Commentary on Matthew — Commentariorum Series, Matthew 25:1–46 (§§63–73)
Latin source: the anonymous late-antique Commentariorum Series in Matthaeum (Origen's now-lost Greek commentary in an old-Latin translation), from the public-domain critical text of E. Klostermann & E. Benz, GCS 38 = Origenes Werke XI (Leipzig, 1933). Sections follow Klostermann; Scripture is given in Origen's Old-Latin/Septuagint wording. This English translation is released into the public domain.[§63] Then the kingdom of heaven shall be like ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. But five of them were foolish and five prudent (25, 1—2).
In all who have learned the word of God, the kingdom of heaven is likened to ten virgins. And if indeed in those who both rightly believe and rightly live and therefore …, it is justly likened to the five prudent ones, while those who indeed profess faith in Jesus but do not prepare themselves by good works for salvation are likened to the remaining five foolish virgins, we say not without reason that the senses of all who have learned divine things — in whatever way they have received the word of God, "whether by occasion or in truth" — are virgins made virgin through the word of God in which they have believed or wish to believe. For such is the word of God that it imparts of its own purity to all who through its teaching have indeed withdrawn from the worship of idols or the worship of the elements of God's creation, but have come through Jesus Christ to the worship of God, even though works of piety have not followed nor have they prepared themselves for blessedness.
But just as, according to the word of truth, the virtues follow one after another — which virtues are in substance Christ —
so that whoever has one has them all, and whoever lacks one does not have even one (for Christ is inseparable from himself), so also all the senses follow one after another; and wherever one of the senses falls short according to the right teaching of the word, there all the senses too, as if defrauded of the word of wisdom, are made foolish.
Now by "senses" I mean both those which are commonly understood — sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch — and those which in the Proverbs are called divine,
by those who speak in this manner: "You will find a divine sense". But again, since the word of God is the cause that the use of the senses becomes right, and since it is not possible that it, being in the senses, … that it should indeed work in certain senses and diligently bestow the things that belong to its own prudence, but in others neglect them — therefore, if it has made one of the senses wise, so that it may be constituted a virgin, it is necessary that it pour out its wisdom in the other senses as well.
For this reason it is not possible to see, among the five senses in anyone, some indeed foolish and others prudent; but it is necessary that either all five be prudent, or all foolish.
All these senses take their lamps, that is, their natural organs, whether wishing to use them according to the word of God, or even against the will of God; nevertheless they take them, when they accept that the word of God and Son of God is the bridegroom of the Church; and they go out from the world and from the errors of the many gods, and they come to meet the Savior, who is always ready to come to those virgins,
so that he may enter together with the worthy among them to the blessed bride, the Church. But so long as, after the word has been received, the light of the faithful shines "before men, that seeing their good works they may glorify their Father who is in heaven", these are both prudent and receive oil — the nourishment of the light, which is always poured into good acts, that is, the word of teaching,
and, filling the vessels of their souls from this word — from the teachers and transmitters who sell it — with what may be enough for them even if the departure delays and the word coming to their consummation tarries, so that, being consummated and made outside the world, they may hasten thither. But those who had no care, after the beginning of Christianity, to receive so great a teaching of the word as would suffice for them to endure until the end, being negligent about the reception of the teaching which strengthens faith and illuminates the light of good acts (and what strengthens so much as moral discourse, which is called the oil of the light?) — these are foolish, and they received lamps at first indeed lit, but for so great a journey of going out to meet the bridegroom they received no oil. And while the bridegroom tarried, all the virgins slumbered and slept. So, while the bridegroom tarries and the word does not come quickly to the consummation of their life, from this they suffer something as it were of the senses, and act and slumber as it were in the night of the world. They slept indeed (that is, they acted more slackly with respect to that vital sense), yet those prudent ones neither lost their lamps nor despaired of preserving the oil.
[§64] But at midnight a cry arose: behold, the bridegroom comes, rise up to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said to the wise: give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying: lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you; go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves. But while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. But afterward the rest of the virgins also came, saying: lord, lord, open to us. But he answering said: amen I say to you, I do not know you (25, 6—12).
But at midnight, that is, in the depth of relaxation, and in the middle time, when the evening light has now passed away and the daytime light is still awaited, a cry arose from those wishing (as I think) to rouse all — the angels, who "are all ministering spirits, who are sent to minister for the sake of those who shall possess salvation", who also were anxious to rouse those who are perceptive to meet the bridegroom, and they say, crying out within in the senses of all who sleep:
behold, the bridegroom comes, rise up to meet him. And that they ought to go to meet the bridegroom, the Word, and the spotless Church, this suggestion indeed all heard, and they arose: yet not all put upon their lamps a fitting adornment, but only those who heard the wisdom that adorns them. Thus not at a suitable time the foolish said to the wise: give us of your oil, as those who had not gathered wisdom for themselves beforehand, so that they might understand that it does not belong to all who have oil also to give of it to others who wish it, but only to those who have been appointed for this very thing, that they may sell and bestow and receive the price of the oil sold, whose price is perseverance and persistence and love of learning and diligence and the labor of those who desire to learn.
give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. For even though they were foolish, yet they understood this, that they ought to go to meet the bridegroom with light, having all the lamps of the senses illuminated. And they saw also this, that from the fact that they had less of the rational oil, now that the darkness was drawing near, their lamps were bound to be darkened. But the wise send the foolish away to the sellers of oil, seeing that they had not gathered so much oil, that is, the word of doctrine, that it might suffice both for themselves unto life and for them to teach the others to adorn their lamps. And if you consider someone at some time, who indeed has gathered the doctrine of the word to the extent that it suffices him for living well, yet not so that he can even become a teacher, you will see such a one answering those who wish to learn from him the things that are of God, and saying: lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you: for I have the doctrine of the word sufficient for myself to live well, yet not so that I can also supply doctrine to you as well.
