Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 16

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.

For who suspected this, or who accused Him, that He should make His answer to it? For neither out of what had been said was any such suspicion begotten;

for to bid men be meek, and forbearing, and merciful, and pure in heart, and to contend for righteousness' sake, indicated nothing of the kind, but rather the very opposite.

Why then did He say this? Not without cause, nor at random;

but because He was about to lay down commandments greater than those of old, saying:

'Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time';

and to cut out a road to a certain divine and heavenly way of life;

so that the strangeness of it might not trouble the souls of the hearers, and dispose them to rise up in dissension against the things said, He made use of this preliminary correction.

For though they were not fulfilling the law, yet nevertheless they were held by much conscientiousness toward it; and while daily overthrowing it in their deeds, they wished its letters to remain unmoved, and that no one should add anything more to them;

or rather, they did endure their rulers adding to it, yet not for the better but for the worse.

For thus, by their own additions, they annulled the honour due to parents;

and many other of the injunctions laid down they dissolved by these unseasonable additions.

Since then Christ happened to be neither of the priestly tribe, and the things He was about to introduce were a kind of addition—not one that diminished, but one that heightened virtue—

foreseeing that both these things would trouble them, before He inscribed those wondrous laws, He casts out beforehand that which was about to lie hidden and lurking in their mind.

And what was it that lurked and stood in the way? They supposed that in saying these things He was acting to abolish the ancient ordinances.

This suspicion therefore He heals.

And not here only does He do this, but elsewhere again.

For since they thought Him to be against God on this ground—from His not keeping the Sabbath—healing this suspicion of theirs, there also again He sets forth defences: some befitting Himself, as when He says, 'My Father worketh, and I work';

and others having much that is condescending, such as when He brings into the midst a sheep perishing on the Sabbath, and shows that for the sake of its safety the law is set in motion, and makes mention of circumcision, which likewise does this same thing again.

Wherefore indeed He often utters lowlier words, that He may do away with the appearance of being against God.

For this reason He who raised countless dead by a word alone, when He called Lazarus, added also a prayer;

then, lest this should show Him to be less than the One who begat Him, correcting the suspicion, He subjoined, that 'These things I said because of the multitude standing by, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me.'

And neither does He do all things as one acting by His own authority, that He may correct their weakness;

nor does He do all things by praying, lest He leave to those who came after a ground for evil suspicion, as though He were weak and destitute of power;

but He mingles these with those, and those with these.

And not even this does He do at random, but with the discretion that befits Him.

For while doing the greater works with authority, in the lesser He looks up to heaven.

For when loosing sins, and revealing hidden things, and opening Paradise, and driving out demons, and cleansing lepers, and bridling death, and raising countless dead, He did all things by command.

But when—a thing far less than these—He was causing many loaves to gush forth from a few, then He looked up to heaven, showing that it was not through weakness that He wrought this.

For He who was able to do the greater things with authority, how should He have needed prayer in the lesser?

But, as I said, that He might silence their shamelessness, He does this.

The same then also in the case of the words: when you hear Him uttering lowly things, reason thus.

For many are the causes both of such words and of such deeds;

such as: that He might not be thought alien from God; that He was training and healing all; that He was teaching humility; that He was clothed with flesh; that the Jews were not able to hear all things at once; that He was teaching them to speak nothing great concerning themselves.

For this reason, having Himself often spoken many lowly things concerning Himself, He leaves the great things to be spoken by others.

For He Himself, when discoursing with the Jews, said:

'Before Abraham was, I am';

but His disciple not so, rather: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'

Again, that He Himself made heaven and earth and sea, and all things visible and invisible, He Himself nowhere plainly said;

but the disciple, with much boldness, keeping back nothing, once and twice and many times says this, writing, 'All things were made through Him';

'and without Him was not anything made that was made.'

and again, 'He was in the world, and the world was made by Him.'

And why do you marvel if others have said greater things concerning Him than He said of Himself, seeing that, though He displayed many things through His works, He did not plainly declare them in words? For that He Himself made man, He showed clearly even through the blind man;

but when His discourse concerned the fashioning of man in the beginning, He did not say, 'I made,' but 'He that made them made them male and female.'

