Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 74.1–74.4

“Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn their monuments, and say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets.’”

It is not because they build, nor because they accuse those men, that he says “woe,” but because, both by doing this and by what they say, while pretending to condemn their fathers, they do worse. For that the condemnation was a pretense, Luke shows when he says, “and you consent,” because you build. “For woe to you,” he says, “because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So you are witnesses and consent to the works of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.” For here he exposes the intent with which they built: that it was not out of honor for those who had been slain, but as men making a parade of the slaughters, and afraid that, if the tombs disappeared with time, the proof of so great a crime and its memory might fade; so they built the tombs, setting up the splendid buildings like a kind of trophy, priding themselves on those men’s crimes and displaying them. “For what you now dare to do,” he says, “shows that you do these things too in this spirit. For even if you say the opposite, as though condemning them—for instance, that if we had been in those days we would not have been their partners—yet the mind that says this is plain.” Therefore, uncovering it, he spoke enigmatically, but spoke nonetheless. For having said, “You say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets,’” he added, “So you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.” And what charge is it to be the son of a murderer, if one does not share the father’s mind? None. Hence it is clear that he brings this against them hinting at a kinship in wickedness. And what follows also makes this plain; at any rate he added, “Serpents, offspring of vipers.” For as those creatures resemble their parents in the harm of their venom, so you resemble your fathers in murderousness.

Then, since he had exposed a mind that was hidden from the many, he confirms what he had said also from what they were about to dare, which would become plain to all. For since he had said, “So you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets,” showing that he speaks of kinship in wickedness, and that it was a fiction to say, “We would not have been their partners,” he added, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers,” not commanding, but foretelling what was to be, that is, his own slaughter. Having then brought the proof, and shown that what they said in their own defense was fiction—such as, “We would not have been their partners” (for those who did not keep their hands off the Master, how would they have kept them off the servants?)—he uses after this a more vehement speech, calling them serpents and offspring of vipers, and saying, “How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna,” when you dare such things, and deny them, and hide your intent? Then, convicting them from another side as well, more than enough, he says, “I will send to you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you will kill and crucify, and in your synagogues you will scourge.” For so that they might not say, “Even if we crucified the Master, yet we would have kept our hands off the servants, had we been there then,” “Look,” he says, “I send you servants too, prophets themselves, and you will not spare even them.” He says this to show that it is nothing strange that he should be slain by those sons, since they were murderous and treacherous and full of deceit, and outdid their fathers in their crimes. Besides what has been said, he shows them also to be exceedingly vainglorious. For when they say, “If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been their partners,” they say it out of vainglory, philosophizing in words only, while in deeds they do the opposite.

“Serpents, offspring of vipers”: that is, wicked children of wicked men, and more wicked than those who begot them. For he shows that they dare greater things, both by daring after those men, and by daring things far worse than theirs, and that while they make a show of exactness, as though they would never fall into the same things. For they bring on the end and the crown of evils. For those killed the men who came to the vineyard; but these killed the Son as well, and those who call to the wedding. He says these things to separate them from kinship with Abraham, and to show that they gain nothing from it unless they imitate his works. Therefore he also adds, “How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna,” imitating those who dared such things? Here he reminded them also of John’s accusation (for he too called them so), and reminded them of the judgment to come. Then, since judgment and Gehenna did not frighten them at all, because they did not believe and because the thing lay in the future, he restrains them by things present, and says, “Therefore, look, I send to you prophets and scribes, and some of them you will kill and crucify and scourge, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

[2] See with how many things he hemmed them in. He said, “You condemn your fathers by saying that we would not have shared with them,” and this is no small thing for putting them to shame. He said, “Condemning them, you yourselves do worse,” and this too is enough to disgrace them. He said that these things would not go unpunished, and by this he puts into them an unspeakable fear; at any rate he reminded them of Gehenna. Then, since that was in the future, he set before them present terrors too: “For all these things will come,” he says, “upon this generation.” He added also an unspeakable severity to the punishment, saying that they would suffer things more grievous than all, and that they had become better by none of these things. And if anyone should say, “And why do they suffer things more grievous than all?” we would say that they had also dared things more grievous than all, and were brought to their senses by none of the things that had happened. Or have you not heard Lamech saying, “Vengeance is taken for Lamech seventy times seven”? That is, I deserve more punishments than Cain. Why? Yet he did not kill a brother; but because he was not brought to his senses even by the example. And this is what God says elsewhere: “Rendering the sins of fathers upon children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”—not as though some paid the penalty for crimes dared by others, but because those who, after many had sinned and been punished, did not become better but committed the same offenses, are justly liable to those men’s punishments as well. And see how opportunely he reminded them of Abel too, showing that this murder also comes from envy. “What then would you be able to say? Did you not know what Cain suffered? Did God keep quiet about what had happened? Did he not exact the most grievous penalty? Have you not heard how much your fathers suffered for killing the prophets? Were they not handed over to countless punishments and penalties? How then did you not become better? And why do I speak of the punishments of your fathers, and what they suffered? You yourself, who passed sentence on your fathers, how do you do worse? For you yourselves also declared that he will miserably destroy those wicked men. What pardon, then, will you have henceforth, daring such things after such a verdict?”

But who is this Zechariah? Some say the father of John; some the prophet; some another, a priest with two names, whom Scripture calls the son of Jehoiada. But consider this: that the crime was double. For they killed not only holy men, but in a holy place as well. In saying this he not only frightened them, but also comforted the disciples, showing that the righteous before them had suffered these things too. And he frightened these men, foretelling that as those paid the penalty, so these too would suffer the extreme. Therefore he calls them prophets and wise men and scribes, here again removing all their excuse. “For you cannot say,” he says, “‘You sent men from the Gentiles, and therefore we took offense’; but being murderous and thirsting for blood led you to this.” Therefore he also said beforehand, “For this reason I send prophets and scribes.” This too all the prophets charged them with: “They mingle blood with blood,” saying also that they are men of blood. Therefore he also commanded that the blood be offered to himself, showing that if it is so precious in the case of a brute beast, much more in the case of a man. This he says also to Noah: “I will avenge all blood that is shed.” And one can find countless other such sayings commanding them not to murder; therefore they also commanded that not even what is strangled be eaten.

O the love of God for mankind! Though he foreknew that they would gain nothing, he did his own part nonetheless. “For I send,” he says, and that knowing they would be slain. So from this too they were proved to speak idly when they said, “We would not have been partners of our fathers.” For these too killed prophets, and in the synagogues; and they respected neither the place itself nor the dignity of the persons. For they did not kill just anyone, but prophets and wise men, so that they could charge them with nothing. By these he means the apostles and those after them, for many prophesied. Then, wishing to increase the fear, he says, “Truly, truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation”: that is, I will turn all things upon your heads, and I will make the vengeance severe. For he who knows that many have sinned, and is not brought to his senses, but himself sins the same sins again, and not the same only but far worse, would justly pay a penalty far more grievous than theirs. For as, had he wished, he would have gained greatly by becoming better through the examples of others, so, since he remained uncorrected, he is liable to a greater punishment, having enjoyed more warning through those who sinned before and were punished, and having reaped no fruit from it.

