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when righteousness is born without toils and sweats and achievements? For such is the loving-kindness of the divine gift that it makes us righteous without 49.227 sweats. For if a king’s letter, a few written words set forth, releases those liable for ten thousand crimes as free men, and even brings others to the greatest honor, much more will the Holy Spirit of God, who is able to do all things, both release us from all evil, and grant us great righteousness, and fill us with much boldness. And just as a spark, falling into the middle of a vast sea, would immediately be extinguished, or even become invisible, submerged by the multitude of the waters; so also all human wickedness, when it falls into the font of the divine streams, is more quickly and easily submerged and vanishes than that spark. And for what reason, he says, if the bath forgives us all our sins, is it not called a bath of remission of sins, nor a bath of cleansing, but a bath of regeneration? Because it does not simply forgive us our sins, nor simply cleanse us of our transgressions, but does so as if we were born from above. For it creates and fashions us from above, not molding us again from earth, but creating from another element, the nature of water. For it does not simply wipe the vessel clean, but recasts it whole once again. For things that are wiped clean, even if they are scoured with precision, have traces of their former quality and bear the remnants of the stain; but things that fall into a crucible and are renewed by the flame, having cast off all filth, emit the same brilliance as newly-made things coming forth from the furnace. As, therefore, someone taking a golden statue that has been tarnished by much time and smoke and dust and rust, and recasting it, gives it back to us most pure and gleaming, so also God, taking our nature, which had been corroded by the rust of sin, and had received much smoke from transgressions, and had lost the beauty which he had placed in it from the beginning, recast it from above, and as if casting the waters into a crucible, and applying the grace of the Spirit instead of flame, then brings forth from there those who have become newly-made and new, to gaze upon the rays of the sun with much brightness, having shattered the old man, and fashioned a new one more brilliant than the former.

4. And the prophet, hinting from of old at this shattering and this mystical purification for us, said: You shall break them as a potter’s vessel. For that the word is about the faithful, the preceding words show us clearly: For You are my Son, he says; today I have begotten You. Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. Did you see how he made mention of the Church from the nations, and spoke of the kingdom of Christ extending everywhere? Then he says again: You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron; not a burdensome one, but a strong one; you shall break them as a potter’s vessel. Behold, the bath has also been received more mystically; for he did not simply say vessels of earthenware, but potter’s vessels. But pay attention. For vessels of earthenware, once shattered, cannot be repaired, because of the hardness engendered in them once for all by the fire; but the vessels of the potter are not of earthenware, but of clay; whence also, if they are misshapen, they can easily return to a second form by the wisdom of the craftsman. When, therefore, he speaks of an incurable disaster, 49.228 he does not say potter's vessels, but a vessel of earthenware. When, at any rate, he wished to teach the prophet and the Jews that he had delivered the city over to an incurable disaster, he commanded him to take a jug of earthenware, and to shatter it before all the people, and to say: Thus will the city also perish and be shattered. But when he wishes to suggest good hopes to them, he brings the prophet down to a potter’s house, and does not show him a vessel of earthenware, but shows him a vessel

