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do good to those who hate you", and when he blesses those who mourn, but pronounces woe upon those who laugh, (152) and when he says: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near", and again: "He who wishes to save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it unto life eternal", and: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me". These things, therefore, and what follows them have been said not in parables, but clearly and having no hidden meaning. But the things in parables are when he says: "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and became a great tree" and when he says again: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man seeking fine pearls" and again: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened". These and more things than these, saying them thus and comparing the kingdom of heaven to such things, he calls parables.

And see for me from this the wisdom of God, how through sensible examples and things that seem to us to be of little worth, he outlines things that are beyond mind and thought. And he does all this, so that the unbelievers, having become unworthy of such things through their unbelief, might remain blind and without a share in such good things, but that the faithful who receive the word with full assurance may see the truth itself of the parables and the clear outcome of the matters for themselves. For these parables are images of things that happen; and how, listen. The grain of mustard seed is the All-holy Spirit; for understand this to be the kingdom of heaven for me, and nothing else. But the man (153) is every believer who wishes to receive this grain through the working of the commandments. And the garden is no other place than the heart of each of us, where we take this one grain—not many, for it is not from those that are divided, being uncuttable and indivisible by nature—and we hide it in it. And guarding ourselves with all vigilance and keeping watch, it grows as we do not know, and having sprouted it is seen, and having grown greatly it is recognized by those in whom it sprouted, and having become a tree and made many branches, it produces an ineffable joy for the one who possesses it. Therefore, just as without the seed the garden brings forth nothing useful except only thorns and wild herbs, and the seed without being cast into a garden does not bear fruit, but remains alone as it is, so indeed do our souls truly remain and become fruitless and thorn-bearing without the divine seed. For the divine seed, before being cast into us, that is, into our hearts, remains as it is, wholly existing as God, neither receiving addition nor indeed undergoing any diminution at all, but in us it neither sprouts at all nor receives growth. For how will that which is disconnected show its power of growth like those things which are connected to it? In no way, just as fire never ignites a whole of that which it has not touched, nor is matter burned unless it is united hypostatically with the fire.

Therefore, just as the things of the divine gospels are said to us, some in a veiled manner, as has been said, and through parables, but others openly and without covering, so also the things of the apostolic and divinely inspired sayings are not all said to us clearly and without some veil, but at times they require much examination and interpretation, somehow bearing a depth of meanings and mysteries in the (154) letter. And, if it seems good, let us take up the subject and contemplation of one of the apostolic sayings and we shall see what are the depths of the Spirit, since according to the divine oracle, "The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God".

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καλῶς ποιεῖτε τούς μισοῦντας ὑμᾶς", καί ὅταν μακαρίζῃ μέν τούς πενθοῦντας, ταλανίζῃ δέ τούς γελῶντας, (152) καί ὅταν λέγῃ· "Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γάρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν", καί πάλιν· "Ὁ θέλων σῶσαι τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν καί ὁ ἀπολέσας τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον εὑρήσει αὐτήν", καί· "Ὅστις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτόν καί ἀράτω τόν σταυρόν αὐτοῦ καί ἀκολουθείτω μοι". Ταῦτα τοίνυν καί τά τούτοις ἑπόμενα οὐκ ἐν παραβολαῖς, ἀλλά φανερά καί μηδεμίαν ἐγκεκρυμμένην ἔννοιαν ἔχοντα εἴρηται. Τά δέ γε ἐν παραβολαῖς εἰσιν ὅταν λέγῃ· "Τίνι ὁμοιώσωμεν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ὁμοία ἐστί κόκκῳ σινάπεως ὅν λαβών ἄνθρωπος ἔβαλεν εἰς κῆπον ἑαυτοῦ· καί αὐξηθέν ἐγένετο εἰς δένδρον μέγα" καί ὅταν πάλιν φησίν· "Ὁμοία ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ζητοῦντι καλούς μαργαρίτας" καί πάλιν· "Ὁμοία ἐστίν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ ἥν λαβοῦσα γυνή ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία, ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον". Ταῦτα καί ἕτερα τούτων πλείονα οὕτω λέγων καί παρομοιάζων τοῖς τοιούτοις τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, παραβολάς καλεῖ.

