Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 54.1–54.6

“[Now when] Jesus [came] into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’” Why has he named the founder of the city? Because there is another too, Caesarea of Strato. And he asks them not in that one but in this, leading them far away from the Jews, so that, freed from all fear, they might say with boldness everything that was in their mind. And why did he not ask their own opinion at once, but that of the many? So that, having told the opinion of those, and then being asked, “But who do you say that I am?”, they might be raised by the manner of the question to a higher conception, and not fall into the same lowliness as the many. That is why he does not inquire of them at the beginning of his preaching either; but when he had done many signs, and had spoken with them about many and lofty doctrines, and had given many proofs of his Godhead and of his oneness of mind with the Father, then he puts this question to them. And he did not say, “Who do the scribes and Pharisees say that I am?”—although these often came to him and argued with him—but, “Who do men say that I am?”, examining the unbiased opinion of the people. For even if it was much lower than it should have been, yet it was free of wickedness; but that other was full of much malice. And showing how greatly he wishes the incarnation to be confessed, he says, “the Son of Man,” calling his Godhead by this name, as he does often elsewhere too. For he says, “No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man, who is in heaven”; and again, “When you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before.” Then, when they said, “Some John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” and had brought their mistaken opinion into the midst, he then added, “But who do you say that I am?”, calling them on by the second question to imagine something greater about him, and showing them that the first verdict falls far short of his worth. That is why he seeks another from them, and brings on a second question, so that they might not fall in with the many, who, since they saw signs greater than human, thought him a man, but one who had appeared after a resurrection, as Herod too said. But he, leading them away from this suspicion, says, “But who do you say that I am?”, that is, “you who are always with me and see me working wonders, and who have yourselves done many mighty works through me.” What then does the mouth of the apostles, Peter, do, he who is everywhere fervent, the leader of the band of the apostles? When all were asked, he answers. And when he asked the people’s opinion, they all told what was asked; but when he asked theirs, Peter leaps forward and anticipates them, and says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” What then does Christ say? “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you.” And yet, had he not confessed him as genuine Son, begotten of the Father himself, this would not have been the work of revelation; if he thought him to be one of the many, what was said would not have deserved a blessing. For before this, too, those in the boat said after the storm they had seen, “Truly he is the Son of God,” and they were not blessed, although they spoke truly. For they did not confess such a sonship as Peter did; they thought him a true son as one of the many, distinguished above the many, but not of the very essence. And Nathanael too said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”; and not only is he not blessed, but he is even corrected by him as having said what fell far short of the truth. At any rate he added, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” Why then is this man blessed? Because he confessed him as genuine Son. That is why in their case he said nothing of the kind, but in this one he also shows who revealed it. For lest it should seem to the many, since he was an ardent lover of Christ, that his words came from friendship and flattery and a disposition seeking to please him, he brings into the midst the one who sounded it in his soul, so that you may learn that Peter uttered it, but the Father dictated it, and that you may believe that what was said is no longer a human opinion but a divine doctrine. And why does he not declare it himself, nor say, “I am the Christ,” but establishes this through the question, bringing them to confess it? Because so it was then both more fitting and necessary for him, and it drew them the more to faith in what was said. Do you see how the Father reveals the Son, how the Son the Father? “For no one knows the Father,” he says, “except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” It is not possible, then, to learn the Son from another than the Father, nor to learn the Father from another than the Son. So from this too their equality of honor and sameness of essence is plain. What then does Christ say? “You are Simon, the son of Jonah; you shall be called Cephas.” “For since you have proclaimed my Father,” he says, “I too name the one who begot you”; all but saying, “As you are the child of Jonah, so I am of my Father.” For otherwise it would have been superfluous to say, “You are the son of Jonah”; but since he had said “Son of God,” to show that he is Son of God in the same way as that man is son of Jonah, of the same essence as the one who begot him, he therefore added this. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,” that is, on the faith of his confession. By this he shows that many were now about to believe, and he raises his mind and makes him a shepherd. “And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” And if they shall not prevail against it, much less against me. “So do not be troubled when you are about to hear that I shall be delivered up and crucified.” Then he speaks of another honor too: “And I will give you the keys of the heavens.” What is, “And I will give you”? “As the Father gave you to know me, so I too will give.” And he did not say, “I will entreat the Father,” although the display of authority was great and the greatness of the gift unspeakable; but, “I will give you.” What do you give? Tell me. “The keys of the heavens, that whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in the heavens.” How then is it not his to give the sitting on the right hand and on the left, when he says, “I will give you”? Do you see how he himself leads Peter up to a lofty conception of him, and reveals himself, and shows that he is the Son of God through these two promises? For what belongs to God alone—to loose sins, and to make the church unshakable amid so great an onset of waves, and to show a man, a fisherman, firmer than any rock while the whole world makes war on him—these he himself promises to give; as the Father said, speaking to Jeremiah, that he would make him “like a pillar of bronze and like a wall”; but that one for one nation, this one in every part of the world. I would gladly ask, then, those who wish to diminish the Son’s dignity: which gifts are greater, those which the Father gave to Peter, or those which the Son gave? For the one granted Peter the revelation of the Son; but the Son granted him to sow the knowledge of the Father and of himself in every part of the world, and entrusted to a mortal man authority over all things in heaven by giving him the keys; he who extended the church into every part of the world and made it stronger than heaven. “For heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” How then is he less who gave such things, who accomplished such things? And I say this not dividing the works of Father and Son—“for all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being”—but stopping the shameless tongue of those who dare such things.

But see his authority in everything: “I tell you, you are Peter; I will build the church; I will give you the keys of the heavens.” “And then,” having said this, “he charged them to tell no one that he was the Christ.” And why did he charge them? So that, when the things that gave offense had been removed, and the cross had been accomplished, and the rest of his sufferings completed, and there was no longer anything to interrupt and cloud the faith of the many in him, the fitting opinion of him might be imprinted pure and unshaken on the minds of the hearers. For his power had not yet shone out clearly. That is why he wished to be proclaimed by them at the time when the truth of the facts would be plain and the strength of what was done would support what was said by the apostles. For it was not the same to see him now working wonders in Palestine, now insulted and driven out (especially when the cross was about to follow the wonders being done), and to see him worshiped and believed in every part of the world, and suffering no longer any such thing as he suffered. That is why he says to tell no one. For what has once taken root and then been torn up, if planted again, would hardly be retained among the many; but what, once fixed, has remained unshaken and been harmed from no side, easily springs up and grows to greater increase. For if those who had enjoyed many signs and shared in so many unspeakable mysteries were offended merely by hearing of it—or rather not they alone, but even Peter, the leader of all—consider what the many were likely to suffer, learning that he is the Son of God, and seeing him crucified and spat upon, not knowing the hidden meaning of these mysteries, nor having received the Holy Spirit. For if he said to the disciples, “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” much more would the rest of the people have fallen away, if the summit of these mysteries had been revealed to them before the fitting time. That is why he forbids them to tell it. And that you may learn how important it was for them to learn the full teaching afterward, when the things that gave offense had passed, learn it from this very leader. For this same Peter, who after so many signs proved so weak as even to deny him and to fear a worthless servant girl, when the cross had come to pass and he had received clear proofs of the resurrection, and there was nothing left to offend and trouble him, held the teaching of the Spirit so unshaken that he sprang upon the people of the Jews more fiercely than a lion, although dangers and countless deaths were threatened. Rightly, then, did he command them not to tell the many before the cross, since he did not dare to put everything even into those who were to teach before the cross. “For I have many things to say to you,” he says, “but you cannot bear them now.” And of what was said by him they were ignorant of many things, which he did not make plain before the cross. At any rate, when he rose, then they knew some of the things that had been said. “From that time he began to show them that he must suffer.” “From that time”: when? When he had fixed the doctrine in them, when he had brought in the beginning of the Gentiles. But not even so did they understand what was said; “for the saying,” it says, “was hidden from them”; and they were as it were in a kind of obscurity, not knowing that he must rise. That is why he dwells on the hard things and enlarges his discourse, to open their mind and make them understand what in the world is being said. “But they did not understand, but the saying was hidden from them, and they were afraid to ask him”—not whether he would die, but how and in what way, and what in the world this mystery