Homily 1

It would indeed have been fitting for us not to need the help of the written word at all, but to show a life so pure that the grace of the Spirit would take the place of books in our souls, and that, as books are written on with ink, so our hearts would be written on by the Spirit. But since we have thrust this grace away from us entirely, come, let us at least take hold of the second-best course. For that the first way was better, God has made plain both by his words and by his actions. To Noah, to Abraham and his descendants, to Job, and to Moses too, he did not speak through writings; he spoke to them himself, in person, because he found their minds pure. But after the whole people of the Hebrews had fallen into the very pit of wickedness, then, and from then on, came a written word, and tablets, and the warning that is given through them. [a]

And one can see that this was the case not only with the saints of the Old Testament but with those of the New as well. For to the apostles, too, God gave nothing in writing; instead of written words he promised to give them the grace of the Spirit. “He,” says our Lord, “will bring all things to your remembrance.” And so that you may learn that this was far better, listen to what he says through the prophet:

“I will make a new covenant with you, putting my laws into their mind, and on their heart I will write them”; and, “They will all be taught by God.” Paul too, pointing out the same superiority, said that they had received a law “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, the tablets of the heart.” But since in the course of time they made shipwreck, some in their teaching and others in their life and conduct, there was need once more for them to be reminded through the written word.

Think, then, how great an evil it is for us. We ought to live so purely that we would not even need written words, but would hand over our hearts to the Spirit like books. Now that we have lost that honor and have come to need these, we fail again to make proper use even of this second remedy. For if it is a reproach to need written words and not to have drawn the grace of the Spirit down on ourselves, think how heavy the charge is if we refuse to profit even after this help, and instead treat what is written with neglect, as if it had been thrown out pointlessly and at random, and so bring down on ourselves a punishment greater still.

So that this does not happen, let us pay close attention to what is written, and let us learn how the old law was given on the one hand, and how the new covenant was given on the other.

How, then, was that law given long ago, and when, and where? After the destruction of the Egyptians, in the wilderness, on Mount Sinai, while smoke and fire were rising from the mountain, with a trumpet sounding, with thunder and lightning, and with Moses going into the very depths of the cloud. But in the new covenant it was not so. It was not in a wilderness, or on a mountain, or with smoke and darkness and cloud and storm. Everything took place at the beginning of the day, in a house, while they were all sitting together, in great quietness. For the people of old, who were less reasonable and hard to lead, needed outward display: a wilderness, a mountain, smoke, the sound of a trumpet, and other things of that kind. But those who were of a higher character and ready to obey, and who had risen above merely bodily imaginings, needed none of these. And if even in their case there was a sound, it was not for the apostles’ sake but for the sake of the Jews who were present, and it was on their account too that the tongues of fire appeared. For if, even after all this, some said, “They are full of new wine,” how much more would they have said it if they had seen none of these things! [c]

In the Old Testament it was when Moses went up that God came down. But here it was when our nature had been carried up into heaven, or rather to the royal throne itself, that the Spirit came down.

Now if the Spirit were a lesser being, the results would not have been greater and more wonderful. Yet these tablets are far better, and the achievements more glorious. For the apostles did not come down from a mountain, as Moses did, carrying monuments of stone in their hands. They carried the Spirit about in their minds, and poured out a kind of treasure and fountain of teachings and gifts and every good thing. And so they went everywhere, and through that grace they became living books and laws. This is how they won over “the three thousand,” this is how they won “the five thousand,” this is how they won the nations of the world, as God spoke through their tongues with everyone who came to them.

It was by this Spirit that Matthew too, filled with the Spirit, wrote what he wrote — Matthew the tax collector, for I am not ashamed to name him by his trade, neither him nor the others. For this, in a very special way, shows both the grace of the Spirit and their own virtue. [e]

And he has rightly called his work by a name that means good news. Yes, for what he came announcing to everyone was the removal of punishment, the forgiveness of sins, “righteousness, and holiness, and redemption,” adoption, an inheritance in heaven, and kinship with the Son of God; and he announced it to enemies, to the perverse, to those who were sitting in darkness. What, then, could ever equal this good news? God on earth, man in heaven! Everything was mingled together: angels joined the choirs of men, and men shared the company of the angels and of the other powers above. You could see the long war brought to an end, and reconciliation made between God and our nature; the devil put to shame, demons in flight, death destroyed, Paradise opened, the curse wiped out, sin put out of the way, error driven off, truth coming back, the word of godliness sown everywhere and flourishing as it grew, the way of life of those above planted on the earth, those powers keeping safe company with us, angels constantly visiting the earth, and hope in abundance for the things to come.

That is why he called the history good news. Everything else is surely just words with nothing behind them: plenty of wealth, for instance, great power, kingdoms, glories, honors, and whatever else people count as good. But the things proclaimed by the fishermen may rightly and properly be called good news — not only because they are sure and unshakable blessings, beyond what we deserve, but also because they were given to us with complete ease. For it was not by laboring and sweating, not by weariness and suffering, but simply by being loved by God, that we received what we have received.

And why is it that, when there were so many disciples, only two of the apostles wrote, and two of their followers? (For one who was a disciple of Paul, and another who was a disciple of Peter, wrote the Gospels together with Matthew and John.) It was because they did nothing for vainglory, but everything for usefulness. [g]

“What then? Wasn’t one evangelist enough to tell everything?” One was indeed enough. But if there are four who write — not at the same times, not in the same places, without having met together and talked things over with one another — and yet they speak about everything as if from one mouth, this becomes the greatest proof of the truth.

But someone may say: “The very opposite has happened. In many places they are caught disagreeing.” No — this very thing is the greatest evidence of their truth. For if they had agreed exactly in everything, down to time and place and the very words, none of our enemies would have believed that they had not met together and written what they wrote by some human agreement; for such complete agreement does not come from simple honesty. But as it is, even the disagreement that seems to exist in small matters frees them from all suspicion and speaks clearly for the character of the writers. [h]

And if there is anything about times or places that they have reported differently, this does no harm at all to the truth of what they have said. These things too, as far as God enables us, we will try to point out as we go on. And along with what we have already mentioned, we ask you to notice this: in the main points, those that make up our life and supply our teaching, nowhere is any of them found to have disagreed, not even in the slightest.

What are these points? These: that God became man; that he worked miracles; that he was crucified; that he was buried; that he rose again; that he ascended; that he will judge; that he has given commands that lead to salvation; that he has brought in a law not contrary to the Old Testament; that he is a Son; that he is the only Son; that he is a true Son; that he is of the same substance as the Father; and as many things as are like these. On these points we will find that there is full agreement among them.

And if, among the miracles, they have not all mentioned all of them, but one has told these and another those, do not let that trouble you. For if one had told them all, the rest would have been superfluous; and if, again, all had written new things, each different from the others, the proof of their agreement would not have been plain. That is why they have treated many things in common, and each of them has also taken up and told something of his own: on the one hand, so that he would not seem superfluous, thrown onto the heap for no purpose; and on the other, so that he might make our test of the truth of what they say complete.

Luke tells us why he sets out to write: “so that you may hold,” he says, “the certainty of the words in which you have been instructed.” That is, so that by being continually reminded you may hold on to certainty and remain in certainty. [i]

As for John, he himself has said nothing about his reason. Yet, as a tradition says that has come down to us from the beginning, from the Fathers, he too did not come to write without a purpose. The other three had taken care to dwell on the account of the plan of salvation, and the teaching about the Godhead was in danger of being left unspoken; so he, moved by Christ, then and only then set himself to compose his Gospel. This is plain both from the history itself and from the opening of his Gospel. For he does not begin from below like the rest, but from above, from the very point he was aiming at, and he composed the whole book with this in view. And not only at the beginning, but all through the Gospel, he is loftier than the rest.

Of Matthew, again, it is said that when those of the Jews who had believed came to him and begged him to leave them in writing the same things he had told them by word of mouth, he too composed his Gospel, in the language of the Hebrews. And Mark too, in Egypt, is said to have done this very thing at the request of the disciples.

That is why Matthew, writing for Hebrews, sought to show nothing more than that he was descended from Abraham and David; but Luke, speaking to everyone in general, traces the account higher, going all the way back to Adam. And the one begins with his lineage, because nothing was so comforting to a Jew as to be told that Christ was the offspring of Abraham and David. The other does not do so, but mentions many other things first and then moves on to the genealogy.

But the harmony between them we will establish both from the whole world, which has accepted what they say, and from the very enemies of the truth. For since their time many sects have sprung up, holding opinions opposed to their words. Some of these have accepted everything they said, while others have cut certain parts of their writings off from the rest and kept those for themselves. But if there were any conflict in what they said, the sects that hold the opposite views would not have accepted everything, but only as much as seemed to agree with themselves; nor would those that have split off a part be completely refuted by that very part. As it is, even the fragments cannot hide; they declare aloud their connection with the whole body. [l]

It is as if you took a piece from the side of an animal: even in that piece you would find everything the whole is made of — sinews and veins, bones, arteries and blood, a sample, one might say, of the whole lump. So it is with the Scriptures too: in each portion of what is written there, you can see its connection with the whole shining clearly through. Whereas if they were in conflict, this could not have been shown, and the teaching itself would long ago have come to nothing. “For every kingdom,” he says, “divided against itself will not stand.” But as it is, the might of the Spirit shines out in this too: it persuaded these men, busy as they were with the things that are more necessary and truly urgent, to take no harm at all from these small matters.

Now, where each of them was living when he wrote, we should not state too positively.

But that they do not contradict one another we will try to prove throughout the whole work. And you, in accusing them of disagreement, are doing just the same as if you were to insist that they use the same words and turns of phrase.

And I am not yet saying that those who pride themselves greatly on rhetoric and philosophy — many of whom have written many books on the same subjects — have not merely expressed themselves differently but have even contradicted one another (for it is one thing to speak differently and another to speak in conflict). I say none of this. Far be it from me to build our defense on the madness of those men; I am not willing to recommend the truth by means of falsehood.

But this I would gladly ask: how were accounts that differed believed? How did they win out? How was it that, while saying opposite things, they were admired, believed, and celebrated everywhere in the world?

And yet there were many witnesses of what they said, and many opponents and enemies too. For they did not write these things in some corner and bury them. They unfolded them everywhere, by sea and by land, in the hearing of all, and these things were read in the presence of enemies, just as they are now, and nothing they said offended anyone. And that is only natural, for it was a divine power that went through everything and made it prosper with everyone.

For if it had not been so, how could the tax collector, and the fisherman, and the uneducated have attained to such philosophy? Things that those outside have never been able to imagine, not even in a dream, these men proclaim with great certainty and make convincing — and not only in their lifetime, but even after their death; not to two people, or twenty, or a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand, but to cities, nations and peoples, to land and sea, in the lands of Greeks and of barbarians, inhabited and desert alike; and all of it about things far beyond our nature. For they leave the earth behind, and all their talk is about the things in heaven, while they bring in for us another principle of life, another way of living: wealth and poverty, freedom and slavery, life and death, our world and our way of life — all changed. [m]

They are not like Plato, who composed that ridiculous Republic, or Zeno, or anyone else who has written a constitution or framed laws. For in all these cases they themselves have made it plain that an evil spirit — some cruel demon at war with our race, a foe of modesty and an enemy of good order, turning everything upside down — made his voice heard in their souls. When, for example, they make their women common to all; when they strip virgins naked in the wrestling school and bring them out before the gaze of men; when they establish secret marriages, mixing everything together and confusing it, and overturning the boundaries of nature — what more is there to say? That these sayings of theirs are all inventions of demons and contrary to nature, nature herself would testify, since she does not tolerate what we have mentioned. And they wrote this not amid persecutions, or dangers, or battles, but in complete security and freedom, and they decked it out with many ornaments gathered from many sources. But these teachings of the fishermen — hunted as they were, flogged, and in danger — have been received with all goodwill by the learned and the unlearned, by slaves and free, by kings and common soldiers, by barbarians and Greeks.

And you cannot say that these things were easily accepted by everyone because they were trivial and low. No — these teachings are far higher than those. For those men never imagined even the name of virginity, not even in a dream, nor of voluntary poverty, nor of fasting, nor of any other of those lofty things. But those who belong to us do not merely root out lust. They punish not only the act, but even an unchaste look, and insulting language, and unruly laughter, and dress, and the way one walks, and shouting. They carry their strictness even to the smallest things, and they have filled the whole earth with the plant of virginity. And about God too, and the things in heaven, they persuade people to be wise with a knowledge that none of those men was ever able even to conceive in his mind. For how could they, who made for gods images of beasts, and of monsters that crawl on the earth, and of other things still more vile? [p]

Yet these high teachings were both accepted and believed, and they flourish and grow every day; while the others have passed away and perished, disappearing more easily than spiders’ webs.

And that is only natural, for it was demons who put those things forward. That is why, besides their uncleanness, they are very obscure, and the labor they demand is greater still. For what could be more ridiculous than that “republic”? Besides what I have mentioned, the philosopher spends lines without number trying to show what justice is, and on top of this long-windedness he has filled his discussion with a great deal of vagueness. Even if it did contain something useful, it would have to be quite useless for human life. For if the farmer and the smith, the builder and the ship’s pilot, and everyone who lives by the work of his hands, must leave his trade and his honest labor and spend so many years learning what justice is, then before he has learned it he will often be utterly destroyed by hunger. He will perish because of this justice, having learned nothing else useful to know, and having ended his life in a cruel death.

But our lessons are not like that. Rather, Christ has taught us what is just, and what is fitting, and what is beneficial, and all virtue in general, summing it up in a few plain words. At one time he says that “on two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets” — that is, on the love of God and on the love of our neighbor. At another he says, “Whatever you want people to do to you, do the same to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.” [q]

And these things are all plain to understand and easy to learn, even for a laborer, and a servant, and a widow, and a small child, and someone who seems exceedingly slow of understanding. For the lessons of the truth are like that, and the actual outcome bears witness to it. Everyone, at any rate, has learned what they are to do — and not only learned it, but strived eagerly after it; and not only in the cities or in the middle of the marketplaces, but on the tops of the mountains too.

Yes, for there you will see true wisdom in abundance, and choirs of angels shining out in a human body, and the commonwealth of heaven displayed here on earth. For these fishermen too wrote a commonwealth for us — not with commands that it must be taken up from childhood, as those others did, nor making it a law that the virtuous man must be so many years old, but speaking to every age alike. For those lessons are children’s toys, but these are the truth of things.

And as the place of this commonwealth of theirs they have appointed heaven, and they have brought in God as its builder and as the lawgiver of the statutes laid down there — as indeed was their duty. And the rewards in their commonwealth are not wreaths of bay or olive, or meals at public expense in the city hall, or bronze statues — these cold, ordinary things — but a life that has no end: to become children of God, to join the angels’ choir, to stand beside the royal throne, and to be with Christ forever. And the leaders of the people in this commonwealth are tax collectors, and fishermen, and tentmakers — not men who lived for a short time, but men who are living now forever. That is why even after their death they may do the greatest good to those they govern.

This commonwealth is at war not with men, but with demons and those bodiless powers. That is why its commander is not a man, nor an angel, but God himself. And the armor of these soldiers suits the nature of the war, for it is not made of leather and steel, but of truth and righteousness and faith, and all true love of wisdom.

Since, then, this commonwealth is the subject this book was written about, and we are now set to speak about it, let us pay careful attention to Matthew as he speaks plainly about it. For what he says is not his own; it all belongs to Christ, who has made the laws of this city. Let us pay attention, I say, so that we may be fit to be enrolled in it, and to shine out among those who have already become its citizens and are waiting for those crowns that never perish. Many, however, think this book is easy, while the writings of the prophets are difficult. But this again is the view of people who do not know the depth of the thoughts stored up in it. So I urge you to follow us with great diligence, so that we may enter the very ocean of what is written, with Christ as our guide as we go in. [s]

And so that the teaching may be easier to learn, we beg and urge you, as we have also done with the other Scriptures, to read ahead of time the portion of Scripture we are going to explain, so that your reading may prepare the way for your understanding — as happened with the eunuch — and so make our task much easier.

I say this because the questions are many, and they come one after another. Look, for example, how many difficulties can be raised, one after the other, right at the beginning of his Gospel. First, why is the genealogy of Joseph traced, when he was not Christ’s father? Second, how can it be shown that Christ descends from David, when the forefathers of Mary, who gave birth to him, are not known, since the Virgin’s genealogy is not traced? Third, why is Joseph’s genealogy traced, when he had nothing to do with the birth, while in the case of the Virgin, who was the actual mother, we are not shown from what fathers, or grandfathers, or ancestors she comes? [t]

Along with these, this also deserves inquiry. Why is it that, while tracing the genealogy through the men, he has mentioned women as well? And since he decided to do this, why did he not mention them all? Why did he pass over the more eminent ones, such as Sarah, Rebecca, and all who were like them, and bring forward only those known for something bad — a woman who was a prostitute, or an adulteress, or a mother by an unlawful union, or a foreigner or barbarian? For he has mentioned the wife of Uriah, and Tamar, and Rahab, and Ruth. Of these, one was of a foreign race; another was a prostitute; another was defiled by her close relative, and that not in the form of marriage but by a stolen union, when she had disguised herself as a prostitute; and as for the wife of Uriah, no one is unaware of her story, the crime is so notorious. And yet the evangelist has passed over all the rest and put these alone into the genealogy. Surely, if women were to be mentioned, all of them should have been; and if not all but only some, then those known for virtue, not for evil deeds.

Do you see how much care is required of us at the very first step? And yet the beginning seems plainer than the rest — to many, perhaps, even unnecessary, since it is a mere list of names.

After this, another point also deserves inquiry: why he has left out three kings. For if he passed over their names in silence because they were exceedingly ungodly, then he should not have mentioned the others who were like them either.

And here is yet another question: why, after speaking of fourteen generations, he has not kept to that number in the third division. And why Luke has mentioned other names — not only not all of them the same, but many more of them — while Matthew has both fewer and different ones, even though he too has ended with Joseph, the same man with whom Luke also concluded.

You see how much wakeful attention we need, not only to explain, but even to learn what it is we have to explain. For even to be able to find the difficulties is no small matter. And there is this further hard point as well: how Elizabeth, who was of the tribe of Levi, was a relative of Mary.

But so that we do not overload your memory by stringing many things together, let us pause our talk here for a while. To rouse you thoroughly, it is enough for you to learn the questions alone. And if you long for their answers as well, that again depends on you, before we say anything. If I see you thoroughly awake and eager to learn, I will try to add the answers too. But if I see you yawning and not paying attention, I will hide both the difficulties and their answers, in obedience to a divine law. For he says, “Do not give the holy things to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet.” [x]

But who is it that tramples them underfoot? The one who does not count these things precious and worthy of reverence. And who is so wretched as not to revere these things and value them above everything? The one who does not give them as much of his time as he gives to the prostitutes in the theaters of Satan. For there the crowd spends the whole day, and neglects not a few of its household affairs for the sake of this ill-timed pastime. And they remember exactly whatever they have heard there, and keep it, even though keeping it injures their souls. But here, where God is speaking, they will not put up with staying even a little while.

That is why, let me warn you, we have nothing in common with heaven; our citizenship goes no further than words. And yet it is for this very reason that God has even threatened hell — not in order to throw us into it, but to persuade us to escape this grievous tyranny. But we do the opposite. Every day we run along the road that leads there, and while God commands us not only to hear but also to do what he says, we will not submit even to listen.

When, then, I ask you, are we going to do what is commanded and set our hands to the work, if we cannot bear even to hear the words about it, but grow impatient and restless over the time we spend here, short as it is?

Besides, when we are talking about ordinary matters, if we see that the people we are with are not paying attention, we call their behavior an insult. Do we not think, then, that we are provoking God, if, while he is speaking of such things as these, we despise what is said and look the other way? [y]

Why, a man who has grown old and traveled through much country will tell us with complete precision how many miles it is from place to place, where the cities lie, how they are laid out, and what their harbors and markets are like. But we ourselves do not know even how far we are from the city that is in heaven. Surely, if we had known the distance, we would have tried to shorten it. For that city is not only as far from us as heaven is from earth, but much farther still, if we are careless; just as, on the other hand, if we do our best, we will reach its gates even in a single instant. For these distances are measured not by space and place, but by the disposition of the soul.

But you know exactly the affairs of the world, recent and old, and even very ancient ones. You can count off the rulers you have served under in times past, and the president of the games, and those who won the prizes, and the generals of armies — matters that are no concern of yours. But who has become ruler in this city, the first or the second or the third, and for how long each of them ruled, and what each achieved and brought about — this you have never pictured, not even in a dream. And the laws laid down in this city you will not bear to hear or pay attention to, even when others tell you about them. How then, I ask you, do you expect to obtain the blessings that are promised, when you will not even pay attention to what is said?

But if never before, then now at least, let us do this. For we are about to enter, God willing, a city of gold, more precious than any gold. [z]

So let us take note of its foundations, and its gates made of sapphires and pearls. And indeed in Matthew we have an excellent guide, for it is through his gate that we are now about to enter, and great diligence is required of us. For if the King sees anyone not paying attention, he throws him out of the city.

Yes, for the city is truly royal and glorious. It is not like the cities we know, divided into a marketplace and the royal courts; there, everything is the court of the King. So let us open the gates of our minds, let us open our ears, and with great trembling, as we are about to set foot on the threshold, let us bow down before the King who is inside. For the very first approach is enough to overwhelm whoever sees it.

For now we find the gates shut. But when we see them thrown open — and the answers to the difficulties are their opening — then we will see how great the splendor inside is. For there, too, someone leads you with the eyes of the Spirit and offers to show you everything, this very tax collector: where the King is seated, and which of his army stand beside him; where the angels are, and where the archangels; what place is set apart for the new citizens in this city, and what kind of road leads there; and what kind of portion was received by those who were its first citizens, and by those after them, and by those who followed these. And how many are the ranks of these tribes, how many those of the senate, how many the distinctions of honor.

So let us not go in with noise or commotion, but in a silence fit for the mysteries.

For if, in a theater, the king’s letters are read out only when complete silence has fallen, then how much more must everyone in this city be composed, and stand with soul and ear alert. For it is not the letters of any earthly master that are about to be read, but those of the Lord of angels.

If we prepare ourselves in this way, the grace of the Spirit itself will lead us in with all perfection, and we will arrive at the royal throne itself and gain all good things, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.