John Chrysostom and Martin Luther on the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30

Jude Thaddeus Langeh

HSTD602: History and Preaching

February 23, 2020

 Introduction

Preaching occupied a central place in the lives of both John Chrysostom and Martin Luther.

They both delivered sermons that remain relevant till today. They occupy a significant place

among the leaders, writers, and sermon writers of their times, and their writings have occupied

continued popularity throughout their ages to date. Each person preached according to his

formation, background, context, and as well as the audience. They had points of similarity as well

as very divergent points.

Central to their work is their preaching on the Gospel of Matthew. One thing that strikes

us is the fact that they both preached on the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30. This Gospel is one of

the great monuments of their exegetical oratory. Chrysostom and Luther show much convergence

and divergence in their presentation of Matthew 13:24-30. Our comparative essay on these two

significant figures of homiletic and Church history on the above Gospel text will be done in two

parts. The first part will aim at summarizing their life, work, and historical context, while the

second part will seek to compare, contrast, and discuss their sermon texts.

Chapter 1

Biography and historical context of Chrysostom and Luther

1.1. John Chrysostom and the Patristic Era

John was Syrian of Antioch, born around AD 347, and died on September 14, 407. He was

called Chrysostom, meaning "golden-mouth" in Greek, for his eloquent sermons and. Chrysostom

belonged to the Patristic era, which began sometime around the end of the 1st century and ended

towards the close of the 8th century. In this era, Christians defended the Gospel against

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misunderstandings, and rival doctrines wrote sermons and extensive commentaries on the Bible.

He was trained both in rhetoric and scriptural interpretation. After some period as an ascetic monk,

St. Meletius of Antioch ordained him a priest. He was Archbishop of Constantinople and an

important Early Church Father. His works also portray a great fight against the heretics.

Chrysostom is honored for his eloquent, scripturally grounded, and contextual preaching. In 1908,

Pope Pius X designated him as the patron saint of Christian preachers. He was so skilled in oratory

that his preaching made congregations to applause, though he rebuked them. We can attest that "as

a speaker, he was without peer, the greatest preacher and biblical commentator of the Greek

Church"1. He delivered in all ninety-nine sermons on Matthew. Our work will be concentrating on

Homily 46 centered on the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30, which Martin Luther also preached on.

1.2. Martin Luther: Father of Protestant Reformation

On November 10, 1483 Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, Saxony. His father was a

peasant and, later on, became a miner. He had his early education in Mansfeld in a public school.

At the age of 14, he joined the Franciscan school at Magdeburg and later on to Eisenach. He studied

law at Erfurt, and with his degree of Master of Arts, he began a course of lectures on Aristotle.

Despite opposition from his father and friends, he joined the Augustinians and was ordained, priest.

Luther was offered the chair of dialectics in 1508 in the University at Wittenberg and later on

lectured theology. The Word of God shaped Luther. In effect, his "confidence in the Word of God

was a gift realized through constant immersion in Holy Scripture, the fruit of a life shaped by

God’s judgment and mercy in Christ”2. Martin Luther is the acclaimed father of this Reformation.

1
Richard Lischer, ed., The Company of Preachers: Wisdom on Preaching, Augustine to the
Present (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 57.
2
Michael Pasquarello III, Sacred Rhetoric: Preaching as a Theological and Pastoral Practice of
the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 112.

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He attacked the sales of indulgence and perversion of the Church's doctrine of redemption and

grace and is well known for his Ninety-five Theses. In his concerns for the ethical and theological

reform of the Church, he insists on sola scriptura, sola gratia, and sola fide. It must be noted that

“the protestant reformation of the sixteenth century was, in large part, a reformation by preaching

and reformation of preaching: a reformation of the word”3. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated,

and what began as an internal reform became a fracture in western Christendom. He died on

February 18, 1546.

