Commentarii in matthaeum (in catenis) 1 mt 1, 2 abraham was justified through faith and to him, having believed, god said: i will multiply your seed

 Having believed in god, he shone forth those, therefore, who believe in god, even if they come from obscure and lowly origins, are raised up by god a

 Despising the son of a carpenter, they clearly also considered his commandments to be cheap and despised, but for their insolence and contempt toward

 He made them so that they become imitators of him who both rains upon the just and sinners and makes the sun rise on all alike. 22 mt 6, 3 4 let not,

 Being bodiless it neither eats nor drinks, but do not be anxious for the soul about what you might eat or what you might drink for the soul puts fort

 Wanting it ready at hand. for lest someone should say, i have come to judge not wishing to reproach or grieve my brother, but taking thought to clean

 As we understand the gate and the way that leads to eternal life to be called narrow, not even my yoke is easy and my burden is light will contradic

 To them the sins, for which was the sacrifice, they both promised and seemed to accomplish, but a paralyzed man they were in no way strong enough to h

 Of grace, but they fasted according to the old custom. it was therefore unfitting and inappropriate for those appointed as lawgivers and heralds of th

 But they pursue the royal houses. since, therefore, you have supposed no such thing about the man, but you knew him to be a prophet in deeds and words

 To those who have despised wealth and renown and parents as well as children and death itself. but before the teaching of christ and the coming of joh

 You have received, or rather through which you have abundantly enjoyed the benefaction, through those things it was necessary, if you are ungrateful,

 His own creation, being led by good works to the knowledge of both himself and of his own father and of the consubstantial and co-powerful spirit. the

 Made man, and to hear the voice of god united to flesh hypostatically. 61 mt 13, 24 52 the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of god is said to be

 Knowledge and comprehension as he says: for this reason every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven, and so forth for through knowled

 For the children considered nothing of their own labors and resources to be their own, but they brought everything to their fathers, fearing lest they

 He awaited an opinion and testimony about him for if he had said: whom do men say that i, the son of god, am, the disciples' response would have been

 The narrative of higher and more wondrous things. but the lord does not offer to the scribes a solution appropriate to the seeming difficulty, showing

 They escaped the civil disturbances. and elijah dwelt on carmel, but john tarried in the desert, and in other respects the similarity between them was

 From there by a mist they were able to perceive none of the things being done, but later, having been freed from that confusion and having come to the

 Of evils) not only does he subtly and wisely exclude wealth from the appellation of 'good,' but also all other things, by his declaration concerning a

 They will convict the disobedient jews, but they themselves will be shining in honor and glory, while the others are in utmost disgrace and dejection.

 Unbearable, but what appeared heavy and unbearable by the judgment of those priests themselves for what they themselves do not move even with a finge

 Seek the rank of deacons and of those who are last, that is, practice humility for through this it is possible to obtain true primacy and inexpressib

 To kill the righteous. therefore you bear witness to your forefathers as impious, desiring to become like them. and you, he says, fill up the measu

 Always having the inflamed passion of avarice, he is indignant everywhere when deprived of profit. therefore the master, looking to their thought and

 Will be preached, not depriving the one reward of the other for each of the sins has found forgiveness and through the deed is preached throughout th

 He says, that before the entire first cockcrowing is completed, you will deny me three times. but when mark says, “before the cock crows twice, you wi

 This has been permitted for security, that we may always be sober, that even if we seem to do any good work, we may always consider it a gift from abo

 For them who are being saved, their commonwealth is on earth, but in heaven is their reward and inheritance. but since, he says, i have received autho