Again, that He created the world and the things in it, He demonstrated through the fishes, through the wine, through the loaves, through the calm upon the sea, through the sunbeam which He turned away at the Cross, and through many other things;

but in words He nowhere plainly declared this, yet the disciples continually proclaim it—both John, and Paul, and Peter.

For if even those men—who by night and by day heard Him discoursing, and beheld Him working wonders, and to whom He privately expounded many things, and on whom He bestowed such great power that they even raised the dead, and whom He made so perfect that they forsook all for His sake—if these, after so great virtue and heavenly wisdom, were not able to bear all things before the supply of the Spirit,

how could a Jewish populace, destitute of understanding, falling far short of such virtue, and coming upon the things done or spoken only by chance, ever have been persuaded that He was not alien to the God of the universe, unless He had employed such great condescension in all things? For this very reason, when He was abrogating the Sabbath, He did not introduce such a law as a leading principle, but framed manifold and many defenses.

But if, when about to set aside a single commandment, He employed so great an economy of words, that He might not smite those who heard;

much more, when adding to the whole law another entire body of legislation, did He require much preparation and careful tending, so as not to disturb those who were then listening.

For this reason too, everywhere He is manifestly seen instructing them only cautiously concerning His own Godhead.

For if the addition to the law so greatly disturbed them, much more would His declaring Himself to be God.

Therefore He utters many things far beneath His own dignity;

and here too, being about to proceed to the addition to the law, He employed much preparatory correction.

For not once only did He say, 'I do not abolish the law,' but He took it up a second time again, and added something else yet greater.

For having said, 'Think not that I am come to destroy,' He added, 'I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.'

And this not only stops the shamelessness of the Jews, but also sews up the mouths of the heretics who say that the Old Testament is of the devil.

For if Christ came to overthrow that one's tyranny, how is it that He not only does not abolish this law, but even fulfils it? For He did not merely say, 'I do not destroy';

which would have been the mark of one not merely not opposing it, but even upholding and confirming it.

'And how,' one may say, 'did He not destroy it?'

and how too did He fulfil either the law

or the prophets? The prophets indeed, in that He confirmed by His works all the things spoken concerning Him;

wherefore also in each instance the evangelist would say:

'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.'

both when He was born, and when the children sang the wondrous hymn unto Him, and when He sat upon the ass, and in many other cases He fulfilled this same thing;

all of which would have remained unfulfilled, had He not come.

But the law He fulfilled not in one way only, but also in a second and a third manner.

In one way, by transgressing none of the legal ordinances.

For that He fulfilled it all, hear what He says to John:

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

'Which of you convicteth me of sin?' And again to the disciples:

'The ruler of this world cometh, and findeth nothing in me.'

And the prophet also from of old declared that 'He did no sin.'

In one way, then, He fulfilled it in this manner;

and in another, by doing this through us as well.

For the marvelous thing is this, that not only did He Himself fulfil it, but He also bestowed this upon us.

Which also Paul, making it plain, declared:

'That Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.'

And he said too that He 'condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh.'

'Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid.'

For since the law was zealous for this, to make man righteous, but was too weak, He Himself, having come and introduced the way of righteousness through faith, established the law's purpose;

and what that one could not accomplish through the letter, this He Himself accomplished through faith.

'I am not come to destroy the law.'

But if one should examine it carefully, one will also find yet a third manner according to which this came to pass.

What manner is that? That of the legislation to come, which He was about to deliver.

For the things He was saying were not an abolition of the former ones, but an intensifying and a fulfilling.

For not to be angry is not an abolition of 'Thou shalt not kill,' but a fulfilling and a greater security;

wherefore also, sowing beforehand the seeds of these things unsuspected at that time, when it was about to be more plainly suspected of contradiction from the comparison of the old and new ordinances, He employed the preparatory correction.

For enigmatically indeed He had already laid them down through the things spoken.

For 'Blessed are the poor' is the same as 'not to be angry';

and 'Blessed are the pure in heart' is the same as not looking upon a woman to lust after her;

and not to lay up treasures upon the earth accords with 'Blessed are the merciful';

and to mourn, and to be persecuted, and to be reviled, is equivalent to entering through the narrow gate;

and to hunger and thirst after righteousness is nothing else than that which afterwards He says: 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them.'

