you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.” 10.14 Have you understood all these things? They say, Yes (13, 51[52]). Christ Jesus, who knows the things in the hearts of men, as John also taught concerning this in the gospel, does not ask out of ignorance, but once having taken on humanity, he also uses all of its attributes, of which one is to ask questions. And it is not surprising if the Savior does this, since even the God of all, bearing with men “as a man might bear with his son,” inquires, as in “Adam, where are you?” and “where is Abel your brother?” But someone forcing the point here will say that "you have understood" was not spoken as a question but as a declaration, and will say that the disciples, bearing witness to his declaration, say "Yes" to him. Nevertheless, whether he asks or declares, it is necessarily said not only "these things," which is demonstrative, nor only "all," but "all these things." Now he seems to present the disciples as having become scribes before the kingdom of the heavens; but this will be contradicted by what is said in the Acts of the Apostles in this manner: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and common men, they were astonished; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Someone will therefore inquire about these things: if they were scribes, how are they called “uneducated” and “common men” in Acts? But if they were “uneducated and common men,” how are they most clearly named scribes by the Savior? And it might be said in response to these inquiries that either not all, but Peter and John, are said to be “uneducated and common men” in Acts, and the disciples were more numerous, concerning whom, understanding all things, it was said “every scribe” and what follows; or every person who has been instructed in the teaching according to the letter of the law is called a scribe, so that even those who are uneducated and common, but are led by the letter of the law, are called scribes according to a certain meaning. And it is especially characteristic of common men, who do not know how to speak tropologically nor understand the anagogical meanings of the scriptures, but trust in the bare letter and defend it, that they are called scribes. And in this way someone will also explain “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,” as said to everyone who knows nothing except the letter. Whereupon you will ask if, just as there is a legal scribe, so there is also an evangelical one, and just as one reads and hears and speaks of the law as “things that are allegorized,” so also the gospel, so as to know, while preserving the history according to what happened, the unerring ascent to spiritual things, so that the teachings may not be “spiritual things of wickedness,” but, being opposite to the spiritual things of wickedness, spiritual things of goodness. A scribe is instructed for the kingdom of the heavens, according to the simpler sense, when someone from Judaism takes up the ecclesiastical teaching of Jesus Christ; but according to the deeper sense, when someone, having received the introductions through the letter of the scriptures, ascends to the spiritual things called the kingdom of the heavens. And indeed, it is possible to understand each thought that is attained and understood in an elevated manner and shown and demonstrated, as a kingdom of heaven, so that the one who abounds in true knowledge comes to be in the kingdom of the multitude of the heavens thus rendered. And in this way you will also interpret tropologically “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand,” so that the scribes, that is, those who rest upon the bare letter, repenting from such an interpretation, may be instructed in the spiritual teaching through Jesus Christ, the living Word, which is called the kingdom of the heavens. For this reason, as long as Jesus Christ, the God-Word who was “in the beginning with God,” is not present in a soul, the kingdom of the heavens is not in it; but when someone comes near to receiving the Word, to this one the kingdom of the heavens draws near. But if the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of God are the same in substance, even if not in concept, it is clear that to those to whom it is said, “The kingdom of God is within you,” to them would also be said “the kingdom”
