And when a great multitude of people were gathered, and the inhabitants of all the cities came to Him, He began to speak in a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed, and while he sowed, another fell by the wayside and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air pecked at him; and some fell on a stone, and when it came up, it withered, because it had no moisture; and some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it; and some fell on good ground, and having sprung up, bore a hundredfold fruit. And when he had said this, he cried out, Whosoever hath ears to hear, let him hear. And His disciples asked Him, What would this parable mean? He said, "It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, so that when they see they do not see, and when they hear they do not understand."

Now what David said long ago in the presence of Christ has come to pass. "I will open," he said, "my mouth in a parable" (Psalm 77:2). The Lord spoke in parables for many purposes, namely: to make the hearers more attentive and to stir up their minds to investigate what is being said (for we, people, are usually more occupied with hidden speeches, and pay little attention to clear ones), and so that the unworthy would not understand what is said mysteriously; and for many other motives He speaks in parables. The "sower" came out, that is, the Son of God. He "came out" from the bosom of the Father and from His hiddenness, and became visible. Who came out? The One Who always sows. For the Son of God does not cease to sow always in our souls: He sows good seeds in our souls, not only when He teaches, but also through this world, and through those phenomena that happen to us and around us. He did not come out to destroy the farmers or to burn the country, but only to sow. For the farmer often goes out not only to sow, but also after others. He went out to sow "his own seed." For the word of His teaching was His own, and not someone else's. The prophets, for example, did not speak from themselves, but from the Spirit; wherefore they said, "This saith the Lord." But Christ had His seed; wherefore, when He taught, He did not say, "This is what the Lord says," but, "I say to you." When He sowed, that is, taught, another seed fell by the wayside. He did not say, "The sower threw it away," but, "It fell; for the sower sows and teaches, but the word falls into the hearts of the hearers. They turn out to be either a road, or a stone, or thorns, or good land. When the disciples asked about the parable, the Lord said to them: "It is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, that is, to you who desire to learn; for everyone who asks receives. And to the rest, who are unworthy of the sacraments, they are communicated covertly, and such seem to see, but do not see, and hear, but do not understand, and this is for their own good. For Christ hid these things from them for this reason, so that they, having known the sacraments and despised them, would not fall under greater condemnation, since he who knows and despises is worthy of the most grievous punishment.

This is what this parable means: the seed is the word of God; and that which fell by the way is the hearers, to whom the devil then comes and takes the word out of their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved; and those who fall on a stone are those who, when they hear the word, receive with joy, but who have no root, and believe for a time, and fall away in time of temptation; and those who have fallen into thorns are those who hear the word, but when they depart, they are overwhelmed by cares, riches, and the pleasures of this world, and do not bear fruit; but those who have fallen on good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in a good and pure heart, and bear fruit in patience. Having said this, He cried out: "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!"

There are three categories of people who are not saved according to this parable. To the first belong those who are like the seed that fell on the way, that is, they did not accept the teaching at all, for just as the trodden and beaten road does not receive the seed, because it is hard, so the hard-hearted do not accept the teaching at all, because although they listen, they do not pay attention. To the other belong those who are like a seed that fell on a stone, that is, those who, although they accepted the teaching, but later, through human weakness, turned out to be powerless before temptations. The third category is those who know the doctrine and yet are overwhelmed by the cares of life. Thus, three parts are perishing, and one is being saved. Thus, there are few who are saved, and there are a lot of those who are dying. See how He says about those who are oppressed by the cares of life: He did not say that they are oppressed by riches, but by cares for riches. For it is not wealth that harms, but the care of it, because many have benefited from riches, distributing them to satisfy the hunger of the poor. Perhaps note the accuracy of the Evangelist, as he said about those who are being saved: "When they hear the word, they keep it." He said this for the sake of those who are on the way; for these do not contain doctrine, but the devil takes it away from them. "And they bear fruit" – this He said for the sake of those who are overwhelmed by the cares of life and do not endure to the end, for such, that is, those who do not bear fruit to the end, do not bear fruit. "In patience," he said for the sake of those who are on the stones; they accept the teaching, but, unable to resist the temptation that has found them, they turn out to be worthless. Do you see how He said about those who are saved: "They keep... and bear fruit in patience" and through these three qualities he distinguished them from those who do not contain, such as those who are on the way, from those who do not bear fruit, such as those who are in thorns, and from those who cannot endure the temptation that falls upon them, such as those who are on stones.

No one, having lit a candle, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under the bed, but puts it on a candlestick, so that those who enter can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that is not made manifest, nor hidden that is not made known and revealed. Observe therefore how you listen: for he who has will be given, but he who does not have will be taken away from him even that which he thinks to have.

Here is the beginning of another teaching. For He addresses His disciples and says this in order to instruct them to be thorough in life and unceasing ascetics, since everyone will turn their eyes to them. For everyone looks at the teacher and the preacher, everyone watches him, whether he is good, or vice versa, and he will not hide anything of his own. Therefore, if you, disciples, are attentive and thorough, then God will grant you great grace; but whoever does not have care and attentiveness, by his negligence will extinguish and destroy the gift from God that he apparently has.

And his mother and his brethren came to him, and they could not come near him because of the multitude. And they let him know, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. He answered and said to them, My mother and My brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.

