Fragments on Matthew

 had lost food, so the new Adam, by abstaining also from what he was not commanded through an excess of virtue, might be restored to the original good.

 to spare not even the most necessary things, if through them some wicked action might risk coming to be. One must not cut off the members, but as it w

 is forced to bear its burden. And old wineskins are also old men but new wine is the new word, which they do not contain for their rottenness is bur

 you, by retreating from those who persecute you, will last for the time of the evange lization not

 the spirit of Elijah. And since what was said was unclear, he left the knowledge to those who were able to understand. 63 Mt 11, 14 The angel Gabriel

 not giving to such a one. But the remission through baptism may have been passed over in silence in such cases, since it was not yet the time to disco

 76 Mt 13, 18-23 In these things it is investigated, how he has not said that the word is sown in the beginning nor said the seed sown by the wayside,

 82 Mt 16, 1-4 But indeed, neither does a physician fulfill the inopportune desires of the sick, seeking what is curative of the disease, not what is f

 no one being permitted to pay a half-shekel, not even if he were rich but the mystery was to the effect that neither was the Son incarnate with a fat

 But evil has prevailed so much as to overturn this reasoning. Therefore, the argument requires two things of us: both to remember one's own sins and t

 perfection is from him. 98 Mt 19:23-26 The apostolic word fits well here, laying aside every weight for the comparison to a camel indicated the wei

 102 Mt 20, 10-12 What the first ones thought, that they would receive more, indicates the nature of the matter, not the thought of the holy men for n

 to him, according to which, having been delivered from the plot of foreigners, he remained in his own land. and the tower, the temple, in which those

 » of God, David, and this does not yet fit the Spirit, but it is spoken with respect to his own spirit. At any rate, he was speaking in spirit also wh

 putting itself outside of God through sinning but the bird is fruitful and warm in its love and caring for its children and giving itself up for them

 to seek obedience from men, to whom you have not given a willing ear through your word. And for this reason, fearing lest I become ineffective, I guar

 of all, he says, through the one righteous one the many will be established. This indeed he also indicates here, that one suffers for many. But Apolli

 of his flesh and on earth a hiding took place. 137 Mt 27, 11-14 Good is the looking away from the slanderers for those hearing were not seeking the t

 that each of those who die is added «to his people» for below was the place and the abode of souls, and this downward journey the Lord transfers to t

perfection is from him. 98 Mt 19:23-26 The apostolic word fits well here, "laying aside every weight"; for the comparison to a camel indicated the weight; "for the way that leads to life is narrow and afflicted." Are evil things, therefore, also? For where God is, it is said, the good follows, and no one of sound mind would conceive that evil things are possible for God, nor would one say that he does not do good things out of inability; for on the contrary, the doing of evil is a weakness, and Paul calls sins weaknesses, saying; "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly," and the psalmist: he says, "their weaknesses were multiplied"; calling sins weaknesses. But neither would anyone bring this charge against the word that says all things are possible for God, as they are accustomed to say. Is it therefore possible for God to make what has been, not to have been? For such a thing is again useless to him; and nothing useless is assumed concerning God's power. So all the slanders against the word are superfluous. But when Mark says that "Jesus, looking at him, loved him," it raises a question, how was he loved who was not going to follow to "life." He is worthy of love for his earlier deeds, having kept the things of the law, and these from his youth, but through his disregard for perfection, he did not allow the love for his previous deeds to become perfect, just as he did not show perfection. Therefore Paul, having understood that everything in the law is imperfect, hastened toward perfection. 99 Mt 19:27 Not as having left anything great, but having departed from what they had and having shown the choice that prefers above all things

