Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 77.1–77.4

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So you too, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the doors.”

Since he had said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,” and they were asking after how long a time, and longed to know the very day itself, for this reason he sets down also the example of the fig tree, showing that the interval is not great, but that his coming too will follow close after; which he made plain not only through the parable, but also through the words after it, saying, “Know that he is near, at the doors.” From this he also prophesies something else: a spiritual summer and a calm that will come on that day for the righteous after the present winter; but for sinners the opposite, winter after summer; which he showed in what follows, saying that the day will come upon them while they live in luxury. And he set down this example of the fig tree not only to show the interval (for he could have set this forth in another way too), but so that by this too he might give assurance that the word would certainly come to pass so. For as this must be, so must that. For wherever he wishes to speak of what will certainly come to pass, he brings natural necessities into the midst, both he himself and blessed Paul, imitating him. Therefore also, when discoursing about the resurrection, he says, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Hence blessed Paul too, taught by this, uses the same example when discoursing to the Corinthians about the resurrection: “Fool,” he says, “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” Then, so that they might not quickly come back to it and ask “When?”, he brings them to the memory of what was past, saying, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” “All these things”—which, tell me? Those of Jerusalem, those of the wars, of the famines, of the pestilences, of the earthquakes, of the false christs, of the false prophets, the sowing of the gospel everywhere, the seditions, the tumults, all the other things that we have said will happen until his coming. “How, then,” someone says, “did he say ‘this generation’?” He was not speaking of the generation of that time, but of that of the believers. For he knows how to characterize a generation not only by times, but also by the manner of worship and way of life, as when it says, “This is the generation of those who seek the Lord.” For what he said above, “For all these things must take place,” and again, “This gospel will be preached,” he shows here too, saying that all these things will certainly come to pass, and the generation of the believers will remain, cut off by none of the things that were mentioned. Jerusalem will perish, and the greater part of the Jews will be destroyed, but over this generation nothing will prevail: no famine, no pestilence, no earthquake, no tumults of wars, no false christs, no false prophets, no deceivers, no betrayers, no causers of stumbling, no false brothers, no other such trial. Then, leading them still more to faith, he says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”: that is, it is easier for these things, fixed and immovable as they are, to be destroyed than for any of my words to fail. And let him who contradicts these things test what was said, and, finding it true (for he will certainly find it so), let him believe the future too from the past, and examine everything with exactness, and he will see the outcome of events bearing witness to the truth of the prophecy. And he set the elements in the midst, at once showing that the church is more precious than heaven and earth, and at once showing himself by this too to be the creator of the universe. For since he had discoursed about the end, a thing disbelieved by many, he brought heaven and earth into the midst, displaying his unspeakable power, and showing with great authority that he is master of the universe, and by these things making what was said worthy of belief even to those who greatly doubt.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father.” By saying “not even the angels,” he stopped their mouths, so that they would not seek to learn what those do not know; and by saying “nor the Son,” he prevents them not only from learning but even from seeking. For that he said this for this reason, see after the resurrection, when he saw that they had become more curious, how he stopped their mouths more strongly. For now he has told them many and countless tokens; but then he said simply, “It is not for you to know times or seasons.” Then, so that they might not say, “We are at a loss, we have been spurned, we are not worthy even of this,” he says, “which the Father has set by his own authority.” For he cared greatly to honor them and to hide nothing from them. Therefore he refers it to his Father, both making the matter fearful and walling off what was said from their inquiry. For if this is not so, but he is ignorant, when will he know? Together with us? And who would say this? He knows the Father clearly, and as clearly as the Father knows the Son, and is he ignorant of the day? Then, the Spirit searches even the depths of God, and he himself does not know even the time of the judgment? He knows how he must judge, and understands the secrets of each, and was he going to be ignorant of what is far meaner than this? And how, if “all things came into being through him, and without him nothing came into being,” was he ignorant of the day? For he who made the ages plainly made the times too; and if the times, the day too. How, then, is he ignorant of the day that he made?

And you say that you know even his essence, but that the Son does not know even the day—the Son, who is always in the bosom of the Father? And yet the essence is far greater than the days, and infinitely greater. How, then, while giving yourselves the greater, do you not grant even the lesser to the Son, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”? But neither do you know what God is in his essence, though you rave about these things ten thousand times; nor is the Son ignorant of the day, but he knows it exactly. For this very reason, having told everything—both the times and the seasons—and having brought them to the very doors (“For he is near, at the doors,” he says), he kept silent about the day. “If you seek the day and the hour,” he says, “you will not hear it from me; but if the seasons and the preludes, I will tell you everything with exactness, hiding nothing. For that I am not ignorant I have shown by many things, telling the intervals and all that will happen, and how long it is from this time until the day itself (for this the parable of the fig tree showed), and I have brought you to the very porch; and if I do not open the doors to you, this too I do for your good.”

