Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 32.2–32.7

but the Pharisees quite the opposite. For they not only slander what was done, but are not ashamed even to contradict themselves. For such is wickedness. For what do they say? “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” What could be more senseless than this? For in the first place, as he says further on, it is impossible for a demon to cast out a demon; for he is accustomed to strengthen his own, not to destroy them. But he not only cast out demons, but also cleansed lepers, raised the dead, bridled the sea, loosed sins, proclaimed the kingdom, and brought men to the Father; things which a demon would never choose, nor ever be able, to do. For demons bring men to idols, lead them away from God, and persuade them to disbelieve in the life to come. A demon, when insulted, does no kindness; since even when not insulted he harms those who serve and honor him. But he does the opposite. For after these insults and abuse, “he went about,” it says, “all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity.” And he not only did not punish them for their insensibility, but did not even simply rebuke them; at once displaying his meekness and by this refuting the slander, and at once wishing to provide a greater proof through the signs that followed, and then also to add the refutation by words. He went about, then, in cities and in country places and in their synagogues, teaching us in this way to repay slanderers, not with other slanders but with greater benefits. For if it is not for men but for God that you benefit your fellow servants, whatever they do, do not stop benefiting them, so that your reward may be greater; since the one who stops doing good after slander shows that it is for their praise and not for God that he takes up such virtue. That is why Christ, teaching us that he came to this from goodness alone, not only did not wait for the sick to come to him, but himself hastened to them, bringing them the two greatest blessings: one, the gospel of the kingdom; the other, the correction of all diseases. And he did not overlook a city nor pass by a village, but visited every place. And he does not stop even at this, but displays another kind of providence too. “For seeing the crowds,” it says, “he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he says to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” See again his freedom from vainglory. So as not to draw all to himself, he sends out the disciples. And not for this reason only, but also to train them, so that, having practiced in Palestine as in a wrestling school, they might thus strip for the contests of the world. That is why he sets them exercises of contests greater than their virtue had yet reached, so that they might take up the later contests more easily, leading them forward to fly like tender nestlings. And for the time he makes them physicians of bodies, reserving for later the chief thing, the correction of the soul. And see how he shows the matter to be easy and necessary. For what does he say? “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” For I am sending you, he says, not to the sowing but to the reaping. Which he said in John: “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” And he said these things both humbling their pride and making them take courage, and showing that the greater toil had gone before. And see here too that he begins from love for humankind, not from any return. “For he had compassion, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” This is the accusation of the rulers of the Jews: that being shepherds they displayed the conduct of wolves. For they not only did not correct the multitude, but even spoiled its progress. At any rate, when the people marveled and said, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel,” these said the opposite, that he casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons. But whom does he mean here by laborers? The twelve disciples. What then? Having said, “The laborers are few,” did he add to their number? Not at all; but he sent them. Why then did he say, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest,” and add none to them? Because, though they were twelve, he made them many from then on, not by adding to the number but by granting power. Then, showing how great the gift is, he says, “Pray the Lord of the harvest”; and quietly he shows himself to be the one who has authority. For having said, “Pray the Lord of the harvest,” without their having asked or prayed at all, he himself at once appoints them, reminding them also of the words of John, of the threshing floor and the winnower and the chaff and the wheat. From which it is clear that he himself is the farmer, he himself the Lord of the harvest, he himself the Master of the prophets. For