馬太福音講道集 第 80 章

'But when the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, and all the holy angels with Him, then,' He says, 'shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and shall separate the sheep from the goats';

He will approve them, because when He was hungry they fed Him, and thirsty they gave Him drink, and being a stranger they took Him in, and being naked they clothed Him, and being sick they visited Him, and being in prison they came to see Him;

and He will give the kingdom to them.

But those on the opposite side He will accuse, and will send them into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

Let us now listen, with all diligence and compunction, to this most delightful passage, which we do not cease to turn over continually, and with which the discourse concluded as its very last;

for the discourse concerning love toward mankind and mercy which He gave is abundant.

Wherefore also in the foregoing passages He discoursed of this in various ways, and here at length somewhat more plainly and more forcibly, setting forth not two persons and three, nor five, but the whole inhabited world;

although indeed even the earlier ones, those set forth by means of the two persons, did not signify two persons, but two parts, the one of those who disobey, the other of those who obey.

But here He handles the discourse in a yet more awe-inspiring and more resplendent manner.

Wherefore He does not even say, 'The kingdom was likened,'

any longer, but reveals Himself openly, saying:

'But when the Son of Man shall come in His glory.'

For now He has come in dishonor, now amid insults and reproaches;

but then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory.

And He makes continual mention of glory.

For since the cross was near, a thing that seemed to be a reproach, on this account He lifts up the hearer, and brings the tribunal before his eyes, and sets the whole inhabited world around it.

And it is not by this alone that He makes the saying fearful, but also by showing that the heavens shall be emptied.

For all the angels shall be present with Him, He says, and they themselves shall bear witness to all the things they ministered when they were sent by the Master for the salvation of men.

And on every side that day shall then be one to make men shudder.

Then, He says, all the nations shall be gathered together—that is, the whole nature of mankind.

And He shall separate them one from another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep.

For at present they are not separated, but all are mingled together;

but the division shall then be made with all exactness.

And first, by their standing He separates them and makes them manifest;

then also by the names He indicates the character of each, calling the one sort kids and the other sheep, that He may show the unfruitfulness of the one;

for no fruit could ever come from kids;

and the abundant profit of the other;

for great indeed is the profit of the sheep—from the wool, from the milk, and from their offspring—of all of which the kid is destitute.

But the brute beasts have their unfruitfulness and their fruitfulness from nature;

but those men have it from their own choice;

wherefore the one sort are punished, and these others are crowned.

And He does not punish them before He has entered into judgment with them;

wherefore, having set them before Him, He states the charges.

And they answer with meekness, yet it is of no further avail to them;

and that with good reason, because they had passed by a thing so easily to be accomplished.

For indeed the prophets also, up and down, kept saying this: 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice';

and the Lawgiver by all means led them on to this, both by words and by deeds;

and nature itself taught this.

But consider how they were destitute, not of one or two only, but of all these things.

For not only did they fail to feed the hungry, nor to clothe the naked;

but not even that which was easier—they did not so much as visit the sick.

And consider how light are the things He enjoins.

He did not say, 'I was in prison, and ye set me free';

'I was sick, and ye raised me up';

but, 'Ye visited me,' and, 'Ye came unto me.'

And not even in the matter of hunger was the thing commanded burdensome.

For He sought not a costly table, but only what was needful and the necessary nourishment; and He sought it in the guise of a suppliant.

So that all these things were enough to punish them:

the easiness of the request, for it was bread;

the pitiableness of him who asked, for he was poor;

the sympathy owed by nature, for he was a man;

the desirableness of the promise, for He promised a kingdom;

the fearfulness of the punishment, for He threatened hell;

the dignity of Him who receives, for it was God who received through the poor;

the surpassing greatness of the honour, that He vouchsafed to descend so far;

the justice of the requital, for He received from what was His own.

But against all these considerations the love of money has utterly maimed those it has taken captive, and this though so great a threat is set before them.

For above also He says that those who do not receive such men shall suffer more grievous things than Sodom.

Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these My brethren, neither did you do it to Me.

What do you say? They are Your brethren;

and how then do You call them least? For this very reason are they brethren, because they are lowly, because they are poor, because they are outcast.

For it is such men above all whom He calls into brotherhood, the unknown, the despised;

not meaning these monks only, and those who have taken to the mountains, but every believer;

even though he be a man engaged in worldly affairs, yet if he be hungry and famished, and naked, and a stranger, He wills that he should enjoy all this care.

For baptism makes a man a brother, and so does the communion of the divine mysteries.

Then, that you may see from another side also the justice of the sentence, He first praises those who have done well, and says:

Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat.

