Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 22.1–22.6

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin; yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these.” Having spoken about necessary food and shown that we must not be anxious even about this, he now passes to what is lighter; for clothing is not as necessary as food. Why then does he not use here too the same example, that of the birds, nor mention to us the peacock and the swan and the sheep? For there were many such examples to take from there. Because he wants to show the excess from both sides, both from the meanness of the things that share in such comeliness and from the lavishness of the adornment given to the lilies. That is why, when he has established them, he no longer even calls them lilies, but “the grass of the field.” And he is not content even with this name, but adds another meanness again, saying, “which is today.” And he did not say, “which is not tomorrow,” but what is much more inferior again, “is thrown into the oven.” And he did not say, “clothes,” but “so clothes.” Do you see everywhere the many excesses and intensifications? And he does this to touch them; that is why he added, “will he not much more clothe you?” For this too carries great emphasis. For “you” is nothing else than one hinting at the great value and the precious worth of the race; as though he said: you, to whom he gave a soul, for whom he fashioned a body, for whose sake he made all visible things, for whose sake he sent prophets and gave the law and wrought countless good things, for whose sake he gave up his only-begotten Son. And when he had proved it clearly, then he also rebukes them, saying, “O you of little faith.” For such is a counselor: he not only exhorts but also strikes, to rouse them more to be persuaded by what is said. By these words he teaches us not only not to be anxious, but not even to be excited by costly garments. For the comeliness of green growth and the beauty of grass, or rather the grass is even more precious than such a robe. Why then do you think highly of things in which the prizes of victory go to the plant with great abundance?

And see how from the beginning he shows the command to be light, again drawing them away from the opposite, and from the very things they fear. For having said, “Consider the lilies of the field,” he added, “they do not toil,” so that he gave these commands wishing to free us from toils. So it is not freedom from anxiety about these things that is toil, but anxiety. And as, when he said, “they do not sow,” he did not overturn sowing but care, so, when he said, “they do not toil nor spin,” he did not remove work but anxiety. And if Solomon was surpassed by their beauty, and not once or twice but through his whole reign (for one could not say that at one time he was clothed so and afterward no longer; rather not even on one day was he adorned so; for he showed this by saying, “in all his glory”), and he was not surpassed by this flower while he imitated another, but yielded to all together (that is why he said, “like one of these”; for as far as truth differs from falsehood, so far is the difference between those garments and these flowers); if, then, he confessed defeat, who was more splendid than all kings that ever were, when will you be able to win, or rather to come even a little near to such beauty? From this he teaches us not to long for such adornment at all. See, at any rate, its end too: after the victory it is thrown into the oven. And if God showed such providence for things mean and worth no account, which provide an ordinary use, how will he give up you, the most precious of all living creatures? Why then did he make them so beautiful? To display his wisdom and the abundance of his power, so that we may learn his glory from every side. For not only do the heavens declare the glory of God, but the earth too; and David showed this when he said, “Praise the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” For some by their fruit, some by their size, some by their beauty send up praise to their maker. For this too is a sign of great abundance of wisdom, when he pours out so much beauty even on very mean things (for what is meaner than that which is today and tomorrow is not?). If, then, he gave the grass what is not for use (for what does its beauty contribute to feeding the fire?), how will he not give you what is for use? If he adorned the meanest of all things with abundance, and this doing not for use but for lavishness, much more will he honor you, the most precious of all, in what concerns your need.

Since, then, he had proved God’s providence to be great, and it was needful to rebuke them as well, here too he uses forbearance, charging them not with unbelief but with little faith. “For if God so clothes the grass of the field,” he says, “much more you, O you of little faith.” And yet he himself makes all these things; for “all things came to be through him, and without him not one thing came to be”; but nevertheless he nowhere mentions himself as yet. For it was enough for the time being, to show his authority, to say at each of the commandments, “You have heard that it was said to the ancients; but I say to you.” Do not wonder, then, when in what follows too he hides himself or says something humble about himself. For he was eager for one thing for the time being, that his word should be acceptable to them, and to show in every way that he was not some rival of God but of one mind and in agreement with the Father. This he does here too. For having spent so many words, he continually sets him in the middle, admiring his wisdom, his providence, his care through all things, both great and small. For when he spoke about Jerusalem, he called it the city of the great King; and when he mentioned heaven, he again named it the throne of God; and when he spoke about the ordering of the world, he again ascribes everything to him, saying that he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. And in the prayer too he taught us to say that his is the kingdom and the power and the glory. And here, speaking about his providence and showing how he is an excellent craftsman even in small things, he says that he clothes the grass of the field. And nowhere does he call him his own Father, but theirs, so as to touch them by the honor, and so that when he calls him his Father they may no longer be indignant.

