In uxorem Job et in proditionem Judae (homilia 6)

A discourse of Leontius, presbyter of Constantinople, on the betrayal of Christ

Just as when a ruler is set down the crookedness of the wood is exposed, so with the presence of this Dominical Thursday, those who break what should not be broken are made public. Where are the leaps of daily discipline? Taverns are preferred to churches, and baths to the altar. Immediately a name confirms the intention of the indiscriminate. Do you break, tell me, the fast? Where it is good, tighten and do not loosen; where it is bad, loosen, do not tighten. What moves you to break the fast, friend? If you partake of wine because of a weakness of the flesh, enjoy it today also; for God asks nothing of you beyond your strength. But if in the days past you drank water and pursued a hard diet, endure today also, lest you be shipwrecked in the harbor. What you do not wish to suffer, do not do. What I mean is this: suppose you often entrust a sealed purse filled with pearls; if the one who received this as a deposit, opening the purse from the side, should take away a pearl, do you not hand him over, do you not punish him, do you not expose him as unfaithful? In the same way the God of all entrusted to you the purse of the fast, in which the pearls of enjoyment are sealed with the finger of the Holy Spirit; do not take one away, do not break the seal, lest for one day or hour you should fail to receive the crowns. What moves you to break it? No one rejoices today, except the devil and his partners, the Jews. Did you not just hear how the sons of the Jews, gathered in the court of the high priest together with the elders, took counsel how they might seize Jesus and kill him by stealth? Today the Lord Christ is overcome with sorrow, for in all things he fulfills the measure of human nature; today the disciples are in agony, for they are men clothed in fear; today creation is in mourning for the creator of all being insulted, and you persist in drunkenness and carousing and in opposite activities? Do not profane the feast, O friend; do not reject the resurrection, do not desire two Passovers, do not make an excuse of the mystery; it is not what you see, it is not food and drink. For this reason it is called a mystery, because it is not given for satiety. The mystery is a tempering of the soul, a pledge of moderation, a bond of friendship, a union of those divided; you eat flesh, you do not eat bread; you drink blood, you do not drink wine. You heard just now: the woman read to us in the holy gospels, she poured out ointment; for did she pour out wine? Just now the Lord Christ handed down the mystery; for was it a drunken revelry? No one was drunk today, except only Judas with a soul-destroying drunkenness. You heard the evangelist just now saying: And when evening had come, Jesus was reclining with his twelve disciples. O the wondrous deeds, O the loving-kindness of the Lord. And he had Judas recline with him. Was it not necessary to push away the betrayer? He reclined with him. Why? So that he might not find a pretext for the betrayal. If he had not reclined with him along with the rest of the disciples, Judas would have said, "I was rejected, I was despised, and for this reason I was driven to the Lord-selling." Therefore, so that he might cut off his pretext everywhere, he has him recline with the disciples. And in this the Lord, also making known his foreknowledge to all as God, to those reclining with him

1 , he was saying to the disciples: Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me. This bitter

In uxorem Job et in proditionem Judae (homilia 6)

Λεοντίου πρεσβυτέρου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως λόγος εἰς τὴν προδοσίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ

Ὥσπερ κανόνος παρατεθέντος τὸ στρεβλὸν τῶν ξύλων ἐλέγχεται, οὕτω τῆς δεσποτικῆς ταύτης πέμπτης παρούσης οἱ τὸ ἀδιάλυτον λύοντες δημοσιεύονται. Ποῦ τῆς καθημερινῆς συσφίγξεως τὰ σκιρτήματα; Ἐκκλησιῶν καπηλεῖα προκρίνονται καὶ λουτρὰ θυσιαστηρίου. Εὐθέως ὄνομα βεβαιοῦν τῶν ἀκρίτων τὴν πρόθεσιν. ∆ιαλύεις, εἰπέ μοι, τὴν νηστείαν; Ὅπου τὸ καλόν, σύσφιγξον καὶ μὴ λύσῃς· ὅπου φαῦλον, λῦσον μὴ σφίγξῃς. Τί τὸ κινοῦν σε πρὸς διάλυσιν τῆς νηστείας, φίλε; Εἰ μὲν διὰ σαρκὸς ἀσθένειαν μετέχεις οἴνου, ἀπόλαυε καὶ σήμερον· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν παρὰ σοῦ ζητεῖ ὁ θεός. Εἰ δὲ ἐν ταῖς παρελθούσαις ὑδροποτήσας σκληροφαγίαν μετῆλθες, καὶ σήμερον ὑπόμεινον, ἵνα μὴ ἐν τῷ λιμένι ναυαγήσῃς. Ὃ οὐ θέλεις παθεῖν μὴ ποιήσῃς. Οἷόν τι λέγω· παρατίθει πολλάκις βαλλάντιον ἐσφραγισμένον μαργαριτῶν πεπληρωμένον· ἐὰν ὁ δεξάμενος τοῦτο ὡς παραθήκην ἐκ πλαγίων λύσας τὸ βαλλάντιον ἀφέληται μαργαρίτην, οὐ παραδίδως, οὐ τιμωρῆσαι τοῦτον , οὐχ ὡς ἄπιστον δημοσιεύεις; Τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὁ τῶν πάντων θεὸς ἐπίστευσέ σοι τὸ βαλλάντιον τῆς νηστείας, ἐν ᾧ οἱ μαργαρῖται τῆς ἀπολαύσεως ἐσφραγισμένοι τῷ δακτύλῳ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος· μὴ ἀφέλῃ, μὴ διαλύσῃς, μὴ διὰ μίαν ἡμέραν ἢ ὥραν τῶν στεφάνων ἀποτύχῃς. Τί τὸ κινοῦν σε πρὸς διάλυσιν; Οὐδεὶς σήμερον εὐφραίνεται, εἰ μὴ ὁ διάβολος καὶ οἱ τούτου σύνδρομοι Ἰουδαῖοι. Οὐκ ἤκουες ἀρτίως πῶς Ἰουδαίων παῖδες συναχθέντες εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως ἅμα τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις συμβούλιον ἔλαβον πῶς τὸν Ἰησοῦν κρατήσωσι καὶ ἀποκτείνωσι δόλῳ; Σήμερον ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς λύπῃ συνέχεται, διὰ πάντων γὰρ πληροῖ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα μέτρα· σήμερον οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐναγώνιοι γίνονται, ἄνθρωποι γάρ εἰσι δειλίαν ἠμφιεσμένοι· σήμερον ἡ κτίσις ἐν πένθει τοῦ κτίστου πάντων ὑβριζομένου , καὶ σὺ ἐν μέθῃ καὶ ἐν κραιπάλῃ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις πράγμασι διατελεῖς; Μὴ ὑβρίσῃς τὴν ἑορτήν, ὧ φίλε· μὴ ἀθετήσῃς τὴν ἀνάστασιν, μὴ δύο πάσχα ποθήσῃς, μὴ προφασίσῃ τὸ μυστήριον· οὐκ ἔστιν ὃ βλέπεις, οὐκ ἔστι βρῶσις καὶ πόσις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μυστήριον λέγεται, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς κόρον οὐ δίδοται. Στόμωμα ψυχῆς ὑπάρχει τὸ μυστήριον, σωφροσύνης ἀρραβών, φιλίας σύσφιγξις, διεστώτων ἕνωσις· σαρκοφαγεῖς, οὐκ ἀρτοφαγεῖς· αἱμοποτεῖς, οὐκ οἰνοποτεῖς. Ἤκουες ἀρτίως· ἡ παραναγνωσθεῖσα ἡμῖν γυνὴ ἐν τοῖς θείοις εὐαγγελίοις, αὕτη μύρον κατέχεεν· μὴ γὰρ οἶνον ἐξέχεεν; Ἀρτίως ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς τὸ μυστήριον παρέδωκεν· μὴ γὰρ μεθυστήριον; Οὐδεὶς ἐμεθύσθη σήμερον, εἰ μὴ μόνον ὁ Ἰούδας μέθην ψυχοφθόρον. Ἤκουες ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης συνανέκειτο ὁ Ἰησοῦς μετὰ τῶν δώδεκα μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ. Ὢ τῶν παραδόξων πραγμάτων, ὢ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου φιλανθρωπίας. Καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν ἑαυτῷ συνανέκλινεν. Οὐκ ἔδει τὸν προδότην ἀπώσασθαι; Συνανεκλίθη αὐτῷ. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα μὴ πρόφασιν εὕρῃ τῆς προδοσίας. Εἰ μὴ συνανέκλινεν αὐτὸν μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν μαθητῶν, ἤμελλε λέγειν ὁ Ἰούδας ὅτι Ἠθετήθην, ἐξουθενήθην, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὴν κυριοπρασίαν ἤλασα. Ὅπως οὖν πανταχοῦ τὴν πρόφασιν αὐτοῦ θερίσῃ, καὶ αὐτὸν σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἀνακλίνει. Ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ ὁ κύριος καὶ τὸ προγνωστικὸν πᾶσιν ὡς θεὸς μηνύων τοῖς συνανακειμένοις

1 , ἔλεγε τοῖς μαθηταῖς· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με. Ταύτην τὴν πικρὰν