John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

salvation. And that you may learn that He does this for this reason, pay attention. Pilate once mingled the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifices, and some came and reported this very thing to Christ; and He says: What do you think, that those Galileans were the only sinners? No, I tell you; but, unless you repent, you too will likewise perish. Again, another eighteen were crushed by a certain tower; and He said the same things about them; for by saying, What do you think, that those were the only sinners? No, I tell you; He showed that the living were also liable for the same things; but by saying, that Unless you repent, you too will likewise perish, He showed that He allowed them to suffer for this reason, so that the living, fearing from what happened to others and repenting, might become heirs of the kingdom. What then? Is that man punished so that I may become better? he says. Not for this reason, but he is punished for his own sin; but it becomes incidentally an occasion of salvation to those who pay attention, by making them more earnest through the fear of what happened to him. Thus masters also do; having often scourged one servant, they have made the rest more disciplined by fear. When, therefore, you see some who have suffered shipwreck, or been buried under a house, or been destroyed by fire, or been swept away by rivers, or ended their life by some other such violent means, and then others sinning in the same ways as them or even worse, and suffering nothing of the sort, do not be troubled, saying: Why is it that, sinning in the same ways, they have not suffered the same things? but consider this, that He allowed the one to be killed and drowned, preparing for him a milder punishment there, or even completely delivering him from it; but this one He did not allow to suffer any such thing, so that, being made disciplined by the other’s punishment, he might become more reasonable; but if he persists in the same things, he will heap up for himself an inconsolable punishment on top of his own indolence; and God is not the cause of the unbearable chastisement. Again, if you see a righteous man afflicted, or suffering all the aforementioned things, do not lose heart; for to him also the terrible things work more brilliant 48.1004 crowns. And in general, every punishment, if it happens to sinners, diminishes the burden of sin; but if to the righteous, it works their soul to be brighter, and the greatest gain from the affliction happens to both, only if we bear it with thanksgiving; for this is what is sought. 9. For this reason the history of the divine Scripture is filled with countless such examples, and it points out to us both righteous and wicked men suffering evil, so that whether one be righteous or a sinner, having the examples, he might bear it nobly. It shows you not only wicked men suffering evil, but also prospering, so that you may not be troubled by their prosperity, having learned from what happened to this rich man what sort of fire awaits them after this, if they should not change. And is it not possible, he says, to enjoy comfort both here and there? It is not possible. For this reason the righteous lived a laborious life here. What then, he says, of Abraham? And who has suffered such terrible things? Did he not fall from his fatherland? Was he not separated from all his kin? Did he not endure famine in a foreign land? Did he not, like a wanderer, continually migrate, from Babylon to Mesopotamia, and from there to Palestine, then from there to Egypt? What could one say about those of his wife, the wars and slaughters of the barbarians? The captivity of his kinsman's household? Countless other such things? And when he had also received his son, did he not endure the most irreparable of all things, being commanded to slay with his own hands the one who was longed for and beloved by him? And what of Isaac himself who was to be sacrificed? Was he not continually driven away from all sides by his neighbors, and was his wife not taken from him, just like his father, and did he not remain so long a time in childlessness? And what of Jacob, who was raised in a house, did he not endure harder things than his grandfather? And lest we make the discourse long by enumerating everything, listen to what he says about his whole life: Few and

