Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 24.1–24.4

“[Not everyone who] says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Why did he not say, “but the one who does my will”? Because for the time being it was welcome for them to receive even this first; for it was already very great, given their weakness. And besides, by the one he hinted at the other too. And along with this one may also say that there is no other will of the Son besides that of the Father. And here he seems to me to be attacking the Jews most of all, who placed everything in doctrines and took no thought for their life. That is why Paul too charges them, saying, “But if you call yourself a Jew, and rest on the law, and boast in God, and know his will”; but you have no advantage from this when the display of a life and of works is not present. But he himself did not stop at this; he said something much more. “For many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?’” For not only, he says, is the one who has faith but has neglected his life cast out of heaven; but even if, together with faith, he has done many signs and worked no good, he too is likewise shut out from those sacred doors. “For many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?’” Do you see how quietly he brings himself in at last, now that he has completed his whole discourse, and shows that he is the judge? For that punishment awaits those who sin he showed in what went before; but who it is that punishes, he now reveals here. And he did not say openly, “It is I,” but, “Many will say to me,” establishing this same thing again. For if he were not himself the judge, how would he have said to them, “And then I will declare to them, ‘Depart from me; I never knew you’”? Not only at the time of judgment, he says, but not even then, when you were working miracles. That is why he said to the disciples too, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but that your names are written in heaven.” And everywhere he commands us to take great care for our life. For it is not possible that a person who lives rightly and is free from all the passions should be overlooked; but even if he happens to go astray, God will quickly draw him to the truth. But there are some who say that these men were lying when they said this, and that this is why, they say, they were not saved. Then such a person establishes the opposite of what Christ intends. For he intends to show here that faith has no strength without works. Then, intensifying this, …

he added the signs too, showing that not only faith but not even the display of signs profited the wonder-worker anything without virtue. And if they had not done them, how could this point have been established here? Besides, they would not have dared to say this to him with the judgment at hand. And the answer itself, and their speaking in the form of a question, shows that they had done them. For since they saw an end contrary to their expectation, and while here they had been admired by all for working miracles, but there they now see themselves punished, they say, as men astonished and amazed, “Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” How then do you turn us away now? What does this strange and unexpected end mean? But they wonder that, having worked such miracles, they were punished; you, however, must not wonder. For the grace was wholly of the gift of the giver; but they contributed nothing of their own; that is why they are justly punished, because toward the one who honored them so much as to give the grace even to the unworthy they proved ungrateful and without feeling. “What then,” someone says, “did they do such things while working lawlessness?” Some say that it was not at the time when they were working these miracles that they were also acting lawlessly, but that later they changed and did lawlessness. But if this is so, again the point he is laboring to make does not stand. For what he is eager to show is this: that neither faith nor miracles have strength when life is lacking; as Paul too said, “If I have faith so as to remove mountains, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing.” Who, then, are these? he says. Many of those who believed received gifts, such as the one who cast out demons and was not with him, such as Judas; for he too, though wicked, had a gift. And in the Old Testament too one could find this: grace often working in the unworthy so as to benefit others. For since not all were fitted for all things, but some were of pure life but did not have such great faith, and others the reverse, he urged the former through the latter to show great faith, and by this unspeakable gift called forth the latter to become better. That is why he gave the grace with great abundance. “For [we did] mighty works,” they say … “that I do not know you.” For now they think they are my friends, but then they will know that it was not as to friends that I gave. And why do you wonder that he gave gifts to men who believed in him but had no life consistent with their faith, when he is found working even in those who have fallen from both? For Balaam too was a stranger both to faith and to an excellent way of life; but nevertheless grace worked in him for the sake of his dealings with others. And Pharaoh was such; but nevertheless to him too he showed the things to come. And Nebuchadnezzar was most lawless; and to him again he revealed what would happen many generations later. And again to his son, who surpassed his father in lawlessness, he showed the things to come, ordering wonderful and great affairs. Since, then, at that time too the preaching was at its beginning, and there needed to be a great display of his power, many even of the unworthy received gifts. But nevertheless those men gained nothing from these signs, but are punished the more. That is why he spoke to them that fearful word, “I never knew you.” For many he hates even here already, and turns away from them before the judgment. Let us fear, then, beloved, and take great care of our life, and let us not think we have less because we do not now work signs. For we shall never have any advantage from these, just as we shall have no loss from not working them, if we take care of all virtue. For of the signs we are ourselves the debtors; but of our life and our actions we have God as our