Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 34.1–34.5

“When they persecute you in this city, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Having spoken of those fearful and terrible things, able to dissolve adamant, which would befall them after the cross and the resurrection and the ascension, he brings his discourse back again to gentler things, giving the athletes a breathing space and providing them with great security. For he did not command them, when persecuted, to close with their persecutors, but to flee. For since it was as yet the beginning and the first steps, he uses more condescending language. For he is not speaking of the persecutions that came afterward, but of those before the cross and the passion. And this he showed by saying, “For you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” For so that they might not say, “What then, if, when we are persecuted, we flee, and there again they drive us out?”, removing this fear he says, You will hardly have gone round Palestine before I overtake you at once. And see how here too he does not end the terrors, but stands by them in their dangers. For he did not say, “I will snatch you out and put an end to the persecutions,” but what? “You will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” For it was enough for their consolation just to see him. But consider, I pray you, how he does not everywhere entrust everything to grace, but commands them to contribute something of their own too. For if you are afraid, he says, flee; for this he showed by saying, “Flee,” and “Do not be afraid.” And he did not command them to flee first, but to withdraw when they were driven out; and he does not give them a great distance either, but only as much as going round the cities of Israel. Then again he trains them for another [part of philosophy], casting out first [the anxiety about] food,

and second, the fear of dangers; and now the fear of slander. For from that anxiety he freed them by saying, “The laborer deserves his wage,” and by showing that many would receive them; and from the anguish over dangers by saying, “Do not be anxious how or what you are to speak,” and that “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” But since, along with these things, it was likely that they would also get a bad reputation, which seems to many more burdensome than all, see from what source he consoles them here too, setting down the consolation drawn from himself and from all that had been said about him, to which nothing was equal. For just as he said there, “You will be hated by all,” and added, “for my name’s sake,” so here too. And he consoles them in another way also, setting down another consolation after that one. What is this? “A disciple is not above his teacher,” he says, “nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! So do not fear them.” See how he reveals himself to be Master and God and Creator of all. What then? Is a disciple not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master? As long as he is a disciple and a servant, he is not, according to the nature of the honor. For do not tell me of the rare cases here, but take the saying from the majority. And he does not say, “how much more the servants,” but “those of his household,” displaying great intimacy with them. And elsewhere he said, “I no longer call you servants; you are my friends.” And he did not say, “If they insulted and slandered the master of the house,” but sets down the very form of the insult, that they called him Beelzebul. Then he also gives another consolation not less than this; for this is the greatest; but since those who were not yet perfect needed another too, one especially able to restore them, he sets this down as well. And the form of the words seems to have a universal statement; yet it was said not about all matters, but only about the matter in hand. For what does he say? “For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” What he means is this: It is enough for your consolation that I, your Teacher and Master, shared the same abuse with you. But if you are still pained at hearing these things, consider this too, that a little later you will be freed from this suspicion too. For why are you pained? Because they call you sorcerers and deceivers? But wait a little, and all will call you saviors and benefactors of the world. For time uncovers all that is overshadowed, and will expose their slander and make your virtue plain. For when you appear in deeds as saviors and benefactors, displaying every virtue, people will not attend to their words but to the truth of the facts; and they will appear as false accusers and liars and slanderers, but you brighter than the sun, as long time uncovers and proclaims you, sending out a voice clearer than a trumpet, and making all witnesses of your virtue. Let not, then, what is said now humble you, but let the hope of the good things to come raise you up. For it is impossible that your affairs should be hidden. Then, when he had freed them from all anguish and fears and anxiety, and made them higher than reproaches, then at last, at the fitting time, he speaks to them also about boldness in preaching. “For what I tell you in the dark,” he says, “speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.” And yet it was not dark when he said this, nor was he speaking to them in their ear; but he uses hyperbole. For