It is not without danger if the hearers keep silent about what is spoken

partus, spiritual births, full of grace and the goodness of God, full of joy and gladness. But the former is not so; rather, it has its beginning in lamentations. For the child, slipping from the womb and being brought forth from the belly, utters its first cry with tears, as someone says: Uttering its first cry, similar to all, crying equally. For entry into life is through lamentations, through tears, with nature foretelling the coming pain. Why does the child cry upon coming into the light? For this reason: before sin, God said, “Increase and multiply” (Gen. 1. 28), which was a blessing; but “In sorrow you shall bring forth children” (Gen. 3. 16) came after the sin, which was a punishment. And there are not only tears at birth, but also swaddling clothes and bonds: tears at birth, tears at death; swaddling clothes at birth, swaddling clothes at death; that you may learn that this life ends in death and terminates in that end. But such is not this birth. Nowhere are there tears and swaddling clothes, but the one born is unbound, and prepared for contests; for this reason the feet and hands are free, that he may run and box; there is no lamentation here, no tears, but greetings, and friendships, and embraces of the brethren recognizing a member of their own family, and as if receiving one back from a long journey. For since before baptism he was an enemy, but after baptism he has become a friend of the common Master of us all, for this reason we all rejoice together; for this reason also the kiss is called peace, that we may learn that God has abolished war and has brought back to His own house that which was His. Let us therefore preserve this peace continuously, let us guard it, let us extend this friendship, that we may also attain the eternal tabernacles, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, honor, dominion, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

That it is not without danger to the auditors to be silent about what is said in church, and why the Acts are read at Pentecost, and why Christ did not show Himself to all after having risen, and that He provided the proof of the resurrection through the signs of the apostles as more convincing than the sight.

^A 1. God exacts usury of the doctrine received. Those who demand usury are unjust. We have already paid the greater part of the debt incurred by the inscription of the Acts of the Apostles in the preceding days; but since a small remnant still remains, I have arisen to pay this also to you today. But if you guard the things said with accuracy, and hold them with much zeal, you who have received the money and are destined to give an account of these moneys to the Master on that day when those to whom the talents have been entrusted are called, and undergo their reckoning; when Christ coming shall demand of the bankers this money together with the interest. "For you ought," He says, "to have put my money to the bankers, and I, having come, would have demanded it back with interest" (Matt. 25. 27). Oh, the great and ineffable loving-kindness of the Master! While forbidding men to exact interest, He Himself exacts interest. Why? Because that place is defamed and worthy of accusation; but this is praiseworthy and worthy of great acceptance. That place, therefore—I mean that of money—injures both the one receiving and the one giving; and it destroys the soul of the one receiving, and wears out the poverty of the one giving. For what could be more grievous than when one trades upon the poverty of his neighbor, and traffics in the misfortunes of his brothers? When one, while wearing the mask of philanthropy, shows all inhumanity, and when the one who ought to reach out a hand pushes the one needing help into the abyss? What are you doing, O man? Not for this did the poor man come to your doors, that you might increase his poverty, but that you might relieve his poverty; but you do the same as those mixing poisonous drugs; for they, by mixing them with the usual food, render the treachery imperceptible, and these, having hidden ^B destruction under the pretext of philanthropy, do not allow those who are about to drink this deadly poison to perceive the harm. Wherefore it is timely to say concerning sin that which has been said about interest. And what has been said concerning sin? "For a time," it says, "it sweetens the throat, but later you will find it more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword." This, therefore, happens also to those who borrow: when the one in need receives the money, he receives a small and temporary consolation; but later, as the interest increases, and the burden becomes greater than his strength, he will see that which was sweet and greased the throat become more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword, being forced all at once to relinquish all his ancestral property.

