Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 67

And as they were going out from Jericho, great multitudes followed Him.

And behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying:

Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David.

Observe from where He came into Jerusalem, and where He was staying before this.

which seems to me especially worthy of inquiry: why He did not even before go from there into Galilee, but through Samaria.

But this we shall leave to those who love learning.

For if anyone should wish to examine it carefully, he will find that John hinted at it well and set down the cause.

But let us hold to the matters before us, and give heed to these blind men, who were better than many that see.

For though they had neither one to guide them nor were able to see Him when He drew near, yet they strove eagerly to come to Him, and began to cry out with a loud voice, and when silenced they shouted all the more.

For such is a persevering soul:

it is lifted up by the very things that hinder it.

But Christ allowed them to be silenced, that their eagerness might appear the greater, and that you might learn that they enjoyed the healing worthily.

For this reason He does not even ask, 'Do you believe?' as He does in the case of many.

for their crying out and their approach sufficed to make their faith evident to all.

From this learn, beloved, that even though we be exceedingly mean and cast off, yet if we come to God with earnestness, we shall be able of ourselves to accomplish whatever we ask.

See, then, how these men also, having none of the apostles for an advocate, but rather many who silenced them, yet were strong enough to overcome the hindrances and to come to Jesus Himself.

And yet the evangelist bears witness to no boldness of life on their part, but their eagerness sufficed them in place of all things.

These, then, let us also emulate.

Even though God defer the gift, even though many be those who turn us away, let us not cease from asking.

For by this above all shall we draw God to ourselves.

See, then, how here too neither poverty, nor blindness, nor the not being heard, nor being rebuked by the crowds, nor anything else at all, hindered their vehement eagerness.

Such is a soul that is fervent and full of striving.

What then did Christ do? He called them and said:

What do you wish that I should do for you? They say to Him:

'Lord, that our eyes may be opened.'

Why does He question them? That no one might suppose that when they wished to receive one thing, He gave them another.

For it was His custom everywhere first to make manifest and to disclose to all the virtue of those who were being healed, and only then to apply the cure;

for one reason, that He might lead the others also to emulation;

for another, that He might show them to be enjoying the gift worthily.

This, at any rate, He did also in the case of the Canaanite woman, this too in the case of the centurion, this also in the case of the woman with the issue of blood;

or rather, that admirable woman even anticipated the Master's inquiry;

yet not even so did He pass her by, but even after the healing He makes her manifest.

So earnestly was it His concern everywhere to proclaim the good deeds of those who came to Him, and to declare them far greater than they were;

Then, when they had said what they wished, being moved with compassion He touched them.

For this alone was the cause of His healing, the very reason for which He also came into the world.

Yet nevertheless, even though it was mercy and grace, He seeks out those who are worthy.

And that they were worthy is clear both from the things they cried out, and from the fact that, having received, they did not spring away, as many do, being ungrateful after the benefits.

But those men were not of such a kind;

rather, both before the giving they were steadfast, and after the giving they were grateful;

And when He drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying:

'Go into the village over against you, and you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her;'

'And if anyone say anything to you, you shall say that the Lord has need of them;'

and immediately he will send them.

Now this took place, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet Zechariah:

'Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and mounted upon an ass and a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'

And yet He had often gone up to Jerusalem before, but never with such conspicuous splendor.

What then was the reason? At that time these were but the preludes of the dispensation;

and neither was He Himself yet fully manifest, nor was the time of His suffering near;

for which reason He mingled with them more indifferently, and rather concealing Himself.

For neither would He have been admired had He so appeared, and He would have driven them into greater wrath.

But since He had now given sufficient proof of His power, and the cross was at the doors, He shines forth henceforth more greatly, and with greater splendor does all those things that were destined to inflame them.

For it was indeed possible for this to have happened even at the beginning;

but it was not useful, nor so profitable.

But do you consider for me how many miracles take place, and how many prophecies are fulfilled.

He said, 'You shall find an ass;'

He foretold that no one would hinder them, but that, when they heard, they would keep silent.

And this was no small condemnation of the Jews, if He persuades those who were never acquainted with Him, nor had ever seen Him, to give up what was theirs and to raise no objection, and that through His disciples;

yet these men, though present while He wrought miracles, were not persuaded.

Do not suppose that what took place was a small thing.

For who was it that persuaded them, when their own property was being taken away, and these perhaps poor men and farmers, not to object? Why do I say not to object? Not even to ask; or, having asked, to be silent and to yield? For both alike were equally marvelous.

both if they said nothing while the beasts of burden were being led away, and if, having spoken and having heard that the Lord had need of them, they yielded and did not resist, and that too though not seeing Him, but the disciples.

