Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 24

'Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.'

Why did He not say, 'But he who does My will'? Because for the present it was a welcome thing that they should first accept even this;

for indeed it was a very great thing in view of their weakness.

And moreover, He hinted at that other truth also through this.

And along with these it is also possible to say, that there is no other will of the Son beside that of the Father.

And here He seems to me chiefly to be laying hold of the Jews, who placed everything in doctrines, and made no provision for their manner of life.

Wherefore Paul also accuses them, saying:

'Behold, you are called a Jew, and rest upon the law, and boast in God, and know His will;'

but there is nothing more for you from this, when the demonstration of your life and works is not present.

And He Himself did not stop at these things, but said what was far more.

'For many will say to Me in that day:'

'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name?' For it is not only the man who has faith while neglecting his manner of life who is cast out of the heavens, He says; but even should one, along with his faith, have wrought many signs, and yet have done no good work, this man too is likewise shut out from those sacred vestibules.

'For many will say to me in that day.'

'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name?' Do you see how, imperceptibly, He now brings Himself into the discourse, since He has now completed the whole address, and shows Himself to be the Judge? For that punishment awaits those who sin, He had shown in what went before.

But who it is that punishes, here at length He discloses.

And He did not say openly, 'It is I';

but rather, 'Many will say to me,' establishing this very same thing once again.

For if He Himself were not the Judge, how could He have said to them:

'And then will I confess unto them.'

'Depart from me, I never knew you.' Not only at the time of judgment, He says, but not even then, when you were working wonders.

For this reason also He said to His disciples:

'Rejoice not that the demons are subject unto you, but rather that your names are written in the heavens.'

And everywhere He commands us to make great diligence concerning our manner of life.

For it is not possible that a man who lives rightly, and is delivered from all the passions, should ever be overlooked;

but even should he happen to go astray, God will speedily draw him back to the truth.

But there are some who say that these men spoke these things falsely;

and for this reason, He says, neither were they saved.

Therefore he establishes the contrary of what he intends.

For here He wishes to show that faith avails nothing without works.

Then, intensifying His argument, He added the signs as well;

declaring that not only does faith not profit the worker of wonders anything apart from virtue, but neither does the display of signs.

But if they had not done these things, how could this argument have held together here? Besides, they would never have dared, with the judgment present, to say these things to Him.

And this very reply, and the speaking by way of a question, shows that they had indeed done them.

For since they saw the end contrary to their expectation, and here they were wondered at by all as workers of miracles, but there they behold themselves now being punished, as though astonished and marveling they say:

'Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name? How then dost Thou now turn us away? What means this strange and unexpected end?' But those men marvel that, having wrought such wonders, they were punished;

For all grace belongs to the gift of Him who gave it;

but those men brought nothing of their own;

wherefore they are justly punished also, because toward Him who so honored them, as even to bestow the grace upon unworthy men, they became thankless and insensible.

'What then?' one may say; 'did they, while working iniquity, do such things?' Some indeed say that it was not at the time when they were working these wonders that they also transgressed the law, but that afterwards they changed and committed the iniquity.

But if this be so, again the point in question does not hold.

For what He has been eager to show is this:

that neither faith nor wonders avail, if a right manner of life be not present;

which very thing indeed Paul also said:

'Though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing.'

'Who then are these?' one may ask.

Many of those who had believed received gifts of grace, such as was the one who cast out demons, yet was not with Him, such as was Judas;

for this man too, wicked though he was, possessed a gift of grace.

And in the Old Testament also one may find this — grace often working in the unworthy, that it might benefit others.

For since not all were fit for all things, but some were of a pure life, yet had not so great a faith, while others were the contrary;

the former He urges on through these gifts, so that they may display much faith, and the latter, through this unspeakable gift, He called forth so that they might become better.

Therefore also He gave the grace with great abundance.

'For we wrought many mighty works,' he says.

'But I will confess unto them then, that I know you not.'

