Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 14

'Now when Jesus heard that John had been delivered up, He withdrew into Galilee.'

For what reason does He withdraw? Again teaching us not to rush headlong against temptations, but to yield and give way.

For it is no charge against a man not to fling himself into danger, but rather, having fallen into it, not to stand nobly.

Teaching this, then, and soothing the Jewish envy, He withdraws to Capernaum, at once fulfilling the prophecy, and at the same time hastening to fish for the teachers of the world, since it was there that they lived, plying their trade.

But consider for me how, though everywhere about to depart unto the Gentiles, He receives the occasions from the Jews.

For here too, having plotted against the Forerunner and cast him into prison, they thrust Him into Galilee of the Gentiles.

For that the prophet speaks neither of the Jewish nation in part, nor hints at all the tribes, consider how he marks out that region, saying thus:

'The land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;'

'the people who sat in darkness saw a great light;'

here calling not the perceptible thing 'darkness,' but error and impiety.

'To those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light dawned upon them.'

For that you may learn that he speaks of neither a perceptible light nor a perceptible darkness—when discoursing of the light, he did not simply call it 'light,' but 'a great light,' which elsewhere he calls 'true';

and expounding the darkness, he named it 'the shadow of death.'

Then, showing that they did not find it by their own seeking, but that God appeared to them from above, he says, 'A light dawned upon them'—that is, the light itself dawned and shone;

it was not they who first ran to the light.

For indeed the affairs of men were at their lowest before the coming of Christ.

For they were not even walking in darkness, but sitting in darkness;

which was a sign of their not even hoping to be delivered;

for just as those who know not whither they must advance, so, being overtaken by the darkness, they sat, no longer able even to stand.

'From that time Jesus began to preach and to say:'

'for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

When? From the time when John was cast into prison.

And why did He not preach to them from the beginning? And what need was there at all of John, since the testimony of His works proclaimed Him? That from this too you might learn His dignity, that just as the Father, so He also has prophets;

which Zacharias also said:

'And you, child, shall be called the Prophet of the Most High;'

and that He might leave no occasion to the shameless Jews;

John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say:

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say:

'Behold, a man who is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'

'And wisdom was justified by her children.'

Besides, it was also necessary that the things concerning Him should first be spoken by another, and not by Himself.

For if, even after so many and so great testimonies and demonstrations, they said:

'You bear witness concerning Yourself;'

'Your testimony is not true;'

if, when John had said nothing, He had come forward into their midst and first borne witness of Himself, what would they not have uttered? For this reason He neither preached before him, nor worked miracles, until that man was cast into the prison, that the multitude might not on this account be divided.

For this reason too John did no sign, that from this also he might hand over the multitude to Jesus, the miracles drawing them toward Him.

For if, when so many things had been dispensed both before the prison and after the prison, John's disciples were still jealously disposed toward Him;

and the many suspected not Him, but John, to be the Christ;

if none of these things had been done, what would not have come to pass? For this reason Matthew also notes that 'from that time He began to preach';

and when He began, the very proclamation which that man proclaimed, this He also taught, and as yet says nothing at all in His proclamation concerning Himself.

For indeed even this was for the time a welcome thing to be accepted, since they did not yet hold the fitting opinion concerning Him.

For this reason too, at the outset He lays down nothing burdensome and grievous, such as that man did—making mention of an axe, and a tree being cut down, and of a winnowing-fan and a threshing-floor and unquenchable fire;

but He makes a kindly beginning, preaching the good tidings of the heavens and the kingdom there to those who hear.

'And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen), and He says to them:'

'Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'

'And they, leaving their nets, followed Him.'

And yet John says that they were called in a different manner.

Whence it is plain that this was a second calling;

and from many indications one may perceive this.

For there he says that they came to Him when John had not yet been cast into prison;

but here, after he had fallen into it.

And there it is Andrew who calls Peter;

But here Jesus calls them both.

And John indeed says that, when Jesus saw Simon coming, He said:

'You shall be called Cephas' — which is interpreted, Peter.

But Matthew says that he was already called by this name:

'For seeing,' he says, 'Simon who is called Peter.'

And from the place whence they were called, and from many other circumstances besides, one may perceive this — both from the readiness with which they obeyed, and from their forsaking of all things.

For they had already been well trained beforehand.

For there Andrew is seen coming into the house and hearing many things;

but here, upon hearing a bare word, they immediately followed.

For it is likely that, having followed Him at first, they had again departed — since they saw John cast into prison and Him too withdrawing — and had returned once more to their own craft.

Thus, at all events, He finds them fishing as well.

But He neither hindered them at the outset when they wished to withdraw, nor did He abandon them utterly when they had withdrawn;

rather, having yielded when they sprang away, He comes again to win them back —

which is the greatest method of catching.

