2nd Sunday of Luke

On October 4 the Antiochian Orthros synaxarion commemorates the Hieromartyr Hierotheos, bishop of Athens, with the verses: “Of old Hierotheos to Thee was consecrated; now gone hence, O Word, he hath to Thee been united. On the fourth dawn, the grave covered Hierotheos.”

Hierotheos was a friend of Dionysios the Areopagite, and he received the Christian faith from the Apostle Paul a little after Dionysios. He was a member of the Athenian Areopagus. The same Apostle later made Hierotheos the first bishop of Athens. At the time of the Dormition of the most holy Mother of God, Hierotheos arrived in Jerusalem, carried by the clouds, and took part in her funeral; with his divine singing he brought heartfelt joy to many and showed himself to be greatly inspired. He labored greatly for the sake of the Gospel, brought many pagans to the truth, governed his flock well, and finally ended his life a martyr for Christ in the first century. The writings that bear the name of Dionysios (On the Divine Names 3) remember Hierotheos as the teacher of Dionysios and as the one who, at the gathering that the Church’s tradition identifies with the Dormition of the Theotokos, surpassed all the others present in his hymns of praise.

Hierotheos was won to Christ in the city that prided itself on its wisdom, among men who debated what is just and what is good. On the Sunday when the Lord gives the rule “just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise,” the first bishop of Athens stands as a witness that the Gospel does not merely confirm the wisdom of the nations but carries it past itself—from fairness to love of enemies, from the philosopher’s likeness to God to the mercy of the Father.

On this day the Orthros also commemorates the Hieromartyr Peter of Capitolias in Syria. The life preserved in the Church’s menologia tells that Peter was born and raised in the city of Capitolias, an ancient city east of the Jordan on the way to Damascus, and that he was both wise and very prudent. He was married and had three children; after his wife died he became a monk and was ordained to the holy priesthood by the bishop of Bostra.

As a teacher of the Christian faith he was denounced to the Saracen ruler of the region. He confessed Christ courageously before him, and for this his hands and feet were cut off, his eyes were put out, and he was crucified and finally beheaded. His body was burned and thrown into the river. Some sources place his martyrdom in the third or fourth century; it more probably took place in the eighth.

Peter was a husband, a father, a widower, a monk, and a priest before he was a martyr—an ordinary life of family and service that ended in extraordinary witness. The Gospel that commands love of enemies was, for him, not an abstraction: he was a Christian teacher among rulers who did not share his faith, and he gave his life rather than cease to confess Christ.

The Orthros also commemorates the Martyrs Domnina and her daughters of Syria. According to their life, Domnina had two daughters, Berenice (called Verine in some sources) and Prosdoce. Leaving their home and family, they settled in Edessa. Berenice’s father and her husband, who were pagans, took the women with soldiers toward Hieropolis in Syria. When the soldiers stopped to rest and became drunk, the women fled, and they perished in a river. Saint John Chrysostom, who preached a homily in their honor, relates that Domnina stood in the middle of the river and drew her daughters with her under the water, for she feared the soldiers would violate them; he praises Domnina for her courage and her daughters for their obedience.

The mother and daughters counted nothing in this life worth keeping at the price of their faith and purity. The Epistle’s “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” found in them its sternest form: they sowed everything, trusting that the harvest belonged to God.

• If you love those who love you, you are like the sinners and the Gentiles; but if you love those who do evil to you, you are like God, Who is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Which do you desire—to be like sinners or to be like God? (Theophylact)
• Do you see this natural law which is written in our hearts? (Theophylact)
• Shew thyself, He says, to others such as thou wishest them to be towards thee. (Cyril of Alexandria)
• Great is the glory of compassion… For virtue restores us to the form of God, and imprints on our souls certain characters as it were of the supreme nature. (Cyril of Alexandria)
• Let us then reverence spiritual love, for it is indissoluble. (Chrysostom)
• He is beloved by a fellow servant, but you are made like to God. (Chrysostom)
• As fire is not extinguished by fire, so neither is anger soothed by anger. (Chrysostom)
• When you are about to give to a poor man from regard to divine charity, it is both a lending and a gift; a gift indeed, because no return is hoped for; lending, because of the beneficence of God, who restores it in its turn. (Basil the Great)
• For the law calls assimilation following; and such a following to the utmost of its power assimilates. (Clement of Alexandria)

