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He adds the leaven to this image, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened. For just as this changes the great quantity of flour over to its own strength, so you also will change the whole world. And observe the intelligence. For He brings forward things from nature, showing that just as it is impossible for those not to happen, so it is for these. For do not say this to me: What will we twelve men be able to do, falling into so great a multitude? For this very thing especially makes your strength to shine forth, that you are mixed with the multitude and do not flee. As then the leaven leavens the dough then, when it comes near the flour, and not simply near, but so as to be mixed; (for he did not say, She put, simply, but, She hid;) so also you, when you have been joined and united to those who war against you, then you will overcome them. And just as it is buried, but is not destroyed, but little by little remakes everything to its own quality; in the same way this will also happen with the preaching. Do not therefore, because I said the insolent abuses would be many, be afraid; for even so you will shine forth, and will overcome all. And by three measures He meant here the many; for He knows how to use this number for a multitude. And do not wonder, if while discoursing about a kingdom He mentioned a grain and leaven; for He was discoursing to men who were unskilled and unlearned, and who needed to be led by these things. For they were so simple, that even after all these things they needed much interpretation. Where then are the children of the Greeks? Let them learn the power of Christ, seeing the truth of the events; and let them worship Him on both accounts, that He both foretold so great a thing, and fulfilled it. For He Himself is the one who put the power in the leaven. For this reason He also mixed those who believed in Him with the multitude, that we might impart our understanding to others. Let no one then complain of fewness. For great 58.479 is the power of the preaching; and that which has once been leavened, becomes leaven again for the rest. And just as a spark when it takes hold of wood, having made what is already burnt an addition to the flame, thus goes on to the rest; so indeed also the preaching. But He did not say fire, but leaven; for what reason? Because there the whole is not of the fire, but also of the wood that is kindled; but here the leaven works the whole by itself. But if twelve men leavened the whole world, consider how great is our wickedness, when being so many we are not able to correct those that are left, we who ought to have been sufficient for ten thousand worlds and to become leaven. 3. But those men, he says, were apostles. And what of that? Did they not partake of the same things as you? Were they not brought up in cities? Did they not enjoy the same things? Did they not practice trades? For were they angels? For did they descend from heaven? But the signs, he says, they had. The signs did not make them wonderful. How long shall we use those miracles as a pretext for our own indolence? [See the choir of the saints, not shining by those miracles.] For many, even having cast out demons, since they worked iniquity, were not wonderful, but were also punished. And what then is it, he says, that showed them to be great? The despising of money, the looking down on glory, the being set free from worldly affairs. As, if they did not have these things, but were slaves of their passions, even if they had raised ten thousand dead, not only would they have benefited no one, but they would even have been considered to be impostors. Thus it is the life that shines everywhere, which also draws down the grace of the Spirit. What sign did John work, that he attached so many cities to himself? For that he worked no miracle, hear the evangelist saying: That John indeed worked no sign. And from where did Elijah become wonderful? Was it not from his boldness toward the king? was it not from his zeal for God? was it not from his lack of possessions? was it not from the sheepskin and the cave and the mountains? For he worked all the signs after these things. And seeing Job work what sign was the devil astonished? A sign

