Faith And Suffering

Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος· εἰ γὰρ συναπεθάνομεν, καὶ συζήσομεν· εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσο μεν· εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα, κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς· εἰ ἀπιστοῦμεν, ἐκεῖνος πιστὸς μένει· ἀρνήσασθαι γὰρ ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται. Ταῦτα ὑπομίμνησκε, διαμαρτυρόμενος ἐνώπιον τοῦ Κυρίου, μὴ λογομαχεῖν εἰς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον ἐπὶ κατα στροφῇ τῶν ἀκουόντων. Πολλοὶ τῶν ἀσθενεστέρων ἀνθρώπων πρὸς μὲν τὸν τῆς πίστεως πόνον ἀπαγορεύουσιν, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀναβολὴν τῆς ἐλπίδος φέρουσι· τὰ παρόντα δὲ ἐπιζητοῦσιν καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων τὰ μέλλοντα χαρακτηρίζουσιν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ μὲν ἐνταῦθα θάνατος ἦν, βάσανοι, δεσμά· αὐτὸς δέ φησιν, ὅτι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἥξουσιν, οὐκ ἂν δέ τις ἐπίστευσεν, ἀλλ' εἶπεν ἂν, Τί λέγεις; Ὅτε ζῶ, ἀποθνήσκω, καὶ ὅταν ἀποθάνω, ζῶ; ἐν τῇ γῇ μοι οὐδὲν ἐπαγγέλλῃ, καὶ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ δίδως; τὰ μικρὰ οὐ δίδως, καὶ τὰ μεγάλα παρέχεις; Ἵνα τοίνυν μηδεὶς ταῦτα ἐννοῇ, ἀναμφίβολον ποιεῖται τούτου τὴν κατασκευὴν, προκαταβάλλων μὲν αὐτὸ καὶ ἤδη, καὶ τεκμήρια διδοὺς ,τὸ γὰρ, Μνημόνευε Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν, τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι μετὰ θάνατον ἀνέστη· νῦν δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πάλιν δηλῶν φησί· Πιστὸς ὁ λόγος, ὅτι ὁ ζωῆς οὐρανίου τυχὼν, καὶ αἰωνίου τεύξεται. Πόθεν πιστός; Εἰ γὰρ συναπεθάνομεν, φησὶ, καὶ συζήσομεν. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, ἐν τοῖς σκυθρωποῖς κοινωνοῦμεν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς κόπον ἔχουσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς χρηστοῖς οὐκέτι; Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος ποιήσειεν, ὥστε τὸν ἑλόμενον αὐτῷ συναποθανεῖν καὶ συνθλιβῆναι, εἴ ποτε ἐν ἀνέσει γένηται, ἀρνήσασθαι αὐτῷ γενέσθαι κοινωνόν. Ποῦ δὲ συναπεθάνομεν; Τοῦτον λέγει τὸν θάνατον, τόν τε διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ, καὶ τὸν διὰ τῶν παθημάτων· φησὶ γὰρ, Τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες· καὶ, Συνετάφημεν αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος· καὶ Ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη· καὶ, Σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τὸν τῶν πειρασμῶν λέγει· μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦτον· καὶ γὰρ ἐν πειρασμοῖς ἦν, ὅτε ταῦτα ἔγραφεν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Εἰ δι' αὐτὸν ἀπεθάνομεν, δι' αὐτὸν οὐ ζησόμεθα; ἀναμφισβήτητον τοῦτό ἐστιν. Εἰ ὑπομένομεν, φησὶ, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν, Οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπε, Συμβασιλεύσομεν· ἀλλ', Εἰ ὑπομένομεν, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐκ ἀρκεῖ τὸ ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀπέθνησκεν ὁ μακάριος οὗτος· ἀλλὰ δεῖ πολλῆς ὑπομονῆς, ἧς μάλιστα ἔδει Τιμοθέῳ. Μὴ γάρ μοι, φησὶ, τὰ πρῶτα εἴπῃς, ἀλλ' εἰ διαπαντός. Εἶτα καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄλλου μέρους προτρέπει, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν κακῶν. Εἰ γὰρ μέλλοιεν τῶν αὐτῶν μετέχειν καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο παράκλησις· καὶ εἰ μέλλοιεν ὑπομείναντες μὲν συμβασιλεύειν, μὴ ὑπομείναντες δὲ τοῦτο μόνον πάσχειν, τὸ μὴ συμβασιλεύειν, δεινὸν μὲν καὶ τοῦτο, πλὴν ἀλλὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς οὐχ ἱκανὸν δακεῖν. Διὸ τὸ φοβερώτερον λέγει· Εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα αὐτὸν, κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς. Ἄρα οὐκ ἐν τοῖς χρηστοῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις αἱ ἀμοιβαί. Τὸν δὲ ἀρνηθέντα ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐννοήσατε τί παθεῖν εἰκός· Ὃς ἐὰν ἀρνήσηταί με, φησὶν, ἀρνήσομαι κἀγὼ αὐτόν. Οὐκ ἐξ ἴσης ἡ ἀντίδοσις, εἰ καὶ οὕτω λέγων δοκεῖ· ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἀρνούμενοι, ἐκεῖνος δὲ Θεός· ὅσον δὲ τὸ μέσον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων τί δεῖ λέγειν;    Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Ὑπόμνημα Εις Τήν Πρὸς Τιμόθεον Έπιστολήν Δευτέραν, Ὁμιλία Ε'   Source: Migne PG 62.624-625

