We begin this homily with verse 41:
The men of Nineveh will rise up at the Judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
In his interpretation of this passage from the Gospel, John Chrysostom highlights a profound contrast between the spiritual disposition of the Old Testament Gentiles and that of the Jews who beheld the incarnate God daily: “It is as though Jesus were saying: the barbarians, who had received no special guidance, who had not listened to the instruction of prophets, who had not seen signs nor witnessed miracles, but had only heard from a single man rescued from shipwreck words that might well have driven them to utter despair and led them to despise his message—these barbarians not only did not disregard the prophetic word, but, having been given only a brief period of three days, displayed such strong and fervent repentance that they altered the divine decree. They, says Jesus, will condemn this generation, which has been the recipient of such great care on My part, a generation nurtured on the prophetic writings, which daily beholds signs and wonders. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate both the extreme unbelief of the Jews and the inexpressible commendable obedience of the Ninevites, the Lord added: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. They, upon seeing the wretched man Jonah, accepted both his preaching and offered the most rigorous repentance; whereas the Pharisees, having seen Him who is far greater than Jonah—the very Creator of all creation—Who was among them and daily performed a multitude of great miracles, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, correcting natural infirmities, casting out demons, healing diseases, and with full authority granting the forgiveness of sins—did not display even the same faith as the barbarians.” The Blessed Jerome continues and writes: “The prophet Jonah preached for only three days; whereas I have been preaching for so long. Jonah preached to unbelieving Assyrians, but I to the Jews, the people of God. Jonah preached to strangers, but I to fellow citizens. Jonah did so only with words, without any miracles; whereas I with so many miracles, yet I am mocked as though I were Beelzebul. Therefore, in what is taking place among you, there is One greater than Jonah.”
The following verse:
The Queen of the South will rise up at the Judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Ephrem the Syrian sees in the Queen of the South a symbol of the New Testament Church and writes: “The Queen of the South will condemn it; she represents the image of the Church. For just as she came to Solomon, so also has the Church come to the Lord; and just as she will condemn the people, so also will the Church. For if she who desired to behold the transient wisdom of a mortal king thereby condemns the people, how much more does the Church do so, having desired to behold the King who does not pass away and His wisdom, to which every form of forgetfulness is foreign.”
John Chrysostom, for his part, in this verse elucidates the difference in greatness between Solomon and the Lord Jesus Christ. What is particularly noteworthy is that he does not emphasize the difference in holiness, which is evident, but rather the magnitude of the sacrifice that the sinless Jesus endured for our sake: “Jonah went to the Ninevites, whereas the Queen of the South did not wait for Solomon to come to her, but herself came to him and resolved to do so, not being hindered either by the fact that she was a woman, nor by her belonging to another nation, nor by the great distance; she undertook this not under compulsion, nor out of fear of death, but solely out of love for wise counsel. ‘And behold, something greater than Solomon is here.’ Solomon did not leave his chambers, but received the woman who came to him; whereas I Myself have come to those who did not seek Me. Solomon received the queen who came from the ends of the earth; whereas I Myself go through cities and villages. Solomon spoke with her about trees and plants, and from such discourse she could derive little benefit; but I offer to you teachings concerning ineffable realities, concerning the most awe-inspiring Mysteries.”
Cyril of Alexandria draws attention to the differences in the ministry of the prophet Jonah and that of the Lord Jesus: “Jonah is understood as a type of Christ, yet not in every respect. This is evident, for example, from the fact that he was sent to preach to the Ninevites, but attempted to flee from the presence of God, showing hesitation regarding the mission to which he had been appointed. The Son also was sent by God the Father to preach to the nations, yet He did not show Himself unwilling for this ministry. The prophet entreated those who were with him on the ship to cast him into the sea; he was swallowed by the great fish, and after three days was cast out, and thereafter went to Nineveh and fulfilled his ministry. However, the prophet was greatly displeased when God showed mercy to the Ninevites. Christ also endured a voluntary death, dwelt in the heart of the earth, rose again, and thereafter went into Galilee and commanded that the preaching to the nations should begin. Yet Jesus was not angered when He saw that those called to the knowledge of the truth were being saved. Therefore, just as bees, flying over flowers and forests, gather from everywhere what is useful for the making of honey, so also we, who examine the God-inspired Scripture, must always gather and investigate that which leads to the clarification of the mysteries of Christ, so that our discourse may attain an irreproachable conclusion.”
We now arrive at the next three verses, 43 to 45:
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with this wicked generation.
