SUGGESTION: Classic Gospel Commentary

MJ. Smith
MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,876
edited December 2024 in English Forum

First, place your order for The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church  http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/7445.  That gives you a nice resource you can tag "reformed"

Then start nagging Logos for a slightly older classic: The Explanation of the Gospel by Blessed Theophylact of Orchid. From the publisher:

This classic Orthodox commentary of the New Testament was written about
the year 1100 A.D. by a brilliant and saintly Orthodox hierarch. His
commentary has remained a primary text of New Testament interpretation
throughout the Orthodox world of Greece, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and
Romania. Blessed Theophylact distills the teaching of the earlier Church
Fathers, especially Saint John Chrysostom, in language that is
profound, powerful and direct. Translated from the Greek by Fr
Christopher Stade. Hardbound.

A sample: (now don't let the heading dissuade you ... this is great stuff:

Meatfare Sunday
The Last Judgment

Matthew 25:31-46

From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Matthew

by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

31-33. When the Son of Man shall
come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit
upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all
nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His
right hand, but the goats on the left. Since the first coming of the Lord was not with glory but with dishonor and indignity, He says, When He shall come in His glory.
For at the second coming He will come with glory, escorted by angels.
First He will divide the saints from the sinners, delivering them from
tribulations, and set them on His right, and then speak to them. He
calls the saints sheep on account of their
gentleness, and because they yield fruit and useful things for us, as
do sheep, providing wool, which is divine and spiritual protection, and
milk, which is the sustenance that is needed. The goats are the sinners,
for they walk along the precipices and are unruly and fruitless.

34-40. Then shall the King say unto
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was
hungry, and ye fed Me: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and
ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. Then shall the
righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed
thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and
took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or
in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto
them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me. He does not
give honor or punishment until He has first judged. For He loves
mankind and teaches us to do the same as well, not to punish until we
have made a careful examination. In this way those blessed
as they have been accepted by the Father. He considers them to be
inheritors of the kingdom to show that God makes them participants in
His own glory as His sons. For He did not say, "receive", but rather inherit, as a man would say of his father’s estate. By the least brethren
He means either His own disciples or, simply, all the poor. For every
poor man is Christ’s brother for the very reason that Christ, too, spent
His life in poverty. See also God’s righteousness, how He acclaims the
saints; and see the good disposition of their mind, how they deny, with
befitting modesty, that they have cared for Him. But the Lord accepts as
for Himself the things that were done for the poor.

41-46. Then shall He say also unto
them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye gave Me
nothing to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, or
in prison, and ye visited Me not. Then shall they also answer Him,
saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall
He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it
not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall
go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal. He sends those on the left into the fire which had been
prepared for the devil. For as the demons are without compassion and are
cruelly and maliciously disposed towards us, it is fitting that those
who are of like mind with them, and who have been cursed by their own
deeds, should merit the same punishment. See that God did not prepare
the fire for men, nor did He make hell for us, but for the devil—I make
myself liable to hell. Tremble, then, O man, and understand from this
that these men were not punished as fornicators, or robbers, or
perpetrators of any other vice, but for not having done good. For
indeed, if you consider things well, the robber is he who has much and
does not give alms, even if he does no obvious injury. For whatever he
has in excess of his needs, he has stolen from those who are in need and
who have not received anything from him. For if he had shared these
things with them, they would not be in need. Now that he has locked
these things up and kept them for himself, for this very reason they are
in need. So he who does not give alms is a robber, doing injustice to
all those whom he could have helped but did not, and for this reason he
and those like him shall go away into eternal punishment which never
ends; but the righteous shall enter into eternal life. Just as the
saints have unceasing joy, so too the unjust have unceasing punishment,
despite the gibberish of Origen who says that there is an end to hell
and that sinners will not be punished for ever, but that there will be a
time when they enter the place of the righteous because they have been
purified by suffering in hell. (1) Origen is clearly refuted here, both when the Lord speaks of everlasting punishment,
that is, never ending, and when He likens the righteous to sheep and
the sinners to goats. For just as a goat can never become a sheep,
neither can a sinner ever be cleansed and become righteous after the
Judgement. Outer darkness [mentioned in
the preceding parable of the talents] is that which is furthest from the
light of God and for that reason renders the punishment more harsh.
There is another reason that could be mentioned, and that is that the
sinner is in darkness even in this life, as he has fallen away from the
Sun of Righteousness, but as there is still hope of conversion, this is
not yet the outer darkness. But when he
has died and an examination has been made of the things he has done,
then the outer darkness in its turn receives him. For there is no longer
any hope of conversion, but he undergoes a complete deprivation of the
good things of God. While he is here in this life he enjoys to some
degree the good things of God, I mean, the tangible things of creation,
and he believes that he is in some manner a servant of God, living out
his life in God’s house, which is this creation, being fed by Him and
provided with the necessities of life. But then he will be altogether
cut off from God, having no share at all in the good things of God. This
is that darkness which is called outer by comparison to the darkness here, which is not outer
because the sinner is not yet completely cut off from this time onward.
You, then, O reader, flee from this absence of compassion, and practice
almsgiving, both tangible and spiritual. Feed Christ Who hungers for
our salvation. If you give food and drink to him who hungers and thirsts
for teaching, you have given food and drink to Christ. For within the
Christian there is Christ, and faith is nourished and increased by
teaching. If you should see someone who has become a stranger to his
heavenly fatherland, take him in with you. While you yourself are
entering into the heavens, lead him in as well, lest while you preach to
others, you yourself be rejected. If a man should cast off the garment
of incorruption which he had at his baptism, so that he is naked, clothe
him; and if one should be infirm in faith, as Paul says, help him; and
visit him who is shut up in the dark prison of this body and give him
counsel which is as a light to him. Perform, then, all of these six
types of love, both bodily and also spiritually, for we consist of both
soul and body, and these acts of love are to be accomplished by both.


1. Origen’s false teaching of apokatastasis, the restoration of all things, was condemned as a heresy at the Fifth Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in 553 A.D.

Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

Comments

  • Milford Charles Murray
    Milford Charles Murray Member Posts: 5,004 ✭✭✭

    That really is "Great Stuff"!    Certainly I would sign up for this, MJ!

    Peace to you!   And Joy!

    Philippians 4:  4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,876

    Just giving this a bump as this is a fundamental, foundational, essential resource missing in Logos. That the press is small is an excuse not a reason.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."