2. But let us turn the discourse from sensible things to spiritual things. "You ought," He says, "to have put my money to the bankers," calling you the hearers of these words the bankers of that money. And for what reason did God call you bankers? Training everyone to show the same zeal regarding the examination of the things said, as those men have zeal regarding the examination and receipt of coinage. For just as bankers cast out the counterfeit and debased coin, but accept the standard and sound, and distinguish the false from the genuine; so you too, do likewise, and do not accept every word, but cast out from you the counterfeit and corrupted, and pass on to the mind the sound one and that which has salvation. For there is, there is also for you ^C scales and weights

^A not made of brass or iron, but fashioned from the refinement of manners and faith, and with these, examine every word. For this reason he said, "Be approved money-changers," not so that you might stand in the marketplace and count silver, but that you might examine words with all diligence. For this reason Paul, too, the apostle, said, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. V, 21). He called them money-changers not only because of this, but also for the sake of the distribution of what is committed to them. For even if money-changers only receive money and keep it at home, and do not distribute it to others, their whole trade will perish; and the same happens to the hearers. For if you lock within yourself the teaching you have received, and do not pour it out into others, your whole business will come to nothing. For this reason, we see people coming and going in those workshops every day. Let this, therefore, be done also regarding teaching. For in the case of those money-changers, we see some committing money, others receiving it immediately and departing, and anyone can see that this is done all day long. Hence it happens that, although the money is not theirs at all, yet because they use it for things that are necessary, much profit is gathered from what belongs to others. Do you also do the same. These words are not yours, but the Holy Spirit's; if, however, you know how to use them well, you will gather much spiritual profit for yourself; for this reason, God has called you money-changers. But why did he call the word money? Because, undoubtedly, just as money is marked with the perfect image of the king (for unless it has it stamped upon it, it is not approved money, but is called counterfeit), so it is necessary that the teaching of faith should also have the perfect figure and mark of the word. Again, the use of money holds together our whole life and provides the occasion for all contracts, and whether something is to be bought or sold, we perform everything through these. This same thing happens in teaching, since this spiritual money is the occasion and the root of spiritual contracts: whence it happens that if we wish to obtain anything from God, by having first enumerated the word of prayer, only then do we receive what we ask for. But if we see a brother who is negligent and perishing, if we count out the word of teaching like money, we will gain his salvation and ensure his life. Everyone can perform the duty of a teacher; in what way? For this reason, care must be taken with all diligence and effort that we preserve everything and hold it in memory, so that we may distribute it to others, since interest on this money is required of us as well. Let us attend, therefore, while we receive them, so that we may also be able to distribute the money to others; seeing that each of us, if he wishes, is endowed with the faculty of teaching. You cannot correct such a great Church; yet you can admonish your own wife. You cannot speak to such a great multitude; yet you can lead your son back to a healthier mind. You cannot direct the word of teaching to so great a people; yet you can recall your servant to better ways. That care for disciples does not exceed your strength; that mode of teaching does not exceed your wisdom; but you can amend them all even more easily than we ourselves. ^B For I am among you once or most often once a week, but you have disciples in your private quarters continuously, and you can correct them in the evening, and at mealtime, and all day long. From elsewhere, too, this care becomes easier; since I, whilst I address such a great multitude, do not know which disease might be troubling your soul; wherefore I am forced to propose all medicines in individual gatherings; but it is not necessary for you to do so, but it is permitted for you, with less labor, to pluck the fruit of a fuller correction; for you know well the sins of those who live with you under the same roof: wherefore you can also apply medicine more quickly. ^C Let us not omit care, since the greatest punishment and an immense penalty is prepared for those who have neglected their own household. For if anyone, says Paul, does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel (1 Tim. V, 8). Do you see how Paul strikes those who neglect the care of their household? And indeed deservedly: for he says, he who neglects his own household, how will he worry about strangers? I know that I have frequently used this exhortation among you, and I will never cease to use it, although henceforth I am innocent of others' negligence: "For it was necessary," he says, "for you to commit my money to the money-changers" (Matt. XXV, 27). I committed the money, and I am not liable to give any account: nevertheless, however much I might be innocent and freed from the punishment proposed for this crime, as if I were liable to punishment and penalty, so I fear and tremble for the sake of your salvation. ^D Let no one therefore listen to spiritual words rashly and perfunctorily: for these long introductions are not put forward by me in vain and without cause, but so that a more exact custody might be made of those things which are committed: so that you might not, having applauded and acted tumultuously rashly or in vain, return home. For I care nothing for your praises, but I am solicitous for your salvation. For those indeed who contend in the theater receive, as a reward for this thing, praise from the people; but we do not descend into this arena for this reason, but so that we might receive the reward proposed for this thing from the Lord. For this reason, we frequently exhort you to this, that those things which are said might be fixed deeply in your minds. For just as plants which have sent down deep roots cannot be shaken by any incursions of winds, so the sentences of Scripture, the more deeply they will have been fixed in the mind, the less easily they are pulled out by the incursions of affairs. Tell me, I pray, dearest one, if you saw your son exhausted by hunger, would you be able to despise him, and not rather judge that all things should be endured, so that you might be able to mitigate his hunger? Therefore, would you not despise one exhausted by the hunger for bread, but you can despise one who is perishing from the hunger for divine teaching? In what way, therefore, would you be worthy to be called a father? Since that hunger is much more grievous, insofar as it ends in a more fatal death, hence greater effort must be brought to this study. "Bring up," he says, "your children in the"