if he sent them to reap, it is clear that they reap not what belongs to another, but what he sowed through the prophets. And he encouraged them not only by calling their ministry a harvest, but also by making them able for the ministry. “And having called to him,” it says, “his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.” And yet the Spirit had not yet been given; “for the Spirit was not yet,” it says, “because Jesus was not yet glorified.” How then did they cast out the spirits? By his command, by his authority. And consider, I pray you, the timeliness of the mission. For he did not send them at the beginning, but when they had sufficiently … (words lost; the sense is “enjoyed following him”), when they had seen a dead girl raised, the sea rebuked, demons driven out, a paralytic braced, sins loosed, a leper cleansed, and had received sufficient proof of his power through both deeds and words: then he sends them out; and not into dangerous affairs; for there was as yet no danger in Palestine, but only standing up to slanders. Yet he tells them this too, about the dangers, preparing them even before the time and making them ready for the contest by continual prediction of these things. Then, since he had told us of two pairs of apostles, Peter and Andrew, James and John, and after those had shown Matthew called, but had told us nothing about the calling and names of the other apostles, here of necessity he sets down their list and number and makes their names plain, saying thus: “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon who is called Peter.” For there was another Simon, the Cananaean; and Judas Iscariot, and Judas of James; and James the son of Alphaeus, and James the son of Zebedee. Mark sets them down according to their rank too; for after the two leaders he then counts Andrew; but this evangelist does not do so, but without distinction; or rather he even sets Thomas, who was far inferior, before himself. But let us look at their list from the beginning. “First, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother.” This too is no small praise; for he named the one from his virtue and the other from the nobility of his character. “Then James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother.” Do you see how he does not set them down according to rank? For it seems to me that John was greater not only than the others but even than his brother. Then, having said, “Philip and Bartholomew,” he added, “Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector.” But Luke does not do so, but the reverse, and sets him before Thomas. “Then James the son of Alphaeus”; for there was, as I said before, the son of Zebedee too. Then, having said, “Lebbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,” whom he also calls the Cananaean, he comes to the traitor; and he narrated it not as an enemy and foe, but as one writing history. He did not say, “the abominable, the utterly abominable,” but called him from his city: “Judas Iscariot.” For there was another, Luke says, saying, “Judas of James.” Distinguishing him from this one, then, he says, “Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” And he is not ashamed to say, “who also betrayed him.” So they never hid anything, not even of what seemed disgraceful. And first of all, and leader, is the unlettered, the untrained man. But let us see where and to whom he sends them. “These twelve,” it says, “Jesus sent out.” What sort of men were these? The fishermen, the tax collectors; for four were fishermen and two tax collectors, Matthew and James; and one was also a traitor. And what does he say to them? At once he charges them, saying, “Do not go on the road of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” For do not think, he says, that because they insult me and call me demon-possessed I hate them and turn away from them. For I have been eager to correct them first, and, drawing you away from all the others, I send you to them as teachers and physicians. And I not only forbid you to preach to others before them, but do not even permit you to set foot on the road leading there, nor to enter such a city. (For the Samaritans too were hostile to the Jews.) And yet their case was easier; for they were much more fit for faith; while that of these was harder. But nevertheless he sends them to the more difficult, showing his care for them, stopping the mouths of the Jews, and preparing the way for the teaching of the apostles, so that they might not again accuse them of having gone in to the uncircumcised, and seem to have a just cause for fleeing from them and turning away. And he calls them lost sheep, not sheep that had leaped away, everywhere devising pardon for them and drawing their mind to himself. “And as you go,” it says, “preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Do you see the greatness