Chapter Twelve

¹ In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, “Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. The Pharisees tried to ensnare him in word, that they might turn the multitudes away from him. But it fell out to the contrary; for the multitudes rather drew near, and, gathering into ten thousands, each so longed to come near him, that they even trode one upon another. So strong is the truth, and craft everywhere weak. Jesus, then, seeing the craft of the Pharisees, and that they feign to ask, but in truth ensnare, said to his disciples concerning the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, altogether reproving them, and laying bare their hearts full of hypocrisy. And he calls hypocrisy leaven, as being sour, and of the old wickedness, and altering and corrupting to itself the minds of men with which it is mingled. For nothing so alters the character as hypocrisy. Those, then, who have been discipled to Christ ought to flee hypocrisy. For Christ, being truth, is manifestly opposed to falsehood. And all hypocrisy is full of falsehood, fashioning one thing, but being another. The Pharisees, then, he says, suppose that they escape notice through hypocrisy, procuring for themselves a fair character. But nothing covered is, that shall not be revealed. For all things, both words and thoughts, shall be set forth bare at the last tribunal of all; only, even in the present life many of the things hidden are wont to be laid bare. Whatever, then, you spoke in darkness and in closets, and spoke secretly, shall be proclaimed in the light and upon the housetops. And these things he seems indeed to say to the disciples, but he aims them at the Pharisees, hinting at their plots, and all but declaring this to them, though he seem to say these things to the disciples: that, O Pharisees, whatever in darkness — that is, in your dark hearts — you meditated, wishing to ensnare me, shall be heard and known in the light; for I am the light, and you cannot escape me, but in me, the light, all that your darkness counsels is known. And whatever you counseled one to another in the ear, has become audible to me, as if it had been proclaimed upon the lofty housetops. And these things you may understand also of the light being the Gospel, and the lofty housetops the lofty souls of the apostles. For whatever the Pharisees counseled was preached afterward, and heard in the light of the Gospel, upon the housetops of the Spirit.

² And I say to you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: Fear him, which after he has killed has power to cast into hell; yea, 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. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows. Since the Lord accused the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and withdrew his disciples from it, and in the midst again smote the Pharisees by saying, What you said in darkness shall be heard in the light, now he discourses to his friends the more perfect things. For having now plucked out the thorns, he sows the good seed. I say to you my friends; for the things spoken before were not to them, but to the Pharisees; to you, then, I say, my friends. For this word fits not all, but those who from their whole soul love him, and who are able to say, Who shall separate us from the love of God? To such men this exhortation fits. Be not afraid, he says, of them that kill the body, and have nothing more to harm beyond this. For to a small thing the loss from them comes round, since they harm the body, which shall suffer its own lot, even if they harm it not. But him it is worthy to fear who chastises not only the body, but also the soul, the immortal thing, subjecting it to immortal punishments, and these in fire. To spiritual manliness, then, Christ anoints his friends, making them martyrs, and casting out from them the fear of men. For men, he says, stretch their wrath as far as the corruptible body, and the end of their plot against us is the death of the flesh; but when God chastises, the loss shall not stop at the flesh only, but the wretched soul too is led together with it to the torments. And mark from this, that to sinners death is brought as a punishment, both being chastised here by being slain, and there afterward being cast into hell. And, examining the expression, you shall understand something else also. For observe that he said not, Fear him that after killing casts into hell, but, that has power to cast. For not altogether are the sinners that die cast into hell, but it lies in the power of God to forgive also. And this I say because of the offerings and distributions made on behalf of the departed, which contribute no small thing even to those who died in grievous sins. Not altogether, then, after killing does he cast into hell, but he has power to cast. Let us therefore not be slack, being earnest through alms and intercessions to propitiate him who has power indeed to cast, but who altogether uses not this power, but is able also to forgive. And since many think the death for the truth’s sake to be a forsaking by God, Suppose not this, he says. For not as forsaken by me shall you die, since not even one of the sparrows that are sold is forgotten; far is it that your death, the death of my friends, should come to pass as though you were not cared for by me. For so great is the providence I make for you, that I know each of your things minutely, and have your very hairs numbered; even though, then, I suffer you to enter into temptation, I will altogether supply also the power to endure. And often, if I see one weak, I suffer him not even to fall into temptation. For being your guardian, and knowing all things, and having numbered even the smallest things, I dispense to each what is according to his worth and fitting. And, observing closely, you shall find in Scripture all the manly numbered, and those who have come to the measure of stature, and worthy simply of divine reckoning. By the head, then, of each of the faithful, the Christ-befitting manner of life is to be understood; and by the hairs of this, the several deeds, more mortified than the body, which are numbered by God, and set down in account. For such deeds of yours are counted worthy of divine oversight. And some understand the five sparrows as the five senses, which, being sold for two farthings — that is, through the New and Old Testament — are not forgotten before God. For those whose senses are ruled and brought to the word, so as not to be useless for spiritual food, these are unforgotten by the Lord.

