Homily 64 — Matthew 19, verse 27, to 20, verse 16

“Then Peter answered and said to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’” [a]

Everything? What everything, blessed Peter? The rod? The net? The boat? The trade? Are these the things you call “everything”? He says: “Yes; but I am not saying these things to make a show. I say them so that by this question I may bring in the whole multitude of the poor.”

For the Lord had said, “If you want to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” So that none of the poor would say, “What then? If I have nothing, can I not be perfect?” Peter asks, so that you may learn that you are made in no way inferior by this. He asks not so that you would learn it from Peter and still doubt (for he was still imperfect, and without the Spirit), but so that, having received the declaration from Peter’s Master, you may be confident.

For just as we do — we often make other people’s concerns our own when we speak of them — so the apostle did when he put this question to him on behalf of the whole world. That he at least knew his own portion for certain is plain from what had been said before; for he who had already received the keys of heaven could much more feel confident about the things to come.

But notice also how exactly his reply answers to Christ’s demand. Christ had required two things of the rich man: to give what he had to the poor, and to follow him. So Peter too names these two things, leaving and following. “For look,” he says, “we have left everything and have followed you.” The leaving was done for the sake of the following; and the following was made easier by the leaving, and made them feel confident and glad about what they had left.

What, then, does he say? “Truly I tell you that you who have followed me, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” “What then? Will Judas sit there?” By no means. “Then how can he say, ‘You will sit on twelve thrones’? How will the terms of the promise be kept?” Hear how, and on what principle. There is a law laid down by God and proclaimed by the prophet Jeremiah to the Jews, in these words: “At whatever moment I pronounce a sentence on a nation and a kingdom, to uproot and destroy it, if that nation turns from its evil deeds, I too will repent of the evils I thought to do to them. And at whatever moment I speak concerning a nation and a kingdom, to build it up and to plant it, if they do evil in my sight and do not obey my voice, I too will repent of the good that I said I would do to them.”

“I keep the same rule with good things as well,” he says. “Even if I have spoken of building up, should they show themselves unworthy of the promise, I will no longer do it.” This is the kind of thing that happened with man at his creation. “The dread of you and the fear of you,” it says, “will be on the wild beasts”; and it did not come to pass, because he proved himself unworthy of that rule, just as Judas also did.

For so that no one would despair at threats of punishment and grow harder, and no one would grow careless without cause because of the promises of good things, he cures both these evils by the rule I have mentioned, speaking in this way: “Even if I threaten, do not despair; for you are able to repent and reverse the sentence, as the Ninevites did. Even if I promise some good thing, do not grow careless because of the promise. For if you prove unworthy, my having promised will not help you; it will bring punishment instead. My promise is made to you on condition that you are worthy.”

That is why even then, speaking with his disciples, he did not make them the promise without condition. He did not say only “you,” but added, “who have followed me,” so that he might both shut out Judas and draw to himself those who would come afterward. For it was said neither to them only, nor to Judas any longer, once he had become unworthy. Now to the disciples he promised things to come, saying, “You will sit on twelve thrones,” for they were already of a higher stamp and sought none of the things of this present world. But to the rest he promises the things here as well.

“For everyone,” he says, “who has left brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands or house, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold in this world, and will inherit eternal life.”

For so that no one who had heard the word “you” would suppose this belonged to the disciples alone — I mean now the enjoyment of the greatest and first honors in the world to come — he widened the word and spread the promise over the whole earth, and from the things of the present he gives assurance of the things to come as well. With the disciples too, at the beginning, when they were less mature, he reasoned from things present. When he drew them from the sea, took them from their trade and told them to leave their boats, he spoke not of heaven, not of thrones, but of the things here, saying, “I will make you fishers of men.” But once he had raised them to higher thoughts, then he goes on to speak of the things to come as well.

But what does “judging the twelve tribes of Israel” mean? It means “condemning them.” They are surely not going to sit as judges. But just as he said that the Queen of the South would condemn that generation, and that the Ninevites will condemn them, so now these men too. That is why he did not say “the nations” or “the world,” but “the tribes of Israel.” The Jews and the apostles alike had been brought up under the same laws and customs and way of life. So when the Jews said that they could not believe in Christ because the law forbade them to accept his commands, he condemns all of them by bringing forward these men, who had received the same law and yet had believed — just as he had already said, “Therefore they will be your judges.” [h]

“And what great thing is he promising them, if these men are to have what the Ninevites and the Queen of the South have?” In the first place, he had promised them many other things before this, and after this he promises them more; this alone is not their reward. And besides, even in this he hinted in passing at something more than those others have. For of those he simply said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up and condemn this generation,” and “The Queen of the South will condemn it.” But of these men he does not speak merely so. How, then? “When the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, then you also will sit on twelve thrones,” he says, declaring that they too will reign with him and share in that glory. “For if we suffer,” it says, “we will also reign with him.” The thrones do not mean a sitting in judgment, for he alone is the one who will sit and judge; by the thrones he hinted at honor and glory beyond words.

To these men, then, he spoke of these things; but to all the rest, of eternal life and a hundredfold here. And if to the rest, much more to these men too — both these things and the things of this life.

And this certainly came to pass. For after leaving a fishing rod and a net, they held with full authority the property of everyone — the price of the houses and the lands, and the very bodies of the believers. For often the believers chose even to be killed for their sake, as Paul bears witness of many when he says, “If it had been possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.” But when he says, “Everyone who has left a wife,” he does not say it so that marriages should be broken up for nothing. It is as he says about one’s life: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” He does not mean that we should destroy ourselves, or separate the soul from the body while we are still here, but that we should put godliness ahead of everything. That is what he means about a wife and brothers too.

And it seems to me that here he is also hinting at the persecutions. For there were many cases of fathers urging their sons to ungodliness, and of wives urging their husbands. When they command such things, he says, let them be neither wives nor parents to you — just as Paul also said, “But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart.”

When he had raised everyone’s spirits, then, and had persuaded them to feel confident both for themselves and for the whole world, he added, “Many who were first will be last, and the last first.” Although this is also said more generally about many others, it is said about these men too, and about the Pharisees who did not believe, just as he had said before as well: “Many will come from east and west and will sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; but the children of the kingdom will be thrown out.”

Then he adds a parable too, training those who had fallen behind toward great eagerness.

“For the kingdom of heaven,” he said, “is like a man, the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And when he had agreed with them for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”

“And at the third hour he saw others standing idle, and to them too he said, ‘You go into the vineyard as well, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And about the sixth and the ninth hour he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he saw others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘No one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into my vineyard as well, and whatever is right you will receive.’”

“So when evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning from the last up to the first.’ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. And the first supposed that they would receive more, and they too each received a denarius. And when they had received it, they grumbled against the master of the house, saying, ‘These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I will give to this last one the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is mine? Is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few chosen.”

What does this parable mean to teach us? Its beginning does not agree with what is said at the end; it suggests the very opposite. In its first part he shows all enjoying the same, not some thrown out and some brought in. Yet he himself, both before the parable and after it, said the opposite: “The first will be last, and the last first” — that is, the last coming ahead of the very first, and the first not remaining first but becoming last. To prove that this is his meaning, he added, “Many are called, but few chosen,” so as doubly to sting the one group, and to soothe and urge on the other. [m]

But the parable does not say this. It says that the latecomers will be made equal to those who have proved themselves and labored hard: “For you have made them equal to us,” it says, “who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.” What, then, is the meaning of the parable? We must make this clear first, and then we will clear up that other point. By the vineyard he means God’s instructions and his commands; by the time of work, the present life; by the laborers, those who are called in different ways to carry out the instructions; by early in the morning, and about the third and ninth and eleventh hours, those who have drawn near to God at different ages and proved themselves.

But the question is this: can it be that the first, who have proved themselves gloriously, who have pleased God and shone with their labors through the whole day, are gripped by the basest of vices, jealousy and envy? For when they saw the others enjoying the same rewards, they say, “These last have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.” And in saying this, though they were to suffer no harm and no reduction of their own wages, they were indignant and much displeased at the good of others — which was proof of envy and jealousy. What is more, the master of the house, in declaring himself in the right toward them and making his defense to the man who had said these things, convicts him of wickedness and the basest jealousy, saying, “Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I will give to the last the same as to you. Is your eye evil because I am good?”

What, then, is established by these things? For the very same thing can be seen in other parables too. The son who had proved himself is brought in as having felt this very same thing, when he saw his prodigal brother enjoying great honor, even more than himself. For just as these laborers enjoyed more by being paid first, so the prodigal was honored to a greater degree by the abundance of what was given him; and the son who had proved himself bears witness to it.

What, then, shall we say? No one in the kingdom of heaven declares himself in the right in this way, or blames others — far from it! That place is free of envy and jealousy. For if the saints, while they are here, give their very lives for sinners, much more when they see them there enjoying these things do they rejoice and count those blessings as their own.