And they will answer those who wish to learn from them: go rather to the sellers and buy for yourselves, that is: to the teachers, and receive from them. And the foolish, going not when they ought to buy for themselves the doctrine, lose the time of entering in with the bridegroom to the wedding.
And it is possible to see those who suffer such things, who, when indeed they ought to have learned, neglected to learn anything useful from those from whom they ought to have learned,
but at the very departure of their life, while they are arranging to learn,
are seized by death, and therefore they do not enter in with the Word to the bride, the Church, nor with Christ to those who are to be together in rest and to reign in blessedness. But afterward the door is shut against the foolish virgins who are still to receive oil, who also will come afterward without cause, saying: lord, lord, open to us. And so the bridegroom answering says: I do not know you.
And so, because the parable was being spoken to all the hearers, he adds, saying to his disciples: watch therefore, for you know not the day nor the hour.
Now the lamps of the senses are adorned by evangelical and upright uses, so that there may be an adornment of the eyes in the right use of seeing, that the eyes may see so as to admire the Maker, but may be closed "so as not to see iniquity". And the hearing is an adornment when someone does not admit a vain hearing, but "stops his ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood", and hears Jesus saying to him: "be opened", so that they may be presented only to salutary and necessary words.
Thus too concerning the adornment of taste one can speak, and of smell and of touch, according to the things that have been said, because for those who use their senses wrongly there is no adornment either in the eyes or in the ears or in the rest of the senses. But it is to be observed that it is indeed written that the foolish were sent away to procure oil, yet it is not recorded that they bought or received it, but (this being passed over in silence) it is afterward said that after this the rest of the virgins also come, saying: lord, lord, open to us. Whereas he could have said: afterward they came having received or procured oil, he fittingly kept silent, so that he might not say to those who had oil, or who at the last were adorning their lamps: I do not know who you are. For neither is it written that they came adorning their lamps.
Yet the aim of the word is this, that at every time we prepare ourselves for the departure,
so that we may not give sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids, because we know not the day and the hour of our departure.
[§65] For it is just as a man about to go abroad called his servants, and handed over to them his goods (25, 14).
And first indeed let us see why our Lord is likened to a man setting out on a journey — he who is our one Lord, of whom the Apostle says: "but for us there is one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him" — provided, however, that we are ruled by him alone, and hold neither mammon as lord nor any of those lords who, signifying that they are many, the same Apostle mentions when he says: "for just as there are many gods and many lords". Let us therefore first inquire about his journeying, especially because there seems to be something contrary to his journeying in what he himself promises about himself to his disciples, saying: "where two or three have been gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them", likewise this: "behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age", and what the Baptist says about him (showing that he is everywhere) thus: "but in the midst of you stands one whom you do not know; he it is who comes after me". Therefore someone will say: if he stands even in the midst of those who do not know him, if "wherever two or three have been gathered together in" his "name" he is held to be among them, if through all the days of the disciples' life he is with them "until the consummation of the age", how is he set forth in this parable as journeying abroad? But in treating this we ought to take up also that which Paul says about himself: "but I, absent in body yet present in spirit, have already judged, as if present, that when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, such a one as this be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ". For if the power of Jesus is gathered together with those who are gathered in his name, he does not journey away from his own but is always at hand to them. But if he is always present to all his own, how do his parables introduce him as journeying abroad?
See whether we can resolve in this way the question that is asked. For he who says to his disciples: "behold, I am with you until the consummation of the age", and likewise: "where two or three have been gathered together in my name, there am I also in the midst of them" and the rest, and who stands even in the midst of those who do not know him — he is the only-begotten of God, God the Word and wisdom and righteousness and truth and peace, who is not shut in by any bodily compass. According to this nature of his divinity he does not journey abroad; but he journeys abroad according to the dispensation of the body which he took up, according to which he was both troubled and made sorrowful, saying: "now is my soul troubled", and again: "my soul is sorrowful even unto death". But in saying these things we do not dissolve the man of the body that was assumed, since it is written in John: "every spirit that dissolves Jesus is not of God"; rather, we preserve to each substance its own property. For if every faithful man "who is joined to the Lord is one spirit", how much more is that man, whom Christ took up according to the dispensation of the flesh, not to be dissolved from him nor to be called other than he? And see how he says just as a man about to go abroad; for he was not a man but just as a man, and as though a man he will journey abroad — he who was everywhere according to the nature of his divinity. At the same time consider that the completion of the sentence does not seem to be written thus: just as a man journeying, so also Jesus, or thus: so also I, or thus: so also the son of man; because it is he himself who is set forth in the parable as journeying abroad as though a man. For he is not a man who is "wherever two or three have been gathered together in" his "name", nor is a man with us "all the days until the consummation of the age", nor is it a man that is present to the faithful gathered everywhere, but the divine power that was in Jesus.
