Labour And Chains

Memor esto Christum Jesum resurrexisse a mortuis ex semine David secundum Evangelium meum, in quo laboro usque ad vincula, quasi latro, sed verbum Dei non alligatum. Quoniam multi futuri erant filii diaboli, qui Filium Dei incarnatum negarent; idcirco hoc memorat, quoniam fallaciter sub nomine apostolorum hoc asseverate nituntur. Subjecit, secundum Evangelium meum, ut excluderet malae mentis falsa colloquia; non enim plus haereticis credendum est de apostolis, quam his ipsis de praedicatione sua testantibus, quam praedictionem cum labore se agere queritur. Pressuris enim tribulabatur et carceribus, eo quod tam Judaeos quam gentiles offenderet, sicut illis videbatur, incredibilia praedicando; iratos enim habebat Judaeos propter Legem, quam cessare docebat: gentiles autem inimicos sibi faciebat, quia unum Deum praedicabat in Christo. Unde quasi latronem hunc tractabant, alligantes, claudentes si posset tacere, nescientes quia verbum Dei alligari non poterat. Denique saepe clausus non dispendium fecit, sed lucrum; neque enim defuit, cui praedicaret in carcere, ut quos libere invitare ad fidem non posset, in vinculis positus pasceret Dei verbo. Ambrosiaster, Commentaria in Epistolam ad Timotheum Secundam, Caput II Source: Migne PL 17.489b

Remember Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my Gospel at which I labour, even to the wearing of chains like a criminal, but the word of God has not been bound. 1 Because there shall be many sons of the devil who deny the incarnation of the Son of God, therefore he reminds him of this which they deceitfully struggle to assert under the name of Apostles. He adds 'according to my Gospel' to exclude the false speech of wicked minds, for heretic apostles should not be trusted more than the testimony of his own preaching, by which preaching with labour he seeks to prove himself. Indeed he suffered persecution and imprisonment because just as he offended Jews, so he offended Gentiles, by preaching, as it seemed to them, unbelievable things. He angered Jews because of the Law which he taught was ended, and he made enemies of Gentiles because he preached one God in Christ. Whence they treated him as a criminal, putting him in chains, as if by shutting him up they might silence him, not knowing that the word of God cannot be fettered. Finally by his frequent imprisonment, he did not suffer loss, but profited, for in prison there was no lack of men to preach to, so that those he was not able to call to faith when free, he fed with the word of God when placed in chains. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Second Letter of Saint Paul To Timothy, Chapter 2 1 2 Tim 2.8-9

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