Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 35

Think not that I came to cast peace upon the earth;

I came not to cast peace, but a sword.

Again He sets down the more burdensome things, and that with great abundance;

and that very thing which they were about to object, this He foretells.

For lest, hearing these things, they should say:

'Was it then for this that You came, to destroy both us and those who obey us, and to fill the earth with war?' First He says:

'I came not to send peace upon the earth.'

How then did He charge them, on entering each house, to pronounce peace? And how did the angels say, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace'? And how did all the prophets proclaim this as glad tidings? Because this above all is peace: when that which is diseased is cut away, when that which is factious is separated off.

For only thus is it possible for heaven to be joined to earth.

Since even the physician thus preserves the rest of the body, when he cuts away that which is incurable;

and the general, when he brings those who are wrongly of one mind into dissension.

So too was it in the case of that tower;

for the good discord broke up the evil peace, and made peace.

So also Paul divided those who were in agreement against him.

But in the case of Naboth, that agreement then became more grievous than any war.

For concord is not everywhere a good thing;

since robbers too are in agreement.

The war, then, is not the work of His purpose, but of their own disposition.

For He indeed willed that all should be of one mind in the doctrine of true religion;

but since those men were at variance, war comes to pass.

But what does He say? 'I came not to send peace,' comforting them thereby.

'For do not think,' He says, 'that you are the cause of these things;

it is I who bring these things about, since they are so disposed.'

'Be not therefore troubled, as though these things were happening contrary to expectation.'

'For this cause I came, that I might cast in war;

for this is My will.'

'Be not therefore troubled when the earth is warred upon, as though it were being plotted against.'

For when the worse part is cut off, then at last heaven is joined to the better.

These things He says, anointing them beforehand against the wicked suspicion of the many.

And He said not 'War,' but that which was more grievous than this, 'A sword.'

But if these things are spoken somewhat harshly and with an ill sound, marvel not.

For desiring to exercise them by the

roughness of the words to train their hearing, that they might not, in the difficulty of the matters, shrink back, He thus fashioned His discourse too;

that no one might say that He had persuaded them by flattery and by hiding the hard things, and that for this reason He had, in the case of the things that ought to have been stated otherwise, interpreted them more oppressively and more heavily.

For it is better to see the gentleness in the deeds than in the words.

For this reason neither was He content with these words, but having unfolded the very form of the war, He shows that this too is far more grievous than a civil war, and says:

'I came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.'

For not friends only, He says, nor fellow-citizens only, but even kinsfolk shall stand against one another, and nature itself shall be divided against itself.

'For I came,' He says, 'to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.'

For not merely among household members is the war, but among the most beloved and the most closely bound.

Which most of all shows His power, that hearing these things they themselves both accepted them and persuaded others.

And yet it was not He who did these things, but their wickedness;

yet nonetheless He says that He does these things.

For such is the custom of Scripture.

For indeed elsewhere also it says:

'God has given them eyes that they should not see.'

that, as I said before, having practised themselves in these words, they might not be troubled when reproached and insulted.

But if some think these things to be oppressive, let them call to mind the ancient history.

For indeed in the earlier times too this came to pass, which most of all shows the Old Testament to be akin to the New, and Him who speaks these things to be the same as He who enjoined those things.

For indeed in the case of the Jews too, when each one slew his neighbour, then He let loose His wrath upon them;

and when they made the calf, and when they were consecrated to Baal-peor.

Where then are those who say that that God is evil, but this One is good? For behold, He filled the world with kindred blood.

But nonetheless we affirm that this too is a work of great lovingkindness.

Therefore, to show that He is the very One who also approved those things, He makes mention of a prophecy as well, even though it was not spoken with reference to this, yet nonetheless setting forth the same thing.

And what is this? 'A man's enemies are those of his own household.'

For indeed in the case of the Jews too something of this kind came to pass.

For there were prophets and false prophets, and the people was divided, and households were split apart;

and some believed these, others those.

Therefore the prophet exhorts, saying:

'Trust not in friends, nor hope in leaders;

but even from her that lies in your bosom guard yourself, so as not to confide anything to her;'

and, 'A man's enemies are the men of his own house.'

And these things He said, preparing him who was about to receive the word to be above all things.

For to die is not the evil, but to die badly.

'I came to cast fire upon the earth.'

And this He said, signifying the vehemence and warmth of the love which He required.

For since He Himself loved us exceedingly, so also does He will to be loved by us.

And these words too anointed these men, and made them loftier.

