20. But our faith thus teaches, that when men fall asleep, they sleep this slumber without knowing good from evil. And the righteous look not forward to their promises, nor do the wicked look forward to their sentence of punishment, until the Judge come and separate those whose place is at His right hand from those whose place is at His left. And be thou instructed by that which is written, that when the Judge shall sit, and the books be opened before Him and the good and evil deeds recited, then they that have wrought good works shall receive good rewards from Him Who is good; and they that have done evil deeds shall receive evil penalties from the just Judge. For towards the good, He changes not His nature; and He proves Himself just because He justly condemns many. But towards the evil He changes His nature, in that world where grace is lost in justice; and He proves Himself just to all. And grace will not be joined with justice towards them. Like as grace avails not (to remedy) detriment, so justice (avails not to assist) grace. For grace is far from the judge, but justice urges the judge. If grace be nigh to any one, let him turn himself towards it, and not deliver himself into the hands of justice, lest it condemn him, exacting for his shortcomings the penalty at his hands. And if grace be far from any one, justice will bring him to the trial, and by it he will be condemned, and go away to the torment.
21. But hear, my beloved, this proof that retribution shall take place at the end. For when the Shepherd divides His flock and sets some on His right hand and some on His left, [1008] until He shall have acknowledged the service of the good, then He will cause them to inherit the kingdom; and until He shall have rebuked the evil and they are condemned, then He will send them to the torment. And as to them that sent messengers after the King, saying, This man shall not be king over us, [1009] when He shall receive the kingdom and return, then His adversaries shall be slain before Him. And the labourers who hastened and were wearied in the vineyard, shall not receive the reward till the labour shall cease. And the traders who received the money, when the Lord of the money shall come, then shall He exact the usury. And the virgins who, while waiting for the bridegroom, slumbered and slept because He delayed to come, when they shall hear the cry, then they shall awake and trim their lamps; and they that are wise shall enter in; and the foolish shall be shut out. And they who were before us in entering the faith, without us shall not be made perfect. [1010]
22. From all these things, understand thou, my beloved, as it has been made certain for thee, that as yet no one has received his reward. For the righteous have not inherited the kingdom, nor have the wicked gone into torment. The Shepherd has not as yet divided His flock. And lo! the workmen enter into the vineyard, and as yet have not received the reward. And lo! the merchants are trading with the money. And as yet their Lord has not come to take the account. And the King has gone to receive the Kingdom, but as yet He has not returned the second time. And those virgins that are waiting the bridegroom are sleeping up to the present time, and are awaiting the cry when they will awake. And the former men who toiled in the faith until the last men shall come, shall not be made perfect.
23. But they who are babes in understanding say:--"If no one has received his reward, why did the Apostle say, When we shall depart from the body, we shall be present with the Lord?" [1011] But recollect, my beloved, that I instructed thee concerning this matter in the Demonstration concerning Solitaries, [1012] that the spirit which the righteous receive, according to its heavenly nature, goes to our Lord until the time of the Resurrection, when it shall come to put on the body in which it dwelt. And at every time it has the memory of this in the presence of God, and looks eagerly for the Resurrection of that body in which it dwelt, as the Prophet Isaiah said about the Church of the Gentiles:--They that make mention of thee shall be faithful and stand before the Lord, and thou shalt not give them rest. [1013] But as to the wicked, they have none to make mention of them before the Lord, because the Holy Spirit is far removed from them, because they are animal, and are buried after the manner of animals.
24. And again, (the followers of) doctrines, which are instruments of the Evil One, are offended by the word which our Lord spake, No one has ascended up to heaven but He Who came down from heaven, the Son of Man, Who was in heaven. [1014] And they say, "Lo! our Lord testified that no earthly body has ascended to heaven." In their ignorance they cannot apprehend the force of this. For when our Lord instructed Nicodemus, he did not apprehend the force of the saying. Then our Lord said to him:--No one has ascended into heaven, so as to come down and relate to you whatsoever is there. For if I have spoken unto you of those things that are in the earth, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I shall speak unto you of those things which are in heaven? [1015] For lo! no other witness besides Me has come down from thence, to bear witness concerning those things which are in heaven, so that ye should believe. For Elijah went up thither, but he came not down along with Me to bear witness, that the testimony of two might be sure."
