In Matthaei Evangelium expositio (libri IV)

EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

BOOK ONE.

CHAPTER ONE.

The book of the generation. For it is the custom of the sacred Scriptures to give a name to a volume of discourse, as Genesis is so called because it begins by discoursing on the nature and the founding of things; and so Matthew gave this name to his Gospel, since at its beginning he recounted the genealogy of Christ's humanity, although in what follows he made mention of His teaching and miracles.

Of Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the proper name of the flesh He assumed, which in Latin is interpreted "Saviour"; Christ is a name of dignity, which in Latin is rendered "anointed". For in the old law priests and kings were anointed, and He is rightly called anointed Who is the true priest, offering Himself for our sins, and the King of all kings, at Whose name every knee bends, and Who, as the Psalmist witnesses, was anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit above His fellows.

The son of David, the son of Abraham. It is asked why he named David before Abraham, or why only these, passing over so many fathers; but, as Jerome says, the order is reversed, yet changed of necessity: otherwise, had Abraham been named and then David, he would have had to name Abraham again, to show that David was his son. And it is to be noted that he named these because it was to them that Christ was promised to be born of their seed. For to Abraham thus: In your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12), which seed is Christ; and to David thus: Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon my throne (Ps. 131:11).

And Judah begot Perez and Zerah of Tamar. It is asked why he named only Tamar and Rahab, foreigners and sinners, in the genealogy of Christ. But the answer is that the evangelist did this to show that Christ is the Saviour not of the Jews only but of the Gentiles also. Tamar is interpreted "bitterness" or "palm", and signifies the Church, which was bitter in sins but has been made sweet through the grace of Christ; to her the word "palm" also seems fitting, because of the victory in her contests and the crown of heavenly rewards. Rahab is interpreted "breadth", and she too seems fittingly to signify the Church, spread abroad through the whole world, as it is written: Enlarge the place of your tent, and spare not to stretch out the skins of your tabernacles (Isa. 54:2). Ruth is interpreted "seeing"; she signifies the Church, God with purity of mind

seeing; or "defining", because the Church has resolved to persist firmly in the faith of Christ, as the Apostle says: I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principality, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38).

And David the king begot Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah. It is asked why he set down the name of Uriah while keeping silent the name of Bathsheba. But the answer is that he set down Uriah's name as that of a just man, but kept silent Bathsheba's because of the most monstrous crime of adultery and murder that was committed on her account.

And Joram begot Uzziah. But we read that of Joram was born Ahaziah, who begot Joash, whom his son Amaziah succeeded, and after him Azariah, who is also Uzziah; but the names of three kings are left out of the Saviour's genealogy because Joram mingled himself with the most impious race of Jezebel, and so that, according to his predetermined plan, there might be three sets of fourteen.

Josiah begot Jechoniah and his brothers in the deportation to Babylon. This Jerome related to have been confused through the fault of copyists among the Greeks and Latins, and he held that the father, who in the Hebrew is named Joachim, was not led into Chaldaea but died in his own land, and that the son, Joachim, returning from the captivity, begot Shealtiel. Augustine, however, related that this was done for the sake of a mystery: that Jechoniah, who is interpreted "preparation of God", was counted twice, being placed at the end of the first list and at the head of the following one, signifying Christ the cornerstone, in Whom God the Father prepared to join two peoples, as walls, into one house.

And Jacob begot Joseph. It is commonly asked how Matthew said that Joseph had Jacob as his father, while Luke related Heli. But the answer is that these, Jacob and Heli, were brothers, coming at different times from different lineages, who appear to be the grandfathers of Joseph: of one and the same wife, Esai, Matthan, who traces his line through Solomon, had a son Jacob; and Matthat, who traces his line through Nathan, of the same tribe but not the same lineage, when the former had died, received a son Heli: and so Jacob and Heli, of different lineages on their fathers' side, are uterine brothers, of whom the one, that is Jacob, taking the wife of his dead brother Heli, begot Joseph according to his own nature, but according to the precept of the law, his brother's son.

The husband of Mary. That is, the servant of Mary: not to you

let the thought of marriage come to mind, but remember that in the Scriptures betrothed women are called wives.

Of whom was born Jesus Christ. He fittingly put not "of whom" in the plural, but "of whom" in the singular, that is, of the virgin alone, without the seed of man. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations: for the first set of fourteen, beginning from Abraham, ends in David; the second, beginning from David, that is, from Solomon next after David, ends in the former Jechoniah, that is, the father, who among the Hebrews is called Joachim. The third, taking its beginning from the second Jechoniah, that is, the son of Joachim, who in Hebrew is called Jochin, reaches as far as Christ, so that Christ Himself is counted in it. This number fourteen, set down three times, shows historically the threefold division of the Israelite people: the first of these was under patriarchs and priests and judges before the kings; the second under kings and prophets and priests; the third under leaders and prophets and priests after the kings. For mystically the ten looks to the Decalogue, the four to the Gospels, the three to faith in the Trinity: because through the concord of the law and the Gospel faith in the Holy Trinity is preached. The number forty, moreover, seems to hold a figure of the present age, since the years run in fourfold turns and the world is bounded by four quarters; just as the number ten taken four times makes forty; and the number two is fittingly added, because it signifies the two Testaments, by which Christ rules the whole Church and has made plain what pleases Him in the good and what displeases Him in the wicked; or the number itself shows the two precepts of charity, on which the whole law and the prophets depend. The number forty can also be understood otherwise: seven times six make forty-two; and just as the Israelite people, freed from Egyptian servitude, pitched camp seven times six, that is, forty-two times, on their most narrow way in the desert, but, having taken Jesus [Joshua] as leader, soon, the Jordan opened, entered the promised dwellings with their enemies conquered: so the Lord Jesus in the forty-second generation, counting from when the world, through Abraham's believing, shook off the darkness of blindness, coming in the flesh, came down to share mortality with us. And through so many men, as through stations of the same number, one has come, with Jesus Christ as leader, to the spiritual Jordan, that is, to the Virgin Mary, full with the flood of the Holy Spirit: He Who, set like a hook, slain, slew the twisting dragon caught upon it. Matthew, beginning from Abraham and descending as far as Joseph, set out the genealogy of Christ. But Luke, beginning from Christ and ascending to the Lord Himself, enumerated seventy-seven generations. In the descent the humility of Christ is signified, Who, according to the Apostle, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7); in the ascent our exaltation is signified, because Christ was humbled to this end, that He might exalt us. Furthermore, that mystical number signifies the remission of absolutely all sins; whence it is said in the Gospel: I do not say to you, up to seven times, and the rest (Matt. 8:22).

Now the generation of Christ was thus. Having already above

mentioned the forefathers, if you wish to join this sentence to what goes before; but if to what follows, it shows that it was beginning to come about in this way.

When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph. It is commonly asked why Christ willed to be born of a virgin, and yet of one betrothed. But the answer is that we believe this was so done for four reasons: that Mary, fleeing into Egypt, might have the comfort of Joseph's service; and that she might not be stoned as an adulteress; and that Christ might not be despised as the son of fornication; and that he might show the lineage of Christ through Joseph.

Who was a kinsman of Mary. Because it was not the custom for historians to number women in a genealogy, and so that His birth might be hidden from the devil, who supposed Christ born of Joseph's seed; for otherwise he would not have dared to stretch out his hands against Him.

She was found with child of the Holy Spirit. He says she was found by Joseph to be with child; and although he says, as if particularly, of the Holy Spirit, yet we must believe that not the Holy Spirit alone but the whole Trinity formed the man Jesus in the Virgin's womb. For he says it particularly, as of the Holy Spirit, because God the Trinity formed Him in the Virgin; He Who by His coming bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit abundantly on those who believe in Him.

But Joseph her husband, since he was just and was unwilling to expose her, wished to put her away secretly.

He was just, indeed, with that justice by which he would mercifully take care of his kinswoman, of which Scripture said: I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Matt. 12:7); not with that by which the proud Scribes and Pharisees reckoned themselves just as zealots of the law, while they cruelly shed the blood of their neighbours for transgression of the law, which they themselves in no way kept.

And He shall save His people from their sins. That people, without doubt, of which it is said in the Gospel: But as many as received Him, and the rest (John 11:12); not that of which it is said: He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11).

And he did not know her until she brought forth her firstborn son. It is not, as some wrongly suppose, that Mary after Christ bore other sons by Joseph, who are called brothers of the Lord; but "until" is put in this place for unlimited time, as it is said in the Psalms: Until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool (Ps. 109:1). And it is to be noted that all only-begotten sons can be called firstborn. But all firstborn cannot [be called only-begotten], since others follow them; and He is rightly called firstborn, because among many brothers He first rose, death conquered, and gave them an example of rising again.

CHAPTER II.

When Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judah. He named it to distinguish it from the other Bethlehem, which is in the tribe of Zebulun.

Behold, Magi from the East, as far as, We have come to adore Him. The Magi are not so named for the art of magic, but for a certain philosophy, in which successors

are believed to be of Balaam, and, stirred by his prophecy, when they saw the new star they sought the newborn King, Who was prophesied by their seer to break all the leaders of the foreigners.

And gathering all the chief priests, as far as, in Bethlehem of Judah. That the star did not then appear further, since it had been leading them before, was done for the condemnation of the Jews, so that, questioned by Herod, they might declare the place of Christ's birth, and have no excuse of ignorance after neglecting the faith: since before His birth they showed not only that He was to be born, but where He would be born. Mystically, the three Magi signify the three parts of the world, Asia, Africa and Europe, or the human race, which took its seed from the three sons of Noah.

And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, as far as, until coming it stood over where the child was. Now this star signifies prophecy, which from the beginning of the blessing promised to the seed of Abraham, as if going before, promised that Christ would come, until it showed Him born in the fullness of time.

And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. That is, understanding that prophecy was fulfilled, they rejoice with unspeakable joy, they who come together from the three parts of the world to the faith of Christ.

And entering the house, they found the child with Mary His mother. That is, entering the Church through faith, they found Christ with the primitive Church, which was converted from the Israelite people to faith in Him.

And going forward they adored Him. They would by no means have adored Him had they not believed Him to be the Lord. Mystically, the peoples of believers went forward and adored with true faith and pure confession.

And opening their treasures, and the rest. In the gold the royal dignity of Christ is shown; in the frankincense, His true priesthood; in the myrrh, the mortality of the flesh. Otherwise: in the gold spiritual understanding is signified, in the frankincense the fragrance of the virtues, in the myrrh the mortification of the body, all of which are offered daily to the Lord by this Church dispersed through the three parts of the world. Others would understand in these gifts the three kinds of philosophy, physics, ethics and logic, which after faith this world has offered to the praise of God, whereas before it spent them on vain pursuit. Others say that in the gold allegory, in the myrrh history, and in the frankincense anagogy are intimated.

And having received an answer, as far as, they returned by another way into their own country. Our country is paradise, to which the human race must return through obedience, having been expelled from it through disobedience. Herod signifies the devil, to whom we are forbidden to return after receiving the faith.

Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, as far as, and withdrew into Egypt. Joseph signifies the teachers, Mary the Church; Egypt, which is interpreted "darkness", signifies this heathendom; and this figure of Christ [going] into Egypt signifies His passing with His Church from the Israelite people through the preachers to the Gentiles. Herod signifies the hatred of the Jews, who, to blot out the name of Christ and to destroy those who believe in Him,

were eager; or the heretics, who sought to slay Christ, some in His humanity, others in His divinity, and also in His members. The night signifies the ignorance in which the Jews were left in their error when the apostles were making known the light of faith to the Gentiles.

And he was there, as far as, out of Egypt I have called my son. The death of Herod signifies the end of the hatred of the Jews, when before the day of judgement Christ will return to the Jews through the teachers of the last time; not that He will abandon the Gentiles, but that He may reign in both.

Then Herod, seeing that he had been deceived by the magi. It is likely that, after the magi reported nothing to Herod, he thought they had been deceived by the vision of a false star and, the newborn King not having been found, had been ashamed to return to him; and so, his fear dispelled, he rested for some time from pursuing the child; but afterwards, when the things done and spoken in the temple by Simeon and Anna had been spread abroad, he perceived that he had been deceived by the Magi, and then, longing to bring about the death of Christ, [he raged] not only in Bethlehem but in all the borders around, as he kept no measure in anything. He killed all from the child of one night up to the child of two years. According to the time which he had ascertained from the Magi, the wicked king considering that it was possible for God, born a King, Whom the stars of heaven served, to appear to men's eyes as a child at the weaker age of one year or two; and again, if He wished, to conceal by the smallness of His body the age of His nature. Whether he carried out this slaughter a year after the Lord's nativity or two, does not appear; unless perhaps we say that he ordered the infants to be killed when a year had passed and four days of the following year, on which day the Catholic Church venerates their passion.

Then was fulfilled, as far as, she would not be consoled, because they are not. It is asked how Rachel weeps for the sons of Judah, that is, of Bethlehem, as though her own, she who is the mother of the sons of Benjamin. But the answer is either that she was buried in Bethlehem and from that took the name of mother, or that the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are joined, [and] that by occasion of the children to be slain in the borders of Bethlehem the persecution raged beyond the bounds of Judah, in Benjamin also. For Ramah is the name of a place near Gibeah, but it is interpreted "high", and signifies that the lamentation over the slaughter was spread far and wide. According to allegory, Rachel, which is interpreted "ewe of God" or "seeing God", signifies the Church, which longs with the whole intent of her mind to see God: and she is the hundredth sheep, which the good shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine sheep, that is, the orders of angels in heaven, sought on earth. The killing of the little ones signifies the slaying of the martyrs of Christ, for whom the Church weeping will not accept temporal consolation, because those who have once been crowned with Christ will not return to this world; or she bewails the slayers of the martyrs, whom at first she desired to have as sons. And they are not: that is, they are not destined to life, but go on to eternal damnation.

But when Herod was dead. For this Joseph [bears] the figure of Enoch and Elijah and of the preachers of the last time,

bears the figure, because, warned by God, when the hatred of the Jews has ended, after the entry of the Gentiles into the faith, they will preach Christ to the Jewish people.

But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judaea, as far as, for He shall be called a Nazarene. The reign of Archelaus signifies the dominion of Antichrist in his followers, to whose fellowship the preachers of the true faith fear to join themselves. Galilee is interpreted "a migration accomplished"; Nazareth, "a shoot" or "a flower": and it signifies the Catholic Church, in which Christ dwells with His preachers, which had migrated from unbelief to faith, from vices to virtues, and which sprouts in the imperfection of works and flowers in virtues. He says "through the prophets" in the plural number because he did not set down a fixed testimony from the Scriptures; for "Nazarene" can be rendered "holy one of God", because all the prophets announced that the Holy One of God would come.

CHAPTER III.

In those days came John the Baptist, as far as, for the kingdom of heaven will draw near. He says "in the desert of Judaea" because, as had been prophesied to them before, Behold, your house shall be left to you deserted, so in the days of John Judaea was in great part deserted; for when the Jews returned a little before from the captivity which was under Zerubbabel, many, because of wives and children taken in the captivity, being unwilling to return to their own land, remained in exile. Mystically, John signifies the Saviour, Who preached to deserted Judaea, that is, Judaea forsaken by God for transgression of the law; he says the kingdom had drawn near, because He was drawing near Who opened to men the entrance of the heavenly kingdom; or he was preaching the Church to come, which is very often marked in the Scriptures by the name of the heavenly kingdom.

For this is he of whom it was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: The voice of one crying in the desert. He is named "Voice" because he went before the Word; "of one crying", that is, of the Lord speaking through him: Prepare the way of the Lord (Isa. 40:3); for to this end the Voice went before the Word, that it might lay the Lord's way to our heart through the faith of preaching. Make straight His paths: he makes paths for the Lord coming to him who sets no obstacle before Him by which to hinder the journey of One Who hastens.

Now John himself had a garment of camels' hair. He showed austerity of clothing because he preached penance, since penance is to be done in sackcloth and ashes.

And a leather girdle about his loins. The leather girdle shows that mortification of the flesh and the reining-in of lust must take place in penitents.

And his food was the locust and wild honey. The locust is the size of a finger and is good to eat: it has a swift flight, but soon falls; this shows that John's teaching was good for those who obey and carry it out in deed, but to be held in awe [only] until the more eminent teaching of Christ should soon come. Wild honey, moreover, is the leaves of a tree of wonderful sweetness, which shows the exceeding sweetness of John's teaching. Mystically, John signifies Christ,

Who had taken the garment of flesh from the Jews, who were weighed down by the fixedness of a depraved [observance of the] law and by the weight of sins. Further, the leather girdle signifies the mortality of the flesh He assumed. In another sense, John's garment of camels' hair signifies that Christ clothed Himself with the Church converted from the Gentiles to faith in Him, which before stank with the worship of idols and the foulness of life. The leather girdle signifies the mortification of the members which are upon the earth. The locusts, which commonly stay in places by the sea, but, snatched up by the wind and scattered over a field, devour the crops, signify the believers in Christ, who, snatched from unbelief by the wind of the Holy Spirit, are cast into the field of the Scriptures, and there, having grazed on the grain of its meanings and the sweetness of its allegories, leave to the Jews only the stubble of carnal observance.

But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming, etc. The Pharisees are interpreted "separated", because they claimed for themselves, above others, a singular knowledge of the law and observance of God's commandments. The Sadducees are interpreted "just", who boasted that they were more just than others, refusing to accept the prophecies, or the ministries of angels, or the resurrection, but only the five books of the law, as dictated to Moses by the Lord Himself. A certain Sadoc is shown to be the author of this heresy, from whom his followers derive their name.

Brood of vipers, who showed you to flee from the wrath to come? For the viper is a deadly animal: for the male commonly begets through death, his head plunged into the female's throat; she, biting it off, receives the seed of a deadly offspring; but when the time of birth is at hand, they burst out, having eaten through their mother's womb. So, in a word, the Pharisees and Sadducees, when by perverse doctrine they begot sons of perdition, first of all destroyed themselves by the harm of deception.

Bear therefore fruit worthy of penance. That is, be eager to make amends according to the measure of your fault; and do not wish to say, We have Abraham as father; do not glory in the carnal lineage of the patriarch: because not those who are children of the flesh are the children of God, but those who are eager to imitate him in faith and works are reckoned as the seed.

For I say to you that God is able from these stones, etc. By stones he means the Gentiles, who worshipped senseless creatures in place of the Creator, and who without devotion had the hardness of stones in their heart; from whom God raised up through faith a spiritual seed for Abraham.

Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees. That is, the sentence of the Judge: as the iron that cuts is held by the handle, so the Divinity appearing in judgement, laid not to the branches but to the root, cuts off from the wicked any further power of sinning.

Every tree therefore, as far as, and shall be cast into the fire. That is, every will which now refuses the fruit of good working will then, cut down by the sentence of the just Judge, feel punishment in the fire of eternal damnation.

I baptize you in water, as far as, He is mightier than I. He says he baptizes unto penance, he who did not

have power to forgive sins; but yet the baptism of John, received with faith, was of profit, for it prepared those who received it for the baptism of Christ that followed.

But He Who is to come after me is mightier than I. He Who is God and man is mightier to forgive sins than I, who am only a mere man.

Whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. That is, to claim for myself His heavenly birth, I who was born of the seed of a man. Another evangelist says, I am not worthy to loose the strap of His shoe. It was the custom among the Hebrews that whoever, being a kinsman, wished to take the wife of a dead man, ought to draw the shoe from one foot of the other, who yielded to him the right of kinship; and his house was commonly called the house of the unshod. But John, whom the Jews supposed to be the Christ, neither falsely claimed for himself the name of bridegroom, which he was not, nor the bride, who was due to Another, lest he should lose what he was. Otherwise, the tied strap is the inexplicable mystery of the birth of Christ, according to that prophetic word: Who shall declare His generation (Isa. 53:8)? He professed himself unworthy to loose it.

He will baptize you in spirit and fire. That is, in the grace of the Holy Spirit and the remission of sins; or by fire he means the tribulation of the flesh, because through contrition of the flesh sins committed after baptism are forgiven.

Whose fan, as far as, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. The hand signifies the power of Christ, in which is the fan, that is, the discernment of judgement, and He cleanses thoroughly the threshing-floor of the Church; but He will burn the chaff, that is, He will send the light and unstable into eternal damnation.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. Here it is shown that the time of John's baptism was in the Saviour's thirtieth year; whence this seems to us the fitting age for preaching or for receiving the priesthood: at that age David received the kingdom, and Ezekiel merited the gifts of prophecy. Some ask why the Saviour received John's baptism, He Who was wholly free from the contagion of guilt. But the answer is: either so that He might first receive in Himself whatever He would give to the human race for salvation; or so that He might prove John's baptism to be from God; or so that, having received the streams of the waters upon Himself, He might sanctify them for washing away the filth of our crimes.

But John forbade Him, saying: I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me! He was awestruck that He had come to him Who through the grace of His Spirit took away the sin of the whole world, and by Whom he himself ought to be cleansed from the contagion of original sin, he who, born of woman, was not free from the stain of guilt, as it is written: What is man, that he should be spotless, and that he born of woman should appear clean (Job 25:4)?

But Jesus answering said to him: Allow it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfil all justice; then he allowed Him. As if He had said: First baptize Me in water, as I have commanded, so that afterwards you may be baptized in the Spirit, as you seek; for thus it becomes us [to extend] an example of fulfilling all justice,

to extend the example of fulfilling, so that the faithful may learn that no one is perfectly just without baptism, and that the powerful may not disdain to be baptized by My lowly ones, when they remember that I, Who forgive sins, submitted My head to a servant's hands to be baptized.

And having been baptized, He came up at once from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him. These, then, are the mysteries to be celebrated by us: He Who, just as He consecrated baptism for us by the dipping of His body, so also showed that after receiving baptism the Holy Spirit is given to us and the entrance of the heavenly kingdom is opened; and the flaming sword with which the Cherub guardian first shut [the way], He showed as the second [Adam] to be quenched in baptism. Rightly did the Holy Spirit appear over Christ in the form of a dove, to show the simplicity of His nature and to point to the innocence of our life after baptism: for the dove is a stranger to the malice of gall; so also all bitterness and anger and indignation must be taken away from us, with all malice. It hurts no one with beak or claws; let us too see to it that we are not consumed by biting one another, and that we keep our hands from plunder. For it is said to sit above waters, so that, foreseeing the hawk's swoop, it may avoid it by its shadow in the waters: so it befits us also to sit by the streams of the Scriptures, so that, taught by their mirrors, we may be able to guard against the snares of the ancient enemy. The dove is also said to rear the chicks of others as its own; so, in a word, the Christian ought to seek not only the things that are his own but those that are others'. For the Holy Spirit appeared over the Saviour in the form of a dove because He was not coming to punish sins through zeal, but as yet to bear with them through gentleness; but over mere men He appeared in fire, so that spiritual fervour might kindle them to punish in themselves the sins which God in His gentleness forbore to avenge.

And behold, a voice from heaven saying: This is My Son, in Whom I am well pleased. As if it were said: In Thee I have established My good pleasure, that is, what pleases Me, the salvation of the human race. And the mystery of the Holy Trinity is declared in the baptism, while the Son of God is baptized in the man, the Spirit of God descends in the dove, and God the Father sounds in the voice; so that it might be shown that believers are to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER IV.

Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit, to be tempted by the devil. That Christ, led by His own Spirit into the desert, enters the place of combat by His will, admonishes us that, having received in baptism the remission of sins, we should gird ourselves with the grace of the Holy Spirit against the snares of the ancient enemy, and, forsaking the world in mind, learn to hunger only for the joys of eternal life, as for the manna of the desert.

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry. We read that this forty-day fast was kept before by Moses and Elijah, and through it it is shown that the Gospel does not differ from the law and

the prophets; and by this fast too it is suggested to us that after baptism we must live soberly through all the time of the present age, so as to fast from vices and from the friendship of the world. Further, the Lord's fast before the Passion signifies in itself our labour, while His refreshment after His resurrection signifies our consolation in us. Mystically, moreover, the Lord's hunger signifies His desire for our salvation.

And the tempter came and said to Him: If Thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves (Matt. 4:3). He came, under an assumed form, by permission to tempt, he who was far off by the will of his malice: for He did not disdain to be tempted Who had come to be slain, and because the delight of sin did not bite into His mind. Therefore all that diabolical temptation was not within but without. Fittingly he urged Him to make bread from stones, so that he who is hard of mind might show his hardness in his speech. He said "command", not "make", because he knew that it was written: God said, Let there be light, and light was made (Gen. 1:3).

And He answered and said: It is written: Not by bread alone does man live (Matt. 4:4). As his body lives by earthly food, so his soul lives by the word of God which proceeds from His mouth, when He has willed to reveal the counsel of His will to our frailty through the sacred Scriptures. And in that, being tempted, He answered the devil with sentences of the Scriptures, He gave us examples of humility, so that whenever we suffer anything from wicked men we may be roused to teaching rather than to vengeance.

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him upon the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5). This taking up did not come from the Saviour's weakness but from the enemy's pride, because he took the Saviour's will for necessity. The holy city is Jerusalem, where the worship of the one God was, and the observance of the law of Moses; the pinnacle, moreover, is the summit of the temple, which was level on its upper parts, as it is the custom in Egypt and Palestine to build houses.

And he said to Him: If Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down (Matt. 4:6). In all his temptations the devil aims at this, to learn whether He is the Son of God; but the Lord so tempers His answer as to leave him in doubt. For here it is shown that the devil, who wishes all to fall, can persuade but cannot cast down; and just as the Lord was willing to be set upon the pinnacle but unwilling to be cast down at his command, so it befits us to comply if anyone urges us to climb the way of truth, but if he wishes to cast us down from the height of the virtues to the depths, let us not listen to him.

For it is written that to His angels, and the rest (Matt. 4:6). This prophecy is about the just man, but the devil interprets the Scriptures badly, while he speaks to Christ about the help of angels as though to a weak man, and is silent about what it says of himself thus: Upon the asp and the basilisk you shall walk (Ps. 90:13).

Jesus said to him: Again it is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God (Matt. 4:7). It is to be noted that He brought forth the necessary testimonies from Deuteronomy alone, in order to show the mysteries of the second law; of this matter, therefore, He gave an example here in words, and afterwards in deeds, when by fleeing and hiding from the Jews who raged against Him

He avoided them, so that human weakness might learn not to dare to tempt God, when it has something it can do to escape what it ought to beware of.

Again the devil took Him up into a very high mountain, as far as, and the glory of them (Matt. 4:8). Mystically, this mountain signifies the pride of the devil, by which he himself was deceived and longs to deceive others; and he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He could not, then, enlarge His sight, or show Him anything unknown, but only the vanity of worldly pomp, which he himself loved as though it were beautiful, and therefore desired that it should come into Christ's love. Otherwise: He showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, that is, the men of this age, some of whom, deceived through fornication, others through avarice, are ruled by the devil in the world.

And he said to Him: All these will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me (Matt. 4:9). The ancient enemy raised himself against the first man with three temptations, that is, gluttony, vainglory and avarice; with the same vices he tried to conquer the second: with gluttony when he had said, Command that these stones become loaves; with vainglory, when he said, Cast Thyself down; with avarice, when he said, All these will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. But, conquered by the second, he went away by the same means by which he boasted that he had conquered the first.

Then Jesus said to him: Begone, Satan (Matt. 4:10). "Into eternal damnation" is understood. But if anyone wishes to read according to another copy, Get behind, Satan, he may take it thus: that "behind" looks back to the earlier times in which the devil held the world guilty to himself; as though the Lord were saying: Look back to when you deceived the first man and mocked his descendants through various worships of idols, and let it suffice you up to now: but now not only will you be unable to overthrow Me, but you will be cast out by Me from the power which you boasted that you had. Satan is interpreted "adversary" or "transgressor"; and rightly does he go backwards, because he is the enemy of truth and the transgressor of all justice.

For it is written: The Lord your God you shall worship, and Him only shall you serve (Matt. 4:10). Perhaps someone asks why it is commanded here to serve God alone, when the Apostle says: Through charity serve one another (Gal. 5:13). But it is easily plain: for in the Greek tongue service is commonly named in two ways, and with differing meaning. Dulia is the name for the service common to God or to man, or to any nature whatever; but latria is the name for the service which is owed to the worship of the Divinity alone, and in which no creature is to share. We are commanded through charity to serve one another, which in Greek is called duleum; we are commanded to serve the one God, which in Greek is latreum.

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came (Matt. 4:11). The devil tempts, so that the human weakness may be shown; the angels minister, so that the divinity of the victor may be proved. Let us therefore recognize in Him His care for us, since unless the devil saw that He was a man, he would not tempt Him. Let us venerate in Him His divinity, since unless He were God above all things, the angels would in no way minister to Him.

Now when Jesus had heard that John had been delivered up, He withdrew into Galilee (Matt. 4:12). Mark says: But after John was delivered up (into prison), Jesus came into Galilee (Mark 1:14). Luke, however, said nothing about John's being delivered up, but wove his narrative thus: And when the temptation was finished, he says, the devil departed from Him until a time; and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee (Luke 4:13–14). Yet according to the evangelist John this is shown not to have happened at once, since he says that before John the Baptist was sent into prison Jesus went into Galilee; and from there, after the wine made from water, went down to Capharnaum with His mother and disciples; and so went up to Jerusalem; and that after some things John was baptizing in Ennon. In these matters it is clear that the [other] evangelists did not narrate things contrary to the Gospel of John, but passed over His first coming into Galilee after the baptism, when He made wine from water there.

