John Chrysostom, On Matthew

Will God, the ineffable love for mankind, the so great goodness, overlook uncrowned his own servants, Peter and Paul and James and John, who for his sake went hungry each day, were bound, were scourged, were drowned, were given over to wild beasts, were dying, 57.216 who suffered so many things that it is not even possible to count? And while the judge of the contest proclaims and crowns the Olympic victor, and the master his servant, and the king his soldier, and each one simply rewards with what good things he can the one who served him; will God alone, after so much sweat and toil, give them no good, neither small nor great, but will those just and pious men, who pursued all virtue, lie in the same place as adulterers, and patricides, and murderers, and tomb-robbers? And how could this make sense? For if there is nothing after the departure from here, but our affairs extend only to the present, then they are in the same state as these; or rather, not even in the same state. For even if after this they are in the same state, according to your argument, yet here these have been at ease, while those have been in torment the whole time. And what tyrant, what cruel and harsh man ever decided thus concerning his own servants and subjects? Do you see the excess of this absurdity, and where this argument ends? Therefore, even if you are not willing from any other source, being taught by these reasonings, be rid of this wicked suspicion, and flee from evil, and embrace the toils for virtue's sake; and then you will know clearly, that our affairs do not stop with the present life. And if someone asks you, "Who has come from there and reported the things there?" say to him: "No one among men; for he would often have been disbelieved, as boasting and exaggerating the matter; but the Lord of the angels has reported all those things with accuracy." Why then do we need a man, when he who is to demand an account from us cries out every day, that he has prepared both Gehenna and a kingdom, and has given us clear proofs of these things? For if he were not going to judge, he would not have exacted punishment here either. For how could this itself make sense, that of the wicked, some are punished, and others are not punished? For if God is not a respecter of persons, as indeed he is not, why did he exact punishment from one, but let another go away unpunished? For this is again more perplexing than the former. But if you are willing to listen to what is said with a good disposition, we will resolve this difficulty as well. What then is the solution? He neither exacts punishment from all here, lest you should despair of the resurrection and lose hope in the judgment, as if all give an account here; nor does he let all go unpunished, lest you should again think that all things are without providence; but he both punishes, and does not punish; through those whom he punishes, he shows that there he will also demand an account from those not punished here; and through those whom he does not punish, he prepares you to believe that there is some fearful tribunal after the departure from here. But if he were completely neglectful of the former, he would not have punished some here, nor would he have done good. But now you see him for your sake stretching out the heaven, and kindling the sun, and founding the earth, and pouring out the sea, and spreading out the air, and appointing courses for the moon, and setting immovable laws for the seasons of the year, and all other things by his nod completing their own course with accuracy. 57.217 For both our nature, and that of irrational creatures—of those that creep, that walk, that fly, that swim, of those in lakes, in springs, in rivers, in mountains, in glens, in houses, in the air, in plains—and plants, and seeds, and trees, both wild and cultivated, both fruitful and unfruitful, and simply all things moved by that untiring hand, manage our life, providing for us their service from themselves not only for need, but also for bounty. Seeing, then, such good order, although we have not mentioned even the smallest part, do you dare to say,

