Romans 14:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then, lest he seem to say this in order to frighten the weak, rather than because the course of his argument led him to it, the Apostle continues on the same subject: "Therefore let us no longer judge one another. Rather judge this: not to put a stumbling block or an occasion of offense before a brother." This applies no more to one than to the other. It may be addressed to both: to the perfect man, who is offended by discrimination in foods, and to the imperfect man, for whom overly sharp rebukes become a stumbling block. Consider, then, what punishment we shall incur if we simply offend our neighbors. Here the whole fault lay in the untimeliness of the rebukes. Yet the Apostle forbids them, lest a brother be offended or stumble. What shall we deserve when we offend a brother with no intention of correcting him at all? If failing to preserve what was entrusted is a crime, as is clear from the man who buried the talent in the earth, what shall we not bring upon ourselves by causing another to stumble? You will say, "What should I do if he is offended by himself, because he is weak?" For that very reason you ought to bear everything. If he were strong, he would not need such care. But since he is very weak, for that reason he needs great solicitude. Let us recognize this in him and support him in every circumstance. We shall give account not only for our own sins, but also for everything in which we became an occasion of offense to others. If it is hard to answer even for our own sins, how shall we be saved when this responsibility is also laid upon us? Let us not count it as an excuse that we find accomplices in our sins. This only increases our punishment. Thus the serpent was punished more severely than the woman, and the woman more than the man. Jezebel bore a heavier punishment than Ahab, who seized the vineyard, because she was the chief cause of this injustice and led the king into sin. You too, if you become the cause of others' destruction, will undergo a heavier punishment than those whom you brought to a fall. It is not so ruinous to sin oneself as to lead others into sin. Therefore the Apostle says, "Not only do they do these things, but they also approve those who do them" (Rom 1:32). Therefore, when we see others sinning, let us not urge them on to sin. Let us try to draw them out of the abyss of vice, lest we ourselves be punished for the destruction of others. Let us continually remember the dread Judgment, the river of fire, the bonds that cannot be loosed, the impenetrable darkness, the gnashing of teeth, and the poisonous worm. But you say, "God loves mankind." Then, in your view, are all these only words? Is the rich man who despised Lazarus not tormented (Lk 16)? Are the foolish virgins not cast out of the bridal chamber? Will those who refused to feed Christ not go into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels? Will the man clothed in filthy garments not be bound hand and foot and condemned to destruction? Will the man who demanded the hundred denarii not be delivered to the tormentors? Is it false what is said of adulterers: "Their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched" (Mk 9:48)? Are all these only threats? "Yes," you say. But on what grounds, tell me, do you dare assert this and pronounce such a judgment from yourself? I can prove the contrary to you from both the words and the deeds of Christ. If you do not believe concerning the punishment to come, then at least believe what has already happened. What has already occurred and been fulfilled in fact is not an empty threat or mere words. Who in Noah's time brought the flood upon the whole world, causing such terrible destruction by water and the ruin of our whole race? Who afterward brought lightning and fire down upon the land of Sodom? Who plunged all Egypt into the sea? Who destroyed six hundred thousand men in the wilderness? Who burned the company of Abiram with fire? Who commanded the earth to open its mouth and swallow Korah, Dathan, and those with them? Who in David's time struck down seventy thousand in a single moment? Shall I also mention individual punishments? Cain, delivered over to unceasing torment? The son of Charmi, who was stoned with all his household? The man who gathered wood on the Sabbath and suffered the same punishment? The forty-two youths who, in the time of Elisha, were devoured by beasts, and whose youth did not excuse them? If you wish to see similar examples in the time of grace, consider what punishments the Jews suffered. Their women ate their own children. Some roasted them, and others prepared them in another way. Amid unbearable famine and many grievous wars, they endured such extraordinary calamities that no dreadful misfortunes of former times can compare with them. That Christ brought all this upon them, hear how He Himself foretold it, both in parables and in clear, intelligible words. In parables He says, "As for those enemies of Mine, who did not want Me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before Me" (Lk 19:27). He says the same in the parables of the vineyard and of the wedding. In clear and open words He threatens that "they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations," and that there will be "distress of nations upon the earth, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear" (Lk 21:24-26). "And there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be" (Mt 24:21). Everyone also knows what punishment Ananias and Sapphira suffered for concealing a few coins. Do you not see daily misfortunes even now? Does this not happen? Do you not see that even now some perish from hunger, suffer from leprosy and other bodily diseases, live in constant poverty, and endure thousands of unbearable calamities? On what basis, then, should some be punished and others not? If God is entirely just, as indeed He is, then certainly you too will be punished for your sins. If you think God will not punish you because He loves mankind, then