That One Should Not Despair

^A For when I was exhorting you not to curse your enemies, and was saying that by doing this we provoke God and legislate against Him—for He said, "Pray for your enemies," but we, by cursing our enemies, demand that He revoke His own law—when I was saying these and such-like things, I saw many among you beating their faces and breasts, groaning bitterly, stretching their hands to heaven, and asking for forgiveness concerning such prayers. And then I too, having lifted my eyes to heaven, gave thanks to God, because so quickly the word of instruction brought us fruit. ^B For such is the condition of spiritual seed: it does not need years, nor seasons, nor days, but if it takes hold of a noble soul, it immediately shows the ear of corn flourishing and completed. Even that which happened yesterday at your hands. I cast a word of compunction, and a groan of confession sprouted—a groan that held the great wealth of good things. For if that publican, in order to say, while beating his breast, "Be merciful to me a sinner," went away justified beyond the Pharisee, how much confidence should we expect to gain, having displayed such compunction in a short time?

And yet, there is nothing worse than a publican; for this is the final boundary of malice; which Christ also, indicating, brings forth the harlots and the publicans as an example of the worst evils. For it is a life of unrestrained violence, of unrebuked plunder, of shameless mode of greed, of trade having no account, of unfair exchange; ^C but yet he who lived with such evils had the strength, from bare footsteps, to cast off his reproaches, and to receive more than he asked. For he himself asked, saying, "Be merciful to me the sinner"; but God was not only merciful but also justified him above the Pharisee. Therefore Paul says, "To Him who is able to do all things far more abundantly than what we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20). And yet the Pharisee prayed, and stood in the temple, and called upon the same God, and said more words, and made the beginning of the prayer from thanksgiving. Whence, then, did he lose the good things he had, while this man gained confidence which he did not have? Because the mode of prayer was not the same. For the one was filled with arrogance and pride and folly, but this one with much gratitude; for this reason the one, having countless burdens of sins, put them all away and received righteousness; but the other, having brought a ship full of achievements—and of alms, and of fasting—having run aground as if on some reef by the disposition of vain-glory and folly, suffered shipwreck in the very harbor; ^D for to be impoverished in prayer is to suffer shipwreck in the harbor. But this did not happen contrary to the nature of the prayer, but contrary to his own choice.

2. DOST THOU SEE

Let us not, therefore, curse our enemies, but let us not even remember our own achievements, so that we do not suffer what the Pharisee did. For just as it is good to remember sins, so it is good to forget achievements. For what reason? Because the memory of achievements raises us to arrogance, but the memory of sins composes the mind and humbles it; and the former makes us more slothful, while the latter makes us more earnest. ^B For those who think they have nothing good become more eager to acquire good things; but those who think they have stored up much merchandise for themselves, trusting in the abundance of this, would not display much zeal to acquire more again.

3. DO NOT, THEREFORE, REMEMBER YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS,

Non est opus valentibus medicum, sed male habentibus. (Matth. IX, 12.) The publican was ailing; therefore [Christ] quickly stretched out His hand to him. But Isaac was stronger; therefore He left him, that He might increase his endurance. But these things have been said by us by way of superabundance. But why the wife was barren, it is worth while to explain: so that when you see a Virgin becoming a mother, you may not refuse to believe; and so that when the Jew says to you, "How did Mary give birth?" you may say to him, "How did Sarah give birth, and Rebecca, and Rachel?" For when a wondrous and great thing is about to happen, many ^A figures run before it. And just as when a king enters, soldiers run before him, so that he may not be received suddenly by the unprepared, so too, because an unusual miracle was about to happen, figures precede it, so that we, having been exercised and prepared beforehand, may not be suddenly astonished, nor terrified at the sight of a thing beyond expectation, and be struck dumb. This is so even in the case of death. Jonah anticipated it, and exercised our mind. For as the whale vomited him forth after three days, because it had not found in him its own proper and suitable nourishment—for the proper and suitable nourishment of death is the nature of sin; from thence it is born, from thence it is strengthened, from thence it is even nourished—so therefore in our case, if we ever swallow a stone imprudently, the force of the stomach at first attempts to digest it; but when it finds a food not at all proper to itself, where it has applied its force of digestion to it for a long time, it does not corrupt it, but loses its own power; whence it cannot even contain the former food, but, having become weary, it vomits out that too along with it, not without great pain; even so it happened regarding death. It swallowed ^B the cornerstone, and could not digest it; all its power grew weak; therefore it cast out the remaining food which it had, along with it, while it vomited out human nature as well. For it will not be able to contain it unto the end. Therefore barren women also preceded [the event], so that faith in the birth might also be produced; or rather, not only that faith in the birth might be produced, but if we wish to examine it accurately, we shall find that barrenness was a figure of death itself.

