John Chrysostom, Sermon on the Captive Eutropius

I remold it through the bath of regeneration, and I hand it over to the fire. For see: He took dust from the earth, and made man; He formed him. The devil came, he perverted him. He Himself came, He took him again, He remixed him, He reforged him in baptism, but He did not leave his body to be of clay, but made it of earthenware. He handed over the clay to the fire of the Spirit; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; in water, that he might be remolded; in fire, that he might be strengthened. Therefore the Prophet, prophesying from above, said: Like a potter's vessels you will dash them to pieces. He did not say, 'as earthenware vessels,' which each one possesses; for a potter's vessels are those which the potter works on the wheel; but the potter's vessels are of clay, while ours are of earthenware. Proclaiming beforehand, therefore, the reforging through baptism, 'Like a potter's vessels,' he says, 'you will dash them to pieces.' He remolds, he says, and reforges. I go down into baptism, and my form is remolded, and the fire of the Spirit reforges it, and it becomes earthenware. And that these words are no boast, listen to Job: 'He made us of clay'; and Paul: 'But we have this treasure in earthenware vessels.' But see the strength of earthenware. For it was baked not with fire, 52.407 but with the Spirit. How earthenware? Five times I received forty lashes less one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, and the earthenware vessel was not broken in pieces. A night and a day I have spent in the deep. He spent time in the deep, and the earthenware was not dissolved; he was shipwrecked, and the treasure was not lost; the ship was submerged, and the cargo floated. But we have the treasure. What treasure? The provision of the Spirit, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. What? tell me. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. I say to you, evil spirit, come out of him. 12. Have you seen a treasure more glorious than royal treasures? For what can a king's pearl do like the words of an Apostle? Place ten thousand diadems on a dead man, and he does not rise; but one word went out from an Apostle, and it brought back nature in rebellion, and restored it to its original state. But having this treasure. O a treasure not only guarded, but also guarding the house where it is laid up. Did you understand what I said? The kings of the earth and the rulers, when they have treasures, build great houses, with walls, bars, doors, guards, locks, so that the treasure may be guarded; but Christ did the opposite; He placed the treasure not in a stone vessel, but in an earthenware one. If the treasure is great, why is the vessel weak? But the vessel is not weak for this reason, because the treasure is great; for it is not guarded by the vessel, but it itself guards the vessel. I place the treasure, who then can steal it? The devil came, the world came, ten thousand came, and they did not steal the treasure; he was scourged, and the treasure was not betrayed; he was sunk into the sea, and did not make a shipwreck; he died, and the treasure remains. He gave, therefore, the pledge. Where are those who blaspheme the worth of the Spirit? Pay attention. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ is God, who also gave the pledge of the Spirit. You all know that the pledge is a small part of the whole; listen how. Someone goes to buy a house of great price, and says: 'Give me a pledge, so that I may be confident.' Someone goes to take a wife, he settles the dowry and matters, and says: 'Give me a pledge.' Attend; both in the sale of a slave there is a pledge, and in all transactions there is a pledge. Since therefore Christ was making a transaction with us (for He was about to take me as a bride), He writes for me a dowry, not of money, but of blood. And as a dowry He writes for me this recompense of good things, 'What eye has not'

