John Chrysostom, On "But in vain they are troubled"

inhumanity, He placed Himself in the middle, a guarantor for the poor man, a pledge for the one lending. Do you distrust this one, He says, on account of his poverty?

Trust Me on account of My abundance. He saw the poor man, and had mercy; He saw the poor man, and did not overlook him, but gave Himself as a pledge for the one who had nothing, and He championed the destitute through His great goodness. He who has mercy on the poor, lends to God. Take courage, He says, you are lending to Me. And what great profit do I gain by lending to you? I give you a hundredfold, and eternal life. When will You repay these things to me? I demand the terms, wishing to confirm the contract. Give me the time of the repayment, set the deadline for the receipt. Listen intelligently, when and where He who borrowed through the poor repays you the debt.

When the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, He will set the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left; and He will say to those on the right: Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For what reasons? Because I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then those who served well in due season, looking to their own weakness, and to the worthiness of the borrower, say: Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink, You in whom the eyes of all hope? or when did we see You in such need? and when did we do these things? As much as, He says, you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to Me. Is not the saying true, that 'He who has mercy on the poor, lends to God'? But just as to those on the right He showed the kingdom bestowed on account of their philanthropy, so also to those on the left He threatened punishment on account of their fruitlessness; Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into the outer darkness, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Why? for what reason? Because I was hungry, and you did not give Me food. He did not say, Because you fornicated, because you committed adultery, because you stole, because you bore false witness, because you swore falsely; even though these things are admittedly so, they are less than inhumanity and mercilessness.

But why, O Lord, do you bring none of the other things to remembrance? I do not judge, He says, sin, but inhumanity; I do not judge those who have sinned, but those who have not repented. I condemn you for inhumanity, because having such and so great a medicine of salvation, almsgiving, you neglected so great a benefit. Therefore I reproach inhumanity, as the root of all evil and all impiety, but I praise 55.563 philanthropy as the root of all good things, and I threaten the one group with eternal fire, but to the other I give the king- 55.564 dom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever Amen.

τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν, μέσον ἑαυτὸν παρέθηκεν, ἔγγυον μὲν τῷ πένητι, ἐνέχυρον δὲ τῷ δανείζοντι. Ἀπιστεῖς τούτῳ, φησὶ, διὰ τὴν ἀπορίαν;

Ἐμοὶ πίστευσον διὰ τὴν ἀφθονίαν. Εἶδε τὸν πτωχὸν, καὶ ἠλέησεν· εἶδε τὸν πτωχὸν, καὶ οὐ παρεῖδεν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἔδωκεν ἐνέχυρον τῷ μηδὲν ἔχοντι, καὶ τῷ ἀπόρῳ προέστη διὰ πολλὴν ἀγαθότητα. Ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν, δανείζει Θεῷ. Θάρσει, φησὶν, ἐμοὶ δανείζεις. Καὶ τί τοσοῦτον κερδαίνω, σοὶ δανείζων; Ἑκατονταπλασίονά σοι δίδωμι, καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Ἵνα πότε μοι ταῦτα ἀποδῷς, ἀπαιτῶ τὰ σύμφωνα, στηρίξαι βουλόμενος τὸ συνάλλαγμα. ∆ός μοι τῆς ἀνταποδόσεως τὸν καιρὸν, ὅρισον τῆς ἀπολήψεως τὴν προθεσμίαν. Ἄκουε συνετῶς, πότε καὶ ποῦ σοι τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἀποδίδωσιν ὁ διὰ τῶν πτωχῶν δανεισάμενος.

Ὅταν καθίσῃ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ, στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων· καὶ ἐρεῖ τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ὑπὲρ τίνων; Ὅτι ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· γυμνὸς ἤμην, καὶ ἐνεδύσατέ με· ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με. Εἶτα οἱ καλῶς ἐν καιρῷ διακονήσαντες εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν ἀφορῶντες, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀξίαν τοῦ δανεισαμένου, λέγουσι· Κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα, καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν, ἢ διψῶντα, καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν, εἰς ὃν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ πάντων ἐλπίζουσιν; ἢ πότε σε εἴδομεν ἐν ἐνδείᾳ τοσαύτῃ; πότε δὲ ταῦτα πεποιήκαμεν; Ἐφ' ὅσον, φησὶν, ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων πεποιήκατε, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Μὴ οὐκ ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι Ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν, Θεῷ δανείζει; Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν διὰ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἔδειξε δεδωρημένην τὴν βασιλείαν, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἐξ ἀριστερῶν διὰ τὴν ἀκαρπίαν ἠπείλησε τὴν τιμωρίαν· Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, οἱ κατηραμένοι, εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον, τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τί; ὑπὲρ τίνος; Ὅτι ἐπείνων, καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὅτι ἐπορνεύσατε, ὅτι ἐμοιχεύσατε, ὅτι ἐκλέψατε, ὅτι ἐψευδομαρτυρήσατε, ὅτι ἐπιωρκήσατε· κἂν μὲν ὁμολογουμένως καὶ ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀπανθρωπίας κατώτερα καὶ τῆς ἀνελεημοσύνης.

∆ιὰ τὶ δὲ, ὦ Κύριε, οὐδὲν τῶν ἄλλων φέρεις εἰς μνήμην; Οὐ κρίνω, φησὶ, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν· οὐ κρίνω τοὺς ἁμαρτήσαντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὴ μετανοήσαντας. Ὑπὲρ ἀπανθρωπίας ὑμᾶς καταδικάζω, ὅτι ἔχοντες τοσοῦτον καὶ τηλικοῦτον φάρμακον σωτηρίας, τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην, παρήκατε τοσαύτην εὐεργεσίαν. Ὀνειδίζω τοίνυν τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν, ὡς ῥίζαν πάσης κακίας καὶ πάσης ἀσεβείας, ἐπ 55.563 αινῶ δὲ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ὡς ῥίζαν πάντων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ ἀπειλῶ τοῖς μὲν πῦρ αἰώνιον, τοῖς δὲ δίδωμι βασι 55.564 λείαν οὐρανῶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοῦς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων Ἀμήν.