Chapter Seventeen

¹ It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe to him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves: If your brother trespass against you, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to you, saying, I repent; you shall forgive him. Since the Pharisees, being lovers of money, murmured against the Lord when he spoke of possessionlessness, he spoke indeed the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, showing them through it what punishment awaits them because of their love of riches. And now he speaks further both to the disciples and concerning the Pharisees themselves, showing them to be workers of offence, and hinderers of the divine way, and for this cause allotting a woe to them. What, then, he says, let us see. It is impossible but that offences will come, but woe to him through whom they come — that is, it is impossible that the offences should not come, that is, the hindrances of the good and godly manner of life. For it is of necessity, because of the great wickedness of men, that many hindrances of the preaching and of the truth be found; nevertheless, woe to him through whom they come, the worker of these, such as the Pharisees that give offence, and hinder the preaching. But many inquire, raising a difficulty: if it is of necessity that the offences come, and impossible that the preaching be not hindered, why then do you condemn, O Lord, and pronounce wretched the workers of the offences? For of necessity they became such, and all that is of necessity is also pardonable. But hear, that this necessity has its beginning from free choice. I mean this: the Lord, seeing the wickedness of the men of that time, and how they are set upon evil, and choose nothing good, said that, so far as concerns the consequence of things seen, it is of necessity that the offences come. The wickedness, then, which the men practised, [comes] of free choice, but the working of the offences followed necessarily from the wickedness; so that for this cause the workers of the offences are also to be punished. As, to put it by an example, a physician, seeing one living wretchedly and using gluttony, might say, It is necessary that this man fall sick. Is the sickness, then, necessary? Yea, so far as concerns the consequence of the wretched diet. For this cause, woe to those that hinder the preaching, because they came to so great vice that there arose a necessity of the offences coming. For indeed it is profitable for the man that makes offences and hindrances that a millstone be hung about him, and that he be cast into the sea, rather than that he should offend and overturn one of the little believers. Wherefore he secures the disciples, and says, Take heed to yourselves. Behold, he says, I foretell you that the evils shall come; you are without excuse. For it is of necessity that those come, but it is not of necessity that you perish, if you secure yourselves and arm yourselves. For it is of necessity that the wolf come, but if the shepherd be watchful, it is not of necessity that the sheep be destroyed, but that the wolf go away having gaped in vain. Having said these things, then, concerning those that offend and harm — that is, hinder — since there are many differences of these (for some are incurable, such as the Pharisees, and others curable, such as the brethren of the Lord toward the Lord himself, for not even they believed on him; since, then, there are many differences of those that hinder — for it is likely that some such are even of the same faith) — for this cause he says, If your brother sin against you, rebuke him, you alone, privately; and if he hear you, you have gained him; but if not, take with you one or two, and so forth — all which Matthew set forth at large, but Luke passed over in silence as having been said by Matthew. He that hears the rebukes is worthy of pardon; but he that hears not, let him be to you as the heathen and the publican, that is, abominable, and not worthy to be called a brother. Then, as though one said, Be it so, Lord, these things you have divided well; but if one, having oftentimes been counted worthy of pardon, harm again, what must be done to him? he says, If he repent again, forgive him. And again, Though he turn seven times in the day, forgive him. And the seven times here stands instead of, oftentimes, even as also the [saying], The barren has borne seven. As often, then, as he repents, so often must you forgive him. For think not that the Lord sets a number of the forgiveness, but, as I said, the seven times stands instead of, oftentimes; and understand [it as] numberless, even as in common speech we say, a city of ten thousand men, not that it has ten thousand, for perhaps it has even more, but instead of saying, a populous [city], we say, a city of ten thousand. And that he means this is plain from Matthew. For there, when Peter said, Lord, shall I forgive him until seven times? the Lord said, Nay, but until seventy times seven, through this indicating the numberless. […]

