Theophylact of Ohrid

He sends those on the left into the fire which had been prepared for the devil. For as the demons are without compassion and are cruelly and maliciously disposed towards us, it is fitting that those who are of like mind with them, and who have been cursed by their own deeds, should merit the same punishment. See that God did not prepare the fire for men, nor did He make hell for us, but for the devil—I make myself liable to hell. Tremble, then, O man, and understand from this that these men were not punished as fornicators, or robbers, or perpetrators of any other vice, but for not having done good. Indeed, if you consider things well, the robber is he who has much and does not give alms, even if he does no obvious injury. For whatever he has in excess of his needs, he has stolen from those who are in need and who have not received anything from him. If he had shared these things with them, they would not be in need. Now that he has locked these things up and kept them for himself, for this very reason they are in need. So he who does not give alms is a robber, doing injustice to all those whom he could have helped but did not, and for this reason he and those like him shall go away into eternal punishment which never ends; but the righteous shall enter into eternal life.
Just as the saints have unceasing joy, so too the unjust have unceasing punishment, despite the gibberish of Origen who says that there is an end to hell and that sinners will not be punished for ever, but that there will be a time when they enter the place of the righteous because they have been purified by suffering in hell. (1) Origen is clearly refuted here, both when the Lord speaks of everlasting punishment, that is, never ending, and when He likens the righteous to sheep and the sinners to goats. Just as a goat can never become a sheep, neither can a sinner ever be cleansed and become righteous after the Judgement. Outer darkness (mentioned in the preceding parable of the talents) is that which is furthest from the light of God and for that reason renders the punishment more harsh. There is another reason that could be mentioned, and that is that the sinner is in darkness even in this life, as he has fallen away from the Sun of Righteousness, but as there is still hope of conversion, this is not yet the outer darkness. But when he has died and an examination has been made of the things he has done, then the outer darkness in its turn receives him. For there is no longer any hope of conversion, but he undergoes a complete deprivation of the good things of God. While he is here in this life he enjoys to some degree the good things of God, I mean, the tangible things of creation, and he believes that he is in some manner a servant of God, living out his life in God’s house, which is this creation, being fed by Him and provided with the necessities of life. But then he will be altogether cut off from God, having no share at all in the good things of God. This is that darkness which is called outer by comparison to the darkness here, which is not outer because the sinner is not yet completely cut off from this time onward.
You, then, O reader, flee from this absence of compassion, and practice almsgiving, both tangible and spiritual. Feed Christ Who hungers for our salvation. If you give food and drink to him who hungers and thirsts for teaching, you have given food and drink to Christ. For within the Christian there is Christ, and faith is nourished and increased by teaching. If you should see someone who has become a stranger to his heavenly fatherland, take him in with you. While you yourself are entering into the heavens, lead him in as well, lest while you preach to others, you yourself be rejected. If a man should cast off the garment of incorruption which he had at his baptism, rendering him naked, clothe him; and if one should be infirm in faith, as Paul says, help him; and visit him who is shut up in the dark prison of this body and give him counsel which is as a light to him. Perform, then, all of these six types of love, both bodily and also spiritually, for we consist of both soul and body, and these acts of love are to be accomplished by both.

