Letter Xi 175
LETTER XI
people going to a show or a dance. Each carried a staff, wore sandals, and carried unleavened bread. Well, these things done then were shadows and types. But now we have the Truth with us: the "Image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), our Lord Jesus
Christ, the true Light. Rather than a staff, we have Him for our scepter. Instead of unleavened bread, we have Him — the Bread of Life. He has replaced sandals with the preparation of the gospel (Eph. 6:15). In summary, He has guided us to the Father by all these things.
If enemies attack and persecute us, He will encourage us more than Moses, saying, "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the wicked one" (John 16:33). And if, after we have "passed through the Red Sea," heat oppresses us or we encounter bitter waters, He will come to give us water from His sweet and life-giving fountain. For He says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37).
CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS—OUR BLESSINGS
Why then do we linger? Why do we delay? Why do we fail to come eagerly and diligently to the Feast, trusting that it is Jesus who calls us? After all, He is all things to us, and He was burdened in ten thousand ways for our salvation. He hungered and thirsted because of us, yet He nourishes us and gives us His saving drink. His glory and the miracle of His divinity is that He exchanged our sufferings for His happiness. Being Life, He died to make us alive. Being the Word, He became flesh so that the flesh might be guided by the Word. Being the fountain of life, He thirsted our thirst in order to call us to come to the Feast, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37).
In his time, Moses announced the beginning of the Feast by saying, "This month is the beginning of months for you" (Exod.
12:2). But the Lord who came in the fullness of time announced a different day (Heb. 9:26). It was not as if He would abolish the Law given through Moses — far from it. No, He came to establish the Law and, indeed, to fulfill the Law. As St. Paul says, "Christ is the end of the Law to everyone who believes in
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righteousness" (Rom. 10:4) and "Do we make the Law void by faith? By no means! On the contrary we establish the Law"
(Rom. 3:31).
CHRIST: SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF THE
PROPHECIES
These things astonished the police officers the Jews sent to arrest Him, so that they reported back to the Pharisees in amazement, "No man ever spoke as this man does" (John 7:46).
What was it that astonished and amazed them? Simply the boldness and authority of our Savior. For they knew that the prophetic Scriptures and those who interpreted them always pointed to someone who would come. Moses wrote: "The Lord will raise up a prophet like me from among you. Listen to all that he tells you" (Deut. 18:15). And Isaiah wrote, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and you shall call his name
Emanuel" (Isa. 7:14). Others prophesied about the Lord in a number of different ways.
The Lord, however, prophesied these things not of someone else, but solely of Himself, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me" (John 7:37) — not to any other person, but to "Me." And in those words we hear Him saying, "You may hear about My coming from others. But you must no longer drink from others, but from Me."
Therefore, when we come to the Feast, we must not treat it as the shadows and pictures that Israel had, for they are fulfilled. Nor should we come to it as we would an ordinary secular feast. Oh, no! Let us go quickly to the Lord, who is Himself the Feast (1 Cor. 5:7). We must not look at the Feast as a time to delight the appetite and overindulge, but as a display of virtue.
The feasts of the heathen are made up of laziness and greed.
They think idleness is the mark of a feast, and when they feast they do the despicable acts of death and hell. Our feasts, on the other hand, are scenes of virtuous activities and the practice of temperance. The prophetic Word says it very clearly, "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months shall become feasts of joy and gladness for the house of Judah" (Zech. 8:19).
LETTER XI
CHRISTIANS SHOULD STRIVE FOR HOLINESS
Since this occasion for the exercise of holiness has been established, since the day has come, and since the prophetic voice has called us to the celebration, let us give our full attention to this grand proclamation. Like competitors in a race, let us rival each other in observing the fast in purity; in our attention to prayer; in our study of the Scriptures; in giving to the poor; and in keeping peace with our enemies.
Let us get rid of pride and take on humility, maintaining peace with everyone and urging the brothers and sisters to love.
We have before us the example of St. Paul, who often fasted and prayed and was willing to be damned for the sake of his brothers and sisters (Rom. 9:3). Remember how the blessed
David first humbled himself by fasting and then went boldly to the Lord: "O Lord my God, if I have done this: if I have done evil with my hands, if I have repaid with evil those who did good to me, then may my enemies overcome me as an ineffectual man" (Ps. 7:3,4,Septuagint).
If we act like these saints of old, we will conquer death and most assuredly receive the promised pledge of the kingdom of heaven.?
THE DATES OF THE FEAST
We begin Easter Week on April 5 and end the holy fasts on the evening of Saturday, Apri! 10. Then we keep the holy Feast on the next day, April 11, and add feast days one by one until the holy day of Pentecost. On that day we keep the festival to the Spirit, who is always near us in Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
2The Holy Spirit. See Eph. 1:13,14; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5.
inthe aks nei Hele wet whey Phoye taal rican pce: Cie Ponste.' enithic ek oe vives teat bey tee nd fhe Bt reset ¢* Peete Wand aan thine eee fivgrhy, "Tose.
