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Matthew 22:1-14
And Jesus
answering, spoke again in parables to them, saying: The kingdom of
heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he
sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and
they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them
that were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and
fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage.
But they neglected, and went their own ways, one to his farm, and
another to his merchandise.
And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them
contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king had heard of it,
he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and
burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is
ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into
the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. And
his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they
found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests.
And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had
not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou
in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the
king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into
the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Commentary
By St. John Chryostom
Seest thou both
in the former parable and in this the difference between the Son and
the servants? Seest thou at once the great affinity between both
parables, and the great difference also? For this also indicates God's
long-suffering, and His great providential care, and the Jews'
ingratitude.
But this parable hath something also more than the other. For it
proclaims beforehand both the casting out of the Jews, and the calling
of the Gentiles; and it indicates together with this also the
strictness of the life required, and how great the punishment appointed
for the careless.
And well is this placed after the other. For since He had said, "It
shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof," He
declares next to what kind of nation; and not this only, but He also
again sets forth His providential care towards the Jews as past
utterance. For there He appears before His crucifixion bidding them;
but here even after He is slain, He still urges them, striving to win
them over. And when they deserved to have suffered the most grievous
punishment, then He both presses them to the marriage, and honors them
with the highest honor. And see how both there He calls not the
Gentiles first, but the Jews, and here again. But as there, when they
would not receive Him, but even slew Him when He was come, then He gave
away the vineyard; thus here too, when they were not willing to be
present at the marriage, then He called others.
What then could be more ungrateful than they, when being bidden to a
marriage they rush away? For who would not choose to come to a
marriage, and that a King's marriage, and of a King making a marriage
for a Son?
And wherefore is it called a marriage? one may say. That thou mightest
learn God's tender care, His yearning towards us, the cheerfulness of
the state of things, that there is nothing sorrowful there, nor sad,
but all things are full of spiritual joy: Therefore also John calls Him
a bridegroom, therefore Paul again saith, "For I have espoused you to
one husband;"and, "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the Church."
Why then is not the bride said to be espoused to Him, but to the Son?
Because she that is espoused to the Son, is espoused to the Father. For
it is indifferent in Scripture that the one or the other should be
said, because of the identityof the substance.
Hereby He proclaimed the resurrection also. For since in what went
before He had spoken of the death, He shows that even after the death,
then is the marriage, then the bridegroom.
But not even so do these become better men nor more gentle, than which
what can be worse? For this again is a third accusation. The first that
they killed the prophets; then the son; afterwards that even when they
had slain Him, and were bidden unto the marriage of Him that was slain,
by the Very one that was slain, they come not, but feign excuses, yokes
of oxen, and pieces of ground, and wives. And yet the excuses seem to
be reasonable; but hence we learn, though the things which hinder us be
necessary, to set the things spiritual at a higher price than all.
And He not suddenly, but a long time before. For, "Tell," He saith,
"them that are bidden;" and again, "Call them that were bidden;" which
circumstance makes the charge against them heavier. And when were they
bidden? By all the prophets; by John again; for unto Christ he would
pass all on, saying, "He must increase, I must decrease;"by the Son
Himself again, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will refresh you;"and again, "If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink."
But not by words only, but also by actions did He bid them, after His
ascension by Peter, and those with him. "For He that wrought
effectually in Peter," it is said, "to the apostleship of the
circumcision, was mighty also in me towards the Gentiles."
For since on seeing the Son, they were wroth and slew Him, He bids them
again by His servants. And unto what cloth He bid them? Unto labors,
and toils, and sweat? Nay but unto pleasure. For, "My oxen," He saith,
"and my fatlings are killed." See how complete His banquet? how great
His munificence.
And not even this shamed them, but the more long-suffering He showed,
so much the more were they hardened. For not for press of business, but
from "making light of they did not come.
"How then do some bring forward marriages, others yokes of oxen? these
things surely are of want of leisure."
By no means, for when spiritual things call us, there is no press of
business that has the power of necessity.
And to me they seem moreover to make use of these excuses, putting
forward these things as cloak for their negligence, And not this only
is the grievous thing, that they came not, but also that which is a far
more violent and furious act, to have even beaten them that came, and
to have used them despitefully, and to have slain them; this is worse
than the former. For those others came, demanding produce and fruits,
and were slain; but these, bidding them to the marriage of Him that had
been slain by them, and these again are murdered.
What is equal to this madness? This Paul also was laying to their
charge, when he said, "Who both killed the Lord, and their own
prophets, and have persecuted us."
Moreover, that they may not say, "He is an adversary of God, and
therefore we do not come," hear what they say who are bidding them;
that it is the father who is making the marriage, and that it is He who
is bidding them.
What then did He after these things? Since they were not willing to
come, yea and also slew those that came unto them; He burns up their
cities, and sent His armies and slew them.
And these things He saith, declaring beforehand the things that took
place under Vespasian and Titus, and that they provoked the father
also, by not believing in Him; it is the father at any rate who was
avenging.
And for this reason let me add, not straightway after Christ was slain
did the capture take place, but after forty years, that He might show
His long suffering, when they had slain Stephen, when they had put
James to death, when they had spitefully entreated the apostles.
Seest thou the truth of the event, and its quickness? For while John
was yet living, and many other of them that were with Christ, these
things came to pass, and they that had heard these words were witnesses
of the events.
See then care utterable. He had planted a vineyard; He had done all
things, and finished; when His servants had been put to death, He sent
other servants; when those had been slain, He sent the son; and when He
was put to death, He bids them to the marriage. They would not come,
After this He sends other servants, and they slew these also.
Then upon this He slays them, as being incurably diseased. For that
they were incurably diseased, was proved not by their acts only, but by
the fact, that even when harlots and publicans had believed, they did
these things. So that, not by their own crimes alone, but also from
what others were able to do aright, these men are condemned,
But if any one should say, that not then were they out of the Gentiles
called, I mean, when the apostles had been beaten and had suffered ten
thousand things, but straightway after the resurrection (for then He
said to them, "Go ye and make disciples of all nations."We would say,
that both before the crucifixion, and after the crucifixion, they
addressed themselves to them first. For both before the crucifixion, He
saith to them, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;"and after
the crucifixion, so far from forbidding, He even commanded them to
address themselves to the Jews. For though He said, "Make disciples of
all nations," yet when on the point of ascending into Heaven, He
declared that unto those first they were to address themselves; For,
"ye shall receive power," saith He, "after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judaea, and unto the uttermost part of the earth;"and Paul again,
"He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the
circumcision, was mighty in me also toward the Gentiles." Therefore the
apostles also went first unto the Jews, and when they had tarried a
long time in Jerusalem, and then had been driven away by them, in this
way they were scattered abroad unto the Gentiles.
2. And see thou even herein His bounty; "As many as ye shall find,"
saith He, "bid to the marriage. For before this, as I said, they
addressed themselves both to Jews and Greeks, tarrying for the most
part in Judaea; but since they continued to lay plots against them,
hear Paul interpreting this parable, and saying thus, "It was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but since ye
judge yourselves unworthy, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Therefore Christ also saith, "The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not worthy."
He knew this indeed even before, but that He might leave them no
pretext of a shameless sort of contradiction, although He knew it, to
them first He both came and sent, both stopping their mouths, and
teaching us to fulfill all our parts, though no one should derive any
profit.
Since then they were not worthy, go ye, saith He, into the highways,
and as many as ye shall find, bid; both the common sort, and the
outcasts. For because He had said m every way."The harlots and
publicans shall inherit heaven;" and, "The first shall be last, and the
last first;" He shows that justly do these things come to pass; which
more than anything stung the Jews, and goaded them far more grievously
than their overthrow, to see those from the Gentiles brought into their
privileges, and into far greater than theirs.
Then in order that not even these should put confidence in their faith
alone, He discourses unto them also concerning the judgment to be
passed upon wicked actions; to them that have not yet believed, of
coming unto Him by faith, and to them that have believed, of care with
respect to their life. For the garment is life and practice.
