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

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 they were judged by me. I will give an answer to God. Was he not formed as I was? Considering these things, to the commonality of nature he granted the commonality of equal speech. 4. But we, brethren, are not such. Do you marvel at the just man? Condemn yourself. Because often if someone makes an accusation, I do not say to a slave, but to one slightly inferior, if he answers justly, he silences him as one who is shameless and dares to speak from a position of equality. "Do you dare," he says, "to speak at all from a position of equality? Do you demand what is just?" Accept the just equality of speech. The proud56.581 man makes accusations, and he neither accepts a justification, nor is he shamed by silence. If the accused is silent, "He is condemned," he says, "he does not know how to part his lips;" if he speaks, "He dared," he says, "to utter a sound against his master." Then another, full of pride, if on behalf of what is just, on behalf of a noble man, he is persuaded, being urged to have a word with the other, and to come to peace, and to put a stop to the wickedness with love, immediately being carried away by pride says: "Shall I go down to this man?" O, the pride! For where do you stand, that you should go down? "Shall I go down to this man?" As if treading on heaven and the clouds, so he speaks. You tread the same earth, you are nourished from the same, to it you return, in it you are buried; and where are you going down? Are you not ashamed, are you not put to shame by the passion of the Lord? Are you not ashamed, saying to your equal: "Shall I go down to this?" Are you not ashamed to say these things, considering that Jesus came down for you? Against such opinions and such prides it is fitting to cry out always with Isaiah: "Why are earth and ashes proud?" However, let us return to the subject at hand: "Who will give a judge between me and you?" At the end the just judge appears, and he appears to him from a whirlwind and clouds. Job appears from the clouds, he who is about to pour out the rain of blessing. He appears to him from clouds, the one who is about to water the seed that is being manured, and he rouses Job, and he nods only, and he scatters the sufferings; he nods only, and he raises the one who has fallen; and he says to him: "Arise, and gird your loins like a man." "I will ask you, and you answer me." Since you called me to judgment, and said, "Who will give a judge between me and you?" arise, O noble combatant, who did not fall under the blow of misfortune, arise. For if someone, having been disciplined, nobly bears the misfortune and the discipline, he hears from God the word, "Arise;" as when he says to Jerusalem: "Arise, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of my wrath." Gird your loins like a man. "I will ask you, and you answer me." He did not say: "I will judge you, and you answer me." For you did not call me, he says, to a judgment, but you called me to be compared with you. You asked for a judge between me and you; you be the judge. Do you think I have dealt with you otherwise, than that you might be revealed as righteous? "Do you suppose," he says, "that I brought on this misfortune