Augustine, Sermones 71-75 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

to uproot the tares, you uproot the wheat along with them. What good are you doing? Will you not lay waste my harvest by your diligence? The reapers will come: and He explained who the reapers are: But the reapers are the angels. We are men; the angels are the reapers. We too shall indeed be equal to the angels of God, if we finish the course: but now, when we are indignant against the wicked, we are still men. And we ought now to hear: Wherefore let him who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Cor. 10:12). For do you think, my brethren, that these tares do not climb up into the apses? Do you think that they are below, and are not above? Would that we were not this. But to me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you (ibid. 4:3). I say plainly to your Charity: in the apses too there is wheat, there are tares; and among the people there is wheat, there are tares. Let the good bear with the wicked: let the wicked be changed, and imitate the good. Let us all, if it can be, belong to God: let us all escape the malice of this world in His mercy. Let us seek good days, because we are in evil days: but in the evil days let us not blaspheme, so that we may be able to come to good days.

Sermon 74. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13:52, Therefore every scribe learned in the kingdom of God, etc.

1. Who the scribes were among the Jews. The Gospel reading admonishes us to seek out and to explain to your Charity, as far as the Lord may grant, who is the scribe learned in the kingdom of God, like a householder bringing forth out of his treasure things new and old. For with this the reading itself concluded: what are the new and old things of the learned scribe. Now whom the ancients, according to the usage of our Scriptures, called scribes is well known, namely those who professed knowledge of the Law. For such men were called scribes among that people; not such as are so called in the offices of judges, or in the usage of cities. For we ought not to enter school in vain, but to know in what sense we are to hold the words of the Scriptures: lest, when something from the Scriptures has sounded which is usually understood in another, secular usage, the hearer go astray, and, by thinking of what he is accustomed to, fail to understand what he has heard. The scribes, then, were those who professed knowledge of the Law, to whom the books of the Law belonged, whether for keeping, or for handling, or even for writing and understanding.

2. Scribes not learned in the kingdom of God. Such men our Lord Jesus Christ rebukes, because they have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and neither enter themselves nor allow others to enter; reproving, that is, the Pharisees and scribes, the teachers of the Law of the Jews. Of whom He says in another place: What they say, do; but what they do, do not do: for they say, and do not do (Matt. 23:3). Why was it said to you, For they say, and do not do, unless because there are some in whom is shown what the Apostle says, You who preach that one must not steal, steal;

you who say that one must not commit adultery, commit adultery; you who abhor idols, commit sacrilege; you who glory in the Law, dishonour God through transgression of the Law. For the name of God is blasphemed through you among the Gentiles (Rom. 2:21–23)? Certainly it is plain that it is of these that the Lord says, For they say, and do not do. So those men are scribes, but not instructed in the kingdom of God,

3. How wicked superiors may speak good things, and are to be listened to by those under them. Perhaps one of you may say: And how can a wicked man speak good things, when it is written, the Lord Himself saying, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and a wicked man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. Hypocrites, how can you speak good things, when you are wicked (Matt. 12:35, 34)? On this side He says, How can you speak good things, when you are wicked? On that side He says, What they say, do; but what they do, do not do: for they say, and do not do. If they say, and do not do, they are wicked: if they are wicked, they cannot speak good things: how do we do what we hear from them, when we cannot hear good things from them? Let your Holiness attend to how this is resolved. Whatever a wicked man brings forth from himself is evil; whatever a wicked man brings forth from his heart is evil: for there is the evil treasure. But whatever a good man brings forth from his heart is good: for there is the good treasure. Whence, then, did those wicked men bring forth good things? Because they sat on the chair of Moses. Had He not said beforehand, They sit on the chair of Moses (Matt. 23:2), He would never have commanded that the wicked be listened to. For it was one thing that they brought forth from the evil treasure of their heart; another that they proclaimed from the chair of Moses, as heralds of the judge. What a herald says will never be attributed to the herald, if he says it before the judge. It is one thing that a herald speaks in his own house, another that a herald speaks having heard it from the judge. For, willing or unwilling, the herald utters the sentence of punishment even of his own friend. Likewise, willing or unwilling, he utters the sentence of acquittal even of his own enemy. Give him a voice from his own heart: he acquits his friend, he punishes his enemy. Give him a voice from the judge's seat: he punishes his friend, he acquits his enemy. Give the scribes a voice from their own heart: you will hear, Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die (Isa. 22:13). Give them a voice from the chair of Moses: you will hear, You shall not kill: You shall not commit adultery: You shall not commit theft: You shall not speak false testimony: Honour father and mother (Exod. 20:12–16): You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Lev. 19:18). Do this, which the chair utters through the mouth of the scribes: not what comes through the heart of the scribes. For thus, embracing both sayings of the Lord, you will neither be obedient in the one and guilty in the other; but you understand that both agree, and you regard as true both this, that a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and a wicked man out of the evil brings forth evil things: and that, that those scribes would not speak good things from the evil treasure of their heart, but could speak good things from the treasure of the chair of Moses.

