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11. On the saying of the Gospel: "And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, and they would not come." (92)

Who then were the ones sent? The prophets, he says. Who are the invited? The children of the Jews; for they were the ones invited then and from the beginning, and they would not listen to them; "Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, (93) my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast." But they paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." Which servants does he mean? His apostles. And what is the dinner? The kingdom of heaven, which he prepared beforehand for those called according to his purpose from the foundation of the world. And what oxen and fat calves does he mean? The Son of the Virgin Himself and God, being the calf fattened in divinity; for he is also a bull, truly invincible in power, and he called himself "oxen" in the plural, because his holy flesh is divided into many parts, and each single part from him is that whole one again, being so powerful that he turns away all the enemies of those who receive him and gives power to them, so as to conquer the world and be able to become sons of God. And he is called a lamb, the all-blameless lamb of God, as of one year, and a ram as bearing the cross from above like horns, through which he gave a mortal wound to the adversary and in which they, having crucified him, killed him. And by "other servants" he means his holy apostles, whom he sent, commanding them not to go on a road of the Gentiles and not to enter a city of the Samaritans, but to go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; but they did not receive even these, but some they mistreated and beat, and others they killed, among whom is also Stephen, the first of the martyrs. "But when the king heard of it, he was enraged, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city." (94) He means the impious Hebrews, whom he slaughtered, working their complete desolation through the attack of the Romans. And the evil are called armies of God, being sent for the punishment of other evil ones, as God says through Moses: "I will send upon them fury and wrath, a sending through evil angels."

"Then therefore he says to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.'" Did you see the sequence of events? Did you see the precision of the parable? For he says, "Then." Then? When? When the Jews, that is, having been called to the kingdom of heaven by the apostles, not only did not endure to listen to them, but also having mistreated them, killed them, then he sent them into the entire world and to all the nations. "And those servants," he says, "went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests." For the apostles, having gone around the whole inhabited world, preached the word of God and gathered all who obeyed into one faith of the knowledge of God, both those evil in their ways and the good, being changed, that is, and being led back to virtue. For this is what "gathered" signifies; but indeed we are also taught this same thing again from what follows. For he says: "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in a wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness; for many are called, but few are chosen.'" Do you see how those who change their (95) way are gathered into

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ια΄. Εἰς τό ῥητόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου· "Καί ἀπέστειλε τούς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τούς κεκλημένους εἰς τούς γάμους καί οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν". (92)