³ Also I say to you, Whoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: but he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but to him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you to the synagogues, and to magistrates, and powers, take you no thought how or what thing you shall answer, or what you shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say. Now he sets forth the prize of martyrdom. For since he said, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and added, that, Even your hairs are numbered, lest one should say, Give me also some reward; for what does it profit me if you have my hairs numbered? he says, Will you also a reward? Hear: Whoever shall confess me, he shall be confessed before God. And the words, Shall confess in me, he said instead of, With my working together, and in my power. I too, then, will confess in him — that is, being worked together with by him. For we too have need first of all of God; for without him we can do nothing; and God again has need of us; for unless he find in us worthy works, neither does he take us to himself, else he would be a respecter of persons. We confess, then, in him — that is, in his working together; and he in us — that is, in our working together. For unless we give him occasion, neither will he confess for us. But he that denies, denies not in the power of God. Wherefore neither did he add, in me, but, He that denies me; and perhaps, inasmuch as every saint abides in Christ, and Christ in him, according to this it is said, Whoever shall confess in me — that is, abiding — I too will confess, abiding in him. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. That is, whoever shall blaspheme against me, the apparent bare son of man, who eats and drinks, and consorts with publicans and harlots, is pardonable, whether he repent or not. For sin is not reckoned to him that believes not. For what did he see, that he should believe? Nay rather, what did he not see worthy of evil-speaking? He saw a man consorting with harlots, and blasphemes against him; sin therefore is not reckoned to him. For it was likely he should suffer this; for how is he Son of God, who consorts with harlots? He blasphemes, then, and calls him a deceiver, who lives thus, yet makes himself Son of God. But when one blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, he is unpardonable. And what he means is this: When, beholding divine signs, and great and excellent works, one disbelieves and slanders, ascribing the workings of the Holy Spirit to Beelzebub, then, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, and saying that the signs come to pass in an evil and not in a divine spirit, he is unpardonable, and shall not be guiltless, unless he repent. For to him that blasphemed against the Son of man not even sin was reckoned, wherefore even not repenting he is pardonable; but to him that sees the works of the divine Spirit and blasphemes, without repentance it shall not be forgiven. For it shall be reckoned the greatest sin. And when they bring you to the rulers and powers, and the rest. Since our weakness is twofold, and either through fear of punishments we flee martyrdom, or through rusticity and the not being able to give an account of the faith that is in us, he healed the fear of the punishments by saying, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and now heals also the fear from rusticity. For since not many wise according to the flesh believed, but the more were unlearned, Fear not, he says, rustic and unlearned man, neither take thought how or what you shall answer the tyrant when questioned, or what you shall say in another manner of public speaking; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say. So that, what need is there of taking thought, if in the same hour you are to be taught by the Spirit? Thus, then, on both sides he anoints us to martyrdom, healing both the fear from bodily weakness, and that from rusticity.

⁴ And one of the company said to him, “Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.” And he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Teaching us how we ought to despise worldly things, and that we ought not to be distracted about earthly things, the Lord sends away the one who called him to divide the paternal inheritance. Wherefore he says, Who made me a judge or a divider over you? For since that man, leaving to ask the things useful and conducing to the soul’s salvation, asked him to become a divider over earthly and temporary matters, for this cause, as one troublesome and wishing to learn nothing of the things needful, he is sent away — and this the Lord does meekly, and not with rebuke. And altogether by this he persuades all, both then and now hearing, to make light of every temporary and earthly matter, not contending with brethren, but yielding to them rather, even though they wish to overreach. For from him that takes away your goods, he says, ask them not again, seeking such things as are useful and necessary to the salvation of the soul. Wherefore he added, saying, Take heed, and beware of covetousness, as exhorting us to flee it as a kind of devilish pit. And to whom did he say this, Take heed, and beware of covetousness? To these two brethren. For since their dispute was about an inheritance, and it was likely that one of these two wronged the other, for this reason he discourses to them concerning covetousness. For a great evil is this; wherefore Paul also calls it idolatry — perhaps as fitting only those who know not God; or, which is the truer, since the idols of the nations are silver and gold. Like to the idolaters is he who honors silver and gold; for both worship and tend the same matter. We ought, then, to flee the superfluous. Why? Because a man’s life consists not in the abundance of his possessions — that is, the measure of life is not co-extended with abundance; for he that has much shall not therefore live long, nor does length of life follow the multitude of riches. This the Lord says, overthrowing the reasonings of the lovers of wealth; for since the lovers of wealth, as lovers of life, tend their wealth, and, as about to live long, gather from every side, he says, O wretched and miserable man, shall length of life be added to you from having much? Why then do you suffer hardship manifestly for the sake of a rest that is uncertain? For uncertain it is, whether you shall reach the old age for which you lay up; but manifest it is that you now spend yourself upon the providing of riches.

