Joy's true causes and the saints' measured tears
Basil is arguing that the command to rejoice always is practicable because Christian joy rests on hope in eternal goods, not on present circumstances, and he now turns to explain how the tears of the saints and of Christ are compatible with that joy.
How can anyone fail to regard these as sufficient causes for unceasing joy and perpetual gladness, and instead suppose that the man who gorges his belly, has the flute played for him, lies stretched out on a soft bed, and snores—that this man lives in a manner worthy of joy? I would say that such people deserve to be mourned by those who have sense, while we should call blessed those who carry on their present life in hope of the age to come and exchange present things for eternal ones. Even if those joined to God pass their days in flame, like the three children in Babylon, even if they are shut up with lions, even if they are swallowed by a sea monster, we ought to call them blessed, and they themselves ought to pass their days in joy—not pained by present things, but gladdened by the hope of what is stored up for us hereafter.
For I think that the noble athlete, once he has stripped for the contest of godliness, must bear the blows of his opponents bravely through hope of the glory that comes from the crowns. In athletic contests, those who have trained their bodies in the wrestling schools are not cowed by the pain of a blow, but they go straight at their opponents out of desire for the proclamation, despising the immediate pains. In the same way, for the earnest man, even if something harsh is present, it will not overshadow his joy. For affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame (Romans 5:3-5). Therefore elsewhere we have been commanded by the same Apostle to endure in affliction and rejoice in hope. So it is hope that prepares joy to dwell in the soul of the earnest man.
But the same Apostle also commands us to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15), and when writing to the Galatians he wept over the enemies of the cross of Christ (Philippians 3:18). And why speak of Jeremiah weeping, or Ezekiel writing laments for rulers at God's command, or many of the saints wailing? “Woe is me, my mother, what kind of person you have borne me” (Jeremiah 15:10). And, “Woe is me, for the godly has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men” (Micah 7:2). And, “Woe is me, for I have become like one gathering stubble at harvest” (Micah 7:1). In short, search the voices of the righteous, and if you find one uttering a rather gloomy cry, you will be persuaded that all of them groan over this world and this wretched life within it. “Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged” (Psalm 119:5 LXX). For he has a desire to depart and be with Christ (Philippians 1:23). So he is distressed at the prolonging of this sojourning as an obstacle to joy.
David also left us in song a lament for his friend Jonathan, and in it he also mourned his own enemy. “I am grieved for you, my brother Jonathan” (2 Samuel 1:26). And, “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul” (2 Samuel 1:24). For he laments Saul as having died in sin, but Jonathan as having shared life with him to the very end. And why speak of the rest? The Lord also wept over Lazarus (John 11:35), and he wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). And he calls blessed those who mourn, and again those who weep (Matthew 5:4). “How are these things consistent,” they say, “with ‘Rejoice always’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16)?” For tears and joy do not have their origin from the same principles.
Greek
