Homilies on Matthew, Homily 57

“And His disciples asked Him, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’” They did not know this from the Scriptures. Rather, the scribes used to explain it, and this saying circulated among the uninformed people, as did the saying about Christ. That is why the Samaritan woman also said, “The Messiah is coming; when He comes, He will tell us everything.” And they themselves asked John, “Are you Elijah, or the Prophet?” For, as I said, both the saying about the Christ and the saying about Elijah were widespread, though they did not interpret them correctly. For the Scriptures speak of two comings of Christ: this one that has already happened, and the one that is still to come. Speaking of these, Paul said, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared, teaching us to reject ungodliness and worldly desires and to live with self-control, righteousness, and godliness.” There is the one coming; listen to how he also describes the other. After saying this, he added, “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” The prophets also mention both. Of one of them, however—the second—they say that Elijah will be the forerunner. For John was the forerunner of the first. Christ also called him Elijah, not because he was Elijah, but because he was carrying out that prophet’s ministry. Just as the one will be the forerunner of the second coming, the other was the forerunner of the first. But the scribes confused these things and misled the people, mentioning to them only that other coming, the second, and saying, “If this man is the Christ, Elijah should have come before Him.” That is why the disciples also ask, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” That is also why the Pharisees sent people to John and asked him, “Are you Elijah?” They made no mention at all of the first coming. What explanation, then, did Christ give? “Elijah is indeed coming then, before my second coming; and Elijah has already come now as well,” calling John by that name. In this sense Elijah has come. But if you are looking for the Tishbite, he is still coming. That is also why He said, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things.” What things? Those the prophet Malachi spoke of: “I will send you,” He says, “Elijah the Tishbite, who will restore the heart of father to son, so that I do not come and strike the earth with utter destruction.” Do you see how precise the language of prophecy is? Because Christ called John Elijah on account of their shared office, He also added Elijah’s homeland here, saying “the Tishbite,” so that you would not suppose the prophet meant the same thing in this passage. John was not a Tishbite. Along with this He gives another sign, saying, “So that I do not come and strike the earth with utter destruction,” indicating His second and fearful coming. For at His first coming He did not come to strike the earth. “I did not come,” He says, “to judge the world, but to save the world.” He said this, then, to show that the Tishbite comes before that other coming, which brings judgment. He also teaches the reason for his coming. What is that reason? That when Elijah comes, he may persuade the Jews to believe in Christ, so that they may not all utterly perish at His coming. That is why He too, directing them back to that passage, says, “And he will restore all things.” That is, he will correct the unbelief of the Jews alive at that time. That is why the prophet’s wording is so precise: he did not say, “He will restore the heart of the son to the father,” but “of the father to the son.” Since the Jews are the fathers of the apostles, he means that Elijah will restore the fathers’ hearts—that is, the mind of the Jewish people—to the teachings of their sons, that is, the apostles. “But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did whatever they wanted to him. In the same way the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” Then they understood that He was speaking to them about John. Yet neither the scribes nor the Scriptures had said this. But because they were now more perceptive and paid closer attention to His words, they quickly understood His meaning. And how did the disciples know this? He had already told them, “He is Elijah, who was to come.” But here He says that he has come, and again that “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.” Do not be troubled or imagine that His statement is inconsistent because at one time He said, “he will come,” and at another, “he has come.” All these things are true. When He says, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things,” He means Elijah himself and the conversion of the Jews that will take place then. But when He says, “Who was to come,” He calls John Elijah because of the way he carried out his ministry. In the same way, the prophets used to call each of their worthy kings David, and the Jews “rulers of Sodom” and “sons of Ethiopians,” because of their conduct. For just as the other will be the forerunner of the second coming, this one was the forerunner of the first. 