Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 7.1–7.7

“And gathering all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him: In Bethlehem of Judea.”

Do you see everything turning into a refutation of the Jews? For as long as they did not see him, and were not seized by envy, they declared the testimonies truthfully; but when they saw the glory arising from the miracles, seized by envy they betrayed the truth thereafter. But the truth was exalted through everything, and was established all the more by its enemies. See, at any rate, how wonderful and marvelous things are arranged here too. For at once both the barbarians and the Jews learn something more from each other and teach each other. For the Jews heard from the magi that a star had proclaimed him in the land of the Persians; and the magi learned from the Jews that the one whom the star proclaimed, the prophets too had declared long ages before; and the occasion of the question became for both a demonstration of clearer and more exact teaching; and the enemies of the truth are compelled, even against their will, to read the writings that speak for the truth and to interpret the prophecy, though not all of it. For having named Bethlehem, and that from it would come forth the one who shepherds Israel, they did not add what follows, flattering the king. And what was this? “That his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.”

“And why,” someone says, “if he was to come from there, did he live in Nazareth after the birth, and veil the prophecy?” But he did not veil it; rather he revealed it more. For to be born there, when his mother always lived elsewhere, shows that the thing happened by dispensation. That is why he did not leave there at once after being born, but spent forty days, allowing those who wished to inquire to examine everything exactly. For there were many things to move them to such an inquiry, if they had wished to pay attention. For when the magi came, the whole city was stirred up, and with the city the king; the prophet was brought into the midst, and a very great court was convened; and many other things happened there, which Luke relates exactly: what concerns Anna, and Simeon, and Zechariah, and the angels, and the shepherds; all of which were enough to give those who paid attention grounds for finding out what had happened. For if the magi, coming from Persia, were not ignorant of the place, much more could those who lived there learn these things. He showed himself, then, at the beginning by many wonders; but since they would not see, he hid himself for the time between, and revealed himself again from another, more splendid beginning. For it was no longer the magi, nor the star, but the Father from above who proclaimed him at the streams of the Jordan; and the Spirit came upon him, drawing that voice to the head of the one being baptized; and John cried out with all boldness everywhere in Judea, filling the inhabited and the uninhabited world with such teaching; and the testimony of the miracles, and earth and sea and the whole creation uttered a clear voice on his behalf. But at the time of the birth there happened as many things as were fit to show quietly the one who had come. For lest the Jews say, “We do not know when he was born, nor in what place,” all that concerned the magi was arranged, and the other things we have mentioned; so that they could have no excuse to give for not seeking what had happened.

