John Chrysostom, On Lazarus and the Rich Man

he says, that the poor man died, and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. Scarcely ever was the poor man, having been delivered from stormy poverty, set sailing into the calm harbor of Abraham. For it came to pass, he says, that Lazarus died, and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. Do you see how poverty, after the departure from here, has angels as bodyguards? It happened also that the rich man died and was buried. Immediately for the rich man, burial is appointed, according to what was said by David: And their tombs are their houses for ever. For this reason it is said to you: Poor man, do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, for when he dies he will not take everything, nor will his glory descend with him. For here he leaves everything behind: the slaves, the shield-bearers, the servants, the parasites, the flatterers, the chariots, the horses with golden bridles, the baths, the estates, the gold-roofed houses, the mosaic floors, the kingdom, the power, the lordship, he leaves everything here, and departs naked. And being in Hades, lifting up his eyes. Consider to what depth the rich man existed, and to what height the poor man. And lifting up, he says, his eyes, the rich man saw Abraham, and Lazarus in his bosom. For why did Lazarus not see the rich man? Because he who is in the light does not see the one who is in the darkness, but he who is in the darkness sees the one who is in the light. And he said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Now you say, Have mercy, when it is not the time for mercy. Did you not hear the one who said, Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy? Now you repent, when there is no confession. Did you not hear 59.595 David saying, But in Hades who will confess to you? Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus. Do you now know Lazarus? Do you now recognize the one who was on the dung-heap, whom you once were unwilling to honor as much as the dogs? You closed your heart to him in the life of abundance; I too now close my bosom of rest in the time of punishment. Did you not hear God crying out to you through all the prophets and saying: Keep mercy and judgment, and draw near to your God, because I desire mercy more than sacrifice? and, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy? and again, He who is merciful to the poor, lends to God? Where therefore you have sown, there seek also to reap; where you have lent, there also make your claim. But you have never cast the seed of almsgiving, nor have you lent to God through mercy to the poor man, but you have treasured everything for your own belly. Where you have had your treasure, there have your heart also. Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am in terrible anguish in this flame. His tongue is tormented, through which he received his food; he sought a drop of water, since not even a cup of cold water in the name of a 59.596 disciple did he ever give to one who was thirsty. If in life you had made Lazarus a sharer of your good things, now you would have shared the kingdom with him; if you had understood the poor man, now you would have been delivered from the evil judgment. For blessed is he who understands the poor and needy; in an evil day the Lord will deliver him. Level that much-flaming chasm by the lavish payment of your money to the poor; now moisten mercy, and you will have extinguished the furnace; feed orphans, and you will have killed the sleepless worms; stop the tear of a widow, and you will have wiped from your soul the grief of sins. For this is why these things have been read to you, so that you might not, by treading in the same footsteps of the merciless rich man, fall into the same punishment of Gehenna. But you, poor man, do not be fainthearted, nor grow weary, being shaken in the threefold wave of poverty. Look toward the

