for “there shall be trouble in Jacob, nor shall toil be seen in Israel.” There is no labor for one following Jesus; the very act of following removes the labor. For this reason he himself says, so that we may no longer toil, having toiled before beginning to follow him: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If then, being weary, we come to him and follow him, we will say: “But I did not grow weary following after you.” Following this, it is fitting for us to say also, “I have not desired the day of man.” There is a day of man, and there is a day of God. Let each of us desire the day of the resurrection of the saints, not that one about which it is written: “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! It is darkness and not light.” Who is it that says: “And I have not desired the day of man”? The clarity of the word will convict us, that we have [not] desired the day of man. Often having fallen ill and being in the imagination of death <at> the point of departure, we beseech the brothers who visit us and we say: ask for a respite for me, ask for me to remain in this life. Saying these things, we do not desire a holy day of God, but a day of man. Therefore, putting away the love of life and the desire for a human day, let us seek to see that day on which we will attain the blessedness in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 18.t On “the word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying: Arise and go down to the potter’s house” up to “to make their land a desolation and a hissing.” Homily 18. 18.1 There are two consecutive visions of Jeremiah that were read; of which the first contains the things concerning the clay vessel in the hand of the potter, which after being broken is capable of being mended (for it is possible to remold it), but the other vision contains the things concerning the earthenware jar, for which, when it is broken, there is no remedy. For when it was clay, if it was broken, even if it had already been formed, since it was clay, it was possible for it to be a second lump of clay and to be formed a second time; but when, after being clay, it has already become earthenware and has been hardened by the fire, then it was not possi<ble> for there to be a remedy for it after the shattering of the earthenware. What, then, do these things mean? Let us first understand them in general outline, then if it be granted, let us examine them word by word. As long as we are in this life, we are being formed—if I may so name it because of our clay vessel—in the manner of a potter, and we are being formed either according to vice or according to virtue. However, we are so formed as to be capable of our vice being shattered, so that a new, better creation might come to be, and of our progress being dissolved after its formation into a clay vessel. But when we arrive after the present age, having come to the end of life, then having been fired either by the fire of the flaming darts of the evil one we become whatso<ev>er we become, or by the divine fire (since also “our God is a consuming fire”), if, I say, we become whatsoever we become by such or such a fire, if we are shattered—whether we were shattered and destroyed from having become good vessels or from having become wicked vessels—we are not created anew, nor does our constitution admit of improvement. For this reason, as long as we are here, being as it were in the hand of the potter, even if the vessel should fall from his hands, it is capable of remedy and of being created anew. Let these things be said rather briefly for now, before we examine what remains in the discourse, concerning the two kinds of vessels: the one of clay and not yet turned to earthenware, and the second which has already become earthenware. 18.2 But let us see from the text itself the things said concerning the clay vessel in the hand of the potter, and how the word itself in the prophet, the Lord who prophesies in him, gives other and not insignificant starting points for the interpretation of the things concerning the vessel formed in the hand of the potter. “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Arise and go down to the potter’s house.” Jeremiah is above,
