John Chrysostom, On the Samaritan

from his side upon the earth, washed away our bill of indictment from our sins. What is it, He bound up his wounds? That is, he bound the devil, and loosed man; he bound the vessel, and gave life to the shipwrecked boat; he bound and enslaved the powers of the evil one, and freed man. But if you wish to understand it in another way, listen. Mixing wine with oil; oil he brings, the word of comfort, but wine, the astringent, pouring it on, the teaching that gathers the scattered mind, according to what was said by the Apostle: Reprove, rebuke, exhort. And he set him on his own beast; that is, Christ, having taken the flesh upon the shoulders of his own divinity, brought it up to the Father in the heavens. For he did not bring up gold, or silver, or precious stones, but he brought up man, made in his image, from earth to the heavens, to the great and wonderful and spacious inn, to this catholic Church.

And he delivered him to the innkeeper, to the blessed Paul, the pillar of the Christians, the genuine innkeeper, giving him two denarii; and through Paul to the high priests and teachers and ministers in each Church; two denarii, both the Old and New Testament, saying: Take care of this man, and whatever more you spend, I, when I come back, will repay you. And what he says is this: Take care, he says, of the people 62.758 from the nations, whom I have delivered to you in the Church. Since men are weak, having been wounded by sins, heal them, applying to them a stone of plaster, the prophetic words and the evangelical teachings, making them well through the admonitions and exhortations of the Old and New Testament, persuading them to depart from sin, and to leave behind the deceit of the devil. And if even so they remain uncorrected, persuade them by your own right actions, bend them by your stern words; be an example to them, and a good pattern, in word, in deed, in conduct, in faith, in love, in holiness, so that they may follow your example, and become imitators of your good way of life. And if you do this, and provide some addition of your own in words or deeds, whatever more you spend, I, on my return, will repay you; that is, at my second coming of recompense I will give you a reward worthy of your labors. For this reason Paul, trusting in these promises, says: But I will most gladly spend for Christ, and will be spent for your souls; speaking of the teaching to the nations and the ministry of the word. For it is he who builds up and strengthens the Churches of God, and heals all men through spiritual admonitions, distributing to each what is fitting, he guides our souls to eternal life. For to all, he says, I have become all things, that I might save all. This is the good innkeeper of the Church, he receives all and takes care of all; he does not thrust away a fornicator, nor a drunkard, nor a reviler, nor does he turn away a robber, he does not abhor an idolater, he does not drive away any other impious and unclean person, but receives them all. Just as a physician washes away wounds, and through the bath of regeneration he wipes clean and purifies, and offers the astringent words, like wine. so as not to be led by the sins or rather evils committed in ignorance.

And again he heals through exhortation, anointing our souls as with oil; for he says this: We beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, which is your reasonable service. As many of you, therefore, as are disciples of the words of Paul, let us keep the commandments of Christ; that we may not fall away from the heavenly Jerusalem and the city of the living God.

ἀπὸ τῆς πλευρᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀπέπλυνεν ἡμῶν τὸ χειρόγραφον ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν. Τί δέ ἐστι, Κατέδησε τὰ τραύματα αὐτοῦ; Τουτέστιν, ἔδησε τὸν διάβολον, καὶ ἔλυσε τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἔδησε τὸ σκάφος, καὶ ἐζωοποίησε τὸ ναυαγῆσαν πλοῖον· κατέδησε καὶ ἐδούλωσε τὰς δυνάμεις τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ ἠλευθέρωσε τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις καὶ ἑτέρως νοεῖν, ἄκουε. Μίξας οἶνον σὺν ἐλαίῳ· ἔλαιον ἐπάγει τὸν παρακλητικὸν λόγον, οἶνον δὲ τὸν στυπτικὸν καταδευόμενος, τὴν διδασκαλίαν τὴν συνάγουσαν τὴν διεσκορπισμένην διάνοιαν, κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου· Ἔλεγξον, ἐπιτίμησον, παρακάλεσον. Ἔθηκε δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον κτῆνος· τουτέστι, λαβὼν ὁ Χριστὸς τὴν σάρκα ἐπὶ τοὺς ἰδίους ὤμους τῆς θεότητος, ἀνήνεγκε τῷ Πατρὶ εἰς οὐρανούς. Οὐ γὰρ χρυσὸν, ἢ ἄργυρον, ἢ λίθους τιμίους ἀνήνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα ἄνθρωπον ἀνήνεγκεν ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανοὺς, εἰς τὸ μέγα καὶ θαυμαστὸν καὶ εὐρύχωρον πανδοχεῖον, εἰς ταύτην τὴν καθολικὴν Ἐκκλησίαν.