For lest they should say, We had not the means, He condemns them out of the mouth of their fellow-servants;

just as the virgins by the virgins, and the servant who was drunken and gluttonous by the faithful servant, and the man who buried his talent by those who brought the two, and each of those who transgressed by those who did well.

And this comparison is sometimes made between equals, as here and in the case of the virgins;

but sometimes from the greater, as when He says, The men of Nineveh shall rise up and shall condemn this generation, because they believed the preaching of Jonah;

and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

And, The queen of the south shall condemn this generation, because she came to hear the wisdom of Solomon;

and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

And again from equals, that They shall be your judges.

And again from the greater;

Know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? And here too from equals;

for He sets the rich beside the rich, and the poor beside the poor.

And He shows the verdict to be justly pronounced, not only by this, that their fellow-servants in the same circumstances did well, but also by this, that they did not obey even in those matters in which poverty was no hindrance;

as, in giving drink to the thirsty, in visiting the prisoner, in looking upon the sick.

And having praised those who did well, He shows how great was His love toward them from the beginning.

For Come, He says, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

How many good things is this name worth, to be blessed, and blessed of the Father? And whence were they counted worthy of so great honor? What is the cause? I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat.

I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink, and so forth.

Of how great honor, of how great blessedness are these words! And He said not, Take, but, Inherit, as one's own, as a father's, as yours, as due to you from the beginning.

For before you came into being, He says, these things were prepared and made ready for you, since I knew you would be such as this.

And in return for what do they receive such great things? In return for shelter, for a garment, for bread, for cold water, for a visit, for going in to the prison.

For indeed it is in every case a matter of need;

yet there is a case also where it is not even a matter of need.

For surely, as I said, the sick man and the prisoner do not seek this alone, but the one to be released, the other to be delivered from his sickness.

But He, being gentle, requires only what is within our power;

or rather, even less than what is within our power, leaving it to us to be generous with more of our own free will.

But to those others He says, Depart from Me, you cursed ones;

for it was not He who cursed them, but their own works;

into the eternal fire, prepared—not for you.

but for the devil and his angels.

For when He spoke concerning the kingdom, saying, 'Come, inherit the kingdom,' He added, 'which was prepared for you before the foundation of the world';

but concerning the fire, He no longer speaks thus, but says, 'which was prepared for the devil.'

For it is as though He said: 'I indeed prepared the kingdom for you, but the fire no longer for you, but for the devil and his angels;

but since you cast yourselves into it, blame yourselves.'

And not by this alone, but also through what follows, as though making a defense to them, He sets forth the causes as well.

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat.'

For even if the one who approached had been an enemy, were not his sufferings enough to break down and bend even the merciless man—hunger, and frost, and bonds, and nakedness, and sickness, and wandering everywhere under the open sky? For these things are sufficient to dissolve even enmity.

But you did not do these things even for a friend—and for One who was a friend, and a benefactor, and Master.

And if we see a dog hungry, we are often moved to pity;

and if we behold a wild beast, we are moved with compassion;

yet when you see your Master, are you not moved? And where in this is there anything worthy of excuse? For if this alone had been the case, would it not have been enough for a recompense? I do not speak of hearing such a voice throughout the whole world from Him who sits upon the Father's throne, and of obtaining a kingdom, but the very act itself—was it not enough for a reward? Yet now, with the whole world present, and that ineffable glory shining forth, He proclaims you aloud and crowns you, and confesses you to be the one who fed Him and gave Him lodging;

and He is not ashamed to say such things, that He may make your crown more glorious.

For this reason, then, both these are justly punished, and those are crowned according to grace.

For even if they should have done ten thousand things, the munificence is of grace—that in return for things so small and so trifling, so great a heaven and a kingdom and so high an honor should be given them.

'And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples:'

'You know that after two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified.'

Again He speaks seasonably concerning His Passion, when He had reminded them of the kingdom, and of the recompense there, and of the immortal punishment;

'Why are you afraid at these temporary terrors, when such good things await you?' 3.

But consider for me how He handled in a newer way, and overshadowed in all that went before, the very thing that grieved them most.

For He did not say, 'You know that after two days I am delivered up';

but what? 'You know that after two days the Passover comes';

and then He added that He is delivered up to be crucified;

showing that what was taking place was a mystery, and a feast and a solemn assembly celebrated for the salvation of the world, and that He suffered while foreknowing all things.

For this reason, then, as this was sufficient for their consolation, He did not even say anything to them now concerning the resurrection;

for it was superfluous, having discoursed so much concerning it, to speak of it again.

And in another way too, as I said, He shows that His very suffering was a deliverance from ten thousand evils, by reminding them, through the Passover, of the ancient benefits in Egypt.

'Then the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they took counsel together that they might seize Jesus by guile and kill Him.'

'But they said, Not during the feast, lest a tumult arise among the people.'

Did you see the unspeakable corruption of the Jewish affairs? Setting their hand to lawless deeds, they come to the high priest, wishing to receive authority from that source whence they ought to have been restrained.

And how many chief priests were there? For the law wills that there be but one;

whence it is plain that the Jewish institutions were beginning to be dissolved.

For Moses, as I said, commanded that there be one, and that when he died another should then come to be; and by the lifetime of this one he measured the banishment of those who had committed manslaughter unintentionally.

How then were there many chief priests at that time? They came to be yearly appointees in later times. And the evangelist made this plain, when he discoursed concerning Zacharias, saying that he was of the course of Abia.

Therefore here he calls chief priests those who were of the priestly families.

Was it that they might seize Him secretly, or that they might do away with Him? Both;

for they feared the people.

Wherefore also they waited for the feast to pass;

for they said, 'Not during the feast.'

For the devil, indeed, in order that he might not make the Passion manifest, did not wish it to be at the Passover;

But they acted thus that no uproar might arise.

Observe, then, how they feared, not the things of God, nor lest a greater defilement should come upon them from the season;

but everywhere it was human considerations that concerned them.

Yet nevertheless, boiling with wrath, they again changed their purpose.

For having said, 'Not on the feast,' when they found the betrayer, they no longer had patience for the season, but slaughtered Him during the very feast itself.

And why did they seize Him at that time? Both because, as I said, they were boiling with wrath, and because they expected to find Him then, and they did everything as though they were maimed and blinded.

For even though He most fully used their wickedness for His own dispensation, yet not on this account were they free from blame; rather they were worthy of ten thousand punishments because of their intent.

At any rate, when all men, even the guilty, ought to have been released, then these men slew the innocent One, who had done them ten thousand good deeds, and who for their sakes had for a time overlooked the Gentiles.

But, oh, the loving-kindness!

Those so depraved, those [so perverse and] laden with ten thousand evils, He again saves, and sends the apostles to be slain on their behalf, and through them He offers a supplication.

'For we are ambassadors on Christ's behalf.'

Having, then, such examples, I do not say, Let us die for our enemies;

for this too were fitting, but since we are weaker, I say this much for now:

Let us at least not bear ill-will toward our friends, nor envy those who do us good.

I do not say for now, Let us do good to those who treat us ill;

for indeed I desire this too, but since you are grosser of understanding, I say, at least do not take revenge.

Is our life then some stage-play and pretense? Why in the world do you set yourselves diametrically opposed to the facts? For it was not written idly, both the other things and all that He wrought at the very cross, things able to call them back;

but they were written that you might imitate His goodness, that you might emulate His loving-kindness.

For indeed He both cast them backward to the ground, and restored the ear of the servant, and spoke with gentleness;

and while on high He displayed great wonders, turning back the sun's rays, rending the rocks, raising the dead, terrifying the wife of the judge through dreams, in the very trial displaying all meekness, which was no less able than miracles to draw them to Him, foretelling ten thousand things in the judgment hall, and upon the very cross crying out, 'Father, forgive them this sin.'

And when He was buried, how many things did He display toward their salvation? And when He rose, did He not straightway call the Jews? Did He not grant remission of sins? Did He not set before them ten thousand good things? What is more marvelous than this? Those who crucified Him and breathed slaughter, after they had crucified Him became sons of God.

What is equal to this tender care? When we hear these things, let us cover our faces for shame, that we stand so far removed from Him whom we are commanded to imitate.

Let us at least see how great the distance is, that we may at least condemn ourselves, warring as we do against those for whom Christ gave His soul;

and we are unwilling to be reconciled to those whom, in order to reconcile them, He refused not even to be slaughtered.

Unless indeed this too is some expenditure and outlay of money, which you put forward as an excuse in the matter of almsgiving.

Consider for how many things you are accountable, and not only will you not draw back from forgiving those who have wronged you, but you will even run to those who have grieved you, that it may become for you an occasion of pardon, that you may find consolation for your own evils.

The children of the Greeks, expecting no great reward, often played the philosopher in these matters;

and will you, who are about to journey forth upon such hopes, draw back and hesitate? And that which time accomplishes, this you will not endure to do before its time for the sake of God's law, but would rather have your passion quenched without reward than for a reward? For neither, if this come to pass through lapse of time, will there be any advantage to you, but rather great punishment, because that which time wrought, this the law of God did not persuade you to do.

But if you say that you burn with indignation at the remembrance of the insult, call to mind whether any good has come to you from the one who grieved you, and how many evils you yourself have done to others.

Reckon that you too have spoken against others.

