Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 46

He set another parable before them, saying:

'The kingdom of the heavens is likened to a man sowing good seed in his field.'

'But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat, and went his way.'

'But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.'

'So the servants of the householder came and said to him:'

'Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Whence then has it tares?' And he said to them:

'An enemy has done this.'

'Will you then that we go and gather them up?' And he said, 'No;'

'lest, while gathering the tares, you root up the wheat also with them.'

'Let both then grow together until the harvest.'

What is the difference between this parable and the one before it? There He speaks of those who had given no heed to Him at all, but leaped away and cast away the seed;

but here He speaks of the systems of the heretics.

For in order that not even this might trouble the disciples, He foretells this too, after having taught them why He speaks in parables.

That parable, then, says that they did not receive Him;

but this one says that they even received corrupters.

For this too belongs to the devil's craft: ever to smuggle error in alongside the truth, tinting it with many likenesses of the truth, so that he may easily beguile those who are prone to be deceived.

For this reason He does not call it some other kind of seed, but tares, which in appearance somewhat resemble the wheat.

Then He tells also the manner of the plot.

For 'while men slept,' He says.

Hereby He suspends no small danger over the rulers, especially over those to whom the guarding of the field has been entrusted.

And not over the rulers only, but over the ruled as well.

He shows too that error comes after the truth,

which the very outcome of events bears witness to.

For indeed, after the prophets came the false prophets;

and after the apostles, the false apostles;

and after Christ, the antichrist.

For unless the devil sees what he may imitate, or against whom he may plot, he neither attempts anything nor knows how to.

And so now too, since he saw that one produced a hundredfold, another sixty, another thirty, he thereupon comes by another road.

For since he could neither snatch away what had taken root, nor choke it, nor burn it up, he plots by another kind of deceit, sowing in what comes from himself.

And in what, He says, do the sleepers differ from those who imitate the wayside? In that there he snatched it away at once,

for he did not even allow it to take root;

but here he had need of a greater contrivance.

And Christ says these things, training us to be watchful at all times.

For even if you escape those former harms, He says, there is yet another harm.

For just as there ruin comes about through the wayside and the rock and the thorns, so here too it comes through sleep;

so that there is need of unceasing watchfulness.

But 'he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.'

Something of this kind happened also at the beginning.

Many of those set in charge, at any rate, by bringing wicked men into the churches—heresiarchs in disguise—afforded great facility for a plot of this sort.

For the devil no longer even has need of toil, once he has planted those men in the midst.

'And how is it possible not to sleep?' one may say.

Now natural sleep, indeed, is not possible to avoid;

but the sleep of the will can be avoided.

'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith.'

Then He shows that the thing is not merely harmful, but also superfluous.

For after the field has been tilled and there is need of nothing more, then this one sows in his seed;

just as the heretics also do, who for no other reason than vainglory inject their own venom.

And not from this alone, but also from what follows, He sketches with exactness their whole stage-play.

For when the blade sprang up, He says, and produced fruit, then appeared the tares also;

for at the beginning they overshadow themselves;

but when they have gained much boldness of speech, and someone imparts to them

the right to speak, then they pour out their venom.

But for what reason does He bring in the servants telling what had happened? In order that He may say that one must not root them out.

And He calls him 'an enemy man' because of the harm done to men.

For the assault is against us;

yet the origin of the assault arose not from enmity toward us, but from enmity toward God.

Whence it is plain that God loves us more than we love ourselves.

But mark from another angle also the devil's wickedness.

For he did not sow before this, since he had nothing to destroy;

but when everything had been filled up, in order that he might ruin the husbandman's diligence;

so hostilely disposed toward him did he do all these things.

But consider also the tender affection of the household servants.

For they are already eager to pull up the tares, even if they do not act with due deliberation;

which shows their care for the crop, and that they look to one thing only—not that he should pay the penalty, but that the seed which had been sown might not be lost;

for that surely is not the pressing matter.

Therefore they look to how they may for the time being remove the disease.

And they do not even seek this simply of themselves;

for they do not take it upon themselves, but await the master's judgment, saying:

'Wilt thou?' What then does the master say? He forbids it, saying:

'Lest ye root up also the wheat with them.'

This He said, forbidding wars and bloodshed and slaughters from arising.

For one must not put a heretic to death;

since an implacable war would thereby be introduced into the world.

So then He restrains them by these two considerations:

by the one, that the wheat should not be harmed;

by the other, that punishment will in any case overtake those who are incurably diseased.

So that, if you also wish them to be punished, and that without harm to the wheat, wait for the fitting time.

And what does 'Lest ye root up also the wheat with them' mean? Either He means this, that if you should take up arms and slaughter the heretics, it is inevitable that many of the saints also be cut down along with them;

or that from among the very tares it is likely that many will change and become wheat.

If therefore you root them up beforehand, you do harm to the wheat that is to come, by destroying those who might have changed and become better.

