ACC ~ Matthew 13 v18 - 23

OVERVIEW:

If the seed of the one who is dense is snatched away, the seed of intellect ought to be taken up and covered in the ground of memory (ORIGEN). The diversity of soils stands for the diversity of the souls of believers (JEROME). One suffers from worldly cares when one does not rejuvenate one’s own soil but receives the word without paying attention (ORIGEN). Riches are enticing indeed, promising one thing and producing another. On bad ground there are three diverse situations: by the path, upon rocky ground and among thorns. So too on good ground there are three types: fruit of one hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold (JEROME).

13:18-19 | The Path and Lack of Understanding

WHAT IS SOWN IN THE HEART

JEROME: “The wicked one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” The wicked one snatches away the good seed. You must also understand that it was sown in the heart. The diversity of soils stands for the diversity of the souls of believers. “And when trouble and persecution come because of the word, he at once falls away.” Notice what was said: “He at once falls away.” Hence there is some distance between the one who is constrained by many troubles and sufferings to deny Christ and the one who in the face of persecution immediately falls away and succumbs. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.19-21. [1]

[1] CCL 77:105.

13:20-21 | The Rocky Ground and Lack of Endurance

BY THE WAYSIDE

ORIGEN: Not all the Gospel writers use the same terms in reporting this parable. Matthew wrote of “the evil one,” Mark of “Satan,” and Luke of “the devil.” [1] The phrases “by the wayside” and “in the path” are not quite the same thing. Weigh in the allusion of the statement “I am the way.” [2] Both Matthew and Mark say, most felicitously, that the word was sowed “on stony ground,” not upon a “stone.”

Now to all that which is “by the wayside,” the words “those who do not understand” apply. But to the good ground these words apply: “This is he who hears the word and understands it.” Perhaps then those seeds that fall “on stony ground” and those that fall “among thorns” fall between the people without knowledge and those who understand. This then is an exhortation to meditate diligently upon the faculty of perception. If the seed of the one who is dense is snatched away, the seed of intellect ought to be taken up and covered in the ground of memory, so that it may spread forth roots and may not be found naked or snatched away by the spirits of wickedness. FRAGMENT 291. [3]

[1] Mt 13:19; Mk 4:15; Lk 8:12.

[2] 3.

[3] GCS 41.1:129-30.

13:22 | The Thorns and the Cares of the World

THE DELIGHT IN RICHES

ORIGEN: “The deceitfulness of riches chokes,” and so does the speech of heretics. The rich are liars, contrasted with “the poor, righteous person,” who is poor in speech and knowledge but righteous in life. The “care of all the churches” of which the apostle speaks [1] is distinguished from the “care of this world.” [2] One suffers from these worldly cares when one does not rejuvenate one’s own soil but receives the word without paying attention and sprouts up thorns, with which the earth was cursed because of the disobedience of Adam. He heard of the “thorns and thistles it shall produce for you,” [3] “whose end is to be burned.” [4] For these are not sown but spring forth of themselves. They “choke the word” of God through troubles and whims. One who knows truly both understands and bears fruit. But if anyone seems to understand without bearing fruit, one does not understand. If one seems to bear fruit without understanding, one does not bear fruit. This displays the variety of levels of virtue spoken of in the text: “sixtyfold and thirtyfold and a hundredfold.” Virtue’s strictness is not exhibited by everyone to the same degree. Some care less about it, some more. FRAGMENTS 294-95. [5]

[1] 2 Cor 11:28.

[2] Cf. 2 Cor 7:10.

[3] Gen 3:18.

[4] Heb 6:8.

[5] GCS 41.1:131-32.

SOWN AMONG THORNS

JEROME: “The seed sown among the thorns is the person who listens to the word, but the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it is made fruitless.” This reminds us of the words spoken to Adam: “You shall eat your bread among thorns and thistles.” [1] This mystically signifies that those who give themselves over to the pleasures and cares of this world eat the heavenly bread and true food among thorns. Hence the Lord fittingly added, “The deceitfulness of riches chokes the word.” Riches are enticing indeed, promising one thing and doing another. The possession of riches is uncertain. They are borne from place to place. Unpredictably they either desert the haves or gorge the have-nots. The Lord also states that it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, for riches choke the word of God and weaken the force of the virtues. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.22. [2]

[1] Gen 3:18.

[2] CCL 77:105.

13:23 | The Good Soil

DIFFERENCES OF LIGHT AMONG THE RIGHTEOUS

ORIGEN: Daniel, knowing that the intelligent are the light of the world and that the multitudes of the righteous differ in glory, seems to have said this, “And the intelligent shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and from among the multitudes of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever.” [1] And in the passage, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory: so also is the resurrection of the dead,” [2] the apostle says the same thing as Daniel, taking this thought from his prophecy. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.3. [3]

[1] Dan 12:3.

[2] 1 Cor 15:41-42.

[3] GCS 40:3; ANF 9:415.

THREE TYPES OF RESULTS

JEROME: “And the one sown upon good ground is he who hears the word, understands it and bears fruit.” Even as on bad ground there were three diverse situations (by the path, upon rocky ground and among thorns), so too on good ground the diversity is of three types: fruit of one hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold. Both in one and the other there is a change that takes place in the will, not in the nature itself. In both the unbelievers and believers it is the heart that receives the seed. “The wicked one comes,” he says, “and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” In the second and third cases, he says, “That is he who hears the word.” In the explanation of the good ground, he is the one who hears the word. First we must listen, then understand; after understanding, we must bear the fruits of good teaching and yield fruit either one hundredfold, sixtyfold or thirtyfold. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.23. [1]

[1] CCL 77:105-6.