Fragmenta in Matthaeum

The blessed Matthew, having from the very beginning and from the outset the purpose of teaching everything, that Christ was seen in accordance with the prophetic voices, providing the truthfulness of the promises that had been made and leaving no pretext of ingratitude to those who disbelieve, says, "Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham," instead of: "This is the one whom the preceding voices proclaimed, this is the one whom the promises to the righteous heralded." It is superfluous to inquire about this; for what difference does it make to say "this one" first or "the other"? For through each, he was shown to be equally a descendant of both. But the evangelist does not speak thus; for he did not say that Christ was son of David and son of Abraham, but rather Christ of David, and David of Abraham, signifying the same thing in this way as well, but not yet stating this in the immediate sense of the wording; for it is clear that he does not mean "son" in the sense of one begotten, but a descendant. But someone might say to him that Matthew did not intend to trace the lineage from David back to Abraham; for why, if he wished this, did he not genealogize him according to Luke? But he says this specifically for the reasons we have mentioned. It was possible to recall from these twelve the means by which the lineage was brought down to Christ. Since, then, it seemed to indicate something new by the transition, having said, "And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, called Christ," he promised to set forth for us the manner in which he was born, and says: "The birth of Jesus Christ was thus"—that is, he was not born like the rest, but differently.

It is possible to understand the power of God; for it is also called spirit. Herod secretly wished to question the magi, fearing lest the Jews might save him as their own king. Others say that these things are inconsistent with what is set down in Luke; for if, according to Luke, he went up from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and from there to Nazareth, how, according to Matthew, did Joseph, having been warned from Bethlehem, depart for Egypt? For Luke, narrating the time of our Savior’s birth, mentions the reign of “Augustus” and the “census” under him, and the events that occurred at the Savior’s birth, but also, he says, “when the days for circumcising him were fulfilled, they brought” the child “to Jerusalem” and, having performed the customary rites for him, they depart to “Nazareth.” Matthew, however, makes no mention at all of what is in Luke, but sets down what is passed over in silence by him, I mean the matters concerning the magi, who perhaps set out from their own land at the time Jesus was born, but did not yet complete so great a journey in a short time. And how great this intervening time was between the appearance of the star and the arrival of the magi, the evangelist himself taught, saying “from the second year” and “according to the time which he ascertained from the magi”; therefore, a period of two years had already passed from the Lord’s birth to the arrival of those mentioned.

Therefore, there is no discrepancy among the holy evangelists, if Luke brings him up to Jerusalem with his parents on the eighth day after his birth and from there leads him to Nazareth, while Matthew records that after a two-year period he was again in Bethlehem, and from there departed to Egypt because of the king's plot. And it was likely that they visited the place not only a second time, but many times, for the sake of memory of the miraculous event. That the time was not the same in both accounts can also be inferred otherwise. Luke says they could not find lodging in Bethlehem because of the multitude of those staying there on account of the census, but Matthew says, "Having come into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down, they worshiped him." But they do not find the child lying in a "manger" as the shepherds did, but they see him inside in a "house with his mother." For there, because there was "no place in the inn," he is placed in a "manger," but here, after a two-year period, he is found in a "house" by the magi "with his mother," there being leisure in Bethlehem, "and falling down, they worshiped him." The kingdom of heaven is the presence of Christ; for this grants us participation in the Father, the ascent to the heavens, and the unchangeable state in the good for the saints in the coming age. Josephus, in the fifteenth book of his Jewish history, testifies to John the Baptist, who had come and promised purification to those being baptized. Do not, taking pride in your ancestors, neglect virtue of the soul.

