Homilies on Matthew, Homily 36

“And it happened, when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, that He left there to teach and preach in their cities.” That is, after He had sent them out, He withdrew to give them room and opportunity to do what He had commanded. For while He was present and healing people, no one would be willing to approach them. “Now when John heard in prison about the works of Jesus, he sent two of his disciples to ask Him, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?’” But Luke says that they also told John about the miracles, and then he sent them. This presents no difficulty, though it does deserve consideration; for this, among other things, reveals their jealousy of Him. But what follows is thoroughly disputed. What is it? Their question, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” That is, the man who knew Him before His miracles, who had learned about Him from the Spirit, who had heard about Him from the Father, who had proclaimed Him before everyone—does he now send to find out from Him whether He is the One or not? And if you still did not know for certain that He is the One, how do you expect to be believed when you make assertions about things you know nothing about? For someone who is to testify to others must first be trustworthy himself. Did you not say, “I am not worthy to untie His sandal strap”? Did you not say, “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and resting is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’”? Did you not see the Spirit in the form of a dove? Did you not hear the voice? Did you not firmly try to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You”? Did you not even say to your disciples, “He must increase, I must decrease”? Did you not teach all the people that “He would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” and that He “is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”? Did you not proclaim all these things before His signs and miracles? How then, now that He has been revealed to everyone, and His fame has spread everywhere, and the dead have been raised, and demons driven out, and such great miracles displayed, do you send to find out from Him after all this? What, then, is the truth? Were all these sayings some kind of fraud, a stage play and fables? No! Who with any understanding would say that? I am not even speaking of John, who leaped in the womb, who proclaimed Him before his own birth, a citizen of the wilderness who displayed the way angels live. Even if he had been an ordinary person, one of the most despised outcasts, he would not have doubted after so much testimony, both his own and that of others. This makes it clear that he neither sent because he himself was in doubt nor asked out of ignorance. Surely no one could say that, although he knew it fully, his imprisonment had made him somewhat timid. For he was not hoping to be released; and even if he had hoped for that, he would not have betrayed his duty to God, prepared as he was to face death in various forms. Unless he had been ready for this, he would not have shown such courage before an entire people practiced in shedding the blood of prophets. Nor would he have rebuked that savage tyrant so boldly in the middle of the city and the public square, scolding him severely as though he were a little child, in everyone's hearing. And even if he had become more timid, how was he not ashamed before his own disciples, in whose presence he had so often testified to Him? Why did he ask his question through them, when he should have done so through others? And surely he knew very well that they too were jealous of Christ and wanted to find some grounds for attacking Him. And how could he fail to be ashamed before the Jewish people, in whose presence he had proclaimed such exalted things? Or what advantage did this gain him toward release from his chains? For he had not been thrown into prison for Christ's sake, or for proclaiming His power, but for his own rebuke concerning the unlawful marriage. What child is so foolish, what person so insane? Yet that is the character he would have given himself by acting this way. 2. What, then, is he trying to accomplish? From what we have said, it is clear that such doubt would be unworthy of John, or even of an ordinary person, or even of someone extremely foolish and deranged. Now we need only add the explanation. Why, then, did he send to ask? John's disciples were turning away from Jesus, as anyone can see, and they had always felt jealous of Him. This is clear from what they said to their master: “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you testified—look, He is baptizing, and everyone is coming to Him.” And again, “A dispute arose between John's disciples and the Jews about purification.” And again they came to Him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” For they did not yet know who Christ was. They imagined that Jesus was merely a man, but that John was more than an ordinary man, and they were upset to see the former held in high regard while the latter, as he himself had said, was now decreasing. This kept them from coming to Him, their jealousy completely blocking their access. As long as John was with them, he continually urged and instructed them, yet even then he could not persuade them. But now that he was about to die, he took even greater care, fearing that he might leave behind a foundation for false teaching and that they might remain cut off from Christ. Just as he had been eager from the beginning to bring everyone who belonged to him to Christ, so now, near his end, having failed to persuade them, he only worked more zealously. Now if he had said, “Go to Him; He is greater than I,” he would not have persuaded them, since they were so unwilling to be separated from him. Instead, they would have thought he said it out of modesty and would have clung to him all the more. Or if he had remained silent, again nothing would have been gained. What, then, does he do? He waits to hear from them that Christ is working miracles. Even then he does not instruct them directly, nor does he send them all, but only two (whom he perhaps knew to be more teachable than the rest), so that they might ask without suspicion and learn from His deeds the difference between Jesus and himself. And he says, Go and ask, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” But Christ, knowing John's purpose, did not say, I am He. That would again have offended His listeners, although it would have been the natural answer for Him to give. Instead, He lets them learn from His deeds. For it says that when they came to Him, “He