^A discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). This is the most beautiful care, this the genuine guardianship of parents; for so I acknowledge the kinship of nature, if they demonstrate greater zeal in spiritual matters. But this preamble is sufficient for our discourse; it is necessary at last to pay the debt. For this reason I have drawn out this long and extended discourse for you, so that you might receive what is paid with all vigilance. What then is the debt that we withdrew owing previously? Or have you perhaps forgotten even this? Therefore, it is necessary for you to be reminded by us, and first to read the script, through which we made the previous payment, and to speak of what was paid, so that we may see from what was paid what remains. What then are the things paid before? I said there who it was who wrote the book of the Acts, and who was the father of this discourse—or rather, not the father of the discourse, but the servant; for he did not himself beget what was said, but he ministered to what was said. I spoke about the Acts themselves, and what in the world the name of "Acts" signifies; I also spoke about the title "Apostles."

It is necessary, then, to say for what reason our Fathers decreed that the book of the Acts should be read at Pentecost. For perhaps you remember that we promised to say this then as well. For the Fathers did not observe these times for us simply or in vain, but they have done this according to some wise reason; not that they might subject our freedom to the necessity of times, but so that, by descending to the poverty of the weaker ones, they might lead them up to the wealth of knowledge. And that they observe times for this reason—not subjecting themselves to the necessity of observation, but striving to descend to the weaker—hear what Paul says: "You observe days and months and times and years? I am afraid of you, lest I have labored for you in vain" (Gal. 4:10–11). But do you not observe days and times and years? What then? If we saw someone who forbids the observation of days and months and times and years, observing them, what shall we say, tell me? That he fights against himself, and is contentious? God forbid! But rather that, wishing to remove the weakness of those who observe the times, he descends through the observation to them. Thus also physicians do; they first taste the food given to the sick, not themselves being in need of the food, but striving to correct the weakness of those others. Thus also Paul did; having no need of the observation of times, he observed the times so that he might relieve those who were observing them of the weakness according to the observation. And where did Paul observe times? Attend with precision, I beseech you. "On the morrow," he says, "we sailed to Miletus" (Acts 20:15–16). For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that it might not be necessary for him to waste time in Asia. For he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Do you see how he who says, "Do not observe days and months and times," observed the day of Pentecost?

^B 4. And he observed not only the day but also the place; for he hastened not only to spend the day of Pentecost, but also to fulfill it in Jerusalem. Why do you do this, O blessed Paul? Jerusalem has been destroyed, the Holy of Holies has been deserted by the decree of God, the previous way of life has been abolished. You shout to the Galatians, saying: "You who seek to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4); and why do you lead us again to the slavery of the law? It is no small thing that is being agitated, to learn if Paul fights against himself. For Paul does not only observe days, but he also keeps other legal commandments, and he shouts, saying to the Galatians: "Behold, I Paul say to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing" (Ibid. v. 2). This Paul, then, who says that "if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing," appears himself circumcising Timothy. "For having found," he says, "a certain young man in Lystra, the son of a faithful Jewish woman, but of a Gentile father, he circumcised him" (Acts 16:1–3); for he did not want to send an uncircumcised teacher. Why do you do this, O blessed Paul? You abolish circumcision in your word, and yet you confirm it again with your deed? "I do not confirm it," he says, "but I abolish it through my deeds." For indeed Timothy was the son of a faithful Jewish woman, and of a Gentile father, of an uncircumcised race. Since, therefore, Paul was going to send him as a teacher to the Jews, he did not want to send an uncircumcised one, so that he might not immediately, from the very beginning, shut the doors against the Word. Paving the way, therefore, for the abolition of circumcision, and opening a road for the teaching of Timothy, he imposed circumcision upon him, so that he might remove circumcision. For this reason he says, "I became to the Jews as a Jew" (1 Cor. 9:20), not that he might become a Jew, Paul said this; but that he might persuade those who remained Jews no longer to be Jews. To this end, and with respect to this, he circumcised him, so that he might remove circumcision. He used circumcision, then, against circumcision. For Timothy also received circumcision, so that he might be able to be accepted by the Jews, and having entered, might little by little lead them away from this observation. Do you see for what reason Paul observed both Pentecost and circumcision? Do you wish that I prove to you that he kept other legal customs? Attend precisely. He once went up to Jerusalem, and the apostles seeing him said to him: "You see, brother Paul, how many myriads there are among the Jews who have come together, and they all have been instructed about you, that you teach apostasy from the law. What then? Do what we say to you. We have men among us who have a vow upon them; take them, be purified with them, and shave your head with them, so that they may be certified by deed that there is nothing in what they have been instructed about you, but that you yourself also keep the law of Moses" (Acts 21:20–24). Do you see a wonderful condescension? He observes times, so that he might remove the observation of times; he imposes circumcision, so that he might end circumcision; he offers a sacrifice, so that he might pull down the observation of sacrifices. And that he did these things for this reason, hear him saying: ^C "[I] became to those under the law as under the law, that I might gain those under the law, and being free from all, I made myself a servant" (1 Cor. 9:21).