For now indeed they suppose themselves to be my friends;

but then they shall know that it was not as to friends that I gave.

And why do you marvel if He gave gifts of grace to men who had believed in Him, yet had no life befitting their faith, when He is found working even in those who have fallen away from both these things? For Balaam too was a stranger both to faith and to the best way of life;

yet nevertheless grace wrought in him for the dispensation concerning others.

yet nevertheless to him also He showed things to come.

And Nebuchadnezzar, most lawless of men, to him also again He revealed the things that were to be after many generations later.

And again to that man's son, who surpassed his father in lawlessness, He showed the things to come, ordering wondrous and great affairs.

Since therefore at that time the preaching was but at its beginnings, and there needed to be a great display of His power, many even of the unworthy received gifts.

Yet nevertheless from these signs those men gained nothing, but are rather the more punished.

Wherefore He spoke to them that fearful word:

For many even from now already He hates, and turns away from before the judgment.

Let us therefore fear, beloved, and let us take great care of our manner of life, nor let us think that we are the worse off because we do not work signs now.

For nothing more shall ever be ours from this, just as neither anything less from not doing it, if we be diligent in every virtue.

For of the signs we ourselves are the debtors, but of the manner of life and of good deeds we have God as our debtor.

Since therefore He had completed all things, and had discoursed concerning virtue with all exactness, and had shown those who counterfeit it —

who are of different kinds: those who fast for display and pray for show, those who come in sheep's clothing, and those who defile virtue, whom He called both swine and dogs — showing henceforth how great is the gain of virtue even here, and how great the harm of wickedness, He says:

'Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened unto a wise man.'

For what those who do not do them shall suffer, even though they work signs, you have heard;

but it behooves you to know also what things those who obey all that has been said shall enjoy, not in the age to come only, but even here.

'For everyone,' He says, 'who hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened unto a wise man.'

Do you see how He varies His discourse — at one time saying, 'Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,' and disclosing Himself;

at another time saying, 'He who does the will of my Father';

and again introducing Himself as Judge:

'For many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name? And I will say.'

And here again He shows Himself as having authority over all things:

'Whoever hears these words of mine.'

For since He had discoursed of all things concerning the things to come — speaking of a kingdom, and of an unspeakable reward, and of consolation, and all such things — He wishes to give them the fruits even from here, and to show how great is the strength of virtue even in the present life.

What then is this strength? To live in security, to be an easy prey to none of the terrible things, to stand higher than all who would do us injury.

What could be equal to this? For not even he who wears the diadem upon his head could procure it for himself, but only he who pursues virtue.

For he alone possesses it with great abundance, enjoying deep tranquillity amid the surging tide of present affairs.

For this indeed is the marvel: that not when the weather is calm, but when the storm is fierce, when there is great tumult and continual trials, he yet cannot be shaken even a little.

For 'the rain descended,' He says, 'the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not,'

'for it had been founded upon the rock';

here by rain and floods and winds He speaks metaphorically of human calamities and misfortunes, such as false accusations, plots, bereavements, deaths, the loss of one's own kin, the insults of strangers, and all the evils that one might name in this life.

But such a soul, He says, yields to none of these;

and the reason is that it has been founded upon the rock.

And by 'rock' He means the sureness of His own teaching.

For indeed His commandments are stronger than a rock, setting a man higher than all the waves of human affairs.

For he who keeps these with exactness will prevail not only over men who insult him, but even over the very demons who plot against him.

And that these words are no idle boast, Job is our witness, who received all the assaults of the devil and remained unmoved;

and the apostles too would bear witness, who, when the waves of the whole world dashed against them—peoples and tyrants, kinsmen and strangers, demons and the devil, and every device set in motion—stood firmer than a rock, and dissolved all these assaults.

What then could be more blessed than this life? For neither wealth, nor bodily strength, nor glory, nor power, nor anything else will be able to promise this, but only the possession of virtue.

For it is not possible—no, it is not possible—to find any other life free from all evils, but this one alone.

