Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 19:27-30

"Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name`s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. But many shall be last [that are] first; and first [that are] last." — Matthew 19:27-30 (ASV)

Origen of Alexandria: Peter had heard Christ’s word when He said, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast.” He then observed that the young man had departed sorrowful and considered the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom of heaven. On that basis, he put this question confidently, as one who had achieved no easy matter.

Although what he and his brother had left behind were only small things, they were not considered small by God. God saw that out of the fullness of their love, they had forsaken these little things just as they would have forsaken the greatest things if they had possessed them.

So Peter, thinking more of his own will than of the intrinsic value of the sacrifice, asked Him confidently, “Behold, we have left all.”

St. John Chrysostom: What was this “all,” O blessed Peter? The reeds, your net, and your boat. But he says this not to call attention to his own magnanimity, but to represent the case of the multitude of the poor. A poor man might have said, “If I have nothing, I cannot become perfect.” Peter therefore asks this question so that you, a poor man, may learn that you are in no way behind. For he had already received the kingdom of heaven and, therefore secure of what was already his, he now asks for the whole world. And see how carefully he frames his question according to Christ’s requirements: Christ required two things of a rich man—to give what he had to the poor and to follow Him. Therefore, he adds, “and have followed thee.”¹

Origen of Alexandria: It may be said, “In all the things the Father revealed to Peter about the Son—that He is righteousness, sanctification, and so on—in all these we have followed You.” Therefore, like a victorious athlete, he now asks what the prizes for his contest are.

St. Jerome: Because forsaking is not enough, he adds what makes perfection: “and have followed thee.” We have done what you commanded us; what reward will you then give us? What will we have?

He did not only say, “Ye who have left all”—for the philosopher Crates and many others who despised riches did this—but added, “and have followed me,” which is unique to the Apostles and believers.ⁱ

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The disciples had followed Christ in the regeneration—that is, in the washing of baptism and in the sanctification of faith. For this is the regeneration that the Apostles followed, which the Law could not grant.

St. Jerome: Or it can be understood this way: “Ye which have followed me, shall in the regeneration sit,” and so on. That is, when the dead rise from corruption incorruptible, you also shall sit on thrones as judges, condemning the twelve tribes of Israel because they would not believe when you did.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Thus our flesh will be regenerated by incorruption, just as our soul will be regenerated by faith.²

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For it would happen that on the day of judgment the Jews would claim, “Lord, we did not know You were the Son of God when You were in the flesh. For who can discern a treasure buried in the ground, or the sun when obscured by a cloud?”

The disciples will then answer, “We also were common men and peasants, obscure among the crowd, while you were priests and scribes. But in us, a righteous will became a lamp for our ignorance, while your evil will became a blinding of your knowledge.”

St. John Chrysostom: Therefore, He did not say “the Gentiles and the whole world,” but “the tribes of Israel,” because the Apostles and the Jews had been brought up under the same laws and customs. So when the Jews plead that they could not believe in Christ because they were hindered by their Law, the disciples, who had the same Law, will be brought forward.

But someone might say, “What great thing is this, when both the Ninevites and the Queen of the South will have the same?” He had promised them the highest rewards before and will do so again; even now, He silently conveys something similar. For of those others He had only said that they will sit and condemn this generation; but He now says to the disciples, “When the Son of Man shall sit, ye also shall sit.”

It is clear, then, that they will reign with Him and share in that glory, for by “the thrones” He intends an honor and glory that is unspeakable. How is this promise fulfilled? Will Judas sit among them? By no means. For the law was ordained by the Lord through Jeremiah the Prophet: “I will speak it upon my people, and upon the kingdom, that I may build, and plant it. But if it do evil in my sight, then will I repent me of the good which I said I would do to them” (Jeremiah 18:9). This is as if to say, “If they make themselves unworthy of the promise, I will no longer perform what I promised.”

But Judas showed himself unworthy of this preeminence. Therefore, when He gave this promise to His disciples, He did not promise it absolutely. He did not say, “Ye shall sit,” but, “Ye which have followed me shall sit.” This at once excluded Judas and admitted those who would come in later times. For the promise was not confined to them only, nor did it include Judas, who had already shown himself undeserving.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: By following Christ, the Apostles were exalted to twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, which associated them with the glory of the twelve Patriarchs.

St. Augustine of Hippo: From this passage we learn that Jesus will judge with His disciples, from which He says in another place to the Jews, “Therefore they shall be your judges” (Matthew 12:27). And when He says they will sit on twelve thrones, we should not think that only twelve people will judge with Him. For the number twelve signifies the whole number of those who will judge; this is because the number seven, which generally represents completeness, is composed of the numbers four and three, and these two multiplied together make twelve. If it were not so, then just as Matthias was elected to the place of the traitor Judas, the Apostle Paul, who labored more than all of them, would have no place to sit and judge. But Paul shows that he, with the rest of the saints, belongs to the number of judges when he says, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3).