We can also say the following about this passage: it is in no way contrary that this same Jesus, according to one understanding, should be everywhere, but according to another should journey abroad. For if we, "while we are in the body, journey abroad away from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight)", then in all who are in the body and journey abroad away from the Lord, the Lord also journeys abroad from them as they walk "by faith", "not by sight". But if we journey abroad "from the body" toward the Lord, then he too will be with us, and in return for the fact that we have walked "by faith", it will come about that afterward we may also walk "by sight". And by "sight" we mean the sight of the Word and of wisdom and of truth and of righteousness and of peace and of everything whatsoever that is the only-begotten of God. And you will understand the sight of the Word and the sight of wisdom when you have understood what the Apostle says: "my children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you". For understanding Christ formed in someone, you will consequently, according to a formation of this kind, see also the sight of Christ. This one, then, who as though a man set out abroad, called his servants, and handed over to them his tested money in chaste utterances — since his "utterances" are "chaste utterances, silver tried by fire, proven, purged seven times".
[§66] And to one he gave five talents, but to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own capacity, and he departed. Immediately he who had received the five talents went away and worked with them and gained another five talents. Likewise also he who had received the two gained another two with them. But he who had received the one went away, dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money (25, 15—18).
Therefore, if ever you see that, among those who have received from Christ the dispensation of the oracles of God, some indeed possess more and something more divine and more abundant, while others possess less and (so to speak) do not understand even half of the matters at hand in comparison with those who are much better, while still others possess even less — you will observe the differences among those who have received the oracles of God from Christ, since the capacity of those to whom five talents were given was one thing, and that of those to whom two were given was another, and that of those to whom one was given was another, and one did not have the measure of the other. And he who received the one talent received indeed a gift not to be despised; for even one talent of such a lord is a great thing. Yet there are three proper servants of him who went abroad as a man, just as there are also three kinds of those who bear fruit, of whom "some" indeed make "a hundred, some sixty, but some thirty". But there even he who made thirty is saved. Here, however, this discourse condemns him who had received the one talent and hid it in the earth. And I ask whether those who received five talents can be understood as the more perfect who received the more divine and loftier sense of Scripture; and those who received two rose indeed a little above the letter but were not able to ascend to that greatness; and the third ones, who received nothing above the letter which they received at first. Therefore there is, altogether, concerning the numbers in these things which we are discussing, a discourse worthy of such a Lord our Savior — I mean concerning the five and the two and the one.
But we, being of small stature and less able to unfold such things, judge that perhaps those who are able to lead all the perceptible senses of the Scriptures up to the more divine senses (which Solomon calls divine, and which Jeremiah calls the "senses of the heart", and which by Paul in the letter to the Hebrews are called "senses exercised for the discernment of good and also of evil") — these are they who, besides the five talents, gained another five, working with them and by teaching training themselves and raising themselves up to greater knowledge; for having conducted themselves in a saving manner and teaching diligently, they worked and gained another five; for no one easily receives an addition of any virtue other than of that which he has — for example, the wise man grows in wisdom, the faithful man in faith. Or thus: he acquired another five; since each one teaches to another that which he himself knows, and teaches another as much as he himself knows, no more. Therefore whatever anyone has in himself, this he acquires in another by teaching him, making him have what he himself also has. Therefore he who had the five is not said to have acquired more than the five which he had, and he who had the two, no more than the two which he had. But if we ought to speak also of the two talents, we shall speak of those as well: that they who did not remain in the letter, but seeking to ascend by their own understanding above it, yet not being able to arrive above the rank of the aforesaid two, these are they who, from him who knew their capacity, received two talents, having been taught bodily doctrine (for two seems to be the carnal number), and upon these they gained two, that is, a more bodily instruction and another a little loftier than it.
But there was a certain one of the servants gathering to himself a lesser capacity, on account of which the householder gave one talent as to one less able; and the servant, receiving it, having a certain earth, dug, and placed it in its depth, when he ought rather to have sent it up and put it upon the tables. But since three proper servants are reported to belong to that householder, I ask whether they can, after they believed and became his servants, as being capable of trading, afterward have received from the householder his money, so that one indeed both worked and gained, and another gained, but another, through fear not sufficiently faithful, buried and hid his lord's money. And it appears in his very defense, through the things which he says, that he indeed feared the lord (having the fear of God, just as another had "the zeal of God", "but not according to knowledge"), and out of fear hid his talent in the earth. Such are they who neither move nor examine the things that are said, nor give themselves over to the profiting of souls, but wish to keep hidden the things they have received and been entrusted with. If therefore you ever see anyone who has indeed acquired some capacity and has the capacity of speaking and of profiting souls to whatever degree, and hides this capacity (so that he only hands on the bare word which he was entrusted with and received as a deposit committed to him by his lord) and lives in obscurity, unknown to many even to those who have great sins, and does not bring himself forward in the good which he received from God — although he may have a certain religious manner of life not blameworthy to many — do not hesitate to say that such a one is he who received one talent and hid it in the earth.
But if, on account of that which is written, that such a one is sent "into the outer darkness", what is said displeases you — if on account of the fact that someone did not teach he is judged as one who did not use the capacity given to him for the profiting of souls — recall the apostolic saying which says: "for woe is me if I shall not have preached the Gospel".
For not on account of any other blameworthy conduct of his, but on account of this alone, if he shall not have preached the Gospel, does he confess that woe will be to him. For it manifestly appears that that man expected to hear: "wicked and slothful servant", and the rest, unless he had preached the Gospel, although the other things of his life had been upright. For these things and things like these ought especially to be held in mind by those who put "their hand", that is, their action, "to the plow" of teaching the doctrine of Christ, so that, knowing to whom woe is laid up (not on account of anything else except that they do not teach), they may not turn "back" after they have once put "their hand to the plow" that plows the souls of men, so that after this they may also receive the seeds of the word.
