Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 64

And behold, one came and said to Him:

'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' (1)

Some indeed accuse this young man, as being someone insidious and wicked, and as having come to Jesus with intent to tempt Him;

but for my part I would not decline to call him a lover of money and mastered by riches, since Christ also convicted him of being such a man;

yet insidious by no means, both because it is not safe to be bold about things uncertain—and especially in matters of accusation—and because Mark has done away with this suspicion;

for he says that 'Running up and kneeling down, he besought Him,'

and that 'Jesus, looking upon him, loved him.'

But great is the tyranny of riches, and it is plain from this:

for even though in other respects we be virtuous, this ruins all the rest.

With good reason therefore did Paul also declare it to be the root of all evils;

'For the love of money is a root of all the evils,' he says.

Why then did Christ answer him in this way, saying:

'No one is good'? Because he approached Him as a mere man, and as one of the many, and as a Jewish teacher;

for this very reason He converses with him as a man.

For in many places He answers according to the suppositions of those who come to Him, as when He says:

'We worship what we know';

and, 'If I bear witness concerning Myself, My witness is not true.'

When therefore He says, 'No one is good,' it is not Himself

that He excludes from being good that He says this;

for He did not say, 'Why callest thou Me good? I am not good';

that is, 'no one of men [is good].'

And even in saying this very thing, He does not deprive men of goodness, but says it by way of contrast with the goodness of God.

Wherefore also He added, 'Except one, that is God.'

And He did not say, 'Except My Father,' that you might learn that He did not reveal Himself to the young man.

So too above He called men evil, saying:

'If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.'

For there also He called them evil, not condemning the whole nature as wicked;

(for the word 'you' does not mean 'you men';) but comparing the goodness that is in men with the goodness of God, He so named it.

For this reason He added, 'How much more shall your Father give good things to them that ask Him?' And what was so urgent, one might say, or what was the profit, that He should answer him in this way? He was lifting him up little by little, and training him to be freed from all flattery, drawing him away from the things upon the earth and nailing him fast to God, persuading him to seek the things to come, and to know that which is truly good, the root and the fountain of all things, and to render his honors to Him.

Indeed, when He says, 'Call no man teacher upon the earth,' He says this by way of contrast with Himself, and in order that they might learn who is the first principle of all things that exist.

For the young man displayed no small eagerness for the time being, having fallen into such a longing; and whereas of the others some came tempting Him, and some on behalf of diseases, whether of their own or of strangers, he himself both came and conversed with Him concerning eternal life.

For indeed the ground was rich and fertile, yet the multitude of thorns choked the seed.

Consider, then, how he was for the time prepared for obedience to the commandments.

For 'What shall I do,' he says, 'that I may inherit eternal life?' So ready was he for the doing of the things that should be told him.

But if he had come tempting Him, the Evangelist would have made this plain to us as well, just as he does in the other instances, as in the case of the lawyer.

And even if he himself had kept silent, Christ would not have allowed him to escape notice, but would either have plainly reproved him, or at least intimated it, so that he might not seem to have deceived and passed unnoticed, and thereby to have suffered harm.

Had he come tempting Him, he would not have gone away grieved at what he heard.

This, at any rate, none of the Pharisees ever felt, but rather they grew savage when their mouths were stopped.

which was no small sign that he came not with an evil intent, but with a weaker one, and that he did indeed desire life, yet was held fast by another most grievous passion.

When therefore Christ had said:

'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,'

he says, 'Which?' — not tempting Him, God forbid —

but supposing that there were certain others, besides those of the law, which should become the procurers of life for him;

Then, when Jesus had named those from the law, he says:

'All these have I kept from my youth.'

And not even here did he stop, but again he asks, 'What lack I yet?' — which itself also was a sign of his vehement desire.

And it was no small thing that he thought himself lacking, and did not consider the things that had been said sufficient for the attaining of what he desired.

What then does Christ do? Since He was about to enjoin some great thing, He sets before him the prizes, and says:

'If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell thy possessions, and give to the poor;'

'and thou shalt have treasure in the heavens;'

Do you see how many prizes, how many crowns He sets before this contest? And had He been tempting him, He would not have said these things to him.

But now He both speaks, and so as to draw him on, He shows him that the reward is great, and commits the whole to his own choice, throughout casting a shade over what seemed burdensome in the exhortation.

Wherefore also, before naming the struggle and the toil, He shows him the prize, saying:

and then He says, 'Sell thy possessions, and give to the poor;'

and immediately again the rewards, 'Thou shalt have treasure in the heavens, and come, follow me.'

For indeed to follow Him is a great recompense.

'And thou shalt have treasure in the heavens.'

For since the discourse was

about riches, and He was exhorting him to be stripped of all, He shows that He does not take away his possessions, but rather adds to what he has, and gave more than He commanded him to give;

and not only more, but even greater by so much as heaven is greater than earth, and yet more than that.

And He said 'treasure,' setting forth the abundance of the recompense, its permanence, its security from theft, so far as it was possible by human comparisons to intimate it to the hearer.