And having blessed the peacemaker, He said almost the same thing again, when He commanded to leave the gift and to hasten to be reconciled with him that is grieved, and to be kindly disposed toward one's adversary.

But there He set forth the prizes of those who do rightly, while here He set forth the punishments of those who do not act.

Wherefore there He said that the meek shall inherit the earth;

but here, that whosoever calleth his brother a fool shall be in danger of the hell of fire.

And there, that the pure in heart shall see God;

but here, that he who looks unchastely is already a consummate adulterer.

And having there called the peacemakers sons of God, here He strikes fear from another quarter, saying:

'Lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge.'

So too, having blessed those that mourn and those that are persecuted in the earlier part, in the part after this, establishing this same thing, He threatens destruction to those who come not by this way;

for those who walk through the broad way, He says, are there brought to ruin.

And 'Ye cannot serve God and mammon' seems to me to be the same as 'Blessed are the merciful,' and 'They that hunger after righteousness.'

But, as I said, since He is about to state these things more distinctly—and not only more distinctly, but also to add still more to the things spoken

(for He no longer seeks a merciful man only, but bids him even part with his coat;

nor merely a meek man, but also to turn the other cheek to him that wishes to smite)—He first removes the apparent contradiction.

For this reason, as I said before, He did not utter this once only, but a second time as well.

For having said, 'Think not that I am come to destroy,' He added:

'I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.'

'Though heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or a single stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all things be accomplished.'

And what He means is this:

It is impossible that it should remain unfulfilled; rather, even the very smallest part of it must be fulfilled.

This very thing He Himself did, bringing it to completion with all exactness.

But here He hints to us that the whole world too shall be transformed.

And He did not set this down without purpose, but that He might rouse the hearer, and show that He was justly introducing another manner of life;

since indeed all the things of creation are destined to be transformed, and the race of men is to be called to another homeland and to a loftier preparation of life.

'Whosoever therefore shall loose one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.'

For since He had freed Himself from the wicked suspicion, and had stopped the mouths of those who wished to gainsay Him, then at length He also strikes fear, and lays down a most weighty threat on behalf of the legislation that was to come.

For that He spoke not concerning the old laws, but concerning those which He Himself was about to legislate, hear what follows.

'Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

But if He were threatening concerning the old laws, how could He say, 'Except it exceed'? For those who did the very same things which those men did, it was not possible to exceed according to the measure of righteousness.

But what was the 'more'? To be not angry, and not to look upon a woman unchastely.

For what reason then did He call them least, seeing they are so great and lofty? Because He Himself was about to introduce the legislation.

For just as He humbled Himself, and in many places speaks modestly concerning Himself,

so also concerning His own legislation, teaching us in this too everywhere to practice moderation.

And besides, since there seemed to be some suspicion of innovation, He used the word sparingly for the present.

But when you hear 'least in the kingdom of heaven,' suspect nothing else than hell and punishment.

For He is wont to speak of the kingdom not only as the enjoyment, but also as the time of the resurrection, and that fearful coming.

For else how could it stand to reason, that he who called his brother fool, and transgressed one commandment, should fall into hell,

while he who breaks all of them, and leads others into this, should be in the kingdom? It is not this then that He means, but that in that time he shall be least, cast out, last;

and he that is last shall by all means then fall into hell.

For being God, He foreknew the slothfulness of the many, and that some would think the things spoken to be matters of mere exaggeration, and would reason about the laws, and say:

'If then one call another fool, is he punished? If then one merely look, does he become an adulterer?' Therefore, to do away beforehand with this contempt, He laid down a most weighty threat upon both, both upon those who transgress, and upon those who lead others into this.

Knowing therefore the threat, let us neither transgress ourselves, nor slacken those who wish to keep these things.

'But whosoever shall do and teach,' He says, 'the same shall be called great.'

For we must be useful not only to ourselves, but also to others.

For the reward is not equal for him who sets himself aright, and for him who along with himself adds another also.

For just as to teach without doing condemns the teacher (for 'Thou that teachest another,' He says, 'teachest thou not thyself?'),

so to do indeed, but not to guide others, lessens the reward.