And yet the calling was of grace; wherefore then doth He take a strict
account? Because although to be called and to be cleansed was of grace,
yet, when called and clothed in clean garments, to continue keeping
them so, this is of the diligence of them that are called.
The being called was not of merit, but of grace. It was fit therefore
to make a return for the grace, and not to show forth such great
wickedness after the honor. "But I have not enjoyed," one may say, "so
much advantage as the Jews." Nay, but thou hast enjoyed far greater
benefits. For what things were being prepared for them throughout all
their time, these thou hast received at once, not being worthy.
Wherefore Paul also saith, "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for
His mercy."For what things were due to them, these thou hast received.
Wherefore also great is the punishment appointed for them that have
been remiss. For as they did despite by not coming, so also thou by
thus sitting down with a corrupt life. For to come in with filthy
garments is this namely, to depart hence having one's life impure;
wherefore also he was speechless.
Seest thou how, although the fact was so manifest, He doth not punish
at once, until he himself, who has sinned, has passed the sentence? For
by having nothing to reply he condemned himself, and so is taken away
to the unutterable torments.
For do not now, on hearing of darkness, suppose he is punished by this,
by sending into a place where there is no light only, but where" there
is "also" weeping and gnashing of teeth."And this He saith, indicating
the intolerable pains.
Hear ye, as many as having partaken of the mysteries, and having been
present at the marriage, clothe your souls with filthy deeds Hear
whence ye were called.
From the highway. Being what? Lame and halt in soul, which is a much
more grievous thing than the mutilation of the body. Reverence the love
of Him, who called you, and let no one continue to have filthy
garments, but let each of you busy himself about the clothing of your
soul.
Hear, ye women; hear, ye men; we need not these garments that are
bespangled with gold, that adam our outward parts,but those others,
that adorn the inward. Whilst we have these former, it is difficult to
put on those latter. It is not possible at the same time to deck both
soul and body. It is not possible at the same time both to serve
mam-mon, and to obey Christ as we ought.
Let us put off us therefore this grievous tyranny. For neither if any
one were to adorn thy house by hanging it with golden curtains, and
were to make thee sit there in rags, naked, wouldest thou endure it
with meekness. But lo, now thou doest this to thyself, decking the
house of thy soul, I mean the body, with curtains beyond number, but
leaving the soul itself to sit in rags. Knowest thou not that the king
ought to be adorned more than the city? so therefore while for the city
hangings are prepared of linen, for the king there is a purple robe and
a diadem. Even so do thou wrap the body with a much meaner dress, but
the mind do thou clothe in purple, and put a crown on it, and set it on
a high and conspicuous chariot. For now thou art doing the opposite,
decking the city in various ways, but suffering the king, the mind, to
be dragged bound after the brute passions.
Rememberest thou not, that thou art bidden to a marriage, and to God's
marriage? Considerest thou not how the soul that is bidden ought to
enter into those chambers, clad, and decked with fringes of gold.
3. Wilt thou that I show thee them that are clad thus, them that have
on a marriage garment?
Call to mind those holy persons, of whom I discoursed to you of late,
them that wear garments of hair, them that dwell in the deserts. These
above all are the wearers of the garments of that wedding; this is
evident from hence, that how many soever purple robes thou weft to give
them, they would not choose to receive them; but much as a king, if any
one were to take the beggar's rags, and exhort him to put them on,
would abhor the clothing, so would those persons also his purple robe.
And from no other cause have they this feeling, but because of knowing
the beauty of their own raiment. Therefore even that purple robe they
spurn like the spider's web. For these things hath their sackcloth
taught them; for indeed they are far more exalted and more glorious
than the very king who reigns.
And if thou wert able to open the doors of the mind, and to look upon
their soul, and all their ornaments within, surely thou wouldest fall
down upon the earth, not bearing the glory of their beauty, and the
splendor of those garments, and the lightning brightness of their
conscience.
For we could tell also of men of old, great and to be admired; but
since visible examples lead on more those of grosset souls, therefore
do I send you even to the tabernacles of those holy persons. For they
have nothing sorrowful, but as if in heaven they had pitched their
tents, even so are they encamped far off the wearisome things of this
present life, in campaign against the devils; and as in choirs, so do
they war against him. Therefore I say, they have fixed their tents, and
have fled from cities, and markets, and houses. For he that warreth
cannot sit in a house, but he must make his habitation of a temporary
kind, as on the point of removing straightway, and so dwell. Such are
all those persons, contrary to us. For we indeed live not as in a camp,
but as in a city at peace.
For who in a camp ever lays foundation, and builds himself a house,
which he is soon after to leave? There is not one; but should any one
attempt it, he is put to death as a traitor. Who in a camp buys acres
of land, and makes for himself trades? There is not one, and very
reasonably. "For thou art come here," they would say, "to fight, not to
traffic; why then dost thou trouble thyself about the place, which in a
little time thou wilt leave? When we are gone away to our country, do
these things."
The same do I now say to thee also. When we have removed to the city
that is. above, do these things: or rather thou wilt have no need of
labors there; after that the king will do all things for thee. But here
it is enough to dig a ditch round only, and to fix a palisade, but of
building houses there is no need.
Hear what was the life of the Scythians, that lived in their wagons,
such, as they say, are the habits of the shepherd tribes. So ought
Christians to live; to go about the world, warring against the devil,
rescuing the captives held in subjection by him, and to be in freedom
from all worldly things.
Why preparest thou a house, O man, that thou mayest bind thyself more?
Why dost thou bury a treasure, and invite the enemy against thyself?
Why dost thou compass thyself with walls, and prepare a prison for
thyself?
But if these things seem to thee to be hard, let us go away unto the
tents of those men, that by their deeds we may learn the easiness
thereof. For they having set up huts, if they must depart from these,
depart like as soldiers, having left their camp in peace. For so
likewise are they encamped, or rather even much more beautifully.
For indeed it is more pleasant to behold a desert containing huts of
monks in close succession, than soldiers stretching the canvas in a
camp, and fixing spears, and suspending from the point of the spears
saffron garments,and a multitude of men having heads of brass, and the
bosses of the shields glistening much, and men armed all throughout
with steel. and royal courts hastily made, and ground levelled far, and
men dining and piping. For neither is this spectacle so delightful as
that of which I now speak.
For if we were to go away into the wilderness, and look at the tents of
Christ's soldiers, we shall see not canvas stretched, neither points of
spears, nor golden garments making a royal pavilion; but like as if any
one upon an earth much larger than this earth, yea infinite, had
stretched out many heavens, strange and awful would be the sight he
showed; even so may one see here.
For in nothing are their lodging-places in a condition inferior to the
heavens; for the angels lodge with them, and the Lord of the angels.
For if they came to Abraham, a man having a wife, and bringing up
children, because they saw him hospitable; when they find much more
abundant virtue, and a man delivered from the body, and in the flesh
disregarding the flesh, much more do they tarry there, and celebrate
the choral feast that becomes them. For there is moreover a table
amongst them pure from all covetousness, and full of self-denial.
No streams of blood are amongst them, nor cutting up of flesh, nor
heaviness of head, nor dainty cooking, neither are there unpleasing
smells of meat amongst them, nor disagreeable smoke, neither runnings
and tumults, and disturbances, and wearisome clamors; but bread and
water, the latter from a pure fountain, the former from honest labor.
But if any time they should be minded to feast more sumptuously, their
sumptuousness consists of fruits, and greater is the pleasure there
than at royal tables. There is no fear there, or trembling; no ruler
accuses, no wife provokes, no child casts into sadness, no dis- orderly
mirth dissipates, no multitude of flatterers puffs up; but the table is
an angel's table free from all such turmoil.
And for a couch they have grass only beneath them, like as Christ did
when making a dinner in the wilderness. And many of them do this, not
being even under shelter, but for a roof they have heaven, and the moon
instead of the light of a candle, not wanting oil, nor one to attend to
it; on them alone does it shine worthily from on high.
4. This table even angels from heaven beholding are delighted and
pleased. For if over one sinner that repenteth they rejoice, over so
many just men imitating them, what will they not do? There are not
master and slave; all are slaves, all free men. And do not think the
saying to be a dark proverb, for they are indeed slaves one of another,
and masters one of another.
They have no occasion to be in sadness when evening has overtaken them,
as many men feel, revolving the anxious thoughts that spring from the
evils of the day. They have no occasion after their supper to be
careful about robbers, and to shut the doors, and to put bars against
them, neither to dread the other ills, of which many are afraid,
extinguishing their candles with strict care, lest a spark anywhere
should set the house on fire.
And their conversation again is full of the whereof we discourse, that
are nothing to us; such a one is made governor, such a one has ceased
to be governor; such a one is dead, and another has succeeded to the
inheritance, and all such like, but always about the things to come do
they speak and seek wisdom; and as though dwelling in another world, as
though they had migrated unto heaven itself, as living there, even so
all their conversation is about the things there, about Abraham's
bosom, about the crowns of the saints, about the choiring with Christ;
and of things present they have neither any memory nor thought, but
like as we should not deign to speak at all of what the ants do in
their holes and clefts; so neither do they of what we do; but about the
King that is above, about the war in which they are engaged, about the
devil's crafts, about the good deeds which the saints have achieved.
Wherein therefore are we different from ants, when compared with them?
For like as they care for the things of the body, so also do we; and
would it were for these alone: but now it is even for things far worse.
For not for necessary things only do we care like them, but also for
things superfluous. For those insects pursue a business free from all
blame, but we follow after all covetousness, and not even the ways of
ants do we imitate, but the ways of wolves, but the ways of leopards,
or rather we are even worse than these. For to them nature has assigned
that they should be thus fed, but us God hath honored with speech, and
a sense of equity,and we are become worse than the wild beasts.
And whereas we are worse than the brutes, those men are equal to the
angels, being strangers and pilgrims as to the things here; and all
things in them are made different from us, clothing, and food, and
house, and shoes, and speech. And if any one were to hear them
conversing and us, then he would know full well, how they indeed are
citizens of heaven, but we are not worthy so much as of the earth.
So that therefore, when any one invested with rank is come unto them,
then is all inflated pride found utterly vain. For the laborer there,
and he that hath no experience of worldly affairs, sits near him that
is a commander of troops, and prides himself on his authority, upon the
grass, upon a mean cushion. For there are none to extol him, none to
puff him up; but the same result takes place, as if any one were to go
to a goldsmith, and a garden of roses, for he receives some brightness
from the gold and from the roses; so they too, gaining a little from
the splendor of these, are delivered from their former arrogance. And
like as if any were to go upon a high place, though he be exceedingly
short, he appears high; so these too, coming unto their exalted minds,
appear like them, so long as they abide there, but when they are gone
down are abased again, on descending from that height.
A king is nothing amongst them, a governor is nothing; but like as we,
when children are playing at these things, laugh; so do they also
utterly spurn the inflamed pride of them who strut without. And this is
evident from hence, that if any one would give them a kingdom to
possess in security, they would never take it; yet they would take it,
unless their thoughts were upon what is greater than it, unless they
accounted the thing to be but for a season.
What then? Shall we not go over unto blessedness so great? Shall we not
come unto these angels; shall we not receive clean garments, and join
in the ceremonies of this wedding feast; but shall we continue begging,
in no respect in a better condition than the poor in the streets, or
rather in a state far worse and more wretched? For much worse than
these are they that are rich in evil ways, and it is better to beg than
to spoil, for the one hath excuse, but the other brings punishment; and
the beggar in no degree offends God, but this other both men and God;
and undergoes the labors of rapine, but all the enjoyment thereof other
men often reap.
Knowing then these things, let us lay aside all covetousness, and covet
the things above, with great earnestness "taking the kingdom by force."
For it cannot be, it cannot be that any one who is remiss should enter
therein.
But God grant that we all having become earnest, and watchful may
attain thereto, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory and might, world without end. Amen.
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