Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 43

Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying:

'Teacher, we would see a sign from You.' But He answered and said:

'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.' I.

Could there be anything more senseless than these men—not merely more impious?—who, after so many signs, as though none had taken place, say:

'We would see a sign from You.'

For what reason, then, did they say this? That they might once more lay hold of Him.

For since He had silenced them by His words, once and twice and many times over, and had stopped their shameless tongue, they turn again to His works;

which the evangelist also, marveling, again declared, saying:

'Then certain of the scribes answered Him, asking for a sign.'

'Then'—when? When they ought to have submitted, when

when they ought to have been struck with amazement and to have yielded, then they do not depart from their wickedness.

And observe too the words, full of flattery and dissimulation.

For they expected to draw Him on by these means.

And now they insult, now they flatter;

now calling Him one possessed by a demon, now Teacher;

both proceeding from an evil mind, even though the things said are contrary.

For this reason He also rebukes them very sharply.

And when they questioned Him roughly and insulted Him, He discoursed with them gently;

but when they flattered, He spoke to them reproachfully and with much vehemence, showing that He is above either passion, and that neither then is He roused to anger

nor now is He softened by flattery.

And observe too the reproach, which is not simply railing, but contains a demonstration of their wickedness.

For what does He say? 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.'

And what He means is something like this:

What wonder is it, if you do these things toward Me, who am as yet unknown to you, when even toward the Father, of whom you had received such great proof, you did this very same thing;

forsaking Him, you ran to the demons, drawing to yourselves wicked lovers?—which Ezekiel too continually reproached them with.

And these things He said, showing Himself to be in agreement with the Father, and these men to be doing nothing strange, and laying bare their hidden things;

and that it was with hypocrisy and as enemies that they asked.

For this reason He called them an evil generation, because they had always been ungrateful toward their benefactors, because when treated well they become worse;

which is a mark of the uttermost wickedness.

And He called it adulterous, declaring both the former and the present unbelief;

whence again He shows Himself equal to the Father, seeing that not to believe in Him also makes one adulterous.

Then, having reproached them, what does He say? 'And no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'

He is already sounding a prelude to the discourse concerning the resurrection, and confirming it from the type.

What then? Was no sign given to it? one may say.

For it was not to bring them over that He wrought the signs (for He knew that they were hardened), but to set others right.

Either, then, this is what may be said, or that they shall not receive such a sign as that one.

For a sign was indeed given to them, when through their own punishment they came to know His power.

Here, then, He speaks in threatening, hinting at this very thing, as though He were saying:

I displayed countless benefits toward you;

yet none of these things drew you to me, nor were you willing to worship my power.

You shall therefore come to know my strength through its opposites: when you behold the city cast down to the ground, when its walls too are stripped away, when the temple has become a ruin, when you fall away from your former commonwealth and freedom, and once again go wandering everywhere homeless and as fugitives.

For all these things came to pass after the cross.

These things, then, shall serve you in place of great signs.

For it is indeed an exceedingly great sign that their calamities should remain unmoved, that though countless men have made the attempt, none has been able to reverse the sentence once pronounced against them.

But these things He does not say outright; rather, He leaves them to become plain to them in the time that followed.

Meanwhile He rehearses the discourse concerning the resurrection, which they were to learn through the very things they were afterward to suffer.

For just as Jonah, He says, was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so also shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

For openly He did not say that He would rise again;

but He hinted at it in such a way that they came to believe He had foreknown it.

For that they did understand, they say to Pilate:

That deceiver, they say, while yet alive said, After three days I will rise again.

and yet the disciples were ignorant of this;

for they were even more dull of understanding than the others beforehand;

wherefore they also became self-condemned.

But observe how, even while hinting at it, He states it with precision.

For He did not say, In the earth, but, In the heart of the earth, so as both to indicate the tomb and that no one might suspect a mere semblance.

And He allowed three days for this reason, that it might be believed that He truly died.

For it is confirmed not only by the cross and by the sight of all, but also by the span of the days.

For as to the resurrection, all the time thereafter

was to bear it witness;

but the cross, had it not at that time possessed the many signs that testified to it, might well have been disbelieved;

and if this were disbelieved, the resurrection too would have been disbelieved.