^D 4. But pay close attention to what is to be said: for we are about to say how the barrenness of Sarah’s womb leads us by the hand to faith in the resurrection. In what way, then, does it lead us by the hand? Just as she, when she was dead, was brought to life by the grace of God, and Isaac’s body brought forth life, so when Christ was dead, He rose again by His own power. And that our exposition is not forced, hear how Paul testifies [to it]. For when he had said concerning Abraham: "He considered not the deadness of Sarah’s womb, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, most ^C fully knowing, that whatsoever He had promised, He was able also to perform" (Rom. IV, 19-21)—that is, to bring it about that a living son should be born from dead bodies: then, from that faith, in order to lead us to this one, he added: "It was not written only for his sake, that it was reckoned to him; but for ours also" (Rom. IV, 23-24). For what? "To whom it shall be reckoned," he says, "if we believe in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." That which he says is of this sort. He raised Isaac from dead bodies; so also He raised His own Son who had died. Do you wish to know that barrenness was a figure of another thing? The Church was to bring forth a multitude of the faithful; so that you might not refuse to believe how an unfruitful, sterile, barren woman could give birth, she who was barren by nature preceded her, who might pave the way for the barren will, and Sarah became a figure of the Church. For as that woman, when she was barren, gave birth in old age; so also this one, when she was barren, brings forth in the last days. And that this is true, hear how Paul testifies: "But we are children of the free woman" (Gal. IV, 31). For since Sarah is a figure of the Church, who is free, therefore he added, "of the free woman." Others are [children of the handmaid]. And again: "So, brethren, we are children of Isaac according to the promise" (Gal. IV, 28). What is "of the promise"? As nature did not give birth to him, so neither did nature give birth to us, but the grace of God. And again: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother" (Gal. IV, 26), which is the Church. "For you have come," he says, "unto Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the Church of the firstborn" (Hebr. XII, 22-23). Therefore the Jerusalem above is the Church. If then the Jerusalem above is the figure of Sarah, as he said, "these are the two, one indeed bringing forth unto bondage, which is Agar; but the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother" (Gal. IV, 24-26); it is manifest that the Jerusalem which is above is a figure of Sarah, by reason of the birth and the barrenness.

5. I know that what has been said is deeper; but if we give heed, none of the things which are said will escape us. These, therefore, are more mystical and dogmatic discourses; but if you wish, we will also present those more adapted to morals. Sarah was a barren wife, that you may know the chastity of her husband; for he did not cast her out, even though no law at that time forbade it, nor did he introduce another, having taken a wife besides the free woman—which many do under the pretext of seeking children, so that they may satisfy their own licentiousness, and they cast out these and introduce those; others also inflame concubines against them, and fill their houses with infinite fights and quarrels. But not so that just man; rather, he was quiet, content with the wife given to him by God, and to the Lord of nature he made his prayer, that He might loose the bonds of nature, and he did not reproach his wife. And whence is it evident that he did not reproach her? From the Scripture itself. If he had reproached her, the Scripture would have said this too, and would not have been silent; for it commemorates both the glorious deeds and the vices of the just, so that we may flee from the latter and emulate the former. When, therefore, Rachel, the daughter-in-law of his son, was lamenting, and he scolded her, it expressed both, and the Scripture did not hide it. For when she had said, "Give me children; and if not, I shall die," what does he say to her? "Am I God, who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb?" (Gen. XXX, 1-2). A womanly demand, and alien to reason. Do you say to your husband, "Give me children," and pass over the Lord of nature? Therefore he too, when he answered her with a rebuke, repressed her absurd demand, and taught her from whom one ought to ask. But not so that man, nor did he ever say any such thing, nor did she complain or lament before him. What the aforesaid teaches us, is that from sorceries and from—

enchantments, and from those superfluous, useless, and harmful things which destroy the soul, he took no part; but rather, leaving all these things behind, and mocking all human concerns, he ran only to the Master of Nature, who alone was able to heal these things.