is. For they did not know what this rising was, and they thought it much better not to die. That is why, while the others were troubled and perplexed, again Peter, being fervent, alone dares to speak about these things; and not even he openly, but “taking him aside,” that is, separating himself from the rest of the disciples, he says, “Mercy on you, Lord; this shall never happen to you.” What in the world is this? He who had obtained a revelation, who had been called blessed, so quickly fell and stumbled as to fear the passion? And what wonder is it that one who had not received a revelation about these things should suffer this? For that you may learn that he did not utter those words of himself either, see how in these matters, which had not been revealed to him, he is troubled and overturned, and though hearing countless times he does not know what in the world is being said. For that he is the Son of God he had learned; but what the mystery of the cross and of the resurrection is had not yet become plain to him. “For the saying,” it says, “was hidden from them.” Do you see that he rightly commanded them not to tell the others? For if it so troubled those who had to learn it, what would the rest not have suffered? He himself, however, showing that he is so far from coming to the passion unwillingly, both rebuked Peter and called him Satan.

Let all who are ashamed of the passion of Christ’s cross listen. For if the leader, even before he had learned everything clearly, was called Satan for feeling this, what pardon could they have who, after so great a proof, deny the incarnation? For when one so blessed, who confessed such things, hears such words, consider what those will suffer who afterward set aside the mystery of the cross. And he did not say, “Satan spoke through you,” but, “Get behind me, Satan.” For it was the desire of the adversary that Christ should not suffer. That is why he rebuked him with such vehemence, since he knew that both he and the others especially feared this and would not readily accept it. That is why he also reveals what was in his mind, saying, “You are not minding the things of God, but the things of men.” What is, “You are not minding the things of God, but the things of men”? He, examining the matter by human and earthly reasoning, thought this shameful and unfitting for him. Striking at him, then, he says, “My suffering is not unfit … … listened to what was said, freed from the carnal mind, you would have known that this above all is fitting for me. For you think that suffering is unworthy of me; but I tell you that my not suffering belongs to the devil’s purpose”; quieting his agony by the opposite. For just as with John, who thought it unworthy of him that he should be baptized by him, he persuaded him to baptize him by saying, “Thus it is fitting for us,” and with Peter himself, when he was forbidding him to wash his feet, by saying, “You have no part with me unless I wash your feet,” so here too he restrained him by the opposite, and by the vehemence of his rebuke quieted his fear about the suffering. Let no one, then, be ashamed of the solemn symbols of our salvation, and of the sum of good things, through which we both live and are what we are; but let us carry about the cross of Christ like a crown. For indeed all that concerns us is accomplished through it. If one must be born again, the cross is present; if one is to be fed with that mystical food, if one is to be ordained, if one is to do anything else whatever, everywhere this symbol of victory stands by us. That is why we inscribe it with great zeal on houses, and on walls, and on windows, and on the forehead, and on the mind. For this is the sign of the salvation wrought for us, and of our common freedom, and of the forbearance of our Master. “For he was led like a sheep to the slaughter.” When, then, you make the sign, consider the whole purpose of the cross, and quench anger and all the other passions. When you make the sign, fill your forehead with great boldness, make your soul free. And you surely know what the things are that give freedom. That is why Paul too, leading us to this, I mean to the freedom that befits us, led us on so, reminding us of the cross and the blood of the Master: “For you were bought with a price,” he says; “do not become slaves of men.” Consider, he says, the price paid down for you, and you will be no man’s slave; calling the cross the price. For one must not simply trace it with the finger, but first with the will, with great faith. And if you imprint it so on your face, none of the unclean spirits will be able to stand near you, seeing the knife by which he received his wound, seeing the sword by which he received the mortal blow. For if we shudder when we see the places where the condemned are beheaded, consider what the devil will suffer, seeing the weapon by which Christ dissolved all his power and cut off the dragon’s head. Do not, then, be ashamed of so great a good, so that Christ may not be ashamed of you when he comes with his glory, and the sign appears before him, shining above the very ray of the sun. For the cross comes then, sending forth a voice by its very appearance, and pleading before the whole world on behalf of the Master, and showing that he left undone nothing of what was his to do. This sign, both in the time of our forefathers and now, has opened doors that were shut; this has quenched deadly drugs; this has dissolved the power of hemlock; this has healed the bites of venomous beasts. For if it broke the gates of Hades, and spread open the vaults of heaven, and renewed the entrance into paradise, and cut the sinews of the devil, what wonder is it if it prevailed over deadly drugs and wild beasts and other such things?

