that is made manifest, he says, is light. Therefore, I beseech you, neither refuse to rebuke others nor be annoyed when you are rebuked.

As long as something is done in darkness, it is done with greater boldness. But as soon as it has many witnesses to what is happening, then it is illuminated.

Therefore let us do everything above all to remove deadness from our brethren, to scatter the darkness, and to bring near the Sun of righteousness.

If there are many lamps, the path of virtue will be easier for us. Those who are in darkness will also be better reproved, since light, as it spreads, drives away darkness.

But if we do not act thus, there is reason to fear that the lamps will be extinguished by the dark and sinful gloom that prevails over the light and drives away its radiance.

Therefore let us care for others as for ourselves, so that by all our deeds we may send up glory to the God who loves mankind.

Through the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, belong glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

For when, after being reproved, he repents and receives forgiveness, will not the darkness depart from him? Or else he says that your life, when it is open, is light, because no one conceals his irreproachable faith and conduct.

What is secret is hidden precisely because it deserves darkness. This is what must be brought out and reproved.

When sin is declared and reproved, then the sinner, through repentance, becomes light, that is, he practices virtue. David is witness to this. He sinned in secret, but Nathan exposed and reproved his sin, saying, "For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before this sun" (2 Sam 12:12).

Through repentance David escaped the darkness of sin and entered the light of virtue. This very thing is confirmed by what follows: "Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light."

St. John Chrysostom says: "Light reveals everything that happens in darkness. When a lamp is set up, all are illumined. So also, when the light shines from you, the impious who are reproved will be struck.

As a wound, when covered, receives no treatment, so sin, while it is hidden as though in darkness, continues to act boldly and freely. But as soon as it is exposed, it becomes light. Not the sin itself, but the one who committed it becomes light.

For if he is brought into the midst of the assembly, if he is corrected, if he repents, and if he receives remission, have you not dispelled his darkness? Have you not then healed his wound?

When the ray of grace, through the anointed word of Christians, reaches the spirit, then the sinner also hears within himself: Awake, you who sleep. He believes, is reconciled to God, and is enlightened by Christ" (Bishop Theophan).

He wrote something similar to the Philippians: "Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may be blameless and whole, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

Among them you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life" (Phil 2:14-16).

The life of perfect Christians, pure and blameless children of God, truly is a light for the sinful generation.

There are many books, and many words, and everyone has enough of his own understanding. What is lacking? The ability to live.

Show how to live by your life, and no word will be needed. Everything will be clear even without a word. Without life, even a clear word is somewhat obscure.

With life, the word is stronger. We find an indication of how the word lays bare the conscience in Saint Paul's description of the order to be kept in church assemblies.

This concerns especially the use of the gift of tongues. If there are none in the assembly who understand tongues, he says, do not speak in tongues.

Speak only if there is someone who can translate and interpret your speech for the assembly. Otherwise it is better to be silent.

For in a church assembly everything must be directed toward mutual edification. Let each speak in an understandable language and with understandable speech.

Suppose that you assembled in church and all began to speak in tongues. If some simple or unbelieving person entered then, would he not say that you had gone mad?

But if you speak in an understandable language and with understandable speech, then some unbeliever or ignorant person who enters is reproved by all and examined by all.

"And thus the secrets of his heart are made manifest. And so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that God is truly among you" (1 Cor 14:24-25).

Saint Paul also speaks in our passage about this way of opening the conscience and revealing the secrets of the heart.

Reprove them, he says, both by word and by the opposite manner of life.

By this light proceeding from you, the morals of the ungodly and sinful will be illuminated. Their impurity and shame, unseen by those who live according to them, will be revealed and made manifest.

Objects hidden in darkness become manifest when light falls on them. So too all the unfruitful works of darkness, when reproved by your word and by your opposite life, receive this illumination from you.

They will be disclosed and revealed as worthless, and will be recognized as such by all.

This is the meaning of the words: "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light."

What follows, "for whatever is made manifest is light," gives an explanation of the preceding words.

An object is dark until rays of light fall on it. When the rays fall on it, it becomes manifest, bright, and illuminated.

The phrase "is light" means the same as "is bright" or "is illuminated." Thus the life of the ungodly and sinful will become bright from your reproof and life.

It will be bright not as though emitting light, but bright in its gloom. It will be clearly seen how worthless it is.

Chrysostom says: "He said that you are light. Light reveals everything that happens in darkness.

Thus, he says, if you are virtuous and worthy of admiration, the ungodly will not be able to hide.

For as all are illuminated when a lamp stands there, so when light shines from you, the ungodly who are reproved will be struck. Therefore one must reprove.

As long as a bodily wound is hidden, covered outwardly, and deepening further, it receives no treatment.

So also sin, as long as it is hidden as if in darkness, continues to act very freely and boldly. But as soon as it is exposed, it becomes light.

Not the sin itself, for how could that be? Rather, the one who committed it becomes light.

For if he is brought into the midst of the assembly, if he is instructed, if he repents, and if he receives remission, have you not dispersed his darkness?

Have you not then healed his wound? Have you not called barrenness to fruit?"