Christ. 100 Mt 19:28-29 The apostles will judge, by their virtue convicting wickedness. And "now" is the enjoyment of the manifold things according to communion, not according to possession; just as the Savior has set before those who campaign for the gospel all the things of the brethren, so also many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields will exist for those who leave their own things, because love has fulfilled every relationship and every need. Luke also added concerning a wife; and this is according to Paul who commands to honor "older women" "as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity." For just as he gives brothers who are not brothers and parents who are not parents, children who are not children, so also a wife who is not a wife, fulfilling the relationships in another way, that is, not bodily. To leave one's family according to the flesh is therefore good for the sake of the spiritual life, as Moses also said long ago concerning the tribe of Levi; "He who says to his father and his mother, 'I have not seen you,' and his sons, he has kept your oracles and observed your covenant. They shall declare your judgments to Jacob and your law to Israel; they shall put incense in your wrath continually upon your altar"; for there, on account of divine zeal, was a departure from family, and here it is the same; for he accepts the separation not as if they were alien to God, but as there being no leisure to be occupied with these things for one who is about to be dedicated to the ministry of the gospel. Thus, therefore, the separation from a wife and marriage should not be thought to be praised as from something evil, but so that this too should not be an impediment to the minister, and in general, the preference for spiritual things does not show carnal things to be alien, as the Manicheans attempt to do, setting aside the creation of God. And it makes no difference to say for my name's sake, or "for the gospel's sake" as Mark says, or "for the kingdom of God's sake" as Luke says. For the name of Christ is the power of the gospel and of the kingdom, and the gospel is referred to the name of Christ, and the kingdom of God is bestowed through his name.

12

τελειότης δὲ παρ' αὐτοῦ. 98 Mt 19, 23-26 Καλὸν τὸ ἀποστολικὸν ἐνταῦθα ἁρμόζει τὸν «ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα »· τὸν γὰρ ὄγκον ἐδήλωσεν ἡ πρὸς κάμηλον ὁμοίωσις· «στενὴ γὰρ καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωήν ». ἆρ' οὖν καὶ τὰ κακά; ὅπου γὰρ ὁ θεός, εἴρηται, τὸ καλὸν ἕπεται καὶ οὐδ' ἂν ἐννοήσαι τις ὑγιαίνων, ὅτι τὰ κακὰ θεῷ δυνατὰ οὐδὲ ἀδυναμίᾳ εἴποι ἂν τὰ καλὰ μὴ ποιεῖν· ἀσθένεια γὰρ τοὐναντίον ἡ τῶν κακῶν ποίησις καὶ ἀσθενείας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὁ Παῦλος καλεῖ λέγων· «ἔτι γὰρ ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν κατὰ καιρὸν Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν ἀπέθανεν » καὶ ὁ ψαλμῳδός· ἐπλήσθησάν φησιν «αἱ ἀσθένειαι αὐτῶν »· τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀσθενείας καλεῖ λέγων. ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐκεῖνό τις ἂν ἐγκαλέσειεν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ λέγοντι πάντα θεῷ δυνατὰ οἷον λέγειν εἰώθασιν. ἆρ' οὖν καὶ τὸ γένος ποιῆσαι μὴ γεγονέναι θεῷ δυνατόν ἐστιν; ἀχρεῖον γὰρ αὐτῷ πάλιν τὸ τοιοῦτον· οὐδὲν δὲ ἀχρεῖον ἐπὶ θεοῦ δυνάμεως παραλαμβάνεται. ὥστε περισσαὶ πᾶσαι αἱ κατὰ τοῦ λόγου συκοφαντίαι. εἰπὼν δὲ ὁ Μᾶρκος, ὅτι «Ἰησοῦς ἐμβλέψας αὐτῷ ἠγάπησεν ἀυτὸν » ζήτησιν κινεῖ, πῶς ἠγαπήθη ὁ μὴ μέλλων ἀκολουθεῖν ἐπὶ «τὴν ζωήν ». ἔστι δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς προτέροις ἀγάπης ἄξιος ὁ τὰ τοῦ νόμου φυλάξας καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ νεότητος, τῇ δὲ περὶ τὸ τέλειον ὀλιγωρίᾳ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς πρόσθεν ἀγάπην τελείαν οὐκ εἴασε γενέσθαι, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὴν τελειότητα ἐδείξατο. διόπερ ὁ Παῦλος ἀτελὲς ἅπαν τὸ ἐν νόμῳ κατα λαβὼν ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα ἔσπευσεν. 99 Mt 19, 27 Οὐχ ὡς μεγάλα τινὰ καταλελοιπότες, ἀλλ' αὐτῶν, ὧν εἶχον, ἐκ στάντες καὶ τὴν προαίρεσιν ἐπιδείξαντες τὴν ἁπάντων προτιμῶσαν

