馬太福音講道集 第 63 章

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, He departed from Galilee, and came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan.

Having continually left Judea because of their envy, He now at last frequents it, since the Passion was soon to be near;

yet He does not for the present go up to Jerusalem, but only to the borders of Judea.

And when He had come, great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them.

He neither continually dwells upon the teaching of words, nor upon the working of wonders by signs;

but now He does this, now that, diversifying the salvation of those who wait upon Him and follow Him, so that from the signs He might be shown to be a teacher worthy of belief in what He said, and from the teaching of His words He might heighten the profit gained from the signs.

And this was to lead them by the hand to the knowledge of God.

But consider for me this also, how whole populations

the disciples pass over with a single word, not reporting each of those healed by name.

For they did not say, 'This one and that one';

but rather 'many,' thereby teaching us to be free from boastfulness.

And Christ healed, both doing good to those persons, and through them to many others.

For the mending of these people's infirmity became for others an occasion of the knowledge of God.

But not so with the Pharisees; nay, for this very reason they are the more made savage;

and they come to Him tempting Him.

For since they could find no hold upon the things that were being done, they put problems before Him.

For coming to Him and tempting Him, they said,

'Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?' Oh, the folly!

They thought to stop His mouth by their questions, though they had already received proof of this His power.

At any rate, when they disputed much about the Sabbath, when they said, 'He blasphemes,' when they said, 'He has a demon,' when they rebuked the disciples for walking through the cornfields, when they disputed about unwashed hands—everywhere He sewed up their mouths and stopped their shameless tongue, and thus dismissed them.

But nevertheless, not even so do they desist.

For such is wickedness, such is envy—shameless and reckless;

though it be silenced ten thousand times, ten thousand times it sets upon Him again.

But consider for me also the malice in their manner of questioning.

'You commanded that a wife should not be put away;'

For He had already discoursed concerning this law;

yet nevertheless they did not remember those sayings, but though they set out from that very point, thinking to make the snare the greater, and wishing to cast Him into the necessity of contradicting the law, they do not say, 'Why didst Thou enact this and that?' but, as though nothing had been said, they ask, 'Is it lawful?'—expecting that He had forgotten what He had spoken;

and being ready, if on the one hand He should say that it is lawful to put her away, to set against Him the things that had been said by Himself, and to say:

'How then hast Thou said the contrary?' but if, on the other hand, He should say the same things which He had said before, then to set against Him the words of Moses.

What then does He Himself do? He did not say, 'Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites?'—and yet afterward He does say it;

but here He does not say this.

Why ever so? That together with His power He might also display His gentleness.

For neither is He always silent, lest they should suppose that they escape His notice;

nor does He always reprove, that He may train us to bear all things with gentleness.

How then does He answer them? 'Have ye not read, that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female?' and said:

'For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.'

'So that they are no more two, but one flesh.'

'What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.'

For being asked, 'Is it lawful?' He did not at once say, 'It is not lawful,' lest they should be thrown into an uproar and troubled;

but before pronouncing His verdict, by the argument itself He made this plain, showing that this was the ordinance of His Father also, and that not in opposition to Moses did He enjoin these things, but even in full agreement with him.

And observe how He grounds His argument not on the creation alone, but also on God's own command.

For He did not say merely that He made one man and one woman only;

but that He also gave this command, that the one should be joined to the one.

But if He had willed that a man should put away this one and bring in another, having made one man, He would have formed many women.

But as it is, both by the manner of the creation and by the manner of the legislation He showed that one man must dwell continually with one woman, and never break the bond.

'He who made them from the beginning made them male and female';

that is to say, they came into being from one root;

and they came together into one body;

'For the two shall be one flesh.'

Then, making it a fearful thing to accuse this legislation, and fixing the law firmly, He did not say, 'Rend not asunder therefore, neither separate';

but rather, 'What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.'

But if thou bring forward Moses, I tell thee of Moses' Lord, and along with Him I ground my case on the very antiquity of the time as well.

For God from the beginning made them male and female;

and this law is the more ancient, even if it seems now to be introduced by Me,

and to be laid down with much earnestness.

For neither did He simply bring the woman to the man, but also commanded that a man should forsake mother and father.

And He did not merely legislate that a man should come to his wife, but that he should cleave to her, by the very manner of the expression indicating the indissolubleness of the union.

And not even with this was He content, but He sought after yet another and greater union;

'For the two,' He says, 'shall be one flesh.'

Then, when He had recited the ancient law, which had been brought in both by deeds and by words, and had shown it to be worthy of credit from Him who gave it, thereafter He interprets and legislates with authority, saying:

'So that they are no more two, but one flesh.'

As therefore to cut flesh is an accursed thing, so also to sever a wife is a transgression of the law.

And He did not stop even at this, but brought God in as well, saying:

'What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder';

showing that what is done is both contrary to nature and contrary to the law.

It is against nature, because one single flesh is cut asunder;

and it is against the law, because, when God has joined them together and commanded that they be not divided, you of yourselves conspire to do this.

What then was fitting after these things? Was it not to hold their peace, and to praise what was spoken? Was it not to marvel at His wisdom? Was it not to be amazed at His harmony with the Father? But they do none of these things; rather, as though contending against Him, they say:

'How then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?' And yet it was not for them now to bring this forward, but rather for Him to put it to them.

But nevertheless He presses not upon them, nor does He say this to them, that 'For this I am henceforth no longer responsible';

And indeed, if He had been a stranger to the old covenant, He would not have contended on behalf of Moses;

He would not have grounded His argument upon the things that were once done in the beginning;

He would not have been earnest to show that His own words were in agreement with those of old.

And yet Moses had enjoined many other things also, both those concerning meats and those concerning the sabbath;

wherefore then do they nowhere bring him forward, as they do here? Because they wished to set the multitude of the men in array against Him.

For indeed this was a matter of indifference to the Jews, and all men used to do it.

For this very reason, though so many things had been spoken on the mountain, they made mention now of this commandment alone.

But nevertheless the ineffable Wisdom makes His defence even concerning these things, and says:

'Moses, because of your hardness of heart, made this his law.'

And neither does He suffer even Moses to remain under accusation, since it was He Himself who had given him the law;

but He rescues him from the charge, and turns the whole of it upon their own head.

For indeed, when they blamed the disciples for plucking the ears of corn, He showed that it was they who were guilty;

and when they charged transgression concerning not washing the hands, He showed that it was they who were the transgressors;

and in the matter of the sabbath too, and everywhere, and here likewise.

Then, since what had been said was burdensome and brought upon them much reproach, He quickly leads His discourse back again to the ancient law, saying that which He had said before also:

'But from the beginning it was not so';

that is to say, that by the very facts of things God from the beginning laid down for us the contrary law.

For lest they should say, 'Whence is it plain that Moses said this because of our hardness?' He again stops their mouths from that source.

For if this had been the primary and profitable law, that other one would not have been given at the beginning;

God would not, in fashioning man, have fashioned him thus.

'But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery.'

For since He had stopped their mouths, He henceforth legislates with authority, just as in the matter of meats, just as in the matter of the sabbath.

For indeed in the matter of meats also, having first turned them to flight, He then discoursed to the multitudes, that 'Not that which entereth in defileth the man';

and in the matter of the sabbath, having stopped their mouths, He says:

'So then it is lawful to do well on the sabbath day';

and here this very same thing.

But what came to pass there, this same thing came to pass here also.

For just as there, when the Jews had been put to silence, the disciples were troubled, and coming to Him with Peter said:

'Declare unto us this parable';

so also now, being troubled, they said:

'If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.'

For indeed now they understood what was said better than before.

Therefore at that time they were silent, but now, since there had been objection and answer, question and inquiry, and the law had appeared more clearly, they question Him.

And openly indeed they dare not gainsay Him;

but that which seemed to arise from His words as grievous and burdensome, they bring forward into the midst, saying:

If the case of the man with the woman is such, it is not expedient to marry.

For it seemed exceedingly grievous to have a wife brimming with every kind of wickedness, and to endure a savage beast shut up within one's house without respite.

And that you may learn how greatly this disturbed them, Mark makes it plain, saying that they spoke to Him privately.

But what does it mean, 'If the case of the man with the woman is such'? That is: if it is for this reason that they were joined together, that they might be one;

or else this: if the man will incur blame in these matters, and in every way transgresses by putting her away, it is lighter to contend against the desire of nature and against oneself than against an evil wife.

What then does Christ say? He did not say, 'Yes, it is lighter; do this,'

lest they should suppose that the thing was a law;

'Not all can receive it, but only those to whom it has been given.'

thereby exalting the matter, and showing it to be great, and by this very means drawing them on and urging them forward.

But observe here an apparent contradiction.

For He Himself says that this is a great thing;

For indeed both things needed to come to pass: both that it be acknowledged by Him to be great, so that He might make them more eager, and that from what had been said among them it be shown to be lighter, so that by this also they might rather choose virginity and continence.

For since to speak concerning virginity seemed grievous, out of the necessity of this law He cast them into that very desire.

Then, showing that it is possible, He says:

'There are eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb;

and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men;

and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.'

By these words leading them imperceptibly to the choice of the thing, and establishing the possibility of this virtue, and all but saying: Consider — if you were such by nature, or had endured this very thing at the hands of those who inflict such injuries, what would you have done, being deprived of the enjoyment yet having no reward? Therefore give thanks to God now, that with reward and crowns you endure this which those others endure without crowns;

or rather not even this, but far lighter still, being sustained by hope, and by the consciousness of the good deed accomplished, and not even having desire surging so violently.

For it is not so much the excision of a member as the bridle of reason that knows how to calm such billows and to make a calm.

For this reason, then, He brought those others forward, that He might anoint these for the contest; since, if He were not establishing this, what does His discourse about the other eunuchs mean to Him? And when He says, 'They made themselves eunuchs,' He does not mean the cutting off of the members;

but the doing away of wicked thoughts.

Since he that cuts off the member is even liable to a curse, as Paul says:

'I would that they were even cut off who trouble you.'

For such a one dares the deeds of murderers, and gives occasion to those who slander God's handiwork, and opens the mouths of the Manichaeans, and transgresses in the same way as those among the Greeks who mutilate themselves.

For to cut off the members has been from the beginning a work of demonic energy and of Satanic contrivance;

that they might slander the work of God;

that they might mar this living creature;

that, ascribing the whole not to the will but to the nature of the members, many of them might thus sin without fear, as being not accountable;

and that they might doubly injure this living creature, both by maiming the members and by hindering the will's eagerness for good things.

These things the devil laid down as law, introducing, besides what has been said, yet another wicked doctrine, and by this preparing the way beforehand for the teaching concerning fate and necessity, and everywhere marring the freedom given us by God, and persuading

that evils are natural, and from this source sowing beneath the surface many other wicked doctrines, even if not openly.

For such are the poisons of the devil.

Therefore I exhort you to flee such lawlessness.

For along with what has been said, the things of desire do not become tamer by this means, but even harder to bear.

For the seed that is in us has its springs from one place, and surges from another.

And some say that that frenzy springs from the brain, others from the loins;

but I would say it comes from nowhere else than from an unbridled disposition and a neglected mind; for if the mind itself be sober, there is no harm at all from the natural motions.

Having therefore spoken of the eunuchs — both those who are eunuchs to no purpose and in vain, unless they too be sober in mind, and those who keep their virginity for the sake of the heavens — He again adds, saying:

'He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.'

He makes them more eager by showing how surpassingly great the achievement is, and yet, out of His unspeakable gentleness, He does not allow the matter to be shut up under the compulsion of a law.

And He said this once He had abundantly shown it to be possible, so that the honour accruing to the will's free choice might be the greater.

"And if it is a matter of free choice," one may ask, "how is it that at the outset He said, 'Not all can receive it, but those to whom it is given'?" It was that you might learn how great the contest is, not that you should suspect some enforced allotment.

For it is given to those, namely, to them that are willing.

He spoke thus to show that he who has entered upon this arena has need of much help from above, which the one who is willing will assuredly enjoy.

For it was His custom to use this manner of speaking whenever the thing to be accomplished was great, as when He says:

"To you it is given to know the mysteries."

And that this is true is clear also from the present passage.

For if it belonged to the gift from above alone, and those who keep virginity contributed nothing themselves, it would have been superfluous for Him to promise them the kingdom of heaven and to distinguish them from the other eunuchs.

But consider with me how, from the very things by which some do evil, others gain profit.

For the Jews went away having learned nothing;

for it was not even in order to learn that they asked;

but the disciples gained profit even from this.

"Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should lay His hands on them and pray;

and the disciples rebuked them."

"Suffer the little children to come unto Me;

for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

"And He laid His hands on them, and departed thence."

And for what reason did the disciples drive the children away? For the sake of dignity.

What then did He do? Teaching them to be moderate and to trample down worldly pride, He both takes the children and embraces them, and to such as these He promises the kingdom;

which very thing He had said before as well.

We too, therefore, if we wish to become heirs of the heavens, let us acquire this virtue with much diligence.

For this is the mark of true wisdom: to be unfeigned together with understanding;

for indeed the soul of the little child is pure from all the passions.

It bears no grudge against those who have grieved it, but goes to them as to friends, as though nothing had happened.

And however much it may be beaten by its mother, it seeks after her and prefers her before all things.

And though you should show it a queen with her diadem, it will not prefer her to its mother clothed in rags, but would rather see her in these than the queen in her adornment.

For it knows how to distinguish what is its own and what is another's not by poverty and wealth, but by love.

And it seeks nothing beyond what is necessary, but as soon as it is filled from the breast it lets go of the nipple.

The little child is not grieved over the things at which we are grieved,

such as the loss of money and the like;

and again it does not rejoice in the things in which we rejoice, in these perishable things;

it is not smitten with desire at the beauty of bodies.

"For of such is the kingdom of heaven";

that is, so that by free choice we may work out those things which children possess by nature.

For since the Pharisees did what they did from no other source than malice and madness, on this account He again and again bids the disciples be simple, hinting at those men and at the same time instructing these.

For indeed nothing so lifts a man up to arrogance as authority and the chief seat.

Since, then, the disciples were about to enjoy great honour throughout the whole inhabited world,

He forestalls their mind beforehand, not allowing them to suffer anything merely human, nor to demand honours from the multitude, nor to strut proudly before them.

For even though these things seem to be trifling, yet they are the cause of great evils.

Thus it was that the Pharisees, being trained up in this school, fell into the very summit of their vices, greedily seeking after salutations, the chief seats, and the places of honor at feasts.

For from these things they ran aground upon a madness for glory, and then from thence upon impiety.

For this very reason those men, having drawn a curse upon themselves through their tempting of Him, went their way;

but the little children received a blessing, inasmuch as they were set free from all these things.

Let us then also become like the little children, and let us be as infants with respect to wickedness.

For it is not possible, it is not possible, to behold heaven in any other way;

but the man who is festering and evil must of all necessity fall utterly into hell.

And even before hell, here in this present life we shall suffer the uttermost.

For if you become evil, Scripture says, you alone will drain the cup of your evils; but if you become good, you will be so both for yourself and for your neighbor.

Consider, then, how this very thing came to pass also in the case of those men of old.

For nothing was ever more wicked than Saul, nor anything more simple and guileless than David.

Which of them, then, was the stronger? Did not David hold him a second time in his hands, and, having become master of the power to slay him, withdraw? Did he not have him caught as in a net and a prison house, and yet spared him? And this too when others were provoking him on, and when he himself had ten thousand charges he might have brought against him;

but nevertheless he let him depart safe and sound.

And yet the one was pursuing him with his whole army, while the other was with but a few desperate fugitives, wandering about and changing from place to place;

but nevertheless the fugitive got the better of the king;

since the one drew up his lines with simplicity, but the other with wickedness.

For what could be more wicked than that man, who attempted to slay the very one who was general over his army, who was bringing all his wars to a successful end, who bore all the toils of victory and its trophies yet carried the crowns to him? Chapter 5.

It ever plots against its own possessor's good, and wastes away the man who holds it, and wraps him about with ten thousand calamities.

And that wretched man, at any rate, so long as David remained near, did not burst forth into that piteous cry, lamenting and saying:

"I am sore distressed, and the Philistines make war against me, and the Lord is departed from me."

So long as he was not separated from David, he did not fall in war, but was even in safety and in glory;

for the glory of the general passed over even unto the king.

For neither was the man of a tyrannical disposition, nor did he attempt to cast Saul from his throne; rather he brought everything to good success for him, and was very affectionately disposed toward him;

and this is plain also from the events that came afterward.

For while he was still ranged under Saul's command, one of those who do not examine matters accurately might perhaps have reckoned these things to the law of subjection;

but after he had withdrawn himself from that kingdom, what was there left to restrain him and to persuade him to abstain from war against Saul? Nay rather, what was there that did not provoke him to the slaughter? Had not Saul shown himself evil toward him once and twice and many times over? Had not David treated him well? Had he not nothing to lay to his own charge? Was not Saul's kingdom, and his very safety, perilous and precarious for David? Was he not obliged to be forever wandering and fleeing, and trembling for his very life, while that man lived and held power? But nevertheless none of these things forced him to stain his sword with blood;

but rather, though he saw him sleeping, and bound with slumber, and alone, and in their very midst, and though he had laid hold of his head, and though there were many urging him on and declaring that such an opportunity was a vote cast by God, that man both rebuked those who were inciting him, and refrained from the murder, and sent him away safe and whole;

and as though he were rather Saul's bodyguard and shield-bearer, not his enemy, so did he reproach the camp for its treachery toward the king.

What could be equal to such a soul? What to that gentleness? This, indeed, one may perceive even from the things already told;

but far more from the things now taking place.

For when we have thoroughly learned our own baseness, then shall we know more accurately the virtue of those holy men.

Wherefore I exhort you to run toward the emulation of those men.

For indeed, if you are enamored of glory, and on this account plot against your neighbor, then it is precisely of that glory

that you will have the greater enjoyment, when, having spurned it, you hold back from your plotting.

For just as trafficking for gain is the very opposite way to attain riches when set against covetousness,

so, with a view to attaining glory, the loving of glory is the contrary course.

And if you are willing, let us examine the matter point by point.

For since we have no fear of hell, nor take much account of the kingdom, come, let us at least lead you on from the things of the present.

For who are they that are laughed to scorn? Tell me;

are they not those who do everything for the sake of the glory that comes from the many? And who are they that are praised? Are they not those who spurn the praise that comes from the many? If, then, to be enamored of vainglory is a reproach, and the vainglorious man cannot escape notice while he is enamored of it, he will assuredly be an object of reproach, and to him the loving of glory has become the cause of dishonor.

And it is not only in this way that he is put to shame, but also in that he is compelled to do many disgraceful things, being filled with the utmost servility.

And just as in gaining wealth men are wont to be most injured by the disease of avarice—

(for they undergo many deceptions, and their little gains bring about great losses;

wherefore the saying has even passed into a proverb, 'This one has won the day')—so also for the licentious man his very passion becomes a hindrance to the enjoyment of pleasure.

Those, at any rate, who are exceedingly given to lust and enslaved to women—these above all their women carry about like bond-slaves, and would never deign to treat them as men, but slap them, spit upon them, lead them and drag them about everywhere, while they themselves play the wanton and lay every command upon them alone.

So too, than the man who is beside himself, mad for glory, and thinks himself exalted, there is nothing more lowly and more dishonored.

For the race of men is contentious, and against nothing else does it set itself in opposition as it does against the boaster, the scorner, and the slave of glory.

And such a man himself, in order to preserve the outward show of his arrogance, displays toward the multitude the behavior of a slave, flattering, fawning, enduring a bondage more grievous than that of any purchased servant.

Knowing therefore all these things, let us lay aside these passions, that we may neither suffer punishment here, nor be chastised there without end.

Let us become lovers of virtue.

For thus even before the kingdom we shall reap here the greatest blessings, and when we have departed there we shall partake of the eternal good things;

which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might unto the ages of ages.