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τὴν ζύμην ταύτῃ προστίθησι τῇ εἰκόνι, λέγων· Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ζύμῃ, ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία, ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον. Καθάπερ γὰρ αὕτη τὸ πολὺ ἄλευρον μεθίστησιν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἰσχὺν, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸν πάντα κόσμον μεταστήσετε. Καὶ ὅρα σύνεσιν. Τὰ γὰρ τῆς φύσεως παράγει, δεικνὺς ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα ἀνεγχώρητον μὴ γενέσθαι, οὕτω καὶ ταῦτα. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο λέγε· Τί δυνησόμεθα δώδεκα ἄνθρωποι εἰς πλῆθος ἐμπεσόντες τοσοῦτον; Καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο αὐτὸ μάλιστα ὑμῶν ποιεῖ τὴν ἰσχὺν ἐκλάμψαι, τὸ ἀναμιγῆναι τῷ πλήθει καὶ μὴ φυγεῖν. Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ἡ ζύμη τότε τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ, ὅταν ἐγγὺς γένηται τοῦ ἀλεύρου, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐγγὺς, ἀλλ' οὕτως ὥστε καὶ μιγῆναι· (οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἔθηκεν, ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ', Ἔκρυψεν·) οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὅταν κολληθῆτε καὶ ἑνωθῆτε τοῖς πολεμοῦσιν ὑμῖν, τότε αὐτῶν περιέσεσθε. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐκείνη καταχώννυται μὲν, οὐκ ἀφανίζεται δὲ, ἀλλὰ κατὰ μικρὸν πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἕξιν ἅπαντα μεταποιεῖ· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος τοῦτο συμβήσεται. Μὴ τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ πολλὰς εἶκον εἶναι τὰς ἐπηρείας, φοβηθῆτε· καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὕτως ἐκλάμψετε, καὶ ἁπάντων περιέσεσθε. Τρία δὲ σάτα ἐνταῦθα τὰ πολλὰ εἴρηκεν· οἶδε γὰρ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον ἐπὶ πλήθους λαμβάνειν. Μὴ θαυμάσῃς δὲ, εἰ περὶ βασιλείας διαλεγόμενος κόκκου καὶ ζύμης ἐμνήσθη· ἀνθρώποις γὰρ διελέγετο ἀπείροις καὶ ἰδιώταις, καὶ δεομένοις ἀπὸ τούτων ἐνάγεσθαι. Οὕτω γὰρ ἦσαν ἀφελεῖς, ὡς καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα δεηθῆναι ἑρμηνείας πολλῆς. Ποῦ τοίνυν Ἑλλήνων παῖδές εἰσι; Μανθανέτωσαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν δύναμιν, ὁρῶντες τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἀλήθειαν· καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν αὐτὸν προσκυνείτωσαν, ὅτι καὶ προεῖπε πρᾶγμα τοσοῦτον, καὶ ἐπλήρωσε. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ τὴν δύναμιν ἐνθεὶς τῇ ζύμῃ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἀνέμιξε τῷ πλήθει τοὺς αὐτῷ πιστεύοντας, ἵνα μεταδῶμεν τοῖς ἄλλοις τῆς ἡμετέρας συνέσεως. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ὀλιγότητα αἰτιάσθω. Πολλὴ 58.479 γὰρ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἡ δύναμις· καὶ τὸ ζυμωθὲν ἅπαξ, ζύμη γίνεται τῷ λοιπῷ πάλιν. Καὶ καθάπερ ὁ σπινθὴρ ὅταν ἐπιλάβηται ξύλων, τὰ ἤδη κατακαυθέντα ποιήσας τῆς φλογὸς προσθήκην, οὕτω τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔπεισιν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα. Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἶπε πῦρ, ἀλλὰ ζύμην· τί δήποτε, Ὅτι οὐ τοῦ πυρός ἐστιν ἐκεῖ τὸ ὅλον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀναπτομένων ξύλων· ἐνταῦθα δὲ τὸ ὅλον ἡ ζύμη ἐργάζεται δι' ἑαυτῆς. Εἰ δὲ ἄνθρωποι δώδεκα τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ἐζύμωσαν, ἐννόησον ὅση ἡμῶν ἡ κακία, ὅταν τοσοῦτοι ὄντες τοὺς ὑπολειπομένους μὴ δυνηθῶμεν διορθοῦν, οὓς μυρίοις κόσμοις ἀρκεῖν ἐχρῆν καὶ γενέσθαι ζύμην. γʹ. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι, φησὶν, ἀπόστολοι ἦσαν. Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Οὐχὶ τῶν αὐτῶν σοι μετέσχον; οὐκ ἐν πόλεσιν ἐτράφησαν; οὐ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀπέλαυσαν; οὐχὶ τέχνας μετεχειρίσαντο; μὴ γὰρ ἄγγελοι ἦσαν; μὴ γὰρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατέβησαν; Ἀλλὰ τὰ σημεῖα, φησὶν, εἶχον. Οὐ τὰ σημεῖα θαυμαστοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐποίησε. Μέχρι πότε προκαλύμμασι κεχρήμεθα τῆς ἡμετέρας ῥᾳθυμίας τοῖς θαύμασιν ἐκείνοις; [Ἴδε τὸν χορὸν τῶν ἁγίων οὐ τοῖς θαύμασιν ἐκείνοις λάμψαντα.] Πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ δαίμονας ἐκβαλόντες, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἀνομίαν εἰργάσαντο, οὐκ ἐγένοντο θαυμαστοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκολάσθησαν. Καὶ τί ποτ' οὖν ἐστι, φησὶν, ὃ μεγάλους αὑτοὺς ἔδειξε; Τὸ χρημάτων καταφρονεῖν, τὸ δόξης ὑπερορᾷν, τὸ πραγμάτων ἀπηλλάχθαι βιωτικῶν. Ὡς εἴγε μὴ ταῦτα εἶχον, ἀλλὰ δοῦλοι τῶν παθῶν ἦσαν, εἰ καὶ μυρίους νεκροὺς ἤγειραν, οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν ἂν ὠφέλησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπατεῶνες ἂν ἐνομίσθησαν εἶναι. Οὕτως ὁ βίος ἐστὶν ὁ πανταχοῦ λάμπων, ὁ καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν χάριν ἐπισπώμενος. Ποῖον σημεῖον Ἰωάννης ἐποίησεν, ὅτι πόλεις τοσαύτας ἀνηρτήσατο; Ὅτι γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐθαυματούργησεν, ἄκουσον τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Ὅτι Ἰωάννης μὲν ἐποίησε σημεῖον οὐδέν. Πόθεν δὲ θαυμαστὸς Ἠλίας ἐγένετο; Οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς παῤῥησίας τῆς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα; οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζήλου τοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν; οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης; οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς μηλωτῆς καὶ τοῦ σπηλαίου καὶ τῶν ὀρῶν; Τὰ γὰρ σημεῖα μετὰ ταῦτα ἅπαντα ἐποίησε. Τὸν δὲ Ἰὼβ ποῖον σημεῖον ὁρῶν ποιοῦντα ἐξεπλάγη ὁ διάβολος; Σημεῖον