Homilies on Matthew, Homily 46

“He presented another parable to them, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds appeared too. So the landowner’s servants came and said to him, Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from, then? He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Do you want us to go and gather them up? But he said, No, because while you gather up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. So let both grow together until the harvest.” What is the difference between this parable and the one before it? There He speaks of those who have never held to Him, but have turned aside and thrown away the seed; here He means the communities of heretics. To keep even this from disturbing His disciples, He predicts it too, after teaching them why He speaks in parables. The first parable, then, means their failure to receive Him; this one means their acceptance of those who corrupt the truth. For this too is part of the devil’s cunning: he always introduces error alongside the truth, giving it many similarities to the truth so that he can easily deceive the gullible. That is why He calls it weeds, which look somewhat like wheat, rather than some other seed. Then He also describes how the devil carries out his scheme. For He says, “while people slept.” Through this He warns of a serious danger hanging over our leaders, who are especially entrusted with guarding the field—and not only the leaders, but those under them too. He also indicates that error comes after truth, as events themselves confirm. For false prophets came after the prophets, false apostles after the apostles, and Antichrist after Christ. Unless the devil sees something to imitate or someone to plot against, he neither makes an attempt nor knows how. So here too, after seeing that “one produced a hundred, another sixty, another thirty,” he then takes another approach. Since he has been unable to carry away what has taken root, or choke it, or scorch it, he plots against it with another trick, secretly scattering his own inventions among it. And what difference is there, someone may ask, between those who sleep and those who resemble the roadside? In the latter case he snatched the seed away immediately; indeed, he did not even let it take root. But here he needed greater cunning. Christ says these things to teach us to stay alert at all times. For He says that even if you completely escape those dangers, there is still another danger. Just as “the roadside,” “the rock,” and “the thorns” brought ruin in those cases, here sleep brings our ruin, so we need constant watchfulness. That is why He also said, “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.” Something like this happened even at the beginning. Many church leaders, I mean, brought wicked men into the churches—disguised founders of heresies—and made it very easy to set this kind of trap. For once the devil has planted them among us, he does not even need to make any further effort. And how is it possible not to sleep? someone may ask. As far as natural sleep goes, it is indeed impossible; but when it comes to the sleep of our moral awareness, it is possible. That is why Paul also said, “Stay alert; stand firm in the faith.” After this He shows that the act is unnecessary as well as harmful: after the land has been cultivated and needs nothing more, this enemy sows again. Heretics do the same, injecting their own venom for no reason except a hunger for praise. And not only through this, but also through what follows, He gives an exact picture of everything they do. For He says, “When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds appeared too.” These men behave in the same way. At first they disguise themselves; but when they have gained considerable confidence, and someone shares the teaching of the word with them, then they pour out their poison. But why does He introduce the servants reporting what has happened? So that He can declare that it is wrong to kill them. And He calls him “an enemy” because of the harm he does to people. Although his malice is directed against us, it originally sprang from his hatred of God, rather than of us. This makes it clear that God loves us more than we love ourselves. Notice another sign of the devil’s malicious cunning. He did not sow earlier, because he had nothing to destroy. He waited until everything had been done, so that he could undo the Husbandman’s hard work. That was the constant hostility with which he acted against Him. Notice the servants’ devotion too. I mean how eager they are to uproot the weeds immediately, even though they act without good judgment. This shows their concern for the crop, and that they have only one thing in view: preserving the seed that was sown, rather than punishing that enemy. Of course, punishing him is not the urgent concern. So their aim is to find a way to eradicate the harm for now. Yet even this is not an unconditional demand: they do not trust their own judgment in the matter, but wait for the Master’s decision, saying, “Do You want us to?” What, then, does the Master do? He forbids them, saying, “You might uproot the wheat with them.” He said this to prevent wars, bloodshed, and slaughter. For it is not right to put a heretic to death, since that would bring a relentless war into the world. So He restrains them with these two reasons: first, that the wheat must not be harmed; second, that punishment will certainly overtake the heretics if their disease is incurable. So if you want them punished, but without harming the wheat, I tell you to wait for the proper time. But what does “You might uproot the wheat with them” mean? Either He means that if you take up arms and kill the heretics, many of the saints must also fall with them; or He means that many of the weeds themselves may well change and become wheat. So if you uproot them beforehand, you harm what is going to become wheat, killing some who still have room to change and improve. He therefore does not forbid us to restrain heretics, silence them, take away their freedom of speech, or