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his wisdom is shown, through Christ it came to be, and without him not one thing has come to be, it is clear that the things of wisdom are also equal. For what reason then has he said, Only? For the sake of contrast with all of creation. Having therefore given the doxology, he proceeds again from the prayer to exhortation, turning his discourse to the stronger, and speaking thus: We then that are strong ought. We ought, we are not doing a favor. What do we owe? To bear the infirmities of the weak. 2. Did you see how he lifted them up with praises, not only by calling them strong, but also by ranking them with himself? And not only in this way, but also by what is useful he again draws them, and without being burdensome; for you are strong, he says, and in stooping down you are not harmed at all; but for that one, the danger is about ultimate things, if he is not supported. And he did not say, The weak, but, The infirmities of the weak, drawing them to pity and calling them; as he also says elsewhere, You who are spiritual, restore such a one. Have you become strong? Repay to God the recompense for having made you so; and you will repay by correcting the weakness of the sick. For we also were weak, but by grace we have become strong. But this one must do not only here, but also in the case of those who are otherwise weak; for example, if one is quick-tempered, if insolent, if he has any other such fault, bear with him. But how this might be, hear what follows. For having said, We ought to bear, he added, And not to please ourselves. Let each of you please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. What he says is this: Are you strong? Let the weak have proof of your strength; let that one learn of your might, please that one. And he did not simply say, Please, but, For his good; and not simply for his good, so that the perfect one might not say, For behold I draw him to what is good, but he added, To build him up. So that whether you are rich, or are in power, please not yourself, but the poor and the needy; for thus you will both enjoy true glory and work much benefit. For the glory of worldly things immediately flies away; 60.646 but that of spiritual things remains, if you do this for edification. Therefore he requires this of all; for not so-and-so and so-and-so, but Each one of you. Then, since he commanded a great thing, and ordered him to abate from his own perfection in order to correct the weakness of another, he again brings Christ into the midst, saying: For even Christ pleased not himself; which he also always does. For when he was speaking about almsgiving, he brought him forward, saying: You know the grace of the Lord, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor; and when he was exhorting to love, he exhorted from thence, saying: As Christ also loved us; and when he was counseling about bearing shame and dangers, he took refuge in him, saying: Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. So also here he shows that he himself did this, and that the prophet from of old proclaimed it; wherefore he also added, As it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached you fell on me. And what is, He pleased not himself? It was in his power not to be reproached, it was in his power not to suffer the things which he suffered, if indeed he had willed to look to his own things; but yet he did not will it, but looking to our things, he disregarded his own. And for what reason did he not say, He emptied himself? Because he wished to show not only this, that he became man, but that he was also insulted, and received a bad reputation among many, being thought to be weak. For if you are the Son, he says, of God, come down from the cross; and, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Therefore he mentioned a matter useful to him for the present subject, and shows much more than what he promised. For he shows not only that Christ was reproached, but also the Father; For the reproaches of them that reproached you fell, he says, on me. And what he says is of this sort: Nothing new has happened, nothing strange. For those in the Old Testament who practiced reproaching him, these also raged against the Son. But these things were written, that we might imitate them. Here he also anoints them for endurance of temptations

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σοφία αὐτοῦ δείκνυται, διὰ Χριστοῦ γέγονε, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἓν γέγονεν, εὔδηλον ὅτι καὶ τὰ τῆς σοφίας ἴσα. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν Μόνῳ εἴρηκε; Πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῆς κτίσεως ἁπάσης. Ἀποδοὺς τοίνυν τὴν δοξολογίαν, πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχῆς ἐπὶ παραίνεσιν χωρεῖ, πρὸς τοὺς ἰσχυροτέρους τρέπων τὸν λόγον, καὶ λέγων οὕτως· Ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοί. Ὀφείλομεν, οὐ χαριζόμεθα. Τί ὀφείλομεν; Τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν. βʹ. Εἶδες πῶς ἐπῆρεν αὐτοὺς τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις, οὐχὶ τῷ δυνατοὺς μόνον εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ τάξαι ἐκείνους; Οὐ ταύτῃ δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ χρησίμῳ πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἐπισπᾶται, καὶ ἀνεπαχθῶς· σὺ μὲν γὰρ δυνατὸς εἶ, φησὶ, καὶ καταβαίνων οὐδὲν βλάπτῃ· ἐκείνῳ δὲ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ὁ κίνδυνος, ἂν μὴ διαβαστάζηται. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς, ἀλλὰ, Τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων, εἰς ἔλεον αὐτῶν ἐπισπώμενος καὶ ἐπικαλῶν· ὡς καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν, Ὑμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοὶ καταρτίζετε τὸν τοιοῦτον. ∆υνατὸς γέγονας; Ἀπόδος τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ἀμοιβὴν τῷ ποιήσαντί σε τοιοῦτον· ἀποδώσεις δὲ, τὴν ἀσθένειαν τοῦ ἀῤῥώστου διορθούμενος. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς ἦμεν, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς χάριτος ἐγενόμεθα δυνατοί. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἐνταῦθα δεῖ μόνον ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλως ἀσθενούντων· οἷον ἂν ἀκρόχολός τις ᾖ, ἂν ὑβριστὴς, ἂν ἄλλο τι ἔχων τοιοῦτον ἐλάττωμα, διαβάσταζε. Πῶς δὲ τοῦτο γένοιτ' ἂν, ἄκουσον τῶν ἑξῆς. Εἰπὼν γὰρ, Ὀφείλομεν βαστάζειν, ἐπήγαγε, Καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν. Ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ πλησίον ἀρεσκέτω εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν, πρὸς οἰκοδομήν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστι· ∆υνατὸς εἶ; Λαμβανέτω σου πεῖραν τῆς δυνάμεως ὁ ἀσθενής· ἐκεῖνος μανθανέτω σου τὴν ἰσχὺν, ἐκείνῳ ἄρεσον. Καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, Ἄρεσον, ἀλλ', Εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν· καὶ οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἵνα μὴ λέγῃ ὁ τέλειος, Ἰδοὺ γὰρ εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἕλκω, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκε, Πρὸς οἰκοδομήν. Ὥστε κἂν πλουτῇς, κἂν ἐν δυναστείᾳ ᾖς, μὴ σαυτῷ, ἀλλὰ τῷ πένητι καὶ τῷ δεομένῳ ἄρεσκε· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ δόξης ἀπολαύσῃ τῆς ἀληθοῦς, καὶ ὠφέλειαν ἐργάσῃ πολλήν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν βιωτικῶν δόξα εὐθέως ἀφίπταται· 60.646 ἡ δὲ τῶν πνευματικῶν μένει, ἂν πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦτο ποιῇς. ∆ιὸ παρὰ πάντων τοῦτο ἀπαιτεῖ· οὐ γὰρ ὁ δεῖνα καὶ ὁ δεῖνα, ἀλλ' Ἕκαστος ὑμῶν. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ μέγα ἐπέταξε, καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἐκέλευσε καθυφεῖναι τελειότητος εἰς τὸ διορθῶσαι τὴν ἑτέρου ἀσθένειαν, πάλιν τὸν Χριστὸν εἰσάγει μέσον λέγων· Καὶ γὰρ Χριστὸς οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ἤρεσεν· ὅπερ καὶ ἀεὶ ποιεῖ. Καὶ γὰρ ὅτε περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης ἔλεγεν, αὐτὸν παρήγαγε, λέγων· Γινώσκετε τὴν χάριν τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅτι δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὤν· καὶ ὅτε εἰς ἀγάπην προὔτρεπεν, ἐκεῖθεν προὔτρεψεν, εἰπών· Καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς· καὶ ὅτε περὶ τοῦ φέρειν αἰσχύνην καὶ κινδύνους συνεβούλευεν, ἐπ' αὐτὸν κατέφυγε, λέγων· Ὃς ἀντὶ τῆς προκειμένης αὐτῷ χαρᾶς ὑπέμεινε σταυρὸν, αἰσχύνης καταφρονήσας. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα δείκνυσι καὶ αὐτὸν τοῦτο ποιήσαντα, καὶ τὸν προφήτην ἄνωθεν προαναφωνήσαντα· διὸ καὶ ἐπήγαγε, Καθὼς γέγραπται, Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσον ἐπ' ἐμέ. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ἤρεσεν; Ἐξῆν αὐτῷ μὴ ὀνειδισθῆναι, ἐξῆν μὴ παθεῖν ἅπερ ἔπαθεν, εἴ γε ἤθελε τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκοπεῖν· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἡμέτερον σκοπήσας, τὸ ἑαυτοῦ παρεῖδε. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν; Ὅτι οὐ τοῦτο ἐβούλετο δεῖξαι μόνον, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ὑβρίσθη, καὶ πονηρὰν παρὰ πολλοῖς ἔλαβε δόξαν, ἀσθενὴς εἶναι νομισθείς. Εἰ γὰρ Υἱὸς εἶ, φησὶ, τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ· καὶ, Ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι. ∆ιὸ πράγματος ἐμνημόνευσε χρησιμεύοντος αὐτῷ εἰς τὴν παροῦσαν ὑπόθεσιν, καὶ δείκνυσι πολλῷ πλέον οὗ ἐπηγγείλατο. Οὐ γὰρ τὸν Χριστὸν δείκνυσιν ὀνειδισθέντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Πατέρα· Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ γὰρ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντων σε ἐπέπεσον, φησὶν, ἐπ' ἐμέ. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Οὐδὲν συνέβη καινὸν, οὐδὲν ξένον. Οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Παλαιᾶς ὀνειδίζειν αὐτῷ μελετήσαντες, οὗτοι καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Παιδὸς ἐμάνησαν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἐγράφη, ἵνα μιμώμεθα. Ἐνταῦθα αὐτοὺς καὶ εἰς πειρασμῶν ὑπομονὴν ἀλείφει