136. So he who does the will of God is His
friend and is honoured with this name. He who is of one mind with
Him, he too is His friend. For there is unity of mind in friends,
and no one is more hateful than the man that injures friendship.
Hence in the traitor the Lord found this the worst point on which to
condemn his treachery, namely, that he gave no sign of gratitude and
had mingled the poison of malice at the table of friendship. So
He says: “It was thou, a man of like mind, My guide and
Mine acquaintance, who ever didst take pleasant meals with
Me.” Ps. liv.
[lv.] 13, 14. That
is: it could not be endured, for thou didst fall upon Him Who
granted grace to thee. “For if My enemy had reproached Me I
could have borne it, Ps. liv. [lv.]
12. and I would have
hid Myself from him who hated Me.” An enemy can be avoided;
a friend cannot, if he desires to lay a plot. Let us guard
against him to whom we do not entrust our plans; we cannot guard
against him to whom we have already entrusted them. And so to
show up all the hatefulness of the sin He did not say: Thou, My
servant, My apostle; but thou, a man of like mind with Me; that
is: thou art not My but thy own betrayer, for thou didst betray a
man of like mind with thyself.