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a light shines in the darkness, and running concurrently with the end of misdeeds. For when evil deeds have ceased, the existence of sin also vanishes. For his sin, it says, will be sought, and it will not be found; even if the punishment for sins has been stored up for sinners, and the chastisement for wrongdoings is indissoluble. Therefore, He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. And of long-suffering, and forbearance, and goodness, and gentleness and love of mankind, and meekness, and humility and wisdom, and simply of every virtue, He provided many examples, which are clearly related in the Gospels. Of long-suffering and forbearance, by bearing the plots of the Jews, which always concealed their former wickednesses with subsequent excesses; and by gently refuting them, so as to stop their wickedness, but not defending Himself or attacking them in the slightest, but striving to conquer their inhumanity with benefactions, and the intensity of their wickedness with provisions of good things; and finally, to take up a cross on behalf of those who 31.1356 crucified Him; of gentleness and meekness, by receiving all with the goodness befitting Him, and providing confidence for conversation not only to the virtuous among men, but also to those for whom it was dear and customary to practice the most shameful things. Thus, indeed, prostitutes and tax collectors approached, not that they might increase the disease of lust or of greed, but that they might wipe away the disease of the soul. And they were not so much submerged by the conscience of their wickedness, as they were emboldened by the hope of healing. For they found the experience even greater than their hope. And of His love of mankind and His compassion, what are the examples? At one time, in the desert, for those faint from want, He improvises a bountiful table, receiving them doubly, both by the abundance for their need and by the miraculousness of the provision; at another, He has compassion on those who were prostrate, because they were harassed and scattered like sheep without a shepherd; and healing bodily weaknesses, and correcting mutilations and maimings of limbs; and also loosing spiritual illnesses, and the indissoluble bonds of sins, and the snares of violent transactions which we have made with the father of sin, the devil. And of humility, how great are the examples? That He not only chose to put on flesh, but indeed also of humble parents, according to the present state, to be the child of one, and to be thought the child of the other; to be born of the mother, but thought to be of the one called father. And of wisdom, that at one time He refutes the Sadducees who try to ridicule the resurrection with the fiction of the seven brothers who died with one wife; at another, He puts to shame the disciples of the Pharisees with the Herodians, when, proposing the perilous question, 'Whether it was necessary to give tribute to Caesar, or not,' they received a dexterous answer, able to convict their folly on either side, commanding not to give, but to render. For 'Render,' He says, 'the things of Caesar to Caesar;' since the coin was Caesar's, whose image and inscription it bore. And these are the preceding accomplishments, and more than these in infinite number; but of the body, how great and how many were they? For the sake of which especially the example has been brought forward. In His early years, being subject to His parents, He gently and obediently endured every bodily toil. For being righteous and pious men, but poor and not well-supplied with necessities (and the manger is a witness, 31.1357 the service of the precious birth), they naturally engaged in continual bodily labors, thereby providing for their necessary needs. But Jesus, being subject to them, as the Scripture says, surely also showed His obedience by sharing in their labors. And proceeding, and revealing His lordly and divine benefactions, and henceforth choosing disciples

