Eusebius of Caesarea, Fragments on Luke

The Savior advises to be devoted to prayers. There was a certain judge who did not fear God. He therefore also adds the parable concerning the judge of injustice, to show that one ought always to pray and not to lose heart. And His saying: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" indicates a failure of faith, so that no one faithful will be found, or if indeed some rare one, at the time of His second theophany. This happens to be a great proof of the time of the apostasy, in which the faithful one who is found will be rare; and perhaps not even one will exist, because some will be taken up, and others will be left behind to be delivered to the eagles. And so, with faith failing among men, He Himself at last will appear to bring vengeance for His saints who were destroyed by the ungodly. And He will bring vengeance speedily, because they cry to Him night and day; and He taught to cry to Him through the parable of the judge of injustice. A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. We are taught so many things through the parable: 24.589 His future and not yet present kingdom, even if some imagined it to be a sensible one, His translation and ascension from earth to heaven, His second and glorious theophany, His judicial authority and power to distribute to each according to his worth, the good reputation of His own faithful servants, the condemnation of those not such, the conspiracy against Him by the citizens of the king, the justice that will come upon them worthily for what they did; for all these things together He was indicating through the words set forth. And first indeed, He called Himself a man on account of His birth according to the flesh, which came to Him as a man; then noble, but not yet did He call Himself king, because He had not yet used the royal dignity during His first theophany. And witnesses of His nobility are those who have handed down in writing the history of His lineage and of His succession from ancestors; of whom one, presenting His nobility according to men, from this point somehow began his gospel, saying: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham"; then, following this, he establishes the genealogy, bringing it down to Him through renowned men and through a royal line; while the other, teaching of His highest birth from God and before all ages, handed down His truly first and only nobility, saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him." But this One, the God-Logos before all ages, having become a noble man, and having passed through life with men, the one reported in the evangelical writings about Him, after a sufficient sojourn among men, returning to His own Father, "went into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return." And by "a far country" He indicated the ascent from earth to heaven; and He says He is to receive that very kingdom, which the prophet Daniel alluded to, saying: "And behold, one like a Son of man was coming on the clouds, and to Him was given dominion and honor and the kingdom." And well is it said "to receive"; for He certainly received it as the Father was giving it, according to that which says: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance"; which things having been given to Him by the Ancient of Days and having received them, He will come again. Wherefore He says "to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return"; and how He will make His return, the divine Apostle clarifies, saying: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God." And the journey away also indicates long-suffering. And it was necessary for Him to travel to the indicated far country, and to spend time there for many reasons; so that in the meantime His servants might give proof of their own work. 24.592 And having called ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas. He signified, therefore, through those who received the minas, His own disciples, to whom one mina each

