Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 58

And His disciples asked Him, saying,

'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' (1)

It was not, then, from the Scriptures that they knew this, but those men were declaring it of themselves, and this word was being carried about among the countless multitude, just as also in the case of the Christ.

Wherefore the Samaritan woman also said,

'When He comes, He will tell us all things.'

And they themselves questioned John, saying:

'Art thou Elias, or the prophet?' For the report was current, as I said, both the one concerning the Christ and the one concerning Elias, though it was not being interpreted by those people as it ought to have been.

For the Scriptures speak of two comings of the Christ: this one, which has already taken place, and the one that is yet to come.

And Paul, making these two clear, said:

'The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared, instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and righteously and godly.'

Hear how he also makes clear the other coming:

For, having said these things, he went on to add:

'Looking for that blessed hope, and the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.'

The prophets too make mention of both comings;

yet of one of them, namely the second, they say that Elias shall be the forerunner.

For of the former coming John was the forerunner, whom the Christ also called Elias;

not because he was Elias, but because he fulfilled that one's ministry.

For just as that one shall be the forerunner of the second coming, so also this one became the forerunner of the first.

But the scribes, confounding these things and misleading the people, made mention to the people only of that one, the second coming, and said that, 'If this man is the Christ, Elias ought to have come first.'

For this reason the disciples also say:

'Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?' For this reason too the Pharisees, sending to John, questioned him:

'Art thou Elias?'—nowhere making mention of the first coming.

What then is the solution which the Christ brought forward? That, 'Elias indeed cometh at that time, before my second coming;'

'and even now Elias hath come.'

'But if thou seekest the Tishbite, he cometh.'

'Elias indeed cometh, and shall restore all things.'

What are these 'all things'? The very things which the prophet Malachi spoke of.

'For I will send unto you,' he saith, 'Elias the Tishbite, who shall restore the heart of the father unto the son, lest, when I come, I smite the earth utterly.'

Dost thou see the exactness of the prophetic utterance? For since the Christ called John 'Elias' on account of the community of their ministry, in order that thou mightest not suppose that this too was now being said by the prophet, he added also his native place, saying, 'the Tishbite;'

but John was not a Tishbite.

And besides this he sets down another distinguishing mark, saying, 'Lest, when I come, I smite the earth utterly,' thereby indicating that dreadful second coming of his.

For at the former coming he came not to smite the earth.

'For I came not,' he saith, 'to judge the world, but to save the world.'

So then, making clear that the Tishbite comes before that coming which brings the judgment, he said this.

And at the same time he teaches the reason for his coming.

And what is the reason? That, when he comes, he may persuade the Jews to believe in the Christ, and that they may not all utterly perish when He arrives.

Wherefore indeed He Himself also, referring them to that remembrance, saith:

that is, 'he shall set right the unbelief of the Jews who are found living at that time.'

Wherefore also He spoke with the utmost exactness.

For He said not, 'He shall restore the heart of the son unto the father,' but, 'of the father unto the son.'

For since the Jews were the fathers of the apostles, he means this: that he shall bring the hearts of the fathers—that is, the mind of the race of the Jews—back to the teachings of their sons, that is, of the apostles.

'But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would.'

'Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer at their hands.'

Then understood they that He spake unto them concerning John.

And yet neither did the scribes say this, nor did the Scriptures;

But since by now they had become

keener and more attentive to the things spoken, they quickly understood.

But whence did the disciples come to know this? He had already told them beforehand, 「This is Elijah who is to come」;

and again, that 「Elijah comes and will restore all things.」

But do not be troubled, nor suppose that the saying is mistaken, because at one time He said that Elijah would come, and at another that he had already come.

For when He says that 「Elijah indeed comes and will restore all things,」 He is speaking of Elijah himself, and of the conversion of the Jews that shall then take place;

but when He says, 「He who is to come,」 He calls John 「Elijah」 according to the manner of his ministry.

For indeed the prophets used to call each of the notable kings 「David,」 and the rulers of the Jews 「rulers of Sodom」 and 「sons of the Ethiopians,」 naming them from their ways.

For just as that one shall be the forerunner of the second coming, so this one became the forerunner of the first.

And not for this reason alone does He everywhere name him 「Elijah,」 but also that He might show him to be closely in accord with the Old Testament, this present coming being also in keeping with prophecy.

