The Judgment and the Heavenly Assembly
He was training himself. What are you waiting for, that the tomb becomes the end of your life? Wait for the tomb to become the end of your life, so that through the present one you may be transformed into the coming one; love works of righteousness; it is a tomb in which we are being dissolved, a tomb in which the earthly vessel is being made to vanish.
Let us flee the coming judgment, brothers, I beg you. These things must be said by those suffering, and must be heard by those suffering; let us take up a longing for righteousness. See how the prophet cries out: 'Woe is me toward the day of the Lord, for the day of the Lord is near' (Zephaniah 1:15). If a prophet trembles remembering the day, shall we, who are responsible for myriads of sins, remember without fear?
Let us dissemble the judge through repentance, let us blot out our sins, let us fear that terrible voice saying, 'Whosoever denies me before men (not denying by word, but denying by ways/manner, denies), I will deny him' (Matthew 10:33), I too will deny him before my Father. Whosoever should confess me, I too will confess him before my Father. If the words being examined are fearsome, are the things being seen not rather more fearsome?
Consider, brother, the judge of the inhabited world sitting, angels standing by him, archangels guarding, the Cherubim glorifying, the super-cosmic powers, the super-celestial armies, and in all these, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs, and the kings in the world, rulers, judges, the powerful, the rich, the poor, the commoners, the wise, all these standing before the tribunal, and speaking the judge before so many heavenly and earthly witnesses, and denying the others before the Father: 'For I will deny him,' he says, 'him who denies me, before my Father.'
Consider him saying: 'Father, this one has exhausted my faith, this one has persecuted my own, this one has insulted my Church, this one has pillaged my own, this one has twisted the Word, this one has trampled the proclamation.' He says these things, not teaching those who do not know the Father, but accusing the enemy through indictment. Consider the judge saying, when he calls those of the earth who are bound in fetters (For to bind, he says, the rulers...
(those in the fields, and the glorious ones in iron shackles), the judged ones standing with fear, the powerful ones, and the Savior saying: 'These perverted my word of truth, these wrote against my law, these invalidated my dogma, these killed my apostles, these tortured my martyrs.'
Consider, while the King speaks, how the standing angels cry out terribly, threaten frighteningly, already consuming the sinner with their gaze; consider the angels indignant, the archangels moved, the powers shaken, the Father indignant, the Holy Spirit being angry, Him being cast out with great shame, being cast out not only from salvation but also being exiled to condemnation. For it is not only fearful not to be saved, nor to reign, but also to be handed over to the fire (Matt 25:41). He who confesses in me, I will confess in him (Luke 18:14).
Consider how much glory, how much boasting, how much a crown, when the judge says: 'This one kept my word, this one proclaimed my faith, this one confirmed my word, this one did not overlook the poor, this one trampled greed and prized righteousness, this one laughed at the world as if it did not exist and loved the coming world, this one pursued my kingdom (Matt 6:33); this one honored my word'; honor him, Father. When we say these things in a figurative way, we do not divide the value, nor do we dissolve the authority, but the indignation of the Judge is shown by the form of the category; and all these things happen for the salvation of those confessing and for the condemnation of those being unfaithful.
