Homily on the Passage of Matthew: "Go into the Village," etc.

bringer of death, to be understood by faith, not to be over-examined; a death that did not come according to the custom of death, but which is found to be the death of death itself. For if the Lord had not accepted a voluntary death, the devil would never have undergone death. Therefore, Paul cries out, saying: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" But here, sealing our discourse, let us give thanks to God, to whom is the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^A

ADMONITION REGARDING THE TWO FOLLOWING HOMILIES

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS, ATHANASIUS

1. God, bestowing upon us repeated benefits and pouring His grace into us, at the same time stirs our souls with His doctrine. For to those who are burdened by the evils of this age and distracted by its business, God has imprinted this age upon the heart, so that, in knowing this, men might know that they do not abide through the ages, but merely imagine this present age. Therefore, in order that they might also provide for the future age, He has bestowed upon us an innate instruction through free will. All men, therefore, wise and foolish, rulers and private citizens, rich and poor, know that death will overtake all. For this is what it means to imagine this age; this is what it means for each one to keep his own end before his eyes. But many, even knowing that death will overtake them, think that after this age they will be as if they had never existed; such were they who said: "Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no return of our end. Come therefore, they say, and let us enjoy the good things that are present;"

let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes." ^A The blessed Paul also sets them forth, saying: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." If, then, those wretched people were able to recognize so much—that their life is short and sorrowful—why did they not find the Creator of good things all the sooner? For it is the part of the wise man alone to know the causes of the things that have come to pass; for he knows clearly both how they came to be and for what purpose; he knows that God is the Creator of all things. For he has heard the Apostle saying: "Whether you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." But those who have lived in this life as if in their youth, eagerly and consumed by their own wickedness from beginning to end, have not known the works of God. For if they had carefully turned their minds to these things, they would surely have recognized their Creator, God, all the sooner: "For from the greatness and beauty of created things, their Author is perceived." ^B He has therefore provided a way which leads men from created things to the Creator and Maker of all.

2. We have added these points to our discourse because all have gone astray like sheep, and because "by the envy of the devil, death entered into the world," and each one was bound by the chains of his own sins. "For death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam." But our Lord Jesus Christ drew near, redeeming the captives and bringing the dead to life. And indeed the blessed Apostle, knowing this, wrote saying: "For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, much more by the justification of the one, grace [spread] to all men for the justification of life." The living and active Word of God, therefore, drew near to us, the unchanging Image, the only-begotten Son, "through whom the ages were made, upholding all things by the word of His power, having made purification of sins." ^C Therefore, He sends two disciples to the village opposite, saying to them: "Go into the village which is opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me." Matthew, indeed, describing the Church and those birthed from it, named both the ass and the colt; but Luke, summing both up into one unity, names the colt. For Luke says thus in his own Gospel: "He sent two of His disciples, saying: Go into the village opposite; in which, as you enter, you will find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man has ever sat; untie it and bring it to me." You will find, therefore, that Matthew everywhere names two, while Luke sums the two into one. For example, [it is the same] also regarding the blind men: Matthew again names two, saying: ^D "And as Jesus passed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying: Have mercy on us, Son of David." But Luke, summing the two into one, says: "And it came to pass, when He drew near..."

to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way, begging. And hearing the multitude passing by, he asked what this might be. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, and he cried out, saying: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Similarly, you will find that Matthew names two demoniacs, but Luke, with a more accurate mind, piously mentions one in place of the two. Matthew, therefore, speaks of the two in this way: "And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gerasenes, there met Him two demoniacs, coming out of the graves, exceedingly fierce." Luke, writing of the one instead of the two, said: "And when He had gone out to land, there met Him a certain man from the city, who had had demons for a long time." Therefore, you will find Matthew everywhere speaking of two, while Luke speaks of one. Not that the divine Gospels are fallible—Heaven forbid!—nor that they speak in opposition to one another, these men who were filled with one and the same Holy Spirit; for these holy men preserve one and the same power within the sacred Scriptures. Indeed, they did not speak things contrary to each other, for they were inspired by the one Holy Spirit; for the saints preserve one and the same power throughout the holy Scriptures.