But this one who as a man about to go abroad called his servants and handed over to them his goods, "came after much time", after he had sent forth those fit for trading in the salvation of souls. And therefore perhaps it is not easily found that any one of those who were fit for such a work should quickly pass from this life; as is manifest from the fact that even the apostles grew old, of whom he says to Peter: "when you shall have grown old, you shall stretch out your hand", and the rest; and concerning Paul it is said to Philemon, "but now as Paul the aged", though he was a young man when Stephen was being stoned for the testimony of Christ and he himself was guarding the garments of those who were killing him. And this we have said on account of that which he says: after much time the lord of those servants came.
And observe in this place that the servants do not go to the lord, that they may be judged and receive things worthy of their deeds, but the lord comes to them,
when that which was said shall have been fulfilled: "since the time has come". And coming, he will set the account with them concerning all things whatsoever they have done, weighing the gains of good works and the losses of sins, so that, setting the account and diligently examining all things, he may deal with each one as is fitting. We ought therefore — as those who by sinning have incurred loss but by working good things gain — thus with all watchfulness to keep our hearts, so that when our lord shall have come and set the account with us, we may not be found to have incurred loss even for an idle word.
[§67] And the one who had received the five talents came forward and presented another five talents, saying: Lord, you gave me five talents; behold, I have gained another five besides. His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant. Because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord. And the one also who had received the two talents came forward and said: Lord, you gave me two talents; behold, I have gained another two. His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant: because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord (25, 20—23).
Thus the first came forward as one who had confidence in that he had labored and gained; for that very confidence made him bold, so that he was the first to come to the lord and to make his speech boldly, saying: Lord, you gave me five talents; behold, I have gained another five talents upon them. To him the lord spoke a word desirable to all of us, when our Lord shall have settled the account also with us, saying: Well done, good and faithful servant, the opposite of that word which he said to the third: wicked and slothful servant. Who would not wish, receiving exhortation from this scripture, that he might hear from his lord: faithful, which I judge to be like that which was said of Abraham, that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him unto righteousness". So also for him who heard from his lord: faithful servant, without doubt his faith was reckoned to him unto righteousness, just as the faith of that very man was reckoned unto righteousness, who was faithful in a little (and all the things of this life are little), so that the whole mystery of the resurrection might be entrusted to him, and the administration of the goods on high.
But let us also see whither this good and faithful servant enters, who was faithful in the little of this life. Enter, he says, into the joy of your lord. For all things there are delightful and all things joys, when those who weep here shall laugh there, and those who mourn in praiseworthy fashion shall receive worthy consolation. But as to what he says (whether in the case of the one who had received five talents, or of this one who had received two): coming forward, understand for me the approach and passage from this world to that one, and see that the lord uttered to the second no other word than the one he uttered to the former, saying: Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over the little, I will set you over the great. And I ask, since the same things were said to both. Perhaps even the one who had the lesser virtue and exercised the whole of it, as much as he had, according to what was fitting, is to have nothing less with God than the one who was in greater virtue, so that in them may be fulfilled what was said: "He who had much did not abound, and he who had little did not lack". Something of this kind is shown also concerning the commandment of love toward God and toward the neighbor, when it says thus: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole strength". For without doubt, when anyone shall have loved God "with his whole heart" "and with his whole soul" "and with his whole strength", he has such a reward of love as the one who had a greater heart, or who has a more eminent soul, or who received greater strength. For this alone is sought, that whatever a man may have from God, he should use the whole of it for the glory of God.
[§68] But he also who had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I know that you are a hard man, and you reap where you have not sown, and you gather where you have not scattered; and being afraid I went away, and hid your talent in the earth: behold, you have what is yours. But his lord answering said to him: You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered? You ought therefore to have committed my money to the money-changers, so that at my coming I might have received it back with interest (25, 24—27).
It seems to me that this man who received the one talent was indeed among the believers, yet not among those acting with confidence in the faith, but rather wishing to hide themselves and doing everything so as not to be recognized as Christians. But perhaps in other respects too their conduct was not sufficiently blameworthy, and what they received they do indeed keep but do not also add to it, neither do they trade with it nor act confidently in it; and therefore the word in them did not advance to something greater nor gain others. Furthermore, those who are of this sort seem to me to have a fear of God and to think of Him as of one austere and hard and implacable; for the very words of the one answering and saying signify this: I knew that you are hard, and as one who knew that He reaps where He did not sow and gathers where He did not scatter. On which account his lord answering him and rebuking him as a wicked and slothful servant, did not indeed confess Himself to be a hard man, as that man supposed, but consented to his other words, saying to him: You knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered?
But how are we to understand that our Lord truly reaps where He did not sow, and gathers where He did not scatter? To me it seems thus in this place: that since the righteous man "sows in the spirit", from which also "he shall reap eternal life". But all things which are sown by another (that is, by a righteous man) and reaped unto eternal life, God reaps; for the righteous man is God's possession, who reaps where He Himself did not sow but that righteous man sowed. Consequently we shall also say this, that since the righteous man "has dispersed, has given to the poor", the Lord will gather into Himself all things whatsoever the righteous man "has dispersed and given to the poor". And reaping the things He did not sow and gathering where He did not scatter, He reckons to Himself and considers to have been conferred upon Himself whatsoever shall have been sown or scattered upon the faithful poor, saying to those who have done well to their neighbors: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which is prepared for you. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat" and the rest.
And because He wishes to reap where He did not sow and to gather where He did not scatter, when He shall not have found it, He will say to those who did not furnish Him something to reap and to gather: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which my Father prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat" and the rest. For indeed He is truly hard (according to what Matthew says) and "austere" (according to what Luke said), but to those who abuse the mercy of God unto their own negligence and not unto their own conversion, as the Apostle says: "Behold the goodness of God and the severity; toward those indeed who fell, severity, but toward you, goodness, if you shall remain in goodness". For whoever judges God to be good, believing that he will receive pardon if he shall have been converted to Him, to that man God is good. But whoever esteems Him so good that He cares nothing about the sins of sinners, to that man God is not good but hard and "austere"; for He is zealous over the sins of men who despise Him. Yet, since Christ reaps, as it were, what we have sown and gathers what we have scattered,
let us sow "in the spirit" and scatter "to the poor" and let us not hide God's talent in the earth.
For a fear of this kind is not good, nor does such fear free us from those outer darknesses, when we shall have been condemned as wicked and slothful servants:
wicked indeed, because we have not used that tested money of the Lord's words, with which we could have traded and examined the utterances of Christianity and acquired the deeper mysteries of the goodness of God; but slothful, because we have not worked with the utterances of God for salvation, whether our own or others'.
Since we ought to send the money of our Lord, that is, the utterances, to hearers who are money-changers, who try and test all things, so that they may hold fast the good and true teaching, but reject the reprobate and false,
so that when the Lord shall come, He may receive back those utterances, which we have committed, with interest and with additions from those who received them from us.
For every coin, that is, every word which has in itself the royal form of God and the image of His word, is genuine.
He commands, therefore, that the word be entrusted to men who are money-changers, who are able to render its interest. And he renders the interest of the word who hastens to save another together with himself, just as he himself was saved: as Andrew saved Peter, Philip Nathanael, Matthew the publicans. And this is what the Apostle says: "The things you have heard from me through many witnesses, these commend to faithful men, who will be fit to teach others also". Likewise the Lord also says: "No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light".
[§69] Take away from him therefore the talent, and give it to the one who has ten talents (25, 28). You see that the talent is taken away from the wicked and lazy servant, and given to the one who has ten talents. But how something is taken away from someone which had been given to him, and given to another who acts well, so that he may have these things also on top of those which he had acquired — this is not very easy to explain. Yet it is possible, since he who makes a faculty in someone apt in the doctrines of truth can, by his own divinity, God taking away the sufficiency from the one who has used it too lazily, give it to the one who has multiplied it.
For to everyone who has it shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him (25, 29). For example, to one who has faith, even that which is from ourselves, shall be given the grace of faith which is from God through the spirit of faith, and he shall have abundance; and whatever anyone has from his natural creation, when he has exercised it, he receives that very thing also from the grace of God, so that he may have abundance and be more firm in that very thing which he has.
For it is to be understood by us not concerning wisdom alone, but concerning every virtue, what Solomon says: "and even if anyone be perfect among the sons of men, if your wisdom be absent from him, he shall be reckoned as nothing". So too whoever has been perfect in chastity or in righteousness or in virtue or in piety, but there has not been in him either the chastity or the righteousness or the virtue or the piety which comes from the grace of God, such a man is reckoned "as nothing". Therefore, if we wish that a more perfect virtue be given to us and abound in us, let us by all means acquire through diligence that which is perfect among men; and after we have acquired it, understanding as it were that these things are reckoned as nothing without the grace of God, let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and let us pray lifting up pure hands without anger and dispute, so that the perfection of all the good things that are in us may be given from God, and that he may make us perfect and acceptable to God as sons of God.
But this man who had received one talent and had hidden it in the earth, is not only reproved as wicked and lazy, but is sent as useless into the outer darkness, where perhaps there is no illumination, neither bodily, nor is there any regard of God there;
but as unworthy of the contemplation of God, those who have committed such sins are condemned in these places which are called the outer darkness: perhaps until they understand, so that they may be converted and be made worthy to go out from them; perhaps also for another cause (which we do not know), since we read that someone who was before us expounding about the darkness of the abyss and saying that the abyss is outside the world, without, and darkness. Let us therefore consider whether his exposition can be true, that we should understand those outer darknesses in such a way that certain ones, as unworthy of the whole world, are cast out into that abyss (which he expounded), without, in which there is darkness, with no one illuminating it, since they are outside the whole world.
[§70] But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all the nations, and the rest (25, 31—34). Taken without examination, the passage seems plain, as though it were exhorting people to give and to be generous and turning them away from all inhumanity and stinginess. Let us see, nevertheless, what one ought to look for in it, for the sake of those who suppose there is nothing else in it but an exhortation to kindness. Certainly the whole Church believes that there will be a second and glorious coming of Christ, when the Son of God also, "who was taken up in glory," will thus return here with glory in his own form and his own beauty, so that his body will be such as it was when he had been transfigured on the mountain before the three disciples who had climbed up with him — so that now he may appear before not three, nor a few others, but all the nations gathered together. And he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and then he shall separate the evil from the good — whether, however, all from all who have existed in all the generations, or only those … who shall have been left at the consummation, or only those who have believed in God through Christ, and of these too whether all or not all, is not sufficiently clear. Yet to some it seems that these things are said concerning the distinction among those who have believed. As far, then, as the plain text goes, those who stand at the right hand are praised and called into the prepared kingdom for no other reason than kindness alone, nor are those who are at the left hand put to shame and consigned to the fire for any other reason than inhumanity. What then? If these who have been kind were negligent as regards the other virtues, will they attain such promises as these? Or will those who were not kind, if they fulfilled the other virtues, be cursed altogether and be condemned to the fire, and this together with the devil himself? You see, then, that the passage requires wisdom.
Likewise it must be discussed whether the Savior's coming in glory will take place in a place, or whether we ought to seek out another interpretation. For what place will that be, such as to contain in one view both all the angels coming with Christ and all the nations gathered there? And what is to be said about the throne of his glory? Do you think there will be some bodily seat, or does this too require a more subtle interpretation? Therefore he who wishes to understand all things rationally will find much wisdom in these matters as well; and it is indeed dangerous to expound on things of this kind. But lest, by keeping fuller silence on account of the difficulty of the meaning, we abandon those who are moved by these things to be tossed about, let us expound a few things out of many (as far as it is possible). I judge, therefore, that there will be a time of Christ's coming, when so great a manifestation of Christ and of his divinity will occur, that not only none of the righteous, but not even any of sinners will be ignorant of Christ "according to what he is" — when even sinners will recognize their own sins in their own sight, and the righteous will manifestly see to what an end the seeds of their righteousness have led them. And this is what he says: before him shall be gathered all the nations. For if now, when not all recognize Christ "according to what he is," nor do those who seem to recognize him recognize him openly, but people enter into his sight only in faith, when they receive the knowledge of him through faith — as it is written: "enter into his sight in exultation" — how much more rightly are all the nations said to be about to be gathered and set before him, when he has been made manifest to all, both good and evil, both faithful and unfaithful, and before the eyes of their mind is now found not by any inquiry of faith or diligence, but is brought forth by the manifestation of his very divinity?
The Son of God, when he shall have come in his glory, will not indeed appear in one place and not appear in another; but just as he himself willed to demonstrate his coming by comparison with lightning that goes forth, saying: "if they say to you: behold, he is in the desert, do not go out; behold, he is in the house, do not believe; for as lightning goes forth from the east and appears even to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man." "As," therefore, lightning "going forth from the east," because it fills all things, "appears even to the west," so when Christ shall have come in his glory, because he is to be everywhere. And he himself will be everywhere in the sight of all, and all will everywhere be in his sight, and thus they will be set before the throne of his glory — that is, before his kingdom and the power of his dominion. And his throne — either certainly some of the more perfect of the saints are meant (of whom it is written: "for there thrones sat in judgment"), or certain angelic powers (of whom it is said: "whether thrones or dominions"). Therefore the king of the ages, God the Word, who was also made in the form of a man, shall sit upon such a throne of his glory; and all the nations shall be gathered to him, no longer dispersed in false and manifold doctrines about him, and thus they will be before him, so that we do not hear that all the nations come to be before him in a local sense, just as neither do we hear in a local sense that the righteous will say to him the things they are going to say. As long, then, as the wicked are confounded, recognizing neither themselves nor Christ, but are held darkened in their errors, and as long as the righteous see "through a mirror and in an enigma" and know themselves "in part" — not according to what they truly are — for so long the good are not separated from the evil. But when, on account of the manifestation of the Son of God, all have come to understanding of themselves, then the Savior shall separate the good from the evil.
Now those who are saved are called sheep because of their meekness,
which they learned from him who says: "learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart," and because "even unto slaughter" they were ready to come, imitating Christ, who "was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the one shearing it, without voice" — and not simply "without voice," but "before the one shearing it, without voice," that is, before the one taking away what is his own and plundering it.
But the evil are called goats, who evilly climb the rough and hard crags
and walk along their precipices. So understand for me also the saints at the right hand, who have done works of the right hand and have been more fully turned toward righteousness, which is always at the right hand of God. Therefore, according to the worth of their right-hand deeds, they stand at the right hand, and they have received as the reward of their right-hand deeds the right hand of the king, in which is rest and glory. But those who by the perversity of their life separated themselves from the right hand, because of their worst and left-handed works, fell to the left — that is, condemned into the sorrow of torments — and for this reason they stand at the left hand. Then the king will say to those who are at the right hand, inviting them to himself: come, so that whatever had been lacking to them they may attain when they have been more perfectly united to Christ, hearing: come, and doing it. Such also is what he says in Luke: "take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten. For everyone who has, to him it shall be added; but he who does not have, even that which he seems to have shall be taken from him." And he calls them blessed of the Father, with the addition blessed of my Father, so that the eminence of their blessing may be made manifest, who are blessed by the Lord "who made heaven and earth" — and perhaps because there are some lesser blessed ones, who are indeed blessed but not of the Father.
[§71] Receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (What in the Latin reads from the foundation of the world, in the Greek reads thus: from the laying-down of the world; and he expounds according to the Greek expression what according to the Latin it was not fitting to expound.) But why the Scriptures frequently use the term "laying-down" in reference to the world — as here too, saying from the laying-down of the world — let him inquire who is able, knowing that not everything which has been created is called a "laying-down," nor is it written anywhere of "the laying-down" of the thrones or dominions or principalities. But if one gathers together the term "laying-down" from all its occurrences, in case perhaps it has been said in some other place, and compares those places with the things that are said about the laying-down of the world, ascending by the Word to the rest of the things that are indeed created but not "laid down" — from the fact that their creation is not a "laying-down" — you will see the reason for this so-named "laying-down," a term which is applied only to the world. But to entrust such matters as these to writings which can also come into the hands of men of evil conduct and of slanderers and of lovers of novelty is not a religious thing to do, so that pearls too elaborately wrought may not be cast before swine, nor holy things given to dogs.
