Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 61

If your brother sin against you, go, reprove him between you and him alone.

If he hear you, you have gained your brother.

For since He had spoken a vehement discourse against those who cause others to stumble, and had terrified them on every side, then, lest by this the offended in turn should become supine, and, thinking that everything had been laid upon others, should go off into another vice, growing soft and wishing to be indulged in all things, and should run aground upon presumption, see how He restrains these also again, and commands that the reproof take place between the two alone;

lest by the testimony of the many he make the accusation more grievous, and that man, becoming the more shameless, should remain hard to correct. Therefore He says:

Between you and him alone.

And if he hear you, you have gained your brother.

What is, If he hear you? If he condemn himself, if he be persuaded that he has sinned. You have gained your brother.

He said not, You have gotten sufficient revenge, but, You have gained your brother, showing that the loss from the enmity is a common one.

For He said not, He alone gained himself, but, You also gained him;

whereby He showed that both he and the other were suffering loss before this—the one his brother, the other his own salvation.

This too He exhorted when He sat upon the mount;

at one time leading him who had caused the grief to him who had been grieved, and saying:

If, standing at the altar, you there remember that your brother has anything against you, go, be reconciled to your brother;

and at another time commanding him who had been wronged to forgive his neighbor.

For He taught us to say: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

But here He devises yet another way.

For it is not him who caused the grief, but him who was grieved, that He leads to the other.

For since that man who had done the wrong would not easily come to make his defense, being ashamed and blushing, He draws this one to that one;

and not simply, but so as also to set right what had happened.

And He says not, Accuse him, nor, Rebuke him, nor, Demand satisfaction and a reckoning, but, Reprove him, He says.

For that man, as by a kind of stupor, is held fast, drunk with wrath and with shame;

and it behooves you, who are in health, to go to him who is sick, and to make the tribunal a private one, and the healing easy to accept.

To reprove is nothing else than, Remind him of his sin, tell him what you have suffered at his hands;

which, when it is done as it ought, is the part of one who makes a defense, and who earnestly draws the other on toward reconciliation.

What then, if he be disobedient and be hardened? Take with you yet one or two, that at the mouth of two witnesses every word may be established.

For the more shameless and reckless a man may be, so much the more ought we to hasten to his healing, and not to anger and indignation.

For a physician too, when he sees the disease hard to yield, does not withdraw, nor is he vexed, but then all the more he makes ready his preparations;

which is the very thing He here enjoins us to do.

For since, being alone, you appeared too weak, become stronger by the addition of others.

For two are sufficient to convict the one who has sinned.

Do you see how He seeks not only the interest of the one who has been grieved, but also that of the one who has caused the grief? For the one wronged is this very man, the man taken captive by his passion;

he himself is the one who is sick and weak and ailing.

For this reason He often brings that one to this one, at one time alone, at another with others;

and if he should persist, then also together with the Church.

For 'Tell it,' He says, 'to the Church.'

But if He were seeking only this man's interest, He would not have commanded us to forgive the one who repents seventy times seven;

He would not have set over him so many times and so many correctors of his passion;

but from the first encounter He would have let him remain uncorrected.

But as it is, He commands us to heal him once, and twice, and three times, and at one time alone, at another with two, and at another with more.

For this reason, in the case of those outside He says nothing of the sort, but, 'If anyone strike you,' He says, 'on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.'

For it is just what Paul says, when he declares:

'What have I to do with judging those outside?' Yet the brethren He commands us both to reprove and to turn away from, and to cut off if they will not be persuaded, that they may be put to shame;

this very thing He does here also, laying down these ordinances concerning the brethren;

and He sets over him three teachers and judges, to instruct him about the things that were done in the time of his drunkenness.

For even though it was he himself who uttered and did all those absurd things, nevertheless he still needs others to teach him, just as does the drunken man.

For wrath and sin are more deranging than any drunkenness, and set the soul in a greater madness.

