Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Luke 9:62
There are 26 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 327, footnote 9 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book I (HTML)
Chapter VIII.—How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures to support their own pious opinions. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2759 (In-Text, Margin)
3. And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of men as follows: the material, when He said to him that asked Him, “Shall I follow Thee?” “The Son of man hath not where to lay His head;”— the animal, when He said to him that declared, “I will follow Thee, but suffer me first to bid them farewell that are in my house,” “No man, putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven”[Luke 9:61-62] (for this man they declare to be of the intermediate class, even as they do that other who, though he professed to have wrought a large amount of righteousness, yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love of] riches, as never to reach perfection)—this one it pleases ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 551, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book VII (HTML)
Chapter XVI.—Scripture the Criterion by Which Truth and Heresy are Distinguished. (HTML)
... life, which adheres to the things of sense, or to heresies. For they form the character, not knowing the true God. “For he that loveth father or mother more than Me,” the Father and Teacher of the truth, who regenerates and creates anew, and nourishes the elect soul, “is not worthy of Me”—He means, to be a son of God and a disciple of God, and at the same time also to be a friend, and of kindred nature. “For no man who looks back, and puts his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 68, footnote 11 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Apologetic. (HTML)
On Idolatry. (HTML)
Further Answers to the Plea, How Am I to Live? (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 245 (In-Text, Margin)
... now you have the Lord’s sayings, as examples taking away from you all excuse. For what is it you say? “I shall be in need.” But the Lord calls the needy “happy.” “I shall have no food.” But “think not,” says He, “about food;” and as an example of clothing we have the lilies. “My work was my subsistence.” Nay, but “all things are to be sold, and divided to the needy.” “But provision must be made for children and posterity.” “None, putting his hand on the plough, and looking back, is fit” for work.[Luke 9:62] “But I was under contract.” “None can serve two lords.” If you wish to be the Lord’s disciple, it is necessary you “take your cross, and follow the Lord:” your cross; that is, your own straits and tortures, or your body ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 78, footnote 4 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On Modesty. (HTML)
Examples of Such Offences Under the Old Dispensation No Pattern for the Disciples of the New. But Even the Old Has Examples of Vengeance Upon Such Offences. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 750 (In-Text, Margin)
Plainly, if you show by what patronages of heavenly precedents and precepts it is that you open to adultery alone—and therein to fornication also—the gate of repentance, at this very line our hostile encounter will forthwith cross swords. Yet I must necessarily prescribe you a law, not to stretch out your hand after the old things, not to look backwards:[Luke 9:62] for “the old things are passed away,” according to Isaiah; and “a renewing hath been renewed,” according to Jeremiah; and “forgetful of former things, we are reaching forward,” according to the apostle; and “the law and the prophets (were) until John,” according to the Lord. For even if we are just now beginning with ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 287, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)
To the Clergy, Concerning Prayer to God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2194 (In-Text, Margin)
... desires that his brother should not be warned and instructed, to intercept those words with which the Lord condescends to admonish and instruct us. Let them know that we are proved by our Lord, and let them never fail of that faith whereby we have once believed in Him, under the conflict of this present affliction. Let each one, acknowledging his own sins, even now put off the conversation of the old man. “For no man who looks back as he putteth his hand to the plough is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62] And, finally, Lot’s wife, who, when she was delivered, looked back in defiance of the commandment, lost the benefit of her escape. Let us look not to things which are behind, whither the devil calls us back, but to things which are before, whither ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 500, footnote 11 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus. (HTML)
That those who are snatched from the jaws of the devil, and delivered from the snares of this world, ought not again to return to the world, lest they should lose the advantage of their withdrawal therefrom. (HTML)
... die in this wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Trust, and stand fast, and see the salvation which is from the Lord, which He shall do to you to-day. The Lord Himself shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” The Lord, admonishing us of this in His Gospel, and teaching that we should not return again to the devil and to the world, which we have renounced, and whence we have escaped, says: “No man looking back, and putting his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62] And again: “And let him that is in the field not return back. Remember Lot’s wife.” And lest any one should be retarded by any covetousness of wealth or attraction of his own people from following Christ, He adds, and says: “He that forsaketh not ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 535, footnote 21 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