Chapter 2

Sermon on Matthew 13:24-30 by Chrysostom and Luther

2.1. Summary of their Homilies

In his Homily 464 Chrysostom preaches on Mathew 13:24-30. In the same vein from his

Church Postil of 15255Luther also delivered a sermon on the same text. John Chrysostom indicates

in this sermon that contrary to the previous parable (Parable of the Sower), it is clear that Jesus

means the “Society of the Heretics”. He underlines the metaphor of sleeping. He shows that the

enemy, Satan, sows tares while the children of God are asleep. There were prophets as well as

false prophets, apostles, and false apostles, and after Christ, there also came the antichrist. He

warns on the danger of the servants sleeping and advises all to be watchful. He does not think

Heretics should be killed by the sword for fear the saints too will be killed. However, he insists on

the importance of checking heretics and stopping them.

3
Michael Pasquarello III, Sacred Rhetoric, 109.
4
Philip Schaff ed., Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, vol. 10, A Select Library of the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature
Company, 1888), 280-289.
5
https://www.audiosermon.net/martin-luther/6576-matthew-13-24-30-martin-luther

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 Luther preached this sermon by first of all, exposing Jesus's own 7 points explanation of

the parable. Jesus's explanation of the parable shows clearly that the seed is not the Word of God

but the Children of the Kingdom. This interpretation helps to make a distinction between the

Parable of the Sower and this present parable. Luther shows through this parable how we should

conduct ourselves towards heretics and false teachers. He does not buy the fact that they should be

murdered as the inquisitors of the time were doing.

Their sermons, though preached from very different contexts and historical epochs, tend to

show a lot of convergence despite the divergence. This will be shown below.

2.2. Comparing and contrasting the sermon texts

Connections to other biblical texts: Chrysostom and Luther all make the connection with

the Biblical texts. They all identify the fact that this Matthew 13:24-30 needed to be interpreted

well to avoid any confusion with the preceding parable of the sower. The divergence comes in that

while Martin Luther quotes from the Old Testament twice, Chrysostom makes all his biblical

quotations from the New Testament. They both backed their preaching with references from Saint

Paul. Chrysostom quotes Matthew 10:22 to talk of the need for continuous watchfulness, he insists

that “sleep occasions our ruin; so that there is need of continual watchfulness”. He also backs this

assertion by quoting Saint Paul, who insists, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith" (1 Cor 16:13).

Attitude towards heretics and awareness of audience: The two preachers see the seeds as

the children of God and the tares as heretics. They show some point of convergence, especially

when implying religious tolerance in not killing heretics. In their attitude towards heretics, they

show a divergence of opinion too. Chrysostom asserted that God does not forbid checking on the

heretics, stopping their mouth, depriving them of their freedom of speech, breaking up their

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assemblies and confederacies. The two preachers showed a grand mastership of their audience,

especially in the treatment of heretics of the time. There were so many heretics in the patristic era

like the Arians, Manichaeans, etc. Chrysostom and his contemporaries grew in a world in which

political coercion of religious dissidents was accepted as a matter of course. He surely defends the

repressive legislation imposed by the Emperor Theodosius. The period of the Reformation

portrays the upliftment of free-thinking against the coercive measures of inquisition.

Conclusion

John Chrysostom and Martin Luther, though products of different historical, social,

political, and religious epochs, remain great preachers in history. Saint John Chrysostom, also

known as the Golden mouth, was a great preacher and doctor of the Church. He remains one of

the most influential Greek fathers in history and still remains relevant until today. In his sermons,

one can easily note the excellence in style, its moral rectitude. Any presentation of Church history

without mention of Martin Luther will be a very great mistake. He remains the acclaimed father

of protestant reform.

One unifying factor is that they both have given us a sermon each on the Gospel of Matthew

13:24-30. Far from being divergent, our work has been to show without a doubt that their

connections to biblical texts and their attitude towards heretics show that they both had a solid

understanding of their preaching context. Their sermons have stood the taste of time and still

remain relevant today.