But consider also their faith and their obedience.

For being in the midst of their labors (and you know how engrossing fishing is), upon hearing His command they did not defer, they did not put it off, they did not say:

'Let us return home and confer with our kinsfolk';

but leaving all things they followed, even as Elisha also did in the case of Elijah.

For such obedience does Christ seek from us, that we should not defer even for a moment's time, though something of the most pressing necessity urge us on.

Wherefore also, when another came to Him and asked to bury his own father, He did not even permit him to do this, showing that above all things

one ought to prefer following Him.

But if you should say that the promise was very great —

for this very reason I marvel at them all the more, that though they had as yet seen no sign, they believed a promise of such magnitude, and counted all things secondary to that following.

For by the very words wherewith they were caught, they believed that through these they should be able to catch others also.

To these, then, He made this promise;

but to James and John and their company He says nothing of the kind.

For the obedience of those who had gone before now paved the way for these.

And in another way too, they had already heard many things about Him beforehand.

And observe how He hints to us their poverty also with exactness.

For He found them mending their nets.

So great was the excess of their poverty, that they repaired what was worn out, being unable to buy others.

And this too, meanwhile, is no small proof of virtue — to bear poverty easily, to be nourished from honest toils, to be bound to one another by the power of love, to have one's father with them and to care for him.

Therefore, when He had caught them, He then begins, in their presence, to work wonders, whereby He confirms the things that had been spoken by John concerning Him.

And He frequented the synagogues continually, thereby also teaching them that He was not some adversary of God and deceiver, but had come in harmony with the Father.

And in frequenting them, He did not preach only, but also displayed signs.

For everywhere, whenever anything strange and marvelous takes place, and the introduction of some new polity, God is wont to work signs, furnishing pledges of His power to those who are about to receive His laws.

Thus, at all events, when He was about to make man, He first created the whole world, and then gave him that law in paradise.

And when He was about to give a law to Noah, again He displayed great wonders, whereby He remolded the whole creation, and made that fearful sea to prevail for a full year, and whereby He preserved that righteous man amid so great a tempest.

And in the case of Abraham too He furnished many signs —

such as the victory in the war, the plague upon Pharaoh, the deliverance from perils.

And when about to give a law to the Jews, He displayed those wondrous and mighty prodigies, and then gave the law.

So then here also, being about to introduce a lofty polity, and to tell them things they had never heard, He confirms His words by the display of wonders.

For since the kingdom that was preached did not appear, from things visible He makes the invisible manifest.

And mark the freedom from superfluity in the evangelist, how he does not recount to us each one of those who were healed, but in a few words runs over the snow-showers of signs.

'For they brought unto Him,' he says, 'all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, and those possessed with demons, and lunatics, and paralytics, and He healed them.'

But the point of inquiry is this:

Why in the world did He require faith from none of them? For neither did He say what afterwards He is seen to say:

'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' — because He had not yet given a demonstration of His power.

And in another way too, the very coming and being brought to Him displayed no ordinary faith.

For they carried them from afar, and would not have carried them, had they not persuaded themselves of great things concerning Him.

Let us then, we also, follow Him;

for we too have many diseases of the soul, and these it is that He desires to heal first of all.

For it is on this account that He sets those bodily ills right also, that He may banish these from our soul.

Let us then draw near to Him, and ask nothing pertaining to this life, but the remission of sins;

for indeed He gives it even now, if we are earnest.

For at that time His fame went out into Syria;

but now, into the whole inhabited world.

And they, hearing that He had healed demoniacs, came running together;

but you, having received a far fuller and greater experience of His power, do you not rouse yourself and run? Yet they even left their country, and friends, and kinsfolk;

but you cannot bear to leave even your house in order to draw near and obtain far greater benefits? Nay rather, we do not even demand this of you;

only forsake an evil habit, and remaining at home with your own household you will be able to be saved with ease.

But now, if we have a bodily affliction, we do and contrive everything so as to be rid of what grieves us;

yet when our soul is ill-disposed, we delay and draw back. For this cause we are not rid of those bodily ills either;

since to us the necessary things become secondary, and the secondary things necessary;

and forsaking the fountain of evils, we are willing to cleanse out the streams.

For that the wickedness of the soul is the cause of the ills that are in the body, both the man paralyzed thirty and eight years, and he who was let down through the roof, and before these Cain, made plain;

and from many other quarters besides one might discern this.

Let us then take away the fountain of evils, and all the streams of our maladies will be stayed.

For not to be paralyzed only is a disease, but to sin also;

and this rather than that, by as much as the soul is better than the body.

Let us therefore draw near to Him even now, and beseech Him to brace up our soul that has grown palsied; and, forsaking all the concerns of this life, let us take account of spiritual things alone.