Wherefore He adds again, that 「He came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him all that they wished.」

What does 「all that they wished」 mean? They cast him into prison, they insulted him, they killed him, they brought his head upon a platter.

「So also shall the Son of Man suffer at their hands.」

Do you see how once more He seasonably reminds them of the passion, from the passion of John procuring for them much consolation? And not by this only, but also by immediately working great miracles.

For indeed whenever He discourses about the passion, He straightway works wonders, both after these words and before them;

and one may find this observed in many places.

「From that time,」 it says, He began to show that He must go away to Jerusalem, and be killed, and suffer many things.

「From that time」 — from what time? When He was confessed to be Christ and Son of God.

Again on the mountain, when He showed them that marvelous vision, and the prophets spoke concerning His glory, He put them in mind of the passion.

For having told the account concerning John, He added:

「So also shall the Son of Man suffer at their hands.」

And a little after again, when He cast out the demon which the disciples had not been able to cast out.

For indeed then too, 「while they were abiding in Galilee,」 it says, Jesus said to them that the Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and they shall kill Him, and on the third day He shall rise again.

This He did, by the greatness of the miracles cutting short the excess of their grief, and by every means comforting them, just as here too, by the remembrance of John's death He afforded them much encouragement.

For what reason, then, did He not even now raise up Elijah and send him, if indeed his coming testifies to so many good things? We shall say that even now, thinking Christ to be Elijah, they did not believe on Him.

「For some,」 it says, 「say that You are Elijah, and others Jeremiah.」

And between John and Elijah there was no difference, save the time alone.

「How then will they believe at that time?」 someone says.

For indeed 「he shall restore all things,」 not only because he is well known, but also because up to that day the glory of Christ shall have been extended yet more, and shall be to all more manifest than the sun.

So when, with such a preconceived opinion and expectation already established, that one shall come proclaiming the same things as this one, and himself also announcing Jesus, they will more readily receive the things spoken.

And when He says, 「They did not recognize him,」 He is also making a defense concerning the things pertaining to Himself.

And He comforts them not by this alone, but also by showing that He suffers unjustly at their hands the things which He suffers, and by veiling the grievous matters with two signs — the one on the mountain, and the one that is about to take place.

But having heard these things, they do not ask Him when Elijah comes, either being oppressed by the despondency of the passion, or being afraid.

For in many places, whenever they saw Him unwilling to speak anything plainly, they thereafter kept silent.

At any rate, when, while they were staying in Galilee, He said, 「The Son of

Man is about to be delivered up, and they shall kill Him,」 He added — Mark says that 「They did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask Him」;

and Luke says that 「It was concealed from them, so that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him concerning the saying.」

And when they had come to the multitude, there came to Him a man kneeling before Him, and saying:

「Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers grievously.」

「For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.」

'And I brought him to Thy disciples, and they could not cure him.'

The Scripture shows this man to have been exceedingly weak in respect of faith;

and this is plain from many things:

both from Christ's saying, 'All things are possible to him that believeth';

and from the man who came to Him saying, 'Help Thou mine unbelief';

and from Christ's charging the demon to enter into him no more;

and, again, from the man's saying to Christ, 'If Thou canst.' And if his unbelief, one might ask, was the cause of the demon's not going out, why does He blame the disciples? To show that they too were able, even apart from those who brought the sick with faith, in many cases to heal.

For as often the faith of the one who brought the sick sufficed to receive healing even from lesser men, so also often the power of those who wrought it sufficed to work the wonder, even when those who came to them did not believe.

And both these things are shown in the Scriptures.

For those about Cornelius, by their own faith, drew to themselves the grace of the Spirit;

while in the case of Elisha, when no one believed, a dead man was raised.

For those who cast the body in did so not out of faith, but out of fear; they cast it in simply and as it chanced, being afraid of the raiding band, and they fled;

and the man who was cast in was already dead, yet by the power of the holy body alone the dead man rose again.

Whence it is plain here that the disciples too were weak, but not all of them;

for the pillars were not present there.

But behold from another quarter also the man's unreasonableness, how in the presence of the multitude he pleads with Jesus against the disciples, saying, 'I brought him to Thy disciples, and they could not cure him.'

But He, freeing them from the accusations before the people, reckons the greater part of the fault to that man.

'O faithless and perverse generation,' He says, 'how long shall I be with you?' — directing His words not against this man's person alone, lest He put the man to shame, but against all the Jews.

For it was likely that many of those present were offended, and thought concerning them things that were not fitting.

But when He says, 'How long shall I be with you?' He shows again that death was welcome to Him, and that the matter was one of longing, and His departure hence a thing desired;

and that not the being crucified, but the being with them, was grievous.

Yet He did not stop at the accusations;

but what does He say? 'Bring him hither to Me.'

And He Himself asks the father how long a time he has had it, both making a defence on the disciples' behalf, and leading the man on to a good hope, and to believing that there would be for him deliverance from the evil.

And He suffers the boy to be torn, not for display (since indeed, when a crowd was gathering together, He also rebuked the demon), but for the father's own sake;

that when he saw the demon thrown into confusion merely by being summoned, he might at least in this way be led into faith in the wonder that was about to be.

And since he said, 'From a child,' and, 'If Thou canst, help me,' He says:

'All things are possible to him that believeth,' again turning the charge back upon him.

And when the leper said,

'If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean,' bearing witness to His authority, He praised him and confirmed what was said, saying,

But when this man uttered nothing worthy of His power, saying,

'If Thou canst, help me,' see how He corrects it, as being not rightly spoken.

For what does He say? 'If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.'

And what He says is of this kind:

'So great is the abundance of power with Me, that I am able to make others also do these wonders.'

'So that, if thou believest as thou oughtest, thou thyself also canst heal,' He says, 'both this man and many others.'

And having said these things, He delivered the demoniac.

But do thou consider His forethought and

His beneficence, not only from this, but also from that occasion when He permitted the demon to be within the man.

For unless the man had enjoyed much forethought even then, he would long ago have perished.

For it cast him into the fire, he says, and into the water.

And he that dared these things would certainly have made an end of him altogether, had not God, even amid so great a madness, laid upon him a strong bridle.

Just as also in the case of those naked ones, who ran about in the deserts and gashed themselves with stones.

But if he calls him a lunatic, be not disturbed at all.

For this is the voice of the father of the possessed man.

How then does even the Evangelist say that He healed many that were lunatics? He calls them so from the surmise of the multitude.

For the demon, in order to bring reproach upon the element, both assails those whom he has seized and lets them go, according to the courses of the moon;

not as though she were the cause of it—away with the thought!—

but he himself works this mischief so as to bring reproach upon the element.

Wherefore also a mistaken opinion has prevailed among the foolish, and thus in their delusion they call such persons 'moonstruck';

for neither is this true.

'Then came the disciples to Him apart, and asked Him why they themselves could not cast out the demon.'

To me they seem to have been in anguish and afraid, lest perchance they had lost the grace with which they had been entrusted.

For they had received authority over unclean demons.

Wherefore also they ask, coming to Him apart, not being ashamed (for if the deed had come out and they had been convicted, it was needless henceforth to be ashamed of the confession made in words);

but because they were about to ask Him concerning a secret and great matter.

What then does Christ say? 'Because of your unbelief,' He says.

'For if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.'

But if thou shouldest say, 'Where did they remove a mountain?' this I would answer, that they did far greater things, having raised up countless dead.

For it is not the same thing to remove a mountain, and to drive away death from a body.

And it is said that after them certain saints, far inferior to them, did also, when need called for it, remove mountains.

Whence it is plain that these too would have removed them, had need called for it.

But if at that time no need arose, do not find fault.

And besides, He Himself did not say, 'Ye shall by all means remove it,' but, 'Ye shall be able to do even this.'

But if they did not remove it, it was not because they could not (for how could that be, seeing they had power to do greater things?), but because they did not will it, since no need arose.

And it is likely too that this actually took place, though it was not recorded;

for not all the miracles that they wrought were written down.

At that time, however, they were in a far more imperfect state.

What then? Did they not have even this faith at that time? They had it not;

for they were not always the same men;

since Peter also is at one time pronounced blessed, and at another rebuked;

and the rest too are twitted with folly by Him, when they did not understand the saying concerning the leaven.

And it came to pass that at that time also the disciples were weak;

for they were in a more imperfect state before the cross.

And by 'faith' here He means the faith that works signs, and He makes mention of the mustard seed, declaring its unspeakable power.

For though in bulk the mustard seed seems to be small, yet in power it is more vehement than all things.