6. Hear these things, O husbands; be instructed, O wives; let us all imitate the righteous one. Let nothing be more precious to a wife than her husband, nor to a husband than his wife. This holds together the life of us all, this harmony of wife with husband; this holds together the whole world. For just as when the foundation is shaken, the whole building falls, so too when marriages are in discord, our life is overturned. Look, for the world consists of cities, cities of houses, and houses of men and women. If, therefore, war enters in between men and women, conflict has entered into the houses; and when these are troubled, the cities also are thrown into confusion; and when cities are in conflict, it is necessary that the whole world be filled with turmoil, war, and fighting. For this reason, God has given much providence to this matter; for this reason, He does not permit the casting away of a wife, except for adultery alone. What then, you say, if she be quarrelsome, if she be wicked and extravagant, and possess a myriad of other failings? Bear everything with nobility, and do not cast her away because of these failings, but correct the failings. For this reason, you hold the place of the head, that you may know how to heal the body. For even our body, if it has a myriad of wounds, we do not cut off the head. Do not, therefore, cut off the wife from yourself; for the wife is to us in the order of the body. For this reason, even the blessed Paul said: “Husbands ought so to love their wives as their own bodies.” And toward the wives, too, the same law is for us: O wife, love your own head as your own; and if you honor it, thus honor your husband; for it is not in vain that we make such a great argument about this matter. I know of what blessings it is the cause, that a wife not be in discord with her husband; I know of what evils it is the source, when these disagree with one another. For then neither wealth, nor good children, nor many children, nor power and dominion, nor glory and honor, nor luxury and extravagance, nor any other prosperity could ever gladden a wife or a husband, when they are at odds with one another.

7. Let us be zealous for this before all other things. Does the wife have failings? Do what Isaac did: pray to God. For if he, by the endurance of prayer, loosed the infertility of nature, much more shall we be able to correct the failings of the will by continually beseeching God. If God sees you enduring for the sake of His law, and bearing nobly the sins of your wife, He will join you in the teaching, and will give you a reward for your endurance. For what do you know, O husband, if you shall save your wife? Or if you know, O wife, if you shall save your husband? Do not grow weary, he says, nor despair. For it happens that she may even be saved; but if she remains uncorrected, you have not lost the reward of your endurance; but if you cast her away, you have sinned first in casting aside the law, and in being judged an adulterer before God. For whoever, He says, shall cast away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, makes her to be committed adultery. And often, having taken another worse than the former, you have worked sin, yet have not enjoyed rest. And if you should take a better one, she does not allow your pleasure to be whole from the second, because of the dismissal of the former, as adultery is reckoned to you—for it is adultery to send away the former. Whenever, then, you see some difficulty having occurred, either in marriage or in any other station of life, implore God; for this alone is the best solution of the ills that happen to us. For the weapon of prayer is indeed great. This I have often said, and now I say it, and saying it I will not cease: even if you are a sinner, look at the publican, who did not fail, who washed away such great sins. Do you wish to learn how great prayer is? Friendship with God does not accomplish as much as prayer. And the word is not mine; for I would not have dared to make such a pronouncement from my own opinion; hear from the Scriptures how, what friendship did not accomplish, prayer accomplished. Which of you, He says, shall have a friend, and coming shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves; and he answering shall say to him: The door is locked, the children are in bed; do not give me trouble. I say to you, if he will not give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will give to him as many as he needs (Luc. 11: 5-8). Do you see how what friendship could not avail, this, persistence availed? Since he was his friend—lest you think that it was for this reason that he accomplished it—He said: Even if he will not give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will give to him. If friendship will not work this, He says, yet persistence will work it, as much as friendship did not avail. And where did this happen? With the publican. For the publican was not a friend to God; but he became a friend; so that even if you are an enemy, by persistence you will become a friend. Look also at the Syrophoenician woman, and hear what He says to her: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to give it to the dogs. And how did He do it, if it is not good? By persistence, the woman made it good; that you might learn that the things of which we are not worthy, we become worthy of through persistence.