for any other reason, than that I might reveal you as righteous?" And see, paying attention to the precision of such words. He did not say: "Do you think I have dealt with you otherwise, than that you might become righteous?" For the misfortune did not make him righteous, but it made him known as righteous. "Do you think I have dealt with you otherwise, than that you might be revealed as righteous?" "For to me," he says, "you were known even before the contests; but to the world you are made known through the misfortune, to the world you are proclaimed through the struggle." "For this reason I have dealt with you, not that I might harm, but that I might crown; not that I might put to shame, but that I might make illustrious." However, since through guilelessness you went beyond the measures of nature, I have pardoned your integrity. For even if someone sins from guilelessness, God corrects the things that happen from guilelessness. Since you have summoned God to judgment at all, tell me, with what equality to me did you summon me? Where were you when I founded the earth? Were you a contemporary of the maker, that you should call him to judgment? He is before the ages, but you are after many ages. When I was forming the earth, you were not present; when the sea, you were not present; or for as many such things, you were not present. All of creation came to be, and you were nowhere

τοῦτο οὐκ ἀπὸ φιλοτιμίας, ἀλλ' ἀπ' ἀκακίας, λέγοντος· Οὐκ ἀπεποιησάμην κρῖμα θεράποντός μου, καὶ θεραπαινίδος μου, κρινομένων αὐτῶν πρός με. ∆ώσω ἀπόκρισιν τῷ Θεῷ. Μὴ οὐχὶ ὡς ἐγὼ ἐπλάσθη; Ταῦτα ἐννοῶν, τῷ κοινῷ τῆς φύσεως παρεῖχε τὸ κοινὸν τῆς ἰσηγορίας. δʹ. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, ἀδελφοὶ, οὐ τοιοῦτοι. Θαυμάζεις τὸν δίκαιον; Σαυτοῦ καταγίνωσκε. Ὅτι πολλάκις ἐάν τις ἐγκαλῇ, οὐ λέγω δούλῳ, ἀλλ' ὀλίγον ὑποβεβηκότι, ἐὰν ἀποκρίνηται τὰ δίκαια, ὡς ἀναισχυντοῦντα καὶ τολμῶντα ἐξ ἰσοτιμίας φθέγξασθαι ἐπιστομίζει. Ὅλως, φησὶ, καὶ τολμᾷς ἐξ ἰσοτιμίας φθέγξασθαι; ἀπαιτεῖς τὸ δίκαιον; ∆έχου τὴν δικαίαν ἰσηγορίαν. Ἐγκαλεῖ ὁ ὑπερ56.581 ήφανος, καὶ οὔτε δικαιολογίαν δέχεται, οὔτε σιωπὴν δυσωπεῖται. Ἐὰν σιωπήσῃ ὁ ἐγκαλούμενος, κατεγνώσθη, φησὶν, οὐκ οἶδε διᾶραι τὰ χείλη· ἐὰν λαλήσῃ, ἐτόλμησε, φησὶ, πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην ῥῆξαι φωνήν. Εἶτα ἄλλος ὑπερηφανίας μεστὸς, ἐὰν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δικαίου, ὑπὲρ εὐγενοῦς ἀνδρὸς πείθηται, παρακαλούμενος θεῖναι λόγον πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον, καὶ συμβῆναι εἰς εἰρήνην, καὶ τὴν κακίαν καταπαῦσαι τῇ ἀγάπῃ, εὐθέως τῇ ὑπερηφανίᾳ φερόμενος λέγει· Ἐγὼ εἰς τοῦτον κατέρχομαι; Ὢ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας! Ποῦ γὰρ ἕστηκας, ἵνα κατέλθῃς; Ἐγὼ εἰς τοῦτον κατέρχομαι; Ὡς τὸν οὐρανὸν πατῶν καὶ τὰς νεφέλας, οὕτω φθέγγεται. Τὴν αὐτὴν γῆν πατεῖς, ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς τρέφῃ, εἰς αὐτὴν ὑποστρέφεις, ἐν αὐτῇ θάπτῃ· καὶ ποῦ κατέρχῃ; οὐκ αἰδεῖσαι, οὐ δυσωπεῖσαι τὸ πάθος τοῦ Κυρίου; οὐκ αἰδεῖσαι λέγων πρὸς τὸν ὁμότιμον· Ἐγὼ εἰς τοῦτο κατέρχομαι; οὐκ αἰδεῖσαι ταῦτα λέγειν, ἐννοῶν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς διὰ σὲ κατῆλθε; Πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας γνώμας καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ὑπερηφανίας