By these things He instructs them that He was able even to hinder the Jews, unwilling as they were, from ever coming against Him throughout, and to render them speechless, but that He was not willing.

And along with these things He teaches His disciples yet another lesson, namely, to give whatever He may ask;

even should He bid them give up their very soul.

and that they should furnish this and not contradict.

For if men who did not know Him yielded to Him, much more ought these to give way in all things.

But in addition to what has been said, He was also fulfilling yet another prophecy, a twofold one:

the one by means of deeds, the other by means of words.

And the one by means of the deeds was that of the sitting upon the ass;

while the one by means of the words was that of the prophet Zechariah;

for he said that the King shall sit upon an ass.

And by seating Himself upon it and fulfilling that prophecy, He was again giving the beginning of another prophecy, prefiguring by the things He did the things to come.

How, and in what way? He was proclaiming beforehand the calling of the unclean nations, and that He would rest upon them, and that they would yield to Him and follow Him;

and prophecy succeeded prophecy.

But to me it seems that He sat upon the ass not for this reason alone, but also to give us a measure of philosophy. For He was not merely fulfilling prophecies, nor merely planting the doctrines of the truth, but was also by these things setting straight our manner of life.

by these things everywhere laying down for us rules concerning necessary need, and through all things setting our life aright.

For this very reason too, when He was about to be born, He did not seek out a splendid house, nor a rich and distinguished mother, but a poor one, having a carpenter for her betrothed; and He is born in a hovel, and laid in a manger;

and in choosing disciples, He chose not orators and wise men, nor the wealthy and wellborn, but poor men and from poor stock and altogether obscure;

and when setting a table, sometimes He sets out barley loaves, and sometimes bids the disciples buy from the market for the very occasion; and when making a bed, He makes it out of grass;

and when clothing Himself, He puts on cheap garments that differ in nothing from those of the multitude;

And if it were needful to pass from place to place, He does this on foot, and so travels on foot as even to grow weary.

And when He sits down, He needs no throne, nor cushion, but sits upon the ground, sometimes on the mountain, sometimes beside the well;

and not beside the well only, but also alone, and He converses with a Samaritan woman.

Again, setting measures for grief, when it was needful to lament, He weeps gently, everywhere, as I have said, fixing rules and bounds, up to what point one must go, and no further.

For this reason too now, since it happened that some, being rather weak, had need of beasts of burden, here also He set a measure, showing that one ought not to be carried by yoking horses or mules, but to use an ass, and not to go beyond this, and everywhere to keep to what is needful.

But let us look also at the prophecy, the one by means of words, and the one by means of the deeds.

What then is the prophecy? Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and mounted upon a beast of burden, and a young colt;

not driving chariots, as the rest of the kings;

not exacting tributes, not moving in pomp and leading spearmen about;

but displaying even from this great gentleness.

Ask therefore the Jew:

what king came to Jerusalem riding upon an ass? But he would not be able to name any, save this One alone.

And He did these things, as I have said, foreshowing the things to come.

For here the Church is signified by the colt, and the new people, once unclean, but after Jesus had sat upon it becoming clean.

And observe the image preserved throughout.

For the disciples loose the beasts of burden.

For it was through the apostles that both they and we were called;

through the apostles we were brought near.

And since our being held in good esteem provoked them to jealousy, for this reason the ass is seen following the colt. For after Christ has sat upon the nations, then those others also will come, being provoked to jealousy.

And Paul, making this plain, said:

That a hardening in part has befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in;

and so all Israel shall be saved.

For that it was a prophecy is plain from what has been said.

For the prophet would not have taken care with so great exactness to state the age of the ass, unless this had been so.

Now it is not these things only that are signified by what has been said,

but also that the apostles would lead them with all ease.

For just as here no one spoke against them when they took possession of the colt, so also among the nations no one was able to hinder the apostles from those who formerly held the people in their grip.

And He does not sit upon the bare colt, but upon the garments of the apostles.

For once they had received the colt, they thereafter gave up everything, even as Paul also said:

'I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.'

But consider the tractableness of the colt: how, though untamed and unacquainted with the bridle, it did not leap about, but was carried along in good order.

This very thing was itself a prophecy of what was to come, signifying the submissiveness of the nations and their sudden change into good order.

For the word that spoke wrought all this, the word that says:

so that the disorderly became orderly, and the unclean became thereafter clean.

But mark the lowliness of the Jews.

He had wrought so many miracles, and never were they so astonished at Him;

but when they saw a crowd running together, then they marvel.

For all the city was moved, saying:

'Who is this?' And the crowds said:

'a prophet, the one from Nazareth of Galilee.'

And when they thought they were saying something great, then their judgment was groveling, lowly, and trailing on the ground.

But He Himself did these things, not making some display of pomp, but at once, as I said, both fulfilling prophecy and teaching a heavenly wisdom, and at the same time also comforting the disciples who were grieved over His death, and showing that He suffered all these things willingly.

But do thou marvel with me at the exactness of the prophet, how he foretold all things:

some things David proclaimed beforehand, and other things Zechariah.

So let us also do, and let us sing hymns, and cast down our garments before those who bear Him.

For of what should we be worthy, when some cast their garments about the donkey on which He sat, and others spread their garments beneath its feet, but we, seeing Him naked, and not even being bidden to strip ourselves but only to spend from what lies at hand, are not so much as generous even thus? And while they follow before and behind, we both send Him away as He draws near, and thrust Him off, and insult Him? Of how great chastisement are these things worthy? of how great vengeance? The Master comes to thee beseeching, and thou wilt not even hear His supplication, but bringest charges and rebukest, and that after hearing such words as these.

But if, in giving a single loaf and a little money, thou art so vulgar and grudging and reluctant, what wouldst thou have become if it were needful to pour out everything? Dost thou not see the lavish spenders in the theatre, how much they fling away upon harlots? Yet thou givest not even the half of this, nay, often not even the smallest fraction.

But the devil bids thee give to those thou chancest upon, procuring hell for thee, and thou givest;

but Christ bids thee give to those in need, promising thee a kingdom, and thou not only givest not, but even insultest Him;

and thou choosest rather to obey the devil, that thou mayest be punished, than to be persuaded by Christ and be saved.

And what could be worse than this madness? The one procures hell, the other a kingdom;

and forsaking this One, ye run to that one.

And him who draws near ye send away, but him who is far off ye call to yourselves.

And the same thing happens as if a king, having his purple robe and offering a diadem, could not persuade, but a robber, brandishing a sword and threatening death, could persuade.

Considering these things then, beloved, let us at length open our eyes, late though it be, and come to our senses again.

For indeed I am now ashamed to be speaking about almsgiving, because, having so often spoken upon this subject, I have accomplished nothing worthy of the exhortation.

For something more indeed has come to pass, yet not so much as I wished.

For I see you sowing indeed, but not with a bountiful hand.

Wherefore I also fear lest ye should reap sparingly.

For that we sow sparingly, let us examine, if it seem good, which are more numerous in the city, the poor or the rich;

and which are neither poor nor rich, but hold the middle station.

For example, a tenth part are of the rich, and a tenth part are of the poor who have nothing at all;

and the rest are of those in the middle.

Let us then divide the whole multitude of the city among those who are in need, and ye shall see how great the shame is.

For those who are exceedingly rich are few;

those who come after them are many;

and again, the poor are far fewer than these.

Yet, although there are so many who are able to feed the hungry, many lie down to sleep while still hungry;

not because those who have could not easily supply their needs, but because of their great cruelty and inhumanity.

For if both the rich and those who rank after them were to divide among themselves those who need bread and clothing, scarcely one poor man would fall to the lot of fifty men, or even a hundred.

And yet, even amid such an abundance of those who could care for them, the poor lament day by day.

And that you may learn their inhumanity: the Church, which has the income of but one of the poorer well-to-do and of those who are not exceedingly rich, consider how many widows she supports every day, how many virgins;

for indeed the list of them has reached the number of three thousand.

Besides these, she provides for those who dwell in prison, for those who lie sick in the guest-house, for the healthy, for travellers, for those maimed in body, for those who attend upon the altar—both for food and for clothing—and simply for

who come to her every day;

and in nothing has her substance been diminished.

So that if only ten men were willing to spend in this way, there would be no poor man at all.

"And what," someone says, "would our children have to inherit?" The principal would remain, and the income would again grow greater, since their possessions would be laid up for them as treasure in heaven.

But you are not willing to do it thus? Then do it with half, or with a third part, or with a fourth, or even with a tenth.

For by the grace of God our city could feed the poor of ten cities.

And if you wish, let us make some reckoning of these matters;

or rather, there is no need even of reckoning;

for the ease of the thing is plain of itself.

Consider, then, the public liturgies: how much a single household has often spent without shrinking, and without so much as feeling the expense in the least;

if each of the rich were willing to render such a service to the poor, in a brief moment of time he would have seized heaven.

