Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 21

No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one, and love the other;

or he will hold to one, and despise the other.

Do you see how little by little He withdraws them from their possessions, and through many arguments introduces the discourse concerning freedom from possessions, and casts down the tyranny of covetousness? For He was not content with what went before, though those things were many and great;

but He adds also others yet more numerous and more fearful.

For what is more fearful than the things now spoken, if indeed we are destined to fall away from the service of Christ because of these things?

And what more desirable, if indeed, by disregarding them, we are destined to have exact goodwill and love toward Him? For what I always say, this I will say now also: that through both means He drives the hearer into obedience to the things spoken — both through what is beneficial and through what is harmful;

just as a most excellent physician, showing both the disease that comes from inattention, and the health that comes from obedience.

See then what gain He again points out here, and how He establishes what is profitable from the deliverance from the contrary things.

For not only does wealth harm you in this, He says, that it arms robbers against you, nor only that it darkens the mind with all vehemence;

but also that it casts you out of the service of God, making you captives of soulless riches, and harming you on both sides — both by making you slaves of those things which you ought to rule, and by casting you out of the service of God, whom above all it is necessary for you to serve.

For just as there He showed the harm to be twofold — both by laying up here, where the moth destroys, and by not laying up there, where the guarding is inviolable —

so also here He shows the loss to be twofold, both by the things through which it draws you away from God, and by the things through which it subjects you to mammon.

But He does not at once state it, but first establishes it from common considerations, speaking thus:

No one can serve two masters;

meaning here by the two, those who command contrary things.

Since if this were not so, they would not even be two.

For indeed, of the multitude of those who had believed, the heart and the soul was one;

and although they were divided into many bodies, nevertheless their concord made the many into one.

Then intensifying His words, He says:

he will not only not serve, but will even hate and turn away.

For either he will hate the one, He says, and love the other;

or he will hold to one, and despise the other.

And it seems, indeed, that the same thing is said a second time;

yet He did not compose it thus without purpose, but in order to show that the change for the better is easy.

'I was once enslaved, I was tyrannized over by riches';

He shows that it is possible to change, and that just as one came from there to this, so also from here one may come to that.

Having therefore spoken indefinitely, so as to persuade the hearer to become an impartial judge of the things said, and to bring forth the verdict from the very nature of the matters themselves, when He had gotten him to agree, then He also reveals Himself.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

Let us shudder, considering what we have caused Christ to say, and to set gold alongside God.

And if this is dreadful — that it should come about through our deeds, and that the tyranny of gold should be preferred to the fear of God — how much more dreadful it is [to do so in reality].

What then? Among the ancients was this not possible? By no means.

How then, one says, did Abraham, how did Job win approval? Do not name to me the rich, but those who served.

For Job also was rich;

but he did not serve mammon; rather he possessed it and ruled over it, and he was master, not slave.

As therefore being a steward of others' goods, so did he possess all those things, not only not seizing what belonged to others, but even bestowing his own upon those in need.

And what is even greater, that he did not even rejoice at their presence;

'If I rejoiced because much wealth had come to me' —

for this reason neither did he grieve when it departed.

But not such are those who are rich now; rather they are disposed worse than any slave, bringing tribute as to some harsh tyrant.

For just as though having seized their mind like some citadel, the love of riches sends forth from there to them each day its commands laden with every lawlessness, and there is none who disobeys.

Do not therefore philosophize superfluously.

For God has once for all declared, and has said that it is impossible for both this service and that to coincide.

Do not therefore say that it is possible.

For when the one commands to seize, but the other to strip off one's possessions;

the one to be chaste, but the other to commit fornication;

the one to be drunken and to live in luxury, but the other to keep the belly in check;

and the one to despise things present, but the other to be nailed to the things at hand;

the one to marvel at marbles and walls and ceilings, but the other to hold these in dishonour, and to honour instead the love of wisdom — how

is it possible that these things should coincide?

Here he called mammon 'lord,' not on account of its own nature, but on account of the wretchedness of those who bow down beneath it.

In the same way he also calls the belly 'god,' not from any dignity belonging to that mistress, but from the misery of those who are enslaved to it.

which is worse than any punishment, and even before the punishment is enough to chastise the one who has been taken captive.

For than what condemned criminals would they not be more wretched, those who have God for their Master, yet desert from that gentle kingdom to the harsh tyranny, and this while so much harm arises from the matter even here below? For there is unspeakable loss from this affair, and lawsuits, and insults, and struggles, and toils, and the maiming of the soul;

and what is most grievous of all, that one falls away from the highest of goods, which is the service of God.

