Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 26.7

For it is not the same for one who has been counted worthy of the Spirit, has received so many benefits, has had such great boldness, and is of such an age, to dare such things, as to do this same thing without all these. But nevertheless in this respect most of all that noble man is admirable: that, having fallen to the very bottom of wickedness, he did not lose heart, nor despair, nor throw himself down on his back after receiving so deadly a blow from the devil, but quickly, or rather immediately, and with great vehemence, he gave a more deadly blow than he received. It was as if in war and battle, when some barbarian had planted a spear in the heart of a champion, or let fly an arrow at his liver, and had added a second wound more deadly than the first, the one who had received these grievous blows, having fallen and streaming with blood on every side, should rise quickly and, hurling a spear at the one who shot him, should at once lay him dead on the plain. So here too, the greater you say the blow was, the more admirable you show the soul of the one struck to be, in that after this grievous wound he was able both to rise and to stand in the very front of the battle line and bring down the one who wounded him. And how great this is those know best who fall into grievous sins. For it is not so much the part of a noble and vigorous soul to walk upright and to run the whole way (for such a soul has good hope as its companion on the road, anointing it, rousing it, strengthening it, making it more eager) as, after countless crowns and many trophies and victories, having suffered the utmost loss, to be able to take up the same course again. And to make what I say clearer, I will try to bring before you another example, no less than the former. Imagine, I pray you, a pilot who has crossed countless seas, who, after sailing over the whole sea, after many storms and reefs and waves, with a large cargo, is sunk at the very mouth of the harbor, and has barely escaped this grievous shipwreck with his bare body: how is he likely to feel about the sea, and sailing, and such toils? Will such a man ever choose, unless he is of a very noble soul, to see a shore, or a ship, or a harbor? I do not think so; but he will lie with his head covered, seeing night in the day and giving up on everything, and will rather choose to live by begging than to take up the same toils. But not so this blessed man. Having suffered such a shipwreck, after those countless toils and sweat, he did not remain covered up, but launched his ship, spread the sails, took the rudder in hand, takes up the same toils, and made his wealth greater again. And if standing is so admirable, and not lying down altogether after falling, how many crowns would rising and doing such things deserve? And yet there were many things that threw him into despair: first, the greatness of the sin; second, that he suffered this not at the beginning of life, when hopes too are greater, but toward its end. For the merchant who suffers shipwreck right after leaving harbor does not grieve as much as one who strikes a reef after countless voyages of trade. Third, that he suffered this when he had already gathered much wealth. For no small cargoes were stored up for him by then: those of his first youth, when he was a shepherd; those concerning Goliath, when he set up that splendid trophy; those of his philosophy in the matter of Saul. For he displayed the long-suffering of the Gospel, having his enemy in his hands countless times and continually sparing him, and choosing rather to be cast out of his country and his freedom and life itself than to kill the one who was unjustly plotting against him. And after he became king too his achievements were not small. And besides what has been said, the opinion of the many, and falling from so splendid a glory, caused no ordinary turmoil. For the purple did not so much adorn him as the stain of sin shamed him. And you surely know how great a thing it is to have one’s sins paraded publicly, and how such a man needs a great soul so as not to lose heart after the accusation of the many and with so many witnesses of his offenses. But nevertheless that noble man, drawing all these arrows out of his soul, so shone afterward, so scoured away the stain, and so became clean, that even after his death he alleviated the sins of his descendants; and what was said of Abraham God is seen saying of him too, or rather much more of him. For of the patriarch he says, “I remembered my covenant with Abraham”; but here he does not say, “the covenant,” but how? “For the sake of David my servant I will defend this city.” And on account of his goodwill toward him he did not allow Solomon, though he committed so great a sin, to fall from the kingdom. And so great was the man’s glory that Peter, so many years later, addressing the Jews, speaks thus: “It is permitted to speak freely to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried.” And Christ too, conversing with the Jews, shows that after the sin he was counted worthy of so much of the Spirit as to be counted worthy to prophesy even about Christ’s own Godhead; and stopping their mouths from this, he said, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand’?” And what happened with Moses happened with David too. For just as God punished Miriam, even against Moses’ will, for her insult to her brother, because he greatly loved the holy man, so too, when this man was insulted by his son, he quickly avenged him, and that though he did not wish it. These things, then, are sufficient, or rather these above all others are sufficient, to show the man’s virtue. For when God gives his verdict, nothing more is needed. But if you wish to learn his philosophy in detail, you may, by going through the history after the sin, and seeing his boldness toward God, his goodwill, his advance in virtue, his exactness up to his last breath. Having these examples, then, let us be sober and strive not to fall; and if ever we do fall, not to lie there. For it was not to throw you into carelessness that I spoke of David’s sins, but to produce greater fear. For if that righteous man, being a little careless, received such wounds, what shall we suffer, who are negligent every day? Do not, then, look at his fall and become careless; but consider how much he did afterward, how many laments he displayed, how great a repentance, adding the nights to the days, pouring forth fountains of tears, washing his bed with tears, and besides this putting on sackcloth. And if he needed so great a conversion, when shall we be able to be saved, who remain without feeling after so many sins? For the one who has many good deeds might easily overshadow his sins by these; but the one who is unarmed, wherever he receives an arrow, receives a deadly blow. So then, that this may not happen, let us arm ourselves with good works, and if any offense befalls us, let us wash it away; so that, having lived the present life to the glory of God, we may be counted worthy to enjoy the life to come; 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.