John Chrysostom, Sermon on the Captive Eutropius

the future. What did He give her? He gave her forgiveness of sins, release from punishment, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, the Lord's body, a divine, spiritual table, the resurrection of the dead. For the apostles had all these things. Therefore, some things He gave, and others He promised; and some things were in experience and enjoyment, but others in hope and in faith. And listen. What did He give? Baptism, the sacrifice. These things are in experience; but see. What did He promise? Resurrection, incorruptibility of bodies, union with the angels, the choir with the archangels, citizenship with Him, the life that does not grow old, the good things, Which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him. ιςʹ. Understand what is being said, do not lose it; for this I labor, that you may understand. Her dowry, then, was divided into two, into things present, and into things to come; into things seen, and into things heard; into things given, and into things believed; into things in experience, and into things in enjoyment; into things in the present life, and into things after the resurrection. These things you see, those things you hear. See, then, what He says to her, lest she think that she has received only these things; although they were great and ineffable and surpassing all understanding. Hear, O daughter, and see; hear those things, and see these things; lest you say, "Again in hope? again in faith? again in the future?" And see; some things I give, others I promise; those things, then, are in hope, but these things take as a pledge, these take as an earnest, these take for proof. I promise you a king- 52.412 -dom; believe from the things present, believe me. You promise me a kingdom? Yes. I have given you the greater thing, the Lord of the kingdom, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all; how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? You give a resurrection of bodies? Yes. I have given you the greater thing. What is that? To be set free from sin. How is it greater? Because sin gave birth to death. I have slain the mother, and shall I not slay the son? I have dried up the root, and shall I not destroy the fruit, Hear, O daughter, and see. What shall I see? The dead being raised, lepers being cleansed, the sea being bridled, the paralytic being strengthened, paradise being opened, loaves of bread gushing forth, sins being loosed, the lame man leaping, the robber becoming a citizen of paradise, the tax collector becoming an evangelist, the prostitute becoming more venerable than a virgin. Hear, and see; hear those things, and see these things. From the things present take proof; and concerning those things I have given you a pledge; these things are better than those. And what do you want to say? These things are mine. Hear, O daughter, and see. This is the dowry. What does the bride bring? Let us see. And you, bring something, so that you are not without a dowry? "What do I have," she says, "to bring from altars, from the savor of burnt offerings, from demons?" "what do I have to bring?" What? Will and faith. Hear, O daughter, and see. And what do you want me to do? Forget your people. What people? The demons, the idols, the smoke, the savor of burnt offerings, the blood. And see, and forget your people, and your father's house. Leave the father, and come to me. I left the Father, and came to you, and you do not leave your father? But as for the Son's "I left," do not think it an abandonment. I descended, I managed the economy, I took on flesh. This belongs to the bridegroom, this to the bride, that he should leave his parents, and we might be joined to one another. Hear, O daughter, and see, and forget your people, and your father's house. And what do you give me, if I forget? And the king will desire your beauty. You have the Lord as a lover. If you have Him as a lover, you also have His things; if you are able to understand what is being said; for the thought is subtle, and I wish to sew up the tongue of the Jews. But focus your mind for me; for whether one hears, or whether