since he was speaking to them alone, and in a small corner of Palestine, for this reason he said, “in the dark” and “in the ear,” contrasting with the manner of that conversation the boldness that was to come afterward, which he was going to give them. For you will preach not to one or two or three cities, he says, but to the whole world, going over land and sea, the inhabited and the uninhabited, to tyrants and peoples, to philosophers and orators, saying everything with bare head and with all boldness. That is why he said, “on the housetops” and “in the light,” without any reserve and with all freedom. And why did he not say only, “Proclaim on the housetops” and “Speak in the light,” but added, “What I tell you in the dark” and “what you hear in the ear”? To lift up their spirits. Just as when he said, “He who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do,” so here too, showing that he will accomplish everything through them, and more than through himself, he set this down. For I have given the beginning, he says, and the first steps; but the greater part I wish to accomplish through you. And this was the word not only of one commanding, but also of one foretelling the future and encouraging them by his words, and showing that they would prevail over all, and quietly undermining again their anguish about slander. For just as this preaching, hidden for the time, will go over everything, so the evil opinion of the Jews too will quickly perish. Then, since he had lifted them up and exalted them, he again foretells the dangers too, giving wings to their mind and making them higher than all. For what does he say? “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Do you see how he set them above all things, persuading them to despise not only anxiety and slander, nor dangers and plots, but even death itself, which seems the most fearful of all; and not simply death, but violent death? And he did not say, “You will be killed,” but set it before them with the dignity that befitted him, saying, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”; doing what he always does, turning the argument to the opposite. For what? he says; do you fear death, and for this reason shrink from preaching? For this very reason preach, since you fear death. For this will rescue you from real death. For even if they are going to kill you, they will not overcome the better part, even if they strive ten thousand times. That is why he did not say, “who do not kill the soul,” but, “who cannot kill it.” For even if they wish, they will not prevail. So, if you fear punishment, fear that which is much harsher. Do you see how again he does not promise them freedom from death, but lets them die, granting them more than if he had not allowed them to suffer this? For persuading them to despise death is much greater than freeing them from death. He does not, then, throw them into dangers, but makes them higher than dangers, and in a short word fixes in them the doctrines about the immortality of the soul; and having planted a saving doctrine in two or three words, he consoles them with other reasonings too. For so that they might not think, when they were killed and slaughtered, that they suffered this as men abandoned, he again brings in the word about God’s providence, saying, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall into a snare without your Father who is in heaven. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” For what is more worthless than those? he says; but nevertheless not even they will be caught without God’s knowledge. For he does not say this, that it falls by his working, for that is unworthy of God, but that nothing of what happens escapes him. If, then, he is ignorant of nothing that happens, and loves you more truly than a father, and loves you so as even to have numbered your hairs, you must not fear. And he said this not because God counts hairs, but to show his exact knowledge and the great providence he has for them. If, then, he both knows all that happens, and can save you, and wishes to, whatever you suffer, do not think that you suffer it as men abandoned. For he does not wish to free you from terrors, but to persuade you to despise terrors; since this above all is freedom from terrors. “So do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Do you see that fear had already taken hold of them? For he knew the secrets of their mind; that is why he added, “So do not fear them.” For even if they prevail, they will prevail over the lesser part, I mean the body; which, even if they do not kill it, nature will surely take and depart with. So they have not become masters even of this, but they have it from nature. And if you fear this, much more must you fear the greater, and fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And he does not say openly now that he himself is the one who can destroy both soul and body; but he made it plain by what he had shown earlier, that he is the judge. But now the opposite happens. For him who can destroy the soul, that is, punish it, we do not fear; but those who kill the body we shudder at. And yet he punishes the body together with the soul; while they can punish not only not the soul, but not even the body, even if they punish it ten thousand times; rather they make it more glorious by doing so. Do you see how he shows the contests to be easy? For death shook their