Why, then, did he shape his teaching like this? The saying is a parable, and so it is not right to search curiously into everything in parables word by word. Once we have learned the purpose for which it was composed, we should gather that and not busy ourselves about anything further. Why, then, was this parable composed as it is? What is it meant to do? To make more earnest those who turn and become better people in extreme old age, and not to let them suppose that they have a lesser share. That is why he brings in others displeased at their blessings — not to portray those men as pining or vexed, far from it! — but to teach us that the latecomers enjoyed such honor as could even have bred envy in others. We often do the same, saying, “So-and-so blamed me because I thought you worthy of great honor,” when we have not been blamed and do not want to slander that other person, but only to show by this how great the gift was that this one enjoyed.

But why did he not hire them all at once? As far as it depended on him, he did hire them all. But if not all listened at once, the difference came from the disposition of those who were called. That is why some are called early in the morning, some at the third hour, some at the sixth, some at the ninth, some at the eleventh — when they would obey. Paul declared this too when he said, “When it pleased him who set me apart from my mother’s womb.” When did it please him? When Paul was ready to obey. For God willed it from the beginning; but because Paul would not have yielded, it pleased him then, when Paul too was ready to obey. In the same way he called the thief, though he could have called him even before; but the thief would not have obeyed. For if Paul at the beginning would not have obeyed, much less would the thief.

And if they say, “No one has hired us,” in the first place, as I said, we must not pry curiously into every point of the parables. Besides, it is not the master of the house who is represented as saying this, but they; and he does not refute them, because he means not to drive them into confusion but to win them over. For that he called all from the very first, as far as it depended on him, the parable itself shows when it says that “he went out early in the morning to hire.”

From all this, then, it is clear to us that the parable is spoken about those who take hold of virtue from earliest youth, and those who do so in old age and more slowly: to the first, so that they will not be proud or reproach those called at the eleventh hour; to the second, so that they may learn that it is possible to make up everything even in a short time. He had been speaking about earnestness, and throwing away wealth, and despising all one’s possessions; and this needed great strength of mind and youthful fire. So to kindle in them a fire of love and to give strength to their will, he shows that it is possible even for those who come later to receive a whole day’s wages. [o]

But he does not say it in so many words, so as not to make them proud in their turn. He shows instead that the whole of it comes from his love for humankind, and that because of this they will not fail, but will themselves enjoy the blessings beyond words.

This, above all, is what he wants to establish by this parable. And if he adds, “So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few chosen,” do not be surprised. He does not say this as a conclusion drawn from the parable. His meaning is this: just as this came about, so will that come about. For here the first did not become last; all received the same, against hope and expectation. But just as this result came about against hope and expectation, and those who came first were equaled by those who followed, so that too will come about which is more than this, and stranger — I mean, that the last will come to be even ahead of the first, and the first will be behind them. So that is one thing, and this is another.

And it seems to me that he says these things hinting darkly at the Jews, and, among the believers, at those who shone brightly at first but afterward neglected virtue and fell back, and at those others, again, who have risen out of vice and shot ahead of many. For we see such changes taking place both in faith and in conduct.

So I beg you, let us take great care both to stand firm in the right faith and to show an excellent life. For unless we add a life that fits our faith, we will suffer the most extreme punishment. The blessed Paul showed this from the times of old, when he said that “they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink,” and added that they were not saved: “for they were struck down in the wilderness.” And Christ declared it in the Gospels, when he brought in some who had cast out demons and prophesied, and are led away to punishment. And all his parables too — the virgins, the net, the thorns, the tree that bore no fruit — demand virtue in our works. For he speaks of doctrines seldom, since that subject does not need labor; but of life often, or rather everywhere, for the war over it never stops, and so neither does the labor.

And why do I speak of the whole body of the commands? Even a part of it neglected brings great evils on a person. Almsgiving, for instance, when it is neglected, throws those who fall short in it into hell; and yet this is not the whole of virtue, but a part of it. Nevertheless the virgins were punished for not having it, and the rich man was tormented for this reason, and those who have not fed the hungry are condemned for this along with the devil. Again, not insulting others is a very small part of virtue; nevertheless this too throws out those who have not attained it. “For whoever says to his brother, ‘You fool,’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Again, self-control itself is a part; nevertheless without it no one will see the Lord. For “Pursue peace,” it says, “and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” And humility likewise is a part of virtue; nevertheless, even if someone carries out other good works but has not attained this, he is unclean in God’s sight. This is plain from the Pharisee, who, though he was rich in countless good works, lost everything through this.

But I have something more than this to say. I mean that not only does neglecting one of these things shut heaven against us, but even if it is done, yet not with due completeness and generosity, it has the very same effect. “For unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” So even if you give alms, but not more than they did, you will not enter.

“And how much did they give in alms?” I want to tell you this very thing now, so that those who do not give may be roused to give, and those who do give may not be proud, but may increase their gifts. What, then, did they give? A tenth of all their possessions, and then another tenth, and after this a third, so that they gave away almost a third part — for three tenths put together come to that. And along with these, firstfruits and firstborn, and other things besides: the offerings for sins, for instance, the offerings for purification, those at the feasts, those of the jubilee, the canceling of debts, the freeing of slaves, and loans made without interest. But if the one who gave the third part of his goods — or rather the half, for these added to those come to half — if, I say, the one who gives half achieves no great thing, what will the one who does not give even a tenth deserve? It was with reason that he said, “There are few who are saved.”

So let us not neglect the care of our life. For if one part of it neglected brings such destruction, then when we lie under the sentence of condemnation on every side, how will we escape punishment? What penalty will we not suffer? “And what hope of salvation do we have, if each of the things we have listed threatens us with hell?” I say so too. Nevertheless, if we pay attention, we can be saved, by preparing the medicines of almsgiving and tending our wounds. [u]

For oil does not strengthen a body as much as benevolence strengthens a soul, making it unconquerable by everyone and impregnable to the devil. Wherever he seizes us, his hold slips, because this oil does not let his grip fasten on our back.

So let us anoint ourselves with this oil continually. It is the cause of health, a supply of light, and a source of cheerfulness. “But so-and-so has ever so many talents of gold, and gives nothing away.” What is that to you? This way you will appear all the more worthy of admiration, when in poverty you are more generous than he is. It was on this ground that Paul admired the Macedonians — not because they gave, but because they gave even though they were in poverty.

So do not look at these people, but at the common Teacher of all, who “had nowhere to lay his head.” “And why doesn’t this person or that person do so?” Do not judge another; free yourself from the charge against you. The punishment is greater when you blame others and do not do the thing yourself; when you judge other people, you are yourself subject to the same judgment in turn. For if he does not allow even those who do right to judge others, much less will he allow offenders. So let us not judge others, and let us not look to others who are taking their ease, but to Jesus, and let us draw our examples from there.

Why, have I been your benefactor? Did I redeem you, that you look to me? It is another who has given you these things. Why do you let go of your Master and look to your fellow servant? Did you not hear him saying, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”? And again, “Whoever wants to be first among you, let him be servant of all”; and again, “Just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” And after these, again, so that you would not take offense at the careless among your fellow servants and remain in contempt, he draws you away from that by saying, “I have made myself an example to you, so that as I have done, you also should do.” But have you no teacher of virtue among the people around you, no one to lead you on to these things? Then the praise will be all the more abundant, and the commendation greater, when you have become someone to be admired without even having teachers.

For this is possible — no, very easy — if we are willing. Those who first carried these things out as they should have show it: Noah, for instance, Abraham, Melchizedek, Job, and all the men like them. These are the ones we need to look to every day, not those you never stop trying to match and whose names you pass around in your gatherings. For I hear you saying nothing else everywhere but words like these: “So-and-so has bought so many acres of land; so-and-so is rich, he is building.” Why do you gape, man, at outward things? Why do you look to others? If you want to look to others, look to those who do their duty, to those who prove themselves, to those who carefully keep the law — not to those who have become offenders and are in disgrace. For if you look to these, you will gather many evils from them, falling into carelessness, into pride, into condemning others. But if you count over those who do right, you will lead yourself on to humility, to diligence, to heartfelt sorrow, to blessings beyond number.

Hear what the Pharisee suffered because he passed over those who do right and looked at the man who had offended. Hear, and be afraid.

See how David became someone to be admired, because he looked to his ancestors who were known for virtue. “For I am a stranger,” he says, “and a foreigner, as all my fathers were.” He, and all who are like him, passed over those who had sinned and thought about those who had proved themselves.

You do this too. You have not been appointed to judge the negligence others are guilty of, or to investigate the sins others are committing. You are required to pass judgment on yourself, not on others.

“For if we judged ourselves,” it says, “we would not be judged; but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord.” But you have reversed the order: you demand no account of yourself for offenses great or small, but are strict and inquisitive about the offenses of others. Let us do this no more. Let us give up this disorderly way, and set up a court within ourselves for the sins we ourselves have committed, becoming our own accusers and judges and executioners for our offenses. And if you want to busy yourself with other people’s affairs too, busy yourself with their good works, not their sins. So, by remembering our own negligence, by striving to match the good works they have done, and by setting before ourselves the judgment seat from which no prayers can rescue, wounded each day by our conscience as by a kind of goad, may we lead ourselves on to humility and to greater diligence, and attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory, might and honor to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.