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He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For he did not say simply that we imitate God, but that in those things wherein we ourselves are well-treated, he wishes us to have the compassion of fathers toward one another; for philanthropy and mercies are called by this name, compassion. For since it is not possible for human beings neither to grieve nor be grieved, he found a second remedy, so that we should forgive one another; Forgiving, he says, one another. And yet it is in no way equal; for if you forgive, that person will forgive you in turn, but to God you have forgiven nothing. And you forgive your fellow-servant, but God forgives his servant and his enemy and the one who hates him. As God also, he says, in Christ has forgiven us. This too contains a great mystery; what he says is this: He did not forgive simply and without risk, he says, but with the risk of his Son. For in order to forgive you, he sacrificed his Son; but you, often seeing that forgiveness is without risk and without cost, do not do it. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma. So that you may not think the 62.117 matter to be one of compulsion, hear how he did not say it simply, but that He gave Himself up; as if he were saying: The Master loved you when you were an enemy, you love your friend; or rather, you will not even be able to do so, but at least do as you are able. Oh! What could be more blessed than this saying? Even if you should speak of a kingdom, or of anything whatever, nothing is equal. You imitate God, you are made like God, when you forgive that person. One ought to forgive sins rather than money. For if you forgive money, you have not imitated God; but if you forgive sins, you imitate God. But how can you say, “I am poor, and cannot forgive,” when even what you are able to forgive, you do not forgive, and in this you consider it a loss, and not rather wealth, not abundance, not prosperity? Therefore be imitators of God. Behold also another, nobler exhortation. As beloved children, he says. You have also another necessity for imitating Him, not only in having been well-treated, but also in having become children. As beloved children. For since not all sons imitate their fathers, but the beloved ones do, for this reason he says: As beloved children. Walk in love. Behold the foundation of all things; therefore, when this is present, there is no anger, no wrath, no clamor, no slander, but all are taken away. For this reason he places the main point later. How did you become a child? Because you were forgiven. From the foundation, from which you were deemed worthy of so great an honor, from that same one also forgive your neighbor. Tell me now, if someone brought you, being a prisoner and liable for ten thousand evils, to the royal palace; or rather, let us leave this aside; if someone helped you with some medicine while you were feverish and at the point of death, would you not have esteemed him above all, and the very name of the medicine? For if we hold the times and places through which we are helped as dear as our own souls, how much more the things themselves. Be a lover of love; for through it you were saved, through it you became a son; and if you are able to save another, will you not use the same medicine, and exhort all with, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven”? This belongs to grateful souls, to exhort in this way, and to free and noble ones. As Christ also loved us, he says. You spare your friends, He His enemies; therefore what is done by the Master is much greater. For how is the “As” preserved? Is it not clear that it is if we do good to our enemies? And He gave Himself up as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma. Do you see that to suffer for one’s enemies is a fragrant aroma and an acceptable sacrifice? Even if you should die, then you will be a sacrifice; this is to imitate God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. He spoke about the bitter passion of anger; he came to the lesser evil. For that desire is a lesser evil, listen to what Moses says in the law, first, You shall not murder, which is of anger, and then, You shall not commit adultery, which is of desire. For just as bitterness and clamor and all malice and slander, and all such things, are of the passionate nature; 62.118

