Two Men In A Field

Tότε δύο ἔσονται ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ, εἷς παραλαμβάνεται καὶ εἷς ἀφίεται... Ὅρα, ὅτι εἰς δύο τάγματα διαι ρεῖ ὁ λόγος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, εἴς τε τῶν σῳζομένων καὶ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων. καὶ τοὺς μὲν σῳζομένους λέγει παραλαμβάνεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἀπολλυμένους ἀφίεσθαι ἤγουν ἀποδοκιμάζεσθαι. Ἀγρὸν δὲ νοητέον ὧδε τὸν κόσμον, ἔνθα ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα σπείρων θερίζει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ὁ δὲ "εἰς τὴν σάρκα, φθοράν. Tαῖς δὲ ἀληθούσαις παρεικάζει τοὺς διδασκάλους, οἵτινες τρόπον τινὰ ἀπολεπτύνοντες τὰς γραφικὰς ἐννοίας εὐπαράδεκτα καὶ εὐνόητα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ θεῖα λόγια προτιθέασιν· καὶ γὰρ νόμος κελεύων μὴ λαμβάνεσθαι εἰς ἐνέ χυρον μύλον ἢ ἐπιμύλιον, ἵνα μὴ τὰ τῆς τροφῆς ἐργαλεῖα λαβών τις ἐμποδίσῃ τοῖς τρεφομένοις δι' αὐ τῶν, αἰνιγματωδῶς τοὺς διδασκά λους ὑποσημαίνει. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.445b

Then there shall be two men in a field, one is taken and the other is left... 1 See how the word distinguishes between these two men, concerning those who shall be saved and those who shall perish. For it says that those who will be saved are taken and those who will perish are left behind, that is, the wicked. Here let the field be understood as the world, where one man sows in the spirit and reaps eternal life, and the other sows in the flesh and reaps corruption. 2 One may liken teachers to these labourers, they who labouring over the meaning of the Scriptures, then set forth the Divine teachings to men in an easy and intelligible fashion. Indeed the Law commands that one should not receive a millstone as a pledge, lest in taking away the means of subsistence, harm is inflicted on those who are nourished by it, which spiritually speaks of teachers. 3 Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 24.40 2 Galat 6.8 3 Deut 24.6