John Chrysostom, On Lazarus

we will find a treasure. For indeed, even then our entire discourse hastened to teach the hearers this: not to consider the brilliant things of the present life to be anything, but to go further with their hopes, and to think each day of the verdicts there, and the fearful judgment seat, and the incorruptible judge. These things Paul also 48.1018 advises us today through the passages read. But pay attention: But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. This is first worthy of our attention and examination, why, when he speaks of Christ, he calls His death a death; but when he speaks of our end, he calls it sleep and not death. For he did not say, "Concerning those who have died," but what? "Concerning those who have fallen asleep." And again: "Even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus;" and he did not say, "Those who have died." And again: "We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep." And here too he did not say "those who have died," but mentioning it a third time, for the third time he called their death a sleep. But concerning Christ not so, but how? "For if we believe that Jesus died." And he did not say, "He fell asleep," but, "He died." For what reason, then, did he call the death of Christ a death, but ours a sleep? For not simply, nor incidentally does he use this distinction of words, but to establish something wise and great. For in the case of Christ, he called it death, to confirm the passion; but in our case, he called it sleep, to console the grief. For where the resurrection has already taken place, he boldly calls it death; but where the matter is in hope, he calls it sleep, both consoling us by this very name and suggesting good hopes. For he who sleeps will certainly rise again, and death is nothing other than a long sleep. For do not tell me this, that the deceased neither hears, nor speaks, nor sees, nor feels; for neither does the one who is sleeping. But if one must say something marvelous, in the case of the one sleeping, even the soul somehow sleeps; but in the case of the deceased it is not so, but it is awake. But the deceased decays and is corrupted, he says, and becomes dust and ashes. And what of this, beloved? For this very reason, indeed, we ought especially to rejoice. For when someone is about to rebuild a house that has become rotten and old, having first cast out the inhabitants, he then demolishes the house, and rebuilds it more splendidly. 48.1019 And those who were cast out are not grieved by what is happening, but it even cheers them more; for they do not pay attention to the demolition that is seen, but they imagine the future building that is not seen. So indeed also God, being about to act, dissolves our body, and first leads out the soul that dwells in it, as from a house, so that having rebuilt it more splendidly, He may bring it in again with greater glory. Let us not, therefore, pay attention to the demolition, but to the future splendor. 2. Again, if someone has a statue corrupted by rust and time, and with many of its parts broken off, he smashes it, casts it into a furnace, and having melted it down carefully, he thus restores it more splendidly. Just as, then, the shattering in the furnace is not a destruction, but a certain renewal of that statue; so also the death of our bodies is not a loss, but a renovation. Therefore, when you see our flesh, as in a furnace, decomposing and decaying, do not stop at this sight, but await the re-casting; and do not be content with the measure of this example, but go further in your reasoning. For the statue-maker, having cast in a bronze body, does not give you back a golden and immortal statue, but works it in bronze again; but God not so, but having cast in an earthen and mortal body, a golden and