8. These things I have said so that you might not say: "I am a sinner, I am without confidence, I have no prayer." He has confidence who does not think he has confidence; just as he who thinks he has confidence has lost that confidence, like the Pharisee; but he who thinks himself cast away and without confidence, this one most of all will be heard, like the publican. Look how many examples you have, the Syrophoenician, the publican,

the one who was asking for three loaves in the parable, who obtained what he wanted not so much through friendship as through persistence. If any of these had said, "I am a sinner," and had been suffused with shame, and for that reason had thought he ought not to approach, he would not have gained anything more. But because each of them looked not at the magnitude of his own sins, but at the riches of God's kindness, he was confident and bold; and though a sinner, he asked beyond his own worth, and each attained what he wished. Let us, therefore, keep all these things in mind, and let us pray constantly, with vigilance, with confidence, full of good hope, and with much zeal. ^A With as much zeal as others offer prayers against their enemies, with that same zeal let us offer prayers for our enemies and for our brothers, and we shall surely obtain everything that is in our interest. For He who bestows is kind, and we do not desire to receive as much as He desires to give. Knowing all these things, then, even if we were to have fallen into the lowest depths of wickedness, let us not for that reason despair of our salvation, but let us approach with good hope, and let us persuade ourselves that we will certainly obtain what we seek, if we seek according to the rule of the laws laid down by Him. To Him who is able to do all things superabundantly beyond what we ask or think, be all glory, honor, and adoration, together with the Father, who is without beginning, and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTICE REGARDING THE HOMILY ON THIS PASSAGE

Chrysostom delivered this discourse at Antioch after the reading of the Epistle to the Galatians had been completed. ^B Fearing that the disagreement which appears here between Peter and Paul, the pillars of the Church as he calls them, might disturb the minds of the pious, he endeavors to explain that passage in a long discourse. He immediately explains at length how many inconveniences would follow if Paul had truly and with the intention of rebuke confronted the leader of the apostles while many were present. From this he opens up two opinions concerning this passage, and immediately refutes them: the former is that the Peter who is in question here is not the prince of the apostles, but another man of the same name; the latter asserts that the rebuke was real, but that it was done in simulation. Then, truly, he brings forward his own opinion: namely, that the apostles Peter and Paul came to this pious simulation prepared and medicated; and by agreement and covenant...

HAVING HELD AN ASSEMBLY WITH THE BISHOP IN THE NEW CHURCH IN THE PRECEDING GATHERING, HE DELIVERED THIS SERMON IN THE OLD CHURCH ON THIS PASSAGE OF THE APOSTLE: "BUT WHEN PETER WAS COME TO ANTIOCH, I WITHSTOOD HIM TO THE FACE" (Gal. 2. 11): AND HE SHOWS THAT THE THINGS WHICH WERE THEN HAPPENING DID NOT PROCEED FROM CONTRARY INTENTIONS, BUT FROM COVENANT AND COOPERATION (a).

For a whole year I had been separated from you, and I remained so sad and downcast. And that these things are true, you yourselves know from the things that have happened to you. For just as a nursing infant torn from his mother's breasts, wherever he may be taken, turns himself frequently here and there and looks for his mother; so I too, having been moved far from my mother's bosom, was frequently looking around and searching for your sacred assembly everywhere. But this matter consoled me enough, that while I was obeying my most loving father, this happened to me, and the reward of obedience wiped away the sorrow conceived from the separation. ^C For this is more illustrious to me than any diadem and more glorious than a crown: to travel everywhere with my progenitor. This is my ornament and my security: an ornament, indeed, because I have so bound him to me and lured him to my love that he does not want to appear anywhere without his son; and a security, because while he sees me present and struggling, he may supply us with the help of his own prayers. And just as the hands of the pilot, the rudder, and the blasts of the westerly winds lead a ship safely into port; so also his benevolence, along with the help of his prayers, directs our discourse better than any west wind or pilot or rudder. ^D And it escapes me...

now, not just from hearsay but from experience itself, that those who conveyed these things to us and from these remnants we have reckoned the wholeness of the feast. I have praised the host, and I marveled at the lavishness and the wealth; I have called you blessed for your good will and for the precision, that you hold what was said with such custody that you have been able to convey it to another. For this reason we too speak toward your love. ^A For he who scatters seeds here does not drop them along the path, nor pour them into thorns, nor sow them upon the rock; so fat and deep-soiled is your furrow, and receiving everything into its own folds, it multiplies the seeds. But if ever you have provided eagerness and much diligence toward the hearing, just as you have always provided, this is the favor I ask you to grant me today. For the discourse is not about trivial things for us, but about great matters. Therefore I need eyes that see sharply from everywhere, a mind stirred up, a spirit standing erect, thoughts being tightened, and a soul awake and vigilant. For you all heard the apostolic reading; and if anyone attended sharply to what was read, he knows that great struggles and sweats lie before us today. For when Peter came, he says, to Antioch, I withstood him to his face.

