Homilia in ficum arefactam

2. A discourse of our holy father John, monk and presbyter of the holy Resurrection of Christ our God, that is, Mansur, on the withered fig tree and on the parable of the vineyard. The hypostatic Word of God and Father moves me to speak: he who did not depart from the Father’s bosom and was ineffably conceived in the womb of a Virgin; he who became for me what I am; he who is impassible in his divinity and put on a body subject to the same passions as me; he who rides upon Cherubic chariots and on earth mounted a colt of a donkey; he who is the King of glory, acclaimed as holy together with the Father and Spirit by the Seraphim, and who accepts the lispings of children from an innocent tongue; he who is God and exists in the form of a servant, having taken the form of a servant; he who is immaterial and invisible as God, and who took on a visible and tangible body; he who willingly came to the passion in order to grant me impassibility. For when he saw the work of his hands, the man whom he fashioned according to his own image and likeness, deceived by the serpent’s deceit, having transgressed his commandment, subject to corruption and liable to death, the one who is by nature compassionate could not bear the deprivation of the beloved, but called him in many ways to return and repentance, disciplining him as an ungrateful slave, as a childish son in many and various ways, and contriving every means so that, having shaken off the tyranny’s slavery, he might return to his Creator.

But he was powerless to turn back, having once enslaved himself to sin and blended himself with earthly desire by choice. Therefore the supremely good Master, seeing nature weakened, takes it up. For seeing man disobedient to word, commandments, and saving ordinances, what does he say? I must teach the ignorant one by deed. I must take hold of him for virtue, so that, once accustomed, he may himself perform these things. I must be seen, and thus heal the sick one. I must turn back the straying sheep and lead it to the ancient abode of paradise. How then shall I turn him back if I am not seen? How shall I lead him who does not see my tracks? For this reason he became man, so that through what he did and suffered, he might teach by deed the ignorant one the manner of working virtue; so that, seeing him descend from the paternal bosom to earth for us by economy, we too might ascend from our mother the earth to him by choice; so that he might display the surpassing wealth of his love for us. For no one can display greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. How then can he who has no soul display love? 2. For this reason he takes on flesh, so that he might be seen on earth and consort with men. For this reason he takes on a soul, so that he might lay down his own soul for his friends. By friends I mean not those who love him, but those who are longed for by him. For we have hated him and turned away, having served another, but he stands with unchangeable love for us.

Therefore he ran after us. He came to those who hated him, he pursued those who fled, and when he caught them he did not reprove with harshness, nor did he turn them back with a whip, but like an excellent physician who is insulted, spat upon, and struck by a man suffering from frenzy, he offered his healings. As a magnitude of healing, he offered his own divinity to the nature of humanity as a remedy, a most effective remedy, an all-powerful remedy. This made the weak flesh mightier than the invisible powers. For just as iron becomes inaccessible when united with fire, so the grass of our nature, united with the fire of divinity, has become inaccessible to the devil. And since the children of the physicians say that opposites are cures for opposites, he overthrows opposites through opposites: pleasure through pains, pride through humility. For he not only humbled himself, being rich in divinity and becoming man, but he also humbled himself among men. For what man is so humble? He had nowhere to lay his head. He had no beast of burden, no double cloak, no other tunic. When reviled, he did not revile in return; when suffering, he did not threaten; like a harmless lamb he was led to be sacrificed, not quarreling, not shouting; when struck, he readily offered his cheek to the striker; he did not turn his face away from the shame of spittle; called a Samaritan and a demoniac, persecuted, he endures these things so that we too might follow in his footsteps. All these things he accomplished with paternal consent. For being from him the only-begotten and consubstantial Son, he made public his paternal love for us.

For thus has God and Father loved us, that he gave his only-begotten Son as a ransom on our behalf. O unsurpassable love! An only-begotten Son co-reigning with him, for disobedient slaves, for blaspheming enemies, for those who worship the enemy and proclaim him God. O depth of the wealth of God’s goodness! But the only-begotten Son did not resist; he did not reject the paternal counsel. For he himself was the counsel and the will of the Father. Therefore, as a participant and sharer in the nature—for the nature of Father and Son is one—he serves his own will, and becomes man, and becomes obedient to the Father unto death, even death by the cross, healing my disobedience. 3. So he comes hastening to suffer, and eager to drink the cup of death, the salvation of the whole world. He comes hungry for the salvation of men, and finds no fruit in it; for this the fig tree hints at parabolically. For who eats early in the morning? The king, the Lord, the Teacher; hungry early, he does not have the desire for food. He does not control his nature, but like some incontinent and intemperate person, he rushes irrationally toward food at an inappropriate time. And how does he teach the disciples to fast and not be overcome by the passion of desire? It is not so; but just as he spoke in words through parables while teaching, so also in deed he enacts the parables. He approached the fig tree hungry. The fig tree signified the nature of humanity. The fruit of the fig tree is sweet, its leaves rough and useless, and ready for burning.