break up their assemblies and alliances. He forbids us to kill and slaughter them. But notice His gentleness: He not only gives His judgment and forbids it, but also gives His reasons. What, then, if the weeds remain until the end? “Then I will say to the reapers, Gather the weeds first, and tie them in bundles to burn them.” He again reminds them of John’s words, presenting Himself as judge. And He says that as long as they stand beside the wheat, we must spare them, because they may even become wheat. But when they have departed without benefiting at all, then the inevitable, unrelenting punishment will overtake them. “For I will say to the reapers,” He says, “Gather the weeds first.” Why “first”? So that these people will not be alarmed, as though the wheat were being carried off with the weeds. “And tie them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” 2. “He presented another parable to them, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed.” Since He had said that three parts of the crop are lost and only one is saved, and that even the part that is saved suffers such great damage, they might have said, “Who, then, will the faithful be, and how many will there be?” He removes this fear too, using the parable of the mustard seed to lead them to faith and to show that the gospel will certainly spread. That is why He introduced the comparison with this plant, which closely resembles the subject at hand. “It is indeed the smallest of all seeds,” He says, “but when it has grown, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and stay in its branches.” In this way He meant to give the clearest sign of its greatness. “So it will be with the gospel too,” He says. For His disciples were the weakest and least of all; yet because of the great power within them, it has spread to every part of the world. After this He adds the comparison with leaven, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole batch was leavened.” For just as this changes the large quantity of flour to share its own character, so you will convert the whole world. Notice His wisdom in introducing natural processes, showing that just as the one is certain to happen, so is the other. So do not say to me, “What will we twelve men be able to do, throwing ourselves into such a vast multitude?” For this very thing, above all, makes your power clear: you mix with the multitude and are not driven away. Leaven leavens the dough when it comes into close contact with the flour—and not merely close contact, but actual mixing with it (for He did not simply say “put,” but “hid”). In the same way, when you attach yourselves to your enemies and become one with them, then you will overcome them. And just as leaven, though buried, is not destroyed, but little by little changes everything to share its own character, so it will be here too with the gospel. So do not be afraid because I said you would suffer much harm. Even so, you will shine and overcome everyone. And do not be surprised that, when speaking about the kingdom, He mentioned a little seed and leaven. He was speaking to inexperienced and uneducated people who needed to be guided by such means. They were so simple that even after all this, they needed a great deal of explanation. Where now are the followers of the Greeks? Let them learn Christ’s power by seeing the reality of His deeds, and let them worship Him on both grounds: that He predicted so great a thing and that He fulfilled it. For He is the one who put the power into the leaven. With this purpose He also mixed those who believe in Him with the multitude, so that we might share our wisdom with the rest. So let no one criticize us for being few. For the gospel has great power, and what has once been leavened becomes leaven in turn for what remains. Just as a spark that catches in wood makes the wood already burned feed the flame, and then spreads to the rest, so it is with the gospel. But He did not say “fire”; He said “leaven.” Why might that be? Because in the first case the fire does not produce the whole effect by itself; the wood being kindled contributes too. But in the second, the leaven does all the work by itself. 3. Now if twelve men leavened the whole world, imagine how shameful our conduct is: although there are so many of us, we cannot reform those who remain, when we ought to be enough for ten thousand worlds and become leaven for them. “But they,” someone may say, “were apostles.” And what of it? Didn’t they share your human nature? Weren’t they brought up in cities? Didn’t they enjoy the same benefits? Didn’t they work at trades? What, were they angels? Did they come down from Heaven? “But they performed signs,” someone will say. It was not the signs that made them admirable. How long will we use those miracles to cover up our own negligence? Look at the choir of the Saints: it was not those miracles that made them shine. Indeed, many who had actually cast out demons, because they practiced wickedness, received punishment instead of admiration. What, then, someone will ask, showed their greatness? Their contempt for wealth, their disregard for glory, their freedom from worldly things. For surely, if they had lacked these qualities and been slaves to their passions, even if they had raised ten thousand dead people, they would have done no good at all and would instead have been considered deceivers. So it is their life, shining in every respect, that also draws down the grace of the Spirit. What kind of miracle did John perform to draw the attention of so many cities to himself? As for the fact that he did no wonders, listen to the evangelist saying, “John did no miracle.” And what made Elijah admirable? Wasn’t it his boldness toward the king? His zeal for God? His voluntary poverty? His sheepskin garment, his cave, and his mountains? For he performed his miracles after all these things. And what kind of miracle did Job perform in the devil’s sight to make him marvel at him? No miracle at all, but a shining life that displayed endurance harder than any diamond. What kind of miracle did