'For if those men,' He says, 'are to despise kinsfolk and children and parents, consider what manner of men you the teachers ought to be.'

'For the hardships will not stop with you, but will pass on to the others as well.'

'For since I came bringing great good things, I require also great obedience and disposition.'

'He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;

and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.'

'And he that takes not his cross and follows after Me is not worthy of Me.'

Of a teacher? You see how He shows Himself to be the true Son of Him who begot Him, in commanding all things to be set below, and His own love to be preferred? 'And why do I speak,' He says, 'of friends and kinsfolk? Even if you prefer your own soul to My love, you stand far from My disciples.'

What then? Are these things contrary to the Old Testament? God forbid;

but rather they are in exceeding harmony with it.

For it commands not only to hate those who worship idols, but even to stone them; and in Deuteronomy also, marvelling at these men, it says:

'He who says to his father and mother, I have not seen you, and did not acknowledge his brothers, and disowned his sons — he kept Your oracles.'

And if Paul gives many commands concerning parents, ordering that we obey them in all things, do not be amazed;

for he says to obey them only in those things which do not harm godliness.

For indeed it is a holy thing to render them all other honour;

but whenever they demand more than what is owed, one must not comply.

For this reason Luke says:

'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and moreover his own soul as well, he cannot be My disciple;'

not commanding simply to hate — since that would be exceedingly unlawful — but, 'Whenever he wishes to be loved more than Me, hate him in this respect.'

For this destroys both the one who is loved and the one who loves.

And He said these things, both making the children more courageous, and rendering the fathers who would hinder them more gentle.

For seeing that it has such strength and power as to tear their children away from them, since they would be attempting the impossible, they too were about to desist.

Therefore, letting these go, He directs His discourse to those others, instructing them not to attempt it, since they would be attempting what cannot be done.

Then, so that those others might not be indignant nor take it hard, see whither He advances His discourse.

For having said, 'Whoever does not hate father and mother,' He added, 'And his own soul.'

'For why do you speak to Me,' He says, 'of parents, and brothers, and sisters, and wife? Nothing is more intimate to anyone than his own soul;'

'yet nevertheless, unless you hate even this, you will endure all things opposite to the one who loves Me.'

And He did not simply command to hate it, but even to give it up to war and to battles, and to slaughter and bloodshed.

For whoever does not take up his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

For He did not say simply that they must be arrayed to face death, but that they must be arrayed even against a violent death;

and not against a violent death only, but against one that is shameful as well.

And as yet He says nothing about His own Passion, so that being for the present trained in these matters, they might more easily receive the word concerning that.

Is it not worthy of amazement, how, as they heard these things, their soul did not fly out of their body, when everywhere the grievous things were at hand, while the good things lay only in hopes? How then did it not fly away? Great was both the power of Him who spoke, and the love of those who heard.

Wherefore, though they heard things far more burdensome and oppressive than those great men who lived with Moses and Jeremiah heard, they remained obedient and made no objection at all.

"He who finds his life," He says, "shall lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake shall find it."

Do you see how great is the harm of those who love beyond what is fitting? and how great the gain of those who hate? For since the commands were burdensome, in that He bade them array themselves against parents, and children, and nature, and kinship, and the whole world, and against their very soul, He sets forth also the benefit, which is very great.

For assuredly, He says, these things will not merely do no harm, but will be of the greatest profit, whereas the contrary course will bring injury;

which is what He does everywhere, leading men on from the very things they desire.

For why are you unwilling to despise your own life? Is it because you love it? Then for this very reason despise it, and so you will profit it in the highest degree, and will show forth the deeds of one who truly loves it.

And consider His unspeakable wisdom.

For He exercises this argument not upon parents only, nor upon children, but upon the soul, which is dearer to all than anything else, so that from this the other point might become indisputable, and that they might learn that in this way they will confer the greatest benefit upon those others also, seeing that this holds true even in the case of the soul, which is the most necessary of all.

Now these things were indeed sufficient to persuade those who were to heal them to be received.

For who would not, with all eagerness, have received men so noble and valiant, who ran through the world like lions, and despised all their own concerns that others might be saved? Yet nevertheless He also

sets forth yet another reward, showing that in this matter He cares more for those who give hospitality than for those who receive it.

And He gives first a foremost honor, saying:

"He who receives you receives Me;

and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

And what could be equal to this, to receive the Father and the Son? And together with this He promises yet another recompense:

"For he who receives a prophet," He says, "in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward;

and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward."