But if you must needs cling to these things also, then let your concern for them come after those.

And do not, because you feel no pain when you sin, hold it in contempt; rather, for this very reason groan the more, since you do not perceive the anguish of your transgressions.

For this comes not from sin's failing to sting, but from the transgressing soul's being past feeling.

Consider, at least, those who are sensible of their own sins: how they wail more bitterly than men being cut and cauterized; how much they do, how much they suffer, how much they mourn and lament, that they may be delivered from an evil conscience;

which they would never have done, had they not been grievously pained in soul.

The better thing, then, is not to sin at all;

and the next best, when we have sinned, to be sensible of it and to set ourselves right.

But if we have not even this, how shall we entreat God and ask forgiveness of sins, we who take no account of them at all? For when you yourself, the very one who has transgressed, are unwilling to know even this much—that you have sinned—for what transgressions will you entreat God? For those you know not of? And how shall you know the greatness of the benefit? Recount, therefore, your transgressions one by one, that you may learn for what things you receive pardon, and so become grateful toward your Benefactor.

But you, when you have provoked a man, appeal to friends and neighbours and doorkeepers, and spend money, and use up many days going and pleading; and even if the offended one repels you once, twice, ten thousand times, you do not give up, but rather, growing more earnest, you press your supplication the more;

but when the God of all is provoked, we yawn, and slacken, and revel, and get drunk, and do everything according to our wont.

And when shall we be able to make Him propitious? Nay, how shall we not by this very thing provoke Him the more? For not so much the sinning, as the not being pained at our sinning, moves Him the more to indignation and wrath.

Wherefore it were fitting for us henceforth to sink into the very earth, and no longer to behold this sun, nor to breathe at all; seeing that, having so easily reconciled a Master, we both provoke Him, and, having provoked Him, do not even repent—and this, though He Himself, even when He is angry, does it not out of hatred or aversion toward us, but that even thus He may draw us to Himself.

For if, while being outraged, He continually kept doing you good, you would the more have despised Him.

In order, then, that this may not happen, He turns away for a little while, that He may have you with Himself for ever.

Let us therefore take courage in His love toward man, and show forth a repentance full of solicitude, before that Day comes upon us which will no longer suffer us to gain anything thereby.

For now the whole matter lies with us;

but then the Judge alone becomes lord of the sentence.

Let us therefore come before His face in confession; let us weep, let us lament.

For if we are able to entreat the Judge, before the appointed Day, to remit us our sins, there will be no further need even of appearing in court;

even as, on the other hand, if this be not done, He will hear our cause in public,

with the whole world present, and no hope of pardon will thenceforth be left to us.

For none of those who here have not made away with their sins will be able, on departing thither, to escape the reckonings for them;

but just as those from these prisons are brought with their chains to the tribunal, so all souls, when they depart hence, encompassed with the varied fetters of their sins, are led to that fearful judgment seat.

For indeed the present life is in no better case than a prison;

but even as, on entering that dwelling, we see all men encompassed with chains,

so also now, if, withdrawing ourselves from the outward show, we enter into the life of each and into the soul of each, we shall see it encompassed with bonds more grievous than iron;

and most of all if you enter into the souls of the rich;

for the more things they are wrapped about with, the more bound are they.

As therefore, when you see the prisoner shackled in iron upon his back and upon his hands, and oftentimes upon his feet as well, for this very reason you most of all pronounce him wretched;

so also with the rich man: when you behold him wrapped about with ten thousand affairs, deem him not for these things rich, but rather for these very things wretched;

for along with these bonds he has also a harsh jailer—the wicked love of money;

who does not suffer him to pass beyond this prison, but contrives for him ten thousand shackles and guards and doors and bars, and, casting him into the innermost ward, persuades him even to take pleasure in these bonds, that he may not find any hope of deliverance from the evils that lie upon him.

And if you lay bare that man's soul in your reasoning, you will see it not only bound, but also squalid and filthy and teeming with vermin.

For the pleasures of luxury are in no way better than these, but rather more loathsome, and they do more harm to their body along with the soul, and bring upon both this and that ten thousand strokes of diseases.

For all these reasons, then, let us beseech the Redeemer of our souls, that He may both break asunder our bonds, and remove from us this harsh keeper, and, delivering us from the burden of those iron chains, make our mind lighter than a feather.

And while we entreat Him, let us also contribute what is from ourselves—diligence, and resolve, and a good will.

For thus shall we be able, even in a brief span of time, to be delivered from the evils that hold us fast, and to learn in what plight we were before, and to lay hold of the freedom that befits us;

which may it be for us all to attain, by the grace and love toward man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages. Amen.