Feats Rane, geet eels, TS tes Sas : 'A be ia tee ee %, :
: ee *) ease Fe aot a an i Suh nese De Pe aie
THE TWELFTH LETTER
A.D. 347
BE STRONG IN THE FAITH
INTRODUCTION TO
THE TWELFTH LETTER
You will note that there is a gap of four years between the last letter and this one. The Festal Letters for 343 and 344 are missing, and those for 345 and 346 are very short, containing only a brief notice of the dates, but no message. During this time a council was held at Sardica (later Sophia in Bulgaria), intended to settle the continued disputes. Athanasius and other exiled bishops were examined and restored.
Nevertheless, the good bishop could not return. It was not until 346 that the Arian Emperor Constantius bowed to truth and allowed him to return to his flock. He had just returned home when he wrote this Festal Letter for 347. Written at the prime of his life (he was forty-eight), it is the letter of a mature man of Christ—a godly bishop—to his flock.
But alas! Although Athanasius was bishop until 373, we have only fragments of the letters that come after this one. I, for one, hope that someday an obscure cache of church documents will reveal the rest in their entirety. What a treasure they will be!
In this, our last letter, Athanasius devotes considerable space to teaching about how the Jews missed the full significance of the Law and the sacrifices, primarily the Passover. Concerning the Law he says, "They conformed to its letter, but they did not submit to its spirit." As a matter of fact, since they treated the whole of God's revelation that way, they don't really have a Passover anymore. They deserted the faith. All this he shows from the Scriptures.
INTRODUCTION TO RESURRECTION LETTER XII
But, he emphasizes, this isn't just a bit of history. These things were written for our benefit so that we wouldn't suffer shipwreck of the faith. Don't be like unbelievers and turn away when things get tough. Don't let the pleasures of the flesh carry you away. Don't build your house on sand. Turn away from wickedness; give thanks to God; and keep the Feast, looking forward to eternal joy in heaven.
How relevant to us who are Christians today! We are taken by the pleasures of this life, so much so that we see many who are lauded as Christian leaders committing adultery, getting divorces, and being swept away by money and power. They built their houses on sand, they became shipwrecks of the faith, and they are being swept by the current of evil down the swift tunnel to hell. Be not like such people, but repent. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:8-10).
Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed?
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, And did my Sovreign die?
Would He devote that sacred head For such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide And shut his glories in When God, the mighty Maker, died For man the creature's sin.
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Thus might I hide my blushing face While His dear cross appear, Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, Tis all that I can do.
—lIsaac Watts, 1707
LETTER XII
A.D. 347
"Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph.
1:3). What an appropriate introduction for a letter! It fits most especially now, along with the apostle's words of thanksgiving to the Lord.! He has brought us back home and given us the privilege of openly sending you the customary Festal Letter.
This is the season of the Feast, brothers and sisters. The day is near and it is not announced with a blast of trumpets, as the Old Testament tells us was done in ancient Israel. No, it is announced and given to us by the Savior, who suffered for us and rose again. As Paul put it, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed" (1 Cor. 5:7).
Therefore, the Feast of the Passover now belongs no longer to the Jews, or to some stranger, but to us. For the times of the types and shadows have passed by and the old practices have come to an end. And now the "month of new things" is at hand
—the time when everyone should keep the Feast in obedience to Him who said, "Observe the month of new things, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God" (Deut. 16:12, Septuagint).
Even the heathen think they keep festival, and the Jews hypocritically pretend to do so. But He reproves the feast put on by the heathen as food set out for mourners at a funeral. And He turns His face away from the feast of the Jews, for they are
1". who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ." Athanasius had been away from home for nearly three years: he was comparing the rest he (and the church) were having from their enemies with the blessings for which the apostle Paul thanked God.
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now outcasts. He says to them, "My soul hates your new moons and your sabbaths" (Isa. 1:14).
Actions carried out contrary to the will of God or without proper reverence don't do any good, no matter what religious importance people place on them. As a matter of fact, they are actually an indication of hypocrisy on the part of those who do them. Such people may think they are offering sacrifices to God. But He tells them: "Your whole burnt-offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices do not please Me; and although you bring fine flour, it is useless; I also abhor your incense" (cf.
Isa. 1:13; Jer. 6:20).
God doesn't need anything! And since nothing can make Him unclean, He has had His fill of their hypocritical activities. As He says through Isaiah, "I have had enough" (Isa. 1:11).
THE BLINDNESS OF THE JEWS
There was a law given about these things, and its purpose was to instruct the people and to give a picture of what was to come.
