To the words: “The kingdom of heaven is like a pea seed” (Matthew 13:31)

What is greater than the Kingdom of Heaven and what is more insignificant than a mustard seed? How is the limitless Kingdom of Heaven here compared to a limited and insignificant mustard seed? But if we delve deeper into what the Kingdom of Heaven is and what a mustard seed is, we will see how beautiful and quite natural it was to liken them to one another. What is the Kingdom of Heaven if not Christ? Didn’t He say about Himself: “Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21)? What is greater than Christ in Divinity? This is how the prophet depicts His greatness: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After this He appeared on earth and spoke among people” (Bar. 3:36–38). Isaiah speaks of Him in similar terms. How exactly does he say it? “The labors of the Egyptians and the trade of the Ethiopians, and the Shebeans, tall people, will come to you and will be yours; they will follow you, they will come in chains and prostrate themselves before you, and they will beg you, saying: you have only God, and there is no other God. Truly You are the hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior” (Isa. 45:14–15). The words of blessed Peter have exactly the same meaning: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What is more insignificant than Christ in the mystery of the Incarnation? Here is how, for example, David says that He was lower than the angels: “What is man, that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You visit him? You have made him a little lower than the Angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:5, 6). And that these words of David refer to Christ, this is explained by Paul, saying: “For suffering death, Jesus was crowned with glory and honor, who He was greatly humbled before the angels" ("but we saw Jesus as a little man because he accepted death") (Heb. 2:9). In the same way, compared with men, He seemed insignificant. In fact, what does Isaiah say? "And we saw Him, and there was no appearance in Him that would attract us to Him." name of appearance, nor kindness, but his appearance is dishonest, more debased than all the sons of men" (Is. 53:2, 3). That is why He himself applied the name of a worm to Himself. Where is this? “I am a worm, and not a man” (Ps. 21:7). 1. Then, referring to His glorious death, the same prophet said: “and worms are your covering” (Is. 14:11). Yes, and it was necessary, of course, that He, like a wise fisherman, covered the fishing rod of His Divinity, shining like lightning, as a bait with a worm of flesh and, throwing it into the depths of this life, thus caught the serpent, so that what was written in the book of Job would actually be fulfilled: “can you pull out Leviathan with a fishing rod” (Job 40:20). “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed.” But will one of the listeners say: “How is it that one and the same thing is the Kingdom of Heaven, and a mustard seed, and great, and small, at the same time?” Out of immeasurable love for His creation, He is all things to all in order to save all. He was God, as of course He is and will be by His nature, and is made man for the sake of our salvation. “Oh, the depth of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33). Oh, Grain through which the world was created, through which darkness was dispelled and the Church recreated! This Grain, hanging on the Cross, prevailed with such power that, being itself in chains, with a single word it lifted the thief from the tree of the cross and brought it into the paradise of sweets; this Grain, pierced in the side by a spear, gave forth to the thirsty the drink of immortality; This mustard seed, taken from the tree and placed in the garden, overshadowed the whole of heaven with its branches; This mustard seed, being planted in the garden, sent its roots into hell and from there brought souls out and on the third day brought them to heaven; This mustard seed, being crushed on a tree, struck and darkened our enemy the serpent and, awakening hell from sleep, forced him to return to the place allotted to him. So, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field” (Matthew 13:31). Sow this mustard seed in the garden of your soul, so that you too can say later: “A wind will rise from the north and come from the south, blow over my garden, and its fragrance will flow!” ( Song 4:16 ). If this mustard seed is sown in the garden of your soul, the prophet will also say to you: “And you will be like a garden watered with water and like a spring whose waters never fail” (Is. 58:11); If this mustard seed is in the garden of your soul and you assimilate its fragrance, it will be said to you: “The fragrance of your clothes is like the fragrance of Lebanon!” ( Song 4:11 ) that is, the smell of your body is like fragrant incense. “A closed garden is my sister, my bride, a closed well, a sealed fountain” (Song 4:12–13). This mustard seed, erased on the tree of