ACC ~ Matthew 19 v18

KEEP WHICH COMMANDMENTS?

CHRYSOSTOM: Note how prepared the young man is to obey the commandments. For he says, “What must I do to have eternal life?” He seems ready to do what he would be told. If his purpose had been to put Jesus to a test, the Evangelist would have given some indication of this as he does in other cases, for instance, in the case of the lawyer. [1] If the young man had remained silent or been deceptive, Jesus would have easily exposed that and brought it into the open. If the young man had come to test him, he would not have retreated downcast at what he heard. This never happened to any of the Pharisees. When refuted they were all the more angry. This man was not angry. He went away in sorrow, which is no little signal that he did not come to him with evil intent. But he did come with too weak a will. Truly he did desire life but was held in the grip of a serious moral infirmity. When therefore Christ said, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments,” he said “Which?” not putting him to the test—far from it—but because he thought that there were some other ones beside those in the law which could bring him life. So he seems to be quite earnest. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 63.1. [2]

[1] Mt 22:35.

[2] PG 58:604; NPNF 1 10:387-88.

CHRIST AND THE LAW

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: When Christ says to him, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments,” the man expects him to add immediately, “my commandments.” “Which ones?” he asks. He was quite deceived in his expectation. For Christ did not answer him as he expected but simply pointed him to the law. This is not because the law is perfection, for “no one is justified by the law,” [1] as it is written, but because the life lived according to law is a kind of introduction to the eternal life, briefly acquainting trainees to the things above. “For the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ.” [2] The law is the starting point for social justice. Christ is the perfection. For the beginning of good is to act justly, he says. Just action then is shown by the law, but goodness is shown by Christ. The law taught us to repay those who wish to harm us, as in “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” [3] But Christ taught us to let go such balanced vengeance with a view to the greater good, teaching that “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well.” [4] FRAGMENT 218. [5]

[1] Gal 3:11.

[2] Gal 3:24.

[3] Lev 24:20.

[4] Mt 5:39-40.

[5] MKGK 225-26.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW DOES NOT IMPLY OBEDIENCE

HILARY OF POITIERS: This young man has grown impudent from studying the law. He is worried about his salvation. Jesus sends him back to the law so that he might understand that, in the very thing in which he takes pride, he has as yet done no righteous work. For the Lord answered him with the words of the law. But the young man, like the boastful and impudent people of whom he is a type, [1] put his trust in the law, but he did not really comply with it at all. For they had been ordered not to kill, yet they had killed the prophets. They knew they were not to commit adultery, yet they had brought corruption on the faith and adultery on the law and had worshiped other gods. They knew not to steal, yet by stealth they had dissolved the commandments of the law, before Christ restored the freedom of believing in the faith. They knew not to bear false witness, yet they denied that Christ rose from the dead. They were ordered to honor father and mother, yet they had separated themselves from the family of God the Father and their mother the church. They were ordered to love their neighbor as themselves, yet they persecuted Christ, who had assumed the body of us all and had become neighbor to each one of us by the condition of the assumed body; they persecuted him to the punishment of the cross. So the young man was ordered to cast off and cut out all these vices and to return to the law. ON MATTHEW 19.5. [2]

[1] The reference here is to the Jewish leaders who were resistant to the gospel.

[2] SC 258:94.

THE LAW AND LIFE

ORIGEN: These commandments are sufficient for someone entering on the ground level of the path of eternal life. But they are not sufficient to lead one to the higher life, and certainly not to perfection. One who fails in just one of these commandments cannot even enter the beginnings of life. Anyone who wishes to enter the early stages of the path of life must be free from adultery and murder and any kind of theft. For just as the adulterer and murderer will not enter into life, so neither will the thief. Many of those who are said to believe in Christ are guilty of this sin. Just look at their daily business and the way money is entrusted to them and the crafts they practice. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 15.13. [1]

[1] GCS 40:383.

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