5

of excessiveness arises. And see how precisely he spoke; for he did not say, Lest the devil destroy him, but what? Lest 49.282 we be taken advantage of by Satan; for covetousness is desiring what belongs to others. Showing, therefore, that he had become a stranger to him from then on, and through repentance had made himself a member of the flock of Christ, he says: Lest we be taken advantage of by Satan. For if he should seize him from now on, he snatches our member, he takes the sheep of the flock; for through repentance he has put away his sin. Paul, therefore, knowing what the devil did in the case of Judas, feared lest this same thing might happen here also. And what did he do in the case of Judas? Judas repented; For I have sinned, he says, by betraying innocent blood; the devil heard these words; he knew he was beginning on the path toward the better and was walking toward salvation, and he feared the change. He has a loving Master, he says; when he was about to betray Him, He wept for him and pleaded with him countless times; will He not much more accept him when he repents? He drew him to Himself and called him when he was uncorrected; will He not much more draw him when he has been corrected and has recognized his sin? For this is why He came to be crucified. What then did he do? He agitated him; he darkened him with an excess of despondency, he pursued him, drove him until he led him to the noose, and removed him from the present life, and deprived him of the eagerness for repentance. For that, if he had lived, he too would have been saved, is clear from those who crucified Him; for if He saved those who raised Him up on the cross, and while on the cross itself He was entreating the Father and asking for forgiveness for their audacity, it is very clear that He would have also received the betrayer with all goodwill, if he had shown repentance in the fitting manner; but that one did not endure to persist with the remedy, being swallowed up by excessive grief. Fearing this, therefore, Paul also urges the Corinthians to snatch the man from the throat of the devil. And what need to mention the Corinthians? Peter, after sharing in the mysteries, denied Him three times, and by weeping wiped away everything; Paul, being a persecutor and blasphemer and insolent man, and persecuting not only the Crucified One, but also all His followers, upon repenting, became an apostle. For God seeks only a small pretext from us, and grants us forgiveness for many sins. Let me also tell you a parable that guarantees this very thing. 4. There were two brothers; and having each divided the paternal inheritance, one of them remained at home; but the other, having consumed all that was given him, moved abroad, not bearing the shame of his poverty. And I was led to tell this parable so that you may learn that there is also forgiveness for sins after baptism, if we pay attention; and I say this not to cast you into sloth, but to lead you away from despair; for despair works worse evils for us than sloth. This son, therefore, bears the image of those who have fallen after the bath; and that he signifies those who have lapsed after baptism is clear from this: for he is called a son; and no one would be called a son without baptism. And he lived in his father's house, and divided all his paternal inheritance; but before 49.283 baptism it is not possible to receive a paternal inheritance, nor to accept an inheritance; so that through all these things the order of the faithful is hinted at for us. And he was the brother of the one who was well-pleasing; but he would not be a brother without spiritual rebirth. This one, therefore, having fallen into the utmost evil, what does he say? I will return to my father; for this is why his father let him go, and did not prevent him from going to a foreign land, so that through experience he might learn well how great a benefit he had enjoyed by remaining at home. For often when God does not persuade by speaking, He allows teaching through the experience of things; which, therefore, He also said to the Jews. For since countless