He sends those on the left into the fire which had been prepared for the devil. For as the demons are without compassion and are cruelly and maliciously disposed towards us, it is fitting that they who are of like mind with them, and who have been cursed by their own deeds, should merit the same punishment. See that God did not prepare the fire for men, nor did He make hell for us, but for the devil; but I make myself liable to hell. Tremble, then, O man, and understand from this that these men were not punished as fornicators, or robbers, or perpetrators of any other vice, but for not having done good. For indeed, if you consider things well, the robber is he who has much and does not give alms, even if he does no obvious injury. For whatever he has in excess of his needs, he has stolen from those who are in need and who have not received anything from him. For if he had shared these things with them, they would not be in need. Now that he has locked these things up and kept them for himself, for this very reason they are in need. So he who does not give alms is a robber, doing injustice to all those whom he could have helped but did not, and for this reason he and those like him shall go away into eternal punishment which never ends; but the righteous shall enter into eternal life. For just as the saints have unceasing joy, so too the unjust have unceasing punishment, despite the gibberish of Origen who says that there is an end to hell and that sinners will not be punished for ever, but that there will be a time when they enter the place of the righteous because they have been purified by suffering in hell. Origen is clearly refuted here, both when the Lord speaks of "everlasting punishment," that is, never ending, and when He likens the righteous to sheep and the sinners to goats. For just as a goat can never become a sheep, neither can a sinner ever be cleansed and become righteous after the Judgement. "Outer darkness" [mentioned in the preceding parable of the talents] is that which is furthest from the light of God and for that reason renders the punishment more harsh. There is another reason that could be mentioned, and that is that the sinner is in darkness even in this life, as he has fallen away from the Sun of Righteousness, but as there is still hope of conversion, this is not yet the "outer" darkness. But when he has died and an examination has been made of the things he has done, then the outer darkness in its turn receives him. For there is no longer any hope of conversion, but he undergoes a complete deprivation of the good things of God. While he is here in this life he enjoys to some degree the good things of God, I mean, the tangible things of creation, and he believes that he is in some manner a servant of God, living out his life in God’s house, which is this creation, being fed by Him and provided with the necessities of life. But then he will be altogether cut off from God, having no share at all in the good things of God. This is that darkness which is called "outer" by comparison to the darkness here, which is not "outer" because the sinner is not yet completely cut off from this time onward. You, then, O reader, flee from this absence of compassion, and practice almsgiving, both tangible and spiritual. Feed Christ Who hungers for our salvation. If you give food and drink to him who hungers and thirsts for teaching, you have given food and drink to Christ. For within the Christian there is Christ, and faith is nourished and increased by teaching. If you should see someone who has become a stranger to his heavenly fatherland, take him in with you. While you yourself are entering into the heavens, lead him in as well, lest while you preach to others, you yourself be rejected. If a man should cast off the garment of incorruption which he had at his baptism, so that he is naked, clothe him; and if one should be infirm in faith, as Paul says, help him; and visit him who is shut up in the dark prison of this body and give him counsel which is as a light to him. Perform, then, all of these six types of love, both bodily and also spiritually, for we consist of both soul and body, and these acts of love are to be accomplished by both.

. The law commanded that there be one high priest for life, but they, contrary to the law, had then the practice of making a new high priest each year, so that there were many. So they approached the high priest of that year to deliberate a murder with him whose duty it was to punish murderers. "The high priests" are those who had already fulfilled their year of service. Intending to commit this unholy murder, they were fearful, not of God, but of the multitude. For the high priests were afraid that if they murdered Jesus on the feast, the multitude would rise up in His defense, or that the people would refrain from offering the prescribed sacrifices on account of the murder, and so the high priests would lose the profit they gained from the sacrifices. Perhaps the high priests also feared that if He were murdered on the feast, His death would become all the more renowned and noteworthy; for they wished to erase all memory of Him. So in this manner they plotted before the feast to murder Him immediately after the feast. But He allows them to arrest Him at the time of Pascha, thus showing that He goes to His Passion not when they wished, but rather when He so desired. So that when the figurative Pascha took place, then it was that the true Pascha occurred. We can also understand from this the degree of their bloodthirstiness. For though they had not wished to slay Jesus on the feast, when they found the betrayer they did slay Jesus at that very time, forgetting even the multitude in their eagerness to accomplish their will.

. Some say that there are three women who anointed the Lord, of whom the four evangelists make mention (Mk. 14:3-9, Jn. 12:1-8, Lk. 7:36-38). Others say that there are two, the one mentioned by John, who is Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the one mentioned here by Matthew, who is the same one mentioned by Luke and Mark. Some say that this Simon the leper is the father of Lazarus, and that Christ cleansed him of leprosy and then ate dinner with him. Some also say that when the Lord told His disciples to go to a certain man who would show them an upper room furnished (Lk. 22:10-12), that He sent them to this man. And of course the man welcomed the Lord to celebrate the Pascha there. So when the woman saw the leper who had been cleansed, she dared to believe that she too would obtain remission of sins and cleansing of spiritual leprosy. She confessed great faith by unstintingly pouring out such precious myrrh. She poured it out on His head, honoring the chiefest part. And you also, O reader, if you suffer from the spiritual and Pharisaical leprosy of arrogance which cuts us off from God, accept Jesus into your house and anoint Him with the myrrh of the virtues. For you are able to procure myrrh for Jesus Who has cleansed you of your leprosy, and to pour it over His head. What is the head of Christ if not His divinity to which we offer the fragrance of the virtues? For David says, "Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, O Lord" (Ps. 140:2). Offer, then, fragrance of myrrh, intricately blended of many virtues, to Christ’s divinity. For if you teach that Christ is not merely a man, but also God, then you have made fragrant His head, that is, His divinity, with your words of theology.

Since the disciples had heard much about almsgiving and had given it much consideration, they found fault with the woman, thinking that God desired mercy towards others more than honor for Himself. But He rebukes the disciples for their unwarranted criticism of the woman. For one should not expect exalted things from those who have only recently approached Christ, and especially from those whose emotions are unrestrained, but one should accept even their measure of faith. For whenever someone wants to offer a gift to God, do not scorn him, or cut him off in his eagerness by sending him away to give to the poor, but let him fulfill his offering. But if he should ask your advice as to whether he should give to the poor or make an offering to God, advise him to give to the poor. However, if he has already made the offering to God, there is no reason to scorn him, for one should prefer honor rendered to God above everything else, even almsgiving itself. Nor should you think that because Christ in His love for mankind accepts mercy shown to others as something offered to Himself, that we should overlook God and only practice almsgiving. For if this were so, we ought then to steal from the temples and use what is stolen for almsgiving. But it is not so; and that you may understand that it is not the same thing to show mercy to the poor and to honor Christ Himself and to serve Him, listen: "For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always." Do you see, then, that it is one thing to serve Christ and another thing to show mercy to the poor, even though Christ in His love for mankind accepts for Himself the things that are done for the poor?

. He teaches us that the woman did this by some divine inspiration, prefiguring His death and the burial of His Body. For the Lord would not have allowed Himself to be anointed with myrrh if it did not reveal a mystery. Being God, He foretold what would be, that the deed which the woman did would be told everywhere in praise of her. Behold God’s love for mankind, how He rewards the woman with a great gift; for He causes her memorial to be kept universally, for as long as His Gospel endures. How did the myrrh symbolize His burial? It was the practice among the Jews to prepare bodies for burial by anointing them with myrrh, as the Egyptians did, to prevent decay and foul odor. He is saying, "By pouring the myrrh the woman shows that My Body will be buried." He said all these things to shame and reprove Judas by whom He would be betrayed and handed over for burial. Understand it also in a spiritual sense: the leper is the Gentile people, the sinful woman is the congregation and the Church from among the Gentiles, who poured out myrrh, that is, faith, on the head of Christ, which is His divinity. For everyone who believes that Christ is God pours out myrrh on the head of Christ. But Judas, who rebuked the woman, as John says (Jn. 12:4-6), is a symbol of the Jews who still to this day murmur against the Church.

