On the Cross and the Thief (Homily 1)

ON THE TWO FOLLOWING HOMILIES ON THE CROSS AND THE THIEF

What we observed in the homily on the betrayal of Judas, we find in the present discourse; namely, that Chrysostom, having revised a homily he had delivered some years before, and having changed it in certain places, especially at the beginning, delivered it again upon the return of Good Friday. Not only is the sequence the same, but the words are for the most part identical, and the passages of Scripture are placed in the same order in both. We are quite unable to conjecture which was delivered first and which later. The one which we place after the former one of Henry Savile is much shorter than the other; for the rest, however, all things in both are similar, with one exception at number 5, where the one that is published first starts with: "Today the Lord," and goes like this: "Let us therefore imitate the Lord, and pray for our enemies; for I am resuming the same exhortation; today for the fifth day I am discoursing to you on the same subject." But the one that is placed later says: "Let us therefore imitate the Lord, and pray for our enemies. What I advised yesterday, I now remind you of again, knowing the magnitude of the noble deed," etc. In the former, therefore, one was already dealing with prayer for enemies on the fifth day; whereas in the latter, only on the second: a variation which arose from the diversity of the years in which he delivered each one.

On the Cross and the Thief, and the Second Coming of Christ, and on praying continuously for enemies. Homily I.

^A Quanta nobis bona crux afferat; quivis locus precationi aptus. Today our Lord Jesus Christ is on the cross, and we celebrate a festival, so that you may learn that the cross is a festival and a spiritual feast. Before, indeed, the cross was a name of condemnation, now it has become a matter of honor; before, a symbol of judgment, now an argument of salvation. For this has been the cause of countless good things for us; this has delivered us from error; this has enlightened those sitting in darkness; this has reconciled us who were at enmity with God; it has made those who were alienated close to Him; it has made those who were far off to be near; this is the destruction of enmity, this is the security of peace, it has become a treasury of countless good things. ^B Through it we no longer wander in deserts, for we have recognized the true way; we no longer stay outside the royal halls, for we have found the door; we do not fear the fiery darts of the devil, for we have seen the Fountain. Through it we are no longer in widowhood; for we have received back the Bridegroom; we do not fear the wolf, for we have the Good Shepherd; "For I am," He says, "the good shepherd" (John 10:11). Through it we do not tremble before the tyrant; for we attend upon the King; and for these reasons we hold a festival, celebrating the memory of the cross. Thus also Paul commanded us to keep the festival because of the cross: ^C "Let us keep the festival," he says, "not with the old leaven, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5:8). Then, adding the reason, he continued: "For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us." Do you see how he commands us to celebrate because of the cross? For on the cross Christ was sacrificed. And where there is sacrifice, there is the removal of sins; there is reconciliation with the Master; there is a festival and joy. "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us." And where, tell me, was He sacrificed? On the high scaffold. New is the altar of this sacrifice, since the sacrifice itself is new and paradoxical. ^D For He Himself was both sacrifice and priest: sacrifice according to the flesh, priest according to the spirit. He Himself was both offering and offered according to the flesh. Hear then how Paul declared both of these: "Every high priest," he says, "taken from among men, is appointed for men; from which it is necessary for him to have something also to offer" (Hebr. 5:1). Behold, He offers Himself. And elsewhere he says: "Christ having been once offered to bear the sins of many, will appear to those who wait for Him for salvation" (Hebr. 9:28). Behold, here He was offered, and there He offered Himself. Do you see how He became both sacrifice and priest, and the cross was the altar? And why, you say, is the sacrifice not offered in the temple, but outside the city and the walls? In order that that might be fulfilled, that "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Isai. 53:12). And why is He slaughtered on the high scaffold, and not under a roof? So that He might purge the nature of the air; for this reason it is on high, with no roof overshadowing Him, but the heaven above Him. For the air was indeed purged as the lamb was sacrificed on high; the earth was also purged; for the blood was dripping from the side onto it. For this reason not under a roof, for this reason not in the Jewish temple, so that the Jews might not claim the sacrifice for themselves, nor might you think that this was offered for that nation alone; for this reason outside the city and the walls, so that you might learn that the sacrifice is universal, that the offering is for the whole earth, so that you might learn that the cleansing is common, not partial, as it was among the Jews. For God commanded the Jews to abandon the whole earth for this reason, and to offer sacrifices and pray in one place, because the whole earth was unclean, with the smoke and fat and all other pollutions brought upon it from the sacrifices of the Gentiles; but for us, since Christ has finally come and cleansed the whole inhabited world, every place has become a house of prayer. For this reason also Paul, confidently exhorting...

everywhere, says thus: "I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands." ^A You see how the inhabited world has been cleansed? Therefore, by reason of the place, we are able everywhere to lift up holy hands, since the whole earth has become holier than the holy of holies. There, an irrational sheep was offered; here, one that is spiritual. And by however much the sacrifice is greater, by that much greater is the sanctification. For this reason the Cross is a festival.

