Job 28:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For our sake, He willingly became human and, seeking a lifeless being, encountered death among us, despite His own immortality. Thus, the gaze of this ‘hawk’ was truly fixed upon our resurrection, for He Himself remained dead for three days in order to free us from eternal death. While the unbelieving individuals of Judea witnessed Him in His state of mortality, they failed to recognize how His death would ultimately vanquish our own death. The hawk perceived this, yet ‘the eye of the hawk did not see it’ because those men chose not to acknowledge the paths of His humility, through which He elevated us to the ‘way of the bird,’ a path previously unknown to us. They did not grasp that His humility would elevate us to heavenly realms, nor did they understand that the intent of His death was to restore us to life. Consequently, the Way of the bird was unfamiliar, and the eyes of the hawk were blind to it. Although they saw Him whom they had condemned to death, they refused to recognize the extraordinary glory of His death, which bestowed life upon us. Likewise, filled with the intensity of persecution, they rejected the messages of life from the heralds of the kingdom of heaven, seeking to silence, expel, and annihilate them. Driven out of Judea, where they had been sent, they were scattered to reach the surrounding nations.

The sacred texts frequently depict the righteous as wise and the wicked as foolish. True wisdom, as exemplified in one's deepest nature, involves living in alignment with one’s divine purpose while upholding virtue. Indeed, a life lived in godliness elevates a person's character and aligns perfectly with their purpose. Conversely, when a person yields to wickedness and indulges their passions, they become as an unreasoning creature, losing both discernment and will.