For this reason He also calls it a sign.

But if He had not been crucified, the sign would not have been given.

For this reason He also brings the type into the midst, that the truth might be believed.

For tell me, was Jonah a phantom in the belly of the whale? But you could not say this.

Neither, then, was Christ in the heart of the earth a phantom.

For surely it cannot be that the type was in reality, while the reality was in mere semblance.

For this reason we proclaim His death everywhere: both in the mysteries, and in baptism, and in all else.

For this reason Paul too cries out with a resounding voice:

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whence it is plain that they are children of the devil who are sick with the disease of Marcion, blotting out those very things which Christ did ten thousand things to keep from being effaced, and which the devil has striven with all his might to efface—I mean the cross and the passion.

For this reason He said also in another place:

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up;

and, There shall come days when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them;

and here, No sign shall be given to it, save the sign of Jonah the prophet;

thereby showing both that on their account He was to suffer, and that they would gain nothing thereby;

for this He made plain afterward.

But nevertheless, though knowing even these things, He died;

so great was His solicitude for them.

For lest you should suppose that what followed among the Jews would be such as it was among the Ninevites, that they too would turn back, and that—just as He steadied that city when it was tottering and turned the barbarians to repentance—so these also would turn back after the resurrection, hear how He declares the very opposite in every respect.

For that they would reap no benefit from this toward their own good, but would rather suffer things past remedy, this too He made plain next by means of the example concerning the demon.

Meanwhile He offers a defense concerning the things they were to suffer thereafter, showing that they would suffer them justly.

For their calamities and their desolation He sets before us from that example;

and meanwhile He shows that they would justly endure all these things;

which He did also under the Old Covenant. For when about to destroy Sodom, He first made His defense to Abraham, showing the desolation and the scarcity of virtue, since not even ten men were found in cities so great who had chosen to live soberly.

And to Lot likewise, having shown their inhospitality and their monstrous lusts, He then brought on the fire.

And in the case of the flood He did this very same thing, making His defense to Noah through the deeds themselves.

And to Ezekiel likewise, when

while he dwelt in Babylon He caused him to behold the evils being done in Jerusalem.

And to Jeremiah again, when He said, Pray not, He said by way of defense:

Or seest thou not what these are doing? And everywhere He does this very same thing, which indeed He does here also.

For what says He? The men of Nineveh shall rise up and shall condemn this generation;

because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.

For he was a servant, but I am Master;

and he came forth out of the whale, but I rose again out of death;

and he proclaimed an overthrow, but I came bringing the good tidings of a kingdom.

And they believed without a sign, but I displayed many signs.

And they heard nothing beyond those words, but I set in motion every form of true wisdom.

And he came as one sent to minister, but I Myself, the very Master and Lord of all, came—not threatening, not demanding an account, but bringing pardon.

And they were barbarians, but these consorted with prophets without number.

And concerning him no one foretold, but concerning Me all did, and the works corresponded with the words.

And he ran away, intending to depart lest he should be mocked;

but I, knowing that I was to be both crucified and mocked, nevertheless came.

And he could not endure even to be reproached on behalf of those being saved;

but I endured even death, and death the most shameful, and after these things I again send forth others.

And he was some stranger and alien and unknown;

according to the flesh, and of the same forefathers.

And one might gather many other things as well, if he sought after the fuller sense.

But He does not stop even here; rather He adds yet another example, saying that 'The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it;'

for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;

and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

This was greater than the former instance.

For Jonah went to those men;

but the Queen of the South did not wait for Solomon to come to her, but she herself came to him — and that though she was a woman and a foreigner, and dwelt so far away, with no threat pressing upon her, fearing no death, but moved solely by love of words of wisdom.

But behold, a greater than Solomon is here also.

For there it was the woman who came; but here it is I who have come.

And she rose up from the ends of the earth; but I go about among cities and villages.

And he discoursed concerning trees and timbers, things that could bring no great benefit to her who had come; but I concerning ineffable matters and most awe-inspiring mysteries.

for I discourse concerning unutterable matters and most fearful mysteries.

Since, then, He had condemned them — showing from great abundance of proof that they sinned unpardonably, and that their disobedience arose from their own perversity and not from any weakness of the Teacher, and demonstrating this both from many other things and from the Ninevites and the Queen —

then He speaks also of the punishment that shall overtake them;

enigmatically indeed, yet He speaks it nonetheless, weaving much fear into the narrative.