And leaving the city of Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim (Matt. 4:13). Nazareth is a little village in Galilee near Mount Thabor, whence too our Lord and Saviour was called a Nazarene; Capharnaum, however, is a town beside the lake of Gennesar in Galilee of the Gentiles, in the borders of Zabulon. Mystically, that Jesus begins to preach once John has been delivered up signifies that, when the law ceases, the Gospel arises in consequence. Nazareth is interpreted "his shoot", or "flower", and signifies the flower of the figures which remained imperfect under the law; leaving them behind, Jesus Christ passes over to Capharnaum, which is interpreted "most beautiful farm", or "field of fatness", or "farm of consolation"; and He teaches us to pass over to the fruit of spiritual doctrine which is in the Gospel. For in holy Church, which is a most beautiful farm in the beauty of the virtues, and a field of fatness in the wealth of good works and the abundance of charity, and a farm of consolation in the solace of the holy Scriptures and the hope of things to come, the Saviour, dwelling there, preaches the Gospel daily through His teachers. She is well called "on the sea coast", because, set beside the sea of the world, she is beaten by the waves of persecutions, and yet does not cease to free with the nets of the Gospel those sunk in the waves of pleasures. She is set in the borders of Zabulon, which is "dwelling of strength", and of Nephthalim, which is "enlargement", because she stands in the midst of the Gentiles to spread abroad the word of God with strength, and provides a refuge of protection to those who believe.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, as far as, light has risen to them (Matt. 4:14–16). There are two Galilees: one beyond the Jordan, in which Solomon gave twenty cities to Hiram king of the Tyrians, in the lot of the tribe of Nephthalim; the other beside the lake of Genesareth in the tribe of Zabulon, around Tiberias; to distinguish from it he says "beyond the Jordan, of Galilee of the Gentiles", and the rest.

The people that sat in darkness saw a great light (Matt. 4:16). Holy Church, taken away from her former errors, has become a spiritual Galilee, that is, a "transmigration"; she who formerly, by Gentile rite, in the shadow of death, that is, in carnal

luxury, received the light of the Gospel when Christ came.

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven will draw near (Matt. 4:17). In that He preaches the same things which John had said before, He shows them that He is the Son of God, of Whom John was the prophet.

And walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen (Matt. 4:18). That is, the Lord was incarnate in the sea of this world; He saw spiritual fishermen, whom before the foundation of the world He foreknew to be fit for the work of preaching. Simon is interpreted "obedient"; Peter, "recognizing"; Andrew, "manly"; and this fits the person of teachers well, because only those are fit for the work of teaching who are enlightened by the light of wisdom so as to know, and, working well, obey the commandments of God, and manfully urge this on others to know and to do.

And He said to them: Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). Now whereas according to John the Evangelist Andrew is said to have followed the Lord beside the Jordan on the testimony of John the Baptist, and Peter to have received his name, and Philip to have been called, while the other three evangelists say they were called from fishing, it is to be understood thus: that they did not at once cleave to Him inseparably, but only came to know Who He was, and, marvelling at Him, returned to their own homes.

And they, immediately leaving their nets, followed Him (Matt. 4:20). Perhaps someone says: What did each fisherman give up, who had almost nothing? But we must weigh that he left much who renounced the desires of having.

And going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James of Zebedee and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them (Matt. 4:21). It may be asked, however, how He first called two, and a little later two others, as Matthew and Mark relate, when Luke says that the sons of Zebedee were Peter's partners and were called by him to help draw out the nets when the little boats were filled in that very catch of fish, and that the Lord said to Peter: From now on you shall be catching men (Luke 5:10); and that so, having brought the ships to land, they followed the Lord together. Hence it is to be understood that what Luke indicates happened first, and that they were not then called by the Lord, but only that it was foretold to Peter that he would catch men; and that afterwards there happened what Matthew and Mark relate, that they were called two by two to follow the Lord.

And they, immediately leaving their nets and their father, followed Him (Matt. 4:22). These four disciples signify two peoples, called by the grace of God from the love and cares of this world to spiritual endeavour; for Peter and James signify the faithful Jews, recognizing the Lord and supplanting vices; but Andrew and John signify the Gentiles, believing manfully in Christ and saved by the grace of God. For the two ships signify the two Churches called from the circumcision and the uncircumcision; the nets, the preaching of the Gospel;

the sea too, the world; the fish, men sunk in the pleasures of the world and given over to carnal wisdom; the harbour, the end of the present life. Zebedee is interpreted "flowing", and signifies the instability of things that slip away. Morally, moreover, each one of the faithful can have the four names in himself, if he takes care to show them in the four virtues. He is Simon Peter when through prudence he recognizes his sins, and, having blotted them out through strong obedience to the commandments of God, escapes the harm of punishments; Andrew, when through temperance he manfully endures temptations; and he is not falsely called James who, by supplanting, conquers vices through fortitude; and he can fittingly be named John, that is, "grace of God", when through justice he has fulfilled the Creator's commandments and yet has ascribed nothing of it to himself, but to God.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every infirmity among the people (Matt. 4:23). So that by His example He might teach that teachers ought to be diligent and unwearied, and to minister the word of God without respect of persons: in their synagogues, so that in the gatherings of many they might preach not empty tales but things that profit for the benefit of the hearers. Healing every sickness of bodies and infirmity of souls, giving us an example, that we may be ready in spiritual and bodily things to afford comfort to our neighbours.

And His fame went into all Syria (Matt. 4:24). By this is meant, in general, the whole region from the river Euphrates to the great sea, and from Cappadocia and Armenia to Egypt, containing three very great provinces, Commagene, Phoenicia and Palestine, in which the nation of the Jews dwells.

And they brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases, as far as, lunatics and paralytics, and He cured them (Matt. 4:24). Those are called lunatics whose pain increased with the waxing of the moon, not because it truly came from that, but through the deceit of demons, so that by this slander of the creature it might overflow into blasphemy against the Creator. Paralytics are those who are deprived of the vigour of the body; for "paralysis" in Greek is called "dissolution" in Latin. Mystically, Galilee, which is interpreted "rolling" or "wheel", and Syria, which means "loftiness", signify this world, which, though it raises itself on high, yet tends to failure and is rolled down to the depths; and His fame was spread through the whole world, as: Their sound went out into all the earth (Rom. 10:18). Then too the demoniacs were cured, that is, the Gentiles, converted to the faith, abandoned idols; and the lunatics and paralytics were healed as well, that is, the unstable and those wavering through various errors were strengthened. Hence it is added:

And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and from Decapolis, and the rest (Matt. 4:25). Decapolis is a region of ten cities beyond the Jordan to the east, around Hippos; and the crowds are well said to have followed Him, because after the knowledge of His name reached the ends of the earth, a crowd of the faithful from every nation followed the footsteps of His commandments.

CHAPTER V.

And Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up into a mountain, and when He had sat down His disciples came to Him; and opening His mouth He taught them, saying, etc. (Matt. 5:1–2). For Luke relates that He went up into a mountain and spent the night there in prayer; and that when day had come He chose twelve of His disciples, whom He also named apostles; and that after coming down from the mountain He preached to the crowds standing in a level place. This can be understood thus: that He was first on some higher part of the mountain with the twelve chosen disciples, and then came down with them, not from the mountain, but from its height, into a level place, as it were on the side of the mountain, and stood there until the crowds were gathered to Him; and afterwards sat down, and, with the disciples coming near and the crowds present, gave one sermon, which Matthew and Luke have narrated. Mystically, He went up into a mountain Who willed to commend the greater precepts of justice; and when He had sat down, that is, had appeared in the form of a servant, the disciples came near with devotion of mind and piety of faith, so that as eternal mountains they might receive the justice of peace to be poured out for the people. The opening of the mouth shows the length of the sermon, or the manifestness of the teaching.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). That is, the humble through voluntary poverty; for Isaiah enumerated these beatitudes in another order but with the same sense, and to these, according to Isaiah, the Spirit of fear is suited, because through humility the kingdom is gained which was seen to be lost through pride.

Blessed are the meek (Matt. 5:4). Those, that is, who yield to the bitterness of wickedness shall possess a land, not one sprouting the thorn of the curse, but one feeding the soul without failing; to them the Spirit of piety is suited, because it conforms itself to the divine Scriptures by obeying.

Blessed are they who mourn (Matt. 5:5). Not, that is, with the common mourning of worldly sorrow, but according to God, at the prompting of penitence for sins, or else from fear of eternal damnation, or from love of heavenly desires, or through compassion for their neighbours; for they shall be consoled with eternal joy. For tears are distinguished into these four kinds: they are wet, to wash away sins and restore the lost baptism; they are salt and bitter, to restrain the luxury of the flesh; they are warm against the cold of unbelief and to kindle the ardour of charity; they are pure, to restore cleanness of life. Theirs is the Spirit of knowledge, and deservedly, because they have learned in the sacred Scriptures that they themselves are to be mourned.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice (Matt. 5:6). That is, those who with their whole mind desire to be filled with the food of justice, and thirst for it with the zeal of persevering in it, shall be satisfied with a refreshment that never cloys; to them the spirit of fortitude is suited, that is, without sloth and without failing in good work.

Blessed are the merciful (Matt. 5:7). The merciful are those who take thought for themselves by doing good, and to the correction of their neighbours

devote diligence, so that from a merciful judge they may obtain eternal mercy; theirs is the spirit of counsel, by which they do not cease to take thought for themselves and for others.

Blessed are the clean of heart (Matt. 5:8). That is, those seeking God in simplicity and having nothing of bitterness, free of all vanity, and contemplating God with sincere love: theirs is the spirit of understanding, because the treasure of wisdom lies open to their sight.

Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). Those, that is, whose flesh does not lust against the spirit, and who, making others to be at peace with one another, desire to have peace even with those who hate peace; and so they will deservedly be called children of God, in whom nothing contrary to God is found. For to them is referred the spirit of wisdom, because all things obey their reason, and reason itself is subject to God. The eighth sentence, indeed, in which it is said:

Blessed are they who suffer persecution (Matt. 5:10), seems to pertain to the Lord's resurrection, because on the seventh day, that is, when the sabbath was passing, and on the eighth day, returning as the head of days, the Head of the Church rose, the toil of persecution being overcome. For when the number seven is multiplied sevenfold, forty-nine result; and when one is added to this, namely the eighth, the head of the days of the world, fifty are found. Hence we too, having received the grace of the Holy Spirit and the remission of sins, are led into the kingdom of heaven, where we receive the inheritance, are consoled and fed, obtain mercy, and are cleansed and made peaceable, so that, after the week of this world is past, we may rise again and enter the life to come. And so it comes about that the day which was the first of the passing life becomes then the first of the eternal.

Blessed are you when men shall revile you, as far as, speaking falsely for My sake (Matt. 5:11). He had set out the earlier sentences in general terms up to the eighth; from there He now began to speak addressing those present, although these things pertain not only to those who were present and listening, but also to those who were absent or were to come afterwards, just as the things said above, in which He did not say, Yours is the kingdom of heaven, or You shall possess; yet they did not pertain only to those to whom He was speaking in person. But He makes an apostrophe to them, speaking to those present, chiefly for this reason: because He wished to make known to them the dignity of their rank, foretelling the sufferings which they were to suffer for His name.

Rejoice and exult, for your reward is very great in heaven (Matt. 5:12). He who pursues vain glory cannot fulfil this, to exult in the Lord when torn by the reproaches of infamy; as it is written: Do not seek glory, and you will not grieve when you are without glory. We ought to rejoice that a reward is being prepared for us in heaven.

For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. 5:12). He did well to exhort them by the example of the prophets, who did not fall away from the preaching of the truth for fear of persecution.

You are the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13). By the earth, human nature is signified; by the salt, the wisdom of the word. For by the nature of salt the earth is made unfruitful, whence we read that certain cities

were sown with salt by the anger of their conquerors; and this befits the apostolic teaching, that with the salt of wisdom it should restrain, in the earth of human flesh, the luxury of the world, or the foulness of vices from sprouting.

But if the salt lose its savour, with what shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out and trodden underfoot by men (Matt. 5:13). That is: if you, by whom the peoples are to be seasoned, lose the kingdom of heaven through fear of persecutions or through error, then, set outside the Church, you will undoubtedly bear the reproaches of enemies.

You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). That is: because you have been enlightened by the true light, you ought to be a light to those who are in the world. A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14), that is, the apostolic teaching founded upon Christ, or the Church built upon Christ out of many nations in the unity of faith and cemented with the pitch of charity, which becomes safe for those who enter and toilsome for those who assail it: it guards its inhabitants and shuts out all enemies.

Nor do they light a lamp, and the rest (Matt. 5:15). He therefore puts the lamp under a bushel who darkens and covers the light of teaching for the sake of temporal advantages; but upon a lampstand, he who so submits himself to the ministry of God that the teaching of truth is higher than the service of the body. Otherwise: the Saviour lit a lamp, Who filled the earthen vessel of human nature with the flame of His divinity, and set it upon a lampstand, that is, the Church, in that He fixed the faith of His incarnation on our foreheads. This lamp could not be put under a bushel, that is, be shut within the measure of the law, nor did it shine in Judaea alone, but in the whole world.

So let your light shine before men, and the rest (Matt. 5:16). Because it is expedient for each one to please God by good works, and not to rejoice in the false favour of men.

Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfil (Matt. 5:17). He came to fulfil what had been imperfect, taking away anger, and excluding the requital of retaliation, and forbidding the hidden lust of the mind.

Amen, too, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall not pass from the law until all things are done (Matt. 5:18). For these pass away when they are changed for the better. The iota, which is smaller than the other letters, and the tittle, which is its topmost little part, show that even the least precepts of the law are brought to perfection, and that all the mysteries of the law are full of the spiritual. Fittingly, moreover, He put the Greek iota and not the Hebrew yod, because the iota expresses ten in number and counts the Decalogue of the law, whose crown and perfection indeed is the Gospel.

For whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, and the rest (Matt. 5:19). The least thing is the death of the cross; and he who has taught others according to what he has broken, and not according to what he found and read, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; or perhaps he will not be there, where none but the great can be. It can also be taken morally: that although Scripture in itself cannot be broken, yet he who does not fulfil God's commandment

in himself, breaks it, and becomes most despised in the Church of the saints.

For I say to you that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, and the rest (Matt. 5:20). That is: unless you fulfil not only those least precepts of the law, which is the justice of the Pharisees, that they should not kill, but also these which are added by Me, which is the justice of those who are to enter the kingdom of God, that they should not be angry, you are not fit to enter the heavenly kingdom.

You have heard that it was said to the men of old: You shall not kill, etc. (Matt. 5:21). In some manuscripts there is added thus: Whoever is angry without cause; but it should be erased, because the anger of man does not work the justice of God (Jas. 1:20).

And whoever shall say Racha shall be liable to the council (Matt. 5:22). Racha is a Hebrew word, that is, "empty" or "void", and it is interpreted kenos, whom we might call, by a common insult, "brainless". With what title of folly, then, can he be branded who faithfully believes God and has known Christ, the wisdom of God?

And whoever shall say, You fool, shall be liable to the fire of gehenna (Matt. 5:22). It is the peril of a great crime to provoke with the insult of a dulled sense, or to exasperate with the reproach of folly, him whom God has called salt and one who seasons the understanding of fools. Such a one, therefore, will be fodder for the eternal fire. There are thus degrees in these sins, from the lighter to the graver, until one comes to the gehenna of fire. For in the judgement room is still given to defence, while the impulse conceived in the heart is still held down; but in the council, when the voice of the angry man has now broken out, the question dealt with is not with the accused himself whether he is to be condemned, but it is discussed among the judges with what punishment the guilty man is to be condemned. But the gehenna of fire is certain damnation and the punishment of the damned. These degrees, then, in what ways they are invisibly rendered to the deserts of souls, who can say? They think that gehenna took its name from a valley consecrated to idols near the wall of Jerusalem, once filled with the corpses of the dead, which King Josue too is read in the book of Kings to have defiled.

If therefore you offer your gift at the altar, and the rest (Matt. 5:23). This can be done according to the letter if the brother is present who has something against us, that is, whom we have injured; for we have something against him if he has injured us, in which case there is no need to ask pardon of the one doing the injury, but only that you forgive, as you desire your own offences to be forgiven you by God. Spiritually, then, we are compelled to understand that faith is the altar in the temple of God, which we are, upon which a spiritual gift, whether prophecy, or prayer, or anything else that may well be offered to God, will not otherwise be accepted unless it is propped up by the purity of faith; and if it comes to mind that we have something against a brother, it is necessary that before God, in affectionate thought, we run back to our brother with the swiftest affection of love, and, recalling our intention from there, complete the gift we have begun.

Be at agreement with your adversary, as far as, until you pay the last farthing (Matt. 5:25–26). Understand the judge as Christ, the officer as an angel, the prison as the punishments of darkness. The farthing here is, in another place, two mites,

not that the Gospels disagree, but that one farthing contains two small coins. The earth is found to be a part of the distinct members of this world; therefore He says "the last farthing", that is, earthly sins; and His saying, Until you pay, is put for "without end", as elsewhere: Until I make Thy enemies (Ps. 109:1). The adversary, moreover, with whom we are commanded to agree, some have chosen to understand as the devil, some as the flesh, some as God, some as the commandment of God; not that we should obey the persuasions of the devil or of the flesh, which we renounce in baptism, but we are commanded to be well disposed towards them by resisting, lest by obeying we heap up for them the punishment of their deception.

You have heard that it was said to the men of old: You shall not commit adultery, as far as, has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:27–28). Between passion and propassion the ancients make this difference: he who sees a woman and whose soul is tickled is struck by propassion; but he who gives consent to the delight passes from propassion to passion. And so one comes to sin by three steps: suggestion, delight, consent. And of this sin there are three distinctions, in the heart, in the deed, in habit, as it were three deaths: one in the house, when there is consent to lust in the heart; the second, as it were already carried out beyond the gate, when the assent goes forth into the deed; but the third, when the mind is pressed down by the force of evil habit as by an earthly mass.

And if your right eye scandalize you, as far as, than that your whole body go into gehenna (Matt. 5:29). For not unfittingly can the right eye be taken as a beloved friend and a counsellor in divine things, who is not to be spared from being cast away if, scandalizing us, he wishes to lead us into heresy.

And if your right hand scandalize you, and the rest (Matt. 5:30). In the right hand is understood a beloved helper and minister in divine works, just as in the left are understood the things that are necessary to the body; for as contemplation is signified in the eye, so action is signified in the hand. We can also understand by the right eye and the right hand any kinsfolk whatever, who also, if they are a cause of scandal, are to be cut off.

It has been said, moreover: Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce (Matt. 5:31). This the Saviour Himself explains, in a later part, that Moses did because of the hardness of their heart, not to grant separation, but to take away murder.

But I say to you that everyone who puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her commit adultery; and he who marries her who has been put away commits adultery (Matt. 5:32). Here is understood not only fornication in debauchery, which is committed with other men's husbands or wives, but every concupiscence, or avarice, or idolatry, which make a man stray from the law of God. If, then, a wife should compel her husband to anything of this kind, he who puts such a one away puts her away for the cause of fornication, not only hers, but also his own: hers, who commits fornication; his own, lest he commit fornication.

Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old: You shall not forswear yourself, as far as, You cannot make one hair white (Matt. 5:33–36)

make white, or black. The Jews were permitted to swear by God, not because they did rightly, but because it is better to show this to God than to demons or to other creatures, since he who swears either venerates or loves him by whom he swears; and because he who does not swear cannot perjure himself. Therefore let us use an oath rarely and only from necessity, when we see men slow to believe, as the Apostle says: The things that I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie (Gal. 1:20). The seat, moreover, signifies the judgement of God, Who is said to sit in heaven, not because He has members placed as we do, but because in the whole body of the world heaven has the greatest beauty and earth the least, as though the divine power, more present to the excellent beauty, while it orders the least in the lowest places, is said to sit in heaven and to tread upon the earth. Spiritually, however, He signifies holy souls by the name of heaven, and sinful ones by that of earth. And the spiritual man, who judges all things and is judged by no one, is fittingly called the seat of God. But the sinner, to whom it was said: Earth you are, and into earth you shall go, is set among the lowest by the justice that renders what is due to merits.

But let your speech be, Yes, yes, No, no; and whatever is more than these is from evil. As if he were saying: What is, let it suffice to say it is; and what is not, let it suffice to say not. Or else Yes, yes, No, no is said twice for this reason: that what you affirm with the mouth you may prove by works, and that what you deny in word you may not confirm by deeds. He did not say: whatever is more is evil, but is from evil, that is, from the weakness of him by whom you are compelled to swear; and this weakness is an evil, but you do well who use an oath well, so as to persuade another of what you urge for his profit.

You have heard that it was said: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; but I say to you not to resist evil. In the law the fault is corrected; in the Gospel the very beginnings of sins are taken away. In the law there seem to be four degrees of vengeance. The first is, that the injured man should not avenge himself more heavily; the second, which the law laid down, saying: An eye for an eye, that vengeance should not exceed the injury; and this is the beginning of peace, for reaching which two degrees still remain, that is, that he should not return as much, but less. For example, for two blows one; [and] he arrives at the third when he repays no evil, nay rather good for evil; and yet that is not yet the point of what He says: Not to resist evil, that is, that you should not only not repay what was inflicted, but should not even resist the infliction of more, which He also goes on to set out, saying:

But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other also. For He does not say: Do not strike, but further: prepare yourself to be struck; the physician of souls teaching that those whose salvation they wished to provide for, they should bear their weaknesses with an even mind. Mystically we are bidden to offer to the one who strikes us the other right [cheek], not the left, which the just man does not have. That is, if a heretic strikes us in disputation and wounds a right doctrine, let right [testimonies] be set against him, until the enemy, overcome, grows weary.

And to him who wishes to contend with you in judgement and [take away] your tunic,

take away, let him have your cloak also. Luke has set this passage the other way round, saying: From him who takes away your garment, do not withhold your tunic also. What was said of the garment and the tunic is to be done with regard to all things which by some right we call ours in time. By the tunic, which is the inner garment, necessary things are signified; and if it is fitting to despise these, how much more the superfluous things which are signified morally by the cloak, which is the outer garment. Spiritually, however, every teacher takes away someone's tunic when he demands of him that the sins hidden in his mind be confessed, such as envy, pride and the like. And the man himself gives up his cloak when he is not ashamed to confess as well the outward crimes which the body committed.

And whoever compels you [to go] a thousand paces, go with him two more. By this testimony He certainly enjoins the disposition of compassion, and [bids you] spend the zeal of comfort on him who asks it of you, which you ought to show yourself willing [to give] beyond your strength. Otherwise: if someone wishing to believe asks you what God is, make haste to show him not only the Father, but also the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Give to him who asks of you, and from him who would borrow of you do not turn away. We do not understand this as said only of almsgiving, since even the rich become poor if they always give; but teachers are commanded to bestow freely what they have freely received, because money of this kind never fails. For thus you will give to everyone who asks, although you will not always give what he asks, when, having shown him justice, you do not send him away empty, though what you give is not what he asks. And moreover the spiritual teacher ought to lend the word of God to his hearers, so that he may receive from them the return of a good work.

You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbour, and you shall hate your enemy; but I say to you: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and the rest. It must be known, then, that in the love of enemies Christ does not command impossible things, as some suppose, but perfect ones, which David did towards Saul, and the martyr Stephen when he prayed for his persecutors. Here, then, a question difficult for the less understanding arises: that in the prophets are found imprecations against enemies which are thought to be curses, such as: Let their table become (Ps. 68:23), and the rest. But the prophet said these things not with the wish of one desiring them, but with the Spirit of one foreseeing them. And the Lord said: Woe to you, Capharnaum (Matt. 11:21). He did not wish this out of ill will, but He saw that it would come upon it by the desert of its unbelief. Again another question arises: that the Lord bids us pray for enemies, and John [bids us] not to ask for those who sin unto death; and this is so because there are among brethren some sins graver than the persecution of enemies. I think the sin unto death is, after the knowledge of God through the grace of the Holy Spirit, to assail the brotherhood, and to be driven by the firebrands of envy against grace itself; and the sin not unto death, when someone through some weakness of mind has not shown the brotherhood the duties owed to it.

That you may be sons of your Father, as far as, He rains upon the just

and the unjust. He does not say: Do these things, you who are sons of God, but, that you may be sons of God. For One is by nature the Son of God; but we, having received power, are made sons of God in so far as we fulfil the things which He commands. He speaks of the sun risen upon the good and the bad: [meaning] Christ, the sun of justice; the rain, the teaching of truth; because He appeared to the good and the bad, and Christ was preached as gospel.

For if you love those who love you, as far as, Do not even the heathens do this?

Publicans, indeed, among them is the name for the Roman tax-gatherers, who pursue the revenues or the public gains of the world; for ἔθνος in Greek is called gens [nation] in Latin. Hence the gentiles are called heathens, being such as they were born. And the sense of this saying is this: if, then, heathens and publicans, with nature as their guide, are kind towards those who love them, how much more ought you, being broader in love, to embrace even those who do not love [you]; for those who hold a more excellent rank of profession must needs have a more abundant care for virtue.

Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. Without love of enemies, who can fulfil what was said above? For the perfection of mercy, by which the labouring soul will be most of all provided for, cannot be stretched beyond love of an enemy; and therefore it is closed thus: Be you therefore perfect, and the rest. Yet in such a way that God is understood to be perfect as God, and the soul perfect as a soul. He, then, who loves his neighbour climbs a certain step; but he will perfect his goodwill who, by the commandment, has carried it on to the love of an enemy; for what is written in the law: You shall hate your enemy, is not to be taken as the voice of one commanding the just, but of one making allowance for the weak.

CHAPTER VI.

Take heed that you do not do your justice before men, to be seen by them.

As if he were saying: Beware lest you seek praise from men, and on that account be deprived of the fruit of the reward; whence it is added:

Otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father who is in heaven. For whoever pursues the empty favour of the crowd, this will be counted to him as his reward, and on this account he is driven back from the wedding feast of the eternal King, from the doors he has knocked at, because here he is not proved to love Him.

When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet, and the rest. It is plain that they are hypocrites who feign themselves just and do not show it [in deed]; and accordingly from God, the searcher of the heart, they receive nothing else but the punishment of deceit.

But when you give alms, as far as, And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

For delight in human praise seems to be signified by the left hand, and by the right the intention of fulfilling the divine commandments. And what is almsgiving in secret, if not [almsgiving] in the good conscience itself, which cannot be shown to human eyes, and which is accomplished even in a good will, though there be nothing to bestow in money; for the left hand is wont to work in those who do it not within, but outside.

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, as far as They have received their reward. The corners of the streets are where one road runs across another road and makes a crossroads. For it is not wrong to be seen by men praying somewhere, but to do it for this purpose, that you may be seen by men to be praised.

But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, as far as, Your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

That is, turn back from visible things into the clean conscience of the heart, to pray to the invisible Lord, and shut the door against carnal things and phantasms; resist the crowds that clamour in the thought, so that from the inmost heart a spiritual prayer may be directed to the Father.

But when you pray, do not speak much, as far as, Do not therefore be like them. The heathens, then, think that God, like a human judge, is drawn to a verdict by words, and so they suppose that they are heard for their much speaking.

For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. For at this place a certain heresy of the philosophers rises up, who say: If God knows what we need before we ask, we speak in vain to one who knows. To these it must be answered that we are not informants but petitioners. It is one thing to inform, another piteously to entreat one who knows.

Our Father, Who art in heaven. That is, in the holy and the just, to whom it is said: The temple of God is holy, which you are.

Hallowed be Thy name. How do we ask that the name of the Lord, which is always holy, be hallowed by men? [We ask] that the name of the Lord be shown holy in this world, so that we who were sanctified in baptism may persevere in it. And this is a daily work, that we who daily transgress should implore sanctification.

Thy kingdom come. For when does God not reign, or when does that begin with Him which always was and does not cease to be? We ask, rather, for our kingdom, promised to us by God and won by the passion of Christ, so that we who before served in the world may afterwards reign with Christ as Lord, as: Come, you blessed (Matt. 25:34), and the rest.

Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. That is, as Thy will is [done] in the angels who are in heaven, so may it be done in men who are on earth, that with no misery hindering they may gain the same blessedness with Thee. Otherwise: as the just do Thy will, so may sinners also be turned to Thee. Or else we take heaven and earth [as] the body and the soul.

Thy will be done. In this, that as in the heart we delight in the law of God according to the inner man, so the body, altered by no earthly pleasures, may [not] oppose this delight.

Give us this day our daily bread. Daily bread is said either for all the necessities of this life, or for the sacrament of the body of Christ, which we receive daily; and lest some raise a question who do not communicate daily in the sacrament of Christ: it remains that we understand the daily bread

the divine commandments, which we ought daily to meditate on and to carry out.

And forgive us, and the rest. For it is to our health that we are reminded that we are sinners, being compelled to pray for our sins. He who taught us to pray for our debts and sins promised fatherly mercy and added that pardon would follow, binding us also by a fixed pledge, that we should ask pardon from God, to whom we are debtors, in no other way than as we forgive our debtors; and if we lie in this compact, there is no fruit of the whole prayer.

And lead us not into temptation. For God does not lead in by Himself, but allows him to be led in whom He has deserted with His help. And therefore what is prayed for here is not that we be not tempted, but that we be not brought into temptation. For it is one thing to be led into temptation, another to be tempted. Without temptation no one can be proved; therefore he who must needs be tried by fire does not pray that he be not touched by the fire, but that he be not burnt up.

But deliver us from evil. That is, that we may stand secure and safe from all the things that the devil and the world work; but that no temptation at all should be feared is not to be hoped as possible here in the present, because this blessedness is begun here and will be perfected in the future. Amen, moreover, which is written at the end, is the seal of the Lord's Prayer, which Aquila rendered faithfully; and we can truly say that it signifies the most pure truth of this whole prayer, and that all things which they duly ask are without doubt bestowed by the Lord on those who do not neglect to keep the compact of the last condition.

For if you forgive men their sins, as far as Neither will your Father forgive you your sins.

If you do not forgive men, He says, as though those who forgive were not men, that is, not human nor earthly. Whence it is written: I said: You are gods, and the rest. But you shall die like men. This is said to those who for their sins have deserved to become men instead of gods.

And when you fast, do not become gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

By these words our intention is taught to be directed to inward joys, lest, seeking a reward outside, we be conformed to this world. What He says, Exterminant [they disfigure], is not a worn usage of Scripture. Exiles too are said to be exterminated, who are sent beyond the borders (extra terminos). For this word, then, we are always accustomed to take demoliuntur [they demolish], which hypocrites are wont to do, so that with a strong and rejoicing mind they feign sadness and grief in their countenance. By this passage it is understood that boasting is wont to be found not only in the pomp of the world but also in mournful squalor.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head with oil and wash your face, as far as, And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you openly.