Πῶς οὐχὶ ταῦτα προσήκει χαρᾶς ἀλήκτου καὶ εὐφροσύνης διηνεκοῦς ἐξαρκεῖν νομίζειν αἴτια, ἀλλ' οἴεσθαι τὸν γαστριζόμενον, καὶ καταυλούμενον, καὶ ἐπὶ μαλακῆς κοίτης ἀνατετραμμένον καὶ ῥέγχοντα, τοῦτον ἀξίως χαρᾶς διαζῇν; Ἐγὼ δὲ τούτοις μὲν τὸ θρηνεῖσθαι φαίην ἂν πρέπειν παρὰ τῶν νοῦν ἐχόντων· μακαρίζειν δὲ τοὺς ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν διαφέροντας, καὶ τὰ παρόντα τῶν αἰωνίων ἀμειβομένους, κἂν ἐν φλογὶ διάγωσιν οἱ Θεῷ συνημμένοι, ὡς οἱ τρεῖς παῖδες ἐπὶ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας, κἂν λέουσιν ὦσι συγκαθειργμένοι, κἂν ὑπὸ κήτους καταποθέντες, ὑφ' ἡμῶν τε χρῆναι μακα ρίζεσθαι, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν χαρᾷ διάγειν, οὐχὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀλγυνομένους, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἐλπίδι τῶν εἰς ὕστε ρον ἡμῖν ἀποκειμένων εὐφραινομένους. Οἶμαι γὰρ τὸν ἀγωνιστὴν τὸν καλὸν, ἅπαξ ἐπὶ τὸ τῆς εὐσε βείας στάδιον ἀποδύντα, φέρειν χρῆναι γενναίως τὰς πληγὰς τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἐλπίδι τῆς δόξης τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν στεφάνων. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσιν οἱ κατὰ τὰς παλαίστρας τοῖς πόνοις προσεθισθέντες οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἀλγεινὸν συστέλλονται τῆς πληγῆς, ἀλλ' ὁμόσε χωροῦσι τοῖς ἀντιπάλοις ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῆς ἀναῤῥήσεως, τῶν παραυτίκα πόνων ὑπερορῶντες. Οὕτω τῷ σπουδαίῳ κἂν παρῇ τι τῶν τραχυτέρων, οὐκ ἐπισκο τήσει τῷ χαίρειν. Διότι Ἡ θλῖψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται· ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν· ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα· ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει. Διὸ καὶ ἑτέρωθι τῇ θλίψει ὑπομένειν, καὶ τῇ ἐλπίδι χαίρειν παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ προσετάχθημεν. Ἐλπὶς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ τὴν χαρὰν σύνοικον τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ σπουδαίου παρασκευάζουσα. Ἀλλ' ὁ αὐτὸς Ἀπόστολος καὶ κλαίειν χρῆναι ἡμᾶς προστάσσει μετὰ κλαιόντων· καὶ Γαλάταις γρά φων, ἔκλαιε περὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῦ Χρι στοῦ. Καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν Ἱερεμίαν κλαίοντα; καὶ Ἰεζεκιὴλ θρήνους ἀρχόντων ἐκ προστάγματος Θεοῦ γράφοντα, καὶ πολλοὺς δὲ τῶν ἁγίων οἰμώζοντας; Οἴμοι, μῆτερ, ὡς τίνα με ἔτεκες; καὶ, Οἴμοι, ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν εὐλαβὴς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ὁ κατορ θῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἔστι· καὶ, Οἴμοι, ὅτι ἐγε νόμην ὡς συνάγων καλάμην ἐν ἀμήτῳ. Καὶ ὅλως ἐρεύνησον τὰς φωνὰς τῶν δικαίων, κἄν πού τινα εὕρῃς σκυθρωποτέραν φωνὴν ἀφιέντα, πεισθήσῃ, ὅτι πάντες τοῦ κόσμου τούτου καὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ ζωῆς τῆς δυστήνου ταύτης καταστενάζουσιν. Οἴμοι, ὅτι ἡ παροικία μου ἐμακρύνθη. Ἐπιθυμίαν γὰρ ἔχει ἀναλῦσαι, καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι. Ὡς οὖν ἐμπό διον τῆς χαρᾶς, τῆς παροικίας ταύτης τὴν παράτασιν δυσχεραίνει. Δαβὶδ δὲ καὶ ἐν μέλεσιν ἡμῖν θρῆνον τοῦ φίλου κατέλιπεν Ἰωνάθαν· ᾧ συναπεθρήνησε καὶ τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἑαυτοῦ. Ἀλγῶ ἐπὶ σοὶ, ἀδελφέ μου, Ἰωνάθαν· καὶ, Θυγατέρες Ἰσραὴλ, θρηνήσατε ἐπὶ Σαούλ. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ θρηνεῖ, ὡς ἐναποθανόντα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, τὸν δὲ Ἰωνάθαν, ὡς μέχρι παν τὸς αὐτῷ κοινωνήσαντα τοῦ βίου. Καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ ἄλλα λέγειν; Ἀλλ' ἐδάκρυσε καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐπὶ Λαζάρῳ, ἐδάκρυσε καὶ ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. Καὶ μακαρίζει δὲ τοὺς πενθοῦντας, καὶ πάλιν τοὺς κλαίοντας. Καὶ πῶς σύμφωνα ταῦτα, φασὶ, τῷ, Πάντοτε χαίρετε; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀρχῶν δάκρυόν τε καὶ χαρὰ τὴν γένεσιν ἔχουσι.