The Poverty of Judas and the Fate of the Rich
Was he more wretched than Judas Iscariot? And he gained nothing from his poverty toward salvation, but while dining with the eleven poor ones and with the philosophers, and even with the Lord himself, who through us became voluntarily poor, he was driven there by a bad intention toward the love of money, and from there he contrived the betrayal.
It is also worthy to test the departure of another of the dead. For the poor man, having fallen asleep, had angels as guards and attendants, leading him with good hope to the place of rest; but the rich man, having died, is said to have been buried (Luke 16:22). For there is nothing like using that scriptural word, which through a single word sufficiently interprets the dishonorable dissolution of the rich.
For the sinner finishing his life is truly being buried, the body being earthly and of the soil, and the soul, having drawn its nature toward the flesh's longing for matter, leaving behind no useful memorial of his own life, and being covered shamefully and finishing the death of the pastures. For the body has a tomb, but the soul has Hades; two dark prisons being divided for the punishment of the evil creature.
And who would not reproach the wretched one for his thoughtlessness? Whenever he was upon the earth, boasting, acting great, thinking himself above all the living and of the same nature and...
Greek
Ἰσκαριώτου πενέστερον; Καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπώνατο τῆς ἐνδείας εἰς σωτηρίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἕνδεκα πένησι καὶ φιλοσόφοις συνδιαιτώμενος καὶ αὐτῷ γε τῷ Κυρίῳ, τῷ δι' ἡμᾶς αὐθαιρέτως πτωχεύσαντι, κακίᾳ προαιρέσεως εἰς φιλαργυρίαν παρενεχθεὶς ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τὴν προδοσίαν ἐρᾳδιούργησεν. 1.11.1 Ἄξιον δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐκφορὰν ἑκατέρου τῶν τεθνηκότων συνετῶς δοκιμάσαι. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πτωχὸς κοιμηθεὶς ἀγγέλους εἶχεν δορυφόρους καὶ θεραπευτάς, ἄγοντας αὐτὸν μετὰ καλῆς τῆς ἐλπίδος εἰς τὸν τόπον τῆς ἀναπαύσεως· ὁ δὲ πλούσιος ἀποθανών, φησίν, ἐτάφη. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οἷον αὐτῇ χρήσασθαι τῇ λέξει τῇ γραφικῇ, ἱκανῶς διὰ μιᾶς λέξεως ἑρμηνευούσῃ τὴν ἄτιμον τοῦ πλουσίου κατάλυσιν. 1.11.2 Ὁ γὰρ ἁμαρτωλὸς τελευτῶν ὄντως θάπτεται, χθόνιος ὢν τὸ σῶμα, γήινος δὲ καὶ τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ τὸ φυσικὸν ἐκείνης ἀξίωμα τῇ συμπαθείᾳ τῆς σαρκὸς πρὸς τὴν ὕλην καταγαγών, οὐδὲν χρηστὸν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ζωῆς καταλιμπάνων ὑπόμνημα, λήθῃ δὲ ἀτίμῳ καλυπτόμενος καὶ τὸν τῶν βοσκημάτων θάνατον τελευτῶν. Τάφος μὲν γὰρ ἔχει τὸ σῶμα, ᾅδης δὲ τὴν ψυχήν· δύο σκοτεινὰ δεσμωτήρια μεριζόμενα τοῦ πονηροῦ ζῴου τὴν τιμωρίαν. 1.11.3 Καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν τῆς ἀβουλίας τὸν ἄθλιον καταμέμψαιτο; ἡνίκα μὲν ὑπὲρ γῆς ἦν γαυριῶντα, μεγαλαυχούμενον, πάντων ὑπερφρονοῦντα τῶν συζώντων καὶ ὁμοφύλων καὶ
About this text
Vivid sermons against greed and empty vanity, and for mercy to the poor and the enslaved.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 40 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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