Θεὸς, ἡ ἄφατος φιλανθρωπία, ἡ τοσαύτη χρηστότης, τοὺς οἰκέτας τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ τοὺς περὶ Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην, τοὺς καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν δι' αὐτὸν λιμώξαντας, δεσμευθέντας, μαστιχθέντας, καταποντισθέντας, θηρίοις παραδοθέντας, ἀποθνήσκον 57.216 τας, τοσαῦτα παθόντας ἃ μηδὲ ἀριθμῆσαι ἔνι, ἀστεφανώτους περιόψεται; Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀγωνοθέτης τὸν Ὀλυμπιονίκην ἀνακηρύττει καὶ στεφανοῖ, καὶ ὁ δεσπότης τὸν οἰκέτην, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν στρατιώτην, καὶ ἕκαστος ἁπλῶς τὸν θεραπεύσαντα αὐτὸν, οἷς δύναται ἀμείβεται καλοῖς· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς μόνος, μετὰ τοὺς τοσούτους ἱδρῶτας καὶ πόνους, οὐ μικρὸν, οὐ μέγα αὐτοῖς ἀγαθὸν ἀποδίδωσιν, ἀλλ' οἱ δίκαιοι καὶ εὐσεβεῖς ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἐπελθόντες, ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς κείσονται τοῖς μοιχοῖς, καὶ πατραλοίαις, καὶ ἀνδροφόνοις, καὶ τυμβωρύχοις; Καὶ ποῦ ταῦτα ἂν ἔχοι λόγον; Εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθέν ἐστιν ἀποδημίαν, ἀλλὰ μέχρι τῶν παρόντων τὰ ἡμέτερα, ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνοι τούτοις· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς, κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον, ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα ἐν ἀνέσει μὲν οὗτοι, ἐν κολάσει δὲ ἐκεῖνοι τὸν πάντα γεγόνασι χρόνον. Καὶ ποῖος τοῦτο τύραννος, τίς ὠμὸς ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀπηνὴς οὕτω περὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ ποτε ἐβουλεύσατο θεραπόντων καὶ ὑπηκόων; Εἶδες τῆς ἀτοπίας τὴν ὑπερβολὴν, καὶ ποῦ τελευτᾷ ὁ λόγος οὗτος; Οὐκοῦν εἰ καὶ μηδαμόθεν ἄλλοθεν βούλει, ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν λογισμῶν παιδευθεὶς, ἀπαλλάγηθι τῆς πονηρᾶς ταύτης ὑπονοίας, καὶ φεῦγε κακίαν, καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς ἀντέχου πόνων· καὶ τότε εἴσῃ σαφῶς, ὅτι οὐ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὰ ἡμέτερα ἕστηκε. Κἄν τις ἔρηταί σε, Τίς ἐλθὼν ἐκεῖθεν ἀπήγγειλε τὰ ἐκεῖ; εἰπὲ πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἀνθρώπων μὲν οὐδὲ εἷς· ἦ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἠπιστήθη πολλάκις, ἅτε κομπάζων καὶ ἐπαίρων τὸ πρᾶγμα· ὁ δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων ∆εσπότης πάντα μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἐκεῖνα ἀπήγγειλε. Τί τοίνυν ἡμῖν δεῖ ἀνθρώπου, τοῦ μέλλοντος ἡμᾶς εὐθύνας ἀπαιτεῖν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν βοῶντος, ὅτι καὶ γέενναν ἡτοίμασε, καὶ βασιλείαν παρεσκεύασε, καὶ τούτων ἡμῖν ἀποδείξεις παρασχομένου σαφεῖς; Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔμελλε κρίνειν, οὐδ' ἂν ἐνταῦθα δίκην ἀπῄτησε. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πῶς ἂν ἔχοι λόγον, τὸ τῶν πονηρῶν τοὺς μὲν κολάζεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ μὴ κολάζεσθαι; Εἰ γὰρ μὴ προσωπολήπτης ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδέ ἐστι, τί δήποτε τὸν μὲν ἀπῄτησε δίκην, τὸν δὲ ἀφῆκεν ἀτιμώρητον ἀπελθεῖν; Τοῦτο γὰρ τοῦ προτέρου πάλιν ἐστὶν ἀπορώτερον. Ἀλλ' εἰ βούλεσθε μετ' εὐγνωμοσύνης ἀκούειν τῶν λεγομένων, καὶ ταύτην διαλύσομεν τὴν ἀπορίαν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ λύσις; Οὔτε πάντας ἐνταῦθα ἀπαιτεῖ δίκην, ἵνα μὴ ἀπογνῷς τὴν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ ἀπελπίσῃς τὴν κρίσιν, ὡς πάντων ἐνταῦθα διδόντων λόγον· οὔτε πάντας ἀφίησιν ἀτιμωρητὶ ἀπελθεῖν, ἵνα μὴ πάλιν ἀπρονόητα εἶναι τὰ πάντα νομίσῃς· ἀλλὰ καὶ κολάζει, καὶ οὐ κολάζει· δι' ὧν μὲν κολάζει, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ ἐκεῖ τοὺς οὐ κολασθέντας ἐνταῦθα ἀπαιτήσει λόγον· δι' ὧν δὲ οὐ κολάζει, παρασκευάζων σε πιστεύειν, ὅτι ἔστι τι μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀποδημίαν κριτήριον φοβερόν. Εἰ δὲ καθόλου τῶν προτέρων ἠμέλει, οὐδ' ἂν ἐκόλασέ τινας ἐνταῦθα, οὐδ' ἂν εὐηργέτησε. Νῦν δὲ ὁρᾷς αὐτὸν διὰ σὲ καὶ οὐρανὸν τείνοντα, καὶ ἥλιον ἀνάπτοντα, καὶ γῆν θεμελιοῦντα, καὶ θάλατταν χέοντα, καὶ ἀέρα ἁπλοῦντα, καὶ σελήνῃ τάττοντα δρόμους, καὶ ταῖς ὥραις τοῦ ἔτους ἀκινήτους τιθέντα νόμους, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ ἅπαντα τῷ νεύματι τῷ ἐκείνου τὸν ἑαυτῶν μετὰ ἀκριβείας 57.217 ἀνύοντα δρόμον. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ φύσις ἡ ἡμετέρα, καὶ ἡ τῶν ἀλόγων, τῶν ἑρπόντων, τῶν βαδιζόντων, τῶν πετομένων, τῶν νηχομένων, τῶν ἐν λίμναις, τῶν ἐν πηγαῖς, τῶν ἐν ποταμοῖς, τῶν ἐν ὄρεσι, τῶν ἐν νάπαις, τῶν ἐν οἰκίαις, τῶν ἐν ἀέρι, τῶν ἐν πεδίοις, καὶ φυτὰ, καὶ σπέρματα, καὶ δένδρα, τά τε ἄγρια, τά τε ἥμερα, τά τε ἔγκαρπα καὶ ἄκαρπα, καὶ πάντα ἁπλῶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀκαμάτου κινούμενα χειρὸς ἐκείνης, τὴν ἡμετέραν οἰκονομεῖ ζωὴν, οὐ πρὸς χρείαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς φιλοτιμίαν τὴν διακονίαν ἡμῖν ἐξ αὐτῶν παρεχόμενα. Τοσαύτην τοίνυν ὁρῶν εὐταξίαν, καίτοιγε οὐδὲ τὸ πολλοστὸν εἴπομεν μέρος, τολμᾷς εἰπεῖν,