And if we must not be anxious about bare necessities, what pardon would they deserve who are anxious about costly things? Or rather, what pardon would they deserve who do not even sleep, so as to take what belongs to others? “Do not, then, be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we put on?’ For the Gentiles of the world seek all these things.” Do you see how again he shamed them more, and indicated that he had commanded nothing burdensome or oppressive? As, then, when he said, “If you love those who love you, you do nothing great; for the Gentiles too do the same,” he roused them to the greater by the mention of the Gentiles, so now too he brings them into the middle, striking at them and showing that he demands from us a debt that is necessary. For if we must show more than the scribes and Pharisees, what should we deserve, who not only do not surpass them, but even remain in the meanness of the Gentiles and emulate their faint-heartedness? However, he did not stop at the rebuke, but having struck at them from here and roused them and shamed them with every intensity, he comforts them from another side too, saying, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” He did not say, “God knows,” but “the Father knows,” so as to lead them to greater hope. For if he is a Father, and such a Father, he will not be able to overlook his sons when they are in the last extremity of evils, when not even men who are fathers endure this.

And after this he brings in another reasoning again. What is it? “That you need them.” What he means is this: Are these things superfluous, that he should despise them? And yet he did not despise even superfluous things, in the case of the grass; but as it is, these are even necessary. So what you think to be a cause of anxiety for you, this I say is enough to lead you away from this anxiety. For if you should say, “For this reason I must be anxious, because they are necessary,” I say the opposite: for this very reason do not be anxious, because they are [necessary]. For if they were superfluous, not even so ought you to despair, but to be confident about their supply; but since they are necessary, you must no longer doubt. For what father is there who endures not to provide even necessities for his children? So for this reason too God will certainly provide. For he himself is the creator of nature, and knows its need with precision. Nor could you say this, that he is a Father and what is sought is necessary, but he does not know that we are in need of it. For he who knows nature itself, and has become its creator, and formed it such, clearly knows its need better than you who are in need of these things. For it seemed good to him that it should be in such need. He will not, then, oppose his own will, establishing it under the necessity of so great a need, but again depriving it of the need and of necessities.

Let us not, then, be anxious; for we shall gain nothing more than wearing ourselves out. For when he provides whether we are anxious or not, and more when we are not, what more do you get from your anxiety than exacting a superfluous penalty from yourself? For no one who is going to an abundant meal will put up with being anxious about food; nor does one walking to a spring worry about drinking. Let not us, then, either, who have God’s providence as a supply more abundant than every spring and countless banquets prepared, be beggarly and faint-hearted. For besides what has been said he puts another reasoning again for our confidence about such things, saying, “Seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added to you.” For when he had released the soul from anxiety, then he also mentioned the heavens. For he had come to dissolve the old things and to call us to a greater country. That is why he does everything to free us from superfluous things and from attachment to the earth. That is why he mentioned the Gentiles too, saying that the Gentiles seek these things, whose whole toil is for the present life, who have no account of things to come, nor any thought of the heavens. But for you these are not the primary things, but others. For we were not made for this, to eat and drink and be clothed, but to please God and attain the good things to come. As, then, in our effort these are secondary, so in our asking too let them be secondary. That is why he said, “Seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added to you.” And he did not say, “shall be given,” but “shall be added,” so that you may learn that the present things are nothing great among the things given, compared with the greatness of those to come. That is why he does not even bid us ask for them, but ask for other things and be confident that these too are added to those. Seek, then, the things to come, and you will receive the present things too; do not seek the visible things, and you will certainly obtain them. For it is unworthy of you to approach the Master about such things. For you who ought to spend all your effort and care on those ineffable good things put yourself greatly to shame by spending it on the desire for things that flow away.

“How then?” someone says. “Did he not bid us ask for bread?” But he added “daily,” and to this again “today”; which he does here too. For he did not say, “Do not be anxious,” but, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow,” at once granting us freedom and nailing our soul to the more necessary things. For he bade us ask even for those things for this reason, not as though God needed reminding by us, but so that we may learn that whatever we achieve we achieve with his help, and that we may become familiar with him through continual asking about these things. Do you see how from this too he persuaded them that they will certainly receive the present things? For he who provides the greater will much more give the less. “For I did not say,” he says, “not to be anxious nor to ask for this reason, that you should suffer hardship and go about naked, but that you may have these things too in abundance”; which was above all able to draw them. As, then, in the case of almsgiving, turning them away from displaying themselves to men, he persuaded them above all by this, by promising to grant it to them with greater generosity (“for your Father,” he says, “who sees in secret will reward you openly”), so here too, drawing them away from seeking these things, he persuades them above all by this, by promising to provide them with greater abundance to those who do not seek. “For this is why I bid you not to seek,” he says, “not so that you may not receive, but so that you may receive abundantly; so that you may receive with the bearing that befits you, with the profit that suits you; so that, being anxious and divided by the care of these things, you may not make yourself unworthy both of these and of spiritual things; so that you may not endure superfluous hardship and again fall from what is set before you.”

