Chains of Love

“The labor of Egypt,” he says, “and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you.” No one can doubt that these names of different nations signify the coming of the nations who were to believe. And you cannot deny that the nations have come over to Christ. For since the name of Christianity arose, they have come over to the Lord Jesus Christ not only in faith but actually in name. Since they are called what they truly are, what was the work of faith becomes the mark by which they are named. [a]

“They will come over to you,” he says, “and will be yours; they will walk after you, bound in chains.” As there are chains of compulsion, so too there are chains of love, as the Lord says: “I drew them with chains of love.” Great indeed are these chains, chains of a love beyond words, for those who are bound with them rejoice in their fetters. Do you want to know whether this is true? Hear how the apostle Paul exults and rejoices in his chains when he says: “I, therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beg you.” And again: “I appeal to you, since you are such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” You see how he rejoiced in the honor of his chains, and by their example actually stirred up others. There can be no doubt that where there is a single-minded love of the Lord, there is also a single-minded delight in chains worn for the Lord’s sake; as it is written: “But the multitude of the believers was of one heart and one soul.”

“And they will worship you,” he says, “and make supplication to you: for in you is God, and there is no God besides you.” The apostle clearly explains the prophet’s words when he says that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” “In you, then,” he says, “is God, and there is no God besides you.” When the prophet says, “In you is God,” he very admirably points not merely to the one who was visible but to the one who was in what was visible. He distinguishes the one who dwelt from the one in whom he dwelt, by pointing out the two natures, not by denying the unity of Person.