f3ra pes Mark 2.27 52 MATTHEW XI. 11—XII. 20 from his mother’s womb was filled with the Holy Ghost ; and he exulted within the womb, and filled his mother also with grace, and by it she prophesied these many things that were higher than herself; but if in this also he be compared with believers, those who have already attained to that citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven, it will be found that John is much humbler than the little ones among them, inasmuch as he is yet in this world of mortality, and had not yet received all this grace, that he should not taste death; and generally He compares world with world, and grace with grace; and He shews that John in this world received grace above every one; but he did not attain to the perfection of the world to come; inasmuch as the grace which one little one receives there is higher than what John received here ; and if the degree of a little one is thus great, there is therefore no comparison to the degree that John will receive there. Therefore He does not make John less than others, but magnifies the excellence of the world to come above this world. But He calls those who because of the longing for the things that are to come receive wars and labours about visible things the violent who seize the kingdom. This, that Wisdom és justified of her children, He calls this dispensation, which is on our account, Wisdom, and [He calls] childven those who turn to virtue; but this, that she #s justified, that is to say, it is recognized, that she does everything righteously and helps men, and not in vain or uselessly. This, Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, etc.; that is to say, turn to Me, and I will set you free from the bondage of the Law, in which ye have borne many burdens, and which ye have not been able to fulfil easily; for ye have been acquiring for yourselves burdens of sins, for which ye have been paying a heavy penalty. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Vor My yoke is easy because of pardon; and My burden is light, because it does not ask for a multitude of commandments and varied observances, but for the will of the soul, and for this that before the evil you should choose the good. This, that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath, that is to say, that we must not blame those who are constrained by poverty or hunger to reap, that is to say, to pluck the ears; because the Sabbath was on account of Man; how much more therefore is it not right that he should be destroyed by hunger, he in whose honour also the Sabbath was created ? This, that @ bruised reed shall He not break, and flickering flax shall He not quench, just as by longsuffering He bears with the weak, those who are weak like bruised reeds, and like the light of flickering flax ; that He also did not allow the signs that were wrought by His hand