David perform while still young, for God to say, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart”? And Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—what dead body did they raise? What leper did they cleanse? Don’t you know that miracles often even do harm unless we remain clearheaded? That is how many of the Corinthians became divided from one another; that is how many of the Romans were carried away by pride; that is how Simon was cast out. That is how the man who once wanted to follow Christ was rejected, after being told, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests.” For each of these fell away and perished, one seeking the wealth and another the glory that miracles bring. But attention to how we live and love of virtue, far from producing such a desire, even remove it when it is already there. And when He Himself laid down laws for His own disciples, what did He say? “Perform miracles so that people may see you”? Certainly not. What, then? “Let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” And again, He did not say to Peter, “If you love me, perform miracles,” but “feed my sheep.” And since He singles him out everywhere, along with James and John, above all the rest, why, I ask you, did He single them out? For their miracles? No; they all alike cleansed lepers and raised the dead, and He gave them all the same authority. Where, then, did their advantage come from? From the virtue in their souls. Do you see how conduct and proof through deeds are required everywhere? “For by their fruits,” He says, “you will know them.” And what makes our own lives worthy of praise? A display of miracles, or a thoroughly excellent way of life? Clearly, the second. As for miracles, they both spring from this and lead back to it. For whoever displays an excellent life draws this gift to himself, and whoever receives the gift receives it for this purpose: to reform other people’s lives. Even Christ performed those miracles for this purpose: after establishing His credibility through them and drawing people to Him, He could bring virtue into our lives. That is also why He places greater emphasis on virtue than on miracles. For He is by no means satisfied with signs alone; He also threatens hell, promises a kingdom, lays down those startling laws, and orders everything toward this end: to make us equal to the angels. And why do I say that Christ does everything for this purpose? If someone gave even you the choice of raising the dead by His name or dying for His name, which of the two, I ask you, would you rather accept? Clearly the second, isn’t it? Yet the one is a miracle, while the other is simply a deed. And if someone offered you the power to turn grass into gold, or the ability to despise all wealth as you do grass, wouldn’t you choose the second? And very reasonably. For this would draw people more powerfully than anything else. If they saw grass turned into gold, they too would crave that power, as Simon did, and their love of money would increase. But if they saw us all despising and disregarding gold as though it were grass, they would long ago have been freed from this disease. 4. Do you see that our conduct has greater power to do good? By conduct I do not mean your fasting or your spreading sackcloth and ashes beneath you. I mean despising wealth as it should be despised, being kind and affectionate, giving your bread to the hungry, controlling anger, casting out the hunger for praise, and putting away envy. This is how He Himself taught: “Learn from me,” He says, “for I am gentle and humble in heart.” He did not say, “for I fasted,” although He certainly could have spoken of the forty days. Yet He does not say this, but “I am gentle and humble in heart.” And again, when sending them out, He did not say, “Fast,” but “Eat whatever is set before you.” With regard to wealth, however, He required great strictness of them, saying, “Do not take gold, silver, or brass in your moneybags.” I say all this not to disparage fasting—God forbid—but to commend it highly. But I grieve when you neglect other duties and think fasting is enough for salvation, even though it has only the last place in the choir of virtues. For the greatest things are love, moderation, and giving to the poor, which reaches a higher mark even than virginity. So if you want to become equal to the apostles, nothing stands in your way. Attaining this virtue alone is enough to keep you from falling short of them at all. So let no one wait for miracles. For although the evil spirit is distressed when he is driven out of a body, he is much more distressed when he sees a soul freed from sin. For sin is his great power. This power caused Christ to die so that He could put an end to it. For it brought in death; because of it everything has been turned upside down. So if you remove it, you have cut out the devil’s sinews, you have “crushed his head,” you have ended all his power, you have scattered his army, and you have displayed a sign greater than all signs. This saying is not mine, but blessed Paul’s. For after saying, “Earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way,” he did not go on to speak of a sign, but of love, the root of all our good things. So if we practice this, and all the self-denial that flows from it, we will have no need of signs. On the other hand, if we do not practice it, we will gain nothing from signs. Keeping all this in mind, then, let us imitate the things that made the apostles great. And what made them great? Listen to Peter saying, “Look, we have left everything and followed You; what, then, will we have?” Listen also to Christ saying to them, “You will sit on twelve thrones,” and “everyone who has left houses, brothers, father, or mother will receive a hundred times as much in this world, and will inherit everlasting life.” So let us withdraw from all worldly things and dedicate ourselves to Christ, so that we may both become equal to the apostles, as He declared, and enjoy eternal life. May we all attain it through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.