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of grace; and the Prophet, declaring this, said: Fair in beauty beyond the sons of men. But if Isaiah says, He had no form nor beauty, he either says this with respect to the secret and ineffable glory of His divinity; or describing the things that happened in His passion, and the dishonor which He endured at the time of the cross, and the humility which He showed in all things throughout His entire life. But He did not command them to depart to the other side, until He had healed. For they would not even have endured it. Just as, therefore, on the mountain they not only stayed with Him while He was speaking, but also followed when there was silence; so also here they were not only sitting by Him while He worked miracles, but also again when He had ceased, receiving great benefit from His countenance. For if Moses had a glorified face, and Stephen's was like an angel's, consider how the common Master likely appeared then. Perhaps many have now fallen into a desire to see that image; but if we are willing, we shall see one far better than that. For if we go through the present life with confidence, we shall receive Him on the clouds, meeting Him in an immortal and incorruptible body. But see how He does not simply drive them away, lest He should strike them. For He did not say, “Depart,” but commanded them to go to the other side, giving them the expectation that He would certainly come there. And while the crowds showed so much love, and followed with great affection; a certain man, a slave to money and having great presumption, came up and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Do you see how great the arrogance was? For since he did not deign to be numbered with the crowd, but showing that he himself was above the many, he approached in this way. For such are the Jewish manners; they are full of ill-timed boldness. So also another after this, when all were silent, himself jumped up and said: Which is the first commandment? But nevertheless the Master did not rebuke the ill-timed boldness, teaching us to bear with such people as well. For this reason He does not openly rebuke those who devise evil things; but He responds to their thought, leaving it to them alone to know the rebuke, and helping them in a twofold way, both by showing that He knows the things in their conscience, and by granting them, after this demonstration, to remain unnoticed, and giving them the chance again, if they wished, to recover themselves; which indeed He also does in this man's case. For this man, seeing the many signs and many people being drawn to Him, expected to make money from such wonders; for which reason he was eager to follow. And how is this clear? From the reply which Christ makes, not answering the question of his words, but the intention of his mind. For what? He says; do you expect by following me to collect money? Do you then not see that I have no lodging, not even as much as the birds? For the foxes, He says, have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. And these things were not said by one turning him away, but by one refuting his evil intention, and allowing 57.347 him, if he wished, to follow with such an expectation. And so that you might learn his wickedness, having heard these things and been reproved, he did not say, “I am ready to follow.” 3. And in many other places Christ is seen doing this; He does not openly rebuke, but from His reply He makes clear the intention of those who approach. For to that one who said, “Good Teacher,” and expected to win Him over through flattery, He responded to his intention, saying: Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. And when they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are looking for You,” since they were feeling something human, not wishing to hear anything useful, but to show that they belonged to Him, and thus to be vainglorious, hear what He says: Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? And again to His brothers, when they said to Him, “Show Yourself to the world,” and wished to be vainglorious from this, He said: Your time, He says, is always ready, but My time has not yet come.