^B Do you wish to learn another of its achievements? That which had been closed for five thousand years and more, today He has opened for us. For on this day, and at this very hour, God brought the thief into the garden, having accomplished two great deeds: one, that He opened Paradise; the other, that He brought the thief in. Today, before He restored to us our ancient fatherland, today He brought us back into the ancestral city and bestowed upon us a home common to the nature of man. For, "Today," He says, "you shall be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). What are you saying? You are crucified and nailed fast, and you promise Paradise? "Yes," He says, "so that in the cross you might learn my power." ^C For since the deed was an object of sorrow, so that you might not fix your gaze upon the nature of the cross, but learn the power of the One being crucified, in the cross He performs this miracle, which most of all demonstrates His power. For it was not by raising the dead, not by rebuking the sea and winds, not by casting out demons, but while crucified, nailed fast, covered with insults, spit upon, reviled, and mocked, that He had the power to change the evil mind of the thief, so that you might see His power from both sides. For He shook the whole creation; He split the rocks; He moved and honored the soul of the thief, which was harder than rock. For He says, "Today you shall be with me in Paradise." ^D And yet, the Cherubim were guarding Paradise; but here is the Lord of the Cherubim. The "flaming sword" turns there; but He Himself has authority over both the flame and Gehenna, and over life and death. And yet, no king would ever endure to take a thief, a man, or any other of his servants, and bring him in to sit with him in the city. But Christ did this; and entering into the holy fatherland, He brings the thief in with Him—not trampling upon Paradise, nor defiling it with the thief's feet, but rather honoring it. For it is the honor of Paradise to have such a Lord, who is able to make even a thief worthy of the delight that is in Paradise. For when He brought tax collectors and harlots into the kingdom of heaven, He did not do this to dishonor it, but rather to honor it, showing that such is the Lord of the kingdom of heaven, who could make harlots and tax collectors so radiant as to be worthy of such great honor and gift. ^A For just as we then most admire a physician when we see him freeing men laboring under incurable diseases from their sickness and restoring them to health, so also it is just to admire Christ when He heals incurable wounds, and brings a tax collector and a harlot back to such health that they appear worthy of heaven. And what so great thing did the thief do, you will ask, that he obtained Paradise after the cross? Do you wish that I demonstrate his virtue for you briefly? When Peter denied Him below, then he was confessing Him above. I do not say this to accuse Peter—far be it—but because I wish to exhibit the magnanimity of the thief. ^B The disciple could not endure the threats of a wretched servant girl; but the thief, seeing the whole crowd standing around, shouting, and hurling blasphemies and taunts, paid no heed to them. He did not consider the present vileness of the One being crucified, but running past all these things with the eyes of faith, and casting aside those base impediments, he recognized the Lord of the heavens, and bending his mind toward Him, said: "Remember me, O Lord, when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Let us not, I pray, pass over this thief, nor let us be ashamed to receive a teacher whom our Lord was not ashamed to bring first into Paradise. Let us not be ashamed to receive as a master him who appeared worthy of His conversation, which is in the heavens, before all mankind. But let us examine each thing accurately, that we may learn the power of the cross. ^C He did not say to him, as He did to Peter: "Come after me, and I will make you a fisher of men" (Matt. 4:19); He did not say to him, as to those twelve: "You shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). Nay, He did not even deign to address him with a word. He did not show him a miracle; he did not see the dead being raised, nor did he see demons being driven out, nor the sea being obedient. He did not speak to him of the kingdom of heaven, nor of Gehenna; and yet he confessed Him before all, and that while his companion was reviling Him. ^D For another thief also was crucified with Him, so that it might be fulfilled: "He was reckoned among the transgressors" (Isa. 53:12). For the Jews wanted to obscure His glory, and on every side they insulted what was being done; but the truth shone forth from every side, and was increased by the very impediments.

Chapter 3

Do you see the thief on the cross? Have you seen philosophy in torment, and piety in torture? For that he should not have lost his mind, though nailed fast by the nails, who would not be astonished? But he was not only in his right mind, but having left behind all his own concerns, he was concerned for the affairs of others, having become a teacher on the cross, and rebuking him with these words: "Do you not even fear God?" "Do not attend," he says, "to this inferior tribunal; there is another judge, invisible; there is an incorruptible tribunal. Do not concern yourself because He is condemned below, for the things above are not of this sort. For in this earthly tribunal, the just are sometimes condemned, and the unjust escape punishment;

indeed, judges, whether they will or no, sin in many things, either through ignorance of what is just and being deceived, or even knowingly, having their judgment corrupted by money. But things are not so above; for God is a just judge, and His judgment shall go forth as the light, having no darkness nor ignorance. ^A For so that He might not say that He was condemned and judged below, He brought him toward the tribunal above; He reminded him of that fearful judgment seat, as if to say: "Look there, and you will not bear the condemning vote, nor will you stand with the corrupted judges below, but you will accept the judgment made above." Do you see the philosophy of the thief? Do you see his discernment and instruction? Suddenly, from the cross, he leaped into heaven. Then, also to silence him out of abundance, he says: "Do you not fear, seeing that we are in the same judgment?" What is, "Seeing that we are in the same judgment?" In the same punishment. For is it not the case that you also are upon the cross? Therefore, by reproaching him, he puts himself forward before him. ^B For just as he who is in sins, while accusing another, accuses himself before the other, so also he who is in calamity and reproaches another with calamity, reproaches himself before the other. "Seeing that we are in the same judgment." He reads to him the Apostolic law, saying words of the Gospel: *Judge not, that you be not judged* (Matt. 7:1). "Seeing that we are in the same judgment." What are you doing, O thief? While you attempt to defend Him, did you make yourself a companion of the thief? "Not so," he says, "I correct this suspicion through what follows." For so that you might not, through the fellowship of the punishment, think that he made him a companion of his sin, he added the correction, saying: *And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of what we have done* (Luc. 23:41). Do you see his completed confession? ^C Do you see how on the cross he stripped off his sins? For he says: *Say you your sins first, that you may be justified* (Isai. 43:26). No one forced him, no one compelled him, but he himself made his own proclamation, saying: *And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of what we have done; but this man hath done nothing amiss.* And after these things he says: *Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.* He did not dare to say earlier, "Remember me in your kingdom," until he had laid aside the weight of his sins through confession. Do you see how great a thing confession is? He confessed, and opened paradise; he confessed, and received such boldness that even from robbery he asked for a kingdom. Do you see of how many good things the cross is the cause for us? Do you remember the kingdom? For what do you see that is like that, tell me? ^D Nails and the cross are what is seen; but this very cross, he says, is the symbol of the kingdom. And for this reason I call Him King, because I see Him being crucified; for it is the nature of a king to die for his subjects. He Himself said by Himself: *The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep* (Joan. 10:11). Therefore the good king also lays down his life for those who are ruled. Since, then, He laid down His life, for this reason I call Him King. *Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.*

4.

to correct the disciple; but once he rose, he showed him the form of the nails and the wounds, saying: "Put your hand here, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones" (John 20:27; Luke 24:39). Thus, he will also show the wounds and the cross then, to demonstrate that this is the very same person who was crucified.

^A For not from the cross alone, but from the very words of those on the cross, is it possible to see his ineffable benevolence. For when he was being fastened, and mocked, and spat upon, he said: "Father, forgive them this sin; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). And the one being crucified prays for those crucifying him! Although they were saying the opposite: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe in you" (Matt 27:40, 42). And yet, he did not come down from the cross for this very reason: because he is the Son of God; and for this reason he came, that he might be crucified for us. "Come down from the cross," they say, "and we will believe in you." These words are a pretext for unbelief. For it was much greater to rise from the grave with the stone set over it than to come down from the cross; and it was much greater to bring Lazarus, bound and four days dead, out from the tomb with the burial wrappings, than to come down from the cross. Those men, therefore, were saying: "If you are the Son of God, save yourself" (Matt 27:40); but he was doing everything to save even those who were loading him with insults, saying: "Forgive them the sin; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). ^B What then? Did he forgive them the sin? He would have surely forgiven them if they had wished to repent. For if he had not forgiven them the sin, Paul would never have become an apostle; if he had not forgiven them the sin, three thousand would not have believed, nor five thousand, nor many tens of thousands. For that many tens of thousands of Jews did believe, hear what the apostles say to Paul: "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are who have believed" (Acts 21:20).

Let us therefore imitate the Master, and let us pray for our enemies. For I am resuming the same exhortation; I have been discoursing to you on this subject for five days, not to reproach you as if you were disobedient—heaven forbid—but hoping that you will be persuaded. But if any are hard, irascible, and difficult to manage, so that they disregard the things said about prayer, may they—at least shamed by the number of days—put aside enmities and discord. Imitate the Master: he was crucified, and he appealed to the Father for those crucifying him. ^C And how, you ask, can I imitate the Master? If you wish, you can; for if you could not imitate him, why did he say, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart" (Matt 11:29)? "Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1). But if you do not wish to imitate the Master, imitate a fellow servant, namely Stephen the apostle; for he too imitated the Master. And just as Christ, among those crucifying him, letting go of the cross and letting go of the things pertaining to himself, was praying to the Father for those crucifying him; so too did the servant, among those stoning him, beset by all, receiving the blows of the stones, letting go of the pain by which he was being afflicted from this, say: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). Do you see how the Master speaks? Do you see how the servant prays? The one says: "Father, forgive them this sin; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34); the other says, "Do not hold this sin against them." But that you may learn that he prays zealously, he does not pray standing, though covered in stones, but having placed his knees on the ground, he speaks with compunction and with much commiseration.

^D Shall I show you another fellow servant who suffered far graver things than he did? Paul says: "By the Jews I was beaten three times with rods, once I was stoned, a night and a day I spent in the deep" (2 Cor 11:24-25). What then after these things? "I wished," he says, "myself to be accursed for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom 9:3). Do you wish to see another, not from the New, but from the Old Testament? For this is most marvelous of all, that where it was not commanded to love one's enemies, but rather [to seek] "eye for eye, and tooth for tooth" (Exod 21:24-25), and to render evil for evil, they reached apostolic philosophy. Hear what Moses says, who was often stoned by the Jews and treated with contempt: "If you forgive them the sin, forgive; but if not, blot me also out of the book which you have written" (Exod 32:32). [Asking] why he preferred the salvation of others to his own? "You have not sinned, and why do you wish to be a sharer in their punishment?" Because, he says, when the rest are faring badly, I do not perceive the sense of my own prosperity. These examples would be enough; but for our greater correction, I shall bring into our midst another who makes use of the same philosophy. For David, that blessed and gentle man, after the whole army had defected, and his son Absalom, plotting his murder, had usurped the tyranny; then, with God being incited to anger over that crime (for what does it matter if he puts forward another cause for the slaughter?), and with the angel himself sending, who was bringing the plague from above with a drawn sword—seeing, I say, David, that all were falling by the sword, what does he say? "I, the shepherd, have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done unjustly; let your hand be upon me and upon the house of my father" (2 Sam 24:17). Shall I show you another? For there will not be wanting another who philosophizes in the same way. Samuel that prophet was treated with insult by the Jews, deposed, held in contempt, so that God, wishing to console him, said: "It is not you they have despised, but me" (1 Sam 8:7). What therefore did he, so despised, rejected, and treated with insult, say? "Far be it from me that I should so sin, that I should cease to pray for you to the Lord, my enemies." Far be it from me that I should so sin as to cease to pray for you! Christ says: "Father, forgive them the sin; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34); Stephen says: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60); Paul, however, [says:] "I wished to be accursed for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom 9:3). Moses says: "If you forgive them the sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written" (Exod 32:32). David says: "Let your hand be against me and against the house of my father" (2 Sam 24:17). Samuel says: "Far be it from me to sin, that I should cease to pray for you to the Lord" (1 Sam 12:23). What forgiveness, therefore, shall we obtain, with the Master and servants of both the New and Old Testaments urging us to pray for our enemies, if [alt-version omitted]

and pray for our enemies? Or, rather, should we do the opposite and pray against our enemies? No, I beg you, no, brethren. For as the examples are more numerous, so much greater is the punishment if we do not imitate them. It is of greater value to pray for enemies than for friends; for the latter does not benefit you as much as the former. "For if you love those who love you," He says, "you do nothing great; for even the tax collectors do the same." So if we pray for our friends, we have not yet become better than the heathen or the tax collectors; but when we love our enemies, we have become, as far as human capacity allows, like God, in that He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. Let us therefore become like the Father. "Be," He says, "like your Father which is in heaven," that we may also be found worthy of the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

A Sermon on the Cross and on the Confession of the Thief, delivered on the Holy and Great Friday; and on the fact that we ought to pray for our enemies. Homily II.

