In job (sermones 14) (olim sub auctore joanne chrysostomo)

 In ausitis, whose name was job. and that man was blameless, just, god-fearing, true, abstaining from every evil thing. such was adam also before he wa

 Rooted and founded, and secured up to the very arches of heaven. the first messenger came, and says to job: the yokes of oxen were plowing, and raider

 Your sons, he says, and your daughters were eating and drinking at the house of their eldest brother. see how the blessed job was filled with all unde

 In this job sinned not at all before the lord, but for all these things he offered a whole thanksgiving instead of a sacrifice to god, saying: blessed

 Having blossomed from the root, a judge of righteousness. that one warred against nature, and considered his brother a stranger this one considered e

 Those snatched away from polytheism, those gathered from wickedness, those assembled from fornication and adultery, he did not add the summit of virtu

 The sequence of theorems. and may it be granted to us to celebrate the feast genuinely, and having shared in the sufferings of the saints, to share al

 Rather in temporary wealth, but in that of piety. but some other wise man, taking the saying in a common sense, thinks that great works are vineyards

 Runners, called *cursores* in latin but when they drag some away in dishonor, do they send out other harsh and cruel soldiers? so also god sends mini

 Heaven because all earthly things have been trodden underfoot by him, because he has all men under his feet. having gone about, he said, the earth, an

 To the one who wronged you, why do you worship the one who consumes your possessions? fire fell from heaven. job heard, and again bore it nobly. for h

 A wife was left, not because the devil spared her, but because he kept the weapon for himself. for since he knew that through a woman he had overcome

 To contend peter was able to act bravely without a promise, the apostles were able to contend for virtue without receiving a promise of good things

 Of the one who knows all things. from where do you come? see the wisdom of god see the cunning of the devil. for god knew from where he had come, tha

 Job with a malignant sore from foot to head. he made his whole body one wound, one 56.578 bruise. for it was necessary for him, the combatant, to be c

 The magnitude, he insults inanimate things, and fulfills the full measure of his suffering, not daring against god, but accusing himself and the day

 He suffered also in the case of job. he destroyed martyrs, in order to extinguish the church, not knowing that after the martyrs the church would flou

 This not out of ambition, but out of guilelessness, when he says: i have not disregarded the judgment of my manservant, or of my maidservant, when the

 You were. did you, then, call to judgment the one more ancient than the ages, the creator of the creation? when i stretched a line upon the earth, whe

 Again on the day of the resurrection they will receive him from the tomb into the kingdom, and with one accord they will enjoy those ineffable and ete

the magnitude, he insults inanimate things, and fulfills the full measure of his suffering, not daring against God, but accusing himself and the day; for he curses, not the creation, but his own day. For I have authority, he says, over my own day; I do not curse the creation, I curse my own day. Cursed be the day, in which I was 56.579 born, and let that night be darkness. Jeremiah says these things also: Woe is me, O mother, that you bore me a man to be judged and tried? Cursed be the day in which I was born. But the saints speak all these things tragically, so that you might learn after this that they did not pass through life living in luxury, but having endured countless evils, they went through their struggles. So Jeremiah also lamented, saying: Woe is me, O mother, that you bore me? and he suffered indeed as a man, but endured as a lover of God. Moses likewise, the great and divine lawgiver of God, who received the sacred tablets, the first introducer of things profitable for life, he himself also says to God, being burdened by the multitude of misfortunes: Lord, you said, that 'You have found grace with me,' and 'I know you above all;' and if I have found grace before you, take my soul from me; for I cannot bear the burden of this people. A little while, and they will stone me. Did I travail with them? Did I give them birth; that you say to me: 'Carry them in the way a nurse carries a child?' I cannot bear the failings of the people. Nevertheless, both lamenting and mourning as a man, he did not blaspheme as an atheist, but he showed the passions of nature, being reproved by those very passions. So likewise each of the prophets laments, and Habakkuk says: Why did you show me toils and troubles, to look upon the misery of men? For the prophetic chorus saw injustice, and could not bear it, but Habakkuk cried out, saying: Why did you show me toils and troubles? Judgment has come before me, and the judge takes, and for this reason the judgment goes forth perverted. The ruler asks, and the judge takes, and the law is brought to nothing. γʹ. Thus all the just suffered, and despaired at the difficulty of the world. But do not take these things and understand them in agreement with your own choice; do not say: 'Am I better than Jeremiah who cried out against the world?' lest the words of healing become wounds to you. But these things have been written, so that you may learn how great a contest they endured, how they passed through a life full of dangers. Do you wish to learn what sort you ought to be? Learn the things after grace; Prophets suffered, and the apostles also suffered; but the former, when suffering, were grieved, while the latter, when suffering, gloried. Paul came into the midst, suffering, but not weeping; being beaten, but not lamenting; being tormented, but glorying. And what does he say? And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope, and hope does not put to shame. And again, the apostles, having been beaten, departed rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. Therefore do not understand the things before grace as a consequence of grace. For these things have been said to us, so that you might learn hope from sufferings. So also Job curses the day, and suffers in his soul, and does not torment his soul with impiety, but he bears the wounds, and does not wound his soul with blasphemy. Then, since it is necessary to be brief, we will briefly summarize the matter for you; In the contest against Job, except for God, all were ignorant of the purpose of the contest. Job did not know for what he was contending, he did not know that the struggles were set before him for his training. The friends were ignorant of the purpose of God, the devil was ignorant of the future. For if he had known that he would be defeated, he would not have attempted it. Job did not know the outcome of the contest. That God indeed had given him over by permission, Job knew, not by foreknowing, but having learned from God. But the devil did not know to what end the struggles would come. For if he had known, he would not have attempted it, lest he bring upon himself a worse shame; but what he suffered in the case of the martyrs, this