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ὅταν πόνων καὶ ἱδρώτων χωρὶς καὶ κατορθωμάτων δικαιοσύνη τικτομένη ᾖ; τοιαύτη γὰρ τῆς θείας δωρεᾶς ἡ φιλανθρωπία χωρὶς 49.227 ἱδρώτων ποιεῖ δικαίους. Εἰ γὰρ βασιλέως ἐπιστολὴ, γράμματα προτεθέντα ὀλίγα, μυρίων ὑπευθύνους ἐγκλημάτων ἀφίησιν ἐλευθέρους, ἑτέρους δὲ καὶ πρὸς τιμὴν ἄγει μεγίστην, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ Θεοῦ Πνεῦμα καὶ πάντα δυνάμενον, πάσης μὲν ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάξει κακίας, πολλὴν δὲ ἡμῖν χαριεῖται δικαιοσύνην, καὶ πολλῆς ἐμπλήσει τῆς παῤῥησίας. Καὶ καθάπερ σπινθὴρ μέσον εἰς πέλαγος ἀχανὲς ἐμπεσὼν εὐθέως ἂν ἀποσβεσθείη, ἢ καὶ ἀφανὴς γένοιτο, τῷ πλήθει τῶν ὑδάτων καταποντισθείς· οὕτω καὶ πᾶσα πονηρία ἀνθρωπίνη, ὅταν εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν ἐμπέσῃ τῶν θείων ναμάτων, ἐκείνου ταχύτερον καὶ εὐκολώτερον τοῦ σπινθῆρος καταποντίζεται καὶ ἀφανίζεται. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν, φησὶν, εἰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἡμῖν ἅπαντα ἀφίησι τὸ λουτρὸν, οὐχὶ λουτρὸν ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτημάτων καλεῖται, οὔτε λουτρὸν καθάρσεως, ἀλλὰ λουτρὸν παλιγγενεσίας; Ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἡμῖν ἀφίησι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς ἡμᾶς καθαίρει τῶν πλημμελημάτων, ἀλλ' οὕτως ὡς ἂν εἰ ἄνωθεν ἐγεννήθημεν. Καὶ γὰρ ἄνωθεν ἡμᾶς δημιουργεῖ καὶ κατασκευάζει, οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς διαπλάττον πάλιν, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἑτέρου στοιχείου τῆς τῶν ὑδάτων φύσεως δημιουργοῦν. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἀποσμήχει τὸ σκεῦος, ἀλλ' ὁλόκληρον αὐτὸ ἀναχωνεύει πάλιν. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἀποσμηχόμενα, κἂν μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἐκκαθαίρηται, ἔχει τῆς ποιότητος ἴχνη καὶ τῆς κηλῖδος φέρει τὰ λείψανα· τὰ δὲ εἰς χωνευτήριον ἐμπεσόντα καὶ διὰ τῆς φλογὸς ἀνανεωθέντα, πᾶσαν ἀποθέμενα ῥυπαρίαν, τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖς νεοπαγέσιν ἀπὸ τῆς καμίνου προελθόντα τὴν λαμπηδόνα ἀφίησιν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἀνδριάντα χρυσοῦν πολλῷ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ τῷ καπνῷ καὶ τῇ κόνει καὶ ἰῷ ῥυπωθέντα λαβών τις καὶ χωνεύσας, καθαρώτατον ἡμῖν καὶ ἀστράπτοντα ἀποδίδωσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἡμετέραν ὁ Θεὸς ἰωθεῖσαν τῷ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἰῷ, καὶ πολὺν δεξαμένην τὸν καπνὸν τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν πλημμελημάτων, καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἀπολέσασαν, ὅπερ παρ' αὐτοῦ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐγκατέθηκε, λαβὼν ἄνωθεν ἐχώνευσε, καὶ καθάπερ εἰς χωνευτήριον ἐμβαλὼν τὰ ὕδατα, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐπαφεὶς χάριν ἀντὶ φλογὸς, εἶτα νεοπαγεῖς ἐκεῖθεν καὶ καινοὺς γενομένους ἀντιβλέψαι λοιπὸν ταῖς ἡλιακαῖς ἀκτῖσι μετὰ πολλῆς ἀνάγει τῆς λαμπρότητος, τὸν μὲν παλαιὸν συντρίψας ἄνθρωπον, νέον δὲ κατασκευάσας τοῦ προτέρου λαμπρότερον.

δʹ. Καὶ ταύτην ἡμῖν τὴν συντριβὴν καὶ τὸν μυστικὸν τοῦτον καθαρμὸν αἰνιττόμενος ὁ προφήτης ἄνωθεν ἔλεγεν· Ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. Ὅτι γὰρ περὶ τῶν πιστῶν ὁ λόγος, ἡμῖν τὰ ἀνωτέρω δείκνυσι σαφῶς· Υἱὸς γάρ μου εἶ σὺ, φησίν· ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε. Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι τὰ ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς. Εἶδες πῶς τῆς ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἐμνημόνευσε, καὶ τὴν πανταχοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τεταμένην βασιλείαν εἶπεν; Εἶτά φησι πάλιν· Ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ· οὐ φορτικῇ, ἀλλ' ἰσχυρᾷ· ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. Ἰδοὺ καὶ τὸ λουτρὸν μυστικώτερον παρελήφθη· οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς σκεύη ὀστράκινα, ἀλλὰ σκεύη κεραμέως. Ἀλλὰ προσέχετε. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ὀστράκινα σκεύη συντριβέντα οὐκ ἂν λάβοι διόρθωσιν, διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐγγενομένην αὐτοῖς ἅπαξ ἀντιτυπίαν· ὅτι δὲ τὰ σκεύη τοῦ κεραμέως οὐκ ἔστιν ὀστράκινα, ἀλλὰ πήλινα· ὅθεν καὶ διαστραφέντα ῥᾳδίως ἂν πρὸς τὸ δεύτερον ἐπανέλθῃ σχῆμα τῇ τοῦ τεχνίτου σοφίᾳ. Ὅταν μὲν οὖν συμφορὰν ἀνίατον λέγῃ, 49.228 οὐ σκεύη κεραμέως φησὶν, ἀλλὰ σκεῦος ὀστράκινον. Ὅτε γοῦν ἐβούλετο διδάξαι τὸν προφήτην καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ὅτι συμφορᾷ ἀνιάτῳ παρέδωκε τὴν πόλιν, ἐκέλευσε λαβεῖν βίκον ὀστράκινον, καὶ συντρίψαι ἔμπροσθεν παντὸς τοῦ δήμου, καὶ εἰπεῖν· Οὕτως ἀπολεῖται καὶ ἡ πόλις, καὶ συντριβήσεται. Ἐπειδὰν δὲ βούληται χρηστὰς αὐτοῖς ὑποτείνειν ἐλπίδας, εἰς κεραμεῖον κατάγει τὸν προφήτην, καὶ οὐ δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ σκεῦος ὀστράκινον, ἀλλὰ δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ σκεῦος