And what is more fearful of all is when you consider Michael and Gabriel standing, and all the angelic hosts sitting, the sons of Zebedee sitting, Paul and Peter sitting, those from among men, while angels stand with fear, and men sit with boldness. Consider the standing angels and the fishermen and the tax collectors sitting, and let us say also with them: 'How great is the multitude of your kindness, Lord!' Zacchaeus sits (Luke 19:1-10), Paul and Peter sit, and Michael stands. We are not saying foreign names,
Greek
ἐγυμνάζετο. Τί ἀναμένεις τὸν τάφον τέλος γενέσθαι σοι τοῦ βίου; Ἀνάμεινον τὸν τάφον τέλος γενέσθαι σοι τῆς ζωῆς, ἵνα διὰ τῆς παρούσης εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν διαπορθμευθῇς· ἀγάπησον ἔργα δικαιοσύνης· τάφος ἐστὶν, ἐν ᾧ διαλυόμεθα, τάφος ἐν ᾧ ἀφανίζεται τὸ γήϊνον σκεῦος. Φύγωμεν τὴν μέλλουσαν κρίσιν, ἀδελφοὶ, δέομαι. Ταῦτα πάσχοντας δεῖ λέγειν, καὶ πάσχοντας ἀκούειν· ἀναλάβωμεν πόθον δικαιοσύνης. Βλέπε, πῶς βοᾷ ὁ προφήτης· Οἴμοι ἐγὼ εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ Κυρίου, ὅτι ἐγγὺς ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου. Εἰ προφήτης μεμνημένος τῆς ἡμέρας τρέμει, ἡμεῖς οἱ ὑπεύθυνοι μυρίοις ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἄνευ φόβου μνημονεύσομεν; ∆υσωπήσωμεν τὸν κριτὴν διὰ μετανοίας, ἐξαλείψωμεν ἡμῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, φοβηθῶμεν ἐκείνην τὴν φοβερὰν φωνὴν τὴν λέγουσαν, Ὃς ἂν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων (οὐχ ὁ λόγῳ δὲ ἀρνούμενος, ἀλλ' ὁ τοῖς τρόποις ἀρνούμενος, ἀρνεῖται), ἀρνήσομαι αὐτὸν κἀγὼ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Πατρός μου. Ὃς ἂν ἐξομολογήσειεν ἐμὲ, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Πατρός μου. Εἰ τὰ ῥήματα ἐξεταζόμενα, φοβερὰ, τὰ πράγματα ὁρώμενα, οὐ μᾶλλον φοβερώτερα; Ἐννόησον, ἀδελφὲ, τὸν κριτὴν τῆς οἰκουμένης καθήμενον, ἀγγέλους παρεστῶτας, ἀρχαγγέλους δορυφοροῦντας, τὰ Χερουβὶμ δοξάζοντα, τὰς ὑπερκοσμίους δυνάμεις, τὰς ὑπερουρανίους στρατιὰς, καὶ ἐν τούτοις πᾶσι πατριάρχας, προφήτας, ἀποστόλους, εὐαγγελιστὰς, μάρτυρας, καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ βασιλεῖς, ἄρχοντας, κριτὰς, δυνάστας, πλουσίους, πένητας, ἰδιώτας, σοφοὺς, πάντας τούτους πρὸ τοῦ βήματος ἑστῶτας, καὶ ἐπὶ τοσούτων μαρτύρων οὐρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων λέγοντα 59.608 τὸν κριτὴν, καὶ ἀρνούμενον τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρός· Ἀρνήσομαι γὰρ αὐτὸν, φησὶ, τὸν ἀρνούμενόν με, ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Πατρός μου. ϛʹ. Ἐννόησον αὐτὸν λέγοντα· Πάτερ, οὗτός μου τὴν πίστιν ἐξουθένησεν, οὗτός μου τοὺς ἰδίους ἐδίωξεν, οὗτός μου τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ὕβρισεν, οὗτός μου τοὺς ἰδίους ἐστηλίτευσεν, οὗτός μου τὸν λόγον διέπτυσεν, οὗτός μου τὸ κήρυγμα κατεπάτησε. Λέγει δὲ ταῦτα, οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντα τὸν Πατέρα διδάσκων, ἀλλὰ τῇ κατηγορίᾳ τὸν ἐχθρὸν στηλιτεύων. Ἐννόησον λέγοντα τὸν κριτὴν, ὅταν καλέσῃ τοὺς ἐνδόξους τῆς γῆς δεδεμένους