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of a poor man, and slaughtered it for the stranger. When King David heard this, although he had fallen into sin, yet he was clothed in righteousness; for the sin was of the body, but the virtuous act was of the soul. Wherefore, answering in anger, he said, As the Lord lives, the man who has done this is worthy of death, and he shall restore the lamb sevenfold. David goes beyond the law; for the law commands fourfold, but he commands sevenfold. And Nathan said to him: You are, O king, the one who has done these things. Then David, being wise and living with reverence, did not abuse his royal office, did not act tyrannically toward the one rebuking him, although he was able; he did not say, Who are you, who has dared to reproach me before all? For he knew clearly that although he is an earthly king, yet he is ruled by the King of the powers above. For as soon as he heard the voice of the prophet, that You are the man, O king, he immediately confessed: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. O Nathan, what have you dared to declare? For you are about to be accused by Navatus the proud-minded. David sinned against God, and to him he confessed; and how do you know, if he received forgiveness, that you have put away the sin? First learn, and then grant the remission of the sin. But Nathan says: God entrusted to me to handle David's case completely. For if He had not wished to forgive him through me, He would not have sent me to him. Who accuses a physician visiting a sick man, and does not give thanks and pay his fees? It has been clearly shown, therefore, that not only in the age of grace, but also before the age of grace, God forgave the sins of men through men. Let us also use a modest example for the clarity of what is being said: Suppose for me, O man who is an opponent of repentance, some man who has erred in some crime, and has been cast into condemnation by a ruler and is about to be sent either into exile, or to some other punishment; does this man who is guarded under condemnation, go forth by himself and entreat the ruler to be delivered from that misfortune? Does he not, having tracked down and sought a mediator, the one called, to speak more clearly, a domesticus, obtain his salvation through him, and hasten to annul the sentence of judgment, and transform the ruler's anger into clemency? If in the case of physical punishments there is such good order and entreaty, in the case of spiritual ones will there not be a much higher mediation and need of help? Therefore, O man, if for this reason you do not wish to approach repentance, because the priest is a sinful man, do not be baptized either; for it is a man who baptizes; nor receive communion; for it is a man who breaks the lamb of God. But if these things are held by faith, accept that also with faith. See to it that by observing some things, and rejecting others, you do not fall into judgment 62.762. For thus the evil beast, the devil, trips us up, and wishes to cast us into Gehenna through his many-formed devices. It is written in the law, You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people. If, therefore, the King of kings has given you the priest as a ruler, why do you reject him and declare him wretched? Are you able, when standing before an earthly king who is giving an office to a ruler, to prevent it and say to him: He is not worthy to receive this office? If, therefore, you are not able to prevent that one, whom he wishes and desires to honor, how do you dare to prevent the master's command concerning the priest, because he is a sinner? Did not David the prophet fall into adultery and murder, as I said before? Did not Peter, having denied the teacher three times, fall into sin and denial? Did not Paul persecute the Church of God, as no one else did? But the man-loving Master chose these men and glorified them, so that you might not despise or judge any of the rulers of the Church. For the priest