One must therefore be perfect in both, and having first set oneself aright, thus also proceed to the care of others.

For this reason He too set doing before teaching, showing that thus

one will most of all be able to teach, but in no other way.

'Physician, heal thyself.'

For he who has not been able to teach himself, and yet attempts to correct others, will have many to make sport of him;

or rather, such a one will not even be able to teach, since his own deeds cry out against him.

But if he be perfected on both sides, 'he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'

'Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

Here by 'righteousness' He means all virtue, just as also, when discoursing concerning Job, He said:

'And there was a man blameless, righteous.'

In this same sense Paul also called that man righteous, for whom he said no law was even laid down:

'For the law is not laid down for a righteous man,' he says.

And in many other places one may find this word applied to virtue in general.

But do thou consider the increase of grace, in that He wills the newly-come disciples to be better than the teachers of the Old Covenant.

For by 'scribes and Pharisees' here He did not simply mean the lawless, but those who kept the law aright;

for unless they had kept it aright, He would not have said they had righteousness, nor would He have compared that which is not with that which is.

And observe here too how He establishes the Old Covenant, by making a comparison of this with that;

which shows it to be of the same kindred and akin;

for the more and the less are of the same kind.

He does not therefore disparage the Old Covenant, but wills it to be heightened.

For if it were evil, He would not have sought the 'more,' nor would He have set it aright, but would have cast it out.

He says, if it be such, does it not bring one into the kingdom? Now it does not bring in those who live after the coming of Christ, inasmuch as they have partaken of greater power, and owe a greater striving;

since indeed all its own nurslings it does bring in.

For 'Many,' He says, 'shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline in the bosoms of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.'

And Lazarus too, enjoying the great prizes, appears dwelling in that man's bosom.

And all who shone with surpassing brightness in the Old Covenant, shone all of them through this.

And Christ Himself, had it been something evil and alien, would not have come and fulfilled it all.

For if He did this only in order to draw the Jews to Himself, and not so as to show that it was akin to the New and in harmony with it;

for what reason did He not also fulfill the customs and usages of the Greeks, that He might draw the Greeks?

So that from every side it is plain, that it is not because they are evil that He does not bring them in, but because it is the season for greater commandments.

And if it be more imperfect than the New, not even this shows it to be evil;

since in this respect the New too will suffer the same thing.

For its knowledge too, compared with that which is to come, is something partial and imperfect, and is done away when that other has come;

'For when that which is perfect is come,' He says, 'then that which is in part shall be done away;'

which is the very thing that the Old suffered at the hands of the New.

But we shall not on this account disparage it, though this too shall give place, when we attain the kingdom;

'For then,' He says, 'that which is in part shall be done away;'

yet nevertheless we call it great.

Since therefore both the prizes are greater, and the power from the Spirit is more abundant, with good reason He also requires greater gifts of grace.

For it is no longer a land flowing with milk and honey, nor a sleek old age, nor abundance of children, nor corn and wine, nor flocks and herds;

but heaven, and the good things in the heavens, and adoption as sons, and brotherhood with the Only-begotten, and fellowship in the inheritance, and to be glorified together and to reign together, and those ten thousand rewards.

And that we have also enjoyed greater help, hear Paul when he says:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and of death.

Having therefore threatened those who transgress, and set great rewards before those who do rightly, and having shown that it is with justice

that He requires more of us than the former measures, He then begins His legislation, not simply, but by way of comparison with the ancient ordinances;

wishing to show these two things: that He is not at variance with the former ordinances, but rather in full agreement with them when He legislates these things; and that with good reason and most opportunely He adds the latter to those former ones.

And that this may become still clearer, let us listen to the very words of the Lawgiver.

What then does He Himself say? You have heard that it was said to them of old time:

And yet He who gave those things also is the very same;

but for the present He sets them down impersonally.

For if He had said, You have heard that I said to them of old time, the saying would have been hard to accept, and would have offended all His hearers;

and if again He had said, You have heard that it was said to them of old time by My Father, and then added, But I say to you, the presumption would have seemed the greater.

Therefore He simply set it down, establishing from it one thing only: to show that He came speaking these things at the fitting season.

For by saying, It was said to them of old time, He indicated the long time since they had received this commandment.

And this He did in order to shame the hearer who shrank back from going forth to the higher things beyond the earlier injunctions;

as a teacher might say to a lazy child:

Do you not know how much time you have spent studying syllables? This too He was hinting at by the name of 'the ancients', calling them henceforth to the greater of the teachings, as though He were saying:

You have sufficient time spent in studying these things, and it now behooves you to press on toward things higher than these.

And well did He not confound the order of the commandments, but begin with the former one first, from which the Law also began;

for this too belongs to one who is showing the harmony between them.

But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the judgment.

Did you see authority perfect and complete? Did you see a bearing befitting a lawgiver? For which of the prophets ever spoke thus? Which of the righteous? Which of the patriarchs? Not one.

For those men proclaimed the things of the Master, but He proclaims the things of the Father.

But when I say the things of the Father, I say His own things;

for My things, He says, are Yours, and Yours are Mine.

And those men legislated for their fellow-servants, but He for His own servants.

Let us then ask those who cast out the Law:

Is the not being angry contrary to the not killing, or rather is it the perfecting and confirming of that command? It is quite evident that this is the fulfillment of that, and greater for its sake.

For he who is not carried away into wrath will much more abstain from murder;

and he who bridles his temper will much more keep his hands to himself.

For the root of murder is anger.

He therefore who cuts out the root will much more destroy the branches;

or rather, he will not even allow them to sprout at all in the first place.

Therefore it was not for the abolition of the Law, but for a greater safeguarding of it, that He legislated these things.

For with what intent did the Law command these things? Was it not that no one might kill his neighbor? Therefore it was he who fought against the Law who commanded killing;

for killing is the opposite of not killing;

but if He does not even permit anger, He rather establishes that which the Law intended.

For he who studies not to kill will not abstain from murder in the same degree as he who has done away with anger itself;

for the latter stands farther from the daring deed.

But that we may catch them in yet another way, let us bring into the midst all that they say.

What then are the things they say? They say that the God who made the world, who makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, who sends rain on the just and the unjust, is some evil being.

But the more moderate of them, forsooth, decline this, and while saying that He is just, they deprive Him of being good;

and they assign to Christ another Father, one who does not exist, nor made any of the things that are.

And they say that the one who is not good remains in his own things and keeps to what is his;

but that the good one covets what belongs to another, and of a sudden desires to become the savior of those things of which he was not the maker.

Do you see the children of the devil, how they speak from the fountain of their father, alienating the creation from God, when John cries aloud that He came to His own;

and, The world was made by Him? Then, examining the

law in the Old Testament, the one which commands to pluck out an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, they immediately leap upon it, saying:

And how could He who says these things be good? What then do we say to this? That it is a very great form of loving-kindness.

For He did not set down this law in order that we might pluck out one another's eyes;

but that, out of fear of suffering at the hands of others, we might refrain from doing any such thing to others.

Just as, therefore, He threatened the Ninevites with overthrow, not that He might destroy them (for if He had wished this, He ought to have kept silent), but that, having made them better through fear, He might stay His wrath;

so also for those who readily rush upon others' eyes He appointed a punishment, in order that, even if of their own good will they were unwilling to abstain from cruelty, they might be hindered by fear from injuring the sight of their neighbors.

But if that be cruelty, then so also is the restraining of the murderer, and the hindering of the adulterer.

But these are the words of senseless men, and of those raving with the utmost madness.

For I am so far from saying that these things are cruelty, that I would even affirm the contrary of them to be unlawful, according to human reasoning.

For you say that, because He commanded an eye to be plucked out for an eye, He is therefore cruel;

but I say that, if He had not commanded this, then He would have seemed to the many to be that very thing which you say.

For let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that the whole Law were abolished, and that no one feared the punishment coming from it, but that it were permitted to all the wicked to practice their ways with every impunity — to adulterers, and murderers, and thieves, and perjurers, and parricides;

would not everything have been turned upside down, and would not cities, and market-places, and houses, and land, and sea, and the whole inhabited world have been filled with ten thousand pollutions and murders? It is surely plain to everyone.

