Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 85

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear.

Then Jesus says to him:

'Put your sword back into its place;

for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword.'

'Or do you think that I cannot call upon My Father, and He will at once furnish Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must come to pass?' Who was this one who cut off the ear? John says that it was Peter.

For the deed was in keeping with his fervor.

But that other point is worth inquiring into: for what reason were they carrying swords? For that they were carrying them is plain not only from this, but also from what they said when questioned, namely, 'There are two here.'

And for what reason did Christ permit them to have them? For Luke too says this, that He said to them:

'When I sent you out without purse, and bag, and sandals, did you lack anything?' And when they said, 'Nothing,' He said to them:

'But now let him who has a purse take it, and likewise a bag;'

'and let him who has none sell his cloak and buy a sword.'

And when they said, 'Behold, here are two swords,' He said to them, 'It is enough.'

Why then did He allow them to have swords? To assure them that He was to be betrayed.

For this reason He says to them, 'Let him buy a sword';

yet it was through this that He was making plain the betrayal.

And why does He also mention a bag? Henceforth He was training them to be sober and watchful, and to employ much diligence of their own.

For at the beginning, since they were inexperienced, He cherished them greatly by His power;

but now, as though leading young birds out of the nest, He bids them also to use their own wings.

Then, lest they should suppose that He was leaving them to themselves out of weakness—while bidding them also to work by their own efforts—He reminds them of former things, saying:

'When I sent you out without a purse, did you lack anything?'—so that through both they might learn His strength: both in that by which He formerly protected them, and in that by which He now quietly withdraws.

But whence came the swords there? They had come out from supper and from the table.

It is likely, then, that there were also knives there on account of the lamb;

and that these disciples, having heard that certain men would come against Him, took them for their aid, intending to fight on behalf of their Teacher—

which was merely a matter of their own mind and intention.

Therefore Peter too is rebuked for using it, and with a vehement threat.

For indeed he warded off the servant who came, hotly it is true, yet not defending himself, but doing this on behalf of his Teacher.

Nevertheless, Christ did not permit any harm to be done.

For He healed the man and displayed a great miracle, sufficient to reveal both His forbearance and His power, as well as the disciple's tender love and gentleness;

for that former deed was done out of tender affection, and this present one out of ready obedience.

For having heard, 'Put your sword back into its sheath,' he immediately obeyed, and thereafter nowhere does he do this again.

Another Evangelist says that they even asked, 'Shall we strike?'

but He prevented it, and healed that man, and rebuked the disciple, and threatened him, that He might persuade him.

'For all who take the sword,' He says, 'shall perish by the sword.'

And He adds a reason, saying:

'Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled?'

By these words He quenched their wrath, showing that this too was in accordance with the Scriptures.

For this reason there also He prayed, that they might bear what befell with meekness, having learned that it was again taking place according to God's purpose.

And by these two things He comforted them: both by the punishment of those who plotted against Him—

'for all who take the sword,' He says, 'shall perish by the sword'—

and by the fact that He was not enduring these things unwillingly;

'For I am able,' He says, 'to appeal to My Father.'

'Or do you think that I Myself am not able to destroy them all?'—for He would have been more convincing had He said this;

for they did not yet hold the fitting opinion concerning Him.

And a little before He had said, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death';

and, 'Father, let this cup pass from Me';

and He was seen in agony and in sweat, and strengthened by an angel.

Since, therefore, He had displayed many human traits, He would not have seemed to speak convincingly, had He said

'Do you think that I am not able to destroy them?' For this reason He says:

'What, do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father?' And this too He again declares humbly, saying:

He will furnish Me with twelve legions of angels.

For if a single angel slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in arms, what need was there of twelve legions against a thousand men? But He frames His words to suit their fear and their weakness;

for indeed they were as good as dead with dread.

For this reason too He fortifies Himself with the Scriptures, saying,

'How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled?'—striking fear into them from this side as well.

For if this seems good to those Scriptures, do you set yourselves against them by fighting? (2)

And these things He says to the disciples; but to those others He says,

'Are you come out as against a robber, with swords and staves to take Me? Daily I sat teaching in the temple, and you did not lay hold of Me.'

See how many things He does that were able to rouse them.

He cast them flat upon their backs, He healed the servant's ear, He threatened them with slaughter;

'For they that take the sword,' He says, 'shall perish by the sword.'

And by the healing of the ear He confirmed these words as well;

on every side—from things present and from things to come—displaying His power, and showing that it was no work of their own strength that He had been seized.

'Daily I was with you, and sat teaching, and you did not lay hold of Me;'

hereby also making plain that it was by His own permission that they took Him.

Passing over the miracles, He speaks of His teaching, so as not to seem to be boasting.

'When I was teaching, you did not lay hold of Me;'

'when I fell silent, did you come upon Me? I was in the temple, and no one seized Me;'

'but now, at an unseasonable hour and in the middle of the night, you have set upon Me with swords and staves? What need was there of these weapons against One who was ever among you?'—teaching from this that, had He not yielded willingly, they would not even then have prevailed.

For those who, when He was in their very hands, were not able to hold Him fast, who had Him in their midst and yet did not overpower Him, would not even then have prevailed, had He not willed it.