The saying is faithful: for if we are dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will deny us; if we are faithless, yet He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Be mindful of these things, bearing witness before the Lord, that there be no profitless strife about words to the turning away of those who hear. 1 Many of the weaker sort of men grow weary of the effort of faith and do not bear the deferring of hope, but they seek after present things and from them they judge the future. When therefore death was present, and torture and chains, and yet he says that they shall come to eternal life, some would not have believed but would have said, 'What do you say? When I live, I die, and when I die, I live? On earth you promise nothing, and will you give it in heaven? Little things you do not give, and you offer great things?' That none therefore may think so, he establishes it as a thing indisputable, laying it down beforehand even now, and giving proofs. For he has already said: 'Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead,'  2 that is, that He rose again after death, and now showing the same thing again he says that the saying is faithful, that he who has attained a heavenly life will attain eternal life. Whence is it faithful? For if we are dead with Him, he says, we shall also live with Him. For tell me, shall we share in things woeful with Him and have in them toil, and shall we not share in things beneficial? But not even a man would do this, nor, if one had chosen to suffer and die with him, if he came into rest would he refuse a share. But how are we dead with Him? He speaks of this sort of death: in cleansing and in suffering. For he says, 'The death of the Lord bearing about in the body,' 3 and, 'We are buried with Him by baptism,' 4 and, 'Our old man is crucified with Him,' and, 'We have been planted together in the likeness of His death.' 5 But here he also speaks of that death by trials, and that especially, for he was amid trials when he wrote these things. And this is what he says, 'If because of Him we have died, shall we not live because of Him?' This is not to be disputed. 'If we suffer,' he says, 'we shall also reign with Him.' Not without qualification does he say we shall reign, but 'if we suffer,' showing that it does not suffice to die once, for this blessed man himself died daily, 6 but there is need of much endurance, and Timothy especially had need of it. For do not tell me, he says, of your first sufferings, but of that which you continue to suffer. Then from another direction he exhorts him, not from the good, but from the evil side. For if the wicked were to partake of the same things, this would be no comfort, and if those who had endured were to reign with Him and those who did not endure were to suffer only the loss of reigning with Him, though this were wretched, yet it would not be able to trouble many. Whence he speaks of something more fearful: 'If we deny Him, He will also deny us.' So then there is a return not only of good things, but of their contrary. And think what he might suffer who is denied in that kingdom. 'Whoever denies Me, I will deny him,' He says. 7 And the return is not equal, though it seems to be so expressed. For we are men who deny Him, but He is God; and what needs to be said about how great is the distance between God and men? Saint John Chrysostom, On The Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy, from Homily 5 1 2 Tim 2.11-14 2 2 Tim 2.8 3 2 Cor 4.10 4 Rom 6.4 5 Rom 6.5-6 6 1 Cor 15.31 7 Mt 10.33