Church Fathers Commentary Luke 21:12-19

"But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name`s sake. It shall turn out unto you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how to answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay. But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and [some] of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name`s sake. And not a hair of your head shall perish. In your patience ye shall win your souls." — Luke 21:12-19 (ASV)

St. Gregory the Great: Because the things that have been prophesied do not arise from the injustice of the one who inflicts them, but from the deserts of the world that suffers them, the deeds of wicked men are foretold. As it is said, But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you.

It is as if to say: First the hearts of men, and afterward the elements, will be disturbed, so that when the order of things is thrown into confusion, it may be clear from what retribution it arises. For although the end of the world depends on its own appointed course, yet, finding some more corrupt than others who will rightly be overwhelmed in its fall, our Lord makes them known.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Or He says this because before Jerusalem was taken by the Romans, the disciples, after suffering persecution from the Jews, were imprisoned and brought before rulers. Paul was sent to Rome to Caesar and stood before Festus and Agrippa.

It follows, And it shall turn to you for a testimony. In the Greek, this means for the glory of martyrdom.

St. Gregory the Great: Or, it is for a testimony against those who, by persecuting you, bring death upon themselves. It is also a testimony against those who, while living, do not imitate you, or who become hardened and perish without excuse. From these, the elect take an example so that they may live.

But because the hearts of men may be troubled from hearing so many terrible things, He therefore adds for their consolation, Settle it therefore in your hearts...

Theophylact of Ohrid: Because they were foolish and inexperienced, the Lord tells them this so that they would not be confounded when they had to give an account to the wise. And He adds the reason: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist.

It is as if He said: You will immediately receive from me eloquence and wisdom, so that all your adversaries, if they were gathered together as one, will not be able to resist you—either in wisdom, that is, the power of the understanding, or in eloquence, that is, excellence of speech. For many people have wisdom in their minds, but being easily provoked to their great disturbance, they ruin everything when their time to speak comes. But the Apostles were not like that, for they were highly favored in both these gifts.

St. Gregory the Great: It is as if the Lord said to His disciples, “Do not be afraid; go forward to the battle. It is I who fight; you utter the words, but I am the one who speaks.”

St. Ambrose of Milan: Now in one place Christ speaks in His disciples, as here; in another, the Father speaks; and in another, the Spirit of the Father speaks. These do not differ but agree. When one speaks, all three speak, for the voice of the Trinity is one.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Having previously dispelled the fear of inexperience, He goes on to warn them of another certain event that might agitate their minds, so that it would not dismay them by falling upon them suddenly. For it follows, And you shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

St. Gregory the Great: We are all the more galled by the persecutions we suffer from those whose dispositions we felt sure of, because along with the bodily pain, we are tormented by the bitter pangs of lost affection.

Gregory of Nyssa: But let us consider the state of things at that time. While all people were suspected, kinsfolk were divided against one another, each differing from the other in religion. The gentile son stood up as the betrayer of his believing parents, and the unbelieving father became the determined accuser of his believing son. No age was spared in the persecution of the faith; women were not even protected by the natural weakness of their sex.

Theophylact of Ohrid: To all this He adds the hatred that they will meet with from men.

St. Gregory the Great: But because of the hard things foretold concerning the affliction of death, a consolation concerning the joy of the resurrection immediately follows, when it is said, But there shall not a hair of your head perish. It is as though He said to the martyrs: Why do you fear for the perishing of that which, when cut, causes pain, when that which is in you cannot perish and, when cut off, gives no pain?

The Venerable Bede: Or else, not a hair of the head of our Lord’s Apostles will perish, because not only the noble deeds and words of the saints, but even their slightest thought will meet with its deserving reward.

St. Gregory the Great: He who preserves patience in adversity is thereby made proof against all affliction, and so by conquering himself, he gains mastery over himself. As it follows, In your patience possess you your souls. For what is it to possess your souls, but to live perfectly in all things and, sitting as it were upon the citadel of virtue, to hold in subjection every motion of the mind?

By patience, then, we possess our souls, because when we learn to govern ourselves, we begin to possess the very thing that we are. For this reason, the possession of the soul is founded on the virtue of patience, because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. It teaches us to bear the evils inflicted by others and also to have no feeling of indignation against the one who inflicts them.