John Chrysostom, Sermons on Genesis

we have shown. Thirdly, after those points, that Christ, having come among us, has now promised good things greater than those from which they who sinned in the beginning cast us out. For why do you mourn, tell me? Because Adam, by sinning, cast you out of paradise? Behave rightly, and be zealous for virtue; and not paradise, but heaven itself I open to you, and I do not permit you to suffer anything terrible from the disobedience of the first-formed man. Do you mourn because he deprived you of dominion over the beasts? Behold, I subject even demons to you, if you pay attention. For tread, He says, upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. He did not say, Rule, as in the case of the beasts, but, Tread, introducing a more intense dominion. 3. For this reason Paul also did not say, God will subject Satan under your feet, but, God will crush Satan under your feet. No longer, as before, He shall watch for your head, and you shall watch for his heel; but the victory is complete, the trophy is pure, the annihilation of the enemy is total, both crushing and destruction. Eve subjected you to the man; but I make you not only equal in honor to a man, but even to the angels themselves, if you are willing. She deprived you of the present life; but I grant to you also the life to come, the one that is ageless and immortal, and full of countless good things. Let no one therefore think he is abused on account of our ancestors; for if we should wish to go through all the things which He is about to provide, we shall find that the things given are much greater than what we lost. And from what has been said, the rest is also clear. Adam introduced a life of toil; Christ promised a life from which pain and grief and groaning have fled, and He proclaims that He will grant the kingdom of heaven. For come, He says, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was naked, and you clothed me; in prison, and you came to me. Shall we then also hear that blessed voice? I would not strongly affirm it; for among us the contempt for the poor is great. A time of fasting, so much exhortation and teaching of saving doctrines, continual prayers, daily assemblies, and what is the benefit after so much diligence? Nothing. For we depart from here seeing crowds of the poor standing in rows on either side; and as if looking at pillars, and not human bodies, so we mercilessly run past. As if, then, looking at lifeless statues, and not breathing 54.603 men, so we hasten homeward. For being hungry compels us, one says. And yet let hunger persuade us to remain; for full bellies, according to the proverb, are ignorant of hungry ones; but the hungry, from their own necessity, also recognize the necessity of another; or rather, not even so is it possible to perceive it all. For you indeed run to a prepared table, and do not endure to wait even a little; but the poor man stands until the evening itself, hurrying and hastening to secure his daily food; and seeing the day indeed completed, but the money not yet all collected, that which is sufficient for daily food, he is pained and inflamed, and is compelled to dare things greater than his own strength. For this reason in the evening they come at us more vehemently, swearing, making oaths, weeping, lamenting, stretching out their hands, being compelled to do countless other shameless things. For they are afraid lest, when everyone has departed homeward, they will have to wander in the city as in a desert. And just as those who have been shipwrecked during the day, when they have seized a plank, hasten to reach the harbor before evening, lest with night coming on, remaining outside a more grievous