from there by a mist they were able to perceive none of the things being done, but later, having been freed from that confusion and having come to themselves, they at last became aware of the absurdity, who also, having seized upon a small pretext, corrected the whole of the transgression. But you, even if someone is more resistant to correction, do not neglect him either, but go once and twice and three times, showing him his sin and calling him to repentance and correction; for your profit from this is great, if you are seen as the savior of your brother; for he too gains release from sin, but not such a gain as yours, to become the savior of your brother. Wherefore He also makes mention of the greater gain, saying, you have gained your brother; but if he does not wish to repent, what then? Even so, you yourself have the inalienable profit of your zeal and choice, and you receive the ineffable strength of another authority. What is this? You are made master of the punishment of the one who has sinned, and you have the common Master ratifying your verdicts concerning him; for 'whatever you bind on earth' and what follows. Do you see to what a high rank virtue and longsuffering raise us. It makes us equal in standing to Peter, it enrolls us in the choir of the disciples. Then not only does He entrust the authority for punishment to you, He says, but also that of forgiveness, gathering for you, the one dishonored, not only a consolation many times greater than the dishonor, but also granting an incomparable authority against the one who insulted you and compelling him from all sides to take refuge in you, the one wronged, and to be in need of protection and assistance from you, if indeed when you loose, he is loosed even in heaven, but when you bind, he is bound. And He did not say 'will be loosed' and 'will be bound,' but 'when you loose, he is loosed' and immediately having found the loosing he will be found loosed even in heaven and 'if you bind, he is bound' and he will be bound from that time even in heaven, showing the vehemence and unalterable nature of the binding and the loosing. Let us listen, beloved, with sober minds and understand how great a fruit longsuffering and meekness and the keeping of the Lord's commandments produces for us. Turning away from those who cause their neighbor to stumble, the Savior now comforts those who are caused to stumble and says to them: Do not be disheartened, considering the injustice you have suffered, since it is possible to turn it into a great profit. And how will this happen? If you rebuke the one who wronged you in private, showing him his sin; for when he repents for what he has done to you, it will become a great profit for you, both with you being reconciled to him and his sin being forgiven. Do you see to what a high rank longsuffering and forgiveness towards sinners raise us; for it has made us equal in standing to Peter and has numbered us with the rest of the apostles; then not only does it entrust to you the authority for punishment, but also that of forgiveness and grants a reward many times greater. And not only these things, but it also compels the one who did wrong from all sides to take refuge in you, the one wronged, and to be in need of your protection and assistance, if indeed when you loose, he is loosed also in heaven, but when you bind, he is bound in heaven. 76 Mt 19, 16 24 The young man considered wealth and money to be good things, or rather, these before all others; for it is the custom for men to consider those things good for which they themselves are disposed with love and passion. Wherefore that rich man also said, 'You have many goods; eat and drink,' measuring happiness by food and drink and gluttony, and considering these things good. So therefore this rich young man also, considering his possessions and his wealth to be good, also calls the Master good, considering him to be a man, as one of the teachers, but honoring him, as he thought, with the address 'good'. But the Master of all, knowing all things and wishing to detach him from his affection for wealth and to teach him, that wealth, which he loved, is not good (for indeed by its nature it is neither among the good things nor among the