of the ministry? Do you see the dignity of the apostles? They are commanded to speak of nothing perceptible to the senses, nor such things as Moses and the prophets before them spoke of, but of things new and strange. For those men did not preach such things, but the land and the good things in the land; … and these are greater not only from this but also from their obedience. For they do not shrink back nor hesitate, as the ancients did; but (though hearing of dangers and wars and intolerable evils) they receive the commands with great readiness, as heralds of a kingdom. “And what is wonderful,” someone says, “if, preaching nothing gloomy or hard, they obeyed easily?” What are you saying? Were they commanded nothing hard? Do you not hear of the prisons, the arrests, the civil wars, the hatred from all, which he said a little later they would all undergo? For he sent them as the procurers and heralds of countless good things to others, but told and foretold that they themselves would suffer intolerable terrors. Then, making them trustworthy, he says, “Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, cast out demons; freely you have received, freely give.” See how he takes care of their character, and not less than of the signs, showing that the signs without this are nothing. For he humbles their pride, saying, “Freely you have received, freely give,” and prepares them to be pure of love of money. Then, so that it might not be thought their own achievement, and that they might not be lifted up by the signs that happened, he says, “Freely you have received.” You are bestowing nothing on those who receive you; for you did not receive these things for a wage, nor by toiling; for the grace is mine. So give to them likewise; for there is no price that can be found worthy of these things. Then, at once pulling up the root of evils, he says, “Acquire no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for the road, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staff.” He did not say, “Do not take them with you,” but, even if it is possible to get them from elsewhere, flee the wicked disease. For by this he accomplished many things: first, making the disciples free of suspicion; second, freeing them from every care, so as to give all their leisure to the word; third, teaching them his own power. This, at any rate, he says to them afterward too: “Did you lack anything when I sent you out naked and unshod?” He did not say at once, “Acquire nothing”; but when he had said, “Cleanse lepers, cast out demons,” then he said, “Acquire nothing; freely you have received, freely give,” providing by the facts both what was fitting for them and what was possible. But perhaps someone might say that the other things would be reasonable; but not to have a bag for the road, nor two tunics, nor a staff, nor sandals, why did he command this? Wishing to train them to all exactness; since earlier too he did not permit them to be anxious even about the next day. For he was going to send them out as teachers to the world. That is why he makes them, so to speak, angels out of men, releasing them from all worldly care, so that they might be held by one care alone, that of teaching; or rather he releases them even from that, saying, “Do not be anxious how or what you are to speak.” So what seems very burdensome and grievous, this he shows to be especially easy and simple for them. For nothing makes one so cheerful as being freed from care and anxiety, especially when it is possible, being freed from it, to lack nothing, since God is present and becomes everything to them. Then, so that they might not say, “From where, then, shall we get the necessary food?”, he does not say to them, “You heard what I said to you before, ‘Look at the birds of the air’” (for they were not yet able to show this command in deeds), but he added something much lower than this, saying, “For the laborer deserves his food”; showing that they had to be fed by those they taught, so that neither they might be proud toward those they taught, as giving everything and receiving nothing from them, nor these again be torn away, as being disdained by them. Then, so that they might not say, “Do you command us, then, to live by begging?” and be ashamed, he shows the matter to be a debt, both by calling them laborers and by naming what is given a wage. For do not think, he says, because the work is in words, that the benefit from you is small; for the matter involves many toils; and whatever those taught give, they do not provide it as a favor, but as paying a recompense; “for the laborer deserves his food.” And he said this not as declaring the apostolic toils worth so little (far from it, God forbid!), but both legislating for them to seek nothing more, and persuading those who provide that what is done by them is not generosity but a debt.

