Can we assume that the Lord, who succinctly called for the honoring of God and the love of one’s neighbor—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God... and love thy neighbor” (Lk. 10:27)—has now altered or nullified familial bonds and destroyed the affection found within family ties? Should we believe that He commanded the severing of the dearest connections? He Himself embodies our peace, having united both into one (Eph. 2:14)! How can He say, “My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave unto you” (John 14:27), if His purpose was to shatter kinship and separate parents from their children, and children from their parents? And cursed is he who does not honor his father (Deut. 27:16). Is it really righteous to forsake those bonds?
Yet if we keep in mind that honoring God is paramount, followed by love for relatives, we shall find it easier to address this matter. It is essential to prioritize divine matters over human affairs! We must honor our parents, but even more so the Creator of our parents; we owe our gratitude to Him for our parents! If they do not acknowledge the Father, how can we honor them? Thus, the Lord instructs us to prioritize God over all, yet He does not command us to abandon our relatives. In another passage, we find: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37). We are not prohibited from loving our parents, but we are warned against placing them above God. Our relatives are a gift from the Lord, and we cannot cherish a blessing from God more than God Himself. Even those who understand this statement literally but with good intentions are not devoid of a righteous interpretation.
However, there is cause to seek a deeper understanding, for the Lord has added: “From now on five in one house shall be divided, three against two, and two against three” (Luke 12:52). Who are these five? The passage continues to discuss the relationships of six individuals: father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The mother can also refer to a mother-in-law: a mother to her son is a mother-in-law to his wife, indicating that the number carries significance even in its literal interpretation. It is clear that faith transcends natural ties, as it binds free persons who were once enslaved by familial ties.
It is fitting to explore the hidden meaning of these words. One house symbolizes one individual, for each person is a dwelling place, either of God or of the devil. Thus, a spiritual house is a spiritually renewed individual, as affirmed in Peter’s letter: “And you yourselves, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:5). This house faces division, as indicated by the numbers: two against three and three against two. Notably, we find that “two” often represents soul and body in Scripture. When these two are in harmony on earth, they form one unified entity. In another context, it is stated: “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection” (1 Cor. 9:27); here, one serves while the other obeys.
Once we discern who these two are, we may learn the meaning of “three,” which can be easily deduced from the two. Within the body reside the three faculties of the soul: the rational, the desiring, and the spirited, or λογιστικόν, πιθυμητικόν, θυμικόν. The separation is not merely two against two, but rather two against three and three against two, as, with the coming of Christ, the irrational individual became rational. Previously, we were akin to beasts, devoid of reason, and steeped in mortality. The Son of God came, filled our hearts with His Spirit, and we were reborn as spiritual children.
We might consider that five additional elements dwell within this house: smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing. If we were to separate sight from hearing, we would eliminate the excessive pleasures of the body that arise from taste, smell, and touch, leading to the division of two against three. The soul does not usually find itself ensnared by vices but, in its pursuit of virtue, retreats from temptations and indulgences. Therefore, the senses do not reach a harmony that would lead to sin, but rather their divisions keep the desires of the heart distinct from the obligations of virtue. If we take the five as the five bodily senses, then any corporeal vices and iniquities are rendered distinct. Perhaps the rich man depicted in the Gospel, drowning in excess, identifies these five as his brothers when he suffers in the netherworld: he calls upon them to abandon earthly pleasures so that virtuous efforts may be rewarded with peace in the next life.
We can understand the situation in this way: the flesh and soul coexist within one house, separated from the pleasures of smell, touch, and taste—which tempt into indulgence—yet divided against encroaching vices. Both the flesh and soul are subject to God’s law and exist apart from the law of sin. Following the fall of the first man into transgression, the discord between flesh and spirit became ingrained in nature; they began to diverge in the pursuit of virtue. But the Lord’s Cross reconciled them in unity, abolishing hostility and the law of commandments when Christ descended from the heavens. Christ, our peace, who united both, tore down the wall that divided them, nullifying enmity through His flesh and the law through His teachings, so that from the two, He might create one new being in Himself, making peace and reconciling both with God through one body (Eph. 2:14-16). Who, then, are these two but the outer and inner man? The one speaks of the power of the soul, the other the bodily senses. They unite in a combined effort when the flesh, yielding to the superior force, complies with the life-giving commands—not due to a resemblance in nature between flesh and spirit, but because the flesh, having discarded the allure and corruption of vice, embarks on the path of spiritual renewal with a readiness to comply, no longer resisting the spirit’s law. Through the law of the Spirit and the Spirit of life, liberated from the law of sin, the flesh becomes united with the soul, serving virtue rather than being a refuge for vice.
