Eusebius of Caesarea, Fragments on Luke

and when we are asked, we do not forgive the offenses against us, not measuring out to our own servants the same measure as we have received from God. Reasonably, therefore, indignation will be brought forth against us; and the Master who forgave us the entire debt will no longer forgive us; but with the measure we have measured—without sympathy and without mercy and severely—he will measure to us; and he will bring against us the judgment we passed on our fellow servants. 24.584 But one might find for himself a method for a good verdict which will be brought forth at the tribunal, if he should first become loving toward man and forgiving of those who sin against him. And they will say to you, ‘Behold here,’ or ‘behold there.’ These things according to Matthew were said concerning the desolation of Jerusalem; for which reason it was also added: ‘Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains’; but here he foretells concerning the times of the Antichrist; for which reason this is not added. First he must suffer many things. And he hints also in these things at the apostasy that will one day happen, saying: ‘But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation,’ that is, of men; for he decreed that the word concerning him be cast out and rejected, and that his people suffer many things; whether in the persecutions after these things, during which he has suffered countless things, the Savior himself being blasphemed by men, and his Church and the word being driven out and warred against; or at the end of all things, at which time he will be utterly rejected, having been cast out from the generation of men. And as it was in the days of Noah, etc. Thus then, as has been said, when the evangelical word has been cast out on account of the apostasy, in the likeness of the events of the flood, the destruction against the ungodly will come, he says. But just as then he destroyed all, but not those gathered together with Noah in the ark, so also at his coming the ungodly, at the time of the apostasy, being worn out by revelry and drunkenness and marriages and the pleasures of life, will be deluged like those in Noah's time and will perish. And so that no one should think that these too will be deluged with water, he necessarily uses the example of Lot, saying, ‘As it was in the days of Lot, they were eating, they were drinking,’ and the rest; ‘But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire from heaven and destroyed them all.’ ‘So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.’ teaching very secretly and fearfully that the wrath will pursue all the ungodly with fire and brimstone sent down from heaven; for which reason the prophetic voice is raised against the ungodly who pray for this day to come, saying: ‘Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what reason? For you it will be darkness, and not light, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of misery and destruction.’ And here too the Savior observed very precisely, not saying that the fire and brimstone came down from heaven upon the ungodly in Sodom before Lot went out and was separated from them. So also at the flood, it did not come and destroy all who dwelt on the earth before Noah entered the ark. In the same way, therefore, also at 24.585 the consummation, he says the flood of destruction of the ungodly will not happen before the people of God then found are gathered into the heavenly ark of God and saved, according to the example of Noah; to whom at the right time that prophetic word will be said: ‘Go, my people, enter into your chamber,’ and the rest, ‘until the wrath of the Lord passes by’; just as he also did in the case of Lot, so that the righteous might not perish with the ungodly; so also at the consummation of the age, it will not happen before all the righteous and God-fearing on earth are separated from the ungodly, and gathered into the heavenly ark of God; for thus, when no righteous person is any longer found among men, but all are godless and ungodly under the

