哥林多後書講道集 第 10 章

'For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

Again he rouses their eagerness, because of the many trials that were being brought upon them.

For it was likely that on account of his absence they had become somewhat weaker for this.

What then does he say? We must not marvel that we suffer ill, nor be disturbed;

for indeed we reap many gains therefrom.

And the things before he had said, namely, that we both carry about the dying of Jesus, and

furnish a very great demonstration of His power.

'For that,' he says, 'the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God';

and we bring forth a clear proof of the resurrection;

'For that,' he says, 'the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.'

And since together with these things he had said that our inward man also becomes better in this way—

'For though our outward man,' he says, 'perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day';

showing again that this being scourged and driven about is so profitable, he adds, saying that when this comes to its full completion, then the countless good things will spring up for those who have endured these sufferings.

For lest, hearing that your outward man is perishing, you should grieve, he says that when this comes utterly to pass, then above all you shall rejoice, and shall arrive at a better lot.

So that not only ought we not to grieve when it is now perishing in part, but we ought even to seek the whole of this dissolution;

for this above all leads you to incorruption;

wherefore also he added, 'For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

For since he is again exercising the discourse concerning the resurrection—the very thing in which they were most sick—he takes to himself also the judgment of his hearers, and thus establishes it;

but not in the same manner as before, rather as though coming to this from another premise;

for indeed they had already been set right;

and he says, 'We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

Some indeed say that the earthly house means this world;

but I would rather say that he is hinting at the body.

But consider with me how, by means of the names, he shows the superiority of the things to come over things present.

For having said 'earthly,' he set over against it the 'heavenly';

having said 'house of the tabernacle,' and having thereby shown its easily dissolved and temporary nature, he set over against it the 'eternal';

for the name of 'tabernacle' oftentimes indicates that which is temporary.

Wherefore He says, 'In My Father's house are many mansions.'

But if anywhere He should also call the resting-places of the saints 'tabernacles,' it is not simply 'tabernacles,' but with an addition;

for He did not say, 'That they may receive you into their tabernacles,' but, 'into the everlasting tabernacles.'

And having said 'not made with hands,' he hinted at that which is made with hands.

What then? Is the body made with hands? By no means;

but either he is here hinting at the houses that are made with hands;

or, if not this, then he called the body a 'house of the tabernacle' that is not made with hands.

For he did not set this in contrast by way of distinction, but by way of augmenting the encomiums and adding the praises.

'For indeed in this we groan, earnestly longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven.'

What kind of habitation? tell me.

And why do we groan now? Because that other is far better.

And he says it is 'from heaven' on account of its incorruptibility.

For it is not that a body comes down to us from above, but by this name he signifies the grace that is sent from thence.

So then, we ought not to grieve so much over the trials that come in part, but rather to seek the universal one;

as if he said, You groan because you are persecuted, because your outward man is perishing? groan rather because this is not happening with excess, nor is it perishing entirely.

Do you see how he turned the argument round to the contrary, having proved that we ought to groan for these very things not happening entirely—the things for whose partial happening they used to groan? Wherefore he no longer even calls it a 'tabernacle,' but a 'habitation';

For the tent is easily taken down, but that other dwelling abides perpetually.

'If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.'

That is, even though we lay aside the body, we shall not stand there without a body, but with that same body made incorruptible.

But some interpret it thus, which indeed is most to be preferred:

'If indeed being clothed we shall not be found naked.'

For lest all should take confidence merely from the resurrection, he says:

that is, having received incorruption and an incorruptible body;

we shall not be found naked—that is, stripped of glory and of security.

Which also in the Epistle before this one to the Corinthians he was saying, that 'We shall all rise, but each in his own order';

and, 'There are heavenly bodies, and bodies earthly.'

The resurrection is common to all, but the glory is no longer common; rather, some rise in honour, others in dishonour, and some unto a kingdom, others unto punishment.

This, then, he here also made clear when he said, 'If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.'

'For we that are in this tent do groan, in that we would not be unclothed, but clothed upon.'

Here again wholly and plainly he stopped the mouths of the heretics, showing that he is not discoursing simply about one body and another, but about corruption and incorruption.