χειροπέδαις (Τοῦ δῆσαι γὰρ, φησὶ, τοὺς ἄρχοντας αὐτῶν ἐν πέδαις, καὶ τοὺς ἐνδόξους αὐτῶν ἐν χειροπέδαις σιδηραῖς), παρεστῶτας μετὰ φόβου τοὺς κρινομένους, τοὺς δυνάστας, καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα λέγοντα· Οὗτοί μου τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας διέπτυσαν, οὗτοί μου τὸν νόμον παρεγράψαντο, οὗτοί μου τὸ δόγμα ἠκύρωσαν, οὗτοι τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐκόλασαν, οὗτοι τοὺς μάρτυρας ἐβασάνισαν. Ταῦτα λέγει καὶ ἐννόησον, Βασιλέως φθεγγομένου, πῶς οἱ παρεστῶτες ἄγγελοι νεύουσι φοβερὸν, ἀπειλοῦσι φρικτὸν, τῷ βλέμματι ἤδη τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἀναλίσκοντες· ἐννόησον τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἀγανακτοῦντας, ἀρχαγγέλους κινουμένους, τὰς δυνάμεις σαλευομένας, τὸν Πατέρα ἀγανακτοῦντα, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὀργιζόμενον, ἐκεῖνον μετὰ μεγάλης αἰσχύνης ἐκβαλλόμενον, ἐκβαλλόμενον δὲ οὐ τῆς σωτηρίας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς κατάκρισιν ἐξοριζόμενον. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ φοβερὸν τὸ μὴ σωθῆναι μόνον, μηδὲ βασιλεῦσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ πυρὶ παραδοθῆναι. Ὃς δ' ἂν ἐξομολογήσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁμολογήσω ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἐννόησον, πόση δόξα, πόσον καύχημα, πόσος στέφανος, ὅταν εἴπῃ ὁ κριτής· Οὗτός μου τὸν λόγον ἐτήρησεν, οὗτός μου τὴν πίστιν ἐκήρυξεν, οὗτός μου τὸν λόγον ἐβεβαίωσεν, οὗτός μου τὸν πτωχὸν οὐ παρεῖδεν, οὗτος τὴν πλεονεξίαν ἐπάτησε, καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην προετίμησεν, οὗτος κατεγέλασε τοῦ κόσμου ὡς μὴ ὄντος, καὶ ἠγάπησε τὸν μέλλοντα κόσμον, οὗτός μου τὴν βασιλείαν διεπόρθμευσεν· οὗτός μου τὸν λόγον ἐτίμησε· τίμησον αὐτὸν, Πάτερ. Ὅταν δὲ ταῦτα λέγωμεν ἠθοποιοῦντες, οὐ μερίζομεν τὴν ἀξίαν, οὔτε λύομεν τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ τῷ σχήματι τῆς κατηγορίας δείκνυται ἡ ἀγανάκτησις τοῦ Κριτοῦ· καὶ γίνεται ταῦτα πάντα εἰς σωτηρίαν μὲν τῶν ὁμολογούντων, εἰς κατάκρισιν δὲ τῶν ἀπιστούντων. Τὸ δὲ πάντων φοβερώτερον, ὅταν ἐννοήσῃς ἑστῶτα μὲν τὸν Μιχαὴλ καὶ Γαβριὴλ, καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀγγελικὰς στρατιὰς, καθεζομένους δὲ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου, καθεζόμενον Παῦλον καὶ Πέτρον, τοὺς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ἀγγέλους δὲ φόβῳ παρεστῶτας, καὶ ἀνθρώπους παῤῥησίᾳ καθεζομένους. Ἐννόησον παρεστῶτας ἀγγέλους καὶ τοὺς ἁλιεῖς καὶ τοὺς τελώνας καθεζομένους, καὶ εἴπωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς μετ' αὐτῶν. Ὡς πολὺ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς χρηστότητός σου, Κύριε! Κάθηται Ζακχαῖος, κάθηται Παῦλος καὶ Πέτρος, καὶ παρέστηκεν ὁ Μιχαήλ. Οὐκ ὀνόματα ξένα λέγομεν,
About this text
Two healings of blindness, physical and spiritual: the blind man and Zacchaeus side by side.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 65 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.