Homily 75 — Matthew 24, verses 1 to 15

“And Jesus went out from the temple and was going away. And his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. And he answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” [a]

He had said, “Your house is left desolate,” and before that he had warned them of many grievous things. So when the disciples heard these things, they came to him as though marveling at it, pointing out the beauty of the temple, and wondering whether so much beauty was really to be destroyed — materials so costly, and workmanship of a variety beyond words. From then on he no longer speaks to them of desolation merely, but foretells an entire destruction. “Do you not see all these things?” he says. Do you marvel at them, and are you amazed? “There will not be left one stone upon another.”

“Then how did some of it remain?” But what of that? Even so, the prediction has not fallen to the ground. For he said these things either to point to its complete desolation, or of the spot where he was standing. And there are parts of it destroyed down to the foundations.

Along with this we would say something else as well: from what has already been done, even the most contentious ought to believe that the remains, too, are to be utterly destroyed.

“And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? 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 kinds of matters they meant to ask about. They were in labor to know the day of his coming, because of their eager longing to see that glory which is the cause of countless blessings. And they ask him these two things: when these things will be — that is, the overthrow of the temple — and what the sign of his coming is. But Luke says the question was about Jerusalem, as though they supposed his coming would happen then. And Mark says that not even all of them asked about the end of Jerusalem, but Peter and John, since they had greater freedom to speak to him.

What, then, does he say? “Take care that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the 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 of what was to be brought on Jerusalem, they felt as if they were hearing of vengeance falling on others, as though they themselves would be clear of the turmoil. They were dreaming of good things only, and expected these to come to them almost at once. That is why he again foretells hard things to them, making them serious and commanding them to keep watch on two fronts: so as not to be led astray by the deceit of those who would mislead them, and not to be overpowered by the violence of the evils that would overtake them.

For the war, he says, will be twofold: that of the deceivers and that of the enemies. But the first is far more grievous, because it would come on them in the confusion and turmoil, when people were terrified and troubled. And the storm was indeed great at that time, when the Roman power was beginning to flourish, and cities were being taken, and armies and weapons were on the move, and many people were readily believed.

But it is of the wars in Jerusalem that he is speaking. Surely it is not of those outside, all over the world — for what did they care about those? Besides, he would be saying nothing new if he were speaking of the disasters of the world at large, which are happening all the time. Before this, too, there were wars and riots and fighting. No, he speaks of the Jewish wars that were coming on them before long, for from then on the Roman arms were a cause of anxiety. Since, then, these things too were enough to throw them into confusion, he foretells them all.

Then, to show that he himself also will attack the Jews with them and make war on them, he speaks not of battles only but also of plagues sent from God: famines, and epidemics, and earthquakes. He is showing that he himself allowed the wars, too, to come upon them, and that these things do not happen for no purpose, by the ordinary course of human affairs as it had run before, but come from the wrath on high. That is why he says they will come not on their own, nor all at once, but with signs. And so that the Jews could not say that those who had believed at that time were the cause of these evils, he has also told them the reason these things would come upon them. “For truly I tell you,” he had said before, “all these things will come upon this generation,” after he had spoken of the stain of blood that was on them.

Then, so that when they heard of these storms of evils they would not suppose the good news had been broken off, he added, “See that you are not troubled, for all things must happen” — that is, the things I have foretold. The onset of the trials will set aside none of the things I have said. There will indeed be riots and confusion, but nothing will shake my predictions.

Then again, 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 together with the destruction. So to correct this unspoken thought of theirs, he said, “But the end is not yet.” That they did suspect this, just as I said, you can learn from their question. For what did they ask? “When will these things be?” — that is, when will Jerusalem be destroyed? “And what will be 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 those other matters that were pressing, which they needed to learn first. He did not speak straightaway about Jerusalem, nor about his own second coming, but about the evils that were about to meet them at their very doors. That is why he also makes them earnest in their efforts, by saying, “Take care that no one deceives you; for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ.”

Afterward, when he has roused them to listen about these things (for “take care,” he says, “that no one deceives you”), and has made them alert, and prepared them to keep watch, and has spoken first of the false Christs, then he speaks of the evils of Jerusalem. All along he assures them, by the things already past, of those still to come, foolish and contentious though they might be.

But by “wars and rumors of wars” he means, as I said before, the troubles coming upon them. After this — since, as I have already said, they supposed the end would come after that war — see how he warns them, saying, “But the end is not yet. For nation,” he says, “will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” He is speaking of the preludes to the evils of the Jews. “All these are the beginning of sorrows” — that is, of the sorrows that would come upon them. “Then they will hand you over to affliction, and will kill you.” [f]

He brought in their own sufferings at the right moment, when they already had a comfort in the miseries shared by all — and not in this way only, but also 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 stumble, and will betray one another, and many false Christs and false prophets will arise and will deceive many. And because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

This is the greater evil, when the war is within as well; for there were many false brothers. Do you see that the war is threefold? From the deceivers, from the enemies, from the false brothers. See Paul, too, lamenting over these same things and saying, “Outside were fights, inside were fears,” and “dangers among false brothers,” and again, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” After this again comes what is more grievous than everything: they will not have even the comfort that love gives.