² And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this sycamine tree, Be you plucked up by the root, and be you planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say to him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say to him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird yourself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward you shall eat and drink? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. The apostles indeed believed in the Lord; but coming to a sense of their own weakness, and hearing the Lord speaking to them about certain great things, and about the peril from the offences, they beg that the power of faith may abound in them, through which they shall be able to accomplish these things which he spoke, [namely] the things concerning possessionlessness. For nothing so accomplishes possessionlessness as to believe and trust God; even as nothing so makes [men] heap up treasure as not to believe that God is a great steward, and that his goodness is an inexhaustible storehouse. And, moreover, through faith they shall be able to withstand the offences also; wherefore, coming forward, they say, Increase our faith — make us more perfect in the faith, and more firm. And the Lord, showing them that they ask well, and that they ought to hold this judgment firm concerning the faith, as being able to do great things, says, If you had faith, you would remove even this sycamine. And two great things [are] in one: both that the thing rooted in the earth should be moved, and that it should be transplanted in the sea; for in water what could be planted? And it is plain that by saying these things he shows the power of faith. And perhaps one, allegorizing, might say that the sycamine is the devil, as being the procurer to us of the eternal worm, and becoming [its] nourisher through the reasonings sprung from him; for the leaves of the sycamine feed worms, of which the silk threads are made. This sycamine, then, faith is able to root up from the human heart, and to cast into the sea, that is, to dismiss into the abyss. And since he said these things about faith, he adds also another most necessary teaching, what [is it]? That concerning the duty of not being high-minded over right-doings. For since faith accomplishes many things, and makes him that has it a fulfiller of the commandments, together with adorning him also with works of wonder, and since from these it is likely that a man oftentimes fall into high-mindedness, he secures the apostles, that they be not lifted up over right-doings, by a most graceful example. For which of you, he says, having a servant, and what follows. For he shows through this parable that one ought not to be lifted up over any right-doing, or rather, not even over the fulfilment of all the commandments. For upon a servant lies the necessity of fulfilling the commandments of his lord, yet he ought not to inscribe this to himself as a right-doing. For if he work not, he is worthy of stripes; but since he wrought, let him be content that he escaped the stripes, yet he ought not necessarily to seek honour for this. For it is of the lord’s generosity to give him, or rather to grant him freely, something. So then, serving God also, whether one accomplishes the commandments, he ought not to be lifted up. For he did no great thing; nay, woe would have been to him if he had not done [it], as the Apostle says, Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel. Nor again, if he obtain gifts of grace, ought he to be high-minded over these; for they are gifts of grace freely given him through the mercy of God, not because the lord owed them to him. For rather the servant owes to his lord the doing of all his commandments. And if, even when we do all the commandments, not even then ought we to think anything great, what shall we become, when, not accomplishing even the smallest part of the commandments of God, we are yet lifted up? And note in the wording of the parable that he first set the [word] plowing, then added the [word] feeding cattle. For first one must be a plower, then also be entrusted with the pastoral [office]. For he that has well plowed his own flesh as a kind of land, this man is worthy [of more]; for he that knows not how to rule his own house, as one ought, how shall he feed the Churches of others — even as Jeremiah also says, the light of knowledge — which signifies the chief part of the pastoral [office].

³ And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said to them, Go show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said to him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole. And hence one may recognize that nothing hinders any one from being well-pleasing to God, even though he be of an accursed race, only if he have a good purpose. For behold, ten lepers met Jesus as he was about to enter into a certain village. And they met him outside the village; for it was not lawful for them, being accounted unclean, to live within the village; and standing afar off, as ashamed of their seeming uncleanness, and not daring to draw near — for they supposed that Jesus too would abominate them, as the rest did — they lift up their voice and supplicate. In place they stood afar off, but by their supplication they became near. For he is near also to all that call upon him in truth. And they supplicate him not as a mere man, but as one above man. For they name him Master, which is, Lord, guardian, overseer — which is near to accounting him God. And he commands them to show themselves to the priests; for the priests examined such persons, and from them received the verdict, whether they were clean of the leprosy or not. For the priests had signs by which they characterized the incurable leprosy. And after one was made leprous, then obtained health, the priests examined [him], and a gift was offered, that which was ordained in the law. But here, these men being confessedly lepers, why was it needful that they should be shown to the priests, if they were not altogether about to be cleansed? For the commanding them to go to the priests indicated nothing else than that they should be clean; wherefore he also says that, as they went, they were cleansed. But mark what we said at the beginning, that, they being ten, the nine, although Israelites, appeared ungrateful, but the Samaritan, being of another race, returned and uttered the voice of thankfulness. For the Samaritans were Assyrians, that no Gentile may despair, and that no one being of holy forefathers may boast. And this miracle hints also at the common salvation that came to pass for the whole human race; for the ten lepers [are] the entire nature of men, made leprous by vice, and carrying about the unseemliness of sin, and living outside the city of the heavens because of [its] uncleanness, and standing afar off from God; [yet] this very standing afar off had [in it] a supplication. For to him that loves man, and wills all to be saved and made good, the greatest occasion to mercy is to see no one partaking of his goodness, for by this very thing he is bent toward healing those that are in so piteous a case. And indeed he healed the whole nature that was made leprous, having been made flesh, and tasted death, on behalf of every man. But the Jews, although, so far as concerns the Lord, they were cleansed of their own uncleannesses of the leprous sin, showed themselves thankless, and turned not back from their way of vanity, so as to give glory to God who saved [them] — that is, to believe on him, that, being God, he endured to suffer the extreme things. For this is the glory of God, the flesh and the cross. These, then, confessed not the incarnate and crucified Lord of glory. But the people of the nations, of another race, recognized him that cleansed, and glorified him by believing that God is so loving toward man and powerful, as both to take upon him for our sakes the most dishonourable things — which is of love toward man — and, having taken them upon him, to be in nothing harmed in his own nature — which is of power.

