Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 10

In those days comes John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying:

'for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

In what 'those days'? For it was not then, when he was a child, and came to Nazareth, but after thirty years that John appears, as Luke also testifies.

How then does he say, 'In those days'? It is always the custom of Scripture to use this manner of speaking:

not only when it speaks of things happening in the time immediately following, but also when it speaks of things that will come to pass many years afterwards.

So too, when He was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him and sought to learn about His coming and about the capture of Jerusalem;

and yet you know how great is the interval between those two seasons.

For having spoken of the overthrow of the mother-city, and having brought His discourse concerning these things to completion, and being about to pass on to the matter of the consummation, He added, 'Then also shall these things be';

not gathering the times together by the word 'Then,' but signifying only that particular season in which these things were about to come to pass.

This very thing He does now also, when He says:

For it was not to signify the days that follow in sequence that He set down this word, but those days in which these things were about to come to pass.

the things which He was preparing to relate.

And for what reason, one asks, did Jesus come to the baptism after thirty years? He was about to abolish the Law thereafter, once this baptism was accomplished;

for this cause, up to this age, which is receptive of all sins, He continues fulfilling all things, so that no one might say that He abolished it because He was unable to fulfil it.

For not always are all the passions laid upon us at once;

but in the first age there is much folly and faint-heartedness, in the age that follows it pleasure is more vehement, and after this again comes the desire for riches.

For this reason, having awaited every age, and having fulfilled it throughout the whole of them, thus He comes to the baptism, adding it last of all to the fulfilment of the other commandments.

For that this was the last of the ordinances He accomplished, hear what He says:

'For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.'

And what He says is of this kind:

we have accomplished all the things of the Law, we have transgressed not one commandment.

Since therefore this alone remains, we must add this also, and thus we shall fulfil all righteousness.

By 'righteousness' He calls the fulfilment of all the commandments.

But that Christ came to the baptism for this reason is plain from this.

But for what reason was this baptism devised for Him? Now that the son of Zacharias came to this not of himself, but because God moved him, Luke too makes plain when he says, 'The word of the Lord came upon him' — that is, a command.

'He that sent me to baptize with water, He said unto me:

Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon Him, this is He that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.'

For what reason then was he sent to baptize? Again the Baptist makes this plain to us also, saying, 'I knew Him not;

but that He should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing with water.'

And if this be the only cause, how is it that Luke says, 'He came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins'? And yet it had no remission, but this was the gift of the baptism given thereafter;

for in this baptism were we buried together, and our old man was then crucified together with Him, and before the cross remission nowhere appears to exist;

for everywhere this is ascribed to His blood.

'But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified,' not through the baptism of John, but 'in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.'

John indeed proclaimed a baptism of repentance;

that they might believe on Him that was coming after him.

For the sacrifice not yet having been offered, nor the Spirit having descended, nor sin having been loosed, nor the enmity having been done away, nor the curse having been abolished, how was remission to come to pass? (2)

What then is the meaning of, 'For the remission of sins'? The Jews were graceless, and never perceived their own sins, but though liable to the uttermost evils, they justified themselves in everything;

which very thing above all destroyed them, and led them away from the faith.

This indeed is what Paul also said, laying it to their charge: 'Being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.'

What then shall we say? 'That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness;

but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at a law of righteousness.'

Wherefore? 'Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works.'

Since therefore this was the cause of their evils, John comes forward, doing nothing other than bringing them to the consciousness of their own sins.

This very thing his manner of appearance also made plain, being one of repentance and confession.

This too his preaching showed;

for he said nothing else, but, 'Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.'

Since then their not condemning their own sins, as Paul also declared, made them start away from Christ;

but the coming to consciousness of them established in them a desire to seek out the Redeemer and to long for remission;

this John came to bring about, and to persuade them to repent;

not that they might be punished, but that having by repentance become more humble, and having condemned themselves, they might run to receive remission.

Observe, then, how precisely he has set it down.

For having said that 'He came preaching a baptism of repentance in the wilderness of Judaea,' he added, 'For remission';

for this cause he persuaded them to confess and to repent of their sins, not that they might be punished, but that they might the more easily receive the remission that came afterward.