Who then was wiser than David? Yet when he sinned he did not perceive it, since desire held all his reasonings in its grip and, like some smoke, filled his soul.

For this reason he had need of a lamp from the prophet, and of words that reminded him of the things he had done.

For this reason here too He brings these men to the one who has sinned, to converse with him about the things he has done.

But why does He command this man to reprove him, and not another? Because this man—the one wronged, the one grieved, the one insulted—would bear with him more mildly.

For a man does not bear it in the same way when he is reproved by another concerning the one who was insulted, and when he is reproved by the very one who was insulted, especially when this man reproves him alone.

For when the very one who has the right to demand satisfaction from him is seen to be concerned even for his salvation, he above all will be able to shame him into repentance.

Do you see how this is done not for the sake of punishment, but of correction? For this reason He does not command him at once to take the two, but only when he himself has grown powerless;

and not even then does He let loose a multitude upon him, but makes the addition of up to two, or even of one only;

but when he has despised even these, then He brings him out before the Church.

So great is the diligence He uses that the sins of one's neighbors should not be paraded abroad.

And yet He could have commanded this from the very beginning;

but that this might not happen, He did not command it, but lays down this ordinance only after a first and a second admonition.

And what is the meaning of, 'At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established'? 'You have sufficient testimony,' He says, 'that you have done all that lay in yourself, that you have left undone nothing of the things that pertained to you.'

'But if he refuse to hear even these, tell it to the Church';

that is, to those who preside over it.

'But if he refuse to hear even the Church, let him be to you as the heathen and the tax-collector.'

For henceforth such a man is sick with an incurable disease.

But consider, I pray you, how everywhere He sets the tax-collector as an example of the greatest wickedness.

'Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?'

do? And going on further He says again:

'The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you.'

that is to say, those who had been utterly condemned and given over to judgment.

Let those hearken who pounce upon unjust gains, who reckon up interest upon interest.

And why did He rank him after that one? To comfort the man who had been wronged, and to strike fear into him.

Is this then the only punishment? By no means.

'Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.'

And He did not say to the president of the Church, 'Bind such a one,' but rather, 'If thou shalt bind,' committing the whole matter to the very man who had been grieved;

Therefore he shall suffer the uttermost of dreadful things;

yet not he who brought him is to blame, but he who was unwilling to be persuaded.

Dost thou see how by a twofold necessity He bound him fast, both by the punishment here and by the chastisement there? Yet He threatened these things in order that they might not come to pass;

but that, fearing both the casting out from the Church, and the peril arising from the bond, and the being bound in heaven, he might become gentler.

And knowing these things, even if not from the outset, yet at least amid the multitude of tribunals he will slacken his wrath.

For this very reason He appointed a first and a second and a third tribunal, and did not cut him off at once, so that even if he should disregard the first, he might yield to the second;

and if he should spurn that, he might fear the third;

and if he should make no account of this, he might be struck with dread at the coming punishment, and at the sentence and judgment from God.

'Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father which is in heaven.'

'For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.'

Seest thou how from yet another quarter He dissolves enmities, and takes away petty-mindedness, and brings men together to one another, and this not only by the aforesaid punishment, but also by the good things that come from love? For having threatened those penalties against contentiousness, He here sets forth the great prizes of concord, seeing that they who agree together prevail even with the Father concerning the things they ask, and have Christ in their midst.

Are there then nowhere two who agree together? Nay, in many places indeed, and perhaps even everywhere.

How is it then that they do not obtain all things? Because many are the causes of their failing to obtain.

For either they oftentimes ask things unprofitable;

And why dost thou marvel if it be so with certain others, when even Paul experienced this, when he heard, 'My grace is sufficient for thee;'

'for My power is made perfect in weakness'? Or they are unworthy of those who have heard such things, and they bring nothing from their own part;

but He seeks such as are like those men;

for this reason He says, 'Of you'—that is, of the virtuous, of those who display an angelic manner of life.