⁴ And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. And he said to the disciples, The days will come, when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. In many places of his teachings the Lord made mention of the kingdom of God. And the Pharisees, hearing these things, mocked at him, and for this cause came forward asking about it, when it comes, deriding him as preaching strange things and concerning an unwonted and foreign matter. For none of the former teachers and prophets made mention of it. Or perhaps also, having in mind that they were about to slay him, they came forward asking as in mockery and irony, and saying, as it were, such things as these: You make your discourses about a kingdom, but when shall this kingdom of yours be? For you are about to be put to death by us to-morrow, and a cross shall receive you, and all the things of dishonour. What, then, [does] Christ [do]? He answers not the senseless according to their senseless judgment and folly, but, leaving them to wander about the homonymy of the kingdom, and not unveiling [it] to them — for they would not have received about what manner of kingdom he discourses, and that this kingdom is not, as it were, of this world, but above the world — leaving these things, then, as of men not worthy to hear them because of their willing deafness, he discourses about the season of the kingdom, that it is unknown and unobservable. For it has no appointed season, but the kingdom of God is ever present to him that wills [it]. For altogether the kingdom of God is the angelic estate and manner of life. For then indeed God is said to reign in very truth, when nothing worldly has its citizenship in our souls, but we are in all things living in a super-worldly manner. And this manner of life we have within us, that is, when we will [it]. For there is no need of a long season, nor of a journey, but near us is both the faith and the manner of life according to God after believing. And this same thing the Apostle also said, The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith. For both the believing, and after the faith the walking worthily of the calling, is within us. The Pharisees, then, jeered at the Lord, as preaching about a kingdom of which none preached. But the Lord, showing that they are ignorant of a matter [that] is within them, and that to those who will to receive it there is much ease — For, now that I am in the midst of you, you can altogether receive the kingdom of God, by believing on me, and choosing to live according to my commandments. And to his disciples he said, The days will come, and what follows; that is, To you too the kingdom of God is present, in so far as I am with you. And it is present to you, not only in so far as you believed on me and followed me, but also in so far as you live now in all freedom from care, while I care for you and provide for you. But days will come when, I being absent, you shall be delivered to perils, and being led before governors and kings, you shall long for the present careless and peril-free season, and the freedom from care which you have while I am with you, as [for] a kingdom of God. And you shall oftentimes desire to obtain one of my days, that is, of this living-together with me, as more free from peril. For even if, being with him, they led not a wholly toil-free and peril-free life, but, fleeing with him as he fled, suffered ill, and, being reviled with him as he was reviled, were reviled together [with him], yet the former things befalling them, compared with the perils to come, shall appear to have much freedom from peril. So that the kingdom of God was, even in this manner, within the apostles — as regards the freedom from peril and toil, I mean. For indeed after the resurrection they went about as captives and persecuted. And through these words he makes the hearts of the apostles patient of toil and enduring, and foretells to them, that they be not deceived. For if they say, he says, Lo here, or, lo there, follow not. For let no one, he says, persuade you that I came here or there; for my second coming, the more splendid and glorious, shall not be shut up in a place. But as the lightning is not hidden, but shines from one end of the earth to the other, so also my coming shall be splendid and manifest, and shall be hidden from no one. Be not, then, deceived by the false Christs. For not as formerly, in a manger and in poverty, I appeared for thirty years, [shall it be] then also, but all things in glory, with angels escorting [me], and in the twinkling [of an eye]. Then, since he had foretold that fearful things should meet them, comforting them, and exhorting them to bear [it] nobly, he establishes this by the example of himself. For marvel not, he says, if such toilsome things befall you as to bring you a longing for this present living-together with me. For I myself, who am about to appear as lightning, am first about to suffer many things, and to be rejected. Let the looking off to my [suffering] make you ready to endurance — even to suffer perils and be rejected.