It seems that John, having completed in Jesus the ministry of baptism which culminated in him, was thereafter handed over and shut up in prison; for after Jesus was baptized, we find nothing recorded about John except that after the temptation by the devil, immediately and at the time of baptism, being cast out into the wilderness by the Spirit, as Mark wrote, Jesus, hearing that John had been handed over, withdrew into Galilee. But Luke also connects the account of John’s baptizing with the matter of his being shut up by Herod. It is clear that, according to the evangelist John as well, this was the time for him to be shut up in prison; for it is said by him: “Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, for John had not yet been thrown into prison.” According to all four evangelists, therefore, neither before Jesus was baptized did any hindrance befall John while baptizing, nor after this did he still baptize, but John’s work had to cease at the beginning of the administration of the gospel by Jesus. Perhaps the power that guarded John, until he completed in Jesus the economy of baptism, abandoned him both to the trial in prison and to beheading. Some copies contain this beatitude as the third, and the one placed after it as the second. Another says that it promises him, as a reward for such desire, the enjoyment of future things.

From this point, consolation is provided to them from the fellowship of those who have suffered badly before them, so that we also ought to know from those examples that it is impossible for those who aim at virtue to be free from painful things. He does not say, "Let your light shine before God," for not even the light of lamps shines before the sun. The light is the virtuous life. It is necessary not to speak the evangelical word in secret, but openly, so that people on earth may be illuminated. "Raca" calls the despicable one; for thus among the Syrians the spittle is called. The earth is a footstool, because it is under authority, even if it is not now receptive of his holiness on account of sins. Jerusalem is the city of the great king. He says this with regard to the supposition of the Jews. He did not say to the one wishing to take your garment, "Give also the other," but to the one wishing to judge you, showing that it is fitting not to flee from contention with opponents, when they bring this upon us for the sake of piety, and to endure both suffering and loss gladly, so as not to overlook piety. This must be guarded if we choose to look toward virtue. As man is nourished for life, so also some say "epiousion" from "epienai" and "eperchesthai," so that the meaning is this: the bread not belonging to the present age, but to the future and to be given afterward by you to those worthy to receive it—give it to us today and "daily." Some said that "the lamp of the body is the eye" is spoken concerning the teacher of the church, but they seem to me not to have considered the entire sequence of the sayings from above.

He began with "Do not store up treasures," then inserted the saying about the lamp of the body and "No one can serve two masters," and added: "You cannot serve God and mammon," showing throughout that his purpose was to turn his hearers away from concern for present things. For that person enjoys the kingdom of the heavens who demonstrates in his deeds the affinity of teaching and doing those things which he himself, when present, handed down to men. Just as then, in comparison with those who were lost, the saved were few, so now understand that the saved are many in comparison with the few who are lost. For if we are not disgusted by those who suffer in their bodies, how much more ought we to do everything for those whose souls are in a bad state, so that these might be able to be in the best condition. But you ought, he says, to learn from divine scripture that compassion for one's neighbor is more honorable than any sacrifice. And whom is it just to pity if not those who, not having their souls in the best state, need correction so that they might be in a better condition? So also the purpose of my presence, he says, is not to benefit men who are already righteous (for those who are righteous in character would not need such a thing), but so that those who are in a bad state due to many sins might, by my own grace, be changed for the better. For those who are strong, he says, have no need of a physician, but only those who are in a bad state. See, he says, how great the progress of the believers is, and how there are none to teach them what is fitting, so that from this they are compelled, by following me, to endure such great labor.

He calls them harvesters, showing that what was accomplished through the prophets was accomplished through his own power and provision, and that he himself is lord and creator of prophets and apostles and all people, and he sends and dispatches the disciples to his own seed, not to another's. "You received freely, give freely." He dissuades the Pharisees from imitating "those who devour the houses of widows," introducing a new mode of teaching, pure and incorruptible, and indicating imitation of himself in this matter, in that he commands those who have received gifts freely from him to also share them freely. "Do not allow yourselves to take gold or silver or bronze for the sake of need along the way," he says, "but I do not even want you to have a knapsack, so that even by your appearance you may show to all how far you have withdrawn from desire for money." Having sufficiently armed them against slanders, and indeed having taught them to bear sufferings nobly, since the affection of kinship remained, which is capable of greatly enervating reason (for who would readily choose to be hostile to those who are especially one's own?), he well says, "Do not think"; for I want you to be so far from respecting physical kinship that you ought to know this further: that my proclamation will cause a great division among your own people; for I want those who have once chosen to see piety to place every kinship, even the closest, in second place. How is this possible?