He should not have punished those others either. But, as we said above, God punishes many even here so that, if you do not believe threatening words, you may believe actual punishments. Since ancient events do not frighten us so much, He corrects the careless by contemporary events, which occur in every generation. Why then, you ask, does God not punish everyone here? So that He may give some the time for repentance which He has appointed. And why does He not punish everyone there? So that there may not be many unbelievers in God's providence. Now I will ask you: how many robbers have been caught, and how many have died without punishment? Where, then, are God's love for mankind and His justice? If no one at all were punished, you might resort to this objection. But when some are punished and others are not, and when those left unpunished have even sinned more, what meaning can there be in unequal punishments for the same crimes? Does it not seem that those punished have been wronged? Why, then, are not all punished here? Hear what Christ Himself answers you. When the tower fell and some men perished, Christ said to those troubled by this: "Do you think that these were worse sinners than all the others? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Lk 13:2-5). By this He teaches us not to hope that, because others have been punished, we shall remain unpunished though we sin greatly. Unless we repent, we shall certainly be punished. Why, you ask, should we endure eternal punishment when we sinned here for only a short time? Yet here a man who commits a single murder in a moment is condemned to labor in the mines for his whole life. But you say, "God does not act in this way." How then did He allow the paralytic to endure such severe punishment for thirty-eight years? That He really punished him for sins, hear what Christ says: "Behold, you are well; sin no more, lest something worse befall you" (Jn 5:14). Yet, you say, the paralytic was released from punishment. But there there will be no such release. That there truly will be no release from punishment there, hear Christ Himself: "Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" (Mk 9:44). And again: "Some will go into eternal life, and others into eternal punishment" (Mt 25:46). Therefore, if there is eternal life, there is also eternal punishment. Or do you not know how many threats were spoken to the Jews? Were these threats fulfilled, or did they remain only words? It was said, "Not one stone shall remain upon another" (Lk 21:6). Did one stone truly remain upon another? Christ said, "There will be great tribulation, such as has not been" (Mt 24:21). Was this also not fulfilled? Read Josephus, and you will not even be able to collect yourself when you hear of the disasters the Jews actually suffered. I say this not to grieve you, but to bring you into safety. I do not want to console you with empty hopes and thereby expose you to heavier punishments. Tell me, why do you not deserve punishment for your sins? Did God not tell you everything beforehand? Did He not forbid you? Did He not frighten you? Did He not use thousands of means for your salvation? Did He not grant you the laver of regeneration and forgive all your former sins? After this laver and forgiveness of sins, when you sinned again, did He not give you another help in repentance? Did He not make the way to forgiveness easy for you even after this? Hear, then, what God commanded. If you forgive your neighbor's sins, then I also, He says, will forgive you. What difficulty is there in this? "Judge the orphan, defend the widow, and come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be like scarlet, I will make them white as snow" (Is 1:17-18). What difficulty is there in this? "Declare your transgressions, that you may be justified" (Is 43:26). What burden is there in this? "Redeem your sins by almsgiving" (Dan 4:24). What labor is there in this? The publican said, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," and "went down justified" (Lk 18:13-14). Is it hard to imitate the publican? Yet, despite all this, you do not want to be persuaded that punishment and torment exist. Perhaps you will say that the devil is not punished? It is said, "Depart into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mt 25:41). If there were no Gehenna, the devil would not be punished. But if he is punished, it is clear that we too shall be punished when we do his works. We also disobeyed God's command, though not the same one as he did. How do you not fear to speak boldly against God? When you say that God loves mankind and does not punish, then according to you He would no longer love mankind if He punished. Do you see what thoughts the devil leads you into? What then? Will the monks who settled in the mountains and showed countless struggles remain uncrowned? If the wicked are not punished and there is no recompense, then someone may say that the good are not rewarded either. "I do not accept that," you say, "for it accords more with God's goodness that there be only a kingdom and no Gehenna." Then the fornicator, the adulterer, and the man who committed thousands of crimes will enjoy the same good things as the man distinguished by chastity and holiness. Then Paul will stand alongside Nero, or even the devil alongside Paul. If there is no Gehenna, and the resurrection is common to all, then the wicked will be deemed worthy of the same good things as the righteous. What madman could assert this? Rather, what demon would dare say this? The demons acknowledge Gehenna, for they cried out, saying, "Have You come here to torment us before the time?" (Mt 8:29). How do you not fear and shudder to deny what even the demons acknowledge? Do you not see what teacher suggests this evil doctrine to you? The one who deceived man in the beginning and, by offering great hopes, snatched from him the blessings already in his hands, now teaches you to speak and think in this way. The devil persuades some to think there is no Gehenna in order to cast them into it.