Then he turns his speech to the city, wishing by this too to instruct his hearers, and says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem.” What does the doubling mean? This figure belongs to one who pities her and bewails her, and loves her greatly. For as to a beloved woman, loved at all times, but who has scorned her lover and is therefore about to be punished, he makes his defense, now that he is about to bring on the punishment. This he does also in the prophets, saying, “I said, Turn back to me, and she did not turn back.” Then, having called her, he speaks also of her bloodguilt: “You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I wished to gather your children, and you would not”—and by this he defends what he himself had done: “Not even by these things did you turn me away, or draw me back from my great goodwill toward you; but even so I wished, not once or twice but often, to draw you to me. For how often,” he says, “I wished to gather your children together, as a hen her chicks, and you would not!” He says this to show that they were always scattering themselves by their sins. And he shows his tender affection by the image, for the creature is warm toward its young. And everywhere in the prophets this image of the wings appears, in the song of Moses and in the Psalms, showing his great shelter and providence. “But you would not,” he says. “Look, your house is left to you desolate”: stripped of the help that comes from me. So it was he who before also stood over them, and held them together and kept them; so it is he again who always punishes them. And he sets down a punishment which they had always feared exceedingly; for this signified the overthrow of their whole commonwealth. “For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” This too is the word of an ardent lover, drawing them earnestly by things to come, not only putting them to shame by things past; for here he speaks of the day to come, of his second coming. What then? Did they not see him from that time on? But by saying “from now on” he does not mean that hour, but the time until the cross. For since they always charged him with this, that he was an opponent of God and an enemy of God, by this he urges them to love him, showing himself in harmony with the Father; and he shows that he is the one who was in the prophets. Therefore he also uses the same words as the prophet. And by these words he made plain both the resurrection and the second coming, and showed even to those utterly unbelieving that then they will certainly worship him. And how did he make this plain? By first saying many things that would happen: that he would send prophets; that they would kill them; that in the synagogues; that they themselves would suffer the extreme; that the house would be made desolate; that they would undergo things more grievous than all, and such as never before. For all these things were enough to give even the very foolish and contentious a proof also of what will take place at his coming. For I will ask them: Did he send prophets and wise men? Did they kill them in the synagogues? Was their house left desolate? Did all the penalties come upon that generation? It is plain, and no one will gainsay it. As, then, all these things came to pass, so those things too will come to pass, and they will certainly bow down then. But they will have no benefit from it for their defense, just as those who repent then of their way of life will have none. Therefore, while there is time, let us do what is good. For as for them knowledge will then be of no benefit, so neither for us ourselves will repentance of our wickedness

be of any use. For neither for a pilot, when the sea has overwhelmed the ship through his own negligence, nor for a physician, when the patient has departed, will there be any further advantage; but each of them must, before the end, contrive and work at everything so as to fall into no danger and no disgrace; after that, all is useless. Let us too, then, while we are in the sickness, call in physicians, and spend money, and bring continual diligence, so that, rising up from wickedness, we may depart from here in health. And as much care as we take of our slaves when their bodies are sick, so much let us show for ourselves when our soul is sick. Yet we are nearer to ourselves than to our servants, and souls are more necessary than those bodies; but nevertheless we may be content if we bring at least equal diligence. For if we do not do this now, once we have departed it is no longer possible to gain anything by way of defense.

“And who,” someone says, “is so wretched as not to show even so much care?” This indeed is the astonishing thing, that we are so without honor in our own eyes as to despise ourselves even more than our servants. For when our servants have fever, we call in physicians, and set apart a room, and compel them to obey the laws of that art; and if they neglect these, we become harsh with them, and set guards beside them who do not allow them to fulfill their own desire even if they wish to; and if those who attend them say that medicines of great price must be prepared, we yield; and whatever they order, we obey, and pay them fees for these prescriptions. But when we are sick—or rather, there is no time when we are not sick—we neither bring in a physician nor spend money, but neglect the soul as though it were some hangman’s or an enemy’s or a foe’s lying there. And I say this not finding fault with the care of servants, but asking that we take at least as much care of our own soul as well.