^A And Paul did these things, that he might imitate his own Master. For just as He, "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:6-7), and being free, became a servant: so also he, being free from all, made himself a servant of all, that he might gain all. Assuming our nature, the Lord became a servant, that He might render slaves free. "He bowed the heavens, and descended" (Ps. 17:10), that He might lift up those who remained below into heaven. "He bowed the heavens"—He did not say, He left the heavens, and descended, but "He bowed," that He might make the ascent into heaven easier for you. Paul also imitated this according to his power; wherefore he said: "Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). ^B And you, O blessed Paul, how have you become so? How? Because I seek nowhere what is useful to myself, but to the many, that they may be saved; and being free from all, I made myself a servant of all. Nothing, therefore, is better than this servitude, since it produces liberty for others. Paul was a spiritual fisherman; "For I will make you," He says, "fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19). For when fishermen see a fish swallowing the hook, they do not immediately draw it out, but giving way for a long time, they follow it, and wait so that the hook may be well fixed, and thus draw out their prey more securely: even so the apostles were then acting; they were casting the hook of the doctrine of the word into the Jewish soul: but they were pulling back rashly, and holding on, and leading themselves into circumcision, to feasts, and observances of times, ^C to sacrifices, to the shaving of the head, and other such things to be performed; but the apostles followed them everywhere, and did not draw back. Therefore, if you seek circumcision, he says, I do not resist, but I follow: if you require sacrifice, I sacrifice: if you wish me to be shaven, who had defaulted from your religion, I am present, and I do what you command: if you instruct me to observe Pentecost, not even here do I refuse, but I follow wherever you lead me around, and I yield, waiting so that the hook of the word may be fixed, so that I might be able safely to draw your whole nation away from the old worship and religion. For this reason, indeed, I came from Ephesus to Jerusalem. Do you see how much Paul would condescend to the fishing of fish, to the word? Do you see again how the observation of times, and the indulgence of circumcision, and the communion of sacrifices were initiated for this reason, not that they might return ^D to the old religion, but so that those who clung to the figures might be led forward to the truth? For he who sits in a high place, if he remains forever on high, he will never be able to lift up him who lies below, but it is necessary for him first to lower himself, and then for that man to be exalted. For this reason the apostles descended from the height of the evangelical religion, so that they might lead the Jews forward from the lowliness of the Jewish religion to that height. That the observation of times and all the rest were done usefully and conveniently is clear from these instances: but it remains now for us to see for what reason the book of the Acts is read at Pentecost. For this is the reason that we have proposed all these things, so that, when you see the observation of times pressing, you may not think that the apostles wish to bind themselves to Jewish rites. But attend diligently, I ask: for the thing that we are about to say does not involve a mediocre question. On the day of the cross we read all things that pertain to the cross: on the great Sabbath again, that our Lord was delivered, was crucified, died according to the flesh, and was laid in a sepulchre: why therefore do we not also read the Acts of the Apostles after Pentecost, when they both happened, and took their beginning? And I know indeed that this is unknown to many, for which reason it is necessary that we demonstrate this from the book of the Acts itself, so that you may understand that the acts of the apostles took their beginning not from Pentecost, but from the time that followed Pentecost. Wherefore someone might deservedly inquire, for what end it was decreed that we should read the history of the cross on the day of the cross and of the passion: but that we should not read the Acts of the Apostles on those very days or at that time, in which they were performed, but that we should anticipate the time? For not immediately, when Christ rose, were miracles published by the apostles, but He was eating with them on earth for forty days. But why He was with them on earth for forty days, we will declare at another time; now let us return to our purpose, and show that Christ did not immediately ascend into heaven after the resurrection, but remained on earth for forty days with the disciples, and not simply remained, but also eating with them, and reclining at table with them, was familiarly with them, and at last after forty days ascended into heaven to the Father, and not even then did they perform miracles, but another ten days elapsed, and when Pentecost was completed, the Holy Spirit was sent to them, and then at last having received fiery tongues they began to perform miracles. And all these things, most beloved, we will demonstrate from the Scriptures: for instance, that He was with them for forty days, that the Holy Spirit descended after Pentecost, and then they received the fiery tongues, and from that time miracles began to be performed by them. Who therefore relates all these things? The disciple of Paul, the venerable and great Luke, while he begins thus, and uses these words: "The former treatise have I made of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which, giving commandment to the apostles through the Holy Spirit, whom He had chosen, He was taken up. To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them for forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem" (Acts 1:1-4). Do you see that the Lord was with them on earth for forty days after the resurrection, speaking of the kingdom of God and eating with the apostles? Do you see also that He took food with them? "And He commanded them," he says, "that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard, says He, of me: for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized"

^A with the Holy Spirit not many days hence.” These things the Savior said during the forty days. ^B Therefore, they who had gathered together asked Him, saying, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power; but you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” And when He had said these things, while they looked on, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ^C You see how Christ remained with them on earth for forty days, and after the forty days He was then taken up into heaven. But let us see if the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, He says, there came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. You see the exact proof that was brought to pass—that Christ was on earth for forty days, and the apostles were not yet working miracles? For how were they to work miracles while not yet having the grace of the holy and life-giving Spirit?

On why the Acts of the Apostles are read after the Resurrection

You see that after the forty days Jesus was taken up into heaven; you see also that after the ten days the apostles began to work miracles. For when the day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit was sent down. This, then, is the remaining question: why are the Acts of the Apostles read at Pentecost? For if the apostles began to perform signs at that time, namely after the Lord's Resurrection, then that book ought to be read at that time. For just as we read the accounts regarding the Cross on the day of the Cross, and likewise those concerning the Resurrection, and read again the things that happened on each feast on that same day, so too ought the apostolic miracles to be read during the days of the apostolic signs.