25. But as for thee, my beloved, have no doubt as to the Resurrection of the dead. For the living mouth (of God) testifies:--I cause to die and I make alive. [1016] And both of them proceeded out of one mouth. And as we are sure that He causes to die, and we see it; so also it is sure and worthy of belief, that He makes alive. And from all that I have explained to thee, receive and believe that in the day of the Resurrection thy body shall arise in its entirety, and thou shalt receive from our Lord the reward of thy faith, and in all that thou hast believed, thou shalt rejoice and be made glad.
[958] 1 Cor. xv. 35.
[959] 1 Cor. xv. 36-38.
[960] John v. 25, 28, 29.
[961] 1 Cor. xv. 40.
[962] 1 Cor. xv. 44.
[963] Ib. xv. 51.
[964] Ib. v. 53.
[965] 2 Cor. v. 10.
[966] 1 Cor. xv. 29.
[967] Ib. v. 13-15.
[968] Ib. v. 32, 33.
[969] 1 Cor. ii. 15.
[970] Rom. viii. 5.
[971] Rom. vii. 5.
[972] Rom. viii. 9.
[973] Is. lxvi. 8.
[974] Heb. ix. 15, 16.
[975] Gen. xlix. 29, 31.
[976] Gen. l. 24.
[977] Exod. xiii. 19.
[978] Gen. xlix. 3, 4.
[979] Deut. xxxiii. 6.
[980] Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6.
[981] Ex. xxxii. 1.
[982] Deut. v. 15.
[983] Deut. xxxii. 39.
[984] 1 Sam. ii. 6.
[985] Is. xxvi. 19.
[986] Ps. lxxxviii. 10, 11, 12. (Pesh.)
[987] Ez. xxxvii. 1-10.
[988] Luke vii. 14.
[989] Mark v. 47.
[990] John xi. 43.
[991] Is. lv. 10, 11.
[992] Is. viii. 18.
[993] John v. 25.
[994] John i. 1.
[995] John i. 14.
[996] Matt. xxii. 28.
[997] Matt. xxiii. 29-32.
[998] Gen. ii. 17.
[999] Ez. xviii. 23, 32; xxxiii. 11.
[1000] Luke ix. 59, 60.
[1001] Ps. iii. 4.
[1002] Is. xxvi. 19.
[1003] Matt. ix. 26.
[1004] John xi. 11.
[1005] 1 Cor. xv. 51.
[1006] 1 Thess. iv. 13.
[1007] Rev. ii. 11; xx. 14; xxi. 18.
[1008] Matt. xxv. 32 ff.
[1009] Luke xx. 9 ff.
[1010] Hebr. xi. 40.
[1011] 2 Cor. v. 8.
[1012] See Dem. VI. 14.
[1013] Is. lxii. 6, 7. This quotation differs widely from the Peshitto, as well as from the Hebrew and the Septuagint.
[1014] John iii. 13.
[1015] John iii. 12.
[1016] Deut. xxxii. 39.
Demonstration X.--Of Pastors.
1. Pastors are set over the flock, and give the sheep the food of life. Whosoever is watchful, and toils in behalf of his sheep, is careful for his flock, and is the disciple of our Good Shepherd, who gave Himself in behalf of His sheep. [1017] And whosoever brings not back his flock carefully, is likened to the hireling who has no care for the sheep. Be ye like, O Pastors, to those righteous Pastors of old. Jacob fed the sheep of Laban, and guarded them and toiled and was watchful, and so received the reward. For Jacob said to Laban:--Lo! twenty years am I with thee. Thy sheep and thy flocks I have not robbed and the males of thy sheep I have not eaten. That which was broken I did not bring unto thee, but thou required it at my hands! In the daytime the heat devoured me and the cold by night. [1018] My sleep departed from my eyes. Observe, ye Pastors, that Pastor, how he cared for his flock. He used to watch in the night-time to guard it and was vigilant; and he used to toil in the daytime to feed it. As Jacob was a pastor, so Joseph was a pastor and his brethren were pastors. Moses was a pastor, and David also was a pastor. So Amos was a pastor. These all were pastors who fed the sheep and led them well.