⁵ And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. And through these things the sudden and unlooked-for [nature] of his coming is shown. For as in the time of Noah the flood came suddenly, and swept away all, so shall his coming also be. And he hints, through these examples — both that of the men in the time of the flood, and that of the Sodomites — that, when Antichrist is come, the [pleasures] of unseemly delights shall be laid upon men, and they shall be lustful, and given over to lawless pleasures; which indeed the Apostle also said, that in the last days men shall be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And with reason shall the evils flourish under the kingdom of the deceiver; for that man being a lodging-place of wickedness and of all sin, what else should he make to have its citizenship in the wretched generation of the men of that time than altogether the things proper to himself? for out of the unclean what shall be cleansed? Men, then, shall at that time be in all luxury, as in the time of Noah, and shall expect nothing grievous, but, even though one tell [them] of grievous things, [they shall not believe], as also they in the time of Noah [did not].

⁶ In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. In that day of the coming of Antichrist, let him that is upon the housetop — that is, upon the height of virtue — not come down, nor let himself down from it for any worldly pretext. For all worldly things are said to be vessels to a man, contributing in one case to virtue, and in another to vice. Let not, then, him that stands upon the height of virtue come down for anything worldly, and fall away from his own height, but let him stand firm against the vice, and not be softened. And he that is in the field, likewise, let him not return back; for him that works virtue in the field, [namely] in this world, one ought not to turn back, but to reach forward to the things before. As also elsewhere he says, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of the heavens. And he brings on as an example the wife of Lot, who, having turned back, was fixed into a pillar of salt — that is, not having gone out of vice, she abode in its saltness, becoming wholly evil, and standing as a monument of the defeat which she suffered, fixed and abiding in vice. Then he adds the things consequent upon what was said above: Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it. For let no one, he says, in the persecution of Antichrist be eager to preserve his own life, for he shall lose it. But whoever shall give himself up to slaughter, and simply to perils, shall be saved, not bowing under the tyrant through love of life. As, then, he said above, that he which is upon the height of virtue, let him not come down for worldly matters, being softened perhaps because of possessions and money, and through these letting go his firm stand, so now also, going forward in his discourse, he says, And what say I, that you shall not come down because of stuff? Neither for outward things let go virtue, nor for the very preservation of your life consent to be bowed down to the deceiver and persecutor. And these things Matthew says were all spoken by the Lord because of the capture of Jerusalem, hinting at the assault of the enemies, and that without turning back one must flee the Romans when they come on, and neither, being on the housetop, come down into the house for anything needful, but flee straightway; for there is no season of leisure to pack up [one’s] gear; nor, being in the field, turn back to the house; for him that is in the house also one must flee. And it is no marvel that these things both came to pass in the capture of Jerusalem, and are about again to come to pass at the coming of Antichrist; or rather, at the very season of the consummation.

⁷ I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together. And hence we learn the unlooked-for and sudden [nature] of his coming; for the saying that two shall be on one bed shows freedom from care; and the grinding, this too indicates that the coming shall be unlooked-for. And we learn another thing also, that the coming shall be in the night. He says, then, that even of the rich, who rest upon a bed, some shall be saved, and some not. For since he had said that the rich are saved with difficulty, he shows now that neither do these perish [utterly], nor are the poor [all] saved, but even of the rich one is taken to the meeting of the Lord, being caught up as light in spirit and heavenly, while the other is left below as condemned. And of the poor likewise, whom he signified by the grinding, one shall be saved, and the other not. For not all the poor are righteous; for of these are the thieves and cut-purses; so by the grinding he indicated the toilsome life of the poor. And when the disciples asked, Where, Lord, shall these be taken? he said, Wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together — that is, where the Son of man is, there [shall] all the saints [be gathered], the light and high-flying, as indeed the sinners [are] heavy, wherefore they are left below. As also, when a dead body lies, all the flesh-eating birds are borne to it, so also, the Son of man having for our sake been put to death and set for [our] falling and rising, when he appears from the heavens, all the saints shall be gathered together, and the angels themselves; for with them he shall come in the glory of the Father, and in unspeakable radiance. For even if he named that season night, yet he said this because of [its] unexpectedness [coming as] darkness; for to the righteous the Lord is a light, [yea,] a sun.