Then He resolves the difficulty as well—why He willed it at that time.

'For this has come to pass,' He says, 'that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.'

Do you see how, up to the very last hour, and in the very act of being betrayed, He did everything for their amendment—healing, prophesying, threatening?

'For by the sword,' He says, 'they shall perish;'

'For daily,' He says, 'I was with you, teaching;'

making plain His concord with the Father;

'that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.'

But why did they not seize Him in the temple? Because they would not have dared to do so in the temple, on account of the crowd.

Wherefore He also went outside, giving them free scope both by the place and by the time, and up to the last hour taking away their excuse.

For how should He who, in order to yield obedience to the prophets, delivered up even Himself, teach anything contrary to them? 'Then all His disciples,' it says, 'forsook Him and fled.'

For while He was being seized, they remained;

but when He had spoken these words to the crowds, they fled.

For they saw at length that it was no longer possible to escape, since He was willingly delivering Himself up to them and saying that this came to pass according to the Scriptures.

And when they had fled, they led Him away to Caiaphas;

but Peter followed and went in, to see what the end would be.

Great was the ardor of the disciple;

for though he saw the others fleeing, he did not flee, but stood his ground and went in with Him.

And if John did so too, yet he was known to the high priest.

And why did they lead Him there, where all were gathered together? That they might do everything with the consent of the chief priests.

For he was high priest at that time, and all were awaiting Him there on the spot.

Thus they passed the whole night awake and kept vigil for this purpose.

For at that time, he says, they had not yet eaten the Passover, but for this very reason they kept watch.

For John, having said that it was early morning, went on to add:

They did not enter into the praetorium, lest they be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

What then is one to say? That on another day they ate it, and broke the law, because of their eager desire for this slaughter.

For Christ would not have transgressed the season of the Passover; rather it was those men, who dared everything and trampled upon countless laws.

For since they were seething violently with rage, and though they had often attempted to kill Him, they had not been able,

unexpectedly they chose even to let the Passover go, in order to glut their murderous desire.

Therefore they all gathered together, and there was a council of pestilent men, and they question a certain man, wishing to cast about this plot the appearance of a court of justice.

For the testimonies were not even consistent, he says;

so fabricated was the tribunal, and everything full of uproar and confusion.

And false witnesses came and said that This man declared, I will destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

And indeed He did say, In three days; yet He did not say, I will destroy, but, Destroy ye;

and not even about that temple, but about His own body.

What then does the high priest do? Wishing to bring Him to make a defence, so that from it he might catch Him, he says:

Do you not hear what these testify against you? But He kept silent.

For any defence would have been useless, since no one was listening.

For this was but the outward form of a tribunal;

but in truth it was the assault of robbers, as of men falling upon one simply in a cave or on the road.

I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Nevertheless I say to you, henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming upon the clouds.

Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He has blasphemed.

This he did to make the accusation more severe, and to heighten by the deed the words that had been spoken.

For since what had been said threw the hearers into fear, just as they did in the case of Stephen, stopping their ears, this man did the same thing here also.

And yet what sort of blasphemy was this? For even before this He had said, when they were gathered together:

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand; and He interpreted what had been said;

and they dared say nothing, but were silent, and from that time forth no longer contradicted Him.

How then did they now call what was said blasphemy? And for what reason did Christ answer in this way? To take away all their defence, since even to the last day He kept teaching that He was the Christ, and that He sits at the right hand of the Father, and that He would come again to judge the world—which showed His full accord with the Father.

Having therefore rent his garments, he says:

What think ye? He does not bring the sentence from himself, but calls it forth from them, as though upon confessed offences and manifest blasphemy.

For since they knew that, if the matter came to examination and careful inquiry, it would acquit Him of every charge, they condemn Him among themselves, and forestall the hearers by saying, You have heard the blasphemy—all but compelling and forcing them to render the verdict.

What then say those men? He is guilty of death;

so that, having taken Him as one already condemned, they might thereupon prevail on Pilate to pass sentence.

Which those men also, being aware of, say, He is guilty of death;

themselves accusing, themselves judging, themselves passing sentence, themselves becoming everything at that time.

But why did they not bring forward the matter of the sabbaths? Because He had often silenced them on that;

and besides, they wished to catch and condemn Him from the very things then being said.

And having first got in ahead, and drawn the verdict from them, and swept them all along by rending his tunic, he then led Him away to Pilate as one already condemned, and thus did everything.

At any rate, before Pilate they say no such thing;

but what? If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.

endeavoring to make away with Him on public charges.

And why did they not slay Him secretly? They wished also to defame His glory.

For since many had already heard Him, and marveled at Him and were astonished, on this account they were eager that He should be slaughtered publicly and in the sight of all.

But Christ did not hinder it; rather, He turned their wickedness to the establishing of the truth, so that His death should become manifest to all.

And the very opposite of what they intended came to pass.

For they wished to make a spectacle of Him, as though thereby putting Him to shame;

but He shone forth all the more even through these very things.

And just as they said, 'Let us kill Him, lest the Romans come

and take away both our city and our nation,' and after they had slain Him this very thing came to pass;

so also here, they were eager to crucify Him publicly, that they might injure His glory, and the very opposite came out.

