John Chrysostom, On "Having the same spirit"

this? They considered among themselves, that in the Old Testament things were not so ordered, but those who chose to live with moderation and self-control immediately received the prizes and rewards of virtue. For not after the resurrection of the bodies, nor in the life to come, but here, and in the present life, all the promises were fulfilled for them. For if you love, it says, the Lord your God, it will be well with you, and God will multiply the herds of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep; there will not be among you barrenness, nor sterility; there will not be among you weakness, it says, nor disease. God will send forth his blessing into the storehouses of your barns; He will open the heaven, and give 51.297 you the early and the latter rain. The threshing will overtake the vintage and the vintage the sowing. And He promised them many other such things, all of which were rendered to them in the present life. If anyone is more astute, he already foresees the solution. Since, therefore, health of body, and fertile land, and many and good children, and a vigorous old age, and the best climate of seasons, and abundance, and timely rains, and many flocks and herds, and simply all good things were fulfilled for them in the present life, and nothing was in hope, nor after the departure from here; considering these things, therefore, the faithful, that for their own forefathers all good things were at their feet, but for them all the prizes and the crowns are stored up for the life to come, and the things of the promises are in faith, they grew weary, they were faint, being compelled to drag out their entire present life through temptations. Paul, therefore, considering these things and the magnitude of the terrible things hanging over them, and that to these God had promised the reward of their labors after their departure from here, but had rewarded their forefathers here, and perceiving that much despondency was arising in them from these thoughts, wishing to raise them up and to teach them that in the case of their own fathers too things were so ordered, and that many received their reward in faith, not in experience, reminded them of the prophetic saying, saying: Having the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written: I believed, therefore I spoke; as good as saying, that even the great David, that wonderful and noble prophet, received his recompense by faith, not by experience; for if this were not so, he would not have said, I believed, and therefore I spoke. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, of things not seen; but what one sees, one does not in every case also hope for. If, therefore, he believed, he believed in things hoped for. And if he believed in things hoped for, but things hoped for are not yet seen, he had not yet received these things in which he believed; for this reason he says, Having the same Spirit of faith, that is, we too have the same faith that was in the Old Testament. For this reason he also says elsewhere, speaking of the saints of that time: They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy; then, teaching that they endured terrible things, but have not yet even now received their rewards, he added, saying: These all died according to faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar and greeted them. And how did they see, tell me, the things not yet present? With the eyes of faith, which surpass heaven, and survey all things there. 9. But consider for me the wisdom of God, how He both showed them the prizes from afar, and did not give them at once, that He might work in them greater patience; but He showed them from afar, that being nourished by these hopes, they might not even have a sense of their present labors. 51.298 But perhaps one of those paying closer attention will think the argument has fallen into a contradiction. For if not even the former, he says, received the good things at their feet and