⁵ And he spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Having said that the life of man is not co-extended with the abundance of riches, for the confirmation of this he brings forward also a parable. And observe how he describes for us the insatiable reasonings of a senseless rich man. For God did his own part, and showed his own compassion; for not one little field of the rich man, but the whole country brought forth plentifully. But he was so unfruitful in compassion, that, before receiving, he held fast. And observe also the pleasures of the rich man, What shall I do? Such words does not the poor man too say, What shall I do, for I have not wherewith to be nourished, wherewith to be clothed? See me also the words of the rich man, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? A fair rest indeed! Since both the poor man says, What shall I do, because I have not, and the rich, What shall I do, because I have not where; what then do we gather from gathering the more? For rest we gain not, as is plain from the cares, but heap up for ourselves only a multitude of sins. I will pull down my barns, and build greater. And if next year the land bring forth yet more plentifully, again will you pull down, and again build? And what need to pull down and build? You have the bellies of the poor for barns, able to hold much, and indestructible and incorruptible; for they are heavenly and divine, since he that nourishes the poor nourishes God. And observe also another folly. My fruits and my goods. For he supposed not to have these from God, else he would have been disposed about them as a steward of God; but he counted them the offspring of his own labors; wherefore also, appropriating them to himself, he said, My fruits and my goods. For I have, he says, no partner, I make none a sharer; they are not God’s, but mine, I alone therefore will enjoy them; I will not take God to share in the enjoyment of them. Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years. He marks off for himself length of life, as if he had farmed this too out of the earth; for is this also your offspring, is this also a good of yours? Eat, drink, be merry. Well done, the goods of the soul! For to eat and to drink is the good of an irrational soul; having, then, yourself also such a soul, fittingly you ascribe these things to it. For the good of a rational soul is to understand, to reason, to be made glad in the law of God and in good thoughts. But it sufficed you not to eat and drink, O fool, but you lay also upon the soul the most shameful and abominable pleasure that follows these. For under fair words the Lord, by the, Be merry, indicated the most licentious passions, which attend the fulness of meats and drinks. But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. It is not said, God spoke to the rich man, as though God conversed with him, but he means some such thing as this: while he thus thought, God said — for this the parable feigns — You fool. He calls him a fool, then, as having counseled altogether senseless things, as we have shown. For a fool and vain is every such man, even as David also says, In vain does every man trouble himself; and the cause is, he heaps up treasure, and knows not for whom he shall gather it. For how is he not a fool, who knew not that the measures of life are with God alone, and that no man is for himself the appointer of his own life? And observe also the expression, They shall require. For as certain harsh tax-gatherers, fearful angels require your soul from you unwilling, as one that, through love of life, clings to the things here; for the righteous man’s soul is not required, but he commits it to God and the Father of spirits, with gladness, and without grieving over the laying down; for the body is laid upon him as a light burden. But the sinner, having made his soul fleshly, and embodied it, and made it earth, has prepared it to be hard to draw away; wherefore also it is said to be required, as a debtor disobedient given over to harsh exactors. And observe how he said not, I require your soul, but, They require; for the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Truly, then, in the night is the soul of such a one required; for he has not the light of the divine knowledge shining upon him, but, being in the night of the love of wealth, and darkened by this, is overtaken by death. So then, he that lays up treasure for himself, that is, is called a fool, and accomplishes not his counsels, but in the very moment of his counsel is cut off altogether from life. But if he had laid up treasure for the poor and for God, it would not have been thus. Let us therefore be earnest to be rich toward God — that is, to have trusted in him, and to have him as our wealth, and the storehouse of our wealth, and not to say, My goods, but, The goods of God; and if they are God’s goods, let us not deprive God of his goods. This is to be rich toward God, to believe that, even if I give all and empty myself, none of the necessary things shall fail me; for the storehouse of my goods is God, and I open and take the things needful.