“And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid (c. 1107)

The Apostles were about to be sent out to preach and many persecutors and plotters awaited them. If the Apostles were fearful and dismayed by persecution, they might want to protect themselves from their persecutors by keeping silent and not teaching. If that happened, the radiant sun of the Gospel would be extinguished. In anticipation of this, the Lord exhorts the Apostles not to give way to defensive measures against their enemies, but instead bravely to endure all things, even insults and murderous plots. This is what He Himself did on the Cross, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). To prove to the Apostles that this commandment to love one’s enemies is possible to keep, He then says, “What you want to be done to you, do the same to others; and be to others that kind of person you want others to be to you.” If you want your enemies to be hard, unfeeling, and angry towards you, then be the same yourself to them. But if you want them to be kind and compassionate towards you, and not to remember wrongs, do not think that it is impossible for you yourself to be the same towards them. Do you see this natural law which is written in our hearts? That is why the Lord also said, “In those days I will surely put My laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts” (Jer. 38:33).

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 444)

It was probable however that the holy apostles would perchance think these things difficult to put into practice: He therefore Who knoweth all things takes the natural law of self-love as the arbiter of what any one would wish to obtain from another. Shew thyself, He says, to others such as thou wishest them to be towards thee. If thou wouldest have them harsh and unfeeling, fierce and wrathful, revengeful and ill-disposed, shew thyself also such: but if on the contrary thou wouldst have them kind and forgiving, do not think it a thing intolerable to be thyself so. And in the case of those so disposed, the law is perchance unnecessary, because God writes upon our hearts the knowledge of His will: “for in those days, saith the Lord, I will surely give My laws into their mind, and will write them on their heart.”

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 407)

Now we have a natural law implanted in us, by which we distinguish between what is virtue, and what is vice. Hence it follows, And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. He does not say, Whatever you would not that men should do to you, do not you. For since there are two ways which lead to virtue, namely abstaining from evil, and doing good, he names one, signifying by it the other also… It is manifest then that Christ has ordained nothing surpassing our nature, but what He had long before implanted in our conscience, so that your own will is the law to you. And if you will have good done to you, you must do good to others; if you will that another should show mercy to you, you must show mercy to your neighbor.

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.”

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 407)

The Lord had said that we must love our enemies, but that you might not think this an exaggerated expression, regarding it solely as spoken to alarm them, he adds the reason, saying, For if you love them which love you, what thank have you? There are indeed several causes which produce love; but spiritual love exceeds them all. For nothing earthly engenders it, neither gain, nor kindness, nor nature, nor time, but it descends from heaven. But why wonder that it needs not kindness to excite it, when it is not even overcome of malice? … Paul went to those who stoned him to do them good. Moses is stoned by the Jews, and prays for them. Let us then reverence spiritual love, for it is indissoluble… It is common to all to do good to those who do good to them. But he shows that he seeks something more than is the custom of sinners, who do good to their friends.

Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid (c. 1107)

But he not only condemns as unprofitable the love and kindness of sinners, but also the lending. As it follows, And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”

Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid (c. 1107)

Then He adds another compelling reason to keep this commandment: if you love those who love you, you are like the sinners and the Gentiles; but if you love those who do evil to you, you are like God, Who is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Which do you desire—to be like sinners or to be like God? Do you see the divine teaching? First He persuaded you by means of the natural law: what you want to be done to you, do to others. Then He persuades you with the result and the reward—He promises that you will become like God.

On “He is kind to the unthankful and evil”: Either by giving them temporal gifts, or by inspiring His heavenly gifts with a wonderful grace.

Saint John Chrysostom (c. 407)

Whereby you will confer more upon yourself than him. For he is beloved by a fellow servant, but you are made like to God. But it is a mark of the greatest virtue when we embrace with kindness those who wish to do us harm. Hence it follows, And do good. For as water, when cast upon a lighted furnace, extinguishes it, so also reason joined with gentleness. But what water is to fire, such is lowliness and meekness to wrath; and as fire is not extinguished by fire, so neither is anger soothed by anger.

