Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 65.6–66.5

And if you wish, examine this also from that wicked demon. For what could be lower than the devil, since he was lifted up? And what higher than a man who wishes to humble himself? For the one is dragged on the ground, lying under our heel (“for you tread,” he says, “upon serpents and scorpions”), while the other stands above with the angels. And if you wish to learn this from proud men too, think of that barbarian who led so great an army, who did not know even what is plain to all, for example that the stone was a stone and the idols idols; and so he was lower even than these. But the godly and faithful rise even above the sun: what could be loftier than they, who pass beyond the very vaults of heaven, and going past the angels stand beside the royal throne itself? And that you may learn their meanness from another side too: who would be brought low, the one who is helped by God or the one who is warred against by him? Plainly the one who is warred against. Hear then what Scripture says about each of these: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Again I will ask you something else. Who is loftier: the one who serves as priest to God and offers sacrifice, or the one who is far from boldness toward him? “And what sacrifice does the humble man offer?” someone says. Hear David saying, “The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humbled heart God will not despise.” Do you see the purity of the one? See also the uncleanness of the other: “For everyone who is high-hearted is unclean before God.” Besides these things, the one has God resting upon him (“For on whom will I look,” he says, “but on the meek and quiet, and the one who trembles at my words?”), while the other is dragged along with the devil; for the one who is puffed up will suffer what the devil suffered. That is why Paul said, “lest, being puffed up, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” And the opposite of what he wishes happens to him. For he wishes to be arrogant in order to be honored; but he is the most despised of all. For the ridiculous, those who are enemies and foes to all, those easily overcome by their enemies, those quick to fall into anger, those unclean before God: these are such above all. What then could be worse than this? For this is the limit of evils. But what is sweeter than the humble? What more blessed, when they are longed for and beloved by God? And they enjoy the glory that comes from men too above all; and all honor them as fathers, embrace them as brothers, receive them as their own members. Let us become humble, then, so that we may become lofty. For arrogance humbles a man to excess. This humbled Pharaoh. “For I do not know the Lord,” he says; and he became worse than gnats and frogs and caterpillars, and after this was drowned with his very weapons and horses. Abraham was the opposite of him: “But I,” he says, “am earth and ashes”; and he overcame countless barbarians, and falling into the midst of the Egyptians, he came back bearing a trophy more glorious than before; and holding fast to this virtue, he became ever loftier. That is why he is sung everywhere, why he is crowned and proclaimed; while Pharaoh is earth and ashes, and anything lower than these. For God turns away from nothing so much as pride. For this reason from the beginning he did all things to take away this passion. For this reason we have become mortal, and live in griefs and lamentations; for this reason in toil and sweat and continual, wretched labor. For the first man sinned from arrogance, expecting equality with God. For this reason he did not keep even what he had, but fell from these things too. For such is arrogance: not only does it add to us no achievement in life, but it cuts off what we have; just as humility not only cuts off nothing of what we have, but adds what we do not have. Let us, then, emulate this, let us pursue this, so that we may both enjoy the present honor and obtain the glory to come, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, might, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

“And as they were going out from Jericho, great crowds followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David.’” See from where he came to Jerusalem, and where he spent his time before this; which seems to me especially worth inquiring into: why he did not, earlier too, go away from there into Galilee, but through Samaria. But this we shall leave to the studious. For if anyone wished to examine it exactly, he will find that John hinted at it well and set down the reason. Let us hold to what is before us, and hear these blind men, who were better than many who see. For having neither someone to lead them nor the ability to see him when he came near, they nevertheless strove to come to him, and began to cry out with a loud voice, and when silenced they shouted the more. For such is a persevering soul: it is raised up by the very things that hinder it. And Christ allowed them to be silenced, so that their eagerness might appear the greater, and that you might learn that they deservedly obtained the healing. That is why he does not even ask, “Do you believe?” as he does with many; for their cry and their approach were enough to make their faith plain to all. Learn from this, beloved, that even if we are very lowly and cast off, but come to God with earnestness, we shall be able by ourselves to accomplish whatever we ask. See, at any rate, how these men too, having none of the apostles as advocate, but even many who silenced them, were able to overcome the hindrances and come to Jesus himself. And yet the evangelist bears witness to no boldness of life in them; but their eagerness sufficed them instead of everything. Let us too, then, emulate these men. Even if God puts off the gift, even if many draw us away, let us not stop asking. For in this way above all shall we draw God to us. See, at any rate, here too how neither poverty, nor blindness, nor not being heard, nor being rebuked by the crowds, nor anything else hindered their intense eagerness. Such is a soul that is fervent and in distress. What then does Christ do? “He called them and said, ‘What do you wish me to do for you?’ They say to him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’” Why does he ask them? So that no one might think that he gives one thing to those who wish to receive another. For it is his custom everywhere first to make plain and reveal to all the virtue of those who are being healed, and then to apply the cure: for one reason, to lead the others to emulation; for another, to show that they deservedly enjoy the gift. This at any rate he did in the case of the Canaanite woman, this in the case of the centurion, this in the case of the woman with the flow of blood; or rather, that wonderful woman even anticipated the Master’s question, yet even so he did not pass her by, but after the cure makes her plain to all. So earnest was he everywhere to proclaim the good deeds of those who came to him, and to show them much greater than they were; which he does here too. Then, when they had said what they wished, moved with compassion he touched them. For this alone is the cause of the healing, the cause for which he also came into the world. But even though it was mercy and grace, it seeks the worthy. And that they were worthy is plain both from their crying out and from their not leaping away after receiving, as many do, being ungrateful after their benefits. But those men were not such, but both persevering before the gift and grateful after the gift; for they followed him. “And when he drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and at once he will send them.’ This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet Zechariah might be fulfilled: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king comes to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey and a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” And yet he had often gone up to Jerusalem before, but never with such conspicuousness. What then is the reason? Then it was the beginning of the dispensation; and he himself was not yet very well known, nor was the time of his Passion near. For this reason he mingled with them more indifferently, and rather hid himself. For he would not have been marveled at if he had appeared so, and he would have provoked them to greater anger. But since he had given sufficient proof of his power, and the cross was at the doors, he now shines forth the more, and does with greater conspicuousness all the things that were going to inflame them. For it was possible for this to happen at the beginning too, but it was not useful nor profitable so. But see, I pray you, how many miracles take place and how many prophecies are fulfilled. He said, “You will find a donkey”; he foretold that no one would hinder them, but that on hearing they would be silent. And this is no small condemnation of the Jews, if he persuades people who had never known him nor seen him to give up their own property and say nothing against it, and that through his disciples; while these men, though present when he worked miracles, were not persuaded.

And do not think what happened a small thing. For what persuaded them, when they were being deprived of their own property, and these perhaps poor men and farmers, not to object? I say not to object; not to ask, or after asking to be silent and give way? For both were equally wonderful: whether they said nothing while the beasts were being led off, or whether, having spoken and heard that “the Lord has need of them,” they gave way and did not resist, and that though they did not see him but only the disciples. By these things he teaches them that he could also have prevented the Jews against their will when they were about to attack him, and have struck them dumb, but he did not wish to. And besides these he teaches the disciples another thing: to give whatever he asks, even if he bids them give up their very life, to give this too and not object. For if those unknown to him gave way, much more must they surrender everything. And besides what has been said, he was also fulfilling another twofold prophecy, the one by deeds, the other by words. The one by deeds was the sitting on the donkey; the one by words was the prophecy of Zechariah, for he said that the king would sit upon a donkey. And having sat and fulfilled it, he again gave a beginning of another prophecy, foreshadowing what was to come by what he did. How and in what way? He proclaimed beforehand the calling of the unclean Gentiles, and that he would rest upon them, and that they would yield to him and follow; and prophecy succeeded prophecy. But it seems to me that he sat on the donkey not for this reason only, but also giving us a measure of philosophy. For he not only fulfilled prophecies and planted the doctrines of truth, but also corrected our life by these very things, everywhere setting us rules for what is necessary, and setting our life right by all things. For this reason too, when he was to be born, he did not seek a splendid house, nor a rich and distinguished mother, but a poor one, betrothed to a carpenter; and he is born in a hut and laid in a manger. And in choosing disciples he chose not orators and wise men, nor the wealthy and well-born, but poor men and sons of poor men, obscure in every way. And when he set a table, sometimes he set barley loaves, sometimes he bade the disciples buy from the market at the moment itself. And making a bed, he makes it of grass; and putting on garments, he wears cheap ones, differing in nothing from those of the many; and a house he did not even have. And if he had to pass from place to place, he does it on foot, and so walking that he even grows weary. And when sitting he needs no throne nor cushion, but sits on the ground, sometimes on the mountain, sometimes by the well; and not only by the well, but alone too, and talks with the Samaritan woman. Again, setting limits to grief, when he had to mourn, he weeps quietly, everywhere, as I said, fixing rules and bounds, how far one must go and no further. For this reason now too, since it happened that some, being weaker, needed beasts to ride, he sets a measure here too, showing that one must not ride harnessed horses or mules, but use a donkey, and go no further, but keep everywhere to what is needful. But let us see the prophecy too, that by words and that by deeds. What then is the prophecy? “Behold, your king comes to you, gentle, mounted on a beast of burden and a young colt”: not driving chariots like the other kings, not demanding tribute, not making a show and leading bodyguards about, but displaying great gentleness here