2. Does this then disturb each of you who hear it, that Paul withstood Peter, that the pillars of the Church clash and fall upon each other? For indeed they are pillars, holding up and supporting the roof of the faith, and pillars, and bulwarks, and eyes of the body of the Church, and springs of good things, and treasures, and harbors, and whatever one might say, one will not yet reach their worth; but however great their praises may be, by so much is the struggle greater for us. ^B Awake, therefore, for the discourse is on behalf of our fathers, so as to refute the charges brought against them by those on the outside and by those alien to the faith. "When Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was condemned." Then also the cause of the condemnation: "For before some came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those from the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also dissembled with him; so that even Barnabas was led away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they did not walk straightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter before all." And he says above, "To his face"; and here, "Before all." Observe this, the saying, "Before all." "If you, being a Jew, live like a Gentile, and not in the Jewish manner, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" Perhaps you praised Paul for ^C his boldness, that he was not ashamed of the rank of the person, that he did not blush before those present at the truth of the Gospel. But if this is a eulogy for Paul, it becomes our dishonor. For what if Paul did well? But Peter also did well, if indeed he was walking straight. What profit is there for me if one horse of the yoke-team goes lame? For the discourse is not to me now against Paul, but against those on the outside. For this reason I also ask you to pay attention. For I increase the accusation, making it greater, so that I may heighten your eagerness. For he who struggles is sober, and he who fears for a father pays attention; he who hears the accusation desires to see the defense. If, therefore, ^D I begin to increase the accusation, do not think the things being said are from my own opinion. For I am deepening your mind with my discourse, I am digging through the intellect, so that by laying the thoughts in the depth, I may make their keeping inviolable. But the things to be said are also a eulogy for your city. For it received the struggle, it received the battle, or rather not the battle, but what seemed to be a battle, but was more useful than any peace. For our members are not so tightened toward each other by the girding of the nerves, as the apostles were knit to each other by the bonds of love.

3. Have you praised Paul? Hear then how the things said are an accusation of Paul, if we do not hunt out the meaning hidden in the steps. What are you saying, O Paul? Did you rebuke Peter when you saw him not walking straightly toward the truth of the Gospel? Well done. For what cause then "To his face"? For what cause "Before all"? Was the reproof not supposed to be without witnesses? And you, how do you make the court public, and make many witnesses of the accusation? And who would not say that you do this out of hostility, and envy, and contention? Was it not you who said, "I became to the weak as weak"? And what is, "To the weak as weak"? He says, condescending and covering up their wounds, and not allowing them to fall into shamelessness. Then, being so caring and humane toward the disciples, did you become inhumane toward your fellow apostle? Did you not hear Christ saying, "When your brother sins, go, rebuke him between you and him alone"? And you both rebuke publicly and think highly of the matter. "For when Peter came," he says, "to Antioch, I withstood him to his face." And you do not rebuke in public only, but also, just as on a pillar, having carved the battle in writing, you make the memory immortal; so that not only those present then, but all the men who inhabit the world might learn what happened through the epistle. Did the apostles do this to you in Jerusalem, when you went up after fourteen years to lay the Gospel before them? Do you not say, "After fourteen years I went up and laid before them the Gospel, but privately to those who were of reputation"? What then? Did they, desiring you to lay it before them privately, hinder you and bring you into the middle, and make it manifest to all? It is not possible to say so. Then you lay it before them privately, and no one speaks against you; but you drag the apostle out into public display? Did you then enjoy this good will only at that time?

^B Indeed, was there ever a time when there were so many myriads of Jews, and they were all performing those rites with the same wisdom? And did they tell you, not as if they had taken the counsel for themselves, "You see, brother, how many myriads there are of Jews who have come together; and they are all zealous for the law, and they have been instructed concerning you, that you teach departure from the law. What then is it? Do what we tell you. There are men among us who have a vow upon them; take these and go, purify yourself along with them, that they may learn that those things which they have been told about you are nothing." Do you see how they are concerned for your reputation? How they hide their own dispensation under a mask, and shield you with sacrifice and purifications? Why do you not show the same care yourself?