For unless they had condemned themselves, neither would they have asked for the grace;

and not seeking it, they would not have obtained the remission.

So that this baptism prepared the way for that other one;

wherefore also he said, 'That they might believe on Him that was coming after him,' setting down this too, together with the cause already mentioned, as another cause of the baptism.

For it was not the same thing to go about the houses, and to lead Christ about taking Him by the hand, and to say, 'Believe on this man';

and, with all coming together and beholding, that that blessed voice should be borne down, and all the rest be accomplished.

For this reason He comes to the baptism.

For indeed both the reputation of him that baptized,

and the character of the affair itself, drew the whole city, and called it to the Jordan, and there came to be a great spectacle.

For this reason, even when they had come, He restrains them, and persuades them to imagine nothing great concerning themselves, showing them to be liable to the uttermost evils unless they should repent, and, forsaking their forefathers and their boasting in them, should receive Him that was come.

For the things concerning Christ were as yet overshadowed, and He was thought by many to have died on account of the slaughter that had taken place at Bethlehem.

For even though at twelve years of age He had disclosed Himself, yet quickly He was again overshadowed;

for this very reason there was need of brilliant preludes and of a more exalted beginning.

Wherefore also then for the first time He proclaims, with a resounding voice, the things which the Jews had never heard, neither from the prophets nor from any others, making mention of the heavens and of the kingdom there, and saying nothing further about the earth.

And by 'kingdom' He here means His coming, both the former and the last.

'And what is this to the Jews?' says one;

'For this reason,' He says, 'do I speak thus, that being aroused by the obscurity of the things said, they may come to seek out Him that is proclaimed.'

So indeed, when they had come, He raised them up with good hopes, so that even publicans and many soldiers asked what they must do, and how they should order their own life;

which was a sign that they had henceforth been set free from the affairs of this life, and were looking to other and greater things, and dreaming of the things to come.

For indeed all things, both what was seen and what was said, led them up to a lofty frame of mind.

Consider, then, how great a thing it was to see a man after thirty years coming down from the wilderness, being the son of a high priest, never at any time having stood in need of the things of men, and being from every side worthy of reverence, and having Isaiah with him.

For this one too was present, proclaiming him and saying:

This is he who, I foretold, would be present, crying aloud and proclaiming all things throughout the wilderness with a clear voice.

For so great was the earnestness of the Prophets concerning these matters, that they proclaimed long beforehand not only their own Master, but also him who was destined to minister to Him;

and they told not only of him, but also of the place in which he was to spend his time, and the manner of the preaching which, when he came, he was to teach, and the good result that would come to pass through him.

Consider, then, how the Prophet and the Baptist come to the very same thoughts, even if not to the very same words.

For the Prophet says that he will be present, declaring:

Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.

And he himself, when he had come, was saying:

Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.

Prepare the way of the Lord.

Do you see that both by what the Prophet said and by what he himself preached, this one thing alone is signified: that he came to prepare the way beforehand and to make things ready in advance, not bestowing the gift—which was the remission of sins—but preparing beforehand the souls of those who were to receive the God of all? But Luke says something more besides;

for he did not stop after speaking the preamble, but also sets down the whole of the prophecy.

For, he says, every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;

and the crooked places shall become straight, and the rough ways shall become smooth roads;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Do you see how the Prophet, taking all beforehand, told everything—both the concourse of the people, and the change of affairs for the better, and the ease of the preaching, and the cause of all that came to pass—even though he set these things down rather figuratively? For what was spoken was indeed prophecy.

For when he says, Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough places shall become smooth roads,

he shows both the lowly being exalted and the arrogant being humbled, and the harshness of the Law being changed into the ease of faith.

For no longer, he says, are there sweat and toils, but grace and the forgiveness of sins, affording much ease of salvation.

Then he sets down the cause of these things, saying: All flesh shall see the [salvation of God];

no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all the land and sea, and the whole nature of mankind.