^D You did not see Him risen with the eyes of the body, but you see Him risen with the eyes of faith. You did not see Him risen with these eyes, but you shall see Him risen by means of those miracles. For the demonstration of signs leads you by the hand to the contemplation of faith. Hence, the occurrence of signs in His name was a far greater and clearer proof than His appearance as risen. Do you wish to learn how this establishes the Resurrection more than if He had appeared to all men before their eyes? Listen carefully; for many ask this and say, “For what reason did He not appear immediately to the Jews after He had risen?” But this argument is superfluous and vain. For if He were destined to draw them to faith, He would not have refused to appear to everyone after the Resurrection; but that He was not destined to win them over by appearing to them after the Resurrection, He demonstrates through Lazarus. For having raised this man who had been dead four days—he who smelled, who was corrupted, and who had even come forth bound with the burial cloths—He not only did not win them over to faith, but actually provoked them; for they wished to kill Him also for this reason. If, therefore, He raised another and they did not believe, if He had shown Himself having raised His own self, would they not have become mad against Him again? Even if they were to achieve nothing, yet by their attempt they would have committed impiety.

But because, wishing to spare them, He hid Himself—for He would have rendered them more liable to punishment had He appeared after the Cross—for this reason, sparing them, He hid Himself from their sight, but He demonstrated it through the proof of signs. For to hear Peter saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and walk,” was not less than seeing Him risen. And that this is the greatest proof of the Resurrection, and is easier for faith than that former one, and that the appearance of signs performed in His name was more able to persuade the minds of men than seeing Him risen, is clear from what follows. Christ rose and showed Himself to His disciples; yet even among them, one was found to be disbelieving, Thomas, who is called Didymus, and he needed to put his hands into the prints of the nails, and he needed also to examine His side. Now if that disciple, who had spent three years with Him, who had partaken of the Master’s table, who had beheld the greatest signs and wonders, who had shared in the Master's words, and who saw Him risen, did not believe until he saw the prints of the nails and the wounds of the lance—tell me, how was the world going to believe if it saw Him risen? And who would say these things? But listen carefully to the whole reason immediately after the Cross and the Resurrection. We proclaim the Resurrection of Christ immediately after the Cross, and the apostolic signs are the proof of the Resurrection, and this book is the school of the apostolic signs. That, therefore, which most confirms the Master’s Resurrection, this the Fathers established to be read immediately after the Cross and the life-bearing Resurrection. For this reason, then, beloved, we read the signs of the apostles immediately after the Cross and the Resurrection, so that we might have a clear and indisputable proof of the Resurrection. Do you see how this is easier for the faith of the Resurrection? For that, even the disciple himself saw and disbelieved; but these things, even the enemies, having observed, believed.

^A Why do I mention Thomas? For so that you may know that not even the rest of the disciples believed at the first glance, pay close attention. Yet do not condemn them, most beloved; for if Christ did not condemn them, neither should you: the disciples were seeing a strange and unusual thing, the Firstborn himself raised from the dead, and the greatest such miracles are wont to startle at first, until they have acquired some stability in the minds of the faithful as time progresses; which is what happened then to the disciples. For after Christ, who had risen from the dead, said to them, "Peace be unto you," they were, he says, "troubled and terrified," thinking they saw a spirit, and Jesus said to them, "Why are you troubled?" (Luke 24:36-38). After this, when he had shown them his hands and feet, ^B to those who did not believe for joy and were marveling he said, "Have you here any meat?" (Ibid. v. 41); wishing by this means to make faith in the resurrection in them. "Does not my side convince you," he says, "nor the wounds? Let the table at least convince you."

^C That he may learn accurately why he said, "Have you here any meat to eat?"—so that they might not think him a simulacrum or a spirit or a phantom, but a true and subsistent resurrection—hear how Peter confirms the resurrection by these things. For when he had said, "God raised him up and made him manifest to us, the witnesses preordained," he added, bringing in the demonstration of the resurrection: "Who did eat and drink with him" (Acts 10:40, 41). For this reason also, elsewhere, when Christ had raised a dead person, to make faith in the resurrection, he said, "Give her something to eat" (Mark 5:43). When, therefore, you hear that "he showed himself alive for forty days to them, appearing and eating with them," learn the reason for the eating: not that he needed food, but that he wished to heal the weakness of the disciples, from which it is clear that the signs and wonders of the apostles were the greatest demonstration of the resurrection. Therefore, he himself also says, "Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do" (John 14:12). For since the Cross, having intervened, had scandalized many, for this reason there was need of more miracles. Otherwise, if when Christ had died he had remained held by death and buried, and had not risen, as the Jews say, nor ascended into heaven, not only would there have been no need for greater miracles to be done after the Cross, but even those which had been done before would have needed to be extinguished. To this, pay close attention: for these things we say contain an indubitable demonstration of the resurrection; wherefore I shall state them again.