^C

The dispute at Antioch

So tell me, is he timid and unmanly, who, with such fear and such dangers hanging over him, and with such great boldness, approached those canine men, fed on blood, burning with rage, still breathing out slaughter, and said that the One who had been crucified by them had risen from the dead, and is in the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and overwhelms His enemies with thousands of evils? Would you not rather, I ask, admire him and exalt him to heaven, because he alone was able to open his mouth, to open his lips, to stand, and to appear among those who had crucified Him? For what word, what mind could express the boldness which he displayed on that day, and his freedom of speech? None at all. For if, before the passion, the Jews had conspired that if anyone confessed Him to be the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue (John 9:22), after the passion and the burial, hearing him not only confessing Christ, but also preaching the whole dispensation with such great constancy—how did they not tear him apart, and divide him limb from limb, at the very first sight of him, ^D before they were destroyed by his madness?

576. For this is indeed a great thing, that Christ did not confess Him, but that he confessed Him boldly before everyone else, while they were then still puffed up with rage. Just as, therefore, in war and in battle, when the phalanx is compacted, we praise him most of all who leaps out before the others and breaks through the front—for he is rightly said to have been the cause not only of this, but of all the brilliant deeds which the others performed, since he was the author of the beginning and of the entry—so too must one reckon concerning Peter, since he was the first to enter, and broke through the front of the Jewish cohort, and held that long appeal, and in like manner is to be called the one who opened the way for the other apostles. Although John, although James, although Paul, or anyone else thereafter may have done some noble deed, this man excels them all, who paved the way for the others with his confidence, and opened the entry, and permitted them, like a river flowing with great force of waves, to enter confidently, and to drag those who opposed them along with them, and to water the souls of those who listened with benevolence. Was he, therefore, such a person after the cross? Was he not more fervent than all others before the cross? Was he not the mouth of the apostles? Was he not speaking when all others were silent? "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" (Matt. 16:13) says Christ; and some said Elijah, others Jeremiah, others one of the prophets. "But whom do you say that I am?" (v. 16) He says. Then Peter, answering, said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." "You," He said, and he spoke on behalf of all. For just as the mouth speaks for the whole body, so Peter was the tongue of the apostles, and he himself answered for all. Was he, therefore, such a person only then, and does he elsewhere slacken in this zeal? By no means: but in everything, and in all things he showed the same ardor. For when Christ had said, "They shall deliver up the Son of man, and they shall scourge Him, and crucify Him" (Mark 10:33, 34), he himself says, "Merciful to you, Lord; this shall not be" (Matt. 16:22). For this is not to be understood by us as him being inconsiderate in his reply, but as proceeding from an exceptional and fervent love. Again, He ascends the mountain, and is transfigured: meanwhile Elijah and Moses appeared there, speaking with Him. Again, Peter is there too: "If You will, let us make here three tabernacles" (Matt. 17:4). 578. 6. See how he respects the Teacher, and observe his precision and prudence. For because, at the time when he had answered rashly, his mouth was closed, here he submits the matter to the Teacher’s authority, saying, "If You will." It was possible, he says, that even now I might speak inconsiderately, moved by love. Lest, therefore, he be struck with the same reprimand, "If You will," he says. That banquet was again holy and tremendous; and at that time, when Jesus was saying, "One of you shall betray Me" (Matt. 26:21), again, Peter, because of that rebuke which had preceded, did not dare to ask the Teacher; but, because of the love with which he was burning, he could not be silent; but he urged himself to learn, and so as not to appear rash and inconsiderate.

^A

How, then, did he fulfill both — that is, his desire and the securing of his own safety? It was so that, on the one hand, by wishing to learn, he might show his unquenchable yearning, and, on the other hand, by not doing this through himself, but by putting forward another, he might demonstrate his reverence and his complete moderation. For, "We are hemmed in on all sides," he says; "the discourse is about the Lord's betrayal; the danger is great, the warning comes from both sides. If I keep silent, anxiety devours my soul; if I speak, I fear lest I receive another rebuke." He therefore took the middle path, and he who always outran the others looked then for the boldness of John, in order to learn what was being said. For he breathed nothing else, and had it perpetually in his soul, but the Teacher alone. Because of this, he later braved prisons and ten thousand deaths, and mocked at all this present life. Because of Him, having received lashes, and bearing the welts upon his back, he was saying to those who had brought these things upon him: "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4. 20). Do you see a soul unsubjugated? Do you see an unconquerable boldness? Do you see a soul full of heavenly yearning and love? How, then, do you dare to say that he was withdrawing and separating himself, fearing those from the circumcision? And many other things could be said about Peter, showing his warmth, and his courage, and the love which he had for Christ; but, so that we do not needlessly prolong the discourse, what has been said is sufficient. For today our task is not to deliver an encomium of him, but to solve what appears to be a problem, and bring it to a conclusion.

