John Chrysostom, On the Centurion

In centurionem

On the centurion.

61.769 A certain centurion's servant, being ill, was about to die; but he did not die because of the Master; he was about to perish; for he was human; but he did not perish because of the one who interceded, who happened to be God-loving. Nature demands its own debt; but the Master of nature yielded the possession to the created one through faith. Death and the necessity of nature were forcing him towards his end, but faith resisted, warring against death and paralyzing the laws of death. And do not disbelieve that faith can do so much as to break the bonds of death and to draw up souls from the very pits of the underworld.

Faith opens the gates of Hades, and puts bolts on the heavens, and changes the boundaries of nature, and lulls to sleep the power of fire and makes flame into dew, and blunts the sting of death. I do not speak without witness; I will convince you from the holy Scriptures. I said that faith opens the gates of Hades, and puts bolts on the heavens. Therefore accept the clear proofs; see for me the blessed Peter opening the gates of Hades by a word, and bringing Tabitha up from below. For he only said, "Tabitha, arise," and immediately the gates of Hades are opened, and the bars of Tartarus fall, and she who was dead obeys more swiftly than the living. Again Elijah the prophet, trusting in this faith, said: "There will be no rain except through my mouth;" and the heaven is forged like bronze, and the rain is withheld for three years and six months, and the earth, as if iron in its nature, denies its usual fruit, so that you may know what faith can do. A man on earth declares, and God in heaven confirms the decision; a mortal mouth speaks, and the will of God decrees, ratifying the words by deed. Elijah, he says, closed heaven for three years and six months. The bolt of heaven was the mouth of a mortal man, adorned with pious faith. The same Elijah again dared to face chariots of fire, and like a bird he flew to the ethereal dwellings, indeed to this day having not tasted death, not by the law of nature, but by the grace of the Only-Begotten, and kept steadfast by the power of faith. And what need is there to say much? Enoch was carried with his body from life to life, having overcome death and old age and nature through faith.

There are indeed many other things to say about faith, but I am cutting short my speech, so that I do not cause weariness. But I know that, although the divine oracles know how to produce not weariness but longing in your Christ-loving ears, nevertheless the discourse will return to the subject at hand. A certain centurion's servant, he says, being ill was about to die, who was dear to him; a servant dear to his master. For although the greed of this life devised the slave, yet the good sense of the master did not deny the kinship of nature. He did not despise him as a servant, but loved him as one of the same race, lightening the heavy yoke of slavery with kindness. Hear and learn, you masters of slaves, not to look down on your servants as foreign to your nature, nor indeed to be unsparing toward those of the same race as if they were enemies, obeying the blessed Paul who says: "Masters, grant your slaves fairness, giving up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven." God allowed there to be a slave, so that you might learn to be a slave to God. Do you demand goodwill from your servant? Be well-disposed yourself to your Master. Do you punish him when he sins? Therefore do not sin, so that you may not be punished by God. You who do not give pardon to one of the same race? Do not ask for pardon yourself.

In centurionem

Εἰς τὸν ἑκατόνταρχον.

61.769 Ἑκατοντάρχου τινὸς δοῦλος κακῶς ἔχων ἔμελλε τελευτᾷν· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐτελεύτησε διὰ τὸν ∆εσπότην· ἔμελλεν ἀποθανεῖν· ἄνθρωπος γὰρ ἦν· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπέθανε διὰ τὸν πρεσβεύοντα θεοφιλῆ τυγχάνοντα. Ἡ φύσις τὸ ἴδιον ἀπαιτεῖ χρέος· ἀλλ' ὁ ∆εσπότης τῆς φύσεως τὸ κτῆμα τῷ κτιστῷ διὰ πίστιν παρεχώρει. Θάνατος καὶ φύσεως ἀνάγκη πρὸς τελευτὴν ἐβιάζοντο, ἀλλὰ ἀνθεῖλκεν ἡ πίστις τῷ θανάτῳ πολεμοῦσα καὶ θανάτου παραλύουσα νόμους. Καὶ μὴ ἀπιστήσῃς, εἰ τοσαῦτα δύναται πίστις, ὥστε καὶ θανάτου δεσμὰ διαῤῥῆξαι, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν καταχθονίων βαράθρων ψυχὰς ἀνασπᾶσαι.

