The disciples who later died for his teaching
Notice too how shallow his account is of the disciples Jesus had at that time, where he says: “Then those who were with him while he lived, who heard his voice and had him as their teacher, when they saw him punished and dying, neither died with him nor died for him, nor were they persuaded to despise punishments; instead they even denied that they were his disciples. But now you die with him” (compare Matthew 26:69–75). In these words he believes that the sin the disciples committed while they were still beginners and imperfect, which is written in the Gospels, did happen, so that he may accuse the teaching; but what they did rightly after the sin, when they spoke boldly before the Jews, suffered countless things at their hands and at last died for the teaching of Jesus, he passes over in silence.
For he did not wish to hear Jesus foretelling to Peter, “But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,” and the rest (John 21:18), to which Scripture adds, “This he said to show by what death he would glorify God” (John 21:19). Nor did he wish to hear that James the brother of John, an apostle and the brother of an apostle, was put to death by Herod “with the sword” for the word of Christ (Acts 12:2). Nor did he wish to hear all that Peter and the other apostles did as they spoke boldly for the word, and how, after being flogged, they went out “from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name” (Acts 5:40–41), surpassing many of the stories told among the Greeks of the endurance and courage of those who practised philosophy.
From the beginning, then, this lesson of Jesus above all took firm hold among those who heard him: it taught them to despise the life that the many cling to, and to strive for a life that is like the life of God.
Greek
Πρόσχες δὲ καὶ τῷ ἐπιπολαίῳ τοῦ περὶ τῶν τότε μαθητῶν Ἰησοῦ λόγου, ἐν ᾧ φησιν· εἶτα οἱ μὲν τότε ζῶντι αὐτῷ συνόντες καὶ τῆς φωνῆς ἐπακούοντες αὐτοῦ καὶ διδασκάλῳ χρώμενοι κολαζόμενον καὶ ἀποθνῄσκοντα ὁρῶντες οὔτε συναπέθανον οὔτε ὑπεραπέθανον αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ κολάσεων καταφρονεῖν ἐπείσθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἠρνήσαντο εἶναι μαθηταί· νῦν δὲ ὑμεῖς αὐτῷ συναποθνῄσκετε. καὶ ἐν τούτοις δὲ τὸ μὲν ἔτι εἰσαγομένοις τοῖς μαθηταῖς καὶ ἀτελεστέροις οὖσιν ἁμαρτηθὲν καὶ γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις πιστεύει γεγονέναι, ἵν᾿ ἐγκαλῇ τῷ λόγῳ, τὸ δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτοῖς κατορθωθὲν παῤῥησιασαμένοις ἐπὶ Ἰουδαίων καὶ μυρία ὅσα πεπονθόσιν ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀποθανοῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς Ἰησοῦ διδασκαλίας παρασιωπᾷ. οὔτε γὰρ Ἰησοῦ ἐβουλήθη ἀκοῦσαι προλέγοντος τῷ Πέτρῳ· „ὅταν δὲ γηράσῃς, ἐκτενεῖς τὰς χεῖράς σου“ καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς, ᾧ ἐπιφέρει ἡ γραφή· „τοῦτο δ᾿ εἶπε σημαίνων, ποίῳ θανάτῳ δοξάσει τὸν θεόν“ οὔθ᾿ ὅτι Ἰάκωβος ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ἰωάννου, ἀπόστολος ἀποστόλου ἀδελφὸς, ἀνῃρέθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡρώδου διὰ τὸν λόγον Χριστοῦ „μαχαίρᾳ“· ἀλλ᾿ οὐδ᾿ ὅσα παῤῥησιαζόμενοι ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ πεποιήκασιν ὁ Πέτρος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ ὡς „ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ συνεδρίου“ ἐξῆλθον μετὰ τὸ μαστιγωθῆναι „χαίροντες,“ „ὅτι κατηξιώθησαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος ἀτιμασθῆναι,“ καὶ ὑπεραίροντες πολλὰ τῶν παρ᾿ Ἕλλησιν ἱστορουμένων ἐπὶ τῇ καρτερίᾳ καὶ ἀνδρίᾳ τῶν φιλοσοφησάντων. ἀρχῆθεν οὖν τοῦτο μάλιστα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μάθημα ἐκρατύνετο παρὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσιν αὐτοῦ, διδάσκον καταφρονεῖσθαι μὲν τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν περιεπόμενον ζῆν, σπουδάζεσθαι δὲ τὸ παραπλήσιον τῷ ζῆν τοῦ θεοῦ ζῆν.