the Cross and used by the all-skillful and immortal Wisdom as leaven, being put into “three measures of flour,” by which one must mean soul, body and spirit, left all humanity with one faith. The image of this sacrament was drawn with their own hands by Abraham and his wife Sarah, who lived in a tent under the oak tree of Mamre. Here we have to somewhat disrupt the flow of our speech: what Abraham depicts, what Sarah depicts, what the oak tree is, what the tent is, what loaves baked in ashes, why there are three measures of hemp and here three measures of flour - all this needs to be clarified in detail. Who could Abraham represent? His name translated means: “chosen father of many.” Who can be the chosen father if not God, about whom “their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18), Whom does Sarah represent? Translated, this name means “commander and leader.” To whom else could these names be applied except the Wisdom of the Father? Next - what is a tent under the oak of Mamre? Obviously, the Church, overshadowed by the Cross. The Cross is likened to oak due to the power and strength of this tree. What do the three measures of the heptad mean? It is clear that by them we must understand, as I said above, human nature, consisting of soul, spirit and body. This is exactly what the apostle taught us, saying: “God preserve your body and soul and spirit” (1 Thess. 5:23) 2. So, the Wisdom of God - Sarah, the leader or leader, takes the body, soul and spirit, exposes them to the action of fire, i.e. illuminates them with the unquenchable light of the Divine, and prepares three baked loaves, i.e. introduces into our nature the confession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Gospel read to you today is very consistent with this, beloved. Mustard seed and sourdough; leaven turns into bread, grain develops into greens, bread and greens are the accessories of fasting, in which may the Lord Jesus steadily instruct us who are now completing the course of fasting. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed.” We can understand the meaning of this comparison only by first understanding the essence, color and size of a mustard seed. The mustard seed is insignificant in size, but once sown, its development surpasses the growth of all other garden plants both in height, in the strength of branching of the branches, and in the abundance of leaves, so that it provides shade, and flying birds can sit and rest on its branches. It tastes very pleasant, has the property of warming and has healing powers when taken orally. Neither birds nor anyone else eats it except humans. It is red on the outside, but white on the inside. These are the properties of this plant and the characteristics of the seed. Now, if we delve into this subject with all care, we will find that this parable can be applied to the Savior himself. After all, He too was insignificant in appearance; and He is short-lived in our world and great in heaven; He is both the Son of man and God, the Son of God; He is innumerable, eternal; He is invisible, heavenly, accessible only to the faithful; He was crushed and through suffering became white as milk; It surpasses every other plant in greatness; He is the Word inseparable from the Father; He is the One on whom the birds of the air live, that is, the prophets, apostles and all the elect; He cleanses the suffering of the soul with His own warmth, He refreshes us with the water of baptism, and under His shadow we take refuge from the heat of the world; After his death, he was sown into the ground and, there showing fruitful power, raised the saints from the graves of the dead for three days; By His resurrection He showed Himself to be greater than any prophet; He saves everyone by the power of the Father; He flourished from the earth to heaven; He, being sown in His own field, in the world, brings those who believe in Him to the Father. Oh, the seed of life sown by God the Father on earth! O sprout of immortality, reconciling those who feed from You with God! Oh, tall tree, planted by the Father alone! This tree grew from the father's heart; This plant has its root in heaven, but when it appears in the world, it serves as food for people. O planting established on earth and flourishing to heaven! O seed, small in appearance, but greater than anything before the Father! This plant also grew for the dead in hell; His fruit was the resurrection of people; It struck death with a deadly arrow; the walls of hell bowed before Him, bending their knees with difficulty; Its branches overshadowed the whole world; It is surrounded by the Holy Spirit; It is not afraid of heat; under this plant rejoice and be merry with the angels, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. In glory Bible: “Fear not Jacob, little one of Israel” “May the God of peace sanctify you, perfect in everything: and may your spirit and soul and body be perfect... may it be preserved.” Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.