πρέπει σὺν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ πάντοτε βοᾷν· Τί ἀλαζονεύεται γῆ καὶ σποδός; Ὅμως δὲ εἰς τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν· Τίς δώσει κριτὴν ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ; Ἐπιφαίνεται ἐπὶ τέλει ὁ δίκαιος κριτὴς, καὶ φαίνεται αὐτῷ ἀπὸ λαίλαπος καὶ νεφῶν. Φαίνεται Ἰὼβ ἀπὸ νεφῶν, ὁ τὸν ὄμβρον τῆς εὐλογίας μέλλων χέειν. Φαίνεται αὐτῷ ἐκ νεφῶν, ὁ μέλλων τὸν σπόρον τὸν κοπριζόμενον ἀρδεύειν, καὶ διεγείρει τὸν Ἰὼβ, καὶ νεύει μόνον, καὶ διασκορπίζει τὰ πάθη· νεύει μόνον, καὶ ἐγείρει τὸν πεπτωκότα· καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἀνάστηθι, καὶ ζῶσαι ὥσπερ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου. Ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι. Ἐπειδὴ εἰς κρίσιν με ἐκάλεσας, καὶ εἶπας, Τίς δώσει κριτὴν ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ; ἀνάστηθι, ὁ γενναῖος ἀγωνιστὴς, ὁ μὴ πεσὼν τῇ πληγῇ τῆς συμφορᾶς, ἀνάστηθι. Ἐὰν γάρ τις παιδευθεὶς, γενναίως ἐνέγκῃ τὴν συμφορὰν καὶ τὴν παιδείαν, ἀκούει παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ, Ἀνάστηθι· ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ τῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ· Ἀνάστηθι, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἡπιοῦσα τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ θυμοῦ μου. Περίζωσαι ὡς ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀσφύν σου. Ἐρωτήσω δέ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι. Οὐκ εἶπε· Χρινῶ σε, σὺ δέ μοι ἀποκρίθητι. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκάλεσάς με, φησὶν, εἰς κρίσιν, ἀλλ' ἐκάλεσάς με εἰς τὸ συγκριθῆναί σοι. ∆ικαστὴν ᾔτησας μεταξὺ ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ· σὺ γενοῦ δικαστής. Οἴει ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι με, ἢ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος; Νομίζεις, φησὶ, δι' ἄλλο τι τὴν συμφορὰν ἐπήγαγον ταύτην, ἢ ἵνα δίκαιόν σε ἀναφαίνω; Καὶ βλέπε τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ τῶν τοιούτων ῥημάτων προσέχων. Οὐκ εἶπεν· Οἴει με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἢ ἵνα γένῃ δίκαιος; Οὐ γὰρ ἡ συμφορὰ αὐτὸν δίκαιον ἐποίησεν, ἀλλὰ δίκαιον ἐγνώρισεν. Οἴει με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἢ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος; Ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἀγώνων ἦσθα γνώριμος· τῷ δὲ κόσμῳ διὰ τῆς συμφορᾶς γνωρίζῃ, τῷ κόσμῳ διὰ τῆς πάλης κηρύττῃ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι ἐχρημάτισα, οὐχ ἵνα βλάψω, ἀλλ' ἵνα στέψω· οὐχ ἵνα καταισχύνω, ἀλλ' ἵνα λαμπρύνω. Πλὴν ἐπειδὴ διὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν ἐξῆλθες τῶν μέτρων τῆς φύσεως, συνέγνων σου τῇ ἀκεραιότητι. Κἂν γάρ τις ἀπὸ ἀκακίας ἁμάρτῃ, ὁ Θεὸς διορθοῦται τὰ ἀπὸ ἀκακίας γινόμενα. Ἐπειδὴ ὅλως ἐκάλεσας Θεὸν εἰς κρίσιν, εἰπέ μοι, ποίαν ἔχων πρὸς ἐμὲ ὁμοτιμίαν ἐκάλεσάς με; Ποῦ ἦς ἐν τῷ θεμελιοῦν με τὴν γῆν; σύγχρονος ἐγένου τοῦ ποιητοῦ, ἵνα καλέσῃς αὐτὸν εἰς κρίσιν; Ὁ μὲν πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων, σὺ δὲ μετὰ πολλοὺς αἰῶνας. Ὅτε ἔπλαττον τὴν γῆν, οὐ παρῆς· ὅτε τὴν θάλατταν, οὐ παρῆς· ἢ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, οὐ παρῆς. Πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ἐγένετο, καὶ σὺ οὐδαμοῦ