As St. Paul puts it in his letter to the Galatians, "Before faith came, we were kept guarded under the Law, kept in custody for the faith which was to come; therefore the Law was our guide to Christ, so that we could be justified by faith" (Gal.
3:23, 94), But the Jews did not grasp or understand that, so they walked in the daytime as if it were darkest night. They felt for the truth which we know to be embedded in the Law, but they never even touched it. Oh, they conformed to its letter, but they did not submit to its spirit. When Moses was veiled, they looked at him, but when he uncovered his face they looked away (Exod.
34:33-35). They did not know what they read, and erroneously substituted one thing for another (cf. 2 Cor. 3:12-18).2
HOW THE SCRIPTURES REPROVED THE JEWS
That is why the prophet cried out against them (cf. Isa. 57:4).
*Athanasius was pointing out that despite the fact that the Jews misinterpreted the Law, it was intended to lead them to faith in the Son.
LETTER XII
The Lord also said of them, "The strange children have dealt falsely with me; the strange children have wilted" (Ps. 18:45
Septuagint). Still, look how gently He reproved them, "Had you believed Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote about Me" (John 5:46).
But because they did not believe, they went on to deal falsely with the Law — interpreting things the way they wanted them rather than understanding the Scripture. They also hypocritically distorted the plain text of Scripture. And since they put their confidence in these distortions and misinterpretations, He is angry with them, as shown in Isaiah, "Who wants these things from you?" (Isa. 1:12). And since they were so brazen about it, He threatens them through Jeremiah, "Gather up your whole burnt-offerings and your sacrifices and eat them; for when I brought your fathers out of Egypt, My commands were not given for the sake of the offerings and sacrifices" (Jer. 7:21,
22).
The Jews, you see, did not behave as they should, nor was their observance of the Law carried out with the proper attitude. As the prophet accuses, they were out to serve their own pleasure on their feast days. They oppressed their servants and gathered themselves together for fighting and quarreling.
They also beat down the poor, and did everything possible to promote their own gratification.
So you see how it happens that from now to the end of time they will have no feast, even though they make a big display of eating a lamb — in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Instead of sacrificing the lamb in the manner required by God, they have learned to sacrifice to Baal. And instead of accepting the true unleavened Bread, "the children gather wood and their fathers kindle the fire and the women prepare the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to strange gods in order to make Me angry, says the Lord" (Jer. 7:18).
They have received what they deserve for such deceptions, for although they pretend to keep the Passover, they are unable to express joy and gladness. As Jeremiah put it, "The voice of those who rejoice and are glad — the voice of the bridegroom and the bride — has been taken away from the cities of Judah
THE RESURRECTION LETTERS
and the streets of Jerusalem" (Jer. 7:34). Consequently, "he among them who sacrifices an ox is like the one who kills a man; and he who sacrifices a lamb is like a man who kills a dog; he who offers fine flour is like one who offers swine's blood; and he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense is like a blasphemer"
(Isa. 66:3). These sacrifices and offerings will never please God, nor has the divine Word required them.
What He has said is, "These people have chosen to go their own ways; and their soul delights in their abominations' (Isa.
66:3). What does this mean, brothers and sisters? We need to investigate what the prophet is saying, especially in regard to heretics who think up things contrary to the Law.
THE LAW CONCERNING SACRIFICES
Through Moses God gave commandments about sacrifices, and the whole book of Leviticus is taken up with acceptable ways for them to be carried out. The Lord, through the prophets, found fault with those who contemptuously mistreated these things, calling them disobedient to the commandment. He told them, "I have not asked you to do these things! .
. Neither did I speak to your fathers about sacrifices, nor give them commands about whole burnt-offerings" (Isa.
1:12; Jer. 7:22).
Some have put forth the opinion that either the Scriptures do not agree or that God, who gave the commandment, is a liar.
But there is no disagreement — far from it. The Father, who is truth, cannot lie, "for it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb.
6:18), as Paul affirms.® Actually, these things are plain to those who accept the writings of the Law with faith and look at them in the right way.
Here is my explanation, and may God grant by your prayers that I'm not too far from the truth. It does not appear to me that God gave the commandments and the Law concerning sacrifices right away when He led them out of Egypt. Nor did He who 3Again, the quote from Hebrews is attributed to St. Paul, as if Athanasius accepted Pauline authorship.
LETTER XII
gave the Law really pay any attention to the whole burntofferings, as such. He was looking ahead to those things that were prefigured and pointed out by them: "For the law contained a shadow of good things to come" (Heb. 10:1). And,
"Those regulations were set forth until the time of reformation"
(Heb. 9:10).
That is why the whole Law didn't deal with sacrifices, although it did include commands concerning them. By means of these commands it began to teach people, calling them away from idols and drawing them to God, giving them proper teaching for the times in which they lived. So you see, God did not give the people those commands about sacrifices and offerings when He brought them out of Egypt, nor even when they first came to Mount Sinai. God is not like people, that He should want those things for Himself. No, He gave the commandment so that they might know Him and His Word (the Son)
— and forget about those so-called gods that don't really exist but appear to do so because of the show people put on.
Notice that He made Himself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt, right through the Red Sea. But then they wanted to serve Baal and dared to offer sacrifices to gods that do not exist. They forgot the miracles that were done for them in Egypt and even thought about going back there again (cf. Exod. 16:3).
After that, indeed after the Law had been given, God gave them the commandments dealing with sacrifices. He did this so that their minds, which had once been devoted to those nonexistent gods, could be turned toward Him who really is
God. Then they would learn, not especially to sacrifice, but most of all to turn away from idols and to pay attention to God's commands. For after He says, "I have not told you to make sacrifices nor given you commands about whole burnt-offerings"
(Jer. 7:22), He immediately adds, "But this is what I commanded them: obey Me and I will be your God and you will be
My people and you shall do all that I command you" (Jer. 7:23).
He had already instructed them not to serve anyone but the Lord. They were able to know how long the types and shadows would last. They had been taught not to forget that the time was
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coming when the sacrifice would no longer be the bullock of the herd, nor the ram of the flock, nor the he-goat (Exod. 12:5).
Further, they knew that all these things should be carried out in a pure and spiritual manner — with constant prayer, a righteous way of life, and godly speech. As David sings, "May my meditation be pleasing to Him.
. Let my prayer come before you as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps. 104:34; 141:2). And the Holy Spirit, who was in David, commanded, "Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Lord.
. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord" (Ps. 50:14; 4:5).
THE OBSTINACY OF THE JEWS
The great Samuel once very pointedly reproved Saul by saying, "Is not the word better than a gift?" (cf. 1 Sam. 15:224).
It is by obedience and praise that one fulfills the Law and pleases God. As He says, "You glorify Me when you bring a sacrifice of praise" (Ps. 50:23). He wants us to "learn the meaning of this: I want mercy and not sacrifice" (Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13) and not to condemn our enemies.
But this displeased the Jews. Obviously, they were not eager to understand, "for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:8). The prophet foretold their doom with his words, "Woe to them! For they have thought up an evil plan, saying, let us ambush the righteous man because he is an inconvenience to us" (cf. Isa. 3:9,105).
Giving themselves over to evil in this way could only result in heresy, as the Lord said when He reproved them: "You are wrong because you do not know the Scriptures" (Matt. 22:29).
Later, when the reproof they had received should have brought them to their senses, they grew insolent instead and announced, "We are the disciples of Moses and we know that God spoke to him" (John 9:28,29). By saying those things they not only went deeper into deception and false dealings, but 4Also, Ecclus. 18:17.
5Also, Wisdom 2:12.
LETTER XII
they also accused themselves. For if they had actually believed Moses, they would not have denied the Lord, who spoke through Moses, and who was now actually right there with them.
Certainly the eunuch described in Acts was not like them.
When he heard, "Do you understand what you read?" (Acts 8:30) he was not ashamed to confess his ignorance. Indeed, he asked to be taught, and because he wanted to learn he was given the grace of the Spirit.
But as for the Jews, because they persisted in their sins the proverb applies to them. "Death came upon them. For the fool dies in his sins" (cf. Prov. 5:23; Prov. 24:9, Septuagint; Ps.
55:15). The same is true for the heretics, who have lost true discernment and dare to believe in atheism. "For the fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt and they commit foul and wicked acts" (Ps. 14:1). Count on it: those who are fools in their thoughts will do wicked deeds. As the Lord said (to the Pharisees), "How can you speak good things when you are evil?" (Matt. 12:34). And they truly were evil, because their thoughts were wicked.
Or consider, how can a person whose mind is set on fraud act justly? Or how can a person love who has made up his mind to hate? How can someone who is bent upon the love of money be kind? How can a man who deliberately lusts after a woman be pure? "For out of the heart came evil thoughts, fornication, adultery, murder" (Matt. 15:19).
A fool is wrecked by these things like a helpless ship tossed by waves, for all of those bodily pleasures he delights in entice him and drag him under. As it is written, "A fool's whole flesh is tempest-tossed" (Prov. 26:10, Septuagint). So he first gets into foolishness, then is caught in a tempest, and finally perishes, as Solomon says in the Proverbs, "The fool and the person who lacks understanding will perish together, and will leave their wealth to strangers. 6
Now the Jews suffer these things because not one of them has 6The statement is not found in Proverbs but in Ps. 49:10. Athanasius got his reference mixed.