And you yourselves are witnesses, you who know the plots that are in royal palaces, the uproars and the turmoils that are in the houses of the rich.

But among the apostles there was nothing of the kind.

What then? Did nothing of the sort befall them, nor did they suffer any dreadful thing from anyone? For this above all is the marvel: that they endured many plots, and many storms broke over them, yet these did not overturn their soul, nor cast it into despondency;

but wrestling with naked bodies, they prevailed and overcame.

You too, therefore, if you are willing to do these things with exactness, will laugh all things to scorn.

If you are fortified by the philosophy of these exhortations, nothing will be able to grieve you.

For what harm will he who wishes to plot against you do you? Will he take away your money? But even before his threat you were commanded to despise money, and to abstain from it with such surpassing measure as not even to ask anything of the kind from the Master.

But does he cast you into prison? Yet even before the prison you were commanded so to live as to be crucified to the whole world.

But does he speak evil of you? Yet from this pain too Christ has delivered you, promising you a great reward for your forbearance without toil, and making you so pure of the anger and grief that arise from this, that He even commanded you to pray for your enemies.

But does he drive you out and surround you with countless evils? Yet he makes your crown more glorious.

But does he slay you and cut your throat? Even by this again he benefits you in the greatest degree, procuring for you the prizes of the martyrs, and speeding you more swiftly to the waveless haven, and providing you an occasion for a greater recompense, and causing you to have a share in the common judgment.

Which indeed is of all things the most wonderful:

that they who plot against you not only do no harm at all, but even render those whom they insult more esteemed.

What could be equal to this—to choose such a life as this alone is? For since He had spoken of the way as strait and narrow, and thence, comforting the toils, He shows that great is its security and great its pleasure, just as, on the contrary, great is the rottenness and loss of the opposite way.

For just as He showed the prizes of virtue from this, so also He showed the wages of vice.

For, as I always say, this I will say now also: everywhere by both means He works out the salvation of His hearers—both by the zeal for virtue and by the hatred of vice.

For since there were going to be some who would admire what was said, yet not give the demonstration of it through works, He forestalls them and strikes fear into them, saying that even if the things spoken are good, hearing does not suffice for security, but there is need also of obedience through works, and in this above all the whole matter lies.

And here He brings His discourse to a close, leaving the fear at its height within them.

For just as in the case of virtue He exhorted not only from things to come—speaking of the kingdom, and the heavens, and unspeakable reward, and consolation, and countless good things—but also from things present, showing the firmness and immovability of the rock;

so also in the case of vice He strikes fear not only from things expected—such as the tree that is hewn down, and the unquenchable fire, and not entering into the kingdom, and the saying, 'I know you not';

but also from things present—I mean the fall of the house.

Therefore He also made His discourse more vivid, working it out by means of a parable.

For it was not the same thing to say that the virtuous man would be invincible and the wicked man easily captured, as to set forth a rock, and a house, and floods, and rain, and wind, and all such things.

'And every one that heareth these words of mine,' He says, 'and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.'

And well did He call this man foolish.

For what could be more senseless than one who builds a house upon the sand, and endures the toil, yet is deprived of the fruit and the rest, and instead of these endures punishment? For that they too who pursue vice do labour is surely plain to everyone;

for indeed the robber, and the adulterer, and the false accuser toil greatly and are worn out in order to bring their wickedness to accomplishment;

but not only do they reap no gain from these toils, they even endure great loss.

Wherefore Paul also, hinting at this, said:

'He that soweth to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.'

To this man are like also those who build upon the sand;

such as those given to fornication, those given to licentiousness, those given to drunkenness, those given to wrath, and those given to all the other vices.

Such was Ahab, but not such was Elijah.

For indeed by setting virtue and

vice side by side, we shall know their difference more exactly.

For the one built upon the rock, but the other upon the sand;

wherefore, though he was a king, he feared and trembled before the prophet who had only his sheepskin mantle.

