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of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

59.301 HOMILY 55. The Jews therefore answered and said to him: "Do not we well

say, that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?" Jesus answered: "I do not have a demon, but I honor the Father."

1. Wickedness is shameless and audacious, and when it ought to sink down, then it becomes more savage; which is what happened with the Jews. For when they should have been pierced by his words, admiring his boldness and the coherence of what he said; they even insult him, calling him a Samaritan and saying he has a demon, and they say: Did we not say well, that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon? For whenever he says something lofty, to the very dull-witted this seems to be madness. And yet the evangelist has nowhere said before that they called him a Samaritan; but it is likely from this statement that this had been said by them many times. 'You have a demon,' it says. And yet who is it that has a demon? The one who honors God, or the one who insults the one who honors him? What then says Christ, the meekness, the gentleness? "I do not have a demon, but I honor the Father who sent me." Where it was necessary to teach them and to pull down their great pride, and to instruct them not to be arrogant about Abraham, he was forceful; but where it was necessary for him to endure being insulted, he uses great meekness. For when they said, 'We have God as our Father and Abraham,' he rebuked them severely; but when they called him demon-possessed, he used gentler language, teaching us to avenge matters concerning God, but to overlook those concerning ourselves. "I do not seek my own glory." I said these things, he says, showing that it was not fitting for you to call God father, being murderers. So it was for the honor of Him that I uttered these things, and on His account I hear these things, and on his account you dishonor me. But I do not care about this insult; for to Him you owe an account for the things said, for whose sake I now hear these things. I 59.302 do not seek my own glory. For this reason, refraining from punishing you, I turn to exhortation, and I advise you to do those things by which you will not only escape punishment, but will also attain eternal life. Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. Here he speaks not only of faith, but also of a pure life. And above he said, 'He will have eternal life'; but here, he says, 'He will never see death'; and at the same time he also hints that they can do nothing to him. For if he who keeps his word will not die, much more so he himself. Therefore, being conscious of this themselves, they say: "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets died; that is, those who heard the word of God died; and will those who hear your word not die? Are you greater than our father Abraham?" O, the vainglory! Again they resort to his kinship. And yet it would have been consistent to say: Are you greater than God? Or are those who hear you, greater than Abraham? But they do not say this, since they considered him to be less even than Abraham. First, therefore, he showed them to be murderers, and by this he drew them away from the kinship; but as they persisted, he handles it differently again, showing that they are laboring in vain, and concerning death he said nothing to them, nor did he reveal, nor did he say, what kind of death he meant; but for the time being he persuades them that he is greater than Abraham, so that by this he might put them to shame. For indeed, he says, even if I were an ordinary man, I ought not to die, having done no wrong; but when I also speak the truth, and have no sin, and have been sent from God, and am greater than Abraham, how are you not mad and laboring in vain, attempting to kill me? What then do they say? "Now we know that you have a demon." But not so the Samaritan woman; for not

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Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

59.301 ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΝΕʹ. Ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ εἶπον αὐτῷ· «Οὐ καλῶς

λέγομεν ἡμεῖς, ὅτι Σαμαρείτης εἶ σὺ, καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις;» Ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς· «Ἐγὼ δαιμόνιον οὐκ ἔχω, ἀλλὰ τιμῶ τὸν Πατέρα.»