debtor. Since, then, he had completed everything, and had discoursed about virtue with all exactness, and had shown that its counterfeiters are of various kinds, those who fast and pray for display, those who come in sheep’s skin, and those who corrupt it, whom he called swine and dogs, he shows at last how great is the gain of virtue even here, and how great the harm of wickedness, saying, “Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man.” What those who do not do them will suffer, even if they work signs, you have heard; but you must also know what those who obey all that has been said will enjoy, not only in the age to come but also here. “For everyone,” he says, “who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man.” Do you see how he varies his speech, at one time saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’” and revealing himself; at another, “the one who does the will of my Father”; and again bringing himself in as judge, “For many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?’ and I will say, ‘I do not know you’”? And here again he shows that he has authority over all; that is why he also said, “Whoever hears these words of mine.” For since he had spoken entirely about the things to come, speaking of a kingdom and an unspeakable reward and comfort and all such things, he wishes to give them the fruits from here too, and to show how great is the strength of virtue even in the present life. What, then, is this strength? To live in safety, to be easily overcome by none of the terrors, to stand above all who mistreat us. What could equal this? For not even the man who wears the diadem could provide this for himself, but the one who pursues virtue. For he alone possesses it in great abundance, enjoying great calm in the ebb and flow of present affairs. For this is what is truly wonderful: that not when the weather is fair, but when the storm is violent and the turmoil great and the temptations continuous, he cannot be shaken even a little. “For the rain came down,” he says, “the rivers came, the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it did not fall; for it had been founded on the rock.” Here he speaks metaphorically of rain and rivers and winds, meaning human misfortunes and calamities, such as slanders, plots, griefs, deaths, losses of kinsfolk, injuries from strangers, all the evils of life one could mention. But such a soul, he says, yields to none of these; and the reason is that it is founded on the rock. And he calls the security of his own teaching a rock. For the commandments are stronger than a rock, making one higher than all the waves of human affairs. For the one who keeps them with exactness will prevail not only over men who mistreat him, but even over the very demons who plot against him. And that what has been said is no boast, Job is our witness, who received all the attacks of the devil and remained unmoved; and the apostles too would bear witness, who, when the waves of the world dashed against them, of peoples and tyrants, kinsfolk and strangers, demons and the devil, and every device was set in motion, stood firmer than a rock and broke up all these. What, then, could be more blessed than this life? For neither wealth, nor bodily strength, nor glory, nor power, nor anything else will be able to promise this, but only the possession of virtue. For it is not, it is not possible to find another life free from all evils except this one alone. And you are witnesses, who know the plots in palaces, the tumults and troubles in the houses of the rich. But among the apostles there was nothing of the kind. What then? Did nothing of the kind happen, and did they suffer nothing terrible from anyone? No; this is what is most wonderful of all: that they underwent many plots, and many storms burst upon them, yet these did not overturn their soul nor throw them into despondency, but, wrestling with bare bodies, they prevailed and overcame. You too, then, if you are willing to do these things with exactness, will laugh at everything. For if you are fortified with the philosophy of these counsels, nothing will be able to grieve you. For how will the one who wishes to plot against you harm you? Will he take away your money? But even before his threat you were commanded to despise it, and to keep from it so far as not even to ask the Master for any such thing. Will he throw you into prison? But before the prison you were commanded to live so as to be crucified to the whole world. Does he speak ill of you? But Christ has freed you from this pain too, promising you without toil a great reward for patience, and making you so clean of the anger and grief that come from it as even to command you to pray for them. Does he drive you out and surround you with countless evils? He makes your crown more splendid. Does he kill and slaughter you? For this very reason he again benefits you most of all, procuring for you the prizes of the martyrs, sending you more quickly into the harbor free from waves, giving you occasion for a greater reward, and causing you to turn to profit the penalty common to all. And this is most wonderful of all: that those who plot not only do no harm, but even make those they mistreat more highly esteemed. What could equal choosing such a life, such as this alone is? For since he had said that the way is narrow and hard, here too consoling the toils, he shows that its security is great and its pleasure great, just as great is the rottenness and the loss of the opposite. For as he showed the prizes of virtue even from here, so too the wages of wickedness. For, as I always say, so I will say now too: everywhere he secures the salvation of his hearers by both, by zeal for virtue and by hatred of wickedness. For since there were going to be some who admired what was said but did not give proof of it in deeds, he anticipates them and frightens them, saying that, even if what has been said is good, hearing is not enough for safety, but there is need also of obedience in works, and the whole lies chiefly in this. And here he ends his discourse, leaving the fear at its height in them. For just as with virtue he exhorted them not only from the things to come, speaking of a kingdom and heavens and an unspeakable reward and comfort and countless good things, but also from present things, displaying the firmness and immovability