But the nature of humanity had the sweetest fruit of virtue, having been commanded by God to bear this fruit. Through the barrenness of virtue, however, it acquired the roughness of leaves. For what is rougher than the cares of daily life? Adam and Eve were once naked, and they were not ashamed—naked in simplicity and artless living. They had no crafts or worldly cares; they did not devise how to cover the nakedness of the body; they were not ashamed of their poverty, nor of the smoothness of life; but even if they were naked in body, they were covered by divine grace. They had no physical covering, but they had a garment of incorruption; for as they were united to God through obedience, so they were clothed in the garment of incorruption. But having disobeyed, they were removed from the grace that covered them. They were stripped of their ecstasy toward God and of contemplation; they saw their own bodily nakedness; they longed for the pleasures of life; they were introduced to a simple and possessionless life; they sewed fig leaves for themselves and made girdles; they sought many devices and found a rough, care-filled, and sorrowful life. For by the sweat of your face you will eat your bread. Cursed is the earth in your works; it will bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you will return to the earth. You had an earthly mind; your return will be to the earth. You were compared to senseless beasts; for you did not understand that you were held in honor. You were in God, and you did not know the fruit-bearing virtue; but you preferred the enjoyment of earthly things, having loved the life of the irrational. You are earth, and to earth you will return.

Like irrational beasts, you will inherit death. Hence, it also puts on leather tunics. For being midway between life and mortality in body, having formerly been in a paradise of delight and dwelling in a royal chamber, it later acquired a mortal and thick body, capable of enduring labors. Truly rough are the leaves of the fig tree of our nature, the uneven wickedness of our nature. To this fig tree, that is, the nature of humanity, the Savior came, hungry, and seeking from it the sweetest fruit, that is, the virtue sweetest to God, through which salvation is attained. But he found no fruit, only leaves, the roughest and most wretched sin, and the evils that grow from it. Therefore, he speaks against it, saying, "No longer will fruit come from you." For salvation is not from humans; virtue is not from human power. I will work salvation, granting resurrection through my passion, and I grant release from the roughest life. And this he has done. 4. Then, having made the parable through action, he entered the temple, to visit the paternal house, and finds the evil farmers, the high priests, who sat upon the seat of Moses, having shown themselves to be wolves, wearing the outward garment of sheep, likened to a barren fig tree, having no sweetest fruit, but the roughness of leaves. For see the roughness of their words: "By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?" Do you see the barrenness of soul and unbelief? Instead of which they ought to say:

Well, good Teacher, that you raised Lazarus, dead four days; that you taught the lame to walk swiftly; that you bestowed the power of sight upon the blind; that you healed the broken and drove away every disease and every infirmity; that you banished demons; that you teach the way of salvation. "By what authority," they say, "do you do these things?" O ungrateful ones! And if he says to you, "Do you believe?"—if you did not believe even John, but went to him as a river's stream, confessing your sins and being baptized in semblance, and did not believe—and if I say to you, "Do you believe?" O wicked and faithless generation! You are the evil farmers who devour the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth. Which of the prophets did you not kill? The Father sent you my servants the prophets, demanding the fruit of the vineyard. I transplanted the vineyard from Egypt through Moses, which I planted in rich land, having cast out nations, and I allotted it by the measuring line of inheritance; whose roots I planted with law and the word of the prophets, and it filled the land; whose branches reached the sea, and the offshoots filled the rivers of nations. But you tore down its fence, the assistance from the law, and the demons traveling the path of life harvest it unguarded; the boar from the thicket, the robber, ravaged it, and the wild boar devoured it. Of this beautiful planting, the fruitful and true one, the fruit by my servants the prophets