“[And into whatever] city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave.” For do not think, he says, that because I said, “The laborer deserves his food,” I have opened everyone’s doors to you; here too I command you to use great exactness. For this will benefit you both for your reputation and for your very maintenance. For if he is worthy, he will surely give you food, especially when you ask nothing beyond necessities. And he not only commands them to seek out the worthy, but also not to change from house to house, so as neither to grieve the one who receives them nor to get a reputation for gluttony and self-indulgence. This he showed by saying, “Stay there until you leave.” And this one can learn from the other evangelists too. Do you see how by this too he made them venerable, and made those who receive them careful, showing that they themselves are rather the ones who gain, both in honor and in benefit? Then, pursuing this same point again, he says, “And as you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” Do you see how far he does not decline to give instructions? And very reasonably. For he was preparing athletes of godliness and heralds of the world. And preparing them in this way to be modest and making them lovable, he says, “And whoever does not receive you nor hear your words, as you leave that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city.” For do not, because you teach, he says, therefore wait to be greeted by others, but lead the way in honor. Then, showing that this is not a bare greeting but a blessing, he says, “If the house is worthy, it will come upon it; but if it behaves insolently, its first punishment is not to enjoy the peace, and the second, that it will suffer the things of Sodom.” “And what is their punishment to us?” someone says. You will have the houses of the worthy. And what does “Shake off the dust of your feet” mean? It is either to show that they received nothing from them, or to be a testimony to them of the long journey they undertook for their sake. But consider, I pray you, how he does not yet give them everything. For he does not yet grant them foreknowledge, so as to learn who is worthy and who is not, but commands them to inquire and to await the test. How then did he himself stay with a tax collector? Because he had become worthy by his change. And consider, I pray you, how, having stripped them of everything, he gave them everything, permitting them to stay in the houses of those being made disciples, and to enter having nothing. For in this way they were freed from care, and they persuaded those others that they had come solely for their salvation, by bringing nothing with them, by asking nothing more of them than necessities, and by not entering everyone’s house without distinction. For he wished them to appear illustrious not only from the signs, but even before the signs, from their own virtue. For nothing so marks philosophy as freedom from superfluities and, as far as possible, from wants. This even the false apostles knew. That is why Paul too said, “So that in what they boast of they may be found to be as we are.” And if, when we are in a strange land and going to people we do not know, we must seek nothing more than our daily food, much more when we stay at home.

Let us not only hear these things, but also imitate them. For they were said not only about the apostles but also about the saints who came after. Let us become worthy, then, of receiving them. For according to the disposition of those who receive them this peace comes, and flies away again. For this happens not only from the boldness of those who teach, but also from the worthiness of those who receive. And let us not think it a small loss not to enjoy such peace. For this the prophet too proclaimed long before, saying, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of peace.” Then, explaining its worth, he added, “of those who bring good news of good things.” This Christ too declared to be great, saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” And we must do everything so as to enjoy it, both at home and in church. For in the church too the one who presides gives peace. And this is a type of that; and one must receive him with all eagerness, in mind, before the table. For if not to share it after the table is offensive, how much more offensive would it be to push away the one who speaks it! For your sake the presbyter sits, for your sake the teacher stands, toiling and laboring. What excuse, then, will you have if you do not give him even the welcome of listening? For the church is the common house of all; and when you have come in first, we enter, keeping the type of those apostles. That is why we too pronounce the peace in common to all as soon as we enter, according to that law. Let no one, then, be careless, no one distracted, when the priests have entered and are teaching; for no small punishment is laid down for this. For I for my part would rather ten thousand times enter the house of one of you and be left at a loss, than not be heard when I speak here. This is harder to me than that, since this house is the more important. For our great possessions are laid up here; here are all our hopes. For what is there here that is not great and awesome? For this table is much more precious and sweeter than that one, and this lamp than that lamp. And those know it who, anointing themselves with oil in faith and in due season, have put away diseases. And this chest is much better and more necessary than that chest; for it holds shut up not clothes but alms, even if those who possess them are few. Here too is a couch better than that one; for the rest of the divine Scriptures is sweeter than any couch. And if the work of concord had been well achieved among us, we would have no other house besides this. And that what has been said is not burdensome, the three thousand and the five thousand bear witness, who had one house, one table, and one soul; “for the multitude of those who believed,” it says, “were of one heart and one soul.” But since we fall far short of their virtue and are scattered in our houses, at least when we gather here let us do this with eagerness. For if in other things we are … at least here receive us with love when we come in to you. And when I say, “Peace be with you,” and you then say, “And with your spirit,” say it not with the voice only but with the mind, not with the mouth only but with the understanding. But if here you say, “Peace, and with your spirit,” and outside you war against me, spitting at me and speaking ill of me, secretly besmirching me with countless reproaches, what sort of peace is this? For I, even if you speak ill of me ten thousand times, give you the peace with a pure heart, with a sincere mind, and can never say anything evil about you; for I have a father’s heart. And if I ever rebuke you, I do it out of care. But you, biting me secretly and not receiving me in the Lord’s house, I fear lest you again increase my despondency; not because you insulted me, nor because you cast me out, but because you thrust away the peace and drew on yourself that grievous punishment. For even if I do not shake off the dust, even if I do not turn away, the terms of the threat remain unmoved. For I often pronounce peace to you, and I will not stop saying it continually; and if, besides your insults, you do not receive me, not even so do I shake off the dust; not because I disobey the Master, but because I burn with love for you exceedingly. And besides, I have suffered nothing for your sake: I have neither come on a long journey, nor come with that dress and that poverty (that is why we first accuse ourselves), nor without sandals and a second tunic; perhaps that is why you too fall short in your part. Yet this is not enough for your defense; for while our judgment is greater, it gives you no share of pardon.

