John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

My days are evil, and they have not reached the days of my fathers. And yet who, seeing a son sitting on a royal throne and enjoying so much glory, would not have forgotten the past misfortunes? But nevertheless he was so embalmed, that not even in such prosperity did he forget the terrible things that had happened. And what of David? How many tragedies did he endure? Does he not utter the same things as him, saying: The days of our years are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they be eighty years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow? And what of Jeremiah? Does he not even curse the day of his birth because of the successive terrible events? And what of Moses? Does he not also, despairing, say, ‘Kill me, if you are going to treat me this way’? And Elijah, that soul that reached to heaven, who shut up the heaven, did he not, after the many miracles, continually lament to God, saying, ‘Take away my life from me, for I am not better than my fathers’? And why must one go through each of these? For Paul, gathering them all together, goes through them saying: They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. And simply, it is entirely necessary 48.1005 for one who is going to be well-pleasing to God and to be approved and pure, not to pursue the easy and soft and dissolute life, but the one that is laborious and full of many toils and sweats; For no one is crowned, he says, unless he competes according to the rules. And elsewhere, ‘Everyone who competes exercises self-control in all things,’ and from a word, he says, and from a look, and from a shameful voice, and from insult, and from blasphemy, and from obscene talk. From this we learn that even if no temptation comes upon us from without, we must train ourselves each day with fasts, hardships, cheap food, a simple table, avoiding luxuries everywhere; for otherwise it is not possible to be well-pleasing to God. For let no one say to me that cold saying, that so-and-so has both the things here and the things there; it is impossible for this to happen for those who are rich and live in luxury and sin; but, if one must say this, it can be said of those who are afflicted, those in distress, that they have both the things here and the things there. For they have the things there, enjoying a reward; and they have the things here, being nourished together with the hopes of those things, and not having a sense of the present terrible things because of the expectation of the good things to come. But let us hear also what follows. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed, he says, between us and you. Well then did David say that, ‘A brother does not redeem; he will not give to God a ransom for himself.’ For it is not possible, even if he is a brother, or a father, or a son. For see: Abraham called the rich man 'child,' and was not able to show a father's [kindness]; the rich man addressed Abraham as 'father,' and was not able to enjoy the fatherly goodwill that a child might expect, so that you may learn that neither kinship, nor friendship, nor affection, nor anything else that exists can help one who has been betrayed by his own life. 10. But I say these things, because many, often, when we exhort them to pay attention to themselves and be sober, are lazy and cast the exhortation into laughter, saying: ‘You will stand up for me,’ he says, ‘on that day; and I am confident, and I am not afraid.’ Again another says, ‘I have a martyr for a father,’ and another, ‘a bishop for a grandfather;’ still others put forward all those of their own house. But all these are cold sayings; for not even the virtue of others will be able to help us then. Remember those virgins, who did not 48.1006 share the oil with the five virgins; but some entered into the bridal chamber, and the others were shut out. It is a great good to have the hopes of salvation in one’s own right actions; but there no friend ever stands up for another. For if here he says to Jeremiah, ‘Do not pray for this people,’ where they have power to change, much more so there. What are you saying? You have a martyr for a father? This very thing, then, will be able especially to condemn you more, when, having examples of virtue from home, you [render] yourself unworthy of your ancestral