Therefore, the number of judges includes all who have left everything and followed the Lord.³

St. Gregory the Great: For whoever is urged by the spur of divine love to forsake what he possesses here will without doubt gain the eminence of judicial authority there. He will appear as a judge with the Judge, because he now disciplines himself with voluntary poverty in view of the judgment.⁴

St. Augustine of Hippo: The same holds true, because of this number twelve, for those who are to be judged. For when it says, “judging the twelve tribes,” the tribe of Levi, which is the thirteenth, is not exempt from being judged by them; nor will they judge this nation alone, but other nations as well.⁵

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, by the phrase “in the regeneration,” Christ is referring to the period of Christianity after His ascension, in which people were regenerated by baptism. This is the time when Christ sat on the throne of His glory. And by this you can see that He was not speaking of the time of the final judgment, but of the calling of the Gentiles. For He did not say, “When the Son of Man shall come sitting upon the throne of his majesty,” but only, “In the regeneration when he shall sit.” This period began when the Gentiles started to believe in Christ, according to the scripture, “God shall reign over the heathen; God sitteth upon his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8).

From that time, the Apostles have also sat on twelve thrones—that is, over all Christians. For every Christian who receives the word of Peter becomes Peter's throne, and the same is true for the rest of the Apostles. The Apostles sit on these thrones, then, arranged into twelve divisions according to the variety of minds and hearts, which is known only to God. For just as the Jewish nation was split into twelve tribes, so the entire Christian people are divided into twelve, such that some souls are numbered with the tribe of Reuben, and so on for the rest, according to their various qualities. Not all have the same graces; one is excellent in this, another in that. And so the Apostles will judge the twelve tribes of Israel—that is, all the Jews—by the fact that the Gentiles received the Apostles’ word.

The whole body of Christians are indeed twelve thrones for the Apostles, but one throne for Christ. For all excellencies are but one throne for Christ, because He alone is equally perfect in all virtues. But each of the Apostles is more perfect in one particular excellence: Peter in faith, John in innocence, and so on for the rest. That Christ spoke of a reward to be given to the Apostles in this world is shown by what follows: “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, etc.” For if these people will receive a hundredfold in this life, then without a doubt the Apostles were also promised a reward in this present life.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, He holds out rewards in the future life to the Apostles because they were already looking above and desired nothing of present things; but to others, He promises present things.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, alternatively, whoever leaves all and follows Christ will also receive the things that were promised to Peter. But if he has not left all, but only the specific things enumerated here, he will receive many times more and will possess eternal life.

St. Jerome: There are some who take this passage as an occasion to promote the idea of a thousand-year reign after the resurrection, saying that then we will receive a hundredfold of the things we have given up, in addition to eternal life. But although the promise is worthy in other respects, in the matter of wives it seems somewhat shameful: if he who has forsaken one wife for the Lord’s sake will receive a hundred in the world to come. The meaning, therefore, is that he who has forsaken carnal things for the Savior’s sake will receive spiritual things, which in a comparison of value are like a hundred to a very small number.

Origen of Alexandria: And in this world, for his brothers according to the flesh, he will find many brothers in the faith; for parents, all the bishops and presbyters; for sons, all who are of the age of sons. The angels are also brothers, and all those who have offered themselves as chaste virgins to Christ are sisters, both those who still live on earth and those who now live in heaven. The “houses and lands” multiplied many times over refer to the repose of Paradise and the city of God. And besides all these things, they will possess eternal life.

St. Augustine of Hippo: That He says, “an hundredfold,” is explained by the Apostle, when he says, “As having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10). For “a hundred” is sometimes used to represent the whole universe.⁶

St. Jerome: And the phrase, “And every one that hath forsaken brethren,” agrees with what He had said before: “I am come to set a man at variance against his father” (Matthew 10:35). For those who, for the faith of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel, despise all the ties, riches, and pleasures of this world, will receive a hundredfold and will possess eternal life.

St. John Chrysostom: But when He says, “He that has forsaken wife,” this is not to be understood as the actual severing of the marriage tie, but that we should hold the bonds of faith dearer than any other. And here, I think, is a hidden allusion to times of persecution. Because there would be many who would try to draw their sons away to paganism, when that happened, they were to be considered neither as fathers nor as husbands.

Rabanus Maurus: But because many who take up the pursuit of virtue with zeal do not complete it with the same zeal—but either grow cool or fall away rapidly—it is followed by the saying, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

Origen of Alexandria: By this, He exhorts those who come late to the heavenly word to hasten to ascend to perfection before many whom they see have grown old in the faith.

This meaning may also challenge those who boast of being educated in Christianity by Christian parents—especially if those parents have held the office of a bishop, priest, or deacon in the Church. It also keeps those who have more recently embraced Christian doctrines from despairing.

It also has another meaning: the “first” are the Israelites, who become last because of their unbelief, and the Gentiles, who were “last,” become first. He is careful to say, “many,” for not all who are first will be last, nor all who are last, first. For even before this, many among mankind, who are by nature last, have been made higher than the angels by living an angelic life; and some angels who were first have been made last through their sin.

Remigius of Auxerre: This may also refer in particular to the rich man, who seemed to be first by his fulfillment of the precepts of the Law, but was made last by preferring his worldly substance to God. The holy Apostles seemed to be last, but by leaving everything, they were made first by the grace of humility. There are many who, after beginning good works, fall away from them and, from being first, become last.

1. Hom., lxiv
2. City of God, book xx, ch. 5
3. Serm., 351, 8
4. Mor., x, 31
5. City of God, book xx, ch. 5
6. City of God, book xx, ch. 7