John Chrysostom, On Matthew

not to become indolent. For such is the Jewish race; by good things they were easily made conceited, and they became worse. Therefore he brings on again the fearful things, saying; Whose fan is in his hand. For above he spoke of the punishment; but here he also shows the judge, and introduces the immortal penalty. For he will burn up, he says, the chaff with unquenchable fire. Do you see that he is the Lord of things, and that he is the husbandman, even if elsewhere he says the same of the Father? For my Father, he says, is the husbandman. For since he said, "Ax," lest you should think the matter requires labor, and is difficult to distinguish, from another example he also introduces the ease, showing that the whole world is his; for he would not have punished those who were not his own. Now then all things are mixed together; for even if the wheat appears to shine brightly, yet nevertheless it lies with the chaff, as in a threshing floor, not as in a granary; but then the separation will be great. Where are they now who disbelieve in Gehenna? For he has set forth two things, both that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit, and that he will burn up those who disobey. If then the one is credible, so is the other in every way. For this reason he has set forth the two prophecies in succession, that from the one that has already happened he might make credible the one that has not yet come to pass. For Christ also does this in many places, often concerning the same things, and often concerning opposite things, setting forth two prophecies, providing the one here, and promising the other in the future; so that from the one that has already happened, even the more contentious might believe in the one that has not yet happened. For to those who for his sake strip themselves of all their possessions he promised to give a hundredfold in the present life, and eternal life in the future, from what has already been given making also the future things worthy of belief. Which indeed John has also done here, setting forth two things, that he will both baptize with the Holy Spirit, and burn up with unquenchable fire. 2. If then he did not baptize the apostles with the Spirit and all who are willing each day, you might have doubt concerning those things too; but if what seems to be the greater and more difficult thing, and what surpasses all reason, both has happened and happens every day, how do you say that the easy and reasonable thing is not true? For since he said, that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and from this promised great good things, lest you should fall back, having been forgiven all your former sins, he brought on the fan and the judgment manifested by it. For do not think, he says, that baptism is enough, if you become wicked after this; for we need both virtue and much wisdom. For this reason he pushes them to grace and the font with the ax; but after grace he frightens them with the fan and the unquenchable fire. And he makes no distinction of those before baptism, but simply, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down," he says, punishing all the unbelievers; but after baptism he works a certain division, since many of those who believed were going to display a 57.199 life unworthy of the faith. Let no one then become chaff, let no one be easily tossed about, nor be given over to wicked desires, being easily fanned by them everywhere. For if you remain wheat, even if temptation be brought upon you, you will suffer nothing terrible; for on the threshing floor the saw-like wheels of the cart do not cut the wheat; but if you fall into the weakness of chaff, both here you will suffer incurable things, being beaten by all, and there you will undergo the immortal punishment. For all such people, even before the furnace there, become food for the irrational passions here, just as chaff is for the irrational animals; and there again, matter and food for the fire. Therefore, to say directly that He will judge what is done, would not have made the word so acceptable; but to mix in the parable, and through it to construct the whole, was more persuasive, and drew the hearer with greater comfort. Wherefore he himself also speaks to them thus for the most part, of the threshing-floor, and harvest, and vineyard, and winepress, and field, and drag-net, and fishing, and all the customary things in which they were engaged, to the