Now the Palestinians, after whose custom He speaks thus, are wont on feast days to anoint their heads with oil; and He commands us, when practising the virtues, not with the oil of the sinner, but

with that of exultation, to show ourselves festive, and to anoint the ruling part of our heart with spiritual oil.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, as far as, And where thieves do not dig through nor steal.

Through three kinds of adversity, that is, of rust, of moth and of thieves, He forbids and rebukes every kind of avarice; because there are some things which rust tarnishes or consumes, as gold, silver and the other metals; others which are dissolved by worms or decay, as garments and wooden vessels, which perish by rot; others are carried off by thieves, as gems and precious stones, though they cannot be consumed by any other filth; and so nothing can endure for ever unharmed. Whence it is said: Every chosen work shall be justified, and he who works it shall be honoured in it; and every corruptible work shall fail in the end, and he who works it shall perish with it. Allegorically, rust signifies pride, which, wherever it is, squanders the treasure of spiritual gifts and tarnishes the beauty of the virtues. The moth denotes envy, which, secretly gnawing at good endeavour, does not cease to tear down the compact of unity. And the thieves are demons and heretics, ever intent on this, to plunder those who hold spiritual treasures and to despoil those laden with the ornaments of the virtues. In another sense: every thing becomes soiled when it is mixed with a lower nature. So too our mind is soiled by desire of earthly things, though the earth is clean in its own order; but in the desire of spiritual things it remains clean, because whatever things are heavenly are clean.

Where your treasure is, there is your heart also.

This is to be understood not only of money but of all the passions: the wanton man's god is his sports, the lover's his lust, the glutton's his belly; each man serves that by which he is overcome.

The lamp of your body is your eye, as far as, Your whole body will be full of darkness.

Now the eye is the mind's intention, and if it goes before perverted, every work that follows is depraved, though it seem to be right; for by the body are signified the works which appear to all; and if anyone does them with a right intention, even if before men they seem to have something of imperfection, all things work together for good.

If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will the darkness itself be. If the intention of the heart is blinded in you by craving for temporal things, how much more is the deed itself darkened, and it will profit nothing, because what is imputed to you is how you have done it, not how it has turned out for the one who receives it.

No one can serve two masters, as far as, And he will despise the other. That is, he who loves God hears the devil. For no one's knowledge can bear to hate God, and therefore he who does not fear Him despises Him, while he does not keep His commandments.

You cannot serve God and mammon. Let the avaricious man hear this, and let him be eager rather to distribute as a master the riches which in the Syriac tongue are called mammon, than to guard them as a slave.

Therefore I say to you, be not anxious for your life, and the rest.

What He says, therefore I say to you, looks back to what went before: lest through anxiety for temporal things you be convicted of laying up treasure with the rich of this world. Let us understand that we ought not to be anxious about bodily food and clothing; but about spiritual food and clothing we ought always to be anxious.

Is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the clothing? He warns us, then, in this saying, to remember that God, Who made and fashioned us, has given us much more than any food and covering. At this place it is commonly asked whether this bodily food pertains to the soul, since the soul itself is incorporeal, or not. But let us know that soul is put here for this life, whose stay is this bodily nourishment.

Look at the birds of the air, as far as And your Father feeds them. That is, if the birds, whose life is mortal, are nourished by the providence of God, how much more men, to whom eternity is promised.

Are you not worth more than they? That is, you are of dearer value than irrational creatures, such as the birds are.

And which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature, and why are you anxious about clothing?

As if He were saying: Leave, then, the care of covering the body to Him by whose care you see it has come about that you have a body of such a stature.

Consider the lilies of the field, and the rest. These lessons about birds and lilies are not set down allegorically, but so that from lesser things the greater might be urged.

And I say to you that not even Solomon, and the rest. Truly, what silk, what purple of kings can be compared with the flowers? What is so red as the rose, what so white as the lily? — which is a judgement of the eyes rather than of speech.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow is cast into the oven, and the rest.

Tomorrow is put for future time. And the sense is: if the Maker of all adorns with so lovely a beauty things which, soon fallen, are burnt up in the fire, how much more will He provide for you in necessities, who belong to an eternal inheritance.

Be not anxious, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or with what shall we be clothed?

It is to be noted that He does not say: Do not seek food, etc. But what, He says, you shall eat, and the rest. Here those seem to me to be rebuked who, scorning the common life, require for themselves more sumptuous or more austere food or clothing than [that of] those with whom they spend their life.

All these things the gentiles seek. Namely those who have no care of things to come, but are compared to senseless beasts and are become like them.

For your Father knows, as far as And all these things shall be added to you. Seek the kingdom of God, which is the good to be desired, and the necessities without which this life cannot be lived. He did not say they would be given to us, but added, because eternity ought to be ours in intention, but in use

temporal things: the one as the good, the other as the necessary.

Be not anxious for the morrow. For the morrow will be anxious for itself. Since the earth brings forth yearly fruits, He Who forbade us to take thought for the future, which is what tomorrow signifies, allowed that we ought to be concerned about present things.

Sufficient for the day is its own evil. Let thought for the present time, then, suffice us; let us leave the care of future things, which is uncertain. I think, then, that He called this care evil because it is penal and belongs to this mortality which we merited by sinning. For we must beware of judging anyone who provides necessities for those entrusted to him, lest they lack, since the Lord Himself deigned to have a purse.

CHAPTER VII.

Judge not, that you may not be judged, as far as, With what measure you have measured, it shall be measured back to you.

In this place I consider it commanded that we should interpret in the better sense those deeds of which it is doubtful with what mind they are done, because it is uncertain with what mind anything has been done, or what sort of man he will become who now appears either good or bad. Whence the Apostle says: Judge not before the time (1 Cor. 4:5). Of manifest things, which cannot be done with a good mind, it is said thus: By their fruits you shall know them (Matt. 7:16). What He says may disturb us: For with whatever judgement you judge, you shall be judged. Will God then judge us rashly, as we [judge] others? Or, with what measure, it shall be measured back: in no way is this so with God; but it is said in the sense that the very rashness with which you punish another must needs punish you. Whence it is said: Everyone who strikes with the sword shall perish by the sword (Matt. 26:52). Not by the sword of iron, but by the sword of sin.

And why do you see the mote in your brother's eye, as far as, And do not see the beam in your own eye.

Many, overtaken by pride and hatred, most sharply rebuke those whom they see troubled by sudden anger, as having changed the eye of the mind from its wonted state of purity, as though a mote had fallen in; and hence they love to blame them rather than to amend them; and therefore it is said to them that it is impossible for anyone to take the mote out of his brother's eye who carries a beam in his own eye. It can happen that if you are angry with a man you wish him to be corrected; but if you hate him, you cannot wish to correct him. As great as the distance between a beam and a mote, so great is it between hatred and anger.

Hypocrite, cast out first the beam from your own eye, and then you will see to cast out, and the rest.

First drive hatred out of yourself, and thereafter you will be able to amend him whom you love.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, as far as, And turn and tear you apart. We take dogs and swine for despisers; it is not fitting, therefore, to lay open the gospel pearl to swine of this kind remaining in the mire of unbelief, or to heretics, or to men returning to the vomit of their sins. Lest they trample it, that is, despise it, and turning begin to scatter you.

Ask and it shall be given you, and the rest. Asking pertains to obtaining health and firmness of mind, so that we may be able to fulfil what is commanded; seeking

[pertains] to finding the truth. And when someone has found the true way, he will come to the possession itself, which nevertheless will be opened to him who knocks.

For everyone who asks receives, and the rest. Perseverance, then, is needed, that we may receive what we ask, and find what we seek, and that what we knock at may be opened.

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will hand him a stone?

By the bread is understood charity, without which all else is nothing, just as without bread a table seems poor; to which hardness of heart is contrary, which He compared to a stone.

Or if he asks for a fish, will he hand him a serpent? The fish is faith in things invisible, either on account of the water of baptism, or because it is caught from things unseen, or because it is not broken by the waves of this world; to which He set the serpent as contrary, on account of the poisons of deceit which it sowed beforehand in the first man. And as for the comparison of the egg and the scorpion that follows these two in the Gospel according to Luke: in the egg hope is indicated, in which the offspring is not yet perfect, but is hoped for by cherishing; or because to look back is contrary to hope, which stretches itself out to the things that are before. And therefore He set against it the scorpion, whose poisoned sting is to be feared from behind, because deadly despair is to be dreaded at the end.

If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, as far as To those who ask Him.

He calls evil the lovers of this world; and in the nature of things the gifts they give are good, though they are temporal, because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof (Ps. 23:1). Otherwise: the Apostles, who by the merit of their election had surpassed the goodness of the human race, are said to be evil in view of the supernal goodness, because nothing is unchangeable or good of itself save the Godhead alone. And what Luke says: He will give the good Spirit, shows that the Holy Spirit is the fullness of the good things of God.

Enter by the narrow gate, as far as, And few there are who find it.

The broad way is that which leads to the pleasures of the world, for which there is no need of seeking or finding, because they offer themselves of their own accord. But the narrow way all do [not] find, nor do those who find it at once walk along it, since many, caught by the pleasures of the world, turn back from the midst of the road of truth.

Beware of false prophets, as far as, But inwardly they are ravening wolves.

This is said especially of heretics, who are seen to surround themselves with continence, chastity and fasting as with a kind of garment of piety, but by the intention of a poisoned mind and by their snares are compared to ravening wolves.

Otherwise: consider more warily those who strive to lead you astray through the Christian name, bringing in scandal with sweet words; and He shows how these are to be known.

By their fruits you shall know them. That is, do not attend to the face, but to the works. For even if not in words, they blaspheme by their conduct.

Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

None of the wise will be able to find from heretics or unbelievers the fragrance of holiness or the sweetness of truth. Otherwise, I think thorns and thistles can signify the cares of the world and the prickings of vices, as: Your land shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you (Gen. 3:18); but the fig and the grape the sweetness of the new way of life, for which the Lord hungered in us, and the fervour of love, which gladdens the heart of man.

So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit, and the rest.

By the tree we understand the will, whether good or bad. And by the fruits the works, which can be neither bad [works] of a good will nor good [works] of a bad will; and [the will] becomes good too when it is turned to the highest and unchangeable good and is filled with good, so that it bears good fruit. And through this it is that He is called the author of all good things, that is, both of good nature and of good will.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. Because everyone who is not found to have borne the fruit of good work here will be overturned by the strong sentence of judgement and cast into the fire of hell.

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, and the rest.

For both are necessary to the servants of God, that the work be approved by speech, and speech by works.

Many will say to Me on that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name, and in Thy name [cast out] demons? and the rest.

For it is not the merit of him who does such things, but the invocation of the name of Christ that does this, for the condemnation of those who invoke it, or for the profit of those who hear and see.

And then I will declare to them that I never knew you, etc. He said I will declare pointedly, because for a long time before they had pretended to speak. I do not know you, He says, that is, I do not approve you, because God in no way approves him whom the piety of faith does not commend.

Everyone therefore who hears these words of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. If the rock is Christ, as many testimonies of the Scriptures proclaim, he has built on Christ who does what he hears from Him.

And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and the rest.

The rain too, because it strives to overthrow the house, is the devil; the floods, the Antichrists; the winds, the spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places. But he who not only hears the words of God but does them steadfastly fears none of these, because he has his house built upon the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like one who built his house upon the sand.

The stable and firm foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the Catholic Church is founded; but upon the sand, which is fluid and cannot be brought together into one bond, all the discourse of heretics is built, so that it may fall.

And the rain came down, as far as And it fell. For what in

rain, if not the manifold temptations of the devil; by the floods, open persecutions; by the winds, the malign spirits, before which no one is able to stand firm who does not abide with his hope fixed on God. By the onrush of the flood the crisis of the last judgement can also be understood, when, both houses having been brought to their end, every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted (Matt. 23:12).

And great was its fall. Because it has not the comforts of one who lifts it up, but they shall hear: Depart into the everlasting fire (Matt. 25:41).

BOOK TWO.

CHAPTER VIII.

And when He had come down from the mountain, as far as, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.

This miracle can be understood to have been done after both sermons of the Lord, not only the one which Matthew inserts but also the one which Luke inserts, although Luke and Mark have recorded it in another place. In the mystical sense the Lord's descent from the mountain signifies His incarnation, and after this great crowds followed Him, because after the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), He Who before was known only in Judaea afterwards became wonderful in all the earth.

If Thou wilt, he says, Thou canst make me clean. He did not doubt the Lord's will as one unbelieving, but, as one conscious of his own filth, he does not presume.

And Jesus, stretching out His hand, touched him, saying: I will; be made clean. He stretched out the hand of healing Who was extending the affection of His mercy. He touched the sick man, because He had the effecting of health in His power; He said, I will; be made clean. In "I will" He showed the clemency of His goodness, in "be made clean" the power of His majesty, because He spoke, and they were made (Ps. 32:9). It is not to be joined and read, as some think, "I will to make clean", but separately, so that He first says "I will" and then commands "be made clean". Now He says "I will" on account of Photinus, He commands on account of Arius, He touches on account of the Manichaean.

And Jesus said to him: See you tell no one. And indeed, what need was there for him to boast in speech of what he displayed in his body? Except to teach us that we should abstain not only from the reward of money but also from that of favour.

But go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

For three reasons He sent him to the priests: first, because the law commanded that when leprosy was cleansed they should offer gifts to the priests; next, that they might see the leper cleansed and, believing, be saved, or, if they did not believe, be without excuse; and so that He should not seem to break the law. If anyone is troubled at how the Lord seems to approve the Mosaic sacrifice, when the Church has not received it, let him remember that the most holy sacrifice of His body had not yet been offered on the altar of the cross, nor yet been confirmed by the witness of the apostles and the faith of believers. In the mystical sense this man, sick with sins,

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed, and the rest.

By the crowds he means the unbelievers, who were astonished without believing; or he points to all in general, who revered so great a wisdom in Him. For the scribes taught what is written in Moses and the prophets; but Jesus, as the Lord of Moses himself, by the freedom of His own will either added what seemed lacking in the law or preached to the people changing it, as we read above.

signifies the human race, which, by the outstretched hand of the Saviour, that is, by the Word of God incarnate and touching human nature, has been cleansed from the varied spots of its ancient error and shown to the priest of whom it is said: Thou art a priest for ever (Ps. 109:4); to Whom they offer their bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1).

And when He had entered Capharnaum, as far as, And is grievously tormented. It is asked how it agrees that Matthew says the centurion himself came to the Lord, when Luke relates that he sent messengers to Him. But to those who inquire piously it is plain that Matthew, for brevity's sake, said that he came himself, since his wish, though others carried it, was brought to the Lord. For just as the woman with the issue of blood, because she believed, touched the Lord more than the crowds by whom He was pressed, so the centurion, the more he believed, the more he drew near.

Lord, my servant lies. He is pitiable not in one thing only, that he lies; but in another, that he is paralysed; and a third, that he is grievously tormented. And this he says so as to show the anguish of his own soul and to invite the Lord's goodwill: thus it befits superiors to have pity on those subject to them.

And Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him. Great is the Lord's loftiness, but greater His humility: He Who could heal by a word alone does not disdain to visit a sick servant.

And the centurion answered and said: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof. Through consciousness of his gentile life he did not dare to have Christ as his guest, for though he was endowed with faith in Him, he was not yet steeped in His sacraments.

But only say it with a word, and my servant shall be healed. Great is the faith of the centurion, by which he confesses the work of the Word in Christ.

For I too am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me. He says that he is a man subject to authority, and yet that he can command those below him, so that it is to be understood: How much more can almighty God, over all things, say through the angelic soldiery to sickness that it should depart, and it departs; and to health that it should come, and it will come. Hence there follows:

And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes;

and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. He wishes to show that God can fulfil what He wills not only by coming in the body but also through the ministries of angels.

And Jesus, hearing it, marvelled. He marvels at the man's understanding of His majesty, which signifies that we too must marvel at it. Such movements, when they are spoken of God, are not signs of a troubled mind but of a master who is teaching.

And He said to those following Him: I have not found such faith in Israel. He does not speak of all the patriarchs and prophets of past times, but of all those of the present age who, though instructed by the law, did not believe. The centurion believed with Christ scarcely teaching him, signifying the spontaneous faith of the gentiles.

I say to you that many from the East, and the rest. That is, from all the nations, as the Gospel must be preached; or from the East, those who pass over as soon as they are enlightened, and from the West, those who have endured sufferings for the faith even unto death: they shall recline, not lying down in the flesh but resting in the spirit.

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out, as far as, and gnashing of teeth. By the children of the kingdom he means the Jews, among whom God formerly reigned. The gnashing of teeth and weeping of eyes shows the true resurrection of the members. He speaks also of inner darkness, the blindness of the heart, and also of the outer, the night of eternal damnation, where a twofold gehenna is shown: that is, one of excessive cold, through the gnashing of teeth, and one of unbearable heat, through the weeping of eyes; as blessed Job says: They pass from the snow waters to excessive heat (Job 24:19).

And Jesus said to the centurion, as far as, and the servant was healed from that hour. The faith of the master is proved, and the health of the servant is strengthened. In the mystical sense the centurion shows the elect from among the gentiles, who, as though attended by a soldiery of a hundred, are lofty in the perfection of spiritual virtues.

And when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying, as far as, and she rose and ministered to them. Peter's house is the circumcision, which had been entrusted to his apostleship; his mother-in-law is the Synagogue, because she is in a certain way the mother of the Church, which is entrusted to Peter by the true Bridegroom in these words: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church (Matt. 16:18). Moreover, Peter's mother-in-law in the Synagogue was in a fever, because in persecuting the Church she was afflicted by the firebrands of envy. Hence it is said: The sons of my mother have fought against me (Song 1:5). The Lord touched her hand, because He turned her carnal works to spiritual use; rising, she ministered to them, because now, believing, she ministers daily to the Lord through spiritual service. In the moral sense, every soul that serves as a soldier of the lusts of the flesh burns as if with fevers; but, recovering at the touch of the divine mercy, it restrains the wantonness of the flesh with the reins of continence, and with the very members with which it had served uncleanness unto iniquity, it is to serve justice unto eternal life.

And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who had demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word, and He healed all who were sick. All are healed not in the morning, not at midday, but towards evening, when the true Sun set, He Who said: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

(John 9:5); at Whose setting more of the sick are healed than before, because, living in the flesh, He taught few of the Jews, but afterwards throughout the world He sent the gifts of salvation to the gentiles.

And Jesus, seeing great crowds about Him, ordered His disciples to go across the strait. It is ever Jesus' exhortation that we cross the bitter waves of the world in the unshaken ship of faith, until, with Him steering, we reach the shore of paradise.

And a certain scribe came and said to Him: Master, I will follow Thee wherever Thou goest. That Matthew says this was done when He ordered them to go, but Luke, As they were walking in the way (Luke 9:57), is not a contradiction, since of course they were walking in order to come to the strait. If this scribe had said, Lord, I will follow Thee, he would not have been rejected; but he reckoned Him one master among many, and he was a man of letters and not a spiritual hearer. Therefore he has no place in which Jesus could lay His head.

Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere, and so on. As if He had said: Why do you wish to follow Me for the riches of the world, when I am of such poverty that I do not even have a roof of My own? According to allegory we can take the heretics to be signified by the foxes, who, trusting in nothing of Christ's virtues but in their own cunning, busy themselves to lead astray like the crafty fox; by the birds, the malign spirits, who have their dwellings in the hearts of the Jews, where God, the head of Christ, finds no abode.

And another of His disciples said to Him: Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. He does not reject discipleship, but, having first fulfilled the duty of piety of his father's funeral, he desires to pursue it more freely: and in him the Son of Man lays His head, because in his humble breast the Godhead rests as in a familiar dwelling.

But Jesus said to him: Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead. For to bury the dead is to cherish sinners in their sins: which those do who justify the wicked for gifts and bless those who do iniquitous things.

And when He went up into the boat, His disciples followed Him. The sea which the Lord desires to cross with His own is taken as the dark surge of the present world. The boat which they board is understood as nothing better than the tree of the Lord's passion, of which it is said elsewhere: If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me (Mark 8:34).

And behold, a great tumult arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. That storm did not arise of itself, but obeys the power of the One commanding, so that He might show to all that He is Lord of land and sea.

But He was sleeping. O wondrous thing! He Who never falls asleep slept: He slept, then, in body, to make the apostles wake up, and above all so that we may never sleep in spirit.

And they came and woke Him, saying: Lord, save us, we are perishing. They rouse the Lord, lest

they should perish by the fury of the waves; for they sought with the greatest longing the resurrection of Him Whose death they had seen, lest through His death in the flesh their mind should perish for ever by a spiritual death.

And Jesus said to them: Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Mark: Have you not yet faith (Mark 4:40)? And Luke: Where is your faith (Luke 8:25)? That is: if you believe that I am powerful on land, why have you not at the same time received Me on the sea as truly God and Creator of all things? Why do you not believe that all things made by Me are in My power? Why do you doubt, O you of little faith? Those weak in faith are rebuked; those wholly estranged from the faith are punished, like the Jews and the heretics.

Then, rising, He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. Rising, He rebuked the wind, in that by His resurrection He laid low the pride of the devil; He made the storm of the water cease, when by rising from the tomb He shook the rage of the Jews.

But the men marvelled, saying: What sort of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey Him?

Not the disciples, but the sailors, saying: What sort of man is this, Who is seen as a man and shows power as God? There are those who wish this boat to signify allegorically the present Church; the winds, the malign spirits and wicked men, who desire that the Church be sunk by waves and afflictions; but although Jesus seems for a time to sleep by withdrawing His help, yet, roused by honest prayers, He causes the incitement of the malign spirits to be checked, and softens the threats of the persecutors, and, with the breeze of the Holy Spirit blowing, brings the Church right to the harbour of eternal rest. In the tropological sense, each of us, steeped in the catholic faith, boards the ship and tries to cross the sea with Jesus: and He falls asleep for us, as it were amid the roaring of the deep, when, as the onslaught of unclean spirits or of wicked men grows thicker, the splendour of faith is darkened in the midst of our strivings for virtue and the loftiness of hope wastes away. But amid storms of this kind we must rouse Him diligently, so that He, as helmsman, may grant us the shore of salvation, in order that, freed from the tumults, we may marvel at His kindnesses towards us and, marvelling, give thanks.

And when He had come across the strait into the country of the Gerasenes. Gerasa is a city of Arabia beyond the Jordan, adjoining Mount Galaad, which the tribe of Manasses held, not far from the lake of Tiberias, into which the swine were cast headlong. It signifies the gentiles, whom the Lord, after the sleep of the passion and the glory of the resurrection, deigned to visit through preachers; hence Gerasa is well interpreted as "casting out the inhabitant" or "a stranger drawing near".

There met Him two who had demons. As to Mark and Luke mentioning one, you are to understand the one as a person of greater note, over whom that region grieved most: but allegorically, just as the one possessed by a demon, so also those two express, not unfittingly, the type of the gentile peoples given over to idols.

Coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce. These two men, who were tormented by demons, bore, not unfittingly, the figure of two peoples: the gentile,

which, deluded by diabolical doctrines, worshipped idols for God, and the Jewish, which had always been a despiser of the divine law: who dwelt not in a house, that is, in their own conscience, but in tombs, that is, they took delight in dead works. For what are bodies but the tombs of the dead? Exceedingly fierce, for they counted as nothing the divine or human laws, which are signified by the bonds.

So that no one could pass by that way. For before the Saviour's coming the gentile world was impassable to the prophets and holy preachers, because with the savagery of its fury it refused to obey anyone: and it broke the fetters and chains, that is, the human laws; and, as Luke writes, it was driven by the demon into the desert, since, having transgressed the laws, it now exceeded common custom in the crimes of its lusts.

And they cried out, saying: What have we to do with Thee, Son of God? This is not a confession of the will, for the reward of one who confesses does not follow, but something wrung out by necessity, like runaway slaves: if after a long time they see their master, they beg nothing else than to be spared the lash. So the demons, seeing the Lord moving on earth, believed that He had come to judge them.

Hast Thou come before the time to torment us? For the devil knew that certain damnation awaited him in the judgement of God, to whom it is said through Isaiah: Woe to you who plunder; shall you not yourself also be plundered (Isa. 33:1)? But the dispensation of the divine counsel, which was to be made manifest to us, he could not know. Hence, fearing greatly the power of the Lord's coming, [he believed Him] to be moving towards his damnation.

Now there was not far from them a herd of swine, as far as, Send us into the herd of swine. Mark says the herd of swine was about the mountain (Mark 5:11); with which what Luke said, on the mountain (Luke 8:32), in no way conflicts. For the herd was so great that some were on the mountain, some about the mountain.

And Jesus said: Go. Let the Manichaean blush, who says that men and beasts are of one substance, when for the salvation of one man two thousand swine, as Mark records, are drowned; yet in their destruction unclean men are pointed to. The devil will not receive power to destroy anyone except him who has lived after the manner of a pig and feeds on the mountain of pride.

But they went out and went into the swine, as far as, and they died in the waters. The Church being free of the dominion of demons, those who will not believe in Christ perform their sacrilegious rites in hidden places. And it must be noted that the demons cannot harm even cattle, much less men, unless power is granted by God; and this power over us the good God can give by a hidden justice, but cannot give unjustly.

And the herdsmen fled, and coming into the city they reported everything, and about those who had had the demons. That the swineherds, fleeing, report these things signifies that certain even of the leaders of the ungodly, although they flee the Christian law, [declare] that the power

His [power] among the gentiles they do not cease to proclaim, in amazement and wonder.

And behold, the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and having seen Him they begged Him to pass from their borders. As some think, they do this not from pride but from humility, conscious of their own frailty, judging themselves unworthy of the Lord's presence, as we read happened also to Peter, when he said: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man (Luke 5:8). But in the mystical sense, that the Gerasenes found the man clothed and of sound mind sitting at Jesus' feet, as Luke says, And knowing what had been done, they ask Jesus to depart from them (Luke 8:35–37), signifies a multitude that honours its old life and is unwilling to bear the Christian law and unable to fulfil it, while yet wondering at the faithful people healed of its former and lost way of life.

CHAPTER IX.

And going up into the boat He crossed over, and came into His own city. Here a question arises, because Mark says that it was done in Capharnaum: which would be harder to resolve if Matthew named Nazareth; but as it is, coming into Galilee, He is rightly said to have come into His own city, in whatever town of Galilee He was, especially since Capharnaum itself was so eminent in Galilee that it was held as a kind of metropolis.

Behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. The healing of this paralytic signifies the salvation of the soul that, after its carnal deserving, sighs for Christ; it needs first ministers, that is, good teachers, to bring it to Christ; and fittingly they are found to be four, as Mark relates, whether because all the strength of the preachers is made firm by the four books of the Gospel, or because the confidence of the mind is raised up to earn its health by four virtues, temperance, wisdom, justice and fortitude, than which nothing is more profitable in human life.

And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven you. Luke says "Man" (Luke 5:20). If this troubles anyone, let him know that He could say both together: both, Have faith, son; and, Your sins are forgiven you, man.

And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves: This man blasphemes. What they say the blasphemy is, Mark sets out in sequence, saying: Who, they say, can forgive sins but God alone (Mark 2:7)? Recalling these things, those who thought Him only a man, though not knowing it, spoke the truth: that no one can forgive sins but God alone, and those to whom He Himself gives the power of forgiving; and therefore Christ is proved to be true God, forgiving sins as God.

And when Jesus had seen their thoughts, and so on. And in a certain place He showed Himself to be God, Who can know the secrets of the heart; now, though silent, He speaks: While I behold your thoughts, understand from yourselves what the paralytic obtains. Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven you, or to say: Rise and walk? Whether the paralytic's sins were forgiven, only He Who was forgiving them knew. But Rise and walk, both he who was rising and those who were seeing could verify;

and therefore the carnal sign is done so that the spiritual may be proved; and it is given to be understood that it is because of sins that bodies fall into infirmities; for that reason the sins are first forgiven, so that health may be restored. For there are five different causes for which we are afflicted in this life with bodily troubles: either to increase merits through patience, like blessed Job; or for the safeguarding of virtues, as to the apostle Paul was given a sting of his flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet him, lest he be exalted by the greatness of the revelations; or for the correction of sins, as Mary the sister of Aaron was struck with leprosy for her rash words; or for the glory of God, as the sickness of Lazarus was not unto death but for the glory of God; or as the beginning of eternal damnation, which is proper to the reprobate, as Antiochus and Herod showed to all by their present misery what they were to suffer for ever in gehenna. Hence it is said: Crush them with a double crushing (Jer. 17:18).

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, then He says to the paralytic: Rise, take up your bed, and go into your house.

Take up, He says, your bed, so that what was the witness of infirmity may be the proof of health. Go into your house, lest, healed by the Christian faith, you should linger any longer in the ways of Jewish faithlessness. Spiritually, he who was sick, now healthy, carries his bed back home when the soul, having received remission of sins, betakes itself together with the body to the inner keeping of itself, lest after pardon it commit anything for which it would justly be struck again.

And the crowds, seeing it, were afraid, and so on. How wonderful is the might of the divine power, where, with no delay intervening, health follows so swiftly.

And when Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man sitting at the custom-house, Matthew by name, and He said to him: Follow Me.

That is, He looked with a gaze of mercy on one given over to human pursuits and gaping after temporal gains, just as He looked back at Peter so that he might acknowledge the guilt of his denial. For telos in Greek is rendered vectigal, "toll", in Latin. Matthew in Hebrew is called donatus, "given", in Latin; and not undeservedly, because he received so great a gift of heavenly grace. Moreover the other evangelists, out of respect for him, would not call him by his common name, but said Levi. But he names himself Matthew and a publican, according to what is enjoined by Solomon: The just man is first the accuser of himself (Prov. 18:17). He says it at the beginning, to show in himself that no one should despair of salvation, since he himself was changed from a publican into an apostle. Levi here signifies "added before" or "taken up", because he was taken up through election by the Lord and added to the number of the apostles.

And rising he followed Him. Luke says: Leaving all things, he followed Him (Luke 5:28). For to follow is to imitate. And he followed well, leaving his own things, he who used to seize the things of others; and he taught how one must follow, in that, despising human business, he became a faithful steward of the Lord's talents.

And it came to pass, as He was reclining at table in the [house], behold, many publicans and sinners, and the rest.

Luke says that a great feast was made for Him in Levi's house, and it signifies that Christ reclines in the affection of believers, to enjoy the spiritual banquet of the good, which the rich man lacks but the poor man feasts upon.

And the Pharisees, seeing it, said to His disciples: Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? The Pharisees were held by a twofold error: they had departed far from justice through the haughtiness of pride, and they disparaged the Master of truth for receiving sinners. In the mystical sense, through the election of Matthew and the calling of the publicans is expressed the faith of the gentiles, who before gaped after the gains of the world and now are refreshed with the Lord by the banquet of charity and by the diligent devotion of good works: indeed it hints at the haughtiness of the scribes and the envy of the Jews, by which they are tormented over the salvation of the gentiles; while the publicans feast with the Lord, the murmuring Pharisees boast of fasting, because those who follow the law suffer eternal hunger; but those who have received the Word in the inner places of the soul, refreshed by the abundance of heavenly food, can neither hunger nor thirst.

But Jesus, hearing it, said: They that are well have no need of physicians, but they that are sick. He calls Himself the physician, by Whose blood we have been healed: and He calls healthy and just those who, presuming on their own [works] under the law, do not seek the grace of the Gospel; He calls sick those who, conscious of their own frailty, bow their necks in penitence to the grace of Christ.

But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Let certain people of foolish fault-finding go and learn by works of mercy, so that they may obtain for themselves the rewards of the heavenly mercy.

For I came not to call the just, but sinners. That is, not to exalt with empty favour those who falsely justify themselves, but to gather in mercy those who repent.

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying: Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Thy disciples do not fast? Mark and Luke relate this as though some others put this question to Him; from which it is to be gathered that this question was put to the Lord by several people, whoever they were. Spiritually, however, those were fasting who, abstaining from spiritual goods, wasted away with a fasting heart by following the traditions of men; but those who are incorporated into Christ by love cannot fast, because they feast on His blood and flesh.

And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? and so on. The bridegroom, then, is Christ, the bride the Church; of this spiritual marriage the apostles were begotten, who cannot mourn and fast while they see the Bridegroom with the bride in the bridal chamber; but when the wedding had passed and the time of the passion and resurrection had come, then they fasted. For this mourning was kept before the Saviour's coming with the longing of the saints, and even now it does not cease to be, until the Bridegroom shall come to judge the living and the dead. In the tropological sense, we are in gladness as long as the Bridegroom is with us; but when, on account of sins,

of ours He has flown away, then a fast is to be proclaimed, then mourning is to be taken up.

But no one puts a patch of raw cloth on an old garment, for it takes away its fullness from the garment, and a worse rent is made. For by this reply the Lord teaches that the apostles could not bear the sterner precepts of fasting and continence, not yet made firm by faith in His passion and resurrection; to them, still given to the old custom, a new cloth is unfittingly sewn on, that is, some small portion of the teaching that belongs to the temperance of the new life: because if this were done, the teaching itself is in a way torn, a portion of which, that which avails for fasting from foods, is handed on out of season, whereas that teaching teaches a general fast, not from the desire for foods only, but from all the gladness of temporal delights.

Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, and so on. The apostles were old wineskins before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; but to them, once strengthened after the triumph of the resurrection and through the glory of the ascension, the new wine had come as to new wineskins, when the fervour of the Holy Spirit had filled their hearts. Otherwise, the garment suggests our good works, which we do outwardly and by which we shine before men; while by the new wine is expressed the fervour of faith, hope and charity, by which we are reformed in the newness of our mind.

While He was saying these things to them, behold, a certain ruler came, as far as, lay Thy hand upon her, and she will live. Both Mark and Luke say that he was a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and that he reported to the Lord that she was not dead but near to death; but Matthew, for brevity's sake, attended not to the father's words but to his will: for the father did not believe he could find alive the daughter for whom he had asked. In the mystical sense Jairus, which is interpreted "enlightened" or "enlightening", is understood as Moses, who, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, had received the words of life so as to enlighten others through them: for what is understood by the feet of Jesus but His humanity, at which, according to the other evangelists, the lawgiver fell down with the whole progeny of the fathers, and knew that the Mediator of God and men was to be preferred far above himself in the glory of dignity? For the daughter is the Synagogue, which was Moses' only daughter, and whom the father laments as just now dead at about twelve years old, because after the lawgiver's upbringing and after the instruction of the prophets, when her mind had reached the age of understanding and she ought to have brought forth spiritual offspring, she was struck down by the languor of errors and extinguished by death; but the Redeemer, coming, recalled her to life by the right hand of His power.

And Jesus, rising, followed him, and His disciples. For where the coming of Jesus draws near with the teachers, at once there lies open the way out of death and the way into life.

And behold, a woman who had suffered an issue of blood for twelve years came up behind and touched the hem of His garment. This woman, flowing with blood but healed by the Lord, is the Church gathered from the gentiles. And it is to be noted that the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue is twelve years old, and this woman had been flowing with blood for twelve years, this

is, that at the same time as this one was born, that one began to be sick. For at almost one age of this world both the synagogue began to be born in the patriarchs, and the foreign nation began to be defiled by idolatry throughout the world. Now she came behind, or after, according to what He Himself says: He who ministers to Me, let him follow Me (John 12:26); or because, the mystery of the incarnation having been accomplished, she now began to follow Him through faith.

She said within herself: If I touch only the hem of His garment, I shall be healed. That is, if I receive faith in His incarnation, I shall be cleansed from all the iniquity of my sins. She believed, she spoke, she touched. For in these three kinds all health is merited, that is, by faith, word and deed.

But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said: Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well. Turned from the severity of just judgement to the bounty of His mercy; whence it is said through the prophet: Turn to Me, and I will turn back to you (Zech. 1:3). Seeing her, He spoke: For those whom He foreknew and predestined, these He also called (Rom. 8:30). Take heart, daughter: for she already had faith, but He was asking of her perseverance in faith.

And the woman was made well from that hour. So from the hour of the Lord's coming they are converted to the faith, and those who are to be saved are daily added together by the Lord.

And when Jesus had come into the ruler's house, and had seen the flute-players and the crowd in agitation and uproar, He said: Withdraw, flute-players. They are the teachers, singing a mournful song, and [the synagogue] which lost the joy of the Lord's indwelling through the guilt of unbelief; as though among the weeping and wailing she lies dead in the ruler's house to this day: yet she is not utterly dismissed by the Lord, but towards the end of the world will be restored to salvation; whence it is fittingly added:

The girl is not dead, but sleeps. Allegorically, when a soul has sinned and seems to us as though dead, yet to Him who calls it back to life it is not unfittingly said to be alive.

And they laughed at Him. Which properly shows the faithlessness and blasphemy of the Jews, and demonstrates the childishness of their minds and the wantonness of their ways, whence it is said: They tempted Me, and mocked.

And when the crowd had been put out, He went in. Morally, the soul which lies dead within will not rise again unless the untimely multitude of worldly thoughts is first shut out from the more secret places of the heart.

And He took her hand, and the girl arose. Because unless the hands of the Jews, full of blood, are first cleansed, their dead synagogue does not rise up; and she rightly rises and walks at the touch of the divine kindness, because she not only rises from the filth of crimes, but at once advances in good works.

And the report of this went out into all that land. Because the heavens tell the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the works of His hands. Morally, those three dead raised by the Lord signify three kinds of resurrection of souls, as we showed above.

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him and so on, when He had come to the house, the blind men came to Him

The house of Jesus is the heavenly Jerusalem; the two blind men are the two peoples, blinded by the observance of the letter and by gentile rite, ignorant of things to come. So as the Lord was passing through this world and desiring to return to His house, two blind men followed Him; because when the Gospel had been preached by the apostles, many from the Jews and the gentiles began to follow the Redeemer, asking Him to have mercy on them, that they might obtain the light of faith and of good works.

And Jesus said to them: Do you believe that I can do this for you? Knowing their faith Himself, He asks so that confession may bring their faith forth, because with the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

They say to Him: Yes, Lord; then He touched their eyes, saying, etc. That is: since faith already illumines your mind, let it restore to you the light of your eyes.

And Jesus sternly charged them, saying: See that no one knows; but they, going out, and the rest. The Lord commanded this for the sake of humility, but they, from remembrance of the grace, cannot keep silent about the benefit.

And when they had gone out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man, etc. This man signifies the gentile people, which did not have the confession of the true faith and was given over to idolatry; but, led to the Saviour by the preachers, it was healed.

And the crowds marvelled, saying: Never has the like appeared in Israel, and the rest. In the crowd is the confession of the nations. But the Pharisees show the unbelief of the Jews. These things about the two blind men and the dumb demoniac Matthew alone sets down; and those two blind men of whom the others also [tell] are not the ones these narrate, yet a similar thing was done; for we often find similar things and in them something contrary which cannot be resolved: so that we may understand that it is not the same deed, but another one like it or done in like manner.

And Jesus went about the cities and villages, as far as, curing every infirmity. He who preached the Gospel, that is, to cities and villages, to great and small, considering not the power of the nobles but the salvation of believers.

But seeing the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed, etc. With the gaze of His clemency Jesus looked on the human race harassed by the devil through various errors, and had compassion on them, appointing shepherds, that is, teachers, leading them to the way of truth.

Then He says to His disciples: The harvest indeed is great, and the rest. The great harvest is the whole crowd of believers; the few labourers are the apostles and their imitators, who are sent to the harvest.

CHAPTER X.

And having called together His disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and the rest. Rightly are twelve called together into the apostolate by divine grace, so that by their number they might commend the salvation they preached by word: three times four were sent to preach, so that through all the regions of the four-square world they might baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For these are the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem from the East, three from the North, South and West; likewise because, at their preaching, all the nations throughout the world [enter] the Church

are to enter: in which mystery, indeed, the tribes of the sons of Israel pitched their camps by threes on every side of the tabernacle.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The list is set down in the Gospel so that false apostles may be excluded.

First Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. He is called Peter to distinguish him from the other Simon. Peter in Latin, then, is the same as Cephas in Syriac, and in both languages the name is derived from "rock": of which rock Paul says: But the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Andrew is Greek, and is named "manly" from ἀνήρ, that is, from "man". Simon is interpreted "laying down grief", or "hearing sadness". It fits that time when he laid down his grief over the Lord's death or his own denial; but at once he heard the sadness of his own death, when the Lord said: But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, etc. (John 21:18). James of Zebedee, and John his brother, who for their outstanding cultivation of virtue were called and surnamed by the Lord "of thunder", that is, Boanerges, or, as it is more correctly written, Boneregesch, as is written in the Gospel of Mark. And not in vain: for one of them, thundering from the heavens, uttered that theological word which no one before had known how to declare: In the beginning was the Word, etc. (John 1:1). And both also were found worthy to be led apart by the Lord onto the mountain, and once to hear a terrifying sound from the cloud.

Philip and Bartholomew. Philip is interpreted "mouth of a lamp", and rightly: because, called by the Lord, as soon as he had found Nathanael he proclaimed the light which he had recognized, saying: Him of whom Moses wrote in the law, etc. Bartholomew is Syriac, and is interpreted "son of him who suspends the waters", that is, the son of God, who lifts up the minds of His preachers to contemplate heavenly things, so that they may inebriate the hearts of earthly men with the drops of their words.

Thomas and Matthew the publican. Thomas [means] "abyss" or "twin", whence he is also called in Greek Didymus; because the longer he doubted than the rest, the more deeply he learned the truth of the Lord's resurrection. Matthew is called "given", namely because by the great gift of the Lord he was appointed from publican to the office of apostle and evangelist.

James of Alphaeus and Thaddeus. James of Alphaeus is he who is named the brother of the Lord, because Mary the wife of Alphaeus was the sister of the Lord's mother, the Mary whom John the evangelist surnames "of Cleophas"; or else because Alphaeus was called Cleophas, or this Mary, after Alphaeus died following the birth of James, married Cleophas, to whom, as church history relates, she bore a son Simeon, and he was the Lord's cousin: rightly is James written the son of Alphaeus, that is, of "the learned", whose life was of such austerity that he was a true supplanter of fleshly desire; he drank no wine or strong drink, ate no meat, was never shorn, and did not use baths. Thaddeus, whom Luke calls Judas of James, and who elsewhere is called Lebbaeus, which, I say, [means] "circulus", that is, "tiller of the heart"; and it is to be believed that he

had three names: for he was [the brother] of James the brother of the Lord, as he himself writes in his Epistle, whence he too was called the brother of the Lord.

Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. These too he set down with an addition, to distinguish them from Simon Peter and Judas of James. Simon the Cananaean takes his surname from Cana, a village of Galilee, which is called "zelotes", that is, "emulator". Judas Scarioth took his name either from the village in which he was born, or from the tribe of Isachar, as a presage of his own damnation: Isachar, which means "wages", hints at the price of the betrayal. Scarioth means "memory of death"; whence it is shown that he was not persuaded suddenly, but committed the outrage of the Lord's betrayal after long premeditation.

These twelve Jesus sent, instructing and saying to them. We ought to call disciples not only these twelve apostles, but all who believed in His teaching, from whom He chose these twelve, whom He also named apostles, as Luke records. These twelve the Lord Jesus sent to preach, because by many signs in figures they had beforehand been marked out to dispense the divine mysteries. These are the twelve true sons of Jacob, these the twelve springs in Elim, these the twelve spies sent by Moses, these the twelve stones lifted from the Jordan, these the twelve lion cubs on Solomon's throne, and other things like these.

Do not go into the way of the gentiles, as far as, Go to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel. This is not contrary to that place where it is said: Go, teach all nations, and the rest (Matt. 28:19): but it was necessary that it be preached first to the Jews, lest they excuse themselves as though justly, saying that they had rejected the Lord because He had sent His apostles to foreigners. Tropologically, however, we are commanded not to walk in the error of heretics, but, if we have withdrawn from the dwelling of the Church by grave sin, to return there again through penance.

Going, preach, saying: For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. Not by any movement of the elements, but through faith placed in us; whence it is said: The kingdom of God is among you.

Cure the sick, as far as, Freely you have received, freely give. He gave them this power as they promised the kingdom of God, so that the greatness of the signs might prove the greatness of the promises: this the holy Church does daily, when she cures the sick in good work by exhortation, calls back through penance those dead in unbelief or sins, heals by correction the lepers spotted with various errors, and drives demons out of men by the grace of exorcism.

Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts: no bag for the road, nor two tunics, nor shoes, nor staff; the labourer is worthy of his food. For in gold may be understood the meaning of worldly wisdom; in silver, the eloquence of the rhetorical art; but money shut in belts is hidden wisdom; whence it is said: Wisdom hidden, and treasure concealed, what profit is there in either (Sir. 20:32)? In the two tunics a double soul, in

the bag the burdens of the world, in the staff the protection of the flesh, let us understand; and what is signified by shoes but the examples of dead works?

Into whatever city or village you enter, ask who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. This, then, is to be chosen by the people's report, lest the dignity of the preaching be overthrown by the ill repute of the one who receives it.

And stay there until you leave. He gives a general command of constancy, that they keep the rights of the bond of hospitality.

And entering into the house, greet it, saying, as far as, Let your peace return to you. For what in Greek is χαῖρε and in Latin ave is called in the Hebrew tongue Salom; and what He commands is this: But if contradiction arises, you will nevertheless have the reward of the peace offered; they will possess the war they wished to have.

And whoever does not receive you, nor hear your words, going out of the house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. For the dust is shaken off in testimony of their own labour and of the others' damnation, that these may be without excuse, since the gospel preaching had reached even to them.

Amen I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of the Sodomites and Gomorrhaeans on the day of judgement than for that city. Because they [were] spurning one law only, that is, of nature; but the Jews despised at once [the laws] of nature and of the letter, and besides the sayings of the prophets and apostles: for Lot, just in sight and hearing, is read to have taught them something, but is not said to have done any signs there; and therefore from him to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48).

Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. That He says Behold, I, is the authority and strength of the Godhead: and because you are My sheep, I send you; and I wish you to have meekness and humility, lest because of the uprising of the wolves, that is, of the persecutors, you lose your patience and constancy.

Be therefore prudent as serpents, and simple as doves. Let them avoid snares, and through simplicity not set them. The prudence of the serpent is that it presses one ear against a rock and stops the other with its tail, so as not to hear the charmers, who seek the venom in their heads for medicines: so the apostolic man places his whole life about the chief part of the soul, that it may remain unharmed with the help of Christ, who is the rock; and, as the subtle teaching of the holy Scriptures instructs him, which the tail signifies, he takes the greatest care not to hear the charmers, that is, those who soften the vigour of the mind. Again, the serpent, entering through a narrow hole in the rocks, strips itself of its old scales: so the Christian ought, through the narrowness of penance, to put off the old man with his deeds, that he may put on the new, who is created according to God.

Beware of men. For men are the same as the wolves, who are sinners and frail, yet fierce.

For they will hand you over to councils, as far as, for a testimony

to them and to the gentiles. Luke says: But it will turn out for you as a testimony: it signifies that by persecution for the name of Christ there comes about a testimony not only to the Jews and gentiles of their malice, but to the apostles themselves of their innocence.

But when they hand you over, do not take thought, as far as, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks in you. As if He were openly saying to His weak members: Do not be terrified; you go out to the contest, but I do the fighting; you utter the words, but I am He who speaks.

And brother will hand over brother to death, and father son, as far as, you will be hated by all for My name's sake. There is no faithful affection between those whose faith is different; so He foretold to them the coming upheaval, so that, having as it were known it beforehand, they might bear it more lightly.

But he who perseveres to the end, he will be saved. Patience, which is the guardian of the virtues, teaches that it belongs to virtue not to have begun, or to be doing, but to have completed.

But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another. Not from fear of suffering, but by stepping aside, so that the occasion of tribulation might become a seed-bed of the Gospel.

Amen I say to you, you will not finish the cities of Israel before the Son of man comes. That is, you will not bring them to the faith before the resurrection has been accomplished and the power of preaching the Gospel in the whole world has been granted. Spiritually, however, we flee from city to city when from one testimony of the Scriptures we run to other books, so that the Saviour's help may come before victory is granted to the adversaries.

The disciple is not above the master, as far as, And the servant as his Lord. As if He were saying: If I, the Lord and master, suffer, it is necessary that you, disciples and mere men, follow this rule of perfection.

If they have called the father of the household Beelzebub, how much more his household. He calls Himself the father of the household; by the household He means the disciples, to whom He promised the heavenly kingdom, whom the Jews slander with the same impulse of malice.

Therefore do not fear them. Because a vain thing quickly falls away.

For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. And the sense is: Do not fear the rage of the blasphemers, because the day of judgement will come, in which both our virtue and their wickedness will be shown.

What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light; and what you have heard in the ear, preach upon the housetops. What you have learned mystically and in secret, speak publicly; and what I taught in a small corner of Judaea, say boldly in the whole world. He teaches them to preach on housetops raised up in the Palestinian manner on the roof-ridges, which they make level not in our manner but in a flat form.

And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul: but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. The name Gehenna is first used by the Saviour: for we read more than once that the idol Baal was near Jerusalem at the foot of Mount Moriah, where Siloam flows: this

well-watered and wooded valley had a grove consecrated to the idol, where the people burned their sons to the demon: and that grove is called Gehennon, that is, the valley of the sons of Ennon. The Lord threatens that He will fill that very place with the corpses of the dead, so that it shall be called not Topheth and Baal, but polyandrium, that is, the burial mound of the dead; and so by the name of this place the twofold punishment of fire and cold is denoted.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them falls upon the earth without your Father. This is the sense: If small and worthless animals do not fall without God as their author, and there is providence in all things; you who are eternal ought not to fear that you live without God's providence. Someone may ask how the Apostle says: Is it for oxen that God has care? since the ox is surely more precious. But care is one thing, providence another.

But the hairs of your head are all numbered. Indeed this number lies not in the act of reckoning, but in the power of knowing.

Therefore do not fear: you are better than many sparrows. He calls them better because they are rational and created in the image of God.

Everyone therefore who confesses Me before men, as far as, I too will deny him before My Father, who is in heaven. He will be confessed by the Son before the Father who through the Son has access to the Father: that is, the good Christian confesses the Lord with that faith which works through love; and the Lord confesses him before His Father, namely by rewarding him in eternal beatitude. And to deny Christ before men is to be unwilling to comply with His precepts: such a one the Lord denies before His Father, because He judges him unworthy of the sight of Him.

Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but the sword. Because every household had both unbelievers and believers, therefore by the sword of preaching a good war was sent, so that an evil peace might be broken apart: these, that is, fighting against the faith, those for the faith.

I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies are those of his own household. Luke says: For there will be five in one house divided: three will be divided against two, and two against three, and yet they agree: because she who is the son's mother is also the mother-in-law of his wife, and therefore that same woman is said to be divided both against her daughter and against her daughter-in-law. Allegorically the three pertain to those who keep the faith of the supreme Trinity: the two fit those who dissent from the unity of the faith. The father is the devil, whose sons we were, not by creation but by imitation. The mother and mother-in-law is the synagogue, which is divided against daughter and daughter-in-law: because the carnal synagogue does not cease to persecute the Church of Christ.

He who loves father or mother, as far as, is not worthy of Me. After God love your father, love your mother; but if both cannot be kept, hatred must be spent on one's own, devotion on the Lord.

And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me, is not

worthy of Me. For to take up the cross and go after the Lord is to show abstinence of the flesh or compassion for one's neighbour out of zeal for eternal beatitude.

He who finds his life will lose it, and the rest. By "life" He means the present life: he who in persecution denies [Christ to save] it prepares it for eternal perdition; he who hands it over to be put to death all day long for Christ will bring it to life there.

He who receives you receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He teaches also the office of mediator in Himself: that God has been poured into us through Him; for it is clear that he who received the apostles received none other than God, because Christ dwells in them, and God in Christ

He who receives a prophet, as far as, will receive the reward of the just. He does not say that persons are to be received, but names: because although he who has been received may be unworthy, yet before God those who receive him do not lose their reward.

And whoever gives to one of these least a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he will not lose his reward. By the lightest of precepts He wiped out the vice of inhospitality, urging the giving of a drink of cold water, lest in the case of hot water too poverty of firewood be pleaded; and the sense is: In vain do you plead want, when your conscience holds otherwise, and you cannot deceive the company; but I know that however much you sow, so much also you will reap.

CHAPTER XI.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He passed on from there, to teach in their cities. Now the good master fulfils in deeds what He had before promised in words; so He passed on and preached in the cities of the Jews, to give them the occasion of believing; and if they spurned the offered gift of heavenly grace, they would be without excuse.

Now John, when he had heard in prison the works of Christ, as far as, or do we look for another. He does not ask as though ignorant, since he himself pointed out the Lamb of God with his finger to those who did not know Him; but, about to be killed by Herod, he sends disciples to the Saviour so that, seeing the signs on that occasion, they might believe in Him; and the sense of this saying can be this: Send me word, he says: I am about to go down to the underworld: whether I ought to announce Thee to those below too, who announced Thee to those above, or whether it does not befit the Son of God to taste death, and Thou art going to send another for these mysteries.

And Jesus answering said to them: Go and report to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not scandalized in Me. Go, He says, and tell John the signs you see, the blind seeing, and the rest: and, what is no less than these, the poor preaching the gospel. These prove the rigour of the master, these the truth of the teacher, since everyone, among noble and ignoble alike, is equal before Him who is able to save. But as for His saying: Blessed is he who is not scandalized

in Me, He meanwhile strikes at the messengers, as will be shown in what follows.

And as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, as far as, behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. Because the crowd thought that John had asked not for his disciples but for himself, doubting about Christ: What did you go out, He says, into the desert to see? A reed? Was it for this, [Add. that] you might see a man like a reed? who is carried about by every wind, and would doubt about Him whom he had earlier preached? Or one who is driven against Me by the goads of envy, so as to seek earthly gain by his preaching, and feeds on delicacies? But he eats locusts and is clothed with camels' hair; food and clothing of this kind are received in the lodging of a prison, for such is the dwelling the preaching of truth has: but those who preach falsely are flatterers, and abound in delicacies, and are clothed in soft garments in the houses of kings.

But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, more than a prophet. In this John is greater than the other prophets, that Him whom they foretold as to come, he pointed out with his finger as present.

Amen I say to you, there has not arisen among those born of women a greater than John the Baptist. So he is preferred to men who were born of women and of the intercourse of a man, not to Him who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin; He did not prefer John to all men, patriarchs and prophets, but made the others equal to John, so that he may have equality with the other saints.

But he who is less in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Many wish this to be understood of the Saviour, that He who is less in time is greater in dignity; but let us understand it simply, that every saint who is with God is already greater than he who still stands in battle.

But from the days of John the Baptist, as far as, Now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent plunder it. What is the kingdom of heaven but the place of the just? But when someone swollen with pride, or polluted by a crime of the flesh, returns to the penance which John preached, and obtains eternal life, the sinner enters as it were into another's place. For it is great violence that we, begotten on earth, can possess by virtue the kingdom of heaven, which we cannot by nature.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. He does not indeed exclude prophets after John, but the time of the Lord Himself is shown; because Him whom they said was to come, John showed to have come.

And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. By saying "He who has ears", He shows that what He says is mystical; for in the life of both there was one measure of austerity and rigour: both were in the desert, both strove against an unjust king and queen. John [is] the herald of the Redeemer; Elijah, according to Malachi, will be [the herald] of the Judge.

To what shall I liken this generation? It is like

children sitting in the market-place, who call out to their companions and say: We sang to you, and you did not dance; we lamented to you, and you did not mourn. The Lord's market-place is the synagogue, or Jerusalem itself, where the Jewish nation, sitting of old, received the prophets; to which, admonished daily by the voice of its fathers, it is rightly made a reproach that, neither drawn at first by David's psalms nor corrected afterwards by the prophets' lamentations, were they willing to assent.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon: the Son of man came eating and drinking, and the rest. As then, He says, so now too you have rejected both ways of salvation: for with John lamenting and preaching penance they would not be humbled; and with Christ, Who by using food and drink with the rest prefigured the joy of the kingdom, they refused to rejoice.

And wisdom is justified by her children. He shows that the children of wisdom understand that justice lies neither in abstaining nor in eating, but in evenness of mind in bearing want, and in the temperance of not corrupting oneself through abundance, because the kingdom of God is not food, etc.

Then He began to reproach the cities in which very many of His mighty works had been done, because they had not done penance. He reproaches these cities for this reason, that after mighty works and very many signs had been done, they did not do penance

Woe to you, Corozaim, woe to you, Betzaida. Corozaim, which is interpreted "my mystery", and Betsaida, which is called "house of fruits" or "house of hunters", are cities of Galilee and of Tiberias, situated by the lake of Genesareth, which is formed by the Jordan flowing through it, and is called by the evangelist the sea of Galilee and of Tiberias. So the Lord laments the cities which once held the mystery of God, and ought to have brought forth the fruit of virtues, and into which spiritual hunters were also sent, because after such great miracles they proved worse than the gentiles, and, ungrateful, did not fear to spurn the grace of God.

For if the mighty works that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have done penance in sackcloth and ashes. In sackcloth is signified the harshness of sin, which the left side is to behold on the day of judgement; in ashes is the signification of death, through which the whole mass of the human race is to be reduced to dust. Why it was preached to the unwilling, and not to those who once would have believed, is for Him to know all of whose ways are mercy and truth. It is to be noted, moreover, that Tyre is the metropolis of Phoenicia in the tribe of Naphtali, once for ages set in the deep sea, but now joined to the land, and it is interpreted "narrowness"; and Sidon, which is a city of Phoenicia, once the boundary of the Canaanites, facing the North, and afterwards of the region of Judah; it fell to the lot of the tribe of Asher; but [that tribe] did not possess it, because it was in no way able to drive out the enemies. Sidon [means] "hunting": and these signify two peoples whom the devil, the hunter, caught in the narrowness of sin, but Jesus the Saviour set free through the Gospel.

And you, Capharnaum, surely not as far as heaven shall you be exalted,

will you go down even to hell? In another copy we find: And you, Capharnaum, who are exalted even to heaven, you have gone down even to hell. And there is a twofold understanding: either you will go down to the lower regions for this reason, that you have most proudly resisted My preaching; or, because you have been exalted even to heaven by My lodging and by My signs, you are punished with greater torments, in that you would not believe even these. And in Capharnaum, which is interpreted 'most beautiful village', unbelieving Jerusalem is condemned, to whom it is said through Ezekiel: Sodom your sister is justified, etc. (Ezek. 16:52). Whence there follows in consequence:

For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom, perhaps it would have remained until this day. Jerusalem is reproved for the greater injustice, since Sodom was not corrected by the example of Lot, whereas Jerusalem always showed itself ungrateful for the words and miracles of the Son of God, and persecuted all the saints, and the Saviour Himself as well.

But yet I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement than for you. Their punishment, then, will be the milder whose guilt is the less.

At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Confession does not always signify penitence, but [sometimes] the giving of thanks. Let those be confounded, then, who slander the Saviour as not begotten but created, since He calls upon God as His Father, the Lord of heaven and earth.

Because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. He gives thanks and exults in the Father, that He has opened to the apostles the mysteries of His coming, of which the scribes and Pharisees, who seemed wise to themselves, were ignorant.

Yea, since so it was well-pleasing before Thee. From these words of the Lord we receive examples of humility, [so] that we may not presume rashly to dispute about the counsels concerning the calling of some or the rejection of others. For when He had set down both, He did not at once give a reason, but said it was so well-pleasing, showing, that is, that what has pleased the Just One cannot be unjust.