And so that you may learn from another side too that his silence is not from ignorance, see how besides what has been said he adds another sign as well: “For as in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when the flood came and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” He said this to show that he will come suddenly and unexpectedly, while most are living in luxury. For Paul too says this, writing thus: “When they say, Peace and security, then sudden destruction comes upon them”; and showing the unexpectedness he said, “as labor pains upon a woman with child.” How, then, does he say, “after the tribulation of those days”? For if there is luxury then, and peace and security, as Paul says, how does he say, “after the tribulation of those days”? If luxury, how tribulation? Luxury and peace for those who are in a state of insensibility. Therefore he did not say, “when there is peace,” but, “when they say, Peace and security,” showing their insensibility, like that of the people in Noah’s time, who lived in luxury amid such evils. But not the righteous; they passed their lives in tribulation and dejection. From this he shows that when the Antichrist has come, the absurd pleasures will be intensified among the lawless and those who have despaired of their own salvation. Then there will be gluttony, then revels and drunkenness. Therefore he also sets down an example especially fitted to the matter. For as, when the ark was being built, they did not believe, he says, but it lay in their midst proclaiming beforehand the evils to come, and they, seeing it, lived in luxury as though no terror would happen; so now too the Antichrist will appear, after whom comes the end, and the punishments at the end, and unbearable penalties; but those held fast by the drunkenness of wickedness will not even perceive the fear of what is to be. Therefore Paul too says that “as labor pains upon a woman with child,” so those fearful and incurable things will come upon them. And why did he not mention the evils of Sodom? He wished to put in an example that was universal, and one that was disbelieved after it had been foretold. For this reason, since the things to come are disbelieved by the many, he confirms them from the past, shaking their minds. And besides what has been said, he shows this too, that he himself also did the former things. Then again he sets down another sign, by all of which he makes it plain that he is not ignorant of the day. And what is the sign? “Then two will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch, therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming.” And all these things are both proofs of his knowing and things that lead them away from asking. For this reason he spoke of the days of Noah; for this reason he said also, “two on the bed,” showing that he will come so unexpectedly, while they are so free of care; and, “two women grinding,” which itself is not the work of people anxious. And besides this, he shows that both slaves and masters are taken and left, both those at ease and those at labor, both of this rank and of that; as in the Old Testament it says, “from him who sits on the throne to the captive woman at the mill.” For since he had said that the rich are saved with difficulty, he shows that neither do these all perish, nor are the poor all saved, but from both these and those some are saved and some perish. And to me he seems to show that the coming will be at night as well; for Luke says this too. Do you see how he knows everything with exactness? Then again, so that they might not ask, he added, “Watch, therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming.” He did not say, “I do not know,” but, “you do not know.” For when he has brought them almost to the very hour and set them there, he again leads them away from asking, wishing them to be continually in earnest. Therefore he says, “Watch,” showing that for this reason he did not tell it. “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” For this reason he does not tell them, so that they may watch, so that they may always be ready; for this reason he says, “When you do not expect, then he will come,” wishing them to be in earnest and continually in virtue. And what he says is this: if the many knew when they would die, they would certainly be zealous at that hour.

So that they might not be zealous at that hour only, for this reason he tells neither the common end nor each one’s, wishing them always to be looking for it, so that they may always be zealous. Therefore he also made the end of each one’s life uncertain. Then he openly names himself Lord, having nowhere said it so plainly. And here he seems to me also to shame the careless, because not even as much zeal as those who expect a thief show about their money do these show for their own soul. For those, when they expect him, watch and let none of the things inside be stolen; “but you,” he says, “though you know that he will come, and will certainly come, do not remain awake and prepared, so as not to be carried off from here unprepared.” Therefore the day comes for the destruction of those who sleep. For as that householder, if he had known, would have escaped, so you too, if you are ready, will escape.

