Fathers

Hebrews 12

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Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

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What the Fathers say

Hebrews 12:6

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." Thou canst not say that any righteous man is without affliction: even if he appear to be so, yet we know not his other afflictions. So that of necessity every righteous man must pass through affliction. For it is a declaration of Christ, that the wide and broad way leads to destruction, but the strait and narrow one to life. …

Homily on Hebrews 29 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Among those loved by God, one cannot find anyone who would be without sorrows. But are not robbers and thieves also subjected to scourging? Are they then sons? No. For he did not say that everyone who is scourged is a son, but: every son is subjected to scourging. Thus, robbers are scourged not as sons, but are punished as evildoers. …

Commentary on Hebrews ↗

Oecumenius

"because the Lord disciplines those he loves." Indeed, no one can show anyone to be righteous without affliction: for "narrow and hard is the way that leads to life." (Matt. 7:14) Therefore, as far as correction is concerned, God calls you, not to punishment. Therefore, in the very fact that they thought they were forsaken by God, namely because of afflictions, He persuades them that they are cared for by God; rather, in the opposite way: You would be forsaken, He says, if you acted without afflictions. …

The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

674. – Then when he says, For the Lord disciplines [chastises] whom he loves, he gives the reason. But as the Philosopher says, the word 'chastisement' is generally used in regard to children: for we call a person chaste, whose concupiscence has been chastised. Similarly, a child is said to be chastised, when he is well disciplined. For something prone to evil needs chastening. But concupiscence is such, and so is a child who follows his own impulses. Therefore, one who chastises does so to keep them from evil. …

Commentary on Hebrews ↗

Bonaventure

Scripture enlightens from the left by means of benign punishments. Wherefore the Lord permitted the most just Abel to be murdered. Behold Noah who took a hundred years to build the Ark and placed in it everything he had: and the whole world was making fun of him. It is the same with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were pilgrims, and with Joseph who could not be exalted before having been sold, imprisoned and humiliated. …

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17 ↗