Observe the wonderful nature of lending, one receives and another binds himself for his debts, giving a hundred fold at the present time, and in the future eternal life.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c. 394)

But man ought to shun that baneful anxiety with which he seeks from the poor man increase of his money and gold, exacting a profit of barren metals. Hence he adds, And lend, hoping for nothing again. If a man should call the harsh calculation of interest, theft, or homicide, he will not err. For what is the difference, whether a man by digging under a wall become possessed of property, or possess it unlawfully by the compulsory rate of interest?

Saint Basil the Great (c. 379)

But you say, How shall I get my living? I answer, work, serve, last of all, beg; any thing is more tolerable than borrowing upon interest. But you say, what is that lending to which the hope of repayment is not attached? Consider the excellence of the words, and you will admire the mercifulness of the author. When you are about to give to a poor man from regard to divine charity, it is both a lending and a gift; a gift indeed, because no return is hoped for; lending, because of the beneficence of God, who restores it in its turn. Hence it follows, And great shall be your reward. Do you not wish the Almighty to be bound to restore to you? Or, should He make some rich citizen your security, do you accept him, but reject God standing as security for the poor?

“Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 444)

Great is the glory of compassion, and so verily it is written, that “man is a great thing, and the merciful man an honourable thing.” For virtue restores us to the form of God, and imprints on our souls certain characters as it were of the supreme nature.

Saint Clement of Alexandria (c. 215)

For the law says, Walk after the Lord your God, and keep my commandments. For the law calls assimilation following; and such a following to the utmost of its power assimilates. Be, says the Lord, merciful and pitiful, as your heavenly Father is pitiful.

Source: The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Luke, on Luke 6:27–36 (johnsanidopoulos.com reprint, “The Commandment of Love”)

Theophylact reads the whole passage as preparation of the Apostles for persecution: if fear drove them to defend themselves by silence, “the radiant sun of the Gospel would be extinguished.” His argument moves in two steps that a preacher can follow directly—first the natural law written on the heart (Jeremiah’s new covenant), then the reward of likeness to God. He anchors the commandment in the Lord’s own prayer from the Cross, “Father, forgive them.” For a single Eastern voice across the pericope, Theophylact is the most complete.

Source: Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Sermons on Luke 6:27–36 (trans. R. Payne Smith, 1859)

Immediately before verse 31, Cyril sets the Lord’s commands against the law of Moses: the law “enacted like for like” and restrained vengeance, but did not command the injured to bear wrong patiently. The righteousness “over and above” that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20) leads to “the highest degree of patience” and a mind “entirely turned away from covetousness.” On verse 31 he calls self-love the “arbiter” the Lord uses to make the commandment practicable, and on verse 36 he makes mercy the virtue that “restores us to the form of God.”

Source: Homily on Psalm 14 (against usury), NPNF Second Series, vol. 8

Basil’s homily is the classic Eastern exposition of “lend, hoping for nothing in return.” He calls the lender’s refusal to help without interest “the last pitch of inhumanity,” counsels the poor to work, serve, or even beg rather than borrow at interest, and then turns to the rich: a loan to the poor for the Lord’s sake is “at once a gift and a loan,” because God Himself stands surety and “will pay the interest for the poor” (Proverbs 19:17). Read beside the Epistle, Basil’s homily joins the Gospel’s lending to Paul’s sowing.

Source: Against Those Who Practice Usury (Contra usurarios)

Gregory’s sermon, the source of the Catena extract under verse 35, attacks the practice of lending at interest to the poor as a form of theft, asking what difference there is between gaining property by digging under a wall and gaining it by the compulsory rate of interest. Together with Basil’s homily it shows how seriously the Cappadocian Fathers took the Lord’s words about lending—not as a counsel of perfection but as a concrete demand on the Christian use of money.

