139

Paul says: But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother; and, You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And the comeliness of beauty is his glorious theophany; this also the phrase, The God will come manifestly, indicates. Therefore, during his first coming, being judged by men, he was silent; nor, though suffering so many things, did he defend himself, nor did he show his own divinity to all; But then, he says, he will come manifestly, and will not keep silent. But the preceding fire purifies his kingdom, consuming all combustible matter, so that neither wood, nor grass, nor stubble might appear before his face. And he will convict or accept, saying to some: Come, you blessed of my Father, and to others, Depart from me. A fire will be kindled before him; I came to cast fire upon the earth. But here he calls fire the teaching of God the Word; because fire burns away wicked habits, but tests the pure. For on this account, round about him a mighty tempest; for all who desire to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted; but also, he says, you will have tribulation in the world. He will call the heaven above, and the earth to judge his people. Gather to him his saints, who have made his Covenant by sacrifices. Otherwise, it shows the peculiar judgment of the former people, calling upon the heaven and the earth; since, when delivering the law through Moses, he said: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day; and again in the great song: Give ear, O heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Therefore Isaiah also says, Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, the Lord has spoken: I have begotten and raised up sons, but they have rejected me. And now, therefore, he will call upon the same witnesses; and just as the Savior in the Gospels separates his flock, that is, those of the Church, placing the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left; in the same way the same Lord also now separates his people. The Hebrew and the others say, Gather to me; for as it is said in the Gospels: And he will send his angels, and they will gather all the nations; so also now he commands the same. And he wishes his holy ones to be separated first, before the ungodly, as they are owed to receive the things promised. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? But the food of God about which he said: I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; by whom being fed I will say: As you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me. It is possible to sacrifice rationally both through theology and thanksgiving; and when one, having promised what is fitting to God, would fulfill it by deeds 23.437. For Scripture calls vows promises, as in the text: If you make a vow, do not delay to pay it. It is better not to vow, than to vow and not to pay. So therefore, having sown in righteousness, hope to reap the fruit of life. But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my Covenant in your mouth? The discourse has a transition from the order of the righteous to the order of the wicked. For that one had something more, the knowledge of the new Covenant. But he calls a sinner not one who is a stranger to the Scriptures, but the transgressor. And he convicts him not for the transgression of sabbaths or sacrifices, or of such foods, but of the natural laws, according to which the teachings of God were foolishness to him; for sinning, he cast these things away. For the natural law is not to do what we do not wish to suffer. And adulterers are also the godless idolaters; and thieves are also those who steal the truth. At one time, therefore, "You speak boldly," he says, "in wickedness," and at another time, "You plotted deceitfully, pretending to speak genuinely and as to brothers, secretly speaking against them;" and you lay in wait also for those from the same mother as you, that is, the synagogue, or also the church; for which things I was silent when I became man; or also otherwise; For the worse

139

Παῦλος φησίν· Ἡ δὲ ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν, ἥτις ἐστὶ μήτηρ ἡμῶν· καὶ, Προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει Θεοῦ ζῶντος, Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ. Εὐπρέπεια δὲ ὡραιότητος ἡ ἔνδοξος αὐτοῦ θεοφάνεια· ταύτην καὶ τὸ, Ὁ Θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, δηλοῖ. Κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν πρώτην αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων κρινόμενος ἐσιώπα· οὐδὲ τοσαῦτα πάσχων ἠμύνατο, οὐδὲ πᾶσιν ἐδείκνυ τὴν ἰδίαν θεότητα· Τότε δὲ, φησὶν, ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται. Προλαμβάνον δὲ τὸ πῦρ τὴν αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν καθαίρει, πᾶσαν ὕλην καυστὴν ἀναλίσκον, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ξύλα, μὴ χόρτον, μὴ καλάμην πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ φαίνεσθαι. Ἐλέγξει δὲ ἢ ἀποδέξεται, τοῖς μὲν λέγων· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, τοῖς δὲ, Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. Πῦρ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται· πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Πῦρ δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου λέγει· ὅτι περ πῦρ καίει μὲν τὰς μοχθηρὰς ἕξεις, δοκιμάζει δὲ τοὺς καθαρούς. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο, κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ καταιγὶς σφόδρα· ὅσοι γὰρ θέλουσι εὐσεβῶς ζῇν ἐν Χριστῷ, διωχθήσονται· ἀλλὰ καὶ θλίψιν, φησὶν, ἕξετε ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. Προσκαλέσεται τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω, καὶ τὴν γῆν διακρῖναι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. Συναγάγετε αὐτῷ τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ, τοὺς διατιθεμένους τὴν ∆ιαθήκην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ θυσίαις. Ἄλλως, τοῦ προτέρου λαοῦ τὴν κρίσιν ἰδιάζουσαν δείκνυσι, τὸν οὐρανὸν προσκαλούμενος καὶ τὴν γῆν· ἐπειδὴ τὸν νόμον διὰ Μωϋσέως παραδιδοὺς ἔλεγε· Μαρτύρομαι ὑμῖν σήμερον τόν τε οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ πάλιν ἐν μεγάλῃ ᾠδῇ· Πρόσεχε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ λαλήσω· καὶ ἀκουέτω γῆ ῥήματα ἐκ στόματός μου. ∆ιὸ καὶ Ἡσαΐας, Ἄκουε, φησὶν, οὐρανὲ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, ἡ γῆ, ὁ Κύριος ἐλάλησεν· Υἱοὺς ἐγέννησα καὶ ὕψωσα, αὐτοὶ δέ με ἠθέτησαν. Καὶ νῦν τοίνυν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπικαλέσεται μάρτυρας· καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ διακρίνει, δηλαδὴ τοὺς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὰ πρόβατα μὲν ἱστῶν ἐκ δεξιῶν, τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὁ αὐτὸς Κύριος καὶ νῦν διακρίνει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. Τὸ Ἑβραϊκὸν καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ, Συναγάγετέ μοι, φασίν· ὡς γὰρ ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις εἴρηται· Καὶ ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλους αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνάξουσι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη· οὕτω καὶ νῦν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιτάττει. Πρώτους δὲ βούλεται ἀφορισθῆναι πρὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν τοὺς ὁσίους αὐτοῦ, τυχεῖν τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ὀφείλοντας. Μὴ φάγομαι κρέα ταύρων, ἢ αἷμα τράγων πίομαι; Τροφὴ δὲ Θεοῦ περὶ ἧς εἶπεν· Ἐπείνασα, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· ὑφ' ὧν τρεφόμενος λέξω· Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Ἔστι δὲ θῦσαι λογικῶς καὶ διὰ θεολογίας καὶ εὐχαριστίας· καὶ ἐπεὶ δ' ἄν τις τῷ Θεῷ πρέπον ὑποσχόμενος ἔργοις 23.437 ἐπιτελέσειεν. Εὐχὰς γὰρ ἡ Γραφὴ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας φησὶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ· Ἐὰν εὔξῃ εὐχὴν, μὴ βραδύνῃς ἀποδοῦναι. Ἀγαθὸν τὸ μὴ εὔξασθαι, ἢ τὸ εὔξασθαι καὶ μὴ ἀποδοῦναι. Οὕτως οὖν σπείρας εἰς δικαιοσύνην, ἔλπιζε τρυγήσειν καρπὸν ζωῆς. Τῷ δὲ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ἵνα τί σὺ διηγῇ τὰ δικαιώματά μου, καὶ ἀντιλαμβάνεις τὴν ∆ιαθήκην μου διὰ τοῦ στόματός σου; Μετάβασιν ὁ λόγος ἔχει ἀπὸ τοῦ τῶν δικαίων τάγματος ἐπὶ τὸ τάγμα τῶν πονηρῶν. Ἐκεῖνο γάρ τι πλέον ἔσχε, τῆς καινῆς ∆ιαθήκης τὴν ἐπιστήμην. Ἁμαρτωλὸν δὲ οὐ τὸν ἀλλότριον τῶν Γραφῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν παραβάτην καλεῖ. Ἐλέγχει δὲ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐπὶ παραβάσει σαββάτων ἢ θυσιῶν, ἢ τοιῶνδε βρωμάτων, ἀλλὰ τῶν φυσικῶν νόμων, ἐφ' οἷς ἀνόητα ἦν αὐτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ μαθήματα· ταῦτα γὰρ ἁμαρτάνων ἀπέῤῥιπτε. Φυσικὸς γὰρ ὁ νόμος τὸ μὴ δεῖν ποιεῖν, ἃ δὴ παθεῖν οὐ βουλόμεθα. Μοιχοὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄθεοι εἰδωλολάτραι· κλέπται δὲ καὶ οἱ κλέπτοντες τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ποτὲ μὲν οὖν, Ἐπαῤῥησιάζου, φησὶ, τῇ κακίᾳ, ποτὲ δὲ, ∆ολίως ἐπεβούλευες, προσεποιοῦ δὲ γνησίως καὶ ὡς ἀδελφοῖς ὁμιλεῖν, λάθρα τούτων καταλαλῶν· ἐνήδρευες δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς σοι μητρὸς, ἤτοι συναγωγῆς, ἢ καὶ ἐκκλησίας· ἐφ' οἷς ἐμοῦ σιωπῶντος ἡνίκα ἐνηνθρώπησα· ἢ καὶ ἄλλως· Ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον