馬太福音講道集 第 1 章

It were indeed fitting that we should not so much as need the help that comes from writings, but that we should present a life so pure that the grace of the Spirit might serve our souls in place of books, and that, even as these are written by ink, so our hearts might be inscribed by the Spirit.

But since we have thrust away this grace, come then, let us at least welcome the second-best course.

For that the former way was the better, God made plain both by what He said and by what He did.

For indeed with Noah, and with Abraham and his descendants, and with Job, and with Moses, He conversed not by means of writings, but Himself by Himself, finding their mind to be pure.

But when the whole people of the Hebrews had fallen into the very depth of wickedness, then at length came writings and tablets, and the admonition given through these.

And one may see this happening not only in the case of the saints of the Old Covenant, but also of those in the New.

For neither to the apostles did God give anything in writing, but instead of writings He promised to give them the grace of the Spirit; for He says, 'That One shall bring all things to your remembrance.'

'For He,' He says, 'shall bring to your remembrance all things.'

And that you may learn that this was far better, hear what He says through the prophet:

'I will make with you a new covenant, putting My laws into their mind, and upon their hearts will I write them; and they shall all be taught of God.'

And Paul also, showing this superiority, said that he had received a law, not on tablets of stone, but on fleshly tablets of the heart.

But when in the course of time men had run aground—some in regard to doctrines, others in regard to life and conduct—there was need again of the admonition that comes from writings.

Consider then how great an evil it is, that we who ought so to live in purity as not even to need writings, but to offer our hearts to the Spirit in place of books—that we, having lost that honour and being brought down to the need of these, should not so much as use this second remedy rightly.

For if it is a charge against us to have needed writings and not to have drawn to ourselves the grace of the Spirit, consider how great an accusation it is, even after this help, to be unwilling to profit, but to overlook the writings as though they lay there idle and to no purpose, and thus to draw upon ourselves the greater punishment.

That this may not happen, let us give heed with all exactness to the things that are written, and learn how the old law was given, and how the New Covenant.

How then was that law given at that time, and when, and where? After the destruction of the Egyptians, in the wilderness, on Mount Sinai, with smoke and fire going up from the mountain, a trumpet sounding, thunders and lightnings occurring, and Moses entering into the very thick darkness.

But in the New it was not so;

not in a wilderness, nor on a mountain, nor with smoke and darkness and thick gloom and tempest;

but at the beginning of day, in a house, while all were seated together, everything took place with much gentleness.

For to those who were more irrational and hard to guide there was need of a bodily manifestation—such as a wilderness, a mountain, smoke, the sound of a trumpet, and other things of that kind;

but for the loftier and more obedient, who had risen above all thought of bodily things, there was no need of any of these.

And even if in their case too there was a sound, it was not for the sake of the apostles, but for the Jews who were present—for whose sake also the tongues of fire appeared.

For if even after this they said, 'They are filled with new wine,' much more, had they seen none of these things, would they have said so.

And in the Old, Moses having gone up, God thus came down;

but here, our nature having been carried up into heaven, or rather to the royal throne itself, thus does the Spirit come down.

And if the Spirit were inferior, the things that came to pass would not have been greater and more wonderful.

For indeed these tablets are far better, and the achievements more splendid.

For the apostles came not down from a mountain bearing stone tablets in their hands, as Moses did;

but carrying the Spirit about in their mind, and pouring forth as it were a treasure and a fountain of doctrines and of gifts of grace and of all good things, thus they went everywhere about, becoming, through grace, living books and laws.

Thus they drew to themselves the three thousand, thus the five thousand, thus the peoples of the whole world, God through their tongue conversing with all who came to them.

From which source also Matthew, being filled with the Spirit, wrote what he wrote;

for I am not ashamed to call him by his trade—neither him, nor the others.

For this above all shows both the grace of the Spirit and their own virtue.

And with good reason did he call his work a Gospel.