καὶ παρακαλούμενοι οὐ συγχωροῦμεν τὰ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπταισμένα, μὴ ἐπιμετροῦντες τὰ ἴσα οἷς παρὰ Θεοῦ τετυχήκαμεν τοῖς ἡμετέροις οἰκέταις. Εὐλόγως οὖν ἀγανάκτησις καθ' ἡμῶν ἐξενεχθήσεται· καὶ ὁ τὴν πᾶσαν ἡμῖν ὀφειλὴν ἀφεὶς ∆εσπότης οὐκέτ' ἀφήσει ἡμῖν· ἀλλ' ᾧ μέτρῳ μεμετρήκαμεν ἀσυμπαθεῖ καὶ ἀνελεεῖ καὶ ἀποτόμῳ, ἐπιμετρήσει ἡμῖν· καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἡμῶν κατὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων συνδούλων ὅρον καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπαρτήσει. Ἐφεύ 24.584 ροι δέ τις ἑαυτῷ μέθοδον ἀγαθῆς ἀποφάσεως τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαιωτηρίου ἐξενεχθησομένης, εἰ προλαβὼν γένοιτο φιλάνθρωπος καὶ τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν ἁμαρτανομένων συγχωρητικός. Καὶ ἐροῦσιν ὑμῖν· Ἰδοὺ ὧδε, ἢ ἰδοὺ ἐκεῖ. Ταῦτα κατὰ μὲν τὸν Ματθαῖον ἐλέγετο περὶ τῆς ἐρημώσεως Ἱερουσαλήμ· διὸ καὶ προσέκειτο· Τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη· ἐνταῦθα δὲ περὶ τῶν καιρῶν τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου προλέγει· διὸ οὐ πρόσκειται τοῦτο. Πρῶτον δεῖ αὐτὸν πολλὰ παθεῖν Αἰνίττεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτοις τήν ποτε γενησομένην ἀποστασίαν εἰπών· Πρῶτον δὲ δεῖ αὐτὸν πολλὰ παθεῖν καὶ ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης, δηλονότι τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἀποβληθῆναι γὰρ καὶ ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι τὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον, πολλά τε παθεῖν τὸν αὐτοῦ λαὸν, ἐθέσπισεν· εἴτε ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα διωγμοῖς, καθ' οὓς μυρία πέπονθεν αὐτός τε βλασφημούμενος ὁ Σωτὴρ παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἤ τε Ἐκκλησία αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ λόγος ἐλαυνόμενος καὶ πολεμούμενος· εἴτε πρὸς τῷ πάντων τέλει, καθ' ὃ ἀποδοκιμασθήσεται πάμπαν ἀποβληθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενεᾶς. Καὶ καθὼς ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τοῦ Νῶε, κ. τ. λ. Οὕτω τοίνυν, ὡς εἴρηται, ἐκβληθέντος διὰ τὴν ἀποστασίαν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ, κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ συμβεβηκότων, ὁ κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὄλεθρος ἐπιστήσεται, φησί. Ἀλλ' ὡς τότε πάντας μὲν ἀπώλεσεν, οὐ μὴν καὶ τοὺς συνηγμένους ἅμα τῷ Νῶε ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας οἱ μὲν ἀσεβεῖς κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀποστασίας τρυφαῖς καὶ μέθαις καὶ γάμοις καὶ ταῖς τοῦ βίου ἡδοναῖς κατατριβόμενοι ὁμοίως τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε κατακλυσθέντες ἀπολοῦνται. Ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ μή τινα νομίσαι δι' ὕδατος καὶ τούτους κατακλυσθήσεσθαι, ἀναγκαίως τῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ Λὼτ κέχρηται παραδείγματι, Καθὼς ἐγένετο, λέγων, ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Λὼτ, ἤσθιον, ἔπινον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· Ἧ δὲ ἡμέρα ἐξῆλθε Λὼτ ἀπὸ Σοδόμων ἔβρεξε πῦρ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἀπώλεσε πάντας. Κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἔσται ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀποκαλύπτεται· σφόδρα ἀποῤῥήτως καὶ φοβερῶς διδάσκων ὅτι πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ καταπεμπομένῳ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς πάντας ἡ ὀργὴ μετελεύσεται· διὸ τοῖς μὲν ἡμέραν ταύτην ἐπιστῆναι εὐχομένοις ἀσεβέσιν ἡ προφητικὴ φωνὴ ἐπανατείνεται λέγουσα· Οὐαὶ οἱ ἐπιθυμοῦντες τὴν ἡμέραν Κυρίου! Ἵνα τί; Ὑμῖν αὕτη ἔσται σκότος, καὶ οὐ φῶς, ἡμέρα σκότους καὶ γνόφου, ἡμέρα ταλαιπωρίας καὶ ἀφανισμοῦ. Σφόδρα δὲ ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐτήρησεν ὁ Σωτὴρ οὐ πρότερον τὸ πῦρ εἰπὼν ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ καὶ τὸ θεῖον κατεληλυθέναι ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐν Σοδόμοις ἀσεβεῖς, ἢ τὸν Λὼτ ἐξελθεῖν, καὶ χωρισθῆναι ἐξ αὐτῶν. Οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ οὐ πρότερον ἐπῆλθεν οὗτος καὶ πάντας ἀπώλεσε τοὺς κατὰ γῆν οἰκοῦντας, ἢ τὸν Νῶε εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν. Κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοίνυν καὶ ἐπὶ 24.585 τῆς συντελείας οὐ πρότερον ἔσεσθαι τὸν κατακλυσμὸν τῆς ἀπωλείας τῶν ἀσεβῶν φησιν, ἢ συναχθῆναι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ κιβωτὸν, καὶ διασωθῆναι τοὺς τότε εὑρεθησομένους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνθρώπους, κατὰ τὸ παράδειγμα τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε· οἷς καὶ λεχθήσεται κατὰ καιρὸν τὸ προφητικὸν ἐκεῖνο· Βάδιζε, λαός μου, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμεῖόν σου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, ἕως οὗ παρέλθοι ἡ ὀργὴ Κυρίου· ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Λὼτ ἐποίησεν, ἵνα μὴ οἱ δίκαιοι συναπόλωνται τοῖς ἀσεβέσιν· οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐ πρότερον αὕτη ἔσται, ἢ πάντας τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς δικαίους καὶ θεοσεβεῖς ἀφορισθῆναι τῶν ἀσεβῶν, καὶ συναχθῆναι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ κιβωτόν· οὕτω γὰρ μηκέτι μηδενὸς δικαίου ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὑρισκομένου, πάντων δὲ ἀθέων ἀσεβῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