'For when,' He says, 'the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest;'

'I will return into my house whence I came out.'

'And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.'

'Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.'

'Even so shall it be also unto this generation.'

Hereby He shows that not in the age to come only, but even here, they shall suffer most grievously.

For since He had said, 'The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment, and shall condemn this generation,'

lest, because of the delay of that time, they should despise it and become the more negligent, He hereby sets the terrors before them.

This too the prophet Hosea declared, when he threatened them and said that they should be 'as the prophet that is beside himself, the man who is borne along by the spirit;'

that is, like those who rave and are frenzied under the wicked spirits, the false prophets.

For by 'prophet beside himself' here he means the false prophet, such as the soothsayers are.

This same thing Christ also declares, saying that they shall suffer the last extremities.

Do you see how from every side He urges them to give heed to what is said — from things present, from things to come, from those who were well-pleasing (I mean from the Ninevites and the Queen), from the Tyrians and Sodomites who gave offence? This the prophets also did, bringing forward the sons of Rechab, and the bride who does not forget her adornment and her girdle, and the ox that knoweth its owner, and the ass that recognizeth its master's crib.

So then here also, having by comparison set forth their perversity, He goes on to speak of the punishment as well.

What then is the meaning of what is said? 'Just as those possessed by demons,' He says, 'when they have been delivered from that malady, if they become more careless, draw upon themselves a more grievous assault;'

'so also does it come to pass with you.'

'For indeed formerly you also were held fast by a demon, when you worshipped idols and slaughtered your sons to the demons, displaying great madness;'

'yet nevertheless I did not forsake you, but cast out that demon through the prophets, and again came in My own person, desiring to cleanse you yet more fully.'

'Since then you are unwilling to give heed, but have even run aground upon greater wickedness — for to have slain Me is by far a greater and more grievous thing than to have killed the prophets —'

'you shall suffer things worse than the former ones — I mean those under Babylon, and those in Egypt, and those under Antiochus the first.'

For the things that befell them under Vespasian and Titus were far more grievous than these.

'There shall be great tribulation, such as never was, nor ever shall be.'

Now this parable indicates not this only, but also that they shall be utterly bereft of all virtue whatsoever, and more easily assailable by the working of the demons than they were then.

For then, even if they sinned, yet nevertheless there were also those among them who did what was right, and the providence of God was present, and the grace of the Spirit, watching over them, correcting them, supplying from itself all things;

but now, He says, they shall be utterly bereft even of this guardianship, so that there is now a greater scarcity of virtue, and an intensifying of calamity, and a more tyrannical working of the demons.

You know, then, that even in our own generation, when Julian, who surpassed all men in impiety, gave himself over to frenzy, how they ranged themselves alongside the pagans, how they paid court to their observances.

So that even if they now seem to behave with some little moderation, it is because of their fear of the rulers that they keep quiet;

for were it not for this, they would have dared things far more grievous than the former ones.

For in their other wicked works they surpass those before them, displaying with great excess sorcery, juggleries, and licentiousness.

And in other matters too, although held in check by so great a curb, they have often risen in revolt and rebelled against the rulers, so as to be pierced through with the utmost of evils.

Where now are those who seek after signs? Let them hear that there is need of a right disposition of mind;

and if this be not present, there is no profit in signs at all.

Behold, at any rate, the Ninevites believed without signs;

but these, after so many miracles, became worse, and made themselves a dwelling-place of countless demons, and drew upon themselves ten thousand calamities.

For when once a man has been set free from his evils and is not brought to soberness, he shall suffer things far more grievous than the former.

For this reason He said that 'he findeth no rest,' in order to show that assuredly and of necessity the plotting of the demons shall lay hold of such a man.

For indeed he ought to have been brought to soberness by these two things — by having suffered before, and by having been delivered;

nay rather, a third thing is added too — the threat of suffering worse things.

Yet nevertheless by none of these did they become better.

These things might be spoken in season not to those men only, but also to us, whenever, having been enlightened and delivered from our former evils, we again cleave to the same wickedness;

for henceforth the punishment of the sins committed after these things shall be more grievous.