too. Ask the Jew, then: what king came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey? He could name none but this one alone. And he did these things, as I said, foreshowing the things to come. For here the church is indicated by the colt, and the new people, once unclean, but made clean once Jesus sat upon it. And see the image preserved throughout. The disciples untie the beasts; for through the apostles both they and we were called, through the apostles we were brought near. And since our approved state provoked them to jealousy, for this reason the donkey is seen following the colt. For after Christ has sat upon the Gentiles, then they too will come, being provoked to jealousy. And Paul, making this plain, said that “a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved.” For that it was a prophecy is plain from what has been said; for the prophet would not have troubled to tell of the donkey’s youth with such exactness if this were not so. And not only are these things shown by what has been said, but also that the apostles will lead them with ease. For as here no one objected to their taking them, so in the case of the Gentiles too no one of those who held them was able to hinder them. And he does not sit on the bare colt, but on the garments of the apostles. For since they had taken the colt, they now give up everything, as Paul too said, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” And consider the docility of the colt: how, though untamed and without experience of the bridle, it did not leap about, but went along in good order. This too was a prophecy of what was to come, showing the ready obedience of the Gentiles and their sudden change to good order. For the word that said, “Untie them and bring them to me,” accomplished everything, so that the disorderly became orderly and the unclean thereafter clean. [3] But see the meanness of the Jews. He worked so many miracles, and they were never so astonished at him; but when they saw a crowd running together, then they marvel. “For the whole city was shaken, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds said, ‘This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.’” And when they thought they were saying something great, even then their opinion was grovelling, low and mean. And he did these things not to make a show of some pageant, but at once, as I said, both fulfilling prophecy and teaching philosophy, and at the same time consoling the disciples who were grieved over his death, and showing that he suffers all these things willingly. And marvel, I pray you, at the exactness of the prophet, how he foretold everything; and some things David, others Zechariah proclaimed beforehand. Let us too, then, do likewise, and sing hymns, and give up our garments to those who carry him. For of what shall we be worthy, when some put their garments on the donkey on which he sat, and others spread them under its feet, while we, seeing him naked, and not even bidden to strip ourselves but to spend from what we have laid by, are not generous even so? And they accompany him before and behind, while we even send him away when he comes to us, and repel him, and insult him. Of how great punishment are these things worthy, how great vengeance? Your Master comes to you in need, and you do not even wish to hear his supplication, but you accuse and rebuke him, and that though you have heard such words. And if in giving one loaf and a little silver you are so mean and careless and slow, if you had to empty out everything, what would you have become? Do you not see the open-handed men in the theater, how much they throw away on harlots? But you do not give even half of that, often not even the smallest part. But the devil bids you give to whoever comes, bringing you Gehenna, and you give; Christ bids you give to the needy, promising the kingdom, and not only do you not give, but you even insult, and choose rather to obey the devil and be punished than to be persuaded by Christ and be saved. And what could be worse than this madness? The one brings Gehenna, the other the kingdom; and leaving the latter you run to the former. And the one who comes to you you send away, while the one who is far off you call to you. And it is the same as if a king, wearing purple and holding out a diadem, did not persuade, while a robber, brandishing a sword and threatening death, did persuade. Considering these things, then, beloved, let us at last, though late, look up and come to our senses. For I am now ashamed to speak of almsgiving, because though I have often spoken on this subject, I have accomplished nothing worthy of the exhortation. Something more has come of it, but not so much as I wished. For I see you sowing, but not with a generous hand. That is why I fear that you may also reap sparingly. For that we sow sparingly, let us examine, if you please, who are more numerous in the city, the poor or the rich, and who are neither poor nor rich but hold the middle place. For example, a tenth part are rich, and a tenth are poor who have nothing at all, and the rest are of the middle class. Let us then divide the whole multitude of the city among the needy, and you will see how great the shame is. For the very rich are few, and those next to them many; again, the poor far fewer than these. Yet, though there are so many able to feed the hungry, many go to sleep hungry, not because those who have cannot easily supply them, but because of their great cruelty and inhumanity. For if the rich and those next to them divided among themselves those who need bread and clothing, scarcely one poor person would fall to the share of fifty or even a hundred men. Yet even with such an abundance of people to provide for them, they lament every day. And that you may learn their inhumanity: the church, which has the revenue of one of the lowest of the wealthy, and of those not very rich, consider how many widows it supports every day, how many virgins; for the list of them has reached the number of three thousand. Besides these, it supports those who live in prison, the sick in the hostel, the healthy, those who are traveling, those maimed in body, those who wait at the altar for food and clothing, and those who simply come to it every day; and its substance has not been diminished at all. So that if only ten men were willing to spend in this way, there would be no …