Χριστόν. 100 Mt 19, 28-29 Κρινοῦσιν οἱ ἀπόστολοι τῇ ἀρετῇ τὴν κακίαν ἐλέγχοντες. ἔστι δὲ «νῦν » ἡ τῶν πολλαπλασίων ἀπόλαυσις κατὰ τὴν κοινωνίαν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν κτῆσιν· ὥσπερ δὲ προτέθεικεν ὁ σωτὴρ τὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἅπαντα τοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου στρατευομένοις οὕτως καὶ οἰκίας πολλὰς καὶ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἀδελφὰς καὶ μητέρας καὶ τέκνα καὶ ἀγροὺς ὕπαρξιν τοῖς τὰ ἴδια καταλείπουσιν, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη πᾶσαν ἐπλήρωσεν οἰκειότητα καὶ πᾶσαν χρείαν. προστέθεικεν δὲ ὁ Λουκᾶς καὶ περὶ γυναικός· τοῦτο δὲ κατὰ τὸν Παῦλον κελεύοντα τιμᾶν «πρεσβυτέρας » μὲν «ὡς μητέρας, νεωτέρας δὲ ὡς ἀδελφὰς ἐν πάσῃ ἁγνείᾳ ». ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀδελφοὺς δίδωσι τοὺς οὐκ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ γονεῖς τοὺς οὐ γονεῖς, τέκνα τὰ οὐ τέκνα, οὕτως καὶ γυναῖκα τὴν οὐ γυναῖκα ἑτέρῳ τρόπῳ δηλαδὴ τὰς οἰκειότητας ἐκ πληρῶν, οὐ σωματικῶς. ἀπολείπειν δὲ οὖν κατὰ σάρκα γένος ἀγαθόν ἐστι διὰ τὴν πνευματικὴν ζωήν, καθὰ καὶ πάλαι περὶ τῆς Λευὶ φυλῆς ἔλεγεν Μωυσῆς· «ὁ λέγων τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ οὐχ ἑόρακά σε, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, ἐφύλαξεν τὰ λόγιά σου καὶ τὴν διαθήκην σου δι ετήρησεν. δηλώσουσιν τὰ δικαιώματά σου τῷ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τὸν νόμον σου τῷ Ἰσραήλ· ἐπιθήσουσι θυμίαμα ἐν ὀργῇ σου διὰ παντὸς ἐπὶ τὸ θυσι αστήριόν σου »· ἐκεῖ τε γὰρ διὰ τὴν θείαν σπουδὴν τοῦ γένους ἀπόστασις καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸ ἴσον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὡς ἀλλοτρίων ὄντων θεοῦ τὸν χωρισμὸν ἀποδέχεται, ἀλλ' ὡς οὐ σχολὴν οὖσαν περὶ ταῦτα διατρίβειν τὸν ἀνακεῖσθαι μέλλοντα τῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου λειτουργίᾳ. οὕτως τοίνυν οὐδὲ τὸν ἀπὸ γυναικὸς καὶ γάμου χωρισμὸν ὡς ἀπό τινος πονηροῦ νομιστέον ἐπαινεῖσθαι, ἀλλ' ὥστε μηδὲ τοῦτο ἐμπόδιον εἶναι τῷ λειτουργῷ καὶ καθάπαξ ἡ τῶν πνευματικῶν προτίμησις οὐκ ἀλλότρια δείκνυσι τὰ σαρκικὰ ὡς ἐπιχειροῦσιν οἱ Μανιχαῖοι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ κτίσιν ἀθετοῦντες. ἀδιάφορον δὲ τὸ λέγειν ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὀνόματος ἢ «ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου » ὡς ὁ Μᾶρκος ἢ «ἕνεκεν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ » ὡς ὁ Λουκᾶς. τό τε γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμίς ἐστι τοῦ εὐαγγελίου καὶ τῆς βασιλείας, τό τε εὐαγγέλιον εἰς ὄνομα ἀνήρτηται τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ χαρίζεται.

12