Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 13.2–13.5

For this reason he himself also fasts forty days, showing us the medicines of salvation; and he does not go further, lest by the excess of the miracle the truth of the incarnation should in turn be disbelieved. As it was, this could not happen, since Moses and Elijah before him had been able, strengthened by the power of God, to reach so great a length. But if he had gone further, to many even on this account the assumption of the flesh would have seemed incredible. Having fasted, then, forty days and as many nights, he afterward was hungry, giving him a handle for approaching him, so that by grappling with him he might show how we must prevail and conquer. So also athletes do: when teaching their pupils how to prevail and conquer, they willingly grapple with others in the wrestling schools, giving the pupils the chance to observe in the bodies of their opponents, and to be trained in, the method of victory. This is just what happened then too. Since he wished to draw him on to this, he both made his hunger plain and received him when he approached, and having received him, he dashed him to the ground once, twice, and three times, with the ease that befitted him. But lest by running past these victories we spoil the benefit for you, let us begin from the first assault and examine each with precision.

When he was hungry, it says, the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves.” For since he had heard the voice borne from above that said, “This is my beloved Son,” and had heard John bearing such great testimony about him, and then saw him hungry, he was at a loss: he could neither believe that he was a mere man, because of what had been said about him, nor again accept that he was the Son of God, because he saw him hungry. Being at a loss, therefore, he utters ambiguous words. And just as when he approached Adam at the beginning he made up what was not, in order to learn what was, so here too, not knowing clearly the ineffable mystery of the incarnation and who in the world the one before him was, he tries to weave other nets, by which he thought he would learn what was hidden and obscure. And what does he say? “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves.” He did not say, “Since you are hungry,” but, “If you are the Son of God,” thinking to steal upon him by his praises. That is why he kept silent about the hunger, lest he seem to throw it in his face and reproach him with it. For not knowing the greatness of what was being dispensed, he thought this was shameful to him. That is why, flattering him craftily, he mentions only his dignity. What then does Christ do? Pulling down his conceit, and showing that what had happened was not worthy of shame nor unworthy of his wisdom, he himself brings out into the open and sets forth the very thing that the other, in flattering him, had passed over in silence, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

[So he begins from the necessity of the belly.] But consider, I beg you, the villainy of that wicked demon: where he begins his wrestling, and how he does not forget his own craft. For by the very means by which he cast out the first man and entangled him in countless other evils, by these he weaves his snare here too: I mean incontinence of the belly. Even now one can hear many foolish people saying that the belly causes countless evils. But Christ, showing that not even this tyranny compels the virtuous man to do anything unfitting, is hungry and does not obey the command, teaching us to obey the devil in nothing. For since the first man by this means offended God and transgressed the law, he teaches you, going beyond what was needed, not to obey even so, even if what he commands is not a transgression. And why do I say transgression? Even if the demons say something useful, he says, do not even so pay attention to them. Thus he silenced those demons who were proclaiming him the Son of God. And Paul too in turn rebuked them when they cried out this very thing, although what was said was useful; but, going beyond what was needed, he dishonored them and walled off their plotting against us, and drove them away even when they were proclaiming saving doctrines, stopping their mouths and ordering them to be silent. And for this reason here too he did not assent to what was said, but what does he say? “Man shall not live by bread alone.” What he means is this: that God is able to feed the hungry man even by a word, bringing him testimony from the old Scripture, and teaching us that even if we are starving, even if we suffer anything whatever, we must never depart from the Master.

But if someone should say, “Yet surely he ought to have displayed his power,” I would ask him: for what reason, and why? For the devil was not saying these things in order to believe, but in order, as he thought, to convict him of unbelief. For he deceived the first people too in this way and convicted them of not trusting God very firmly. By promising them the opposite of what God had said, puffing them up with empty hopes and casting them into unbelief, he thus cast them out also from the good things they had. But Christ shows that he did not assent either to him then, or later to the Jews who shared his mind and asked for signs, everywhere teaching us that even if we are able to do something, we should do nothing rashly and in vain, nor obey the devil even when necessity presses.

What then does this foul one do? Defeated, and unable to persuade him to do what he commanded, and that with such hunger pressing on him, he proceeds to another temptation, saying, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge concerning you, and on their hands they shall bear you up.’” Why ever does he add this, “If you are the Son of God,” at each attempt? What he did in the case of the first parents, he does now too. Just as then he slandered God, saying, “In the day you eat, your eyes shall be opened,” wishing to show by this that they had been deceived and cheated and had received no benefit, so here too he hints the same thing, saying: he called you Son for nothing and deceived you with the gift; for if this is not so, give us proof that you are of that power. Then, since Christ had reasoned with him from the Scriptures, he too brings forward the testimony of the prophet. How then does Christ respond? He was not indignant, he was not provoked, but with great gentleness he again reasons with him from the Scriptures, saying, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God,” teaching us that we must overcome the devil not by signs but by forbearance and long-suffering, and do nothing at all for display and ambition.

But consider his folly also from the very testimony he brought forward. For the testimonies brought forward by the Lord were both spoken very aptly; but those from him at random and as chance would have it, and not even fittingly did he bring in what suited the matter at hand. For the fact that it is written, “He shall give his angels charge concerning you,” does not advise one to throw oneself down and hurl oneself off a cliff; and besides, this was not even said about the Lord. But for the time being he did not refute this, although the devil had used the word insolently and quite contrary to its sense. For no one asks these things of the Son of God; rather, to throw oneself down belongs to the devil and the demons, while it belongs to God to raise up even those who are fallen. For if he had to display his power, it would be not by throwing himself down and hurling himself rashly off a cliff, but by saving others. To throw themselves into ravines and over cliffs belongs to the devil’s band. That, at any rate, is what the deceiver among them does everywhere. But Christ, even when these things had been said, does not yet reveal himself, but for the time being reasons with him as a man. For to say, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” and, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God,” was not the speech of one revealing himself very much, but of one showing himself to be one of the many. Do not be surprised if, while reasoning with Christ, he is often thrown into confusion. For just as boxers, when they receive mortal blows, reel about streaming with much blood and with their sight darkened, so he too, darkened by the first and the second blow, utters at random whatever comes to him and proceeds to the third assault.

“And taking him up onto a high mountain, he shows him all the kingdoms, and says, ‘All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then he says to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan; for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” For since he was now sinning against the Father, saying that all that is his was his own, and was striving to declare himself God, as creator of the universe, then he rebuked him; and not even then vehemently, but simply, “Get away, Satan,” which was rather a command than a rebuke. For at the same moment he said to him, “Get away,” he made him flee; for he did not bring on any further temptations.

How then does Luke say that “he ended every temptation”? It seems to me that, having named the chief heads of the temptations, he has spoken of all, since the others are comprised in these. For the things that hold together the countless evils are these: to be a slave to the belly, to do something for vainglory, to be in subjection to the madness for money. This, then, is what that foul one perceived, and he placed last the strongest of all, the desire for more: from the first and from the beginning he was in travail to come to this, but he kept it for last as more powerful than the rest. For this is the law of his wrestling: to bring on last the things that seem better able to trip us up. This he did in the case of Job as well. So here too, beginning from what seemed cheaper and weaker, he proceeds to the stronger.

How then must we overcome him? As Christ taught us: by fleeing to God for refuge, and neither being cast down in famine, trusting in him who is able to feed us even by a word, nor tempting the giver amid whatever good things we receive, but being content with the glory from above, making no account of human glory, and everywhere despising what goes beyond our need. For nothing makes us fall under the devil so much as to long for more and to love covetousness. And one can see this even from what happens now. For even now there are those who say, “All these things we will give you, if you will fall down and worship,” men by nature, but become his instruments. For then too he approached him not by himself only but also through others. Luke showed this when he said that “he departed from him for a season,” showing that afterward he approached him through his own instruments.

“And behold, angels came and ministered to him.” For while the assault was going on, he did not allow them to appear, so as not to scare off the prey by this; but when he had refuted him in everything and made him flee, then they appear, so that you too may learn that after victories like his, angels will receive you too, applauding and escorting you in everything. So, at any rate, angels took Lazarus away after the furnace of poverty and hunger and every distress. For, as I said before, Christ displays now many things which we too are to enjoy. Since, then, all these things were done for your sake, emulate and imitate the victory. And if one of the servants of that demon, one who shares his mind, comes to you taunting you and saying, “If you are wonderful and great, move the mountain,” do not be troubled or disturbed, but answer with gentleness and say what you heard your Master say: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” And if he holds out glory and power and a boundless amount of money and bids you worship, stand firm nobly again. For the devil did this not only in the case of the common Master of us all, but every day he brings these devices to bear on each of his servants, not only on mountains and in deserts, nor by himself, but also in cities and in marketplaces and in law courts, and through men who are our own kin.