1. ^A We are celebrating a feast and a festival today, beloved; for our Master is found nailed with nails upon the cross. And do not be surprised if, while the affair is a dismal one, we are celebrating a feast; for all such spiritual things are contrary to human custom. And that you may know this accurately, the cross was formerly a name of condemnation and punishment, but now it has become a thing precious and desirable; the cross was formerly a subject of shame and punishment, but now it has become an occasion of glory and honor. And that the cross is glory, hear Christ saying: "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was" (John 17:5), calling the cross glory. The cross is the head of our salvation; the cross is the subject of countless good things. Through it, we who were formerly dishonored and cast out, have now been received into the rank of sons; through it, we no longer wander, but have known the truth; through it, we who formerly worshipped wood and stones, have now known the Creator of all things; through it, we who were slaves of sin have been led up into the freedom of righteousness; through it, the earth has henceforth become heaven. It has freed us from error, it has guided us to the truth, it has brought about the reconciliation of God to men, it has raised us from the abyss of wickedness to the very summit of virtue, it has extinguished the error of demons, it has destroyed their deception. Through it, there is no longer smoke and incense and the shedding of irrational blood, but everywhere spiritual worship and hymns and prayers; through it, demons flee, through it, the devil is put to flight, ^B through it, human nature vies with the angelic life, through it, virginity is practiced upon the earth. Ever since He came forth from the Virgin, human nature has known the way of this virtue. It has illuminated us as we sat in darkness, it has reconciled us who were once at war, it has made those who were far off to be near, it has brought those who were alienated into intimacy, it has made those who had become strangers citizens of heaven, it has become for us the destruction of wars, it has become for us the security of peace. Through it, we no longer fear the burning darts of the devil; for we have found the fountain of life. Through it, we are not in widowhood; for we have received back the Bridegroom. Through it, we no longer fear the wolf; for we have known the good Shepherd. "For I am," He says, "the good shepherd" (John 10:11). Through it, we no longer shudder at the tyrant; for we have fled for refuge to the King. Do you see of how many good things the cross is the subject for us? Justly, therefore, do we celebrate a feast. Thus also Paul exhorts us to celebrate, saying: "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5:8). And for what reason do you bid us celebrate, O blessed Paul? Tell us the cause. "For Christ our Passover," he says, "is sacrificed for us" (Ibid. 7). Do you see how the cross is a feast? Have you learned that it is for the sake of the cross that he bids us celebrate? For He was sacrificed on the cross; and where there is sacrifice, there is the remission of sins, there is the reconciliation of the Master, ^C there is feast and joy. "Christ our Passover," he says, "is sacrificed for us." Where was He sacrificed, tell me? Upon the high cross. New and strange is the altar, because strange and changed is the sacrifice. For He Himself is both sacrifice and priest; sacrifice according to the flesh, but priest according to the spirit; He Himself both offered and was offered. Hear again Paul saying: "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins" (Heb. 5:1). It is necessary, therefore, that this One also should have something to offer. Behold, for the time being, He offers Himself. Elsewhere, again, he says: "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9:28). Behold, here He was offered, there He offered Himself. You see how He became both sacrifice and priest, and the cross was the altar? But it is necessary to learn for what reason the sacrifice is not offered in the temple—I mean in the Jewish temple—but outside the city, outside the walls. For He was crucified outside the city, just like some criminal, so that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, that "he was numbered with the transgressors" (Isa. 53:12).

Why, then, outside the city, on high, and not under some roof? Not even this is without reason, but that He might purify the nature of the air. For this reason, He was lifted up high, and with no roof overhanging, but with the heaven itself covering Him instead of a roof, so that the heaven might be purified once and for all—the sheep being sacrificed on high. It was cleansed. ^D