And consider the exactness of the prophecy. For it did not say that he would remain in Bethlehem, but that he would come forth. So this too was part of the prophecy, that he would only be born there. But some of them say shamelessly that these things were said of Zerubbabel. And how could that make sense? For his goings forth were not “from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” And how would what was said at the start, “From you shall come forth,” fit him? For he was born not in Judea but in Babylon; whence he was even called Zerubbabel, because he was sown there. And those who know the Syrian language know what is meant. Besides what has been said, all the time since is enough to establish the testimony. For what does it say? “You are by no means least among the rulers of Judah”; and it adds the reason for its fame, saying, “For from you shall come forth.” But no one else made that place splendid and famous except he alone. At any rate, after that birth, people come from the ends of the earth to see the manger and the site of the hut; which the prophet foretold long before, saying, “You are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,” that is, among the heads of tribes. And in saying this he included Jerusalem too. Yet not even so did they pay attention, although the benefit was passing to them. For this is why the prophets nowhere at the beginning speak so much of his dignity as of the benefit he brought them. For when the virgin was giving birth, “You shall call his name Jesus,” he says, and adds, “for he will save his people from their sins.” And the magi did not say, “Where is the Son of God?” but “he who has been born king of the Jews.” And here again it did not say, “From you shall come forth the Son of God,” but “a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.” For it was necessary at the beginning to speak with more condescension, so that they might not be offended, and to proclaim what concerned their salvation, so that they might be drawn in more by this. At any rate, all the testimonies brought first, whose time was immediately at the birth, say nothing great or lofty about him, unlike those after the display of the signs; for those speak more plainly of his dignity. When, at any rate, after many miracles children sang hymns to him, hear what the prophet says: “Out of the mouth of infants and nurslings you have perfected praise”; and again, “For I will behold your heavens, the works of your fingers,” which shows him to be the Maker of the universe. And the testimony brought after the ascension shows his equality of honor with the Father; for it says, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand.” And Isaiah says, “He who rises to rule the nations; in him shall the nations hope.” But how does it say that Bethlehem is not least among the rulers of Judah? For the village became renowned not only in Palestine but in the whole world. But for the present the discourse is to the Jews; that is why he added, “He will shepherd my people Israel,” although he shepherded the whole world; but, as I said, he does not wish for the present to give offense by revealing what concerns the nations. “And how,” someone says, “did he not shepherd the Jewish people?” Above all this too happened; for in saying Israel here he hinted at those of the Jews who believed in him. And Paul, interpreting this, said, “For not all who are from Israel are Israel,” but those who were born through faith and promise. And if he did not shepherd all, this is their own charge and accusation. For they ought to have worshiped with the magi and glorified God that such a time had come, undoing all their sins (for there is nothing about courts or accounts, but about a gentle and meek shepherd); but they do the opposite: they are troubled, they are in turmoil, and afterward they contrive countless plots.

“Then Herod, having secretly called the magi, learned exactly from them the time of the star's appearing,” undertaking to kill the child, which was not only madness but the height of folly. For what had been said and what had happened were enough to turn him from every such undertaking. For what happened was not according to man. That a star from above should call the magi, that barbarian men should set out on so long a journey to worship one lying in swaddling clothes and a manger, that prophets long before should foretell all these things, and all the rest, were greater than human; yet none of these restrained him. For such is wickedness: it trips itself up, and always attempts what cannot be accomplished. If he believed the prophecy and thought it unshakable, clearly he was attempting the impossible; if again he disbelieved and did not expect what was said to come to pass, he had no need to fear and be afraid, nor to plot for this reason; so that on either side his cunning was superfluous. And this too was the height of folly, to think that the magi would prefer him to the child for whose sake they had come so long a journey. For if before seeing him they were so on fire with longing, after beholding him and being assured by the prophecy, how did he hope to persuade them to betray the child to him? Yet though so many things turned him from it, he attempted it, and having called the magi secretly, he inquired of them. For he thought that the Jews cared for the child, and would not have expected them to slide into such madness as to wish to hand over to their enemies the protector and savior who had come for the freedom of the nation. That is why he calls them secretly, and seeks the time, not of the child but of the star, setting his snare with great excess. For it seems to me that the star appeared long before. For since the magi were going to spend much time on the journey, so that they might arrive at once upon the child's birth (for he had to be worshiped in his very swaddling clothes, so that the wonderful and marvelous character of the thing might appear), the star shows itself long before. For if it had appeared to them in the east when he was born in Palestine, they would have spent much time on the journey and on arriving would not have seen him in swaddling clothes. And if he kills from two years old and under, let us not wonder; for his anger and fear, for greater security, added more time too, so that none might escape.

Having called them, then, he says: “Go and search carefully for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” Do you see the folly? If you say this in truth, why do you ask secretly? But if you wish to plot, how did you not see that from being questioned secretly the magi would be able to perceive the deceit? But, as I said, a soul captured by wickedness becomes the most foolish of all. And he did not say, “Go and learn about the king,” but “about the child”; for he could not bear even to call him by the name of the office. But the magi, perceiving none of this because of their great piety (for they would not have expected that he would go so far in wickedness and attempt to plot against so wonderful a dispensation), depart, suspecting none of it, but judging all others' affairs from their own.