From this it turns out that Christ was not together with His kinsmen in the flesh, but they came to Him, for He, having left them, is engaged in spiritual teaching. In the same way, anyone to whom the ministry of God is entrusted should not prefer anything to him; and we must also leave our parents, if they unprofitably and in vain hinder us in the work of God, just as the Lord does now. When some have spoken to Him about His kinsmen, He does not make brotherhood among the few, nor does He give the sons of Joseph the honor that they were only His brothers. But since He came to save the whole world, and to make all men brethren, He says, My mother and My brethren are they who hear the word of God; then, since hearing alone does not save anyone, but only condemns, He says: and they do. For we must listen and do together. He calls His teaching the Word of God, for whatever He said, everything belonged to His Father, since He was not an adversary of God, so that His words would not be God's. Some understand this passage thus: since Christ taught and was glorified for His teaching, some, stirred up by envy, as if in mockery of Him, said: Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand outside, desiring to see Thee. Since His mother was poor, and His brothers were not glorious as the children of a carpenter, they, in order to disgrace Him as an ignoble one, pointed Him to His mother and to His brothers. But he, knowing their thought, said, "The poverty of relatives does not harm me in the least; on the contrary, if anyone is poor, but hears the Word of God, I make him My kinsman.

One day He went into a boat with His disciples and said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And off we went. While they were sailing, He fell asleep. A stormy wind had risen on the lake, and they were flooded with waves, and they were in danger. And they came and woke Him up, and said, "Teacher! Mentor! we die. But He arose, and rebuked the wind and the agitation of the waters; and they ceased, and there was silence. Then he said to them, Where is your faith? And they said to one another in fear and wonder, Who is this, that he commands the winds and the waters, and obeys him?

The Lord falls asleep with a special intention, namely, to give exercise to the disciples and to test what their faith is, whether they will remain untroubled by temptations. It turns out that they are weak. They reveal faith that is not perfect, but mixed with unbelief. For they believe that He is able to save, but how do those of little faith say, Save! we die. And if they had perfect faith, they would be fully convinced that it is impossible for them even to perish when the Almighty is with them. "He arose, and rebuked the wind." In order that His power might be more apparent, He allowed them to be confused. For we, people, usually remember more the deliverer who saved us from great danger. So He rose up and saved them, not in the beginning, but when they were on the brink of danger. You can also see a figurative meaning. The present event is an image of what happened to the disciples afterwards. The lake is Judea, upon which came a great storm of fury against Christ, such as the Jews raged at the crucifixion of the Lord. The disciples were also troubled, for they all forsook Him and fled. But the Lord arose from sleep, that is, He rose again, and the disciples again calmed down. For, standing before them, He said: "Peace be unto you" (John 20:19). Such is the figurative meaning of this passage. They say this not in the sense of doubt, but in a sense of wonder. It is as if they said: "Who is this," that is, how great and wondrous He is, and with what authority and power He does this?!

And they sailed to the land of the Gadarenes, which lies opposite Galilee. When He came ashore, there met Him a certain man from the city, who had been possessed by demons for a long time, and who did not put on clothes, and who lived not in a house, but in tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech Thee, do not torment me. For Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of this man, because he had tormented him a long time, so that they bound him with chains and fetters, keeping him; but he broke the bonds and was driven by a demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into it. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. A large herd of pigs was grazing on the mountain; and the demons asked Him to allow them to enter into them. The demons, coming out of the man, entered into the pigs, and the herd threw themselves down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.

Look: the demon is possessed by two passions of malice: insolence and fear. For the words, "What have you to do with me?" are characteristic of a bold and shameless servant, and "I beseech you" are characteristic of a fearful one. He lives in tombs, with the intention of instilling in people the evil idea that the souls of the dead become demons. The demons ask that they not be commanded to go into the abyss, but that they be allowed to live on earth. The Lord allows them to be on earth, so that by attacking people they will make them more glorious. For if there were no opposing ones, there would be no feats, and if there were no feats, there would be no crowns. Know a more figurative meaning. Whoever has demons in him, that is, demonic deeds, does not put on clothes, that is, he does not have the clothes of baptism and does not live in the house, that is, in the church, because he is not worthy to enter the church, but lives in the graves, that is, in places of dead works, for example, in the houses of the useless, in the toll-houses (customs). For such houses are the receptacles of wickedness,

The shepherds, seeing what had happened, ran and told the story in the city and in the villages. And they went out to see what had happened; and when they came to Jesus, they found a man out of whom demons had come out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; And they were horrified. And those who saw told them how the demon-possessed man was healed. And all the people of the Gadarene region asked Him to depart from them, because they were seized with great fear. He got into the boat and returned. But the man out of whom the demons came asked Him to be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your house and tell me what God has done for you." He went and preached throughout the city what Jesus had done for him.

The flight of the shepherds was for the Gadarenes a reason for salvation; but they did not understand. They should have been amazed at the power of the Savior and believed in Him, but they, it is said, asked, that is, begged Jesus to depart from them. For they feared lest they should suffer some other loss, as they had lost their swine. But he who has been healed is an indisputable proof of healing. He became so healthy in mind that he came to know Jesus and asked Him to be with Him. Perhaps he feared lest, after his departure from Jesus, he would again fall into the power of demons. But the Lord, showing him that even though he was not with Jesus, but was covered by His grace, could be above the snares of demons, said to him: "Return to your house and tell what God has done for you." He did not say, "What have I done unto thee," in order to set an example of humility and to attribute every happily accomplished deed to God. But the healed man was so prudent that he told what "Jesus" had done to him. Although the Lord commanded him to tell what "God" had done for him, and he told what "Jesus" had done to him. Therefore, when we do good to someone, we should not desire to preach about him; but he to whom good has been done must declare it, even though we do not desire it.