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of the letter may season for the sheep; The sower went out, having the ten yoke of oxen, that he might make the one jar, and having sown six artabas, he might make three measures. Speak now, Isaiah, do not be silent. For where ten yoke of oxen labor, it will make one jar. Ten yoke of oxen are twenty oxen; the ten yoke of rational oxen of Christ happen to be the twelve apostles, and the seven whom the apostles chose. Which ones are these? Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus a proselyte of Antioch; and the apostle who farmed from Jerusalem to Illyricum.

These ten yoke of oxen worked in the field of humanity the confession of Jesus, who put on the earthen vessel of our body. That the divine word calls the incarnate coming of Christ a jar, listen. When he was about to go to suffer, his disciples say to him: Where do you want us to prepare the Passover? And he to them, Go into this city, and a man will meet you carrying a jar of water, and say to him: Our Teacher said: I will keep the Passover at your house. And he will show you a furnished upper room, and there prepare the Passover for us. And who is the man carrying the jar of water, or what is the city to which he sends them, or what is the furnished upper room, it is necessary for you to inquire and learn. The man carrying the jar of water is John the forerunner of Christ, proclaiming Jesus who put on the jar of our body, having in himself the water of baptism. And the furnished upper room he calls the rest that will be for the saints in heaven after the resurrection. Go into this city; not into the old synagogue of the Jews, where the old law in the old wineskins turned sour; for they offered vinegar mixed with gall to the Lord. but go into the new city, into the new Jerusalem, where the new word, where the new grace of the Spirit in new wineskins springs forth the new wine of faith; not where the old Passover is, but where the new resurrection is; not where the lamb is sacrificed, but where Christ delivers; not where the old leaven is, but where the heavenly bread is perfected on the cross. For where ten yoke of oxen labor, it will make one jar.

Where ten yoke of oxen labor, of the apostles (for the apostles were likened to oxen, as Paul bears witness to me, saying: It is written, he says, in the law, You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. Is it for the oxen, he says, that God cares? But he says it for our sakes); where therefore 61.774 these ten yoke of oxen labor, they produce the confession of Jesus, who put on the jar of our body. And the one who sows six artabas will make only three measures. Has such a poor harvest of farmers ever happened, that six artabas were sown, to make only three measures? But let us seek the meaning of Scripture, beloved, let us enter into the inner veil of the letter, and the divine knowledge of the Spirit will meet us. The one who sows six artabas will make three measures. The six artabas are the New Testament. that is, the four evangelists, and Acts, and the apostles.

These six artabas, having been sown in a soul, produce the three measures, the confession of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. The sower went out to sow, not grain for making bread, but faith for making alive; not barley for the food of irrational animals, but food for the breaths of men; not millet for feeding birds, but the divine word, fiery, likened to a mustard seed, vehemently warming our souls toward piety and wisdom. The sower went out to sow. and some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air came and devoured it; others fell on the thorns, and the thorns choked the sprout; others fell on the rocky ground, and because it had no root, having sprung up immediately

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γράμματος τοῖς προβάτοις ἀρτύσῃ· ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων, ἔχων τὰ δέκα ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν, ἵνα ποιήσῃ τὸ κεράμιον τὸ ἓν, καὶ σπείρας ἀρτάβας ἓξ, ποιήσῃ μέτρα τρία. Λάλει νῦν, Ἠσαΐα, μὴ σιώπα. Οὗ γὰρ ἐργῶνται δέκα ζεύγη βοῶν, ποιήσει κεράμιον ἕν. ∆έκα ζεύγη βοῶν εἴκοσι βόες εἰσί· δέκα ζεύγη βοῶν λογικὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τυγχάνουσιν οἱ δώδεκα, καὶ ἑπτὰ οὓς ἐξελέξαντο οἱ ἀπόστολοι. Τίνας τούτους; Στέφανον, Φίλιππον, Πρόχορον, Νικάνορα, Τίμωνα, καὶ Παρμενᾶν, καὶ Νικόλαον προσήλυτον Ἀντιοχέα· καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ γεωργήσαντα τὸν ἀπόστολον.

Ταῦτα δέκα ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἄρουραν ἐποίησε τὴν εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογίαν, τὸν τὸ ἡμέτερον ὀστράκινον τοῦ σώματος σκεῦος ἐνδυσάμενον. Ὅτι δὲ κεράμιον λέγει τὴν ἔνσαρκον τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν ὁ θεῖος λόγος, ἄκουε. Ὅτε ἔμελλεν ἀπέρχεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ παθεῖν, λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· Ποῦ θέλεις ποιῶμεν τὸ πάσχα; Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς, Ἀπέλθετε εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἀπαντήσει ὑμῖν ἄνθρωπος κεράμιον ὕδατος βαστάζων, καὶ εἴπατε αὐτῷ· Ὁ ∆ιδάσκαλος ἡμῶν εἶπε· Πρὸς σὲ ποιῶ τὸ πάσχα. Καὶ δείξει ὑμῖν ἀνώγεον ἐστρωμένον, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἡμῖν ἑτοιμάσατε τὸ πάσχα. Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ φέρων τὸ κεράμιον τοῦ ὕδατος, ἢ τίς ἡ πόλις εἰς ἣν αὐτοὺς πέμπει, ἢ τί τὸ ἀνώγεον τὸ ἐστρωμένον, ἀναγκαῖον ζητήσαντας ὑμᾶς καταμαθεῖν. Ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ βαστάζων τὸ κεράμιον τοῦ ὕδατος, Ἰωάννης ἐστὶν ὁ πρόδρομος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καταγγέλλων τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν τὸ ἡμέτερον κεράμιον τοῦ σώματος ἐνδυσάμενον, ἔχοντα ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ὕδωρ. Ἀνώγεων δὲ ἐστρωμένον τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀνάπαυσιν ἐσομένην λέγει. Ἀπέλθετε εἰς τήνδε τὴν πόλιν· μὴ εἰς τὴν παλαιὰν συναγωγὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ὅπου ὁ παλαιὸς νόμος ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἀσκοῖς ὤξισεν· ὄξος γὰρ σὺν χολῇ μίξαντες προσήνεγκαν τῷ Κυρίῳ. ἀλλ' ἀπέλθετε εἰς τὴν καινὴν πόλιν, εἰς τὴν νέαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ὅπου ὁ νέος λόγος, ὅπου ἡ καινὴ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάρις ἐν τοῖς καινοῖς ἀσκοῖς τὸ τῆς πίστεως γλεῦκος πηγάζει· οὐχ ὅπου τὸ παλαιὸν πάσχα, ἀλλ' ὅπου ἡ καινὴ ἀνάστασις· οὐχ ὅπου ὁ ἀμνὸς θύεται, ἀλλ' ὅπου ὁ Χριστὸς ῥύεται· οὐχ ὅπου ἡ παλαιὰ ζύμη, ἀλλ' ὅπου ὁ οὐράνιος ἄρτος ἐπὶ σταυροῦ τελειοῦται. Οὗ γὰρ ἐργῶνται δέκα ζεύγη βοῶν, ποιήσει κεράμιον ἕν.

Ὅπου ἐργάζονται δέκα ζεύγη βοῶν, τῶν ἀποστόλων (βουσὶ γὰρ ὡμοιώθησαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι, ὡς Παῦλος ἐμοὶ μαρτυρεῖ λέγων· Γέγραπται, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, Οὐ φιμώσεις βοῦν ἀλοῶντα. Μὴ γὰρ, φησὶ, τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ Θεῷ; Ἀλλὰ δι' ἡμᾶς λέγει)· ὅπου οὖν ἐργάζονται 61.774 ταῦτα τὰ δέκα ζεύγη τῶν βοῶν, ποιοῦσι τὴν εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογίαν, τὸ κεράμιον τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν ἐνδυσάμενον. Καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἀρτάβας ἓξ, ποιήσει μόνον μέτρα τρία. Ἆρα τοσαύτη ἀφορία γεωργῶν γέγονε πώποτε, ὥστε σπαρῆναι ἀρτάβας ἓξ, ποιῆσαι μόνον μέτρα τρία; Ἀλλὰ ζητήσωμεν τὸν νοῦν τῆς Γραφῆς, ἀγαπητοὶ, εἰσέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ ἐνδότερον καταπέτασμα τοῦ γράμματος, καὶ ἀπαντήσει ἡμῖν ἡ θεία τοῦ Πνεύματος γνῶσις. Ὁ σπείρων ἀρτάβας ἓξ, ποιήσει μέτρα τρία. Ἓξ ἀρτάβαι εἰσὶν ἡ καινὴ ∆ιαθήκη. τουτέστιν, οἱ τέσσαρες εὐαγγελισταὶ, καὶ Πράξεις, καὶ ἀπόστολοι.

Ταύτας τὰς ἓξ ἀρτάβας ὁ σπείρας ἔν τινι ψυχῇ, ποιεῖ τὰ τρία μέτρα τὴν εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ὁμολογίαν. Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι, οὐ σίτον ἀρτοποιῶν, ἀλλὰ πίστιν ζωοποιῶν· οὐ κριθὰς εἰς τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων τροφὰς, ἀλλὰ τροφὰς εἰς τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων πνοάς· οὐ κέγχρον ὀρνεοτρόφον, ἀλλὰ θεῖον λόγον, διάπυρον, κόκκῳ σινάπεως παρεικαζόμενον, σφοδρῶς πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ φρόνησιν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐκθερμαίνοντα. Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι. καὶ ἃ μὲν ἔπεσε παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ κατεπατήθη, καὶ ἐλθόντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατέφαγον αὐτά· ἄλλα ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας, καὶ συνέπνιξαν αἱ ἄκανθαι τὴν βλάστην· ἄλλα ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη, καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ῥίζαν, φυὲν εὐθέως