Showing therefore that even the least measure of genuine faith can do great things, He made mention of the mustard seed;

and He did not stop even at this alone, but added mountains too, and went yet further.

'For nothing,' He says, 'shall be impossible unto you.'

But here too do thou marvel at their wisdom, and at the might of the Spirit;

This shows their love of wisdom, that they did not conceal their own defect;

and it shows the power of the Spirit, that those who had not even a grain of mustard seed He so gradually raised up, that rivers and springs of faith gushed forth within them.

"But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

He means the whole tribe of demons, not speaking only of those afflicted with lunacy.

Do you see how He now lays before them beforehand the teaching concerning fasting? For do not cite to me the rare cases, that some have even without fasting cast out demons.

For even if concerning those who rebuke the demons one might say this of one or two, yet it is impossible for one who lives in self-indulgence, while suffering, ever to be delivered from this madness.

For this practice is especially needful for one who is sick with such maladies.

"But if faith is needed," one says, "what need is there of fasting?" Because along with faith fasting too brings in no small strength.

For it instils much wisdom, and makes of a man an angel, and does battle with the bodiless powers;

yet not by itself, but there is need also of prayer, and of prayer first.

See then how many good things come from both together.

For he who prays as he ought, and fasts, has no need of many things;

and he who needs not many things could never be a lover of money;

and he who is no lover of money is also the more ready for almsgiving.

He who fasts is light and winged, and prays with sober watchfulness, and quenches wicked lusts, and propitiates God, and humbles the soul when it is lifted up.

For this reason the apostles too almost always fasted.

He who prays with fasting has double wings, lighter even than the winds themselves.

For such a one does not yawn and stretch and grow numb while praying, as most people do;

but he is fiercer than fire, and higher than the earth.

Therefore such a one is especially the enemy and adversary of the demons.

For nothing is more powerful than a man who prays genuinely.

For if a woman prevailed to bend a cruel ruler who neither feared God nor respected man, how much more shall he draw God to himself who continually waits upon Him, and masters his belly, and casts out self-indulgence.

But if your body is too weak to fast continually, yet it is not too weak for prayer, nor too feeble for the disdaining of the belly.

For even if you cannot fast, yet you can refrain from luxury;

and this too is no small thing, nor far removed from fasting;

but it is enough even of itself to pull down the madness of the devil.

For nothing is so dear to that demon as luxury and drunkenness;

since it is the fountain and mother of all evils.

By this, at least, he once cast the Israelites into idolatry;

by this he kindled the Sodomites into lawless lusts.

"For this," it says, "was the iniquity of Sodom:

in pride, and in fullness of bread, and in prosperity they lived wantonly."

By this he has destroyed countless others, and delivered them over to hell.

For what evil does luxury not work? It makes swine of men, and worse than swine.

For the swine indeed wallows in mire, and feeds on dung;

but this man feeds at a table more loathsome than the swine's, devising unlawful unions and lawless lusts.

Such a one differs in nothing from a man possessed by a demon;

for he is shameless and raves in like manner.

And the man possessed by a demon we even pity, but this one we turn away from and hate.

Why ever so? Because he draws upon himself a self-chosen madness, and makes his mouth, and his eyes, and nostrils, and in short all his members, into gutters and sewers.

But if you were to look also at what is within, you would see the soul too frozen and benumbed, as it were, in some winter and frost, and unable to render any aid to the vessel because of the excess of the storm.

I am ashamed to tell how many evils both men and women suffer from luxury;

but I leave it to their own conscience, which knows these things more exactly.

For what is more shameful than a drunken woman, or one who is simply carried out of herself? For the weaker the vessel, so much the greater is the shipwreck, whether she be free or a slave.

For the free woman disgraces herself in the midst of a theatre of her slaves;

and the slave woman likewise, again, in the midst of her fellow slaves;

and they cause the gifts of God to be blasphemed by the foolish.

At any rate, I hear many saying, whenever these calamities occur:

'When others sin, you lay the blame on the gifts of God!'

And how great is this madness! For it was not the wine that did it, but the intemperance of those who use it wrongly.

Say therefore: 'Let there be no drunkenness, let there be no luxury';

but if you should say, 'Let there be no wine,' you will go on, advancing little by little, to say, 'Let there be no iron, because of murderers';

'Let there be no night, because of thieves';

'Let there be no light, because of false accusers';

'Let there be no woman, because of adulteries';

and thus you will simply do away with everything.