“Do not, then, be anxious about tomorrow; for sufficient for the day is its own evil,” that is, its hardship and affliction. Is it not enough for you to eat your bread in the sweat of your face? Why do you add another hardship too, that from anxiety, when you are going at last to be released even from the former toils? And by “evil” here he means not wickedness, far from it, but hardship and toil and misfortunes; as elsewhere too he says, “Is there evil in a city which the Lord has not done?”, meaning not robberies nor covetousness nor anything else of the kind, but the blows brought from above. And again: “I am the one who makes peace and creates evils.” For here too he does not mean wickedness, but famines and plagues, the things that seem to the many to be evils. For it is the custom of the many to call these things evils. So, at any rate, the priests and diviners of those five satrapies, when they yoked the cows to the ark and let them walk without their calves, called those God-sent blows, and the dejection and pain that came upon them from them, “evil.” This, then, he shows here too, saying, “Sufficient for the day is its own evil.” For nothing so pains the soul as anxiety and care. So too Paul, leading men to virginity, counseled them, saying, “I want you to be free from care.” And when he says that “tomorrow will be anxious for itself,” he does not say this as though the day were anxious, of course not; but since his discourse was addressed to a less perfect people, wishing to make what was said more vivid, he personifies the time, speaking to them according to the usage of the many. And here he counsels; but as he goes on he even legislates it, saying, “Do not acquire gold nor silver nor a bag for the road.” For when he had shown these things by deeds, then at last he brings in the more vigorous legislation in words too, when his word had become easy to receive, being first confirmed by his own deeds. Where then did he show it by deeds? Hear him saying, “But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” And he is not content with this alone, but gives proof of these things in his disciples too, forming them in this way and not letting them need anything.

But consider his care too, how it surpasses every father’s affection. “For I command this,” he says, “for no other reason than to free you from superfluous cares. For if today you are anxious about tomorrow, tomorrow you will again be anxious. What then is the superfluity? Why do you compel the day to receive more than the hardship allotted to it, and besides its own toils add to it also the burden of the next day, and that when you are not going to lighten the other at all by the addition, but only to show a greed for superfluous toils?” For in order to strike at them more, he all but gives life to the time itself and brings it in as one wronged and crying out against them for the superfluous abuse. “For you received the day so that you might care for its affairs. Why then do you add to it the affairs of the other? Has it not burden enough in its own care? Why then do you weigh it down more?” And when the lawgiver says these things, and the one who is going to judge us, consider what kind hopes he holds out to us, when he himself testifies that this life is full of hardship and toil, so that even the care of one day is enough to afflict and crush us. But nevertheless, though so many and such great things have been said, we are anxious about these things, and no longer about those in the heavens; but we have reversed the order, fighting against what is said on both sides. For consider: “Do not seek the present things at all,” he says; but we seek them continually. “Seek the heavenly things,” he says; but we do not seek those even for a short hour, but as much anxiety as we show for worldly things, so much negligence we have in spiritual things, or rather much more. “But these things do not always go forward, nor are they always possible.” Behold, we despise for ten days; behold, for twenty, behold, for a hundred; is it not altogether necessary to depart and fall into the hands of the one who judges? “But the delay has some consolation.” And what consolation is it to expect punishment and vengeance every day? For if you want to take some consolation from this delay, take the correction that comes from repentance. For if you think the postponement of the punishment to be some comfort, much more is it a gain not to fall into the punishment. Let us use this delay, then, to be rid altogether of the terrible things that lie upon us. For none of the commands is burdensome or oppressive; but [they are such that, if we bring a] genuine [purpose], we can accomplish all of them, even if we are guilty of countless offenses. For Manasseh had dared countless pollutions; for he stretched out his hands against the saints, brought the abominations into the temple, filled the city with murders, and did many other things beyond pardon; but nevertheless after such and so great lawlessness he washed all those things away. How, and in what way? By repentance and resolve.