“And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them.” For this is why it was hidden, so that, having lost their guide, they might be compelled to ask the Jews, and the matter might become known to all. For when they had asked and had their enemies for teachers, it appears to them again. And consider the excellent order of events. From the star the people of the Jews and the king receive them, and they bring in the prophet to teach what had appeared; from the prophet again an angel took them over and taught them everything; but for the present they travel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem by the star; for the star again went with them from there, so that you may learn from this too that it was not one of the many; for no star at all has this nature. And it did not simply travel, but went before them, drawing them and leading them by the hand in the middle of the day.

“And what need was there of this star,” someone says, “once the place was known?” So that the child too might be seen. For there was nothing to point him out, since neither was the house conspicuous nor the mother splendid and distinguished. There was need, then, of the star to set them at the place. That is why it appears to them when they have left Jerusalem, and does not stop until it reached the manger. And wonder was joined to wonder; for both were marvelous, that magi should worship and that the star should go before, and enough to draw in even the very stony-hearted. For if the magi had said that they heard prophets saying these things, or that angels had spoken to them privately, they might have been disbelieved; but as it was, with the sight of the star appearing from above, even the very shameless were silenced. Then, when it reached the child, the star stopped again; which itself was the work of a power greater than a star's, now to hide, now to appear, and having appeared to stand still. From this they too received an increase of faith. That is why they rejoiced, because they had found what they sought, because they had become messengers of truth, because they had not come so long a road in vain; so great was the longing they had for Christ. For coming, it stood over the very head, showing that what was born was divine; and standing, it leads to worship, not simply barbarians, but the wisest among them. Do you see that a star appeared with good reason? For even after the prophecy, and after the explanation of the chief priests and scribes, they still attended to it.

Let Marcion be ashamed, let Paul of Samosata be ashamed, who would not see what the magi saw, the forefathers of the church; for I am not ashamed to call them so. Let Marcion be ashamed, seeing God worshiped in the flesh. Let Paul be ashamed, seeing him worshiped not as a mere man. That he was in the flesh, the swaddling clothes and the manger show; that they did not worship him as a mere man, they make plain by offering at so untimely an age such gifts as it was fitting to offer to God. Let the Jews too be ashamed with them, seeing barbarians and magi going ahead of them, while they would not even come after them. For what happened then was a type of what was to come, and it was shown from the very opening that the nations would go ahead of their people. “And how,” someone says, “did he not say from the beginning, but afterward, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’?” Because what happened was, as I said, a type and a kind of forecast of what was to come. For the natural order was that the Jews should come first; but since they willingly betrayed their own benefit, the order was reversed. For it was not fitting that the magi should come first, nor that those from so great a distance should get ahead of those sitting by the very city, nor that those who had heard nothing should get ahead of those brought up on so many prophecies. But since they were exceedingly ignorant of their own good things, those from Persia get ahead of those in Jerusalem. This is what Paul too says: “It was necessary that the word of the Lord should be spoken first to you; but since you judge yourselves unworthy, behold, we turn to the nations.” For even if they had not been persuaded before, at least on hearing from the magi they ought to have run; but they would not; that is why, while they sleep, these men

run on ahead. Let us too, then, follow the magi; let us be freed from barbarian custom and make the distance great, that we may see Christ; for they too, had they not gone far from their own country, would not have seen him. Let us depart from earthly things. For the magi, while they were in Persia, saw the star; but when they had departed from Persia, they beheld the Sun of righteousness; or rather they would not even have seen the star, had they not eagerly set out from there. Let us too, then, rise up; even if all are troubled, let us run to the house of the child; even if kings, even if peoples, even if tyrants cut off this road, let us not give up our longing. For so we shall repel all the dangers that press on us. For they too, had they not seen the child, would not have escaped the danger from the king. Before seeing the child, fears and dangers and turmoil pressed on them from every side; but after the worship, calm and safety; and no longer a star but an angel receives them, since they had become priests through the worship; for they also offered gifts.