^D Do you wish to learn why miracles were greater after the Passion?

Why Christ performed greater signs after his death

^A you will see it clearly. For it is confessed by all, that he who is disposed with goodwill toward a living man, perhaps does not even remember him once he is dead; but he who is disposed without goodwill toward someone living and has abandoned him while he yet survives, will much more forget him when he is dead. Wherefore no man who has left and abandoned his friend or teacher while living, holds him in high regard once he has reached his end, and especially when he sees that ten thousand dangers await him on account of his zeal for that person. But behold, this thing, which happens in no other case, came to pass in the case of Christ and the apostles; and they who had denied and abandoned him while he was living, and had left him when he was seized, and had fled—those same men, after those ten thousand reproaches and the cross, held him in such high regard that they surrendered their own lives for the sake of the confession of him and faith in him. Yet if Christ had indeed died and not risen, what reason was there for those who once fled because of the impending danger, to surround themselves with ten thousand dangers for his sake once he had died? The others indeed all fled, but Peter even denied him with an oath three times, and he who had denied him with a triple oath and had cowered in fear of a small servant girl—once he had died, wishing to persuade us through the deeds themselves that he had seen him risen, he was so suddenly changed that he mocked an entire populace, and leaped into the middle of the theater of the Jews and said that he who had been crucified and buried had risen from the dead on the third day and had ascended into the heavens, and that he feared no harm. Whence then did this boldness come to him? Whence else, but from the full assurance regarding the resurrection? Because he had seen him, and had spoken with him, and had heard about the things that were to come, for this reason, as if facing danger for one who was still living, he dared all things, as one who had received greater power and greater boldness to die for his sake, and to face the cross head-on. When therefore you see ^B both greater signs coming to pass, and the disciples possessing greater goodwill for him than they who had initially abandoned him, and demonstrating greater boldness, and the change of things becoming more brilliant from every side, and all things having advanced toward openness and joy, learn from the very experience of the facts that the things concerning Christ did not stop at death, but the resurrection followed him, and the crucified God lives and remains forever immutable. For if he had not risen and were not living, the disciples would not have performed greater signs after these events than those which came to pass before the cross. For then the disciples themselves abandoned him; but now the whole world runs to him, and not Peter only, but also ten thousand others, and far more after Peter, of those who had not seen him, surrendered their own lives for his sake, and their heads were cut off, and they suffered ten thousand grievous things, so that they might depart holding their confession toward him sound and entire. How then did the dead man, and he who remained in the tomb, as you say, O Jew, show such strength and power in all those who came after them, persuading them to worship him alone, and to choose to endure and suffer everything for the sake of not losing the faith in him? Do you see through all things the clear proof of the resurrection, through the signs of that time and of now, through the goodwill of the disciples of that time and of now, through the dangers in which they who believed continued? Do you wish also to see the enemies fearing his strength and power, and being much more anxious after the cross? Hear also about these things with understanding. For the Jews, ^C it says, seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and knowing that they were unlettered and private men, wondered, and were anxious—not because they were unlettered, but because, being unlettered, they overcame all the wise men, and seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in return; and yet before this, they had spoken in return, seeing signs coming to pass. How then did they not speak in return then? The invisible power of the crucified one blocked their tongues; he closed their mouths; he restrained their boldness: for this reason they stood having nothing to say in return. But when they did speak, see how they confess their own cowardice. "Do you wish," they say, "to bring upon us the blood of this man?" And yet, if he is a mere man, why do you fear his blood? How many prophets did you kill, how many righteous men did you slaughter, O Jew, and you feared the blood of none of them? For what reason do you fear it here? The crucified one did indeed strike their conscience, and not being able to hide the anxiety they had, even against their will they confess their own weakness before their enemies. And when they were crucifying him, they cried out saying, "His blood be upon us and upon our children"; thus they despised his blood. But after the cross, seeing his power shining through, they fear and are anxious, and they say, "Do you wish to bring upon us the blood of this man?" And yet if he were a deceiver and an anti-god, as you say, lawless Jews, for what reason do you fear his blood? For you ought even to have prided yourselves in the murder, if he were such a one. But because he was not such a one, for this reason they tremble. ^D 9. Do you see from every side even the enemies being anxious and afraid? Did you see their anxiety? Learn also the philanthropy of the crucified one. For those men indeed said, "His blood be upon us, and upon our children"; but Christ did not do so; rather, supplicating the Father, he says, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." For if his blood had come upon them and upon their children, the apostles would not have come from their children; three thousand would not have believed at once, nor five thousand. Do you see how they were cruel and harsh regarding their own offspring and did not know nature itself, while God has become more philanthropic than all fathers, and more affectionate than mothers?