Demanding, you slapped one, condemned another to a pit of filth, and stoned another. Behold, I myself, the son and heir, am present; respect my sonship, revere the dignity of my paternal nature. I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, and I have come to you. I have mercy on my vineyard; though I have descended to the earth, I dwell in the bosom of my Father. Give me the fruit of my vineyard. But truly, as wicked farmers, you will fulfill the work of your fathers. They were prophet-killers; you will become god-killers as well. For you lavish evil. I am the heir, the cornerstone, which, even if you reject, you will be shattered, but I will unite the two peoples, the divided, the earthly with the heavenly. Through me, one Church of angels and men will come to be. Through me, you who are enemies of my Father will be reconciled. For I will make peace and will make a truce, my blood being the peace, which will be poured out for the salvation of the world. 5. Hinting at these things through parables, he did not persuade. For they closed their eyes so as not to see, and heard with difficulty with their ears. Therefore the light of the Gospel did not shine upon them. O the monstrous hardening of the unholy priests! They condemned themselves, not knowing what they were saying. For they passed sentence against themselves. For when asked what he would do to those farmers, they answered truly, though unwillingly: He will destroy them, evil as they are, evilly. It is truly just that the evil one should suffer from his own choice.

But the vineyard will be let out to other farmers, who will deliver the fruit in due season. Like priests holding the dignity of the priesthood, yet not knowing the truth, they prophesy. For the vineyard, the Lord's people, has been let out to the farmers who rendered to the Master abundant and fruitful harvest. For their voice has gone out over the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim peace, who proclaim good tidings! These, walking as sheep among wolves, transformed the wolves into sheep, made the once-persecuting Greeks into Christ's sheep, and acquired for the Lord a chosen people, zealous for good works. Come then, brothers, all who have received the name of faith, who have been deemed worthy to be called Christ's people, let us not disown our calling, nor defile our faith through improper deeds. It is not enough merely to be called faithful, but let us demonstrate our faith by deed. For there were two sons of one father, it says, and he said to one: Go, work in the vineyard. He promised but did not fulfill the promise. Then he says to the other. He denied it in word, but accomplished the command in deed. And the former is blamed, the latter praised. Let us then remember the renunciation and the covenant made at baptism. We renounced the devil and his angels and all his service; let us keep the renunciation; let us not, like a dog, return to our own vomit.

Works of the devil are adulteries, fornications, impurities, envies, strifes, contentions, hypocrisies, slanders, ironies, angers, resentments, condemnations, blasphemies, incantations, evil speakings. Signs of unbelief are pitilessness, partialities, antipathies, love of pleasure, parsimonies, stupors, drunkennesses. And the devil's procession is prides, vainglories, conceit, arrogance, haughtiness, ostentation, bodily adornment. Renouncing communion with all these, as we have covenanted with Christ, let us emulate the virtues opposite to them: chastity, temperance, poverty, patience, peace, love, compassion, almsgiving, sharing with those in need, seemly appearance, garment, and gait, true speech, humility, and above all the reproach of Christ, so that having become partakers of his sufferings, we may also share in his glory, being offered to God and Father as a living, blameless sacrifice in the Church of the firstborn, where is the dwelling of those who rejoice. 7. But now, I will turn my speech to you, beloved bride of Christ; love worthily him who has loved you. Open wholly to him the chamber of your heart, that Christ may dwell wholly in you with the Father and the Spirit. Expel from it all earthly things, that he may find entrance into it. For a house will not receive both earth and the spirit of air at once. As much as you house the dust, you will drive away the spirit of the air; and as much as you house earthly things in your heart, you will banish the Holy Spirit. Whence fornications? Whence adulteries? Whence strifes, contentions, envies, murders, and the whole swarm of evils?

not from desire for earthly things? Banish all vainglory, the mother of unbelief. For Christ says, you cannot believe in me while receiving glory from men. Expel from your heart all conceit, pride, arrogance. For every high-hearted one is unclean before the Lord. The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Renounce all self-will, self-satisfaction, that you may submit only to the law of God. And he himself will guide you to the harbor of his will. Do not bring another bridegroom into the bridal chamber of your heart. For your bridegroom Christ is jealous; the sweetest, the only desirable one, all sweetness, all desire. Open your heart to him alone, and cry out to him. I am of a wounded heart; your longing has transported me; your love has changed me, O Master. I am a captive to your passion. Enter into your chamber; I will kiss your footprints. For am I not worthy to say, Kiss me with the kisses of your mouth? Dwell in me, and walk about in me, according to your true promise, and make me a temple of the all-holy Spirit. Rule over my heart, O Master, and take possession of it, and make a dwelling with me, together with the Father and the Spirit. Spread out in me your ropes, the energies of the all-holy Spirit. For you are my God, and I will glorify you, together with your beginningless Father, together with your good and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.