263

saying; We find no evil in this man. 3. See: the tribune also hears that the Pharisees acquitted him of the charges, and he voted in his favor, and with greater boldness he snatches him away. And the very things spoken by Paul were full of wisdom. But on the following night the Lord stood by him and said: Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified of the things concerning me in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness also at Rome. See how great the consolation is: first He praises him, then He does not even permit him to fear the uncertainty of the journey to Rome; as if He said: Not only will you go there, but you will also use such great boldness. From this it was shown not only that he would be saved, but also that he would bear witness for great crowns in the great city. But why did He not appear to him before he fell into danger? Because God always comforts in tribulations (for then He appears more longed for), and He trains us in dangers. Besides, at that time he was at ease, having been released from his bonds; but now terrible things were about to befall him. That we have bound ourselves by an oath, he says, neither to eat nor to drink. Alas, what madness! They irrationally subject themselves to the curse. That he may bring him down, he says, to you, as though you would judge more accurately the things concerning him. What are you saying? Did he not speak to you a second time? 60.342 Did he not say he was a Pharisee? what then is superfluous, Thus they feared nothing, not courts, not laws; thus nothing was too bold for them. And they propose the opinion, and they promise the deed. But when the son of Paul's sister heard of the ambush. This was then of God's providence, that they did not realize that he would hear. What then of Paul? He was not troubled, but understood that this is the work of God; and casting everything upon Him, he had salvation from the work. And observe how God arranged all things for good. The young man told of the plot, he was believed, and so Paul is thus saved. And if he was acquitted, he says, of the charge, why did they send the accusers? So that the examination might be more accurate; so that the man might be more fully cleared. Such are the providences of God: by the things by which we are harmed, by these we are benefited. Thus also Joseph was plotted against by his mistress; and she seemed to plot against him, but by plotting she placed him in safety; for the prison was much gentler than the house, where that beast was kept. For while there, even if he was in service, he was in continuous fear, lest his mistress might attack him, and the fear that lay upon him was worse than a prison; but after the accusation he was then in security and quiet, having been freed from that beast and the indecency and the plot; for it was better for him to be with afflicted men than with a raging mistress. Here therefore he comforted himself, that he had fallen into it because of his chastity; but there he was afraid, lest he might receive the wound in his soul; for nothing is more burdensome to a young man who is unwilling than a woman in love, nothing more accursed, nothing heavier; this is worse than all bonds. So that he did not fall into prison, but was freed from a prison; he made his master hostile to him, but he reconciled God, he made him more intimate with the truly true Master; he threw him out of the oversight in the house, but made him a friend to the Master; Again his brothers sold him, but they freed him from dwelling with enemies, from much envy and malice, from daily plotting, they set him far from those who hated him. For what is worse than this, when one is forced to live with envious brothers, when he is under suspicion, when he is plotted against? So that they and she did one thing, but great and other things were being managed on behalf of the just man. When he was in honor, then he was in danger; when he was in dishonor, then he was in safety; the eunuchs did not remember him; and rightly so, that the occasion of his release might become more splendid; that the whole might be reckoned not to human favor, but to divine providence; that having come into need at the right time he might bring him out; that Pharaoh might release him from the prison not as a benefactor, but as one being benefited. It was not necessary