σωτηρίαν. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο τοῦτο ποιεῖ, πρόσεχε. Ἔμιξέ ποτε τὸ αἷμα τῶν Γαλιλαίων ὁ Πιλᾶτος μετὰ τῶν θυσιῶν, καὶ προσελθόντες τινὲς ἀπήγγειλαν τῷ Χριστῷ αὐτὸ τοῦτο· καὶ λέγει· Τί δοκεῖτε ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι οἱ Γαλιλαῖοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ μόνοι ἦσαν; Οὐχὶ, λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀλλ', ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσητε, καὶ ὑμεῖς ὁμοίως ἀπολεῖσθε. Πάλιν ἕτεροι δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ κατεχώσθησαν ὑπὸ πύργου τινός· καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων τὰ αὐτὰ εἶπε· τῷ μὲν γὰρ εἰπεῖν, Τί δοκεῖτε ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἦσαν μόνον; οὐχὶ, λέγω ὑμῖν· ἔδειξεν ὅτι καὶ οἱ ζῶντες τῶν αὐτῶν ἦσαν ὑπεύθυνοι· τῷ δὲ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσητε, καὶ ὑμεῖς ὡσαύτως ἀπολεῖσθε, ἔδειξεν ὅτι κἀκείνοις συνεχώρησε διὰ τοῦτο παθεῖν, ἵνα οἱ ζῶντες ἐκ τῶν ἑτέροις συμβάντων φοβηθέντες καὶ μετανοήσαντες, βασιλείας κληρονόμοι γένωνται. Τί οὖν. ἵνα γένωμαι ἐγὼ βελτίων ἐκεῖνος κολάζεται; φησίν; Οὐ διὰ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ κολάζεται μὲν διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἁμαρτίαν· γίνεται δὲ ἐκ περιουσίας τοῖς προσέχουσι σωτηρίας ὑπόθεσις, τῷ φόβῳ τῶν αὐτῷ συμβάντων σπουδαιοτέρους αὐτοὺς ποιῶν. Οὕτω καὶ δεσπόται ποιοῦσιν· ἕνα πολλάκις μαστιγώσαντες οἰκέτην, τοὺς λοιποὺς σωφρονεστέρους ἐποίησαν τῷ φόβῳ. Ὅταν οὖν ἴδῃς τινὰς ἢ ναυαγίῳ περιπεσόντας, ἢ ὑπὸ οἰκίας καταχωσθέντας, ἢ ὑπὸ ἐμπρησμοῦ παραπολλυμένους, ἢ ὑπὸ ποταμῶν παρασυρέντας, ἢ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ βιαίῳ τὴν ζωὴν καταλύσαντας, εἶτα ἑτέρους τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτοῖς ἢ καὶ τὰ χείρονα ἁμαρτάνοντας, καὶ μηδὲν παθόντας τοιοῦτον, μὴ θορυβηθῇς λέγων· Τί δήποτε τὰ αὐτὰ ἁμαρτάνοντες, οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ πεπόνθασιν; ἀλλὰ τοῦτο λογίζου, ὅτι τὸν μὲν εἴασεν ἀναιρεθῆναι καὶ ἀποπνιγῆναι, ἡμερωτέραν αὐτῷ παρασκευάζων τὴν ἐκεῖ τιμωρίαν, ἢ καὶ τέλεον αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάττων· τοῦτον δὲ οὐδὲν ἀφῆκε τοιοῦτον παθεῖν, ἵνα τῇ τούτου τιμωρίᾳ σωφρονισθεὶς, ἐπιεικέστερος γένηται· ἂν δὲ ἐπιμένῃ τοῖς αὐτοῖς, ἀπαραμύθητον ἑαυτῷ παρὰ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ῥᾳθυμίας σωρεύσει τὴν τιμωρίαν· καὶ ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ αἴτιος τῆς ἀφορήτου κολάσεως. Πάλιν ἂν ἴδῃς δίκαιον θλιβόμενον, ἢ τὰ προειρημένα ἅπαντα πάσχοντα, μὴ καταπέσῃς· καὶ γὰρ κἀκείνῳ λαμπροτέρους τοὺς στεφάνους ἐργάζε48.1004 ται τὰ δεινά. Καὶ ἁπλῶς πᾶσα κόλασις, ἂν μὲν ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν γίνηται, ὑποτέμνεται τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας φορτίον· ἂν δὲ ἐπὶ δικαίων, φαιδροτέραν αὐτῶν ἐργάζεται τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ μέγιστον ἑκατέροις τὸ κέρδος ἀπὸ τῆς θλίψεως συμβαίνει, μόνον ἐὰν εὐχαρίστως φέρωμεν· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ ζητούμενον. θʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μυρίων τοιούτων παραδειγμάτων τῆς θείας Γραφῆς ἡ ἱστορία ἐμπέπλησται, καὶ δικαίους καὶ πονηροὺς κακῶς πάσχοντας ἡμῖν ὑποδείκνυσιν, ἵνα ἄν τε δίκαιος ᾖ τις, ἄν τε ἁμαρτωλὸς, ἔχων τὰ ὑποδείγματα, φέρῃ γενναίως. Οὐ πάσχοντας δὲ κακῶς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐπραγοῦντάς σοι δείκνυσι πονηροὺς, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς ἐκείνων εὐπραγίαις θορυβηθῇς, μαθὼν ἀπὸ τῶν τῷ πλουσίῳ τούτῳ συμβεβηκότων, οἷον αὐτοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα μένει τὸ πῦρ, εἰ μὴ μεταβληθεῖεν. Καὶ οὐκ ἔστι, φησὶ, καὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐκεῖ ἀνέσεως ἀπολαύειν; Οὐκ ἔστι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα οἱ δίκαιοι τὸν ἐπίπονον ἐβίωσαν βίον. Τί οὖν, φησὶν, ὁ Ἀβραάμ; Καὶ τίς τοσαῦτα ἔπαθε δεινά; οὐχὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἐξέπεσεν; οὐχὶ τῶν οἰκείων ἐχωρίσθη πάντων; οὐκ ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ γῇ λιμὸν ὑπέμεινεν; οὐχὶ, καθάπερ ἀλήτης, συνεχῶς μετανίστατο, ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Μεσοποταμίαν, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Παλαιστίνην, εἶτα ἐντεῦθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον; Τί ἄν τις εἴποι τοὺς τῆς γυναικὸς, τοὺς τῶν βαρβάρων πολέμους καὶ σφαγάς; τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τῆς τοῦ συγγενοῦς οἰκίας; μυρία ἕτερα τοιαῦτα; Ὅτε δὲ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἔλαβεν, οὐ τὰ πάντων ἀνήκεστα ὑπέμεινε, τὸν αὐτῷ ποθεινὸν καὶ ἐπέραστον ταῖς αὑτοῦ σφάξαι χερσὶ κελευόμενος; Τί δὲ αὐτὸς ὁ σφαγιασθεὶς Ἰσαάκ; οὐχὶ πάντοθεν ἠλαύνετο παρὰ τῶν ὁμόρων συνεχῶς, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα ἀφῃρέθη, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ ἐν ἀπαιδίᾳ τοσοῦτον διέμεινε χρόνον; Τί δὲ ὁ Ἰακὼβ, ὁ ἐν οἰκίᾳ τραφεὶς, οὐχὶ τοῦ πάππου χαλεπώτερα ὑπέμεινε; Καὶ ἵνα μὴ πάντα καταλέγοντες μακρὸν ποιῶμεν τὸν λόγον, ἄκουσον τί φησι περὶ τῆς ἁπάσης αὐτοῦ ζωῆς· Μικραὶ καὶ