cured many.” And yet what sense would it make, when asked, “Are You the One,” to give no answer to that but immediately heal the sick, unless His intention was to establish the point I have mentioned? For they would naturally consider the testimony of His deeds more certain and less open to suspicion than that of His words. So, knowing as God the intention with which John had sent them, He immediately healed the blind, the lame, and many others—not to teach John (for how could He teach someone who was already convinced?), but to teach these men who doubted. And after healing them, He says, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” And He added, “And blessed is anyone who does not stumble because of Me,” indicating that He knows even their unspoken thoughts. For if He had said, “I am He,” this would have offended them, as I have already said, and they would have thought, even if they had not spoken, much as the Jews said to Him, “You testify about Yourself.” So He does not say this Himself, but lets them learn everything from the miracles, making His teaching free from suspicion and clearer. This is also why He added His rebuke indirectly. That is, because they were “stumbling because of Him,” He laid their situation before them and left it to their own consciences alone. He called no witnesses to this accusation except the men themselves, who knew it all. In this way too He drew them closer to Himself by saying, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble because of Me.” For they were the ones He secretly meant when He said this. 3. But to make the truth clearer to you by comparing the different explanations, presenting not only our own statements but also what others say, we must add some account of their views. What, then, do some maintain? That the reason was not what we have explained, but that John was ignorant—though not ignorant of everything. He knew that Jesus was the Christ, but he did not know whether He was also to die for humanity. That is why he said, “Are You the One who is to come?” meaning, the One who is to descend into Hades. But this cannot stand, for John was not ignorant of this either. He proclaimed this before all the other things and testified to it first: “Look,” he says, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He called Him a lamb to proclaim the cross, and again, by saying, “Who takes away the sin of the world,” he declared the same thing. For He accomplished this only through the cross, as Paul also said: “And the written record that was against us, even that He removed, nailing it to His cross.” And his statement, “He will baptize you with the Spirit,” also comes from someone foretelling the events after the resurrection. Well, they say, he knew that He would rise again and give the Holy Spirit, but he did not know that He would also be crucified. How, then, was He to rise again if He had not suffered or been crucified? And how was this man greater than a prophet if he did not even know what the prophets knew? For Christ Himself testified that he was greater than a prophet, and surely everyone can see that the prophets knew of the passion. For Isaiah says, “He is led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep silent before her shearer.” And even before this testimony he says, “There will be a root of Jesse, and He who will rise again to rule the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will trust.” Then, speaking of His passion and the glory that would follow, he added, “And His rest will be honor.” This prophet foretold not only that He would be crucified, but also with whom. “For,” he says, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” And not only this, but that He would not even plead His own case: “For this man,” he says, “does not open His mouth”; and that He would be unjustly condemned: “For in His humiliation,” he says, “His judgment was taken away.” And before this, David also says this and describes the judgment hall. “Why,” he says, “do the nations rage, and the people imagine something futile? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed.” Elsewhere he also mentions the image of the cross, saying, “They pierced my hand and my feet.” And he adds with complete precision what the soldiers dared to do: “For they divided my garments among themselves,” he says, “and cast lots for my clothing.” Elsewhere again he says that they also offered Him vinegar: “For they gave me gall for my food,” He says, “and for my thirst they made me drink vinegar.” So the prophets, so many years beforehand, speak of the judgment hall, the condemnation, those crucified with Him, the division of His garments, the casting of lots for them, and many other things besides (for there is no need to cite them all now and make our discussion long). Was this man, greater than all of them, ignorant of all these things? No—how could that make sense? And why did he not say, “Are You the One who is to come to Hades,” but simply, “The One who is to come”? Yet something even more absurd than the other claims is their assertion that “he said these things so that he might preach there too after his departure.” It would be fitting to say to them, “Brothers, do not think like children, but be like children when it comes to malice.” For this present life is the time for living rightly; after death come judgment and punishment. “For in Hades,” it says, “who will confess to You?” How, then, were “the gates of bronze burst open and the iron bars broken apart”? Through His body; for then, for the first time, a body was revealed that was immortal and destroyed death's tyranny. Besides, this indicates the destruction of death's power, not the forgiveness of the sins of those who had died before His coming. And if this were not so, but He had delivered everyone before Him from hell, how does He say, “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah”? For this statement assumes that they too will be punished—more mildly, certainly, but still punished. And although they also suffered the most extreme punishment here, even this will not deliver them. And if that is true of them, it is much more true of those who have suffered nothing. “What then?” someone may ask. “Were those who lived before His coming treated unjustly?” By no means, for people could be saved then even though they had not confessed Christ. This was not required of them; what was required was that they not worship idols and that they know the true God. “For the Lord your God,” it says, “is one Lord.” That is why the Maccabees were admired: because they suffered what they did to keep the law. And the three children, and many others among