2. And this is not the only reason He calls him Elijah everywhere. He also does so to show His complete agreement with the Old Testament and that this coming too fulfills prophecy. That is why He adds again, “He came, and they did not recognize him, but did whatever they wanted to him.” What does “Whatever they wanted” mean? They threw him into prison, mistreated him, killed him, and brought his head on a platter. “In the same way the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” Do you see how He again reminds them of His passion at the right moment, giving them a great source of comfort in John’s suffering? And He does this not only in that way, but also by working great miracles immediately afterward. Indeed, whenever He speaks of His passion, He works miracles close to that time, both after these statements and before them. In many places you can find Him following this practice. “Then,” for instance, it says, “He began to explain that He must go to Jerusalem, be killed, and suffer many things.” “Then”—when? When He had been acknowledged as Christ and the Son of God. Again, on the mountain, when He had shown them the marvelous vision and the prophets had been speaking of His glory, He reminded them of His passion. For after speaking of what had happened to John, He added, “In the same way the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” And a little later He did so again, after casting out the demon that His disciples had been unable to cast out. For then too, “While they were staying in Galilee,” it says, “Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, and they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise again.’” In doing this, He used the greatness of the miracles to ease their overwhelming sorrow and comfort them in every way, just as here too He gave them much comfort by mentioning John’s death. But if someone asks, “Why did He not raise up Elijah and send him even then, since He testifies that so much good will come from his arrival?” we should answer that even as things stood, they did not believe Christ when they thought He was Elijah. For the words are, “Some say that You are Elijah, and others, Jeremiah.” And indeed, there was no difference between John and Elijah except the time. “Then how will they believe at that time?” someone may ask. Well, “he will restore all things,” not simply because he is recognized, but also because Christ’s glory will have continued to grow more intense until that day and will be clearer than the sun to everyone. So when he comes, with such a belief and expectation preceding him, making the same proclamation as John and himself announcing Jesus as well, they will accept his words more readily. But in saying, “They did not recognize him,” He is also offering an excuse for what was done to Him. And He comforts them not only in this way, but also by pointing out that whatever John suffered at their hands was undeserved, and by overshadowing what would distress them with two signs: the one on the mountain and the other just about to take place. But when they heard these things, they did not ask Him when Elijah was coming. Either grief over His passion or fear held them back. For on many occasions, when they saw that He was unwilling to speak plainly about something, they remained silent and left it there. For instance, when He said during their stay in Galilee, “The Son of Man will be betrayed, and they will kill Him,” Mark adds, “They did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask Him.” Luke adds, “It was hidden from them, so that they would not understand it, and they were afraid to ask Him about that saying.” 3. “And when they came to the crowd, a man approached Him, knelt before Him, and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.’” Scripture indicates that this man was exceedingly weak in faith. This is evident in many ways: from Christ’s saying, “All things are possible for someone who believes”; from the approaching man’s own words, “Help my unbelief”; from Christ’s command to the demon, “Never enter him again”; and from the man’s further words to Christ, “If You can.” “Yet if his unbelief was the reason the demon did not come out,” someone may ask, “why does He blame the disciples?” He is showing that in many cases they could bring about a cure even without people bringing the sick in faith. For just as the faith of the person bringing the sick often secured a cure even through ministers of lesser power, so the power of those performing the miracle was often enough to work a miracle, even when those who came did not believe. Scripture indicates both these things. Those in Cornelius’s company drew the grace of the Spirit to themselves by their faith. Again, in Elisha’s case, a dead man rose even though no one had believed. Those who threw him in did so not out of faith but out of cowardice, unintentionally and by chance, because they were afraid of the band of robbers, and then they fled. The person thrown in was himself dead, yet the dead man rose through the power of the holy body alone. It is clear, then, that in this case the disciples too were weak—but not all of them, for the pillars were not present. And see this man’s lack of consideration in another detail: before the crowd he makes a complaint to Jesus against His disciples, saying, “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” But He clears them of the charges before the people and assigns the greater share of blame to the man. For His words are, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?” He directs this not only at the man himself, so as not to overwhelm him with shame, but also at all the Jews. For many of those present might well have taken offense and formed an unfair opinion of the disciples. But when He said, “How long will I be with you?” He again indicated that death was welcome to Him, that He desired it and longed for His departure, and that being with them was painful to Him, rather than crucifixion. Yet He did not stop with the accusations. What does He say? “Bring him here to me.” He Himself also asks the man how long his son has been like this, both making a case for His disciples and leading the man to hope, so that he might believe his son would be delivered from the evil. And He allows the boy to be convulsed, not for display (accordingly, when a crowd began to gather, He went on to rebuke the demon), but for the father’s own sake. When he saw the evil spirit disturbed at Christ’s mere call, this at least, if nothing else, might lead him to believe in the miracle about to take place. And because he had said, “Since childhood,” and “If You can help me,” Christ says, “All things are possible for someone who believes,” again turning the complaint back on him. When the leper said, “If You are willing, You can make me clean,” testifying to His authority, Christ praised him and confirmed his words, saying, “I am willing; be clean.” But when this man spoke in a way wholly unworthy of His power—“If You can, help me”—see how He corrects his words as improperly spoken. For what does He say? “If you can believe, all things are possible for someone who believes.” His meaning is this: “My power is so abundant that I can even enable others to work these miracles. So if you believe as you should, you yourself are able,” He says, “to heal both this boy and many others.” And after saying this, He freed the boy possessed by the demon. But recognize His providence and His goodness not only from this, but also from that earlier period during which He allowed the demon to remain in him. Surely, unless the boy had received much providential care even then, he would have died long before. For “it threw him both into the fire,” it says, “and into the water.” And the one who dared to do this would certainly have destroyed the boy as well, unless God had restrained him with His strong curb even in such great madness. The same was true of those naked men who ran in the wilderness and cut themselves with stones. And if he calls him “a lunatic,” do not be troubled at all, for it is the possessed boy’s father who uses the word. How then does the evangelist also say, “He healed many who were lunatics”? He names them according to the common understanding. For the evil spirit, to discredit nature, both attacks those it seizes and releases them according to the phases of the moon. This does not mean the moon causes it—away with the thought! Rather, the spirit cunningly does this to discredit nature. A mistaken opinion has taken hold among unsuspecting people, and, deceived by it, they call such evil spirits by this name. For this is by no means true. 4. “Then His disciples came to Him privately and asked Him why they themselves could not cast out the demon.” They seem to me to have been anxious and afraid that perhaps they had lost the grace entrusted to them. For they had received power over unclean spirits. That is also why they come to Him privately to ask—not out of shame (for if the event had become public and their failure was established, there would be no further point in being ashamed to admit it in words), but because they were about to ask Him about a great and secret matter. What, then, does Christ say? “Because of your unbelief,” He says. “For if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Now if you ask, “Where did they move a mountain?” I would answer that they did far greater things, raising countless dead people. Moving a mountain and removing death from a body are by no means the same thing. And certain saints who came after them, far inferior to them, are said actually to have moved mountains when necessity called for it. From this we see that the apostles too would have done the same if the need had arisen. But if there was no need for it then, do not find fault. Besides, He Himself did not say, “You will certainly move it,” but “You will be able to do even this.” And if they did not do it, it was not because they were unable—how could that be, when they had power to do greater things?—but because they chose not to, since there was no need. It is also likely that this may have happened without being recorded, for we know that not all the miracles they performed were written down. At that time, however, they were comparatively very immature. What then? Did they not have even this much faith at that time? They did not. For they were not always in the same condition: even Peter is now declared blessed, now rebuked. The others too are mocked by Him for their foolishness when they fail to understand His saying about the leaven. So at that time as well the disciples were weak, for before the cross their understanding was still immature. But by faith here He means the faith concerned with miracles, and He mentions a mustard seed to show its indescribable power. For although a mustard seed seems small in size, it is the most powerful of all things. To show, then, that even the smallest degree of genuine faith can do great things, He mentioned the mustard seed. Nor did He stop there: He added even mountains and went further still. “For nothing,” He says, “will be impossible for you.” But here too, marvel at their self-denial and the power of the Spirit: their self-denial in not hiding their fault, and the power of the Spirit in gradually advancing people who did not have even a mustard seed’s worth of faith until rivers and springs of faith sprang up within them. “However, this kind does not come out except through prayer and fasting.” He means the whole class of evil spirits, not only those possessing people called lunatics. Do you see how He now begins to lay in them the foundation for His teaching about fasting? Do not argue with me from rare cases in which some have cast them out even without fasting. Although someone might say this of those who rebuke evil spirits in one or two instances, it is impossible for the sufferer to be delivered from such madness while living in luxury. Fasting is especially necessary for someone afflicted in this way. “And yet,” someone may say, “if faith is required, what need is there for fasting?” Because together with our faith, it too brings considerable power. It instills great self-discipline, makes a person an angel, and fights against the incorporeal powers. Yet it does not do so by itself: prayer is also needed, and prayer must come first. 5. See, at any rate, how many blessings spring from both of them. Someone who prays as he should and fasts has few needs, and someone with few needs cannot be greedy. Someone who is not greedy will also be more inclined to give alms. Someone who fasts is light and winged, prays alertly, quenches his wicked desires, appeases God, and humbles his soul when it grows proud. That is why even the apostles were almost always fasting. Someone who prays while fasting has wings that are doubled and lighter than the winds themselves. For he does not yawn, stretch, or grow sluggish in prayer, as most people do, but is more intense than fire and rises above the earth. That is also why such a person is especially a hater and enemy of evil spirits. For nothing is mightier than someone who prays sincerely. If a woman had the power to prevail on a cruel ruler who neither feared God nor respected people, how much more will someone prevail with God who continually attends to Him, controls his appetite, and rejects luxury? But if your body is too weak to fast continually, it is still not too weak for prayer, nor does it lack the strength to disregard the demands of the belly. Although you cannot fast, you can avoid luxurious living. Even this is no small thing, nor is it far removed from fasting. This alone is enough to bring down the devil’s madness. For nothing is so welcome to that evil spirit as luxury and drunkenness, since they are both the spring and parent of all our evils. Through this, for example, he drove the ancient Israelites into idolatry; through this he made the Sodomites burn with unlawful desire. For “this,” it says, “was the iniquity of Sodom: in pride, an abundance of bread, and feasting, they became self-indulgent.” Through this he has destroyed ten thousand others and handed them over to hell. For what evil does luxury fail to produce? It turns people into pigs, and worse than pigs. While the sow wallows in the mud and feeds on filth, this person lives on food more disgusting than that, devising forbidden intercourse and unlawful desires. Such a person is no different at all from someone possessed by a demon, for like him he has lost all shame and raves. Yet we pity the person possessed by a demon, while this man is the object of our disgust and hatred. Why? Because he brings a madness he has chosen upon himself and makes his mouth, his eyes, his nostrils—in short, everything—nothing but sewers. But if you could also see what is inside him, you would see his very soul as though caught in a winter freeze, stiff and sluggish, completely unable to help its vessel because the storm is so overwhelming. I am ashamed to say how many evils men and women suffer from luxury, but I leave that to their own conscience, which knows it all more fully. For what is more shameful than a woman who is drunk or at all carried away by wine? The weaker the vessel, the more complete the shipwreck, whether she is free or enslaved. For the free woman behaves disgracefully in front of her slaves, who watch her, and the enslaved woman likewise behaves this way among the slaves. They cause foolish people to speak blasphemously about God’s gifts. For instance, when these excesses occur, I hear many people say, “I wish there were no wine.” What foolishness! What madness! When other people sin, do you find fault with God’s gifts? What great madness is this? Did the wine produce this evil, man? It was not the wine, but the lack of self-control in those who take an evil pleasure in it. Say, then, “I wish there were no drunkenness, no luxury.” But if you say, “I wish there were no wine,” you will go on step by step to say, “I wish there were no steel, because of murderers; no night, because of thieves; no light, because of informers; no women, because of adulteries.” In a word, you will destroy everything. Do not do this, for it comes from a satanic mind. Find fault with the drunkenness rather than the wine. And when you find this same man sober, describe all his disgraceful behavior to him and say: Wine was given so that we might be cheerful, not behave disgracefully; so that we might laugh, not become a laughingstock; so that we might be healthy, not sick; so that we might remedy our body’s weakness, not destroy our soul’s strength. God honored you with the gift; why disgrace yourself by using it to excess? Hear what Paul says: “Use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent illnesses.” But if that saint, even when weighed down by disease and suffering one illness after another, did not drink wine until his Teacher allowed him, what excuse will we have for getting drunk while healthy? To him indeed He said, “Use a little wine for your stomach’s sake.” But to each of you who gets drunk He will say, “Use little wine because of your acts of sexual immorality, your frequent filthy talk, and the other wicked desires that drunkenness habitually produces.” But if you are unwilling to abstain for these reasons, at least abstain because of the dejection and distress it causes. For wine was given for gladness. “Yes, wine,” it says, “makes the human heart glad.” But you spoil even this good quality in it. For what kind of gladness is it to be out of your mind, to suffer countless troubles, to see everything spinning around, to be overwhelmed with dizziness, and, like people with a fever, to need someone to drench your head with oil? 6. I am not saying these things to everyone—or rather, I am saying them to everyone, not because everyone gets drunk, God forbid, but because those who do not drink give no thought to those who get drunk. So I direct my rebuke especially at you who are healthy, since a physician too leaves the sick and speaks to those sitting beside them. I therefore address you, begging you never to be overcome by this passion and to pull up, as though with ropes, those who have been overcome, so that they may not prove worse than animals. For animals seek nothing beyond what they need, but these people have become even more beastly than they are by going beyond the limits of moderation. How much better is a donkey than these people! How much better a dog! For each of these animals, and all others, whether it needs to eat or drink, recognizes having enough as its limit and does not go beyond what it needs. Even if countless people try to force it, it will not submit to excess. In this respect, then, we are worse even than animals, in the judgment not only of the healthy but even of ourselves. That you have judged yourselves inferior to both dogs and donkeys is clear from this: you do not force these animals to eat beyond their proper amount. And if someone asks, “Why?” you will answer, “So that I do not hurt them.” But you do not show even this much care for yourself. Thus you regard yourself as worth less than they are and allow yourself to be continually tossed about as though in a storm. For you suffer the harm of drunkenness not only on the day you are drunk, but afterward as well. Just as the harmful effects of a fever remain after the fever has passed, so after drunkenness has passed, the disturbance of intoxication continues to whirl through both soul and body. While the wretched body lies paralyzed, like the hull of a ship after a shipwreck, the soul, more miserable still, stirs up the storm and kindles the desire even after this has ended. And when the person seems sober, he is then most mad of all, imagining wine and casks, cups and goblets. Just as the losses caused by a storm remain when the raging waters have subsided, so it is here too. For just as cargo is thrown overboard there, here too nearly all our good things are thrown away. Whether drunkenness finds self-control, modesty, understanding, gentleness, or humility within us, it throws them all into the sea of iniquity. But in what follows, the likeness ends. There, throwing things overboard lightens the ship; here, it weighs the ship down still more. For in place of its former riches it takes aboard sand, salt water, and all the accumulated filth of drunkenness—enough to sink the ship at once, along with the sailors and the pilot. So that we may not suffer these things, let us escape that storm. It is impossible to see the kingdom of Heaven while living in drunkenness. “Do not be deceived,” it says. “No drunkards, no people who verbally abuse others, will inherit the kingdom of God.” And why do I speak of a kingdom? With drunkenness, a person cannot even see the things of this present life. For drunkenness truly turns our days into nights and our light into darkness. Though their eyes are open, the drunk cannot see even what is close at hand. And this is not the only dreadful thing. Along with these things they suffer another extremely painful punishment, continually enduring groundless dejection, madness, weakness, ridicule, and disgrace. What excuse is there for people who pierce themselves through with so many evils? There is none. Let us flee, then, from that plague, so that we may attain both the good things here and those to come, through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.