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If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses himself and suffers the loss of his own self? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed when he comes in his majesty and that of the Father and of the holy angels. And in another place: Now a thought entered into them, as to which of them should be the greater. But Jesus, seeing the thoughts of their heart, took a child and set him beside himself and said to them, 'Whoever receives this child in my name receives me;'
and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all, he is the greatest.' And after a while: And he said to another, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.' And Jesus said, 'Let the dead bury their own dead: but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' And another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those who are at my house.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.' And a little after: Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, nor bag, nor sandals, and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not, it shall return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they have: for the labourer is worthy of his wages. Do not go about from house to house. And into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you, and heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But into whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust that clung to us from your city we wipe off against you:'
yet know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. And after a little: Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. And a little after: Behold, a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him and saying, 'Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life?' And he said to him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?' And he answered and said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.' And a little after:
Which of these three seems to you to have been neighbour to him who fell among the robbers? And he said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' And Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.' And after a little: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her. Likewise after a little: When you pray, he says, say: Father, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, since we also forgive everyone indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation. And he said to them, 'Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say to him:'
'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him;' and he from within shall answer and say, 'Do not trouble me: the door is already shut, and my children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and give to you.' I tell you, even if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Which of you who is a father, if his son asks bread, will give him a stone? Or a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
Or if he asks an egg, will he hand him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to those who ask him? And a little after: Now it happened, as he was saying these things, that a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked.' But he said, 'Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.' And a little after: And while he was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him: and he went in and reclined. But the Pharisee began to reason within himself, wondering why he had not washed before the meal. And the Lord said to him:
Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inward part is full of extortion and iniquity. Fools, did not he who made the outside also make the inside? But rather give alms of what remains, and behold, all things are clean to you. But woe to you, Pharisees, for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and pass over judgment and the love of God. These you ought to have done, and not to have left the others undone. Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace. Woe to you, because you are like graves that do not appear, and men walking over them do not know it. And one of the lawyers answered and said to him:
Master, in saying these things you also reproach us. But he said, 'Woe to you also, you lawyers, for you load men with burdens that cannot be borne, and you yourselves do not touch the loads with one of your fingers.' And in another place: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. And a little after: But I say to you, my friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna: yes, I say to you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Do not therefore fear: you are of more value than many sparrows. And I say to you: Everyone who confesses me before men, him also shall the Son of man confess before the angels of God: but he who denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you into the synagogues and before magistrates and authorities, do not be anxious how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say: for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. And a certain one from the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him:
Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said to them, 'See and beware of all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.' And he spoke a parable to them, saying: The land of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful fruits, and he reasoned within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have nowhere to gather my fruits?' And he said, 'This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will gather all that has grown for me and my goods, and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; rest, drink deep, feast.' But God said to him, 'Fool, this night they require your soul from you: and the things you have prepared, whose shall they be?'
So is everyone who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. The life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, and have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them: how much more are you worth than they? And which of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If then you cannot do even the least thing, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not you seek what you shall eat or what you shall drink, and do not be lifted up on high. For all these things the nations of the world seek: but your Father knows that you have need of these things. But rather seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you possess and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, a treasure that does not fail in the heavens, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And after a little:
And you also, be ready, for at an hour you do not expect the Son of man comes. And Peter said to him, 'Lord, do you speak this parable to us, or to all?' And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master shall set over his household, to give the measure of wheat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom the master, when he comes, shall find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesses. But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunken: the master of that servant shall come on a day when he does not expect it, and at an hour he does not know, and shall cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.'
But that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare, and did not act according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes: but he who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For to everyone to whom much is given, much shall be required of him; and to whom they have committed much, they will demand more of him. Likewise a little after: Hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the earth and of the sky, but how is it that you do not discern this time? And why even of yourselves do you not judge what is right? And after a while: Strive to enter through the narrow gate: for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able. And in another place: And he told a parable to those who were invited, observing how they chose the first places, saying to them:
When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not recline in the first place, lest perhaps a more honourable one than you be invited by him, and he who invited both you and him come and say to you, 'Give this man your place,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go, recline in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher:' then you shall have honour in the presence of those reclining with you. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. And he said also to him who had invited him: When you make a lunch or a dinner, do not call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbours, lest perhaps they also invite you back, and a repayment be made to you.
But when you make a banquet, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you shall be blessed, because they have no way to repay you: for it shall be repaid to you at the resurrection of the just. And after a little: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and moreover even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and reckon the costs that are necessary, whether he has enough to complete it, lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying:
'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Otherwise, while the other is still a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, everyone of you who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple. And after a while: And I say to you: Make for yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. He who is faithful in the least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
If therefore you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will entrust to you what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what is another's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. And he said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts: for what is exalted among men is an abomination before God.' And after a few verses: Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And a little after: It is impossible that offences should not come:
but woe to him through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Take heed to yourselves: if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turns back to you saying, 'I repent,' forgive him. And in another place: And he told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves as being just and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus within himself:
Lord, I thank you that I am not like other men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector: I fast twice on the sabbath, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Now they brought infants also to him, that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus, calling them together, said, 'Let the children come to me, and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God.'