For if, even while there are laws and fear and threatening, the wicked purposes are scarcely held in check;

if this safeguard too had been done away, what would there be to hinder men from choosing wickedness? And how great a ruin would not have burst in upon human life? For it is not only cruelty to allow the wicked to do what they will;

but there is also another thing no less than this, namely, to overlook without providence the one who has done no wrong, yet is suffering evil idly and in vain.

For tell me: if someone were to gather wicked men from every quarter, and arm them with swords, and command them to go about through the whole city and slaughter all whom they met, would there be anything more brutal than this? And what if some other man should bind and imprison with all severity those armed by the former, and should snatch from the hands of those lawless men the ones who were about to be slaughtered;

would there be anything more loving to mankind than this? Now transfer these illustrations to the Law also.

For He who commands that an eye be plucked out for an eye cast fear, as a kind of strong bond, into the souls of the wicked, and resembles the one who imprisons those sword-bearers;

but he who appoints no punishment for them all but arms them with impunity, and imitates the one who put the swords into their hands and let them loose against the whole city.

Do you see how these injunctions are not only free from cruelty, but full of much loving-kindness? But if on this account you call the Lawgiver harsh and burdensome, tell me, which is the more toilsome and burdensome: not to kill, or not even to be angry? Which is the more severe: he who exacts penalties for murder, or he who does so even for anger; he who subjects the adulterer to punishment after the deed, or he who commands that penalties be paid even for the desire itself, and penalties undying? Do you see that the argument has been turned round to the very opposite for them? And the God of the Old Testament, whom they say to be cruel, will be found gentle and mild;

while the God of the New, whom they confess to be good, will, according to their folly, be burdensome and harsh.

For we affirm that one and the same is the lawgiver of both Testaments, who ordered all things toward what was fitting, and adapted the difference of each body of legislation to the difference of the times.

Therefore neither were those commandments cruel, nor are these burdensome and oppressive; rather, they belong to one and the same providential care.

For that He Himself also gave the Old Testament, hear what the Prophet says—

or rather, what need is there to say 'that one and this one'?

'I will establish for you a covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers.'

But if he who is sick with the disease of the Manichaeans will not accept these words, let him hear Paul saying this very same thing again:

'For Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman, and one by the free woman.'

'Now these are two covenants.'

As therefore in that case the women were different, but the husband one;

so also here the covenants are two, but the lawgiver one.

And that you may learn that they proceeded from one and the same gentleness, there He says, 'An eye for an eye';

but here, 'If anyone strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'

For just as there He brings the wrongdoer to sobriety by the fear of suffering, so also here.

'And how,' one asks, 'does He who commands to offer him the other cheek also do this?' And what of that? For He did not enjoin this to loosen the fear, but by commanding to offer it, He bids the striker take his fill of the whole matter;

nor did He say, 'That man remains unpunished,' but, 'You, do not exact vengeance';

at the same time both more greatly frightening the one who persists in striking, and consoling the one who is struck.

But these things, as one might say, have been spoken by us in passing concerning all the commandments.

It is necessary, however, to come to the matter set before us, and to hold to the sequence of what was said earlier.

'He who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the judgment,' He says.

For He did not utterly do away with the thing;

first, because it is not possible for one who is a human being to be freed from passions;

but though it is possible to master them, it is impracticable to be entirely without them;

and next, because this passion is even useful, if we know how to make use of it at the appropriate time.

Consider, at any rate, how great good the anger of Paul wrought, that anger which arose then against the Corinthians.

For this both delivered them from a great corruption;

and again by this He recovered the nation of the Galatians which had fallen away, and yet others more than these.

What then is the fitting occasion for anger? When we do not avenge ourselves, but restrain others who are running riot, and turn back those who are careless.

And what is the unfitting one? When we do this in avenging ourselves.

This very thing, then, Paul also forbade when he said, 'Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath.'

When we contend over money.

For this too He did away with, saying:

'Why do you not rather suffer wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded?' For as this anger is superfluous, so that other is necessary and profitable.

But the many do the opposite: growing savage when they themselves are wronged, but becoming slack and soft whenever they see another being maltreated;

both of which are contrary to the laws of the Gospel.

It is not, then, being angry that is unlawful, but doing it out of season.