Then, showing that these things will do no harm at all to the noble and the steadfast, he says: Do not be afraid, and do not be troubled. For if you show the endurance that befits you, the dangers will not get the better of you. And a plain proof of this is that the word will certainly be preached everywhere in the world — so far above the things that alarm you will you be. For so that they would not say, “How then will we survive?” he said more: You will both survive and preach everywhere. That is why he added further, “And this good news will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” — the end, that is, in the downfall of Jerusalem.

To prove that he meant this, and that the good news was preached before Jerusalem was taken, listen to what Paul says: “Their sound has gone out into all the earth”; and again, “the good news that was preached to every creature under heaven.” And do you see him running from Jerusalem all the way to Spain? And if one man took so large a share, think what the rest accomplished too. For writing to others as well, Paul again says of the good news that “it is bearing fruit and growing in every creature under heaven.”

But what does “as a testimony to all nations” mean? Though it was preached everywhere, it was not believed everywhere. It was for a testimony, he says, to those who did not believe — that is, to convict them, to accuse them, as evidence against them. For those who believed will bear witness against those who did not believe, and will condemn them. And for this reason Jerusalem is destroyed after the good news has been preached in every part of the world: so that they would not have even a shadow of an excuse for their stubbornness. For when they had seen his power shining out in every place and taking the world captive in an instant, what excuse could they have for persisting in the same stubbornness? And to prove that it was preached everywhere at that time, listen to what Paul says: “the good news that was preached to every creature under heaven.”

This too is a very great sign of Christ’s power: that in twenty, or at most thirty, years the word had reached the ends of the world. “After this, then,” he says, “will come the end of Jerusalem.” That this is what he is pointing to was made plain by what follows.

For he also brought in 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. And by “abomination” he means the statue of the man who took the city at that time — the statue that he who laid the city and the temple waste set up inside the temple. That is why Christ calls it the abomination “of desolation.” And further, so that they would learn that these things would happen while some of them were still alive, he said, “When you see the abomination of desolation.”

From this one may marvel most of all at Christ’s power, and at their courage: that they preached in such times — times in which the Jewish state was under attack as never before, when people regarded them above all as stirrers of rebellion, when Caesar ordered them all to be driven out. [i]

It was as if someone were to take men with no experience of sailing, who had never so much as seen the sea, and order them to sit at the helm, to steer the ship and fight — at a time when the sea was churned up on every side, and darkness filled the whole air, and shipwrecks were happening one after another; when all their fellow sailors were fighting on deck, and monsters were rising from below and swallowing the sailors along with the waves; when thunderbolts were falling, and there were pirates, and those in the ship were plotting against one another. And then, when an immense fleet was coming against them in great array, he were to order them, with a single small boat and its crew in this state of turmoil, to sink the fleet and conquer it.

For the pagans hated them as Jews, and the Jews stoned them as men making war on their laws; nowhere could they find a footing. That is how everything was: cliffs and reefs and rocks — things in the cities, things in the country, things in the houses. Every single person was at war with them: generals and rulers and private citizens, all nations and all peoples, and a turmoil that words cannot describe. For the Jewish race was extremely hateful to the Roman government, since it had given the Romans endless trouble. And not even this did any harm to the preaching of the word. The city was stormed and set on fire and plunged its inhabitants into countless evils; but the apostles who came out of it, bringing in new laws, prevailed even over the Romans.

What strange and wonderful facts! Countless tens of thousands of Jews the Romans conquered then, and yet they did not prevail over twelve men fighting against them naked and unarmed. What words can describe this miracle? For those who teach need to have these two things: to be worthy of belief, and to be loved by those they are teaching. And along with these, and besides them, their teaching should be easy to accept, and the times should be free of trouble and upheaval.

But then everything was the opposite. They did not seem worthy of belief, yet they were drawing people away from those who did seem worthy of it, the ones who had deceived them. So far from being loved, they were even hated, and they were taking people away from the things they loved: their habits, their ancestral customs, and their laws.

Again, what they commanded was very hard, while the things they were drawing people away from were full of pleasure. And many were the dangers, many the deaths, that both they and those who obeyed them endured. On top of all this the times themselves made things very hard for them, teeming as they were with wars, riots, and upheaval — so much so that even if none of the things we have mentioned had been present, the times alone would have thrown everything into confusion.