For he came proclaiming to all the abolition of punishment, the remission of sins, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, adoption as sons, the inheritance of the heavens, and kinship with the Son of God;

to enemies, to the unthankful, to those who sat in darkness.

What then could ever be equal to these good tidings? God upon earth, man in heaven;

and all things were mingled together: angels joined in the dance with men, men held fellowship with the angels and with the other powers above;

and one might see the long war brought to an end, and a reconciliation of God with our nature accomplished, the devil put to shame, demons taking flight, death abolished, paradise opened, the curse blotted out, sin done away, error driven off, truth returned, the word of godliness sown and flourishing everywhere, the polity of the world above planted upon the earth, those powers holding intercourse with us in security, angels constantly frequenting the earth, and abundant hope concerning the things to come.

For this reason he called the history a Gospel, seeing that all other things are but words devoid of substance—such as abundance of riches, greatness of power, offices and glories and honours, and all the other things that are reckoned good among men.

But the things announced by the fishermen might genuinely and properly be called good tidings, not only because they are firm and unshakable goods, and above our worth, but also because they were given to us with all ease.

For not by toiling and sweating, not by wearying ourselves and being afflicted, but simply by being loved of God, we received what we received.

And why is it that, though the disciples were so many, only two of the apostles write, and two of those who followed them? For the one being a disciple of Paul, and the other of Peter, together with John and Matthew wrote the Gospels.

Because they did nothing for the sake of vainglory, but all things for use.

What then? Was not one evangelist sufficient to tell all? He was sufficient, indeed;

but when there are four who write, not at the same times, nor in the same places, neither having met and conferred with one another, and then, as though from one mouth, they utter all things in agreement, this becomes the greatest proof of the truth.

'And yet the contrary has happened,' one says;

'for in many places they are convicted of disagreeing.'

This very thing, then, is the greatest indication of the truth.

For if they had agreed in all things exactly, even as to time and place and their very words, none of the enemies would have believed that they had not met together and written what they wrote by some human compact;

for such complete agreement does not belong to simplicity.

But as it is, even the disagreement which seems to exist in small matters frees them from all suspicion, and speaks brilliantly in defence of the character of those who wrote.

But if they have reported something differently concerning times or places, this in no way

harms the truth of the things spoken.

And these things too, as God may grant, we will endeavour to prove as we go on, asking you, along with what has been said, to observe this: that in the chief points, those which hold together our life and constitute our preaching, nowhere is any one of them found to disagree even in the least.

And what are these? For instance, that God became man, that He wrought miracles, that He was crucified, that He was buried, that He rose again, that He ascended, that He is to judge, that He gave saving commandments, that He introduced a law not contrary to the Old, that He is Son, that He is Only-begotten, that He is true, that He is of the same essence with the Father, and all such things;

for concerning these we shall find that there is much agreement among them.

But if in the miracles they did not all tell all things, but one this and another that, let not this trouble you;

for if one had told everything, the number of the rest would have been superfluous;

and if all had written things entirely different and novel in relation to one another, the proof of agreement would not have appeared.

For this reason they both discoursed of many things in common, and each of them took something of his own and told it, that neither might any one of them seem superfluous and to have been added at random, and that they might afford us an exact test of the truth of the things spoken.

Now Luke indeed states even the reason why he proceeds to write;

'That you may have,' he says, 'the certainty concerning the words in which you were instructed';

that is, 'That being continually reminded, you may have the certainty, and may abide in security.'

But John himself indeed kept silence as to the reason;

yet, as a tradition says which has come down to us from of old and from the fathers, neither did he simply of himself come to the writing;

but since the three had been intent upon dwelling on the account of the dispensation, and the doctrines of the Godhead were in danger of being passed over in silence, when Christ had at length moved him, thus he came to the writing of the Gospel.

And this is plain both from the history itself, and from the preface of the Gospel.

For he does not begin from below like the rest, but from above, toward which very thing he was pressing, and for this reason he composed the whole book.

And not in the preface only, but throughout the whole Gospel, he is loftier than the others.

