ACC ~ Matthew 13 v10 - 17

OVERVIEW:

The gentle disposition of the disciples is seen in their inquiry into the purpose of parables (CHRYSOSTOM). All rational souls are given a chance to understand the difference between good and evil. Yet not all receive the grace of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom. It is not the fault of God who does not give but of persons who do not ask or work that they may be ready to receive the kingdom (ANONYMOUS).

In people who are teachable and well disposed for receiving, the Holy Spirit will make his dwelling, increasing in them his gifts. But in those who have acquired only a tiny spark of light and have been negligent even with that, the little that they formerly had is quenched and is taken from them (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). When people have zeal and eagerness, God will give everything sufficient for their needs. But if they have a zero level of responsiveness, God’s gifts are blocked by the recipients. Even what they seemed to have is being taken away from them. Here it is not so much God taking something away from them as it is their unreadiness to receive these gifts (CHRYSOSTOM). That person does not receive who brings emptiness to God (ANONYMOUS).

Jesus spoke in parables to make invisible things seen and to avoid harsh language (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). It was not because Christ was speaking in parables that seeing they did not see (ANONYMOUS). Gospel faith receives a perfect gift, because it enriches with new fruit those things that have been begun. But once it is rejected, even the help of one’s former means of support may be taken away (HILARY).

13:10 | The Disciples Ask About Parables

THE DISCIPLES GENTLY CAME AND ASKED

CHRYSOSTOM: We have good cause to admire the disciples. Longing as they do to learn, they know when they ought to ask. They do not ask in the presence of the crowd. Matthew shows this by saying, “And they came.” But to show that this is not a conjecture, Mark has expressed it more distinctly by saying that “they came to him privately.” [1] This is what his brothers and his mother should have done. It would have been better if his family had not called him out and made a scene.

But mark the disciples’ gentle affection, how they have much regard for the others and how they seek the other’s good first and then their own. “For why,” they ask, “do you speak to them in parables?” They did not say, “Why do you speak to us in parables?” On other occasions as well we can see their kindness in their human relationships, as when they said, “Send the multitude away” [2] and “Do you know that they were offended?” [3] THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 45.1. [4]

[1] Mk 4:10.

[2] Lk 9:12.

[3] Mt 15:12.

[4] PG 58:471; NPNF 1 10:284.

THE REQUEST IN THE BOAT

JEROME: The question may be raised as to how the disciples came up to Jesus when he was sitting in the boat. Perhaps we should understand by this that they had gotten into the boat with him a short while before and were now standing there asking him to interpret the parable. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.10. [1]

[1] CCL 77:103.

13:11 | The Secrets of Heaven

THE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

ANONYMOUS: “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” In light of these words some might put the blame on God for their own negligence, saying: “It isn’t my fault if I don’t know what God has not given me to know.” And they don’t say this dolefully, because they do not understand anything about God. Rather, they are only seeking an excuse for their sins. The psalm says concerning them: “Incline not my heart to any evil, to finding excuses for my wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity.” [1] Therefore let us speak more clearly on this point. Every intellect is from the Holy Spirit and is a God-given grace. It is one thing that God has given his grace to all humanity. It is another thing to refine this by saying that the grace he gives is not given to all people irrespective of their responses but to those who are more worthy and excellent and fit to be chosen.

Notice how Jesus says, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” [2] He did not say “to you it is given” to someone who has no knowledge whatever of good and evil. All rational souls are given a chance to understand the difference between good and evil. Yet not all have the grace of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom. It is not the fault of God who does not give, because this general rational knowledge is available, but of the person who does not ask or make haste or work in order to be ready to receive the kingdom. If you pursue this general knowledge of good and evil—that is, if you make good use of what you can know—you will be ready to receive the special knowledge of knowing the mystery. But if you have hidden that general knowledge in the ground, that is meant to supply nature’s needs, how will you merit the special knowledge that is meant as a reward for good will or works? INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 31. [3]

[1] Ps 141:4 (140:4 LXX).

[2] These words of Jesus and the remainder of his address could easily have been interpreted in a predestinationist or even Manichaean sense (cf. pp. 155 n. 18, 253 n. 9.) Consequently Catholic exegetes interpreted them in such a way as to show that for better or worse, each person remains the master of his or her destiny.

[3] PG 56:796-97.

13:12 | Having Abundance

ACCORDING TO RESPONSIVENESS

CHRYSOSTOM: Although the saying is quite obscure, it indicates unspeakable justice. For what Christ is saying is something like this: When anyone has zeal and eagerness, there will be given to him on God’s part all things sufficient for his needs. But if he lacks any responsiveness and is not ready to contribute his own share, neither are God’s gifts bestowed. In that case even “what he seems to have,” so Jesus says, “shall be taken away from him.” Here it is not so much God taking something away from him as it is his own unreadiness to receive these gifts.

