Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 27.1–27.4

“And when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever; and he touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she rose and served him.” Mark added “immediately” as well, wishing to indicate the time too; but this evangelist set down only the sign, without marking the time. And the others say that the woman lying there also entreated him; but this one passed over this too in silence. But this is not a matter of disagreement; the one is a matter of brevity, the other of exact narration. But why did he go into Peter’s house? It seems to me, to take food. This, at any rate, is shown by the words, “She rose and served him.” For he lodged with the disciples, as with Matthew too when he called him, honoring them and making them more eager in this way. But consider here too Peter’s reverence toward him. For though he had his mother-in-law lying at home with a severe fever, he did not drag him to his house, but waited for the teaching to be completed and for all the others to be healed, and then, when he had come in, he entreated him. So from the beginning he was trained to put the affairs of others before his own. So he does not even bring him in himself; Jesus went in of his own accord, after the centurion had said, “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof,” showing how much he favored his disciple. And yet consider what the dwellings of these fishermen were like; but nevertheless he did not disdain to enter their poor huts, teaching you in every way to trample on human pride. And sometimes he heals by words only, sometimes he also stretches out his hand, sometimes he does both, bringing the healing into view. For he did not wish always to work miracles in the most extraordinary way. For he had to remain hidden for the time, especially with the disciples; for in their great delight they would have proclaimed everything. And this is clear from the fact that even after coming to the mountain he needed to charge them to tell no one. Having touched her body, then, he not only quenched the fever, but also gave back pure health. For since the disease was slight, he displayed his power by the manner of the healing, which the art of medicine could not have done. For you know that even after release from fevers the sick need much time to return to their former health. But then everything happened at once. And not only here, but also on the sea. For there too he not only stopped the winds and the storm, but also immediately calmed the swell, which too was strange; for even if the storm ceases, the waters remain agitated for a long time. But not so with Christ; everything was ended at once; which is what happened with the woman too. That is why the evangelist, showing this, said, “She rose and served him,” which was a sign both of Christ’s power and of the disposition that the woman showed toward Christ. And another thing besides we may see from this: that Christ grants the correction of some at the faith of others (for here too others entreated him, as in the case of the centurion’s servant); and he grants it when the one who is to be healed does not disbelieve, but either cannot come to him because of disease, or through ignorance imagines nothing great about him, or is of immature age. “And when evening had come, they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’” Do you see the multitude now growing in faith? For not even when the hour pressed would they endure to depart, nor did they think it untimely to bring their sick in the evening. But consider, I pray you, how great a multitude of people healed the evangelists pass over, not telling and narrating them to us one by one, but passing over in a single word an unspeakable sea of miracles. Then, so that the greatness of the miracle might not again throw them into unbelief, since he freed and set right so great a people and so many diseases in a single instant of time, he brings in the prophet bearing witness to what was done, showing that the proof from the Scriptures is great for us everywhere, and no less than the signs themselves; and he says that Isaiah too said this: “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” He did not say, “He loosed,” but, “He took and bore”; which seems to me to have been said by the prophet rather about sins, in agreement with John, who says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” How

then does the evangelist here apply it to diseases? Either he reads the testimony according to the history, or he shows that most diseases come from sins of the soul. For if the chief of them, death itself, had its root and occasion from sin, much more do most diseases; since even our being subject to suffering came from there. “Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.” Do you see again his freedom from boasting? For the others say that he rebuked the demons so that they might not say that he was the one; but this evangelist says that he pushes away the crowds. And he did this at once teaching us to be modest, soothing the envy of the Jews, and teaching us to do nothing for display. For he not only healed bodies, but also set right the soul and taught it to philosophize, showing himself by both, by freeing them from diseases and by doing nothing for display. For they were attached to him, loving him and marveling at him and wishing to look at him. For who would have gone away from one working such miracles? Who would not have wished simply to see his face, and the mouth that uttered such things? For he was wonderful not only when working miracles, but even when simply appearing he was full of much grace; and the prophet, showing this, said, “Beautiful in loveliness beyond the sons of men.” And if Isaiah says, “He had no form or beauty,” he says this either in comparison with the unspeakable and inexpressible glory of the Godhead, or describing what happened in the passion, the dishonor he underwent at the time of the cross, and the lowliness he displayed in every way throughout his whole life. And he did not command them to go over to the other side until he had healed; for they would not have endured it. As, then, on the mountain they not only stayed while he preached, but followed him even when there was silence, so here too they waited on him not only while he worked miracles, but also when he had stopped, receiving great benefit even from his face. For if Moses had a glorified face, and Stephen a face like an angel’s, consider how the common Master was likely to appear then. Perhaps many now have fallen into a longing to see that form; but if we are willing, we shall see one much better than that. For if we finish the present life with boldness, we shall receive him on the clouds, meeting him in an immortal and incorruptible body. But see how he does not drive them away abruptly, so