7. But you, consider also from another side how the accusation is not plausible. For then, indeed, at the beginning, when he was saying, "This Jesus, whom you crucified, God has raised up, having loosed the pangs of death" (Acts 2. 24), he was among enemies, still murderous, still boiling with rage, still wanting to tear the disciples apart. For their passion was still at its height, and their mind was seething with anger. But now, when Paul was writing these things, the preaching had already reached its seventeenth year. For having said, "After three years I went up to Jerusalem" (Gal. 1. 18), he says again that "after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem" (Gal. 2. 1). ^B Therefore, he who at the beginning of the preaching did not fear, now, after such a long time, does he fear? He who did not fear in Jerusalem, does he fear in Antioch? He who, when enemies surrounded him, was not then struck with terror, does he now, with no enemies present, but only brothers and disciples, fret and fear and walk not uprightly? And how could these things make sense — that he would brave the trial when the fire was being kindled and rising to a height, yet fear and tremble when it had been extinguished and had become ash? If Peter were cowardly and unmanly, he would have feared at the beginning of the preaching, in the metropolis of the Jews, where all his enemies were, not after so long a time in a most Christian city, and with friends and kinfolk present. So neither the time, nor the place, nor the quality of the persons allows us to believe what is said, and to condemn Peter for cowardice. Did you understand what was said? Although at the beginning you were admiring Paul, and were struck by his boldness; but lo, the argument has turned the accusation around. But just as I said at [the] beginning, it is of no use to us if, while Paul is doing well, Peter is shown to be doing ill (for the accusations and the shame for us remain, even if this one or that one happens to have been at fault), so now I say the same thing again, that it is no use to me if, after Peter has cleared himself of the accusation, Paul appears to be boldly and inconsiderately accusing a fellow apostle. Come, then, let us absolve him also of these charges. What then? Is Peter *this* kind of person, but Paul not that kind? And what could be more fervent than Paul, who died every day for Christ? ^C But now our discourse is not about courage (for what does this have to do with the matter at hand?), but whether he was hostilely disposed toward the apostle, or if this conflict was born of some vainglory and contentiousness. But neither is this possible to say; may it not be! For not only was Paul a servant of Peter, the chief of those holy men, but he was also simply a servant of all the apostles, and this, indeed, surpassing all in labors; yet he always accounted himself the last of all. "For I am," he says, "the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle" (1 Cor. 15. 9); and not only of the apostles, but of all the saints simply. "For to me," he says, "the least of all the saints, this grace was given" (Ephes. 3. 8).

8. Do you see a contrite soul? Do you see how he places himself lower than all the saints, not just the apostles? He who was so disposed toward all, knew also how much preeminence Peter ought to enjoy, and he needed him more than any man, and just as he was worthy, so he was disposed toward him. And this is clear from what follows. The whole world was looking toward him, the cares of the Churches of the earth everywhere were hanging upon his soul, ten thousand matters surrounded him every day: cares, administrations, corrections, counsels, exhortations, teachings, the management of a thousand affairs; and leaving all those things, he went away to Jerusalem, and there was no other pretext for the journey, but only to see Peter, just as he himself says: "I went up to Jerusalem to visit Peter" (Gal. 1. 18); so much did he honor him, and hold him before all others. What then? After seeing him did he immediately depart? By no means; but he remained with him for fifteen days. If, then, you were to see some general, tell me, noble and wonderful, when the war is joined, the battle line is drawn, the fight is raging, and ten thousand affairs are calling him from all sides, abandoning the battle line to go off to visit some friend, pray, do you seek any greater proof than this, tell me, of his goodwill toward that man? I, for one, would not. Consider this, therefore, in the case of Paul and Peter too. For here, too, a bitter war was joined, and a battle line existed, and a fight, not against men only, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the ^D world-rulers of the darkness of this age (Eph. 6. 12), and a battle for the salvation of men; yet—