4. A cluster of grapes among thorns. So those words of the Lord also will not trouble you, when He says: Each tree is known by its fruit. Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles (Luke 6:44)? So the scribes and Pharisees of the Jews are thorns and thistles: and yet, What they say, do;

but what they do, do not do. So grapes are gathered from thorns, and figs from thistles, just as He gave you understanding in accordance with the earlier discourse. For sometimes, too, vines entangle themselves in the thorny hedge of a vineyard, and clusters hang from a bramble. Having heard the name of thorns, you are about to despise the grape. Seek the root of the thorns, and see where you find it. Follow the root of the hanging cluster, and see where you find it. So understand that one thing belongs to the heart of the Pharisee, and another to the chair of Moses.

5. The old figures emptied out through Christ. But why are they such? Because a veil, he says, has been placed over their heart. And they do not see that the old things have passed away and all things have been made new (2 Cor. 5:17). Hence they are such, and whoever are such even now. Why "old"? Because they have long been preached. Why "new"? Because they belong to the kingdom of God. How then the veil is taken away, the Apostle himself says: But when you pass over to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. The Jew, therefore, not passing over to the Lord, does not stretch the gaze of the mind to the end. Just as at that time, in this figure, the children of Israel did not stretch the gaze of their eyes to the end, that is, to the face of Moses. For the shining face of Moses bore a figure of the truth: a veil was put between, because the children of Israel could not yet fix their gaze on the splendour of his countenance. This figure is emptied out. For thus the Apostle said: Which are emptied out (2 Cor. 3:13–16). Why are they emptied out? Because when the emperor comes, the images are removed from the midst. The image is looked upon where the emperor is not present: but where he is whose image it is, the image is removed. So the images were carried in front until our emperor, the Lord Jesus Christ, came. When the images have been taken away, the presence of the emperor shines forth. Therefore when anyone passes over to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. For the voice of Moses sounded through the veil, and the face of Moses did not appear. So also now the voice of Christ sounds to the Jews through the voice of the old Scriptures: they hear their voice, they do not see the face of the One sounding. Do they wish, then, that the veil be taken away? Let them pass over to the Lord. For then the old things are not taken away but are stored in the treasury, so that he may now be a scribe learned in the kingdom of God, bringing forth from his treasury neither new things alone nor old things alone. For if he brings forth new things alone, or old things alone, he is not a scribe learned in the kingdom of God bringing forth from his treasury things new and old. If he says them and does not do them, he brings them forth from the chair, not from the treasury of his heart. And we speak the truth to Your Holiness: what is brought forth from the old is illuminated by the new. That is why one passes over to the Lord: so that the veil may be taken away.

Sermon 75. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 14:24-33, "But the boat in the middle of the sea was being tossed by the waves", etc.

Chapter I. — 1. A higher meaning lies hidden

in the deed done. The reading of the Gospel which we have just heard admonishes the humility of all of us to see and recognize where we are, and whither we must tend and hasten. For that ship carrying the disciples, which was labouring in the waves with a contrary wind, does not signify nothing. Nor was it without cause that the Lord, having left the crowds, went up into the mountain to pray alone; then, coming to His disciples, He found them in danger, walking upon the sea, and He strengthened them by going up into the ship, and calmed the waves. But what wonder is it if He Who founded all things can calm all things? Yet after He went up into the ship, those who were being carried in it came, saying: Truly Thou art the Son of God. But before this clear proof they were troubled, seeing Him upon the sea. For they said: It is a phantom. But He, going up into the ship, took away the tossing of mind from their hearts, where they were now in greater danger in mind through doubt than in body on the waves.

Chapter II. — 2. What the crossing of the sea in a ship signifies. Yet in all the things which the Lord did, He admonishes us how we should live here. For there is no one in this world who is not a pilgrim, although not all desire to return to the homeland. But from the very journey we suffer waves and tempests; yet it is needful that we be at least in the ship. For if in the ship there are dangers, without the ship there is certain destruction. For however great the strength of arm he may have who swims in the open sea, at some time, overcome by the greatness of the sea, he is swallowed up and sinks. It is needful therefore that we be in the ship, that is, that we be carried on the wood, so that we may be able to cross this sea. Now this wood, by which our weakness is carried, is the cross of the Lord, with which we are signed, and by which we are delivered from the drownings of this world. We suffer waves: but He is God, Who helps us.

3. The prayer of Christ on the mountain. For as to the Lord having left the crowds and gone up alone into the mountain to pray, that mountain signifies the heights of the heavens. For, having left the crowds, the Lord alone after the resurrection ascended into heaven, and there intercedes for us, as the Apostle says (Rom. 8:34). This then is what is signified: having left the crowds, He went up into the mountain to pray alone. For He alone is as yet the firstborn from the dead, after the resurrection of the body at the right hand of the Father, high priest and advocate of our prayers. The Head of the Church is above, so that the other members may follow in the end. If then He intercedes for us, it is as though on the summit of the mountain, above the loftiness of all creatures, that He prays alone.

Chapter III. — 4. The ship tossed by the tempest. Meanwhile the ship carrying the disciples, that is, the Church, is tossed and shaken by the tempests of temptations; and the contrary wind does not rest, that is, the devil who opposes her, and he strives to hinder her from reaching rest. But greater is He Who intercedes for us. For in this our tossing in which we labour, He gives us confidence, coming to us and strengthening us: only let us not, being troubled in the ship, shake ourselves out and cast ourselves into the sea. For although the ship is troubled, it is a ship nonetheless. It alone carries the disciples and receives Christ. It is indeed in danger on the sea; but without it one perishes at once. Hold yourself

therefore in the ship, and ask God. For when all counsels fail, when the rudders have not sufficed, and the very spreading of the sails has been more a danger than a help, then, with all human aids and strength abandoned, there remains to the sailors only the earnest effort of praying and of pouring out cries to God. He therefore Who grants to those who sail that they reach port, will He abandon His Church, so as not to bring it to rest?

Chapter IV. — 5. The storm when the Lord is absent. Yet, brothers, there is no very great disturbance in this ship except in the absence of the Lord. Does one established in the Church have the Lord absent? When does he have the Lord absent? When he is overcome by some desire. For just as what is said in a certain place is taken in a mystical sense, Let not the sun go down upon your anger; neither give place to the devil (Eph. 4:26–27): it is understood, however, not of this sun which has a certain loftiness among the visible heavenly things, which can be seen in common both by us and by beasts; but of that light which none but the pure hearts of the faithful see, as it is said, That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (John 1:9). For this light of the visible sun illuminates even the tiniest and most short-lived animals. The true light, then, is justice and wisdom, which the mind ceases to see when it has been overcome by the disturbance of anger as if by a cloud: and then the sun, as it were, goes down upon a man's anger. So too in this ship, when Christ is absent, each is shaken by his own storms, and by his own iniquities and desires. For the Law says to you, for example, Do not speak false testimony (Exod. 20:16). If you understand the truth of testimony, you have light in your mind; but if, overcome by desire for shameful gain, you have resolved in your mind to speak false testimony, you will at once begin, with Christ absent, to be troubled by the storm; you will be tossed by the waves of your avarice, you will be endangered by the storm of your lusts, and, as if Christ were absent, you will almost be drowned.

Chapter V. — 6. Looking back: what it means. How greatly is it to be feared that the ship may be turned about and look backwards? This happens when, abandoning the hope of heavenly rewards, someone turns, with desire twisting him aside, towards the things which are seen and pass away. For even one who is troubled by the temptations of lusts, and yet looks to the things that are within, is not so utterly beyond hope, as he begs pardon for his offences and strives to overcome and pass through the fury of the raging sea. But whoever is so twisted away from himself that he says in his heart, God does not see; for He does not think about me, nor care whether I sin: he turns the prow, he is carried off by the gale, and is driven back to where he was coming from. For there are many thoughts in the hearts of men: and the ship is troubled by the waves of this world and by many storms when Christ is absent.

Chapter VI. — 7. The fourth watch of the night. The faith of the cross. Now the fourth watch of the night is the end of the night: for one watch consists of three hours. It signifies, therefore, that at the very end of the world the Lord comes to help, and is seen to walk upon the waters. For although it is troubled by temptations'

storms, this ship nevertheless sees the glorified God walking upon all the swellings of the sea; that is, upon all the principalities of this world. For earlier it was said in the voice of His passion that, when according to the flesh He was showing an example of humility, the waves of the sea prevailed against Him, to which He yielded willingly for our sake, so that that prophecy might be fulfilled: I came into the depth of the sea, and the storm overwhelmed me (Ps. 68:3). For He did not repel the false witnesses, nor the raging clamour of those saying, Let Him be crucified (Matt. 27:23). The rabid hearts and mouths of the furious He did not restrain by power, but endured with patience. They did to Him as much as they wished: for He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). But after He rose from the dead, so that He alone might pray for the disciples, set in the Church as in a ship, and carried by faith in His cross as by wood, and imperilled by the temptations of this world as by the waves of the sea, His name began to be honoured even in this world, in which He was despised, accused, slain: so that He who according to the passion of the flesh had come into the depth of the sea, and the storm had overwhelmed Him, might now trample the necks of the proud like the foam of the waves by the honour of His name. Just as we now see the Lord as if walking upon the sea, we perceive that the whole rage of this world has been subjected beneath His feet.