For there is not, there is not any sin that does not yield and give way to the power of repentance, or rather to the grace of Christ. For if only we change, we have him helping us; and if you want to become good, no one hinders you; or rather there is one who hinders, the devil, but he has no power when you choose the best things and in this way draw God to your alliance. But if you yourself do not will it, but leap away, how will he protect you? For he wants us to be saved not by necessity and force but willingly. For if you yourself, having a servant who hated you and turned away from you and continually leapt away and fled, would not choose to keep him, and that though you needed his service, much more God, who does everything not for his own need but for your salvation, would not choose to keep you by force; just as, if only you show your choice, he would never choose to give you up, whatever the devil does. So we ourselves are the cause of our own destruction. For we do not come to him, nor plead, nor entreat as we ought; but even if we come, we do it not as those who are to receive, nor with fitting faith, nor as those who demand, but we do everything yawning and lolling back. And yet God wants payment to be demanded of him by us, and is very grateful to you for this. For he alone is the debtor who, when payment is demanded, is grateful, and gives what we did not lend. And if he sees the one who demands pressing vehemently, he pays down even what he did not receive from us; but if sluggishly, he too puts it off, not because he is unwilling to give, but because he is glad to have payment demanded of him by us. That is why he told you the example of that friend who came at night asking for bread, and of the judge who neither feared God nor respected men. And he did not stop at the examples, but showed it in the very deeds too, when he sent away that Phoenician woman filled with the great gift. For through her he showed that he gives even what does not belong to them to those who demand vehemently. For he said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.” But nevertheless he gave it, because she demanded it vehemently. And through the Jews he showed that to the indolent he does not give even what is their own. So they received nothing, but lost what was theirs. And they, because they did not ask, did not receive even their own; but she, because she pressed vehemently, was able to claim even what belonged to others, and the dog received what belonged to the children. So great a good is persistence. For even if you are a dog, by persisting you will be preferred to the indolent child; for what friendship does not accomplish, persistence has accomplished.

Do not, then, say, “God is my enemy and will not hear.” He answers you at once if you trouble him continually; if not because you are a friend, yet because you persist; and neither enmity nor untimeliness nor anything else becomes a hindrance. Do not say, “I am not worthy, and I do not pray”; for the Syrophoenician woman too was such. Do not say, “I have sinned much, and I cannot entreat the one who is angry”; for God looks not at worth but at the will. For [if] the widow bent the ruler who did not fear God nor respect men, much more will continual pleading draw the Good One. So even if you are not a friend, even if you are not asking for what is owed, even if you have devoured your father’s goods and have been out of sight a long time, even if dishonored, even if last of all, even if you come to one who is angry and indignant, only will to pray and to return, and you will receive everything, and you will at once quench both the anger and the condemnation.

“But see, I pray,” someone says, “and nothing more happens.” For you do not pray as they did, I mean the Syrophoenician woman, and the friend who came at an untimely hour, and the widow who continually troubled the judge, and the son who spent his father’s goods. For if you prayed so, you would quickly obtain. For even if he has been insulted, he is a Father; and if he has been angered, he loves his children; and he seeks one thing only, not to exact a penalty for the insults, but to see you repenting and entreating.

Would that we too were so warmed as that heart is roused to love for us! But this fire seeks only an occasion; and if you give it even a little spark, you kindle a whole flame of beneficence. Nor is he indignant because he has been insulted, but because you are the one insulting, and becoming drunken with violence in this way. For if we, being evil, when our children insult us, grieve for them, much more God, who cannot even be insulted, is indignant for your sake who have insulted him. If we who love by nature, much more he who is affectionate beyond nature. “For even if a woman should forget the offspring of her womb,” he says, “yet I will not forget you.” Let us, then, come to him and say, “Yes, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Let us come in season and out of season; or rather it is never out of season to come; for it is out of season not to come continually. For to ask of one who desires to give is always in season. For as breathing is never out of season, so neither is asking, but not asking is out of season. For as we need this breath, so we need his help too; and if we will, we shall easily draw him. And the prophet, showing this and pointing out the constant readiness of his beneficence, said, “We shall find him ready as the dawn.” For as often as we come, we shall see him waiting for what is ours. But if we draw nothing from the spring of his goodness, the whole blame is ours. This at any rate he said in accusation of the Jews: “But my mercy is like a morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away.” What he means is this: “I provided everything on my part; but you, as the hot sun coming on drives off and hides both the cloud and the dew, so by your great wickedness you checked my unspeakable generosity.” And this again belongs to providence. For when he sees us unworthy of being well treated, he holds back his benefits, so as not to make us indolent. But if we change a little, even so much as to know that we have sinned, he gushes up beyond the springs, he pours out beyond the sea; and the more you receive, the more he rejoices, and is roused by this to give more again. For he counts our salvation his own wealth, and giving abundantly to those who ask; which Paul too showed when he said, “rich to all and upon all who call on him.” For when we do not ask, then he is angry; when we do not ask, then he turns away. For this he became poor, that he might make us rich; for this he underwent all those things, that he might call us out to ask. Let us not, then, despair; but having so many occasions and kind hopes, even if we sin every day, let us come entreating, begging, asking forgiveness of our offenses. For so we shall at last be slower to sin, and shall scare away the devil, and shall call forth the love of God for mankind, and shall obtain the good things to come, 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.