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sentence, as the Ninevites; and if I promise something good, do not become remiss because of the promise. For if you appear unworthy, my promise will not benefit you at all, but rather will even punish you; for I make my promise to one who is worthy. For this reason also, when speaking then to his disciples, he did not promise simply; for he did not say, You, only, but he added, who have followed me, in order both to cast out Judas, and to draw to himself those who came after. For it was said neither to them alone, nor to Judas who had now become unworthy. To the disciples, then, he promised the things to come, saying; You shall sit on twelve thrones; for they were now more exalted, and sought none of the things present; but to the others he also promises the things here. For everyone, he says, who has left brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, or a house, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold in this age, and will inherit eternal life. For so that no one hearing, "you," might think this was a special privilege of the disciples (I mean, to enjoy the greatest and first places in the things to come), he extended the saying, and spread the promise over the whole earth, and from the things present he gives assurance of the things to come. And to the disciples also, in the beginning, when they were less perfect, he spoke from things present. For when he drew them from the sea, and made them leave their craft, and commanded them to leave the boat, he made no mention of heavens or of thrones, but of things here, saying; I will make you fishers of men; but when he had made them more exalted, then at last he also speaks about the things there. 2. And what is, Judging the twelve tribes of Israel? That is, condemning. For they are not going to sit as judges; but just as he said the queen of the south will condemn that generation, and the men of Nineveh will condemn them; so also will these. For this reason he did not say, The nations and the world, but, The tribes of Israel. For since both the Jews and the apostles were brought up in the same laws and customs and polity, when the Jews say, For this reason we were not able to believe in Christ, because the law forbade us to receive his commandments, by bringing these men into their midst, who received the same law and believed, he will condemn all those others; which he also said before, For this reason they will be your judges. And what great thing has he promised them, you say, 58.611 if what the men of Nineveh and the queen of the south have, this these shall have also? First, he has promised them many other things before, and promises more after this; and this is not the only reward. And besides, even in this he hinted at something more than those others. For concerning them he said simply: The men of Nineveh will rise up, and will condemn this generation; and, The queen of the south will condemn; but concerning these, not so simply; but how? When the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, then you also shall sit on twelve thrones, he says; showing that they will also reign with him and will share in that glory. For if we endure, he says, we shall also reign with him. For the thrones do not mean a seat; for he alone is the one who sits and judges; but by the thrones he indicated honor and glory unspeakable. To these, then, he said these things; but to all the rest, eternal life, and a hundredfold here. But if to the rest, much more also to these, both these things and those in this present age. And this indeed came to pass. For having left a reed and a net, they had with authority the possessions of all, the prices of the houses and of the lands, and the very bodies of the believers. For many often chose to be slain for them, as Paul also testifies to many, when he says: If possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. But when he says, that everyone who has left a wife, he does not say this, that marriages should be simply dissolved; but what he said about the soul, that He who loses his soul for my sake, shall find it; not that we should kill ourselves; nor that we should from this time separate
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ἀπόφασιν, ὡς Νινευῖται· κἂν ὑπόσχωμαί τι χρηστὸν, μὴ ἀναπέσῃς διὰ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν. Ἂν γὰρ ἀνάξιος φανῇς, οὐδέν σε ὠφελήσει τὸ ὑποσχέσθαι με, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ τιμωρήσεται· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἀξίῳ ὄντι ὑπισχνοῦμαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τότε διαλεγόμενος τοῖς μαθηταῖς, οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐπηγγείλατο· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ὑμεῖς, μόνον, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν, οἱ ἀκολουθήσαντές μοι, ἵνα καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ἐκβάλῃ, καὶ τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐφελκύσηται. Οὔτε γὰρ πρὸς ἐκείνους εἴρηται μόνους, οὔτε πρὸς Ἰούδαν λοιπὸν ἀνάξιον γεγενημένον. Τοῖς μὲν οὖν μαθηταῖς τὰ μέλλοντα ἐπηγγείλατο, λέγων· Καθίσεσθε ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνους· ἦσαν γὰρ ὑψηλότεροι λοιπὸν, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν παρόντων ἐζήτουν· τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις καὶ τὰ ἐνταῦθα ὑπισχνεῖται. Καὶ πᾶς γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅστις ἀφῆκεν ἀδελφοὺς, ἢ ἀδελφὰς, ἢ πατέρα, ἢ μητέρα, ἢ γυναῖκα, ἢ τέκνα, ἢ ἀγροὺς, ἢ οἰκίαν, ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός μου, ἑκατονταπλασίονα λήψεται ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσει. Ἵνα γὰρ μή τινες ἀκούσαντες τὸ, ὑμεῖς, ἐξαίρετον τῶν μαθητῶν τοῦτο εἶναι νομίσωσι (λέγω δὴ τὸ τῶν μεγίστων καὶ πρωτείων ἐν τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἀπολαύειν), ἐξέτεινε τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἥπλωσε τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν παρόντων καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα πιστοῦται. Καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς δὲ ἐν προοιμίοις, ὅτε ἀτελέστερον διέκειντο, ἀπὸ τῶν παρόντων διελέγετο. Ὅτε γὰρ εἵλκυσεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ τῆς τέχνης ἀπέστησε, καὶ ἀφεῖναι τὸ πλοῖον ἐκέλευσεν, οὐκ οὐρανῶν, οὐ θρόνων ἐμνημόνευσεν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐνταῦθα πραγμάτων, εἰπών· Ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὑψηλοτέρους εἰργάσατο, τότε λοιπὸν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ διαλέγεται. βʹ. Τί δέ ἐστι, Κρίνοντες τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; Τουτέστι, κατακρίνοντες. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ δικασταὶ μέλλουσι καθεδεῖσθαι· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τὴν βασίλισσαν τοῦ νότου κατακρινεῖν τὴν γενεὰν ἐκείνην ἔφησε, καὶ οἱ Νινευῖται δὲ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτούς· οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπε, Τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἀλλὰ, Τὰς φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἦσαν τεθραμμένοι καὶ νόμοις καὶ ἔθεσι καὶ πολιτείᾳ οἵ τε Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, ὅταν λέγωσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν πιστεῦσαι τῷ Χριστῷ, ὅτι ὁ νόμος ἐκώλυσε τὰ παραγγέλματα αὐτοῦ δέχεσθαι, τούτους εἰς μέσον παραγαγὼν, τοὺς τὸν αὐτὸν δεξαμένους νόμον καὶ πιστεύσαντας, κατακρινεῖ πάντας ἐκείνους· ὅπερ καὶ ἤδη ἔλεγε, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο κριταὶ ὑμῶν αὐτοὶ ἔσονται. Καὶ τί μέγα αὐτοῖς ἐπηγγείλατο, φησὶν, 58.611 εἰ ὅπερ ἔχουσιν οἱ Νινευῖται καὶ ἡ βασίλισσα τοῦ νότου, τοῦτο καὶ οὗτοι ἕξουσι; Μάλιστα μὲν καὶ ἄλλα ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῖς πολλὰ ἐπηγγείλατο, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὑπισχνεῖται· καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ ἔπαθλον. Ἄλλως δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ παρῃνίξατό τι πλέον ἐκείνων. Περὶ μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνων ἁπλῶς εἶπεν· Ἄνδρες Νινευῖται ἀναστήσονται, καὶ κατακρινοῦσι τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην· καὶ, Βασίλισσα νότου κατακρινεῖ· περὶ δὲ τούτων, οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὕτως· ἀλλὰ πῶς; Ὅταν καθίσῃ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ, τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς καθίσεσθε ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνους, φησί· δηλῶν, ὅτι καὶ συμβασιλεύσουσι καὶ κοινωνήσουσι τῆς δόξης ἐκείνης. Εἰ γὰρ ὑπομένομεν, φησὶ, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ καθέδραν οἱ θρόνοι δηλοῦσι· μόνος γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ καθεδούμενος καὶ κρίνων· ἀλλὰ τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν ἄφατον παρεδήλωσε διὰ τῶν θρόνων. Τούτοις μὲν οὖν ταῦτα εἶπε· τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς πᾶσι ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ ἑκατονταπλασίονα ἐντεῦθεν. Εἰ δὲ τοῖς λοιποῖς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον καὶ τούτοις, καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ. Καὶ τοῦτο γοῦν ἐξέβη. Κάλαμον γὰρ καὶ δίκτυον ἀφέντες, τὰς πάντων οὐσίας μετ' ἐξουσίας εἶχον, τὰς τιμὰς τῶν οἰκιῶν καὶ τῶν χωρίων, καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ σώματα τῶν πιστευόντων. Καὶ σφαγῆναι γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν πολλάκις εἵλοντο, ὡς καὶ Παῦλος πολλοῖς μαρτυρεῖ, ὅταν λέγῃ· Εἰ δυνατὸν, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν ἐξορύξαντες ἂν ἐδώκατέ μοι. Ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ, ὅτι πᾶς ὅστις ἀφῆκε γυναῖκα, οὐ τοῦτό φησιν, ὥστε ἁπλῶς διασπᾶσθαι τοὺς γάμους· ἀλλ' ὃ περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, εὑρήσει αὐτήν· οὐχ ἵνα ἀναιρῶμεν ἑαυτούς· οὐδ' ἵνα ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη χωρίζωμεν