Chapter VII. — 8. The error of the disciples prefigures the errors of the heretics. But to the perils of the storms are added also the errors of the heretics; and there are not lacking those who so tempt the minds of those who are in the ship as to say that Christ was not born of a virgin, nor had a true body, but was seen by the eyes as what He was not. And these opinions of the heretics have arisen now, when the name of Christ is already being glorified throughout all nations, as though Christ were already walking upon the sea. The disciples, being tempted, said, It is a phantom. But He strengthens us against these plagues by His own voice, saying, Have trust, it is I; do not be afraid. For it was through vain fear that men thought these things about Christ, considering His honour and majesty: and they do not think that He who merited to be so glorified could have been born thus, as if terrified at Him walking upon the sea. By this act the excellence of His honour is prefigured: and so they suppose that He was a phantom. But when He says, It is I, what else does He say but that there is not in Him what is not? Therefore, if He showed flesh, it was flesh; if bones, they were bones; if scars, they were scars. For there was not in Him Is and Is not; but Is was in Him, as the Apostle says (2 Cor. 1:19). Hence that voice, Have trust, it is I; do not be afraid. That is: Do not so take fright at My dignity that you would wish to take away from Me My truth. Although I walk upon the sea, although I have the haughtiness and pride of the world under My feet like rabid waves, nevertheless I appeared as a true man, nevertheless My Gospel preaches what is true about Me, that I was born of a virgin, that I, the Word, was made flesh; that I spoke truly, Handle and see, for a spirit

has not bones, as you see that I have (Luke 24:39): because the hands of the doubter handled the true marks of my wounds. Therefore, It is I; do not be afraid.

Chapter VIII. — 9. Another error, likewise figured. But this event does not signify only those, in that the disciples thought that it was a phantom; it does not designate only those who deny that the Lord had human flesh, and who sometimes also disturb, with blind perversity, those who are in the ship: but also those who think that the Lord lied in some respect, and do not believe that the things which He threatened against the impious will come to pass. As though He were in part truthful and in part a liar, like a phantom appearing in words, as though He is and is not. But those who understand well the voice of Him who says, It is I; do not be afraid, now believe all the words of the Lord, so that, just as they hope for the rewards which He promises, so they fear the punishments which He threatens. For just as it is true that He will say to those placed at the right, Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world; so it is true that those set at the left will hear, Go into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:34, 41). For this opinion too, by which men think that Christ did not threaten true things against the wicked and the lost, was born from this, that they see many peoples and innumerable crowds subjected to His name: so that from this Christ seems to them to be a phantom, because He was walking upon the sea; that is, He therefore seems to lie in threatening punishments, because, as it were, He cannot destroy such innumerable peoples, who are subject to His name and honour. But let them hear Him saying, It is I. Let those therefore not fear who, believing Christ truthful in all things, not only seek what He promised, but also flee what He threatened: because even if He walks upon the sea, that is, all kinds of men established in this world are subject to Him, yet He is not a phantom, and therefore He does not lie when He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21).

Chapter IX. — 10. Peter walking upon the sea. What then does it signify, moreover, that Peter dared to come to Him upon the waters? For Peter very often bears the person of the Church. What else then do we think is meant by, Lord, if it is Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the waters, except: Lord, if Thou art truthful and liest in nothing, let Thy Church also be glorified in this world, since prophecy foretold this of Thee? Let her therefore walk upon the waters, and so let her come to Thee, she to whom it was said, The rich of the people will entreat your countenance (Ps. 44:13). But since human praise does not tempt the Lord, whereas men in the Church are often troubled by human praises and honours, and almost sink, therefore Peter trembled on the sea, dreading the great force of the storm. For who does not fear that saying: Those who call you happy lead you into error, and confound the paths of your feet (Isa. 3:12)? And because the mind struggles against the desire for human praise, it is good that in such danger it should turn to prayer and supplication: lest perhaps he who is soothed by praise

be undermined and sunk by reproach. In the wave let Peter, tottering, cry out and say, Lord, save me. For the Lord stretches out His hand; and although He rebukes him, saying, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? Why did you not, looking with a straight course at Him towards Whom you were making your way, glory in none but the Lord? Yet He snatches him from the waves, and does not allow him to perish as he confesses his own weakness and begs His help. And when the Lord has been received into the boat, faith having been confirmed and all doubt removed, and the storms of the sea calmed, so that now one comes to the stability and security of the land, all worship, saying, Truly Thou art the Son of God. For this is the everlasting joy, in which the clear truth, and the Word of God, and the Wisdom through which all things were made, and the eminence of His mercy, is both known and loved.