γʹ. Οὐκοῦν εἰς τοῦτο ἐχάρισεν, εἰς
ἔπαινον δόξης [6] τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἵνα δείξῃ τὴν χάριν αὐτοῦ, μένωμεν ἐν
αὐτῇ. Εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης. Τί ἐστι τοῦτο; ἵνα τις αὐτὸν ἐπαινέσῃ; ἵνα τις δοξάσῃ;
ἡμεῖς, ἄγγελοι, ἀρχάγγελοι, ἀλλὰ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Οὐδέν· ἀνενδεὲς γὰρ
τὸ θεῖον. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν βούλεται ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ δοξάζεσθαι παρ’ ἡμῶν; Ὥστε
τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην θερμοτέραν ἡμῖν ἐγγενέσθαι. Οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἐφίεται τῶν παρ’ ἡμῶν,
ἀλλ’ ἡ τῆς σωτηρίας μόνης, οὐ διακονίας, οὐ δόξης, οὐκ ἄλλου οὐδενός, καὶ πάντα
διὰ τοῦτο ποιεῖ. Ὁ γὰρ ἐπαινῶν καὶ θαυμάζων τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν χάριν γεγενημένην,
προσεκτικώτερος ἔσται καὶ σπουδαιότερος.
Ἥς ἐχαρίτωσεν ἡμᾶς, φησί. Οὐχ εἶπεν,
Ἥς ἐχαρίσατο, ἀλλ’, Ἐχαρίτωσεν ἡμᾶς· τουτέστιν οὐ μόνον ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπήλλαξε, ἀλλὰ
καὶ ἐπεράστους ἐποίησε. Καθάπερ ἂν εἴ τις λαβὼν ψωραλέον τινά, καὶ λιμῷ καὶ νόσῳ
διεφθαρμένον, καὶ γήρᾳ καὶ πενίᾳ καὶ λιμῷ, εὐθὺς εὔμορφον νεώτερον ἐργάσαστο,
πάντας ἀνθρώπους νικῶντα τῷ κάλλει, σφοδρὰν μὲν τὴν αὐγὴν ἀφίεντα ἀπὸ τῶν παρειῶν,
καὶ τὰς μαρμαρυγὰς τοῦ ἡλίου ἀποκρύπτοντα ταῖς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν βολαῖς, εἶτα ἐν αὐτῷ
καταστήσειε τῷ τῆς ἡλικίας ἄνθει, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀλουργίδα περιβάλλοι καὶ
διάδημα καὶ πάντα τὸν κόσμον τὸν βασιλικόν· οὕτως ἐξήσκησε τὴν ψυχήν ἡμῶν, καὶ
κακὴν καὶ ποθεινὴν καὶ ἐπέραστον ἐποίησεν. Ἐπιθυμήσουσι γὰρ ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι
πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην ψυχήν, ἀρχάγγελοι, πᾶσαι αἱ ἄλλαι δυνάμεις. Οὕτως ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐπιχάριτας
ἐποίησε, καὶ αὐτῷ ποθεινούς. Ἐπιθυμήσει γάρ, φησί, ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους σου.
Ὅρα γὰρ οἷα πρὸ τούτου ἐπιβλαβῆ
φθεγγόμενοι, οἷα κεχαριτωμένα ῥήματα φθεγγόμεθα νῦν. Οὐκέτι πλοῦτον θαυμάζομεν,
οὐκέτι τὰ ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλὰ τὰ οὐράνια καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Οὐχὶ χαρίεν ἐκεῖνο
τὸ παιδίον εἶναί φαμεν; ὅπερ ἂν μετὰ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ὥρας καὶ πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν ἐν
τοῖς ῥήμασι χάριν; Τοιοῦτοί εἰσιν οἱ πιστοί. Ὅρα οἷα φθέγγονται οἱ μεμνημένοι.
Τί γὰρ χαριέστερον ἐκείνου τοῦ στόματος γένοιτ’ ἄν, τοῦ τὰ θεωμαστὰ ῥήματα ἀφιέντος,
καὶ καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ καὶ καθαροῖς χείλεσι μεταλαμβάνοντος τραπέζης μυστικῆς τοιαύτης
μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἐμπρότητος καὶ τῆς παρρησίας; τί χαριέστερον τῶν ῥημάτων, δι’ ὧν
ἀποτασσόμεθα τῷ διαβόλῳ; δι’ ὧν συντασσόμεθα τῷ Χριστῷ; τῆς ὁμολογίας ἐκείνης τῆς
πρὸ τοῦ λουτροῦ; τῆς μετὰ τὸ λουτρόν; Ἐννοήσωμεν ὅσοι διεφθείραμεν τὸ βάπτισμα,
καὶ στενάξωμεν, ἵνα δυνηθῶμεν αὐτὸ πάλιν ἀναλαβεῖν. Διὰ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου, φησί, ἐν
ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ. Πῶς; Οὐ μόνον ὅτι τὸν Υἱὸν ἔδωκε
θαυμαστόν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ, ὥστε σφαγῆναι αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγαπώμενον.
Πολλὴ ἡ ὑπερβολή· τὸν ἀγαπώμενον ὑπὲρ τῶν μισουμένων ἔδωκεν. Ὅρα πόσου ἡμᾶς τιμᾷ.