Amen I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, 'Good Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life?' And Jesus said, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honour your father and your mother.' And he said, 'All these I have kept from my youth.' When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'Yet one thing you lack: sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.' When he heard these things, he was made sorrowful, for he was very rich. And Jesus, seeing him made sorrowful, said:
How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And those who heard said, 'And who can be saved?' He said to them, 'The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.' And Peter said, 'Behold, we have left all and followed you.' He said to them, 'Amen I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or parents, or brothers, or wife, or children for the kingdom of God, who shall not receive much more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.' And elsewhere: And Zacchaeus, standing, said to the Lord:
Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.' And after a while: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And in another place: In the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 'Beware of the scribes, who wish to walk in long robes and love greetings in the marketplace and the chief seats in the synagogues and the first places at feasts, who devour widows' houses while feigning long prayer: these shall receive the greater condemnation.'
And looking up, he saw the rich who were putting their gifts into the treasury: and he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two small coins, and he said, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all. For all these out of their abundance have put into the gifts of God: but she out of her want has put in all the living that she had.' Likewise in another place: Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how you shall answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and contradict. But you shall be betrayed by parents, and brothers, and kinsmen, and friends, and some of you they shall put to death, and you shall be hated by all for my name's sake:
and not a hair of your head shall perish. By your patience you shall possess your souls. And after a while: But take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly. For it shall come as a snare upon all who sit upon the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore at all times, praying, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Likewise after a while: Now there arose a dispute among them, as to which of them should seem to be the greater. And he said to them, 'The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have power over them are called benefactors.'
But you shall not be so; rather, let him who is greater among you become as the younger, and he who is chief as the servant. For which is greater, he who reclines at table, or he who serves? Is it not he who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves. And in another place: Pray that you do not enter into temptation. XXVIII. FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. How can you believe, you who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that is from God alone? And a little after: But Jesus said, 'Neither will I condemn you. Go, and now sin no more.' And a little after: If you abide in my word, you shall truly be my disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. And after a little:
Amen, amen I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And elsewhere: Amen, amen I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death forever. And after a while: He who loves his life shall lose it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If anyone serves me, let him follow me: and where I am, there also shall my servant be. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him. And in another place: For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. And elsewhere: You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If then I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you also should do. And a little after: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. And a little after: If you love me, keep my commandments. And after a little: He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me: and he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. And after three verses: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words.
And a little after: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and withers, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they burn. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, whatever you will you shall ask, and it shall be done for you. In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love: as I also have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. And a little after: These things I command you, that you love one another. These passages from the four Gospels I have thought fit to set down in this work: where it can be understood that three of the evangelists, namely Matthew and Mark and Luke, have therefore given us more precepts for living, because they followed above all that part which is called the active.
But because John held rather to the contemplative life, therefore, although his Gospel surpasses the others, we nevertheless find in it far fewer precepts of conduct. From here now we shall recall, concerning that book to which they gave the title The Acts of the Apostles, the very few things that we find. For it contains the history of deeds by which faith is built up, and there examples rather than precepts are set down. XXIX. ON THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. James therefore, speaking, says: 'On this account I judge that those who from among the Gentiles are converted to the Lord are not to be troubled, but that we should write to them that they abstain from the pollutions of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood.' And a little later:
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no further burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication; from which if you keep yourselves you will do well. Farewell. And after many things, when the Apostle Paul was speaking to the overseers of the church whom he had gathered, he says: Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, over which the Holy Spirit has set you as bishops to rule the church of God, which he acquired with his own blood. And a little later the same to the same: I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that for the things that were needful for me and for those who are with me these hands have ministered.
I have shown you all things, that so labouring one ought to support the weak and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus, since he himself said: It is more blessed to give than to receive. And in another place, when James and those who were with him were speaking to the Apostle Paul, they said to him: You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. Now they have heard concerning you that you teach a falling away from Moses of those Jews who are among the Gentiles, saying that they ought not to circumcise their sons nor to walk according to the custom. What then is to be done? Assuredly the multitude must come together, for they will hear that you have arrived. Do therefore what we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves:
take these and sanctify yourself with them and be at charges for them, that they may shave their heads, and all will know that the things they heard about you are false, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law. But concerning those of the Gentiles who have believed, we have written, giving judgment that they abstain from what is offered to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. These things from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, agreeable to this our work, which we might set down here, we have found to be enough. Here we see that the apostles were unwilling to impose upon those of the Gentiles who believed any burdens of the old law, so far as pertains to abstinence from bodily pleasure, save that they should keep from these three, that is, from things offered to idols and from blood and from fornication.