John Chrysostom, On the Letter to the Hebrews

their being of one. Then again, making it secure, and showing that he says this according to the flesh, he added, He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified. Do you see how great the interval? for He sanctifies, but we are sanctified. And above he called him the author of their salvation. For one God, of whom are all things. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Do you see how again he shows the superiority? For by saying, He is not 63.41 ashamed, he shows that the whole is not of the nature of the thing, but of the tender love of Him who is not ashamed, and of His great humility. For even if of one, yet He sanctifies, and we are sanctified. But the interval is great. and He is from the Father, as a true Son, that is, from His substance; but we as a creature, that is, from things not existing. So the interval is great. Therefore he says, He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. For having put on flesh, he also put on brotherhood, and brotherhood entered together with the flesh. But this he introduces reasonably; but what does this mean, I will put my trust in Him? And what follows this is also reasonable: Behold I and the children which God hath given me. For as here He shows Himself a father, so there a brother. I will declare, he says, thy name unto my brethren; and again he shows the superiority, and that the interval is great, through what follows. Forasmuch then as the children, he says, are partakers of flesh and blood. 4. Do you see where, he says, the likeness is? according to the flesh. He also Himself likewise took part of the same. Let all the heretics be ashamed, let those be covered who say that he came in appearance, and not in truth. For he did not say, that He took part of these things, only, and was silent; although even if he had said so, it would have been sufficient; but he showed something greater, adding, Likewise. Not in fantasy nor in image, he says, but in truth; since the word, Likewise, is not preserved. Then having shown the brotherhood, he also states the cause of the economy: That through death, he says, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Here he shows the wonderful thing, that by that by which the devil prevailed, by this he was defeated, and what was a strong weapon for him against the world, death, with this Christ struck him; and it reveals the great power of the conqueror. Do you see how much good death has wrought? And deliver them, he says, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For what reason do you shudder, he says, why do you fear him who has been abolished? he is no longer terrible, but has been trampled, despised, is cheap and worthless. But what is, Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage? what is this, he says? That he who fears death is a slave, and endures all things in order not to die; or this, that all were slaves of death, he says, and were held by it because it had not yet been dissolved; or, [if not this,] that men lived in perpetual fear. For always expecting to die, and fearing death, they were unable to have any sense of pleasure, with this fear present to them; for he alluded to this by saying, All their lifetime. Here he shows that those who are afflicted, those who are driven out, those who are persecuted, those who are deprived of their country and substance and all other things, live more pleasantly and more freely than those who formerly were in luxury, who suffered none of these things, who were prosperous; if indeed those were all their lifetime under this fear 63.42 and were slaves, but these are delivered from it, and laugh at that which those shuddered at. For just as if someone should fatten with much luxury a prisoner about to be led to death, and always expecting this; such a thing was death of old. But now it has become the same, as if someone having cast out that fear, should exhort to strive with luxury, and setting forth the contest, should promise to lead no longer to death, but to a kingdom. Of which then did you wish to be, of those being fattened in the prison while expecting the sentence each day, or of those

