Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews

NPNF (V1-14)St. Chrysostomburdensome and troublesome, but wait a little while, and I shall depart.” This too he intended insaying,Ver. 8 . “But Me ye have not always.” 1852But none of these things turned back 1853 that savage madman; yet in truth Jesus said and didfar more than this, He washed his feet that night, made him a sharer in the table and the salt, a thingwhich is wont to restrain even the souls of robbers, and spake other words, enough to melt a stone,and this, not long before, but on the very day, in order that not even time might cause it to beforgotten. But he stood out against all.[3.] For a dreadful, a dreadful thing is the love of money, it disables both eyes and ears, andmakes men worse to deal with than a wild beast, allowing a man to consider neither conscience,nor friendship, nor fellowship, nor the salvation of his own soul, but having withdrawn them atonce from all these things, like some harsh mistress, 1854 it makes those captured by it its slaves.And the dreadful part of so bitter a slavery is, that it persuades them even to be grateful for it; andthe more they become enslaved, the more doth their pleasure increase; and in this way especiallythe malady becomes incurable, in this way the monster becomes hard to conquer. This made Gehazia leper instead of a disciple and a prophet; this destroyed Ananias and her with him; 1855 this madeJudas a traitor; this corrupted the rulers of the Jews, who received gifts, and became the partnersof thieves. This hath brought in ten thousand wars, filling the ways with blood, the cities withwailings and lamentations. This hath made meals to become impure, and tables accursed, and hathfilled food with transgression; therefore hath Paul called it “idolatry”: ( Col. iii. 5 ), and not evenso hath he deterred men from it. And why calleth he it “idolatry”? Many possess wealth, and darenot use it, but consecrate it, handing it down untouched, not daring to touch it, as though it weresome dedicated thing. And if at any time they are forced to do so, they feel as though they had donesomething unlawful. Besides, as the Greek carefully tends his graven image, 1856 so thou entrusteththy gold to doors and bars; providing a chest instead of a shrine, and laying it up in silver vessels.But thou dost not bow down to it as he to the image? Yet thou showest all kind of attention to it.Again, he would rather give up his eyes or his life than his graven image. So also would thosewho love gold. “But,” saith one, “I worship not the gold.” Neither doth he, he saith, worship theimage, but the devil that dwelleth in it; and in like manner thou, though thou worship not the gold,yet thou worshipest that devil who springeth on thy soul, from the sight of the gold and thy lust forit. For more grievous than an evil spirit is the lust of money-loving, and many obey it more thanothers do idols. For these last in many things disobey, but in this case they yield everything, andwhatever it telleth them to do, they obey. What saith it? “Be at war with all,” it saith, “at enmitywith all, know not nature, despise God, sacrifice to me thyself,” and in all they obey. To the gravenimages they sacrifice oxen and sheep, but avarice saith, Sacrifice to me thine own soul, and theman obeyeth. Seest thou what kind of altars it hath, what kind of sacrifices it receiveth? The covetousshall not inherit the Kingdom of God, but not even so do they fear. ( 1 Cor. vi. 10 .) Yet this desire1852“ For the poor always ye have with you, but Me, ” &c., N.T.1853or, “ bent. ”1854τυραννίς1855τοὺς περὶ1856al. “ as one the graven image of stone, so thou, ” &c.365