Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 37.2–37.6

Having then characterized his disposition from the place, and from the garments, and from the concourse, he next brings in the prophet too. For having said, “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet,” he says, “For this is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” Having first set down the testimony of the Jews, he then applies that of the prophets; or rather, first he sets down the verdict of the Jews, which would be the greatest proof, when the testimony is borne by enemies; second, the life of the man; third, his own judgment; fourth, the prophet, stopping their mouths on every side. Then, so that they might not say, “What then, if he was such then, but now has changed?”, he added what came after these things too, the garments, the prison, and with these the prophecy. Then, having said that he is greater than a prophet, he shows also in what respect he is greater. In what respect then is he greater? In being near to him who had come. “For I send,” he says, “my messenger before your face,” that is, near you. For as with kings those who ride near the chariot are more illustrious than the others, so John too appears riding near the coming itself. See how he showed his preeminence from this too; and he does not stop even here, but next brings in his own verdict as well, saying, “Truly I say to you, there has not arisen among those born of women one greater than John the Baptist.” What he says is this: “No woman has borne one greater than this man.” And the pronouncement is enough; but if you wish to learn from the facts too, consider his table, his manner of life, the loftiness of his mind. For he lived as in heaven, and having risen above the necessities of nature, he traveled a strange road, spending all his time in hymns and prayers, conversing with no man, but with God alone continually. For he did not see any of his fellow servants, nor was he seen by any of them; he was not nourished with milk, he enjoyed no bed, no roof, no marketplace, nor any other human thing; and yet he was at once gentle and vehement. Hear at least how he converses with his own disciples with gentleness, how with courage with the people of the Jews, how with boldness with the king. For this reason he also said, “There has not arisen among those born of women one greater than John the Baptist.” But so that the excess of praise might not in turn give birth to some absurdity, the Jews preferring him to Christ, see how he corrects this too. For as the crowds were harmed by the very things by which the disciples were built up, thinking him fickle, so from the things by which the crowds were healed a greater harm might have come, if they took from what had been said a higher opinion of him than of Christ. Therefore he corrects this too without arousing suspicion, saying, “But he who is less is greater than he in the kingdom of heaven.” “Less” in age, and in the opinion of the many; for they called him “a glutton and a winebibber,” and, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?”, and everywhere they made light of him. “What then?” someone says. “Was he greater by comparison with John?” Away with it! For neither does John speak by way of comparison when he says, “He is mightier than I”; nor does Paul write by way of comparison when, mentioning Moses, he writes, “For this man has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses.” And he himself, when he says, “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here,” does not speak by way of comparison. And even if we were to grant that this was said by him by way of comparison, it was done by way of accommodation, because of the weakness of the hearers. For people were then exceedingly gaping after him; and the prison and his boldness toward the king had made him more illustrious; and it was much if this much were accepted by the many for the time. For the old covenant too knows how to correct thus the souls of those led astray, setting incomparable things side by side by way of comparison, as when it says, “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,” and again, “There is no god like our God.” But some say that Christ said this about the apostles, and others about angels. For when some turn aside from the truth, they are accustomed to wander far. For what sequence would there be in speaking either about angels or about apostles? And besides, if he were speaking about the apostles, what prevented him from bringing them forward by name? But speaking about himself, he naturally conceals the person, because of the suspicion still prevailing, and so as not to seem to say something great about himself; for he is seen doing this in many places. And what is “in the kingdom of heaven”? Among the spiritual beings and all those in heaven. And the saying, “There has not arisen among those born of women one greater than John,” was that of one who was distinguishing John from himself, and so excepting himself.