What then must we do? Disbelieve him altogether, stop our ears, hate him when he flatters, and when he promises greater things, then turn away from him the more. For with Eve too, it was when he had most lifted her up with hopes that he cast her down and worked the greatest evils. For he is an implacable enemy and has undertaken an undeclared war against us. And we are not so zealous for our own salvation as he is for our destruction. Let us therefore turn away from him, not with words only but with deeds, not in mind only but in actions, and do none of the things he approves; for in this way we shall do all the things that God approves. For he also promises much, not to give but to take. He promises from robbery, in order to take away the kingdom and righteousness; and he sets treasures on earth like snares and traps, so as to rob us both of these and of the treasures in heaven; and he wants us to be rich here so that we may not be rich there. And if he cannot cast us out of our inheritance there by means of wealth, he comes by the other road, that of poverty, as he did with Job. For when he saw that wealth had not harmed him at all, he weaves his nets through poverty, expecting to get the better of him from that side. What could be more foolish than this? For he who has been able to bear wealth soberly will much more bear poverty nobly; and he who does not desire money when it is present will not seek it when it is absent. So indeed that blessed man did not then, but from his poverty became more illustrious again. That wicked demon was able to take away his money, but his love for God he not only could not take away, but even made stronger; and having stripped him of everything, he made him flourish with more good things. That is why he was at a loss. For the more blows he inflicted, the more powerful he saw him become. Therefore, having tried everything and tested him thoroughly, since he accomplished nothing more, he ran to his old weapon, the woman; he puts on a mask of concern, recites his misfortunes most piteously like a tragedy, and pretends to bring in that ruinous counsel for his release from his evils. But not even so did he prevail; for that wonderful man saw through his bait, and with great understanding stopped the mouth of the woman who spoke from him.

This is what we too must do: even if he slips into a brother, or a true friend, or a wife, or any one at all of those closest to us, and utters something unfitting, we must not accept the counsel because of the person of the one who speaks, but because of the ruinous counsel turn away from the one who speaks. For even now he does many such things; he puts forward a mask of sympathy, and seems to be well disposed, but he injects ruinous words, more dangerous than poisons. For to flatter to our harm is his work; to discipline for our good is God’s. Let us not, then, deceive ourselves, nor seek by every means the easy life. “For whom the Lord loves he disciplines,” it says. So when we enjoy prosperity while living in wickedness, then above all let us grieve. For we must always be afraid when we sin, but most of all when we suffer nothing terrible. For when God exacts the penalties little by little, he makes our payment for them light; but when he is long-suffering toward each of our offenses, he is storing up a great penalty for us if we persist in such things. For if affliction is necessary for those who do right, much more for those who sin. See, at any rate, how much long-suffering Pharaoh enjoyed, and afterward paid the utmost penalty for everything; how much … offended, and at the end paid off the whole. And the rich man, because he suffered nothing terrible here, became wretched precisely for this reason, that having lived in luxury in this present life, he went away there to pay the penalty for all these things, where it was not even possible to find consolation for his misery.

But still there are some so cold and senseless as always to seek only the things here, and to say those ridiculous words: “Let me enjoy all present things for the time being, and then I will consider the uncertain things; I will gratify the belly, I will be a slave to pleasures, I will make full use of the present life; give me today, and take tomorrow.” O excess of folly! In what do those who say these things differ from goats and swine? For if the prophet does not allow those who neigh after their neighbor’s wife to be considered men, who will blame us for calling these goats and swine and more senseless than asses, who think these things uncertain which are plainer than the things we see? For if you believe nothing else, stand by the demons as they are scourged, the demons who have made it their study to say and do everything to our harm. You will surely not contradict this, that they do everything to increase our indolence and to dissolve the fear of hell, and to make the courts there disbelieved. Yet nevertheless those who wish this, crying out and wailing, often proclaim the torments there. Why then do they say these things, and utter the opposite of what they wish? From no other source than from being under a greater compulsion. For they would not willingly have chosen to confess either that they are tormented by dead men, or that they suffer anything terrible at all. Why have I said these things? Because the demons, who want hell to be disbelieved, confess hell; but you, who enjoy so great an honor and have shared in ineffable mysteries, do not even imitate them, but have become more unfeeling than they.