... or, Wherewith shall we be clothed? for these things the nations seek after. But your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Likewise in the same place: “Think not for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil.” Likewise in the same place: “No one looking back, and putting his hands to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62] Also in the same place: “Behold the fowls of the heaven: for they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of more value than they?” Concerning this same thing, according to Luke: “Let your loins be ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 501, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)
The Acts of Philip. (HTML)
Of the Journeyings of Philip the Apostle. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2175 (In-Text, Margin)
Then the Lord, having appeared unto Philip, said: O Philip, didst thou not hear: Thou shalt not render evil for evil? and why hast thou inflicted such destruction? O Philip, whosoever putteth his hand to the plough, and looketh backwards,[Luke 9:62] is his furrow well set? or who gives up his own lamp to another, and himself sits in darkness? or who forsakes his own dwelling-place, and dwells on a dunghill himself? And who, giving away his own garment in winter, goes naked? or what enemy rejoices in the joy of the man that hates him? and what soldier goes to war without a full suit of armour? and what slave who has ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 61, footnote 17 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)
The Diatessaron. (HTML)
Section XI. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 848 (In-Text, Margin)
... unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have [27] nests; but the Son of man hath not a place in which to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. And he said unto him, My Lord, suffer me first to go and [28] bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their dead; but thou, [29] follow me and preach the kingdom of God. And another said unto him, I will follow [Arabic, p. 44] thee, my Lord; but first suffer me to go and salute my household and [30] come.[Luke 9:62] Jesus said unto him, There is no one who putteth his hand to the plough and looketh behind him, and yet is fit for the kingdom of God.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 288, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus states his objections to the morality of the law and the prophets, and Augustin seeks by the application of the type and the allegory to explain away the moral difficulties of the Old Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 852 (In-Text, Margin)
... deeds it does not consent, and will at the end of the world be rescued from their society, when they are doomed to the punishment of eternal fire. Lot’s wife was the type of a different class of men,—of those, namely, who, when called by the grace of God, look back, instead of, like Paul, forgetting the things that are behind, and looking forward to the things that are before. The Lord Himself says: "No man that putteth his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is fit for the kingdom of Heaven."[Luke 9:62] Nor did He omit to mention the case of Lot’s wife; for she, for our warning, was turned into a pillar of salt, that being thus seasoned we might not trifle thoughtlessly with this danger, but be on our guard against it. So, when the Lord was ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 421, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Luke ix. 57, etc., where the case of the three persons is treated of, of whom one said, ‘I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest,’ and was disallowed: another did not dare to offer himself, and was aroused; the third wished to delay, and was blamed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3257 (In-Text, Margin)
3. See now how another disciple presented himself, to whom no one said anything: he said, “Lord, I will follow Thee, but I will first go to bid them farewell which are at my house.” I suppose this is his meaning, “Let me tell my friends, lest haply they seek me as usual.” And the Lord said, “No man putting his hand on the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62] The East calls thee, and thou art looking toward the west. In this lesson we learn this, that the Lord chooses whom He will. But He chooses them, as the Apostle says, both according to His Own grace, and according to their righteousness. For such are the words of the Apostle; “Attend,” he says, “to what ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 439, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter XX. 30–31, and XXI. 1-11. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1929 (In-Text, Margin)
... because of His saying to him, “Go sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me,” Peter said unto Him, “Lo, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee.” Why is it then that now, by the abandonment as it were of their apostleship, they become what they were, and seek again what they had forsaken, as if forgetful of the words they had once listened to, “No man, putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven”?[Luke 9:62] Had they done so when Jesus was lying in the grave, before He rose from the dead,—which of course they could not have done, as the day whereon He was crucified kept them all in closest attention till His burial, which took place before evening; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 201, footnote 4 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
His address to monks, rendered from Coptic, exhorting them to perseverance, and encouraging them against the wiles of Satan. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1026 (In-Text, Margin)