ἔσται» γὰρ «μόχθος ἐν Ἰακώβ, οὐδὲ ὀφθήσεται πόνος ἐν Ἰσραήλ». οὐκ ἔστι κόπος ἀκολουθοῦντι Ἰησοῦ, αὐτὸ τὸ ἀκολουθεῖν περιαιρεῖ τὸν κόπον. διὰ τοῦτο αὐτός φησιν, ἵνα μηκέτι κοπιῶμεν, κοπιάσαντες πρὸ τοῦ ἄρξασθαι αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖν· «δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτι σμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς». ἐὰν οὖν κοπιῶντες ἔλθωμεν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἀκολουθήσωμεν αὐτῷ, ἐροῦμεν· «ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἐκοπίασα κα τακολουθῶν ὀπίσω σου». Τούτῳ δὲ ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸ «ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἐπεθύμησα». ἔστι τις ἡμέρα ἀνθρώπου, ἔστι τις ἡμέρα τοῦ θεοῦ. τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν ἁγίων ἐπιθυμησάτω ἕκαστος ἡμῶν, μὴ ἐκείνην περὶ ἧς γέγραπται· «οὐαὶ οἱ ἐπιθυμοῦντες ἡμέραν κυρίου· καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶ σκότος καὶ οὐ φῶς». τίς ἐστιν ὁ λέγων· «καὶ ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἐπεθύμησα»; ἡ σαφήνεια τοῦ λόγου ἐλέγξει ἡμᾶς, ὅτι ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου [οὐκ] ἐπεθυμήσαμεν. πολλάκις νοσήσαντες καὶ ἐν φαντασίᾳ θανάτου γενόμενοι <ἐπὶ> τῆς ἐξόδου παρακαλοῦμεν τοὺς ἐπισκοποῦντας ἡμᾶς ἀδελφοὺς καί φαμεν· αἴτησαί μοι κομίατον, αἴτησαί μοι ἐπιμένειν τῷ βίῳ. ταῦτα λέγοντες οὐχ ἡμέραν ἐπιθυμοῦμεν ἁγίαν θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου. διόπερ ἀποθέμενοι τὴν φιλοζωίαν καὶ τὸ ἐπιθυμεῖν ἀνθρωπίνην ἡμέραν, ζητήσωμεν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἰδεῖν, ἐν ᾗ τευξόμεθα τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ μακαριότητος, ᾧ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. 18.t Εἰς τὸ «ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος παρὰ κυρίου πρὸς Ἱε ρεμίαν λέγων· ἀνάστηθι καὶ κατάβηθι εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ κεραμέως» μέχρι τοῦ «τάξαι τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καὶ συριγμόν». Ὁμιλία ιηʹ. 18.1 ∆ύο εἰσὶν ἑξῆς ὁράσεις αἱ ἀνεγνωσμέναι Ἱερεμίου· ὧν ἡ μὲν προτέρα περιέχει τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ κεραμέως πηλίνου σκεύους, ὅπερ ἐπιδέχεται μετὰ τὴν συντριβὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν (ἀναπλά σασθαι γὰρ αὐτὸ δυνατόν ἐστιν), ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα ὅρασις περιέχει τὰ περὶ τοῦ ὀστρακίνου βίκου, οὗ καταχθέντος οὐκ ἔστι θεραπεία. ὅτε μὲν γὰρ πήλινον ἦν, εἰ κατεάχθη, κἂν ἤδη μεμορφωμένον ᾖ, ἐπεὶ πήλινον ἦν, ἐνεδέχετο πάλιν εἶναι φύραμα δεύτερον καὶ κτισθῆναι δεύτερον· ὅτε δὲ μετὰ τὸ πήλινον γέγονεν ἤδη ὀστράκινον καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐστόμωται, τότε οὐχ οἷόν <τε> ἦν μετὰ τὴν συντριβὴν τοῦ ὀστρακίνου θεραπείαν γενέσθαι αὐτῷ. τί οὖν βούλεται ταῦτα, πρότερον ἐν περι νοίᾳ κατανοήσωμεν, εἶτα ἐὰν δοθῇ κατὰ λέξιν ἐξετάσωμεν. ὅσον ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ, μορφούμεθα, ἵν' οὕτως ὀνομάσω διὰ τὸ πήλινον ἡμῶν σκεῦος, κεραμευτικῶς καὶ μορφούμεθα ἤτοι κατὰ κακίαν ἢ κατὰ ἀρετήν. πλὴν οὕτως μορφούμεθα ὡς ἐπιδέχεσθαι καὶ τὴν κακίαν ἡμῶν συντριβῆναι, ἵνα γένηται καινὸν κτίσμα βέλτιον, καὶ τὴν προκοπὴν ἡμῶν ἀναλυθῆναι μετὰ τὴν μόρφωσιν αὐτῆς εἰς σκεῦος πήλινον. ἐπὰν δὲ μετὰ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα αἰῶνα ἥκωμεν, πρὸς τῷ τέλει γενόμενοι τῆς ζωῆς, ἔπειτα πυρωθέντες ἤτοι ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς τῶν πεπυρωμένων τοῦ πονηροῦ βελῶν γενώμεθα ὁτιπ<οτ>οῦν γινόμεθα ἢ ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου πυρός (ἐπεὶ καὶ «ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον» ἐστίν), ἐὰν γενώμεθά φημι ὑπὸ τοιοῦδε ἢ τοιοῦδε πυρὸς ὅτιποτ' ἂν γενώμεθα, ἐὰν συντριβῶμεν, εἴτε ἀπὸ τοῦ καλὰ σκεύη γεγονέναι συνετρίβημεν καὶ ἀπολώλαμεν εἴτε ἀπὸ τοῦ μοχθηρὰ σκεύη γεγονέναι, οὐκ ἀνακτιζόμεθα οὐδὲ ἐπιδέχεται ἡμῶν ἡ κατασκευὴ βελτίωσιν. διὰ τοῦτο ὅσον ἐσμὲν ἐνθάδε οἱονεὶ ἐν χειρὶ τοῦ κεραμέως ὄντες, κἂν διαπέσῃ τὸ σκεῦος ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἐπιδέχεται θεραπείαν καὶ τὸ ἀνακτισθῆναι. ταῦτα μὲν ὀλίγῳ προχειρότερον, πρὶν τὸ κατὰ τὸ λεῖπον ἐξετάσωμεν τῷ λόγῳ, εἰς τὰ δύο εἴδη τῶν ἀγγείων, τό τε πήλινον καὶ οὐδέπω ἀπωστρακισμένον καὶ τὸ δεύτερον τὸ ἤδη ὄστρακον γεγενημένον λελέχθω. 18.2 Ἴδωμεν δὲ ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς λέξεως τὰ λεγόμενα περὶ τοῦ πηλίνου ἀγγείου τοῦ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ κεραμέως, καὶ πῶς αὐτὸς ὁ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ λόγος, ὁ κύριος ὁ προφητεύων ἐν αὐτῷ, ἀφορμὰς δίδωσι καὶ ἄλλας οὐ βραχείας τῆς ἑρμηνείας τῶν κατὰ τὸ πλάσμα τὸ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ κεραμέως. «ὁ λόγος ὁ γενόμενος πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν παρὰ κυρίου λέγων· ἀνάστηθι καὶ κατάβηθι εἰς οἶκον τοῦ κεραμέως». ἄνω ἐστὶν ὁ Ἱε ρεμίας,