soul very much, being still fearsome to them because it had not yet been made easy to overcome, and because those who were going to despise it had not yet enjoyed the grace of the Spirit. Having cast out, then, the fear and the anguish that shook their soul, he encourages them again by what follows, casting out fear by fear, and not by fear only, but also by the hope of great rewards; and he threatens with great authority, urging them on from both sides to boldness for the truth; and he adds, saying, “Everyone, then, who confesses me before men, I too will confess before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I too will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” For he urges them not only by good things but also by their opposites, and ends with gloomy things. And consider the exactness: he did not say “me,” but “in me,” showing that the one who confesses confesses not by his own power, but helped by grace from above. But of the one who denies he did not say “in me,” but “me”; for it is having become destitute of the gift that he thus denies. “Why, then, is he blamed,” someone says, “if he denies having been abandoned?” Because being abandoned comes about through the one who is abandoned. And why is he not content with faith in the mind, but requires also confession with the mouth? To anoint us for boldness and greater love and affection, and to make us lofty. That is why he speaks to all, and does not use the person of the disciples only; for he is making not them only but also their disciples noble already. For the one who has learned this will not only teach with boldness, but will also suffer everything easily and with eagerness. This, at any rate, brought many to the apostles: believing this word. For in punishment too the penalty is greater, and in good things the recompense is greater. For since the one who does well is outrun in time, and the sinner thinks he gains by the delay of punishment, he brought in an equal, or rather a much greater, advantage, the addition of … “Did you outdo me,” he says, “by confessing me first here? I too will outdo you,” he says, “by giving you more, and unspeakably more; for I will confess you there.” Do you see that both the good things and the evil things are stored up there? Why then do you hurry and press? Why do you seek the rewards here, you who have been saved in hope? For this reason, then, even if you do something good and do not receive its recompense here, do not be troubled; for the reward of these things awaits you with increase in the time to come. And if you do something evil and do not pay the penalty, do not be careless; for the punishment will receive you there, unless you change and become better. And if you disbelieve, judge from the things here about the things to come too. For if in the time of the contests those who confess are so illustrious, consider what they will be in the time of the crowns. If here the enemies applaud, how will he who is more affectionate than all fathers not admire you and proclaim you? For then come both the gifts for good things and the punishments for evil. So those who deny will be harmed both here and there: here, living with an evil conscience, they will surely die even if they do not die now; and there they will undergo the utmost penalty. But the others will gain both here and there, turning death here to profit, becoming by this more glorious than the living, and there enjoying the unspeakable good things. For God is ready not only to punish, but also to do good, and more ready for this than for that. But why does he set this down once and that twice? He knows that they are brought to their senses more by this. That is why, having said, “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell,” he says again, “I too will deny him.” So Paul too does, continually mentioning hell. Having, then, anointed the hearer by all means (for he opened heaven to him, and set over him that fearful judgment seat, and showed the theater of the angels, and the proclaiming of the crowns among them, preparing from this great ease for the word of godliness), at last, so that the preaching might not be hindered by their becoming cowardly, he commands them to prepare themselves even for the very slaughters; so that they may learn that those who remain in error will also pay the penalty for their plotting against these. Let us despise death, then, even if there is no occasion that requires it of us; for we shall be transferred to a much better life. “But the body is corrupted.” And for this very reason we must rejoice most, because death is corrupted and mortality destroyed, not the substance of the body. For if you saw a statue being melted down, you would not call what happens destruction, but a better refashioning. Reason so about the body too, and do not lament. For then you ought to lament, if it remained in the punishment. “But,” someone says, “this ought to happen without the corruption of bodies, and they should remain whole.” And how would this have benefited either the living or the departed? How long will you love the body? How long, nailed to the earth, will you gape at shadows? For what would this have profited? Or rather, what harm would it not have done? For if bodies were not corrupted, first the greatest of all evils, pride, would have remained with many. For if, even when this happens and worms pour out, many have contended