Σωτὴρ παραινεῖ εὐχαῖς σχολάζειν. Κριτής τις ἦν τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος. Ἐπισυνάπτει γοῦν καὶ παραβολὴν τὴν περὶ τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας, πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν. Τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν· Ἆρα ἐλθὼν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; ἔκλειψιν δηλοῖ τῆς πίστεως, ὡς μηδένα πιστὸν εὑρεθήσεσθαι, ἢ εἴ που ἄρα σπάνιόν τινα κατὰ τὸν τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας χρόνον. Ὅπερ μέγα τεκμήριον τυγχάνει τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς ἀποστασίας, ἐν ᾧ σπάνιος ἔσται ὁ εὑρεθησόμενος πιστός· τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ εἷς ἔσται, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν παραληφθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ καταλειφθήσεσθαι τοῖς ἀετοῖς παραδοθησομένους· οὕτω τε ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐκλειπούσης τῆς πίστεως, αὐτὸς λοιπὸν ἐπιστήσεται τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ποιησόμενος τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνῃρημένων. Ἐν τάχει δὲ ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν, διὰ τὸ βοᾷν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας· βοᾷν δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐδίδαξε διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς τοῦ κριτοῦ τῆς ἀδικίας. Ἄνθρωπός τις εὐγενὴς ἐπορεύθη εἰς χώραν μακρὰν λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν, καὶ ὑποστρέψαι. Τοσαῦτα διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς διδασκόμεθα, τὴν 24.589 μέλλουσαν αὐτοῦ καὶ μηδέπω παροῦσαν βασιλείαν, κἂν αἰσθητὴν ταύτην τινὲς ἐφαντάζοντο, τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν μετάστασίν τε καὶ ἀνάληψιν, τὴν δευτέραν καὶ ἔνδοξον αὐτοῦ θεοφάνειαν, τὴν κριτικὴν καὶ τοῦ κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ διανεμητικὴν ἐξουσίαν, τὴν τῶν οἰκείων αὐτοῦ καὶ πιστῶν θεραπευόντων εὐδοκίμησιν, τὴν τῶν μὴ τοιούτων κατάγνωσιν, τὴν τῶν πολιτῶν τοῦ βασιλέως κατ' αὐτοῦ συσκευὴν, τὴν μετελευσομένην αὐτοὺς ἐπαξίως ὧν ἔδρασαν δίκην· ταῦτα γὰρ ὁμοῦ πάντα διὰ τῶν ἐκτεθεισῶν φωνῶν ἐδήλου. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὠνόμαζε διὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γέννησιν, τὴν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον αὐτῷ συστᾶσαν· ἔπειτα εὐγενῆ, ἀλλ' οὔπω βασιλέα ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλει, διὰ τὸ μηδέπω τῇ βασιλικῇ ἀξίᾳ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην θεοφάνειαν κεχρῆσθαι. Τῆς δ' εὐγενείας αὐτοῦ μάρτυρες οἱ τοῦ γένους καὶ τῆς ἐκ προγόνων διαδοχῆς τὴν ἱστορίαν γραφῇ παραδεδωκότες· ὧν ὁ μέν τις, τὴν κατὰ ἀνθρώπους εὐγένειαν αὐτοῦ παριστὰς, ἔνθεν δή ποθεν εὐηγγελίζετο λέγων· Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ ∆αβὶδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ· εἶθ' ἑξῆς τούτοις τὴν γενεαλογίαν δι' ἐπιδήμων ἀνδρῶν καὶ διὰ βασιλικοῦ γένους ἐπ' αὐτὸν κατάγων ἵστησιν· ὁ δὲ τὴν ἀνωτάτω καὶ πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων ἐκ Θεοῦ γέννησιν αὐτοῦ διδάσκων, τὴν ἀληθῶς πρώτην καὶ μόνην εὐγένειαν παρεδίδου λέγων· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὗτος ὁ πρὸ πάντων αἰώνων Θεὸς Λόγος, γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος εὐγενὴς, καὶ τὸν σὺν ἀνθρώποις διεξελθὼν βίον τὸν ἐμφερόμενον ταῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ εὐαγγελικαῖς γραφαῖς, μετὰ τὴν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις αὐτάρκη διατριβὴν, ἐπανιὼν πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα, ἐπορεύθη εἰς χώραν μακρὰν λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν καὶ ὑποστρέψαι. Χώραν δὲ μακρὰν τὴν ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς οὐρανὸν ἄνοδον ἐδήλου· λαβεῖν τε τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτὴν ἐκείνην φησὶν, ἣν ὁ προφήτης ∆ανιὴλ ᾐνίττετο λέγων· Καὶ ἰδοὺ Υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ νεφελῶν ἐρχόμενος ἦν· καὶ αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ, καὶ ἡ βασιλεία. Εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ λαβεῖν εἴρηται· πάντως γὰρ τοῦ Πατρὸς διδόντος ἐλάμβανε, κατὰ τό· Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου· ἃ δὴ δοθέντα αὐτῷ παρὰ τοῦ Παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ὑποδεξάμενος, αὖθις ἐπανήξει. ∆ιό φησι λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν καὶ ὑποστρέψαι· καὶ ὅπως δὲ ποιήσεται τὴν ἐπάνοδον, ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος διασαφεῖ λέγων· Ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπὸ οὐρανοῦ. Ἡ δὲ ἀποδημία καὶ τὴν μακροθυμίαν δηλοῖ. Ἔδει δὲ αὐτὸν ἀναγκαίως εἰς τὴν δηλωθεῖσαν μακρὰν χώραν στείλασθαι, κἀκεῖ χρόνον διατρίψαι πολλῶν ἕνεκα· ὡς ἂν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ οἱ αὐτοῦ θεράποντες τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐργασίας τὴν δοκιμὴν δοῖεν. 24.592 Καλέσας δὲ δέκα δούλους ἑαυτοῦ, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δέκα μνᾶς. Ἐσήμαινε τοίνυν διὰ τῶν λαβόντων τὰς μνᾶς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς, οἷς ἀνὰ μίαν μνᾶν