Matthew, it is said, when those of the Jews who had believed came to him and besought him, committed to writing for them in letters the very things which he had spoken to them by word of mouth, and composed his Gospel in the language of the Hebrews.

And Mark also did this same thing in Egypt, at the request of the disciples.

For this reason Matthew, inasmuch as he was writing to Hebrews, sought to show nothing more than that Christ was descended from Abraham and from David.

But Luke, inasmuch as he was addressing all men in common, traces the account yet higher, going all the way up to Adam.

And the one begins from the genealogy;

for nothing so comforted the Jew as to learn that Christ was a descendant of Abraham and of David.

But the other does not do so; rather he first records many other matters, and then proceeds to the genealogy.

Their agreement we shall demonstrate both from the whole world, which has received the things they spoke, and from the very enemies of the truth themselves.

For indeed after them many heresies were born, holding opinions contrary to the things that had been spoken;

and some of these received all that had been said, while others, cutting off portions of what was spoken from the rest, thus keep them for themselves.

But if there had been any conflict in what was spoken, neither would those who assert the contrary have received it all, but only the portion which seemed to them to accord with their view;

nor would those who received only a part have been refuted by that very part, so that not even the fragments themselves escape notice, but proclaim aloud their kinship with the whole body.

And just as, if you take any part from the side, you will find in that part all the things of which the whole living creature is composed—sinews, veins, bones, arteries, and blood, and, as one might say, a specimen of the entire mass;

so also in the case of the Scriptures one may see, in each part of what has been spoken, the kinship of the whole shining through.

But if they had disagreed, neither would this have been shown, and the doctrine itself would long ago have been dissolved;

for 'Every kingdom,' He says, 'divided against itself shall not stand.'

But as it is, even in this the might of the Spirit shines forth, having persuaded men,

who were occupied with the more necessary and pressing matters, to suffer no harm at all from these small points.

Now as to where each of them was staying when he wrote, we need not strongly insist;

but that they did not stand in opposition to one another—this we shall endeavour to prove throughout the whole treatise.

But you do the very same thing, when you charge them with disagreement, as if you were requiring them to say the same words and the same turns of expression.

And I say nothing yet of the fact that even those who greatly vaunt themselves in rhetoric and philosophy—many of them having written many books on the very same subjects—not only simply disagreed, but even spoke in ways contrary to one another.

For it is one thing to speak differently, and another to speak in mutual contradiction.

Far be it from me to compose their defence out of the madness of those men;

for I do not wish to establish the truth from falsehood.

But this I would gladly ask: How did things that disagreed come to be believed? How did they prevail? How, when speaking contrary things, were they admired, believed, proclaimed everywhere throughout the world? And yet there were many witnesses of the things spoken, and many too were the enemies and adversaries.

For they did not write these things and bury them in one corner, but spread them out everywhere over land and sea, before the ears of all;

and these things were read aloud in the presence of enemies, just as they are even now, and none of the things spoken gave offence to anyone.

For it was a divine power that went over all things and set all right among all men.

Since, if this were not so, how did the tax-collector, and the fisherman, and the unlettered man discourse of such lofty things? For the very things which those without could never even in a dream imagine, these men both proclaim and establish with much full assurance;

and not only while living, but also after their death;

and not two-and-twenty men, nor a hundred, nor a thousand, nor ten thousand, but cities and nations and peoples, both land and sea, both Greece and barbarian lands, both the inhabited world and the uninhabited.

And this concerning matters that far transcend our nature.

For, leaving the earth, they discourse of all that pertains to the things in heaven, introducing to us another life and another manner of living, and wealth and poverty, and freedom and slavery, and life and death, and a world and a polity—all things transformed.

Not as Plato, who composed that ridiculous republic of his, and Zeno, and any other who wrote a polity or framed laws.

For in these men's very case it was plainly shown that an evil spirit, and some savage demon at war with our nature, an enemy of chastity and a foe of good order, turning all things upside down, echoed within their soul.