to be gods, what would not have happened if this did not? Second, it would not have been believed that the body is from earth; for if, though the end bears witness, some still dispute it, what would they not have suspected if they did not see this? Third, bodies would have been loved exceedingly, and most would have become more carnal and grosser; and if even now some cling to tombs and coffins when the bodies have disappeared, what would they not have done if they had the image preserved? Fourth, they would not have longed much for the things to come. Fifth, those who say that the world is immortal would have been more confirmed, and would not have said that God is the Creator. Sixth, they would not have known the excellence of the soul, and how much a soul is when present in a body. Seventh, many who lost their relatives would have left the cities and lived in the tombs and become crazed, conversing continually with their dead. For if even now people fashion images, since they cannot keep the body (for it is not possible, but it flows away and leaps off even against their will), and are nailed to the boards, what absurdity would they not have devised then? It seems to me that most would even have built temples to such bodies, and those skilled in such sorceries would have persuaded demons to speak through them; since even now those who dare necromancy attempt many things more absurd than these. And how many idolatries would not have arisen from this, when people still strive to do these things after the dust and the ashes? Taking away, then, all these absurdities, and teaching us to keep away from all earthly things, God makes bodies disappear before our eyes. For the lover of the body, excited by a beautiful girl, if he will not learn by reason the ugliness of the substance, will know it from sight itself. For many of the same age as the beloved, and often more brilliant, have, after dying, given off a stench after one or two days, and ichor and the rottenness of worms. Consider, then, what sort of beauty you love, and at what comeliness you are excited. And if bodies were not corrupted, this would not have been well known; but just as the demons run about the tombs, so too many lovers, sitting continually by the tombs, would have received demons into their soul and quickly died of this grievous madness. But as it is, besides all the other things, this too consoles the soul: that the image is not seen; and it casts the passion into forgetfulness.

And if this were not so, there would be no tombs either, but you would see the cities holding dead bodies instead of statues, each person wishing to see his own. And great confusion would have arisen from this, and none of the many would have taken care of the soul, nor would it have given room for the word about immortality to come in; and many other things more absurd than these would have happened, which it is not good even to say. That is why it rots at once: so that you may see the beauty of the soul bare. For if the soul is the provider of so much beauty and so much life, much more would it itself be better; if it holds together what is so ugly and unsightly, much more itself. For the beauty is not in the body, but the form and the bloom which is painted on its substance from the soul. Love, then, that which makes this too appear so. And why do I speak of death? For even in life itself I show you how all beautiful things are the soul’s. For if it is glad, it scatters roses over the cheeks; if it is pained, it takes that beauty and wraps everything in a black robe. If it rejoices continually, the body becomes healthy; if it grieves, it makes the body thinner and weaker than a spider’s web; if it is angry, it makes it again repulsive and ugly; if it shows a calm eye, it bestows great beauty; if it envies, it pours out much pallor and wasting; if it loves, it gives great comeliness. So, at any rate, many women who were not comely of face received great grace from the soul; and others again, shining in bloom, because they had a graceless soul, spoiled their comeliness. Consider how a white face blushes and by the variety of color produces great pleasure when it must be ashamed and blush; just as, if it is shameless, it makes the face more unpleasant than any beast. For nothing is lovelier than a beautiful soul, nothing sweeter. For with bodies, longing is accompanied by pain; but with souls, the pleasure is pure and free from waves. Why do you leave the king and become excited about the herald? Why do you abandon the philosopher and gape at the interpreter? Did you see a beautiful eye? Learn the one within; and if that is not beautiful, despise this one too. For if you saw an ugly woman wearing a beautiful mask, you would not be moved toward her; just as you would not endure a comely and beautiful woman to be hidden by the mask, but, removing it, would wish to see her beauty bare. Do this, then, with the soul too, and learn it first; for the body is wrapped around it in place of a mask; that is why it remains as it is; but the soul, even if it is ugly, can quickly become beautiful. Even if it has an eye unsightly and harsh and hard, it can become beautiful, gentle, calm, mild, kindly. Let us seek this comeliness, then, let us adorn this face, so that God too, desiring our beauty, may give us a share in the eternal good things, 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.