Having therefore taught by every means the profitableness of despising riches—both for the very keeping of one's wealth, and for the pleasure of the soul, and for the acquisition of true wisdom, and for the security of piety—he next establishes that this exhortation is also possible to fulfil.

For this above all belongs to the best legislation: not only to enjoin what is profitable, but also to make those very things possible.

For this reason he also adds, saying:

'Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat.'

What then? If we cast everything away, how shall we be able to live? He then stands against this objection very opportunely.

For just as, if at the very outset he had said 'Take no thought,' the saying would have seemed burdensome,

so, since he had shown the ruin that comes from the love of money, he thereby makes the exhortation easy to receive.

Therefore not even now did he simply say 'Take no thought,' but, adding the reason, thus enjoined it.

For after saying, 'You cannot serve God and mammon,' he went on:

'Therefore I say to you, Take no thought.'

For what reason? Because of the unspeakable loss.

For your harm is not in money alone, but the blow falls also upon the most vital things, and upon the overthrow of your salvation.

For it casts you out from God, who made you and cares for you and loves you.

'Therefore I say to you, Take no thought.'

For since he had shown the harm to be unspeakable, he then intensifies the command.

For he does not merely command to throw away one's possessions, but not even to be anxious about necessary food, saying:

'Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat.'

Not because the soul needs food;

but he spoke according to common usage.

For even though it does not need food, yet it could not otherwise endure to remain in the body except while the body is being nourished.

And having said this, he does not set it down bare, but here too he stirs up reasonings:

some from what has already been granted to us, and others from other examples.

From what has already been granted, speaking thus:

'Is not the life more than food, and the body more than raiment?' He, then, who gave the greater, how shall he not give the lesser? He who fashioned the flesh that is to be nourished, how shall he not supply the nourishment? Therefore he did not simply say, 'Take no thought what you shall eat and what you shall put on,' but, 'for the body,' and 'for the life';

since it was from these that he was about to make his demonstrations, advancing his argument by way of comparison.

But the soul he gave once for all, and it remains such;

whereas the body increases day by day.

Displaying, therefore, both these things—the immortality of the one and the perishableness of the other—he went on, saying:

'Which of you can add one cubit to his stature?' And passing over the soul in silence, inasmuch as it receives no increase, he discoursed only concerning the body;

showing from this that other truth also, that it is not the food which makes it grow, but the providence of God.

Which also Paul, declaring by other words, said:

'So then neither is he that plants anything, nor he that waters, but God that gives the increase.'

So then from what has already been granted he thus urged them on;

and from other examples, saying, 'Behold the birds of the heaven.'

For lest anyone should say that we gain something by being anxious, he turns them away both by the greater and by the lesser—by the greater, namely the soul and the body;

and by the lesser, namely the birds.

For if such great care is taken for things far inferior,

how shall he not give to you? he says.

And toward these he spoke thus;

for it was as yet a crowd of common folk;

but toward the devil not so, but how? 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'

But here he mentions the birds, and that very shamingly;

which has the greatest force as an argument for exhortation.

But indeed some of the ungodly have come to such a degree of folly as even to take hold of this example against him.

For, they say, he ought not, when training the will, to lead men to this from natural advantages;

for to those creatures this belongs by nature, they say.

What then should we say to this? That even if it belongs to those by nature, yet it is possible for us too to attain this by choice.

For he did not say, 'Behold how the birds fly,' which would have been impossible for a man;

but that they are fed without anxiety, which for us too, if we are willing, is easy to accomplish.

And this those men showed who accomplished it by their deeds.

Wherefore it is especially worthy to marvel at the wisdom of the Lawgiver, that, though he could have provided the example from men, and was able to name Elijah and Moses and John and others of that sort who took no thought, in order to reprove them, yet he made mention of the irrational creatures.

For had he named those righteous men, these might have said, 'We have not yet become such as they.'

But now, passing them over in silence and bringing forward the birds of the heaven, he cut off their every pretext, herein too imitating an ancient law.

For the Old Testament also sends us to the bee, and to the ant, and to the turtledove, and to the swallow.

And it is no small proof of honour, when the very things which those creatures have by nature, we are able to accomplish by our will.

If then he takes such great forethought for the things that exist for our sake, much more for us;

if for the servants, much more for the master.