⁶ And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than garments. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them: how much more are you better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If you then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take you thought for the rest? Little by little the Lord leads on his teaching to the more perfect things. For observe the order. He taught to beware of covetousness, and added the parable concerning the rich man, showing through it that he is a fool who craves the more. Then, advancing in his discourse, he suffers us not to take thought even for the necessary things. As, then, the devil, beginning from the small things, makes us fall into the greater (wherefore he is also named ant-lion by the wise), so on the contrary the Lord, undoing his works, first cuts off the great sins, then points out also the beginnings of these. Having, then, shown us to beware of covetousness, he comes also upon the root of it, that he may cut this too away — I mean care; and he says, Therefore I say to you, since, he says, he is a fool who marks off for himself larger measures of life, and is deceived to crave from this the more, such as was the rich man, for this reason I say to you, Take no thought for your soul what you shall eat — not as though the intellectual soul ate, but since the soul seems not otherwise to endure to be bound to the body, unless we are nourished, for this reason he so spoke. And besides, the body is clothed even when dead, but is not nourished; since, then, to be nourished belongs to the living thing, fittingly he ascribed to the soul the being nourished. Or is not the nutritive power also called soul? Take no thought, then, for the nutritive part of the irrational soul, what you shall eat, nor for the body, what you shall put on. Then he brings forward a reasoning; for he that gave the greater, the soul, will he not give also the nourishment? he that gave the body, will he not give also the clothing? Then from the example of the ravens, that he may nourish us, he brings the birds into the midst. For he might have brought forward holy prophets, such as Elias and Moses; but for the greater shaming he brings the birds. Then he brings forward also another reasoning. Tell me, what do you gain by taking thought? Do you add to your stature even the least? Nay rather you take away from your flesh; for care is a wasting. If, then, you can not add the least, why do you take thought for the rest? For it is plain that, as God gives the growth, so will he give also the rest.

⁷ Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say to you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be you of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knows that you have need of these things. But rather seek you the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added to you. The example also of the lilies he set forth to shame us the more; for if these God so clothes, that not even the glory of Solomon availed ever to be arrayed as one of these, and that, the beauty of the lilies being not necessary, how much more will he clothe us, the precious creature, and that, the clothing being necessary to our body? What then, he says, do you bid us not to farm? He said not, Farm not, but, Take no thought. For to work I forbid not, but to take thought — which is to have one’s hope in oneself — this I deprecate. For he that works indeed, but hopes in God, so passes his life without care. For that he cuts off care as leading away from God, is plain. For he says, Seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be you of doubtful mind. For by doubtfulness of mind he means nothing else than the distraction, and the unstable whirling of the reasoning, which thinks now this, now that, and from this leaps to that, and ever imagines the higher things. Is not this doubtfulness of mind? As, then, leading us away from God, he forbids such care, that is, the doubtfulness of mind, saying that, All these things the nations seek after. For care stops not at the necessary things, but, as I said, ever seeks the higher things; wherefore it is called doubtfulness of mind. What I mean is this: We have not bread, we take thought whence we shall have it, and stop not at this, but also of what sort the wheat-fat shall be; then also wine, and this fragrant, and dainties besides. Do you see the care, and the doubtfulness of mind? For this cause the Lord wholly cuts it off; for the nations seek these things. Then he brings forward another reasoning, that our Father knows that we have need; and not one reasoning, but more. For he is a Father, he says, and if Father, how shall he not give? And he knows too, for he is not ignorant; and you have need, for these things are not superfluous, but necessary. If, then, he is both Father, and you have need, and he knows, how shall he not give? Seek you, then, the kingdom of God as the chief thing, and put away the care about the things of life, as cutting us off from this. And then all these things shall be added to you. For if you seek the small things, you do a thing not pleasing to him; for you put to shame his great-giving. If you seek the great things, those you shall receive, and besides shall have as an addition the small things also. For if he see you occupied about his kingdom, it is altogether necessary that he provide for you in your own things. Or do not we too in our households do thus, caring more for those who have given themselves wholly to our service, and providing for these, as though they provided not for themselves? How much more, then, the Lord? The Lord, then, cuts off the care about the things of life, that he may persuade us to seek his kingdom; for to take thought together with this is not possible.