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πένητος, καὶ κατέσφαξεν αὐτὴν τῷ ξένῳ. Τοῦτο ἀκούσας ὁ βασιλεὺς ∆αυῒδ, εἰ καὶ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἦν περιπεσὼν, ἀλλ' ὅμως τὸ δίκαιον ἠμφίεστο· τοῦ γὰρ σώματος ἡ ἁμαρτία, τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς τὸ κατόρθωμα. Ὅθεν ἀποκριθεὶς ἐν θυμῷ ἔφη, Ζῇ Κύριος, ἄξιος θανάτου ὁ ποιήσας τοῦτο, καὶ τὴν ἀμνάδα ἀποτίσει ἑπταπλάσιον. Ὑπερβαίνει τὸν νόμον ὁ ∆αυΐδ· ὁ νόμος γὰρ τετραπλασίονα κελεύει· οὗτος δὲ ἑπταπλασίονα κελεύει. Ὁ δὲ Νάθαν πρὸς αὐτόν· Σὺ εἶ, βασιλεῦ, ὁ ταῦτα πεποιηκώς. Εἶτα ὁ ∆αυῒδ συνετὸς ὑπάρχων, καὶ εὐλαβείᾳ συζήσας, οὐκ ἀπεχρήσατο τῷ βασιλικῷ ἀξιώματι, οὐκ ἐτυράννησε τὸν ἐλέγχοντα, καίπερ δυνάμενος· οὐκ εἶπε, Τίς εἶ σὺ, ὁ τολμήσας ἐπὶ πάντων ὀνειδίσαι με; ᾔδει γὰρ σαφῶς, ὅτι εἰ καὶ βασιλεύς ἐστιν ἐπίγειος, ἀλλ' ὅμως βασιλεύεται ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν ἄνω δυνάμεων. Ὡς μόνον γὰρ ἤκουσε τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ προφήτου, ὅτι Σὺ εἶ, βασιλεῦ, εὐθέως ἐξομολογήσατο· Ἡμάρτηκα τῷ Κυρίῳ. Ὁ δὲ Νάθαν, Καὶ Κύριος ἀφεῖλε τὸ ἁμάρτημά σου, οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃς. Ὦ Νάθαν, τί ἐτόλμησας ἀποφήνασθαι; μέλλεις γὰρ ὑπὸ Ναυάτου ἐγκαλεῖσθαι τοῦ ὑψηλόφρονος. Τῷ Θεῷ ἥμαρτεν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξωμολογήσατο· καὶ πόθεν οἶδας, εἰ συγχώρησιν ἔλαβεν, ὅτι σὺ ἀφεῖλες τὸ ἁμάρτημα; πρῶτον μάθε, καὶ τότε μετάδος τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν λύσιν. Ὁ δὲ Νάθαν φησίν· Ἐμοὶ ἐνεχείρισεν ὁ Θεὸς τελείαν τὴν τοῦ ∆αυῒδ περιοδείαν ποιήσασθαι. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ἐβούλετο δι' ἐμοῦ αὐτῷ συγχωρῆσαι, οὐκ ἂν ἀπέσταλκέ με πρὸς αὐτόν. Τίς ἐγκαλεῖ ἰατρῷ περιοδεύοντι ἀνθρώπῳ νοσοῦντι, καὶ οὐκ εὐχαριστεῖ καὶ ἀμοιβὰς ἀποδίδωσι; Σαφῶς τοίνυν ἀποδέδεικται, ὅτιπερ οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ χάριτι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῆς χάριτος δι' ἀνθρώπων ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνεχώρει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Χρησώμεθα δὲ καὶ μετρίῳ ὑποδείγματι πρὸς σαφήνειαν τῶν λεγομένων· Ὑπόθου μοι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε ὁ τῆς μετανοίας ἀντίπαλος, τινὰ ἄνθρωπον σφαλέντα ἐπί τινι ἐγκλήματι, καὶ καταδίκῃ ὑπὸ ἄρχοντος βληθέντα καὶ μέλλοντα αὐτὸν ἢ ἐν ἐξορίᾳ, ἢ ἐν ἄλλῃ τινὶ τιμωρίᾳ, παραπέμπεσθαι· μὴ οὗτος ὁ τῇ καταδίκῃ φρουρούμενος, δι' ἑαυτοῦ πρόεισι, καὶ τὸν ἄρχοντα παρακαλεῖ τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐκείνης ἀπαλλαγῆναι; οὐχὶ τὸν μεσίτην ἰχνεύσας καὶ ζητήσας, τὸν λεγόμενον, ἵνα σαφέστερον εἴπω, δομεστικὸν, δι' αὐτοῦ τὴν σωτηρίαν πρυτανεύεται, καὶ τῆς κρίσεως τὴν ψῆφον σπουδάζει ἀκυρῶσαι, καὶ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τὸν θυμὸν εἰς ἐπιείκειαν μεταποιῆσαι; Εἰ ἐπὶ τῶν σωματικῶν τιμωριῶν εὐταξία τοσαύτη καὶ παράκλησις, ἐπὶ τῶν πνευματικῶν οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ὑψηλοτέρα γενήσεται μεσιτεία καὶ βοηθείας χρεία; Ὥστε, ἄνθρωπε, εἰ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ βούλει προσελθεῖν τῇ μετανοίᾳ, ὅτι ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ ἱερεὺς ἁμαρτωλὸς, μηδὲ βαπτισθῇς· ἄνθρωπος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ βαπτίζων· μηδὲ κοινωνήσῃς· ἄνθρωπος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τὸν ἀμνὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μελίζων. Εἰ δὲ ταῦτα πίστιν ἔχει, κἀκεῖνο πίστει κατάδεξαι. Ὅρα μὴ ἄλλα φυλάττων, καὶ ἄλλα ἀποβαλλόμενος, εἰς κρῖμα 62.762 ἐμπέσῃς. Οὕτω γὰρ σκελίζει ἡμᾶς τὸ πονηρὸν θηρίον ὁ διάβολος, καὶ θέλει ἡμᾶς ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν γέενναν διὰ πολυτρόπων αὐτοῦ μηχανημάτων. Γέγραπται ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, Ἄρχοντα τοῦ λαοῦ σου οὐκ ἐρεῖς κακῶς. Εἰ οὖν ἄρχοντά σοι δέδωκε τὸν ἱερέα ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλευόντων, τί ἀποβάλλεις αὐτὸν καὶ ταλανίζεις; μὴ δύνασαι τῷ ἐπιγείῳ βασιλεῖ παριστάμενος διδόντι ἀξίαν ἄρχοντι, κωλῦσαι καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἄξιος τῆς ἀρχῆς ταύτης γενέσθαι; Εἰ οὖν ἐκεῖνον οὐ δύνασαι κωλῦσαι, ὃν θέλει καὶ ὃν βούλεται δοξάσαι, πῶς τολμᾷς τὸ δεσποτικὸν κέλευσμα κωλυθῆναι ἐπὶ τοῦ ἱερέως, ὅτι ἁμαρτωλός ἐστιν; οὐχὶ ∆αυῒδ ὁ προφήτης μοιχείᾳ καὶ φόνῳ περιέπεσεν, ὡς προεῖπον; οὐχὶ Πέτρος ἀρνησάμενος τὸν διδάσκαλον τρὶς, ἁμαρτίᾳ καὶ ἀρνήσει ὑπέπεσεν; οὐχὶ Παῦλος ἐδίωξε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος; Ἀλλ' ὁ φιλάνθρωπος ∆εσπότης τούτους ἐξελέξατο καὶ ἐδόξασεν, ἵνα σύ τινα τῶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀρχόντων μὴ ἐξουδενώσῃς μηδὲ κρίνῃς. Ὁ γὰρ ἱερεὺς