as not to wound them. For he did not say, “Withdraw,” but commanded them to go over to the other side, giving them the expectation that he would certainly come there. And the crowds displayed such great love and followed with great affection; but one man, a slave of money and full of great arrogance, came and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Do you see how great his pride is? For not thinking it fit to be counted with the crowd, but showing that he himself is above the many, he comes in this way. For such are the manners of the Jews, full of untimely boldness. So too another, later, when all were silent, leaped up and said, “Which commandment is first?” But nevertheless the Master did not rebuke the untimely boldness, teaching us to bear with such people too. That is why he does not openly convict those who plan evil, but answers their thought, leaving it to them alone to know the reproof, and benefiting them doubly: by showing that he knows what is in their conscience, and by granting them, after this display, to remain hidden, and giving them again the opportunity, if they wish, to recover themselves; which he does in this man’s case too. For this man, seeing the many signs and the many who were being drawn after him, expected to make money from such miracles; that is why he hastened to follow. And how is this clear? From the answer which Christ gives, meeting not the question of the words but the purpose of the mind. “What?” he says; “do you expect to collect money by following me? Do you not see that I do not even have a lodging, not even so much as the birds have? For the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” And this was not the word of one turning him away, but of one convicting his evil purpose, and yet allowing him, if he wished, to follow with such an expectation. And that you may learn his wickedness: having heard this and been convicted, he did not say, “I am ready to follow.” And

in many other places too Christ is seen doing this: he does not openly convict, but by his answer shows the purpose of those who come to him. For to the one who said, “Good Teacher,” and expected to draw him by flattery, he answered according to his purpose, saying, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, God.” And when they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are seeking you,” since they were feeling something human, not wishing to hear anything useful but to show that they were related to him and to be vainglorious by this, hear what he says: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And again to the brothers themselves, when they said to him, “Show yourself to the world,” and wished to be vainglorious from this, he said, “Your time is always ready, but mine has not yet come.” And he does this from the opposite side too, as with Nathanael, saying, “Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile”; and again, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” For here too he answered not the words but the purpose of the one who sent them. And to the people again he speaks likewise to their conscience, saying, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” For since it was likely that they were disposed toward John as toward someone fickle and easily blown about, correcting this suspicion, he says, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Or a man clothed in soft garments?”, showing by both that he is neither fickle of himself nor would become soft from any luxury. So here too he makes his answer to the purpose. And see how in this too he displays great modesty. For he did not say, “I have, but I despise it,” but, “I do not have.” Do you see how great an exactness there is together with condescension? As when he eats and drinks, when he appears to act contrary to John, he does this too for the salvation of the Jews, or rather of the whole world, at once stopping the mouths of the heretics and wishing to draw those of that time more abundantly. “And another,” it says, “said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’” Do you see the difference? How the one shamelessly says, “I will follow you wherever you go,” while this one, though asking a holy thing, says, “Permit me”? But he did not permit him, but says, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but you follow me.” For everywhere he attended to the purpose. “And why did he not permit him?” someone says. Because there were those who would fulfill that duty, and the dead man was not going to remain unburied; and this man ought not to be drawn away from more necessary things. And by saying “their own dead,” he shows that this one is not his dead. For the deceased was, as I at least think, one of the unbelievers. And if you wonder at the young man, that he asked Jesus about so necessary a matter and did not go away of his own accord, wonder much more that even when prevented he remained. “Was it not the utmost ingratitude,” someone says, “not to be present when his father was buried?” If he did it from sloth, it was ingratitude; but if it was so as not to interrupt a more necessary work, then to go away would have been the utmost want of feeling. For Jesus prevented him, not commanding him to despise the honor due to parents, but showing that nothing must be more necessary to us than heavenly things, and that we must hold to these with all zeal and not delay even a little, even if what draws us away is very unavoidable and urgent. For what could be more necessary than to bury a father? And what easier? For it would not even have meant spending much time. And if one must not spend even as much time as a father’s burial takes, nor is it safe to be absent from spiritual things even so long, consider what we deserve, who all our time stand aloof from the things that belong to Christ, put very trivial things before necessary ones, and are careless though nothing presses us. And from this too we must marvel at the philosophy of the teaching: that he attached him very closely to the word, and besides this freed him from countless evils, such as laments and mourning and what follows from them. For after the burial there would then have been the need to busy himself with wills, and the distribution of the inheritance, and all the other things that follow these; and so waves succeeding waves would have carried him very far from the harbor of truth. That is why he draws him and attaches him to himself. And if you still wonder and are troubled that he was not allowed to be present at his father’s burial, consider that many do not let those who are ill learn of it, if the deceased is a father or mother or child or any other relative, nor let them follow to the tomb; and we do not charge them with cruelty or inhumanity for this; and very reasonably. For on the contrary it would be cruelty to lead out to mourning people so disposed.

