John Chrysostom, Against Theater

the starting-point of Palestine. But you lodged all day under the oak, appearing to travelers as a good angel of rest. Christ appeared to you, O wondrous one, escorted by two angels, and through hospitality you became a fellow-lodger with both God and angels. O blessed tent, that contained God with angels through the economy! Christ appeared to you in the form of a man, revealing to you the mysteries of his divine and saving visitation; yet the glory of the one present did not escape you on account of the servant's form. For you had other eyes, by which a Master is recognized. Therefore you recognized the mediator of God, the Son who was to be made known in the midst of two living creatures. I marvel, O blessed one, at your haste concerning those who appeared; for though it was possible to command a servant and fulfill the need by an order, you, an old man, ran to the cattle, strengthening your aged body with vigorous desire. And your spouse eagerly shared in the tasks with you, and she crowned the table with a multitude of unleavened loaves; for the haste of hospitality did not wait for the leavening. And everything was done with fear and reverence, not as one hosting men, but as one offering a sacrifice to God. Good, O blessed one, on account of these things, is the fruit of your hospitality, and good is the reward for your love of God. For against all hope the bonds of a barren womb are loosed, and the dead limbs of an old man flourish for the seed of a legitimate child, and you receive from the only-begotten God the good news concerning an only-begotten son. For at this time, he says, I will come, and Sarah shall have a son. How shall I praise your faith worthily, O all-blessed one? For you did not waver at the promise, nor did you limp concerning the announcement, nor did you consider your own body as good as dead, being about a hundred years old, nor did you look to the barrenness of Sarah’s womb, but you were strengthened in faith, knowing that what God has promised, he is also able to perform. For the creator of nature is not a slave to the passions of nature, because God is not subject to the necessity of nature in what he works, being the creator of all nature; but nature follows every kind of change according to the free will of its maker. Therefore you were not deceived in your hopes, O blessed one, but are named a father within a stated time, at a dead age. And first you see fruit from Sarah, and you marvel how the springs of milk flow against hope for the aged woman, and after a little while you lisp to the offspring, teaching your child to call you father, asking from the child this address, which grace, having anticipated it through promise, had confirmed. How shall I narrate your achievements after these things, O wondrous one? How shall I proclaim your lofty and celebrated faith? Your faith is beyond faith, your devotion to God beyond all hearing. For who will ever believe that a father genuinely offered his own child as a sacrifice to God? Perhaps only we believe who have not become fathers, we who have not been taught the affection for children by nature. But let the divine Scripture come as a witness to what has been said, like a lofty herald, crying out the God-loving mind of the blessed one. After these things, it says, God tested Abraham. But he tested, not so that he might learn through trial what was unknown, using the results as witnesses to the man's mind; for God has never been ignorant of anything, himself being always sufficient for the knowledge of all things by his own vision; but so that men, learning through trial him whom he clearly foreknew, might have a good model for the imitation of piety. But what were the words of the temptation, let us consider. Abraham, it says, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. He said to him: Take your beloved son, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer 56.547 me him there for a whole burnt offering. Oh how great a test of the forefather's faith did God work through the 56.547 words thus spoken! For it would have been enough just to say, Take Isaac, and offer him for a whole burnt offering, without saying son, nor stirring the paternal bowels with the memory of the beloved. But since for those suffused with good things the sudden onslaught of evils is heavier