Then the houses were churches, but now the church has become a house. Then there was nothing worldly to be said in a house; now there is nothing spiritual to be said in church, but even here you bring in the affairs of the marketplace; and while God is speaking, leaving off listening in silence to what is said, you bring in the opposite and confer together. And would that it were your own affairs! But as it is, you both speak and hear things that do not concern you at all. For this I lament, and I will not stop lamenting. For I have no power to change this house; but here I must remain until we depart from the present life. “Make room, then, for us,” as Paul commanded. For what he said there was not about a table but about mind and disposition. This we too seek from you: love, that warm and genuine friendship. But if you will not endure even this, at least love yourselves, laying aside your present sloth. This is enough consolation for us, if we see you well approved and become better. So I too will show greater love, “even if the more I love, the less I am loved.” For many things bind us together: one table is set before all; one Father begot us; we were all born of the same birth pangs; the same drink has been given to all; or rather not only the same drink, but to drink from one cup. For the Father, wishing to lead us to affection, devised this too, that we should drink from one cup; which belongs to intense love. “But we are not equal to the apostles.” I too confess it, and would never deny it. For we are not worthy, not only of them, but not even of their shadow. But nevertheless, let your part be done. This cannot shame you, but will benefit you the more. For when you show so much love and obedience even toward the unworthy, then you will receive the greater recompense. For it is not our own things that we speak; since you have no teacher on earth; but what we received, we also give, and in giving we seek nothing more from you than to be loved only. And if we are unworthy even of this, yet by loving you we shall quickly become worthy. And yet we have been commanded to love not only those who love us, but even our enemies. Who, then, is so harsh, who so savage, as, having received such a law, to turn away from and hate even those who love him, even if he is full of countless evils? We have shared a spiritual table; let us share spiritual love too. For if robbers, sharing salt, forget their ways, what defense shall we have, who always partake of the Lord’s body and do not imitate even their gentleness? And yet for many not a table only, but even belonging to one city has been enough for friendship; but we, when we have the same city, the same house, table, road, door, root, life, head, the same shepherd, king, teacher, judge, maker, and Father, and all things in common, what pardon would we deserve if we are divided from one another? “But you seek the signs that those men worked when they came in: the lepers cleansed, the demons driven out, the dead raised?” But this too is the greatest proof of your nobility and of your love: to believe God without pledges. For it was for this and for another reason that God stopped the signs. For if, when signs do not happen, those who pride themselves on other advantages, such as the word of wisdom or a display of piety, are vainglorious, are puffed up, and split from one another, what rifts would there not have been if signs had happened too? And that what has been said is not conjecture, the Corinthians bear witness, who were divided from this into many parts. Do not, then, seek signs, but the health of the soul. Do not seek to see one dead man raised; for you have learned that the whole world is rising. Do not seek to see a blind man healed, but see all now receiving the better and more useful sight; and learn yourself too to look chastely, and correct your eye. For if we all lived as we ought, the children of the pagans would marvel at us more than at wonder-workers. For the signs often bring with them a suspicion of illusion and another evil suspicion, even though ours are not such; but a pure life cannot admit any such slander, but the possession of virtue stops the mouths of all.