Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 14.1–15.1

“[Now when] Jesus [heard] that John had been delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.” Why does he withdraw? Again to teach us not to go out to meet temptations, but to give way and retire. For it is no fault not to throw oneself into danger; the fault is, having fallen into it, not to stand nobly. Teaching this, then, and soothing the envy of the Jews, he withdraws to Capernaum, at once fulfilling the prophecy and hastening to catch the teachers of the world, since they were living there and plying their trade. But consider, I beg you, how everywhere, when he is about to go to the Gentiles, he takes the occasion from the Jews. For here, having plotted against the forerunner and cast him into prison, they drive him into Galilee of the Gentiles. And to show that the prophet is neither speaking of the Jewish nation in part, nor hinting at all the tribes, see how he marks off that region, speaking thus: “Land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people that sat in darkness saw a great light”; here calling darkness not the darkness of sense but error and ungodliness. That is why he added, “To those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned upon them.” For that you may learn that he is speaking neither of sensible light nor of sensible darkness, when discoursing of the light he did not simply call it light, but “a great light,” which elsewhere he calls “true”; and in describing the darkness he named it “the shadow of death.” Then, showing that they did not find it by seeking, but God appeared to them from above, he says, “light has dawned upon them,” that is, the light itself dawned and shone; they did not first run to the light. For human affairs were at their last extremity before the coming of Christ. For they were not walking in darkness but sitting in darkness, which was a sign that they did not even hope to be delivered; for as though not even knowing where they ought to go, so, overtaken by the darkness, they sat, no longer able even to stand.

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.’” From that time: when? From the time John was cast into prison. And why did he not preach to them from the beginning? And what need was there of John at all, when the witness of the works was proclaiming him? So that from this too you may learn his dignity: that like the Father, he too has prophets; which Zechariah also said: “And you, child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High”; and so as to leave no excuse to the shameless Jews, which he himself also set down, saying, “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ And wisdom is justified by her children.” Besides, it was necessary for the things about him to be spoken first by another and not by himself. For if even after so many and so great testimonies and proofs they said, “You bear witness about yourself; your witness is not true,” if, when John had said nothing, he had come forward among them and been the first to bear witness himself, what would they not have said? That is why he neither preached before him nor worked miracles until John had fallen into prison, so that the multitude might not be divided in this way. That is why John did no sign either, so that by this too he might hand the multitude over to Jesus, as the miracles drew them to him. For if, even when so much had been arranged, both before the imprisonment and after it, John’s disciples were jealous toward him, and the many suspected not him but John to be the Christ, what would not have happened if none of these things had taken place? That is why Matthew notes that “from that time he began to preach”; and in beginning his preaching he too taught what John had preached, and says nothing yet about himself, but the preaching that John preached. For even this was for the time being something to be content with if it were received, since they did not yet have the proper opinion about him.

That is why at the beginning he sets forth nothing burdensome or oppressive, as John did, mentioning the axe and the tree being cut down, the winnowing fan and the threshing floor and the unquenchable fire; but he begins with kindly words, bringing his hearers the good news of the heavens and the kingdom there.

“And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he says to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets and followed him.” And yet John says that they were called in another way. From this it is clear that this was a second call; and one could see this from many things. For there it says that they came to him when John had not yet been cast into prison; but here, after he had fallen into it. There Andrew calls Peter; here Jesus calls them both. And John says that Jesus, seeing Simon coming, says, “You are Simon the son of Jonah; you shall be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter.” But Matthew says that he had already been called by this name; for “seeing,” it says, “Simon who is called Peter.” And from the place where they were called, and from many other things, one could see this, both from their obeying readily and from their leaving everything; for they had already been well instructed beforehand. For there Andrew is seen coming into the house and hearing much; but here, hearing a bare word, they followed at once. For it is likely that they had followed him from the beginning and then left him again, and when they saw John fallen into prison and Jesus himself withdrawing, had gone back again to their own trade. So, at any rate, he finds them fishing. But he neither hindered them at the first when they wished to withdraw, nor let them go altogether when they had withdrawn; but having given way when they sprang off, he comes again to win them back, which is the greatest kind of fishing.

But consider both their faith and their obedience. For though they were in the midst of their work (and you know how greedy a thing fishing is), when they heard him command, they did not delay, they did not put it off, they did not say, “Let us go home and talk with our relatives,” but leaving everything they followed, as Elisha also did with Elijah. For such is the obedience Christ seeks from us, that we should not delay even for an instant, even if something of the most necessary kind presses us hard. That is why, when another came to him and asked to bury his own father, he did not let him do even this, showing that we must prefer following him to everything. But if you should say that the promise was very great, it is for this very reason that I most admire them, that having as yet seen no sign at all, they believed so great a promise and put everything second to following him. For they believed that by the very words by which they had been caught they too would be able to catch others. To these, then, he made this promise; but to James and John he says nothing of the kind. For the obedience of those who had gone before had by now prepared the way for them. Besides, they too had already heard much about him before.