⁸ Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The Lord names those who wish to be discipled to him a little flock, either because in this world the saints are little and least through their voluntary possessionlessness and lack of money, or because of being surpassed by the multitude of the angels, which is measureless and incomparably exceeds the things with us. For that the angels are more, is plain from the parable which the Lord spoke, that the shepherd rejoices over the one that strayed and was found, more than over the ninety and nine that strayed not; for he showed from this, that, as the one is to the ninety and nine, so is the human nature to the angelic. Fear not, he says, O little flock — instead of, Disbelieve not that God will provide for you, even though you take not thought. Why? Because it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Since, then, he gives the kingdom, much more the things of earth. Disbelieve not, therefore, that, if you practise possessionlessness, you shall not have one to provide for you; but sell that you have, and give alms, and make a treasure that fails not. Then he persuades us also by irrefutable reasonings. For here, he says, the moth corrupts, but in the heavens not so. Is it not, then, senseless to lay up treasure in a place where there is corruption? Then, since the moth corrupts not gold, he said also, Where no thief approaches. For the moth corrupts not gold, but the thief steals it. Then, since not all are robbed, he adds the greater reasoning altogether and irrefutable. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Be it, he says, that neither moth corrupts nor thief approaches — this very thing, to have the heart nailed to the buried treasure, and to cast the divine thing of the soul into the earth, of how great punishment is it worthy? Nay rather, how is it not the greatest punishment to him that has a mind? Where your treasure is, there is also your heart: if in the earth, this too; if in heaven, there above this also. Who, then, would not choose to be above, and not under the earth — to be an angel, and not a mole that ever dwells under the earth in the burrows?

⁹ Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and you yourselves like to men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching: truly I say to you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be you therefore ready also: for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not. Having made his disciple unencumbered, and stripped him of all worldly care and doubtfulness of mind, and made him light, the Lord now makes him also a minister. For he that wishes to minister must be light and thriving; wherefore he says, Let your loins be girded about, which is, Show yourselves ever ready toward the works of your Master. And your lights burning — which is, Live not in darkness and confusion, but let the light of the word be yours, showing all things to be done and not to be done. This world, then, is night. And those girded about the loins are they who pursue the practical. For such is the fashion of laborers, to whom the lamps too must be added, burning. For together with the practical must be also the gift of discernment, that the practical man may discern, not only what he ought to do, but also how. For many did the good, yet not well; such, then, were girded indeed about the loins, for they wrought, but had not the lamps burning — that is, had not the discernment from the word, but either fell into vainglory, or into some other precipice of folly. And you may understand also this, that first our loins are girded, then the lamps burn. For first is practice, then contemplation, which is the illumination of the mind. For our mind is a lamp, which, when it has the light of God shining in it, then is said to burn. Let us therefore be earnest to practise virtue, that we may have our two lamps burning, the inward word and the uttered word — the inward, ever lightening in the soul, and the uttered, on the tongue. For the one enlightens us within, but the teaching and uttered lamp enlightens others. And let us be like to men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding. And who is this lord? Christ Jesus; who, having taken the human nature as a bride, and united it to himself, made a wedding, being joined to it into one flesh; or rather, he makes not one wedding, but many; for every day he is wedded in heaven, joining to himself the souls of the saints; even as Paul, or whoever is like Paul, presents to him chaste virgins. And he returns from the wedding in the heavens, perhaps universally at the universal consummation, when he shall come from heaven in the glory of the Father; and perhaps also at every hour, in the particular consummation of each one, standing over invisibly and unexpectedly. Blessed, then, is that one whom he shall find girded indeed about the loins, as by the practical part of the philosophy that is according to Christ prepared to serve God, and having the lamp of the word and of discernment burning, and not only doing the good, but also well; nay rather, having also contemplation, as a kind of lamp received. For through the girding of the loins there comes to be in us also the burning lamp of contemplation, nay rather the two lamps, the inward and the uttered. To such a servant, then, the Lord himself becomes a servant. For he shall gird himself, he says, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. For God girds himself, in that he supplies not to us the whole effusion of his good things, but restrains it; for who could contain God, how great he is? as is plain from the Seraphim, who veil themselves through the excess of the divine light. And he makes the good servants to sit down; for he gives them rest wholly through all; for as he that reclines rests the whole body, so also in the coming presence the saints wholly through all are at rest. For here they find no relaxation for the body, but there, together with their souls, their spiritual and divine bodies also, having inherited incorruption, enjoy all rest, and God shall be all in all to them; and he ministers to the worthy, requiting them with equal things; and as they ministered to him, so he too ministering to them, and furnishing them an abundant table, and giving freely the delight of the spiritual gifts. And by the second and third watch you may understand the different hours of our life. As, for instance: as he that watches in the second and third watch seems most wakeful (for these are the hours of the night most apt for sleep to men, and for the first sleep), so understand me also that, in the different state of our life, there are hours which make us blessed, if we be found watching. Has one snatched away your goods, have your children died to you, have you been slandered? if in such seasons you fall not down, but be found watching toward God and Master, and be constrained to do nothing outside his commandments, truly he found you watching in the second and third watch — that is, in a fearful season, and one giving deadly sleep and downfall to the slack souls. There is need, then, of wakefulness. For we are like to a goodman of the house, who, if he watch, the thief can do nothing against his goods; but if he be drowsy, the thief, taking all, will be gone. And by the thief here some understand the devil, even as by the house the soul, and by the goodman the man. Yet this interpretation seems not suited to the connection; for to a thief here is the coming of the Lord likened, because of its unexpectedness, as one of the apostles also says, For the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. And here too the Lord, see how, interprets to us who the thief is; for he says, Be you therefore ready also, for at an hour you think not the Son of man comes. And some say that those watching about the first watch are understood as the more careful than the rest; about the second, those of lower rank; about the third, those yet inferior to these. And others have expounded the different ages: the first, in which we are young; the second, in which we are men; the third, in which we are old men. Blessed, then, is whoever shall be found, in whatever age, watching, and not slackly disposed about the working of the good.