3. We have mentioned these things, not because we have wandered from our proposed subject. For the Gospel according to Matthew was read to us, as you heard. The passage of Scripture is this: "Then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them: Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them and bring them to Me." We have already said above that this ass is the Church gathered from the Gentiles; but the colt is our father Adam, whom Satan bound with his own craftiness. For this ass was an unclean animal, as one that did not ruminate by bringing its food up and sending it down; which is the Church of the Gentiles. For beforehand she was contaminated by her idols and defiled by unclean blood; so that it is said to her through ^B Jeremiah the prophet: "You have committed adultery with many shepherds." But the lover of mankind, the Son of God, arrived among us, "and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross." For it was not the work of angels to save the creation of God, but of the Word, God and man. For to Him was this task owed, inasmuch as He is called the Creator. Therefore, He sends the two disciples into the village lying opposite, to loose the ass and the colt, "that He might present to Himself a glorious Church, not having any longer spot or wrinkle," or any of those things ^C previously said regarding her; but that she might be holy and immaculate to Christ. For thus also those who are born of her shall be "a peculiar people, zealous of good works." ^D

^A And they untie the ass and the colt, according to what had been commanded them by the Teacher. For he called us back from the village opposite to the heavenly city, the Jerusalem above. And he released us from the bonds of the devil, as even the prophet Isaiah long ago cried out and said: "I have given thee for a covenant of my people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring them that are bound out of the bonds, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." The disciples go into the village opposite. But when you hear "village," understand this earthly world; for the city is the heavenly one, as we said before. And the phrase, "into the village that is opposite," Moses had long ago signified in Genesis, saying: "God placed Adam opposite the Paradise of delight, and commanded the cherubim, and ^B the flaming sword which turns every way to guard the way of the tree of life." For it was not for anyone else to lead us back to where we had been cast out, but for the Lord himself, who had set the cherubim to guard the way of the tree of life. It was not for anyone else to call us back from the village situated opposite to the heavenly city, than for him who had pronounced judgment against us. Thus, therefore, shall the account regarding the ass and the colt be understood, that it is the whole human race. For Holy Scripture uses examples; for if I take the Church, I signify man; and if I make mention of Adam, I confess at once the whole of humanity. For this reason our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came, that he might bring back what had wandered, and might find, ^C by seeking, what had perished. For he himself is the one who loosens those who are bound, and sets upright those who are broken, and calls back those who have fallen, and redeems those who are in captivity. Signifying this, the God-bearing David sings in the Psalms, saying: "Turn again, O Lord, our captivity, as the streams in the south." This is he who also illuminates the darkness, of whom it is written: "Galilee of the Gentiles, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light." For when the coming of the Savior illuminated all things, the ass and the colt are finally loosened from their bonds. For he himself also took away our sins, as he says through the prophet: "I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions."

5. Let us also, therefore, ^D loose every bond of iniquity. For this is the truly good thing: that since the Teacher himself lived rightly and well, we should learn that he has delivered to us things conducive to our profit, not by word only, but also by action. For hear him saying through the prophet: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me, he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." For those who were lords before him, having bound our feet and hands, held us captive, and did not permit us to progress in

^A the way of truth. But the benevolent Son of God, having visited the human race, liberated us. For He sent His own disciples, and He loosed us from the bonds of the devil. Therefore, the marvelous signs performed by Jesus, even if they occurred palpably according to the history, yet they occurred for the sake of intelligible things. The events of the history were indeed fulfilled; and the things signified were divine. For if the things signified had not been divine, the prophets would not have been going to proclaim His advent in this way. Isaiah therefore cries out, saying: "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." [Isa. LXII, 11; Zach. IX, 9.] To these marvelous signs performed by Jesus, there is nothing to be added, and nothing to be taken away. For He did all things perfectly and without any defect. For He was mighty in His deeds and words. Assuredly, the Psalmist also, indicating these things, said: "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. With thy grace and thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously, and reign." [Psal. XLIV, 4, 5.] Thus, by His great power, ^B He liberated the entire human race.

6. Moreover, Jesus performed these signs when present with us, that we might fear from His presence. But that these sensible things are symbols of intelligible things, listen. For the Savior came, that He might primarily benefit the soul of man. But since this was unknown to many, through the healings that fell under the sight, He indicated the hidden salvation of the soul. Indeed, when He granted the remission of sins to the paralytic, faith was not held; for the Jews said: "Who can forgive sins, but God only?" [Marc. II, 7.] Then, since He had done the secret and primary thing latently, in the second place He healed the body. For He said to him: "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk." [ibid. 9.] You see how quickly this man is loosed from the bonds; and he is not only loosed by the outward healing, but he is also set free from so many sins: nay more, He even exhibited him as a herald of the cure; and in all respects what was done ^C sensibly was done for the sake of intelligible things. For this reason also the disciples are sent into the village opposite, and they loose the ass and the colt, just as had been commanded them by the Master. But this was done entirely that the prophecies of Jacob might be fulfilled. For when he was blessing the twelve patriarchs, having arrived at Judah, he prophesies, and utters divine words. For hear him saying: "Binding his colt unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine." [Genes. XLIX, 11.] And in general you will find all things said concerning Judah prophesied for the coming of the Savior; for the studious person, by reading little by little, can understand the things said concerning Him. But that we may not recount the whole history, let us hear the Apostle speaking thus: ^D "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah." [Hebr. VII, 14.]