And if it is an evil for relatives to mourn and be crushed in mind, much more is it an evil to be drawn away from spiritual words. That is why he said elsewhere too, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.” For it is much better to proclaim the kingdom and draw others back from death than to bury a dead man who gains nothing by it, especially when there are those who will fulfill all these things. We learn from this, then, nothing else than that we must not waste even an ordinary moment, even if the pressing things are countless, but must put spiritual things before all, even the most necessary, and know what life is and what death is. For many even of those who seem to live differ in nothing from the dead, when they live in wickedness; or rather these are worse even than those. “For the one who has died,” it says, “is justified from sin”; but this one is a slave to sin. For do not tell me that he is not eaten by worms, nor lies in a coffin, nor has closed his eyes, nor is bound with grave clothes. For he endures things harder than the one who has died: not worms devouring him, but the passions of the soul tearing him more fiercely than wild beasts. And if his eyes are open, this again is much worse than their being shut. For the eyes of the dead man see nothing evil, but this man gathers countless diseases for himself with his eyes open. And the one lies in a coffin, unmoved toward everything; but this one is buried in the tomb of countless diseases. “But you do not see his body rotting.” And what of it? Before his body, his soul is corrupted and destroyed and endures greater rottenness. For the one smells for ten days, but this one breathes out a stench his whole life, having a mouth more unclean than sewers. So the one differs from the other by this much: the one endures only the corruption that comes from nature, but this one brings in, besides that, the rottenness that comes from profligacy, devising every day countless occasions of corruption. “But he rides on a horse.” And what is that? The other too is carried on a bier; and, what is grievous, no one sees that one dissolving and rotting, but he has the coffin as a curtain; but this one goes about everywhere stinking, carrying a dead soul about in his body as in a tomb. And if one could see the soul of a man living in luxury and wickedness, you would see that it is much better to lie bound in a tomb than to be bound fast with the cords of sins, and to have the stone lying on one rather than the heavy lid of insensibility. That is why, most of all, the relatives of these dead men, since they are without feeling, must come to Jesus about them, as Mary then did for Lazarus. Even if he stinks, even if he is four days dead, do not despair, but come, and first take away the stone. For then you will see him lying as in a tomb and bound with grave clothes. And if you wish, let us bring forward one of the great and illustrious. But do not be afraid; for I will give the example without naming names; or rather, even if I said the name, not even so ought you to be afraid. For who ever feared a dead man? For whatever he does, he remains dead; and a dead man can harm the living neither little nor much. Let us see, then, their head bound. For when they are continually drunk, just as with the dead and their many wrappings and grave clothes, so all their senses are shut up and bound. And if you wish to see the hands too, you will see these too bound to the belly, as with the departed, and bound tight, not with grave clothes, but, what is much harder, with the bonds of covetousness. For it does not let them be stretched out to almsgiving, nor to any other such good deed, but makes them more useless than those of the dead. Do you wish to see the feet too bound together? See them again bound tight with cares, and for this reason never able to run to the house of God. Did you see the dead man? Look also at the one who wrapped him for burial. Who, then, is the one who wraps these for burial? The devil, who binds them tightly and no longer lets the man appear a man, but dry wood. For where there is no eye, no hands, no feet, nor anything else of the kind, how could such a one appear a man? So too one can see their soul swaddled, an idol rather than a soul. Since, then, they themselves are without feeling, having become in a way dead, let us come to Jesus for them, let us entreat him to raise them, let us take away the stone, let us loose the grave clothes. For if you take away the stone, that is, the insensibility toward their evils, you will quickly be able to bring them out of the tomb too; and having brought them out, you will more easily free them from their bonds. Then Christ will know you, when you rise, when you are loosed; then he will also call you to his own banquets. As many, then, as are friends of Christ, as many as are disciples, as many as love the one who has departed, come to Jesus and pray. For even if he is full of countless stench, nevertheless not even so ought his relatives to abandon him, but rather to come all the more, as Lazarus’s sisters then did, and not to stand away entreating, praying, supplicating, until we receive him alive. For if we manage our own affairs and those of our neighbors in this way, we shall also quickly obtain the life to come; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.