20. ‘Wherefore having already begun and set out in the way of virtue, let us strive the more that we may attain those things that are before. And let no one turn to the things behind, like Lot’s wife, all the more so that the Lord hath said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and turning back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven[Luke 9:62].” And this turning back is nought else but to feel regret, and to be once more worldly-minded. But fear not to hear of virtue, nor be astonished at the name. For it is not far from us, nor is it without ourselves, but it is within us, and is easy if only we are willing. That they may get knowledge, the Greeks live abroad and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 5, footnote 13 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Rufinus the Monk. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 41 (In-Text, Margin)
4. Bonosus, your friend, or, to speak more truly, mine as well as yours, is now climbing the ladder foreshown in Jacob’s dream. He is bearing his cross, neither taking thought for the morrow nor looking back at what he has left.[Luke 9:62] He is sowing in tears that he may reap in joy. As Moses in a type so he in reality is lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. This is a true story, and it may well put to shame the lying marvels described by Greek and Roman pens. For here you have a youth educated with us in the refining accomplishments of the world, with abundance of wealth, and in rank inferior to none of his ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 22, footnote 11 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 336 (In-Text, Margin)
... in the country of the living, for which elsewhere the prophet sighs: “I think to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” But it is not enough for you to go out from your own land unless you forget your people and your father’s house; unless you scorn the flesh and cling to the bridegroom in a close embrace. “Look not behind thee,” he says, “neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed.” He who has grasped the plough must not look behind him[Luke 9:62] or return home from the field, or having Christ’s garment, descend from the roof to fetch other raiment. Truly a marvellous thing, a father charges his daughter not to remember her father. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 49, footnote 1 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Marcella. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 783 (In-Text, Margin)
5. But what, I ask you, have we ever done that men should be offended at us? Have we ever imitated the apostles? We are told of the first disciples that they forsook their boat and their nets, and even their aged father. The publican stood up from the receipt of custom and followed the Saviour once for all. And when a disciple wished to return home, that he might take leave of his kinsfolk, the Master’s voice refused consent.[Luke 9:61-62] A son was even forbidden to bury his father, as if to show that it is sometimes a religious duty to be undutiful for the Lord’s sake. With us it is different. We are held to be monks if we refuse to dress in silk. We are called sour and severe if we keep sober and refrain from ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 52, footnote 13 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Paula. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 847 (In-Text, Margin)
... book, Leviticus, there is a provision which may perhaps strike some as cruel, yet is necessary to faith: the high priest is forbidden to approach the dead bodies of his father and mother, of his brothers and of his children; to the end, that no grief may distract a soul engaged in offering sacrifice to God, and wholly devoted to the Divine mysteries. Are we not taught the same lesson in the Gospel in other words? Is not the disciple forbidden to say farewell to his home or to bury his dead father?[Luke 9:59-62] Of the high priest, again, it is said: “He shall not go out of the sanctuary, and the sanctification of his God shall not be contaminated, for the anointing oil of his God is upon him.” Certainly, now that we have believed in Christ, and bear Him ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 152, footnote 14 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Lucinius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2215 (In-Text, Margin)
... soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary,” or, as he sings in another place, “lo, then would I wander far off and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Since you have left Sodom and are hastening to the mountains, I beseech you with a father’s affection not to look behind you. Your hands have grasped the handle of the plough,[Luke 9:62] the hem of the Saviour’s garment, and His locks wet with the dew of night; do not let them go. Do not come down from the housetop of virtue to seek for the clothes which you wore of old, nor return home from the field. Do not like Lot set your heart ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 222, footnote 9 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Julian. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3094 (In-Text, Margin)
... into everlasting habitations. Obey the Master’s injunction “follow me,” and take the Lord of the world for your possession; that you may be able to sing with the prophet, “The Lord is my portion,” and like a true Levite may possess no earthly inheritance. I cannot but advise you thus if you wish to be perfect, if you desire to attain the pinnacle of the apostles’ glory, if you wish to take up your cross and to follow Christ. When once you have put your hand to the plough you must not look back;[Luke 9:62] when once you stand on the housetop you must think no more of your clothes within; to escape your Egyptian mistress you must abandon the cloak that belongs to this world. Even Elijah, in his quick translation to heaven could not take his mantle with ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 245, footnote 1 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Rusticus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3405 (In-Text, Margin)
2. I need not now conduct the stream of my discourse through the meadows of virtue, nor exert myself to shew to you the beauty of its several flowers. I need not dilate on the purity of the lily, the modest blush of the rose, the royal purple of the violet, or the promise of glowing gems which their various colours hold out. For through the mercy of God you have already put your hand to the plough;[Luke 9:62] you have already gone up upon the housetop like the apostle Peter. Who when he became hungry among the Jews had his hunger satisfied by the faith of Cornelius, and stilled the craving caused by their unbelief through the conversion of the centurion and other Gentiles. By the vessel let down from ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 287, footnote 6 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Exuperantius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3919 (In-Text, Margin)
... that binding which is contrary to loosing. He who has contracted the obligations of marriage, is bound, and he who is bound is a slave; on the other hand he who is loosed is free. Since therefore you rejoice in the freedom of Christ, since your life is better than your profession, since you are all but on the housetop of which the Saviour speaks; you ought not to come down to take your clothes, you ought not to look behind you, you ought not having put your hand to the plough, then to let it go.[Luke 9:62] Rather, if you can, imitate Joseph and leave your garment in the hand of your Egyptian mistress, that naked you may follow your Lord and Saviour. For in the gospel He says: “Whosoever doth not leave all that he hath and bear his cross and come after ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 55, footnote 3 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)
Letter I. A Letter of the Holy Presbyter Severus to His Sister Claudia Concerning the Last Judgment. (HTML)
Chapter II. (HTML)
... write nothing new to you, so as to avoid what I have written before. And in truth, through the goodness of God, you do not now need to be exhorted, inasmuch as, perfecting your faith at the very beginning of your saintly life, you display a devoted love in Christ. One thing, however, I do press upon you, that you do not go back on things you have already passed away from, that you do not long again for things you have already scorned, and that, having put your hand to the plow, you do not look back[Luke 9:62] again, retracing your steps; for, undoubtedly, by falling into this fault, your furrow will lose its straightness, and the cultivator will not receive his own proper reward. Moreover, he does not secure even a measure of the reward, if he has, in a ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 231, footnote 4 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book IV. Of the Institutes of the Renunciants. (HTML)
Chapter XXXVI. How our renunciation of the world is of no use if we are again entangled in those things which we have renounced. (HTML)
... off; neither sink back to the low and earthly lusts and desires of this world, and in defiance of Christ’s word come down from the rod of perfection and dare to take up again any of those things which you have renounced and forsaken. Beware that you remember nothing of your kinsfolk or of your former affections, and that you are not called back to the cares and anxieties of this world, and (as our Lord says) putting your hand to the plough and looking back be found unfit for the kingdom of heaven.[Luke 9:62] Beware lest at any time, when you have begun to dip into the knowledge of the Psalms and of this life, you be little by little puffed up and think of reviving that pride which now at your beginning you have trampled under foot in the ardour of faith ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 253, footnote 4 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book VII. Of the Spirit of Covetousness. (HTML)
Chapter XV. Of the difference between one who renounces the world badly and one who does not renounce it at all. (HTML)
... first step towards renunciation, rather than afterwards following it up coldly, to involve themselves in still greater dangers. For “it is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay.” But finely is the one described as coming with ten thousand and the other with twenty. For the number of sins which attack us is far larger than that of the virtues which fight for us. But “no man can serve God and Mammon.” And “no man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”[Luke 9:62]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 256, footnote 3 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book VII. Of the Spirit of Covetousness. (HTML)
Chapter XXVII. Scripture proofs by which one who is aiming at perfection is taught not to take back again what he has given up and renounced. (HTML)
If then through the desire of perfection you have forsaken all things and followed Christ who says to thee, “Go sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me,” why, having put your hand to the plough, do you look back, so that you will be declared by the voice of the same Lord not to be fit for the kingdom of heaven?[Luke 9:62] When secure on the top of the gospel roof, why do you descend to carry away something from the house, from those things, namely, which beforetime you despised? When you are out in the field and working at the virtues, why do you run back and try to clothe yourself again with what belongs to this ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 183, footnote 7 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On the Lord's Resurrection, I.; delivered on Holy Saturday in the Vigil of Easter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1106 (In-Text, Margin)
Let God’s people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and Whom they have adopted. Let not the things, which have been made new, return to their ancient instability; and let not him who has “put his hand to the plough[Luke 9:62] ” forsake his work, but rather attend to that which he sows than look back to that which he has left behind. Let no one fall back into that from which he has risen, but, even though from bodily weakness he still languishes under certain maladies, let him urgently desire to be healed and raised up. For this is the path of health through ...