94 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY IX. question yet remains for us : Why was it that in the prison on the one hand, the prisoners were loosed, whilst in the furnace the executioners were burnt to death : for that indeed should have been the king s fate, because neither were they who bound them, nor they who cast them into the furnace, guilty of so great sin as the man who commanded this should be done. Why then did they perish ? On this point there is not any very great need of minute ex amination ; for they were wicked men. And therefore this was providentially ordered, that the power of the fire might be shown, and the miracle might be made more signal ; for if it thus devoured them that were without, how did it show them unscathed that were within it? it was that the power ofGod might be made man ifest. And let no one wonder that I have put the king on a level with the jailor, for he did the same thing ; the one was in no wise more noble than the other, and they both had their reward. But. as I said, the righteous, when they are in tribulations, are then especially more ener getic, and when they are in bonds : for to suf fer any thing for Christ s sake is the sweetest of all consolation. Will ye that I remind you of yet another prison? It seems necessary to go on from this chain to another prison still. And which will ye ? Shall it be that of Jeremiah, or of Joseph, or of John ? Thanks to Paul s chain ; howmany prisons has it opened to our discourse? Will ye have that of John ? He also was once bound for Christ ssake, and for thelaw ofGod. What then? Was he idle when he was in prison ? Was it not from thence he sent, by his disciples, and said, "Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for another? "(Matt, xi : 2, 3.) Even when there, then, it seems he taught, for surely he did not disregard his duty. But again, did not Jere miah prophesy concerning the king of Babylon, and fulfil his work even there in prison ? And what of Joseph? Was he not in prisonthirteen years ? What then ? Not even there did he forget his virtue. I have yet to mention the bonds of one and therewith will close my dis course. Our Master Himself was bound, He who loosed the world from sins. Those hands were bound, those hands that wrought ten thou sand good deeds. For, "they bound Him," it saith, "and led Him away toCaiaphas; " (Matt, xxvii : 2 ; John, xviii : 24.) yes, He was bound who had wrought so many marvellous works. Reflectingon these things, let us never repine ; but whether we be in bonds, let us rejoice ; or whether we be not in bonds, let us be as though we were bound together with Him. See how great a blessing are bonds ! Knowing all these things, let us send up our thanksgiving for all things to God, through Christ Jesus our Lord with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Ghost, be glory might and honor, now and forever and ever. Amen. HOMILY IX CHAPTER iv. VERSES i 3. " I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you, to walkworthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love ; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." GREAT has the power of Paul s chain been shown to be, and more glorious than miracles. It is not in vain then, as it should seem, nor without an object, that he here holds it forward, but as the means of all others most likely to touch them. And what saith he? "I there fore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you, to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called." And how is that ? " with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love." It is not the being merely a prisoner that is honorable, but the being so for Christ s sake. Hence he saith, " in the Lord," i. e., the pris oner for Christ s sake. Nothing is equal to this. But now the chain is dragging me away still more from my subject, and pulling me back again, and I cannot bear to resist it, but am drawn along willingly, yea, rather, with allmy heart ; and would that it were always my lot to be descanting on Paul s chain. But now do not become drowsy : for I am yet desirous to solve that other question, which many raise, when they say, Why, if tribulation be a glory, how came Paul himself to say in his defence 1 to Agrippa, "I would to God that whether with little or with much not thou only, [Field s text has here a much shorter reading as follows : For a question now suggests itself to me ; for since Paul in his defence, etc. This reading leaves the sense incomplete. The reading of the Oxford translator, as given above, is internally more satisfac tory and is attested by several excellent authorities. G. A.]