And see how precisely he hints to us their poverty as well. For he found them mending their nets. So great was the extremity of their poverty that they repaired what was worn out, not being able to buy others. And this too is meanwhile no small proof of virtue: to bear poverty easily, to be fed from honest labor, to be bound to one another by the power of love, to have their father with them and to care for him. When, then, he had caught them, he begins to work miracles in their presence, by which he confirms what John had said about him. And he continually frequented the synagogues, teaching them by this too that he was not some rival of God and a deceiver, but had come in agreement with the Father. And in frequenting them he did not only preach, but also displayed signs.

For everywhere, whenever anything new and unexpected happens, and the introduction of some way of life, God is accustomed to work signs, giving pledges of his power to those who are going to receive the laws. Thus, when he was about to make man, he created the whole world, and then gave him that law in paradise. And when he was about to give laws to Noah, again he displayed great wonders, by which he dissolved the whole creation into its elements and made that fearful sea stretch over a whole year, and by which he saved that righteous man in so great a storm. And in Abraham’s time too he provided many signs: for example, the victory in the war, the plague upon Pharaoh, the deliverance from dangers. And when he was about to give laws to the Jews, he displayed those marvelous and great wonders, and then gave the law. So here too, being about to bring in a lofty way of life and to say to them what they had never heard, he confirms what is said by the display of miracles. For since the kingdom being preached was not visible, he makes the unseen manifest from the things that are seen.

And consider the economy of words of the evangelist: how he does not relate to us each of those who were healed one by one, but in a few words runs over a snowstorm of signs. “For they brought to him,” it says, “all who were sick with various diseases and gripped by torments, and demoniacs and lunatics and paralytics, and he healed them.” But the question is this: why ever did he not require faith from any of them? For he did not say what he is later seen saying, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Because he had not yet given proof of his power. Besides, the very act of coming and bringing the sick showed no ordinary faith. For they brought them from far away, and would not have brought them unless they had persuaded themselves of great things about him.

Let us too, then, follow him; for we too have many diseases of the soul, and these above all he wishes to heal. For it is for this reason that he corrects those others too, so that he may banish these from our soul. Let us, then, come to him and ask for nothing worldly, but for forgiveness of sins; for he gives it even now, if we are earnest. For then his fame went out into Syria, but now into the whole world. And they, hearing that he had healed demoniacs, ran together; but you, who have had a far greater and fuller experience of his power, do you not rise up and run? They left country and friends and relatives; but you do not bear to leave even your house in order to come to him and obtain much greater things? Or rather, we do not ask even this of you; only leave your evil habit, and staying at home with your own people you will be able to be saved easily. But as it is, if we have some bodily ailment, we do everything and take every trouble to be rid of what pains us; but when our soul is in a bad state, we delay and hang back. That is why we are not rid of the others either: since what is necessary becomes secondary to us, and what is secondary necessary; and leaving the spring of the evils, we want to clean out the streams. For that wickedness of soul is the cause of the evils in the body, the man paralyzed thirty-eight years showed, and the one let down through the roof, and before them Cain; and one could see this from many other places too. Let us, then, remove the spring of the evils, and all the streams of the diseases will stop. For not only paralysis is a disease, but sin too, and this more than that, as much as the soul is better than the body. Let us come to him, then, even now; let us entreat him to brace our paralyzed soul, and, leaving all worldly things, let us take account only of the spiritual. And if you hold on to those as well, take care of them after these. And do not make light of sinning because you feel no pain; rather groan most of all for this very reason, that you do not feel the pain of your offenses. For this does not come from sin not biting, but from the offending soul being without feeling. Think, at any rate, of those who feel their own sins: how they wail more bitterly than those being cut and cauterized, how much they do, how much they suffer, how much they mourn and lament, to be rid of an evil conscience; which they would not have done unless they were in great pain in their soul.

The best, then, is not to sin at all; the next after that is, when we sin, to feel it and to set ourselves right. But if we do not have this, how shall we pray to God and ask forgiveness of sins, we who take no account of them? For when you yourself, the offender, do not wish to know even this, that you have sinned, for what offenses will you entreat God? For those you do not know? And how will you know the greatness of the benefit? Tell, then, your offenses one by one, so that you may learn for what you are receiving pardon, so that in this way you may become grateful toward your benefactor. When you have provoked a man, you entreat friends and neighbors and doorkeepers, you spend money, you waste many days going to him and begging; and if the offended man repulses you once, twice, ten thousand times, you do not lose heart, but becoming more anxious you make your supplication all the greater. But when the God of all is provoked, we yawn and lose heart, we live in luxury and get drunk and do everything as usual. And when shall we be able to make him gracious? How shall we not by this very thing provoke him the more? For more than sinning, not even being pained when we sin makes him indignant and angry. Therefore it would be right for us to sink into the very earth, and not see this sun, nor breathe at all, because having so easily reconciled a Master, we both provoke him, and in provoking him do not even repent. And yet he himself, even when he is angry, does not do this hating us and turning away from us, but so that in this way he may draw us to himself. For if he kept on doing good while continually insulted, you would despise him the more. So that this may not happen, he turns away for a little, so as to have you with him forever.