So you too, leaving the Jewish people, the troubled city, the murderous tyrant, the pomp of this life, hasten to Bethlehem, where the house of the spiritual bread is. For even if you are a shepherd and come here, you will see the child in the inn. Even if you are a king and do not come, your purple is of no use to you; even if you are a magus, this will not hinder you, only if you come to honor and worship, and not to trample on the Son of God; if you do this with trembling and joy; for both of these can go together. But see that you do not become like Herod and say, “that I may come and worship him,” and having come, wish to kill him. For those who partake of the mysteries unworthily are like him. “For such a one,” it says, “will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” For they have within themselves the tyrant who is pained at the kingdom of Christ, more lawless than that Herod, mammon. For he wishes to rule, and sends his own people to worship in appearance, but to slay in the very act of worshiping. Let us fear, then, lest we have the appearance of suppliants and worshipers, but show the opposite in deed. And let us throw everything from our hands when we are about to worship. If we have gold, let us offer it to him, and not bury it. For if those barbarians then offered it for honor, what will you be, not giving even to the one in need? If they came so long a road to see him newborn, what defense will you have, not going even one alley's distance to visit him sick and bound? And yet we pity even our enemies when they are sick and bound; but you do not pity even your benefactor and Master. And they offered gold; you scarcely give bread. They saw the star and rejoiced; you, seeing Christ himself a stranger and naked, are not moved. For which of you, who have received countless benefits, has made so long a journey for Christ as those barbarians did, or rather those who were wiser than the philosophers? And why do I say so long a road? Many of our women are so soft that they will not cross even one street to see him in the spiritual manger, unless they get hold of mules. Others, though able to walk, prefer, some the crowd of worldly business, others the theaters, to coming here. And the barbarians, before seeing him, accomplished so long a road for him; but you, even after seeing him, do not emulate them, but leaving him after seeing him, you run to see the mime (for I am touching again on the same things as before), and seeing Christ lying in the manger, you abandon him to see women on the stage. What thunderbolts do these things not deserve?

For tell me, if someone promised to take you into a palace and show you the king seated, would you choose to see the theater instead? And yet there was nothing to gain even from that. But here a spiritual spring of fire wells up from this table; and you, leaving it, run down to the theater to see women swimming and nature exposed to shame, leaving Christ sitting by the spring? For now too he sits by the spring, speaking not to a Samaritan woman but to a whole city; or perhaps even now to the Samaritan woman alone. For no one is with him even now; but some are present in body only, and others not even in body. Yet he does not withdraw, but remains, and asks us for a drink, not water but holiness; for he gives holy things to the holy. For neither does he give us water from this spring, but living blood; and though it is a symbol of death, it has become the cause of life. But you, leaving the spring of blood, the awesome cup, go off to a devilish spring to see a harlot swimming and to suffer shipwreck of the soul. For that water is a sea of licentiousness, not sinking bodies, but working shipwreck of souls. She swims with her body stripped, but you, watching, are sunk into the depth of licentiousness. For such is the devil's net: it does not make those who go down into the water itself, but those sitting above, more submerged than those rolling about there, and it chokes them more cruelly than Pharaoh, who was drowned then with his horses and chariots. And if it were possible to see souls, I would show you many floating on these waters, as the bodies of the Egyptians did then. But what is worse is this, that they even call such utter destruction delight, and name the sea of perdition a channel of pleasure. And yet one could more easily sail the Aegean and Tyrrhenian seas in safety than this spectacle. For first the devil takes possession of their souls the whole night beforehand with expectation; then, having shown what was expected, he binds them at once and makes them captives. For do not think, because you did not have intercourse with the harlot, that you are clean of the sin; for by your eagerness you completed the whole. For if you are held by desire, you have kindled a greater flame; and if you are unaffected by what you see, you deserve a greater charge, becoming a stumbling block to others by encouraging these spectacles, and shaming your own eyes, and with your eyes your soul.

