THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
"For he is God's servant for your good." The ruler is not only not fearful to you, but even praises you. He not only does not hinder you, but even assists you.
If you have in him a helper and one who praises you, why do you not submit? In general, he makes virtue more attainable for you, since he punishes the wicked and grants benefits and honors to the good.
By this he cooperates with the will of God, and therefore the Apostle called him a servant. Look: I give you counsels concerning chastity, and he requires the same by the laws.
I exhort you that one must not be covetous or seize what belongs to another, and he too has been appointed judge over the same thing.
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Thus he is our co-worker and helper, and for this he has been sent by God. Therefore he is worthy of honor in two respects: because he has been sent by God, and because he has been appointed to the same work as we.
"But if you do evil, be afraid." Thus it is not the ruler who creates fear, but our wickedness.
"For he does not bear the sword in vain." Do you see how the Apostle presents him as armed, like some soldier, in order to make him fearful to sinners?
"For he is God's servant, an avenger to execute wrath on the one who does evil." Lest you hear of punishment, vengeance, and the sword and run away, the Apostle again confirms that the ruler fulfills God's law.
What if he himself does not know this? God has arranged it so.
Therefore, if the ruler, whether he punishes or rewards, is God's servant because he protects virtue and drives out vice, which God Himself wills, why do you resist one who produces so much good and advances the success of your affairs?
Many at first became accustomed to virtue because of rulers, and later cleaved to it because of the fear of God.
The future does not work so strongly on coarser people as the present. Therefore one who, by fear and honors, disposes the souls of men to be capable of receiving the word of teaching is rightly called God's servant.
Do you wish to know the third kind of slavery, that is, subjection? It is still heavier and more fearful than the two preceding.
Since we were not brought to understanding by those, God made our bonds still heavier. What is the third stage, or third kind of slavery?
It is subjection to rulers and governors, not such as the subjection of a wife, and not such as the subjection of slaves, but far more fearful.
Everywhere one may see sharpened swords, executioners, executions, tortures, torments, and authority over life and death.
That this form of dominion also became necessary because of sin, listen to Paul, who philosophizes about this. "Do you wish," he says, "not to fear the authority? Do good, and you will have praise from it.
"But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain." Do you see that both the ruler and the sword exist for those who do evil?
Listen again to what is said about the same thing with greater clarity: "He is God's servant, an avenger," he says, "for punishment upon the one who does evil."
He did not say, "The ruler does not exist in vain." What did he say? "He does not bear the sword in vain." God has placed over you an armed judge.
A compassionate father, in his goodness, gives his children over to strict tutors and teachers when they are inattentive and negligent toward him, abusing parental love.
So also God, in His goodness, gave our nature, which had been inattentive to Him, over to rulers, as to teachers and tutors, so that they might correct those who, of course, are meant here as people fallen into carelessness.
But if you wish, we can see the same thing also in the Old Testament: authority proved necessary because of our corruption.
One of the prophets, angered against the impious, says this: "Why then dost Thou keep silence when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
"Why dost Thou make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler?" (Hab 1:13-14).
Therefore there is an elder, a ruler, an authority, so that we may not be "like creeping things." There is an authority so that we may not devour one another "like fish."
As medicines are for diseases, so punishments are for offenses. That one devoted to virtue does not need this rule, listen to what Paul says: "Do you wish not to fear the authority? Do good, and you will have praise from it."
The judge, he says, is an overseer over you. If you live well, he not only oversees, but praises.
And why do I speak of the usefulness of rulers, when those devoted to philosophy, that is, those who lead a truly Christian life, become superior to something still greater?
Laws are higher than rulers, and yet the one who lives righteously does not need even laws. Listen to what Paul says about this: "The law is not laid down for the righteous" (1 Tim 1:9).
If the law does not lie upon him, much less is a ruler set over him.
Here is the third kind of authority, which also has its ground in sin and vice.
Those who fear rulers may also object: why were they given under the yoke of authority, when others lived wickedly?
The first solution to all these questions is this: the ancestors sinned and by their disobedience introduced slavery, while their descendants strengthened the slavery that had been introduced by their own sins.
If the latter had been able to keep themselves forever pure from sins, then perhaps they could object successfully. But if they themselves are subject to many punishments, then such a defense is vain.
I did not say that sin no longer produces slavery. I said that every sin is joined to slavery, and I pointed to the cause in the nature of sin, not merely in the difference between sins.
As all incurable diseases lead to death, though not all diseases are of the same character, so all sins produce slavery, though not all have the same character.
The same must be said also about slaves. The same must be said about subjects: the first people introduced sin, and their descendants by their own sins strengthened the power of dominion.
Another explanation can also be given in defense of the correctness of what has been said. Many, after turning to virtue, have been freed from dominion.
Do you wish to see this also with rulers? Nebuchadnezzar was a king. He heated the furnace exceedingly and cast into it the three youths.
They were young, alone, defenseless, slaves, captives, and without a fatherland. And what does he say?
"Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and do not worship the golden image which I have set up?" (Dan 3:14).
What then did they do? See how virtue made them, though captives, more royal than the king and showed the loftiness of their spirit.
They answered with such boldness as though they were speaking not with a king, but with a subject. "We have no need," they say, "to answer you in this matter" (Dan 3:16).
We shall offer proof not in words, but in deed. "Our God Whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace" (Dan 3:17).
They reminded him of Daniel's benefaction by uttering the same words which the prophet had then spoken. What had he said?
"The mystery about which the king asks cannot be revealed to the king by wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners. But there is a God in heaven Who reveals mysteries" (Dan 2:27-28).
The youths reminded him of these words, in order to make him more merciful.
Then they say: "Let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up" (Dan 3:18).
Notice the wisdom of these youths. Lest those present should see weakness in God if they were to die after being thrown into the furnace, they confessed His power beforehand.
They said, "Our God Whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace." But, on the other hand, lest anyone think, when they were saved from the fire, that they served God for reward and recompense, they added this.
"Let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up."
Thus they proclaimed the power of God and showed the firmness of their soul, so that no one might say of them what the devil slanderously said of Job.
What did the devil say about Job? "Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not made a hedge around him and his house and all that he has?" (Job 1:9-10).
So that no one could say this about them, they shut shameless mouths beforehand.
But as I have said, whether someone is a captive, a slave, a stranger, or lives in a foreign land, if he leads a virtuous life, he will be more royal than all kings.
Do you see how the slavery of wives, servants, and subjects is dissolved?