It is not then enough to despise riches, but one must also feed the poor, and above all follow Christ;

that is, to do all the things commanded by Him, to be ready for slaughter, and for daily death.

'For if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'

So that this injunction is far greater than the casting away of riches — even the pouring out of one's very blood;

and toward this the being freed from riches contributes not a little.

But when the young man had heard it, he went away grieved.

Then, as though to show that he had suffered nothing unreasonable, the Evangelist says:

For he was one who had great possessions.

For those who have but little are not held fast in the same way as those who are drowned in great abundance;

for the passion then becomes more tyrannical.

Which is the very thing I never cease to say: that the addition of what keeps flowing in kindles a greater flame, and makes those who acquire it poorer, seeing that it sets them amid a greater craving, and makes them feel their neediness all the more.

Observe, then, even here what mighty strength the passion displayed.

For the man who had come to Him with joy and eagerness, when Christ bade him cast away his riches, it so buried and weighed him down that it did not even suffer him to make any answer concerning these things, but he went away in silence, dejected and downcast.

What then does Christ say? 'How hardly shall the rich enter into the kingdom of heaven!'

not disparaging riches themselves, but those who are held in bondage by them.

But if the rich man enters with difficulty, much more the covetous man.

For if not to give of one's own is a hindrance to the kingdom, consider how great a fire he heaps up who even seizes what belongs to others.

But why did He say to the disciples, who were poor and possessed nothing, that a rich man shall hardly enter in? To train them not to be ashamed of poverty, and as it were making a defense to them for not permitting them to have anything.

And having said that it was hard, as He proceeds He shows that it is even impossible, and not simply impossible, but impossible in the highest degree;

and this He made plain by the example concerning the camel and the needle.

'It is easier,' He says, 'for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.'

Whence it is shown that no ordinary reward awaits the rich who are also able to practice the higher wisdom.

Wherefore also He said that this was a work of God, that He might show that great grace is needed by the one who is to accomplish it.

At any rate, when the disciples were troubled, He said:

'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

And for what reason are the disciples troubled, who were poor, and exceedingly poor? For what reason then are they thrown into confusion? Because they grieved for the salvation of others, and had great tender affection toward all men, and had already taken up within themselves the very bowels of teachers.

Indeed they so trembled and were afraid for the whole world on account of this declaration, that they stood in need of much consolation.

Therefore He first looked upon them and said:

'The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.'

For with a gentle and mild eye having soothed their trembling mind, and having dissolved their anguish (for this the evangelist signified by saying, 'He looked upon them'), then also by His words He relieves them, bringing the power of God into their midst, and thus making them take courage.

But if you also wish to learn the manner, and how that which is impossible may become possible, listen.

For neither did He say for this reason, 'The things impossible with men are possible with God,' that you should sink down and hold aloof from them as from things impossible;

but that, considering the greatness of the achievement, you might leap to it readily, and having called upon God to lay hold together with you of these noble struggles, might attain unto life.

How then may this become possible? If you cast away what you have, if

you empty out your riches, if you withdraw from the evil craving.

For that He does not ascribe it to God alone, but said it in order to show the greatness of the achievement, hear what follows after these things.

For when Peter said, 'Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed You,' and asked, 'What then shall we have?' after appointing their reward, He added:

'And everyone who has forsaken houses, or fields, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.'

Thus the impossible becomes possible.

'But how,' one says, 'may this very thing come to pass, this forsaking? How is it possible for one who has once been drowned in such a craving for riches to recover?' If he begin to empty himself of what he has, and to cut off what is superfluous.

For thus he will also advance further, and thenceforth will run the more easily.

Therefore do not seek the whole at once, but gently and little by little ascend this ladder, the one that leads you up to heaven, if the doing of it all at once seems difficult to you.

For just as those who are in a fever, having sharp bile abounding within, when they take in food and drink, not only do not quench their thirst, but even kindle the flame;

even so also the lovers of money, when to this wicked craving, sharper than that bile, they add riches, kindle it the more.

For nothing so checks it as to withdraw for a while from the craving to gain, just as it is abstinence and emptying that check the sharp bile.

'But this very thing, whence shall it come?' he says.

If you consider that while being rich you will never cease from thirsting, and from being consumed with the craving for more;

But once you are freed from possessions, you will be able also to bring this disease to a halt.

Do not, then, wrap yourself in more than you need, lest you pursue what cannot be overtaken, and sicken with an incurable malady, and become the more pitiable for raving after such things.

For answer me this: whom should we say is tormented and in anguish—the one who longs for costly foods and drinks and yet cannot enjoy them as he wishes,

or the one who has no such craving at all? It is plain that it is the one who craves but is unable to partake of what he craves.

For so grievous a thing is this—to crave and not enjoy, to thirst and not drink—that Christ, when He wished to portray hell for us, portrayed it after this very manner, and brought in the rich man scorched in just this way;

for he longed for a drop of water, and, not obtaining it, was thus punished.

Therefore the man who despises riches has brought his desire to a stand;

but the man who wishes to grow rich and to wrap himself in more has only kindled it the more, and it is never yet at rest.