μὴ γενέσθαι ῥᾴθυμον. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ τὸ γένος τὸ Ἰουδαϊκόν· ὑπὸ τῶν χρηστῶν ἐχαυνοῦντο ῥᾳδίως, καὶ χείρους ἐγίνοντο. ∆ιόπερ πάλιν ἐπάγει τὰ φοβερὰ, λέγων· Οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἀνωτέρω μὲν γὰρ τὴν κόλασιν εἶπεν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ τὸν κριτὴν δείκνυσι, καὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν ἀθάνατον εἰσάγει· Κατακαύσει γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ ἄχυρον πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ. Ὁρᾷς αὐτὸν τὸν τῶν πραγμάτων Κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸν ὄντα τὸν γεωργὸν, κἂν τὸν Πατέρα ἀλλαχοῦ ταὐτὸ λέγῃ· Ὁ Πατήρ μου γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἀξίνη, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς πόνου δεῖσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ δυσδιάκριτον εἶναι, ἐξ ἑτέρου παραδείγματος καὶ τὴν εὐκολίαν εἰσάγει, δεικνὺς πάντα αὐτοῦ τὸν κόσμον ὄντα· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τοὺς μὴ ἑαυτοῦ ἐκόλασε. Νῦν μὲν οὖν πάντα ἀναμέμικται· κἂν γὰρ φαίνηται διαλάμπων ὁ σῖτος, ἀλλ' ὅμως μετὰ τῶν ἀχύρων κεῖται, ὡς ἐν ἅλωνι, οὐχ ὡς ἐν ἀποθήκῃ· τότε δὲ πολλὴ ἔσται ἡ διάκρισις. Ποῦ νῦν εἰσιν οἱ τῇ γεέννῃ διαπιστοῦντες; Καὶ γὰρ δύο τέθεικε, καὶ ὅτι βαπτίσει Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, καὶ ὅτι κατακαύσει τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐκεῖνο πιστὸν, καὶ τοῦτο πάντως. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐφεξῆς τὰς δύο προῤῥήσεις τέθεικεν, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς ἤδη γενομένης καὶ τὴν μηδέπω συμβᾶσαν πιστώσηται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς πολλαχοῦ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, πολλάκις μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πραγμάτων, πολλάκις δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐναντίων, δύο τιθεὶς προφητείας, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐνταῦθα παρεχόμενος, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι ὑπισχνούμενος· ἵνα ἀπὸ τῆς ἤδη γενομένης καὶ τῇ μηδέπω γενομένῃ πιστεύσωσιν οἱ φιλονεικότεροι. Καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δι' αὐτὸν ἀποδυομένοις τὰ ὄντα πάντα ἑκατονταπλασίονα ὑπέσχετο δώσειν ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ, καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι, ἀπὸ τῶν ἤδη δοθέντων καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἀξιόπιστα καθιστάς. Ὃ δὴ καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐνταῦθα πεποίηκε δύο θεὶς, ὅτι καὶ βαπτίσει Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, καὶ κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ. ʹ. Εἰ τοίνυν μὴ ἐβάπτισε Πνεύματι τοὺς ἀποστόλους καὶ πάντας καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν τοὺς βουλομένους, ἔχοις ἂν καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων ἀμφιβάλλειν· εἰ δὲ τὸ μεῖζον καὶ δυσκολώτερον εἶναι δοκοῦν, καὶ πάντα ὑπερβαῖνον λόγον, καὶ γέγονε καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην γίνεται, πῶς τὸ εὔκολον καὶ κατὰ λόγον γινόμενον οὐ φῂς εἶναι ἀληθές, Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπεν, ὅτι Βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρὶ, καὶ μεγάλα ἐντεῦθεν ὑπέσχετο ἀγαθὰ, ἵνα μὴ ἀναπέσῃς τῶν προτέρων ἁπάντων ἀφεθεὶς, ἐπήγαγε τὸ πτύον καὶ τὴν διὰ τούτου κρίσιν ἐμφαινομένην. Μὴ γὰρ δὴ νομίσητε, φησὶν, ἀρκεῖν τὸ βάπτισμα, εἰ φαῦλοι μετὰ ταῦτα γένοισθε· δεῖ γὰρ ἡμῖν καὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ πολλῆς τῆς φιλοσοφίας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο εἰς μὲν τὴν χάριν καὶ τὸ λουτρὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀξίνης αὐτοὺς ὠθεῖ· μετὰ δὲ τὴν χάριν ἀπὸ τοῦ πτύου καὶ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ἀσβέστου φοβεῖ· καὶ τῶν μὲν πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος οὐδεμίαν ποιεῖται διάκρισιν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς, Πᾶν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται, φησὶ, τοὺς ἀπίστους ἅπαντας κολάζων· μετὰ δὲ τὸ βάπτισμα διαίρεσίν τινα ἐργάζεται, ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ τῶν πιστευσάντων ἀνάξιον ἔμελλον τῆς πίστεως ἐπιδείκνυσθαι 57.199 βίον. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν γινέσθω ἄχυρον, μηδεὶς εὐρίπιστος ἔστω, μηδὲ ταῖς πονηραῖς ἐπιθυμίαις προκείσθω, πανταχοῦ ῥᾳδίως ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἀναῤῥιπιζόμενος. Ἂν μὲν γὰρ μείνῃς σῖτος, κἂν πειρασμὸς ἐπενεχθῇ, οὐδὲν πείσῃ δεινόν· καὶ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἅλω τῆς ἁμάξης οἱ τροχοὶ οἱ πριστηροειδεῖς τὸν σῖτον οὐ διατέμνουσιν· ἂν δὲ εἰς ἀχύρου μεταπέσῃς ἀσθένειαν, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀνήκεστα πείσῃ κοπτόμενος ὑπὸ πάντων, καὶ ἐκεῖ τὴν ἀθάνατον ὑποστήσῃ κόλασιν. Οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι πάντες καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐκεῖ καμίνου τροφὴ τοῖς ἀλόγοις γίνονται ἐνταῦθα πάθεσιν, ὥσπερ τὸ ἄχυρον τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζώοις· καὶ ἐκεῖ πάλιν ὕλη καὶ τροφὴ τῷ πυρί. Τὸ μὲν οὖν εἰπεῖν ἐξ εὐθείας, ὅτι Αὐτὸς δικάσει τοῖς γινομένοις, οὐχ οὕτως ἐποίει εὐπαράδεκτον τὸν λόγον· τὸ δὲ ἀναμίξαι τὴν παραβολὴν, καὶ διὰ ταύτης κατασκευάσαι τὸ πᾶν, μᾶλλον ἔπειθε, καὶ μετὰ πλείονος παραμυθίας ἐφείλκετο τὸν ἀκροατήν. ∆ιὸ καὶ τὰ πλείονα οὕτως αὐτοῖς αὐτὸς διαλέγεται, ἅλωνα, καὶ ἀμητὸν, καὶ ἀμπελῶνα, καὶ ληνὸν, καὶ ἄρουραν, καὶ σαγήνην, καὶ ἁλείαν, καὶ πάντα τὰ συνήθη καὶ ἐν οἷς ἐστρέφοντο, τοῖς