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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, and they would not come". (92)

Who then were those who were sent? The prophets, it says. Who were 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." But they made light of it 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 who were called according to his purpose from the foundation of the world. And what does he mean by oxen and fatted calves? The Son of the Virgin and God himself, who is the calf fattened in his 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 them power, so as to conquer the world and to be able to become sons of God. And he is called the Lamb, the all-blameless lamb of God, as a yearling; and a ram, as one bearing the cross from above like horns, through which he also gave a fatal blow to the adversary and on which those men, having crucified him, killed him. And by "other servants" he means his holy apostles, whom he sent, commanding them not to go into the way 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 treated shamefully and beat, and others they even killed, among whom is Stephen, the first of the martyrs. "But when the king heard, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burned their city." (94) He means the impious Hebrews, whom he slaughtered, working their complete desolation through the assault of the Romans. And even the wicked are called armies of God, being sent out for the punishment of other wicked ones, as God says through Moses: "I will send upon them fury and anger, a mission 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 crossroads and invite to the wedding whomever you find.'" Have you seen the sequence of events? Have you seen the precision of the parable? For it says, "Then." Then? When? When the Jews, evidently, having been called to the kingdom of heaven by the apostles, not only did not endure to listen to them, but also, having treated them shamefully, killed them, then he sent them into the whole world and to all the nations. "And going out," it says, "those servants into the roads, gathered all whom they found, both bad and good, and the wedding 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 the wicked in their ways and the good, being changed, that is, and being led back to virtue. For this is what "gathered" indicates; but indeed also from what follows we are taught this same thing again. For it says: "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had no 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 servants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and take him and cast him into the outer darkness; for many are called, but few are chosen.'" Do you see how those who change their (95) ways 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