τὸ μέγεθος, ὑβρίζει τὰ ἄψυχα, καὶ πληροῖ τοῦ πάθους τὴν πληροφορίαν, οὐ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατατολμῶν, ἀλλ' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἡμέρας κατηγορῶν· καταρᾶται γὰρ, οὐ τὴν κτίσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἡμέραν. Ἐξουσίαν γὰρ ἔχω, φησὶ, τῆς ἐμῆς ἡμέρας· οὐ καταρῶμαι τὴν δημιουργίαν, τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ἡμέραν καταρῶμαι. Ἐπικατάρατος ἡ ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννή56.579 θην, καὶ ἡ νὺξ ἐκείνη εἴη σκότος. Ταῦτα λέγει καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας· Οἴμοι, ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς τίνα με ἔτεκες ἄνδρα κρινόμενον καὶ δικαζόμενον; Ἐπικατάρατος ἡ ἡμέρα ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθην. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἐκτραγωδοῦσιν οἱ ἅγιοι, ἵνα σὺ μετὰ ταῦτα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐ τρυφῶντες διῆλθον τὸν βίον, ἀλλὰ μυρία κακὰ ὑπομείναντες, τοὺς ἀγῶνας διεξῆλθον. Ἀπεκλαύσατο οὖν καὶ Ἱερεμίας λέγων· Οἴμοι, ὦ μῆτερ, ὡς τίνα με ἔτεκες; καὶ ἔπαθε μὲν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὑπέμεινε δὲ ὡς φιλόθεος. Μωϋσῆς ὁμοίως, ὁ μέγας καὶ θεῖος τοῦ Θεοῦ νομοθέτης, ὁ τὰς πλάκας τὰς ἱερὰς δεξάμενος, ὁ πρῶτος εἰσηγητὴς τῶν συμφερόντων τῷ βίῳ, καὶ αὐτός φησι τῷ Θεῶ βαρούμενος τῷ πλήθει τῶν συμφορῶν· Κύριε, σὺ εἶπας, ὅτι Εὕρηκας χάριν παρ' ἐμοὶ, καὶ οἶδά σε παρὰ πάντας· καὶ εἰ εὕρηκα χάριν ἐνώπιόν σου, ἄφελε τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ· οὐ δύναμαι γὰρ φέρειν τὸ βάρος τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου. Μικρὸν, καὶ λιθοβολήσουσί με. Μὴ ἐγὼ αὐτοὺς ὠδίνησα; μὴ ἐγὼ αὐτοὺς ἔτεκον· ὅτι λέγεις μοι· Βάστασον αὐτοὺς ὃν τρόπον βαστάζει ἡ τιθηνοῦσα τὸν παῖδα; Οὐ δύναμαι φέρειν τοῦ λαοῦ τὰ ἐλαττώματα. Ὅμως καὶ ἀποδυρόμενος καὶ πενθῶν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἐβλασφήμησε ὡς ἄθεος, ἀλλ' ἐδείκνυε τὰ πάθη τῆς φύσεως, ὑπ' αὐτῶν τῶν παθῶν ἐλεγχόμενος. Οὕτω δὲ ὁμοίως τῶν προφητῶν ἕκαστος ἀποδύρεται, καὶ ὁ Ἀμβακούμ φησιν· Ἵνα τί μοι ἔδειξας κόπους καὶ πόνους, ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ ταλαιπωρίας ἀνθρώπων; Ἔβλεπε γὰρ τὴν ἀδικίαν ὁ προφητικὸς χορὸς, καὶ οὐκ ἔφερεν, ἀλλ' ἐβόα Ἀμβακοὺμ λέγων· Ἵνα τί μοι ἔδειξας κόπους καὶ πόνους; Ἐνώπιόν μου γέγονε κρίσις, καὶ ὁ κριτὴς λαμβάνει, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐξέρχεται τὸ κρῖμα διεστραμμένον. Ὁ ἄρχων αἰτεῖ, καὶ ὁ κριτὴς λαμβάνει, καὶ ἐξουδενεῖται ὁ νόμος. γʹ. Οὕτω πάντες ἔπασχον οἱ δίκαιοι, καὶ ἀπεδυσπέτουν πρὸς τὴν δυσκολίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Ἀλλὰ μὴ ταῦτα λαβὼν ἐκλάβῃς εἰς συμφωνίαν τῆς σῆς προαιρέσεως· μὴ εἴπῃς· Μὴ βελτίων ἐγώ εἰμι τοῦ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ καταβοήσαντος τοῦ κόσμου; μὴ τὰ ῥήματα τῆς ἰάσεως γένηταί σοι τραύματα. Ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅσον ἀγῶνα διήθλησαν, ὅσων κινδύνων μεστὸν τὸν βίον διεξῆλθον. Θέλεις μαθεῖν οἷος ὀφείλεις εἶναι; Μάθε τὰ μετὰ τὴν χάριν· Ἔπαθον προφῆται, ἔπαθον δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πάσχοντες ἤλγουν, οἱ δὲ πάσχοντες ἐκαυχῶντο. Ἦλθε Παῦλος εἰς μέσον, πάσχων μὲν, οὐ κλαίων δέ· τυπτόμενος, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀποδυρόμενος· βασανιζόμενος, ἀλλὰ καυχώμενος. Καὶ τί φησιν; Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν, εἰδότες ὅτι ἡ θλίψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμὴν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα, ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνεται. Καὶ πάλιν, τυπτηθέντες οἱ ἀπόστολοι, Ἐπορεύοντο χαίροντες ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ συνεδρίου, ὅτι κατηξιώθησαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀτιμασθῆναι. Μὴ τοίνυν τὰ πρὸ τῆς χάριτος ἐκλάβῃς εἰς ἀκολουθίαν τῆς χάριτος. Εἴρηται γὰρ ἡμῖν ταῦτα, ἵνα μάθῃς ἐκ τῶν πόνων τὴν ἐλπίδα. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Ἰὼβ καταρᾶται τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ πάσχει τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ οὐ βασανίζει τὴν ψυχὴν τῇ ἀσεβείᾳ, ἀλλ' ἀνέχεται τῶν τραυμάτων, καὶ οὐ τραυματίζει τὴν ψυχὴν τῇ βλασφημίᾳ. Εἶτα, ἐπειδὴ δεῖ συντεμεῖν, συντόμως ὑμῖν ἀνακεφαλαιώσομεν τὴν ὑπόθεσιν· Ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι τῷ κατὰ τὸν Ἰὼβ, πλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, πάντες ἠγνόουν τὸν σκοπὸν τοῦ ἀγῶνος. Ἰὼβ οὐκ ᾔδει ἐπὶ τίνι ἠγωνίζετο, οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι εἰς γυμνασίαν αὐτῷ προβέβληται τὰ παλαίσματα. Οἱ φίλοι ἠγνόουν τὸν σκοπὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ διάβολος ἠγνόει τὸ μέλλον. Εἰ γὰρ ᾔδει ὅτι ἐνικᾶτο, οὐκ ἂν ἐπεχείρησεν. Ὁ Ἰὼβ οὐκ ᾔδει τὸ ἀποβησόμενον ἐκ τοῦ ἀγῶνος. Ὅτιμὲν ὁ Θεὸς κατὰ συγχώρησιν ἐκδέδωκεν, ᾔδει ὁ Ἰὼβ, οὐ προγινώσκων, ἀλλὰ μαθὼν παρὰ Θεοῦ. Ὁ δὲ διάβολος οὐκ ᾔδει εἰς ποῖον τέλος ἀπαντήσει τὰ παλαίσματα. Εἰ γὰρ ᾔδει, οὐκ ἂν ἐπεχείρησεν, ἵνα μὴ χείρονα τὴν αἰσχύνην ἐφελκύσηται· ἀλλ' ὃ ἔπαθεν ἐπὶ τῶν μαρτύρων, τοῦτο