ἐπιγνώσεσθε διότι ἐγὼ κύριος ἐξέχεα τὸν θυμόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς». 10.14 Συνήκατε ταῦτα πάντα; Λέγουσι ναί (13, 51[52]). Ὁ γινώσκων τὰ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, ὡς καὶ περὶ τούτου ἐδίδαξεν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ Ἰωάννης, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ἐρωτᾷ, ἀλλ' ἅπαξ ἀναλαβὼν ἄνθρωπον χρῆται καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ πᾶσιν, ὧν ἓν καὶ τὸ ἐρωτᾶν. Καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ὅπου γε καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς τροποφορῶν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους «ὡς εἴ τις τροποφορήσαι ἄνθρωπος τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ» πυνθάνεται, ὡς ἐν τῷ «Ἀδάμ, ποῦ εἶ;» καὶ «ποῦ ἐστιν Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου;» Βιασάμενος δέ τις ἐνταῦθα φήσει οὐκ ἐρωτηματικῶς εἰρῆσθαι ἀλλὰ ἀποφαντικῶς τὸ συνήκατε, ἐρεῖ δ' ὅτι καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ μαρτυροῦντες αὐτοῦ τῇ ἀποφάσει λέγουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ναί. Πλὴν εἴτε ἐρωτᾷ εἴτε ἀποφαίνεται, ἀναγκαίως λέγεται οὐ τὸ ταῦτα μόνον δεικτικὸν ὄν, οὐδὲ τὸ πάντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ τὸ ταῦτα πάντα. Ἔοικε δὲ νῦν τοὺς μαθητὰς παριστάναι πρὸ τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας γραμματεῖς γεγονέναι· ἀλλὰ τούτῳ ἐναντιώσεται τὸ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦτον εἰρημένον τὸν τρόπον· «Θεωροῦντες δὲ τὴν τοῦ Πέτρου παρρησίαν καὶ Ἰωάννου καὶ καταλαβόντες ὅτι ἄνθρωποι ἀγράμματοί εἰσι καὶ ἰδιῶται ἐθαύμαζον, ἐπεγίνωσκόν τε αὐτοὺς ὅτι σὺν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἦσαν.» Ἐπιζητήσει τις οὖν πρὸς ταῦτα· εἰ μὲν γραμματεῖς ἦσαν, πῶς «ἀγράμματοι» ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι λέγονται «καὶ ἰδιῶται»; Εἰ δ' ἦσαν «ἀγράμ ματοι καὶ ἰδιῶται», πῶς σαφέστατα γραμματεῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ὀνομάζονται; Λεχθείη δ' ἂν εἰς τὰ ἐζητημένα ὅτι ἤτοι οὐ πάντες ἀλλὰ Πέτρος καὶ Ἰωάννης «ἀγράμματοι καὶ ἰδιῶται» ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν εἴρηνται, πλείονες δ' ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταί, ἐφ' οἷς συνιεῖσι πάντα λέλεκται τὸ πᾶς γραμ ματεὺς καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· ἢ γραμματεὺς πᾶς ὁ μεμαθητευμένος τῇ κατὰ τὸ γράμμα τοῦ νόμου διδασκαλίᾳ ὀνομάζεται, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἀγραμμάτους μὲν καὶ ἰδιώτας, ἀγομένους δὲ ὑπὸ τῷ τοῦ νόμου γράμματι, γραμματεῖς λέγεσθαι κατά τι σημαινόμενον. Καὶ ἰδιωτῶν γε μάλιστά ἐστι, μὴ εἰδότων τροπολογεῖν μηδὲ συνιέντων τὰ τῆς ἀναγωγῆς τῶν γραφῶν, ἀλλὰ τῷ γράμματι ψιλῷ πιστευόντων καὶ τοῦτο ἐκδικούντων, τὸ χρηματίζειν αὐτοὺς γραμματεῖς. Οὕτως δέ τις διηγήσεται καὶ τὸ «οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί», ὡς παντὶ εἰρημένον τῷ πλὴν τοῦ γράμματος μηδὲν ἐπισταμένῳ. Ἔνθα ζητήσεις εἰ ὥσπερ νομικὸς γραμματεὺς οὕτως ἐστὶ καὶ εὐαγγελικός, καὶ ὥσπερ τὸν νόμον ἀναγινώσκων καὶ ἀκούων καὶ λέγων «ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα», οὕτω καὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ὡς εἰδέναι τηρουμένης τῆς κατὰ τὰ γενόμενα ἱστορίας τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ ἄπταιστον ἀναγωγήν, ἵνα μὴ ᾖ μαθήματα «πνευματικὰ πονηρίας», ἀλλ' ἐναντίως ἔχοντα πνευμα τικοῖς πονηρίας πνευματικὰ ἀγαθότητος. Μαθητεύεται δὲ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν γραμματεὺς κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἁπλούστερον, ὅτε ἀπὸ Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ ἀναλαμβάνει τις τὴν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκκλησιαστικὴν διδασκαλίαν· κατὰ δὲ τὸ βαθύτερον, ὅτε τὰς διὰ τοῦ γράμματος τῶν γραφῶν εἰσαγωγὰς παραλαβών τις ἀναβαίνει ἐπὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ ὀνομαζόμενα βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν. Καὶ καθ' ἕκαστόν γε διανόημα ἐπιτυγχανόμενον καὶ ἐπαναβεβηκότως νοηθὲν καὶ παραδειχθὲν καὶ ἀποδειχθὲν ἔστι νοῆσαι βασιλείαν οὐρανοῦ, ὡς τὸν περισσεύοντα τῇ ἀψευδεῖ γνώσει ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ γίνεσθαι τοῦ πλήθους τῶν οὕτως ἀποδεδομένων οὐρανῶν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τροπολογήσεις τὸ «μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν», ἵν' οἱ γραμματεῖς, τουτέστιν οἱ τῷ γράμματι ψιλῷ προσανα παυόμενοι, μετανοοῦντες ἀπὸ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐκδοχῆς μαθητεύωνται τῇ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἐμψύχου λόγου πνευματικῇ διδασκαλίᾳ καλουμένῃ βασιλείᾳ οὐρανῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὅσον μὲν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ «ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν» θεὸς λόγος οὐκ ἐπιδημεῖ ψυχῇ, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἐκείνῃ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν· ὅταν δὲ ἐγγύς τις γένηται τοῦ χωρῆσαι τὸν λόγον, τούτῳ ἐγγίζει ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Εἰ δὲ ταὐτόν ἐστιν ὑποστάσει, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐπινοίᾳ, βασιλεία οὐρανῶν καὶ βασιλεία θεοῦ, δῆλον ὅτι πρὸς οὓς λέγεται· «Ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστι», πρὸς τούτους ἂν λέγοιτο καὶ τὸ «ἡ βασιλεία»