'For not for this cause do we groan,' he says, 'that we may be rid of the body' (for this we do not even wish, to be unclothed of it), 'but we hasten to be freed from the corruption that is in it.'

Wherefore he says, 'We would not be unclothed of the body, but clothed upon it with incorruption.'

'That what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.'

For since to many it seemed grievous to lay aside the body, and he was running counter to the judgement of all in saying, 'We groan, not wishing to be rid of it'—(for if the soul suffers such things and laments when parted from it, how sayest thou, 'We groan because we are not parted from it'?)—that therefore these objections might not be brought against him, 'Neither do I say this,' he says, 'that for this cause we groan, that we may lay it aside' (for no one lays it aside without pain;

seeing that concerning Peter also Christ says, 'They shall bear thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldest not'), but that we may be clothed upon it with incorruption.

For this indeed is that whereby we are weighed down by the body;

not that it is a body, but that we are clothed about with a corruptible and passible body;

for this it is which brings us grief also;

but the life, when it comes, consumes and spends the corruption—the corruption, not the body.

'And how does this come to pass?' one asks.

Wherefore he added, 'Now He that hath wrought us for this selfsame thing is God.'

Hence he shows that these things were prefigured from the beginning.

For not now did this seem good, but when from the beginning He was fashioning us out of the earth and creating Adam;

and He created him not unto this end, that he should die, but that He might also make him immortal.

Then, showing its trustworthiness and furnishing the proof, he added, 'Who also gave us the earnest of the Spirit.'

For both then He formed us for this end, and now He has wrought us unto this through baptism, and of this He gave us no small pledge—the Holy Spirit.

And he continually calls it an earnest, wishing to prove Him a debtor of the whole, and thereby to make the argument more credible even to the grosser sort.

'Being therefore always confident, and knowing.'

The 'being confident' is spoken with reference to the persecutions, to the plots, to the continual deaths;

as though he said, 'Does someone drive thee and persecute thee and slay thee? Fall not down;'

for the very thing on account of which thou groanest and art in pain, namely that thou art in bondage to corruption—this henceforth he takes away out of the midst, and delivers thee the more speedily from this bondage.

Wherefore also he says, 'Being therefore always confident'—not in times of ease only, but even in afflictions—'and knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord';

'for we walk by faith, not by sight';

'and we are confident, and are well pleased rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.'

The greatest thing of all he has placed last;

for than the receiving of incorruption, to be with Christ is better.

He that wars against us and slays us does not quench our life;

for not only does he rid thee of corruption and of the burden, but he also speeds thee onward to the Lord.

Wherefore neither did he say, 'Being in the body,' as of those who are in what is another's and a stranger's.

'Knowing therefore that whilst we are at home in the body, we are away from home from the Lord;'

'and we are confident, and are well pleased rather to go away from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.'

Seest thou how, hiding away the grievous things, the names of death and of decease, he has set in their stead the things exceedingly to be desired, calling them a coming home to God;

and, leaving aside the things which seem to be sweet, the things of this life, he named them from what is grievous, calling the sojourn here an absence from home away from the Lord.

life? And this he did, that no one might either cling fondly to the present things, but rather be weighed down by them, nor be dejected when about to die, but rather rejoice, as departing unto greater goods.

Then, lest anyone, hearing that 'We are away from home from the Lord,' should say, 'What sayest thou? Are we then estranged from Him while we are here?', he corrected this beforehand by saying, 'For we walk by faith, not by sight';

and here indeed we know Him, but not so clearly.

Which also elsewhere he says, 'In a mirror,' and, 'In a riddle.'

'And we are confident, and are well pleased.'

Wonderful! Whither has he carried round the argument? Unto an extreme longing for death, having shown the burdensome to be sweet, and the sweet to be burdensome;

for the 'we are well pleased' means 'we desire,' he says.

What do we desire? 'To go away from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.'

And this he always does—which I have also shown before—turning the argument of his adversaries round unto its opposite.

'Wherefore also we are ambitious, whether at home or absent from home, to be well-pleasing unto Him.'

'For this,' he says, 'is what is sought—whether we be there or here—to live according to His mind;'

for this is the chief thing.

So that from this very moment thou hast the kingdom already, without trial.