“And what,” someone says, “were our children going to inherit?” The capital would have remained, and the revenue would have become greater, since your possessions would be laid up in heaven for them. But you do not wish it so? Then at least give from a half, or a third part, or a fourth, or a tenth. For by the grace of God our city could feed the poor of ten cities. And if you wish, let us make some reckoning of these things; or rather there is not even need of reckoning, for the ease of the thing is plain at once. See, at any rate, how much one household often spends without hesitation on public liturgies, and does not even feel the expense a little; and if each of the rich were willing to perform this liturgy for the poor, in a brief moment he would seize heaven. What pardon, then, could there be, what shadow of a defense, when we do not share with the needy even what we are certainly going to leave when we are taken away from here, with as much generosity as others show to those on the stage, and that when we are going to reap so much from it? For even if we were here forever, we ought not to be so sparing of this noble expense; but when a little later we are taken away from here and dragged naked from everything, what defense shall we have for not supplying even from our revenues those who are starving and choking? For I do not compel you to diminish your possessions; not because I do not wish it, but because I see you very reluctant. So I do not say this; but spend from the fruits, and lay up nothing from them. It is enough for you to have the money of your revenues flowing in as from a spring; make the poor your partners, and become a good steward of what God has given you. “But I pay taxes,” someone says. Do you therefore despise this because here no one demands it? And to that one, who takes by compulsion and torture whether the land yields or does not yield, you do not dare to object; but to the one so gentle, who demands only when the land has yielded, you do not even answer a word? And who will rescue you from those unbearable punishments? There is no one. For if, because the harshest penalty will certainly follow if you do not pay, you become zealous in paying, consider that here too the penalty is harsher: not to be bound, nor to fall into prison, but to depart into the eternal fire. On every account, then, let us pay these taxes first. For the ease is great, and the reward greater, and the profit more, and the punishment worse if we are ungrateful; for a punishment follows that has no end. And if you speak to me of the soldiers who fight the barbarians on your behalf, here too there is an army, that of the poor, and a war which the poor fight on your behalf. For when they receive, by praying they make God gracious; and making him gracious, they repel, instead of barbarians, the plots of the demons; they do not allow the wicked one to be violent, nor to attack continually, but they weaken his strength.

Seeing, then, these soldiers boxing every day with the devil on your behalf by their petitions and prayers, demand of yourself this noble contribution, their food. For this King, being gentle, has not given you men to exact it, but wishes you to pay it willingly; and if you pay little by little, he accepts it; and if, being in difficulty, you pay over a long time, he does not press the one who does not have. Let us not, then, despise his long-suffering, but lay up for ourselves not wrath but salvation, not death but life, not punishment and vengeance but honors and crowns. Here there is no fee to pay for carrying the contributions; here there is no toil in converting them into money. If you pay them in, he himself transfers them to heaven; the Master himself makes your business more profitable for you. Here there is no need to find an escort for what is paid in; only pay it, and at once it goes up, not so that other soldiers may be fed, but so that it may remain for you with great profit. For here, what you give you cannot take back; but there you will receive it again with great honor, and you will gain greater and more spiritual gains. Here what is given is an exaction; there it is a loan, a credit and a debt. For God has made you bonds: “For he who has mercy on a poor man,” it says, “lends to God.” He has given you also a pledge and sureties, though he is God. What pledge? The things in the present life, both the visible and the spiritual, the firstfruits of the things to come. Why then do you delay and hesitate, when you have already received so much and expect so much? For what you have received are these: he himself fashioned your body; he himself placed the soul in you; he honored you with reason alone of the things on earth; he gave you the use of all you see; he granted you knowledge of himself; he gave his Son for you; he bestowed baptism, full of so many good things; he gave you a holy table; he promised a kingdom and the unspeakable good things. Having received so much, then, and being about to receive so much (for I will say the same thing again), are you petty about money that perishes? And what pardon will you have? But you look, no doubt, to your children, and on their account you draw back. Then teach them too to make such gains. For if you had money lent out and bearing interest, and the debtor were honest, you would ten thousand times rather leave the bond to your child than the gold, so that the revenues might be many for him, and he might not be compelled to go about persuading others to borrow. So now too give this bond to your children, and leave God to them as their debtor. You do not sell your fields and give the money to your children, but you leave them, so that the revenue may remain and the increase of the money may become greater for them from it; and this bond, richer than any field and revenue, bearing so much fruit, this you are afraid to leave? And how great a foolishness and madness this would be! And that though you know that even if you leave it to them, you yourself will also take it with you when you depart. For such are spiritual things: they have great munificence. Let us not, then, make ourselves poor, nor be inhuman and cruel toward ourselves, but let us carry on this noble business, so that we may both take it with us when we depart and leave it to our sons, and obtain the good things to come, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.