Engrave this, then, on your mind, and embrace the salvation of our souls. For this cross saved and converted the world, drove out error, brought back truth, made earth heaven, made men angels. Because of it the demons are no longer fearful but contemptible; nor is death death, but sleep; because of it all that wars against us has been thrown to the ground and trampled underfoot. If, then, someone says to you, “Do you worship the crucified one?” say with a bright voice and a glad face, “I do worship him, and I will never cease to worship him.” And if he laughs, weep for him, because he is mad. Give thanks to the Master that he has benefited us with such things as one cannot even learn without revelation from above. For this is why that man laughs too, because “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit.” For children too feel this, when they see something great and wonderful; and if you bring a child into the mysteries, he will laugh. To these children the Greeks are like; or rather they are even more imperfect than these, and therefore more wretched, because not at an untimely age but at full age they feel as infants do; hence they are not even worthy of pardon. But let us, with a bright voice, shouting loud and high, cry out and say—and when all the Greeks are present, with all the greater boldness—that the cross is our boast, and the sum of all good things, and our confidence, and our whole crown. I would wish … “… has been crucified …, and I to the world”; but I cannot, held down as I am by various passions. That is why I exhort both you and, before you, myself, to be crucified to the world, and to have nothing in common with the earth, but to love the country above, and the glory and the good things from there. For we are soldiers of a heavenly King, and have put on spiritual arms. Why, then, do we take up the life of hucksters and vagabonds, or rather of worms? For where the king is, there the soldier too must be. For we have become soldiers not of one far off, but of one near. For the king on earth would not bear that all should be in the palace, nor at his side; but the King of the heavens wishes all to be near his royal throne. “And how is it possible,” you say, “for those who are here to stand beside that throne?” … being of the earth, was where the seraphim are, where the cherubim are, and nearer to Christ than these shield-bearers of the king. For these turn their eyes in many directions; but nothing distracted that man or drew him aside, but he kept his whole mind intent upon the King. So, if we wish, this is possible for us too. For if he were separated by place, you might well be at a loss; but if he is present everywhere, he is near to the one who is zealous and intent. That is why the prophet too said, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me”; and God himself again: “I am a God at hand, and not a God far off.” As, then, sins separate us from him, so righteous deeds bring us together with him. “For while you are still speaking,” he says, “I will say, ‘Here I am.’” What father would ever so listen to his offspring? What mother is so ready, standing continually, lest her children should call her? There is no one, no father, no mother; but God stands continually waiting, in case any of his servants should ever call him, and never, when we have called as we ought, has he failed to hear. That is why he says, “While you are still speaking”: I do not wait for you to finish, and at once I hear. Let us, then, call him as he wishes to be called. And how does he wish it? “Loose,” he says, “every bond of injustice, undo the knots of violent contracts, tear up every unjust document. Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see one naked, cover him, and do not overlook those of your own seed. Then your light shall break forth early, and your healings shall spring up quickly, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall clothe you. Then you shall call on me, and I will hear you; while you are still speaking I will say, ‘Here I am.’” “And who,” someone says, “can do all these things?” And who cannot? Tell me. For what is difficult in what has been said? What is laborious? What is not easy? For they are so far from being only possible, they are even easy, that many have gone beyond the measure of what was said, not only tearing up unjust contracts, but stripping themselves of all they had; receiving the poor not only with roof and table, but toiling even with the sweat of their body to feed them; benefiting not only kinsmen but even enemies.

