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Homily on the withered fig tree

2. Of our holy Father John, monk and presbyter of the holy resurrection of Christ our God, that is, Mansour, a discourse on the withered fig tree, and on the parable of the vineyard.

96.576 The hypostatic Word of God the Father moves me to speak; he who did not depart from the Father's bosom, and was uncircumscribably borne in a Virgin's womb; he who for my sake became what I am; he who is impassible in his divinity, and put on a body of like passions with me; he who is borne upon Cherubic chariots, and upon earth rode upon the colt of a donkey; the king of glory, he who is praised as holy by the Seraphim with the Father and the Spirit, and accepts the stammerings of children from an innocent tongue; being God, and existing in the form of a servant, and taking the form of a servant, he who is immaterial and invisible as God, and took upon himself a visible and tangible body; he who willingly came to the passion, that he might grant me impassibility. For when he saw the creature of his hands ensnared by the deceit of the serpent, man, whom he had formed according to his own image and likeness, and had become a transgressor of his commandment, and subject to corruption, and liable to death, he who is compassionate by nature could not bear the loss of the one he longed for, but in many ways called him to conversion and repentance, disciplining him as an ungrateful servant, as a childish son in various parts and in various ways, and devising every way, that having shaken off the slavery of the tyrant, he might return to the one who formed him. But he was unable to return, having once enslaved himself to sin, and having been mingled with earthly desire by his own choice. 96.577 Therefore, the supremely good Master, seeing that nature had grown weak, takes it upon himself. For seeing man disobeying word and commandments and saving precepts, what does he say? I must teach the ignorant by deed. I must take hold of virtue, so that being accustomed to it, he may work it himself. I must be seen, and so heal the one who is sick. I must bring back the wandering sheep, and guide it to the ancient dwelling of paradise. How then shall I bring it back without being seen? How shall I guide the one who does not see my tracks? For this reason he became man, that through what he both did and suffered, he might teach by deed the one who is ignorant of the way of working virtue; so that seeing him descend from the Father's bosom to earth for our sakes according to the economy, we too might ascend from our mother the earth to him by our own choice; that he might show the exceeding riches of his love for us. For no one can show greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. How then could he who has no soul show love? 2. For this reason he takes on flesh, that he might be seen on earth, and converse with men. For this reason he takes on a soul, that he might lay down his own soul for his friends. And I say friends, not those who love him, but for those who are longed for by him. For we indeed hated him, and turned away, serving another, but he himself stands holding his unchangeable love for us. For this reason he ran after us. He came to those who hate him, he pursued those who fled, and having caught them he did not rebuke with harshness, he did not turn them back with a whip, but as an excellent physician by one who is frenzied

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Homilia in ficum arefactam

Βʹ. Τοῦ ὁσίου Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου μοναχοῦ καὶ πρεσβυτέρου τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, ἤτοι Μανσοὺρ, λόγος εἰς τὴν ξηρανθεῖσαν συκῆν, καὶ εἰς τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος.

96.576 Κινεῖ με πρὸς τὸ λέγειν ὁ ἐνυπόστατος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς Λόγος· ὁ τῶν πατρικῶν κόλπων μὴ ἀποστὰς, καὶ ἐν μήτρᾳ Παρθένου ἀπεριγράπτως κυοφορηθείς· ὁ δι' ἐμὲ γενόμενος, ὃ εἰμί· ὁ ἀπαθὴς ὢν τῇ θεότητι, καὶ ὁμοιοπαθές μοι περιθέμενος σῶμα· ὁ ἐπὶ Χερουβικῶν ἁρμάτων ἐποχούμενος, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἐπὶ πῶλον ὄνου ἐπιβεβηκώς· ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης, ὁ ὑπὸ Σεραφὶμ ἅγιος σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ Πνεύματι εὐφημούμενος, καὶ τὰ τῶν παίδων ψελλίσματα ἐξ ἀπειροκάκου γλώττης ἀποδεχόμενος· Θεὸς ὢν, καὶ ἐν τῇ δούλου μορφῇ ὑπάρχων, καὶ μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, ὁ ἄϋλος καὶ ἀόρατος ὢν ὡς Θεὸς, καὶ ὁρατὸν καὶ ψηλαφητὸν σῶμα ἀναδεξάμενος· ὁ ἑκουσίως ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος ἐλθὼν, ἵνα μοι τὴν ἀπάθειαν χαρίσηται. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶδεν τὸ πλάσμα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ τῇ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ ὄφεως δελεασθέντα, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὃν κατ' εἰκόνα ἰδίαν καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἔπλασεν, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐντολῆς ἐν παραβάσει γενόμενον, καὶ φθορᾷ ὑποχείριον, καὶ θανάτῳ ὑπεύθυνον, οὐκ ἤνεγκεν ὁ φύσει συμπαθὴς τοῦ ποθουμένου τὴν στέρησιν, ἀλλὰ πολυτρόπως αὐτὸν πρὸς ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ μετάνοιαν ἐκάλεσεν, παιδεύσας ὡς δοῦλον ἀγνώμονα, ὡς υἱὸν νηπιάζοντα πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως, καὶ πάντα μηχανησάμενος τρόπον, ὅπως τὴν τοῦ τυράννου δουλείαν ἀποσεισάμενος, ἐπανέλθῃ πρὸς τὸν πλαστουργήσαντα. Ἀλλ' ἀδυνάτως εἶχεν πρὸς τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν, ἅπαξ ἑαυτὸν καταδουλώσας τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, καὶ συγκραθεὶς τῇ γηΐνῃ ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐκ προαιρέσεως. 96.577 ∆ιὸ δὴ ὁ ὑπεράγαθος ∆εσπότης ἐξασθενήσασαν τὴν φύσιν ἰδὼν, ταύτην ἀναλαμβάνει. Λόγῳ γὰρ καὶ ἐντολαῖς καὶ προστάγμασι σωτηρίοις ἀπειθοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον βλέπων, τί φησι; ∆εῖ με ἔργῳ παιδεῦσαι τὸν ἀγνοοῦντα. ∆εῖ με ἐπιλαβέσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν, ὅπως συνεθισθεῖσαν ταύτας αὐτὸς ἐργάσηται. ∆εῖ με ὁραθῆναι, καὶ οὕτως ἰατρεῦσαι τὸν ἀσθενοῦντα. ∆εῖ με ἐπιστρέψαι τὸ πλανώμενον πρόβατον, καὶ ὁδηγῆσαι πρὸς τὴν ἀρχαίαν τοῦ παραδείσου μονήν. Πῶς οὖν ἐπιστρέψω μὴ θεωρούμενος; Πῶς ὀδηγήσω τὸν τὰ ἴχνη μου μὴ βλέποντα; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα δι' ὧν ἔπραξέ τε καὶ ἔπαθεν, ἔργῳ διδάξῃ τὸν ἀγνοοῦντα τὸν τρόπον τῆς ἐργασίας τῆς ἀρετῆς· ὅπως αὐτὸν ἰδόντες ἐκ τῶν πατρικῶν κόλπων ἐπὶ γῆν καταβάντα δι' ἡμᾶς οἰκονομικῶς, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκ τῆς μητρὸς ἡμῶν τῆς γῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνέλθωμεν προαιρετικῶς· ἵνα ἐνδείξηται τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς. Μείζονα γὰρ ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐνδείξασθαι, ἢ ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θέσῃ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ. Πῶς οὖν ὁ μὴ ἔχων ψυχὴν, τὴν ἀγάπην ἐνδείξηται; βʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀναλαμβάνει σάρκα, ἵνα ὀφθῇ ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συναναστραφῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀναλαμβάνει ψυχὴν, ἵνα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν θέσῃ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ. Φίλων δὲ λέγω, οὐ τῶν φιλούντων αὐτὸν, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῶν ποθουμένων παρ' αὐτοῦ. Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐμισήσαμεν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀπεστράφημεν, ἑτέρῳ δουλεύσαντες, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ἕστηκεν ἄτρεπτον ἔχων τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔδραμεν ὀπίσω ἡμῶν. Ἦλθεν πρὸς τοὺς μισοῦντας, κατεδίωξε τοὺς φεύγοντας, καὶ φθάσας οὐ τραχύτητι ἤλεγξεν, οὐ μάστιγι ἐπέστρεψεν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἰατρὸς ἄριστος ὑπὸ φρενιτιῶντος