ἐκεῖθεν ἀχλύι οὐδὲν τῶν πραττομένων συνιδεῖν ἠδυνήθησαν, ὕστερον δὲ τῆς συγχύσεως ἐκείνης ἀπαλλαγέντες καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς γεγονότες ἐν συναισθήσει λοιπὸν τῆς ἀτοπίας γεγόνασιν, οἳ καὶ μικρᾶς προφάσεως ἐπιλαβόμενοι τὸ πᾶν τοῦ πταίσματος διωρθώσαντο. σὺ δὲ κἂν σκληρότερός τις ᾖ διορθώσεως μηδὲ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἀμελήσῃς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς καὶ τρὶς ἄπελθε δεικνὺς αὐτῷ τὸ ἁμάρτημα καὶ ἐκκαλούμενος αὐτὸν εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ διόρθωσιν· μέγα γὰρ τὸ ἐντεῦθέν σοι κέρδος, εἰ σωτὴρ ὀφθήσῃ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ· κερδαίνει μὲν γὰρ κἀκεῖνος τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, οὐ τοιοῦτον δὲ κέρδος οἷον τὸ σὸν τὸ σωτῆρα γενέσθαι τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. διὸ καὶ τοῦ μείζονος κέρδους μνημονεύει ἐκέρδησας λέγων τὸν ἀδελφόν σου· ἂν δὲ μὴ θέλῃ μεταμεληθῆναι, τί; καὶ οὕτως μὲν αὐτὸς τῆς σπουδῆς καὶ προαιρέσεως τὸ κέρδος ἀναφαίρετον ἔχεις, λαμβάνεις δὲ καὶ ἑτέρας ἐξουσίας ἄφατον ἰσχύν. τίνα ταύτην; κύριος καθίστασαι τῆς τοῦ ἡμαρτηκότος τιμωρίας καὶ τὰς σὰς περὶ αὐτοῦ ψήφους ἔχεις τὸν κοινὸν ἐπικυροῦντα δεσπότην· ὃ ἂν γὰρ δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. εἶδες εἰς ὅσον ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ ἡ ἀνεξικακία ἀναβιβάζει ἀξίωμα. ἰσοστασίους τοῦ Πέτρου ἐργάζεται, εἰς τῶν μαθητῶν καταλέγει τὸν χορόν. εἶτα οὐ μόνον τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐγχειρίζει σοι, φησίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀφέσεως, σοί τε τῷ ἠτιμωμένῳ οὐ μόνον τῆς ἀτιμίας πολλαπλασίονα τὴν παραμυθίαν συλλέγων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσύγκριτον τὴν ἐξουσίαν κατὰ τοῦ προπηλακίσαντος παρέχων κἀκεῖνον πανταχόθεν συνελαύνων ἐπὶ σὲ τὸν ἠδικημένον καταφεύγειν καὶ τῆς παρὰ σοῦ προστασίας καὶ ἐπικουρίας δεῖσθαι, εἴγε σου μὲν λύοντος λέλυται καὶ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, δεσμοῦντος δέ, δέδεται. καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν λυθήσεται καὶ δεθήσεται, ἀλλ' ἐπὰν λύσῃς, λέλυται καὶ ἐξαυτῆς εὑρὼν τὴν λύσιν λελυμένος εὑρεθήσεται καὶ ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐὰν δήσῃς, δέδεται καὶ δεδεμένος ἀπ' ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου ἔσται καὶ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, δεικνὺς τὸ σφοδρὸν καὶ ἀπαράβατον τοῦ δεσμοῦ καὶ τῆς λύσεως. ἀκούσωμεν, ἀγαπητοί, νήφουσιν λογισμοῖς καὶ ἐννοήσωμεν ὅσον ἡμῖν τὸν καρπὸν ἡ μακροθυμία καὶ ἡ πραότης καὶ ἡ τῶν δεσποτικῶν ἐντολῶν φυλακὴ προξενεῖ. Τοὺς σκανδαλίζοντας τὸν πλησίον ἀποτρεπόμενος ὁ σωτὴρ νῦν παραμυθεῖται τοὺς σκανδαλιζομένους καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτούς· μὴ καταπέσητε ἐννοοῦντες ἣν ὑπέστητε ἀδικίαν, ἐπεὶ δυνατόν ἐστιν εἰς μέγα κέρδος μεταστῆσαι. πῶς δὲ τοῦτο γενήσεται; εἰ τὸν ἀδικήσαντά σε κατ' ἰδίαν ἐλέγξεις δεικνύων αὐτῷ τὸ ἁμάρτημα· μετανοοῦντος γὰρ ἐκείνου ἐφ' οἷς ἔπραξεν εἰς σὲ μέγα σοι κέρδος γενήσεται, σοῦ τε διαλλαγέντος πρὸς αὐτὸν κἀκείνῳ συγχωρηθέντος τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος. ὁρᾷς εἰς ὅσον ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀνεξικακία καὶ ἡ πρὸς τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας συγχώρησις ἀναβιβάζει ἀξίωμα· ἰσοστασίους γὰρ Πέτρῳ πεποίηκε καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀποστόλοις συνηρίθμησεν· εἶτα οὐ μόνον τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐγχειρίζεταί σοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀφέσεως καὶ πολλαπλασίονα τὴν τιμὴν χαρίζεται. οὐ μόνον δὲ ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πανταχόθεν τὸν ἀδικήσαντα συνελαύνει ἐπὶ σὲ τὸν ἠδικημένον καταφεύγειν καὶ τῆς παρὰ σοῦ προστασίας καὶ ἐπικουρίας δεῖσθαι, εἴπερ σοῦ μὲν λύοντος λύεται καὶ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, δεσμοῦντος δὲ δεσμεῖται ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 76 Mt 19, 16 24 Ἀγαθὰ ἐνόμιζεν ὁ νεανίσκος καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τὰ χρήματα, μᾶλλον δὲ ταῦτα πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων· ἔθος γὰρ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκεῖνα ἡγεῖσθαι ἀγαθά, πρὸς ἃ ἂν ὦσιν αὐτοὶ ἐρωτικῶς καὶ περιπαθῶς διακείμενοι. διὸ καὶ ὁ πλούσιος ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγεν· ἔχεις πολλὰ ἀγαθά· φάγε καὶ πίε μετρῶν τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν βρώμασι καὶ πόμασι καὶ γαστριμαργίᾳ καὶ ταῦτα νομίζων ἀγαθά. οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὁ νεανίσκος οὗτος ὁ πλούσιος ἀγαθὰ ἡγούμενος τὰ ὑπάρχοντα καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτοῦ ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸν δεσπότην ὀνομάζει ἄνθρωπον μὲν αὐτὸν ὡς ἕνα τῶν διδασκάλων λογιζόμενος, τιμῶν δὲ αὐτόν, ὡς ἐνόμιζεν, τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τῇ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. ὁ δὲ τῶν ὅλων δεσπότης καὶ πάντα εἰδὼς θέλων αὐτὸν τῆς τοῦ πλούτου προσπαθείας ἀποσπάσαι καὶ διδάξαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ πλοῦτος, ὃν ἐκεῖνος ἔστεργεν, ἀγαθός (καὶ γὰρ τῇ αὐτοῦ φύσει οὔτε τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐστιν οὔτε τῶν