“And how might we do it?” someone says. Show it, sick, to Paul; bring in Matthew; seat John beside it. Hear from them what one so sick must do; they will certainly tell you, and will not conceal it. For they are not dead, but live and speak. “But the soul pays no attention, held fast by fever.” Compel it yourself, and rouse its reason. Bring in the prophets. You need not pay money down to these physicians; for neither do they themselves demand a fee for their services, nor do they put you to the necessity of expense for the medicines they prepare, except for almsgiving; and in other things they even give you something besides. For instance, when they bid you be self-controlled, they free you from untimely and absurd expenses; when they bid you abstain from drunkenness, they make you richer. Have you seen the art of physicians who give money along with health? Sit by them, then, and learn from them the nature of your disease. For instance, do you love money and covetousness, often, as fever patients love cold water? Hear, then, what they advise. For as the physician tells you, “If you indulge the desire, you will perish, and you will suffer this and that,” so too Paul: “But those who wish to be rich fall into temptation and a snare of the devil, and senseless and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” But are you impatient? Hear him saying, “Yet a little while, and he who comes will come and will not delay”; “The Lord is near; be anxious about nothing”; and again, “The form of this world is passing away.” For he does not only command, but also consoles, as a physician does. And as those physicians devise certain other things in place of cold drinks, so he too diverts the desire. “Do you wish to be rich?” he says. “In good works.” “Do you desire to lay up treasure?” “I do not forbid it; only in heaven.” And as the physician says that cold is harmful to teeth, sinews, bones, so he too says it, more concisely, as one careful of brevity, but far more clearly and forcefully: “For the love of money is the root of all evils,” he says. What, then, must one use? He tells this too: contentment instead of covetousness. “For godliness with contentment,” he says, “is great gain.” But if you are impatient, and desire more, and cannot yet bear to throw away all superfluities, he tells even one so sick how he must use these too: “That those who rejoice in possessions be as though they did not rejoice, and those who have as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as though they did not abuse it.” Have you seen what he prescribes?

Shall I bring in another physician besides this one? It seems good to me. For these physicians are not like those of bodies, who often, competing for honor against one another, have sunk the patient. Not so these; for they look to the health of the sick, not to their own honor. Do not, then, fear their number: one teacher speaks in them all, Christ. See, then, another entering again, and saying harsh things about this disease—or rather his Teacher: “For you cannot serve God and mammon.” “Yes,” someone says, “and how will this be? How shall we cease from the desire?” From here too it is possible to learn this. “And how shall we know?” Hear him saying this too: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Have you seen how, from the place and from the things that spoil, he draws you away from this desire for things here, and fastens you to heaven, where all things are secure? For if you transfer your wealth there, where neither moth nor rust destroys, nor thieves break in and steal, you will both drive off this disease and set your soul in the greatest plenty. And besides what has been said, he also brings an example into the midst, to bring you to your senses. And as the physician, to frighten the patient, says that so-and-so took cold water and died, so he too brings in the rich man, sick, and desiring life and health, but unable to obtain it because he set his heart on covetousness, and going away empty. And after him another evangelist shows you yet another, the one roasting in the fire, and not master even of a drop. Then, showing that the precepts are easy, he says, “Look at the birds of the air.” And being condescending, he does not let even the rich despair. “For the things impossible with men are possible with God,” he says. For even if you are rich, the physician can heal you. For he did not do away with being rich, but with being a slave of money and a lover of covetousness. How, then, is it possible for the rich man to be saved? By holding his possessions in common with those in need, as Job was, and banishing from his soul the desire for more, and nowhere going beyond necessary need.

Along with these he shows you also the tax collector himself, who was held fast by the fever of covetousness, quickly set free. For what is more grasping than a tax collector? Yet nevertheless the man became one who owned nothing, by obeying the laws of the physician. For he has disciples of this kind too, who were sick with the same diseases as we, and were quickly made healthy. And he shows us each of them, so that we may not despair. See, then, this tax collector. Consider again another, a chief tax collector, who promised to give fourfold for what he had seized, and half of all that he possessed, so as to receive Jesus. But are you on fire, and do you greatly desire money? Have the goods of all instead of your own. “For I give you more than you seek,” he says, “opening to you the houses of the rich throughout the world. For whoever has left father or mother or fields or house will receive a hundredfold.” So you will not only enjoy more, but also do away entirely with this grievous thirst, and you will bear all things easily, not only not longing for more, but often not even for necessities. So Paul hungers, and glories more than when he ate. For an athlete too, contending and being crowned, would not choose to break off and be at ease; and a merchant who has taken to the routes of the sea would not desire to be idle henceforth. We too, then, if we taste as we ought of the spiritual fruits, will no longer think the present things to be anything, seized as by a most beautiful drunkenness with the desire of the things to come. Let us taste them, then, so that we may be freed from the tumult of present things and obtain the good things to come, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.