How then will you obtain the pardon which you do not impart to others? But you have spoken against no one? Yet you have heard others speaking, and you accepted it.

Do you wish to learn how great a good it is not to remember wrongs, and how this above all things gladdens God? Those who rejoice over such as are justly punished by Him, He chastises;

and although they are justly punished, yet it did not behoove you to exult over them.

And the prophet, after bringing many charges, added this also, saying:

'They were not grieved at all over the ruin of Joseph;'

'She that dwelt in Enan came not forth to mourn for the house that was near her.'

And yet Joseph also, that is, the tribes descended from him, and their neighbors, were being punished according to God's purpose;

but nevertheless He wills that we should share in the pain even for these.

For if we, being evil, when we punish a servant, and see any of the fellow-servants laughing, are the more provoked, and transfer our anger onto that one;

how much more will God punish those who rejoice over such as are being chastised.

But if it is our duty not to trample upon those who are being chastised by God, but rather to grieve together with them, how much more toward those who have sinned against ourselves.

For this is the mark of love, and this God sets before all things.

For just as in the royal purple, those flowers and colours are the precious ones which make up this mantle,

so also here, those are the precious virtues which hold love together.

And nothing so preserves love as not to remember those who have sinned against us.

For surely God took thought for the other party as well? Surely He did not fail to urge the one who did the wrong toward the one who was wronged? Does He not send him from the altar to that other, and after the reconciliation call him to the table? But do not on this account wait for that other to come, since then you have lost the whole reward.

For it is on this very account that He appoints for you an unspeakable reward, that you may be beforehand with that other;

for if, being entreated, you are reconciled, then the friendship has come to pass no longer from God's command, but from that man's diligence;

wherefore you depart uncrowned, while that man receives the prizes.

What do you say? You have an enemy, and are you not ashamed? Is the devil not enough for us, that we should draw upon ourselves those of our own kind as well? Would that not even he had wished to war against us; would that not even he had been a devil!

Do you not know how great the pleasure is after reconciliation? For what if in the midst of enmity it does not clearly appear? For that it is sweeter to love the one who wrongs you than to hate him, you will then be able to learn well after the enmity has been dissolved.

Why then do we imitate the madmen, devouring one another, warring against our own flesh? Hear how great was the discourse concerning this even in the Old Testament.

'The ways of those who bear grudges lead to death.'

'A man cherishes anger against a man, and does he seek healing from God?'

And yet He permitted an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;

how then does He bring a charge? Because He permitted even those things, not that we should do them to one another, but that through fear of suffering we might refrain from daring to do them.

And besides, those things belong to some temporary anger, but the bearing of grudges belongs to a soul that practises wickedness.

But you have suffered ill? Yet nothing so great as what you will work upon yourself by bearing a grudge.

And in another way too, it is not even possible for a good man to suffer any evil.

For let there be someone who has both children and a wife, and let him practise the love of wisdom; and let him have also many occasions for harm, both an abundance of wealth, and the power of office, and many friends, and let him enjoy honour, only let him practise the love of wisdom;

for this must be added;

and let us apply to him the blows in argument.

And let some knavish man come and surround him with loss;

what then is that to the man who considers riches to be nothing? Let him make away with the children;

what then is that to the man who philosophises concerning the resurrection? Let him slaughter the wife;

and what is that to the man who has been taught not to mourn for those who have fallen asleep? Let him cast him into dishonour;

what is that to the man who counts present things but as the flower of the grass? If you will, let him even punish the body, and cast it into prison;

what then is that to the man who has learned, 'Even though our outward man is decaying, yet the inward man is being renewed,' and that 'Tribulation works patience'? I for my part have promised that he shall in no way be harmed;

the argument as it proceeded has shown that he is even benefited, being renewed and becoming approved.

Let us then not be pained on account of others, wronging ourselves and rendering the soul feeble.

For the smart of our own misery is not so much a matter of our neighbours' wickedness as of it.

For this cause, even if someone insults us, we weep and shrink together;

and if someone plunders us, we suffer the same, like those little children whom their more mischievous playmates provoke over nothing necessary, but grieving them from small pretexts;

but nevertheless even those children, if they see the others being nettled, keep on biting;

but if they see them laughing, they also desist.

But we are even more foolish than these, lamenting over the very things at which we ought to laugh.

Wherefore I exhort you, let us lay aside this childish mind, and lay hold of the heavens.

For indeed Christ wills that we be men, men that are perfect.

So also Paul commanded, saying, 'Brethren, do not be children in your minds, but in malice be as babes.'

Let us then be as babes in malice, and having fled from wickedness, let us lay hold of virtue, that we may also attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love toward mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages.