ACC ~ Matthew 10 v7

PREACH AS YOU GO

CHRYSOSTOM: Do you perceive the unparalleled magnificence of their ministry? Do you comprehend the dignity of the apostles? They are not authorized to speak of things perceivable by the senses. They do not repeat what Moses said or the prophets before them. Rather, they spoke of new and strange things. Moses and the prophets spoke of temporal promises of an earthly land. The apostles proclaimed the kingdom of heaven and all that this implies.

Not only does the loftiness of their message characterize them as greater, but so does the lowly nature of their obedience. They were not reluctant nor irresolute, like those who came before. Instead, warned as they were of perils, wars and intolerable evils, they receive his commands with simple obedience. They immediately became heralds of the coming kingdom. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 32.4. [1]

[1] PG 57:381; NPNF 1 10:214**.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND

GREGORY THE GREAT: But let us hear what the preachers were commanded when they were sent out: “Go and preach,” saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Even if the gospel were to be silent, dearly beloved, the world now proclaims this message. Its ruins are its words. Struck by so many blows, it has fallen from its glory. It is as if the world itself reveals to us now that another kingdom is near, which will succeed it. It is abhorred by the very people who loved it. Its own ruins preach that it should not be loved.

If someone’s house were shaken and threatened with ruin, whoever lived in it would flee. The one who loved it when it was standing would hasten to leave it as soon as possible when it was falling. Therefore if the world is falling, and we embrace it by loving it, we are choosing rather to be overwhelmed than to live in it. Nothing separates us from its ruin insofar as our love binds us by our attachment to it.

It is easy now, when we see everything heading for destruction, to disengage our minds from love of the world. But then it was very difficult, because the disciples were sent to preach the unseen kingdom of heaven at the very time when everyone far and wide could see the kingdoms of earth flourishing. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 4.2. [1]

[1] PL 76:1090; CS 123:121-22* (Homily 17). The world currently teaches us of its own vulnerability. Roman history, Gregory argued, is confirming the radical precariousness of human systems, which themselves are implicitly pointing toward the coming reign of God.