of the rock; so also with wickedness he frightens them not only from what is expected, such as the tree cut down, and the unquenchable fire, and not entering into the kingdom, and the saying, “I do not know you,” but also from present things, I mean the fall of the house. That is why he made his speech more vivid, working it out in a parable. For it was not the same to say that the virtuous man will be invincible and the wicked easily taken, as to set down a rock and a house and rivers and rain and wind and all such things. “And everyone who hears these words of mine,” he says, “and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.” And well did he call him foolish. For what could be more senseless than one who builds a house on the sand, and undergoes the toil but is deprived of the fruit and the rest, and instead of this undergoes punishment? For that those who pursue wickedness also labor is plain to everyone: the robber, the adulterer, and the false accuser toil much and suffer hardship so as to bring their wickedness to completion; but not only do they reap no fruit from these toils, but … the loss. Hinting at this, Paul said, “He who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.” Like this too are those who build on the sand, such as those given to sexual immorality, to licentiousness, to drunkenness, to anger, to all the other vices. Such was Ahab, but not such was Elijah. For by setting virtue and wickedness side by side we shall know the difference more exactly. For the one built on the rock, the other on the sand; that is why, though he was king, he feared and trembled at the prophet who had only a sheepskin. Such were the Jews, but not the apostles; that is why these, though few and bound, displayed the firmness of the rock, and those, though many and armed, the weakness of the sand. For they said, “What shall we do with these men?” Do you see who are at a loss? Not those who were in their power and bound, but those who held and bound them. What could be stranger than this? You hold them, and you are at a loss? And very reasonably. For since they had built everything on the sand, for this reason they were the weakest of all. That is why they also said again, “Do you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us?” What are you saying? You scourge, and you are afraid? You mistreat, and you dread? You judge, and you tremble? So weak is wickedness. But not so the apostles. How, then? “We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” Did you see a lofty spirit? Did you see a rock laughing at the waves? Did you see a house unshaken? And what is more wonderful, they not only did not become cowardly when plotted against, but took more courage and threw those men into greater anguish. For the one who strikes … adamant is himself the one who is struck; and the one who kicks against the goads is himself the one who is pricked and receives the grievous wounds; and the one who plots against the virtuous is himself the one in danger. For wickedness becomes weaker the more it is arrayed against virtue. And just as one who binds fire in a garment did not quench the flame but consumed the garment, so the one who mistreats and holds and binds the virtuous makes them more glorious and destroys himself. For the more terrible things you suffer while living uprightly, the stronger you have become; for the more we honor philosophy, the less we shall need anything; and the less we need anything, the stronger we become and above all things. Such was John; that is why no one grieved him, but he grieved Herod; and the one who had nothing rose up against the ruler, while the one clothed with diadem and purple and endless pomp trembles and fears the one stripped of everything, and could not look without fear even upon him when he had been beheaded. For that even after his death he kept the fear of him at its height, hear what he says: “This is John, whom I killed.” And the words “I killed” were not those of one boasting, but of one soothing his fear and persuading his troubled soul to remember that he himself had slain him. So great is the strength of virtue that even after death it is more powerful than the living. For this reason too, while he was alive, those who possessed much money came to him and said, “What shall we do?” You have so much, and you wish to learn the way of your prosperity from one who has nothing? The rich from the poor? … Such was Elijah too; that is why he spoke to the people with the same boldness. For the one said, “Brood of vipers,” and this one, “How long will you limp upon both your hams?” And the one said, “You have murdered and taken possession,” and the other said, “It is not lawful for you to have the wife of your brother Philip.” Did you see the rock? Did you see the sand, how easily it falls down, how it yields to misfortunes, how it is overturned, whether it has a king on its side, or a multitude, or power? For it makes those who pursue it more senseless than all. And it does not simply fall, but with great calamity. “For great,” he says, “was its fall.” For the danger is not about trifles, but about the soul, about falling from heaven and from those immortal good things. Or rather, even before those, the one who pursues this life will live more wretchedly than all, living with continual despondency, fears, cares, and anguish; which a certain wise man too hinted at when he said, “The ungodly flees when no one pursues.” For such people tremble at shadows, suspect their friends, their enemies, their servants, those who know them and those who do not, and before the punishment pay the utmost penalty here. And making all this plain, Christ said, “And great was its fall,” closing these excellent precepts with a fitting end, and persuading even the very unbelieving to flee wickedness on the ground of present things. For even if the word about the things to come is greater, this one is better able to restrain the duller sort and lead them away from wickedness. That is why he ended with it, so that the benefit might ring in their ears. Knowing all these things, then, both the present and the future, let us flee wickedness, let us emulate virtue, so that we may not labor in vain and at random, but may both enjoy safety here and share in the glory there; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might for ever and ever. Amen.