θησαυρὸν εὑρήσομεν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τότε ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν ἅπας τοῦτο παιδεῦσαι τοὺς ἀκροατὰς ἔσπευδε, μηδὲν τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὰ λαμπρὰ νομίζειν εἶναι πράγματα, ἀλλὰ περαιτέρω προϊέναι ταῖς ἐλπίσι, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖ ψήφους καθ' ἑκάστην ἐννοεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ τὸ φοβερὸν κριτήριον, καὶ τὸν ἀπαραλόγιστον δικαστήν. Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ 48.1018 Παῦλος διὰ τῶν ἀνεγνωσμένων ἡμῖν συμβουλεύει τήμερον. Ἀλλὰ προσέχετε· Περὶ δὲ τῶν κεκοιμημένων οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοὶ, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. Εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανε καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ. Τοῦτο πρῶτον ἄξιον ἐπιστήσαντας ἐξετάσαι, τί δήποτε, ὅταν μὲν περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαλέγηται, θάνατον καλεῖ τὸν ἐκείνου θάνατον· ὅταν δὲ περὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας τελευτῆς, κοίμησιν αὐτὴν καὶ οὐ θάνατον ὀνομάζει. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε, Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀποθανόντων, ἀλλὰ τί; Περὶ δὲ τῶν κεκοιμημένων. Καὶ πάλιν· Οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ· καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Τοὺς ἀποθανόντας. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου, οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα εἶπε τοὺς ἀποθανόντας, ἀλλὰ τρίτον μνημονεύσας, τὸ τρίτον κοίμησιν τὸν θάνατον αὐτῶν ὠνόμασε. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πῶς; Εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανε. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐκοιμήθη, ἀλλὰ, Ἀπέθανε. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν τὸν μὲν τοῦ Χριστοῦ θάνατον ἐκάλεσε, τὸν δὲ ἡμέτερον κοίμησιν; Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς, οὐδὲ παρέργως ταύτῃ κέχρηται τῶν λέξεων τῇ παρατηρήσει, ἀλλὰ σοφόν τι καὶ μέγα κατασκευάζων. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θάνατον ἐκάλεσεν, ἵνα τὸ πάθος πιστώσηται· ἐπὶ δὲ ἡμῶν κοίμησιν ἐκάλεσεν, ἵνα τὴν ὀδύνην παραμυθήσηται. Ἔνθα μὲν γὰρ προεχώρησεν ἡ ἀνάστασις, θαῤῥῶν καλεῖ θάνατον· ἔνθα δὲ ἐν ἐλπίσιν ἐστὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα, κοίμησιν καλεῖ, καὶ δι' αὐτῆς παραμυθούμενος τῆς προσηγορίας ἡμᾶς, καὶ χρηστὰς ὑποτείνων ἐλπίδας. Ὁ γὰρ κοιμώμενος ἀναστήσεται πάντως, καὶ οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστι θάνατος, ἀλλ' ἢ ὕπνος μακρός. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς, ὅτι οὔτε ἀκούει, οὔτε φθέγγεται, οὔτε ὁρᾷ, οὔτε αἰσθάνεται ὁ τετελευτηκώς· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ καθεύδων. Εἰ δὲ χρή τι καὶ θαυμαστὸν εἰπεῖν, τοῦ μὲν καθεύδοντος καὶ ἡ ψυχή πως καθεύδει· τοῦ δὲ τελευτήσαντος οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἐγρήγορεν. Ἀλλ' ὁ τελευτήσας σήπεται καὶ διαφθείρεται, φησὶ, καὶ κόνις γίνεται καὶ τέφρα. Καὶ τί τοῦτο, ἀγαπητέ; δι' αὐτὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο μάλιστα χαίρειν δεῖ. Καὶ γὰρ οἰκίαν τις μέλλων οἰκοδομεῖν σαθρωθεῖσαν καὶ παλαιὰν γενομένην, ἐκβαλὼν πρῶτον τοὺς οἰκοῦντας, οὕτω καταλύει τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖ λαμπροτέραν. 48.1019 Καὶ τοὺς ἐκβληθέντας οὐ λυπεῖ τὸ γινόμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐφραίνει πλέον· οὐ γὰρ τῇ καθαιρέσει προσέχουσι τῇ βλεπομένῃ, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν οἰκοδομὴν φαντάζονται τὴν οὐ βλεπομένην. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ποιεῖν μέλλων καταλύει ἡμῶν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τὴν ἐνοικοῦσαν ἐν αὐτῷ ψυχὴν ἐξάγει πρότερον, καθάπερ ἐξ οἰκίας τινὸς, ἵνα λαμπροτέραν αὐτὴν οἰκοδομήσας, μετὰ πλείονος αὐτὴν δόξης εἰσαγάγῃ πάλιν. Μὴ τοίνυν τῇ καθαιρέσει προσέχωμεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ μελλούσῃ λαμπρότητι. βʹ. Πάλιν ἀνδριάντα τις ἔχων ἰῷ καὶ χρόνῳ διεφθαρμένον, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν μερῶν ἀποτεθλασμένον, συντρίψας αὐτὸν εἰς χωνευτήριον ἐμβάλλει, καὶ τήξας αὐτὸν ἀκριβῶς, οὕτω λαμπρότερον ἀποδίδωσιν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἡ ἐν τῷ χωνευτηρίῳ συντριβὴ οὐκ ἀφανισμὸς, ἀλλὰ ἀνακαινισμός τίς ἐστι τοῦ ἀνδριάντος ἐκείνου· οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων σωμάτων ὁ θάνατος οὐκ ἀπώλειά τίς ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ ἀνανέωσις. Ὅταν τοίνυν ἴδῃς, καθάπερ ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ, καταῤῥέουσαν ἡμῶν τὴν σάρκα καὶ σηπομένην, μὴ στῇς μέχρι τῆς ὄψεως ταύτης, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀναχώνευσιν ἀνάμενε· καὶ μηδὲ τῷ μέτρῳ τοῦ παραδείγματος ἀρκεσθῇς τούτῳ, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ πρότερον πρόελθε τῷ λόγῳ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀνδριαντοποιὸς χαλκοῦν ἐμβαλὼν σῶμα, οὐ χρυσοῦν καὶ ἀθάνατόν σοι ἀποδίδωσι τὸν ἀνδριάντα, ἀλλὰ χαλκοῦν ἐργάζεται πάλιν· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πήλινον καὶ θνητὸν ἐμβαλὼν σῶμα, χρυσοῦν καὶ