2. Now, why, my beloved, did these pastors first feed the sheep, and were then chosen to be pastors of men? Clearly that they might learn how a pastor cares for his sheep, and is watchful and toils in behalf of his sheep. And when they had learned the manners of pastors, they were chosen for the pastoral office. Jacob fed the sheep of Laban and toiled and was vigilant and led them well; and then he tended and guided well his sons, and taught them the pattern of pastoral work. And Joseph used to tend the sheep along with his brethren; and in Egypt he became guide to a numerous people, and led them back, as a good pastor does his flock. Moses fed the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law, and he was chosen from (tending) the sheep to tend his people, and as a good pastor he guided them. Moses bore his staff upon his shoulder, and went in front of his people that he was leading, and tended them for forty years; and he was vigilant and toiled on behalf of his sheep, a diligent and good pastor. When his Lord wished to destroy them because of their sins, in that they worshipped the calf, Moses prayed and besought of his Lord and said:--Either pardon the people for their sins, or else blot me out from Thy book that Thou hast written. [1019] That is a most diligent pastor, who delivered over himself on behalf of his sheep. That is an excellent leader, who gave himself in behalf of his sheep. And that is a merciful father who cherished his children and reared them up. Moses the great and wise shepherd, who knew how to lead back the flock, taught Joshua the son of Nun, a man full of the spirit, who (afterwards) led the flock, even all the host of Israel. He destroyed kings and subdued the land, and gave them the land as a place of pasturage, and divided the resting-places and the sheepfolds to his sheep. Furthermore, David fed his father's sheep, and was taken from the sheep to tend his people. So he tended them in the integrity of his heart and by the skill of his hands he guided them. [1020] And when David numbered the flock of his sheep, wrath came upon them, and they began to be destroyed. Then David delivered himself over on behalf of his sheep, when he prayed, saying:--O Lord God, I have sinned in that I have numbered Israel. Let Thy hand be on me and on my father's house. These innocent sheep, in what have they sinned? [1021] So also all the diligent pastors used thus to give themselves on behalf of their sheep.
3. But those pastors who did not care for the sheep, those were hirelings who used to feed themselves alone. On this account the Prophet [1022] addresses them, saying to them:--O ye pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Lo! I will visit My sheep as the pastor visits his flock in the day of the whirlwind, and I will require My sheep at your hands. O foolish pastors, with the wool of the sheep do ye clothe yourselves and the flesh of the fatlings do eat, and the sheep ye do not feed. That which was sick ye did not heal, and that which was broken ye did not bind. The weak ye did not strengthen, and the lost and the scattered ye did not gather together. The strong ones and the fatlings ye did guard, but with harshness ye subdued them. The good pastures ye yourselves graze upon, and what remains ye trample with your feet. The pleasant waters do ye drink, and whatever remains ye defile with your feet. And My sheep have eaten the trampled (herbage) which your feet have trampled, and they have drunk the waters which your feet have defiled. These are the greedy and base pastors and hirelings, who did not feed the sheep, or guide them well, or deliver them from the wolves. But when the Great Pastor, the chief of pastors, shall come, He will call and visit His sheep and will take knowledge of His flock. And He will bring forward those pastors, and will exact an account from them, and will condemn them for their deeds. And those who fed the sheep well, them the Chief of Pastors will cause to rejoice and to inherit life and rest. O stupid and foolish pastor, to whose right hand and to whose right eye I committed my sheep. Because thou didst say concerning the sheep, let that which dieth, die, and let that which perisheth perish, and whatever is left, let them devour the flesh of one another; therefore, behold I will make blind thy right eye and I will wither up thy right arm. Thy eye which regarded a bribe shall be blinded, and thy hand which did not rule in righteousness shall waste away. [1023] And as for you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, ye are men; but I am the Lord your God. [1024] Behold henceforth will feed you in a good and rich pasture. [1025]