馬太福音講道集 第 45 章

And the disciples came and said to Him:

'Why do You speak to them in parables?' And He answered and said to them:

'Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those'—

It is worth marveling at the disciples, how, though desiring to learn, they knew when it was fitting to ask.

For they do not do this in every case;

and this Matthew made clear by saying, 'And they came.'

And that what is said is no mere conjecture, Mark set forth yet more plainly, saying that privately they came to Him.

This indeed His brothers and His mother ought also to have done, and not to have called Him outside and made a display of themselves.

And consider also their tender affection, how they make much account on behalf of others, and first seek the things of those others, and then their own.

For 'why,' it says, 'do You speak to them in parables?' They did not say, 'Why do You speak to us in parables?' For indeed in other places too they appear in many ways affectionately disposed toward all, as when they say, 'Send the crowds away,' and, 'Do You know that they were offended?' What then does Christ say? 'Because to you,' He says, 'it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens.'

But this He said, not as introducing any necessity, nor any allotment made simply and by chance;

but showing that they themselves are the cause of all their evils, and wishing to set forth that the thing is a gift, and a grace given from above.

Yet it is not because it is a gift that free will has therefore been done away;

and this is plain from what follows.

See, then, how—so that neither those might despair, nor these grow slothful upon hearing that 'it is given'—He shows that the beginning lies with us.

'For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance;

but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that which he seems to have.'

And what is said is full of much obscurity, yet it displays unspeakable righteousness.

For what He says is of this sort:

When a man has readiness and zeal, there shall be given to him also all the things that come from God;

but when he is empty of these things, and contributes nothing of his own, neither are the things that come from God bestowed upon him.

For indeed, 'Even that which he seemeth to have,' He says, 'shall be taken away from him';

not because God takes it away, but because He does not deem him worthy of the things that are His.

This is what we also do;

for when we see someone listening carelessly, and though we exhort him much to give heed we cannot persuade him, thereafter we fall silent.

For if we are going to persist, his careless indifference only grows the more intense.

But the one who is eager to learn we draw on, and pour much into him.

And well did He say, 'Even that which he seemeth to have';

Then He also made plainer what He had said, showing what the saying means: 'To him that hath shall be given, but from him that hath not, even that which he seemeth to have shall be taken away from him.'

'For this cause,' He says, 'I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not.'

'Then,' one might say, 'their eyes ought to have been opened, if they see not.'

But if the blindness had been of nature, then indeed they ought to have been opened;

but since the blindness was voluntary and self-chosen, for this reason He did not say simply, 'They see not';

but rather, 'Seeing they see not';

so that the blindness was the fruit of their own wickedness.

For they saw even the demons coming forth, and yet they said,

'By Beelzebul the prince of the demons He casteth out the demons.'

They heard Him leading them to God, and displaying great concord toward Him, and yet they say that 'This man is not from God.'

Since therefore they declared the very opposite both of what they saw and of what they heard, 'For this cause,' He says, 'I take away from them even the hearing.'

For nothing more comes to them from this, but rather a greater condemnation.

For they not only disbelieved, but also censured, and accused, and plotted against Him.

for He does not wish to be burdensome by accusing.

Accordingly, from the beginning He did not discourse to them in this manner, but with much plainness;

but since they perverted themselves, thereafter He speaks in parables.

Then, lest anyone should suppose that what was said was mere accusation, or that they should say, 'Being our enemy, He brings these charges against us and slanders us,' He brings forward the prophet also, who casts the same verdict as He does.

'For in them,' He says, 'is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith:'

'By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive.'

Do you see the prophet also accusing them with the same exactness? For neither did he say, 'Ye see not';

but rather, 'Ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive';

but that 'Ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand.'

So that they deprived themselves.

first, by stopping their ears, by closing their eyes, by making their heart gross.

For not only did they not hear, but they even heard heavily;

and this they did, He says, 'Lest at any time they should turn back, and I should heal them';

meaning their intensified wickedness, and their turning away done with eagerness.

And He says this, drawing them on and rousing them, and showing that, if they turn back, He will heal them;

'He was not willing to look upon me, and I hold that as a favour';

for had I been deemed worthy, I should straightway have yielded.

And this He says, showing how one might be reconciled.

So then here also He says:

Lest at any time they should turn again, and I should heal them.

showing that both to turn again is possible, and that those who repent may be saved;

and that He did all things not for His own glory, but for their salvation.

For if He had not willed that they should hear and be saved, He ought to have kept silent, and not to have spoken in parables;

but as it is, by this very thing He stirs them up, namely, by speaking in veiled terms.

For God does not will the death of the sinner, so much as that he should turn again and live.

For that sin is not of nature, nor of necessity and compulsion, hear what He says to the apostles:

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

not meaning this sight, nor this hearing, but that which is of the understanding.

For these too were Jews, and brought up in the very same things;

yet nevertheless they were in no way harmed by the prophecy, since they had the root of good things well disposed—I mean the will and the mind.

Do you see that the saying, To you it is given, was not a matter of necessity? For neither would they have been called blessed, if the good achievement had not been their own.

For do not tell me this, that it was spoken obscurely;

for they too were able to come and to ask, just as the disciples did;

but they were unwilling, being slothful and sunken down.

Why do I say they were unwilling? Nay, they were even doing the very opposite. For not only did they disbelieve, and not only did they refuse to hear, but they even warred against Him, and were exceedingly ill-disposed toward the things that were said;

which is what the prophet brings in as an accusation, when he says, They heard heavily.

