Ezequiel 36
Theodoret of Cyrus · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Ezequiel 36:8
I will strengthen the people's hope, and I will make steadfast their expectation of good things to come, and they will return and enjoy those fruits that are produced by you. — COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 14:36
Ezequiel 36:25
He calls the pure water the water of rebirth, because we who have been baptized have received the forgiveness of our sins. — COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 14:36
Ezequiel 36:26
He means by these things a change of attitude. Your heart, he says, will incline to better things, no longer following your previous preference for what is worse. That "I will give" in no way damages free will, for by words and deeds and endless miracles, not only among them but in all races, so that they start to live piously; he persuades, he does not compel. And although he does not compel but persuades, he says that he has inclined their minds toward better things. — COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 11:14.36
Ezequiel 36:27
These things did not happen before the coming of the Lord Christ. Since they had three prophets after the return to Jerusalem, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, they were immediately deprived of the gift of prophecy. But after our God and Savior was made man and ascended into the heavens, and the Holy Spirit came on the holy apostles, through them grace was given not only to the Jews but also to all those from the peoples who came to faith. He calls a heart of stone one that is antagonistic and rebellious, and a heart of flesh, one that is compliant and obedient to what it is told, and is able to draw out the meaning of the divine writings … this is the mark of a spirit of grace, which assists our free will and ensures that what has been said proceeds in due course. — COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 14:36