All things are delivered to Me by My Father. We may understand both the Father delivering and the Son receiving in a mystical sense; otherwise, if He who receives began to have, He who gave will begin not to have when He has given. When you read all things, you acknowledge the almighty Father; when you read delivered, you confess the Son, to whom by nature of one substance all things belong by right as His own, not bestowed as a gift by grace. By delivered He means not the visible elements, which He Himself founded, but those once rebellious, now having access to the Father through the Son; and the things delivered are none other than these: that the things which are in the Son are known to the Father alone, and that the things which are the Father's are known to the Son alone.

And no one knows the Son but the Father; neither does anyone know the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. So that we may understand that both the Father and the Son Himself are revealed through the Son, because He is the light of our mind: for the Father declares Himself by His Word. Let Eunomius blush, [who claims] for himself as great a knowledge of the Father and the Son as They have of one another in the equality of Their nature.

Come to Me, all you who labour and are burdened, and

I will refresh you. The Saviour invites to the grace of the Gospel those oppressed by the heavy weight of sins, or those subjected to the most heavy yoke of the law; whence there also follows:

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and the rest.

For the yoke of Christ is the Gospel, which joins Jews and Gentiles in the unity of faith.

CHAPTER XII.

Jesus went through the sown fields on the sabbath. This going signifies the incarnation of Him who dwelt among men. The sown fields signify the peoples; and fittingly on the sabbath, because then one was to be free from vices, and to dwell by faith in His contemplation.

And His disciples, being hungry, began to pluck the ears and to eat. According to another evangelist, They rubbed them in their hands and ate (Luke 6:1); for they hungered for the salvation of the human race, and began by their teachings to separate men from vices through examples of good works, and to turn them into the inner body of the Church.

But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to Him: Behold, Thy disciples do what it is not lawful for them to do on the sabbaths. For the Jews always begrudged both the teaching of the apostles and the salvation of the Gentiles, [and] reproached Christ as a transgressor of the law.

But He said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him? Against those who reproached Him concerning transgression of the law Christ set a testimony from the Scriptures and an excellent prophecy, as if He had said: If the David of the figure is read to have broken the precepts of the law because of necessity, how much more will it be lawful for the true David to provide for the need of His own.

Or have you not read in the law, down to, that one greater than the temple is here. [Here] is an adverb of place, and the sense is: If because of the need of the victims the sabbath is violated by the priests without guilt, how much more do My disciples, suffering need in My presence, not keep the sabbaths without guilt, since I hold both priests and sabbaths in My power.

But if you knew what this means, I will have mercy, down to the innocent. If you had been willing to understand that God chooses rather to bestow mercy on the human race through the apostles than to have the legal victim observed by you carnally, it would in no way have delighted [you] to disparage them in the least matters.

The Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath. And when He had passed from there, He came into their synagogue. Because He who is Son of Man is also Son of God; and He is lord not only over the priests but also over the sabbaths.

And behold, a man having a withered hand. This man is the Gentile people, who according to Luke had the right hand withered and the left sound (Luke 6:6): because he did not stretch out the right hand to the poor, and, labouring in earthly things, was idle in divine things.

And they asked Him, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the sabbaths? that they might accuse Him. They were planning to accuse [Him] of transgression of the law, if He had said that it was lawful to heal on the sabbaths; but if He denied it, they wanted to call Him unmerciful, because He would be forbidding a work of mercy.

But He said to them: What man shall there be among you that has one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbaths,

will he not take hold of it, etc. He set before them an example worthy of both their avarice and their greed, in that they in no way kept the rest of the sabbath where earthly property was concerned, inflamed by the jaws of avarice, although they disparaged Him for bestowing a work of mercy on men.

Then He said to the man: Stretch out your hand; and he stretched it out. Through the preachers He was admonishing the Gentiles to fulfil faith with works.

And it was restored to health like the other. Just as before it had taken care only of the body, so afterwards it hastened to take care of the soul in bestowing alms.

But the Pharisees going out, down to, how they might destroy Him. They are fittingly said to go out who were separating themselves from the faith of Christ, and estranging themselves from the fellowship of those to whom the Psalmist says: Come ye to Him, etc. (Ps. 33:6), because they were planning to kill Christ as a transgressor of the law, He who had ordered a hand to be stretched out, as if they themselves did not stretch out their hands at least in taking food.

But Jesus knowing it, down to, and He healed them all. Because He was God, knowing the secret wickedness of their heart, and avoiding the crowds of the unbelieving, He chose for Himself the company of the faithful; and these He healed not only from infirmity of body, but also from infirmity of heart.

And He charged them that they should not make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, etc. Not from fear of the passion did He charge them not to make Him known, but so that they might not have an occasion of destroying themselves.

Behold my servant whom I have chosen. God is servant and chosen according to the humanity, and the one who chooses [according to] the divinity.

In whom my soul has been well pleased. It has been well pleased, because guile was not found in His mouth; not that God has a soul, so that God is one thing and His soul another; but it is said on account of human weakness, so that you may be able to understand and to hope for the help of the divine clemency; for [the mind] is to be led through visible things to invisible things, as the Psalmist says: Protect me under the shadow of Thy wings (Ps. 16:8).

I will put my spirit upon Him. Inasmuch as He is man, I put it; inasmuch as He is God, He has always had it.

And He has announced judgement to the Gentiles. Although He announces to all that the judgement to come is impending, yet He is said to have announced it to the Gentiles, because they in particular resolved to receive the ministry of the announcement with a believing heart.

Neither shall anyone hear His voice in the street. That is, not because they walk the broad way, but because they strive to enter the narrow gate, do they endeavour to hear His voice with the ears of the heart.

The bruised reed He shall not break. He calls the Israelite people, although it is one kingdom, a bruised reed, because it neglected to keep among its members the firm support of faith and the bond of charity; and He would not break it, because He put off giving it the occasion of its perdition in His death. Otherwise: He will break the bruised reed, because now in the Church [He] denies to any sinner consolation, whether in teaching, or by examples, or in whatever he may have needed of Him.

And the smoking flax He shall not quench. That is, the Gentile people, [so that] it may not give off through [itself] the most bitter smoke of error; but now in the Church [one] will quench the smoking flax, because he sees that in some poor and despised man there is some good which could have profited him; but he has spurned it for this reason, that he either thinks him a sinner or sees him to be poor.

Until He send forth judgement unto victory. And in His name the Gentiles shall hope. He was sending forth unto victory the judgement of his condemnation when, death being overcome, He rose again; and He will send it forth yet in the day of the dread examination, when He will thrust all His adversaries into eternal damnation.

Then there was brought to Him one having a devil, blind and dumb; and He healed him. This man signifies the Gentile people, because it was brought by the preachers to the faith of Christ; blind, because it did not know the way of truth; dumb, because it did not open its mouth to the praise of the Creator; it was possessed, because through idolatry it was serving demons. Those given over to ignorance of this kind the Church still daily does not cease to offer to the Lord with devout prayers, teachings and examples.

And all the multitudes were amazed, down to, the Son of David. When they saw the sign they were amazed, because they believed Him to be a mere man born of the seed of David; and they named Him son of David, seeing Him to be merciful, because [they knew that] merciful David had known how to spare his persecutor devoutly when he was caught.

But the Pharisees hearing it said: This man does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them. What they could not deny they interpreted badly, because they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to an unclean spirit. Baal is the same as Beel; zebub means 'fly'; and because of the flies which haunted the putrefaction and blood of the victims there, he was named Beelzebut, which is 'man of flies', or 'having flies'.

Every kingdom divided against itself shall be made desolate; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And the sense is: If I, according to your opinion, drive out devils by the prince of the devils, at least from this [you ought] to weigh that my kingdom of power is stable and fixed, since you see that I together with the Father have so great power over him.

Therefore they shall be your judges. If I cast out by Beelzebut, by whom do your exorcists cast them out, or the apostles, who do not hold such power [Perhaps: who hold power] over the devil? But because they attribute their work to God and not to the devil, they show you to be damnable, because you ascribe the work of the Holy Spirit to an unclean spirit.

But if I by the Spirit of God, down to, the kingdom of God upon you. If I cast out devils by the Holy Spirit, know that the entrance to the heavenly kingdom has been opened to believers; or else He has named the Church, or the sacred Scripture, the kingdom of God, as He says elsewhere: The kingdom of God is among you (Luke 17:21); and again: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and the rest (Matt. 21:43).

Or how can anyone, down to, then his house

he may plunder. The house signifies the world; the strong man, the devil; the vessels are the hearts of wicked men. These vessels Christ plundered, the devil being bound, when He rose again with death destroyed, and gave us the hope of rising again and of coming to the heavenly kingdom.

He who is not with me is against me. The devil [is] not with Christ but against Christ; because Christ is humble and kind, he proud and envious, [and] he desires to take away our happiness offered by Christ.

And he who does not gather with me scatters. Christ gathers, preaching the virtues by which, in ascending, they may attain to the vision of the divine power; but the devil scatters by dragging [them] to vices.

Every sin, down to, the spirit of blasphemy shall not be forgiven. He said that all sins can be forgiven through penitence, but He denied that the spirit of blasphemy can be forgiven, because they were conscious in themselves of their crime, and, begrudging the salvation of others, they said that the work of the Holy Spirit was the prince of the devils'.

And whoever shall speak a word against the son of man, down to, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. He who, because of the weakness of the flesh he has seen, has refused to believe in my divinity can receive remission through penitence; but he who through despair says that the Holy Spirit cannot forgive sins in baptism, or that the sacrament of the Lord's body and blood, when received, can bring no benefit of remission more than other foods, will receive remission neither here nor in the world to come. And because He denies pardon here and in the future to the one who despairs, He undoubtedly indicates the remission of some sins in the future, such as idle words and superfluous thoughts, if [a man] is eager to do well and desires to amend his wrong deeds before the day of death.

Either make, down to, by the fruit the tree is known. The good tree is Christ, bearing salvation as fruit; the bad tree, the devil, bringing forth perdition for those who consent to him: or the Jews are deservedly called a bad tree, who attributed the fruit of good working to a bad tree, that is, to the devil; whence He rebukes them with deserved reproof, saying:

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. That is, out of the wickedness of your heart words of blasphemy are brought forth.

But I say to you, down to, they shall render an account of it in the day of judgement. As if He had said: If an account must be rendered of superfluous speech, how much more will your criminal blasphemies produce eternal damnation.

By your words, down to, you shall be condemned. That is, for good speech you shall be crowned, but for bad you shall be damned.

Then they answered Him, down to, to see a sign. Luke says that they desired to see a sign from heaven (Luke 11:16); in short, they wanted to have such a sign of His divinity as was done under Elijah the prophet, when fire coming from heaven consumed two captains of fifty (IV Kgs. 1:10–12).

But He answering, down to, a sign but that of Jonah the prophet. He calls the generation evil because of the transgression of God's commandments; adulterous, because, having forsaken God,

it was serving the idols of diverse nations. To which, He says, I will not show a sign of My divinity from heaven, but from the earth I will show an example of My passion.

For as Jonah was, and the rest. For if you count the Parasceve with the preceding night, and the sabbath with its night, and the night of the Lord's day with the following day, you will find three days. Further, He called the sepulchre the heart of the earth. Jonah, since he is interpreted 'dove' or 'grieving', signifies Christ, upon whom the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove; because He bore our griefs in His body upon the tree. Nineveh is interpreted 'beautiful'; it signifies the Church adorned with the beauty of the virtues. And that Christ had lain in the sepulchre two nights and one whole day signifies that by the single death of His body He destroyed the double death of body and soul.

The men of Nineveh, down to, more than Jonah here. Not by a sentence of power, but [by the example] of the amendment of life. The Ninevites show the nation of the Jews to be damnable, because Jonah preached for a short time and with words only, but Christ taught for a long time both with words, and showed signs of divine power.

The queen of the south, down to, more than Jonah here. For she shows the nation of the Jews to be worthy of damnation, because she herself came from the ends of the earth to learn wisdom from Solomon. But the Jews refused to learn wisdom from Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, though He dwelt in their midst. The queen of the south and the men of Nineveh signify the whole body of the saints; because the saints are eager to amend their offences through penitence, or take care through wisdom not to sin.

But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man. At the time when the law was given the unclean spirit went out from the Jews, and now in baptism he is compelled to go out from each of the faithful.

He walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. The dry places are the hearts of believers, not having the moisture of lust; going about in them, he will not find consent to his wicked suggestion.

Then he says: I will return into my house whence I came out. And coming, he finds it empty, swept with brooms and adorned. He will find the house empty, that is, sluggish in good works, and adorned through hypocrisy with a pretence of virtues.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. Taking, that is, the seven principal vices, from which the seed of all wickedness sprouts; and he himself is the eighth.

And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first; so shall it be also to this most wicked generation. For it was worse for the people of Israel after the law was corrupted than in Egypt before the law; and it is better for every man not to know the way of truth than to turn back from it once known.

While He was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him: Behold, Thy mother and Thy brothers stand outside, seeking Thee. Not simply, as is supposed, but with guile did he report that His mother and brothers were standing outside, desiring

to find out whether He would put a mother's affection before the office of preaching.

But He answering, down to, is my brother, sister and mother. He does not ask as though ignorant of His mother, nor as rashly despising His mother and brothers, since in the law He commanded [men] to honour father and mother; but wishing to show that spiritual kinship is greater than carnal; as He said elsewhere to His disciples: He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me (Matt. 10:37). But in the mystical sense the mother, the Synagogue, and the Jews are said to stand outside, because, while the Gentile world was believing, they could not enter into the faith of Christ. But someone asks how the Gentile people, doing the will of the Father, can become the mother of Christ: but since by believing they are made brothers and sisters, without doubt it becomes mother by preaching, when by its teachings it begets others for God unto the faith.

CHAPTER XIII.

At that time Jesus, going out of the house. That is, from the people of Israel, in which He took flesh from the virgin.

He sat by the sea. That is, through the apostles He was preached to diverse nations in the world.

And great crowds were gathered to Him. Through the preachers crowds of believers were gathered to Christ.

So that He went up into a boat, down to, saying in parables. The boat signifies the Church, which is surrounded in the world by the waves of persecutions. But those who stand on the shore, and are neither touched by the waves of the sea nor able to go up into the ship, and yet do not lack the word of God, signify those who, newly coming to the faith, have been stripped of the error of unbelief and have not yet entered the Church through the laver of baptism. Or the crowd which stood on the shore signifies those who here persevere in the solidity of faith, and are neither touched by the error of unbelief nor yet allowed to enter the gate of paradise.

Behold, the sower went out to sow his seed. Christ went out from the bosom of the Father into the world, to scatter the seed of His teaching by Himself and by His preachers, so that the fruit of good working might grow in the hearts of the faithful.

Some fell by the wayside, and the birds ate them. The seed of the word of God falls by the wayside when the heart of the hearer tramples the preaching it has heard with wicked thoughts, and the unclean spirits take these things away from the memory.

And others fell upon stony ground, where they had much earth; and immediately they sprang up, etc. The stony places signify hardness of heart, where there is no depth of earth, that is, zeal for discipline; when the sun of persecution, or of hidden temptation, has risen, the word of God received in the heart with joy withers, because it lacks the root of charity.

Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. The thorns signify riches, which pierce the heart with pains, lest they should not be found by those who seek them, and, when they have been found, lest they should not be kept; and the intention

of him who possesses them, wounded, they drag to eternal damnation.

But others fell upon good ground, down to, another thirtyfold. The good ground signifies perfect hearts, in which the word of God begets in one the faith of the Trinity, which the number thirty signifies; in another place the perfection of good works, which the sixty [signifies]; in another perseverance, which leads to eternal reward, which is figured in the number one hundred. Others have chosen to understand by the thirty the married, by the sixty the widowed, by the hundred virgins.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. He who has the will, let him understand with the ears of the heart.

And the disciples came and said to Him: Why dost Thou speak to them in parables? and the rest. To these it is not given, as Mark says; but to those, because they are most strong, all things are done in parables (Mark 4:11). For those who are eager to enter into the sanctuary of God will understand the last things of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And rightly do they hear in parables, because with the senses of the heart closed they do not wish to know the truth.

For he who has, to him shall be given, and he shall abound; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken from him. He who has love of the word, to him shall be given also the sense to understand what he loves; but he who has no love of hearing, although he may seem to have something by natural talent or by literary exercise, let him lose even this, so that he may rejoice in no sweetness of true wisdom. And although it may seem to have been said especially of the apostles, to whom, having obtained charity and faith, it was given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, and of the Jews, because seeing in parables they did not see, and hearing they did not understand that they were going to lose the letter of the law, yet it can also be taken generally: because often a clever teacher deprives himself of wisdom by neglecting it, which a simple and studious man tastes by labouring; and for this reason [God] sometimes allows a studious man slowness of understanding, so that he may find the greater rewards of recompense the more he labours in the effort of discovery.

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand.

Now He discloses to the apostles that He spoke to the crowds in parables for this reason, that with proud intent they reckoned themselves seeing and hearing; and on this account they would not submit themselves to the heavenly teaching, so that, while the simple and humble came to know the heavenly mysteries, they themselves remained empty of spiritual understanding. Not absurdly do we say that the Jews were blinded to this end, that they should not understand the things spoken in parables by the Lord, so that, with His faith provoked, they might crucify Him; [and that] after the resurrection, terrified by the miracles which were done in His name, and humbled the more over the guilt of the Lord's death, they might love Him the more vehemently, the more they rejoiced that so great a crime had been forgiven them: because so great was [their] pride that it had to be cast down by such a humiliation.

That there might be fulfilled in them the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet, saying: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not see. These things [are said] of the crowds, who have sight and hearing of the body outwardly, and themselves

have deprived themselves of the sight and hearing of the body and of the heart within.

For the heart of this people has grown fat. He calls the heart of the Jews grown fat with the grossness of malice and the abundance of sin.

With their ears they have heard heavily. Because they received the word of the Lord ungratefully, and shut their eyes, and afterwards did not merit salvation: because they are blind not by nature but by will.

But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For amen I say to you, that many prophets and just men desired to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them. Abraham, Isaiah and Micah the prophets saw, but beholding from afar, and greeting a mirror in an enigma; but the apostles, having the Lord present before them, had no need to be taught through angels or through various forms of visions. And those whom Matthew calls prophets and just men, Luke has named prophets and kings (Luke 10:24). For indeed they are great kings who have known not to succumb to the motions of their temptations by consenting, but to rule over them by governing them.

Another parable He set before them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. He is fittingly called like, who is proved to be fitted to it in all things. He sows good seed, then, in the field of his body, because he is eager to bring the seed of good will to the perfection of works.

But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle in the midst of the wheat, and went away. This saying indeed warns us to be cautious, lest while we are sluggish with idleness the devil scatter the foulness of vices over the seed of good will.

And when the blade had grown and had borne fruit, then the cockle also appeared. And the servants of the householder came and said to him: Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? etc. Here an example of patience is given us, that, as the householder was patient at the enemy's guile, so we, in any injury, may have recourse not at once to vengeance, but rather to forbearance.

And the servants said to him, down to, you root up the wheat also together with them. Here, in short, we have an example of discretion and of tolerating the wicked, lest, if we rather repay the wicked in kind by taking vengeance, we give the good a scandal for imitation.

Let both grow, down to, but gather the wheat into my barn. From this we are taught to have long-suffering patience, so that with long-suffering we may ponder justice, and in judgement not neglect patience.

Another parable He set before them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is indeed the least of all seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than all herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in its branches. The grain of mustard seed is the preaching of the Gospel and the knowledge of the Scriptures, which leads to life. He who sows is our sense and mind,

which, receiving the grain of preaching and cherishing it with the moisture of faith, makes it sprout in the field of his breast. This is the least of all disciplines, because at the first teaching it does not have credence, when it preaches God, who is the author of life, as dead, and the scandal of the cross. This seems much less when compared with the doctrines of the philosophers; but because their teachings, softened in the manner of herbs, quickly grow and collapse, this least [seed], when it has been preached in the soul of the believer, or in the whole world, grows not into herbs but into a tree, so that in its branches, that is, in the diversities of its doctrines, souls may rest. In the grain of mustard seed the humility of the Lord's incarnation can be designated, which the man Joseph received and buried in the garden; and it grew into a tree, because rising He ascended into heaven. He spread out branches, that is, the preachers, in whom all the faithful might rest from the weariness of this life; He scatters [them].

Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. This woman is the apostolic preaching mentioned above, or the Church gathered from diverse nations; she took the leaven, that is, the knowledge of the Scriptures, and hid it in three measures of meal, so that spirit and soul and body may not be at variance among themselves, but, agreeing in one, may obtain whatever they shall have asked of the Father. Or the woman, the Church, leads [the meal] in the offspring of the sons of Noah through the leaven of faith not to a threefold [deity] but to the unity of the Godhead; and, according to Plato, we unite the three passions of the human soul through the leaven, when from the rational part, which he thought to be in the brain, we possess prudence; in the irascible part, which he held to be in the gall, we keep rigour against vices; in the concupiscible part, which he reckoned to be in the liver, we take up the desire of the virtues. A satum is a kind of measure among the Palestinians, holding one and a half modii.

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable He spoke nothing. For to the unbelieving crowds He speaks in parables up to this point. The disciples, that is, the believers, ask at home, so that they may know the secret mysteries.

I will open my mouth in parables, etc. This testimony is taken from the seventieth psalm, and is said in the person of the Lord. Because no one was found, neither in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth, who was worthy to open the book and to loose its seals.

Then, having sent away the crowds, He came into the house, and His disciples came to Him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the cockle of the field. Having sent away the crowds of the Jews, He enters the church of the Gentiles, and there to the faithful disciples, devoutly learning, He expounds the divine mysteries. To those things, then, which were expounded by the Lord we ought to give credence; but those which are passed over in silence and left to us, let us touch on briefly. The sleeping men are the teachers of the Church; the servants are the angels, who daily see the face of the Father. But the teachers must keep watch, lest the enemy, that is, the devil, oversow cockle, that is, the doctrines of heretics. In that He says,

In Let both grow alike, room is given for repentance, so that we may not quickly cut off a brother. To this sentence the Apostle's saying seems contrary: With such a one do not even take food (1 Cor. 5:11). But between wheat and tares, so long as it is the blade, there is either no distinction or a hard one; and here we are warned by the Lord that where anything is doubtful we should not quickly pronounce sentence, but reserve the ending to God the judge.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, as far as and buys that field (Matt. 13:44). The hidden treasure is heavenly desire; the field is the discipline of heavenly study, in which the treasure is hidden from human favour, so that it may be kept safe from unclean spirits. He indeed buys this field with all things sold who tramples all his earthly desires through the guarding of heavenly desire. Or the treasure in the field is the two Testaments, in which a man, perceiving that much lies hidden, procures leisure for himself through contempt of temporal things, so that he may be rich in the knowledge of God; and this treasure he then hides not out of envy, but he hides it so as not to lose it.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls, etc. (Matt. 13:45). Having found one precious pearl, he sold all that he had; because in comparison with the heavenly life all things possessed grow cheap. If you wish to search out holy men, you will find the one Jesus Christ, Who is without fault, better than all. If you seek understanding, you will prove that He alone stands above the rest: In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1); and so among all the commandments charity is the more excellent, in which all things are restored; and among the other books the Gospel is proved to be the stronger.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, as far as but the bad they threw out (Matt. 13:47–48). The net signifies the Church, which invites all alike to the pardon of sins; which is drawn to the shore, that is, to the end of the age, through the teaching of the preachers,

BOOK THREE.

CHAPTER XIV.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works are at work in him (Matt. 14:1–2). Herod, thinking rightly about the resurrection of the dead, declared to his servants in every way that the saints will rise in greater power, because he supposed that John, who worked no signs, had risen from death; whereas the Jews believed that Christ did not rise, but was taken away by the disciples. Because he said that John worked mighty works for this reason, that he had risen from death, the foreigner also showed the mind of the gentiles to be readier for faith than that of the Jews.

For Herod had seized John, and bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother's wife. For John was saying to him: It is not lawful for you to have (Matt. 14:3–4)

and at the end of the age are received into the heavenly mansions, while the wicked are sent into the outer darkness.

Jesus said to them: Therefore every learned scribe, as far as new things and old (Matt. 13:52). He admonishes the apostles that whatever they preached in the Gospel they should confirm by the words of the Law and the prophets; as if He said openly: That man is a learned preacher in holy Church who knows both how to bring forth new things concerning the sweetness of the kingdom, and how to speak old things concerning the terror of punishment.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, as far as this wisdom and mighty works (Matt. 13:53–54). There is a difference between the Synagogue, which is interpreted "congregation", and the Church, which is interpreted "calling", in that cattle and any inanimate things can be congregated, but none can be called together except those that use reason; and therefore it pleased churchmen more rightly to name the people of the new grace, as a rational [people] called together into the unity of the faith, the Church, rather than the Synagogue, as a congregation of irrational things.

Is not this the carpenter's son, as far as and they took offence at Him (Matt. 13:55–57). The error of the Jews is the salvation of the gentiles. Not at all without the reason of a certain mystery did Christ, appearing in the flesh, will to be called the carpenter's son. Truly His Father is a craftsman, Who fashioned out of nothing all things that are in heaven and on earth; and because even now He daily fashions vessels of wrath into vessels of mercy.

Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country (Matt. 13:57). Not only He Himself, the head of the prophets, but Elijah, Jeremiah and all the other lesser ones were held lower in their own cities than in foreign ones; because it is almost natural for citizens to envy fellow citizens, just as the Jews considered not the presence of the works, but the frailty of the nature.

And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief (Matt. 13:58). For He was unwilling to disclose to them the miracles of His divinity, lest, the more they saw the power of the divinity shine forth, the more damnable they should become by despising the truth.

her, etc. An old history relates that Philip, son of the elder Herod, under whom Christ fled into Egypt, took to wife the daughter of King Aretas; but that, when feuds arose between father-in-law and son-in-law, and also between the brothers, Aretas took his daughter away from Philip and gave her to Herod, as to Philip's enemy, to increase the injury. But Herod, rebuked by John because he had taken the wife of a living brother, loving his wife more than the commandments of God, wished to kill John; but fearing the people who had been baptized by him, he found the device of an oath, so as to accomplish the crime he had planned, as is made plain in what follows.

But on Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced, as far as and because of those who reclined with him, he commanded it to be given (Matt. 14:6–9). For two among mortals are read to have celebrated

their birthday, but each of them defiled it with blood; and they warn us rather to fear the day of death than to celebrate the day of birth with riotous living. Herod cannot be excused of the murder, because he had sworn for this purpose, to prepare his devices for a future occasion. For Herodias feared that the unlawful marriage would be dissolved, and for that reason she instructed her daughter beforehand to ask for his head, so that she might have in her power the tongue which she knew wished to forbid the incest. For Herod was not at all saddened by a request of this kind; but it is the custom of historians to narrate things as they then seemed to have been done in the eyes of those present: for he feigned sadness in his face, while he had gladness in his mind.

He sent also, and beheaded John in the prison, as far as and she brought it to her mother (Matt. 14:10–11). The beheading of John signifies that the Jews lost Christ, Who is the head of the prophets: John was diminished by his head, Christ was exalted on the cross, because Christ had to increase, but John to decrease.

And his disciples came, as far as They came and told Jesus (Matt. 14:12). These who buried him and brought the news seem to signify those who, the Law being extinguished for them according to the flesh, passed over to the grace of the Saviour; for the burial of John signifies the abolition of the Law.

When Jesus had heard this, He withdrew, as far as to a desert place apart (Matt. 14:13). Not from fear of death, but sparing His enemies, lest they should join murder to murder. Otherwise: when John's head was cut off, that is, when the Jews' oracle of prophecy was lost, Christ withdrew into the desert of the Church, which before had no husband.

And when the crowds had heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the cities (Matt. 14:13). With their own labour the crowds of the gentiles followed, converted from their former errors to the faith of Christ.

And going out He saw a great crowd, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick (Matt. 14:14). So that full faith might at once obtain its reward. So "Jesus went out" signifies that the crowds had the will to go, not the strength to arrive first; and therefore He goes out, so as to have mercy.

When evening had come, the disciples came to Him, saying: The place is desert, and the hour is already past; send the crowds away, etc. (Matt. 14:15). In that evening, when the true Sun set as the end of the age drew near, it signifies that the Jews murmured against the gentiles, that they were fitter to seek food for themselves in the conventicles of heretics than to use the pasture of the divine books.

But Jesus said to them: They have no need to go; you give them to eat (Matt. 14:16). He calls them to the breaking of bread, so that, when they testified that they had none, the showing of the sign might be the plainer; and at the same time intimating that our hearts are to be fed through those by whose examples they have been roused to love heavenly things. If it troubles anyone that John says the Lord tested Philip as to whence food might be given to the crowds, while the other evangelists related that the disciples said to the Lord: Send the crowds away, and so on, to whom He, according to Matthew, replied: They have no need to go; it is understood that after these

words the Lord looked about, and said to Philip what John records; then what John [records] as answered by Philip, Mark records as answered by the disciples, wishing it to be understood that Philip answered this on behalf of the rest.

They answered Him: We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes (Matt. 14:17). By the five loaves are designated the five books of the Law of Moses; by the two fishes, prophecy and psalmody: this threefold distinction the Old Instrument teaches, as Scripture says: For all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses and in the Psalms concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

He said to them: Bring them here to Me (Matt. 14:18). Hear, Marcion; hear, Manichaean: He commands that He may sanctify and multiply them, He in Whom the eyes of all hope, Who fills every living thing with blessing, giving food to all.

And when He had commanded the crowd to sit down upon the grass (Matt. 14:19). To sit down is to trample with the mind's contempt the flowers and pleasures of this world and the allurements of the flesh; or, according to another evangelist, upon the ground by fifties and hundreds, because through the penitence of the fifty one ascends to the perfection of the hundred. The different companies sitting down are the different assemblies of the Churches.

Having taken the five loaves and the two fishes (Matt. 14:19). He took them into His hands, because He Himself fulfilled all things in deed.

Looking up to heaven (Matt. 14:19). Because He taught us to hope for help from there.

He blessed and broke (Matt. 14:19). Because He showed whatever holiness the Law and the prophets had.