. He says, "The first day of the feast of the unleavened bread," meaning "the day before the feast of the unleavened bread," as we would say it. They intended to eat the Pascha on Friday evening, which was called "the feast of the unleavened bread." The Lord, therefore, sends the disciples on Thursday, which the evangelist calls "the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread," being the day before the Friday on the evening of which they would eat the unleavened bread. The disciples then approach and ask, "Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Pascha?" For neither they, nor He, had their own house. He sends them to a man whom they did not know and who did not know them, just as He had done before entering Jerusalem when He sent them to find the ass, showing them that He is able by His words alone to persuade even those who do not know Him at all to accept Him. He wanted to keep the Pascha, lest He appear opposed to the law. He calls His slaying His "time," so that we may learn that He was not slain unknowingly or unwillingly. And to the words, "I will keep the Pascha at thy house," He adds "with My disciples," so that there would be sufficient preparation for the large number of those who intended to eat.

Jesus openly reproves the betrayer since he did not amend his ways when he was reproved secretly. This is why He reveals him by saying, "He that dippeth his hand with Me," so that even now he might amend his ways. But Judas was shameless and dipped his hand into Christ’s dish. Then Christ said, "The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him," that is, even though it is preordained that Christ suffer for the salvation of the world, Judas of course is not to be honored for the part he played, but rather, woe to him! For he did not do this deed in cooperation with God’s will; instead he did it out of his own malice. For if you consider well, Christ [in His human nature] did not desire beforehand to be crucified; He shows this when He prays that the cup might be taken from Him. But since Christ [in His divine nature] knew from before all ages that because of the malice of the enemy there was no other way for man to be saved, what He had not willed beforehand became His will. By saying that it would have been better if that man had not been born, He shows that it is better not to exist than to exist in sins. Observe also the word "goeth." It shows that His dying will not be death, but instead a departure to another place.

. Matthew added the words "as they were eating," to reveal the cruelty of Judas. For worse than a beast, Judas did not become more meek when he partook of the common meal. Not even when reproved did he listen, but he went so far as to taste of the Lord’s Body, and still did not repent. But some say that Christ did not give the Mysteries to the other disciples until Judas had left. So we too should do the same and withhold the Mysteries from those who are evil. When He is about to break the bread He gives thanks, teaching us also to offer the Bread with thanksgiving. At the same time He also shows by this that He gladly accepts as if it were a gift the breaking of His own Body, that is, His death, and that He is not displeased as if it were something that He is unwilling to accept, so that we too, in the same manner, might gladly accept martyrdom as a gift. By saying, "This is My Body," He shows that the bread which is sanctified on the altar is the Lord’s Body Itself, and not a symbolic type. For He did not say, "This is a type," but "This is My Body." By an ineffable action it is changed, although it may appear to us as bread. Since we are weak and could not endure to eat raw meat, much less human flesh, it appears as bread to us although it is indeed flesh.

. He does not take all the disciples with Him, but only the three to whom He showed His glory on Mt. Tabor, lest the others see Him very heavy of heart while He was praying, and be scandalized. But He leaves even these three and goes away to a place to pray that was yet more private. He was sorrowful and heavy in accord with the divine plan, so as to confirm that He was truly man. For it is human nature to fear death; it was against our nature that death entered, and for this reason our nature flees from it. At the same time, Christ was sorrowful so that the devil would unknowingly leap upon Him, the God-man, and bear Him down to death as though He were mere man, and thus the devil himself would be crushed. Moreover, if the Lord had rushed towards death it would have given the Jews the excuse that they did not sin in killing one who was so eager to suffer. From this we learn not to throw ourselves into trials and temptations, but to pray that we may be delivered from them. For this reason, too, He did not move away a great distance, but was near the three disciples, that they might hear Him and remember when they themselves fell into temptations, and pray in the same manner. He calls His Passion a cup [as of wine], either because of the sleep which it brought, or because it became the cause of gladness and salvation for us. He wants the cup to be removed either to show that as a man subject to nature He pleads to escape death, as was said above, or because He did not wish the Jews to commit a sin so grave that on account of it the temple would be destroyed and the people perish. Yet He desires that His Father’s will be done, that we also may learn that it is precisely when our nature draws us away from obedience that we must obey God and fulfill His will.