For that they had authority to slay Him even by themselves, hear what Pilate says:

'Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.'

But they would not, in order that He might seem to have been slain as a lawbreaker, as a tyrant, as a seditious man.

For this reason too they crucified robbers together with Him;

'Do not write, This is the King of the Jews, but that He said so.'

But all these things came to pass on behalf of the truth, so that they might not have so much as a shadow of even a shameless defense.

And at the tomb likewise the seals and the guards rather made the truth to shine forth;

and the mockeries and the jeers and the revilings again wrought this very same effect.

By the very means through which one plots, he is undone;

even so, then, it happened here also.

For those who seemed to have conquered, these most of all were put to shame, and were defeated, and perished;

but He who seemed to have been vanquished, this One most of all shone forth, and conquered mightily.

Let us not then seek to conquer everywhere, nor everywhere flee from being defeated.

There is a case where victory brings harm, but defeat brings profit.

For in the case of those who give way to anger, he who has heaped up many insults seems to have prevailed;

but this is the very man who has been defeated by the most grievous passion, and has suffered harm;

while he who bore it nobly, this man got the upper hand and conquered.

And the one could not even quench his own malady;

but the other did away even with another's;

and the one was overcome by his own passion;

but the other got the mastery even over another's, and not only was he himself not burned up, but he also quenched the flame that had been raised on high by the other.

But if he had willed to win what seems to be victory, he too would have been defeated, and by kindling the other into a yet more grievous state he would have brought this about, and, like women, both would have been shamefully and pitiably overthrown by anger.

But as it is, he who practiced wisdom was delivered even from this shame, and set up a glorious trophy against wrath, both in himself and in his neighbor, through the noble defeat.

Let us not then seek to conquer everywhere.

For indeed the one who has taken advantage has conquered the one who was defrauded, but it is an evil victory, and one that brings ruin to the victor;

but he who was defrauded, and seemed to have been vanquished, if he bore it with wisdom, this man most of all is the one who holds the crown.

For in many cases to be defeated is better, and this is the best manner of victory.

For whether one defrauds, or strikes, or envies, he who is defeated and does not close in combat, this is the one who conquers.

And why do I speak of greed and envy? For indeed he who is dragged to martyrdom conquers in this way, being bound and scourged and cut to pieces and slaughtered.

And that which in wars is defeat, namely the falling of the combatant, this with us is victory.

For nowhere do we conquer by doing evil, but everywhere by suffering evil.

In this way the victory becomes the more glorious, when by suffering we prevail over those who act against us.

From this it is shown that the victory belongs to God.

For indeed it holds a nature contrary to that of the world outside;

and this is above all the proof of strength.

So too the rocks of the sea break up the waves by being struck by them;

in this same way all the saints were proclaimed victors and crowned, and set up their brilliant trophies, winning this untroubled victory.

Do not so much as stir yourself, he says, nor grow weary with toil;

God has given you this strength, that you should conquer not by grappling, but merely by enduring.

Do not draw up your battle-line on equal terms with him, and you have conquered;

do not grapple with him, and you have been crowned.

You are far better than your adversary, and mightier.

Why do you put yourself to shame? Do not give him occasion to say, 'I got the better of you by grappling'; but let him stand amazed and marvel at your unconquerable power, and say to all, 'He conquered even without joining battle.'

So too the blessed Joseph was proclaimed victor, everywhere prevailing by his suffering over those who wronged him.

For both his brothers and the Egyptian woman were among those who plotted against him;

yet over them all he prevailed.

For do not speak to me of the prison which he inhabited, nor of the

palace in which that woman spent her days;

but show me who was the conquered, who the defeated, who was in despondency, who was in pleasure.

For she had strength to master neither the righteous man nor even her own passion;

but he prevailed both over her and over that grievous malady.

And if you wish, listen to their very words, and you will see the trophy.

'You have brought in to us here a Hebrew servant to mock us.'

It was not this man who mocked you, O wretched and miserable woman, but the devil, who told you that you could shatter the adamant.

It was not this man who brought in to you a Hebrew servant to plot against you, but the wicked demon who brought in that unclean licentiousness;

What then does Joseph do? He keeps silence, and is thus condemned, just as Christ also was.

For all those things were types of these.

And the one was in bonds, while the other was in the royal palace.

And what of that? For he was more resplendent than any crowned victor, even while he remained in chains;

while she was in a more wretched state than any prisoner, though she passed her time in the royal chambers.

And it is possible to see the victory and the defeat not only from this, but also from the very outcome.

For which of the two did what he or she wished? The prisoner, and not the queen.

For the one was zealous to preserve his chastity, while the other sought to strip it away.

Who then accomplished what was wished—the one who suffered wrong, or the one who did wrong? It is plain that it was the one who suffered.

Therefore this is the one who has conquered.

Knowing these things, then, let us pursue this victory, the one that comes through suffering evil;

and let us flee from that other, the one that comes through doing evil.

For in this way we shall both pass the present life in all freedom from trouble and with much tranquillity, and shall attain the good things to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of ages.