Is 58:6-7: "This is not the fast I have chosen, says the Lord, but rather: loose every bond of iniquity, dissolve the obligations of violent contracts, send forth the broken in remission, and tear up every unjust written agreement. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the poor who lack shelter into your house. If you see someone naked, clothe them, and do not despise those of your own household."
Those who do not know the manner of true fasting must be shown by God. For from Him comes all wisdom and understanding, and the way to all things that are best is shown. Therefore the divine David also sings and says: "Lead me, O Lord, in your way, and I will walk in your truth."
Therefore He rejected the very crude and in no way useful fasting of the Jews and declares the power of true fasting. For He says, "Loose every bond of injustice," that is, cease to do violence to anyone. For the bond of injustice is violence—to attack the weaker and bind them as if with inescapable bonds of accusation, to make them fearful and thus try to take from them what they want.
"Dissolve the knots of violent contracts." We call violent contracts and knots full of cruelty those made in business dealings and in other so-called give-and-take transactions, which produce certain profits and prove those who engage in them to be lovers of shameful gain.
"And send forth the broken in remission," that is, those who are worn down or exhausted either from the bond of injustice or from violent contracts. "Send them forth in remission," that is, free them from the straits into which they have been cast. Allow the weary to breathe freely henceforth.
"Tear up also every unjust written agreement"—He speaks, I believe, of the documents of moneylenders, often composed for the purpose of accumulating money that the contract produces.
"When you have abstained from these things, then supply what is lacking"—namely, that you may bring forth the good fruits of charity toward your neighbor. For charity is the fulfillment of the law, according to what is written. The demonstration of charity fulfilled toward brothers and of mercy poured out, which is held in esteem by God, is to break bread for the hungry, to bring the shelterless poor into your house, to clothe the naked, and to follow with as much mercy as is sufficient those joined by kinship, to share with them the abundance of pleasure given by God.
Observe, however, that abstaining from evil is not the same as doing good. Nor will it be enough to glory before God that you do not commit evil, but it absolutely follows that you should perform good works and embrace the pursuits of piety. For to dissolve the knots of violent contracts, every bond of injustice, and to tear up every written agreement is nothing other than merely to depart from evil. But to fulfill the duties of charity—breaking bread for the hungry, bringing the shelterless poor into your dwelling, clothing the naked, and not despising those of your own household—these have a clear demonstration of the best virtues.
Therefore the old law as a tutor to Christ did not bring the fulfillment of good to those of that time, but taught them to withdraw from vices. For "You shall not kill," "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not swear falsely" have the same force. But what is perfect and the fulfillment of all good is preserved in the prophecies of Christ, from which we have learned to perform the duties of charity toward God.
Is 58:8: "Then your morning light shall break forth, and your healing shall quickly arise, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you. You shall cry out and God will hear you; while you are still speaking, He will say, 'Behold, I am here.'"
If you fast purely and show your hands cleansed and purified to God, and your mind freed from filth—certainly when you strike the humble with your fists and afflict those subject to judgment and fists, and obey your own willful desire, when you have broken bread for the hungry, sheltered the poor who lack shelter in your home—then your morning light shall break forth.
This speech has the greatest emphasis. For He did not say simply, "Light will be given to you by God," but rather "it shall break forth," like a certain lightning bolt sent down from God with force and speed, from which the promptness and eager zeal of the Giver is clearly shown.
When He says "morning," He teaches that the time will come. For God, the guardian of our affairs and bestower of spiritual goods, knows the opportunity for His generosity suited to each individual. But if anyone is honorable and good and merciful besides, and obedient to restraint, to this one even morning rewards will be given by Him, so that healings may arise in him like ears of grain—that is, the expulsion of every infirmity and the succession of better things.
For when someone is freed from spiritual sickness, he will certainly bear fruit in desire and eagerness for all good things. Therefore, when the divine light shines in us and falls under understanding, at the same time healings will also thoroughly arise, with God healing us and crushing, as it were, the strength and sinews of disturbances, and instead inserting into us the will to act well and excel in righteousness.
Hence He says, "Your righteousness shall go before you." It shall go before, smoothing the way of piety beforehand, making rough places smooth and passable, removing what is precipitous, and as it were opening up the course to all the best things.
He also adds something else: "For the glory of God will surround you"—that is, it will encircle you and make you worthy of respect, and the splendor of the saints greatly helps those who behold it. For Christ said to the holy apostles, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Therefore we shall be illustrious, with divine glory surrounding and as it were clothing us, which He gives to the cultivators of righteousness. "When these things come to you," He says, "then you shall cry out and God will hear you; while you are still speaking, He will say, 'Behold, I am here.'"
For He hears the prayers of the just, according to what is written, and as the Psalmist says, "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears toward their prayer." For He assents to petitioners as a good God, but not immediately to everyone—but to those excelling in righteousness He grants their requests without any delay and offers them most ready ears, so that in their individual petitions they rejoice and say, "He heard my voice from His holy temple, and my cry before Him shall penetrate His ears."
Therefore, the mature generosity and promptness of the giving God is clearly declared by that phrase, "Behold, I am here," while the just person is still speaking and directing prayers.
Is 58:9-10: "If you remove from you the bond and the vote and the word of murmuring, and give your bread to the hungry and satisfy the humbled soul, then your light shall rise in darkness and your darkness shall be as midday, and your God shall be with you always."
Excellent precepts and teachings, even if often spoken, nevertheless have usefulness for some. For the most wise Paul writes to those who believed through him, "To write the same things to me indeed is not burdensome, but for you it is safe."
Therefore he returns repeatedly to the same speech, while he opens the ways of true praise and narrates the splendor to be given to the saints, by which he may still more incite them to do those things from which they can be respected and held in veneration, and may obtain heavenly glory from Him.
Therefore he says, "If you remove from you the bond and the vote." By "bond" I believe he means the wickedness of nations, rudeness and the pursuit of contention, and weaving as it were the knots of troubles against some people, and creating difficulties, and raising questions of crooked inventions to ensnare some at times and send them into inescapable straits of anguish. For a man must be simple and open if he wishes to be regarded by God and to desire His gifts.
By "vote" he means being corrupted by bribes and seeking shameful gains. For we sometimes say of certain people that they have an outstretched hand for receiving, and that they have a contracted hand toward those who refuse for the sake of filth. It was also said of those who were leaders of the Jewish Synagogue, "Her leaders judged for bribes and her priests prophesied for silver," and that they were companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing rewards. And the divine Habakkuk said, "Judgment has been made against me, and the judge accepts bribes."
Therefore that term either signifies accepting gifts, which he here orders to be removed, or in another way it denotes repaying in kind and weighing evil with evil. For he spoke of certain people in the Psalms, "He stretched out his hand to repay." He adds, "They profaned his covenant."
Therefore, as I said, the stretching out of the hand can signify retaliation that anyone renders, avenging those who have brought some trouble and harboring anger against those who have offended. We also remember the Savior Himself saying, "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." For the highest proof of gentleness and freedom from anger is to be able to bear violence with equanimity and not to avenge those by whom we have been injured, but rather to forget their wrongs.
He also wants to remove "the word of murmuring." For we ought to submit with cheerful and eager spirit to the divine laws and not at all resist the excellent way of life or throw off the yoke, as it were, when the mind turns aside to the desire for worse things and praises pleasure rather than temperance, and puts worldly delights before a venerable life. This is what the Israelites did when they were crossing that deep desert. For when God was sending them manna, they inclined toward more shameful things, saying, "Would that we had died struck by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread to satiety!" But this murmur against God brought them destruction. For they perished by serpents. Hence the most wise Paul says, "Do not murmur, as some of them murmured and perished by serpents."
Therefore with cheerful and ready spirit it befits every one who is studious of adornment and elegance to seek deeds.
"But after you have removed the desire for murmuring, give bread to the hungry and satisfy the humbled soul"—that is, if you are merciful, if you love good things and embrace others with mutual goodwill, if you are easy to share and communicate with, and love your neighbor as yourself, then your light shall rise in darkness.
But what is this? Just as day comes from night, so also in us, when spiritual darkness is driven away, divine light takes their place, so that we seem to be in midday, that is, in the highest splendor. For when the sun's circle is at noon, then the most intense light is sent down to earth in the heavens. "And so your God shall be with you always"—this too is the greatest thing besides the others. For what good is not present to those who have obtained this? Or with what gifts does a man not abound if God is with him—He who can do all things and with rich hand distributes those things of which He is the provider and giver, who also repels the assaults of temptations and makes one so strong that he resists even Satan himself universally and the onslaughts of disturbances?
CONTINUE
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