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φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ τῷ πέρατι τῶν ἀτοπημάτων συνδιατρέχον. Πεπαυμένων γὰρ τῶν πονηρῶν πράξεων, καὶ ἡ ὕπαρξις τῆς ἁμαρ τίας συναφανίζεται. Ζητηθήσεται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἡ ἁμαρτία αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ· κἂν ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι τιμωρία τεταμιευμένη τύχοι τοῖς ἁμαρ τάνουσι, καὶ ἄλυτος ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασι κόλασις. Ἁμαρτίαν τοίνυν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. Μακροθυμίας δὲ, καὶ ἀνεξικακίας, καὶ χρηστότητος, πραότητός τε καὶ φιλανθρωπίας, καὶ ἡμερότητος, ταπεινοφροσύνης τε καὶ φρονήσεως, καὶ πάσης ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀρετῆς πολλὰ παρέσχε τὰ ὑποδείγματα, ἅπερ ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις σαφῶς διηγόρευται. Μακροθυμίας μὲν καὶ ἀνεξικα κίας, τῷ φέρειν τὰς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐπιβουλὰς, ἀεὶ ταῖς ἑξῆς ὑπερβολαῖς τὰ πρότερα πονηρεύματα καλυπτούσας· καὶ διελέγχειν μὲν αὐτοὺς ἠρέμα, ὅσον στῆσαι τῆς πονηρίας, ἀμύνασθαι δὲ καὶ ἐπ εξιέναι οὐδὲ κατὰ μικρὸν, ἀλλὰ φιλονεικεῖν ταῖς εὐερ γεσίαις τὴν ἐκείνων ἀπανθρωπίαν νικᾷν, καὶ ταῖς τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγίαις τὴν τῆς πονηρίας ἐπίτα σιν· καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον σταυρὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν σταυ 31.1356 ρωσάντων αὐτὸν ἀναδέχεσθαι· πραότητος δὲ καὶ ἡμερότητος, τῷ πάντας προσίεσθαι μετὰ τῆς αὐτῷ πρεπούσης χρηστότητος, καὶ θάρσος ὁμιλίας παρ έχειν οὐ τοῖς σπουδαίοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων μόνον, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ οἷς τὰ αἴσχιστα ἐπιτηδεύειν φίλον καὶ σύν ηθες. Οὕτω γοῦν πόρναι καὶ τελῶναι προσίεσαν, οὐχ ἵνα τὸ νόσημα τῆς λαγνείας ἢ τῆς φιλαργυρίας αὐξήσωσιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸ νόσημα τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποτρί ψωνται. Καὶ οὐ κατεδύοντο μᾶλλον τῷ συνειδότι τῆς πονηρίας, ἢ ἐθάῤῥουν τῇ ἐλπίδι τῆς θεραπείας. Εὕ ρισκον γὰρ καὶ τὴν πεῖραν τῆς ἐλπίδος ὑψηλοτέραν. Τῆς δὲ φιλανθρωπίας καὶ τῆς εὐσπλαγχνίας αὐτοῦ τίνα τὰ ὑποδείγματα; Ἄρτι μὲν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῖς ὑπὸ ἐνδείας ἐκλυομένοις τράπεζαν αὐτὸν σχεδιά ζειν ἀμφιλαφῆ, διπλῇ δεξιούμενον, τῷ τε ἀφθόνῳ τῆς χρείας καὶ τῷ παραδόξῳ τοῦ πορισμοῦ· ἄρτι δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς κειμένοις σπλαγχνίζεσθαι, ὅτι ἦσαν ἐσκυλμένοι καὶ ἐῤῥιμμένοι ὡς πρόβατα μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα· καὶ ἰᾶσθαι μὲν σωματικὰς ἀσθενείας, λώβας τε μελῶν καὶ πηρώσεις ἐπανορθοῦσθαι· λύειν δὲ καὶ ψυχικὰς ἀῤῥωστίας, καὶ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀλύ τους δεσμοὺς, καὶ στραγγαλιὰς βιαίων συναλλαγμά των, ἃς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν διάβολον πεποιήμεθα. Ταπεινοφροσύνης δὲ ἡλίκα τὰ ὑποδεί γματα; Τὸ μὴ μόνον ἑλέσθαι σάρκα περιβαλέ σθαι, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ταπεινῶν, κατὰ τὸ παρὸν σχῆμα, γονέων παῖς τὸ μὲν γενέσθαι, τὸ δὲ νομισθῆ ναι· γενέσθαι μὲν τῆς μητρὸς, νομισθῆναι δὲ τοῦ λεχθέντος πατρός. Φρονήσεως δὲ τὸ ἄρτι μὲν διελέγχειν τοὺς Σαδδουκαίους διαγελᾷν τὴν ἀνάστασιν πειρωμένους τῷ πλάσματι τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀδελφῶν ἐπὶ μιᾷ γαμετῇ τεθνεώτων· ἄρτι δὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς τῶν Φαρισαίων μετὰ τῶν Ἡρωδιανῶν καταισχύνειν, ἡνίκα, τὸ ἀμφίκρημνον ἐρώτημα προβαλλόμενοι, Εἰ δέοι κῆνσον Καίσαρι δοῦναι, ἢ οὒ, ἀπόκρισιν ἐδέ χοντο περιδέξιον, ἐφ' ἑκάτερα ἑλεῖν τὴν ἐκείνων ἄνοιαν δυναμένην, οὐχὶ δοῦναι, ἀλλὰ ἀποδοῦναι προσ τάσσουσαν. Ἀπόδοτε γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος τῷ Καίσαρι· ἐπειδὴ τὸ νόμισμα Καίσαρος ἦν, οὗ τὴν εἰκόνα καὶ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἔφερε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν προηγούμενα τῶν κατορθωμάτων ταῦτα, καὶ τούτων ἀπείρῳ τῷ ἀριθμῷ πλείονα· τὰ δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἡλίκα, καὶ ὅσα; Ὧν ἕνεκα μάλιστα προ ῆκται καὶ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα. Κατὰ μὲν τὴν πρώτην ἡλικίαν τοῖς γονεῦσιν ὑποτασσόμενος, ἅπαντα πόνον σωματικὸν πράως καὶ εὐπειθῶς συνδιέφερεν. Ἄνδρες γὰρ ὄντες δίκαιοι μὲν καὶ εὐσεβεῖς, πένητες δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων οὐκ εὔποροι (καὶ μάρτυς ἡ φάτνη 31.1357 τῶν τιμίων τόκων ἡ θεραπεία), εἰκότως πόνοις σώ ματος προσωμίλουν διηνεκέσι, τὴν ἀναγκαίαν χρείαν ταύτῃ ἑαυτοῖς συμπορίζοντες. Ἰησοῦς δὲ τού τοις ὑποτασσόμενος, ὥς φησιν ἡ Γραφὴ, πάντως καὶ τῷ συνδιαφέρειν τοὺς πόνους τὴν εὐπείθειαν ἐπ εδείκνυτο. Προϊὼν δὲ καὶ τὰς δεσποτικὰς καὶ θείας εὐεργεσίας ἀπογυμνῶν, καὶ μαθητὰς λοιπὸν αἱρού