The soul no longer indulges in bodily temptations nor submits to carnal pleasures; rather, the mind—pure and free from worldly service—draws the senses toward heavenly delights. Engaged in reflection or reading, the mind rejoices, recognizing a flourishing of virtues, and, free from hunger, attains satisfaction through spiritual sustenance from within. The mind nourishes the soul with sweet and glorious knowledge, transforming bodily impulses into an ornament of creation rather than allowing them to become a mockery. What was once a playground for desires becomes a temple of God, as seen in 1 Corinthians 6:19, while the domain of vice transforms into a sanctum of virtue. This transformation occurs only when the flesh, returning to its rightful nature, acknowledges the soul as its source of strength, shedding its pride and yielding to the soul’s governance. Such was the flesh before it succumbed to the venom of the malicious serpent, forgetting the holy constitutions embedded in the soul’s consciousness.
The origin of sin stems from this struggle; body and soul birthed it together. When the body was tested, the soul, having lost its reason, shared in its suffering. Had the soul curtailed the flesh's desires, the formative sin could have been extinguished immediately! Yet, the soul, as if accepting the tumor introduced by the flesh, succumbed to its influence and, regrettably, birthed passions that the body and soul once shared.
When the soul returns to self-awareness, reflecting upon its unruly progeny, it rejects its illicit offspring, discarding its debauchery and beginning to loathe sin. In a similar manner, the body, wearied by its heavy burdens and the toll of unrighteousness, as soon as it feels the sting of passion’s thorns, rushes to cast aside its old self, ensuring that the unfit offspring does not lead the negligent progenitor to ruin. The fierce assault of desires drags the flesh toward the allure of pleasures, binding it to vice, compelling it to dwell in indulgence. Pleasure, akin to the daughter-in-law of flesh and spirit, forges an unsanctioned union with the impulse of corrupt passion.
So long as the unbroken harmony of vices persisted within one dwelling, there appeared no division. However, when Christ ignited a blaze upon the earth, cleansing the offenses of the flesh, and the sword—symbolizing potent action—penetrated into the innermost depths of spirit and intellect, renewing both flesh and soul through regeneration’s ordinances, they shifted from their former state into something entirely new. They severed ties with their once-loved vices, separating from the perverse progeny: parents turned against children as the body surrenders its excesses and the soul renounces sin, leaving no space for foreign enticements.
Children become alienated from their parents due to the stale vices that reject the wise judgment of the renewed individual, as pleasure, like a rebellious offspring, evades the discipline of virtuous obedience often enforced in a respectable household. This can also be interpreted such that children distance themselves from their parents, seeking to surpass them, in line with the Lord’s assertion: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, mother, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Let us understand this as an admonition: a son devoted to Christ takes precedence over his non-believing parents because honoring God surpasses familial ties.
On a deeper level, sin emerges from the flesh and operates as if conceived in its very womb, as the apostle reveals: “If I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (Rom. 7:20). Since the blood of the Lord was shed for the well-being of the world, extinguishing sin's power, it has become feasible for us to shift from transgression to grace, as “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). It is evident that repentance born of sin prompts a change in purpose and an awakening of the desire for spiritual grace. What once led to my demise shall now guide me to salvation (Rom. 7:10). Sin, cleansed by pure water from the source of grace, is severed from the flesh that originally birthed it, and since everyone seeks to make amends for sin, a longing for proper instruction arises from the burden of transgressions.
The Word of God transmutes the appetite for evil actions and the fierce onslaught of passions into a craving for divine affection. This same nature reflects an altered disposition, whereby both soul and body absorb a more splendid teaching—the teaching of heavenly mysteries. The spirit feeds on understanding and, uplifted by the promise of what lies ahead, turns away from the past behaviors of the soul. The spiritual individual does not grasp that which pertains to the Spirit of God, for he considers it folly; but the spiritual one comprehends all things, and no one is able to pass judgment upon him (1 Cor. 2:14-15).
THEOSIS