Sf. aep. Andrei Cretanul († 740).Ap Rom 5,10-16; Ev Mt 8,23-27.

5:10 Reconciled by Christ’s Death, Saved by His Life
ENMITY OVERCOME. ORIGEN: In saying this Paul shows that there is no substance which is hostile to God, as the Marcionites and Valentinians think, for if something was hostile to God by nature and not simply by will, reconciliation with him would be impossible.…
Christ’s death brought death to the enmity which existed between us and God and ushered in reconciliation. For Christ’s resurrection and life brought with it salvation to those who believe, as the apostle said of Christ: “The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”60 Christ is said to be dead to sin-not to his own, for he never sinned, but dead to sin in that by his death he put sin to death as well. For he is said to live to God so that we also might live to God and not to ourselves or to our own will, so that at the last we may be saved by his life. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.61
AMBROSIASTER: The God who acts on behalf of his enemies will not be able to love his friends any less than that. Therefore if the death of the Savior benefited us while we were still ungodly, how much more will his life do for us who are justified, when he raises us from the dead? COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.62
INEFFABLE BENEVOLENCE. BASIL: There are many passages of this sort, which set forth with clarity and splendor the great, ineffable benevolence of God in freely pardoning our sins and granting us the means and the power of performing righteous acts for the glory of God and his Christ, in the hope of receiving eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. CONCERNING BAPTISM 1.2.63
CHRYSOSTOM: There is no one who will save us except the One who loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, he died for us. Do you see what ground this gives for us to hope? For before this there were two difficulties in the way of our being saved. First, we were sinners, and second, our salvation required the Lord’s death, something which was quite incredible before it happened and which required enormous love for it to happen at all. But now that it has happened, the rest becomes that much easier. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 9.64
SAVED BY HIS DEATH, WE GLORY IN HIS LIFE. PELAGIUS: Sinners are enemies because they show contempt.65 We were enemies in our deeds but not by nature; we have been reconciled in peace, because by nature we have been united in peace. If we have been saved by Christ’s death, how much more shall we glory in his life if we imitate it! PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.66
CHRIST’S SUFFERING IN HIS HUMAN NATURE. THEODORET OF CYR: Once more, Paul calls the Lord Christ “the Son,” who is both God and man. But it is clear, I think, even to the greatest heretics in which nature his suffering took place. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.67
5:11 Rejoicing in Our Reconciliation
NOW RECEIVED OUR RECONCILIATION. Origen: Paul stresses the “now” in order to indicate that our rejoicing is not merely a future hope but also a present experience. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.68
REJOICE IN GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Paul teaches us not only that we should thank God, for the salvation and assurance which we have received, but that we should also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, because through his Son the Mediator God has been pleased to call us his friends. Therefore we can rejoice that we have received every blessing through Christ, that through him we have come to know God. As we rejoice in him, let us therefore honor the Son equally with the Father, as he himself bears witness, saying: “That they may honor the Son as they honor the Father.”69 COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.70
SAVED BY GOD’S ONLY SON. CHRYSOSTOM: The fact that we who were such terrible sinners were saved is a very great sign, indicating how much we were loved by him who saved us. For it was not by angels or archangels but by his only begotten Son that God saved us! HOMILIES ON ROMANS 9.71
PELAGIUS: Not only shall we have eternal life, but through Christ we are promised a certain likeness to divine glory as well.72 Paul wants to show that Christ suffered so that we who had forsaken God by following Adam might be reconciled to God through Christ. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.73
5:12-21 ADAM AND CHRIST
OVERVIEW: Eve sinned before Adam, but she is not culpable in the way that Adam is because Adam is the head of the human race. The result is that we all have inherited a state of sinfulness from which there is no escape. Even Pelagius denied that there were any truly righteous people left in the world after the fall of Adam. Mortality is the natural consequence of sin, which affects even the smallest children. The existence of sin before the coming of the law was recognized by all the Fathers, but it caused them some difficulty in interpretation.

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8:23-27 CALMING THE STORM
OVERVIEW: Jesus took with him those whom he was training to be champions of the gospel, coaching them against despair (CHRYSOSTOM). Jesus remained asleep in the boat until the apex of the storm, when the pilot’s skill is most sorely tested (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). Only then did the disciples appeal in terror to the very master of the elements (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). He slept to give occasion for their timidity. He permitted the storm that they might understand their deliverer. His sleeping made it evident that he was a man. His calming of the seas declared him God (CHRYSOSTOM). So Christ today calms the waves surrounding the vessel of the church, so as to provide an anticipatory signal that he will finally calm the crisis of shipwreck of the whole of fallen human history (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS).