He does not, therefore, forbid restraining heretics, and stopping their mouths, and cutting off their freedom of speech, and breaking up their assemblies and their conspiracies, but rather the killing and slaughtering of them.

But consider His gentleness, how He does not merely pronounce a decree, nor merely forbid, but also sets forth reasons.

What then, if the tares remain until the end? Then I will say to the reapers:

'Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.'

Again He reminds them of the words of John, which introduce Him as judge, and says that so long as they stand near the wheat, one must spare them;

For it is still possible for them also to become wheat.

But when they depart having gained nothing, then of necessity the inescapable judgment shall take them in hand.

'For I will say to the reapers,' He says, 'Gather up first the tares.'

Why first? So that these might not be afraid, as though the wheat were being carried off together with them.

'And bind them in bundles, so as to burn them up;'

'but gather the wheat into the barn.'

He set before them another parable, saying:

'The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed.'

For since He had said that of the seed three parts perish and one is saved, and that even in the very part which is saved so great a loss occurs, lest they should say, 'And who and how many will the faithful be?', He removes this fear also, leading them into faith through the parable of the mustard seed, and showing that the preaching will assuredly be spread abroad.

For this reason He brought forward into their midst the image of the garden herb, which very closely fits the theme.

'Which is indeed,' He says, 'the least of all seeds;'

'but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.'

For He wished to point out a proof of its greatness.

'So indeed,' He says, 'shall it be also with the preaching.'

For the disciples were indeed weaker than all, and less than all;

yet nevertheless, since the power that was in them was great, it was spread out everywhere throughout the inhabited world.

He adds the leaven to this image, saying:

'The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.'

For just as this leaven transforms the large quantity of meal into its own strength, so also you shall transform the whole world.

For He brings forward the things of nature, showing that just as those things cannot but come to pass, so also these.

'What shall we, twelve men, be able to do, cast into so great a multitude?' Why, this very thing especially makes your strength shine forth—your being mingled with the multitude and not fleeing.

As therefore the leaven also then leavens the lump, when it comes near the meal, and not merely near, but so as even to be mingled with it—

(for He did not say, 'She placed it,' simply, but, 'She hid it')—so also you, when you are joined and united with those who war against you, then shall you gain the mastery over them.

And just as that leaven is indeed buried, yet is not destroyed, but little by little transforms all things into its own condition—

in the same manner shall this also come to pass with the preaching.

Therefore do not be afraid because you saw that the insults were many;

for even so you shall shine forth, and gain the mastery over all.

And by 'three measures' here He meant 'the many;'

for He is accustomed to take this number to signify a multitude.

Do not marvel that, while discoursing about the kingdom, He made mention of a grain and of leaven;

for He was speaking to inexperienced men and common folk, who needed to be led on from such things.

For they were so simple that even after all these things they needed much interpretation.

Where then are the children of the Greeks? Let them learn the power of Christ, beholding the truth of the facts;

and let them worship Him on both accounts, that He both foretold so great a matter, and fulfilled it.

For it is He Himself who placed the power in the leaven.

For this reason He also mingled those who believe in Him with the multitude, that we might impart to others of our own understanding.

Let no one therefore plead fewness as an excuse.

For great is the power of the preaching;

and that which has once been leavened becomes leaven in turn for the rest.

And just as a spark, when it takes hold of wood, having made what is already burnt an addition to the flame, thus advances upon the rest;

yet He did not say 'fire,' but 'leaven;'

why so? Because there the whole belongs not to the fire, but also to the kindled wood;

but here the leaven accomplishes the whole by itself.

But if twelve men leavened the whole inhabited world, consider how great is our wickedness, when, being so many, we are unable to set right those who remain—we who ought to have sufficed for countless worlds and to have become leaven.

'But those,' one says, 'were apostles.'

And what of that? Did they not share in the same things as you? Were they not reared in cities? Did they not enjoy the same things? Did they not ply trades? For were they angels? Did they come down from heaven? 'But they had the signs,' one says.

It was not the signs that made them wonderful.

How long shall we use those miracles as veils for our own sloth? [Behold the chorus of the saints, who shone not by those miracles.] For many, even after casting out demons, since they wrought iniquity, not only did not become wonderful, but were even punished.

'What then is it,' one says, 'that showed them to be great?' The despising of riches, the disdaining of glory, the being freed from the concerns of this life.

For if they had not these things, but were slaves of the passions, even if they had raised countless dead, they not only would have profited nothing, but would even have been reckoned to be impostors.

Thus it is the life which everywhere shines forth, which also draws down the grace of the Spirit.

What sign did John work, that he drew after himself so many cities? For that he did no miracle, hear the evangelist saying:

'That John indeed did no sign.'

And whence did Elijah become wonderful? Was it not from his boldness before the king? Was it not from his zeal toward God? Was it not from his poverty? Was it not from the sheepskin, and the cave, and the mountains? For the signs he wrought after all these things.