And what at all is difficult in what has been said? For he did not say, “Cross the mountain, pass over the sea, dig up so many and so many acres of land, remain without food, put on sackcloth”; but, “Share with your own, share your bread, tear up the documents unjustly drawn up.” What is easier than these? Tell me. But if you think them difficult, consider, I pray you, the prizes too, and they will be easy for you. For as kings at the horse races set out crowns and prizes and garments before those who compete, so too Christ places the prizes in the midst of the stadium, holding them out as through many hands, the words of the prophet. And kings, even if they are kings ten thousand times over, being men, and having wealth that is spent and generosity that is used up, are ambitious to make a few things look many; that is why, entrusting each item to one of their servants, they bring them out so into the midst. Our King does the opposite: having gathered them all together, since he is exceedingly rich and does nothing for display, he sets them out so in the midst; and when they are unfolded they will be boundless, and will need many hands to hold them. And that you may learn this, examine each of them with care. “Then shall your light break forth early,” he says. Does this gift seem to you to be one thing? But it is not one; it holds many within it, both prizes and crowns and other rewards. And if you wish, let us unfold it and show all the wealth, as far as we are able to show it; only do not grow weary. And first let us learn what “shall break forth” means. For he did not say, “shall appear,” but, “shall break forth,” showing us its speed and abundance, and how greatly he longs for our salvation, and how these good things are in travail to come forth themselves, and press on, and nothing will hold back their unspeakable rush; by all which he shows their abundance and the boundlessness of his wealth. And what is “early”? That is, not after you have been in trials, nor after the onset of evils, but it even anticipates them. For as with fruits we call “early” what appears before its season, so here too, showing again the speed, he spoke so, as above he said, “While you are still speaking I will say, ‘Here I am.’” And what light does he mean, and what in the world is this light? Not this light of the senses, but another, far better, which shows us heaven, the angels, the archangels, the cherubim, the seraphim, the thrones, the dominions, the principalities, the powers, the whole host, the royal courts, the tents. For if you are counted worthy of that light, you will both see these things and be delivered from Gehenna, and from the venomous worm, and from the gnashing of teeth, and from the bonds that cannot be loosed, and from the distress and the affliction, and from the darkness without a gleam, and from being cut in two, and from the river of fire, and from the curse, and from the places of pain; and you will depart where pain and grief have fled away, where joy is great, and peace, and love, and delight, and gladness; where there is eternal life, and unspeakable glory, and indescribable beauty; where there are the eternal tents, and the unspeakable glory of the King, and those good things “which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man”; where there is the spiritual bridal chamber, and the bridal halls of the heavens, and the virgins who have bright lamps, and those who have the wedding garment; where the Master’s possessions are many, and the royal treasuries. Do you see how great the prizes are, and how many he displayed through one saying, and how he gathered them all together? So too, if we unfold each of the following sayings, we shall find great abundance and a boundless sea. Shall we still put off, then, tell me, and hesitate to have mercy on those in need? No, I beg you; but even if we must throw away everything, even if we must be cast into fire, even if we must brave the sword, even if we must leap upon knives, even if we must suffer anything whatever, let us bear all things easily, so that we may obtain the garment of the kingdom of the heavens and that unspeakable glory; which may we all attain, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.