5

τῆς ἀμετρίας γίνεται. Καὶ ὅρα πῶς ἀκριβῶς εἶπεν· οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, Μὴ ἀπολέσῃ αὐτὸν ὁ διάβολος, ἀλλὰ τί; Μὴ 49.282 πλεονεκτηθῶμεν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σατανᾶ· πλεονεξία δέ ἐστι τὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐφίεσθαι. ∆εικνὺς τοίνυν ὅτι ἀλλότριος αὐτοῦ γέγονε λοιπὸν, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποίμνης οἰκεῖον ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῆς μετανοίας κατέστησε, φησί· Μὴ πλεονεκτηθῶμεν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σατανᾶ. Ἐὰν γὰρ κατάσχῃ λοιπὸν αὐτὸν, ἡμέτερον ἁρπάζει μέλος, τὸ τῆς ἀγέλης λαμβάνει πρόβατον· ἀπέθετο γὰρ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν διὰ τῆς μετανοίας. Εἰδὼς τοίνυν ὁ Παῦλος, ὅπερ ἐποίησεν ὁ διάβολος ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα, ἔδεισε μὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ αὐτὸ γένηται τοῦτο. Τί δὲ ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα; Μετενόησεν ὁ Ἰούδας· Ἥμαρτον γὰρ, φησὶ, παραδοὺς αἷμα ἀθῶον· ἤκουσε τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων ὁ διάβολος· ἔγνω τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον ἀρχόμενον ὁδοῦ καὶ πρὸς σωτηρίαν βαδίζοντα, καὶ ἐφοβήθη τὴν μεταβολήν. Φιλάνθρωπον, φησὶν, ἔχει δεσπότην· ὅτε ἔμελλεν αὐτὸν προδιδόναι, ἐδάκρυσεν αὐτὸν καὶ μυρία παρεκάλεσεν· οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον μετανοοῦντα δέξεται; Ἀδιόρθωτον ὄντα ἐφειλκύσατο καὶ ἐκάλεσεν· οὐ πολλῷ μᾶλλον διορθωθέντα καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπιγνόντα ἐπισπάσεται; διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ σταυρωθῆναι ἦλθε. Τί οὖν ἐποίησεν; Ἐθορύβησεν αὐτόν· ἐσκότωσε τῇ τῆς ἀθυμίας ὑπερβολῇ, ἐδίωξεν, ἤλασεν ἕως ἐπὶ τὸν βρόχον ἤγαγε, καὶ τῆς παρούσης ὑπεξήγαγε ζωῆς, καὶ τῆς προθυμίας τῆς κατὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀπεστέρησεν. Ὅτι γὰρ, εἰ ἔζη, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐσώθη ἂν, δῆλον ἐκ τῶν σταυρωσάντων· εἰ γὰρ τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτὸν ἀναβιβάσαντας ἔσωσε, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σταυρῷ ὢν παρεκάλει τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ συγγνώμην αὐτοῖς ᾔτει τοῦ τολμήματος, εὔδηλον ὅτι καὶ τὸν προδόντα, εἰ νόμῳ τῷ προσήκοντι τὴν μετάνοιαν ἐπεδείξατο, μετὰ πάσης ἂν εὐμενείας ἐδέξατο· ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἠνέσχετο ἐμμεῖναι τῷ φαρμάκῳ, τῇ περισσοτέρᾳ λύπῃ καταποθείς. Τοῦτο τοίνυν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος φοβούμενος, ἐπείγει τοὺς Κορινθίους ἐξαρπάσαι τῆς φάρυγγος τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Καὶ τί χρὴ λέγειν τὰ Κορινθίων; Πέτρος μετὰ τὴν τῶν μυστηρίων κοινωνίαν ἠρνήσατο τρὶς, καὶ δακρύσας ἀπήλειψεν ἅπαντα· Παῦλος διώκτης ὢν καὶ βλάσφημος καὶ ὑβριστὴς, καὶ οὐχὶ τὸν σταυρωθέντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐκείνου διώκων, μετανοήσας, ἀπόστολος γέγονε. Μόνον γὰρ πρόφασιν ὁ Θεὸς βραχεῖαν ἐπιζητεῖ παρ' ἡμῶν, καὶ πολλῶν ἡμῖν ἁμαρτημάτων χαρίζεται ἄφεσιν. Εἴπω καὶ παραβολὴν τοῦτο αὐτὸ ἐγγυωμένην ὑμῖν. δʹ. ∆ύο τινὲς ἦσαν ἀδελφοί· διανειμάμενοι δὲ τὴν πατρικὴν περιουσίαν ἑκάτεροι, ὁ μὲν αὐτῶν ἔμεινεν ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας· ὁ δὲ πάντα τὰ δοθέντα καταφαγὼν, εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν μετέστη, τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς πενίας οὐ φέρων αἰσχύνην. Ταύτην δὲ τὴν παραβολὴν προήχθην εἰπεῖν, ἵνα μάθητε, ὅτι καὶ τῶν μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἁμαρτημάτων ἐστὶν ἄφεσις, ἐὰν προσέχωμεν· λέγω δὲ οὐχ ἵνα εἰς ῥᾳθυμίαν ἐμβάλω, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀπὸ ἀπογνώσεως ἀπαγάγω· καὶ γὰρ χείρονα τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀπόγνωσις ἐργάζεται κακά. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ υἱὸς εἰκόνα τῶν μετὰ τὸ λουτρὸν φέρει πεσόντων· ὅτι δὲ τοὺς μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα παραπεσόντας δηλοῖ, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν· υἱὸς γὰρ λέγεται· οὐδεὶς δὲ υἱὸς βαπτίσματος ἂν κληθείη χωρίς. Καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν δὲ ᾤκει τὴν πατρῴαν, καὶ τὰ πατρῷα διενείματο πάντα· πρὸ 49.283 δὲ βαπτίσματος οὐκ ἔστι πατρῷα λαβεῖν, οὐδὲ δέξασθαι κληρονομίαν· ὥστε διὰ πάντων ἡμῖν τούτων τὸ τῶν πιστῶν αἰνίττεται τάγμα. Καὶ ἀδελφὸς δὲ ἦν τοῦ εὐδοκιμηκότος· ἀδελφὸς δὲ οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο χωρὶς πνευματικῆς ἀναγεννήσεως. Οὗτος τοίνυν εἰς κακίαν ἐσχάτην πεσὼν, τί φησιν; Ἐπανήξω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο αὐτὸν καὶ ἀφῆκεν ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ οὐκ ἐκώλυσεν εἰς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν ἀπελθεῖν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς πείρας μάθῃ καλῶς, ὅσης ἀπήλαυσεν εὐεργεσίας οἴκοι μένων. Πολλάκις γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ὅταν λέγων μὴ πείθῃ, τῇ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων πείρᾳ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἀφίησιν· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἔλεγεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μυρίους