αʹ. Ἀναίσχυντον ἡ κακία καὶ ἰταμὸν, καὶ ὅταν καταδύεσθαι δέῃ, τότε μᾶλλον

ἀγριοῦται· ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων γέγονε. ∆έον γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ῥηθεῖσι κατανυγῆναι, θαυμάσαντας τὴν παῤῥησίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀκολουθίαν· οἱ δὲ καὶ ὑβρίζουσι, Σαμαρείτην καλοῦντες καὶ δαιμονῶντα λέγοντες, καί φασιν· Οὐχὶ καλῶς ἐλέγομεν, ὅτι Σαμαρείτης εἶ σὺ, καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις; Ὅταν γὰρ ὑψηλόν τι εἴπῃ, μανία τοῦτο δοκεῖ παρὰ τοῖς λίαν ἀναισθήτοις εἶναι. Καίτοι γε οὐδαμοῦ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς εἶπεν ἔμπροσθεν, ὅτι Σαμαρείτην ἐκάλεσαν· ἀλλ' εἰκὸς ἐκ τῆς ῥήσεως ταύτης πολλάκις παρ' αὐτῶν εἰρῆσθαι τοῦτο. ∆αιμόνιον ἔχεις, φησί. Καίτοι τίς ὁ δαιμόνιον ἔχων; ὁ τιμῶν τὸν Θεὸν, ἢ ὁ τὸν τιμῶντα ὑβρίζων; Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστὸς, ἡ πραότης, ἡ ἐπιείκεια; Ἐγὼ δαιμόνιον οὐκ ἔχω, ἀλλὰ τιμῶ τὸν Πατέρα τὸν πέμψαντά με. Ἔνθα μὲν διδάξαι αὐτοὺς ἐχρῆν καὶ τὸν πολὺν αὐτῶν κατασπάσαι τύφον, καὶ παιδεῦσαι μὴ μέγα φρονεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ, σφοδρὸς ἦν· ἔνθα δὲ ὑβριζόμενον αὐτὸν ἔδει ἐνεγκεῖν, πολλῇ πραότητι κέχρηται. Ὅτε μὲν γὰρ ἔλεγον, ὅτι Πατέρα τὸν Θεὸν ἔχομεν καὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, σφόδρα αὐτῶν καθήψατο· ὅτε δὲ αὐτὸν δαιμονῶντα ἐκάλουν, ὑφειμένως τῷ λόγῳ κέχρηται, παιδεύων ἡμᾶς, τὰ μὲν εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκδικεῖν, τὰ δὲ εἰς ἡμᾶς παρορᾷν. Ἐγὼ οὐ ζητῶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμήν. Ταῦτα εἶπον, φησὶ, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐ προσῆκεν ὑμῖν τὸν Θεὸν καλεῖν πατέρα, ἀνδροφόνοις οὖσιν. Ὥστε τῇ τιμῇ τῇ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ταῦτα ἐφθεγξάμην, καὶ δι' ἐκεῖνον ταῦτα ἀκούω, καὶ δι' αὐτὸν ἀτιμάζετέ με. Ἀλλ' οὐδέν μοι μέλει τῆς ὕβρεως ταύτης· ἐκείνῳ γὰρ εὐθύνας ὀφείλετε τῶν λεχθέντων, δι' ὃν ταῦτα ἀκούω νῦν. Ἐγὼ 59.302 οὐ ζητῶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἐμήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀφεὶς τὸ κολάζειν ὑμᾶς, ἐπὶ παραίνεσιν τρέπομαι, καὶ συμβουλεύω ταῦτα ποιεῖν, ἐξ ὧν οὐ μόνον τὴν κόλασιν διαφεύξεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἐπιτεύξεσθε. Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐάν τίς μου τὸν λόγον τηρήσῃ, οὐ μὴ θεωρήσει θάνατον εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὴν πίστιν μόνον φησὶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βίον τὸν καθαρόν. Καὶ ἄνω μὲν ἔλεγε, Ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἕξει· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, φησὶ, Θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσει· ἅμα δὲ καὶ αἰνίττεται, ὅτι οὐδὲν δύνανται αὐτῷ ποιῆσαι. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ τηρῶν οὐκ ἀποθανεῖται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον αὐτός. Τοῦτο γοῦν συνειδότες καὶ αὐτοὶ, λέγουσι· Νῦν ἐγνώκαμεν ὅτι δαιμόνιον ἔχεις. Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανε, καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον· τουτέστιν, οἱ τὸν λόγον ἀκούσαντες τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπέθανον· καὶ οἱ τὸν σὸν ἀκούσαντες οὐκ ἀποθανοῦνται; Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀβραάμ; Ὢ τῆς κενοδοξίας! πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν συγγένειαν αὐτοῦ καταφεύγουσι. Καίτοι ἀκόλουθον ἦν εἰπεῖν· Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ; ἢ οἱ ἀκούσαντές σου, τοῦ Ἀβραάμ; Ἀλλ' οὐ λέγουσι τοῦτο, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐλάττονα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐνόμιζον. Τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἔδειξεν ἀνδροφόνους, καὶ ταύτῃ αὐτοὺς ἀπήγαγε τῆς συγγενείας· ὡς δὲ ἐνέμειναν, ἑτέρως αὐτὸ μεθοδεύει πάλιν, δεικνὺς ὅτι ἀνόνητα πονοῦσι, καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ θανάτου οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς διελέχθη, οὐδὲ ἀπεκάλυψεν, οὐδὲ εἶπε, ποῖον λέγει θάνατον· τέως δὲ πείθει, ὅτι τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κρείττων ἐστὶν, ἵνα καὶ τούτῳ δυσωπήσῃ. Μάλιστα μὲν γὰρ εἰ καὶ ὁ τυχὼν, φησὶν, ἤμην, οὐκ ἔδει ἀποθανεῖν οὐδὲν ἀδικήσαντα· ὅταν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν λέγω, καὶ μηδεμίαν ἁμαρτίαν ἔχω, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεσταλμένος ὦ, καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ὦ κρείττων, πῶς οὐ μαίνεσθε καὶ ἀνόνητα πονεῖτε, ἐπιχειροῦντες ἀνελεῖν; Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι; Νῦν ἐγνώκαμεν ὅτι δαιμόνιον ἔχεις. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡ Σαμαρεῖτις οὕτως· οὐ γὰρ