[§72] I was hungry and you gave me to eat, and so on (25, 35—41).
It seems to me through these words that not one single kind of righteousness is rewarded, as many suppose. For it is absurd to understand nothing else of virtue in the one who is thus rewarded except only the sharing of human kindness. Yet we do not say this so that we might pursue human kindness more negligently, since it is above all to be observed by all the faithful, but so that we might pursue all things equally, or nearly equally, that on this account we might receive out of all things every blessing "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus". But first it must be known that, just as (with respect to the letter of the text) it is not enough for obtaining the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven to give the hungry to eat, unless we also do the other things that follow, so it is not possible to fulfill all those things according to the letter, as many suppose, unless in part we act against the commandment of God. For it is necessary that a man be well-off, so that he may give food and drink and clothing to Christ hungering and thirsting and shivering with cold in the saints, that in this way he may both take him in as a stranger and visit him as sick and go to him in prison. But truly, whether we understand it according to the simpler and bodily good deeds or according to the spiritual, it is certain that, whether in this way or in that a man does a good work and nourishes souls with spiritual foods, or whatever kind of good work a man may have wrought for God's sake, he gives food and drink to Christ hungering and thirsting. Whether it be the things we do for the saints, who are rich in merits but poor in possessions, or in any people whatsoever who are poor in merits even if they be rich in possessions, or in whatever cause a man may have done Christ's commandment — he feeds and gives drink to Christ, who eats and drinks the righteousness and truth of the faithful.
Likewise we weave a garment for Christ shivering with cold, receiving the weaving of wisdom from God, that through teaching we may instruct some and clothe them with "bowels of mercy, chastity, meekness, humility" and the other virtues: which virtues are all the spiritual garments of those who hear the teaching of those who teach them, according to him who says: "put on bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness" and so forth, but rather Christ himself also, who is all these things to the faithful, according to him who said: "put on the Lord Jesus". When therefore we have clothed with garments of this kind one of the least of those who believe in Christ, we are seen to have clothed the Lord himself, so that (as far as it depends on us) the Word of God may not be naked in the world. But we ought also to receive the Son of God, who has been made a stranger, and the members of his household, the members of his body, who are strangers in the world, clean from all bodily acts, just as he himself says both of himself and of his disciples: "and these are not of this world, just as I too am not of this world". And Christ with his own seeks a soul where he may find lodging. When therefore we prepare our heart with diverse virtues for a lodging-place for him or for those who are his own, we receive him journeying as a stranger into the house of our breast, making "a large upper room, cleansed and adorned" for the reception of Christ journeying as a stranger in the world and of the rest of his disciples. For those whose word we receive, we are seen to have received them within us, and through them Christ, whose word they bear.
Likewise in men made weak, whether from the faith or from some good work, or suffering an offense, Christ is made weak and suffers an offense, just as he himself says to Peter, who was minding the things of the flesh: "you are an offense to me", that is: you are a weakness to me. But also all his beloved disciples together with such are made weak and suffer an offense, saying: "who is made weak, and we are not made weak? who is caused to stumble, and we are not set aflame"? And if his disciples are made weak together with the weak, how much more the Savior himself, their creator? For whomever a greater mercy for weak men holds, upon such a one does a heavier weakness press. When therefore we have visited one of the weakened brethren, whether by teaching or by rebuke or by consolation or by prayers or by the terror of judgment, or by doing some good works upon him we have made him grow better in Christ, we have visited and strengthened Christ himself made weak, and we have refreshed the rest of the disciples of Christ who have been made weak together with such by such sufferings, just as Paul says to Philemon: "for we had great joy and consolation in your love, because the bowels of the saints have found rest through you, brother". And do not think it blasphemous to call Christ weak. For he himself "was crucified out of weakness" for the sake of mercy, and "he himself bears our weaknesses" and all who are his own. Furthermore, everything that is here is a prison for Christ and for those who are his own. Therefore let us go to those who are held in the house of these bonds as though in prison, and are living in this world as though in a prison, constrained by the necessity of nature. When therefore we have gone off to such and have done every good work upon them, we have visited them in prison and Christ in them.
But let us see whether these things, understood in a general way, exhort us both to simple human kindness and to all praiseworthy deeds, so that a man may be able worthily to attain the blessing that says to the worthy: "come, blessed of my Father". But the just, not having forgotten the things which they did, will then answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see you hungering? and so forth — but for the sake of humility proclaiming themselves unworthy of the praise of their own good deeds. But he, wishing to show them his own compassion in his own, declares himself also to be in those in whom his brethren shall have been, saying: Amen I say to you, from that which you did to one of these least of my brethren, you did it to me. Let us now see what he says to the just: "come, blessed of my Father", but to the unjust: depart from me, though they had assuredly been faithful; and we understand fulfilled in them what is written: "to everyone who has it shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him who does not have, even what he seems to have shall be taken away from him". For they are near to the Word who keep God's commandment and are called, that they may be made yet nearer still, hearing: "come, blessed of my Father"; but far from him are they (even if they seem to stand by him) who do not do his commandments. On this account there shall be taken away from them even that whereby they seemed to stand by him, when they hear: depart from me, so that those who now even seem to be before him, afterward may not even seem to be. On which account we too ought to keep ourselves, lest we too hear, as though estranging ourselves from the Lord: depart from me, and let us do all things, that it may be said to us: "come, blessed of my Father". But it must be considered that in the case of the saints it is not only said "blessed", but with an addition of no ordinary honor, that is "blessed" of no other than "God the Father".
But on the contrary, those to whom it is said cursed, it is not said cursed of my Father. For the Father is indeed the minister of the blessing, but of the curse each one is the author to himself, who has wrought things worthy of a curse.
But those who withdraw from Jesus fall down into the eternal fire, which is of another kind than this fire which we have in use. For no fire among men is eternal, nor even of long duration, for it is quickly extinguished. But eternal is that fire of which Isaiah too speaks at the end of his prophecy: "their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished". Perhaps it is of such a substance that, being itself invisible, it burns up things invisible, according to what the Apostle says, that "the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal". If therefore "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal", it is necessary that, if that fire is visible, it be also temporal; but if it is eternal, it is also invisible, by which those are punished who withdraw from the Savior. Such is that which Job too says: "a fire that is not kindled shall consume him". But do not be amazed, hearing that there is an invisible fire which also punishes, when you see among men a heat befalling bodies and tormenting them not a little, especially those who are most violently afflicted by it. And consider that he says the kingdom was prepared "from the foundation of the world" for none other than the just, and therefore Christ their king shall render it to them. But the eternal fire he shows to be prepared not for those to whom it is said depart from me, you cursed, as the kingdom for the just, but for the devil and his angels. For (as far as concerns himself) he created men not for destruction but for life and joy, but those who sin join themselves to the devil. And just as those who are saved are made equal to the holy angels and become "sons of the resurrection" and "sons of God" and angels, so those who perish are made equal to the angels of the devil and become his angels.
[§73] For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat, and so forth (25,42—46).
It is written to the faithful: "you are the body of Christ, and members in part." Therefore, just as the soul dwelling in the body, though as regards its own spiritual substance it does not hunger, nevertheless hungers for each bodily food, because it is joined to its body, so also the Savior suffers the things that his body the Church suffers, although he himself is impassible as regards his divinity. For when the saints are in need of food, he too hungers; and when his other members have need of necessary medicine, he too, as though sick, has need of it; likewise, when others have need of being taken in, he as though a stranger seeks among them "where he may lay his head"; so too in the naked he is cold, and in the clothed he is clothed. And if out of love Paul says: "who is weak, and I am not weak?", and this looks rather to the praise of the Apostle, showing the greatness of his charity toward the faithful, how much more, than Paul and every man adorned with love, can the Son of the charity of God, the Savior, fittingly say: "who is weak, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" Wherefore he says, I was sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. For when a member of Christ is placed in prison, he himself is not free from the prison, who says of the just man: "I am with him in tribulation," that is: I am afflicted together with him. For just as he who is mine is in tribulation with me, so also I am in tribulation with him. And I say this not being ignorant of that more common tradition.
And consider this: that he lingers over each word when speaking to the just and praising them, and through their individual kinds he enumerates their good deeds; but when speaking to the unjust he cuts short, abridging and gathering together their evil deeds into a brief compass. That is, to the just indeed he says of sickness: "I was sick, and you visited me"; and separately of prison: "I was in prison, and you came to me"; but to the unjust, though he could have said in like manner: I was sick and you did not visit me; I was in prison, and you did not come to me — cutting short the narration he combined the two into one, saying I was sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. For it belonged to a merciful judge to proclaim and amplify the good deeds of men more generously, but to mention and abridge their evil deeds in passing. But the just also linger over each word, saying: "when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? or naked and clothe you, or a stranger and take you in? or when did we see you sick or in prison?" For it is proper to the just, when their good deeds are recounted to their face, diligently and one by one to refuse them out of humility: as though, when the Lord says, this and this and this good you did to me, they, declining, should say: neither this nor this nor this did we do to you. The unjust do not thus speak one by one, but hastily: when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? — referring the word we ministered to you to all things, and as it were cutting short and passing over their crimes, so that they may not seem more grievous when enumerated diligently and singly: because it is proper to evil men (for the sake of excuse) either to want to show no faults at all, or slight and few ones. But the response of Christ as well, made both to the just and to the unjust, signifies this very understanding. For wishing to show the good deeds of the just as great, but the faults of sinners as not great, to the just indeed he says: "inasmuch as you did it to one of these least of my brethren, you did it to me"; but to the unjust thus: inasmuch as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me, not adding "my brethren," as when he spoke to the just. For loosely indeed all who believe in Christ are brethren of Christ, but truly his brethren are those who are perfect and are imitators of him, like him who said: "be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ," those who can say: "our Father who art in heaven." And a good work is more pleasing in the sight of God which is done toward the holier than toward the less holy, and it is a lighter fault to neglect the less holy than the holier. But he calls them least either as being esteemed least in the world, or because they were least in their own eyes — for wishing to become great in the sight of God, they made themselves least, as the dearest disciples of him who said: "learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." And attend to this: that whereas he had first said: "come, blessed," and then: "depart, cursed" (since it is proper to the good God first to recall the good deeds of the good rather than the evil deeds of the evil), afterward, at the departure of the two groups, he first names the punishment of the evil and then the life of the good, saying: and these shall go away into eternal punishment, but these into eternal life, so that first we may shun the evils that belong to fear, and afterward seek the goods that belong to honor.