Source: Homilies 19 and 20 on Second Corinthians (on 2 Corinthians 9:6–15)

Chrysostom notices that Paul “did not say, ‘He that gives,’ but He that sows,” so that the giver might “look unto the recompense” and feel that he receives more than he gives. On “not grudgingly, nor of necessity,” he insists that what is done under compulsion “is shorn of its reward.” On Psalm 112:9 he writes that possessions “when they are kept they are lost; but when dispersed abroad they abide, yea, abide forever,” and that “righteousness” here “means love towards men.” In Homily 20 he notes how Paul places spiritual and temporal returns side by side.

Source: Reflection on the Second Sunday of Luke (johnsanidopoulos.com, “Kyriakodromion” series)

Theophan calls love “the fundamental, original commandment” and reads “as ye would that men should do to you” as a measure of love that “one can call boundless,” since there is no limit to one’s love for oneself. The key is “perfect compassion toward others, to fully transfer their feelings to yourself”; when this is kept, “your heart will show you” what to do. Otherwise “egoism will immediately approach and return you to itself.” Our neighbor must be in our heart “instead of our own selves.”

Theophylact, Cyril, and Chrysostom agree that the Lord grounds His hardest commandment in something every person already knows: how he wishes to be treated. Chrysostom says Christ “has ordained nothing surpassing our nature, but what He had long before implanted in our conscience,” and notes that the positive form of the rule includes the negative—abstaining from evil and doing good are two roads to one virtue. Theophylact and Cyril both cite the new covenant of Jeremiah: “I will surely put My laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts.” The Golden Rule is therefore not a lowering of the Gospel to common morality but the Lord’s way of showing that love of enemies is possible. Saint Theophan adds that the rule works only where compassion makes another’s feelings our own.

Three times the Lord asks what charis—grace, favor, credit—belongs to love, good deeds, or lending that only move within a circle of return. Even sinners keep that circle. Chrysostom distinguishes the loves born of gain, kindness, nature, or time from “spiritual love,” which “descends from heaven” and “is not even overcome of malice”: Paul went to those who stoned him, Moses prayed for those who stoned him. The measure of Christian love is not whether it is returned but whether it continues when it is refused.

The Cappadocians read “lend, hoping for nothing in return” with unusual concreteness. Gregory of Nyssa calls usury against the poor a kind of theft; Basil calls the loan to the poor “at once a gift and a loan,” because God stands as surety and repays. Chrysostom marvels that “one receives and another binds himself for his debts.” The Epistle supplies the same logic in agricultural language: “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully,” and God “supplies seed to the sower.” In Chrysostom’s words on the Epistle, possessions kept are lost, but “when dispersed abroad they abide.”

The reading ends not with a rule but with a person: the Father who “is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Theophylact makes the choice stark—“to be like sinners or to be like God.” Cyril says mercy “restores us to the form of God,” and Clement of Alexandria describes following God as assimilation to Him. The promise “you will be sons of the Most High” is the language of adoption and participation; Metropolitan Tikhon’s homily for this Sunday lingers on the mystery of that sonship. Mercy is not an ornament of the Christian life but the family likeness of the children of God.

“When the stone had been sealed by the Jews, and the soldiers were guarding Thine immaculate body, Thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting the life unto the world.”

Sung at the Little Entrance and at Orthros: the Risen Lord who grants life to the very world that sealed His tomb is the Father’s kindness “to the unthankful and evil” made flesh, and the hymn closes by naming Him “only Friend of man.”

“O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned.”

Appointed in the Antiochian Liturgy Variables for this Sunday: the Church’s hymn to the Theotokos asks for the very mercy the Gospel commands—mercy toward those who have sinned and have no claim on it.

“Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.”

Chanted before the Epistle on this Tone One Sunday, the prokeimenon asks God for the mercy that the Gospel will then command the faithful to show: “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”

“As God, Thou didst arise from the tomb in glory, and Thou didst raise the world together with Thyself.”

Read at Orthros before the synaxarion: Christ does not rise alone but raises the world with Himself—the pattern of a love that seeks the good of others rather than its own return.

“Continue Thy mercy unto those who know thee.”

Near the close of Orthros the Church asks for continued mercy; the Gospel of the day answers that those who know the Father’s mercy must continue it toward others.