Καί ὅρα μοι σοφίαν ἐντεῦθεν Θεοῦ, πῶς διά τῶν αἰσθητῶν ὑποδειγμάτων καί τῶν δοκούντων ἡμῖν εὐτελῶν εἶναι τά ὑπέρ νοῦν καί διάνοιαν ὑποζωγραφεῖ. Τοῦτο δέ ὅλον ποιεῖ, ἵνα οἱ μέν ἄπιστοι καί διά τῆς ἀπιστίας ἀνάξιοι τῶν τοιούτων γενόμενοι μείνωσι τυφλοί καί τῶν τοιούτων ἄμοιροι ἀγαθῶν, οἱ δέ γε πιστοί καί μετά πληροφορίας τόν λόγον δεχόμενοι τῶν παραβολῶν αὐτήν τήν ἀλήθειαν καί τήν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐναργῆ θεάσωνται ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἔκβασιν. Αἱ γάρ παραβολαί αὗται εἰκόνες τῶν γινομένων πραγμάτων εἰσί· καί ὅπως, ἄκουε. Ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σινέπεως τό πανάγιον Πνεῦμά ἐστι· τοῦτο γάρ καί τήν βασιλείαν μοι νόει εἶναι τῶν οὐρανῶν καί οὐχ ἕτερόν τι. Ἄνθρωπος δέ (153) ἐστιν ὁ πᾶς πιστός καί βουλόμενος διά τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦτον τόν κόκκον λαβεῖν. Κῆπος δέ οὐδείς ἕτερος τόπος ἐστίν εἰ μή ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ἔνθα τόν ἕνα κόκκον τοῦτον - οὐ τούς πολλούς, οὐδέ γάρ ἀπό τῶν διχοτομουμένων ὑπάρχει , τόν ἄτμητον ὄντα τῇ φύσει καί ἀδιαίρετον λαμβάνοντες, κρύβομεν ἐν αὐτῇ· πάσῃ δέ φυλακῇ τηροῦντες ἑαυτούς καί φυλάττοντες, αὐτός αὐξάνει ὡς οὐκ ἴσμεν ἡμεῖς καί φυείς ὁρᾶται καί αὐξηθείς ἐπί πολύ ἐπιγινώσκεται παρά τῶν ἐν οἷς ἐφύη καί εἰς δένδρον γενόμενος καί κλάδους ποιήσας πολλούς ἄφραστον τῷ κεκτημένῳ αὐτόν ἐμποιεῖ τήν χαράν. Ὥσπερ οὖν δίχα τοῦ σπόρου οὐδέν ὁ κῆπος χρήσιμον προφέρει εἰ μή μόνον ἀκάνθας καί βοτάνας ἀγρίας καί ὁ σπόρος δίχα τοῦ βληθῆναι εἰς κῆπον οὐ καρποφορεῖ, ἀλλά μένει μόνος οἷόν ἐστιν, οὕτω δή καί ἡμῶν ἀληθῶς αἱ ψυχαί δίχα τοῦ θείου σπόρου ἄκαρποι καί ἀκανθηφόροι διατελοῦσι καί γίνονται. Ὁ γάρ θεῖος σπόρος, πρό τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν ἤγουν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν ἐμβληθῆναι, αὐτός μένει μέν οἷος ὅλος ὑπάρχει Θεός, μήτε προσθήκην δεχόμενος μήτε μήν ὕφεσιν ὑπομένων τό σύνολον, ἐν ἡμῖν δέ οὔτε φύει ὅλως οὔτε αὔξησιν ἐπιδέχεται. Πῶς γάρ ὁ κατά συνάφειαν διεστώς ἴσα τοῖς συναφθεῖσιν αὐτῷ τήν αὐξητικήν δύναμιν ἐπιδείξεται; Οὐδαμῶς, ὥσπερ οὐδέ τό πῦρ ὅλην ἀνάπτει ποτέ ἧς μή προσψαύσειεν, οὐδέ ὕλη ἐμπίπραται, εἰ μή τῷ πυρί ἑνωθῇ καθ᾿ ὑπόσταστιν.

Τοίνυν καί καθάπερ τά τῶν θείων εὐαγγελίων, τά μέν συνεσκιασμένως, ὡς εἴρηται, καί διά παραβολῶν λέγεται πρός ἡμᾶς, τά δέ παρρησίᾳ καί ἀπερικαλύπτως, οὕτω καί τά τῶν ἀποστολικῶν καί θεοφράστων ῥημάτων οὐ πάντα φανερῶς καί ἄνευ παραπετάσματός τινος λέγεται πρός ἡμᾶς, ἀλλ᾿ ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε πολλῆς τῆς ἐξετάσεως καί ἑρμηνείας δεόμενα, βάθος νοημάτων καί μυστηρίων ἐν τῷ (154) ῥητῷ πως ἐπιφερόμενα. Καί, εἰ δοκεῖ, μιᾶς τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ῥημάτων ὑποθέσεώς τε καί θεωρίας ἁψώμεθα καί ὀψόμεθα τί τά βάθη τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐπειδή κατά τό θεῖον λόγιον "Τό Πνεῦμα πάντα ἐρευνᾷ καί τά βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ".