Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 30

And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man sitting at the tax-office, called Matthew;

For having worked the miracle, He did not remain, lest by being seen He should kindle their envy the more;

but He does them a kindness by withdrawing, and by soothing their affliction.

This let us also do, not closing to grips with those who plot against us, but let us soothe their sore, yielding to them and relaxing their tension.

But for what reason did He not call him along with Peter and John and the rest? Just as He came there at the time when He knew the men would be persuaded;

so also He called Matthew at the time when He knew he would yield.

For this very reason He also caught Paul as a fish after the resurrection.

For He who knows the hearts, and understands the secret things of each one's mind, knew also when each of these was about to obey.

For this reason He did not call him at the very outset, when he was still more hardened, but after countless miracles and the great report concerning Himself, when He knew that he had become more fit for obedience.

And it is worthy to marvel also at the evangelist's high-mindedness, how he does not hide his former life, but even sets down his name, whereas the others concealed him under another appellation.

And for what reason did he say, 'sitting at the tax-office'? To show the power of Him who called, that He drew him up not when he had ceased

nor when he had withdrawn from this wicked traffic, but drew him up out of the very midst of his evils;

just as He also transformed the blessed Paul while he was raging and mad and breathing out fire;

which very thing he too, making it a proof of the power of Him who called, says to the Galatians:

'You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God;'

and the fishermen too, being in the very midst of their work, He called.

But that was a craft that was not disreputable, belonging to men rather rustic in disposition, unsophisticated, and possessing much simplicity;

whereas this was a pursuit full of shamelessness and effrontery, a gain having no reasonable pretext, a shameless traffic, and a robbery clothed in a lawful form;

yet nevertheless He who called was ashamed of none of these things.

And why do I speak of His not being ashamed of a publican, when He was not ashamed even to call a harlot woman—nay, not only to call her, but even to allow her to kiss His feet and to wet them with her tears? For it was for this very reason that He came, not that He might heal bodies only, but that He might also heal the wickedness of the soul.

Which He did also in the case of the paralytic;

and having shown plainly that He is able to forgive sins, He then comes to this man, that they might no longer be troubled at seeing a publican received into the choir of the disciples.

For He who is Lord to loose all transgressions—why do you marvel if He also makes this man an apostle? But as you have seen the power of Him who called, so learn also the obedience of him who was called.

For he neither resisted, nor in doubt did he say:

'What is this? Surely You are not calling me, being such a man as I am, with a deceitful summons?' for this humility too would have been out of season;

but immediately he obeyed, and did not even think it worthwhile to go home and to communicate with his own people about this, just as neither did the fishermen;

but in the same manner in which those left the net and the boat and their father, so also this man left his tax-collecting and his gain and followed, showing forth a mind prepared for all things.

And tearing himself away all at once from every worldly concern, he bore witness to the timeliness of Him who called by a perfect and complete obedience.

And why then, one asks, did he not also tell us concerning the others, how and in what manner they were called, but only concerning Peter and James and John and Philip, while concerning the rest nowhere at all? Because these above all were engaged in mean and lowly occupations.

For nothing is worse than tax-gathering, nor anything meaner than fishing.

And that Philip too was of the utterly obscure sort is plain from his native town.

For this reason they proclaim these men to us especially, together with their occupations, showing that even in these glorious accounts one ought to believe them.

For those who chose to omit nothing of what seemed to be reproachful, but before all else proclaimed these things with exactness—both concerning the Teacher and concerning the disciples—how could they be suspected in what is honourable? And this especially when they pass lightly over many signs and wonders, yet with exactness cry aloud the things on the cross that seemed to be reproaches.

And when they lay bare with a clear voice both the disciples' occupations and their failings, and the Teacher's forebears who were notorious for sins—whence it is plain that they made great account of the truth, and wrote nothing for favour nor for display.

Having therefore called him, He honoured him also with the greatest honour, straightway sharing His table with him;

for by this He made him also of good hope concerning the things to come;

and led him on to greater boldness.

For not in a long time, but all at once, did He heal the malady.

And He reclines not with him alone, but also with many others;

and yet this too was reckoned to be a charge against Him, that He did not drive away the sinners.

But not even this do they conceal—the sort of things they attempt to lay to the charge of the deeds done by Him.

And the tax-gatherers come together as to a fellow-craftsman;

for glorying in Christ's entrance, he called them all together.

For Christ set in motion every kind of healing, and not only by discoursing, nor only by curing, nor by reproving His enemies, but even while dining He corrected many of those present.

teaching us thereby that every season and every work is able to afford us profit.

And yet the things then set before them were the fruit of injustice and covetousness;

but Christ did not decline to partake of them, since a great gain was thereby about to come to pass; rather He becomes both a housemate and a table-companion to those who had so grievously transgressed.

Unless he endures the putrefaction of the sick, he does not deliver them from their disease.

And yet from this He gained an evil reputation—both by eating with him, and by being in that man's house, and by being among many tax-gatherers.

See at all events how they reproach Him with this;

Behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners.

Let those hear this who are eager to invest themselves with a great reputation for fasting, and let them consider that our Master was called a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, and was not ashamed, but overlooked all these things that He might accomplish what lay before Him;

for indeed the tax-gatherer was changed, and thus became better.

And that you may learn that this—the sharing of His table with him—accomplished a great thing, hear what Zacchaeus says, yet another tax-gatherer.

For when he heard Christ saying, 'Today I must abide in thy house,' being as it were winged with delight, he says, 'The half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold.'

And to him Jesus says:

Today is salvation come to this house.

Thus through all things is it possible to instruct.

And how is it, one asks, that Paul commands, 'If any man that is named a brother be a fornicator or covetous, with such a one no not to eat'? Now, in the first place, it is not yet clear whether he enjoins this also upon teachers, and not upon brethren only.

Next, these men were not yet of the perfected, nor had they become brethren.

Besides this, Paul bids us turn away even from those who have become brethren, when they persist;

but these had by now ceased and been changed.

But none of these things put the Pharisees to shame; rather they bring a charge against the disciples, saying:

Why does your teacher eat with tax-gatherers and sinners? And whenever they themselves seem to sin, they accost Him, saying:

Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath;

but here they slander Him to them.

All of which was the mark of men acting maliciously and wishing to tear the band of the disciples away from the Teacher.

What then does the boundless wisdom reply? 'They that are strong,' He says, 'have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.'

See how He turned their argument to the very opposite.

For they made it a charge that He associated with these men;

but He, on the contrary, says that not to associate with them would be unworthy of Himself and of His love for mankind, and that to set such men right is not only free from all charge, but is a foremost and necessary thing, and worthy of countless praises.

Then, lest by saying 'they that are sick' He should seem to put the called ones to shame, see how again He softens it, rebuking the Pharisees and saying:

But go ye and learn what this meaneth, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.'

And this He said, upbraiding them with their ignorance of the Scriptures.

Wherefore He also used the word more sharply, not that He Himself was angered;

but so that those men might not be driven to despair.

Did ye not perceive how I loosed the sins of the paralytic? how I braced up his body? But He says none of these things;

rather He first reasons with them from common considerations, and then from the Scriptures.

For having said, 'They that are strong have no need of a physician, but they that are sick,' and having covertly shown Himself to be the physician, He then said:

Go ye and learn what this meaneth, 'I will have mercy and not sacrifice.'

First establishing His argument from common examples, and having said:

Who tends a flock, and eats not of its milk?—then He also brought forward the Scriptures, saying:

For in the law of Moses it is written, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn;'

and again, 'Even so did the Lord ordain for them that proclaim the Gospel, that they should live of the Gospel.'

but He puts them in mind of the signs, speaking thus:

Do ye not yet remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (III)

But with these men it was not so;

rather He puts them in mind of the common infirmity, and shows that they too are among the sick, seeing that they did not so much as know the Scriptures, and, neglecting all the rest of virtue, placed the whole matter in sacrifices;

which very thing, hinting at them most strongly, He sets forth briefly in that which was spoken through all the prophets, saying:

Learn what this meaneth, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.'

For through these words He shows that it was not He who was the transgressor of the law, but they;

On what account do ye bring a charge against Me?

because I set sinners right? Then ye will bring this charge against the Father also.

Which very thing indeed He said elsewhere too, in establishing this:

My Father worketh even until now, and I work.

Go ye and learn what this meaneth, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.'

For as He wills this, He says, even so do I also.

Do you see how those things are superfluous, but these are necessary? For He did not say, 'I desire mercy and sacrifice,' but, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.'

For the one He approved, but the other He cast out;

and He showed that what they were charging Him with was not only not forbidden, but even enjoined by the law, and to be preferred above sacrifice;

and He brings in the Old Testament itself, speaking in harmony with Him and laying down the same law.

Having therefore reproved them both from common examples and from the Scriptures, He again adds:

'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'

Now these words He speaks to them with a kind of irony, as when He says:

'Behold, Adam has become as one of us.'

'If I were hungry, I would not tell you.'

For that there was no righteous man upon the earth, Paul made plain when he said:

'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.'

And by this He also gave comfort to those who had been called.

For so far am I, He says, from abhorring sinners, that it was for their sake alone that I came.

Then, lest He should make them more careless, having said 'sinners,' He did not stop there, but added, 'to repentance.'

For I came not that they should remain sinners, but that they should be changed and become better.

Since therefore He had stopped their mouths on every side, both from the Scriptures and from the natural course of events, and they had nothing to say, being shown to be liable to the very charges they had brought against Him, and being found opposed to the law and to the Old Testament, they let Him alone and again transfer the accusation to the disciples. And Luke says that it was the Pharisees who spoke;

but this Evangelist says that it was the disciples of John;

and it is likely that both parties said these things.

For being at a loss, they take those men into partnership with themselves, as was likely, just as they afterwards did in the case of the Herodians.

For the disciples of John were always jealously disposed toward Him, and used to speak in opposition to Him;

only then were they humbled, when at the beginning John took up his dwelling in the prison.

At any rate, coming then, they brought word to Jesus;

but after these things they returned to their former envy.

What then do they say? 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?' This is the disease which Christ had long before been cutting away, when He said:

'When you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face,' foreseeing the evils that spring from it. Yet He does not even rebuke these men, nor does He say:

'O you vainglorious and superfluous men!'

but with all gentleness He converses with them, saying:

'The children of the bridechamber cannot fast, so long as the bridegroom is with them.'

For when the discourse was on behalf of others, I mean the publicans, that He might comfort their wounded soul, He more severely rebuked those who reviled them;

but where they were mocking Himself and His disciples, He makes His reply with all gentleness.

Now what they say is of this kind:

'Granted,' he says, 'that You do these things as a physician;'

'why do the disciples also, forsaking fasting, give heed to such tables?' Then, in order to make the accusation greater, they place themselves first, and then the Pharisees, wishing by the comparison to increase the charge.

'For both we,' he says, 'and the Pharisees fast much.'

For indeed they used to fast, some having learned it

from John, and others from the law;

just as the Pharisee also used to say:

'I fast twice in the week.'

What then does Jesus say? 'Can the children of the bridechamber fast, so long as the bridegroom is with them?' First He had called Himself a physician, but here a bridegroom, revealing through these names the ineffable mysteries.

And yet He might have spoken to them more cuttingly, that 'You are not lords over these matters, so as to lay down such laws.'

For what profit is there in fasting, when the mind is full of wickedness? when you accuse others? when you condemn them, carrying beams about upon your eyes, and doing all things for display? For before all these things it was needful to cast out vainglory, and to set right all the rest—love, meekness, brotherly affection.

But He says none of these things; rather, with all gentleness:

'The children of the bridechamber cannot fast, so long as the bridegroom is with them;'

reminding them of the words of John, in which he said:

'He who has the bride is the bridegroom;'

'but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.'

And what He means is of this kind:

'The present season is one of joy and gladness;'

'do not therefore bring in things of gloom.'

For fasting is indeed a gloomy thing—not in its own nature, but to those who are still more weakly disposed;

since to those who are willing to live wisely the thing is even very sweet and desirable.

For just as, when the body is in health, there is much gladness;

so too, when the soul is well-disposed, the pleasure is greater.

But it is with reference to their supposition that He says these things.

So too Isaiah, when discoursing about it, calls it an affliction of the soul, and Moses likewise.

Nor does He stop their mouths from this consideration only, but also from another, saying:

'Days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast.'

For by these words He shows that what was taking place was not a matter of gluttony, but of a certain marvelous dispensation;

and at the same time He also lays beforehand the foundation of the discourse concerning His passion, instructing the disciples in the midst of His disputes with others, and training them already to practise fortitude in things that seem to be gloomy.

For to say this to them directly would have been burdensome and grievous, seeing that even when it was said afterwards it troubled them;

but being spoken with reference to others, it became less oppressive to them.

And since it was likely that they would also be greatly puffed up over John's passion, He puts down this swelling too from this point;

yet the discourse concerning the resurrection He does not yet add;

for the one was according to nature, namely, that He who was accounted a man should die, but the other was above nature.

Then what He did before, this He does here also.

For just as, when they were attempting to show Him liable to accusation for eating with sinners, He proved the very opposite—that what was taking place was not only no ground of accusation, but even a matter for praise;

so also here, when they wished to make Him out as one who knew not how to use His disciples, He shows that to say such things belongs to those who know not how to make use of their followers, but are simply finding fault.

'For no one,' He says, 'puts a piece of unshrunk cloth upon an old garment.'

Again from common examples He builds up His argument.

And what He means is of this kind:

The disciples had not yet become strong, but still stood in need of much condescension;

they had not yet been renewed through the Spirit.

And upon men so disposed one ought not to lay a heavy weight of commandments.

And these things He spoke, laying down laws and rules for His own disciples, so that when they should be about to receive as disciples all the men of the whole world, they might approach them with much gentleness.

Neither do men put new wine into old wineskins.

Do you see the illustrations resembling those of the Old Testament, the garment and the wineskins? For indeed Jeremiah too calls the people a girdle, and again he makes mention of wineskins and of wine.

For since the discourse was about gluttony and the table, He takes His illustrations from these very things.

But Luke says something more, namely, that the new is also torn, if you put it upon the old.

Do you see that not only does no benefit result, but there is even

greater harm? And He speaks of the present, but He also foretells the future;

meaning, that afterwards they will become new;

but until this comes to pass, one ought to enjoin nothing austere or burdensome upon them.

For he who seeks, He says, before the fitting time to instil lofty doctrines, will not, even when the season afterwards calls for it, find them fit any longer, having once rendered them useless.

And this happens not because of the wine, nor because of those who receive it, but because of the unseasonableness of those who pour it in.

Hence too He taught us the reason for the lowly words which He continually spoke to them.

For on account of their weakness He said many things far beneath His own dignity;

which very thing John too indicates that He had said, when he says:

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

For that they might not suppose these things alone to be all that He had said, but might imagine also others far greater, He set their weakness in the midst, promising that when they should become strong, He would speak those things also;

which very thing He says here also:

The days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast.

Let us then not, we either, demand all things from all men at the outset, but only what is possible;

and thus shall we quickly come to those higher things also.

But if you are urgent and press forward, for this very reason do not press, because you are in haste.

But if what has been said seems to you a riddle, learn it from the very nature of the things themselves, and then you will see all its force.

And let no one of those who bring accusations unseasonably disturb you;

since here too it was the Pharisees who accused, and the disciples who were reproached.

Yet nevertheless none of these things persuaded Christ to change His purpose, nor did He say:

It is a shame that these should fast and those should not fast.

But just as the best pilot attends not to the tossing waves, but to his own art;

so also Christ did then.

For indeed it would have been a shame, not that they did not fast, but that on account of the fasting they should be smitten in their vital parts, and rent asunder, and torn to pieces.

Which things then we ourselves also considering, let us so employ all that belongs to us.

And should you have a wife fond of adornment, gaping after cosmetics and all fluttering excitement, dissolute in much luxury, and a chatterer, and foolish;

although indeed it is not possible that all these faults should meet together in one woman;

nevertheless let us fashion in our discourse such a woman.

Why then, one says, do you fashion a woman, and not a man? There are men also worse than this woman.

But since to men the office of oversight has been committed, on this account we fashion a woman for the present, not as though wickedness abounded more in that sex.

For many things too may be found among men which are not found among women, such as manslaying, grave-robbing, fighting with beasts, and many things of the kind.

Do not then suppose that we do these things to disparage the sex;

it is not so, it is not so;

but it is thus useful for the present to sketch the image.

Let us then suppose such a woman to be before us, and let the husband strive by every means to set her right.

How then shall he set her right? Not by enjoining all things at once, but the lighter things first, and those by which she is not very strongly held.

For if you press her to amend the whole from the beginning, you have lost the whole.

Do not then take away the gold ornaments immediately, but suffer her to have them and to wear them for the present;

for this seems to be a lesser evil than the cosmetics and the paintings.

Let those first then be done away with;

and not even those by fear and threatening, but by persuasion and gentleness, and both through the censure of others, and through your own verdict and judgement.

And say to her continually, that to you her countenance is not lovely when thus adorned, but even exceedingly distasteful;

and persuade her above all that this grieves you.

And after your own verdict, bring in also the opinion of others, and say that this is wont to disfigure even the beautiful, that you may take away the passion.

And say nothing as yet about hell, nor about the kingdom;

but persuade her rather that she delights you more when she displays the work of God unadorned;

whereas she who tortures her countenance, and strains it, and plasters it, does not even in the eyes of the multitude appear beautiful and comely.

But first assail the malady with the common reasonings and the verdicts of all men.

and when you have softened her with these words, then add those other things also.

And though you speak once, and do not persuade her, speak a second and a third time and often, pouring forth the same words, and do not grow weary;

yet not with any offensiveness, but with graciousness;

and now turn away, now flatter and cherish her.

Do you not see the painters, how much they rub out, how much they write over again, when they are making a beautiful face?

Do not then become worse than they.

For if they, when painting the image of a body, use so great diligence;

how much more, when we are fashioning a soul, would it be right to move every contrivance.

For if you fashion well the countenance of this soul, you will not see the unseemly face of the body, nor blood-stained lips, nor a mouth like a bear's reddened with blood, nor eyebrows blackened as if with soot from some pot, nor cheeks whitewashed like the walls of tombs.

For all these things are soot and ashes and dust, and the marks of extreme unsightliness.

But somehow, I know not how, I was carried away unawares into these words, and while exhorting another to teach with mildness, I myself was rolled over into anger.

Let us therefore return again to the gentler exhortation, and let us bear all the faults of women, that we may accomplish what we desire.

Do you not see how we bear with the little children when they cry, whenever we wish to wean them from the breast, and endure all things for that one end, that we may persuade them to despise their former table? So let us do here also;

let us bear with all the other things, that we may accomplish this.

For once this has been set right, you will see the other matter also as you advance along the road, and you will come back again to the golden ornaments; and in the same manner you will speak with her likewise about these things, and thus, gradually setting your wife in order,

you will prove to be a most excellent painter, a faithful servant, a most skilful husbandman.

Remind her also of the women of old, of Sarah, of Rebecca, both of those who were fair of form and of those who were not, and show that all alike lived chastely.

For indeed Leah, the wife of the patriarch, though she was not fair of form, was not driven to devise any such thing; but although she was unshapely, and not greatly loved by the man who dwelt with her, she neither contrived anything of the kind nor spoiled her appearance, but continued to preserve her features unadulterated—and this though she had been reared among Gentiles.

But you, the believing woman, who have Christ for your Head, do you bring in upon us a satanic contrivance? And do you not call to mind the water that washed over your face, the sacrifice that adorns your lips, the blood that made your tongue crimson? For if you consider all these things, then though you were ten thousand times enamoured of adornment, you will not dare, nor will you endure, to cast upon yourself that dust and those ashes.

Learn that you have been espoused to Christ, and depart from this unseemliness.

For neither does He delight in these colours, but seeks another beauty, of which He is also an ardent lover—I mean the beauty that is in the soul.

This too the prophet bade you practise, when he said:

And the King shall desire your beauty.

Let us not therefore disgrace ourselves with superfluous things.

For none of the works of God is imperfect, nor does it need any correction from you.

For if, after a royal statue has been set up, someone should attempt to add his own touches to it, the attempt is not safe, but he will bring upon himself the utmost peril.

So then, when a man is the maker, you do not add anything;

yet do you presume to correct God's work? And do you not think of the fire of hell? Do you not think of the desolation of the soul? For it is on this account that the soul is neglected, because all your zeal is poured out upon the flesh.

And why do I speak of the soul? For to the very flesh itself all things turn out contrary to what you have striven for.

Do you wish to appear beautiful? This makes you unshapely.

Do you wish to please your husband? This rather grieves him;

and not only him, but it also makes those outside become your accusers.

Do you wish to appear young? This will quickly bring you to old age.

Do you wish to adorn yourself? This makes you a cause of shame.

For such a woman is ashamed not only before her equals, but also before those of her handmaids who are in the know, and before those of her household servants who are aware of it;

But why need I say these things? For I have passed over just now the most grievous point of all: that you give offence to God, that you undermine chastity, that you kindle the flame of jealousy, that you emulate the harlot women who ply their trade upon the roof-tops.

Considering therefore all these things, laugh to scorn the satanic pageant and the diabolical artifice, and putting away this world's adornment—or rather this disorder—prepare that beauty in your own souls which is both lovely to angels, and desirable to God, and sweet to those who dwell with you, that you may attain both the present and the coming glory;

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