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βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς, ὅτι τὸν Θεὸν μιμούμεθα, εἶπεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐν οἷς αὐτοὶ εὖ πάσχομεν, πατέρων σπλάγχνα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡμᾶς ἔχειν βούλεται· σπλάγχνα γὰρ ταῦτα λέγεται ἡ φιλανθρωπία καὶ οἱ οἰκτιρμοί. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἔνι ἀνθρώπους ὄντας μήτε λυπεῖν μήτε λυπεῖσθαι, δεύτερον εὗρε φάρμακον, ὥστε ἀλλήλοις χαρίζεσθαι· Χαριζόμενοι, φησὶν, ἑαυτοῖς. Καίτοι οὐδὲν ἴσον· σὺ μὲν γὰρ ἂν χαρίσῃ, πάλιν σοι χαριεῖται ἐκεῖνος, Θεῷ δὲ οὐδὲν ἐχαρίσω. Καὶ σὺ μὲν τῷ ὁμοδούλῳ, ὁ δὲ Θεὸς τῷ δούλῳ καὶ τῷ ἐχθρῷ καὶ τῷ μισοῦντι αὐτόν. Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, φησὶν, ἐν Χριστῷ ἐχαρίσατο ἡμῖν. Μέγα καὶ τοῦτο ἔχει αἴνιγμα· ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀκινδύνως ἐχαρίσατο, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ κινδύνου τοῦ Υἱοῦ. Ἵνα γάρ σοι συγγνῷ, τὸν Υἱὸν ἔθυσε· σὺ δὲ πολλάκις καὶ ἀκίνδυνον καὶ ἀδάπανον ὁρῶν τὴν συγχώρησιν, οὐ ποιῇ. Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ, καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας. Ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς ἀνάγκης εἶναι τὸ 62.117 πρᾶγμα, ἄκουσον πῶς οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ὅτι Ἑαυτὸν παρέδωκεν, εἶπεν· ὡσεὶ ἔλεγεν· Ἐχθρὸν ὄντα σε ὁ ∆εσπότης ἠγάπησεν, ἀγάπησον σὺ τὸν φίλον· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ οὕτω δυνήσῃ, πλὴν ἀλλ' ὡς δύνασαι. Βαβαί! τί ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς μακαριώτερον γένοιτ' ἄν; Κἂν βασιλείαν εἴπῃς, κἂν ὁτιοῦν, οὐδὲν ἴσον. Τὸν Θεὸν μιμῇ, τῷ Θεῷ ἐξομοιοῦσαι, ὅταν συγχωρήσῃς ἐκείνῳ. Μᾶλλον ἁμαρτήματα δεῖ συγχωρεῖν, ἢ χρήματα. Χρήματα μὲν γὰρ ἐὰν συγχωρήσῃς, οὐκ ἐμιμήσω τὸν Θεόν· ἁμαρτήματα δὲ ἐὰν συγχωρήσῃς, τὸν Θεὸν μιμῇ. Πλὴν πῶς δυνήσῃ λέγειν, Πένης εἰμὶ, καὶ οὐ δύναμαι συγχωρῆσαι, ὅταν καὶ ἃ δύνασαι συγχωρῆσαι, μὴ συγχωρήσῃς, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ζημίαν ἡγῇ, οὐχὶ πλοῦτον μᾶλλον, οὐχὶ περιουσίαν, οὐχὶ εὐπορίαν; Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἰδοὺ καὶ ἄλλη παράκλησις εὐγενεστέρα. Ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ, φησίν. Ἔχετε καὶ ἄλλην ἀνάγκην τοῦ μιμεῖσθαι αὐτὸν, οὐ τῷ παθεῖν εὖ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τέκνα γενέσθαι. Ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητά. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐ πάντες υἱοὶ τοὺς πατέρας μιμοῦνται, ἀλλ' οἱ ἀγαπητοὶ, διὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητά. Περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ. Ἰδοὺ πάντων ἡ ὑπόθεσις· οὐκοῦν ταύτης οὔσης, οὐ θυμὸς, οὐκ ὀργὴ, οὐ κραυγὴ, οὐ βλασφημία, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀνῄρηται. ∆ιὸ ὕστερον τὸ κεφάλαιον τίθησι. Πόθεν ἐγένου τέκνον; Ἐπειδὴ συνεχωρήθη σοι. Ἀπὸ τῆς ὑποθέσεως, ἀφ' ἧς τοσαύτης ἠξιώθης τιμῆς, ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς καὶ τῷ πλησίον συγχώρησον. Εἰπὲ δή μοι, εἴ τίς σε δεσμώτην ὄντα, καὶ μυρίων ὑπεύθυνον κακῶν, ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια· μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦτο ἀφῶμεν· εἴ τίς σε πυρέττοντα καὶ ψυχοῤῥαγοῦντα ὠφέλησε φαρμάκῳ τινὶ, ἆρα οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν πάντων προὐτίμησας, καὶ αὐτὸ τοὔνομα τοῦ φαρμάκου; Εἰ γὰρ καιροὺς καὶ τόπους, δι' ὧν ὠφελούμεθα, οὕτως ἔχομεν ὡς τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα. Ἐραστὴς ἔσο τῆς ἀγάπης· δι' αὐτῆς γὰρ ἐσώθης, δι' αὐτῆς υἱὸς γέγονας· κἂν ἕτερον δυνηθῇς σῶσαι, οὐχὶ τῷ αὐτῷ χρήσῃ φαρμάκῳ, καὶ παραινέσεις πᾶσι τὸ, Ἄφετε, ἵνα ἀφεθῇ ὑμῖν; Εὐγνωμόνων ψυχῶν τοῦτο, τὸ οὕτω προτρέπεσθαι, καὶ ἐλευθέρων καὶ εὐγενῶν. Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, φησί. Σὺ τῶν φίλων φείδῃ, ἐκεῖνος τῶν ἐχθρῶν· οὐκοῦν πολλῷ μεῖζον τὸ παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου γινόμενον. Τὸ γὰρ, Καθὼς, πῶς σώζεται; Ἦ δῆλον ὅτι, ἐὰν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς εὖ ποιῶμεν. Καὶ παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας. Ὁρᾷς τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐχθρῶν παθεῖν, ὅτι ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας ἐστὶ, καὶ θυσία εὐπρόσδεκτος; Κἂν ἀποθάνῃς, τότε ἔσῃ θυσία· τοῦτο μιμήσασθαί ἐστι τὸν Θεόν. Πορνεία δὲ καὶ πᾶσα ἀκαθαρσία, ἢ πλεονεξία, μηδὲ ὀνομαζέσθω ἐν ὑμῖν, καθὼς πρέπει ἁγίοις. Εἶπε περὶ τοῦ πικροῦ πάθους τοῦ θυμοῦ· ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἧττον κακόν. Ὅτι γὰρ ἧττον κακὸν ἡ ἐπιθυμία, ἄκουε καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ Μωϋσέως λέγοντος πρῶτον, Οὐ φονεύσεις, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ, καὶ τότε, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἡ πικρία καὶ ἡ κραυγὴ καὶ πᾶσα κακία καὶ βλασφημία, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, τοῦ θυμώδους ἐστίν· 62.118