to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance; so from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him; if anyone [also] having received the mina binds it in a cloth, he will hear, "The light is with you for a little longer"; for in just a little while it will be said, "Take the mina from him," since "one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much." And so one might relate the things concerning the passage: just as the kingdom of God was with the Jews, so also the light was in them; and just as, because they did not render the fruits appropriate to the kingdom of God, they heard, "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits," so, since while the light was in them they did not walk so that the darkness might not overtake them, for this reason after a little while the light in them was taken from them and was given to the nation that produces the fruits of the light, becoming like the stars of heaven and being called the light of the world, and having received this from the one who said, "I am the light of the world." 92 For that the divine scripture knows we are free, blaming those who sin as blameworthy because of themselves, and praising those who keep the divine commandment as praiseworthy for their own reason,
〚hear what it says in Deuteronomy: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your "God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, "to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to "serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your "soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes "which I command you today for your good?" and in Micah: "'Has it not been told to you, O man, what is good? Or what does the Lord require "of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to be ready "to walk with the Lord
your God?'"〛 Insofar, therefore, as it depends on these things, it is possible for each of us to become righteous or unrighteous. You will understand, therefore, that "He has blinded their eyes and
hardened their hearts" refers to the evil one, 〚as was said before, who blinded the eyes of some and hardened their heart, so that they might not see with their eyes, and so that they might not understand with their heart, and so that they might turn and the Lord heal them. For it is not as it has said: He has blinded their
eyes and has hardened their heart,〛 so also is written "lest they should turn and he should heal them." So it is one who blinds the eyes and hardens
the heart, and another who heals those who turn, 〚and those who are broken in heart and the blind. And the apostle in the second to the Corinthians says this: "But if "our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in "whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, "to keep them from seeing the light of the glory of the gospel of
"Christ, who is the image of God.'"〛 And it is no wonder if, by submitting themselves through their sins to the evil one, their eyes are blinded by him and their own heart is hardened according to his will, he doing everything so that they might not see with their eyes and understand with their heart and turn. But also concerning "Therefore they could not "believe," such things must be said: that just as in the case of the one blind from birth, whom
our Savior later healed, if anyone were to say that He is not even able 〚to see because of being blind, he was not saying this, that it is not possible〛 for him ever to see; for it was possible, with Jesus who opens the eyes 〚of the blind granting sight to the blind,〛 for those formerly unable to see to see later, so also those once not
παντὶ τῷ ἔχοντι δοθήσεται καὶ περισσευθήσεται, οὕτως ἀπὸ τοῦ μὴ ἔχοντος καὶ ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· εἴ τίς [τε] λαβὼν τὴν μνᾶν δεσμεύσει αὐτὴν ἐν σουδαρίῳ, ἀκούσεται τὸ «Ἔτι μικρὸν τὸ φῶς ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστιν»· ὅσον γὰρ οὐδέπω λέξεται τὸ «Ἄρατε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὴν μνᾶν», ἐπείπερ «ὁ ἐν ὀλίγῳ ἄδικος καὶ «ἐν πολλῷ ἄδικός ἐστι». καὶ οὕτω δ' ἄν τις τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον διηγήσαιτο· ὥσπερ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις ἦν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐτύγχανε· καὶ ὥσπερ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀποδεδωκέναι αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἐπιβάλλοντας τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ καρποὺς ἤκουσαν τὸ «Ἀρθήσεται ἀφ' ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς», οὕτως ἐπείπερ ὄντος τοῦ φωτὸς ἐν αὐτοῖς οὐ περιεπάτησαν ὡς μὴ σκοτίαν αὐτοὺς λαβεῖν, διὰ τοῦτο μετὰ τὸν μικρὸν χρόνον τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς φῶς ἀπ' αὐτῶν ἀφηρέθη καὶ ἐδόθη τῷ ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς τοῦ φωτὸς ἔθνει γενομένῳ ὡς τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ χρηματίζοντι φῶς τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ τοῦτο εἰληφότι ἀπὸ τοῦ φήσαντος· «Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου». 92 Ὅτι γὰρ αὐτεξουσίους ἡμᾶς οἶδεν ἡ θεία γραφή, ψέγουσα μὲν ὡς παρ' ἑαυτοὺς ψεκτοὺς τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, ἐπαινοῦσα δὲ ὡς παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν αἰτίαν ἐπαινετοὺς τοὺς τηροῦντας τὴν θείαν ἐντολήν,
〚ἄκου σον τί φησιν ἐν τῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ· «Καὶ νῦν, Ἰσραήλ, τί Κύριος ὁ «θεός σου αἰτεῖ παρά σου ἀλλ' ἢ φοβεῖσθαι Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου, «πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀγαπᾶν αὐτὸν καὶ λα «τρεύειν Κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς «ψυχῆς σου, φυλάσσεσθαι τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ κυρίου καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα «αὐτοῦ, ὅσα ἐγώ σοι ἐντέλλομαι σήμερον, ἵνα εὖ ᾖ σοί;» ἐν δὲ τῷ Μιχαίᾳ· «Εἰ ἀναγγέλῃ σοι, ἄνθρωπε, τί καλόν; ἢ τί Κύριος ἐκζητεῖ «παρά σου ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ ποιεῖν κρίμα καὶ ἀγαπᾶν ἔλεος, καὶ ἕτοιμον «εἶναι τοῦ πορεύεσθαι μετὰ Κυρίου
τοῦ θεοῦ σου;»〛 ὅσον οὖν ἐπὶ τούτοις δυνατόν ἐστιν ἕκαστον ἡμῶν γενέσθαι δίκαιον ἢ ἄδικον. νοήσεις οὖν τὸ «Ἐτύφλωσεν αὐτῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ
ἐπώρωσεν «αὐτῶν τὰς καρδίας» ἀναφέρεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν πονηρόν, 〚καθὰ προείρη ται, τυφλώσαντά τινων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ πηρώσαντα αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσι τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, καὶ ἵνα μὴ νοήσωσι τῇ καρ δίᾳ, καὶ ἵνα μεταστραφῶσι καὶ ἰάσηται αὐτοὺς ὁ κύριος. οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ εἴρηκεν· Τετύφλωκεν αὐτῶν τοὺς
ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ πεπώρωκεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν,〛 οὕτω γέγραπται καὶ τὸ «Ἵνα μὴ στραφῶσι «καὶ ἰάσηται αὐτούς». ἄλλος οὖν ὁ τυφλῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ πωρῶν
τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ ἄλλος ὁ τοὺς ἐπιστρέφοντας ἰώμενος 〚καὶ τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τοὺς τυφλούς. καὶ ὁ ἀπόστο λος δὲ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους δευτέρᾳ τοῦτό φησιν· «Εἰ δέ ἐστι «κεκαλυμμένον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν, ἐν τοῖς ἐστὶν κεκαλυμμένον, ἐν «οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσε τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων, «εἰς τὸ μὴ διαυγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τῆς δόξης τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τοῦ
«χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ».〛 καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ ὑποβάλ λοντες ἑαυτοὺς δι' ὧν ἥμαρτον τῷ πονηρῷ τυφλοῦνται τοὺς ὀφθαλ μοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καὶ πωροῦνται κατὰ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ τὴν ἑαυτῶν καρδίαν, πάντα ποιοῦντος ἵνα μὴ ἴδωσι τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ νοήσωσι τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ στραφῶσιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ «∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἠδύναντο «πιστεύειν» τοιαῦτα λεκτέον, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀπὸ γενετῆς τυφλοῦ, ὃν
ὕστερον ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἰάσατο, εἴ τις ἔλεγεν ὅτι Οὐδὲ δύναται 〚βλέπειν διὰ τὸ τυφλὸν εἶναι, οὐ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, ὅτι οὐ δυνατὸν〛 αὐτόν ποτε ἰδεῖν· δυνατὸν γὰρ ἦν, Ἰησοῦ τῷ ἀνοῖξαι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς 〚τῶν τυφλῶν χαριζομένου τοῖς τυφλοῖς τὸ βλέπειν〛, τοὺς τέως μὴ δυνη θέντας βλέπειν ὕστερον ἰδεῖν, οὕτω τούς ποτε μὴ