← §3 Read continuously Fragments on Matthew · §4 · Theophilus of Alexandria
Words versus deeds in the kingdom
Theophilus is closing his explanation of the two sons, contrasting the Pharisees who only speak of keeping the law with the repentant tax collectors and prostitutes.
But the Pharisees who claim to keep the law in bare words only are rejected by God. For the kingdom of heaven is not in words but in deeds, and not the hearer of the law but the doer is righteous. The rest of these in the presence of God are like those who promised to go into the vineyard to work and did not go.
Greek οἱ δὲ λέγοντες
τηρεῖν τὸν νόμον Φαρισαῖοι ἐν μόνοις ῥήμασιν ψιλοῖς ἀπόβλητοί εἰσιν παρὰ θεῷ·
«οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγοις ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ' ἐν ἔργοις «· «οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἀκροατὴς
τοῦ νόμου, ἀλλ' ὁ ποιητὴς « δίκαιος. καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ οὗτοι ὅμοιοί εἰσιν
τοῖς ὑποσχο-μένοις ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα ἐπὶ τῷ ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ μὴ
ἀπελθοῦσιν.
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About this text Theophilus on the parable of the two sons: the Gentiles first refused and then repented, while Israel promised to obey and did not.
Theophilus of Alexandria (c. 345–412) is the name on these fragments on Matthew. They are not his fragments on John.
He takes up the story of the two sons. The first stands for the Gentiles. God, the common Father, sowed a teachable and natural law in their minds. They said to the wood, "You are my Father," and later repented and went to the vineyard. The second son is Israel, called through Moses, who said they would do and hear, and then did neither.
John justifies the prostitutes who repented. The Pharisees, who keep the law in words only, are rejected. The kingdom of heaven is in deeds, not in words.
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