6. It is on thy account that He knows not
the hour and the day of judgment. Yet nothing is beyond the ken
of the real Wisdom, for “all things were made by
Him;”
John i. 3. and even among men
no one is ignorant of what he has made. But this is His
dispensation τοῦτο
οἰκονομεῖ. because of thine
own infirmity, that sinners be not plunged into despair by the narrow
limits of the appointed period, τῷ στενῶ
τῆς
προθεσμίας.
ἡ
προθεσμία
sc. ἡμέρα was in Attic Law a day
fixed beforehand before which money must be paid, actions brought,
etc. cf. Plat. Legg, 954, D. It is
the “time appointed” of the Father in Gal. iv. 2. no
opportunity for repentance being left them; and that, on the other
hand, those who are waging a long war with the forces of the enemy
may not desert their post on account of the protracted time.
For both of these classes He arranges οἰκονομεῖ.
by means of His assumed ignorance; for the former cutting the time
short for their glorious struggle’s sake; for the latter
providing an opportunity for repentance because of their sins.
In the gospels He numbered Himself among the ignorant, on account,
as I have said, of the infirmity of the greater part of
mankind. In the Acts of the Apostles, speaking, as it were, to
the perfect apart, He says, “It is not for you to know the
times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own
power.”
Acts i. 7. Here He
implicitly excepts Himself. So much for a rough statement by
way of preliminary attack. Now let us enquire into the meaning
of the text from a higher point of view. Let me knock at the
door of knowledge, if haply I may wake the Master of the house, Who
gives the spiritual bread to them who ask Him, since they whom we
are eager to entertain are friends and brothers.