μέλλον. Τί αὐτῇ ἔδωκεν; Ἔδωκεν αὐτῇ ἁμαρτημάτων συγχώρησιν, κολάσεως ἄφεσιν, δικαιοσύνην, ἁγιασμὸν, ἀπολύτρωσιν, σῶμα δεσποτικὸν, τράπεζαν θείαν, πνευματικὴν, νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα εἶχον οἱ ἀπόστολοι. Οὐκοῦν τὰ μὲν ἔδωκεν, τὰ δὲ ἐπηγγείλατο· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν πείρᾳ ἦν καὶ ἀπολαύσει, τὰ δὲ ἐν ἐλπίδι καὶ ἐν πίστει. Καὶ ἄκουε. Τί ἔδωκε; Τὸ βάπτισμα, τὴν θυσίαν. Ταῦτα ἐν πείρᾳ· βλέπε δέ. Τί ἐπηγγείλατο; Ἀνάστασιν, σωμάτων ἀφθαρσίαν, τὴν μετὰ ἀγγέλων ἕνωσιν, τὴν μετὰ ἀρχαγγέλων χορείαν, τὴν μετ' αὐτοῦ πολιτείαν, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν ἀκήρατον, τὰ ἀγαθὰ, Ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν. ιςʹ. Σύνετε τὸ λεγόμενον, μὴ ἀπολέσητε αὐτό· διὰ τοῦτο κάμνω, ἵνα νοήσητε. Εἰς δύο οὖν ἦν αὐτῆς ἡ προῖξ διῃρημένη, εἰς τὰ παρόντα, καὶ εἰς τὰ μέλλοντα· εἰς τὰ ὁρώμενα, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀκουόμενα· εἰς τὰ δεδομένα, καὶ εἰς τὰ πιστευόμενα· εἰς τὰ ἐν πείρᾳ, καὶ εἰς τὰ ἐν ἀπολαύσει· εἰς τὰ ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ζωῇ, καὶ εἰς τὰ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ταῦτα βλέπεις, ἐκεῖνα ἀκούεις. Βλέπε οὖν, τί λέγει αὐτῇ, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃ, ὅτι ταῦτα μόνον ἔλαβε· καίτοι μεγάλα ἦν καὶ ἀπόῤῥητα καὶ πᾶσαν διάνοιαν ὑπερβαίνοντα. Ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε· ἄκουσον ἐκεῖνα, καὶ βλέπε ταῦτα· ἵνα μὴ λέγῃς, Πάλιν ἐπ' ἐλπίδι; πάλιν ἐν πίστει; πάλιν ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι; Καὶ βλέπε· τὰ μὲν δίδωμι, τὰ δὲ ἐπαγγέλλομαι· ἐκεῖνα μὲν οὖν ἐν ἐλπίδι, ταῦτα δὲ λάβε ἐνέχυρα, ταῦτα λάβε ἀῤῥαβῶνα, ταῦτα λάβε εἰς ἀπόδειξιν. Ἐπαγγέλλομαί σοι βασι 52.412 λείαν· πίστευε ἀπὸ τῶν παρόντων, πίστευέ μοι. Βασιλείαν μοι ἐπαγγέλλῃ; Ναί. Τὸ μεῖζόν σοι ἔδωκα, τὸν ∆εσπότην τῆς βασιλείας, ὅς γε τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτόν· πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἡμῖν χαρίσεται; Ἀνάστασιν δίδως σωμάτων; Ναί. Τὸ μεῖζόν σοι ἔδωκα. Ποῖον; Ἀπαλλαγῆναι ἁμαρτίας. Πῶς τὸ μεῖζον; Ὅτι τὸν θάνατον ἡ ἁμαρτία ἔτεκεν. Τὴν μητέρα ἔσφαξα, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν οὐ σφάξω; τὴν ῥίζαν ἐξήρανα, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν οὐκ ἀναιρῶ, Ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε. Τί ἴδω; Νεκροὺς ἐγειρομένους, λεπροὺς καθαιρομένους, χαλινουμένην θάλασσαν, παραλυτικὸν σφιγγόμενον, παράδεισον ἀνοιγόμενον, ἄρτους πηγάζοντας, ἁμαρτήματα λυόμενα, χωλὸν πηδῶντα, λῃστὴν παραδείσου πολίτην γενόμενον, τελώνην εὐαγγελιστὴν γενόμενον, παρθένου σεμνοτέραν τὴν πόρνην. Ἄκουσον, καὶ ἴδε· ἄκουσον ἐκεῖνα, καὶ βλέπε ταῦτα. Ἀπὸ τῶν παρόντων λάβε ἀπόδειξιν· καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων ἔδωκά σοι ἐνέχυρα· ταῦτα ἐκείνων ἀμείνω. Καὶ τί θέλεις λέγειν; Ταῦτα ἐμά. Ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε. Ταῦτα ἡ προῖξ. Τί εἰσφέρει ἡ νύμφη; Ἴδωμεν. Καὶ σὺ εἰσένεγκε τί ποτε, ἵνα μὴ ᾖς ἄπροικος; Ἐγὼ τί ἔχω, φησὶν, εἰσενεγκεῖν ἀπὸ βωμῶν, ἀπὸ κνίσσης, ἀπὸ δαιμόνων; τί ἔχω εἰσενεγκεῖν; Τί; Γνώμην καὶ πίστιν. Ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε. Καὶ τί θέλεις ποιήσω; Ἐπιλάθου τοῦ λαοῦ σου. Ποίου λαοῦ; Τῶν δαιμόνων, τῶν εἰδώλων, τοῦ καπνοῦ, τῆς κνίσσης, τοῦ αἵματος. Καὶ ἴδε, καὶ ἐπιλάθου τοῦ λαοῦ σου, καὶ τοῦ οἴκου πατρός σου. Ἄφες τὸν πατέρα, καὶ δεῦρο πρός με. Ἐγὼ τὸν Πατέρα ἀφῆκα, καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς σὲ, καὶ σὺ οὐκ ἀφίης τὸν σὸν πατέρα; Ἀλλὰ τὸ, ἀφῆκα, ἐπὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, μὴ ἐγκατάλειψιν νόμιζε. Συγκατέβην, ᾠκονόμηκα, σάρκα ἀνέλαβον. Τοῦτο νυμφίου, τοῦτο νύμφης, ἵνα καταλείψῃ τοὺς γονέας, καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἁρμοσώμεθα. Ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε, καὶ ἐπιλάθου τοῦ λαοῦ σου, καὶ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου. Καὶ τί μοι δίδως, ἐὰν ἐπιλάθωμαι; Καὶ ἐπιθυμήσει ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους σου. Ἔχεις ἐραστὴν τὸν ∆εσπότην. Ἂν ἐκεῖνον ἐραστὴν ἔχῃς, τὰ ἐκείνου καὶ ἔχεις· ἐὰν δυνηθῆτε συνιδεῖν τὸ λεγόμενον· λεπτὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸ νόημα, καὶ βούλομαι ἀποῤῥάψαι Ἰουδαίων τὴν γλῶτταν. Ἀλλὰ συντείνατέ μοι τὴν διάνοιαν· ἄν τε γὰρ ἀκούῃ τις, ἄν τε