^A For his blood was not upon all of them and upon all of their children; it was upon the children, yet not all of them, but only on those who imitated the ancestral impiety and iniquity, and as many as were not their children by the succession of nature, but by the madness of their choice; these alone became liable for the evils.

Consider, also, from another perspective, the goodness and philanthropy of God. ^B For He did not immediately bring upon them the punishment and the penalty; rather, He allowed forty and more years to pass after the passion. Indeed, the Savior himself was crucified under Tiberius, but their city was captured under Vespasian and Titus. Why, then, did He let the intervening time pass? He wished to grant them a space for repentance, so that they might put aside their sins, so that they might drive away their crimes. But after they had received the time for repentance and showed that they were suffering from an incurable disease, then at last He brought upon them the punishment and the penalty, and having destroyed their city, He scattered them, leading them out across the whole world. And this was a work of His kindness. Indeed, He scattered them so that they might see the Christ whom they had crucified being adored everywhere in the world, so that when they saw Him being adored by all, they might perceive His power, acknowledge their own extreme impiety, and in recognizing it, return to the truth. And later, the captivity itself became for them an occasion for teaching, and the punishment an occasion for admonition: for if they had remained in the land of Judea, they would not have acknowledged that the prophets were truthful. For what did the prophets say? "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession" (Ps. II, 8). It was necessary, then, for them to go out to the ends of the earth, so that they might see with their own eyes that the ends of the earth were possessed by Christ. Again, another prophet says: "And they shall worship him, every one from his place" (Soph. II, 11). Therefore, it was necessary for them to be scattered into every place of the earth, so that they might see with their own eyes that everyone was worshiping Him. ^C Again, another said: "The earth shall be filled, that it may know the Lord, as much water as covers the seas" (Habak. II, 14). It was necessary, therefore, for them to go into every land, so that they might see it filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and the seas, that is, these spiritual Churches, overflowing with piety. Therefore, God scattered them everywhere in the world: for if they had remained in Judea, they would have been ignorant of these things. Now, however, He wishes them to know by the experience of their own eyes that the prophets are truthful and that He himself is powerful; so that, if they should be upright and thankful, they might be led to the truth through these things, but if they should persevere in impiety, they might have no excuse on the terrible day of judgment. Therefore He scattered them across the whole world, so that we too might reap some profit from this, that is, when we see those predictions set forth concerning their dispersion and the destruction of Jerusalem, which both Daniel, when he makes mention of the abomination of desolation (Dan. IX, 27), ^D and Malachi when he says: "Because even among you the gates shall be shut" (Mal. I, 10), and David and Isaiah and many other prophets had predicted about these things; so that, seeing those who had inflicted so many outrages upon the Lord being punished, deprived of their ancestral liberty and of all their own laws and ancestral traditions, we may acknowledge His power, which predicted and accomplished those things, and that the enemies, through our blessings, might understand His strength, while we, from the punishment taken upon them, might acknowledge His immense philanthropy and power, and might never cease to glorify Him, so that we may obtain eternal and ineffable blessings, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy and life-giving Spirit, be honor and dominion, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.