Πίστις καὶ ᾅδου πύλας ἀνοίγει, καὶ οὐρανοῖς ἐπιτίθει κλεῖθρα, καὶ φύσεως ὅρους ἀμείβει, καὶ πυρὸς δύναμιν κατακοιμίζει καὶ φλόγα δρόσον ἀποδεικνύει, καὶ θανάτου κέντρον ἀμβλύνει. Οὐκ ἀμάρτυρα λέγω· ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων σε Γραφῶν πιστώσομαι. Εἶπον ὅτι πίστις πύλας ᾅδου ἀνοίγει, καὶ οὐρανοῖς ἐπιτίθησι κλεῖθρα. Οὐκοῦν δέξαι τὰς ἀποδείξεις ἐναργεῖς· ἴδε μοι τὸν μακάριον Πέτρον λόγῳ τὰς ᾅδου πύλας ἀναπετάσαντα, καὶ τὴν Ταβιθὰν κάτωθεν ἀναγαγόντα. Μόνον γὰρ εἶπε, Ταβιθὰ, ἀνάστηθι, εὐθὺς πύλαι μὲν ᾅδου ἀνοίγονται, ταρταραῖοι δὲ πίπτουσι μοχλοὶ, ἡ δὲ τεθνηκυῖα τῶν ζώντων ὀξύτερον ὑπακούει. Πάλιν Ἠλίας ὁ προφήτης ταύτῃ πεποιθὼς τῇ πίστει εἶπεν· Οὐκ ἔσται ὑετὸς εἰ μὴ διὰ στόματός μου· καὶ χαλκεύεται μὲν ὁ οὐρανὸς, συστέλλεται δὲ ὁ ὑετὸς ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία καὶ μῆνας ἓξ, γῆ δὲ καθάπερ σιδηρᾶ τὴν φύσιν, τὸν συνήθη καρπὸν ἀρνεῖται, ἵνα γνῷς οἷα δύναται πίστις. Ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ γῆς ἀποφαίνεται, καὶ Θεὸς ἐν οὐρανῷ βεβαιοῖ τὴν ἀπόφασιν· θνητὸν φθέγγεται στόμα, καὶ Θεοῦ γνώμη ἐπιψηφίζεται, ἔργῳ κυροῦσα τὰ ῥήματα. Ἔκλεισε, φησὶν, Ἠλίας τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπὶ ἔτη τρία καὶ μῆνας ἕξ. Κλεῖθρον οὐρανοῦ ἦν ἀνθρώπου στόμα θνητοῦ, εὐσεβεῖ πίστει κοσμούμενον. Ὁ αὐτὸς πάλιν Ἠλίας πυρίνων κατετόλμησεν ἁρμάτων, καὶ καθάπερ πτηνὸν εἰς τὰς αἰθερίους ἐπέπτη μονὰς, ἀμέλει μέχρι σήμερον ἄγευστος θανάτου, οὐ νόμῳ φύσεως, ἀλλὰ χάριτι μονογενητικῇ, καὶ δυνάμει πίστεως ἀκλινὴς φυλαττόμενος. Καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πολλὰ λέγειν; Ὁ Ἐνὼχ ἀπὸ ζωῆς εἰς ζωὴν μετὰ σώματος ἐβαστάχθη, θάνατον καὶ γῆρας καὶ φύσιν διὰ πίστεως ὑπερνικήσας.

Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα περὶ πίστεως ἔστι λέγειν, ἀλλὰ συστέλλω τὸν λόγον, ἵνα μὴ κόρον ἐμποιήσω. Οἶδα δὲ ὅτι, καίπερ τὰ θεῖα λόγια ταῖς ὑμετέραις φιλοχρίστοις ἀκοαῖς οὐ κόρον, ἀλλὰ πόθον ἐμποιεῖν ἐπίστανται, ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανελεύσεται. Ἑκατοντάρχου, φησὶ, τινὸς δοῦλος κακῶς ἔχων ἔμελλε τελευτᾷν, ὃς ἦν αὐτῷ ἔντιμος· ἔντιμος οἰκέτης τῷ δεσπότῃ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ πλεονεξία τοῦ βίου τὸν δοῦλον ἐπενόησεν, ἀλλ' ἡ εὐγνωμοσύνη τοῦ δεσπότου τὸ συγγενὲς τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἠρνήσατο. Οὐ διέπτυσεν ὡς οἰκέτην, ἀλλ' ἔστεργεν ὡς ὁμόφυλον, φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὴν βαρεῖαν τῆς δουλείας ζεύγλην ἐπελαφρίζων. Ἀκούετε καὶ μανθάνετε, οἱ δούλων δεσπόται, μὴ ὡς ἀλλοτρίων τῆς φύσεως καταφρονεῖν τῶν οἰκετῶν, μήτε μὴν ὡς ἐχθρῶν ἀφειδεῖν τῶν ὁμογενῶν, πειθόμενοι τῷ μακαρίῳ Παύλῳ λέγοντι· Οἱ κύριοι, πρὸς τοὺς δούλους τὴν ἰσότητα παρέχεσθε, ἀνιέντες τὴν ἀπειλὴν, εἰδότες ὅτι αὐτῶν καὶ ὑμῶν ὁ Κύριος ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει. Συνεχώρησε δοῦλον εἶναι Θεὸς, ἵνα Θεῷ δουλεύειν μανθάνῃς. Εὔνοιαν ἀπαιτεῖς παρὰ τοῦ οἰκέτου; Εὐνόει καὶ αὐτὸς τῷ ∆εσπότῃ. Κολάζεις ἁμαρτάνοντα; οὐκοῦν μὴ ἁμάρτῃς, ἵνα μὴ κολάζῃ παρὰ Θεῷ. Συγγνώμην οὐ διδοὺς ὁμογενεῖ; μηδὲ σὺ αἴτει συγγνώμην.