In regard to fasting it is said, “Wherefore do ye fast to me? saith the Lord. Is it such a fast that I have chosen, even a day for a man to humble his soul? Thou shalt not bend thy neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth and ashes under thee. Not thus shall ye call it an acceptable fast.”
What means a fast, then? “Lo, this is the fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord. Loose every band of wickedness. Dissolve the knots of oppressive contracts. Let the oppressed go free, and tear every unjust bond. Break thy bread to the hungry; and lead the houseless poor into thy house. If thou see the naked, cover him.”[770] About sacrifices too: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith the Lord. I am full of burnt-offerings and of rams; and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and kids I do not wish; nor that ye should come to appear before me. Who hath required this at your hands? You shall no more tread my court. If ye bring fine flour, the vain oblation is an abomination to me. Your new moons and your sabbaths I cannot away with.”[771] How, then, shall I sacrifice to the Lord? “The sacrifice of the Lord is,” He says, “a broken heart.”[772] How, then, shall I crown myself, or anoint with ointment, or offer incense to the Lord? “An odour of a sweet fragrance,” it is said,[773] “is the heart that glorifies Him who made it.” These are the crowns and sacrifices, aromatic odours, and flowers of God.
Further, in respect to forbearance. “If thy brother,” it is said, “sin against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. If he sin against thee seven times in a day, and turn to thee the seventh time, and say, I repent, forgive him.”[774] Also to the soldiers, by John, He commands, “to be content with their wages only;” and to the publicans, “to exact no more than is appointed.” To the judges He says, “Thou shalt not show partiality in judgment. For gifts blind the eyes of those who see, and corrupt just words. Rescue the wronged.”
And to householders: “A possession which is acquired with iniquity becomes less.”[775]
Also of “love.” “Love,” He says, “covers a multitude of sins.”[776]
And of civil government: “Render to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things which are God’s.”[777]
Of swearing and the remembrance of injuries: “Did I command your fathers, when they went out of Egypt, to offer burnt-offerings and sacrifices? But I commanded them, Let none of you bear malice in his heart against his neighbour, or love a false oath.”[778]
The liars and the proud, too, He threatens; the former thus: “Woe to them that call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter;” and the latter: “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.”[779] “For he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be humbled.”[780]
And “the merciful” He blesses, “for they shall obtain mercy.”
Wisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing, because “it will destroy the wise.”[781] And now He bids us “love our enemies, bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us.” And He says: “If any one strike thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one take away thy coat, hinder him not from taking thy cloak also.”[782]