the Jews, lived very virtuous lives and held firmly to this knowledge; nothing more was required of them. For then, as I have already said, knowing God alone was enough for salvation. But now that is no longer so; knowledge of Christ is also necessary. That is why He said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” The same is true of the standard of conduct. Then murder brought destruction on the person who committed it; now even anger does. Then committing adultery and sleeping with another man's wife brought punishment; now even looking with lustful eyes does. For just as the required knowledge has increased, so the standard of life has become stricter. So there was no need for a forerunner there. Besides, if unbelievers are to be saved after death by believing, no one will ever perish. For everyone will then repent and worship. To prove that this is true, listen to Paul saying, “Every tongue will confess, and every knee will bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” And, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” But that submission brings no benefit, for it does not come from a willing choice made with the right intentions, but from the necessity that will then prevail, so to speak. Let us stop introducing such teachings fit for old wives and Jewish fables. At least listen to what Paul says about these things: “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.” Here he is speaking about those who lived before the law. And, “All who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law,” speaking of everyone after Moses. And, “The anger of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men”; and, “Indignation and anger, tribulation and anguish upon every human soul that does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile.” Yet the evils the Gentiles have suffered in this world were countless, as both pagan histories and the Scriptures we possess declare. For who could recount the tragic calamities of the Babylonians or those of the Egyptians? But to prove that those who did not know Christ before His coming in the flesh, yet refrained from idolatry, worshiped God alone, and lived excellent lives, will enjoy every blessing, listen to what is said: “But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” Do you see that there are many rewards for their good deeds, and punishments and penalties for those who have done the opposite? 4. Tell me, where now are those who utterly disbelieve in hell? If those before Christ's coming, who had never even heard the name of hell or of a resurrection, and who were punished here, will also suffer punishment there, how much more will we, who have been brought up with so much instruction in strict virtue? And how is it reasonable, someone asks, that those who have never heard of hell should fall into hell? For they will say, “If You had threatened us with hell, we would have been more afraid and come to our senses.” Certainly! (Isn't that so?) Just look at how we live now, hearing the words about hell every day and paying no attention at all. Besides, this must also be said: someone who is not restrained by the judgments he can see will be restrained much less by those others. For people with less understanding and coarser dispositions are usually brought to their senses by things close at hand and about to happen, rather than by things that will happen a long time later. “But a greater fear hangs over us,” someone may say, “and in this they were treated unjustly.” By no means. First, the same standards are not set for us as for them; ours are much higher. Now those who have taken on harder work should receive greater help. And the increase in our fear is no small help. And if we have an advantage over them in knowing what is to come, they have an advantage over us in having severe punishments inflicted on them immediately. But there is something else people commonly say about this too. “Where,” they ask, “is God's justice when someone who sins here is punished both here and there?” Would you like me to remind you of your own words, so that you will stop troubling us and supply the answer yourselves? I have heard many of our own people, when told of a murderer executed by a court, express their indignation and speak this way: “This unholy, accursed wretch committed thirty murders, or even many more, and has himself suffered only one death. Where is the justice in that?” So you yourselves admit that one death is not enough punishment. How, then, do you now give the opposite verdict? Because you are judging yourselves instead of others. That is how greatly self-love hinders us from seeing what is just. Because of this, when we judge others, we examine everything strictly, but when we sit in judgment on ourselves, we are blind. If we examined these things in our own case as we do in the case of others, we would give an impartial verdict. For we too have sins that deserve not two or three deaths, but ten thousand. Leaving everything else aside, let those of us who participate unworthily in the mysteries consider ourselves: such people are guilty of the body and blood of Christ. So when you speak about the murderer, take yourself into account too. He has murdered a human being, but you bear the guilt of killing the Lord. And he did it without having participated in the mysteries, while we do it while enjoying the benefit of the sacred table. And what about those who bite and devour their brothers and pour out so much venom? What about someone who robs the poor of their food? For if someone who does not share his own possessions is such a person as I have described, how much more is someone who takes what belongs to others? How many robbers are surpassed in wickedness by the greedy! How many murderers and tomb robbers are surpassed by the plunderers! And how many, after stripping people of their possessions, even thirst for their blood! “No,” he says, “God forbid.” Now you say, God forbid. When you have an enemy, say God forbid then, remember what has been said, and live a rigorously disciplined life, so that Sodom's fate may not await us too, so that we may not suffer Gomorrah's fate, so that we may not suffer what the Tyrians and Sidonians suffered—or rather, so that we may not offend Christ, which would be more painful and more frightening than all of these. For although hell seems frightening to many, I for my part will never stop saying that this is more painful and frightening than any hell; and I beg you to think the same way. For then we will both be delivered from hell and enjoy the glory Christ bestows. May we all attain it, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.