For lest again, having come into so great a longing, they should be distressed at the delay of the sojourn there, he here already gives them the sum of the good things.

And what is this? To be well-pleasing.

For neither is the mere departing good, but the departing well-approved, on account of which that also becomes good;

nor is the mere being here grievous, but the being here so as to give offence.

Think not then that the departure from the body is enough;

for there is need of virtue everywhere.

For just as, having spoken of the resurrection, he did not suffer men to take confidence in it alone, saying, 'If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked';

so also, having shown the departure, that thou mightest not think it sufficient for thy salvation, he added the words, 'We must be well-pleasing.'

Since therefore he had exhorted them by many good things, henceforth he also strikes fear by the more sombre ones.

For the profitable consists both in the gaining of good things and in the fleeing from evil things—which is Gehenna and the kingdom.

But since this has the greater force — the escaping of punishment (for where the loss extends only to not receiving good things, the multitude bear it easily;

yet if it reaches even to suffering evil, they no longer bear it easily;

for indeed they ought to reckon that first loss as intolerable, but on account of the weakness of the many and their groveling attachment to earthly things, this second appears to them the harder)

since therefore the giving of good things does not so rouse the common hearer as does the threat of punishments, he necessarily brings his discourse to a close here, saying:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Then, having struck fear into the hearer and shaken him by the remembrance of that tribunal, not even here does he set down the painful things apart from the kindly, but has mingled in a certain sweetness, saying:

That each one may receive the things done through the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

And in saying these things, he both raises up with hopes those who have done well yet are persecuted, and makes those who have grown slack more earnest through fear.

And he was also confirming the doctrine concerning the resurrection of the bodies.

For surely, he says, that which served for this and that will not be set outside the recompense;

but together with the soul some parts are punished and others are crowned.

But some of the heretics say that another body is raised.

One thing sinned, and another is punished? one thing did well, and another is crowned? But what will you say to Paul when he says, 'We do not wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed'? And how is the corruptible swallowed up by life? For he did not say, 'That the mortal or the corruptible body may be swallowed up by the incorruptible body';

but, 'That corruption may be swallowed up by life.'

For this comes to pass then, when the same body is raised;

but if, leaving that one aside, God fashions another, it is no longer swallowed up, but corruption remains, having prevailed.

For this reason this does not happen; rather this corruptible, that is, the body, must put on incorruption.

For the body is in the middle, now existing in this state, but hereafter to be in that;

and on this account it is first in this state, since incorruption cannot be dissolved.

For corruption does not inherit incorruption, he says;

since how could there be incorruption? But on the contrary, corruption is swallowed up by life;

for the one prevails over the other, but that one no longer prevails over this.

For just as wax is melted by fire, but itself no longer melts the fire;

so also corruption is melted by incorruption and made to vanish, but it can never prevail over incorruption.

Let us therefore hearken to the voice of Paul, which says that we must be presented before the judgment seat of Christ, and let us sketch out that tribunal, and reckon it to be present now, and that our accounts are being demanded.

For I will set it forth more amply.

For Paul, since his discourse was concerning affliction, and he did not wish to afflict them again, did not dwell upon the subject, but having in brief spoken the astringent word — 'Each will receive according to what he did' — he swiftly passed it by.

Let us then reckon it to be present now, and let each one weigh his own conscience, and let him already consider that the Judge is present, and that all things are being uncovered and brought into the midst;

for we must not simply be presented, but also be made manifest.

Did you not blush? Were you not stricken? But if now, when the matter is not yet present, but merely granted by way of supposition and shaped in thought, we are undone by our conscience;

what shall we do when it actually comes, when the whole inhabited world is present, when angels and archangels are there, when there are ranks upon ranks, and the running of all, and snatchings up upon the clouds, and an array full of trembling? when there are the trumpets one after another, those unceasing voices? For even if there were no hell, to be thrust away amid so great splendor and to withdraw dishonored — how great a punishment is that! For indeed even now, when a king rides in with his retinue, and each of us, beholding his own poverty, we take not so much pleasure from the sight as we endure dejection from having no part in the things about the king, nor being near the sovereign;

what will it be then? Or do you think it a small punishment not to be ranked in that choir, not to be counted worthy of the ineffable glory, to be cast far off and away from that festal assembly and those unutterable good things? And when there is also darkness, and gnashing of teeth, and bonds that cannot be loosed, and the worm that never ends, and unquenchable fire, and affliction and anguish, and tongues frying in the flame, like that of the rich man, and we lament and no one hears, and we groan and gnash under the pains and no one heeds, and we look everywhere and nowhere is there anyone to comfort;

where shall we rank those who are in such a state? What is more wretched than those souls? What is more pitiable?