For by the crooked places he hinted at every corrupted way of life—tax-collectors, and harlots, and robbers, and sorcerers—who, having been perverse before, afterward walked the straight road;

which is the very thing He also said: Tax-collectors and harlots go before you into the kingdom of God, because they believed.

And by other words too the Prophet again made plain this same thing, speaking thus:

Then shall wolves and lambs feed together.

For just as here, by the hills and valleys, he said that the uneven character was being blended into one equality of the life of true wisdom;

so also there, by the characters of the irrational beasts signifying the diverse dispositions of men, he said again that they were being joined together into one harmony of godliness;

and there again setting down the cause:

For there shall be, he says, one who rises up to rule the nations; in Him shall the nations hope.

Which very thing he also said here: All flesh shall see the salvation of God;

everywhere making plain that to the ends of the inhabited world the power and knowledge of these Gospels would be poured out, changing the human race from a beastly manner and hardness of mind to great gentleness and tenderness.

Now John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins.

Do you see how the Prophets foretold some things, but left others to the Evangelists? Wherefore Matthew both sets down the prophecies, and adds things of his own;

not deeming even this a trivial matter, to speak concerning the raiment of the righteous man.

For indeed it was a marvelous and paradoxical thing to behold so great an endurance in a human body;

which very thing the more drew the Jews to him, as they beheld in him the great Elijah, and were carried back by the things then seen to the remembrance of that blessed man;

or rather, to even greater astonishment.

For that man was nourished both in cities and in houses, but this one dwelt continually in the wilderness from his very swaddling clothes.

For it was fitting that the forerunner of Him who was to come should dissolve all the old things—

such as toil, the curse, sorrow, sweat;

and that he himself too should possess certain tokens of such a gift, and should henceforth become superior to that condemnation.

At any rate, he neither plowed the earth, nor cut a furrow, nor ate his bread in the sweat of his face, but his table was improvised for him, and his clothing was simpler than his table, and his dwelling less troublesome than his clothing.

For he needed neither roof, nor bed, nor table, nor any other of these things, but displayed a certain angelic life in this flesh.

For this reason too his garment was of hair, that by his very appearance he might teach men to withdraw from human things, and to have nothing in common with the earth, but to run back to the former nobility in which Adam was, before he had need of garments and clothing.

Thus that appearance possessed tokens both of kingship and of repentance.

Whence had he a garment of hair and a girdle, dwelling in the wilderness? For if you are going to be perplexed at this, you will seek out many other things besides;

how in the winters, how in the scorching heat he spent his time in the desert, and that too in a tender body and unripe age; how the nature of his childish flesh sufficed for so great an inconstancy of the airs, and for a table so altered, and for all the other hardship that came from the wilderness. Where now are the philosophers of the Greeks, who idly and vainly emulated the Cynic shamelessness (for what profit was there in being shut up in a jar, and then afterward committing such licentiousness?)—who wrapped themselves about with rings, and bowls, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and much other ostentation, falling into either extreme of excess? But this man was not such;

but as if it were heaven, he dwelt in the wilderness, displaying all exact wisdom;

and thence, like some angel from the heavens, he came down into the cities, being an athlete of godliness, and a crowned victor of the inhabited world, and a philosopher of the philosophy worthy of the heavens.

And these things were, while sin was not yet loosed, while

the Law had not yet ceased, while death had not yet been bound, while the gates of brass had not yet been shattered, but while the old polity still prevailed.

Such is a noble and wakeful soul;

for everywhere it leaps forward, and overleaps the boundaries that are laid down;

even as Paul also did under the new polity.

But for what reason, one says, did he use a girdle together with the garment? This was a custom for the men of old, before they went out into this soft and dissolute manner of dress.

Thus, at any rate, both Peter appears girded, and Paul;

For the man, he says, whose girdle this is.

And Elijah too was thus attired, and each of the saints, because they were continually engaged in work—whether in journeys, or laboring and busying themselves about some other of the necessary things;

and not for this reason only, but also that they might trample under foot all adornment, and practice all austerity of life;

which very thing Christ declares to be the greatest praise of virtue, speaking thus:

What went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

But if that pure man, so much brighter than heaven, and above all the Prophets, and than whom none greater arose, and possessing so great boldness, thus subjected himself to austerity—dishonoring dissolute luxury amid great abundance, and leading himself to this hard life—what defense shall we have, who, after so great a benefaction and the ten thousand burdens of our sins, display not even the smallest fraction of his confession, but are drunken and gluttonous and reeking of perfumes, and disposed no better than the women who play the harlot in the theater, and on every side make ourselves soft, and render ourselves an easy prey to the devil?

Then went out to him all Judea, and Jerusalem, and all the region round about the Jordan, and were baptized by him, confessing their sins.

Do you see how much the presence of the Prophet availed? How he roused the whole people? How he brought them to a consciousness of their own sins? For indeed it was a thing worthy of wonder, to behold him displaying such things in human form, and using so great boldness, and rising up against all as against children, and having much grace shining forth from his countenance.

And it also contributed to the astonishment, that a prophet had appeared after so long a time;

for the gift of prophecy had failed them, and after a long time it returned to them.

And the manner of the preaching too was strange and altered.

For they heard none of the customary things—such as wars and battles and victories here below, and famines and plagues, and Babylonians and Persians, and the taking of a city, and the other customary matters;

but of the heavens and the kingdom there, and the punishment in Gehenna.

For this very reason too, when all the rebels in the wilderness had been slaughtered not long before that time—those with Judas and Theudas—they did not become more reluctant toward the going out to that place.

For neither did he call them on the same terms.

as, for example, for tyranny, or revolt, or sedition;

but rather so as to lead them by the hand up to the kingdom above.

For this reason he did not even keep them with himself, carrying them about in the wilderness, but after baptizing them and instructing them in the words concerning the philosophy of life, he dismissed them;

teaching them through all these things to despise all that is on earth, to lift themselves up toward the things to come, and to press onward day by day.

Let us then also emulate this man, and forsaking luxuries and drunkenness, let us pass over to the sober and disciplined life.

For this is a season of confession, both for the uninitiated and for the baptized;

for the former, that having repented they may attain to the sacred mysteries;

for the latter, that having washed away the stain incurred after baptism, they may approach the table with a pure conscience.

Let us therefore stand aloof from this soft and dissolute manner of life.

For it is not possible—no, it is not possible—at one and the same time both to confess one's sins and to live in luxury.

And let John teach you these things—by his clothing, by his food, by his dwelling.

What then? Dost thou so command us?

I do not command, but I counsel and exhort.

But if this be not possible for you, then at least, while remaining in the cities, let us display our repentance;

for indeed the tribunal is at the doors.

And even if it were yet further off, not even so ought we to be confident;

for the end of each man's life holds the force of the consummation for him who is summoned.

And that it is indeed at the doors, hear Paul saying:

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand;

For He that cometh will come, and will not tarry.

For indeed the signs that herald that day have now been completed.

For this Gospel of the kingdom, He saith, shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations;

Attend carefully to what is said.

He did not say, When it shall have been believed by all men;

but rather, When it shall have been preached unto all.

For this reason too He said, For a witness unto the nations, showing that He does not wait for all to believe, and only then to come.

For the phrase, For a witness, means this: for an accusation, for a reproof, for a condemnation of those who did not believe.

But we, though we hear and see these things, are asleep and behold dreams, as though drugged into stupor in the deepest night.

For present things are no better than dreams, whether they be pleasant or grievous.

Wherefore I now beseech you to awaken from sleep, and to look toward the Sun of righteousness.

For no one who is asleep can behold the sun, nor gladden his eyes with the beauty of its ray;

but whatever he may see, he beholds all as in a dream.

For this reason we have need of much confession and many tears, both because we are disposed insensibly amid our transgressions, and because our sins are great and beyond pardon.

And that I am not lying, the greater number of my hearers are witnesses.

Yet nevertheless, even if they be beyond pardon, let us repent, and we shall enjoy crowns.

But by repentance I mean not merely to stand aloof from former evils, but also to display greater goods.