Nay, though he receive ten thousand talents, he craves as many again;

and though he obtain these, he stretches out again after twice as many more;

and as he goes on he prays that the mountains, and the earth, and the sea, and everything may become gold for him, being seized with some strange and fearful new madness that can never be quenched in this way.

And that you may learn that this evil is stayed not by adding but by taking away:

if there ever arose in you an absurd desire to fly and to be borne through the air, how would you quench this absurd desire? By fashioning wings and contriving other instruments? Or by persuading your reason that it craves the impossible, and that none of these things ought to be attempted? Plainly, by persuading your reason.

"But that," he says, "is impossible."

But this is even more impossible—to find a limit to this desire.

For it is easier for men to fly than by adding more to bring their passion to an end.

For when the things desired are attainable, it is possible to find some solace through enjoying them;

but when they are unattainable, one thing alone must be striven for—to draw ourselves away from the desire, since in no other way is it possible to recover the soul.

In order, then, that we may not suffer needless pain, let us forsake the love of money that grieves us without ceasing and never consents to be silent, and let us shift our anchorage to another love—one that both makes us blessed and possesses great ease—and let us desire the treasures above.

For neither is there here so great a toil, and the gain is unspeakable, and he cannot fail who is in any way watchful and sober even amid the things that are present.

Just as, on the other hand, the man who is enslaved to those things and has once for all given himself over to them must by every necessity fall away from them.

Reckoning up, therefore, all these things, cast out the wicked desire of riches.

For neither could you say this—that it gives the present goods but deprives us of the things to come;

and yet, even if this were so, this alone would be the uttermost chastisement and punishment.

For besides that hell, and even before that hell, it casts you here also into a more grievous chastisement.

For this desire has overthrown many households, and kindled cruel wars, and compelled men to end their life by a violent death;

and even before these perils it lays waste the nobility of the soul;

and it has often made the one who has it cowardly, and unmanly, and rash, and a liar, and a slanderer, and a plunderer, and grasping, and guilty of every extremity.

But perhaps you are bewitched at the sight of the glitter of the silver, and the throng of servants, and the beauty of the buildings, and the attendance in the marketplace? What healing, then, could there be for this wicked wound? If you consider how these things dispose your soul;

how it makes it dark and desolate and shameful and misshapen;

if you reckon with how many evils these things were acquired, with how many toils they are guarded, with how many dangers;

or rather, they are not even guarded to the end, but when it has escaped all their grasping hands, death comes upon it and often carries off these possessions into the hands of your enemies, and finds you bereft and departs, dragging none of these things with it, but only the wounds and the sores, which, having taken from these things, the soul carries away with it.

When, therefore, you see someone gleaming outwardly with his garments and his great retinue of guards, unfold his conscience, and you will find within much cobweb, and you will behold much dust.

Consider Paul, consider Peter;

consider John, consider Elijah;

or rather the very Son of God Himself, who had not where to lay His head.

Become an emulator of Him, and of His servants, and picture to yourself their unspeakable riches.

But if, having looked away for a little while, you should again be darkened by these things, as though a storm had come upon you in some shipwreck, hearken to the sentence of Christ which says that it is impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And against this sentence set the mountains, and the earth, and the sea;

and, if you will, make everything by your word to be gold;

For you will see nothing to equal the loss that comes to you from that quarter.

And you, for your part, boast of so many and so many acres of land, of ten and twenty houses, or even more, of so many baths, of a thousand slaves, or twice as many, and of chariots inlaid with silver and overlaid with gold.

If each one of you who are rich, letting go of this poverty (for these things are but poverty compared to what I am about to speak of), possessed a whole world entire, and each of them had as many men as there now are everywhere on land and sea, and each owned an inhabited world, both land and sea, and buildings everywhere, and cities and nations, and if from every side, instead of water, instead of springs, gold flowed in to him, I would say that men who were rich in this way, having fallen from the Kingdom, were not worth three obols.

For if now, when they are set upon perishable riches, they are tormented whenever they fail to obtain them,

if they should come to a perception of those ineffable good things, what then will suffice to console them? There is nothing.

Do not, therefore, speak to me of the abundance of riches,

but consider how great a loss those who are lovers of it endure because of it, losing the heavens in exchange for these things, and suffering the very same thing as if a man who had fallen from the highest honor in a royal court, and now possessed a heap of dung, should pride himself greatly upon it.

For a heap of riches differs in nothing from that heap of dung;

rather, that heap is even the better.

For that is useful both for farming, and for heating a bath, and for other such things;

but gold buried in the ground is of use for none of these things.

And would that it were merely useless!

but as it is, it also kindles many furnaces for the one who possesses it, if

he should not use it as he ought;

at any rate, countless evils spring up from this source.

For this reason those outside the faith called the love of money the citadel of evils;

but the blessed Paul, far better and more expressively, called it the root of all evils.

Considering, then, all these things, let us learn to be zealous for the things worthy of zeal, not for splendid buildings, nor for costly fields;

but for the men who have much boldness toward God, who are rich in heaven, who are the masters of those treasures, who are the truly wealthy, who are poor for Christ's sake;

that we may attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honor, now and ever and unto the ages of the ages.