John Chrysostom, On "He who goes out to sow"

it withered away. Those by the wayside are Arians, the thorny ones are Eunomians, those on the rocky ground are Marathonians. And learn this precisely, beloved. A sower went out to sow; and some fell by the wayside. It did not say, On the way, but, By the wayside. What is the way, but certainly Christ who says, I am the way and the truth? Therefore, those by the wayside are the Arians. They are not on the way, for they are not orthodox; nor again are they far from the way, as are Greeks or Jews, but by the wayside; that is, beside Christ, beside the right faith. Their confessing Christ, this is what makes them to be near the way; their denying Christ to be the Son of God, this is what prevents them from being on the way. Because of this, the birds of the air that came down, that is, the spiritual forces of wickedness, snatch the divine word from their hearts and render them completely empty of right faith.

And the thorny ones are Eunomians; for they have in themselves the thorns of blasphemers; and while they sprout the blade of faith, they do not bring to fruition the ear of confession. Their confessing Christ, this makes them sprout the blade of faith; but again, their saying that he is a creature and a thing made, this is what makes the ear of their faith wither prematurely. For by the Greek dogmas of creature-worship, they prick and choke the word of truth, rendering it fruitless and completely barren of right faith. And those on the rocky ground, these are Marathonians. The Scripture did not say that some fell upon the rock—for the rock was Christ—but On the rocky ground. They are neither good earth, for they are not orthodox; nor are they rock, that being hewn by teachers they might build the temple of God; but what? They are tufa. There is a certain nature of stone, tufa by name; it is neither earth, nor solid stone; soft compared to stone, but hard compared to earth. Their confessing the Son of God to be of like essence to the Father, this is what makes them to be softer; their denying the Holy Spirit, this is what makes their hearts to be hardened. Therefore they are neither good earth, that they might sprout flourishingly, and be adorned with the ornament of faith; nor solid rock, that they might keep unshaken and unmoved the confession in the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. And they receive this word, and they sprout; but immediately they dry it up and make it wither, because they do not have the roots of their reasonings in the depth of the spirit. These, even if they confess Christ to be the Son of God, by denying the Holy Spirit, they do not have the Son either, as the apostle testifies to me and says: If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, this one is not his. The rest, he says, fell on good earth, and it gave fruit, and some produced thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.

This is the good earth, the heart of the orthodox, which is outside 61.775 the heretical thorns, which has been worked and as it were furrowed by perfect teachers, and which receives the words of the Gospel that happen to be the seeds of the soul. Such a heart first sprouts the blade of faith, then lengthens the ear of hope, then shows forth the ripe fruit of perfect love. Of these three fruits of the soul the blessed Paul also makes mention, saying: Faith, hope, love. He who believes produces the thirty, he who hopes produces the sixty, he who is perfected in love, produces the hundred; he who is anointed produces the thirty; he who descends into the water, produces the sixty; he who is perfected in the mystery, produces the hundred. Thus from one seed it bears fruit threefold; it glorifies God, it exalts the Church, it saves itself. This one receives the wages of the good Trinity; understanding with the spirit, foreseeing with the soul, enduring with the body.

ἐξηράνθη. Τὰ παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν εἰσιν Ἀρειανοὶ, τὰ ἀκανθώδη εἰσὶν Εὐνομιανοὶ, τὰ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη εἰσὶ Μαραθώνιοι. Καὶ κατάμαθε ἀκριβῶς, ἀγαπητέ. Ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπεῖραι· καὶ ἃ μὲν ἔπεσε παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, ἀλλὰ, Παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν. Τίς ἐστιν ἡ ὁδὸς, ἢ πάντως ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ λέγων, Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια; Τὰ μὲν οὖν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν εἰσιν οἱ Ἀρειανοί. Οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ· οὐ γάρ εἰσιν ὀρθόδοξοι· οὐδὲ πάλιν πόῤῥω τῆς ὁδοῦ, ὡς Ἕλληνες ἢ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν· τουτέστι, παρὰ τὸν Χριστὸν, παρὰ τὴν πίστιν τὴν ὀρθήν. Τὸ ὁμολογεῖν αὐτοὺς Χριστὸν, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ ποιοῦν αὐτοὺς ἐγγὺς εἶναι τῆς ὁδοῦ· τὸ ἀρνεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς Χριστὸν εἶναι Υἱὸν Θεοῦ, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ κωλῦον αὐτοὺς μὴ εἶναι ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο κατελθόντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τουτέστι, τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας συνάγουσι τὸν θεῖον λόγον ἐκ τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ παντελῶς κενοὺς πίστεως ὀρθῆς αὐτοὺς ἀποτελοῦσι.