Or they pray against those who have grieved them, seeking vengeance and punishment, which is a thing forbidden;

'For pray,' He says, 'for your enemies.'

Or, while sinning impenitently, they ask for mercy, which it is impossible to receive—not only if they themselves ask, but even if others who have great boldness toward God should intercede on their behalf;

even as Jeremiah also, when praying on behalf of the Jews, heard:

'Pray not for this people, for I will not hearken unto thee.'

But if all these things be present—if thou ask the things that are profitable, and bring in all that lies with thee, and offer an apostolic life, and hast concord and love toward thy neighbour—thou shalt obtain when thou entreatest;

for the Master is a lover of mankind.

Then, since He had said 'By My Father,' in order to show that He Himself is the one who bestows, and not only the one who begat, He added:

'For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.'

What then? Are there not two or three gathered together in His name? There are indeed, but rarely.

For He does not speak simply of the coming together, nor does He seek this alone, but chiefly—as I said before—the rest of virtue together with this;

and then He requires this very thing itself with great exactness.

For what He says is of this kind:

If any one holds Me as the primary ground of his friendship toward his neighbour, I will be with him, provided he be virtuous also in other respects.

But as things now stand, we see the greater number holding to other grounds of affection.

For one man loves because he is loved;

another, because in some other worldly matter this or that person has proved useful to him;

and yet another, for some other such reason.

But to find anyone who for Christ's sake loves his neighbour genuinely, and as he ought, is a difficult thing indeed.

For the greater part are bound to one another by worldly concerns.

But Paul did not love in this way; rather, he loved for Christ's sake.

Therefore, even when he was not loved in the same measure as he loved, he did not dissolve his charity, since he had laid down a strong root for his affection.

But if we examine all things, we shall find among the many other producers of friendship rather than this.

And if anyone were to grant me the power to conduct this inquiry among so great a multitude, I would show that the greater number are bound to one another by worldly motives.

And this is plain from the causes which bring about enmity.

For since they are joined to one another by these perishable things, on this account they are neither warm toward one another, nor lasting;

but an insult, or a loss of money, or envy, or the love of vainglory, and every such thing that comes upon them, cuts asunder their affection.

For it does not find a spiritual root.

Since, were it of such a kind, nothing worldly would dissolve what is spiritual.

For the love that is for Christ's sake is firm, unbreakable, and invincible, and nothing shall be able to tear it apart;

not slanders, not perils, not death, nor any other such thing.

For though he who loves in this way should suffer ten thousand ills, looking to the ground of his love he will not fall away.

For he who loves because he is loved, if he should suffer anything unpleasant, dissolves his love;

but he who is bound from that source will never fall away.

'Charity never faileth.'

For what can you say? That when honoured he insults you? That when treated well he sought to slay you? But this too rather disposes you to love him the more, if you love for Christ's sake.

For the very things which in other cases overthrow love, here become the means of building it up.

How so? First, because such a man becomes to you a cause of rewards;

secondly, because one so disposed stands in need of more help and much tending.

For this reason, then, he who loves in this way inquires not into family, nor country, nor wealth, nor the love shown to himself, nor any other such thing;

but even if he be hated, even if he be insulted, even if he be slain, he remains loving, having a sufficient ground for his love: Christ;

wherefore he also stands fixed, firm, unshaken, looking unto Him.

For Christ Himself thus loved His enemies, the thankless, the insolent, the blasphemers, those who hated Him, those who would not so much as look upon Him, those who preferred wood and stones to Him; loving them with the highest love, than which no other can be found.

'For greater love hath no man than this,' He says, 'that a man lay down his life for his friends.'

And as for those who crucified Him and drunkenly heaped so many outrages upon Him, behold how He continues to tend them.

For indeed He pleads with the Father on their behalf, saying:

And after these things He also sent His disciples to them.

Let us therefore also emulate this love, let us look unto it, that becoming imitators of Christ we may attain both the good things that are here and those that are to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages.