Homilies on Matthew, Homily 75

“And Jesus went out of the temple and left. And His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. And He answered them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Since He had said, “Your house is left desolate,” and had already warned them of many terrible things, the disciples, astonished by what they had heard, came to Him and pointed out the temple’s beauty. They wondered whether so much beauty, such costly materials, and workmanship of indescribable variety were to be destroyed. He now speaks to them not merely of desolation, but predicts complete destruction. “Do you not see all these things,” He says, and do you marvel and stand amazed? “Not one stone will remain on another.” How, then, did it remain? someone may ask. But what does that matter? Even so, the prediction has not failed. For He said this either to indicate its complete desolation or to refer to the spot where He stood. There are parts of it that have been destroyed down to their foundations. And along with this, we would make another point: from what has already happened, even the most argumentative people ought to believe that what remains will be completely destroyed. “And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the world?” They came to Him privately because these were the matters they wanted to ask about. Their longing to know the day of His coming was like labor pains, because they were so eager to see that glory which brings countless blessings. They ask Him these two things: When will these things happen? That is, when will the temple be overthrown? And what is the sign of Your coming? But Luke says the question concerned Jerusalem, as though they supposed His coming would happen then. And Mark says that not all of them asked about the end of Jerusalem, but Peter and John, since they had greater freedom to speak. What, then, does He say? “Be careful that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must happen, but the end is not yet.” When they heard what was to happen to Jerusalem, they felt as though they were being told of vengeance falling on other people, and as though they themselves would be clear of the turmoil. They dreamed only of good things and expected them to happen immediately. For this reason He again foretells terrible things for them, making them take their task seriously and commanding them to be watchful on two fronts: neither to be led astray by the deceit of those who would mislead them nor to be overwhelmed by the violence of the troubles that would overtake them. For the war, He says, will be twofold: the war waged by deceivers and the war waged by enemies. But the first will be much more terrible, coming upon them amid confusion and turmoil, when people are frightened and troubled. The storm was indeed great then, when Roman power was beginning to flourish, cities were being captured, armies and weapons were being set in motion, and many people were readily believed. But He is speaking of wars in Jerusalem, certainly not of wars outside it, everywhere in the world. For what concern were those to them? Besides, He would be saying nothing new if He were speaking of the calamities of the world at large, which are always happening. There had been wars, turmoil, and fighting before this. But He is speaking of the Jewish wars that would come upon them before long, for Roman arms were now becoming a source of anxiety. Since these things too were enough to throw them into confusion, He foretells them all. Then, to show that He Himself will join the attackers in assaulting the Jews and making war on them, He speaks not only of battles but also of plagues sent by God: famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. He shows that He Himself also permitted the wars to come upon them, and that these things do not happen without a purpose, as part of what had previously been the ordinary course of human affairs, but come from the anger of God above. Therefore He says that they will come neither by themselves nor all at once, but with signs. So that the Jews cannot say that those who believed at that time caused these evils, He has also told them why these things will come upon them. “For truly I tell you,” He said earlier, “all these things will come upon this generation,” after mentioning the bloodstain on them. Then, so that hearing of these downpours of evil would not make them think the gospel would be defeated, He added, “See that you are not troubled, for all things must happen,” meaning the things I foretold. The approaching trials will overturn none of what I have said. There will indeed be turmoil and confusion, but nothing will shake My predictions. Then, since He had said to the Jews, “You will not see Me until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” and the disciples supposed that the end would come along with the destruction, He corrected this unspoken thought of theirs by saying, “But the end is not yet.” You can learn from their question that they suspected just what I have said. For what did they ask? When will these things happen? That is, when will Jerusalem be destroyed? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the world? But He gave no direct answer to this question. First He speaks of the other urgent things that they needed to learn first. He did not immediately speak about Jerusalem or His own second coming, but about the troubles waiting at their doors. This is also why He urges them to make a serious effort, saying, “Be careful that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ.” After rousing them to listen to these things (for He says, “Be careful that no one deceives you”) and stirring them to action and preparing them to be watchful, He first speaks of the false Christs and then of Jerusalem’s troubles. Despite their foolishness and contentiousness, He continually uses things that have already happened to assure them of what is still to come. 2. By “wars and rumors of wars,” He means what I said before: the troubles coming upon them. After this, because, as I have already said, they supposed the end would come after that war, see how He warns them: “But the end is not yet. For nation,” He says, “will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” He is speaking of the events leading up to the Jews’ troubles. “All these are the beginning of sorrows,” that is, the sorrows that will fall upon them. “Then they will hand you over to be afflicted, and will kill you.” He introduced their own troubles at the right moment, when the shared miseries offered them some comfort. He also comforted them by adding that it is “for My name’s sake. For you will be hated,” He says, “by everyone for My name’s sake. Then many will fall away and betray one another, and many false Christs and false prophets will arise and deceive many. And because lawlessness will increase, the love of the many will grow cold; but whoever endures to the end will be saved.” This is the greater evil: when the war is internal too, for there were many false brothers. Do you see that the war is threefold? It comes from deceivers, from enemies, and from false brothers. See how Paul too laments these same things, saying, “Outside there was fighting, inside there were fears,” and, “dangers among false brothers,” and again, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” After this comes something more terrible than everything else: they will not even have the comfort of love. Then, showing that these things will do no harm to those who are noble and steadfast, He says, Do not be afraid or troubled. For if you show the endurance you ought to have, the dangers will not overcome you. And clear proof of this is that the word will certainly be preached everywhere in the world: you will rise so far above the things that frighten you. To keep them from saying, How, then, will we survive? He said more: You will both survive and preach everywhere. Therefore He also added, “And this gospel will be preached throughout the whole world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come,” meaning the downfall of Jerusalem. For proof that He meant this, and that the gospel was preached before Jerusalem was captured, hear what Paul says: “Their sound went out into all the earth,” and again, “The gospel which was preached to every creature under Heaven.” And do you see him running from Jerusalem to Spain? If one man covered so much ground, consider what the others accomplished too. For when writing to others, Paul again says of the gospel that “it is bearing fruit and growing in every creature under Heaven.” But what does “as a witness to all nations” mean? Although it was preached everywhere, it was not believed everywhere. It was a witness, He says, to those who did not believe: to convict them, accuse them, and testify against them. For those who believed will testify against those who did not believe and will condemn them. This is why Jerusalem is destroyed after the gospel has been preached in every part of the world: so that they cannot have even the shadow of an excuse for their perversity. For after seeing His power shine everywhere and take the world captive in an instant, what excuse could they have for continuing in the same perversity? For proof that it was preached everywhere at that time, hear what Paul says: “of the gospel which was preached to every creature under Heaven.” This too is a very great sign of Christ’s power: in twenty, or at most thirty, years, the word had reached the ends of the world. “After this, then,” He says, “the end of Jerusalem will come.” What follows makes it clear that this is what He means. For He also introduced a prophecy to confirm their desolation, saying, “But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.” He referred them to Daniel. By “abomination” He means the statue of the man who captured the city at that time, which the man who desolated the city and the temple placed inside the temple. This is why Christ calls it “of desolation.” And to teach them that these things would happen while some of them were still alive, He said, “When you see the abomination of desolation.” 3. This gives us the greatest reason to marvel at Christ’s power and their courage: they preached at a time when the Jewish state was under especially fierce attack, when people especially regarded them as instigators of rebellion, when Caesar ordered them all to be driven out. It was as if someone (when the sea was raging on every side, darkness filled the whole sky, shipwreck followed shipwreck, all their fellow sailors were fighting above, monsters were rising from below and devouring the sailors along with the waves, thunderbolts were falling, pirates were present, and those aboard were plotting against one another) ordered men who knew nothing about sailing and had never even seen the sea to take the helm, steer the vessel, and fight from it. And when an immense fleet approached them in full battle formation, they were to sink and conquer it with a single small boat whose crew was in such disorder. For the pagans hated them as Jews, and the Jews stoned them as enemies of their laws. Nowhere could they find a foothold. Everything, then, was cliffs, reefs, and rocks: conditions in the cities, in the fields, and in the houses. Every single person was at war with them: generals, rulers, private citizens, every nation, every people. The turmoil was beyond words. For the Roman government utterly detested the Jewish people because they had caused it endless trouble. Yet even this did not harm the preaching of the word. The city was stormed and set on fire, and brought countless evils upon its inhabitants; yet the apostles who came from it, introducing new laws, prevailed even over the Romans. What strange and wonderful events! The Romans then subdued countless tens of thousands of Jews, yet they could not overcome twelve men fighting against them naked and unarmed. What words can express this miracle? For teachers need these two things: to be credible and to be loved by those they teach. Along with these, and in addition to them, their teachings should be easy to accept, and the times should be free of trouble and turmoil. But then everything was the opposite. Although they themselves did not seem credible, they were drawing people who had been deceived away from those who did seem credible. Far from being loved, they were hated, and they were taking people away from the things they loved: habits, inherited customs, and laws. Their commands were also very difficult, while the things they were drawing people away from offered much pleasure. Both they and those who obeyed them faced many dangers and many deaths. Along with all this, the times themselves made things very difficult, teeming with wars, turmoil, and disorder. Even without any of the things we have mentioned, this alone would have thrown everything into complete confusion. We have good reason to say, “Who will tell of the Lord’s mighty works and make all His praises heard?” For if Moses’ own people would not listen to him, despite the signs, merely because of the clay and the bricks, who persuaded these people, beaten and killed every day and suffering evils beyond remedy, to leave a peaceful life and prefer one teeming with blood and death—and this when the preachers were strangers to them and deeply hostile to them in every way? I am not speaking now of nations, cities, and peoples. Just bring into a small house someone hated by everyone in it, and try to use him to draw them away from those they love, from father, wife, and child. Will he not surely be torn to pieces before he has opened his mouth? And if, in addition, the house is in an uproar with a husband and wife quarreling, will they not stone him to death before he steps over the threshold? And if he is also someone they can easily despise, who gives painful commands and orders people living in luxury to practice self-restraint, and if, besides all this, he is struggling against people who far outnumber and surpass him, is it not perfectly clear that he will be utterly destroyed? Yet Christ has accomplished throughout the whole world what cannot be done in a single house, bringing in the healers of the world through cliffs and furnaces, ravines and rocks, with land and sea at war with Him. If you want to learn about these things in greater detail—I mean the famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and other calamities—read the history Josephus wrote about them, and you will know everything accurately. Therefore He Himself also said, “Do not be troubled, for all must happen,” and, “Whoever endures to the end will be saved,” and, “The gospel will certainly be preached throughout the whole world.” For when fear of what He had said left them weak and faint, He strengthened them by saying, Though ten thousand things happen, the gospel must be preached in every part of the world, and then the end will come. 4. Do you see what conditions were like then, and how many forms the war took? And this was the beginning, when everything they had to accomplish most needed peace. What conditions, then, did they face? Nothing prevents us from going over the same things again. The first war was waged by deceivers: “For there will come,” He says, “false Christs and false prophets.” The second was waged by the Romans: “For you will hear,” He says, “of wars.” The third was the war that brings “famines.” The fourth was “pestilences” and “earthquakes.” The fifth was, “They will hand you over to afflictions.” The sixth was, “You will be hated by everyone.” The seventh was, “They will betray one another and hate one another” (here He reveals an internal war). Then come “false Christs” and false brothers; then, “the love of the many will grow cold,” which is the cause of all the evils. Do you see the countless kinds of war, new and strange? Yet amid these things, and much more (for war among relatives was mixed in with the internal wars), the gospel prevailed throughout the earth. “For the gospel,” He says, “will be preached throughout the whole world.” Where, then, are those who set the power of fate determined by the stars at birth and the cycle of ages against the church’s teachings? For who has ever recorded that another Christ appeared, or that such a thing happened? Although they falsely claim other things, saying that a hundred thousand years have passed, they cannot even invent this. What kind of cycle, then, would you speak of? For there has never been another Sodom, another Gomorrah, or another flood. How long will you keep talking nonsense about cycles and fate determined by the stars at birth? How, then, someone asks, do many of their predictions come true? Because you have deprived yourself of the help God gives, betrayed yourself, and placed yourself outside His providence. Therefore the evil spirit turns and twists your affairs however he pleases. But this does not happen among the saints—or rather, even among us sinners who utterly despise it. For although our conduct is intolerable, yet because by God’s grace we hold firmly and carefully to the doctrines of truth, we are beyond the malice of evil spirits. And after all, what is fate determined by the stars at birth? Nothing but injustice and confusion, with everything swept along at random—or rather, not merely at random, but, worse still, foolishly. “And if there is no astrological determination at birth, why is one person rich and another poor?” I do not know. For the moment I will reason with you this way, teaching you not to pry into everything, and not to rush into random, reckless conclusions because of your ignorance. Just because you do not know this, you must not invent things that do not exist. It is better to be rightly ignorant than wrongly taught. For someone who does not know the cause will soon reach the right one. But someone who, because he does not know the real cause, invents a false one will not easily accept the real one. He needs much more work and effort to remove the earlier belief. Anyone can easily write whatever he wants on a tablet that has been wiped clean. Once it has been written on, that is no longer so easy, for we must first erase what was wrongly written. Among physicians, too, one who applies no treatment is far better than one who applies harmful treatments. Someone who builds badly is worse than someone who does not build at all, just as land that bears nothing is far better than land that bears thorns. Let us not, then, be impatient to learn everything. Let us be willing to remain ignorant of some things, so that when we find a teacher, we do not give him twice the work. Indeed, many have often remained incurably diseased because they carelessly entangled themselves in false opinions. It is not the same amount of work to uproot what has taken root wrongly and then sow as it is to plant clear ground. In the first case, the teacher must tear things down before putting other things in their place; in the second, the listener is ready. Why, then, is a particular person rich? I will tell you now: many acquire wealth as God’s gift, and many with His permission. That is the short and simple explanation. What then? someone asks. Does He make sexually immoral men, adulterers, men who have sex with other men, or people who misuse their possessions rich? He does not make them rich, but permits them to be rich. The difference between making and permitting is great—indeed, infinite. But why does He allow it at all? Because the time for judgment has not yet come, when everyone will receive what they deserve. For who could be more worthless than that rich man who would not give Lazarus even some of his crumbs? Yet he was more wretched than anyone, for he came to possess not even a drop of water, above all for this very reason: though rich, he was cruel. For if there are two wicked people who have not had the same lot here, but one has lived in wealth and the other in poverty, they will not be punished alike there. The wealthier one will be punished more severely. 