Letter 232: Prayer does not always obtain what it seeks — and this is itself a mercy.

To the same. Concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord, provoking the ungrateful people of the Jews who opposed the Gospel proclamation, says that many will come from east and west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — their own forefathers — in the kingdom of heaven, building upon the foundation of the law the stones of grace, and enrolling the divine people with the patriarchs, and showing the connection of the law to the Gospel, and those who have been distinguished in both.

ΡΜΖ. – ΤΟ ΑΥΤΩ. Περὶ Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ. Παραζηλῶν ὁ Κύριος τὸν, ἀχάριστον δῆμον τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῷ εὐαγγελικῷ κηρύγματι ἀντιλέγοντα, πολλοὺς ἐλεύσεσθαί φησιν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν, καὶ μετὰ ᾿Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ τῶν προ- πατόρων αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείᾳ ἀνα- κλιθήσεσθαι, ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τοῦ νόμου τοὺς τῆς χάριτος λίθους οἰκοδομῶν, καὶ τοῖς πατριάρχαις συν- τάσσων τὸν θεῖον λαόν (12)· καὶ δεικνὺς τὴν τοῦ νόμου πρὸς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον συνάφειαν, καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀμφοτέραις εὐδοκιμήσαντας τευξομένους· ἀναῤῥή- σεως, τοὺς δὲ οἰήσει γένους ἐναβρυνομένους, καὶ ἀρετῆς μὲν χηρεύοντας, υἱοὺς δὲ ὑπάρχειν τῆς βα- σιλείας κομπάζοντας εἰς ἀτελεύτητον τιμωρίαν όλι- σθησομένους. ΣΑΓ. – ΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΙΩ. Περὶ ἀλαζονείας. Ὅτι βδελύσσεται Χριστὸς τοὺς ἄνδρας τῶν αἱμά- των, οὐκ αὐτοὺς δὲ μόνους φημὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς οἰκοῦντας σὺν αὐτοῖς, ὡς οὐκ ἐπεξιόντας ταῖς αὐτῶν κακουργίαις, δείκνυσιν ἐπὶ Ἡρώδου. Μετά γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ μιαιφονίαν καταλιπὼν ἀν- εχώρησεν. Εἰ τοίνυν μὴ καὶ σαυτὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει τῆς Ἡρώδου βούλει τυχεῖν τελευτῆς, μεθ᾽ ὧν καὶ οἶνας σου (19) καὶ παῖδες ἀφανισθήσον ται, παῦσας τῆς ἀνηκέστου μανίας. Τί μάτην ἐπείγῃ κακῶς ἐξολέσθαι;