We have good reason to say, “Who will tell the mighty acts of the Lord, and make all his praises heard?” For if his own people would not listen to Moses, even with signs, merely because of the clay and the bricks, who persuaded these people — who were beaten and killed every day and suffered incurable evils — to leave a quiet life and to prefer to it this one, teeming with blood and death? And that when those who preached it were strangers to them, and in every way their enemies?

I do not say to nations and cities and peoples. But let someone bring into a small house a man whom everyone in the house hates, and through him try to draw them away from those they love — from father and wife and child. Will he not certainly be torn to pieces before he has even opened his mouth? And if on top of that there is uproar and strife between husband and wife in the house, will they not stone him to death before he sets foot over the threshold? And if he is also someone they can easily despise, and he commands galling things, and orders people who live in luxury to practice self-restraint, and besides this the struggle is against people who far outnumber him and are far above him — is it not perfectly obvious that he will be utterly destroyed? Yet what cannot be done in one house, Christ has accomplished in the whole world, through cliffs and furnaces and ravines and rocks, with land and sea at war with him, as he brought in the healers of the world.

And if you want to learn these things more clearly — I mean the famines, the epidemics, the earthquakes, and the other disasters — read the history of these things written by Josephus, and you will know it all accurately. That is why he himself also said, “Do not be troubled, for all things must happen,” and, “The one who endures to the end will be saved,” and, “The good news will certainly be preached in all the world.” For when they were weakened and fainting with fear at what had been said, he braces them up by saying: Though ten thousand things happen, the good news must be preached in every part of the world, and then the end will come.

Do you see what state things were in then, and how many-sided the war was? And this at the beginning, when each thing that was to be accomplished most needed quiet. What state, then, were they in? For nothing prevents us from going over the same things again. The first war was that of the deceivers: “For false Christs and false prophets will come,” he says. The second, that of the Romans: “For you will hear,” he says, “of wars.” The third, the one that brings on the “famines.” The fourth, “the epidemics” and “the earthquakes.” The fifth, “they will hand you over to affliction.” The sixth, “you will be hated by everyone.” The seventh, “they will betray one another and hate one another” — here he points to a war within. Then “false Christs,” and false brothers. Then “the love of most will grow cold,” which is the cause of all the evils. [m]

Do you see countless kinds of war, new and strange? And yet in the midst of all this, and much more besides — for mixed in with the wars within was war among kinsmen too — the good news prevailed over the whole earth. “For the good news,” he says, “will be preached in the whole world.”

Where, then, are those who set up the power of the horoscope and the cycle of the ages against the teachings of the church? For who has ever recorded that another Christ appeared, or that any such thing took place? They falsely claim other things — that a hundred thousand years have passed — yet this they cannot even pretend. What kind of cycle, then, would you talk about? For there was never another Sodom, nor another Gomorrah, nor another flood. How long will you go on trifling, talking of a cycle and a horoscope?

Someone says: “Then how is it that many of the things they say come true?” Because you have robbed yourself of the help God gives, and betrayed yourself, and put yourself outside his providence. That is why the evil spirit turns and twists your affairs around as he pleases. But it is not so among the saints — or rather, not even among us sinners, who utterly despise these things. For although the way we live is beyond bearing, yet because by God’s grace we hold with great exactness to the teachings of the truth, we are above the malice of the evil spirits.

And in short, what is a horoscope? Nothing else than injustice and confusion, and the idea that everything is carried along at random — or rather, not only at random, but, worse than that, with folly.

“But if there is no such thing as a horoscope, why is this man rich? Why is that man poor?” I do not know. For the time being I will reason with you in this way, teaching you not to be curious about everything, and not, because of this, to rush on at random and rashly. For just because you do not know this, you ought not to make up things that do not exist. It is better to be ignorant well than to learn badly. The one who does not know the cause will soon come to the right one. But the one who, not knowing the real cause, makes up a false one will not easily be able to receive the real one; he needs more labor and toil to remove the first. On a writing tablet that has been wiped smooth, anyone can easily write what he likes; but once it has been written on, not so easily, for we must first wipe out what was badly written. And among doctors, the one who applies nothing is far better than the one who applies harmful things. The one who builds unsoundly is worse than the one who does not build at all, just as land that bears nothing is far better than land that bears thorns.

So let us not be impatient to learn everything. Let us bear with being ignorant of some things, so that when we have found a teacher we do not give him double work. Or rather, many have often stayed incurably sick by carelessly entangling themselves in evil opinions. For it is not the same labor to pull up first what has taken root wrongly and then to sow, as to plant clear ground. In the one case a man must first tear down and then put other things in; in the other, the hearing is ready.

Why, then, is this man rich? I will tell you now. Many gain wealth by God’s gift, and many by his permission. That is the short and simple account.

“What then? Does he make the sexually immoral rich, and the adulterers, and the man who lies with men, and the man who has put his possessions to bad use?” He does not make them rich; he allows them to be rich. And great is the difference — quite infinite — between making and allowing. But why does he allow it at all? Because it is not yet the time of judgment, when each will receive what he deserves.

For what could be more worthless than that rich man who did not give Lazarus even his crumbs? Yet he became the most wretched of all, for he could not get even a drop of water — and that most of all for this very reason, that being rich he was cruel. For if there are two wicked men who have not had the same lot here, one living in wealth and the other in poverty, they will not be punished alike there; the wealthier will be punished more heavily.

Don’t you see this man, at least, suffering more terribly because he had “received his good things”? So you too, when you see someone who has grown rich by injustice living in prosperity, groan and weep, for this wealth is an addition to his punishment. Just as those who sin much and will not repent store up for themselves a treasure of wrath, so those who, besides not being punished, are even enjoying prosperity will undergo the greater punishment. [p]

And if you like, I will show you the proof of this, not from the things to come only, but also from the present life. The blessed David, when he committed that sin with Bathsheba and was convicted by the prophet, was rebuked more severely most of all for this reason: that even after enjoying such security he acted as he did. Listen, at least, to God reproaching him with this above all: “Did I not anoint you king, and deliver you from the hand of Saul, and give you everything that belonged to your master, and all the house of Israel and Judah? And if that had been too little for you, I would have added this and that besides. Why, then, have you done what was evil in my sight?”

For there are not the same punishments for all sins, but many and different ones: according to the times, according to the persons, according to their rank, according to their understanding, and according to other things besides. And to make what I am saying clearer, let us set out one sin, sexual immorality, and see how many different punishments I find — not from my own head, but from the divine Scriptures. Did someone commit sexual immorality before the law? He is punished differently. Paul shows this: “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law.” Did someone commit it after the law? He will suffer more grievous things. “For as many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” Did someone commit it while he was a priest? He receives from his rank a very great addition to his punishment. That is why, while other women were put to death for sexual immorality, the daughters of priests were burned: the lawgiver was showing all the more fully how great a punishment awaits the priest if he commits this sin. For if he inflicts a greater punishment on the daughter because she is a priest’s daughter, how much more on the man himself who holds the priesthood?

Was the act forced on her by violence? Then she is even set free from punishment. Did one woman play the prostitute while rich, and another while poor? Here again there is a difference, as is clear from what we said before about David. Did someone commit sexual immorality after Christ’s coming? If he departs not yet initiated, he will suffer a punishment heavier than all of those. Did someone commit it after the washing? In that case not even any comfort is left for the sin any longer. Paul declared this very thing when he said, “Anyone who rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse a punishment, do you think, will he be judged to deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and has insulted the grace of the Spirit?” Has someone committed sexual immorality while holding the priesthood now? This above all is the crowning height of evil deeds.

Do you see how many different forms one sin takes? One before the law, another after the law, another that of the man who holds the priesthood; that of the rich woman and that of the poor woman; that of the woman who is a catechumen and that of the believing woman; that of the priest’s daughter. And again, knowledge makes a great difference: “For the one who knew his lord’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many blows.” And to sin after having examples brings greater punishment. That is why he says, “But you, when you saw it, did not repent afterward,” even though you had had the benefit of much care. That is why he reproaches Jerusalem with this too, saying, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, and you would not!”

That sinning in luxury makes it worse is shown by the story of Lazarus. And the place, too, makes the sin more grievous, as he himself indicated when he said, “between the temple and the altar.”

And it depends on how the offenses compare with each other: “It is no wonder if someone is caught stealing”; and again, “You slaughtered your sons and your daughters; this is beyond all your acts of prostitution and your abominations.” And on the persons again: “If one person sins against another, they will pray for him; but if he sins against God, who will plead for him?” And when someone outdoes in carelessness those who are far beneath him, which is what he charges them with in Ezekiel, saying, “You have not even acted according to the judgments of the nations.”

And when someone is not sobered even by the examples of others: “She saw her sister,” it says, “and showed her to be in the right.”

And when someone has enjoyed 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 perfect exactness, and that not everyone pays the same penalty for the same sins? What is more, when we have had the benefit of long patience and gained nothing from it, we will endure worse things. Paul shows this where he says, “But by your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself.”

Knowing these things, then, let us not stumble, and let us not be thrown into confusion by anything that happens, nor bring the storm of such thoughts upon ourselves. Let us give place to God’s providence, and pay attention to virtue, and flee from vice, so that we may also attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.