For even if he himself was born of a woman, yet not as John was; for he was not a mere man, nor was he born like a man, but by a strange and wonderful birth. “And from the days of John the Baptist,” he says, “until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it.” And what connection does this have with what was said before? A great one, and very much in harmony. For by this too he presses and urges them on toward faith in himself, and at the same time supports what had been said before by John. For if all things have been fulfilled up to John, “I am he who comes.” “For all the prophets and the law,” he says, “prophesied until John.” “For the prophets would not have ceased unless I had come. Do not then look for anything further, nor wait for another. For that I am he is clear both from the prophets’ having ceased, and from those who every day seize the faith in me. For it is so manifest and clear that many seize it.” And who seized it? Tell me. All who come to it with zeal. Then he sets down another proof too, saying, “If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah who is to come.” “For I will send you,” it says, “Elijah the Tishbite, who will turn the heart of the father to the children.” “This man then is Elijah,” he says, “if you attend with exactness.” For “I will send,” it says, “my messenger before your face.” And he said well, “If you are willing to receive it,” showing that there is no compulsion: “For I do not force you.” And he said this, requiring a fair-minded disposition, and showing that this man is that one, and that one is this man. For both undertook one ministry, and both have been forerunners. Therefore he did not simply say, “This is Elijah,” but, “If you are willing to receive it, this is he,” that is, if you attend to what is happening with a fair-minded disposition. And he did not stop even here, but added, showing that there is need of understanding, to “This is Elijah who is to come,” the words, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he set down so many riddles, rousing them to ask questions. And if not even so were they awakened, much less if the things had been plain and clear. For neither could anyone say this, that they did not dare to ask and that he was hard of access. For those who asked him and tested him about chance matters, and who were silenced countless times and did not desist, how would they not have inquired and asked about necessary things, if indeed they had desired to learn them? For if they asked about matters of the law, “Which commandment is first?”, and such things, though there was no necessity for him to speak of these, how would they not have examined the meaning of what he himself said, for which he was more answerable to give answers, and especially when he himself was urging and drawing them to this? For by saying, “The violent seize it,” he rouses them to eagerness; and by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” he does this same thing. “But to what shall I liken this generation?” he says. “It is like children sitting in the marketplace and saying, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament.’” Again these things seem to be detached from what went before, but they follow very closely on them. For he still holds to the same main point, of showing that John acts in harmony with him, even if the things done were opposite, as also in the case of the question; and he shows that nothing that ought to have been done for their salvation was left undone; as the prophet says of the vineyard, “What ought I to have done to this vineyard, and have not done?” “For to what,” he says, “shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace and saying, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a man who is a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” What he says is this: “We came each by an opposite way, I and John, and we did the same thing; as if some hunters, when a beast hard to catch was going to fall into the nets by two ways, each took one of the two ways and drove it, standing opposite the other, so that it must fall into one or the other.” Consider at least the whole human race, how it is struck with wonder at fasting and at this hard and philosophic life. For this reason it was so arranged that John was reared thus from his earliest age, so that by this too the things said by him might become trustworthy. “And for what reason,” someone says, “did he himself not choose this way?” Indeed he himself came by this way too, when he fasted the forty days, and went about teaching and not having where to lay his head; but nevertheless he also brought about this same thing in another way, and secured the gain from that. For to be witnessed to by one who came by this way was the same as his coming by it himself, or even far greater. And besides, John showed nothing more than his life and conduct, “for John,” it says, “did no sign”; but he himself had the testimony from signs and from wonders as well. Leaving John, then, to shine from his fasting, he himself came by the opposite way, both going into the tables of tax collectors and eating and drinking.

Let us ask the Jews, then: Is fasting good and wonderful? Then you ought to have obeyed John, and received him, and believed what was said by him. For so those words would have brought you to Jesus. But is fasting burdensome and grievous? Then you ought to have obeyed Jesus, and believed him, who came by the opposite way. For by either way you would have fallen into the kingdom. But like an intractable beast they found fault with both. The charge, then, belongs not to those who were not believed, but the accusation is against those who did not believe. For no one would ever choose to find fault with opposite things, just as no one would praise them either. What I mean is this: he who approves the cheerful and relaxed man will not approve the gloomy and severe one; he who praises the gloomy man will not praise the cheerful one. For it is impossible to cast both this vote and that. For this reason he himself says, “We piped to you, and you did not dance,” that is, “I showed the relaxed life, and you were not persuaded”; and, “We mourned, and you did not lament,” that is, “John followed the hard and severe life, and you paid no attention.” And he does not say, “He followed this, and I that,” but since the purpose of both was one, even if their practices were opposite, for this reason he says that what was done is common to both. For indeed the coming by the opposite way came from an intense agreement looking to one end. What defense then could you have any longer? For this reason he also added, “And wisdom is justified by her children”; that is, “Even if you were not persuaded, you can no longer accuse me.” Which the prophet says about the Father: “That you may be justified in your words.” For God, even if he accomplishes nothing more by his care for us, fulfills everything on his part, so as to leave to those who wish to be shameless not even a shadow of ungrateful doubt. And if the illustrations are common and of low sound, do not wonder; for he was speaking to the weakness of the hearers. For Ezekiel too tells them many illustrations suited to them, and unworthy of the majesty of God. But this too above all is worthy of his care. And see them carried about from another side into contrary opinions. For having said of John that he has a demon, they did not stop there, but of him, who chose the opposite way, they said this same thing again; so were they always carried about into conflicting opinions. And Luke sets down besides these another, greater accusation against them, saying, “For the tax collectors justified God, having received the baptism of John.” Then at last he reproaches the cities, when wisdom had been justified, when he had shown that all had been fulfilled. For since he did not persuade them, he now bewails them, which is more than to make them afraid. For he had displayed both the teaching of words and the wonder-working of signs. But since they remained in their disobedience, he now reproaches them. “Then,” it says, “Jesus began to reproach the cities in which most of his mighty works were done, because they did not repent, saying, ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!’” Then, so that you may learn that they were not such by nature, he also sets down the name of the city from which five apostles came; for both Philip and those two pairs of the leaders were from there. “For if,” he says, “the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” And he does not add Sodom to them simply, but to increase the accusation. For it is the greatest proof of wickedness when they appear worse not only than the wicked of their own time but than any that have ever been. So he makes a comparison elsewhere too, condemning them by the Ninevites and by the queen of the south; but there by those who had done well, while here by those who had sinned too, which was far heavier. Ezekiel too knows this law of condemnation; and therefore he said to Jerusalem, “You have justified your sisters in all your sins.” So everywhere he is accustomed to linger fondly in the old covenant. And he does not stop the discourse even here, but intensifies the fear too, saying that they will suffer things more grievous than the people of Sodom and of Tyre, so as to lead them on from every side, both by bewailing them and by making them afraid.

Let us too hear these things. For not to the unbelievers only, but to us also he has appointed a punishment more grievous than that of the people of Sodom, if we do not receive the strangers who come in to us, when he also commanded them to shake off the dust; and with good reason. For they, even if they sinned lawlessly, yet did so before the law and grace; but we, after so much care, of what pardon would we be worthy, displaying such hatred of strangers, and shutting the doors against those in need, and before the doors our ears? Or rather, not against the poor only, but against the apostles themselves? For it is for this reason that we shut them against the poor, because we shut them against the apostles too. For when Paul is being read and you do not attend, when John is preaching and you do not hear, when will you receive a poor man, not receiving an apostle? So that, then, our houses may be continually open to these and our ears to those, let us cleanse the filth from the ears of the soul. For as filth and mud stop up the ears of the flesh, so harlots’ songs and worldly tales and debts and talk of interest and loans stop up the hearing of the mind more grievously than any filth; or rather, they not only stop it up, but also make it unclean. For those who tell these things put dung into your ears. And what the barbarian threatened, saying, “You will eat your own dung,” and what follows, this these men make you endure, not in word but in deeds; or rather, something far more grievous. For those songs are more loathsome even than these things; and what is worse, you not only do not think yourselves annoyed when hearing them, but even laugh, when you ought to loathe and flee them. And if they are not loathsome, go down onto the stage, imitate what you praise; or rather, just walk in company with the man who moves that laughter. But you would not endure it. Why then do you assign him so much honor? And the laws written by the Greeks wish them to be without civic rights; but you receive them with the whole city, as if they were ambassadors and generals, and call everyone together to receive dung into their ears. And the servant who utters something shameful in your hearing will receive countless lashes; and if a son, or a wife, or anyone at all does this very thing, you call the thing an outrage; but if men who deserve the whip, worth three obols, invite you to hear shameful words, you not only are not indignant, but even rejoice and praise them. And what could equal this folly? “But I myself do not utter these shameful things.” And what is the gain? Or rather, how is even this clear? For if you did not utter them, you would not laugh on hearing them, nor would you have run with such eagerness to the voice that puts you to shame. For tell me, do you rejoice in hearing people blaspheme? Do you not rather shudder and stop up your ears? I think so. Why? Because you yourself do not blaspheme. Do so also with shameful talk; and if you wish to show us clearly that you do not delight in uttering shameful things, do not even endure hearing them. For when will you be able to become earnest, nurtured on such things heard? When will you endure to bear the sweat of labor for chastity, gradually slipping away through the laughter and the songs and these shameful words? For it is a great thing if a soul pure of all these things can become modest and chaste, let alone one nurtured on such things heard. Or do you not know that we incline more readily to vice? When then we make it even an art and a business, when shall we escape that furnace? Did you not hear what Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord”? He did not say, “in the devil.”