Then, since he had brought them to the memory of the judgment, he turns his speech henceforth to the teachers too, discoursing about punishment and honors; and putting first those who do right, he ends with those who fail, closing his speech on a fearful note. Therefore first he says this: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.” Is this too, tell me, the word of one who is ignorant? For if, because he said, “not even the Son knows,” you say that he is ignorant, then, because he said, “Who then,” what would you say? Would you say that he is ignorant of this too? Away with it! Not even one of the deranged would say this. And yet there one can give a reason, but here not even that. And what when he says, “Peter, do you love me?”—asking it, did he not know even this? Or when he says, “Where have you laid him?” And the Father too will be found uttering such things. For he himself says, “Adam, where are you?” and, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great before me. I will go down, then, and see whether they are doing altogether according to their outcry that comes to me; and if not, that I may know.” And elsewhere he says, “If perhaps they will hear, if perhaps they will understand.” And in the Gospel too, “Perhaps they will respect my son.” All these were words of ignorance. But he said these things not from ignorance, but ordering things as befitted him: in the case of Adam, to bring him to make a defense for his sin; in the case of the Sodomites, to teach us never to pronounce a verdict before we have come to the facts themselves; in the case of the prophet, so that his foreknowledge might not seem to the foolish to be a kind of compulsion to disobedience; in the case of the parable of the Gospel, to show that they ought to have done this and to have respected the son; and here, both so that they might not be curious nor busy themselves again, and to show how rare and precious such a servant is. And see how much ignorance the word would indicate, if indeed he is ignorant even of the one being appointed. For he calls him blessed: “For blessed,” he says, “is that servant”; but he does not say who he is. “For who then is he,” he says, “whom his master will set,” and, “Blessed is he whom he will find so doing.” And these things are said not about money only, but also about speech and power and gifts and every stewardship with which each has been entrusted. This parable would fit civil rulers too. For each must use what he has for the common advantage. Whether you have wisdom, or office, or wealth, or anything whatever, let it not be to the harm of your fellow servants, nor to your own destruction. For this very reason he demands both things of him, wisdom and faithfulness; for sin too comes from folly. He calls him faithful, then, because he embezzled nothing, nor squandered his master’s goods at random and in vain; and wise, because he knew how to administer what was given for what was needful. For we need both: both not to embezzle the master’s goods, and to administer them for what is needful. If one is lacking, the other is lame. For if one is faithful and does not steal, but wastes and spends on nothing fitting, great is the charge; and if he knows how to administer well, but embezzles, again it is no ordinary accusation.

Let us hear these things too, we who have money. For he does not discourse to teachers only, but also to the rich. For both were entrusted with wealth: the teachers with the more necessary, you with the lesser. When, then, while the teachers scatter the greater, you are not willing to show munificence even in the lesser—or rather not munificence, but fair dealing (for you give what belongs to others)—what defense will there be? But for now, before the punishment of those who do the opposite, let us hear the honor of the one who is approved. “For truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.” What could equal this honor? What word will be able to set forth the dignity, the blessedness, when the King of the heavens, who possesses all things, is about to set a man over all his possessions? Therefore he also calls him wise, because he knew not to give up the great things for the small, but by self-control here he obtained the heavens.

Then, as he always does, he corrects the hearer not from the honor laid up for the good only, but also from the punishment threatened against the wicked. Therefore he also added, “But if that wicked servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in two, and put his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And if anyone should say, “You see what thought came from the day’s not being known: ‘For my master is delaying,’ he says,” we would say: not because the day is not known, but because the servant is wicked. For otherwise why did this thought not come into the mind of the wise and faithful one? For what if the master delays, wretch? Do you not altogether expect him to come? Why, then, are you not anxious? From this, then, we learn that he does not delay either. For this verdict is not the master’s, but that of the mind of the wicked servant; therefore he is also charged for it. For that he does not delay, hear Paul saying, “The Lord is near; be anxious about nothing”; and, “He who comes will come and will not delay.” But hear what follows too, and learn how continually he reminds them that the day is unknown, showing that this is useful to the servants and able to rouse them from sleep and stir them up. For what if some gained nothing from this? Neither were some benefited by the other things that benefit; but nevertheless he does not cease doing his part. What, then, does he say next? “For he will come on a day when he does not expect, and at an hour he does not know, and will deal with him to the uttermost.” Do you see how everywhere he sets down this matter of not knowing, showing that it is useful, and by this keeping them always in earnest? For this is what he is zealous for, that we should always be awake. And since we always fall back in prosperity but are rather drawn together in calamities, for this reason he everywhere says this, that when there is ease, then the terrors come. And as above he showed this through Noah, so here too he says it: when that servant is drunk, when he beats; and the punishment is unbearable.

But let us not look only at the punishment laid up for him, but let us consider this too, lest we ourselves be doing the same things unawares. For those who have money and do not give to those in need are like this man. For you too are a steward of your own money, no less than he who administers the goods of the church. As, then, he has no authority to scatter at random and as it happens what is given by you for the poor, since it was given for the maintenance of the poor, so neither may you scatter your own. For even if you received an ancestral inheritance, and so have all that you have, even so all things are God’s. Then, you wish what you have given to be administered with exactness; and do you not think that God will demand his own from us with more severity, but will simply bear with their being lost? It is not so, it is not so. For it was for this reason that he left these things with you, “to give them their food in due season.” What is “in due season”? To the needy, to the hungry. For as you gave to your fellow servant to administer, so the Master wishes you too to spend these things on what is needful. Therefore, though he could have taken them away, he left them, so that you may have occasion to show virtue; so that, putting us in need of one another, he might make our love for one another warmer. But you, having received, not only do not give, but even beat. And yet if not giving is a charge, what pardon does beating bring? And he seems to me to say this hinting at the insolent and the covetous, and showing the greatness of the accusation, when they beat those whom they were commanded to feed. [5] And he seems to me also to hint here at those who live in luxury; for a great punishment is laid up for luxury too. “For he eats and drinks,” he says, “with the drunkards,” signifying gluttony. For you did not receive it for this, to spend it on luxury, but to spend it on almsgiving. For do you have what is your own? You were entrusted with the things of the poor, whether you happen to have acquired them by just labors or from an ancestral inheritance. For could not God have taken these things from you? But he does not do this, making you master of munificence toward the needy. And consider, I pray, how through all the parables he punishes those who do not use their own money for the needy. For neither did the virgins seize what belonged to others, but they did not give what was their own; nor did he who buried the one talent act covetously, but he did not double it; nor are those who overlooked the hungry punished because they seized others’ goods, but because they did not scatter their own, just like this servant too. Let us hear, then, all of us who are given over to the belly, all who spend on costly dinners wealth that does not belong to us but to the needy. For do not, because out of his great love for mankind you were bidden to give as from your own, think on this account that these things are yours. He lent them to you, so that you might be able to win approval. Do not, then, think them yours, when you give him his own. For neither, if you lent to someone so that he might go and get some means of income, would you say the money was his. To you too, then, God gave, so that you might trade for heaven. Do not, then, make the excess of his love for mankind an occasion of ingratitude. Consider how worthy of prayer it was, to be able after baptism to find a way that looses sins. If he had not said this, “Give alms,” how many would have said, “Would that it were possible to give money and be freed from the evils to come!” But since this has become possible, they have again grown supine. “But I do give,” someone says. And what is that? For you have not yet given as much as she who threw in the two obols—or rather not even half, nor the smallest fraction of what she gave; but most of it you spend on useless expenses, on banquets and drunkenness and the utmost prodigality, now inviting, now being invited, now spending, now compelling others to spend; so that the punishment becomes double for you, both from what you yourself do and from what you urge others to do. See, at any rate, this very servant charged with this: “For he eats and drinks,” he says, “with the drunkards.” For he punishes not the drunkards only, but those who are with them too; and very reasonably, because besides their own corruption they also disregard the salvation of their neighbors. And nothing so provokes God as to be disdainful of what concerns one’s neighbor. Therefore, showing his anger, he commanded him to be cut in two. For this reason he also said that love is the mark of his disciples, since it is altogether necessary that the one who loves should care for the concerns of the one loved.

Let us hold, then, to this way; for this above all is the way that leads up to heaven, that makes imitators of Christ, that makes us like God as far as is possible. See, then, that those virtues also are more necessary which are encamped along this way. And if you wish, let us make an examination of them, and bring the votes from the judgment of God. Let there be, then, two ways of the best life; and let one of them make good only the one who pursues it, and the other his neighbor too. Let us see which is more approved and leads us to the summit of virtue. Will not the one who seeks only his own receive countless charges from Paul—and when I say from Paul, I mean from Christ—while the other receives praises and crowns? Whence is this plain? Hear what he says to the one and what to the other: “Let no one seek his own, but each that of his neighbor.” Do you see how he cast out the one and brought in the other? Again: “Let each of you please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” Then comes also the unspeakable praise together with the exhortation: “For Christ too did not please himself.” These votes are enough to show the victory; but so that it may be shown more than abundantly, let us see which good deeds stop with us and which pass from us to others too. Fasting, then, and sleeping on the ground, and practicing virginity, and self-control—these bring the gain to those who practice them; but those that pass from us to our neighbor are almsgiving, teaching, love. Here too, then, hear Paul saying, “Even if I give away all my possessions to feed others, and if I hand over my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”