ἐδείξαμεν. Τρίτος μετ' ἐκείνους, τὸ μείζονα τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὧν οἱ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἁμαρτόντες ἡμᾶς ἐξέβαλον, παραγενόμενον ἡμῖν ὑποσχέσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν ἀγαθὰ νῦν. Τί γὰρ θρηνεῖς, εἰπέ μοι; ὅτι σε ἁμαρτὼν ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἐξέβαλε τοῦ παραδείσου; Κατόρθωσον, καὶ ζήλωσον σὺ ἀρετήν· καὶ οὐχὶ παράδεισον, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν ἀνοίγω σοι τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου παρακοῆς ἀφίημί σε παθεῖν δεινόν. Θρηνεῖς ὅτι σε τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν θηρίων παρέλυσεν; Ἰδού σοι καὶ δαίμονας ὑποτάττω, ἐὰν προσέχῃς. Πατεῖτε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. Οὐκ εἶπεν, ἄρχετε, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν θηρίων, ἀλλὰ, Πατεῖτε, ἐπιτεταμένην εἰσάγων τὴν ἀρχήν. γʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Παῦλος οὐκ εἶπεν, Ὁ Θεὸς ὑποτάξει τὸν Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν, ἀλλ' Ὁ Θεὸς συντρίψει τὸν Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ὑμῶν. Οὐκέτι, καθάπερ πρότερον, Αὐτός σου τηρήσει κεφαλὴν, καὶ σὺ αὐτοῦ τηρήσεις πτέρναν· ἀλλ' ὁλόκληρος ἡ νίκη, καθαρὸν τὸ τρόπαιον, παντελὴς ἀφανισμὸς τοῦ πολεμίου, καὶ συντριβὴ, καὶ ἀπώλεια. Ὑπέταξέ σε τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἡ Εὔα· ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε οὐκ ἀνδρὸς ὁμότιμον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν ποιῶ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἐὰν ἐθέλῃς. Ἀπεστέρησέ σε τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς· ἐγὼ δέ σοι καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν χαρίζομαι, τὴν ἀγήρω καὶ ἀθάνατον, καὶ μυρίων γέμουσαν ἀγαθῶν. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν διὰ τοὺς προτέρους ἐπηρεάσθαι νομιζέτω· καὶ γὰρ ἂν θελήσωμεν ἅπασιν, οἷς παρέχειν μέλλει, ἐπεξελθεῖν, πολλῷ μείζονα τὰ δοθέντα, ὧν ἀπωλέσαμεν, εὑρήσομεν. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δῆλα. Βίον ἐπίμοχθον εἰσήγαγεν ὁ Ἀδάμ· ὁ Χριστὸς ὑπέσχετο ζωὴν, ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμὸς, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν χαριεῖσθαι ἐπαγγέλλεται. ∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με· γυμνὸς ἤμην, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με· ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ ἤλθετε πρός με. Ἆρα οὖν ἀκουσόμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης φωνῆς; Οὐ σφόδρα ἂν ἰσχυρισαίμην ἐγώ· πολλὴ γὰρ παρ' ἡμῖν τῶν πενήτων ἡ ὑπεροψία. Νηστείας καιρὸς, παραίνεσις τοσαύτη καὶ διδασκαλία σωτηρίων διδαγμάτων, εὐχαὶ συνεχεῖς, σύλλογοι καθημερινοὶ, καὶ τί μετὰ τὴν τοσαύτην ἐπιμέλειαν ὄφελος; Οὐδέν. Ἀναχωροῦμεν γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμαθοὺς πενήτων ὁρῶντες στοιχηδὸν ἑκατέρωθεν ἑστηκότων· καὶ ὥσπερ κίονας βλέποντες, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀνθρώπινα σώματα, οὕτως ἀνηλεῶς παρατρέχομεν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἀνδριάντας ἀψύχους, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐμπνέοντας 54.603 ἀνθρώπους βλέποντες, οὕτως οἴκαδε ἐπειγόμεθα. Τὸ γὰρ πεινῇν καταναγκάζει, φησί. Καὶ μὴν τὸ πεινῇν πειθέτω μένειν· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐμπεπλησμέναι γαστέρες, κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, τὰς πεινώσας ἀγνοοῦσιν· αἱ δὲ πεινῶσαι ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας ἀνάγκης καὶ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν ἐπιγινώσκουσι· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ οὕτω δυνατὸν πᾶσαν αὐτὴν κατιδεῖν. Σὺ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ παρεσκευασμένην τρέχεις τράπεζαν, καὶ οὐδὲ μικρὸν ἀναμεῖναι ἀνέχῃ· ὁ δὲ πένης ἕστηκε μέχρι τῆς ἑσπέρας αὐτῆς, σπεύδων καὶ ἐπειγόμενος τὴν ἐφήμερον τροφὴν ἀπαρτίσαι· καὶ ὁρῶν τὴν μὲν ἡμέραν πληρωθεῖσαν, τὸ δὲ ἀργύριον οὐδέπω πληρωθὲν ἅπαν, τὸ πρὸς τροφὴν ἀρκοῦν ἐφήμερον, ὀδυνᾶται καὶ ἐμπίπραται, καὶ μείζονα τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως τολμᾷν ἀναγκάζεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐν ἑσπέρᾳ σφοδρότερον ἡμῖν ἐπιτίθενται, ὀμνύντες, ὁρκοῦντες, θρηνοῦντες, ὀλοφυρόμενοι, τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνοντες, μυρία ἕτερα ἀναισχυντεῖν ἀναγκαζόμενοι. ∆εδοίκασι γὰρ μὴ, πάντων οἴκαδε ἀναχωρησάντων, ὡς ἐν ἐρήμῳ, τῇ πόλει πλανᾶσθαι μέλλωσι. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ ναυαγίῳ περιπεσόντες ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, ἐπειδὰν ἐπιλάβωνται σανίδος, πρὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας τὸν λιμένα καταλαβεῖν ἐπείγονται, μήποτε τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης ἔξω μείναντες χαλεπωτέρου