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χάριτος· καὶ τοῦτο ὁ Προφήτης δηλῶν ἔλεγεν· Ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Εἰ δὲ ὁ Ἡσαΐας λέγει, Οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἢ πρὸς τὴν τῆς θεότητος δόξαν τὴν ἀπόῤῥητον καὶ ἄφραστον τοῦτό φησιν· ἢ τὰ ἐν τῷ πάθει συμβάντα διηγούμενος, καὶ τὴν ἀτιμίαν ἢν ὑπέμεινεν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ τὴν εὐτέλειαν ἣν παρὰ πάντα τὸν βίον ἐπεδείξατο διὰ πάντων. Οὐ πρότερον δὲ ἐκέλευσεν ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸ πέραν, ἕως οὗ ἐθεράπευσεν. Ἦ γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲ ἠνέσχοντο. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐν τῷ ὄρει οὐχὶ δημηγοροῦντι παρέμενον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σιγῆς οὔσης ἠκολούθουν· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα οὐχὶ θαυματουργοῦντι προσήδρευον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παυσαμένῳ πάλιν, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου πολλὴν τὴν ὠφέλειαν δεχόμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ Μωϋσῆς δεδοξασμένον τὸ πρόσωπον εἶχε, καὶ Στέφανος ὡς ἀγγέλου, ἐννόησον τὸν κοινὸν ∆εσπότην οἷον εἰκὸς φαίνεσθαι τότε. Τάχα πολλοὶ νῦν εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐνέπεσον τοῦ τὴν εἰκόνα ἐκείνην ἰδεῖν· ἀλλ' ἂν ἐθέλωμεν, πολλῷ βελτίονα ὀψόμεθα ἐκείνης. Ἂν γὰρ μετὰ παῤῥησίας τὸν παρόντα διανύσωμεν βίον, ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν αὐτὸν δεξόμεθα, ἀπαντήσαντες ἐν ἀθανάτῳ καὶ ἀφθάρτῳ σώματι. Θέα δὲ πῶς αὐτοὺς οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐλαύνει, ἵνα μὴ πλήξῃ. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἀναχωρήσατε, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ πέραν ἐκέλευσεν ἀπελθεῖν, προσδοκίαν διδοὺς τοῦ πάντως ἥξειν ἐκεῖ. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὄχλοι τοσαύτην ἐπεδείξαντο τὴν ἀγάπην, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς ἠκολούθουν τῆς διαθέσεως· εἷς δέ τις χρημάτων δοῦλος, καὶ πολλὴν ἔχων τὴν ἀπόνοιαν, προσελθών φησι ∆ιδάσκαλε, ἀκολουθήσω σοι, ὅπου δ' ἂν ἀπέρχῃ. Εἶδες πόσος ὁ τύφος; Ἅτε γὰρ οὐκ ἀξιῶν μετὰ τοῦ ὄχλου ἀριθμεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' ἐνδεικνύμενος ὅτι ὑπὲρ τοὺς πολλούς ἐστιν αὐτὸς, οὕτω πρόσεισι. Τοιαῦτα γὰρ τὰ ἤθη τὰ Ἰουδαϊκά· ἀκαίρου παῤῥησίας ἐστὶν ἀνάπλεα. Οὕτω καὶ ἄλλος μετὰ ταῦτα πάντων σιγώντων αὐτὸς ἀναπηδήσας, φησί· Ποία ἐντολὴ πρώτη; Ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ἐπετίμησεν ὁ ∆εσπότης τῇ ἀκαίρῳ παῤῥησίᾳ, παιδεύων ἡμᾶς καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους φέρειν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐλέγχει φανερῶς τοὺς πονηρὰ βουλευομένους· πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν αὐτῶν ἀποκρίνεται, αὐτοῖς μόνοις καταλιμπάνων εἰδέναι τὸν ἔλεγχον, καὶ διπλῇ αὐτοὺς ὠφελῶν, τῷ τε δηλῶσαι ὅτι οἶδε τὰ ἐν τῷ συνειδότι, καὶ τῷ μετὰ τὴν ἐπίδειξιν ταύτην χαρίσασθαι τὸ λαθεῖν, καὶ δοῦναι πάλιν, εἰ βούλοιντο, ἑαυτοὺς ἀνακτήσασθαι· ὃ δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου ποιεῖ. Οὗτος γὰρ ἰδὼν τὰ πολλὰ σημεῖα, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐπισυρομένους, προσεδόκησε χρηματίζεσθαι ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων θαυμάτων· διόπερ καὶ ἀκολουθῆσαι ἔσπευδε. Καὶ πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Ἀπὸ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως, ἧς ὁ Χριστὸς ποιεῖται, οὐ πρὸς τὴν ἐρώτησιν τῶν ῥημάτων, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν γνώμην τῆς διανοίας ἀπαντῶν. Τί γάρ; φησί· χρήματα προσδοκᾷς ἀκολουθῶν ἐμοὶ συλλέγειν; εἶτα οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι οὔτε καταγώγιόν μοί ἐστιν, οὐδὲ τοσοῦτον ὅσον τοῖς ὄρνισιν; Αἱ γὰρ ἀλώπεκες, φησὶ, φωλεοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασκηνώσεις· ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἔχει ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλίνῃ. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἦν ἀποτρεπομένου, ἀλλ' ἐλέγχοντος μὲν τὴν πονηρὰν γνώμην, παρ 57.347 έχοντος δὲ, εἰ βούλοιτο, μετὰ τῆς τοιαύτης προσδοκίας ἀκολουθεῖν. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς αὐτοῦ τὴν πονηρίαν, ἀκούσας ταῦτα καὶ ἐλεγχθεὶς οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἕτοιμός εἰμι ἀκολουθῆσαι. γʹ. Καὶ πολλαχοῦ δὲ ἀλλαχοῦ τοῦτο φαίνεται ποιῶν ὁ Χριστός· φανερῶς μὲν οὐκ ἐλέγχει, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως δηλοῖ τὴν γνώμην τῶν προσιόντων. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκείνῳ τῷ λέγοντι, ∆ιδάσκαλε ἀγαθὲ, καὶ προσδοκήσαντι διὰ τῆς κολακείας αὐτὸν ἐπισπάσασθαι, πρὸς τὴν γνώμην ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ὅτε ἔλεγον αὐτῷ, Ἰδοὺ ἡ μήτηρ σου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ζητοῦσί σε, ἐπειδὴ ἀνθρώπινόν τι ἔπασχον, οὐκ ἀκοῦσαί τι τῶν χρησίμων βουλόμενοι, ἀλλ' ἐπιδείξασθαι ὅτι προσήκουσιν αὐτῷ, καὶ ταύτῃ κενοδοξῆσαι, ἄκουσον τί φησιν· Τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου, καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἀδελφοί μου; Καὶ αὐτοῖς πάλιν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Φανέρωσον σεαυτὸν τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ βουλομένοις ἐντεῦθεν κενοδοξεῖν, ἔλεγεν· Ὁ ὑμέτερος καιρὸς, φησὶν, ἀεὶ ἕτοιμος, ὁ δὲ ἐμὸς οὔπω πάρεστι.