John Damascene

In his own words on Hebrews

• Hebrews 1:1

  The God proclaimed by the Old Testament and the New is the one who is celebrated and glorified in Trinity, for the Lord said, "I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill." For he worked our salvation, for the sake of which all Scripture and every mystery has been revealed. Again, "Search the Scriptures, for it is they that bear witness to me." And the apostle too says, "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." Through the Holy Spirit, then, both the law and the prophets, evangelists, apostles, pastors and teachers spoke. Therefore, "all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable," so that to search the sacred Scripture is very good and most profitable for the soul.

  ORTHODOX FAITH 4.17

• Hebrews 1:2

  He made the ages who exists before the ages, of whom the divine David says, "From everlasting to everlasting you are" and the divine apostle, "By whom he made the ages."38Now one should note that the term age has several meanings, because it signifies a great many things. The span of life of every person is called an age, and a period of one thousand years is called an age. Moreover, this whole present life is called an age, and so is the age without end to come after the resurrection. Again, that is called an age which is neither time nor any division of time measured by the course and motion of the sun, that is, made up of days and nights; but it is coextensive with eternal things after the fashion of some sort of temporal period and interval. This kind of age is to eternal things exactly what time is to temporal things.

  ORTHODOX FAITH 2.1

• Hebrews 1:9

  It is when the Word was made flesh that we say he received the name of Christ Jesus. Since he was anointed with the oil of gladness—that is to say, anointed with the Spirit by God the Father—he is called Christ, or Anointed. That the anointing was of the humanity no right-minded person would doubt. And the renowned Athanasius says to this effect, somewhere in his discourse, on the saving coming of Christ, "God (the Word), as existing before coming to dwell in the flesh, was not man but God with God, being invisible and impassible. But when he became man, he took the name Christ, because the passion and death are consequent upon this name."38Now, even though sacred Scripture does say, "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness," one must know that sacred Scripture frequently uses the past tense for the future. [It says,] for example, "Afterwards, he appeared upon earth and lived among men," for God had not yet been seen by humanity nor had conversed with them when this was said. And again, "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept," for these things had not yet taken place.

  ORTHODOX FAITH 4.6

• Hebrews 11:21

  The tree of life that was planted by God in paradise prefigured this honorable cross, for, since death came by a tree, it was necessary for life and the resurrection to be bestowed by a tree. It was Jacob who first prefigured the cross, when he adored the top of the rod of Joseph. And when he blessed Joseph's sons with his hands crossed, he most clearly described the sign of the cross. Then there was the rod of Moses which struck the sea with the form of a cross and saved Israel while causing Pharaoh to be swallowed up; his hands stretched out in the form of a cross and put Amalek to flight;78 the bitter water being made sweet by a tree, and the rock being struck and gushing forth streams of water. Further, the rod of Aaron miraculously confirmed the dignity of the priesthood, a serpent was raised in triumph upon a tree, as if dead, with the tree preserving those who with faith beheld the dead enemy, even as Christ was nailed up in flesh of sin but which had not known sin. … May we who adore this attain to the portion of Christ the crucified. Amen.

  ORTHODOX FAITH 4.11