'Behold the birds';

and he did not say that they do not traffic, nor engage in trade;

for these were among the things utterly forbidden;

but what? 'They sow not, neither do they reap.'

What then? Ought one not to sow? he says.

He did not say that one ought not to sow, but that one ought not to be anxious;

nor that one ought not to work, but that one ought not to be faint-hearted and to wear oneself out with cares.

For he also commanded that we should be nourished, only not being anxious.

This teaching David also lays down beforehand from of old, speaking thus in a veiled manner:

'Thou openest Thy hand, and fillest every living thing with good pleasure';

and again, 'To Him who gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that call upon Him.'

Who then, He says, were the ones that took no anxious thought?

Have you not heard how many of the righteous He brought forth? Do you not see, among them, Jacob departing from his father's house, stripped of everything? Do you not hear him praying and saying:

'If the Lord will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on'? This was the mark not of one who was anxious, but of one who sought the whole of it from God.

This too the apostles achieved, casting away all things and taking no anxious thought;

as did the five thousand and the three thousand.

But if, hearing so many words, you still cannot bear to free yourself from these grievous bonds, then, considering the unprofitableness of the matter, put an end to your care.

'For which of you,' He says, 'by taking anxious thought can add one cubit to his stature?' Do you see how from what is manifest He made clear also what is hidden? For just as, He says, you cannot by anxious thought add even a little to your body,

so neither can you gather food together, even if you suppose that you can.

From this it is plain that it is not our own diligence, but God's providence, that accomplishes the whole, even in those things wherein we seem to be at work;

so that, should He forsake us, no forethought, no anxiety, no toil, nor anything else of the kind will ever avail, but all will come to nothing.

Let us not, then, think that the commandments are impossible;

for there are many who fulfil them even now.

And if you do not know it, that is no wonder;

since even Elijah thought himself to be alone, but he heard, 'I have left me seven thousand men.'

Whence it is plain that even now there are many displaying the apostolic manner of life;

just as also were the three thousand then, and the five thousand.

But if we do not believe it, it is not because there are none who fulfil it, but because we ourselves stand far off from the matter.

For just as a drunkard would not easily believe that there exists a man who does not so much as taste water—

and yet this too many monks in our own day have achieved—

and just as the man who consorts with countless women will not believe that it is possible to live in virginity;

nor will he who plunders what belongs to others believe that a man could readily give up even his own;

so also those who day by day waste themselves away with countless cares would not easily accept this teaching.

That there are indeed many who have achieved this, we are able to show you from those very persons who practise this philosophy even in our own generation.

But for you, for the present, it is enough to learn not to be covetous, and that almsgiving is a good thing, and to know that one ought to share of one's possessions.

For if you accomplish these things, beloved, you will quickly advance also to those higher matters.

For the present, then, let us lay aside superfluous extravagance, let us hold to moderation, and let us learn to acquire by honest labour all that we are to possess;

since even the blessed John, when he spoke with those engaged in tax-collecting and with the soldiers, commanded them to be content with their wages.

He wished, indeed, to lead them on to another and greater philosophy;

but since they were not yet fit for these things, he speaks of the lesser matters; for had he told them of things loftier than these, they would neither have given heed to those nor attained even to these.

For this very reason we too train you in the humbler things.

For at present we know that the burden of voluntary poverty is too great for you, and that, as far as heaven stands from earth, so far off is that philosophy from you.

Let us, then, lay hold at least of the lowest commandments;

for neither is this a small comfort.

And yet, even among the Greeks, some have achieved this too, though not with the right disposition, and have stripped themselves of all their possessions.

But nevertheless, in your case we are content with your giving alms bountifully;

for we shall quickly come to those higher things also, if we thus advance.

But if we do not even do this, of what pardon should we be worthy—we who are bidden to surpass those under the Old Covenant, yet are found inferior to the philosophers among the Greeks? What shall we say, when, being obliged to be angels and sons of God, we do not even maintain being men? For to plunder and to be covetous belongs not to the gentleness of men, but to the savagery of wild beasts;

or rather, those who lay hands on what belongs to others are even worse than the beasts.

For to them this belongs by nature;

but we who have been honoured with reason, yet fall into a baseness contrary to nature, what pardon shall we enjoy? Bearing in mind, then, the measures of the philosophy set before us, let us at least attain to the middle station, that we may both be delivered from the punishment to come, and, advancing along the way, may arrive at the very summit of good things;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.