τοῦτο; Ἐνενόουν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς, ὅτι ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ ∆ιαθήκῃ οὐχ οὕτω τὰ πράγματα ᾠκονομήθη, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς τοὺς ἄθλους καὶ τοὺς μισθοὺς εὐθέως ἀπελάμβανον οἱ μετ' ἐπιεικείας καὶ σωφροσύνης προῃρημένοι ζῇν. Οὐ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν τῶν σωμάτων ἀνάστασιν, οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ ζωῇ, ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα, καὶ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον πᾶσαι αὐτοῖς ἐπληροῦντο αἱ ὑποσχέσεις. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀγαπήσῃς, φησὶ, Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, εὖ σοι ἔσται, καὶ πληθυνεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ βουκόλια τῶν βοῶν σου, καὶ τὰ ποίμνια τῶν προβάτων σου· οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ ἄγονον, οὐδὲ στεῖρον· οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ μαλακία, φησὶν, οὐδὲ νόσος. Ἐξαποστελεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὴν εὐλογίαν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ταμιεῖα τῶν ἀποθηκῶν σου· ἀνοίξει τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ δώσει 51.297 σοι ὑετὸν πρώιμον καὶ ὄψιμον. Καταλήψεται ὁ ἀλοητὸς τὸν τρυγητὸν καὶ ὁ τρυγητὸς τὸν σπόρον. Καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα αὐτοῖς ἐπηγγείλατο, ἅπερ ἅπαντα κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν αὐτοῖς ἀπεδίδοτο. Εἴ τις ὀξύτερος, ἤδη προβλέπει τὴν λύσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν σώματος ὑγίεια, καὶ γῆς εὐκληρία, καὶ πολυπαιδία καὶ εὐπαιδία, καὶ λιπαρὸν γῆρας, καὶ ὡρῶν κρᾶσις ἀρίστη, καὶ εὐετηρία, καὶ ὄμβρων εὐκαιρία, καὶ πολλὰ ποίμνια καὶ βουκόλια, καὶ πάντα ἁπλῶς τὰ ἀγαθὰ κατὰ τὴν παροῦσαν αὐτοῖς ἐπληροῦτο ζωὴν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἦν, οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδημίαν· ἀναλογιζόμενοι οὖν ταῦτα οἱ πιστοὶ, ὅτι τοῖς προγόνοις τοῖς ἑαυτῶν παρὰ πόδας ἅπαντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἀπήντα, αὐτοῖς δὲ εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν ζωὴν τὰ ἔπαθλα καὶ οἱ στέφανοι πάντες εἰσὶ τεταμιευμένοι, καὶ ἐν πίστει τὰ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν, ἔκαμνον, ἐξελύοντο, τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν ἅπασαν διὰ πειρασμῶν ἕλκειν ἀναγκαζόμενοι. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐννοῶν ὁ Παῦλος καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐπηρτημένων αὐτοῖς δεινῶν, καὶ ὅτι τούτοις μὲν τὸν μισθὸν τῶν πόνων μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν αὐτοῖς ἀποδημίαν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπηγγείλατο, τοὺς δὲ προγόνους αὐτῶν ἐντεῦθεν ἠμείψατο, καὶ συνορῶν πολλὴν ἐκ τῶν λογισμῶν τούτων ἀκηδίαν ἐγγινομένην αὐτοῖς, βουλόμενος αὐτοὺς ἀναστῆσαι καὶ διδάξαι, ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πατέρων τῶν αὐτῶν οὕτω τὰ πράγματα ᾠκονόμητο, καὶ ἐν πίστει πολλοὶ τὸν μισθὸν ἔλαβον, οὐκ ἐν τῇ πείρᾳ, ἀνέμνησεν αὐτοὺς τῆς προφητικῆς ῥήσεως, εἰπών· Ἔχοντες τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα· μονονουχὶ λέγων, ὅτι καὶ ὁ μέγας ∆αβὶδ, ὁ θαυμαστὸς καὶ γενναῖος προφήτης ἐκεῖνος, πίστει τὴν ἀμοιβὴν ἐκομίσατο, οὐχὶ τῇ πείρᾳ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, εἶπεν, Ἐπίστευσα, διὸ καὶ ἐλάλησα. Ἡ γὰρ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ἐστὶν ὑπόστασις πραγμάτων, οὐ βλεπομένων· ὃ δὲ βλέπει τις, οὐ πάντως καὶ ἐλπίζει. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐπίστευσε, τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις ἐπίστευσεν. Εἰ δὲ τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις ἐπίστευσε, τὰ δὲ ἐλπιζόμενα οὐδέπω βλέπεται, οὔπω ἦν ἀπειληφὼς ταῦτα, εἰς ἅπερ ἐπίστευσε· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, Ἔχοντες τὸ αὐτὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως, τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὴν αὐτὴν πίστιν, τὴν ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησι, περὶ τῶν τότε ἁγίων λέγων· Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος· εἶτα διδάσκων, ὅτι τὰ δεινὰ μὲν ὑπέμειναν, τοὺς δὲ μισθοὺς οὐδέπω καὶ νῦν ἀπέλαβον, ἐπήγαγε λέγων· Κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ἀπέθανον οὗτοι πάντες, μὴ κομισάμενοι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, ἀλλὰ πόῤῥωθεν αὐτὰς ἰδόντες καὶ ἀσπασάμενοι. Καὶ πῶς εἶδον, εἰπέ μοι, τὰς μηδέπω παρούσας; Τοῖς τῆς πίστεως ὀφθαλμοῖς, τοῖς ὑπερβαίνουσι τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ κατασκοποῦσιν ἅπαντα. θʹ. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει Θεοῦ σοφίαν, πῶς καὶ ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὰ βραβεῖα πόῤῥωθεν, καὶ οὐκ ἔδωκε μὲν εὐθέως, ἵνα μείζονα αὐτῶν ἐργάσηται τὴν ὑπομονήν· ἔδειξε δὲ πόῤῥωθεν, ἵνα ταῖς ἐλπίσι ταύταις τρεφόμενοι, μηδὲ αἴσθησιν τῶν παρόντων λάβωσι πόνων. 51.298 Ἀλλὰ τάχα τις τῶν ὀξύτερον προσεχόντων ἑαυτῷ περιπεπτωκέναι τὸν λόγον ἡγήσεται. Εἰ γὰρ οὐδὲ οἱ πρότεροι, φησὶν, ἀπελάμβανον παρὰ πόδας τὰ ἀγαθὰ καὶ