For this reason Christ also said to the paralytic:

'Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee;'

and this to a man who had been thirty-eight years in his infirmity.

And what worse thing, one may ask, was he about to suffer than these? Far worse and more grievous.

For God forbid that we should have to endure as many things as we are capable of suffering.

For God is not at a loss for punishments.

For as is His great mercy, so also is His wrath.

This too He lays to the charge of Jerusalem through Ezekiel, saying:

'For I saw thee,' He says, 'polluted in thy blood, and I washed thee and anointed thee, and thy name went forth in thy beauty;'

'and thou didst play the harlot,' He says, 'upon them that were thy neighbours;'

'wherefore I also threaten thee with more grievous things, seeing thou hast sinned.'

But from this reckon not the punishment only, but also the boundless long-suffering of God.

For how many times have we laid hold on the same evils, and still He is long-suffering!

But let us not be over-confident; rather let us be afraid.

For if Pharaoh had been chastened by the first plague, he would not have made trial of those that followed; nor would he afterward have been drowned in the sea together with his whole host.

I say these things because I know that even now there are many who speak like Pharaoh, saying, 'I know not God,' and who nail down to the clay and the brickmaking those who are under their power.

How many there are who, though God commands that the threat be lifted, will not even consent to lighten the toil? But the point is, it is no longer possible now to cross a Red Sea.

But there is a sea of fire—a sea not of that kind, nor of that measure, but far greater and more savage, having its waves out of fire, a fire strange and full of horror.

There is there a great abyss of flame.

For everywhere one may see fire coursing about, like some savage wild beast.

For if here this perceptible and material fire, leaping like a beast out of the furnace, sprang upon those sitting outside, what will that fire not do to those who fall into it? Hear the prophets speaking concerning that day:

'The day of the Lord is incurable, full of wrath and anger.'

For there will be none to stand by, none to deliver.

Nowhere will there be the gentle and serene countenance of Christ.

But just as those who labour in the mines are delivered over to certain harsh men, and see none of their own kin but only their overseers,

or rather, not even so, but far more grievously still.

For here it is possible both to approach and to entreat the king, and to release the condemned;

but there they remain being fried, as it were, in a pan, enduring anguish so great as cannot even be told.

For if no words can set forth the piercing pains of those who are burned here, much less those of the ones suffering these things there.

For here the whole thing takes place in a brief instant of time;

but there the thing that is burned burns indeed, yet is not consumed.

What then shall we do there? For these things I say even to myself.

'And if you,' one says, 'the teacher, say these things about yourself, then I care no longer at all.'

'For what wonder is it that I should be punished?' Nay, I beseech you, let no one seek this consolation;

for this is no relief.

For tell me, was not the devil an incorporeal power? Was he not better than men? Yet nevertheless he fell.

Is there then anyone who will draw consolation from being punished along with him? By no means.

And what of all those in Egypt? Did they not see even those in high office being punished, and every house filled with mourning? Did they then find respite and comfort from this? Assuredly not;

and this is plain from what they did afterward, when, as though scourged by some flame, they pressed upon the king and compelled him to cast out the nation of the Hebrews.

For this is an exceedingly cold argument, to suppose that being punished together with all others brings consolation;

the saying, 'All, and I too.'

For why should one speak of hell? Consider for me those seized by gout, who, when they are stretched taut by piercing pain, even if you point out ten thousand others suffering worse things, take it not even into their mind.

For the intensity of the pain does not allow the reasoning faculty any leisure to reckon up others and find consolation.

Let us not then be nourished on these cold hopes.

For to receive consolation from the evils of one's neighbour happens in the case of moderate sufferings;

but when the torment is overwhelming, and all within is full of turmoil, and the soul no longer even has power to know itself, whence shall it reap consolation?

So that all these words are a mockery, and are but the tales of foolish children.

For what you say happens in despondency—and in moderate despondency—when we hear that so-and-so suffered the same thing;

but sometimes not even in despondency;

and if it has no strength even there, much less in the pain and unspeakable anguish which the gnashing of teeth reveals.