And above He threatens punishment to those who do not receive them;

but here He appoints a rest of good things.

And that you may learn that He cares more for them, He did not say simply, 'He who receives a prophet,' or, 'He who receives a righteous man,' but added, 'In the name of a prophet,' and, 'In the name of a righteous man;'

that is to say, If he receives him not for the sake of some worldly patronage, nor for any other perishable thing, but because he is either a prophet or a righteous man, he shall receive a prophet's reward and a righteous man's reward;

such a reward as it is fitting that one who has received a prophet or a righteous man should obtain;

or such as that man himself is about to receive.

Your abundance is for their want, that their abundance also may be for your want.

Then, lest anyone should plead poverty as an excuse, He says:

"Or whoever gives to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."

Even if you give a cup of cold water, where there is nothing at all to be spent, for this too a reward shall be laid up for you.

For it is for your sakes, who receive them, that I do all these things.

Do you see by how many means He persuaded them, and opened to them the houses of the whole world? For He showed by all these things that men were their debtors;

first, by saying, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages;'

secondly, by sending them out possessing nothing;

thirdly, by giving them up to wars and battles on behalf of those who received them;

fourthly, by putting signs also into their hands;

fifthly, by bringing in through their mouths peace, the cause of all good things, into the houses of those who received them;

sixthly, by threatening things more grievous than Sodom's against those who did not receive them.

The seventh, in that He shows that both He Himself and the Father are received by those who welcome them.

The eighth, in that He promises the reward both of a prophet and of a righteous man.

The ninth, in that even for a cup of cold water He promises great recompenses.

And each one of these things, even taken by itself, was sufficient to draw them on.

For who, tell me, upon seeing a general covered with countless wounds and stained with blood, returning from war and the battle-line after many trophies of victory, would not receive him, throwing open the doors of his whole house? And 'Who now is such a man?' someone says.

For this reason He added, 'in the name of a disciple, and of a prophet, and of a righteous man,' that you might learn that He assigns the reward not according to the worth of the one who comes, but also according to the disposition of the one who gives hospitality.

For here indeed He speaks concerning prophets and righteous men and disciples;

but elsewhere He commands us to receive even those who are utterly cast off, and He punishes those who do not receive them.

'For inasmuch as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me.'

And conversely again, concerning the same persons He says,

For even if he is achieving no such good deed, he is a man, dwelling in the same world as you, beholding the same sun, having the same soul, the same Master; he has shared in the same mysteries as you, is called to the same heaven as you, and has a great claim of right—his poverty, and his need of necessary food.

But as things now stand, those who rouse people from sleep with flutes and pipes in the season of winter, disturbing them idly and to no purpose, depart carrying off many gifts from you;

and those who carry swallows around, and are begrimed with soot, and revile everyone, receive a wage for this buffoonery.

But if a poor man comes forward asking for bread, there are countless slanders and accusations, charges of idleness, and railings and insults and mockeries;

and you do not reckon within yourself that you too are idle, and yet God gives you of His own.

For do not say this to me, that you too are doing something;

but show me this—whether you are doing and busying yourself with anything that is truly necessary.

But if you tell me of money-making and huckstering, and the care of your possessions and

their increase, I too would say to you that these would not be works, but rather almsgiving, and prayers, and the protection of those who are wronged, and all such things—in which we live perpetually idle.

Yet nevertheless God never said to us, 'Because you are idle, I will not kindle the sun for you;'

'Because you do nothing of what is necessary, I extinguish the moon, I maim the belly of the earth, I hold back the lakes, the springs, the rivers, I make the air vanish, I withhold the yearly rains;'

but He supplies all things to us with abundance.

And to some who are not only idle, but even do wicked deeds, He graciously grants the enjoyment of these things.

Therefore, whenever you see a poor man and say, 'I am choking with vexation, because this fellow, being young and healthy and possessing nothing, wants to be fed while doing nothing—no doubt some household slave and a runaway, who has deserted his own master'—

these very words which I have spoken, say them to yourself; or rather, grant him leave to say them boldly to you, and he will say them with greater justice: 'I am choking with vexation, because you, being healthy, are idle, and do nothing of what God has enjoined, but having run away from the commands of the Master, you go about spending your time in wickedness as though in a foreign land—getting drunk, carousing, stealing, plundering, overturning the households of others.'

And you indeed bring a charge on account of idleness;

but I bring a charge on account of wicked deeds—whenever you scheme, whenever you swear falsely, whenever you lie, whenever you plunder, whenever you do countless such things.

But these things I say, not as making idleness into a law;

but rather because I very greatly desire that all should be engaged in works;

for idleness has taught every kind of wickedness;

yet I exhort you not to be unmerciful, nor cruel.

Since Paul too, after making countless reproaches and saying,

'If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat,'

he did not stop there, but added,

'But as for you, do not grow weary in doing what is good.'

And yet these things are contrary to one another.

For if you commanded that they should not eat, how do you exhort us to give? 'Yes,' he says;

for indeed I commanded them to be turned away from, and not to be mingled with, and again I said,

'Do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him.'

thereby laying down laws that are not contrary, but altogether in harmony.

For if you are ready to show mercy, that poor man will quickly be delivered from his idleness, and you from your cruelty.

'But he tells many lies and makes up much,' one says.

But for this very reason he is worthy to be pitied, that he has fallen into such necessity as even to act so shamelessly.

But we not only fail to show mercy, but even add those cruel words, saying, 'Did you not receive once and twice already?'

What then? Does he not need to be fed again, because he was once fed? Why do you not also lay down these laws for your own belly, and say to it as well:

'You were filled yesterday and the day before yesterday; do not seek now'? But her you gorge even beyond measure, while him, who asks only what is fitting, you turn away, though for this very reason you ought to pity him, because each day he is compelled to come to you.

For even if from no other source you are moved, for this reason you ought to have pitied him;

for it is by the necessity of his poverty that he forces himself to these things and does them.

And do you not pity him, that though he hears such things he is not put to shame?

But you not only fail to pity him, but even make a public spectacle of him;

and though God has commanded us to give in secret, you stand exposing to view the one who has approached, and heaping reproaches upon him, for the very things for which you ought to have shown mercy.

For if you do not wish to give, why do you also accuse and crush the wretched and miserable soul? He came seeking your hands as one seeking a harbor;

why do you stir up waves and make the storm more grievous? Why do you condemn him for meanness of spirit? For would he have come, if he had expected to hear such things? But even if, foreseeing this, he still came, for this reason he is the more to be pitied, and your cruelty is the more to be shuddered at, that not even so, seeing an inescapable necessity pressing upon him, do you become gentler, nor do you reckon the fear of hunger sufficient to excuse his shamelessness, but you charge him with shamelessness;

and yet you yourself have often behaved far more shamelessly, and that over grievous matters.

For in his case shamelessness even carries with it a claim to pardon, whereas we, though often doing things worthy of punishment, act brazenly;

and when we ought, in reflecting on those things, to become humble, we instead trample upon these wretched men, and add wounds to those who are asking for remedies.

If you wish to give, why do you also strike him? If you do not wish to bestow the favor, why do you insult him? 'But he will not go away otherwise,' you say.

Well then, do as that wise man commanded:

'Answer him peaceably, in gentleness.'

For neither is it willingly that he behaves so shamelessly.

For there is not, there is not, a man who wishes simply to be put to shame.

And even if some should contend ten thousand times, I for my part could never be brought to be persuaded that a man living in abundance would choose to beg.

Let no one, therefore, deceive us with false reasoning.

'If anyone will not work, neither let him eat' — this he says with reference to those;

but to us he does not say this, but the opposite:

'In doing good, do not grow weary.'

So also do we act in a household;

when two people are quarreling with one another, we take each one aside privately and give them opposite advice.

This is what God also did, and Moses.

For to God he said:

'If you will forgive them their sin, forgive it;'

but to them he commanded that they should slay one another, and all their kinsfolk.

And yet these things are contrary to one another, but nevertheless both looked toward one and the same end.

Again, God said to Moses, in the hearing of the Jews:

'Let me alone, and I will destroy the people' (for even though they were not present when God said these things, yet they were to hear them afterward);

but privately he counsels him the opposite of these things.

And these things Moses, being compelled, afterward disclosed, speaking thus:

'Did I conceive all this people in the womb, that you say to me, Carry them, as a nurse carries the suckling child in her bosom?' These things happen in households too;

and often a father privately rebukes the tutor who has ill-treated his child, saying:

'Do not be harsh, nor severe;'

But to the young man he says the opposite,

drawing out from opposite counsels one and the same useful end.

So too did Paul: to those who were in health yet begging he said,

'If any will not work, neither let him eat,' that he might thrust them into labour;

but to those who were able to show mercy he said,

'But as for you, be not weary in well-doing,' that he might lead them on to almsgiving.

So also, when in the Epistle to the Romans he was exhorting those from among the Gentiles not to be high-minded against the Jews, he brought forward the wild olive into their midst, and he plainly says one thing to these and another to those.