For this is the mind of Satan;

do not slander the wine, but drunkenness;

and taking this same man while he is sober, describe to him all his

unseemliness, and say to him:

'Wine was given that we might be gladdened, not that we might behave unseemly;

that we might laugh, not that we might be laughed at;

that we might be healthy, not that we might be sick;

that we might correct the weakness of the body, not that we might cast down the strength of the soul.'

God honoured you with the gift;

why do you outrage yourself by immoderation? Hear what Paul says:

'Use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.'

But if that holy man, though held fast by sickness and enduring one illness after another, did not partake of wine until his teacher permitted it, what pardon could we have who get drunk while in health? To him it was said, 'Use a little wine for your stomach's sake';

but to each one of you who are drunkards he will say:

'Use a little wine, because of your fornications, because of your frequent foul talk, because of the other evil lusts which drunkenness is wont to breed.'

But if for these reasons you are not willing to abstain, at least for the sake of the despondencies and the disgusts that arise from it, abstain.

For wine was given for gladness;

'For wine,' it says, 'gladdens the heart of man';

but you ruin even this its excellence.

For what gladness is it not to be in possession of oneself, and to have countless pains, and to see all things whirling about, and to be held fast by dizziness, and, like those in a fever, to need those who drench the head with oil? These things have been said by me not to all, or rather, to all;

not because all are drunkards;

but because those who are not drunkards take no thought for those who are.

For this reason I direct my words rather to you, the sound in health;

since even a physician, leaving the sick, converses with those who sit by them.

To you, then, I direct my discourse, exhorting you never to be caught by this passion, and to draw up again those who have been caught, that they may not appear worse than the brute beasts.

For those creatures seek after nothing beyond their need;

but these men have become even more irrational than they, overstepping the bounds of moderation.

For how much better than these is the ass? How much superior the dog? For every one of these animals, and of all the rest as well, whether it must eat or drink, knows self-sufficiency as its limit, and does not go beyond its need;

and even if there were ten thousand forcing it, it would not endure to go forth into excess.

Therefore in this respect you are worse than the brute beasts, and that not only in the judgment of the sober, but even in your own.

For that you have judged yourselves to be more dishonorable than dogs and asses is plain from this:

for these brute beasts you do not compel to enjoy food beyond measure;

and if anyone should ask, Why? you will answer, So that I may not do it harm;

yet to yourself you do not extend even this measure of forethought.

Thus you consider yourself of less worth than they, and you overlook yourself as you are perpetually storm-tossed.

For it is not on the day of drunkenness alone that you undergo the harm that comes from drunkenness, but also after that day.

And just as, when a fever has passed, the ravage from the fever remains,

so also, when the drunkenness has departed, the whirling turmoil of the drunkenness spins about both in the soul and in the body;

and the wretched body lies paralyzed, like a vessel wrecked by shipwreck;

but the soul, more miserable than the body, even when the body is undone, stirs up the tempest and kindles the desire, and when it seems to be sober, then most of all is it maddened, imagining wine and jars and cups and mixing-bowls.

And just as, when in a storm the whirlwind has ceased, the loss caused by the storm remains,

so indeed also here. For just as there, of the cargo, so also here: whether it find self-control, or modesty, or understanding, or fairness, or humility, drunkenness casts them all into the sea of lawlessness.

But what follows after this is no longer alike.

For there, after the jettisoning, the vessel is lightened;

but here it is rather weighed down the more.

For in place of that wealth it takes on sand and briny water, and all the refuse of drunkenness, which, together with the passengers and the pilot, straightway sink the vessel.

In order, then, that we may not suffer these things, let us deliver ourselves from the storm.

It is not possible, amid drunkenness, to behold the kingdom of heaven.

Neither drunkards nor revilers shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And why do I speak of the kingdom? For amid drunkenness

it is not even possible to see the things that are present.

For drunkenness turns our days into nights for us, and the light into darkness;

and though their eyes are open, the drunken do not so much as see the things at their feet.

And this is not the only terrible thing, but along with these they also undergo another most grievous penalty, enduring perpetually irrational despondencies, madness, sickness, mockery, and reproach.

What pardon, then, is there for those who impale themselves upon so many evils? There is none whatever.

Let us therefore flee this disease, that we may attain both the good things here and those that are to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages.