Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 76

'And Jesus went out from the temple, and was departing.'

'And His disciples came to Him, to show Him the buildings of the temple.'

'But He answered and said unto them:'

'Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.'

For since He had said, 'Your house is left unto you desolate,' and had foretold to them beforehand countless grievous things,

then the disciples, having heard these things, came to Him as though marvelling, pointing out the beauty of the temple, and wondering greatly whether

so great a beauty should be brought to nothing, together with the costliness of its material and the unspeakable variety of its craftsmanship;

He no longer speaks to them simply of desolation, but foretells the utter destruction.

'For do you not see all these things,' He says, 'and marvel and are astounded? There shall not be left one stone upon another.'

And what of this? For not even so did the sentence utterly fail of fulfilment.

For either He said these things to signify the complete desolation;

or He meant it of that particular place where He then was.

For there are parts of it that have been demolished down to the very foundations.

And besides these things we might also say this, that from what has already come to pass, even those who are exceedingly contentious ought to be persuaded, concerning the remnants also, that they will utterly perish.

'And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying:'

'Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the consummation of the age?' For this reason they came to Him privately, inasmuch as they meant to inquire about such matters.

For indeed they were in travail to learn the day of His coming, because they exceedingly desired to behold that glory which is the cause of countless good things.

And they ask Him these two things:

'When shall these things be?'—that is, the razing of the temple;

and, 'What shall be the sign of Your coming?' But Luke says the question was one, namely concerning Jerusalem, inasmuch as they supposed His coming also to be at that time.

And Mark says that it was not even all of them who asked about the consummation of Jerusalem, but Peter and John, inasmuch as they had greater boldness.

What then does He Himself say? 'Take heed that no man lead you astray.'

'For many shall come in My name, saying:'

'I am the Christ; and they shall lead many astray.'

'And you shall be about to hear of wars and rumours of wars.'

'for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.'

For since they were disposed as though hearing of another's punishment—that which was to be brought upon Jerusalem—and as though they themselves would be outside the tumults, and dreamed only of good things, and expected these to meet them very soon;

for this reason He again foretells to them grievous things, making them anxious, and bidding them to be doubly watchful, so that they might neither be beguiled by the deceit of those who lead astray, nor be overpowered by the tyranny of the evils that would overtake them.

'For the war,' He says, 'shall be twofold: both that of the deceivers, and that of the enemies;'

but that former one is far more grievous, inasmuch as it assails men amid the confusion and turmoil of affairs, when they are afraid and troubled.

For great indeed was the tempest at that time, as the power of the Romans was beginning to flourish, and cities were being taken, and armies and arms were being set in motion, and many things were readily believed.

And by 'wars' He means those in Jerusalem;

for surely not those from without and throughout all the world;

for what concern of theirs were those? And besides, He would have been saying nothing new, if He were speaking of the sufferings of the world, which are always coming to pass.

For even before this there had been wars and tumults and battles;

but He speaks of the Jewish wars as coming upon them from no great distance;

for henceforth the affairs of the Romans were a matter of anxious concern to them.

Since then these things too were sufficient to throw them into confusion, He foretells them all.

Then, showing that He Himself will also join in assailing and warring against the Jews, He speaks not of battles only, but also of God-sent plagues—famines and pestilences and earthquakes—showing that He Himself also permitted the wars to come, and that these things do not happen merely of themselves, according to the custom that formerly prevailed among men, but out of the wrath from above.

For this reason He says that these things will not come simply, nor all at once, but with signs.

For lest the Jews should say that those who had then believed were the cause of these evils, for this reason He also told them the cause of their being brought upon them.

'For truly I say to you,' He said before, 'all these things shall come upon this generation,' calling to mind their blood-guiltiness.

Then, lest on hearing of the snowstorms of evils they should suppose that the preaching would be torn apart, He added:

'See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass' — that is, the things which I have foretold; and the onset of the trials shall in nowise break off any of the things spoken by Me.

But though there shall be tumult and confusion, yet nothing shall shake My oracles.

Since He had said to the Jews:

'Ye shall not see Me, until ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.'

Now the disciples supposed that at the same time as the overthrow the consummation also would come to pass.

And correcting this false surmise of theirs, He said:

For that they suspected the matter to be as I have said, learn from their very question.

For what did they ask? 'When shall these things be?' — that is, When shall Jerusalem be destroyed? 'And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age?' But He made no immediate answer to this question of theirs; rather He first speaks of those pressing matters, and of the things which it was needful to learn first.

For neither concerning Jerusalem did He speak at once, nor concerning His second coming;

but concerning the evils that were about to meet them at the very doors.

Wherefore also He puts them on their guard, saying:

'Take heed that no man deceive you;'

'for many shall come in My name, saying:'

Then, having roused them to the hearing of these things:

(For 'Take heed,' He says, 'that no man deceive you;') and having made them anxious, and prepared them to be sober, and having first told of the false Christs, then He speaks of the evils of Jerusalem, always confirming the things to come from the things already done, even to the senseless and the contentious.

And by 'wars and rumours of wars,' as I said before, He means the tumults that were coming upon them.

Then, since, as I also said before, they thought that after that war the end would come, see how He makes them secure, saying:

'For nation shall rise against nation,' He says, 'and kingdom against kingdom.'

He is speaking of the preludes of the Jewish calamities.

'But all these are the beginning of sorrows;'

that is, of the things that were befalling them.

'Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you.'

Seasonably did He introduce their own sufferings, which had their consolation from the common ones;

and not only in this way, but also by adding, 'For My name's sake.'

'For ye shall be,' He says, 'hated of all men for My name's sake.'

'Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another;'

'and many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.'

'And because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold;'

'but he that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.'

This is a greater evil, when the war is also a civil one;

for many false brethren have arisen.

Sawest thou the war to be threefold — that from the deceivers, that from the enemies, that from the false brethren? Behold Paul also lamenting these same things, and saying:

'Without were fightings, within were fears;'

and, 'In perils among false brethren;'

'For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.'

Then again the hardest of all, that they shall not even have the consolation that comes from love.

Then, showing that none of these things shall harm the noble and steadfast man, 'Fear not,' He says, 'neither be troubled.'

For if ye display the endurance that becomes you, the terrors shall not prevail over you.

And of this there is a clear proof, namely, that the preaching shall by all means be proclaimed everywhere throughout the inhabited world;

thus shall ye be higher than the terrors.

For lest they should say, 'How then shall we live?' He told them something greater: that 'you shall both live and teach everywhere.'

'And this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations.'

That is, the consummation of Jerusalem.

For that it was of this He spoke, and that even before the capture of the city the Gospel had been preached, hear what Paul says:

'Their sound went out into all the earth.'

And again, 'Of the Gospel which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.'

And you see him hastening from Jerusalem all the way to Spain.

But if one man laid hold of so great a portion, consider also how much the rest accomplished.

For indeed, writing to others again, Paul spoke concerning the Gospel, that 'it is bearing fruit and increasing in all creation that is under heaven.'

But what does 'for a testimony unto all the nations' mean? Since it was indeed preached everywhere, yet not believed everywhere, 'for a testimony,' He says, unto those who disbelieved;

that is, for a reproof, for an accusation, for a witness against them.

For those who believed shall bear witness against those who did not believe, and shall condemn them.

And it is for this reason that, after the Gospel had been preached everywhere throughout the inhabited world, Jerusalem is destroyed: so that they who were unthankful might not have so much as a shadow of an excuse.

For those who saw His power shining forth everywhere, and in a moment laying hold of the whole world, what pardon could they thereafter have, if they remained in the same ingratitude? For that it was then preached everywhere, hear what Paul says:

'Of the Gospel which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.'

And this too is a very great sign of the power of Christ, that in twenty or even thirty whole years the word had taken hold of the uttermost ends of the inhabited world.

'After this, then,' He says, 'shall come the end of Jerusalem.'

For that this is what He was hinting at, what follows makes plain.

For He added a prophecy as well, confirming their destruction, and saying:

'But when you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place'—

He referred them to Daniel.

And by 'abomination' He means the statue of him who then took the city, which he who laid the city and the temple waste set up within;

wherefore also He calls it the abomination of desolation.

Then, that they might learn that these things would take place while some of them were yet living, He said for this reason:

'When you shall see the abomination of desolation.'

And from these things above all might one marvel at the power of Christ and the courage of those men, that they preached in such times, in which the Jewish affairs were most fiercely warred against, in which they were regarded above all as seditious, when Caesar had commanded that they all be driven out.

And the same thing befell them as if, when the sea was raised up on every side, and darkness held all the air, and shipwreck followed upon shipwreck, and all those sailing together above were in mutiny, and beasts were coming up from below and along with the waves devouring the voyagers, and thunderbolts were hurled, and pirates were about, and those within were plotting against one another—as if one should command men unskilled in seafaring, who had never even seen the sea, to sit at the tiller, and to steer and to fight at sea, and with a single small skiff—one, as I said, so tossed about—to sink and to master a boundless fleet advancing with great battle-array.

For indeed they were hated by the Gentiles, as being Jews;

and by the Jews they were stoned, as making war upon their own laws;

so that all things were cliffs and crags and jagged rocks—the things in the cities, the things in the countryside, the things in the houses;

and each single one made war upon them—both general and ruler and private man, and all the nations, and all the peoples;

and there was a tumult such as could not be set forth in words.

For the race of the Jews was exceedingly hateful to the Roman empire, inasmuch as it had caused them countless troubles;

and yet not even from this quarter was the preaching harmed;

but while the city was carried off as plunder and set on fire, and inflicted countless evils upon its inhabitants,

those apostles who were from that very place, bringing in new laws, prevailed even over the Romans.

O what new and marvellous things!

Countless myriads of Jews the Romans then subdued, yet of twelve men they could not get the better, though these fought against them naked and unarmed.

What words could set forth this marvel? For indeed these two things must belong to those who teach: both that they be worthy of trust, and that they be loved by those whom they are teaching;

and together with these, and besides these, that the things spoken be readily acceptable, and that the season be free from tumult and uproar.

But at that time everything was set against them.

For they neither seemed worthy of credit, and they were drawing away those who had been deceived from the very men who were reckoned to be worthy of credit;

they were not loved, but were even hated; and they were leading men away from those whom they loved, and from their customs, their ancestral traditions, and their laws.

Again, the commands they laid down carried great difficulty;

while in the things from which they drew men away there was great pleasure.

Many perils, and many deaths, did they themselves and those who obeyed them endure;

and along with all these things the season itself presented great difficulty, being full of wars, of tumults, of turmoil;

and this was enough of the things mentioned utterly to throw everything into confusion.

Who shall speak of the mighty acts of the Lord, who shall make all His praises to be heard? For if His own people, though Moses came with signs, did not listen to him, on account merely of the clay and the brick-making, while day by day they were being beaten and slaughtered and suffering things past cure, then who persuaded these men to withdraw from a life free of trouble, and to prefer to it this perilous life, full of blood and deaths — and that when those who preached to them were foreigners, and exceedingly hostile on every side? For let no one bring the man who is hated by all in the house into whole nations and cities and peoples, but only into a small household, and let him through this man strive to draw them away from those they love, from father and wife and children;

will he not be seen torn to pieces before he opens his mouth? And if there be also strife and quarrel between wife and husband in the house, will they not, before he sets foot on the threshold, stone him and make away with him?

And if he be also a contemptible person, and lay down burdensome injunctions, and bid those who live luxuriously to practise self-denial, and if besides all this the contest be against far more numerous and far more powerful men than himself, is it not perfectly plain that he will altogether perish? Yet nevertheless this very thing, which is impossible to be brought about in a single household, this Christ accomplished throughout the whole inhabited world, through precipices and furnaces and ravines and crags, through land and sea being warred against, bringing in the physicians of the whole world.

And if you wish to learn these things more clearly — the famines, I mean, the pestilences, the earthquakes, and the other tragedies — go through the history composed by Josephus concerning these matters, and you will know everything with exactness.

For this reason He Himself also said, Be not troubled;

and, He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved;

and, The Gospel shall by all means be preached in the whole world.

For seeing that they were becoming faint and unnerved through fear of the things spoken of, He braces them up, saying that even though ten thousand things happen, the Gospel must be preached everywhere in the inhabited world, and then the end shall come.

Do you see how affairs stood at that time, and how varied the warfare was? And this at the beginning, when above all every one of the things being accomplished needed much tranquillity. How then did matters stand? For nothing hinders us from taking up the same points once more.

The first war was that of the deceivers;

For there shall come, He says, false Christs and false prophets;

For you shall be about, He says, to hear of wars;

the third, that which brings on the famines;

the fourth, that of the pestilences and earthquakes;

They shall deliver you up unto afflictions;

the sixth, You shall be hated of all;

the seventh, They shall betray one another and shall hate one another;

here He indicates civil war;

then false Christs and false brethren;

then, Love shall wax cold — the cause of all evils.

Do you see ten thousand kinds of wars, new and strange? Yet nevertheless, together with these and with far more (for with the civil war there was mingled the war of kinsfolk as well), the preaching prevailed over the whole inhabited world.

For the Gospel, He says, shall be preached in the whole world.

Where then are they who set up against the doctrines of the Church the tyranny of nativity and the revolution of the seasons? For who ever recorded that another Christ appeared, that any such thing came to pass? And yet they say other things falsely, that a hundred thousand years have passed;

but this they cannot even so much as invent.

What revolution, then, would you speak of? For neither Sodom, nor Gomorrah, nor any other deluge ever came to pass again.

How long will you keep playing, talking of revolution and nativity? How then, one says, do many of the things foretold come to pass? Because you have made yourself desolate of God's help, and have betrayed yourself, and have set yourself outside of His providence; for this cause the demon turns your affairs about as he pleases, and shifts them.

But not so in the case of the saints — nay, not even in the case of us sinners, who exceedingly despise it.

For even if our life be not endurable, yet because by the grace of God we hold fast to the doctrines of the truth with much exactness, we are above the plotting of the demons.

But altogether, what in the world is nativity? Nothing else than injustice and confusion,

and that all things are borne along at random;

or rather, not at random only, but also with unreason.

And if there is no nativity, one says, from where does such a man grow rich? From where is such a man poor? I do not know.

For thus, in the meantime, will I reason with you, teaching you not to busy yourself curiously about everything, nor simply and at random to be carried away by these matters.

For merely because you are ignorant of this, you are not therefore bound to fabricate things that have no existence.

It is better to be honorably ignorant than to learn amiss.

For he who does not know the cause will quickly come to the reasonable one;

but he who, because he does not know the true cause, fashions one that is not true, will not be able easily to receive the true one; rather, he needs more toil and sweat, so as first to do away with the former error.

For even upon a tablet, when it has been wiped clean, one may easily write whatever he pleases;

but when it is already engraved, no longer so easily;

for one must first efface what has been badly written.

And in the case of physicians too, he who administers nothing at all is far better than he who applies harmful remedies;

and he who builds unsoundly is worse than he who does not build at all;

just as also the ground that has nothing in it is far better than that which has thorns.

Let us not, then, run after learning everything, but let us endure to be ignorant of some things also;

so that, when we find a teacher, we may not give him a double labor;

but rather, many have often remained incurably diseased, through simply falling into wicked doctrines.

For the sweat is not the same, to root up first the things that have been badly planted, and then to sow, and to plant a clean field.

For there one must first overturn, and then put in other things;

but here the hearing is already prepared.

Whence, then, is such a one rich? I will tell you now.

Some acquired wealth by God's giving, but many by His permitting.

For this is the concise and simple account.

Does He make the fornicator to be rich, and the adulterer, and the one who has lived as a harlot, and him who uses his possessions wickedly? He does not make them so, but permits them to be rich;

and great, yea, exceedingly boundless, is the difference between making and permitting.

And for what reason does He permit it at all? Because the time of judgment is not yet come, wherein each one shall receive according to his desert.

For what was more worthless than that rich man, who would not even impart of the crumbs to Lazarus? Yet nevertheless he was the most miserable of all;

for he did not become master even of a drop, and for this very reason especially, that while rich he was cruel.

For even if there be two wicked men, who here have not enjoyed the same things, but the one in wealth, the other in poverty, they shall not be punished alike there, but the more prosperous more severely.

You see, at least, that this man also suffers more dreadful things, because he received his good things? You too, therefore, when you see one who is unjustly rich prospering, groan, weep;

for this wealth is to him an addition to his punishment.

For as those who sin much and will not repent treasure up for themselves a treasure of wrath;

so those who, together with not being punished, also enjoy prosperity, shall undergo the greater punishment.

And this, if you will, I will show you as an example not from things to come only, but also from the present life.

For the blessed David, when he committed that sin concerning Bathsheba, and was reproved by the prophet, was for this reason especially rebuked the more severely, because, having enjoyed also much security, he was yet such as he was.

Hear, at least, God chiefly reproaching him with this:

Did I not anoint you to be king, and delivered you out of the hand of Saul, and gave you all that was your lord's, and all the house of Israel and Judah? And if that had been too little for you, I would have added to you as much again.

And why have you done this evil in My sight? For the punishments of all sins are not the same, but many and diverse, arising from times, and from persons, and from dignities, and from understanding, and from many other things.

And that what I say may become clearer, let there be set forth in the midst one single sin, fornication, and consider how many diverse punishments I find, not from myself, but from the divine Scriptures.

Did someone commit fornication before the law? He is punished in one way;

and this Paul shows:

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law.

Did someone commit fornication after the law? He shall suffer more grievous things;

For as many as have sinned under the law, he says, shall be judged by the law.

Being a priest? Then from his very dignity he receives the greatest addition to his punishment.

For this reason the other women who committed fornication were put to death;

but the daughters of the priests were burned with fire, the Lawgiver thereby showing abundantly how great a chastisement awaits the priest himself when he commits this sin.

For if He required a greater penalty of the daughter because she was a priest's daughter, much more of the consecrated priest himself.

Was a woman violated by force? She is thereby freed from punishment;

was one who committed fornication rich, and another poor? Here again there is a difference.

And this is plain from what we said before concerning David.

Did someone commit fornication after the coming of Christ? If he departs uninitiated, he shall suffer a punishment more grievous than all those.

Did someone commit fornication after the washing of baptism? Here there is no longer even any consolation left for the sin.

And declaring this very thing, Paul said:

He that despised Moses' law dies without mercy under two or three witnesses;

of how much worse punishment, do you think, shall he be counted worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant a common thing, and has done despite to the grace of the Spirit? Did a consecrated man commit fornication now? This above all is the very summit of evils.

Do you see how many differences there are in one and the same sin? There is one before the law, another after the law, that of the consecrated man is different, that of the rich woman and of the poor, of the catechumen and of the believer, and that of the priest.

And from understanding, too, the difference is great;

for he that knew his lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.

And to sin after examples set before one brings a greater punishment.

But you, not even after seeing, did afterward repent, although you had enjoyed much healing.

For this reason He reproaches Jerusalem also with this, saying:

How often would I have gathered your children together, and you would not? And the fact that they were living in luxury;

And from the place, too, the sin becomes more grievous;

which He also declared when He said:

Between the temple and the altar.

And from the quality of the transgressions themselves;

It is no marvel if someone be caught stealing;

and again, You have slaughtered your sons and your daughters;

this is beyond all your fornications and your abominations.

And from the persons again;

If a man sin grievously against a man, they shall pray for him;

but if he sin against God, who shall pray for him? And when a man surpasses in slothfulness those who are far worse;

which He also charges against them in Ezekiel;

Neither have you done according to the ordinances of the nations.

And when a man is not brought to soberness even by the examples of others;

She saw her sister, He says, and justified her.

And when a man has enjoyed greater care;

For if the mighty works, He says, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago;

nevertheless it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for that city.

Do you see the perfect exactness, and that He does not assign to all the same penalty for the same sins? For indeed, when we have enjoyed long-suffering and gained nothing thereby, we shall suffer worse things.

And this Paul also declares, saying:

But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath.

Knowing these things, therefore, let us not be offended, nor troubled at any of the things that come to pass, nor bring in upon ourselves the tempest of anxious reasonings;

but yielding to the incomprehensibility of God's providence, let us give heed to virtue and flee from vice;

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