Homilies on Luke

Homily 3. Luke 1.11

HOMILY 3 Luke I.I I On the passage, "The angel ofthe Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side ofthe altar ofincense. " F THEMSELVES, beings that are corporeal and lack sensation do nothing to be seen by another. The observer 's eye is simply directed toward them. Whenever the observer directs his gaze and his regard at them, he sees them, whether the objects will it or not. What can a man or any other object that is enclosed in a solid body do to avoid being seen, when they are in fact there? In contrast, things that are from above and divine are not seen, even when they are there, unless they themselves will it. It lies within their will to be seen or not. It was by an act of his grace that God appeared to Abraham and the other prophets. The eye ofAbraham's heart was not the only cause that allowed him to see God; God offered his grace to the sight of a just man to let him see. 2. You should understand this not only of God the Father, but also of our Lord and Savior and of the Holy Spirit andto come to lesser beings-ofcherubim and seraphim. Perhaps an angel is helping us as we are speaking now, but we cannot see him because we do not deserve to. Even though the eye of our body or our soul makes an effort to see, the man who wants to see will not, unless the angel willingly appears and offers himself to sight. Thus, wherever Scripture says, "God appeared" to someone-just as here, for example, "The angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense"l-understand it as I explained. Whether it is 1. Lk 1.11. 14 HOMILY 3 15 God or an angel, and whether he appears to Abraham or to Zechariah, he will be seen or not, depending on whether he wishes it or not. 3. And we say this not only "of the present age"2 but also of the age to come. When we depart from the world, God or the angels do not appear to everyone, as if anyone who departs from the body immediately deserves to see the angels, the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Savior, and God the Father himself. Only one who has a pure heart and shows himself worthy of the vision of God will see them. One will be pure of heart; another will still be stained with some filth. Although they will be in the same place, the place itselfwill not be able to help or hinder them.Whoever has a pure heartwill see God.3 Whoever does not will not see what the other beholds.4 I think we should understand something similar ofChrist, too, when he was seen in the body. Not everyone who laid eyes on him was able to see him. 4. They saw his body, but, insofar as he was Christ, they could not see him. But his disciples saw him and beheld the greatness of his divinity. I think this is why, when Philip entreated the Savior and said, "Show us the Father and it is enough for us," the Savior answered him, "Have I been with you for so long a time, and you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father also.'" Pilate, who sawJesus, did not gaze upon the Father. Neither did Judas the traitor. Neither Pilate norJudas saw Christ as Christ. Nor did the crowd, which pressed around him.6Only those whom Jesus judged worthy of beholding him really saw him.7Let us, too, therefore , work so that God might appear to us at this moment. The holy word of Scripture has promised, "He is found by those who do not test him, and he appears to those who do 2. Gal 1.4. 3. Cf. Mt 5.8. 4. Origen believed that the soul, after death. underwent a sort of education, and was led into higher and higher truths until it gazed on the very causes of things and finally saw God. He imagined that this education took place as the soul journeyed upwards through the spheres of the heavens. See On First Principles 2.1 1.6-7. 5·Jn 14.8-9. 6. Cf. Lk 8·45. 7. See the parallel discussion of the two kinds of vision in Hom. 1.4...