Τὰ δὲ ἀκανθώδη εἰσὶν Εὐνομιανοί· ἔχουσι γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὰς τῶν βλασφήμων ἀκάνθας· καὶ βλαστάνουσι μὲν τὴν πόαν τῆς πίστεως, οὐ μὴν τελεσιουργοῦσι τὸν ἄσταχυν τῆς ὁμολογίας. Τὸ ὁμολογεῖν αὐτοὺς Χριστὸν, τοῦτο ποιεῖ αὐτοὺς βλαστάνειν τὴν πόαν τῆς πίστεως· τὸ δὲ πάλιν λέγειν αὐτοὺς κτίσμα καὶ ποίημα, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ ποιοῦν αὐτῶν ἄωρον μαραίνεσθαι τὸν τῆς πίστεως στάχυν. Τοῖς γὰρ Ἑλληνικοῖς δόγμασι τῆς κτισματολατρείας νύττοντες καὶ συμπνίγοντες τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγον, ἄκαρπον αὐτὸν καὶ ἄγονον παντελῶς πίστεως ὀρθῆς ἀποτελοῦσιν. Οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη, οὗτοί εἰσι Μαραθωνιανοί. Οὐκ εἶπεν ἡ Γραφὴ, ὅτι, Τὰ μὲν ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν· ἡ γὰρ πέτρα ἦν ὁ Χριστός· ἀλλ' Ἐπὶ τὰ πετρώδη. Οὔτε γῆ εἰσιν ἀγαθή· οὐ γάρ εἰσιν ὀρθόδοξοι· οὔτε πέτρα εἰσὶν, ἵνα ὑπὸ διδασκάλων λαξευθέντες τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκοδομήσωσιν· ἀλλὰ τί; Πῶρός εἰσιν. Ἔστι τις λίθου φύσις, πῶρος ὀνόματι· οὔτε γῆ ἐστιν, οὔτε λίθος στερέμνιος· ἁπαλὸς μὲν παρὰ τὸν λίθον, σκληρὸς δὲ παρὰ τὴν γῆν. Τὸ ὁμολογεῖν αὐτοὺς τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατ' οὐσίαν ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ ποιοῦν αὐτοὺς ἁπαλωτέρους τυγχάνειν· τὸ ἀρνεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τοῦτο αὐτῶν ποιεῖ τὰς καρδίας πεπωρωμένας τυγχάνειν. Οὔτε τοίνυν γῆ εἰσιν ἀγαθὴ, ἵνα βλαστήσωσιν εὐθαλῆ, καὶ κατακοσμῶνται πίστεως κόσμον· οὔτε πέτρα στερέμνιος, ἵνα ἄσειστον καὶ ἀσάλευτον τὴν εἰς τὸν Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ὁμολογίαν φυλάττωσι. Καὶ δέχονται μὲν τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, καὶ βλαστάνουσιν· εὐθέως δὲ αὐτὸν ξηραίνουσι καὶ ψύγουσι, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς τὰς ῥίζας τῶν λογισμῶν ἐν τῷ βάθει τοῦ πνεύματος. Οὗτοι κἂν ὁμολογῶσι τὸν Χριστὸν εἶναι Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἀρνούμενοι, οὐδὲ τὸν Υἱὸν ἔχουσι, τοῦ ἀποστόλου μοι μαρτυροῦντος καὶ λέγοντος· Εἴ τις πνεῦμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ. Τὰ ἄλλα, φησὶν, ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἀγαθὴν, καὶ ἐδίδου καρπόν, καὶ τὰ μὲν τριάκοντα ἐποίει, τὰ δὲ ἑξήκοντα, τὰ δὲ ἑκατόν.

Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ γῆ ἡ ἀγαθὴ, ἡ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων καρδία, ἡ ἐκτὸς οὖσα 61.775 τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀκανθῶν, ἡ τελείοις διδασκάλοις πονηθεῖσα καὶ οἱονεὶ αὐλακισθεῖσα, καὶ τοὺς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου λόγους σπέρματα ψυχῆς τυγχάνοντας δεχομένη. Ἡ τοιαύτη καρδία πρῶτον βλαστάνει τὴν πόαν τῆς πίστεως, εἶτα μηκύνει τὸν στάχυν τῆς ἐλπίδος, εἶτα ὥριμον καρπὸν τῆς τελείας ἀγάπης ἀποδείκνυσι. Τούτων τῶν τριῶν καρπῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μέμνηται καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος λέγων· Πίστις, ἐλπὶς, ἀγάπη. Ὁ πιστεύων ποιεῖ τὰ τριάκοντα, ὁ ἐλπίζων ποιεῖ τὰ ἑξήκοντα, ὁ τελειούμενος ἐν ἀγάπῃ, ποιεῖ τὰ ἑκατόν· ὁ χριόμενος ποιεῖ τὰ τριάκοντα· ὁ κατερχόμενος εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ, ποιεῖ τὰ ἑξήκοντα· ὁ τελειούμενος ἐν τῷ μυστηρίῳ, ποιεῖ τὰ ἑκατόν. Οὕτως ἐξ ἑνὸς σπέρματος τρισσῶς ἀναφέρει καρπόν· Θεὸν δοξάζει, Ἐκκλησίαν ὑψοῖ, ἑαυτὸν διασώζει. Οὗτος Τριάδος ἀγαθῆς κομιεῖται μισθούς· πνεύματι συνιὼν, ψυχῇ προορῶν, σώματι ὑπομένων.