φησὶν, ἀποθανεῖν τὸν πένητα, καὶ ἀπενεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς τοὺς κόλπους τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Μόλις ποτὲ ὁ πένης ἀπὸ τῆς ζαλώδους πενίας ῥυσθεὶς, εἰς τὸν εὔδιον λιμένα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέπλευσεν. Ἐγένετο γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀποθανεῖν τὸν Λάζαρον, καὶ ἀπενεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς τοὺς κόλπους τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Ὁρᾷς, πῶς ἡ πενία μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἔξοδον δορυφόρους ἀγγέλους ἔχει; Συνέβη δὲ καὶ τὸν πλούσιον ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ταφῆναι. Εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ πλουσίου τέτακται ἡ ταφὴ, κατὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ λεγόμενον· Καὶ οἱ τάφοι αὐτῶν οἰκίαι αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο λέγεταί σοι· Πτωχὲ, Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ ἀποθνήσκειν αὐτὸν λήψεται τὰ πάντα, οὐδὲ συγκαταβήσεται ἑαυτῷ ἡ δόξα αὐτοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ πάντα καταλιμπάνει, τοὺς δούλους, τοὺς ὑπασπιστὰς, τοὺς ὑπηρέτας, τοὺς παρασίτους, τοὺς κόλακας, τὰ ὀχήματα, τοὺς χρυσοχαλίνους ἵππους, τὰ βαλανεῖα, τὰ χωρία, τοὺς χρυσωρόφους οἴκους, τὰ ἐψηφωμένα ἐδάφη, τὴν βασιλείαν, τὴν ἐξουσίαν, τὴν δεσποτείαν, πάντα ἐνταῦθα καταλιμπάνει, καὶ γυμνὸς ἀπέρχεται. Καὶ ὑπάρχων ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ, Ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. Ἐνθυμήθητι, εἰς ὅσον βάθος ὑπῆρχεν πλούσιος, εἰς δὲ οἷον ὕψος ὁ πένης. Καὶ ἐπάρας, φησὶ, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ ὁ πλούσιος, εἶδε τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ μὴ ὁ Λάζαρος εἶδε τὸν πλούσιον; Ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ τυγχάνων τὸν ἐν τῷ σκότει ὄντα οὐ βλέπει, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐν τῷ σκότει τὸν ἐν τῷ φωτὶ ὄντα ὁρᾷ. Καὶ εἶπε· Πάτερ Ἀβραὰμ, ἐλέησόν με. Ἄρτι λέγεις, Ἐλέησον,ὅτε καιρὸς ἐλέους οὐκ ἔστιν. Οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ λέγοντος, Ἀνίλεως ἡ κρίσις τῷ μὴ ποιήσαντι ἔλεος; Νῦν μετανοεῖς, ὅτε οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξομολόγησις. Οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ 59.595 ∆αυῒδ λέγοντος, Ἐν δὲ τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι; Ἐλέησόν με, καὶ πέμψον Λάζαρον. Λάζαρον νῦν γνωρίζεις; νῦν ἐπιγινώσκεις τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς κοπρίας ὄντα, ὅν ποτε ἴσα τῶν κυνῶν τιμᾷν οὐκ ἠβούλου; Ἔκλεισας τά σου σπλάγχνα αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῆς εὐπορίας· κλείω μου κἀγὼ νῦν τοὺς κόλπους τῆς ἀνέσεως ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς τιμωρίας. Οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ Θεοῦ σοι βοῶντος διὰ τῶν προφητῶν πάντων καὶ λέγοντος· Ἔλεος καὶ κρῖμα φύλασσον, καὶ ἔγγιζε τῷ Θεῷ σου, διότι ἔλεος θέλω ὑπὲρ θυσίαν; καὶ, Μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται; καὶ πάλιν, Ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν, δανείζει Θεῷ; Ὅπου οὖν ἔσπειρας, ἐκεῖ ζήτει καὶ θερίσαι· ὅπου ἐδάνεισας, ἐκεῖ καὶ ἀπαίτει. Σὺ δὲ ἐλεημοσύνης σπέρμα οὐκ ἔῤῥιψας πώποτε, οὔτε διὰ τῆς εἰς τὸν πένητα ἐλεημοσύνης Θεῷ ἐδάνεισας, ἀλλὰ πάντα τῇ ἑαυτοῦ γαστρὶ ἐθησαύρισας. Ὅπου ἔσχες τὸν θησαυρόν σου, ἐκεῖ ἔχε καὶ τὴν καρδίαν σου. Ἐλέησόν με, καὶ πέμψον Λάζαρον, ἵνα τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ δακτύλου αὐτῷ βάψῃ ὕδατος, καὶ καταψύξῃ μου τὴν γλῶσσαν, ὅτι δεινῶς ὀδυνῶμαι ἐν τῇ φλογὶ ταύτῃ. Τὴν γλῶσσαν κολάζεται, δι' ἧς τὴν τροφὴν ἐλάμβανε· ῥανίδα ἐζήτει ὕδατος, ἐπειδὴ κἂν ποτήριον ψυχροῦ ὕδατος εἰς ὄνομα 59.596 μαθητοῦ πώποτε διψῶντι οὐ μετέδωκεν. Εἰ κοινωνὸν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τῶν σῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐκτήσω τὸν Λάζαρον, νῦν ἂν τὴν βασιλείαν σὺν αὐτῷ ἐμερίσω· εἰ συνῆκας ἐπὶ τὸν πένητα, νῦν ἂν ἐῤῥύσθης τῆς πονηρᾶς κρίσεως. Μακάριος γὰρ ὁ συνιὼν ἐπὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα· ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πονηρᾷ ῥύσεται αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος. Ἐξομάλισον ἐκεῖνο τὸ χάος τὸ πολυφλεγὲς τῇ πλουσίᾳ τῶν χρημάτων σου εἰς τοὺς πένητας καταβολῇ· δρόσισον νῦν τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ ἔσβεσας τὴν κάμινον· θρέψον ὀρφανοὺς, καὶ ἀπέκτεινας τοὺς ἀκοιμήτους σκώληκας· στεῖλον δάκρυον χήρας, καὶ ἀπέσμηξάς σου τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ πένθους τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γάρ σοι ταῦτα ἀνέγνωσται, ἵνα μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσι τοῦ ἀνελεήμονος πλουσίου ἐπιβὰς, εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν τιμωρίαν τῆς γεέννης ἐμπέσῃς. Σὺ δὲ ὁ πένης μὴ ὀλιγώρει, μηδὲ ἀποκάμῃς ἐν τῇ τρικυμίᾳ τῆς πενίας κλονούμενος. Ἀπόβλεπε πρὸς τὸν