What pardon, then, could there be, what shadow of excuse, when we do not, even out of those things from which we are altogether to be parted when we are led away from here, impart to the needy with such lavishness as others bestow upon players on the stage—and that though we are to reap so great a harvest from these gifts? For even if we were to abide here forever, we ought not so to spare this noble expense; but when a little while hence we shall be led away from here and dragged off, stripped of everything, what defense shall we have, if we do not supply even out of our income to those who are famished and choking with hunger? For I do not even compel you to lessen your substance;

not because I do not wish it, but because I see that you are exceedingly reluctant.

but spend out of the fruits, and lay up nothing as treasure from this.

It is enough for you to have the wealth of your income flowing to you as from a fountain;

make the poor partakers with you, and become a good steward of the things given to you by God.

"But I pay taxes," he says.

Is it then for this reason that you make light of it—because here no one exacts payment? To that one—who takes with compulsion and by torture, whether the land yields or does not yield—you dare not speak against him;

yet to Him who is so gentle, and who then asks only when the land has yielded, you do not answer even so much as a word? And who shall deliver you from those intolerable punishments? There is none.

For if, because a most grievous vengeance will there certainly follow upon him who does not give, you therefore become diligent about payment, consider that here too it is more grievous;

not the being bound, nor the being cast into prison, but the departing into the eternal fire.

For all these reasons, therefore, let us first pay down these taxes.

For great is the ease of it, and greater the reward, and more abundant the gain, and worse the punishment for us if we are ungrateful.

For a punishment awaits that has no end.

But if you tell me of the soldiers who wage war against the barbarians on your behalf, here too there is an army—that of the poor—and a war which the poor wage on your behalf.

For when they receive, by praying they render God propitious to you;

and rendering Him propitious, they beat back, in place of barbarians, the plots of the demons;

they do not permit the evil one to be violent, nor to assault continually, but they break down his strength.

Seeing, therefore, these soldiers day by day boxing against the devil on your behalf through their supplications and prayers, exact from yourself this noble contribution—their sustenance.

For this King, being gentle, has not given you those who exact payment, but wills that you pay it down of your own free will;

Even if you contribute but little, He accepts it;

and if, being in want, you should pay it in only after a long while, He does not press the man who has nothing.

Let us not, then, despise His long-suffering, but let us lay up for ourselves not wrath, but salvation;

not chastisement and punishment, but honors and crowns.

Here there is no need to pay a fee for the conveyance of what is brought in; here there is no toiling to turn it into money.

If you but lay it down, the Master Himself transfers it into heaven for you;

He Himself makes the venture more profitable for you.

Here there is no need to find an escort for what has been deposited;

only lay it down, and at once it goes up.

not that other soldiers may be fed by it, but that it may remain yours, together with much gain from the trade.

For here, whatever you may give, it is not possible to recover;

but there you will receive them all back again with much honor, and you will gain greater and more spiritual profits.

Here what is given is a demanding back;

there it is a lending, a loan, and a debt owed.

For God has even made out bonds to you;

for it says, 'He that has pity on the poor lends to God.'

He has given you both an earnest and sureties, and this though He is God.

What kind of earnest? The things in the present life, the sensible things, the spiritual things, the foretastes of the things to come.

Why then do you delay and hang back, having already received so much and expecting so much more? For the things you have received, these are they:

He Himself has put a soul within you;

He has honored you with reason alone above all the creatures on earth;

He has given you the use of all things visible;

He has freely bestowed on you the knowledge of Himself;

He has given up His Son for you;

He has bestowed on you a baptism laden with so many good things;

He has given you a holy table;

He has promised you a kingdom and the good things that cannot be uttered.

Having received, then, so much, and being about to receive so much (for again I will say the same thing), do you count the cost over perishing riches? And what pardon will you have? But surely you are looking to your children, and on their account you draw back? Nay, teach them too to gain such gains as these.

For indeed, if you had money lent out at interest, and then had a debtor who was honest, you would ten thousand times over choose to leave to your child the bond rather than the gold, so that his revenues might be many, and that he might not be compelled to go about and seek out others to borrow from.

So now also give this bond to your children, and leave God to them as their debtor.

But you do not sell your fields and give them to your children; rather you let them be, so that the revenue may remain, and that the increase of wealth may thereby become greater for them;

yet this bond, which is more abundant than any field or revenues, and which bears so much fruit, are you afraid to leave behind? And of how great folly and madness would this be? And that too, knowing that even if you leave it to them, you yourself will also take it and depart with it again.

For such are the things of the Spirit;

it has great bounty.

Let us not, then, be poor, nor become inhuman and cruel toward our own selves, but let us traffic in this goodly merchandise;

that we too, having received it, may depart, and may leave it to our own sons, and may attain the good things to come, 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 ages.