For this reason the Prophet also said:

'Be angry, and sin not.'

'And whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council.'

By 'council' here He means the tribunal of the Hebrews;

and He has set it down now, so that He might not everywhere seem to be introducing strange and novel things.

Now this word 'Raca' is not an expression of great insult, but rather of a certain contempt and slight on the part of the one who says it.

For just as we, when giving orders to servants or to some of our inferiors, say:

'Go away, you; say to so-and-so, you'—

so also those who use the Syrian tongue say 'Raca,' putting this in place of 'You.'

But God, who loves mankind, roots up even the smallest things, commanding us to treat one another becomingly and with the honor that is due, and so that through these things the greater faults too may be done away with.

'But whoever shall say, You fool, shall be liable to the hell of fire.'

To many this command has seemed heavy and burdensome, that for a mere word we should have to pay so great a penalty;

and some even say that it was spoken rather by way of exaggeration.

But I fear lest, deceiving ourselves here with words, we there endure by our deeds the uttermost punishment.

For why, tell me, does the command seem burdensome? Do you not know that most punishments and sins have their beginning from words?

For blasphemies come through words, and denials through words, and revilings, and insults, and false oaths, and

false witness [and murder].

Do not therefore look at it as being a mere word;

but examine this—whether it does not carry great danger.

Or are you ignorant that in the season of enmity, when wrath is kindled and the soul is inflamed, even the smallest thing appears great, and what is not very insulting seems burdensome? And often these small things have given birth to murder, and have overthrown whole cities.

For just as, when friendship exists, even oppressive things are light;

so, when enmity underlies, even small things appear intolerable;

and even if a thing be said simply, it is thought to have been spoken with an evil suspicion.

And just as in the case of fire, if the spark be small, even though countless logs lie beside it, it does not easily take hold of them;

but if the flame become fierce and high, it lays hold not only of wood, but also of stones and of every kind of material that falls in its way, and by the very things wont to quench it, it is kindled the more greatly;

(for some say that at such a time not only wood and tow and other combustible things, but even water dashed upon it rather fans its power)—

so indeed it is also with anger;

whatever one may utter becomes at once fuel for this wicked fire.

All these things Christ was checking beforehand, and He condemned the one who is angry without cause to the judgment (wherefore also He said, 'He who is angry shall be liable to the judgment'), but the one who says, Raca, to the council.

For this reason, to the one who calls another a fool He added the fire of hell, now naming the name of hell for the first time.

For having previously discoursed much concerning the kingdom, He then made mention of this;

showing that the one belongs to His own love for mankind and good will, but the other to our own slothfulness.

And see how by little and little He advances in the punishments, all but making His defense to you, and showing that He Himself desires to threaten nothing of the kind, but that it is we who drag Him toward such sentences.

Be not angry in vain, since you are liable to the judgment.

You have despised the former.

it has straightway led you on to insolent abuse; for you called your brother 'Raca.'

For you called your brother 'Raca.'

Again I have appointed another penalty, the council.

But if, disregarding even this, you advance to what is yet more grievous, I no longer punish you with these moderate penalties, but with the immortal chastisement of hell, lest hereafter you should even leap forward unto murder.

For there is nothing, nothing more intolerable than insolent abuse, and nothing which is more able to sting a man's soul.

And when the very word of the insult is more wounding, the fire becomes twofold.

Do not, therefore, think it a trifling thing to call another a fool.

For when you take away from your brother that whereby we differ from the brute beasts, and whereby above all we are human—namely reason and understanding—you have stripped him of all his nobility.

Let us not, then, attend simply to the words, but placing ourselves amid the very deeds and the passion involved, let us reckon how great a wound this word inflicts, and unto how great an evil it advances.

For this reason Paul also cast out of the kingdom not only adulterers and the effeminate, but revilers as well;

for the reviler mars the beauty of love, and wraps his neighbour about with countless miseries, and works lasting enmities, and rends asunder the members of Christ, and day by day drives away that peace which is dear to God, giving the devil much room through his insults, and making him stronger.

For this reason Christ also, cutting away the sinews of the devil's power, introduced this law.

For much is His discourse concerning love.

For love is the mother of all good things, and the badge of the disciples, and that which holds together all our concerns—this above all else it is.

