This Sweetest Passage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Sweetest Passage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leithart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PLeithart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Leithart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/\",\"name\":\"This Sweetest Passage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\"},\"description\":\"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"This Sweetest Passage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/\",\"name\":\"Leithart\",\"description\":\"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d\",\"name\":\"Peter Leithart\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Peter Leithart\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This Sweetest Passage","description":"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This Sweetest Passage","og_description":"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/","og_site_name":"Leithart","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","article_published_time":"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00","author":"Peter Leithart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PLeithart","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Leithart","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/","name":"This Sweetest Passage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-18T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d"},"description":"According to Eric Costanzo’s study of John Chrysostom’s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This Sweetest Passage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/","name":"Leithart","description":"My blog is a public notebook, featuring essays, notes, and explorations on Scripture, theology, literature, politics, culture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb7113e4dd45fe26045622aa56f891d","name":"Peter Leithart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1033df9cd7263d2e0408cf9ee92ee4d?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Peter Leithart"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Leithart\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLeithart"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/author\/pleithart\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":16206,"date":"2014-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2014-06-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T00:00:00","slug":"this-sweetest-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/06\/this-sweetest-passage\/","title":{"rendered":"This Sweetest Passage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

According to Eric Costanzo\u2019s study of John Chrysostom\u2019s theology of alms (Harbor for the Poor<\/a>), John considered the judgment scene of Matthew 25 as \u201cthis sweetest passage\u201d concerning God\u2019s role in almsgiving and the place of alms in the church.<\/p>\n

Costanzo writes, \u201cJohn used this text to illustrate further the idea that the systems of the church, while initiated by God, are useless if they fail those in need. It is senseless, he argued, to honor Christ\u2019s body in the church, or at the Lord\u2019s Table, if one ignores His body represented by the living poor\u201d (73).<\/p>\n

John frequently drew parallels between the Supper and alms, considering alms a kind of sacrament subordinate only to baptism and the Eucharist (113-115). Drawing out this analogy between Eucharist and alms, and between the poor person and Jesus, he asked, \u201cwhat is the profit, when His table indeed is full of golden cups, but He perishes with hunger? First fill Him, since He is hungry, and then abundantly deck out His table also. Do you make Him a cup of gold, while you do not give Him a cup of cold water? And what is the profit? Do you furnish His table with clothes bespangled with gold, while to Him you do not afford even the necessary covering? And what good comes of it?\u201d (74). Decorating Christ\u2019s table is useless, in short, if you ignore Christ in the person of the least of His brothers.<\/p>\n

For John, the poor were not only recipients of alms, but had an essential role in the community of the church. As Costanzo puts it, John aimed \u201cto integrate the poor into the missionary activity of the churches. In order to combat many of the presuppositions with which those of means viewed the poor, John sought to demonstrate that the poor had much to contribute for the good of the Christian mission and society as a whole. Many of the working poor were given tasks within and around the church properties, while others, such as widows, orphans, and virgins, participated in ecclesiastical duties.\u201d The poor were not merely recipients but respondents to the gospel and its gifts, \u201cinterpreters\u201d even of its message.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"