¹⁰ Then Peter said to him, “Lord, do you speak this parable to us, or even to all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. Of a truth I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has. Peter asked, as one caring for all, and burning with zeal for the hearers as a lover of his brethren, and as one now entrusted with the Church, whether he speaks this parable to all. And the Lord openly answers him nothing to the question, but covertly shows that the parable spoken was common, and reached to all, even the ordinary faithful; but, he says, of the one toward you — that is, the apostles, and simply those counted worthy of teaching or rule — now hear: Who then is the faithful and wise steward? The parable before spoken, he says, fits many; but now I speak concerning those counted worthy of rule, saying, I am at a loss who shall be found having these things, both faith and prudence; for rare is such a one and hard to find. For as in the stewardships of money, if one be faithful to his master, but not prudent, the master’s goods are lost, he not being able to administer these as he ought, but, when there is need to give, not giving, and working the loss of more; again, if he be prudent indeed, and inventive, but unfaithful, he would be a thief, and so much the harder to detect, as he is the more prudent; so also in divine things, there is need at once both of faith and of prudence. For I know many seeming earnest in virtue, and godly, and having faith, who, in the not being able to administer prudently the things of the Church, have damaged not only money, but also souls. As, for instance: someone has stumbled in a soul-stumbling, and unless the ruler be prudent, but only having faith — that is, virtue without discernment — either by immoderate rebuke, or by unseasonable meekness, the one who stumbled is destroyed, and is not healed, but is worn down. Whoever, then, shall be found faithful and prudent, shall be set over the household of the Lord — that is, over all the servants — to give to each in due season the portion of meat, whether it be the doctrinal word, by which souls are nourished, or the pattern of deeds, and the ordinance how one ought to live. Such a one, if he be found so doing, is blessed, and over all that the Lord has shall the Lord set him; not only over the servants, but, having now counted him worthy of a higher degree, shall set him over all, so that he has both the earthly things obedient to him and the heavenly — such as Joshua the son of Nun, such as Elias, the one commanding the sun, the other the clouds of heaven; and simply all the saints, as friends of God, using the things of their friend; for common are the things of friends. And everyone who pursues the practical virtue in the quiet life, and administers the servile passions, wrath and desire, and supplies to each in due season the portion of meat — to wrath, so as to hate those that hate the Lord, and to pine away over his enemies; to desire, so as to make a needful providence of the flesh, and to send up the whole of it toward God — everyone such, then, is blessed, and shall attain also to contemplation, and shall be set over all the things of the Lord, counted worthy to behold and oversee all things with the contemplative mind; and not only these things that are not properly his, but also his own.