And He gave the loaves to the disciples, as far as and they were filled (Matt. 14:19–20). That is, the Lord by His distribution first laid open the sacraments of the Old Testament to the preachers of the Gospel; then they furnished to the crowds of all nations [the food] of the refreshment of spiritual nourishment.

And they took up the remains, twelve baskets full of fragments (Matt. 14:20). The twelve baskets are the twelve apostles, who gathered up the sacraments from there; because the things that cannot be understood by the untaught are to be searched out by the perfect.

And the number of those who ate was five thousand men, besides women and little children (Matt. 14:21). This multitude has not yet reached the number seven: four thousand eat; the five fishes signify those who, still placed in secular dress, know well how to use outward things. The four thousand with seven loaves are the lofty ones, inwardly instructed by spiritual grace; the women and little children, the weaker sex and the frail age, are those who are as yet unworthy of the gift.

And immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him across the strait, until He dismissed the crowds (Matt. 14:22). Why He drove the disciples away, intending to pray alone on the mountain, John makes plain when he says that He fled, lest they should make Him king. Here we are taught that in the good things we do we should avoid the reward of human favour. Mark says that the Lord compelled His disciples to go before Him across the strait to Bethsaida, which is the city of Andrew and Peter in Galilee. What Luke says, that John withdrew into a desert place, which is Bethsaida, and so on, can be understood, unless I am mistaken,

since he does not say "which [city] is Bethsaida", but "which [place] is"; [meaning] that he did not wish the city itself to be understood, but a desert place belonging to its borders.

And having dismissed the crowd, He went up the mountain alone to pray (Matt. 14:23). He teaches us to go forth from earthly things and to ascend to the summit of a loftier care.

When evening had come, He was there alone. But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary (Matt. 14:23–24). This toil signifies the adversities of this world and the blasts of unclean spirits, [besetting those] who strive to reach the shore of the heavenly homeland.

And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking upon the sea (Matt. 14:25). The last watch shows that the divine kindness gives help to those who in their distresses consider human frailty and the faint-heartedness of their own strength.

And seeing Him, as far as that it is a phantom (Matt. 14:26). O Marcion and Manichaean, if the Lord was not born of the Virgin, but was seen as a phantom, how is it that the apostles now fear that they are seeing phantoms?

And they cried out for fear (Matt. 14:26). A confused cry and an uncertain voice are the mark of great fear; but according to the Psalmist: The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth (Ps. 144:18).

Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid (Matt. 14:27). What was first at issue He cures, saying: Take courage; and in what follows, It is I, without adding who He is, He made them recognize Him from the known voice; or else that they might recall that He was the very One Whom they knew to have spoken to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, He Who is has sent me to you (Exod. 3:14).

And Peter answered and said: Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You upon the water. And He said: Come (Matt. 14:28–29). For in all places Peter is found to be of most ardent faith, and with the same ardour of faith he here says, as it were openly: Do You command, and at once the waters are made firm; and so the body that of itself is heavy will become light. And Peter, getting down from the boat, [walked on the water] to come to Jesus (Matt. 14:29). Let those who say that it was not the true flesh of Christ that walked upon the waters say how Peter walked, whom they will not deny to be a true man.

But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid; and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me (Matt. 14:30). He is left to himself a little, so that his faith may be increased, and that he may understand that he was preserved not by the ease of his asking, but by the power of the Lord.

And at once, stretching out His hand, He took hold of him, and said to him: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matt. 14:31). Him Whom elsewhere He looked upon as he denied, here He reached out His hand to, lest he sink into the deep. If Peter, whom we said above to have the most ardent faith, is reproved in this way, what must be said of us, who have not even the smallest portion of this little faith? Mystically, Peter signifies the Church, making her way to the heavenly homeland and treading the waves of this world with the straight step of faith and with zeal for good works. But that he turns aside a little from the steadiness of faith, and in the storm

terrified, began to sink in the waves, expresses the weaker ones in the Church whom the whirlwind of temptations terrifies; and these the right hand of the divine protection draws out, lest they sink utterly.

And when He had got into the boat, the wind ceased (Matt. 14:32). For into whatever heart God comes through the grace of His love, at once all the battles of the world, of the vices and of the malignant spirits are put down and fall quiet.

And when they had crossed over, they came into the land of Gennesar (Matt. 14:34). The land is called Gennesar because it lies beside the lake of Gennesareth; just as [the lake of] Tiberias is named from the nearby city, which used to be called Chinnereth, but, restored by Herod the tetrarch, was named Tiberias in honour of Tiberius Caesar. Gennesar, then, is interpreted "the beginning of rising"; for full tranquillity will be paid back to us then, when the inheritance of paradise is restored to us through Christ.

And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent into all that region, and brought to Him all who were sick. And they begged Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were made whole (Matt. 14:35–36).

In this deed the firm faith of the gentiles is signified. Not content with the health of those present, they invite those round about who are deceived by various errors to run to the true Physician. Understand the fringe as the least commandment, which it is not lawful to transgress; or as the assumption of the flesh, through which we come to the Word of God.

CHAPTER XV.

For God said: Honour your father and mother; and he who curses father or mother, etc. (Matt. 15:4). Honour is suggested in supplying the necessities of life, and cursing in withholding them. Subverting this law, the scribes and Pharisees taught wicked sons to say to their parents: The gift that is from me will profit you (Matt. 15:5); so that they, fearing to accept what they saw made over to God, would rather choose to lead a needy life than eat of consecrated things.

Hypocrite, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying (Matt. 15:7). Not that the word prophesied about their malice was good, but because it fitted their ways well. For they honoured Him with their lips when they said: Master, we know that You are truthful, and teach the way of God in truth, and You care for no one, for You do not regard the person of men (Matt. 22:16). But their heart was far from Him, when they wished to catch Him in His speech, as Luke testifies, who says, when they were saying: Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not? (Matt. 22:17).

Not what enters into the mouth makes a man common, but what comes out of the mouth (Matt. 15:11). Foods which are forbidden in the Law, and which the gentiles use, the Jews call "common", and think that they defile the one who eats them; but the Saviour shows that all things are clean which are received with a clean conscience. If these things are so, how can what Paul says stand: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons (1 Cor. 10:21)? It must be known, then, that the foods themselves, as God's creature, are indeed clean in themselves, but the invocation of idols and demons makes them unclean.

Do You know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, took offence? (Matt. 15:12). Do You know that in this saying all the superstition of the Jewish observances is destroyed, [of those] who think that their religion lies in the taking and the abhorring of foods?

Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up (Matt. 15:13). If this is so, what is it that Paul says: I planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase (1 Cor. 3:6)? But the question is solved in what he says: But God gave the increase. God plants, and no one can root up that planting, unless it gives itself up to consent. Hence it is said in Isaiah: I planted you a vine; how have you been turned into the bitterness of a strange vine? (Jer. 2:21).

Let them alone, as far as Both fall into the pit (Matt. 15:14). He commands that the Pharisees be left to their own choice, as the Apostle says: Avoid a heretical man after a first and second dispute (Titus 3:10). Rightly are they called blind leaders of the blind, who not only [fail to] look out for themselves lest they fall into the snare, but also drag with them to the precipice of death those who obey them.

Are you also still without understanding? (Matt. 15:16). The apostles are rebuked by the Lord because in a plain matter they look for a mystical meaning.

But the things which proceed from the mouth come out from the heart, and these defile a man (Matt. 15:18). Therefore the ruling part of the soul is not, according to Plato, in the brain, but, according to Christ, in the heart; hence the devil can be a helper and an inciter of evil thoughts, not their author. For he does not know how to search out the secrets of the heart, but [only] to guess from the bearing of the body what we are turning over within; and when he sees someone intent on some vice, he entices him and hastens to lead him astray.

And Jesus, going out from there, withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. 15:21). Here at last, leaving the slanderers behind, He withdraws into the parts of the foreign nations.

And behold, a Canaanite woman, coming out from those borders, cried out, saying: Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David (Matt. 15:22). This woman signifies the Church, coming to the Lord from the ancient dwelling of her vain way of life.

My daughter is troubled by a demon (Matt. 15:22). That is, the Church, now believing, entreats the divine kindness for her peoples, that they too may be saved from error. Again, this daughter is any soul in the Church enslaved to the deceptions of malignant spirits, for whom mother Church in her care intercedes with the Lord, that, since she cannot [heal her] by her own efforts, He by inspiring her inwardly may rouse her to the knowledge of the true light.

Tropologically, the daughter troubled by a demon is anyone's conscience, polluted with the filth of vices, whose amendment he ought to demand of the loving Creator with continual laments.

He did not answer her a word (Matt. 15:23). He would not answer, lest He seem contrary to His own sentence, in which He said: Do not go into the way of the gentiles (Matt. 10:5), and for that reason give occasion to the slanderers. Mystically, if the Church's first tears do not obtain what is asked, the Lord is to be besieged with persistent crying, and the intercessions of His saints are to be sought, that they themselves

may entreat the Lord that the Church be heard. And so it comes about that, if she does not turn her mind from its purpose, she is by no means cheated of the fruit of her petition.

Send her away, for she cries out after us (Matt. 15:23). The disciples did this not knowing the mysteries of the Lord, either moved by pity for the Syrophoenician woman, or wishing to be rid of her importunity, lest she should cry out the more often as if to an unmerciful physician. That Mark says this woman came to the Lord in the house, and Matthew [says she] cried out as it were after Him as He walked, is to be understood thus: that the woman first came to Jesus where He was in the house, but, having obtained no answer there, followed Him as He went out, until she was found worthy to hear what follows:

I was not sent except to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24). Not that He was not sent to the gentiles, but that He was sent first to Israel, so that, when they did not receive the Gospel, His passing over to the gentiles might be just.

It is not good to take the children's bread, as far as of their masters (Matt. 15:26–27). Under the person of the woman the wonderful faith, patience and humility of the Church are proclaimed. Faith, by which she believed that her daughter could be saved. Patience, by which, though so often scorned, she perseveres in her prayers. Humility, by which she compares herself not to dogs but to whelps. The table, moreover, is holy Scripture, from which the whelps eat not the crusts of the children's bread but the crumbs. For those who were despised among the gentiles, being converted to the faith, seek in the Scriptures not the surface of the letter but the spiritual sense, by which they may make progress. And this under the table, because they put the services of their heart and body under [it] for the fulfilling of the divine precepts.

O woman, great is your faith, etc. (Matt. 15:28). In this woman is praised the faith of the gentiles, which soon, at the preaching of the apostles, obtained perfect salvation for themselves and their own.

And her daughter was healed from that hour (Matt. 15:28). Because of the mother's humble and faithful word the demon left the daughter; where it is given to be understood that through the confession [of others] in baptism little children are freed from the devil, who cannot yet of themselves do anything good or evil.

And when Jesus had passed on from there, He came beside the sea of Galilee, and going up into the mountain, He sat there (Matt. 15:29). That is, having completed the dispensation of the salvation of the gentiles, He returns through the preachers into Judaea. He went up into the mountain, calling us to heavenly things; and He sat there, showing that rest is to be sought in heavenly places.

And great crowds came to Him, having with them the dumb, etc. (Matt. 15:30). So while the Lord sits on the mountain, that is, reigns gloriously in the citadel of the heavens, the crowds of the faithful approach with devout mind, and bring with them those dumb as to the word of confession, blind with the error of unbelief, deaf, disobedient to the precepts of their superiors, lame in wicked works, feeble under the burden of sins: all of whom, by the teachings of the Gospel, they cast at the feet of Jesus, because they submit them to His humanity to be healed.

But Jesus, having called His disciples together, said: I have compassion on the crowd, as far as lest they faint on the way (Matt. 15:32). Here the affection and

compassion for human frailty are expressed, and an example is given to masters that counsels are to be shared with disciples. But the crowd that waited for Him three days, that is, persevering with Him in the faith of the holy Trinity, whether before the Law, under the Law, or under grace, the Lord will not send away fasting from the food of holy admonition, lest, growing weary on the journey of this life, it should not reach the longed-for dwelling.

But they said: Seven loaves, and a few little fishes (Matt. 15:34). By the seven loaves the Scripture of the New Testament is designated, in which, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, we find the banquet of minds; and by the little fishes we understand the saints, through whom that same Scripture was composed.

And He commanded the crowd to sit down upon the ground (Matt. 15:35). At the meal of the five loaves the crowd sat down upon the grass, but here upon the ground, because in the Law we are commanded to trample the desires of the flesh, but in the New Testament to leave temporal possessions themselves.

And Jesus, taking the seven loaves and the fishes, etc. (Matt. 15:36). By the breaking of the loaves He signifies the opening of the sacraments, with which the world was to be nourished through the distribution of the Apostles. That He gave thanks shows His joy over the salvation of the human race; and He has instructed us to give thanks to God in all things.

And they all ate and were filled (Matt. 15:37). Those are filled who commit to memory [what they hear, so as] to find the food of inward sweetness.

And what was left over of the fragments they took up, seven baskets full (Matt. 15:37). The basket, which is woven of rush and palm, signifies all the holy and perfect in the Church, who by the greenness of faith and the height of hope of heavenly rewards are capable of receiving all the higher precepts and counsels, because they surpass the general way of life of the people of God by the sublimity of their mind and works.

And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and little children (Matt. 15:38). Well are they read to have been four thousand, so that by the number itself He might teach that they were fed with the food of the Gospel, or refreshed by the four virtues: namely Prudence, in which knowledge comes of the things to be sought and to be shunned; Temperance, in which is the curbing of earthly desire; Fortitude, in which is firmness of mind against temporal troubles; Justice, which is spread through all the others by the love of God and of neighbour. In the women and little children we understand the weak and those easy to lead astray.

And having dismissed the crowd, He got into the boat and came into the borders of Magedan (Matt. 15:39). Although Mark named this place Dalmanutha, there is yet no doubt that it is one place under two names. For Mageda is interpreted "its fruits" or "tidings", signifying the garden of which it is said: A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride (Song 4:12); where the fruits of the virtues are brought forth, and the name of the Lord is proclaimed with praise all day and night by the watchmen of the walls.

CHAPTER XVI.

And the Pharisees came to Him, as far as that a sign (Matt. 16:1)

He would show them from heaven (Matt. 16:1). After the meals spoken of above, they wished, after the example of Moses, to be refreshed for a long time with manna sent from heaven on every side.

But He answered and said: When it is evening, etc. (Matt. 16:2). For from the elements rainy and fair days can be foreknown; but the doctors of the Law could not understand the coming of the Saviour from the prophecy of the prophets. Spiritually, however: When it is evening, you say: It will be fair, for the sky is red (Matt. 16:2). It signifies that through the blood of Christ's passion at the first coming the pardon of sins is given.

And in the morning: Today there will be a storm, for the lowering sky is red (Matt. 16:3). It signifies that at the second coming He will come with fire going before.

And leaving them He went away (Matt. 16:4). Rightly did He go away, leaving the adulterous, because, according to the Apostle: Light has no fellowship with darkness (2 Cor. 6:14).

And when His disciples had come across the strait, they had forgotten to take bread (Matt. 16:5). This forgetfulness is a sign that the Apostles had the least care for the flesh, having the Lord, the Bread of life, by Whom they were refreshed in heart.

He said to them: Look, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:6). Mark in this place adds: And of the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15). The leaven of the Pharisees is to preach the Law in words and to attack it in deeds; but the leaven of Herod is adultery, murder, and, what is the origin of crimes, hatred and persecution against Christ and His saints.

Then Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:13). This city, restored by Philip the tetrarch in honour of Tiberius Caesar, was so named; but now it is called Paneas, and it is situated in the province of Phoenicia, at the roots of Lebanon, where the two springs Jor and Dan rise.

Then He questioned His disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of Man is? (Matt. 16:13). Finely does He ask, not whom men say that I am, but [whom they say] the Son of Man is; because those who speak of the Son of Man are men. But those who understand concerning His divinity are called gods.

But whom do you say that I am? (Matt. 16:15). It is not as one ignorant of the opinion about Himself of the disciples and of outsiders that He asks; but so that He may reward the confession of their faith with a fitting recompense.

Peter answered and said: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). He calls God living, expressing the name and the nature, in distinction from the false gods, of whom we sing: They have a mouth and will not speak; they have eyes, etc. (Ps. 113:13).

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona (Matt. 16:17). Barjona in Syriac is in Latin "son of the dove". Here the simplicity of Peter is shown, who is called the son of spiritual grace.

For flesh and blood has not revealed it to you (Matt. 16:17). That is, men puffed up with carnal wisdom.

And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church (Matt. 16:18). It is said to him metaphorically: Upon this rock, that is, the Saviour,

whom you have confessed, the Church is built, He Who granted to His faithful confessor a share in His own name.

And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. By the gates of hell He means heretical depravity, or vices and sins, through which death comes to the soul.

And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. That is, the knowledge and the power of discerning, by which you are to receive the worthy into the kingdom and shut out the unworthy.

And whatever you shall bind, etc. This power is without doubt given to all the Apostles, to whom after the resurrection it is said by Him in general: Receive the Holy Spirit, etc. (John 20:22). And the same office is entrusted also to bishops and priests and to the whole Church, although some of them, not understanding rightly, suppose that they can condemn the innocent and absolve the guilty, which they can by no means do; rather, in attempting it, they deprive themselves of the power granted them.

And Jesus commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. He sets out the reasons why the preaching was forbidden at that time when He adds:

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples, as far as And on the third day rise again. And the sense is: Preach Me then, when I have suffered these things, because now it is of no profit to preach Christ and to spread abroad His majesty, Whom in a little while they are to see scourged and crucified.

And Peter, taking Him aside, began to rebuke Him, saying: Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not be for You. Or, as it is better rendered in the Greek: Be merciful to Yourself, Lord; this shall not be. For he took Him apart, so as not to seem to reprove his master in the presence of his fellow disciples, and he began to rebuke Him with the feeling of one who loves, as if to say: My ears do not admit this, nor can it be that the Son of God is to be killed.

Who turning said to Peter: Get behind Me, Satan. For Satan is interpreted adversary; because, He says, you speak things contrary to My will, you are called Satan; but follow, turning your will according to My will.

You are a stumbling block to Me. Because you do not savour the things that are of God, but those that are of men. It is My will that I should die for the salvation of men; but you, desiring your own will, do not want the grain of wheat to fall into the ground so that it may bear much fruit.

Then Jesus said to His disciples: If anyone will come after Me. Having revealed the mystery of His passion, He exhorts them, and all together with them, to follow the example of His passion, promising the salvation of souls in the time to come.

Let him deny himself. For we deny ourselves then, when we shun what we were through oldness, and strive towards that to which we are called through newness.

And let him take up his cross and follow Me. Another evangelist says that the cross is to be carried daily, because, that is, the cross is taken up in two ways: when either the body is afflicted through abstinence, or the soul is distressed through compassion for one's neighbour, as the Apostle says: I chastise my body, etc. (1 Cor. 9:27); and again: Who is weak, and I am not weak (2 Cor. 11:29)?

For whoever will save his life, as far as shall find it. The Church, that is, has one time of persecution and another of peace. In the time of persecution the life is to be laid down; in the time of peace earthly desires are to be broken. And so happy are they who hate it by guarding it, lest they lose it by loving it.

For what shall it profit a man, if the whole, etc. Because it profits nothing in time of peace to gain perishable things so that eternal things are lost. He adds:

Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For Israel Egypt and Ethiopia shall be given; but for the human soul only this, which the Psalmist sings: I will take the chalice of salvation, etc. (Ps. 115:13).

For the Son of man shall come, as far as with His angels. After the terror He adds glad things, as if He were saying: You fear death, but hear of the glory of the One triumphing and of the ministries of the angels, because He Who is less than the Father in the man is equal in majesty.

Amen I say to you, there are some of those standing here, etc. In this place the Church is called the kingdom of God, and He was promising that some of the disciples would live on in the body until they beheld the Church of God raised up against the glory of this world: the Son of man coming in His kingdom, that is, extending His power. But if we wish to take the kingdom of God in this place as heavenly blessedness, this too some of those standing by saw on the mountain.

CHAPTER XVII.

And after six days Jesus took Peter, etc. It is asked why Matthew and Mark testify that Jesus took the disciples with Him after six days, while Luke says: About eight days after (Luke 9:28). But the answer is easy: because here the days in between are counted, there the first as well, on which He promised these things, and the last, on which He fulfilled what He had promised. And in the mystical sense, there it signifies that after the six ages of the world the saints are to rest from all labour; here, that in the eighth time they are to rise again. He takes only three with Him, either because many are called but few chosen, or because those who are now imbued with faith in the holy Trinity will then deserve to rejoice in its eternal vision. He rightly added apart, because then the just are separated from the wicked, by whose vices they are now pressed, although they are set apart from them by the intention of their faith.

And He was transfigured before them. Not by losing the substance of true flesh, but by showing the glory of His and our future resurrection; for such as He then appeared to the apostles, such will He appear after the judgement to all the elect. But at the very time of judging He will be seen by the good and the wicked in the form of a servant, so that the perverse may be able to understand that He is the judge Whom they formerly rejected.

And His face shone as the sun, and His garments, etc. For since we know how to see nothing brighter than the sun, therefore not only the glory of the Lord but also that of the saints in the resurrection is compared to the sight of the sun. And by the garments of the Lord His saints are understood, who before the ascent of the mountain seemed despised, because, according to the Apostle: It has not yet appeared what we shall be (1 John 3:2). And Mark says that they were white as snow, such as no fuller can make upon earth, that is, the Saviour does not will

give to His faithful on earth the brightness that remains kept for them in heaven; or, no teacher of souls, nor even the most excellent cleanser of his own body, can by any means bring such cleanness as the Lord, Who purges His Church from every defilement of flesh and spirit.

Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. Luke writes more plainly in this place, saying: And Moses and Elijah were seen in majesty, and they spoke of His departure (Luke 9:30–31). Moses and Elijah signify the oracles of the law and of prophecy, which, fulfilled in the Lord, both lie open now to the learned and will lie open more plainly to the elect in the future. In Moses, who died, are signified those who before the day of judgement are to be raised from death; and in Elijah, who has not yet died, those who are to be found alive; because together they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and will be led to eternal life.

Peter says to Him: Lord, it is good for us to be here, etc. And indeed, as another evangelist testifies, blessed Peter did not know what he said, when he hoped that heavenly promises would be given to him while still placed on earth, and when he thought that tents were to be pitched in the heavenly way of life, where no breath of adversity will remain, and when he thought that the prophets and the law were to be set apart from the Gospel, of which they were as it were the ministers. But he knew what he was saying when he said: Lord, it is good for us to be here, because in truth the only good of man is to enter into the joy of his Lord and to stand before Him in contemplation.

While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. So that he who sought a material tent might learn from this that in the resurrection the saints are to be protected not by the covering of houses but by the glory of the Holy Spirit.

And behold, a voice from the cloud saying, etc. It is to be noted that, just as the mystery of the Trinity is declared when the Lord is baptized in the Jordan, so it is when He is glorified on the mountain, because Him Whom we confess in baptism we shall praise together in the resurrection. For here the Holy Spirit appears in a bright cloud, there in a dove, because he who now with a simple heart keeps the faith he receives will then contemplate in open light what he had believed.

And the disciples, seeing it, fell, etc. For they were afraid, because they had recognized that they had erred, or because they had seen the cloud, or because they had heard the voice.

And Jesus came, as far as Do not be afraid. For He touched them gently, so that the mind, its fear taken away, might lend its hearing to the word of the One speaking.

And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, etc. Jesus alone is seen, Moses and Elijah having been taken away by the cloud, so that the Father might not seem to give an uncertain testimony; or else, in Christ the clouds of the law and the mysteries of prophecy, being fulfilled, are laid open.

And as they came down from the mountain, etc. He does not want these things preached, lest after such great glory the cross become a stumbling block.

Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? This is the tradition of the Pharisees, following Malachi, that Elijah is to come before the coming of Christ and restore all things to their former state. As if he were to say:

If You have already come in glory, why does Your forerunner not appear?

But He answering said to them: Elijah indeed is to come, etc. Elijah, restoring all things, is promised as one who will come before the great day of the Lord, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons, that is, that they may believe in Christ and resist the Antichrist, and to render this which he owes to death.

I say to you that Elijah has already come. This He says of John, who was Elijah in spirit.

And they did not know him, etc. That is, they despised and beheaded him.

So also the Son of man is to suffer at their hands. Because Herod and Herodias, mocking Him and sending Him back to the judgement of Pilate, were to consent with those who crucified Him, although they themselves did not kill Him.

And when He had come to the crowd, a man came to Him, etc. Matthew, following the common talk, calls lunatic this one whom Mark describes as deaf and dumb; not that the moon serves the demons, but that the demon, watching its course, seizes men, so that through the creature he may, if he can, bring infamy on the Creator. According to tropology, the lunatic, who does not persist in what he has begun, signifies those who are borne now into the fire of lust, now into the water of greed. The apostles are accused of being unable to cure him, not because this is to be put down to their weakness, but to the unbelief of those who were to be cured.

O unbelieving generation, etc. For He says this not overcome by weariness, but as a kindly physician, angry not with the man but with the vice.

And Jesus rebuked him. It is recognized that the demon invaded this lunatic on account of preceding sins, since he himself, not the demon, is rebuked by the Lord.

And the demon went out from him. For according to Mark it went out crying out greatly and tearing him, either to instil hatred of the miracle, or to avenge the injury of its own expulsion.

Amen also I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, etc. For faith is not compared to a grain of mustard as something small, as some think, but as something great; just as the moving of the mountain is not carnal either, but is that of him who had been moved by the Lord out of the lunatic.

But this kind is not cast out except by prayer and fasting. In this He instructs not only the apostles but all for life, so that we may know that all the greater temptations are to be overcome by this remedy.

And when He had come to Capernaum, those who received the didrachma came, etc. After Augustus Caesar Judaea was made tributary, whence Joseph also set out for Bethlehem; He was brought up in Nazareth, which is a town of Galilee, belonging to the city of Capernaum, where the censors who exacted the tributes dare not approach Him Himself, because of the greatness of His signs, but approach the disciple; or else they ask maliciously, as elsewhere.

And when he had entered the house, Jesus forestalled him, saying. For the Lord forestalled, lest the disciples be scandalized at the demand for tribute; for they see that He knows what was done in His absence.

What do you think, Simon, etc. For He Who had been born the son of a king in respect of both substances did not

owe to pay tributes; but through the humanity He had assumed, just as He endured the cross for us, so too He paid the tributes.

Go to the sea and cast a hook, etc. Mystically, the fish that was caught first was in the depth of the sea, that is, the first Adam, so that the first might be set free through the second Adam. The stater, that is, confession, holds two didrachmas; and rightly, because it was paid for a sinner and for a just man, the price was divided.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Who do you think is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? When the tribute had been paid for Peter and for the Lord, they supposed that he had been preferred to all the apostles, and therefore they ask who is the greater in the kingdom of heaven, that is, in the Church.

And Jesus, calling a little child, etc. He showed either simply one little in age, to display a likeness of innocence, or Himself, Who had come to minister, not to be ministered to, so as to give them an example of humility.

Unless you are converted, etc. That, after the manner of the age of little children, they should keep simplicity without arrogance.

Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, etc. Whoever, like a little child, does not remember being hurt, does not take delight in seeing a woman, and humbles himself after My example, he will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever shall scandalize, etc. It is far more profitable for a guilty man to end his bodily life by a temporal penalty, however cruel, than by harming his brother to merit the everlasting death of the soul.

Woe to the world because of scandals. Since there must be scandals in this world, woe to him who through his own vice lies open to scandals; and by this general sentence Judas is struck, who had prepared his mind for betrayal.

And if your hand or your foot scandalizes you, etc. By the hand He means close friends, because of work; by the foot, because of the service of running about; and He warns that those who will not amend in harming the soul are to be shut out.

And if your eye scandalizes you, etc. Scandal is a Greek word, which we call a stumbling block, or a striking of the foot. And if he whose foresight we need seeks to turn us aside onto the road of error, his company is to be wholly given up by us.

I say to you that their angels, etc. The angels of the little ones, that is, of the humble, enjoy the unceasing contemplation of God. And in human fashion He puts face for the most certain vision and knowledge.

For the Son of man came to save what was lost. That is, to restore what was crushed and cast away; and therefore do not destroy what has been saved by Him.

What do you think, if a man has a hundred sheep, etc. Teaching by a parable the same things that He had taught before in words, so that He might unfold that the little sheep was carried back by the good shepherd on his shoulders because of its great weakness, that is, that the human race was redeemed by His blood and joined to the number of the angels.

And if your brother sins against you, etc. If our brother sins against us, we have the power of forgiving; but the brother is to be rebuked apart, lest he remain in sin. And if indeed he listens, we gain his soul, and through the healing of another for ourselves

salvation too is gained. He thus shows in what order we can avoid scandals: if we take heed to ourselves that we harm no one; if we rebuke the sinner with zeal for justice; if we open the heart of mercy and kindness to one who repents from the heart.

But if he will not hear you, etc. Lastly it is to be told to many, so that they may hold him as one to be detested, and he who could not be saved by shame may be saved by reproaches. And when it is said: Let him be to you as a heathen and a publican (Matt. 18:17), it is shown that he who under the name of a believer does the works of unbelievers is more to be detested than those who are wholly gentiles.

Whatever you shall bind, etc. He gave the power to the apostles, so that those who are condemned by such men may know that the human sentence is strengthened by the divine.

That if two of you shall agree, etc. We can understand this spiritually too: that where spirit and soul and body agree, they obtain from the Father everything they ask; and no one doubts that it is a petition for good things where the body wishes to have the things that the spirit wishes.

Then Peter came to Him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, etc. Asked how he should forgive a sinning brother, He answered: four hundred and ninety times; so that he should forgive a sinning brother in a day, if he had repented from the heart, as many times as the brother could not possibly sin.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man, a king, who would take account with his servants, etc. After the custom of the Syrians, and especially of the Palestinians, He set forth a parable, so that something might be grasped through a likeness. Who is better understood as the one who took account with his servants than our Redeemer, of Whom the Psalmist says: O God, give Thy judgement to the king, etc. (Ps. 71:2)?