263

λέγοντες· Οὐδὲν κακὸν εὑρίσκομεν ἐν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τούτῳ. γʹ. Ὅρα· ἀκούει καὶ ὁ χιλίαρχος, ὅτι αὐτὸν ἀπήλλαξαν ἐγκλημάτων οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, καὶ ἐψηφίσατο ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ πλείονος παῤῥησίας ἁρπάζει αὐτόν. Καὶ αὐτὰ δὲ εἰρημένα Παύλῳ φιλοσοφίας ἔγεμε. Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτὶ ἐπιστὰς αὐτῷ ὁ Κύριος εἶπε· Θάρσει, Παῦλε· ὡς γὰρ διεμαρτύρω τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, οὕτω σε δεῖ καὶ εἰς Ῥώμην μαρτυρῆσαι. Ὅρα πόση ἡ παράκλησις· πρῶτον αὐτὸν ἐπαινεῖ, εἶτα οὐκ ἀφίησιν οὐδὲ τὸ ἄδηλον τῆς ἀποδημίας φοβηθῆναι τῆς ἐπὶ Ῥώμην· ὡς εἰ ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἀπελεύσῃ μόνον κακεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοσαύτῃ χρήσῃ παῤῥησίᾳ. Ἐντεῦθεν οὐχ ὅτι σωθήσεται ἐδηλοῦτο, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ μεγάλοις μαρτυρήσει στεφάνοις ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ πόλει. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ οὐ πρὶν ἢ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς τὸν κίνδυνον, ἐφάνη αὐτῷ; Ὅτι ἀεὶ ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι παρακαλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς (τότε γὰρ ποθεινότερος φαίνεται), καὶ ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις ἐγγυμνάζει ἡμᾶς. Ἄλλως δὲ τότε μὲν ἐν ἀνέσει ἦν, ἀφεθεὶς τῶν δεσμῶν· νῦν δὲ ἔμελλεν αὐτὸν διαδέχεσθαι δεινά. Ὅτι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν ἑαυτοὺς, φησὶ, μὴ φαγεῖν μηδὲ πιεῖν. Βαβαὶ, πόση μανία! ἑαυτοὺς τῷ ἀναθέματι ὑποβάλλουσιν ἀλογίστως. Ὅπως καταγάγῃ αὐτὸν, φησὶ, πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὡς μέλλοντας ἀκριβέστερον διαγινώσκειν τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ. Τί λέγεις; οὐχὶ δεύτερον πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐδημηγόρησεν; 60.342 οὐχὶ Φαρισαῖον ἑαυτὸν εἶπε; τί οὖν τὸ περιττὸν, Οὕτως οὐδὲν ἐφοβοῦντο, οὐ δικαστήρια, οὐ νόμους· οὕτως οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἀτόλμητον ἦν. Καὶ τὴν γνώμην εἰσηγοῦνται, καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἐπαγγέλλονται. Ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀδελφῆς Παύλου τὸ ἔνεδρον. Τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίας ἦν λοιπὸν, τὸ μὴ συνιδεῖν αὐτοὺς ὅτι ἀκούσεται. Τί οὖν ὁ Παῦλος; Οὐκ ἐθορυβήθη, ἀλλὰ συνεῖδεν, ὅτι Θεοῦ ἐστιν ἔργον τοῦτο· καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἐπ' αὐτὸν ῥίψας, εἶχεν ἐξ ἔργου τὴν σωτηρίαν. Καὶ σκόπει πῶς εἰς ἀγαθὸν πάντα ὁ Θεὸς ᾠκονόμησεν. Εἶπεν ὁ νεανίας τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν, ἐπιστεύθη, καὶ οὕτω λοιπὸν διασώζεται Παῦλος. Καὶ εἰ ἀφέθη, φησὶ, τῆς αἰτίας, διὰ τί τοὺς κατηγόρους ἔπεμψαν; Ὥστε ἀκριβεστέραν γενέσθαι τὴν ἐξέτασιν· ὥστε μᾶλλον καθαρθῆναι τὸν ἄνδρα. Τοιαῦται αἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίαι· δι' ὧν βλαπτόμεθα, διὰ τούτων ὠφελούμεθα. Οὕτω καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ἐπεβουλεύετο ὑπὸ τῆς δεσποίνης· καὶ ἐδόκει μὲν ἐπιβουλεύειν, ἐπιβουλεύουσα δὲ ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ κατέστησεν αὐτόν· τῆς γὰρ οἰκίας, ἔνθα τὸ θηρίον ἐκεῖνο ἐτρέφετο, πολλῷ τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἡμερώτερον ἦν. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ὢν, εἰ καὶ ἐν θεραπείᾳ ἦν, ἀλλ' ἐν φόβῳ διηνεκεῖ, μή ποτε ἐπίθηται ἡ δέσποινα, καὶ δεσμωτηρίου χαλεπώτερον ὁ φόβος αὐτῷ ἐπέκειτο· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐν ἀδείᾳ λοιπὸν καὶ ἡσυχίᾳ ἦν, ἀπαλλαγεὶς ἐκείνου τοῦ θηρίου καὶ τῆς ἀσχημοσύνης καὶ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς· βέλτιον γὰρ αὐτῷ ἦν τεταλαιπωρημένοις ἀνθρώποις συνεῖναι, ἢ μαινομένῃ δεσποίνῃ. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν παρεμυθεῖτο ἑαυτὸν, ὅτι διὰ σωφροσύνην ἐνέπεσεν· ἐκεῖ δὲ ἐδεδοίκει, μὴ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν λάβῃ τὴν πληγήν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐπαχθέστερον ἐρωμένης νέῳ μὴ βουλομένῳ, οὐδὲν ἐναγέστερον, οὐδὲν βαρύτερον· πάντων δεσμῶν τοῦτο χαλεπώτερον. Ὥστε οὐκ εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἐνέπεσεν, ἀλλὰ δεσμωτηρίου ἀπηλλάγη· ἐξεπολέμωσεν αὐτῷ τὸν δεσπότην, ἀλλὰ κατήλλαξε τὸν Θεὸν, οἰκειότερον αὐτὸν κατέστησε τῷ ὄντως ∆εσπότῃ τῷ ἀληθινῷ· ἐξέβαλε τῆς ἐπιστασίας τῆς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, ἀλλ' ᾠκείωσε τῷ ∆εσπότῃ· Πάλιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐπώλησαν, ἀλλ' ἀπήλλαξαν αὐτὸν συνοικούντων ἐχθρῶν, φθόνου καὶ βασκανίας πολλῆς, ἐπιβουλῆς καθημερινῆς, μακρὰν κατέστησαν αὐτὸν τῶν μισούντων. Τί γὰρ τούτου χεῖρον, ὅταν τις ἀδελφοῖς φθονοῦσι συνοικεῖν ἀναγκάζηται, ὅταν δι' ὑποψίας ᾖ, ὅταν ἐπιβουλεύηται; Ὥστε ἕτερα μὲν ἐποίουν καὶ οὗτοι κἀκείνη, ἕτερα δὲ ᾠκονομεῖτο ὑπὲρ τοῦ δικαίου μεγάλα. Ὅτε ἦν ἐν τιμῇ, τότε ἦν ἐν κινδύνῳ· ὅτε ἦν ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, τότε ἦν ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ· οὐκ ἐμνημόνευον αὐτοῦ οἱ εὐνοῦχοι· καὶ καλῶς, ἵνα λαμπροτέρα γένηται τῆς ἐξόδου ἡ ὑπόθεσις· ἵνα μὴ χάριτι ἀνθρωπίνῃ, ἀλλ' οἰκονομίᾳ θείᾳ τὸ πᾶν λογίζηται· ἵνα εὐκαίρως εἰς χρείαν καταστὰς ἐξαγάγῃ· ἵνα μὴ εὐεργετῶν, ἀλλ' εὐεργετούμενος αὐτὸν ἐκβάλῃ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου ὁ Φαραώ. Οὐκ ἔδει