Ἀναπλάττω αὐτὸ διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας, καὶ παραδίδωμι αὐτὸ τῷ πυρί. Ὅρα γάρ· ἔλαβε χοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐποίησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἔπλασεν αὐτόν. Ἦλθεν ὁ διάβολος, διέστρεψεν αὐτόν. Ἦλθεν αὐτὸς, ἔλαβε πάλιν, ἀνεφύρασεν αὐτὸν, ἀνεχώνευσεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ πήλινον εἶναι τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ' ἐποίησεν αὐτὸ ὀστράκινον. Παρέδωκε τὸν πηλὸν τῷ πυρὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος· Αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, καὶ πυρί· ἐν ὕδατι, ἵνα ἀναπλασθῇ· ἐν πυρὶ, ἵνα στερεωθῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ Προφήτης ἄνωθεν προαγορεύων ἔλεγεν· Ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. Οὐκ εἶπεν, ὡς σκεύη ὀστράκινα, ἃ ἕκαστος κέκτηται· ἔστι γὰρ σκεύη κεραμέως ἐκεῖνα, ἃ ἐργάζεται ὁ κεραμεὺς ἐν τῷ τροχῷ· ἀλλὰ τὰ σκεύη τοῦ κεραμέως πήλινα, τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα ὀστράκινα. Προαναφωνῶν οὖν τὴν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀναχώνευσιν, Ὡς σκεύη, φησὶ, κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. Ἀναπλάττει, λέγει, καὶ χωνεύει. Καταβαίνω εἰς τὸ βάπτισμα, καὶ ἀναπλάττεταί μου τὸ σχῆμα, καὶ ἀναχωνεύει τοῦ Πνεύματος τὸ πῦρ, καὶ γίνεται ὀστράκινον. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ κόμπος τὰ ῥήματα, ἄκουσον τοῦ Ἰώβ· Ἐποίησε δὲ ἡμᾶς πηλόν· ὁ δὲ Παῦλος· Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν. Ἀλλὰ βλέπε ὀστράκου ἰσχύν. Οὐ γὰρ πυρὶ ὤπτηται, 52.407 ἀλλὰ Πνεύματι. Πῶς ὀστράκινον; Πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν ἔλαβον, τρὶς ἐῤῥαβδίσθην, ἅπαξ ἐλιθάσθην, καὶ τὸ ὀστράκινον σκεῦος οὐ κατεκλάσθη. Νυχθήμερον ἐν τῷ βυθῷ πεποίηκα. Ἐν τῷ βυθῷ πεποίηκεν, καὶ τὸ ὀστράκινον οὐ διελύθη· ἐναυάγησε, καὶ ὁ θησαυρὸς οὐκ ἀπώλετο· τὸ πλοῖον ὑποβρύχιον, καὶ ὁ φόρτος ἔπλευσεν. Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸν θησαυρόν. Ποῖον θησαυρόν; Πνεύματος χορηγίαν, δικαιοσύνην, ἁγιασμὸν, ἀπολύτρωσιν. Ποῖον; εἰπέ μοι. Ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔγειραι καὶ περιπάτει. Αἰνέα, ἰᾶταί σε Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός. Σοὶ λέγω, τὸ πονηρὸν πνεῦμα, ἄπελθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. ιβʹ. Εἶδες θησαυρὸν βασιλικῶν θησαυρῶν λαμπρότερον; Τί γὰρ τοιοῦτον δύναται ποιήσειν μαργαρίτης βασιλέως, οἷον ῥήματα Ἀποστόλου; Ἐπίθες μυρία διαδήματα νεκρῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐγείρεται· ἓν δὲ ῥῆμα ἐξῆλθεν Ἀποστόλου, καὶ στασιάζουσαν τὴν φύσιν ἐπανήγαγε, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἀποκατέστησεν. Ἔχοντες δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον. Ὢ θησαυρὸς οὐ τηρούμενος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τηρῶν τὸν οἶκον, ἔνθα ἀπόκειται. Συνῆκας τί εἶπον; Οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὅταν ἔχωσι θησαυροὺς, μεγάλους οἴκους κατασκευάζουσιν, οἷον τοίχους, μοχλοὺς, θύρας, φύλακας, κλεῖθρα, ἵνα τηρηθῇ ὁ θησαυρός· ὁ Χριστὸς δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐποίησεν· οὐκ ἐν λιθίνῳ, ἀλλ' ἐν ὀστρακίνῳ σκεύει τὸν θησαυρὸν ἔθηκεν. Εἰ μέγας ὁ θησαυρὸς, διὰ τί τὸ σκεῦος ἀσθενές; Ἀλλὰ μὴ διὰ τοῦτο ἀσθενὲς τὸ σκεῦος, ἐπειδὴ μέγας ὁ θησαυρός· οὐ γὰρ τηρεῖται ὑπὸ τοῦ σκεύους, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς τηρεῖ τὸ σκεῦος. Τίθημι ἐγὼ τὸν θησαυρὸν, τίς δύναται λοιπὸν κλέψαι; Ἦλθεν ὁ διάβολος, ἦλθεν ἡ οἰκουμένη, ἦλθον μυρίοι, καὶ τὸν θησαυρὸν οὐκ ἔκλεψαν· ἐμαστίχθη, καὶ ὁ θησαυρὸς οὐ προεδόθη· κατεποντίσθη εἰς θάλασσαν, καὶ ναυάγιον οὐκ ἐποίησεν· ἀπέθανε, καὶ ὁ θησαυρὸς μένει. Ἔδωκε τοίνυν τὸν ἀῤῥαβῶνα. Ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν ἀξίαν βλασφημοῦντες; Προσέχετε. Ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν εἰς Χριστὸν Θεὸς, ὁ καὶ δοὺς τὸν ἀῤῥαβῶνα τοῦ Πνεύματος. Ἴστε πάντες ὑμεῖς, ὅτι ὁ ἀῤῥαβὼν μέρος ἐστὶ μικρὸν τοῦ παντός· ὅπως ἄκουε. Ἀπέρχεταί τις ἀγοράσαι οἰκίαν πολλῆς τιμῆς, καὶ λέγει· ∆ός μοι ἀῤῥαβῶνα, ἵνα θαῤῥῶ. Ἀπέρχεταί τις γυναῖκα ἀγαγέσθαι, προῖκα συντίθησι καὶ πράγματα, καὶ λέγει· ∆ός μοι ἀῤῥαβῶνα. Πρόσχες· καὶ ἐν πράσει δούλου ἀῤῥαβὼν, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς συναλλάγμασιν ἀῤῥαβών. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ Χριστὸς συνάλλαγμα μεθ' ἡμῶν ἐποίει (καὶ γὰρ ὡς νύμφην με ἔμελλε λαμβάνειν), καὶ προῖκά μοι γράφει, οὐ χρημάτων, ἀλλ' αἵματος. Προῖκα δέ μοι ταύτην γράφει τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἀντίδοσιν, Ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