| Homily xii. 19. | Matt. xviii. 7. | Luke xvii. 1. |
| “It must be that good things come, and happy is he by whom they come. In like manner it must be that evil things come, but woe to him by whom they come.”[357] | “It must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.” | “It is impossible but that offences will come; but woe to him through whom they come.” |
The passage in the Homily is more complete than those in St. Matthew and St. Luke. The two Canonical Evangelists made use of imperfect fragments destitute of one member of the sentence. One cannot but wish to believe that our Lord pronounced a benediction on those who did good in their generation.
“There is amongst us,” says St. Peter in his second Homily, “one Justa, a Syro-Phoenician, a Canaanite by race, whose daughter was oppressed with a grievous disease. And she came to our Lord, crying out and entreating that he would heal her daughter. But he, being asked by us also, said, ‘It is not lawful to heal the Gentiles, who are like unto dogs on account of their using various meats and practices, while the table in the kingdom has been given to the sons of Israel.’ But she, hearing this, and begging to partake as a dog of the crumbs that fall from this table, having changed what she was (i.e. having given up the use of forbidden food), by living like the sons of the kingdom, obtained healing for her [pg 213] daughter as she asked. For she being a Gentile, and remaining in the same course of life, he would not have healed her had she persisted to live as do the Gentiles, on account of its not being lawful to heal a Gentile.”[358]
That the Ebionites perverted the words of our Lord to make them support their tenets on distinction of meats is obvious.
In the Clementine Homilies we have thrice repeated a saying of our Lord which we know of from St. Jerome and St. Clement of Alexandria, who speak of it as undoubtedly a genuine saying of Christ, “Be ye good money-changers.”[359]
This text is used by the author of the Clementines to prove the necessity of distinguishing between the gold and the dross in Holy Scripture. And to this he adds the quotation, “Ye do therefore err, not knowing the true things of the Scriptures; and for this reason ye are ignorant also of the power of God.”[360]
The following are some more fragments from the Clementine Homilies:
“He said, I am he of whom Moses prophesied, saying, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him hear ye in all things; and whosoever will not hear the prophet shall die.”[361] This saying of Moses is quoted by both St. Peter and St. Stephen in their addresses, as recorded in the Acts. It is probable, therefore, that our Lord had claimed this prophecy to have been spoken of him. But St. Luke had never heard that he had done so, as he makes no allusion to it in his Gospel or in the speeches he puts in the mouths of Peter and Stephen in the Acts.
“It is thine, O man, said he, to prove my words, as silver and money are proved by the exchangers.”[362]
“Give none occasion to the evil one.”[363]