¹¹ But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delays his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Woe to such servants, who, having received the gift of spiritual oversight, corrupt the stewardship entrusted to them, and drink indeed and are drunken — whether you will understand these things sensibly; for this too befalls the evil rulers of the Churches, who riot upon the goods of the poor — or whether you will understand by drunkenness the distraction of the mind, both in doctrines and in money. And such rulers beat the menservants and maidens — I mean, offending the weaker in the Church, they beat their conscience. For the weak and faint-hearted, seeing me the high priest leading my life ill, is beaten in his conscience, being offended, and receives blows in his heart, and becomes weaker. And all these things befall the wicked servant from his saying, My lord delays his coming; for from slackness, and from not considering the hour of the end, such things come to pass. For if we considered that the Lord is come, and that at the doors is the end and consummation of our life, we should sin less. But observe also the punishment. He will cut him in sunder, he says — that is, will deprive him of the teaching gift. For lest one suppose that the gift will avail him toward not being more severely punished, How, he says, shall the gift avail him, where he is then found stripped of it? for to be cut in sunder signifies this, the being deprived of the grace. For the wretched one is then found flesh, and not spirit; since then are we in the spirit, according to the Apostle, when the Spirit of God dwells in us; but he that has not walked in the spirit, but is in the flesh, and is found without lot in the spiritual manner of life, is ranked with the unbelievers, as being condemned together with the unbelieving world, as having been profited nothing from the seeming faith; for the true faith was not in him; for if the true faith had been in him, he would have been a faithful steward; but now, since he was drinking, and drunken, and corrupting the master’s goods, he had not the true faith, which the stewards of his mysteries are required to have; for, being deprived of the gift and stripped.

¹² And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Here the Lord shows us something more and more fearful. For not only, he says, shall such a one be stripped of the gift, and it avail him nothing toward release from punishments, but the greatness of his dignity shall become to him a cause of greater condemnation. For by how much, knowing, he stumbled, by so much greater punishment does he make for himself. And by the things following he makes this plainer. For that which was given, he says, much, much also shall be required of him; and to whom they committed much, the more shall they ask of him. For by these things he hints at the punishment owed to the teachers, as being greater. And there is given to the teachers and committed to them: there is given, as it were, the gift of working wonders and of healing diseases; and there is committed to them the gift of the word and of teaching. Concerning the, There is given, then, he said not that they shall require the more; but concerning the, There is committed; for truly the gift of the word needs working out, and the teacher is required the more. For he ought not to be slack, but to multiply the talent of the word; the, It was committed, then, instead of, To whom much was lent, you ought to understand; for the loan he here named a deposit. But certain inquire: Be it, the one who knew the will of his master, and did it not, is justly punished; but he that knew not, why is he punished? Because, being able himself also to learn, he nevertheless willed not, but from slackness became himself to himself the cause of not learning; so that for this he is to be punished, that willingly he learned not. Let us shudder, brethren; for if he that knew not at all is worthy of stripes, what word shall release those who offend in knowledge, and especially if they be also teachers? For the heavier is the condemnation of these.

¹³ I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? By fire is understood both the preaching — for the word is a fire devouring every material and refuse thought, and doing away the idols of whatever matter they be; and there is understood also the zeal for the good kindled in each of us; and perhaps this too, coming to pass through the word of God, differs not from the former. With this fire, then, the Lord wishes our hearts to be kindled; for we ought to have a burning zeal for the good. For the, What will I, is instead of, How greatly I will, that it were already kindled. For he hastens the kindling of this fire, even as Paul also says, Fervent in the spirit. And again, For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God. And by baptism he means his own death.

¹⁴ But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! By baptism he means his own death. For since this fire was not otherwise to be kindled, except after his death — for from then the preaching and the zeal increased — for this reason he speaks also concerning his death, naming it a baptism. And desiring this exceedingly, he says, And how am I straitened — instead of, How greatly I am anxious and afflicted, till it be accomplished? For I thirst for the death that is on behalf of the salvation of all. And the Lord came to cast this fire, not only upon all the earth, into which the word and the faith were spread, but also upon the soul of each one, which is a land bearing thorns and unfruitful, but, by the divine word as by fire kindled, and becoming receptive of the divine seeds, and bearing fruit spiritually. For when the divine grace touches some soul invisibly, it seems to be set aflame with the longing for God, as it is not possible to say; even as, of course, those about Cleopas, being kindled invisibly by such a fire of the grace of God, said, Did not our heart burn within us? Whoever, then, has suffered such a passion will know what is said. And many suffer it, and oftentimes, when the divine Scriptures are read, or the lives of the holy Fathers, or when certain exhort and teach, being kindled toward the good in their souls; and some to the end, but some are presently cooled again.