And I know indeed that I am burdensome and grieving you by these words;

but what am I to suffer? For I would not have wished to say these things, but rather to be conscious of virtue both in myself and in you all;

but since we, the greater part, are in sins, who would grant me truly to be able to grieve you and to reach the mind of my hearers? Then would I thus find rest.

But as it is, I fear lest some despise the things spoken, and the punishment become the greater on account of their negligence in listening.

For neither, if, when a master threatened, one of the fellow-servants who heard should despise the threat, would the master in his displeasure let him pass unpunished; rather this very thing would become for him the occasion of greater punishment.

Wherefore I beseech you, let us prick our own hearts as we hear these words concerning hell.

For nothing is sweeter than this discourse, seeing that nothing is more bitter than the realities.

'And how,' one says, 'is it sweet to hear about hell?'

Because it is unpleasant to fall into hell; and this discourse

wards off the words that seem burdensome, and before that sets in place another pleasure;

for it gathers together our souls, and makes us more reverent, and lifts up the mind, and gives wings to the reasoning, and casts out the wicked siege of the desires, and the thing becomes a healing.

Wherefore indeed, together with the punishment, allow me also to speak of the shame.

For just as the men of Nineveh will condemn the Jews at that time, so also many of those who now seem inferior will condemn us.

Let us consider then how great the mockery, how great the condemnation;

let us consider, and let us lay some beginning, even now, and a door of repentance.

To myself I say these things; first to myself I give this exhortation; and let no one be angry as though he were being condemned.

Let us lay hold of the narrow way.

How long shall there be luxury? How long ease? Have we not had our fill of being slothful, laughing, putting things off? Will not the same things come again—table, and surfeit, and extravagance, and money, and possessions, and buildings? And what is the end? Death.

What is the end? Ashes and dust and coffins and worms.

Let us therefore display a certain new life;

let us make the earth heaven;

let us from this show the Greeks how great are the goods of which they are deprived.

For when they see us living rightly, they will behold the very appearance of the kingdom of heaven.

For when they see us gentle, pure from wrath, from wicked desire, from envy, from covetousness, and setting right all other things, they will say:

'If the Christians have become angels here, what will they be after their departure hence? If, where they are strangers, they shine thus, how great will they be when they receive back their own homeland?' Thus those men too will become better, and the word of godliness will run its course, no less than in the days of the apostles.

For if those twelve turned whole cities and countries;

if we all become teachers through diligence in our manner of life, consider whither our affairs will be raised.

For a dead man rising does not so draw the Greek as does a man living the philosophic life.

For at the former he will be astonished, but from the latter he will gain profit.

The former took place, and passed by;

but the latter abides, and continually cultivates his soul.

Let us therefore take care of our own selves, that we may gain those others also.

I do not say, Abandon the cities, and withdraw from public affairs;

but, being in the midst of these very things, show forth virtue.

For indeed I would rather that those who move about in the midst of cities should win esteem than those who have taken to the mountains.

Why so? Because much profit comes from this.

For no one lights a lamp and sets it under the bushel measure.

For this reason I would have all the lamps set upon the lampstand, that the light may become abundant.

Let us therefore kindle His fire, and cause those who sit in darkness to be delivered from error.

And do not say to me: 'I have a wife, and I possess children, and I am set over a household, and I cannot accomplish these things.'

For even if you have none of these things, yet are slothful, all is lost;

and even if you are encompassed with all these things, yet are diligent, you will attain to the fullness of virtue.

For one thing only is required, the preparation of a noble disposition;

and neither age, nor poverty, nor wealth, nor pressure of affairs, nor anything else whatsoever, will be able to hinder it.

For indeed both old men and young, and those who have wives, and those who rear children, and those who ply trades, and those who serve as soldiers, have accomplished all that was enjoined upon them.

For Daniel was young, and Joseph was a slave, and Aquila plied a trade, and the seller of purple presided over a workshop, and another was a jailer, and another a centurion, as was Cornelius, and another was infirm, as was Timothy, and another a runaway slave, as was Onesimus;

yet none of these things became a hindrance to any one of them, but all won esteem, both men and women, both young and old, both slaves and free, both soldiers and private persons.

Let us therefore not put forward superfluous pretexts, but let us prepare a most excellent disposition;

and whatever our condition, we shall by all means lay hold of virtue, and shall attain unto the good things to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord

Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honour, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.