πονηραὶ αἱ ἡμέραι μου, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίκοντο εἰς τὰς ἡμέρας τῶν πατέρων μου. Καίτοι τίς ἰδὼν υἱὸν ἐπὶ θρόνου βασιλικοῦ καθήμενον καὶ τοσαύτης ἀπολαύοντα δόξης, οὐκ ἂν ἐπελήσθη τῶν παρελθουσῶν συμφορῶν; Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐκεῖνος οὕτως ἦν τεταριχευμένος, ὡς μηδὲ ἐν εὐημερίᾳ τοσαύτῃ ἐπιλαθέσθαι τῶν γεγενημένων δεινῶν. Τί δὲ ὁ ∆αυΐδ; πόσας ὑπέμεινε τραγῳδίας; οὐχὶ τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ καὶ οὗτος φθέγγεται λέγων· Αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἐτῶν ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη· ἐὰν δὲ ἐν δυναστείαις, ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη, καὶ τὸ πλεῖον αὐτῶν κόπος καὶ πόνος; Τί δὲ ὁ Ἱερεμίας; οὐχὶ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν αὐτοῦ τῆς γεννήσεως καταρᾶται διὰ τὰ ἐπάλληλα δεινά; Τί δὲ ὁ Μωϋσῆς; οὐχὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπαγορεύων φησὶν, Ἀπόκτεινόν με, εἰ οὕτω μοι μέλλεις ποιεῖν; Ὁ δὲ Ἠλίας, ἡ οὐρανομήκης ψυχὴ, ὁ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀποκλείσας, οὐ μετὰ τὰ πολλὰ θαύματα θρηνῶν διετέλει πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, λέγων, Ἆρον τὴν ψυχήν μου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ βελτίων τῶν πατέρων μου; Καὶ τί χρὴ τούτων ἕκαστον ἐπιέναι; Πάντας γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὁμοῦ συλλαβὼν ὁ Παῦλος διέξεισι λέγων· Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος. Καὶ ἁπλῶς πᾶσα ἀνάγ48.1005 κη τὸν μέλλοντα εὐαρεστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ δόκιμον εἶναι καὶ ἁγνὸν, μὴ τὸν ἄνετον καὶ ὑγρὸν καὶ διαλελυμένον διώκειν βίον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐπίπονον καὶ μόχθων γέμοντα πολλῶν καὶ ἱδρώτων· Οὐδεὶς γὰρ στεφανοῦται, φησὶν, ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ. Καὶ ἑτέρωθι, Πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται, καὶ ἀπὸ ῥήματος, φησὶ, καὶ ἀπὸ βλέμματος, καὶ ἀπὸ φωνῆς αἰσχρᾶς, καὶ ἀπὸ λοιδορίας, καὶ ἀπὸ βλασφημίας, καὶ ἀπὸ αἰσχρολογίας. Ἐντεῦθεν μανθάνομεν, ὅτι κἂν μὴ πειρασμὸς ἡμῖν ἐπενεχθῇ ποθεν ἔξωθεν, ἑαυτοὺς γυμνάζειν δεῖ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν νηστείαις, σκληραγωγίαις, εὐτελεῖ τροφῇ, λιτῇ τραπέζῃ, τὰς πολυτελείας πανταχοῦ φεύγοντας· ἄλλως γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν εὐαρεστῆσαι Θεῷ. Μὴ γάρ μοι τὸ ψυχρὸν ῥῆμα ἐκεῖνο λεγέτω τις, ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἐνταῦθα ὁ δεῖνα ἔχει, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ· ἀμήχανον τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῶν πλουτούντων καὶ τρυφώντων καὶ ἁμαρτανόντων συμβῆναι· ἀλλ', εἰ χρὴ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ τῶν θλιβομένων ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, τῶν ἐν στενοχωρίᾳ, ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἐνταῦθα ἔχουσι, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἔχουσιν, ἀμοιβῆς ἀπολαύοντες· τὰ δὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔχουσι, ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἐκείνων συντρεφόμενοι, καὶ οὐ λαμβάνοντες αἴσθησιν τῶν παρόντων δεινῶν τῇ προσδοκίᾳ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν. Ἀλλ' ἀκούσωμεν καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς. Ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις χάσμα μέγα ἐστήρικται, φησὶν, ἀνὰ μέσον ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν. Καλῶς ἄρα εἶπεν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, ὅτι Ἀδελφὸς οὐ λυτροῦται· οὐ δώσει τῷ Θεῷ ἐξίλασμα ἑαυτοῦ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ δυνατὸν, κἂν ἀδελφὸς, κἂν πατὴρ ᾖ, κἂν υἱός. Ὅρα γάρ· τέκνον ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν πλούσιον, καὶ τὰ πατρὸς ἐπιδείξασθαι οὐκ ἴσχυσε· πατέρα προσεῖπε τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πλούσιος, καὶ ἧς εἰκὸς ἀπολαῦσαι τέκνον πατρικῆς εὐνοίας, οὐκ ἠδυνήθη, ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι οὔτε συγγένεια, οὔτε φιλία, οὔτε προσπάθεια, οὔτε ἄλλο τι τῶν ὄντων ὀνῆσαι δύναται τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς οἰκείας ζωῆς προδεδομένον. ιʹ. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω, ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ πολλάκις, ἡμῶν παραινούντων προσέχειν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ νήφειν, ῥᾳθυμοῦσι καὶ εἰς γέλωτα τὴν παραίνεσιν ἐκβάλλουσι, λέγοντες· Σύ μου προστήσῃ, φησὶ, κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν· καὶ θαῤῥῶ, καὶ οὐ δέδοικα. Πάλιν ἄλλος, Πατέρα μάρτυρα ἔχω, φησὶ, καὶ ἕτερος, Πάππον ἐπίσκοπον· ἄλλοι πάλιν τοὺς τῆς οἰκίας πάντας τῆς ἑαυτῶν προβάλλονται. Ἀλλὰ πάντα ψυχρὰ ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἡ ἑτέρων ἀρετὴ ὠφελῆσαι τότε δυνήσεται. Ἀναμνήσθητι τῶν παρθένων ἐκείνων, αἳ ταῖς 48.1006 πέντε παρθένοις οὐ μετέδωκαν τοῦ ἐλαίου· ἀλλ' αἱ μὲν εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὸν νυμφῶνα, αἱ δὲ ἀπεκλείσθησαν. Μέγα ἀγαθὸν ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις κατορθώμασι τὰς ἐλπίδας τῆς σωτηρίας ἔχειν· φίλος δὲ ἐκεῖ οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε προΐσταται. Εἰ γὰρ ἐνταῦθά φησι τῷ Ἱερεμίᾳ, Μὴ ἀξίου περὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, ἔνθα κύριοι τοῦ μεταβαλέσθαι· πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐκεῖ. Τί λέγεις; Πατέρα μάρτυρα ἔχεις; Αὐτὸ μὲν οὖν σε τοῦτο μάλιστα καταδικάσαι δυνήσεται πλέον, ὅταν οἴκοθεν ἔχων τὰ παραδείγματα τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀνάξιον σεαυτὸν τῆς προγονικῆς