And when he had begun to take account. This servant who owed ten talents is the Jewish people, which, bound by the Decalogue of the law, had become liable for the debts of many transgressions; whom his Lord ordered to be sold with all that he had, because, on account of the greatness of their offences, He handed them over to the foreign power of the nations, so that what they would not pay by their will they might be compelled to pay by torment.

But that servant, falling down, etc. When, then, the people of the law felt itself hard pressed, it turned to prayers and promised that it would do afterwards, compelled by force, what before it would not do of its own accord; and to it, repenting, it is said through Isaiah: I have blotted out your iniquities like a cloud, and your sins like a mist (Isa. 44:22). But let us hear what this ungrateful servant did afterwards.

But that servant, going out, etc. The Jewish people, then, set free from captivity, not only gave no thanks at all to its Redeemer, but, adding new sins to the former ones, in contempt of its Lord did not hesitate to harass its fellow servant, that is, the gentile people, as if it were bound to itself.

And his fellow servants, seeing what was done, etc. Who are these fellow servants but the apostles and preachers of the Gospel, who daily implore the Lord for the salvation of believers against the guile of persecutors, as in the Acts

of the Apostles it is read: And now, Lord, look upon their threats, etc. (Acts 4:29).

Wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt, etc. Freed from their straits, they afterwards had no compassion towards their poor neighbours, but harshly dunned their debtors.

And his lord, being angry, delivered him to the torturers, etc. That is, the blaspheming people into the hands of the Romans; or to the evil spirits, who would punish their incorrigible soul and their wickedness with eternal torments without end.

So also My heavenly Father will do to you, etc. From these words, namely, it is plain that if we do not forgive from the heart what is done amiss against us, that too is again exacted from us which we were rejoicing had already been forgiven us through penance.

CHAPTER XIX.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, etc. From here, then, he begins to narrate the things that the Lord did, taught, or suffered in Judaea; and first beyond the Jordan towards the East, then also on this side of the Jordan, when He came to Jericho, Bethphage and Jerusalem. For although the whole province of the Jews is in general called Judaea, to distinguish it from other nations, yet more specially its southern tract is called Judaea, to distinguish it from Samaria, Galilee, the Decapolis, and the other regions in the same province.

And great crowds followed, and He healed them there. He heals Galileans within the borders of Judaea, so as to admit the sins of the gentiles to that pardon which was being prepared for Judaea.

Whether it is lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause. They ask so that, whatever He answers, they may hold Him as it were in a horned syllogism. If He said that she was to be put away and another taken, He, the preacher of chastity, would seem to teach against Himself; if He answered that she was not to be put away, He would be held as a sacrilegious man against the teaching of Moses, and through Moses against that of God. But the Lord, bringing Scripture into testimony so as to pass by the snare, sets the natural law and the first sentence of God against the second, which was granted not by the will of God but by the necessity of sinners.

That He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female, etc. He spoke in the singular number, so that the fellowship of one spouse might be bound together. The reward of marriage is that of two one flesh is made. Chastity joined to the spirit becomes one spirit.

What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder. What God has joined by making one flesh, man cannot put asunder, but perhaps God alone. Man puts asunder when, out of desire for a second wife, he puts away the first.

How Moses because of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives, etc. Not God but Moses permitted it, seeing the desire for second wives, because he preferred to allow discord rather than that hatred and murders should persist; so that, according to the Apostle, it was the counsel of a man, not the command of God.

That whoever shall put away his wife, etc. One

fleshly cause alone, then, is there, that is, fornication, and one spiritual, that is, the fear of the Lord, for a wife to be put away, as many are read to have done for the sake of religion.

His disciples say to Him: If the case of a man with his wife is so, it is not expedient to marry. That is, if the yoke of wives is so heavy, it is not expedient for a free man voluntarily to subject himself to servitude, when a gluttonous, abusive and wandering woman will have to be borne.

Who said to them: Not all take this word, etc. That is, it is given to those who sought virginity and laboured to receive it, not to those on whom chance and fortune imposed the necessity.

For there are eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb, etc. There are, then, two fleshly kinds of eunuchs, the third spiritual, to which a reward is promised, because, though they could be men, they become eunuchs for the sake of Christ; to the others, for whom chastity is a necessity, not a choice, nothing at all is owed.

He who can take it, let him take it. It is the voice of One exhorting and stirring up His soldiers to the reward of chastity, as if He were to say: He who can fight, let him fight, conquer and triumph.

Then little children were brought to Him, that He might lay His hands on them and pray. For they thought that the Lord praised only those clean in body, not also in will, not knowing that the Lord did not call blessed those eunuchs whom the necessity of boyhood makes chaste, but the virtue of continence.

But the disciples rebuke them. Not yet having the fullest faith, they thought that He, after the likeness of men, was wearied by the importunity of those bringing them.

But Jesus said to them: Let the little children come to Me, etc. He said significantly of such, not of these, to show that it is not age that reigns, but character.

And when He had laid His hands on them, He went away from there. The Lord, then, lays His hands on little children when, bestowing on the humble the grace of His help, He directs them according to His will, so that they may be able to obey His precepts.

And behold, one came and said to Him: Good Master, etc. He had heard, I believe, that only those who are willing to be like little children are worthy of entry into the heavenly kingdom, and therefore he wished to have set out to him, not in parables but openly, by the merits of what works he could attain eternal life.

Why do you ask Me about the good? One is good, God. He does not refuse the testimony of goodness, but excludes the error of a master apart from God, in comparison with Whom no one is good.

But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments, etc. We can prove that this young man is a tempter from the fact that he deceitfully asks which those commandments are, as if he himself had not read them, or as if the Lord could command things contrary to God.

All these I have kept, etc. The young man lies; if he had fulfilled in deed what is set forth in the commandments,

You shall love your neighbour as yourself, he would by no means have gone away sad, he who heard that his goods ought to be sold and given out to the poor.

If you will be perfect, go, etc. For a sack is more easily despised than the will. Many, leaving riches, do not follow the Lord, to follow Whom is to imitate Him. In the precepts of the law the active life was commended; the Saviour sent him who was boasting of its perfection on to the beauty of evangelical contemplation, saying: Go, sell, etc.

Amen I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. He does not say: It is impossible, but hardly, because it is a matter of the greatest labour for those who trust in money to enter the hall of the heavenly kingdom. Whence Solomon says: He who loves riches shall reap no fruit from them (Eccl. 5:9).

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, etc. Understanding this, the Psalmist says: If riches abound, set not your heart upon them (Ps. 61:11). And of himself he says: For I am alone and poor (Ps. 24:16). But in a higher sense it is easier for Christ to suffer for the lovers of the world than for the lovers of the world to be able to be converted to Christ. For by the name of camel He wished Himself to be understood, because, humbled of His own will, He bore the burdens of our weakness.

The disciples, hearing this, etc. To what does this reply refer, unless that they understood that all who love riches, even if they cannot obtain them, are reckoned in the number of the rich?

With men this is impossible, etc. That is, it is possible for God that through the word they should be turned from the desire of temporal things to the love of eternal things. We can understand in this rich man the Jewish people, boasting falsely in the observance of the law and spurning evangelical perfection; to which the camel, that is, the gentile people, is rightly preferred, which more readily chose to enter the steep way of God's commandments, as we read in Isaiah that the camels of Midian and Ephah enter the gates of Jerusalem with gifts and offerings.

Then Peter answering, etc. As if he were to say: We have done what You commanded; what reward will You give us?

Amen I say to you that you who have followed Me, etc. For since the totality is often wont to be signified by the number twelve, by the XII seats of the apostles the whole multitude of those judging is shown, and by the XII tribes of Israel the totality of those who are to be judged.

And everyone who has left house, etc. And the sense is: He who has left fleshly things for the Saviour will receive spiritual things, which in comparison and in their worth will be as if the number one hundred were compared with a small number.

But many that are first shall be last, and the last first. This is fulfilled in Judas and the thief, and daily as well, because some finish in the flesh what they begin in the spirit, others begin late but finish with a good end.

CHAPTER XX.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man, a householder, etc. The householder is our Maker, Who, as many saints as He has brought forth from Abel the just to the last saint who is to come at the end of the world, so many branches, as it were, He has sent into His vineyard, that is, the Church.

And having made an agreement with the labourers, etc. The denarius bears the image of the king, and everyone who draws near to the Church in Christ ought to

receive the image of the Godhead, which he had lost in paradise through the envy of the serpent. The labourers of this vineyard, first the patriarchs, then the teachers of the law and the prophets, at the last the apostles, cultivated in it the beauty of holy ways, as the time had prescribed.

And going out about the third hour, etc. For from the beginning to the end of this world the Lord does not cease to appoint preachers to instruct the people of the faithful: its morning stretched from Adam as far as Noah; the third hour from Noah as far as Abraham; the sixth as far as Moses; the ninth was from Moses to the coming of the Lord; in these the ancient people, while it was zealous to worship God with right faith, laboured as it were in the cultivation of the vineyard. The eleventh is from the coming of the Lord to the end of the world, in which the gentiles, who before stood idle, are called into the Lord's vineyard through the apostles as workmen; they who were saying: Because no one has hired us, that is, has opened to us the ways of life. We can also distinguish the same differences of the hours in each man by the stages of the ages, because one is brought to the good life in boyhood, another in youth, another in early manhood, another in old age, another in decrepit age.

And when evening had come, etc. For by a past tense He sets out through a likeness the account of the time to come, in which Christ, the steward and ruler of the whole creation, will render to all their wage, that each may receive the things proper to the body, according as he has done. And He will begin from the last up to the first, either because those coming late are often rewarded first, since they go out from the body to the kingdom sooner, or because they obtain an equal recompense of eternal life.

When therefore those had come who had gone about the eleventh hour, etc. They, then, received the denarius as it were after murmuring, who came to the joys of the kingdom after long times in the underworld; which we take as it were without murmuring after the coming of the Mediator, because as soon as we go out from the body we receive those joys without delay.

But he, answering one of them, etc. This friend who is rebuked can signify the first-formed man and those who had believed in that time, to whom it is said: Did you not agree with Me for a denarius? that is, you have received the wage which I had promised you, that is, My image and likeness. Why do you seek more, and desire not so much to receive more yourself as that another should receive nothing?

But I will give to this last also, etc. For truly the Jews, having an evil eye, that is, a wicked intention, complained against the kindness of God; and foolishly, since the bestowal of the kingdom is not a matter of human merit or worth, but is the gift of divine goodness.

So the last shall be first, and the first last. That is, the Jews will be turned from the head into the tail, and the gentiles will be changed from the tail into the head.

For many are called, etc. Because many come to the faith, and few are brought through to the heavenly kingdom.

And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve,

etc. He had often said this very thing to the disciples, but because, with many things standing in between, what they had heard could slip from memory, He repeats it now as He is about to go up to Jerusalem, to prepare them for the trial, lest, when the persecution of the cross and its ignominy came, they should be scandalized as though too little forewarned.

Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, etc. Whence did she take up the notion of a kingdom, when He was announcing the ignominy of the passion, unless from the word which the Lord had spoken: And on the third day He shall rise again? For she thought that after the resurrection He would at once reign, and she asks with a woman's error and with the affection of love, not knowing what she was asking. Just as Peter did, when he thought three tabernacles were to be built.

But Jesus answering said to them: You know not what you ask. The mother makes the request, and the Lord speaks to the disciples, understanding that her prayers came down from the will of the sons. A good desire, but an ill-considered petition: which is therefore not put to shame, because it was born of love for the Lord. Therefore He blamed neither their will nor their purpose, but only their ignorance.

Can you drink the chalice, etc. For by the name of chalice or of baptism He signifies the passion of martyrdom, by which it was fitting that both He and they should be consummated: which James received from Herod, John from Domitian, by whom he was put into a vat of boiling oil, and was also banished to the island of Patmos. From this we shall see that martyrdom was not lacking in his spirit, although the persecutor did not shed his blood.

But to sit at My right hand, etc. That is: It is not Mine to give to the proud. For this they still were. But if you wish to receive it, do not be what you are: it is prepared for others, and do you be others, and it is prepared for you. What is "be others"? First be humbled, you who already wish to be exalted.

And the ten hearing it were indignant at the two brothers. It is understood, either from the Lord's answer or from the indignation of the apostles, that the sons, ignorant of their own measure and fired by immoderate desire, sent in their mother to ask for great things.

But Jesus called them to Him, and said, etc. The gentle master rebukes neither the two for desire nor the ten for indignation and envy; but He teaches by example that he is greater who has been the lesser; and so that, if they made light of words, they might blush at deeds.

And as they went out from Jericho, etc. Mark records this as done to one blind man. This question is resolved as that one was resolved concerning the two who suffered a legion of demons in the region of the Gerasenes. Jericho, which is interpreted "moon", signifies the failing of our mutability and mortality, out of which, as Christ returned to the heavenly Jerusalem, a great crowd of believers followed. The two blind men most interpret as the Pharisees and Sadducees, others as both peoples, of the Old and New Testament, who could not yet say: In Thy light we shall see light (Ps. 35:10). He says by the way, because they seemed to have knowledge, but were ignorant of the way, which is Christ. One indeed following the written law, the other the natural,

but each was blind without Christ; and these, as the Lord ascended to the heavens, because they could not see by themselves, hearing the proclamations of the Saviour, both confessed the son of David and strove to have hope of their own salvation and illumination, and by searching sought out what the true worship of religion was.

But the crowd rebuked them, etc. First many Jews, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, then the Gentiles also, frequently pressed on with sharper and stronger persecution, lest the world that was to be enlightened should call upon Christ. Yet the mad fury of the assailants was not able to deprive of the salvation appointed for them those who were predestined to eternal life. Morally we can interpret the rebuking crowd as the tumult of carnal thoughts and cares resisting our spiritual zeal and prayer, which must be overcome by firm constancy of mind.

And Jesus stood, and called them, etc. For to stand belongs to God: to order all mutable things by unchangeable thought; for although for our sake He endured temporal things, yet He bestows light on us from that whence He knows not how to have the passing of mutability.

And having compassion on them, etc. The touch of mercy gives what nature or infirmity had taken away. Afterwards they follow Jesus not so much with their feet as with their virtues; he sees Him and follows Him who does the good that he understands.

CHAPTER XXI.

And when they had drawn near to Jerusalem, etc. For Bethphage was a little village of the priests on the Mount of Olives, and it is interpreted "house of the mouth", or "house of the jaws". Bethany, which Luke joins to it, is a little town or city set on the side of the same mount, and it is called "house of obedience"; these places He, when about to come to Jerusalem, exalted with His presence, because by teaching many before His passion He filled them with the gifts of devout confession and spiritual obedience. And these cities are fittingly reported to be set on the Mount of Olives, that is, in the Lord Himself, who refreshes us with the anointing of spiritual gifts.

Then Jesus sent two disciples, etc. That is, teachers, who by preaching the Gospel were to penetrate the untaught shores of the whole world, as though the walls of the village over against them. These someone has interpreted as the two apostles Peter and Philip, who first, crossing the bounds of Judaea, led the Gentiles to Christ. Philip presented Samaria, as the ass, Peter Cornelius, as the colt of the ass.

And immediately you shall find an ass tied, etc. The ass shows the Synagogue, which had drawn the yoke of the law; the colt of the ass the wanton and free people of the nations. The preachers, entering the world, found both bound by the chains of unbelief and the cords of sins, as the Apostle says: For all, he says, have sinned, etc. (Rom. 3:23). So Matthew alone, who wrote the Gospel in the Hebrew tongue, records that the ass was brought to the Lord; the other three, the colt; so as to show that for the Synagogue too, if it repented, salvation was not to be doubted. Further, the two disciples [signify] the twofold order of preachers

into circumcision and uncircumcision, or they show the sacrament of the twofold love.

And if anyone shall say anything to you, etc. Teachers are commanded not to cease preaching when adversity stands in the way, because even of such, although they are sinners, some are ordained to life.

Now all this was done, etc. This testimony is written in Zechariah. But it must be known that, according to the letter, in the short space of the journey the Lord could not have sat upon both animals. Therefore, since the history has either impossibility or unseemliness, let us seek higher things. The daughter of Sion is the city of Jerusalem, and it signifies the Church of the faithful, which is the daughter of the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all; upon which, brought from the uncircumcision and the circumcision by the preachers, Jesus sat, because He dwells in their hearts, saying to them: Learn of Me, because I am meek, etc. (Matt. 11:29).

And they laid their garments upon them, etc. The apostolic garment can be understood as either the teaching of the virtues, or the exposition of the Scriptures, or the variety of the Church's doctrines; unless the soul has been furnished and adorned with these, it does not deserve to have God as its rider.

And a very great crowd spread, etc. While the ass carries the Lord, many spread their garments in the way, because the holy martyrs, stripping themselves of the clothing of their own flesh, prepare a way with their blood for the simpler servants of God, so that with untroubled step of mind they may advance to the walls of the city above, whither Jesus leads. Morally, Jesus, sitting on the ass, makes for Jerusalem when, ruling any faithful soul, that is, His beast of burden, He leads it to the vision of inward peace. And they spread their garments in the way who subdue their bodies, so as to prepare for Him a road to the mind, or offer good examples to those who follow.

And others cut down branches, etc. They cut branches from the trees who in the teaching of the truth gather out the sayings of the Fathers, and lay these in the way of God, as He comes to the hearer's mind, by humble preaching.

And the crowds that went before, etc. The people of the Jews went before in faith, and the multitude of the Gentiles follows in the same. All with one voice cried the Hebrew Osanna, which in Latin means "Save", because they recognized that Christ is the salvation of the world. They added in the highest, because His coming is the salvation not of men only but of the whole world, joining earthly things to heavenly, so that every knee should bow to Him, of things in heaven, on earth and under the earth.

And Jesus went into the temple of God. Having entered the city He first went to the temple, instructing us too that in every place of divine religion we should put the zeal of prayer before all earthly business. So Moses commanded the lamb to be taken on the tenth day of the month and kept until the fourteenth day, prefiguring this coming of the Lord after the banquet held in Bethany. On the tenth day of the month, five days before the Pasch, [He entered] the city, in which He waited until, on the fourteenth day of the month, receiving the Mosaic lamb, He went out with the disciples to the place of prayer where by

the Jews He was seized and bound, He might now begin the sacraments of His own sacrifice.

And He cast out all that sold, etc. The priests devised this plunder of the people: that various victims should be sold to those coming from afar, so that they themselves might take back again what had been bought; and lest the poverty of those coming should break up this trick of theirs, they set up money-changers, who would give money under this security. But because in the law it was forbidden to take usury, and money lent at interest could not profit those who had no gain from it, they devised yet another trick: instead of money-changers they made "colobystae", who should take "colibyda", which we call sweetmeats or cheap little gifts, for example raisins and fruits of various kinds, in place of interest on money, so that what was not lawful in coin they might exact in these things which are bought with coin. In this way robbers had turned the temple of God into a den of robbers, men who pursued gain out of religion. Mystically, Jesus enters the temple of the Father, that is, the Church, to drive out of it the bishops and the whole crowd given to avarice. Observe that because of the avarice of priests the altars of God are called the tables of money-changers, who sell the grace of the Holy Spirit and do everything to devour the peoples subject to them; of whom it is said: Who devour My people, etc. (Ps. 52:5). Morally too, in our mind, which ought to be the temple of God, if ever it brings forth thoughts to the injury of a neighbour, robbers sit as it were in a den, who kill those who walk in simplicity.

And the blind and the lame came to Him, etc. He healed the blind, so that the bodily enlightenment of these might become, even for His slanderers themselves, a spiritual lamp of the heart. He cured the lame, so that those limping in faith might, by running to Christ, receive better feet.

But the chief priests seeing, etc. What madness in the priests! They were looking upon what was, as it seems to me, the greatest among all the signs which the Lord displayed: that one man, and a man held in contempt at that, with the scribes and Pharisees raging against Him and seeing their gains destroyed, could by the strokes of a single scourge cast out so great a multitude, and do other things which an infinite army would not have done. For something fiery and starlike shone from His eyes, and the majesty of the Godhead gleamed in His face; and since they dare not lay hands on Him, they nevertheless slander His works, and turn into calumny the testimony of the people and of the children, who cried: Hosanna to the son of David, because, forsooth, this should be said to none but the Son of God.

But Jesus says to them: Yes. Have you never, etc. How moderately He tempers His answer! He did not say what the scribes longed to hear: The children do well in bearing Me witness. Nor again: The children err, you ought to pardon their age; but He brings forward an example from Psalm VIII, so that, while the Lord kept silent, the testimony of the Scriptures might confirm the children's words.

And leaving them, He went away, etc. In that going out He prefigured the calling of the Gentiles, and that He could not remain in Israel. And this too is to be understood

that He was of such poverty, and so far from flattering anyone, that in the greatest city He found no host and no lodging; but He stayed on a small farm with Lazarus and his sisters.

But in the morning, returning into the city, He was hungry, etc. When the darkness of night had been dispelled and midday was near, the hour at which the Lord was to illumine the world by His passion, as He was returning into the city He hungered, either showing the reality of human flesh, or He burned for the salvation of believers and for the faith of Israel. He saw a tree with leaves only, that is, the Synagogue, with the superstitions of the Pharisees and the ornament of words, standing unmoving without any fruit of truth; and the fig tree was withered, because, when the Lord hungered, it did not have the food which He desired. The leaves have dried up, and though the branches are broken, the root will live: from which in the last time, if they are willing to believe, the shoots of faith may sprout, and the Scripture is fulfilled which says: There is hope for a tree (Job 14:7).

And the disciples seeing it wondered, saying, etc. Being about to suffer shortly, He had to seal the minds of the disciples by the anticipation of a miracle. The Saviour could therefore by the same power have withered His enemies too, had He not been waiting patiently for their salvation.

But Jesus answering said to them, etc. Mystically, the devil is expressed [by the mountain] on account of his pride; who, when teachers preach the word, is both driven out of the hearts of those who are foreordained to life, and is permitted to exercise the madness of his tyranny in the turbulent and bitter minds of unbelievers; and he rages against them the more fiercely, the more he grieves to have been driven back from harming the godly.

And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive. Here it is asked why Paul, who three times besought the Lord that the angel of Satan might depart from him, could not obtain this. But the raising of this question has long since been opened up by the explanation of the Fathers, who truly understood that those alone ask in the Saviour's name who ask for the things that pertain to everlasting salvation. Often, if we ask for what looks to true salvation, we ourselves by living badly turn away from us the hearing of the just Judge. And if we pray for sinners, for their good, that they may come to their senses, and by our own merit are worthy of a hearing, their perversity nevertheless stands in the way of our obtaining it. But here it is to be hoped that, although we cannot obtain their salvation, we shall by no means be deprived of the fruit of our prayer, because we shall be rewarded with the recompense of the love we spent on them. It happens too at times that what we have devoutly asked, if we do not obtain it here at once, we possess in the future, increased by the delay.

And when He had come into the temple, etc. They slander the power which they doubt to be God's; and they wish it to be understood that what He does is the devil's, adding too: Who gave Thee this power? Most plainly they deny the Son of God, whom they think to display signs by another's strength.

But Jesus answering said to them: I will ask you, etc. He asks for this reason: that they may be condemned either by their own silence or by their own verdict.

But they thought, etc. For if they had answered that John's baptism was from heaven, the reply followed: Why then were you not baptized by him? But if they had chosen to say that it was put together by human deceit, they feared a rising of the people, who had received baptism from him in crowds and held him as a Prophet.

And answering Jesus they said, etc. He does not say, as would have followed, that He does not know, because the truth cannot lie; but that He will not show it to those who were covering with a lie what they knew. And that prophetic word is fulfilled: I have prepared a lamp for My anointed, that is, John, and his enemies I will clothe with confusion (Ps. 131:17–18).

But what do you think, etc. This man is God the Father, who loves all the men whom He created with a father's affection. His elder son is the Gentile people, begotten from the time of Noah, who in Luke, in the same parable, is described as harsh and wanton. Hence when the Father commanded through the knowledge of the natural law: Go, work in the vineyard; that is: What you would not have done to you, do not do to another (Tobit 4:16), he proudly answered: I will not. But afterwards, at the Saviour's coming, he worked in God's vineyard, because, having done penance, he amended by his labour the stubbornness of his word. The second is the people of the Jews, who answered Moses: All things whatsoever you shall say, we will do. And he did not go into the vineyard.

For John came in the way of justice, etc. So John came preaching the way of justice, because he showed with his finger that Christ, who is the consummation of the law and the prophets, was present. Further, the kingdom of God can be understood as the Gospel of God, in which the Gentiles go before the Jews, because they believed sooner.

Hear another parable. There was a man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, etc. God the Father planted a vineyard, because, having cast out the nations, He settled His people in the land of promise. He put a hedge round it: either the wall of the city, or the help of the angels. And He dug a winepress in it: either the altars, or those [winepresses] with whose title three Psalms are headed. And He built a tower, that is, the temple. Of which Micah [says]: And the cloudy tower (Mic. 4:8). And He let it out to husbandmen, whom elsewhere He calls hired labourers; and He is said to have gone away not by change of place, but so that He may be shown to have left the vinedressers free choice in working.

And when the time of the fruits drew near, etc. The servants who were sent first can be understood as Moses and Aaron, whom they beat with the scourge and sent away empty. Moses was afflicted for their sakes, etc. (Ps. 105:32). And David himself, servant of the supreme householder, treated with insults or wounded in the head, as the Gospel of Mark has it, they cast off, saying: What portion have we in David, or what inheritance in the son of Jesse? (1 Kgs. 12:16). At the same time they exchanged his kingdom for an ignoble man, and religion for impiety.

Again he sent other servants, etc. Understand these servants as the choir of the prophets. But which of them did they not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Lord the Saviour. But as to what He says: One they beat, another they killed, and another they stoned,

let us read the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, and from it we learn most fully which of the servants of God suffered what great things.

And last of all he sent to them his son, etc. That He says: Because they will reverence My Son, does not come from ignorance; but God is said always to be in doubt so that free will may be kept for man, and after so many crimes He still kept a place of mercy for them.

But the husbandmen seeing the son, etc. The Lord proves most plainly that the leaders of the Jews crucified the Son of God not through ignorance but through envy. They understood that this was He of whom it was said: Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations, etc. (Ps. 2:8), when they said: Behold, the whole world is gone after Him (John 12:19). His inheritance they claimed for themselves, because, by killing Him, they tried to extinguish the faith which is through Him, and rather to set forward their own justice, which is from the law, and to implant it in the Gentiles who were to be instructed. And that He was killed outside the vineyard signifies either that He suffered outside the gate, or that He was first driven out of the hearts of the unbelievers and then given over to the cross.

When the lord of the vineyard shall come, etc. He questions them, not because He does not know what they will answer, but so that they may be condemned by their own answer.

Jesus says to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which, etc. How, He says, will this Prophecy be fulfilled, unless because Christ, rejected and killed by you, is to be preached to the Gentiles who will believe, so that as a corner stone He may build for Himself out of both peoples one city of the faithful?

Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, etc. He called the sacred Scriptures the kingdom of God, taken away from the Jews and handed to us, that we may bring forth their fruits.

And whoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, etc. He who offends Christ by evil works will indeed be broken, but yet through God's patience he is kept for salvation; but whoever has utterly denied Christ, the stone rushing upon him will grind him, so that not even a sherd remains in which a little water might be drawn. In another sense: He shakes sinners here, but in the judgement He will come upon them with the punishment of perdition.

CHAPTER XXII.

And Jesus answering spoke again in parables, etc. He calls the Church of the just the kingdom of heaven, which He says is like a king, namely to Him of whom it is said: O God, give Thy judgement to the King, etc. (Ps. 71:2). Who made a marriage for his son, because He joined holy Church to Him through the mystery of the Incarnation.

And he sent his servants, etc. He sent the prophets, preachers of the Lord's incarnation, whom He later records under the name of the slaughtered bulls, because according to the law they executed vengeance on enemies. Again He sent the apostles, marked under the name of fatlings, on account of the grace of inward richness, or the desires of sublime contemplation. This banquet the prophets announced as to come, the apostles as already made.

But they neglected it, etc. To go to one's farm is to bend immoderately to earthly labour; into business

to go is to gape after the gains of worldly dealings, through which a man neglects to live according to the mystery of the Lord's Incarnation.

And the rest laid hold on his servants, etc. So, having sent the armies of angels or the generals of the Romans, He destroyed the proud persecutors of the martyrs and burned their city, because not only their souls but also the flesh in which they had dwelt will be tormented by the flame of Gehenna. What follows speaks most openly of the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles.

And his servants going forth into the ways, etc. By the ways are understood the doctrines and errors of the Gentiles. But out of all these they came to the marriage, that is, they believed in Christ; and from the very character of the guests it is plainly shown that by this marriage of the king the present Church is signified, in which the wicked come together with the good.

And the king went in to see, etc. The king's entrance shows the coming of the Lord on the day of judgement, when He comes to discern the faith and merits of each. Further, the one who is said to have been found not in a wedding garment signifies all who are joined together in malice. Now the wedding garment is the commandments of the Lord and the works which are fulfilled from the law and the Gospel and make the clothing of the new man. He calls him friend, because he was invited to the marriage; He convicts him of impudence, because with a filthy garment he had defiled the cleanness of the wedding. But he was silent, because every plea of excuse ceases then, when He rebukes outwardly who, as witness of the conscience, accuses the soul within.

Then the king said to the servants, etc. Then the feet and hands are bound by the strictness of the sentence, of those who now would not be bound back from evil works. The inner darkness, too, we call blindness of heart; the outer, the eternal night of damnation, into which he is then cast against his will who now of his own accord has fallen into blindness of heart. There the teeth are said to gnash and the eyes to weep, so that each and every member may be subjected to punishment, which here served subjected to each and every vice.