But those others were not such;

and therefore He called them blessed.

And from another quarter again He confirms them, saying:

For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things which you hear, and have not heard them.

My coming, He says, these very miracles, the voice, the teaching.

For here He sets before them not these corrupt ones, but those who had themselves attained to excellence;

for He says that they are more blessed even than those.

Why so? Because these not only behold the things which the Jews saw not, but also the very things which those men desired to see.

For those men beheld only by faith;

but these both by sight, and far more clearly.

Do you see how again He joins the Old to the New, showing that those men not only knew the things to come, but also earnestly desired them? But they would not have desired them, if they had belonged to some alien and hostile God.

Hear ye therefore, He says, the parable of the sower;

And He sets before us the things spoken of earlier: those concerning sloth and diligence, those concerning cowardice and courage, those concerning wealth and the renunciation of possessions;

showing the harm that comes from the one and the benefit that comes from the other.

Then He also introduces the various modes of virtue.

For being a lover of mankind, He did not mark out one road only, nor did He say, 'Unless a man produce a hundredfold, he is cast out';

but rather, 'He also who produces the sixty is saved, and not he alone, but also he who produces the thirty.'

This He did in order to render salvation easy of attainment.

You too, then—are you unable to practise virginity? Marry with chastity.

Are you unable to become wholly without possessions? Give out of what you have.

Can you not bear that heavier burden? Share your goods with Christ.

Are you unwilling to yield up to Him the whole? Then give a half, or even a third portion.

He is your brother and a fellow heir;

make Him a fellow heir here as well.

Whatever you give to Him, you give to yourself.

Do you not hear what the prophet says? 'You shall not overlook those of your own household and seed.'

But if we ought not to overlook our kinsfolk, much more should we not overlook the Master, who together with His lordship has also the claim of kinship upon you,

and many other and far greater claims besides.

For indeed He made you a sharer in what is His, having received nothing from you, but Himself beginning this unspeakable beneficence.

How then is it not the last degree of folly, not to become kindly even at this gift, nor to render any recompense in return for grace—yea, a lesser return for greater gifts? For He made you an heir of the heavens;

and will you not share with Him even the things upon earth? He, when you had achieved nothing aright, but were even an enemy, reconciled you;

and will you not requite Him even when He is a friend and a benefactor? And this, though even before the Kingdom and before all the rest, and for the very gift itself, it is right to hold Him in favour. For servants too, when they invite their masters to a banquet, count themselves not as giving but as receiving;

but here the opposite has come to pass.

For it was not the servant who first called the Master, but the Master who first called the servant to His own table;

and will you not invite Him even after this? He first brought you under His own roof;

and will you not, even second, do the like? When you were naked, He clothed you;

and will you not even after this gather Him in when He is a stranger? He first gave you to drink of His own cup;

and will you not give Him even a cup of cold water? He gave you to drink of the Holy Spirit;

and will you not relieve even His bodily thirst? He gave you the Spirit to drink, though you were deserving of punishment;

and will you overlook Him even when He thirsts, and that when you are about to do all these things out of what is His own? (3)

For do you not count it a great thing to hold the cup from which Christ is about to drink, and to bring it to His mouth? Do you not see that it is lawful for the priest alone to hand over the cup of the blood? Yet I make no strict reckoning about these things, He says;

but even if you yourself hand it over, I receive it;

and even if you are a layman, I do not refuse it.

And I do not demand back such as I gave;

for I do not seek blood, but cold water.

Consider whom you give to drink, and shudder.

Consider that you become a priest of Christ, giving with your own hand—not flesh, but bread; not blood, but a cup of cold water.

He clothed you with a garment of salvation, and clothed you by His own self;

do you at least, through His child, clothe Him.

He made you glorious in the heavens;

do you deliver Him from shuddering cold, and from nakedness, and from disgrace.

He made you a fellow citizen with the angels;

do you at least give a share of shelter only, or grant Him a dwelling even as you would to your own servant;

I do not turn away from this lodging, and that though I have opened to you the whole heaven.

I delivered you from a most grievous prison;

I do not demand this back, nor do I say, 'Deliver me';

but if you only see me bound, this suffices for my consolation.

I do not demand this of you, but I say, Only visit me when I am sick.

When, therefore, the things given are so great, and the things demanded so very light, and even these we do not supply, of how great a hell should we not be worthy? With reason do we depart into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels, being more insensible than the very rocks.

For tell me, of how great insensibility is it, that we who have received so much, and are to receive so much, should be slaves to riches, from which we shall shortly be parted even against our will? And others have given up even their soul, and poured out their blood;

and will you not part even with your superfluities for the sake of the heavens, for the sake of so many crowns? And of what pardon would you be worthy, of what defence, when in the sowing of the earth you gladly give up everything, and in lending to men spare nothing, but in feeding your Master through the needy you are cruel and inhuman? Considering, therefore, all these things, and reckoning up what we have received, what we are about to receive, what we ask, let us display all diligence in things spiritual.

Let us at last become gentle and lovers of mankind, that we may not draw down upon ourselves the unbearable sentence.

For what is not sufficient to condemn us? That we have enjoyed so many and so great things; that we are asked nothing great; that we are asked such things as we shall leave behind here even against our will; that we display much eager rivalry in the concerns of this life? For each of these, even by itself, is sufficient to condemn us;

but when all these come together at once, what hope of salvation will there be? In order, therefore, that we may escape all this condemnation, let us display some abundance towards those in need.

For thus shall we enjoy both the good things here

and all those yonder;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.