8:23 Getting into the Boat
COACHING AGAINST DESPAIR. CHRYSOSTOM: He took the disciples with him, not for nothing and not merely to face an absurd hazard but in order to permit them to witness the miracle that was to take place on the sea. For like a superb trainer, he was gradually coaching and fitting them for endurance. He had two objectives in mind. He wanted to teach them to remain undismayed amid dangers and modest in honors. So, to prevent them from thinking too much of themselves, having sent away the multitude, he kept them near him but permitted them to be tossed with a tempest. By doing so he disciplined them to bear trials patiently. His former miracles were indeed great, but this one contained a unique kind of discipline of exceptional importance. For it was a sign akin to that of old.1 To do this, he took his disciples with him by himself. He permitted others to see his other miracles, but when trials and terrors were rising, he took with him none but those he was training to be champions of the gospel. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 28.1.2
8:24 A Storm Arises
THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM TESTS THE PILOT’S SKILL. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The sea offered its heaving back for Christ to walk upon. Now it leveled its crests to a plain, checked its swelling and bound up its billows. It provided rocklike firmness, so he could walk across the waterway. Why did the seas heave so, and toss and pitch, even as if threatening its Creator? And why did Christ himself, who knows all the future, seem so unaware of the present that he gave no thought to the onrushing storm, the moment of its height and the time of its peril? While all the rest were awake, he alone was fast asleep even with utter doom threatening both himself and his dear ones. Why? It is not a calm sky, beloved, but the storm which tests a pilot’s skill. When the breeze is mild even the poorest sailor can manage the ship. But in the crosswinds of a tempest, we want the best pilot with all his skill. SERMONS 20.1.3
WHY DOES HE SLEEP? CHRYSOSTOM: He sleeps to give occasion for their timidity and to make their perception of what was happening more distinct.… He permits the storm, that by their deliverance they might attain to a clearer perception of that benefit. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 28.1.4
8:25 We Are Perishing
THE MASTER OF THE ELEMENTS. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The disciples’ efforts as seamen had failed, as they could see. The seas attempted to spend their fury against them, and the waves were ready to swallow them. The twisting winds had conspired against them. So they ran in fear to the very Pilot of the world, the Ruler of the universe, the Master of the elements. They begged him to check the billows, banish the danger, save them in their despair. SERMONS 20.1.5
8:26 Jesus Rebukes the Elements
WHY ARE YOU AFRAID? CHRYSOSTOM: It is not in the presence of the multitudes that he corrects their “little faith.” He calls them apart to correct them. Before the tempest of the waters he stills the tempests in their souls. He admonishes them, “Why are you so fearful, O you who have little faith?” He instructs them concerning how human fear emerges out of weakness of mind, not out of the actual approach of threatening trials. Their awakening him was a sign of their lack of a right understanding of who he was. They knew his power to rebuke when he was awake, but his power to rebuke when asleep they had not yet grasped. Even after so many other miracles their impressions of him were still confused. This is why he remarked that they were still without understanding. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 28.1.6
MEN OF LITTLE FAITH. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The exclamation “save us” is commendable, since it shows faith. But to say “we are perishing” brings a charge of littleness of faith against those who were in deep distress. They indeed put their hope in Christ who was sailing with them. They were not totally faithless but were at that point “of little faith,” since in their danger they did not take courage from the fact of Christ’s being with them. FRAGMENT 99.7
A GREAT CALM. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Christ gets into the vessel of his church, always ready to calm the waves of the world. He leads those who believe in him through safe sailing to the heavenly homeland and makes those whom he made to share in his humanity citizens of his land. Christ does not need the vessel, therefore, but the vessel needs Christ. Without the heavenly helmsman the vessel of the church is unable to sail over the sea of the world and, against critical odds, arrive at the heavenly harbor. SERMONS 50.2.8
8:27 The Disciples Marvel
WHAT SORT OF MAN? CHRYSOSTOM: How did they know he was a man? They could see him sleeping. He commanded a ship. So why were they so perplexed about his humanity, saying, “What manner of man is this?” His sleeping showed he was a man. His calming of the seas declared him God. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 28.1.9
EVEN THE WINDS OBEY HIM. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Finally it was by Christ’s mere command that he controlled the sea, struck back the winds, stopped the whirlwinds, brought back the calm. Then those who were crossing the sea perceived, believed and acknowledged that he is the very Creator of all. SERMONS 20.1.10