And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
All Commentaries on Genesis 2:25 Go To Genesis 2
John Chrysostom
AD 407
"They were both naked," the text says, remember, "and were not ashamed." [ Gen 2:25 ] You see, while sin and disobedience had not yet come on the scene, they were clad in that glory from above which caused them no shame; but after the breaking of the law, then entered the scene both shame and awareness of their nakedness. So, from what source, tell me, did these things come for him to utter? Surely it's obvious that before his disobedience he had a share in prophetic grace and saw everything through the eyes of the Spirit.
These matters, however, I am bringing to your attention not without purpose; my intention instead is that even in this early instance you may grasp God's surpassing love (l23d) displayed in regard to human kind in granting them from the outset an angelic way of life, bestowing countless benefits on them and regaling them with prophetic grace along with all other goods. Then, when by contrast you see mankind's lack of response despite such works of kindness, you may no longer lay responsibility at God's door but recognize it completely as man's. It is He, after all, who became responsible for all the troubles that befell him, to such an extent that in future you may learn both about the loss of such advantages and the condemnation he incurred for his disobedience. You see, when ever I consider the way of life God had granted him, showing him to such a degree generous marks of kindness firstly, the fact that before his formation he had produced the whole of the created universe for him, and then at that stage created him so that he might come into existence and enjoy (124a) all visible things; next he ordered the garden be created and in tended man should pass his life there, marking him off from all the brute beasts and giving him authority over them, and he bade him give them all names in the manner of a master with his slaves; then, when he was alone and needed some helpmate to share with him the same being, far from over looking this, God brought forth the woman and committed her to the man in the manner he wanted, and after all these he bestowed on him also the dignity of prophecy. In the wake of these ineffable kindnesses he regaled him with the crown of them all, liberating him from all the concerns of the body, forestalling even the need for wearing clothes or any other necessity. On the contrary, as I said before, he intended man should pass his days on earth like some terrestrial angel. Accordingly, whenever I consider all these things, (124b) I am amazed by the Lord's loving kindness for our race and by man's lack of response, as well as the devil's envy; the evil spirit, after all, could not bear to see an angelic way of life in a human body.
In case, however, we prolong our sermon to a great length, we will, if you like, keep for later the account of the evil spirit's plotting and bring the sermon to a close at this point, urging you in your goodness to remember with precision what has been said and meditate on it all so as to have it firmly lodged in your mind. You see, if you constantly have in mind God's kindnesses which he has conferred on our race, we will ourselves be grateful and as well this habit will prove the greatest encouragement to us along the way of virtue. After all, the person who is mindful of God's kindnesses will clearly make the effort not to appear unworthy of them but to demonstrate such zeal and (124c) gratitude as to be deemed worthy even of further marks of kindness. Our Lord, you see, is prodigal with his favors, and when he sees us behaving gratefully for what has already come to us from him, he lavishes abundant grace on us and deems us worthy of even fur their gifts, provided we make our salvation a matter of concern and do not let the time slip away idly nor watch half of the holy season of Lent slipping away before our eyes; instead, our concern should be to see to some good conduct in all this season and to correction of the passions that assail us. You see, if it proved to be the case that we remained exactly as we were despite the daily advantage we enjoy of spiritual instruction, and did not devote ourselves to virtue, nor eliminate from our soul the various forms of wickedness, not only would we have gained no advantage but we would have incurred greater harm. I mean, whenever anyone who has the advantage of such attention gains nothing from it, the greater the fire of Gehenna heaped up for them.
Accordingly, (l24d) I beseech you to make proper use of the time remaining in Lent and bring yourselves under close scrutiny each week, or rather each day; rid your soul of deficiencies and lay secure hold on practices of virtue, as the inspired author recommended, [ Ps 37:27 ] desisting from evil and adopting virtue in its place such, after all, is true fasting. Let the irascible person rid the soul of this passion that inhibits pious thinking, and turn instead to mildness and reasonableness. Let the slothful and unmortified person, whose fancy is titillated by bodily graces, discipline his thinking and engrave on the texture of his mind the law of the Lord which says, "The man who gazes on a woman so as to lust after her has already committed sin with her in his heart;" [ Matt 5:28 ] let him banish the passion of incontinence and practice sobriety. (125a) Likewise, let the person who is rash in speech and an idle commentator on events imitate the blessed author and say, "Place a guard on my mouth, Lord, and a heavy door about my lips;" [ Ps 141:13 ] it let him never give vent to words idly and by chance, but listen instead to Paul's warning: "Let all shouting, rage, blasphemy, foul language and ribald jesting be far from you, along with all other forms of wickedness," [ Eph 4:31 ] and in another place, "May there be some good speech for edification and profit, so as to bring grace on the listeners." [ Eph 4:29 ] 13 By all means avoid oaths, in response to Christ's condemnation in the words, "It was said to people of old, Do not perjure yourself; but I tell you, take no oaths at all." [ Matt 5:33 ] So don't tell me, I take no oath in a just cause: there is no call for swearing in just cause or unjust. (125b) Accordingly, keep your mouth clean of any oath, and ward off all such from your tongue, your lips, and your mind so that no evil thoughts arise within you or pass beyond your lips. Close your ears securely so as to admit no idle report, as blessed Moses scrutiny each week, or rather each day; rid your soul bade us in the words, "Admit no idle report," [ Ex 23:1 [LXX] ] and as blessed David likewise said, "I kept far from me the man maligning his neighbor behind his back." [ Ps 101:5 ]
Do you see, dearly beloved, how much vigilance we need, how much effort on our way to virtue? how even some slight neglect brings on us the risk of complete disaster? Hence in another place as well blessed David shouts aloud his accusation against the person guilty of this: "You sit down and slander your brother, (125c) against your mother's son you spread scandal." [ Ps 50:20 ] If we protect all parts of our body in this way, we will he able both to be spoiled on to works of virtue and to occupy our tongue in glory and praise of the God of all our hearing in listening to the divine sayings and learning them, our minds in comprehension of spiritual teachings, our hands in almsgiving and the practice of good deeds rather than in theft and greed, and our feet in entering the church, houses of prayer and the shrines of the holy martyrs rather than theaters, race courses and harmful spectacles, so that we may benefit from the holy discourse in the former and snatch ourselves unharmed (125d) from the devil's wiles. If this is the way we devote our care and attention to our own salvation, we will be able to reap benefit from fasting, escape the snares of the Evil one, and win abundant favor from above. May it be the good fortune of us all to enjoy this, thanks to the grace and love of our lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor, now and for ever, for ages of ages. Amen.