For if, when we enter a prison and see some squalid, others bound and hungry, and others shut up in darkness, we are broken down, we shudder, and we do everything so as never to fall into that place;

when we shall be dragged away into the very torture-chambers of hell, what shall we be? For those bonds are not of iron, but of fire that is never quenched;

nor are those who stand over us of like rank with us, whom it is often possible to appease, but angels, whom it is not even lawful to look upon, being vehemently wroth on behalf of the things wherein we have insulted the Master.

It is not, as here, possible to see some bringing money, others food, others words of consolation, and to obtain comfort;

but all things are without pardon there;

and even if there be a Noah, even if a Job, even if a Daniel, and he sees his own kin being punished, he does not dare to intercede.

For it also comes to pass then that the natural sympathy is taken away.

For since it comes to pass that the righteous are fathers of wicked children, and children of wicked fathers;

so that the pleasure may be pure and that those enjoying the good things may not be broken down by the constraint of sympathy, I say that this sympathy too is extinguished, and that they themselves join in indignation with the Master against their own bowels.

For if ordinary men, when they see their children base, disown them and cut them off from their kinship;

much more will the righteous do so then.

Therefore let no one hope for good things without having wrought something good, even if he have countless righteous forefathers;

'he did the things through the body.'

Here it seems to me that he is also hinting at the fornicators, and building up against them the fear from that place;

and not against those only, but against all who transgress in any way whatsoever.

Let us therefore also hearken;

even if you have the fire of desire, set against it that fire, and this, being straightway quenched, will depart;

and if you should wish to utter something unseemly, call to mind the gnashing of teeth, and fear will be a bridle to you;

and if you should wish to seize by rapine, hear the Judge commanding and saying, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness';

and thus you will cast out this desire also.

And if you are drunken and pass your life in surfeiting, hear the rich man saying, 'Send Lazarus, that with the tip of his finger he may cool my tongue frying in the flame,' and not obtaining it;

and if you long for luxury, call to mind the affliction and anguish there, and you will think nothing of this present luxury;

and if you are harsh and cruel, remember those virgins who, when their lamps were quenched, thus fell away from the bridal chamber, and you will quickly become loving toward men.

But are you sluggish and slack? Consider him who hid the talent, and you will become more fervent than fire.

But does the desire for your neighbor's substance devour you? Consider the worm that never ends, and you will easily lay aside this disease also, and set right all the rest;

for he enjoined nothing burdensome nor grievous.

Whence then do the commandments appear burdensome to us? From our own slothfulness.

For just as, if we are diligent, even the things that seem intolerable will be light and easy;

so if we are slothful, even the bearable things will appear hard to us.

Reckoning therefore all these things, let us not think of those who live in luxury, but of what is their end;

here indeed there is filth and gross fleshiness, but there the worm and the fire;

not of those who plunder, but of what is their end;

here indeed are cares and fears and agonies, but there bonds that cannot be loosed;

not of those who are enamored of glory, but of what is born from these things;

here indeed are servilities and dissemblings, but there both an intolerable loss and the being perpetually consumed by fire.

For if we thus reason with ourselves, and continually chant these and suchlike things against our evil desires, we shall quickly cast out both the love of things present and kindle that of things to come.

Let us therefore kindle it, and let us set it ablaze.

For if the mere thought of those good things, dim and shadowy though it is, affords us so great a pleasure,

consider how great a gladness the clear experience itself will bring us.

Blessed and thrice-blessed are they who enjoy those good things, and this many times over;

just as, on the contrary, wretched and thrice-miserable are they who endure the opposite of these.

In order, then, that we may not be of the latter but of the former, let us choose virtue;

for in this way we shall also obtain the good things to come;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honour unto the Father, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.