“And who,” someone says, “has come from those in Hades and reported these things?” And who has come from heaven and said that it is God who created all things? And how is it clear that we have a soul? For if you are going to believe only the things that are seen, you will doubt about God and about angels and about mind and about soul, and so all the doctrines of truth will be gone for you. And yet, if you want to believe what is plain, you ought to believe the invisible things more than the things seen. Even if what has been said is paradoxical, it is nevertheless true, and fully agreed upon among those who have understanding. For the eyes are often deceived, not only in invisible things (for those they do not even know), but even in the very things they think they see, distance, air, the mind turned elsewhere, anger, anxiety, and countless other things hindering their accuracy; but the reasoning of the soul, if it receives the light of the divine Scriptures, will be a more accurate and undeceivable criterion of what is. Let us not, then, deceive ourselves in vain, nor, besides the indolence of life that is born of such doctrines, heap up for ourselves a more grievous fire on account of the doctrines themselves. For if there is no judgment, and we shall not give account of what we have done, neither shall we receive rewards for our labors. Consider where your blasphemies lead, when you say that the just God, who loves mankind and is gentle, overlooks such great labors and sweat. And how could this be reasonable? If from nothing else, reason this out at least from what happens in your own household, and then you will see the absurdity. For even if you were ten thousand times cruel and inhuman and fiercer than wild beasts, you would not choose, when dying, to leave unhonored the servant who had been loyal to you, but you repay him with freedom and a gift of money; and since, being about to depart, you can do him no more good yourself, you charge those who are to inherit your property about him, begging, entreating, doing everything so that he may not remain without reward. And then you, who are wicked, become so kind and humane toward your servant; and will the infinite goodness, God, the unspeakable love of mankind, the boundless kindness, overlook his own servants, Peter and Paul and James and John, who every day for his sake went hungry, were bound, scourged, drowned, given to wild beasts, put to death, who suffered more than can even be counted, and leave them uncrowned? The president of the games proclaims and crowns the Olympic victor, the master the servant, the king the soldier, and in a word everyone repays the one who has served him with what good things he can; and shall God alone, after such great sweat and labors, give them back no good thing, small or great, but shall those righteous and godly men, who went through every virtue, lie in the same state as adulterers and parricides and murderers and grave robbers? And how could this be reasonable? For if there is nothing after our departure from here, but our affairs extend only to the present, then those men are in the same state as these; or rather, not even in the same. For even if afterward, by your account, they are in the same state, yet here these were at ease, while those were in punishment their whole life long. What tyrant, what cruel and harsh man, ever made such a plan for his own servants and subjects? Do you see the excess of the absurdity, and where this argument ends? So, if you will be persuaded by nothing else, be taught by these reasonings, rid yourself of this wicked suspicion, flee vice, cling to the labors of virtue, and then you will know clearly that our affairs do not stop at the present life.

And if someone asks you, “Who has come from there and reported the things there?” say to him: of men, not one; for he would often have been disbelieved, as one boasting and exaggerating the matter; but the Master of the angels has reported all those things with precision. What need have we then of a man, when he who is to demand account of us cries out every day that he has prepared both hell and a kingdom, and has given us clear proofs of these things? For if he were not going to judge, he would not have exacted penalties here either. And indeed how could this itself be reasonable, that of the wicked some are punished and some are not? For if God is no respecter of persons, as indeed he is not, why ever did he exact a penalty from one and let another go away unpunished? This is in turn more perplexing than the former point. But if you are willing to listen to what is said with good will, we shall solve this difficulty too. What then is the solution? He neither exacts the penalty from all here, so that you may not despair of the resurrection and give up hope of the judgment, as if all were giving account here; nor does he let all go away unpunished, so that you may not think in turn that all things are without providence; but he both punishes and does not punish: by those he punishes, showing that there too he will demand account from those not punished here; and by those he does not punish, preparing you to believe that there is a fearful court after our departure from here. But if he had no care at all for things past, he would neither have punished some here, nor done good to them. But now you see him for your sake stretching out the heaven, kindling the sun, founding the earth, pouring out the sea, spreading out the air, appointing courses for the moon, setting unchangeable laws for the seasons of the year, and all other things accomplishing their own course with precision at his nod. For our nature and that of the irrational creatures, of those that creep, that walk, that fly, that swim, of those in marshes, in springs, in rivers, in mountains, in glens, in houses, in the air, in the plains, and plants and seeds and trees, wild and cultivated, fruitful and unfruitful, and in a word all things moved by that untiring hand, serve our life, providing us their service not only for need but also for lavish enjoyment.

Seeing, then, so great an order (and yet we have not told even the smallest part), do you dare to say that he who has wrought so many and such great things for your sake will overlook you at the decisive moment, and will let you, when you die, lie with the asses and swine, and that having honored you with so great a gift, that of godliness, by which he made you equal even to the angels, he will overlook you after your countless labors and sweat? And how could this be reasonable? Even if we are silent, the stones will cry out these things, so plain and clear they are, and brighter than the sunbeam itself. Having considered all these things, then, and persuaded our souls that after our departure from here we shall stand before a fearful judgment seat, and give account of all that we have done, and undergo examination, and suffer punishment if we persist in offending, and enjoy crowns and ineffable good things if we are willing to pay a little attention to ourselves, let us both silence those who speak against these things and ourselves choose the road of virtue, so that, departing to that court with the boldness that befits us, we may obtain the good things promised us, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.