We ourselves do this all the time. When we see someone listening carelessly and when with much effort we cannot persuade him to listen at all, then it remains for us to be silent. For if we continue, even his carelessness is aggravated. But for someone who is striving to learn, we lead on and pour in much. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 45.1. [1]

[1] PG 58:471-72; NPNF 1 10:285.

WHEN THE SPARK IS NEGLECTED

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: In people who are teachable and well disposed for receiving the divine words the Holy Spirit will make his abode, increasing in them his gifts. But in those who have acquired only a tiny spark of light and have been negligent even with that, even the little that they formerly had becomes utterly quenched and is taken from them. This is what some Jews have experienced, who received a light from the law but gained no increase from it. When the Truth arrived, they became dim-sighted toward it; even what they had has been taken away. FRAGMENT 165. [1]

[1] MKGK 206.

EVEN WHAT ONE HAS WILL BE TAKEN AWAY

ANONYMOUS: It is certainly possible for something to be added to someone who has. But it is impossible to take away from him who does not have. How are we to understand this? If something is taken away from him who does not have and yet he does not have anything to begin with, what is taken away from him? Here is how we should understand this. He who has a mind and does not do justice with it pertaining to God’s glory but rather occupies it with earthly things, of him we say: having he does not have. For though he has a mind and can see, he is said to be blind. That person does not have who brings nothing to God. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 31. [1]

[1] PG 56:797.

13:13 | Not Seeing, Hearing or Understanding

WHY I SPEAK IN PARABLES

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: It was frequently his habit to make use of parables for at least two reasons: either because he would be speaking about things unseen, so as, by the parable, to make invisible things seen, so far as this was possible. Or it was because of the unworthiness of the hearers, when nothing beneficial would come to them from the things that were said. But there was another, third cause for parables. Frequently, when he was saying something by way of refutation, he would by means of a parable temper the harshness of the refutations for the sake of the hearers, as when he tells the parable of the vineyard and says that “he will miserably destroy those evil men” and “will rent out his vineyard to others.” [1] In saying these things to the Pharisees, Jesus clearly avoided harsh language. FRAGMENT 73. [2]

[1] Mt 21:41.

[2] MKGK 120.

THEY DO NOT SEE

ANONYMOUS: If Jesus had said, “I will speak to them in parables so that seeing they may not see,” it might be thought to not be the fault of those Jews who did not understand but of Christ who spoke in such a way that they did not understand. But now he says, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see.” You must understand therefore it is not the fault of Christ who is unwilling to speak clearly but of those who while hearing are unwilling to hear. It was not because Christ was speaking in parables that they did not see but because of their way of seeing. Therefore Christ spoke to them in parables. Behold, they saw the wonders of Moses. Did they not truly see? If they did truly see, they certainly would have also feared God the worker of miracles. Behold, they heard the Teacher of the law. Did they not truly hear? If they did truly hear him, they certainly would have lived according to the law and believed in him about whom the law prophesied. They saw also the wonderful things, but seeing they did not really see. If they had seen them, they would also have profited by them. It is easier for those who see to know what they saw than for those who hear to understand what they heard. How did it happen that those who heard of the wonderful revelation of God did not see and know them? Because the Jews seeing were accustomed not to see and hearing not to hear; therefore God did not give them the eyes of faith to see Christ’s divine miracles or to hear his living words. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 31. [1]

[1] PG 56:798.

13:14 | Seeing but Not Perceiving

YOU SHALL SEE BUT NEVER PERCEIVE

CHRYSOSTOM: After this, lest any one should suppose his words to be a mere accusation and lest people should say, “Being our enemy he is bringing these charges and calumnies against us,” Jesus introduces the prophet Isaiah. The prophet pronounced the same judgment as Jesus himself: “With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.’” So it is the prophet himself who accuses them with the same precise point. He did not say “You see not” but “You shall indeed see but never perceive.” He did not say “You do not hear” but “You shall indeed hear but never understand.” So they first inflicted the loss on themselves, by stopping their ears, by closing their eyes, by making their heart fat. For they not only failed to hear but also “heard heavily,” and they did this, he said, “lest they should turn for me to heal them.” Thus he described their aggravated wickedness and their determined defection from him. But he said this to draw them closer to him, and to provoke them and to signify that if they would convert he would heal them. It is much as if one should say, “He would not look at me, and I thank him; for if he had given me even a glance, I would straightway have given in.” He spoke in this way to signify how he would wish to have been reconciled. He implied that both their conversion was possible and that upon their repentance they might be saved. It was not for his own glory alone, but for their salvation, that he was doing all things.

For if it had not been his will that they should hear and be saved, he would have remained silent and would not have spoken in parables. But now in this very manner he stirs them up, even by speaking under a veil. “For God does not will the death of the sinner but that he should turn to him and live.” [1] THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 45.1-2. [2]

[1] Ezek 18:23.

[2] PG 58:472-73; NPNF 1 10:285.

13:15 | Hearts Grown Dull

THEIR EARS REFUSE TO HEAR

HILARY: Faith perceives the mysteries of the kingdom. A person will make progress in those things he has been immersed in and will abound with an increase in that progress. But in those things he has not been immersed in, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. In other words, he suffers the loss of the law from the loss of his faith. Lacking faith, the people of the law lost even the efficacy of the law. Therefore, gospel faith receives a perfect gift, because it enriches with new fruit those things that have been undertaken. But once it is rejected, even the help of one’s former means of support is taken away. ON MATTHEW 13.2. [1]

[1] SC 254:296.

THOSE UNWILLING TO HEAR

JEROME: He gives reasons why seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear. He says, “The heart of this people has been hardened … and with their ears they have been hard of hearing.” And lest we think that their hardness of heart and hearing are natural and not voluntary, Jesus alludes to the fault of the will and says, “They have closed their eyes, lest at any time they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their mind, and be converted, and I heal them.” [1] Therefore with closed eyes they who are unwilling to perceive the truth hear in parables and in riddles. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13-15. [2]

[1] Mt 13:15.

[2] CCL 77:103-4.

LEST THEY SHOULD TURN

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: To say “lest at any time they should turn and I should heal them” points to a hardened intractability. … For he speaks in this way in order to save them, since [otherwise] he ought rather to have said nothing but have been silent, except that it is not for his own glory’s sake but for their salvation that Jesus does everything. FRAGMENT 166. [1]

[1] MKGK 207.

13:16 | Hearing and Seeing

BLESSED ARE YOUR EARS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He blesses them, accordingly, as hearers of the Son’s voice and as having been made ready to see him, through whom and in whom they saw, intellectually, the nature of God and the Father. Of these things the saints of old were accounted worthy, those, namely, who most completely possess a joy in good things. FRAGMENT 167. [1]

[1] MKGK 207.

13:17 | What the Prophets Longed For

THE PROPHETS LONGED TO SEE WHAT YOU SEE

HILARY: He teaches the blessedness of the apostolic times to those whose eyes and ears are fortunate to look upon and hear the salvation of God. These are the prophets and the righteous who have longed to see and hear the fulfillment of the expected times. They share in the joy of that expectation reserved for the apostles. ON MATTHEW 13.3. [1]

[1] SC 254:296.

THEIR EARS ARE HEAVY OF HEARING

CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see that what has been given them is a free gift? Yet they would not have been blessed unless they had cooperated with the gift with well doing of their own. Do not tell me this is spoken obscurely. Those who did not hear might have come and asked him for further clarification, as the disciples did. But they did not will to do so, being careless and apathetic. Why do I say that they did not will to do this? They were doing the very opposite, not only disbelieving, not only not listening, but even waging war. They were disposed to be very bitter against all he said. So Jesus brings before them the charge of the prophet: “Their ears were unwilling to hear.”

But the hearers were not like this, and this is why they were blessed. In yet another way he assures them again, saying, “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it,” that is, hear of my coming, my miracles, my voice, my teaching. Here he compares the hearers to the nonhearers. He affirms the hearers as blessed not only because they have seen what the prophets did not see but even what those of old desired to see but did not. For they indeed beheld by faith only, but these were beholding by sight too, and much more distinctly.

Do you see once again how Christ connects the old dispensation with the new, signifying that those of old not only knew the things to come but also greatly desired them? But had they pertained to some strange and opposing God, they would never have desired them. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 45.2. [1]

[1] PG 58:473-74; NPNF 1 10:285-86.

MANY PROPHETS

JEROME: It seems that what he said elsewhere runs counter to this point: “Abraham desired to see my day. He saw it and rejoiced.” [1] He did not say all the prophets and righteous people desired to see what you see, but many. Among many it may be that some see and some do not see, although in our interpretation we seem to be making a distinction between the merits of the saints. Therefore Abraham saw dimly as though in a mirror, but you now have and hold your Lord and question him freely and eat with him. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.13.17. [2]

[1] Jn 8:56.

[2] CCL 77:104.