For when they make wives common to all, and, stripping virgins naked, bring them into the wrestling-school for the spectacle of men, and contrive clandestine marriages, mingling and confounding all things together, and overturning the bounds of nature—what else is there to say? For that all those things are the inventions of demons, and that what is said is contrary to nature, nature herself would bear witness to us, not enduring the things spoken.

And these things they wrote not amid persecutions, not amid dangers, not amid wars, but in all security and freedom, embellishing them with many ornaments from every side.

But the writings of the fishermen—men who were driven about, scourged, imperilled—both the unlearned and the wise, both slaves and free, both kings and soldiers, both barbarians and Greeks, received with all goodwill.

And you could not say that they became easy to accept for all because they were trifling and low;

for indeed these things are far loftier than those.

For of virginity those men had not so much as a dream or a name, nor of freedom from possessions, nor of fasting, nor of any other of the lofty things.

But those among us banish not desire only, nor punish the deed alone, but even a wanton look, and insolent words, and disorderly laughter, and dress, and gait, and outcry, and carry their exactness down to the very smallest things, and filled the whole inhabited world with the plant of virginity.

And concerning God too they persuade men to hold such philosophy, and concerning the things in heaven, things which none

of those men was ever able so much as to take into his mind.

For how could they, who made gods out of the images of creeping things and wild beasts that crawl upon the ground, and of others yet more dishonourable? But nevertheless these lofty doctrines were both received and believed, and they flourish and increase with each passing day.

But the doctrines of those men are gone and perished, having vanished more easily than spiders' webs.

For it was demons that proclaimed these things.

Therefore, together with its licentiousness, it also contains much gloom, and greater toil.

For what could be more ridiculous than that republic, in which the philosopher, after expending countless lines together with the things aforesaid in order to be able to show what justice at last is, filled his account, along with much prolixity, with great obscurity? And even if it had contained something profitable, it was bound to be utterly useless for the life of men.

For if the farmer, and the smith, and the builder, and the pilot, and everyone who is nourished by the labour of his hands, were to have to leave his craft and his just toils, and to spend so many and so many years in order to learn what at last justice is;

then, before he has learned it, he will often first perish of hunger, and will depart on account of this justice, having learned nothing else of what is useful, and having ended his life by a violent death.

But our things are not of this sort;

rather, comprehending justice, and what is fitting, and what is profitable, and, in a word, all virtue in brief and clear words, Christ taught us;

at one time saying that 'On two commandments hang the law and the prophets,' that is, on the love of God and the love of one's neighbour;

and at another time saying, 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them.'

'For this is the law and the prophets.'

These things are, both for the husbandman, and the household servant, and the widow woman, and the very child, and him who is thought to be exceedingly foolish, all easy to survey and easy to learn thoroughly.

For such are the things of truth;

and the outcome of the matters bears witness.

All men at any rate learned the things they ought to do;

and they not only learned, but also zealously emulated them;

and this not in the cities only, nor in the midst of the market-places, but even on the very summits of the mountains.

For there too you will see much philosophy prevailing, and choirs of angels shining forth in human bodies, and the polity of the heavens made manifest here on earth.

For indeed the fishermen wrote for us a polity, not commanding that men be taken in hand from childhood, as those men did, nor legislating that one become virtuous after so many and so many years;

but simply addressing every age.

For those things were children's games;

but these are the truth of realities.

And they assigned heaven as the place for this polity, and brought in God as its Artificer, and as the Lawgiver of the laws laid down there;

and the prizes of this polity are not leaves of laurel, nor wild olive, nor maintenance in the town-hall, nor bronze statues—those cold and paltry things;

but a life that has no end, and to become children of God, and to dance in chorus with the angels, and to stand beside the royal throne, and to be perpetually with Christ.

The leaders of this commonwealth are tax-collectors, and fishermen, and tent-makers, who did not live for a brief span of time, but live for ever.

For this reason, even after their death, they are able to be of the greatest benefit to those who live as citizens of it.

In this commonwealth the warfare is not against men, but against demons and those incorporeal powers.

Therefore their general is not any man, nor any one of the angels, but God Himself.

And the armour of these soldiers likewise imitates the nature of the warfare;

for they are not fashioned out of hide and iron, but out of truth and righteousness and faith and every kind of true wisdom.

Since, then, this book has been written concerning this commonwealth, and it lies before us now to speak of it, let us attend carefully to Matthew, who discourses plainly about it.

For all that is said belongs not to him, but to Christ, who laid down the laws of this commonwealth.

Let us attend, that we too may be enrolled in it, and may shine together with those who have already lived as its citizens and who await those unfading crowns.

To many this discourse seems easy, while the words of the prophets are thought to present difficulty.

But this too is the mark of those who are ignorant of the depth of the thoughts stored up within it.

Wherefore I exhort you to follow us with much diligence, so that we may enter into the very ocean of the things written, with Christ Himself going before us to lead the way into this entrance.

And that the discourse may become easier to grasp, we beg and exhort you (as we have done also with the other Scriptures) to take up beforehand the passage of Scripture which we are about to expound, so that the reading may prepare the way for understanding—as happened also in the case of the eunuch—and may afford us great ease.

For indeed the matters to be inquired into are many and one upon another.

Consider, then, at once in the very opening of his Gospel, how many things one might find perplexing.

First, on what account Joseph's genealogy is traced, seeing that he was not the father of Christ.

Second, whence it will be evident to us that He derives His descent from David, seeing that the forefathers of Mary, from whom He was born, are unknown;

for the Virgin's genealogy was not traced.

Third, on what account Joseph, who contributed nothing to the birth, has his genealogy traced,

while the Virgin, who actually became the mother, is not shown from what fathers and grandfathers and forefathers she is descended.

Together with these it is worth inquiring into that also: why, while carrying forward the genealogy through the men, he made mention also of women.

And since this seemed good to him, why he did not set down all the women, but, passing over the honourable ones—such as Sarah, Rebecca, and all who were like them—brought forward into the midst only these, the women notorious for wickedness;

such as one who was a harlot and an adulteress, one born of unlawful marriages, one who was a foreigner and a barbarian.

For he made mention of the wife of Uriah, and of Tamar, and of Rahab, and of Ruth;

of whom one was of another race, one was a harlot, and one was defiled by her father-in-law;

and that not even by the law of marriage, but by stealing the union, and putting on herself the mask of a harlot;

and as for the wife of Uriah, no one is ignorant of her, on account of the notoriety of the outrage.

Yet nevertheless the evangelist, passing over all the others, inserted these alone into the genealogy.

And yet, if women had to be mentioned, all ought to have been;

but if not all, then some—those distinguished for virtue, not those notorious for sins.

You see how much attention we need at the very outset.

And yet the prologue seems clearer than the rest, and to many perhaps even superfluous, because it is but a list of names.

After this it is worth inquiring into that also: on what account he passed over three kings.

For if he was silent about their names on the ground that they were exceedingly impious, then neither ought he to have mentioned the others of that same sort.

For this too is another question.

For having said fourteen generations, in the third division he did not preserve the number.

And on what account did Luke make mention of other names, and not only not all the same, but even far more numerous;

whereas Matthew mentions both fewer and different ones, and yet he too ended in Joseph, in whom Luke also ended.

You see how much watchfulness we need—not only to solve the difficulties, but also to learn what needs to be solved.

For this too is no small thing, to be able to find out the matters in doubt;

for that too is perplexing—how Elizabeth, being of the tribe of Levi, was a kinswoman of Mary.

But that we may not overwhelm your memory by stringing many things together, let us for the present here bring our discourse to a halt.

For it suffices, toward rousing you, merely to learn the matters that are being inquired into.

But if you also long for the solution, of this too you yourselves are masters, even before our words.

For if I see you roused and eager to learn, I will endeavour to bring in the solution as well;

but if I see you yawning and inattentive, I will conceal both the questions and the solution, obeying a divine law;

for 'Give not,' He says, 'that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet.'

And who is he that tramples them? He who does not esteem these things precious and holy.

And who, one may say, is so wretched as not to esteem these things holy and more precious than all else? He who does not afford them even so much leisure as he affords to harlot women in the satanic assemblies.

For there the many spend whole days, and neglect many of their household affairs on account of this ill-timed occupation, and with exactness they retain whatever they hear, guarding these things too to the ruin of their own soul.

But here, when God is speaking, they cannot endure to remain even a little while.

For this very reason we have nothing in common with heaven, but our citizenship extends only as far as words.

And yet it was for this that God threatened hell also—not that He might cast us in, but that He might persuade us to flee this grievous tyranny.

But we do the opposite, and every day we run along the road that leads thither;

and while God commands us not only to hear but also to do the things that are said, we do not even endure to hear.

When, then, tell me, shall we do the things commanded and set our hands to the works, when we cannot so much as endure to hear the words concerning them, but are vexed and weary at the time spent here, brief though it be exceedingly? And then, when we ourselves discourse of trivial matters, if we see those sitting with us not attending, we call the thing an insult.

Yet do we not think that we provoke God, when, while He is discoursing of such things, we despise what is said and look elsewhere? Rather, the man who has grown old and has traversed much land will report to us with all exactness the number of the furlongs, and the positions of cities, and their shapes and harbours and market-places;

but we do not so much as know how far we are from the city in the heavens;

for indeed we would have been zealous to shorten the distance, had we known the interval.

For that city is not so far removed from us as the space between heaven and earth, but even much more, if we are careless;

just as, on the other hand, if we are zealous, in a mere instant of time we shall arrive at its very gates.

For these distances are determined not by length of place, but by the disposition of one's ways.

But you know the affairs of this life with exactness—both the new and the old and the ancient—and you can count the rulers under whom you served in time past, and the president of the games, and the prize-winners, and the generals—things which are nothing to you;

but who has been ruler in this city, whether first, or second, or third, and how long a time each one, or what he accomplished and wrought, you have never so much as dreamed of.

And of the laws laid down in this city, you cannot even bring yourself to hear or attend when others speak of them.

How then, tell me, do you expect to obtain the good things that are promised, when you do not even attend to the things that are said? But if not before, at least now let us do this.

For indeed we are about to enter, if God permit, into a city golden and more precious than all gold.

Let us then learn thoroughly its foundations, its gates composed of sapphire and pearls;

for indeed we have in Matthew an excellent guide to lead us by the hand.

For it is through His gate that we are now entering, and we have need of great diligence.

For if He sees anyone not attending, He casts him out of the city.

For indeed this city is most royal and illustrious;

not like those among us, divided into marketplace and palace;

but there all things are palaces.

Let us therefore fling open the gates of the understanding, let us fling open our hearing, and, being about to set foot upon the threshold with much awe, let us do homage to the King who is within;

for indeed the very first approach is able to astound the beholder.

The gates are now shut for us;

but when we see them flung open (for this is the solving of the questions), then shall we behold the great lightning within.

For being guided by the eyes of the Spirit, this publican promises to show you all things:

where the King is seated;

and which of the hosts stand beside Him;

and where are the angels, and where the archangels;

and what place has been set apart in this city for the new citizens, and what is the road that leads there;

and what portion those received who were the first to hold citizenship there, and those after them, and those after these;

and how many are the orders of those peoples, and how many those of the council, and how many the distinctions of ranks.

Let us therefore not enter with tumult and confusion, but with mystic silence.

When in the theatre great silence has fallen, then are the King's letters read aloud; much more in this city must all be composed, and stand with upright souls and hearing.

For it is not the letters of some earthly one, but of the Lord of the angels, that are about to be read aloud.

If we thus order ourselves, the grace of the Spirit itself will guide us with much exactness, and we shall come to the very royal throne, and attain to all good things, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of the ages.