5. Do you not see at least that this man suffers more terribly because he had “received his good things”? So when you too see someone prospering who has become rich through injustice, groan and weep. For this wealth adds to his punishment. Just as those who sin greatly and have no intention of repenting store up a treasure of anger for themselves, so those who, instead of being punished, even enjoy prosperity will undergo greater punishment. If you wish, I will show you proof of this not only from the things to come, but also from this present life. For when blessed David committed that sin involving Bathsheba and was convicted by the prophet, he was rebuked more severely above all because he had behaved this way despite enjoying such security. Hear how God reproaches him especially for this: “Did I not anoint you king, deliver you from Saul’s hand, and give you everything that belonged to your master, and the whole house of Israel and Judah? And if that had been too little for you, I would have added this and that. Why, then, have you done what was evil in My sight?” For all sins do not receive the same punishment. Punishments are many and varied, according to the times, the people, their rank, their understanding, and other things besides. To make my point clearer, let us take one sin, sexual immorality, and notice how many different punishments I find, not from my own ideas, but from the divine Scriptures. Did someone engage in sexual immorality before the law? He is punished differently, as Paul shows: “For all who have sinned without law will also perish without law.” Did someone engage in sexual immorality after the law was given? He will suffer more severely. “For all who have sinned under law will be judged by law.” Did someone engage in sexual immorality while a priest? His dignity greatly increases his punishment. For this reason, while other women were put to death for sexual immorality, priests’ daughters were burned. The lawgiver was showing all the more clearly how great a punishment awaits a priest who commits this sin. For if he imposes a greater punishment on the daughter because she is a priest’s daughter, how much more on the man himself who holds the priestly office. Was the sexual act forced on her? Then she is exempt from punishment altogether. Did one woman engage in sexual immorality while rich, and another while poor? Here again there is a difference, as is clear from what we said earlier about David. Was someone guilty of sexual immorality after Christ’s coming? If he dies uninitiated, he will suffer a punishment more severe than all those. Was someone guilty of sexual immorality after the baptismal washing? In that case, no consolation for the sin remains any longer. Paul declared this very thing when he said, “Anyone who rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse a punishment do you suppose someone will deserve who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, regarded the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing, and insulted the grace of the Spirit?” Has someone been guilty of sexual immorality while holding the priestly office now? This, above all, is the crown of evil deeds. Do you see how many different forms one sin takes? One is committed before the law, another after the law, another by someone holding the priestly office. There is the sin of the rich woman and that of the poor woman, of the woman who is a catechumen and of the believing woman, and of the priest’s daughter. Knowledge, too, makes a great difference: “For the one who knew his Lord’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many lashes.” And sinning after seeing examples brings greater punishment. Therefore He says, “But you, even after you had seen it, did not repent afterward,” although you had received much care. Therefore He also reproaches Jerusalem with these words: “How often I wanted to gather your children together, and you were unwilling!” The story of Lazarus also shows what it means to sin while living in luxury. The place, too, makes the sin more serious, as He Himself indicated when He said, “Between the temple and the altar.” The relative gravity of the offenses themselves also makes a difference: “It is no wonder if someone is caught stealing,” and again, “You killed your sons and your daughters; this goes beyond all your sexual immorality and your abominations.” The persons involved also make a difference: “If one person sins against another, they will pray for him; but if he sins against God, who will plead for him?” And so does being more negligent than people far inferior to you. This is the charge He brings against them in Ezekiel, saying, “You have not even acted according to the judgments of the nations.” And so does failing to come to your senses even through the examples of others: “She saw her sister,” it says, “and made her appear righteous.” And so does having received more abundant care: “For if,” He says, “these mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago; but it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon than for that city.” Do you see the perfect precision, and that not everyone pays the same penalty for the same sins? Moreover, when we have benefited from patient forbearance and gained nothing from it, we will suffer worse things. Paul shows this when he says, “But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up anger for yourself.” Knowing these things, then, let us not stumble or be thrown into confusion by anything that happens, or bring a storm of thoughts upon ourselves. Instead, let us make room for God’s providence, devote ourselves to virtue, and flee vice, so that we may also attain the good things to come, through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom glory be to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.