he says, that I come together with the demons, while I clearly do the opposite of them, and they all practice doing the contrary? For I and my followers try to lead everyone to God, and this is what my company of associates wishes, but they are eager to drag everyone away. Since Beelzebul is evil, and what is done by me partakes of boundless goodness, what comes from you is discordant; for neither can the evil one do anything good, nor the good one anything evil, just as trees do not bear fruits unlike themselves. Just as Moses, having persuaded them through miracles and thus given the law, they want him also to do something of the sort, so that they might supposedly change their mind, if he should do this. After the spread of Christianity and when it already begins to appear throughout the whole world, heresies will arise from some who pervert the truth and bear the name of Christians, and with this they will entice the many; for such is the tares that arise from the wheat through corruption, bearing some resemblance to the truth of the wheat in appearance.

This will grieve, he says, even the invisible powers in their goodwill toward me, so that they might wish to destroy the discoverers, that is, those who are persuaded by them, but I will prevent this from happening for the sake of those alien to the faith, lest, because of the common name, the opponents, thinking that Christians are being punished by the demons for the audacity and because they teach everyone to abandon the idols, become entirely alienated from piety, so that the assembly of the pious is diminished as the many flee from approaching Christianity in ignorance of what is happening. What then, when the servants approach and are perplexed, does he answer them? He states the condition of some and the cause of the permission for others; for when he constructs the discourse in the parables, he imparts plausibility to the parables, so that they may appear complete in the order of the narrative. But it is fitting for us to examine the purpose which he intends to signify through the parable. The action was more vehement, not occurring in childishness of speech, when he also cast out the sellers and overturned the tables; yet, according to the prophetic saying, he did nothing violent, as it is said, "He will not quarrel nor cry out," "nor will his voice be heard." And John said that he "made a whip of ropes"; and this is a sign of rebuke and vehemence. Therefore, this too must be counted among the symbols; for he did not actually strike anyone with a whip, but it was a sign of the impending scourge upon those who defile the things of God with mercantile dealings.

They say that the Herodians are Herod's soldiers or the collectors of the taxes imposed on the Jews by the Romans. 43 For justice purifies the vessel much more beautifully than water, just as was the case even with men themselves. The righteous were pure in body compared to those purified by waters, as David says: "I will wash my hands among the innocent," so that the words of the Lord are in harmony with those of the law. He calls the time from his ascension into the heavens until his presence in our midst an absence, during which he seems to be away from us. The word "immediately" indicates the unhesitating zeal with which the works of God must be done. And the five, two, and one talents signify the difference in ministry—of a bishop, so to speak, a presbyter, and a deacon; for the quantity of the talent indicates the greater or lesser degree of ministry. Hence he rightly said "to each according to his own ability," meaning that each, in proportion to the tasks entrusted to him, was able to fulfill the ministry; for he wishes to show that he demands and rewards zeal from all alike. He calls the doubling of what was given the demonstration with zeal of what is fitting and becoming a cause of benefit to others, for which he says he will fittingly receive great rewards; for this is what "I will set you over many" means. And he said "to conceal" means to demonstrate nothing of what is necessary, but to render the grace given to him invisible. He named the resurrection the kingdom of the father, from which the kingdom accrued to him and the communion of it to the rest of men.

What is "new" instead of "newly"—and incorruptible and not needing food. Nor should one marvel at this, how the Lord appears anxious, at least according to the human aspect, even though the disciples were rejoicing at what they often suffered. Just as he was able to rescue himself from death, yet consented to suffer for the salvation of the world, so also he consented to be anxious according to human nature, persuading them not to consider the passion a mere illusion, but truth—and especially because the swiftness of the resurrection could easily lead them into that suspicion.