Jeremias 31
John Chrysostom · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Jeremias 31:15
Herod sought him after his birth. He was to kill all the children in that place. And the prophet revealed this, too, foretelling it long beforehand when he said, "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, mourning and much weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not." The Scriptures also predicted that he would come to Egypt when they said, "Out of Egypt I called my son." — DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 3:7
Jeremias 31:31
Don't you see how their reasoning comes around to the very contrary? The God of the old covenant, whom they call cruel, will be found mild and meek. The God of the new, whom they acknowledged to be good, will be hard and grievous, according to their madness. But we say that there is but one and the same Legislator of both covenants, who dispensed all correctly and adapted to the difference of the times the difference between the two systems of law. Therefore the first commandments are not cruel, nor are the second hard and grievous, but all come from one and the same providential care. Hear the affirmation of the prophet that God gave the old covenant also, or rather (so we must speak), the affirmation of him who is both the one and the other: "I will make a covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors." — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 16:8
Jeremias 31:31
From the prophets I will prove that the Old and New Covenants have one Lawgiver. And so, what does Jeremiah say? "I will give you a new covenant." Do you see Jeremiah's prophetic reference to a new covenant that shines forth brilliantly for so many years before Christ's coming? "I will give you a new covenant." But how does it seem that he gave even the Old? When he said, "I will give you a new covenant," he added, "not like the covenant that I gave to your ancestors." — HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 6:4.15
Jeremias 31:32
There was a law before, and there is a law now: "The law of the Spirit of life has delivered me." There was worship before, and there is worship now: "Whose worship," Paul says, and again, "Who serve God in spirit." There was a covenant before, and there is a covenant now: "I will make a new covenant with you, not according to the covenant that I made with your ancestors." There was holiness before, and there is holiness now. There was a baptism before, and there is a baptism now. There was a sacrifice before, and there is a sacrifice now. There was a temple before, and there is a temple now. There was a circumcision before, and there is a circumcision now. So also there was grace before, and there is a grace now. But the first-named as types, and the others as the reality, have kept the same name but not the same meaning. Thus, even in pictures and images one that is done in black and white shades is said to be a person, and likewise one that has been done in realistic colors. Similarly, in the case of statues, both the gold one and clay one are called statues, but the one as a model, the other as the real statue. — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14
Jeremias 31:34
Consider how easy it is for people to obey. For Jeremiah said, "They shall no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know the Lord.' For all men will know me from the least of them to the greatest." And Isaiah showed how indestructible the Church would be. "For in the last days the mountain of the Lord will be conspicuous, and the house of the Lord will be on top of the mountains and will be exalted above the hills. And to this mountaintop will come many peoples and many nations." — DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 6:5
Jeremias 31:34
To show the rapidity of the change and the facility with which they would embrace Christ's teaching, the prophet went on to say, "And they shall no more teach everyone his neighbor and everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them." On his coming, Christ would also pardon the transgressions of all people and no more remember their sins. What could be clearer than this? By these predictions the prophet revealed the calling of the Gentiles, the superiority of the new law over the old law, the ease of access, the grace possessed by those who have believed and the gift given in baptism. — DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 10:9-10
Jeremias 31:34
Let me beg you to consider then this simple and single-hearted person and take notice of him in the affairs of life, and you will see him a pattern of the utmost scrupulousness, such that if he would have shown it in spiritual matters he would not have been overlooked. The facts of the truth are clearer than the sun. And wherever a person may go, he might easily lay hold of his own salvation, if he wanted to, that is, to be obedient and not to look on this as a byproduct. For were these events confined to Palestine or to a little corner of the world? Didn't you hear the prophet say, "All shall know me, from the least even to the greatest"? — HOMILIES ON ROMANS 26