Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 16 part 2/2

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;

since Christ also was justly angry with us, yet nonetheless gave Himself up on our behalf to slaughter, not reckoning those transgressions against us.

For this reason Paul too, urging us toward reconciliation in another manner, said:

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

For just as here Christ drives us toward this very same end by means of the sacrifice, so there Paul does it by means of the day.

For indeed he fears the night, lest it, taking the wounded man alone by himself, should make the sore greater.

For in the daytime there are many who distract and draw one away;

but in the night, when a man is left alone and ponders things by himself, the waves swell up, and the tempest becomes greater.

Therefore, forestalling this, Paul wishes to hand the man over to the night already reconciled, so that the devil may henceforth have no occasion from the solitude to kindle the furnace of wrath and make it fiercer.

So too Christ does not permit even a little delay, lest, once the sacrifice has been completed, such a man should become more negligent, putting it off from day to day.

For He knows that the malady requires great swiftness;

and, like a wise physician, He applies not only the preventives against diseases, but also the corrective remedies.

For to forbid the calling of another a fool is preventive of enmity;

but to command reconciliation is destructive of the diseases that arise after enmity.

And observe how each of these is laid down with vehemence.

For there He threatened hell, while here He does not receive the gift before the reconciliation, showing great wrath, and through all these things destroying both the root and the fruit.

And first He says, Be not angry;

and after this, Do not revile.

For indeed both of these grow by means of each other;

reviling comes from enmity, and enmity from reviling.

For this very reason He now heals the root, and now the fruit;

on the one hand preventing the evil from even springing up at the outset, but if after all it should sprout and bear its most wicked fruit, then burning it up more severely from every side.

For this reason, then, having spoken of judgment, and the council, and hell, and having discoursed concerning His own sacrifice, He adds yet other things again, speaking thus:

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him.

What then, if I am wronged? What then, if I am plundered and dragged into court? This pretext and excuse too He took away;

for He commands us not even so to be at enmity.

Then, since this injunction was a great one, He draws His counsel from present things, which are wont to restrain the grosser sort more than things to come.

Because he is more powerful, and does you wrong? Then he will wrong you all the more, if you do not settle, but are forced to come to court.

For in that case, having given up your money, you will keep your body free;

but coming under the judge's sentence, you will both be bound and pay the uttermost penalty.

But if you avoid the contention there, you will reap two good things:

both suffering nothing unpleasant, and having the good deed henceforth be your own, and no longer of his compulsion.

But if you are unwilling to be persuaded by what is said, you wrong not him so much as yourself.

And see how here too He urges him on;

for having said, Agree with your adversary, He added, Quickly;

and He was not content with this, but sought yet another intensification of this swiftness, saying:

While you are on the way with him;

by these words thrusting him forward and pressing him hard with great vehemence.

For nothing so overturns our life as delaying and putting off in the working of good things.

This very thing, indeed, is what caused us to fall away from everything.

So, just as Paul also says:

Before the sun sets, dissolve the enmity;

and in what went before, He Himself says:

Before the offering is completed, be reconciled;

Quickly, while you are on the way with him;

before you come to the doors of the court, before you stand at the tribunal and henceforth come under the authority of the one who judges.

For before the entrance, you are master of everything;

but if you set foot within those portals, then, not even with the utmost eagerness will you be able to arrange your own affairs as you wish, having come under another's constraint.

But what does it mean, to agree with him? Either He means this, that you should rather submit to being wronged;

or, that you should so judge the case as if holding his very position;

so that you may not corrupt justice by self-love, but, deliberating about another's matter as about your own, may render this verdict.

But if this is a great thing, do not marvel.

For it was on this account that He laid down all those beatitudes, that, having first smoothed and prepared beforehand the soul of the hearer, He might render it more fit for the reception of this whole legislation.

Now some say that by the appellation of the adversary He is hinting at the devil himself, and commanding us to have nothing of his;

for this, they say, is to agree with him;

on the ground that it is not possible to be reconciled after our departure hence, since inexorable punishment henceforth awaits us.

But to me He seems to be speaking about the judges here below, and about the way to the court, and about this prison.

For since He turned them back from the loftier things and from those to come, He also frightens them by the things in the present life.

This is precisely what Paul too does, leading on the hearer both from things to come and from things present.