When then will you be able to hear Paul? When will you gain a sense of your offenses, being always and continually drunk from that spectacle? For that you have come here is nothing wonderful or great; or rather, it is wonderful. For here you come simply and as a matter of form; but there with eagerness and running and much zeal. And it is clear from what you carry home when you come back from there. For all the mire poured out on you there through the words, through the songs, through the laughter, you each gather up and carry into your house; or rather, not into the house only, but each into his own mind. And things not worthy of loathing you turn away from, but loathsome things you not only do not hate, but even love. Many at least, coming back from tombs, have washed themselves; but coming away from theaters they have not groaned, nor shed fountains of tears; and yet the dead body is not unclean, but sin puts so great a stain on us that not even countless fountains can cleanse it, but only tears and confessions. But no one is aware of this stain. For since we do not fear what we ought, for this reason we dread what we ought not. And what is the clapping? What the din, and the satanic shouts, and the devilish postures? For one, being young, wears his hair long behind, and making his nature womanish, strives in look and gesture and dress and simply in everything to pass into the likeness of a tender girl. And another, grown old, contrariwise, having shaved off his hair with a razor, and girded about the loins, cutting off shame before his hair, stands ready to be slapped, prepared to say and do anything. And the women, with bare head, practise shamelessness, and pour out every boldness and licentiousness into the souls of the hearers. And there is one aim: to tear up all chastity from its foundations, to put nature to shame, to fill up the desire of the evil demon. For there are shameful words there, and more shameful postures, and haircut and gait and dress and voice of the same kind, and bending of limbs, and rolling of eyes, and pipes and flutes and plays and plots, and simply everything full of the utmost licentiousness. When then will you become sober, tell me, when the devil pours you so much unmixed wine of sexual immorality and mixes so many cups of licentiousness? For there are adulteries there, and thefts of marriages, and women playing the harlot, men prostituted, young men made effeminate; all things full of lawlessness, all of monstrousness, all of shame. Those who sit there, then, ought not to laugh at these things, but to weep and groan bitterly. “What then?” someone says. “Shall we shut up the stage, and shall everything be overturned by your word?” Indeed, now everything has been overturned. For from where, tell me, come those who plot against marriages? Is it not from this stage? From where come those who break into bedchambers? Is it not from that stage? Is it not from there that husbands are burdensome to their wives? Is it not from there that wives are contemptible to their husbands? Is it not from there that most are adulterers? So it is the one who goes to the theater who overturns everything, the one who brings in a grievous tyranny. “No,” someone says, “this is the decree of the good order of the laws.” But to tear wives apart, and to outrage young boys, and to overturn houses, is the work of those who have seized citadels. “And who,” he says, “has become an adulterer from these spectacles?” Who indeed is not an adulterer? And if it were possible now to name them by name, I would have shown how many husbands they have split off from their wives, how many those harlots have taken captive, raising some from the very marriage bed and not allowing others even to enter upon marriage at all. “What then? Tell me, shall we overturn all the laws?” Rather, it is lawlessness that one overturns by doing away with these theaters. For those who are the ruin of cities come from these; from here at least come seditions and riots. For those who are maintained by the dancers, and who sell their own voice for their belly, whose business it is to shout and do every absurd thing, these above all are the ones who fan the peoples into flame, who cause the riots in the cities. For youth, having taken hold of idleness and being nurtured on such great evils, becomes fiercer than any wild beast.