And what sign did the devil see Job working, that he was astounded? A sign,

indeed none, but a shining life and an endurance shown to be firmer than adamant.

What sign did David work, while yet young, that God should say:

'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart'? And what dead man did Abraham and Isaac and Jacob raise? What leper did they cleanse? Do you not know that the signs, unless we are watchful, often even do harm? Thus many of the Corinthians were divided from one another;

thus many of the Romans became puffed up;

thus he who then desired to follow Christ was rejected, when he heard that 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests.'

For each of these, the one longing for riches, the other for the glory that comes from the signs, fell away and perished.

But care for one's life and love of virtue not only does not beget such desire, but even destroys it when it exists.

And He Himself too, when He was giving laws to His own disciples, what did He say? 'Work signs, that men may see'? By no means;

but what? 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.'

And to Peter too He did not say, 'If you love Me, work signs;'

but, 'Feed My sheep.'

And everywhere, when He preferred him above the others, together with James and John, whence, tell me, did He prefer him? From the signs? And indeed all alike cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead;

and to all alike He gave the authority.

Whence then had these the greater portion? From the virtue that is according to the soul.

Do you see that everywhere there is need of a good life and of demonstration through works? 'For by their fruits,' He says, 'you shall know them.'

But what is it that establishes our life? Is it the display of miracles, or the exactness of a most excellent manner of living? Plainly it is the second.

For the miracles have their starting-point from this, and to this they lead.

For he who displays a most excellent life draws to himself this grace;

and he who receives the grace receives it for this end, that he may set right the life of others.

Since Christ Himself wrought those wonders for this reason, that having shown Himself worthy of belief and having drawn men to Himself thereby, He might introduce virtue into their life.

Wherefore He also takes the greater pains for this end.

For neither is He content with the miracles alone, but He also threatens hell, and promises a kingdom, and lays down those marvelous laws, and does all things for this end, that He may make men equal to the angels.

And why do I say that Christ does all things for this end? For if someone gave you the choice, tell me, either to raise the dead in His name, or to die for His name, which would you rather accept? Is it not plain that it is the second? Yet the one is a miracle, but the other is a work.

And what if someone proposed to you either to make grass into gold, or to be able to despise all riches as if they were grass, would you not rather accept this? And that with very good reason.

For indeed this would most of all draw men to itself.

For if they saw grass becoming gold, they too would desire to receive the power, just as Simon did, and their love of money would be increased;

but if they saw all men despising and overlooking gold as if it were grass, they would long ago have been delivered from this disease.

Do you see that the life is more able to profit? And by 'life' I now mean, not whether you fast, nor whether you lie upon sackcloth and ashes;

but if you despise riches as they ought to be despised, if you show tender love, if you give your bread to the hungry, if you master your anger, if you cast out vainglory, if you do away with envy.

For 'Learn of Me,' He says, 'for I am meek and lowly in heart.'

He did not say, 'For I fasted';

and yet He might have spoken of the forty days, but He does not say this;

but rather, 'For I am meek and lowly in heart.'

And again, when sending them forth, He did not say, 'Fast,' but, 'Eat whatever is set before you.'

Concerning money, however, He required great strictness, saying:

'Provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your girdles.'

But I say these things, not to disparage fasting;

rather I grieve when, while the other things are neglected, you suppose this alone to suffice

for your salvation, though it holds the lowest place in the choir of virtue.

For the greatest thing is love and gentleness and almsgiving, which even surpasses virginity.

So that if you wish to become equal to the apostles, there is nothing to hinder you.

For it suffices, if one merely attains to this virtue, to have nothing less than they.

Let no one, therefore, put off his hope onto miracles.

For the demon grieves indeed when he is driven out of a body;

but far more, when he sees a soul being delivered from sin.

For this indeed is his great power.

For this cause Christ died, that He might destroy it.

For this it was that brought in death;

for this the things above have been turned upside down.

If, then, you do away with this, you have cut the devil's sinews, you have crushed his head, you have dissolved all his strength, you have scattered his army, you have shown forth a sign greater than all signs.

This word is not mine, but the blessed Paul's.

For having said, 'Covet earnestly the better gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way,' he did not go on to speak of a miracle, but of love, the root of all good things.

If, then, we practice this, and all the wisdom that springs from it, we shall have no need of miracles;

just as, on the other hand, if we do not practice it, we shall gain nothing from the miracles.

Considering, therefore, all these things—the means by which the apostles became great—let us be zealous for these same things.

Whence, then, did they become great? Hear Peter saying:

'Behold, we have forsaken all and followed You;

what then shall we have?' Hear also Christ saying to them, that 'You shall sit upon twelve thrones';

and that 'Everyone who has forsaken houses, or brethren, or father, or mother, shall receive a hundredfold in this world, and shall inherit eternal life.'

Withdrawing ourselves, therefore, from all the things of this life, let us dedicate ourselves to Christ, that we may both become equal to the apostles according to His declaration, and may enjoy eternal life;

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