Such were the Jews, but not such the apostles;

wherefore, though they were few and bound in chains, they displayed the firmness of the rock;

but the others, though many and armed, displayed the weakness of the sand.

'What shall we do to these men?' Do you see them in perplexity—not those who were in their power and bound, but those who held and bound them? What could be more strange than this? You hold them fast and are at a loss? And very reasonably so.

For since they had built everything upon the sand, therefore they were also weaker than all.

For this reason too they said again:

'What do you mean to do, wishing to bring this man's blood upon us?' What is this? You scourge, and you are afraid? You insult, and you dread? You judge, and you tremble? So weak is vice.

But not so the apostles;

but how? 'We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'

Did you see a lofty spirit? Did you see a rock laughing the waves to scorn? Did you see an unshaken house? And what is yet more wonderful: that not only did they themselves not become cowardly through the things by which they were plotted against, but they even took greater courage, and cast their persecutors into greater anguish.

For indeed he who strikes the adamant is himself the one struck;

and he who kicks against the goads is himself the one pricked, and the one who receives the grievous wounds;

and he who plots against the virtuous is himself the one in peril.

For vice becomes so much the weaker, the more it is arrayed against virtue.

And just as one who binds fire in a garment does not quench the flame, but consumes the garment;

so he who insults the virtuous, and detains, and binds them, renders them more illustrious, but brings himself to ruin.

For indeed, whatever dreadful things you may suffer while living uprightly, by so much the stronger have you become;

for the more we honour philosophy, the more we shall stand in need of nothing.

And the less we stand in need of anything, by so much the more do we become strong and superior to all.

Wherefore that man no one could grieve, but he himself grieved Herod;

and he who possessed nothing rose up against him who wielded power;

while he who was clothed in diadem and purple and a thousand pomps trembles and is afraid of the man stripped bare of all things, and could not even look without dread upon him whose head had been cut off.

For that even after his death his fear was at its height, hear what he says:

This is John, whom I beheaded.

But the phrase, I beheaded, was not that of one exalting himself, but of one soothing his fear, and persuading his troubled soul to remember that it was he himself who had slain him.

So great is the strength of virtue, that even after death it is mightier than the living.

For this reason also, while he yet lived, those who possessed much wealth would come to him and say:

What shall we do? You who have so much, do you wish to learn the way of your prosperity from him who has nothing? The rich from the poor? The soldiers from him who has not even a house? Such also was Elijah;

wherefore with the same boldness he too discoursed to the people.

For the one said, You brood of vipers;

and the other, How long will you halt on both your hams? And the one said, You have murdered, and also taken possession;

while the other said, It is not lawful for you to have the wife of Philip your brother.

Have you seen the rock? Have you seen the sand? How easily it falls down? How it yields to calamities? How it is overturned, whether it be with a king, whether with a multitude, whether with dominion? For it renders those who pursue it more senseless than all men.

And it does not merely fall, but falls with great calamity.

For, it says, the fall of it was great.

For the danger is not concerning trifling things,

but concerning the soul, concerning the falling away from the heavens and from those immortal good things.

Rather, even before those things, he who pursues this life will live most miserably of all men, dwelling together with continual despondencies, cowardices, cares, and agonies;

which very thing a certain wise man also hinted at, saying:

For such men tremble at shadows, suspect their friends, their enemies, their servants, those who know them, those who do not know them, and before the punishment to come they pay here the uttermost penalty.

And all these things Christ declared, saying:

And the fall of it was great;

thereby shutting up these good precepts unto a fitting end, and persuading even the very unbelieving to flee from wickedness by reason of things present as well.

For though the argument concerning things to come is greater, yet this one is better able to lay hold of the grosser sort, and to lead them away from wickedness.

Wherefore also He ended with this, that the benefit might be as it were ringing in their ears.

Being therefore conscious of all these things, both the present and the things to come, let us flee wickedness, let us be zealous for virtue, that we may not labour in vain nor to no purpose, but may both enjoy safety here, and partake of the glory there;

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