Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

St John Chrysostom, Homily XVI on the Gospel according to Matthew

… here the Lord understands by righteousness the whole of virtue. Consider, I pray you, the abundance of grace. He desires that His disciples, who have but now come to Him, should be better than the teachers of the Old Covenant. By the scribes and Pharisees He means not only the wicked, but also those who observed the Law with great care. Had they not possessed righteousness, He would not have spoken of their righteousness, nor compared what was real with what was unreal.

Observe also how, by this very comparison, He commends the old Law. For greater and less belong to the same order. He does not reproach the Law, but requires that it be brought to its perfection. Had it been evil, He would not have perfected it, but abolished it.

Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Then He proceeds to set forth the new commandments, not as though they were opposed to the old, but to show that they are in perfect harmony with them, and that the time has now come for the Law to attain its full perfection.

You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill.

But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment.

Do you see the fullness of His authority? What prophet ever spoke in this manner? What righteous man? What patriarch? None of them. They all said, Thus saith the Lord. But the Son speaks otherwise. They proclaimed the commandments of their Lord. He proclaims those of His Father. And when I say, of His Father, I mean at the same time, His own.

He who has learned to master his anger will be far less likely to commit murder. He who restrains his wrath will much more easily keep his hands from violence. For anger is the root of murder. He who plucks up the root will not suffer the branches to spring forth.

It was not to abolish the Law that He gave these commandments, but to secure its perfect observance. For what was the purpose of the Law, if not to prevent one man from slaying another? He therefore who removes anger establishes the intention of the Law all the more firmly.

If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

O goodness! O exceeding love toward man! For the sake of our charity towards our neighbour He counts even the honour due to Himself of less account. Thus He shows that His former warnings proceeded not from severity, but from the tenderest love.

For what could be more gentle than these words?

Let My service be interrupted, He says, that thy love may remain. For this also is an offering: that thou shouldst be reconciled to thy brother.

Therefore He says not, after the sacrifice, nor before it, but while the gift already lies before the altar and the sacrifice has begun, He sends thee away to be reconciled to thy brother.

First, to show how highly He values charity, and that He esteems it as the greatest sacrifice. Without it He does not even accept the other offering.

Secondly, He imposes such a necessity of reconciliation that no one may evade it. He who is forbidden to offer before he has been reconciled with his brother will hasten to obey. Even if not out of love for his brother, yet lest his gift remain unoffered before the altar.

By all this He makes it plain that this holy table does not receive those who live in enmity with one another.

Therefore, even when thou wouldst offer thy prayer while remaining at variance, it is better to interrupt thy prayer, first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then to return to thy prayer. For this is the reason why all these things have been done. Therefore God became Man and ordained all things, that He might reconcile us one to another.