For, saith he, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.

And how shall we bring them forth? If we practise the contrary things.

Hast thou seized what belonged to others? Give away henceforth even what is thine own.

Hast thou committed fornication a long time? Abstain even from thine own wife for appointed days;

Hast thou insulted and beaten those who passed by? Bless henceforth those who insult thee, and do good to those who strike thee.

For it does not suffice for our healing merely to draw out the dart, but we must also apply remedies to the wound.

Didst thou indulge in luxury and drunkenness in the time past? Fast and give heed to the drinking of water, that thou mayest remove the harm that has thence arisen.

Didst thou behold another's beauty with unchaste eyes? Henceforth look not upon a woman at all, that thou mayest be established in greater security.

For, saith he, Depart from evil, and do good;

Restrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile.

But tell me also the good.

Seek peace, and pursue it;

I mean not only that peace which is toward men, but also that which is toward God.

For it has been driven away and cast out, and, forsaking the earth, has departed to heaven.

But we shall be able to bring it back again, if we will, by casting out madness and arrogance and all the hindrances to it, and pursuing this sober and simple life.

For nothing is more grievous than wrath and insolence.

This makes men both puffed up and slavish, rendering them ridiculous by the one and hateful by the other, and introducing contrary vices—both madness and flattery together.

But if we cut off the excess of the passion, we shall be both humble with exactness and lofty with security.

For indeed in our bodies too the distempers arise from excess;

and when the elements, forsaking their proper bounds, go forth into disproportion, then the countless diseases and the grievous forms of death are engendered;

which very thing one might see coming to pass in the soul also.

Let us therefore cut off the excess, and drinking the saving medicine of moderation, let us abide in the fitting good temperament, and give heed to our prayers with exactness.

And if we receive not, let us continue, that we may receive;

and if we do receive, let us continue, because we have received.

For neither does He Himself wish to delay the gift, but by the deferring He devises for us a persevering attendance upon Him.

For this reason He both postpones the request, and often permits temptation to come upon us, that we may continually flee to Him, and having fled, may abide.

So too do affectionate fathers and fond mothers act;

for when they see their little children forsaking their company and playing with those of like age, they prepare their servants to feign many frightful things, so that being compelled by fear they may flee to the mother's bosom. In this way God too often holds out a threat, not that He may bring it upon us, but that He may draw us to Himself.

At all events, when we return to Him, He straightway looses the fear;

since if we were alike in temptations and in ease, there would have been no need of temptations at all.

And why do I speak concerning ourselves? For to those holy men too there was hence much sobering discipline.

For this reason the Prophet also saith:

It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me.

And He Himself also said to the Apostles:

Paul too hints at this very thing when he says:

'There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me.'

Wherefore also, though he besought that he might be delivered from the trial, he did not obtain it, because much benefit accrued to him from it.

And if we go through the whole life of David, we shall find him more illustrious amid his perils—both himself and all the others who lived in his time.

For Job too shone forth the more brightly at that time, and Joseph likewise thereby won yet greater renown, and Jacob also, and his father, and his father before him; and all who ever bound upon themselves more resplendent crowns were crowned and proclaimed victors out of afflictions and trials.

Being conscious of all these things, according to the wise saying, let us not make haste in the time of adversity, but let us school ourselves in this one thing alone—to bear all things nobly, and to be neither over-curious nor meddlesome about the things that come to pass.

For to know when the afflictions ought to be loosed belongs to God, who permits them to draw near;

but to bear them, when they are laid upon us, with all thanksgiving—that henceforth is the work of our own right-mindedness;

and if this be done, all good things will follow.

In order, then, that these things may follow, and that we may become both more approved here and more resplendent yonder, let us receive whatever may be laid upon us, giving thanks for all things to Him who knows what is expedient for us better than we ourselves, and who loves us more ardently than those who begat us;

and, chanting to ourselves both these reasonings at each of our hardships, let us subdue despondency, and glorify in all things the God who does and manages all things for our sake.

For thus shall we both easily repel the plots against us, and attain the undefiled crowns, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, might, honour, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.