¹⁵ Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. Christ is our peace; yet, I came not, he says, to give peace. Whence the saying seems like a riddle. We say, then, that not all peace is blameless and good, but there is one that is oftentimes perilous, and severs from the divine love — such as when we are at peace, and agree together, to the overthrow of the truth. This peace, then, Christ wills not to give, but on the contrary wills us to be at variance with one another for the good’s sake; and so it came to pass in the persecution. For in one house a Greek father was at variance with a believing son, and a mother with a daughter, and the reverse. But how, having said that five in one house should be divided, did he in the reckoning set six persons? We say, then, that one person was taken twice. For the daughter and the daughter-in-law are the same person, which, as toward the mother, is named daughter, but as toward the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law. Three, then, shall be divided — the father, and the mother, and the mother-in-law — against two — that is, the son and the daughter. For the daughter, as we have said, being one person, in that she takes on two relations, according to this seems to be two persons, being reckoned with the mother and with the mother-in-law. And understand me simply by father and mother and mother-in-law all the old things, and by son and daughter all the new. The Lord, then, wills his new and divine commandments and doctrines to fight against all our old and sinful habits and doctrines. And understand also thus: by father the mind, by son the word; a division, then, of these came to pass in the one house, the man, I mean. As, for plainer instance: the mind of Dionysius the Areopagite was illumined, and received the preaching; but against this his mind, which without demonstration received the faith, fought the Greek word, attempting to demonstrate, and constraining it to follow dialectical methods. Do you see a division of father and son, fighting one another for Christ and the preaching? And the understanding you may call mother and mother-in-law, and the sense daughter and daughter-in-law. And against these too a battle stands for Christ — the understanding against the sense, when the understanding persuades to prefer the things not flowing to the flowing, the things invisible to the visible, and has to this many demonstrations as helpers. And there is when also against the understanding a war is joined by the sense; for the sense, being led by the wonders and the seen signs to faith, is not persuaded by the reasonings of the understanding, nor wishes to follow the Greek demonstrations, which constrain those who attend to them not to believe that God became man, or that a virgin bore. For such are the prattlings of the Greek reasonings, slaves to nature. The sense, however, through the seen wonders, is a guide to the knowledge of God better than every demonstration. Not all peace, then, and concord is good, but there is when a battle also and division is good — against the wicked, even though it be father, even though mother be foes of the truth’s friends.

¹⁶ And he said also to the people, “When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, There will be heat; and it comes to pass. You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time? Yea, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right? When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are in the way, give diligence that you may be delivered from him; lest he hale you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart thence, till you have paid the very last mite. Since he had discoursed concerning the preaching, and named it both fire and sword, and it was likely that the hearers should be troubled, not understanding what was said, he says, that, As you discern the qualities of the air from certain signs, so you ought to recognize also my coming, both from the things said and from the things done by me. For my words show me to be set against you, and my works likewise. For you are publicans and rapacious, but I have not where to lay my head. You ought, then, as from the cloud to conjecture the shower, and from the south wind the heat, so also to discern the time of my coming, and to conjecture that I came not to give peace, but a shower and a tumult. For I too am a cloud, and I come from the west — I mean from the human nature, which formerly was low, and had much of the gloom that comes from sin. But also I came to cast fire, and to make a burning heat; for I am a south wind, a warm wind, and contrary to the coldness of the north; since I appeared also from Bethlehem, which lies toward the south. Having said these things, he teaches them also henceforth concerning a peace that is praiseworthy; for since he showed the praiseworthy division, he shows also the blameless peace; and he says, that, When the adversary drags you to the tribunal, in the way give diligence, contend; for the, Give diligence, means this — to devise every way to be delivered from him; and in another sense, the, Give diligence, is understood instead of, Even if you have nothing, borrow, and give diligence — that is, interest — to be delivered from him; lest he hale you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer — that is, to the exactor — and he cast you into prison, till you pay the very last mite. And these things the Lord says, frightening through them the grosser sort, and gathering them to peace; for knowing that fear of loss and of punishments restrains the more earthly, for this cause he says these things. And they are understood also of the devil; for he is our adversary. In the way, then — I mean in this life — being, let us give diligence, working virtue, to be delivered from him, and to have nothing common with him, lest at any time in the judgment to come he deliver us to the judge. For his works, which here we wrought, these deliver us up to the judgment, and the judge delivers us to the officer — that is, to some punishing and evil-working power; and thereupon it torments us, until we pay the penalties even of the small sins, and fulfil the measure of punishment. So that we shall be punished. For if till then we are in prison, and we shall never be able to pay, it is plain that the punishment is everlasting.