For instance, when, leading them away from wickedness, he shows the ruler armed against the evildoer, speaking thus:

But if you do evil, be afraid;

for he does not bear the sword in vain;

And again, commanding us to be subject to him, he sets forth not only the fear of God, but also that one's threat and his guardianship:

For it is necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience.

For the more irrational sort, as I said before, these things are more wont to set right—the things that are visible and close at hand.

Wherefore Christ also made mention not only of hell, but also of a court, and of being led away, and of a prison, and of all the misery there, through all these things destroying the roots of murder.

For he who neither reviles, nor goes to law, nor stretches out enmity, how shall he ever commit murder? So that from this too it is plain that our own advantage lies in our neighbor's advantage.

For he who agrees with his adversary will benefit himself far more, delivering himself from courts and prisons and the misery there.

Let us therefore be persuaded by what is said, and let us not resist, nor contend in return;

for indeed, even before the prizes, these injunctions have in themselves their pleasure and their profit.

But if to the multitude they seem burdensome and to furnish much toil, consider that you are doing these things for Christ's sake, and the grievous thing will become sweet.

For if we have this reasoning always, we shall experience nothing burdensome, but shall reap much pleasure from every side.

For the toil will no longer appear to be toil; rather, the more it is intensified, the sweeter and more pleasant it becomes.

Whenever, then, habit persists in bewitching you toward evil, together with the desire for riches, wage against it that reasoning which declares that we shall receive a great reward, having despised the pleasure that is but for a season.

Are you quite despondent because I deprive you of pleasure? Nay, rejoice rather, because I procure for you heaven.

You act not for a man's sake, but for God's.

Endure, then, a little, and you shall see how great the gain is.

Persevere through the present life, and you shall receive unspeakable boldness.

For if we reason with the soul in this way, and consider not only the burdensome side of virtue but also reckon up the crown that comes from it, we shall quickly draw it away from all wickedness.

For if the devil, though he shows the pleasant thing to be but for a season and the painful thing to be perpetual, nevertheless prevails and gains the upper hand,

when in our case these things are reversed—the laborious being but for a season, and the pleasant and profitable being immortal—what excuse shall we have if we do not pursue virtue after so great an encouragement? For the mere ground of the toils suffices us in place of everything, together with the clear conviction that it is for God's sake that we endure all these things.

For if a man who has the emperor as his debtor thinks he possesses sufficient security for his whole life,

consider how great he shall be who has made the God who loves mankind and lives forever his debtor for both small and great achievements.

Do not, then, set before me toils and sweat;

for God has made virtue light not only by the hope of things to come, but also in another way, laying hold together with us on every side and helping us bear the load.

And if only you are willing to contribute a little eagerness, all the rest follows.

For it is on this account that He wills that you too should toil a little, so that the victory may also be yours.

And just as an emperor wills that his own son be present at the battle line and be seen there, so that the trophy may be reckoned to him, yet accomplishes the whole thing himself,

so also does God in the war against the devil.

For He requires from you one thing only: that you display a genuine enmity toward him;

and if you render Him this, He Himself accomplishes the whole war.

Though anger blaze, though the desire for riches, though any other tyrannical passion, He comes swiftly if only He sees you stripping yourself for the contest against it and prepared; and He makes all things easy, and sets you above the flame, just as He did those children of old in the Babylonian furnace;

for they too contributed nothing more than their resolve.

In order, then, that we also, having here quenched every furnace of disorderly pleasure, may escape the gehenna there, let us each day both deliberate and take thought and act upon these things, drawing to ourselves God's goodwill by our purpose set on what is good and by our constant prayers.

For thus even the things that now seem unbearable will be most easy and light and lovable.

For so long as we are in the passions, we deem virtue to be rough and difficult and uphill, but wickedness to be desirable and most pleasant;

but if we withdraw a little from these things, then that too will appear loathsome and hideous, while this becomes easy and simple and desirable.

And this one may clearly learn from those who have attained.

Hear, at any rate, how Paul is ashamed even to speak of those former things, even after his deliverance from them, saying:

'What fruit had you then in the things of which you are now ashamed?' But this present virtue, even after the toil, he says is light, calling the painfulness of the affliction momentary and light, and rejoicing in his sufferings, and exulting in his afflictions, and glorying in the marks he bore for Christ's sake.

In order, then, that we too may be established in this habit, ordering ourselves each day by what has been said, and forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, let us press on toward the prize of the high calling;

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