Let us take courage, then, in his love for mankind, and show a careful repentance before that day comes which will not let us gain anything from it. For now everything lies in our power; but then the judge alone becomes master of the verdict. “Let us come before his face, then, with confession”; let us weep, let us lament. For if we can entreat the judge to forgive us our sins before the appointed day, there is no further need even of a hearing; just as, if this does not happen, he will hear us publicly, with the world present, and there will be no hope of pardon for us any more. For none of those who have not dissolved their sins here will, on going there, be able to escape the accounts for them; but just as those from the prisons here are brought to court with their chains, so all souls, when they depart from here, are led to the fearful judgment seat wearing the various chains of their sins. For the present life is in no better condition than a prison; but just as, when we enter that dwelling, we see all wearing chains, so now too, if we withdraw from outward show and enter into each one’s life, into each one’s soul, we shall see it wearing bonds more grievous than iron; and above all if you enter into the souls of the rich. For the more possessions they have around them, the more they are bound. Just as, then, when you see a prisoner with iron on his back and on his hands, and often on his feet too, you pity him above all for this, so also with the rich man: when you see him surrounded with countless affairs, do not think him rich for this reason, but for these very things wretched. For besides these bonds he has a harsh jailer, the wicked love of money, which does not allow him to pass beyond this prison, but prepares for him countless fetters and guards and doors and bars, and having cast him into the inner prison, persuades him even to take pleasure in these bonds, so that he may not find any hope of release from the evils that lie upon him. And if in thought you lay bare his soul, you will see it not only bound but also squalid and filthy and full of lice. For the pleasures of luxury are no better than those lice, but even more loathsome, and they ruin their body more, together with the soul, and bring countless blows of disease on both this and that. For all these reasons, then, let us entreat the redeemer of our souls to break the bonds, to remove this harsh jailer of ours, and, freeing us from the burden of those iron chains, to make our mind lighter than a feather. And while entreating him, let us also bring our own part: zeal, purpose, and good will. For so we shall be able, even in a short time, to be rid of the evils that hold us, and to learn in what state we were before, and to lay hold of the freedom that befits us; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And seeing the crowds, Jesus went up onto the mountain; and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying.” [See] his freedom from ambition and boasting. For he did not lead them about with him; but when he had to heal, he himself went about everywhere, visiting cities and countryside; and when a great crowd had gathered, he sits down in one place, and not in a city and the middle of the marketplace, but on a mountain and in a solitary place, teaching us to do nothing for display, and to get away from the bustle of the crowd, especially when we must practice philosophy and discuss necessary matters.

When he had gone up and sat down, the disciples came to him. Do you see their progress in virtue, and how suddenly they became better? For the many were spectators of the miracles; but these now desired also to hear something great and lofty. And this is what moved him to teach and made him begin these discourses. For he did not only heal bodies, but also set souls right, and again passed from caring for these to the healing of those, at once varying the benefit and mingling with the teaching of words the demonstration from deeds, and stopping the shameless mouths of the heretics, since by these means he cared for each of the two substances, showing that he himself is the creator of the whole living being. That is why he bestowed much providence on each nature, now setting right the one, now the other. This, then, is what he was doing then too. For “opening his mouth,” it says, “he taught them.” And why is “opening his mouth” added? So that you may learn that he taught even when silent, not only when he spoke; but now he opened his mouth, now he sent forth the voice that comes from deeds. And when you hear that he taught them, do not think that he was speaking to the disciples alone, but through them to all. For since the multitude was of the common sort, and moreover of those who still crawl along the ground, he set the band of the disciples before him and directs his discourse to them, contriving that in his conversation with them the teaching of philosophy should be unburdensome also to all the rest, who fell far short of what was said. Luke too hinted at this when he said that he turned his discourse to them; and Matthew too, showing this very thing, wrote that his disciples came to him and he taught them. For in this way the rest too would attend more eagerly than if he had addressed himself to all.

Where, then, does he begin, and what foundations of the new way of life does he lay for us? Let us hear what is said with precision; for it was spoken to them, but written also for the sake of all who came after. For this reason, though he directed his discourse to the disciples, he does not confine what is said to them, but brings forward all the beatitudes without restriction. For he did not say, “Blessed are you, if you become poor,” but, “Blessed are the poor.” And yet even if he had spoken to them, the counsel would have been common. For when he says, “Behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age,” he is not speaking to them alone, but through them to the whole world; and when he calls them blessed when persecuted and driven out and suffering incurable things, he weaves the crown not for them alone, but also for all who do the same. However, so that this may become clearer, and you may learn that what is said has much in common with you, and with the whole of human nature, if one is willing to attend, hear how he begins these wonderful words. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What is “the poor in spirit”? The humble and contrite in mind. For here he has called the soul and the will “spirit.” For since there are many humble, not willingly but forced by the necessity of their circumstances, he passes over them (for that would be no praise) and first calls blessed those who of their own choice humble and abase themselves. And why did he not say “the humble,” but “the poor”? Because this is more than that. For here he speaks of those who cower and tremble at God’s commands, whom God, greatly approving them through Isaiah the prophet too, said, “On whom will I look, but on the meek and quiet, and on him who trembles at my words?”