τὸ ἐξ ἑνὸς εἶναι. Εἶτα πάλιν ἀσφαλιζόμενος, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι τὸ κατὰ σάρκα φησὶν, ἐπήγαγε τὸ, Ὁ ἁγιάζων, καὶ οἱ ἁγιαζόμενοι. Ὁρᾷς ὅσον τὸ μέσον; ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἁγιάζει, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἁγιαζόμεθα. Καὶ ἀνωτέρω τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν ἔφη. Εἰς γὰρ Θεὸς, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα. ∆ι' ἣν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοὺς καλεῖν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς πάλιν δείκνυσι τὴν ὑπεροχήν; Τῷ γὰρ εἰπεῖν· Οὐκ 63.41 ἐπαισχύνεται, δείκνυσιν οὐ τῆς τοῦ πράγματος φύσεως, ἀλλὰ τῆς φιλοστοργίας τοῦ μὴ ἐπαισχυνομένου τὸ πᾶν ὂν, καὶ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης τῆς πολλῆς. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ἁγιάζει, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἁγιαζόμεθα. Πολὺ δὲ τὸ μέσον· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὡς Υἱὸς γνήσιος, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτοῦ· ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς κτίσμα, τουτέστιν, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων. Ὥστε πολὺ τὸ μέσον. ∆ιό φησιν· Οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοὺς καλεῖν, λέγων· Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου. Τὴν γὰρ σάρκα ἐνδυσάμενος, ἐνεδύσατο καὶ τὴν ἀδελφότητα καὶ συνεισῆλθεν ὁμοῦ τῇ σαρκὶ καὶ ἡ ἀδελφότης. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν εἰκότως παράγει· τὸ δὲ, Ἐγὼ ἔσομαι πεποιθὼς ἐπ' αὐτῷ, τί βούλεται; Καὶ τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ εἰκότως· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα πατέρα δείκνυσιν ἑαυτὸν, οὕτως ἐκεῖ ἀδελφόν· Ἀπαγγελῶ, φησὶ, τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου· καὶ πάλιν τὴν ὑπεροχὴν δείκνυσι, καὶ πολὺ τὸ μέσον, διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς· Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία, φησὶ, κεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός. δʹ. Ὁρᾷς ποῦ, φησὶ, τὸ ὅμοιον; κατὰ τὴν σάρκα. Παραπλησίως καὶ αὐτὸς μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν. Αἰσχυνέσθωσαν πάντες οἱ αἱρετικοὶ, ἐγκαλυπτέσθωσαν οἱ δοκήσει λέγοντες αὐτὸν παραγενέσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἀληθείᾳ. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, ὅτι Μετέσχε τούτων, μόνον, καὶ ἐσίγησε· καίτοι καὶ εἰ οὕτως εἶπεν, ἱκανὸν ἦν· ἀλλ' ἕτερόν τι μεῖζον ἐνέφηνε, τὸ, Παραπλησίως, προσθείς. Οὐ φαντασίᾳ οὐδὲ εἰκόνι, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἀληθείᾳ· ἐπεὶ τὸ, Παραπλησίως, οὐ σώζεται. Εἶτα δείξας τὴν ἀδελφότητα, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τίθησι τῆς οἰκονομίας· Ὅπως διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, φησὶ, καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι, τὸν διάβολον. Ἐνταῦθα τὸ θαυμαστὸν δείκνυσιν, ὅτι δι' οὗ ἐκράτησεν ὁ διάβολος, διὰ τούτου ἡττήθη, καὶ ὅπερ ἰσχυρὸν ἦν αὐτῷ ὅπλον κατὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὁ θάνατος, τούτῳ αὐτὸν ἔπληξεν ὁ Χριστός· καὶ τὸ πολὺ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ νικήσαντος ἐμφαίνει. Ὁρᾷς ὅσον ὁ θάνατος εἰργάσατο καλόν; Καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ, φησὶ, τούτους, ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῇν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας. Τίνος ἕνεκεν φρίττετε, φησὶ, τί δεδοίκατε τὸν καταργηθέντα; οὐκέτι φοβερός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πεπάτηται, καταπεφρόνηται, εὐτελής ἐστι καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄξιος. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῇν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας; τί τοῦτο, φησίν; Ὅτι ὁ τὸν θάνατον δεδοικὼς, δοῦλός ἐστι, καὶ πάντα ὑφίσταται ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν· ἢ ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι πάντες δοῦλοι ἦσαν τοῦ θανάτου, φησὶ, καὶ τῷ μηδέπω αὐτὸν λελύσθαι ἐκρατοῦντο· ἢ, [εἰ μὴ τοῦτο,] ὅτι φόβῳ διηνεκεῖ συνέζων οἱ ἄνθρωποι. Ἀεὶ γὰρ ἀποτεθνήξεσθαι προσδοκῶντες, καὶ τὸν θάνατον δεδοικότες, οὐδεμιᾶς ἡδονῆς αἴσθησιν λαβεῖν ἠδύναντο, τοῦ φόβου τούτου παρόντος αὐτοῖς· τοῦτο γὰρ ᾐνίξατο εἰπών· ∆ιὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῇν. ∆είκνυσιν ἐνταῦθα τοὺς θλιβομένους, τοὺς ἐλαυνομένους, τοὺς διωκομένους, τοὺς καὶ πατρίδος καὶ οὐσίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἀποστερουμένους, ἥδιον διάγοντας καὶ ἐλευθεριώτερον ἐκείνων τῶν ἐν τρυφῇ τὸ πάλαι τυγχανόντων, τῶν μηδὲν τοιούτων παθόντων, τῶν εὐθηνουμένων· εἴ γε ἐκεῖνοι μὲν διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῇν ὑπὸ τῷ φόβῳ τούτῳ 63.42 ἦσαν καὶ δοῦλοι, αὐτοὶ δὲ τούτου εἰσὶν ἀπηλλαγμένοι, καὶ γελῶντες τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἐκεῖνοι πεφρίκασιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἴ τις δεσμώτην μέλλοντα τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον ἄγεσθαι, καὶ ἀεὶ τοῦτο προσδοκῶντα, λιπαίνοι πολλῇ τῇ τρυφῇ· τοιοῦτόν τι ἦν τὸ παλαιὸν ὁ θάνατος. Νῦν δὲ ταυτὸν γέγονεν, οἷον ἂν εἴ τις τὸν φόβον ἐκεῖνον ἐκβαλὼν, μετὰ τῆς τρυφῆς ἀθλεῖν προτρέποι, καὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα προτιθεὶς, ἐπαγγέλοιτο μηκέτι εἰς θάνατον, ἀλλ' εἰς βασιλείαν ἀγαγεῖν. Τίνων οὖν ἠθέλησας σὺ γενέσθαι, τῶν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ λιπαινομένων μετὰ τοῦ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τὴν ἀπόφασιν προσδοκᾷν, ἢ τῶν