But so that we may not only rebuke, come, let us devise a way of correction too. What, then, will the way be? I wish to hand you over to your own wives, so that they may teach you. For according to Paul's law you ought to be the teachers; but since the order has been reversed by sin, and the body has come to be above and the head below, let us take even this road. And if you are ashamed to have a woman as teacher, flee sin, and you will quickly be able to go up to the throne given you by God. For as long as you offend, Scripture sends you not only to a woman but even to irrational creatures more lowly, and is not ashamed to send the one honored with reason as a disciple to the ant. For this is not a charge against Scripture, but against those who so betray their own nobility. This we too shall do; and now we shall hand you over to your wife; but if you despise her, we shall send you to the school of the irrational creatures, and show how many birds, how many fish, how many four-footed beasts and reptiles appear more dignified and chaste than you. And if you are ashamed of the comparison and blush, go up to your own nobility, and flee the sea of hell and the river of fire, the swimming pool in the theater. For this pool procures that sea and kindles that abyss of flame.

For if “whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery,” how does the one compelled to see her naked not become ten thousand times a captive? The flood in Noah's time did not so destroy the human race as these swimming women drown everyone there with great shame. For that rain, though it worked the death of the body, cut short the wickedness of the soul; but this does the opposite: while the bodies remain, it destroys the soul. And you, when there is talk of precedence, claim to preside over the whole world, because our city was the first to crown itself with the name of Christians; but in the contest of chastity you are not ashamed to fall behind even the more rustic cities? “Yes,” someone says, “and what do you order us to do? Take to the mountains and become monks?” This is why I groan, that you think decorum and chastity befit them alone; and yet Christ laid down the laws in common. For when he says, “If anyone looks at a woman to desire her,” he does not say it to the monk, but also to the one who has a wife; for that mountain then was full of all such people. Consider, then, that theater, and hate this devilish one; and do not condemn the severity of the discourse. For I do not forbid marrying, nor hinder enjoyment; but I wish this to be done with chastity, not with shame and accusation and countless charges. I do not legislate that you take to the mountains and deserts, but that you be good and gentle and chaste while living in the midst of the city. For all the laws are common to us and the monks, except marriage; or rather even in this Paul commands us to be equal to them in everything, saying: “For the form of this world is passing away, so that those who have wives should be as though they had none.” So, he says, I do not command you to take to the tops of the mountains. I would wish it, since the cities imitate what happened in Sodom; yet I do not compel this. Remain having a house and children and a wife; but do not insult your wife, nor shame your children, nor bring the ruin from the theaters into your house. Do you not hear Paul saying, “The husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife,” and laying down laws common to both? But you, if your wife goes often to church, become a harsh accuser; but spending whole days at the theaters yourself, you do not think yourself deserving of accusation; you are so exact about your wife's chastity as to be excessive and immoderate, not even allowing her necessary outings, while you think everything lawful for yourself. But Paul does not permit you, who gives the same authority to the wife too; for “let the husband,” he says, “render to the wife the honor due.” What honor is this, then, when you insult her in the most vital matters and give her body to harlots (for your body is hers), when you bring turmoil and wars into the house, when you do such things in the marketplace that by telling them at home you shame the wife who hears, shame the daughter who is present, and before them yourself? For you must either be silent or behave so indecently that even servants would deserve a whipping for it. What defense, then, tell me, will you have, watching with great eagerness things that it is not even decent to mention, and putting before everything things that are not even bearable to relate?

For the present, then, so as not to be too burdensome, I shall end the discourse here. But if you persist in the same things, I shall make the knife sharper and give a deeper incision; and I shall not stop until I have scattered the devil's theater and made the assembly of the church pure. For so we shall both be freed from present shame and reap the life to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.