Both of you, he says, leave the quarrel that exists between you. You who eat everything must not give the imperfect man an occasion for stumbling by sharply rebuking him. And you who do not eat everything must not give your brother an occasion for offense by observing Jewish customs. Stumbling and offense are fittingly applied to both persons.

Besides this, each of us shall give account of himself to God (Rom 14:12). Orthodox Christians, in days of special fasting one can find among us people who fast strictly, people who fast less, and even people who do not observe the fast in food at all. Among us there are also people who fast, yet judge others for breaking the fast, and, as it were, imperceptibly consider themselves higher than others. How then should we all conduct ourselves toward one another? Just as the holy Apostle Paul commanded. Let us therefore no longer judge one another. Rather, let us care not to give a brother an occasion for stumbling or scandal (Rom 14:13). In relation to the weak and to those who are scrupulous in faith and devotion, we must be condescending, patient, and cautious.

Therefore no longer judge one another, but take care in your soul not to place any stumbling block before your brother.

In these words the Apostle attacks those believers from among the Gentiles who had no condescension toward the weakness of believers from among the Jews. They considered the indifferent tasting of foods the height of virtue and fiery zeal. First, he teaches that there is nothing abominable or unclean in them. He says, "I know and am convinced in Christ Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself."

Third, in order to remove grief and scandal for weak brethren, love requires us to adapt ourselves to their views in matters indifferent to morality, rather than proudly insist on our own (Rom 14:13-21). "Let us no longer judge one another. Rather judge this, that no one put a stumbling block or scandal in his brother's way... But if your brother is grieved because of food, you are no longer walking according to love... For the kingdom of God is not food and drink," that is, it is acquired independently of what a person eats or drinks, "but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit... All things are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with scandal. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine, or do anything by which your brother stumbles, or is scandalized, or is weakened."

If someone eats and drinks according to the demand of reason, to the glory of God, he not only does not sin. On the contrary, he fulfills the purpose of his being. For we were created by the Lord, and must live for the Lord, and likewise die for Him. This is all the more so because not only God the Father, but also His Only-begotten Son, our Savior, now has dominion over the living and the dead. He also will judge all the tribes of the earth. Therefore we have no right to judge others, but must prepare ourselves for judgment. For this reason, the Apostle counsels us to take care that, while not being scandalized by the eating of others, we do not give any scandal by our own not eating.

"Since the Apostle has pointed to the Master's judgment seat, he necessarily counsels us not to judge one another, but to await that sentence" (blessed Theodoret). "Let us no longer judge one another" is a commandment written for all. He subjects even himself to it. It is common to all and concerns all matters generally which we notice in others. Judgment, whoever or whatever it concerns, must have no place among us. Therefore do not let your mind roam through other people's affairs, and do not weary your attention with them. To what, then, must it be directed? To considering how to conduct your own affairs so as not to scandalize anyone by them. From the course of the argument, it is clear that the Apostle here defines the form of outward conduct.