With good reason, therefore, does He with much vehemence take away the roots and the springs of the enmity which mars it.

Do not, then, suppose that these sayings involve some exaggeration, but considering the good results that come from them, marvel at the mildness of these laws.

For nothing is so earnestly sought by God as that we should be united and bound fast to one another.

For this reason, both by Himself and by His disciples—both those in the New and those in the—

the Old Testament, He makes much discourse concerning this commandment, and is a fierce avenger and chastiser of those who despise the matter.

For nothing so brings in and roots all wickedness as the destruction of love.

'When iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold.'

Thus Cain became a slayer of his brother; thus Esau; thus the brethren of Joseph;

thus did countless evils come rioting in, when this was rent asunder.

For this very reason He too, with much exactness, takes away on every side the things that mar it.

And He does not stop merely at what has been said, but adds yet more things beyond what has been said, whereby He shows how great account He makes of it.

For having threatened by the council, and the judgment, and hell, He again brought in other things in accord with the former, speaking thus:

'If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.'

Oh, the surpassing loving-kindness!

He makes light of the honour paid to Himself for the sake of love toward one's neighbour;

showing that not even the former things which He threatened were threatened out of any enmity, nor out of a desire for punishment, but out of much tender affection.

For what could be milder than these words? 'Let My service be interrupted,' He says, 'that your love may abide;'

since this too is a sacrifice—reconciliation with one's brother.

For this reason He did not say, 'After you have offered,' nor 'Before you offer;'

but while the very gift lies there, and the sacrifice has already begun, He sends you off to be reconciled to your brother;

and neither having taken up what is set before you, nor before you have set it forth, but while it lies in the midst, He bids you run thither.

For what reason does He bid this to be done thus, and why? These two things, as it seems to me, He hints at and establishes by these words:

one—as I said—wishing to show that He greatly values love, and accounts this to be the greatest sacrifice, and without it does not even accept the other;

and another—laying upon you an inexorable necessity of reconciliation.

For he who has been commanded not to offer before he is reconciled will, even if not for the sake of love toward his neighbour, yet at least because his sacrifice may not lie unfinished, be urged to run to the one he has grieved and to dissolve the enmity.

For this reason He has spoken everything most emphatically, terrifying him and rousing him up.

For having said, 'Leave your gift,' He did not stop there, but added, 'before the altar' (again casting him into awe by the very place), and 'go your way;'

and He did not simply say, 'Go your way,' but added, 'First, and then come and offer your gift;'

showing by all these things that this table does not receive those who are at enmity with one another.

Let the initiated hear this—all who approach with enmity;

let the uninitiated hear it also;

for the word has something in common with these too.

For they too bring a gift and a sacrifice—I mean prayer and almsgiving.

For that this too is a sacrifice, hear what the Prophet says:

'The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me;'

and again, 'Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise;'

and, 'The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice.'

So that even if you bring a prayer with such a disposition, it is better to leave the prayer and go to reconciliation with your brother, and then to offer the prayer.

For it was for this that all things came to pass;

for this reason God also became man, and accomplished all those things, that He might gather us together.

Here, then, He sends the one who has done the wrong to the one who has been wronged;

but in the case of prayer He brings the one who has been wronged to the one who has done the wrong, and reconciles them.

'Forgive men their debts.'

'If he has anything against you, go your way to him.'

Rather, here too it seems to me that He is sending the one who has been wronged;

wherefore He did not say, 'Reconcile yourself to your brother,' but 'Be reconciled;'

and while what is said seems to be on behalf of the one who has caused the grief, the whole of it is on behalf of the one who has been grieved.

'Be reconciled,' He says, 'through love toward that one, and you shall have Me also gracious, and with much confidence you shall be able to offer your sacrifice.'

'But if you are still inflamed, consider that I also gladly bid My own honour to be set at nought, that you may become friends;'

and let these things become to you a consolation for your anger.

And He did not say, 'When you have been wronged in great matters, then be reconciled;'

but, 'Even if he have any trifling thing against you.'

And He did not add, 'Whether justly or unjustly;'

but simply, 'If he have anything against you.'

For even if it be justly, not even so ought one to prolong the enmity;