John Chrysostom observes at this point that, through this parable, the Lord Jesus is addressing the Pharisees and speaking to them of the punishment that will inevitably befall them. His words are as follows: “By these words Christ shows that not only in the age to come, but even here, the Pharisees will be subjected to the most severe punishments. Earlier, Jesus said: The men of Nineveh will rise up at the Judgment and condemn this generation. Hearing this, the Pharisees might have thought that the time of judgment would not come soon, and thus might have become even more negligent. Therefore, in order to cut off every occasion for carelessness, the Saviour now sets before them the dreadful calamities that await them already in this life. Similar calamities were also foretold by the prophet Hosea, who says: ‘The prophets are foolish, the men of the spirit are mad’ (Hos. 9:7), that is, the Pharisees will become like false prophets who are driven into madness by evil spirits. By the ‘mad prophet’ is meant here a false prophet, such as the soothsayers were. To this dreadful state the Saviour also points, and therefore says that they will suffer the most terrible punishment. Do you see how Jesus in every way urges them to listen attentively to His words, setting before their eyes both the present and what is to come, as well as the commendable examples of the Ninevites and the Queen, and then the fearful examples of the destruction of the Sodomites? What do the words of Jesus mean? If those who were possessed, He says, are delivered from their affliction and afterwards do not take care of themselves, they thereby draw upon themselves spirits worse than before. Such is also your condition, you Pharisees. Formerly you too were possessed, when you worshipped idols, when you offered your sons in sacrifice to demons, thus manifesting your great possession. Yet, despite this, I did not abandon you. I cast out demons through the prophets, and then I Myself came, desiring to cleanse you still more. If, after all this, you do not wish to heed My words, if you have resolved upon an even greater crime (for to kill the Lord Himself is a far greater and more grievous crime than to kill the prophets), then you will suffer far more than your fathers who perished in Babylon, in Egypt, and in the time of Antiochus. And indeed, the calamities that befell Judea in the time of Vespasian and Titus (Chrysostom here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans) were incomparably more terrible than those of earlier times… And so it must be according to the judgment of justice: whoever has once been delivered from evil and does not become wiser will be punished far more severely than before. For this reason the Saviour also said: it finds no rest, in order to show that demonic assaults will inevitably and certainly fall upon those who have not profited from their deliverance. Indeed, such people ought to come to their senses for two reasons: first, the thought of the severity of their former suffering; second, the awareness of the preciousness of their deliverance. To this a third reason may be added—the threat that compels one to take care lest something worse befall… However, what has been said about the Jews now applies not only to them, but also to us, if we, having been enlightened and delivered from former evils, again attach ourselves to previous vices. Therefore Christ also said to the paralytic: ‘Behold, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you’ (Jn. 5:14). And this was said to a man who had been lying ill for thirty-eight years. You will ask: what could be worse than that? A punishment far more grievous and unbearable could have come upon him. God forbid that we should truly experience all the sufferings to which we might be subjected!” This final thought of Saint John is of great importance, for it often happens that we forget that the words which Christ addressed to the Pharisees can also apply to us, and that we are not immune to spiritual hypocrisy and the justification of the sins in which we persist.
Hilary of Poitiers continues this line of thought and speaks of the power of the Old Testament Law that preserved Israel. However, by rejecting Jesus Christ, who was the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law, Israel found itself entirely unprotected before evil spirits: “It follows that the Law, like a certain protective power, expelled and drove out the unclean spirit that had dwelt in the breast of the people of Israel. Having gone out, it departed to the Gentiles, who had been abandoned and afflicted with spiritual thirst, in order to find in them rest and a peaceful dwelling until the Day of Judgment. Yet the mercy of God was again shown to the Gentiles… and among them the unclean spirit found no rest and considered it best to return to the house from which it had departed. And this house, cleansed by the Old Testament Law, adorned by the proclamation of the prophets, and prepared by the coming of Christ, was found empty; the guard of the Law had departed from it, for the Law endured until John. The house of Israel did not receive Christ, deprived itself of its inhabitant, and was abandoned by its guardian; even though it had been cleansed and adorned by the care of those who preceded the coming of Jesus. Therefore, the unclean spirit takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, for so abundant was the grace that Christ bestowed, so richly did the wisdom of God pour forth gifts in Christ: ‘And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord’ (Isa. 11:2); thus the dominion of unrighteousness becomes proportionate to what will be the future dominion of divine grace. Therefore, the last state of that man is worse than the first, for the unclean spirit departed from him in fear of the Law, but now returns with vengeance because he has rejected grace.”
Ephrem the Syrian states that Christ mentioned this with Mary Magdalene in mind, and the fact that He had cast seven demons out of her. Among some Christians there exists the misconception that she was a harlot; however, deliverance from demons does not imply that she lived in the sin of fornication. He writes: “A similar case was the healing of Mary Magdalene, of whom it is written that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. This He did before their very eyes, so that the words He spoke to them might also be seen in a concrete example. For in that same place the Evangelist says that women came to Jesus who had been healed of their infirmities and unclean spirits: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna (Lk. 8:2–3).”
Gregory of Nazianzus, at this point, draws attention to the spiritual danger that threatens us Christians who have been cleansed by the power of the Lord Jesus: “Always keep in mind Christ’s parable, and this will ever be for you the best and most perfect guide. The unclean and material spirit has gone out of you, cast out by Baptism. Its expulsion is unbearable to it; it cannot endure being homeless and unwanted. It wanders through waterless places, where the divine stream has dried up (for it greatly delights to dwell there); it roams about, seeking rest and finding none. Then it approaches the baptized souls in which Baptism has washed away the filth of sin. It fears water; purification suffocates it, just as the legion rushed into the sea. It and adaptedattacks again and makes another attempt. If it sees that Christ has taken possession of the place from which it fled and has made His dwelling there, it will again withdraw unsuccessfully, continuing its miserable wandering. But if it finds within you a place swept and adorned, yet empty and unoccupied, equally ready to receive it or anyone else who may come first, it will quickly enter and become even more audacious, so that the latter condition will be worse than the former. For in the former state there was still hope of amendment and vigilance, whereas now the departure of the good is increasingly appropriated by the evil one; therefore, the renewed occupation will be much more firm and resolute.”
Based on the patristic interpretations and adapted for the contemporary reader by Stanoje Stanković.