Καὶ παρέδωκε τῷ πανδοχεῖ, τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ, τῷ στύλῳ τῶν Χριστιανῶν, τῷ γνησίῳ πανδοχεῖ, δοὺς αὐτῷ δύο δηνάρια· διὰ δὲ Παύλου τοῖς καθ' ἑκάστην Ἐκκλησίαν ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ διδασκάλοις καὶ λειτουργοῖς· δύο δηνάρια, Παλαιάν τε καὶ Καινὴν ∆ιαθήκην, εἰπών· Ἐπιμελήθητι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου, καὶ εἴ τι δ' ἂν προσδαπανήσῃς, ἐγὼ ἐλθὼν ἀποδώσω σοι. Ὁ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Ἐπιμέλησαι, φησὶ, τοῦ λαοῦ 62.758 τοῦ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, ὅν σοι παρέδωκα ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Ἐπειδὴ ἀσθενοῦσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τετραυματισμένοι ὑπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, θεράπευσον αὐτοὺς, ἐπιτιθεὶς αὐτοῖς λίθον ἐμπλάστρου, τὰ προφητικὰ ῥήματα καὶ τὰ εὐαγγελικὰ διδάγματα, ὑγιαίνων αὐτοὺς διὰ τῶν τῆς Παλαιᾶς καὶ Νέας ∆ιαθήκης νουθεσιῶν καὶ παρακλήσεων, πείθων αὐτοὺς ἀποστῆναι τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ καταλεῖψαι τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου πλάνην. Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ οὕτως ἀδιόρθωτοι μείνωσι, πεῖσον αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν σῶν κατορθωμάτων, κάμψον αὐτοὺς διὰ τῶν αὐστηρῶν σου λόγων· τύπος αὐτῶν γενοῦ, καὶ ὑπογραμμὸς ἀγαθὸς, ἐν λόγῳ, ἐν ἔργῳ, ἐν ἀναστροφῇ, ἐν πίστει, ἐν ἀγάπῃ, ἐν σεμνότητι, ἵνα τῷ σῷ τύπῳ ἐξακολουθήσωσι, καὶ μιμηταί σου γίνωνται τῆς ἀγαθῆς πολιτείας. Καὶ τοῦτο ἂν ποιήσῃς, καὶ ἰδίαν τινὰ προσθήκην λόγων ἢ ἔργων παράσχῃς, εἴ τι ἂν προσδαπανήσῃς, ἐγὼ ἐπανελθὼν ἀποδώσω σοι· τουτέστιν, ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ μου παρουσίᾳ τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως ἄξιον τῶν καμάτων σου ἀποδώσω σοι τὸν μισθόν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Παῦλος θαῤῥῶν ταῖς ὑποσχέσεσι ταύταις λέγει· Ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδιστα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ δαπανήσω, καὶ ἐκδαπανήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν· τὴν εἰς τὰ ἔθνη λέγων διδασκαλίαν καὶ τὴν διακονίαν τοῦ λόγου. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐποικοδομῶν καὶ στηρίζων, καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους θεραπεύων διὰ τῶν πνευματικῶν νουθεσιῶν, ἑκάστῳ τὰ πρόσφορα νέμων, ὁδηγεῖ τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Τοῖς πᾶσι γὰρ, φησὶ, γέγονα τὰ πάντα, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας σώσω. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ καλὸς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πανδοχεὺς, πάντας δέχεται καὶ πάντας ἐπιμελεῖται· οὐ πόρνον ἀπωθεῖται, οὐ μέθυσον, οὐ λοίδορον, οὐχ ἅρπαγα ἀποστρέφεται, οὐκ εἰδωλολάτρην βδελύσσεται, οὐχ ἕτερόν τινα ἀσεβῆ καὶ ἀκάθαρτον ἀποδιώκει, ἀλλὰ τοὺς πάντας δέχεται. Καθάπερ ἰατρὸς ἀποπλύνει τὰ τραύματα, καὶ διὰ λουτροῦ τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως ἀποσμήχει καὶ καθαίρει, καὶ προσφέρει τὰ στυπτικὰ ῥήματα, ὥσπερ οἶνον. πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἄγεσθαι ταῖς κατὰ ἄγνοιαν πραχθείσαις ἁμαρτίαις ἤτοι κακίαις.

Καὶ πάλιν θεραπεύει διὰ παρακλήσεως, δίκην ἐλαίου ἀλείφων τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν· λέγει γὰρ οὗτος· Παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, διὰ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ, παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν. Ὅσοι τοίνυν τῶν τοῦ Παύλου ῥημάτων μαθηταὶ τυγχάνετε, τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ φυλάξωμεν· ἵνα μὴ τῆς ἐπουρανίου Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐκπέσωμεν καὶ πόλεως Θεοῦ ζῶντος.