Εἰ, ὅτε αὐτὸν ἐμισοῦμεν καὶ ἐχθροὶ ἦμεν, καὶ ἀγαπώμενον [7] ἔδωκε· τί οὖν
ποιήσει λοιπὸν, ὅταν τούτῳ καταλλαγῶμεν διὰ τῆς χάριτος; Τὴν ἄφεσιν, φησί, τῶν
παραπτωμάτων. Ἄνωθεν κάτω κάτεισι· πρότερον υἱοθεσίαν εἰπὼν καὶ ἁγιασμὸν καὶ ἀμώμους,
καὶ τότε τὸ πάθος, οὐ μετρίων, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῶν μεγάλων ἐπὶ τὰ μικρὰ κατήγων τὸν
λόγον, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τῶν μικρῶν ἐπὶ τὰ μεγάλα ἀνιών. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω μέγα, ὡς τὸ αἷμα
ἐκχυθῆναι τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· καὶ τῆς υἱοθεσίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δωρεῶν τοῦτο μεῖζον,
τὸ μηδὲ τοῦ Υἱοῦ φείσασθαι. Μέγα γὰρ τὸ ἀφεθῆναι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀλλὰ τὸ μεῖζον,
τὸ διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Δεσποτικοῦ. Ὅτι γὰρ τοῦτο πολλῷ μεῖζον ἁπάντων, ὅρα πῶς
καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀνεβόησε λέγων· Κατὰ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἐπερίσσευσεν
εἰς ἡμᾶς. Πλοῦτος μὲν γὰρ κἀκεῖνος, πολλῷ δὲ πλείων οὗτος. Ἥς ἐπερίσσευσε,
φησίν, εἰς ἡμᾶς. Καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ, Ἐπερίσσευσε, τουτέστιν, ἀφάτως ἐξεχύθη. Οὐκ ἔνεστι
λόγῳ παραστῆσαι, ὧν διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐπειράθημεν. Πλοῦτός γάρ ἐστι, πλοῦτος
περισσεύων, πλοῦτος οὐκ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ Θεοῦ, ὥστε πανταχόθεν ἀμήχανον αὐτὸν
λεχθῆναι. Δεικνὺς δὲ πῶς εἰς περισσείαν ἔδωκεν, Ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ φρονήσει, φησὶ,
γνωρίσας ἡμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ· τουτέστι, σοφοὺς καὶ φρονίμους
ποιήσας τὴν ὄντως σοφίαν, τὴν ὄντως φρόνησιν. (John Chrysostom, Homily 1 on the
Epistle to the Ephesians [Migne, PG 62:13-14])
So, then, it was for this that he bestowed grace, “unto
the praise of the glory” [6] of his grace, and in order that he might show his
grace, let us remain in it. “Unto the praise of glory”—what does this mean? Is
it that someone may praise him? That someone may glorify him? We, angels,
archangels, or rather the whole creation? And what of that? Nothing; for the
divine nature lacks nothing. Why then does he desire to be praised and
glorified by us? So that the love we have for him may become warmer in us. For
he seeks nothing from us, except our salvation alone—not service, not glory,
not anything else—and for this reason he does everything. For the one who
praises and marvels at the grace shown toward him will be more attentive and
more earnest.
“By which he graced us,” he says. He did not say, “by
which he bestowed grace upon us,” but “he graced us”; that is, he not only
freed us from sins, but also made us lovable. Just as if someone took a person
covered with scabies, corrupted by famine and disease, worn down by old age,
poverty, and hunger, and immediately made him into a handsome young man, one
who surpasses all men in beauty, sending forth a strong radiance from his
cheeks and hiding the sun’s glare with the rays of his eyes, then setting him
in the bloom of youth and afterward clothing him with purple and a diadem and
all the royal splendor—so he fashioned our soul, and made it both evil and
desirable and lovable. For angels long to bend down and look upon such a soul,
archangels, and all the other powers. So he made us charming and desirable to
himself. “For the king,” he says, “will desire your beauty.”
See, then, what sort of words we spoke before, and what
words full of grace we speak now. We no longer admire wealth, no longer the
things here below, but the things in heaven and in the heavens. Do we not say
that even that child is lovely, one who, together with the bloom of the body,
also has much grace in speech? Such are the faithful. See what those who
remember say. For what could be more lovely than that mouth, which utters the
marvelous words and receives with a pure heart and pure lips the table of that
mystic feast with such boldness and freedom? What words are more gracious than
those by which we renounce the devil? By which we enlist under Christ? That
confession before baptism? That after baptism? Let all of us who have corrupted
baptism consider it, and let us groan, so that we may be able to take it up
again. “Through the Beloved,” he says, “in whom we have redemption through his
blood.” How? Not only because he gave his Son—an astonishing thing—but because
he gave him in this very way, so that the beloved one should be slain. Great is
the excess of it: he gave the beloved one for those who were hated. See how
much he honors us. If, when we hated him and were enemies, he gave his Beloved
[7], what then will he do once we are reconciled to him through grace? “The
forgiveness,” he says, “of transgressions.” He moves from above to below: first
speaking of adoption, holiness, and blamelessness, and then of the Passion; not
descending from the greater to the lesser, but ascending from the lesser to the
greater. For nothing is so great as the blood of God being poured out for us;
and among the gifts of adoption and the rest, this is greater still—that he did
not spare even his Son. Great indeed is the forgiveness of sins, but greater
still is what comes through the blood of the Master. That this is much greater
than everything else, see how he also cries out here, saying, “According to the
riches of his grace, which he has abounded toward us.” For that was riches too,
but this is far more. “Which he has abounded,” he says, “toward us.” Both
“riches” and “he abounded” mean that it has been poured out beyond measure. It
cannot be set forth in words, though we have experienced it through the works
themselves. For this is riches—abounding riches—riches not of men but of God,
so that it is impossible to describe it from every side. And showing how he
gave it in abundance, he says, “In all wisdom and prudence, having made known
to us the mystery of his will”; that is, by making us wise and prudent, he made
us possess true wisdom, true prudence.