Παλαιστίνης ἀφετηρίῳ. Ηὐλίζου δὲ σὺ πανημέριος ὑπὸ τῇ δρυῒ, ἀγαθὸς τοῖς ὁδεύουσι προφαινόμενος ἀναπαύσεως ἄγγελος. Ὤφθη σοι Χριστὸς, ὦ θαυμάσιε, ὑπ' ἀγγέλων δορυφορούμενος δύο, καὶ γέγονας διὰ φιλοξενίας καὶ Θεῷ καὶ ἀγγέλοις ὁμόσκηνος. Ὦ μακαρία σκηνὴ, ἡ Θεὸν μετ' ἀγγέλων δι' οἰκονομίαν χωρήσασα! Ὤφθη σοι Χριστὸς ἐν ἀνθρώπου σχήματι, τῆς θείας αὐτοῦ καὶ σωτηρίου ἐπιδημίας παραφαίνων σοι τὰ μυστήρια· ὅμως οὐκ ἔλαθέ σε τοῦ παρόντος ἡ δόξα διὰ τὸ δουλικὸν σχῆμα. Εἶχες γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὺς ἄλλους, οἷς ∆εσπότης γνωρίζεται. Ἐπέγνως τοιγαροῦν μεσίτην Θεοῦ, τὸν ἐν μέσῳ δύο ζώων γνωρίζεσθαι μέλλοντα Υἱόν. Θαυμάζω μέν σου, μακάριε, τὴν περὶ τῶν φανέντων σπουδήν· ἐξὸν γὰρ ἐπιτάξαι θεράποντι καὶ πληρῶσαι τὴν χρείαν προστάγματι, ἔδραμες σὺ εἰς τὰς βόας πρεσβύτης, ἀκμάζοντι πόθῳ παλαιὸν σῶμα στηρίζων. Ἐκοινώνει δέ σοι προθύμως τῶν ἔργων ἡ σύζυγος, καὶ πλήθει ἀζύμων ἄρτων ἐστεφάνου τὴν τράπεζαν· οὐ γὰρ ἀνέμεινε τὴν ζύμωσιν ἡ τῆς φιλοξενίας σπουδή. Πάντα δὲ ἦν φόβου καὶ σεβάσματος τὰ πραττόμενα, οὐχ ὡς ἄνδρας ξενίζοντος, ἀλλ' ὡς Θεῷ θυσίαν προσφέροντος. Καλός σου, μακάριε, διὰ ταῦτα τῆς φιλοξενίας ὁ καρπὸς, καλὴ καὶ τῆς φιλοθεΐας ἡ ἀμοιβή. Λύεται γὰρ παρὰ πάσας ἐλπίδας μήτρας ἐστειρωμένης δεσμὰ, καὶ νεκρὰ πρεσβύτου μέλη πρὸς τέκνου γνησίου σπόρον ἀνθεῖ, καὶ δέχῃ παρὰ μονογενοῦς Θεοῦ περὶ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ εὐαγγέλια. Κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν γὰρ, φησὶ, τοῦτον ἐλεύσομαι, καὶ ἔσται τῇ Σάῤῥᾳ υἱός. Πῶς σου κατ' ἀξίαν ἐπαινέσω τὴν πίστιν, πανόλβιε; Οὐ γὰρ διεκρίθης πρὸς τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν, οὐδὲ περὶ ἐπαγγελίαν ἐχώλανας, οὐδὲ κατενόησας τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα νενεκρωμένον, ἑκατονταετής που ὑπάρχων, οὐδὲ ἀπέβλεψας εἰς τὴν στείρωσιν τῆς μήτρας Σάῤῥας, ἀλλ' ἐνεδυναμώθης τῇ πίστει, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὃ ἐπήγγελται ὁ Θεὸς, δυνατός ἐστι καὶ πληρῶσαι. Οὐ γὰρ δουλεύει φύσεως πάθεσιν ὁ φύσεως δημιουργὸς, ὅτι οὐχ ὑπόκειται φύσεως ἀνάγκῃ Θεὸς ἐν οἷς ἐργάζεται, πάσης φύσεως ὑπάρχων δημιουργός· ἀκολουθεῖ δὲ πρὸς πᾶν εἶδος μεταβολῆς ἡ φύσις τῷ ἐλευθέρῳ τοῦ πεποιηκότος θελήματι. Τοιγαροῦν οὐκ ἐψεύσθης τῶν ἐλπίδων, μακάριε, ἀλλ' ὀνομάζῃ πατὴρ ἐν προθεσμίᾳ ῥητῇ, ἐν ἡλικίᾳ νεκρᾷ. Καὶ πρῶτον βλέπεις ἐκ Σάῤῥας καρπὸν, καὶ θαυμάζεις πῶς ἐπιῤῥέουσι παρ' ἐλπίδας τῇ γεγηρακυίᾳ τοῦ γάλακτος αἱ πηγαὶ, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον προσψελλίζεις τῷ τόκῳ, καλεῖν πατέρα διδάσκων τὸ γένημα, ταύτην αἰτῶν παρὰ τοῦ τέκνου τὴν κλῆσιν, ἣν προλαβοῦσα δι' ἐπαγγελίας ἡ χάρις ἐκύρωσε. Πῶς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτά σου διηγήσομαι κατορθώματα, θαυμάσιε; πῶς ὑψηλήν σου καὶ περιβόητον ἀπαγγελῶ πίστιν; Ὑπὲρ πίστιν ἡ πίστις σου, ὑπὲρ ἀκοὴν πᾶσαν ἡ πρὸς Θεόν σου καθοσίωσις. Τίς γὰρ πιστεύσει ποτὲ, ὅτι πατὴρ οἰκεῖον τέκνον θυσίαν προσήνεγκε γνησίως τῷ Θεῷ; Τάχα μόνοι πιστεύομεν οἱ μὴ γεγονότες πατέρες, οἱ τέκνων στοργὴν μὴ δεδιδαγμένοι παρὰ τῆς φύσεως. Ἡκέτω δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων μάρτυς καὶ θεία Γραφὴ, καθάπερ κήρυξ ὑψηλὸς, ἐκβοῶσα τοῦ μακαρίου τὴν φιλόθεον γνώμην. Μετὰ ταῦτα, φησὶν, ἐπείραζεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Ἀβραάμ. Ἐπείραζε δὲ, οὐχ ἵνα μάθῃ διὰ πείρας τὸ ἀγνοούμενον, μάρτυσι τῆς γνώμης τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τοῖς ἀποτελέσμασι χρώμενος· ἠγνόησε γὰρ οὐδὲν οὐδέπω ὁ Θεὸς, αὐτὸς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ θεωρίᾳ πάντοτε πρὸς τὴν πάντων γνῶσιν ἀρκούμενος· ἀλλ' ὅπως ὃν σαφῶς προεγίνωσκε, τοῦτον διὰ πείρας μαθόντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καλὸν ἔχωσι πρὸς μίμησιν θεοσεβείας ὑπογραμμόν. Τίνα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ῥήματα, φέρε σκοπήσωμεν. Ἀβραὰμ, φησὶν, Ἀβραάμ. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Ἰδοὺ ἐγώ. Ἔφη αὐτῷ· Λάβε τὸυἱόν σου τὸν ἀγαπητὸν, ὃν ἠγάπησας, τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ πορεύθητι εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ὑψηλὴν, καὶ ἀνένεγκέ 56.547 μοι αὐτὸν εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν. Ὢ πόσην ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τῶν 56.547 οὕτως εἰρημένων ῥημάτων τῆς πίστεως τοῦ προπάτορος εἰργάσατο βάσανον! Ἤρκει μὲν γὰρ μόνον εἰπεῖν, Λάβε τὸν Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ ἀνένεγκε αὐτὸν εἰς ὁλοκάρπωσιν, μήτε υἱὸν εἰπόντα, μήτε τῇ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ μνήμῃ τὰ πατρῷα σπλάγχνα κινήσαντα. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῖς ἔνδον τῶν ἀγαθῶν διακεχυμένοις ἡ τῶν κακῶν αἰφνίδιος φορὰ βαρυτέραν