Τίνες οὖν ἦσαν οἱ ἀπεσταλμένοι; Οἱ προφῆται, φησί. Τίνες οἱ κεκλημένοι; Τῶν

Ἰουδαίων οἱ παῖδες· ἐκεῖνοι γάρ ἦσαν οἱ τότε καί ἐξ ἀρχῆς κεκλημένοι, καί οὐκ ἠθέλησαν ἀκοῦσαι αὐτῶν· "Πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων· Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις· Ἰδού τό ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμασα, (93) οἱ ταῦροί μου καί τά σιτιστά τεθυμένα καί πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τούς γάμους. Οἱ δέ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὁ μέν εἰς τόν ἴδιον ἀγρόν, ὁ δέ εἰς τήν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ· οἱ δέ λοιποί κρατήσαντες τούς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καί ἀπέκτειναν". Ποίους λέγει δούλους; Τούς ἀποστόλους αὐτοῦ. Τί δέ ἐστι τό ἄριστον; Ἡ τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλεία, ἥν προητοίμασε τοῖς κατά πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν ἀπό καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ταύρους δέ τίνας λέγει καί σιτιστά; Αὐτόν τόν τῆς Παρθένου Υἱόν καί Θεόν, τόν μόσχον ὄντα τῇ θεότητι σιτευτόν· οὗτος γάρ καί ταῦρός ἐστι τῇ δυνάμει ὄντως ἀήττητος, πληθυντικῶς δέ ταύρους ἑαυτόν ἐκάλεσεν, ὅτι εἰς πολλά μερίζεται ἡ ἁγία αὐτοῦ σάρξ καί μία ἑκάστη μερίς ἡ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ὅλος ἐκεῖνος πάλιν ἐστί, τοσοῦτον ὤν δυνατός, ὅτι καί τούς ἐχθρούς τῶν λαμβανόντων αὐτόν ἀποτρέπεται ἅπαντας κἀκείνοις δύναμιν δίδωσιν, ὥστε νικῆσαι τόν κόσμον καί δυνηθῆναι γενέσθαι αὐτούς υἱούς Θεοῦ. Ἀμνός δέ λέγεται ὁ πανάμωμος ἀμνός τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς ἐνιαύσιος, κριός δέ ὡς κεράτων δίκην τόν σταυρόν ἐπιφερόμενος ἄνωθεν, δι᾿ οὗ καί τήν πληγήν καιρίαν τῷ ἀντιπάλῳ δέδωκε καί εἰς ὅν ἐκεῖνοι τοῦτον σταυρώσαντες ἀπέκτειναν. Ἄλλους δέ δούλους φησί τούς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους αὐτοῦ, οὕς καί ἀπέστειλε παραγγείλας αὐτοῖς εἰς ὁδόν ἐθνῶν μή ἀπελθεῖν καί εἰς πόλιν Σαμαρειτῶν μή εἰσελθεῖν, πορευθῆναι δέ μᾶλλον πρός τά ἀπολωλότα πρόβατα τοῦ οἴκου Ἰσραήλ· οἱ δέ οὐδέ τούτους ἐδέξαντο, ἀλλά τούς μέν ὕβρισαν καί ἔτυψαν, τούς δέ καί ἀπέκτειναν, ἐξ ὧν καί Στέφανος ὁ πρῶτος τῶν μαρτύρων ὑπάρχει. "Ἀκούσας δέ ὁ βασιλεύς ὠργίσθη και πέμψας τά στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσε τούς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καί τήν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησε". (94) Τούς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑβραίους φησίν, οὕς καί κατέσφαξε, διά τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐφόδου τήν παντελῆ ἐρήμωσιν αὐτῶν ἐργασάμενος. Στρατεύματα δέ Θεοῦ καί οἱ πονηροί λέγονται, εἰς τιμωρίαν ἑτέρων πονηρῶν ἐκπεμπόμενοι, καθώς φησι διά Μωϋσέως ὁ Θεός· "Ἐπαποστελῶ εἰς αὐτούς θυμόν καί ὀργήν, ἀποστολήν δι᾿ ἀγγέλων πονηρῶν".

"Τότε τοίνυν λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ· Ὁ μέν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δέ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι· πορεύεσθε οὖν ἐπί τάς διεξόδους τῶν ὁδῶν καί ὅσους ἄν εὕρητε καλέσατε εἰς τούς γάμους". Εἶδες ἀκολουθίαν πραγμάτων; Εἶδες παραβολῆς ἀκρίβειαν; "Τότε" γάρ φησι. Τότε; πότε; Ὅτε οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι δηλονότι, κληθέντες εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὑπό τῶν ἀποστόλων, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο ἀκοῦσαι αὐτῶν, ἀλλά καί ὑβρίσαντες αὐτούς ἀπέκτειναν, τότε ἀπέστειλεν αὐτούς εἰς τόν σύμπαντα κόσμον καί εἰς πάντα τά ἔθνη. "Καί ἐξελθόντες, φησίν, οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι εἰς τάς ὁδούς, συνήγαγον πάντας ὅσους εὗρον πονηρούς τε καί ἀγαθούς καί ἐπλήσθη ὁ γάμος ἀνακειμένων". Τήν γάρ οἰκουμένην περιελθόντες οἱ ἀπόστολοι πᾶσαν, ἐκήρυξαν τόν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον καί τούς ὑπακούσαντας πάντας εἰς μίαν συνήγαγον θεογνωσίας πίστιν πονηρούς τε ἅμα τοῖς τρόποις καί ἀγαθούς, μεταβαλλομένους δηλονότι καί πρός ἀρετήν ἐπαναγομένους. Τοῦτο γάρ δηλοῖ τό "συνήγαγον"· ἀλλά γάρ καί ἀπό τῶν ἑξῆς τό αὐτό τοῦτο πάλιν διδασκόμεθα. Φησί γάρ· "Εἰσελθών δέ ὁ βασιλεύς θεάσασθαι τούς ἀνακειμένους, εἶδεν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐνδεδυμένον ἔνδυμα γάμου καί λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἑταῖρε, πῶς εἰσῆλθενς ὦδε μή ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου; Ὁ δέ ἐφιμώθη. Τότε εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς τοῖς διακόνοις· ∆ήσαντες αὐτοῦ χεῖρας καί πόδας, ἄρατε αὐτόν καί ἐκβάλετε εἰς τό σκότος τό ἐξώτερον· πολλοί γάρ εἰσι κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δέ ἐκλεκτοί". Ὁρᾷς ὅπως τούς μεταβαλλομένους τόν (95) τρόπον συνάγεσθαι εἰς