Let us not then fall into cruelty, but let us hearken to Paul who says,

'Be not weary in well-doing.'

Let us hearken to the Master who says,

'Give to every one that asks of you,'

and, 'Be merciful, as your Father.'

And indeed, though He said many things, nowhere did He set down this, but only in the matter of acts of mercy.

For nothing makes us so like unto God as doing good.

'But nothing,' one says, 'is more shameless than a poor man.'

Because he runs up and cries aloud? Would you then have me show that we are more shameless than they, and exceedingly brazen? Call to mind now, I pray you, in the season of the fast, how often, when the table was set before you at evening and you called the servant who waited on you, if he came at a slower pace, you overturned everything, kicking, insulting, reviling him, and all this merely over a little delay;

and this though you knew full well that, even if not at once, yet a little later you would enjoy your food.

Then, while you do not call yourself shameless when you rage like a wild beast over nothing at all, will you apply to the poor man—who fears and trembles over matters far greater (for his whole fear is not about delay, but about starvation)—the names of bold, impudent, shameless, and every foulest term? And how is this not the utmost shamelessness? But we do not consider these things;

and for this reason we think them burdensome;

whereas, if we examined our own doings and set them beside theirs, we should not have thought them oppressive.

Be not, then, a bitter judge.

For even if you were freed from all sins, not even so would the law of God permit you to become an exacting scrutinizer of the affairs of others.

For if the Pharisee perished on this account, what defence shall we obtain? If to those who have done well He does not permit a bitter scrutiny of others' matters, much more does He not permit it to those who have stumbled.

Let us not then be savage, nor harsh, nor without natural affection, nor implacable, nor like wild beasts.

For indeed I know many who have come to such a pitch of brutishness that, on account of a little reluctance, they overlook men who are starving, and utter these very words:

'I have no servant here with me now, we are far from home, there is no money-changer known to me.'

You promised the greater, and do you not accomplish the less? So that you may not walk a little way, is that man to perish of hunger? Oh, the outrage!

For even if you had to walk ten furlongs, ought you to have hesitated? Do you not consider that thus your reward becomes the greater? For when you give, you receive a reward only for what is given;

but when you yourself also walk, for this too there is laid up for you a recompense.

For this cause too we marvel at the patriarch, that he himself ran to the herd and caught the calf, and this though he had three hundred and eighteen home-born servants.

But now some are filled with so great a haughtiness that they do these things by means of servants, and are not ashamed.

'But do you bid me accomplish these things by my own self?' one says;

'and how shall I not seem to be seeking vainglory?' And yet even now it is for another sort of vainglory that you do this, being ashamed to be seen conversing with a poor man.

But I make no exact inquiry about these matters;

only give, whether you choose to do it by yourself or by another;

and do not upbraid, do not strike, do not revile.

For he that comes to you has need of remedies, not of wounds.

For tell me, if some one who had been struck by a stone and received a wound upon the head were to leave all the rest and run to your knees, streaming with blood, would you smite him with another stone and add to him a second wound? I think not; rather you would even endeavour to heal the first.

Why then do you do the contrary in the case of the poor? Do you not know how much a word can both raise up and cast down? For 'a word,' it is said, 'is better than a gift.'

Do you not reckon that you are thrusting the sword against yourself, and receiving a more grievous wound, when that man, being reviled, retires in silence, groaning and weeping much? For indeed he is sent to you from God.

Consider therefore, when you outrage him, whither you are directing your outrage—when He on the one hand sends him to you and bids you give, and you, on the other hand, not only do not give, but even outrage him when he comes.

But if you are ignorant of the excess of the absurdity, consider it in the case of men, and then you will well perceive the greatness of the sin.

For if your servant, being bidden by you to go to another servant to receive money of yours, came back not only with empty hands but even having been insulted, what would you not have done to the one who insulted him? What penalty would you not have exacted, seeing that henceforth it was you yourself who had been insulted? Reckon this also in the case of God;

for He too sends the poor to us, and it is His that we give, if indeed we give.

But if, besides not giving, we also send them away insulted, consider of how many thunderbolts, of how many lightnings, the deed we do is worthy.

Reckoning up therefore all these things, let us bridle our tongue, and cast out inhumanity, and stretch out our hand unto almsgiving, and comfort those in want not with money only, but also with words;

that we may both escape the punishment that comes of reviling, and inherit the kingdom that comes of blessing and almsgiving, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.