Then the Pharisees going, etc. Caesar Augustus had set Herod, son of Antipater, a foreigner and proselyte, as king over the Jews, to have charge of the tributes and to obey the Roman empire. So the Pharisees send their disciples, as being less known and suspected, with Herod's soldiers, or mocking them because they paid tribute to the Romans and were not wholly given to the worship of God; or that they might deceive Him covertly and easily, or that, if caught out, they might blush the less before Him. For when an evil plan is caught out, the less shame arises the lower the person has been.

Master, we know that Thou art truthful, etc. They call Him master and truthful, so that, as a man honoured and praised, He might open to them simply the secret of His heart; and they provoke Him deceitfully, so that, fearing the Lord more than Caesar, He may say that tribute ought not to be paid, so that the Herodians, hearing it, may at once seize Him as a leader of sedition against the Romans.

But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, etc. Not according to

their words did He answer peaceably and gently, but according to their cruel conscience He spoke harsh things, because God for the most part speaks to the soul, not to the body; He answers wills, not words.

Show Me the coin of the tribute, etc. Wisdom acts wisely, so that the tempters confess, above all, by their own words; and He asks for this purpose, that He may answer their words fittingly.

They say to Him, Caesar's, etc. Here we ought to understand that Caesar Tiberius is meant, stepson of the stepfather who had gone before him in that place, under whom also the Lord suffered.

Render, He says, to Caesar the things that are his. The coin, the tribute and the money; and the things that are God's to God, tithes and first-fruits. Otherwise: as Caesar demands of you the stamp of his image, so does God too, so that as the coin is rendered to him, so the soul [is rendered] to God, illumined and sealed for Him with the light of His countenance.

That day there came to Him the Sadducees, etc. Those who believe that souls perish together with bodies fittingly invent a tale of this kind, to convict of madness those who assert the resurrection of bodies. But it may be that this once happened among their people.

In the resurrection therefore, whose shall she be of the seven, etc. They set the unseemliness of the tale against the resurrection, so as to deny its truth. But mystically these seven brothers who died without sons fit all the reprobate, who through the whole life of this world, which rolls on in seven days, remain barren of good works: and when these have been carried off one by one by a wretched death, at the last the worldly way of life itself, which they had passed without the fruit of life-giving work, will pass away like a barren wife.

And Jesus answering said to them: You err, etc. Because Latin usage does not correspond to the Greek idiom, let us understand it as said simply, that "to marry" is written of the husbands and "to be married" of the wives. For they are as the angels in heaven, without any fear of death and

FOURTH BOOK.

When the tempters had been put to shame, as was fitting, and rejected, Jesus turned His discourse to His own, so that the confusion of those might become instruction for these. For a discourse is fruitless if, in that by which one man is put to shame, another is not likewise instructed.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, as far as For they say and do not, etc. By the chair He shows the law, and on account of the priesthood and the dignity of the name He exhorts the peoples to be subject to them, considering not their works but their teaching. Their examples are now imitated in the Church by those who teach their subjects what they themselves neglect to fulfil, or [lay] on sinners a weight

the stain of corruption, and without any act of earthly guilt they enjoy the everlasting vision of God.

But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read, etc. He brings forward testimony from the five books of Moses to prove the eternity of souls, on account of the Sadducees, who accept those alone, because it would have been foolish to bring forward testimonies of the prophets, whose authority they did not follow.

He is not the God of the dead, etc. After He had proved that God could not be [the God] of souls unless they continued to exist, He accordingly introduces the resurrection of the bodies, together with which they did good or evil.

But the Pharisees, hearing that He had imposed silence, etc. They came together saying among themselves: Let one speak for all, so that if he wins we may all appear victors; but if he is beaten, he alone may appear put to shame; and he asks what is the great commandment, so that whatever He answers, he may have occasion for slander, asserting that some other of the many is the great one.

Jesus said to him: You shall love the Lord your God, etc. So the first and greatest commandment of all is the knowledge and confession of the divine unity, with the carrying out of good working. And good working is perfected in the love of God and of neighbour.

And when the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked, etc. They are not rebuked for calling Him the son of David, but because they do not believe that He is the Son of God. For He is the Lord of David, abiding as God before the ages, and the son of David by being born as man in time.

And no one could answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare, etc. Finding no word that lay open to their snares, refuted, they question Him no more, but most openly seize Him and hand Him over to the Roman power. From this we understand that the poisons of envy can indeed be overcome, but hardly be stilled. To Him, then, who could not be overcome by the wiles of the wicked, let us draw near with a simple heart and devout devotion, as to the author of salvation, that we may be enlightened and our faces shall not blush, because He is found by those who do not tempt Him, and appears to those who have faith in Him.

of penance, making it heavy, so that he must either reject penance, or, taking it up, since he cannot bear it, be scandalized and sin the more; as though it were not better to render account for mercy than for cruelty. Of such He rightly added that they would not touch these burdens with one finger of their own, that is, that they would not fulfil even in the least those things which, against the custom of the fathers, without the faith and grace of Jesus Christ, they presumed both to keep and to hand on to be kept.

For they make broad their phylacteries, etc. Little strips of the Decalogue they called phylacteries, which they wore on the forehead as though for their own guard and protection, not understanding that these [are to be carried] in the heart by constant meditation

are to be carried, not commanded [to be worn] on the body of the Lord. There was also a fringe, small and short, placed at the four corners of the mantle to distinguish their garments, just as circumcision in the flesh by the precept of the law. This the woman who was suffering a flow of blood touched on the Lord's mantle, but she was not pricked by the superstitious thorns of the Pharisees.

But do not you be called rabbi, etc. Here many raise questions about the calling of fathers and masters, but they are easily solved: just as the one God by nature, and the one Son, does not prejudice the rest, so that others too may not be called gods by adoption; so also the one Father and Master does not prejudice others, so that they may not be called fathers and masters by an extended use of the word.

He who is greater among you shall be your servant. As if He were saying: Whoever wishes to go before his brother in reigning must first go before him in serving. Whence the Apostle says: In honour preferring one another (Rom. 12:10); let him overcome him in services, so that he may be able to overcome in holiness.

But whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, etc. Everyone who heedlessly extols himself for his merits will, if he perseveres, be humbled by the Lord, at least in the future; and whoever prudently humbles himself in his good deeds will be exalted by Him.

Woe to you, scribes, as far as Nor do you allow those entering to enter. As if He were saying: Woe to you who know that My bodily coming was foretold by the prophets, and neither believe yourselves, nor, by a pretence of teaching, allow others to turn to it. Morally, however, by this sentence He rebukes every master who by evil works shuts the entrance of the heavenly kingdom before his disciples.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, etc. He shows that they were seeking diverse gains, as much from the disciples whom they mingled from among the strangers with the people of God as through the image of holiness. And [the proselyte] was once a son of Gehenna; seeing the vices of the masters, and understanding that they destroyed by their works what they taught by their words, and returning to the vomit of his paganism, he had become, as a transgressor, worthy of a greater punishment.

Woe to you, blind guides, etc. He rebukes the inventors and teachers of a trick of avarice and impiety, in that no one held a man who swore by the temple or by the altar guilty of perjury; but him who swore by the gold, in which they themselves delighted, or by the gift, by which they were fed, they compelled at once, as one guilty of perjury, to pay that by which he had sworn. And for this reason these were called holier, so that they might make men readier to offer gifts than to pour out prayers in the temple. Spiritually, however, the temple and the altar signify Christ Himself, the gold and the gift the praises and sacrifices of prayers which we offer in Him through Him; for He is not sanctified through these, but these through Him.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who tithe mint, etc. He rebukes them for avarice, in that for the sustenance of the priests and Levites, whose portion was the Lord, they zealously exact tithes even of cheap herbs; and pass over judgement in the deciding of affairs, and mercy towards the poor, orphans and widows, and faith in God, which are the great things.

Blind guides, straining out a gnat, and the rest. As then, so also now, against the precept of God, we devour and neglect the things that are weighty, such as judgement and the things He set down above, and in small things that bring gain we display a reputation for religion, [and] diligence. These things can also be referred by allegory to the Jews, who released Barabbas, who had not broken the Sabbath, which they kept with great diligence; but they killed the Lord, who was teaching the Sabbath spiritually, through judgement and mercy and faith, which they most of all despised. For by the name of the gnat the seditious man and murderer is not absurdly figured, because this creature both disturbs by its whining and delights in blood; and by the name of the camel the Lord is fittingly understood, because of His humility in [lowering] Himself, with His greatness, to the carrying of burdens.

Who cleanse what is outside the cup, and the rest. They are convicted of pretence and lying, because outwardly in their dress they showed holiness, but within they were full of the filth of vices.

Cleanse first what is inside the cup, and the rest. That is: Cleanse first the heart and conscience from concupiscence and depraved desires, from fraud and deceit, and so outwardly through works you will truly show holiness. This holds against those who detest bodily sins, fornication, theft and the other such things, as most grave, but despise as light the spiritual ones which the Apostle condemns no less, that is, bitterness, anger, indignation, clamour, pride and the rest.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, etc. Just as tombs are adorned outside with lime, marble and gold, but inside are full of the bones of the dead, so perverse masters, because they teach one thing and do another, display cleanness of garments and humility of words, but inside they are full of all filth and iniquity.

Who build the tombs of the prophets, etc. They pretended indeed, to win the favour of the crowd, to shudder at the faithlessness of their fathers, by magnificently adorning the memorials of the prophets who were killed by them; but by their very deed they testify how far they consent to their fathers' wickedness, killing by their outrages the Lord who was foretold by those same prophets.

And you, fill up the measure of your fathers. That is: What was lacking to them, you fill up: they killed the servants, you crucify the Lord. He did not say this by commanding, but by showing what they were going to do.

Serpents and brood of vipers. That is: As vipers are born of vipers, so you are born murderers of murderers.

How will you flee from the judgement of Gehenna? Is it by building the tombs of the saints, or rather by cleansing your hearts from malice?

Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, as far as From city to city. That is: the Son of God Himself, who formerly sent prophets, sent apostles. And observe at the same time, according to the Apostle writing to the Corinthians, that the gifts of the disciples of Christ are various: some are prophets, who foretell things to come; others wise men, who

know when they ought to bring forth a word; others scribes most learned in the law; of whom Stephen, Peter and Paul were killed, and many, driven out of Judaea by persecution, migrated to the people of the Gentiles.

That upon you may come all the righteous blood, and the rest. How is blood required of the Jews which they themselves did not shed, unless because it is the custom of the Scriptures often to reckon two generations of men, namely of the good and of the wicked?

From the blood of Abel the righteous, and the rest. Why did He choose to set down Abel, who was the first, and Zacharias, who was by no means the last, unless perhaps because by Abel the shepherd, who was killed in the field, and Zacharias the priest, who was killed in the court of the temple, He wished to intimate under their names that there must be martyrs of both ranks, from the laity and from those bound to the service of the altar? About this Zacharias, however, there has been a dispute among many as to who he was; but we think him to be the one who was killed by Joash king of Judah between the temple and the altar. But it is asked why he is here called the son of Barachias, when in the history of the Kings he is stated to be the son of Joiada. Barachias, namely, in our language means blessed of the Lord, and the righteousness of the priest Joiada is shown by the Hebrew name; and in the Gospel which the Nazaraeans use at times, Jerome testifies that he found written "son of Joiada" in place of "son of Barachias".

How often would I have gathered your children, and the rest. He sets down the likeness of a creature which has so great an affection for its young that, affected by their weakness, it too is made weak. And, what you will find with more difficulty in the others, protecting its young with its wings, it fights against the kite; so also our mother, the Wisdom of God, who was made weak through the taking up of flesh, protects our weakness and resists the devil, lest he snatch us away; and what the hen attempts against the kite by affection, Wisdom accomplishes against the devil by power.

Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate. For He foretold that, when the heir had been killed, the Romans were to come; and, as if plundering an empty nest, they took away their place, nation and kingdom.

For I say to you: You shall not see Me, and the rest. This we are certainly compelled to understand mystically of that coming of His in which He is to come in glory. Otherwise: the Jews have a time of penance given them; let them confess Him blessed who comes in the name of the Lord, and they will behold the face of Christ.

CHAPTER XXIV.

And Jesus went out from the temple, as far as which shall not be destroyed. According to the history the sense is plain; mystically, however, the Lord, providing for our weakness, caused all those things to be overthrown, so that, the shadow and type of the true things ceasing, the truth itself, now declared through the world, might hold the palm.

And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, as far as And of the consummation of the world. Mystically signifying that, abiding at rest in the saints, He detests the madness of the proud, He who delights always to dwell in the fruitful height of holy Church.

And Jesus answering said to them: See that no one leads you astray, and the rest. Many, as the Saviour here foretold,

who falsely claimed for themselves the name of Christ, have arisen: among whom was Simon Magus in Samaria, who even said that he was the great power of God, leaving behind, among other things written in his volumes, these too: "I am the beautiful one, I am the Paraclete, I am the almighty, I am all the things of God."

For you shall hear of battles and rumours of battles, and the rest. They are warned not to think, when the turmoil of battles abounded, that the desolation of the province and the final destruction of the city and temple were at once at hand, but rather that they were to be put off to the fortieth year.

For nation rising against nation, and the rest. It is plain that these things, according to the letter, preceded the destruction of the city. Mystically, however, kingdom against kingdom, and the pestilence of those whose word creeps like a cancer, and the famine of hearing the word of God, and the commotion of the whole earth, and the separation from the true faith can be understood of heretical masters, who, fighting against one another, bring about the victory of the Church.

They will deliver you up to tribulation, and the rest. It is to be noted, moreover, that this saying of the Lord pertains partly to the Jewish captivity, which was brought about by the Romans, partly to the day of judgement; and through the apostles the person of all believers is designated, [signifying] that near the end of the world those who follow the apostolic faith are to be tried in tribulations.

And then many shall be scandalized, and the rest. What we read was done at the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel is also carried on in part; but it will be most of all when Antichrist comes at the end of the world, when through the excess of torments and the portents of signs many will be scandalized.

And many false prophets shall arise, and the rest. Since, then, those within the siege of the city and those besieging it continued estranged from Christ, we think it better taken of the heretics, who, coming against the Church, falsely claim to be christs; of whom the first was Simon Magus, and the last, greater than the rest, is Antichrist.

And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached, as far as And then shall the consummation come. He signifies clearly that the end of the world does not come before the Gospel is preached in the whole world, but that the due time of that moment is then, when the Gospel has been preached to all nations: for help, namely, and salvation to those who believe it, but for testimony and condemnation to those who do not believe it.

When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, etc. These things can be understood of the coming of Antichrist, as the apostle Paul most plainly preached. It can also be taken simply either of Christ, or of the image of Caesar which Pilate set up in the temple; or of the equestrian statue of Hadrian, which stood in the holy place itself up to the present day. An idol, too, is called an abomination according to the truth of the Scriptures.

Then those who are in Judaea shall flee to the mountains, as far as Let him not turn back to take his tunic. It is agreed that these things took place according to the history; but according to the spiritual senses, when we see the abomination of desolation standing where

it ought not, that is, heresies and shameful deeds reigning among those who seemed to be consecrated by heavenly mysteries, and, working iniquity, disturbing the peace of the faithful, then we who are in Judaea, that is, who persist in the confession of the true faith, must climb to the summit of the virtues. Then he who is on the roof, that is, he who lives spiritually, rising in mind above carnal things, let him not come down to the lowest acts of his former way of life, nor seek again those desires of the world or of the flesh which he had left behind. For our house is to be understood either as this world or as our very flesh in which we live. And let him who is in the field, that is, the Church, not look back at worldly business and the bonds of a slipping life, which he has renounced.

Woe to those with child, etc. This too can be said according to the history: that in the persecution of Antichrist, or of the Roman captivity, wombs with child and nursing, weighed down by the burden of children, were unable to make an unhindered flight. Spiritually, the soul that is found taken up with carnal desires in that last persecution is forced, overwhelmed, to undergo eternal woe.

But pray that your flight be not in winter, or on the sabbath. In winter the hardness of the cold prevents going out to the wilderness and hiding in the mountains and deserts. On the Sabbath there is transgression of the law if they wish to flee, or death imminent if they remain. But if it is understood of the consummation, He commands this: that our faith, and our charity towards Christ, should not grow cold, nor should we, idle in the work of God, grow sluggish in a sabbath from the virtues.

And unless those days had been shortened, and the rest. For this tribulation, the heavier it is in weight than the others, the more moderate it will be in the shortness of its time. For it is believed that it will assail the Church for three years and a half, so far as can be known from the prophecy of Daniel and the Apocalypse of Saint John.

If they say to you: Behold, He is in the desert, and the rest. If anyone promises you that Christ abides in the desert of the doctrine of the Gentiles and philosophers, or in the inner chambers of the heretics, who promise that they know the secrets of God, do not lend them belief, lest they find an opening for deceiving.

For as the lightning went out from the East, and the rest. That He said His coming would reach from the East to the West holds against those who are named after particular parts of the earth and say that Christ is with them. And that He says, as the lightning, holds against those who gather [people] secretly, as in inner chambers, and a few, as in the desert. The name of lightning pertains also to the manifestation and brightness of the Church, signifying also the night or the clouds of this world; for it is then that the brilliance of the lightning appears.

Wherever the body shall be, there will the eagles be gathered. That is, into heaven, whither He raised the body with Him from here, in the manhood He had taken up; which, according to the Apostle, [is]: We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall always be with God (1 Thess. 4:16). He hints also at the zeal of the saints, in that the eagle, surpassing the other birds in flight, delights to fix its eyes on the very ray of the sun; and also at this, that it is wont to bring to its nests a stone that resists poisons, [signifying] Him who, cut out

from the mountain without hands, laid low the kingdom of the devil.

But immediately after the tribulation of those days, as far as And the stars shall fall from heaven. The stars on the day of judgement will be seen to be darkened, not from any lessening of their own light coming upon them, but from the brightness of the true light coming over them. And what He says: And the stars of heaven shall be falling, that is, lacking their own light.

And the powers of the heavens shall be moved. That is, the angelic powers will tremble. Mystically, however, the Church is the sun and the moon and the stars, to whom it was said: Fair as the moon, chosen as the sun (Song 6:9), because then she will not appear, while impious persecutors rage beyond measure.

Then the stars shall fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. Since many who seemed to shine with grace [will yield] when the impious persecute, both some of the faithful will fall, and the firmest will be troubled.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. Let us understand the sign here either as that of the cross, so that the Jews may see Him whom they pierced, or as the standard of His triumphant victory.

And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. Those, namely, which, born on earth, did not understand their honour, but were compared to senseless beasts, and became like them (Ps. 48:13).

And He shall send His angels with a trumpet, and the rest. Of this trumpet the Apostle speaks, which sounds forth the sublime mysteries of divine praise.

And they shall gather His elect from the four winds, and the rest. That is, from the four regions of the world; and not only this, but from the height of the earth to the height of heaven, that is, from the outermost bounds of the earth straight across to its farthest bounds, where, far off from those who look, the circle of the sky seems to rest upon the earth.

Now from the fig tree learn a parable, as far as Know that it is near, at the doors. As if He were saying: [As you know] the coming of summer and the entrance of the west wind and of spring; so when you see all these things that are written, do not think that the consummation of the world is already present, but that certain preludes, as it were, and forerunners are coming, to show that it is near and at the doors. Mystically: When you see the Synagogue bringing forth the fruit of righteousness which the Lord, coming to her, did not [find], you will not doubt that the day of the final judgement and the summer of true peace and light are close at hand.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, and the rest. For heaven and earth will pass away through the change of renewal, but the word of the Lord will in no way pass without the effect of fulfilment. Whence the prophet too says in the person of the Lord: My word which goes forth from My mouth shall not return to Me empty (Isa. 55:11).

But of that day and hour no one knows, etc. So after the resurrection, when the apostles asked about the day of judgement, He answered more plainly: It is not for you to know the times (Acts 1:7), and the rest. Whence it is clear that He Himself knows; but He is said not to know because He makes [them] not know, that is, He does not disclose to them what they would know to no profit, so that, uncertain of the Judge's coming, they may live each day as though they were to be judged on the next.

For as in the days of Noah, and the rest. He affirms by very many examples the suddenness of the day of His coming, since

He likens that same [day] to the days of Noah or of Lot, when a sudden destruction came upon mortals.

For as they were in those days, as far as Marrying, and giving in marriage. Here, contrary to the doctrine of Marcion and Mani, marriages or food are not condemned, but rather the immoderate use of lawful things is rebuked. Whereas above wars, famines and the rest are recorded as things to come, now [are recorded] those which are signs of peace: it is to be reckoned, according to the Apostle, that after battles and dissensions a brief peace will follow, so that the faith of believers may be proved, so that from the evils past they may hope that the Judge is coming.

Until the day on which Noah entered the ark. Mystically, he enters the ark perfectly when the Lord, its eternal indweller, enlightens the Church on the day of judgement with the presence of His vision. And those who in their luxury mock the saints as they strive here will be punished with eternal damnation there, when the saints are crowned.

Then two shall be in the field, and the rest. He signifies those who work in the ministry of the Church, as in the field of God; and he will be taken who, not adulterating the word of God, has spoken in Christ as from God before God; but he who has proclaimed Christ not chastely but by way of pretext will be left by Him.

Two women grinding at the mill, and the rest. He calls grinders those who, placed among the common people, are ruled by teachers, because of the round and circuit of temporal business; and He signifies them by the name of women because it is expedient for them to be ruled by the counsels of the experienced. That part will be taken which has practised marriage only for love of offspring, and has dispensed its earthly substance for the gaining of heavenly things; the other will be left.

Two in a bed, and the rest. Those, namely, who choose the leisure and quiet of the monastic life, of whom the two are said to be of two kinds of disposition. For he who for the Lord's sake has given himself to continence, so that, living without anxiety, he may think on the things of God, will be taken by God; he who [does so] for some other reason will be left, as Jeremiah, describing under the figure of Judah the fall of any sinful soul, says: Her enemies saw her, and mocked her sabbaths (Lam. 1:7). These three kinds of men are the three men whom Ezekiel the prophet saw delivered: Noah, Daniel and Job. For Noah raised the ark upon the waves, and so held the figure of rulers. Daniel signified the life of the continent, because even in the royal court he was given to abstinence. Job, placed in marriage and exercising the care of his own house, was pleasing [to God], and by him the order of good spouses is fittingly figured.

Watch therefore, as far as For you do not know at what hour the Son of man will come. For the thief breaks into the house without the householder's knowing, when, the spirit growing sluggish in keeping guard over itself, unforeseen death, breaking into the dwelling of the flesh, snatches the master of the house away to punishment unawares.

Who, do you think, is the faithful servant, and the rest. He shows the difficulty, not the impossibility, of perfecting virtue. Christ the Lord set over the household, that is, the Church, which He redeemed with His own blood from the hand of the enemy, the apostles and their followers. Of whom

one of them said: Let a man so account us as ministers of Christ, and dispensers of the ministries of God (1 Cor. 4:1). For the servant ought to be faithful in devotedly distributing his lord's money, and not hiding it; and prudent in carefully discerning the capacity of each of the servants.

To give them food in season, and the rest. That is, that in hope of rewards they may minister to their fellow servants in due season the food of teachings. Luke says: A measure of wheat (Luke 12:42), showing that the discourse of teachers ought to be shaped according to the quality of the hearers, so that it may suit each in what is his, and yet never withdraw from the citadel of the common edification.

Blessed is that servant, as far as He will set him over all his goods. That is, all the joys of the heavenly kingdom: not indeed that they alone may hold dominion over them, but that they may enjoy them in eternal possession more abundantly than the other saints, as the Apostle [says]: Let the presbyters who rule be held worthy of double honour, etc. (1 Tim. 5:17).

But if that wicked servant shall say, as far as And eat and drink with drunkards. Just as in the one faithful steward the whole order of good rulers is taught, how it should both live and be rewarded; so also in this most wicked servant the damnable work and at the same time the eternal damnation of all wicked prelates is told: who, neglecting the love of the Lord, not only give themselves to luxury but also goad those subject to them with injuries. Although striking the fellow servants can be understood typically as corrupting the hearts of the weak, not yet made firm in faith, hope and charity, by displaying an example of depraved action or speech.

The lord of that servant shall come on a day when he does not expect, and the rest. He teaches this very thing, that they may know that when the lord is not thought [to come], then he will come; and he will divide him, that is, separate him from the fellowship of the saints, and set his portion with the hypocrites: with those, namely, who were in the field and who were grinding, and were nevertheless left. That He says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there expresses the twofold punishment of Gehenna, that is, of fire and of cold. Whence it is written in Job too: He passes from the snow waters to excessive heat (Job 24:19).

CHAPTER XXV.

Then, He says, the kingdom of heaven shall be like ten virgins, as far as And five wise. He called the Church the kingdom of heaven. The number five doubled makes ten; and because the multitude of the faithful is gathered from both sexes, holy Church is declared like ten virgins; and because in her the wicked are mixed with the good and the reprobate with the elect, she is rightly said to be like wise and foolish virgins. And that He said the virgins came out to meet the bridegroom and the bride, I think is to be understood thus: that she who is called the bride consists of the virgins themselves; as if, when all Christians run together into the Church, the sons should be said to run together to their mother, though she who is called the mother consists of the sons themselves gathered together. So the five virgins seem to me to signify a fivefold continence amid allurements: for

the appetite of the mind is to be restrained from the pleasure of the eyes, of the ears, of smelling, of tasting, of touching.

But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, and the rest. By oil the gladness of the mind is expressed; but he who does not rejoice for this reason, that he pleases God inwardly, does not have oil with him. But the wise took oil with them in their vessels, with the lamps, that is, they placed the gladness of good works in heart and conscience. As the Apostle says: Let a man prove himself, and then he will have glory in himself, and not in another (Gal. 6:4).

But while the bridegroom tarried, etc. For to sleep is to die; and to slumber before sleep is to come, before death, through the weight of sickness, to the sleep of death.

But at midnight a cry was made, etc. For suddenly, as at the dead of night, the day of judgement steals upon us, because it can by no means be foreseen when it comes; and while all are unconcerned, the cry of the angels and the trumpet of the powers going before will sound forth the coming of Christ.

Then all those virgins arose, etc. That is, the elect and the reprobate alike, roused from the sleep of death, reckon up their works with them, for which they are to receive [reward].

But the foolish said to the wise, and the rest. Then they seek in vain outside themselves the testimony of their works, whose recompense they now lose through love of empty praise.

Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, etc. They answer this not from avarice but from fear. The testimony of each one scarcely suffices for himself; how much less for himself and his neighbour.

Go rather to those who sell, etc. They are not to be thought to have given advice, but to have recalled the others' guilt indirectly, as if they were saying: Let us see now how they help you who were accustomed to sell you praises and to lead you into error, so that you sought glory not before God but from men.

But while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and the rest. That is, while they were bending themselves towards the things that are outside, He who judges came. And those who were ready, that is, to whom conscience bore good testimony before God, Went in with Him to the marriage, that is, where the clean soul is joined, made fruitful, to the pure and perfect Word of God. And the door was shut, that is, the entrance to the kingdom of heaven; for after the judgement no room lies open for prayers or merits.

Last come also the other virgins, as far as, I do not know you. See, they cry out to have it opened, and, driven by the pain of their repulse, they redouble their address to the Lord; they offer prayers, and they are not known, because God then abandons as unknown those whom He does not now acknowledge as His own through the merit of their life.

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. A general exhortation to the disciples is added, because we ought always to fear the last day, which we can never foresee.

For as a man going abroad, and the rest. For the proper place of the flesh is the earth, which is led as it were into foreign parts when, through our Redeemer, in

heaven it is set: and He, setting out, nevertheless granted spiritual gifts to His faithful.

And to one he gave five talents, and the rest. By the five talents, then, the gift of the five senses is expressed; by the two, understanding and action are designated; but by the name of the one talent understanding alone is designated.

To each according to his own ability, and the rest. Giving, then, not according to largesse or sparingness, but according to the strength of those receiving. Finally, both he who had made ten of five talents and he who [made] four of two receive a like joy, because that Rewarder considers not the size of the gain but the will of the effort. And well is it related that another five or another two came in as gain, because, while preaching is bestowed on both sexes, the talents received are as it were doubled.

But he who had received one, and the rest. To hide the talent in the earth, then, is to entangle the talent received in earthly doings: not to seek spiritual gain, never to lift the heart from earthly thoughts.

But after a long time, and the rest. A great time indeed lies between the ascension of the Saviour and His second coming. Let each consider what he has received, and what gain he brings back from what he received; for He who now bestows with kindness will strictly require merits at the judgement.

And he who [had received] five talents, coming, as far as enter into the joy of your Lord. By the word well done also the Lord makes known His joy, inviting the servant who labours well to eternal joy. Well done is also the interjection of one rejoicing; and the Lord, rejoicing well, bids the good and faithful servant enter into His joy, because He alone is the one to whom the Prophet says: Thou wilt make us glad with joy with Thy countenance, and the rest (Ps. 15:11). And He invites to many good things, because, in comparison with the things to come, which abide, the present things, which pass away, seem as it were few.

But he also who had received one talent, coming, as far as behold, you have what is yours. Truly, what is written, to make excuses in sins, befell this speech, so that to sloth and negligence the charge of pride also was added: and him whom he ought simply to have entreated he, on the contrary, slanders, and says he acted on prudent counsel, lest while seeking the gains of the money he should also put the principal at risk; that is, [as if to say]: I should be compelled to no purpose to render account for others; it suffices each one to render account for himself.

Wicked and slothful servant, as far as what is mine, with interest. He is called wicked because he slanders the Lord; slothful because he would not double the talent, so that he is condemned in the one for pride, in the other for negligence. If, He says, you knew me to be hard and cruel, and to pursue what belongs to others, to reap everywhere where I have not sown; otherwise, to reap where I have not sown is to show even those guilty of impiety to whom the word of the law or of the Gospel was not ministered. Why did not a thought of this kind strike love into you, so that you might know that I would seek my own more diligently, and that you should give the money to the money-changers, or bankers; that is, the preaching of the Gospel to the other teachers.

which the apostles also did, ordaining presbyters and bishops throughout the several provinces; or to all believers, that whatever they said in word they should fulfil in deed.

Take therefore the talent from him, and the rest. This we see daily in the holy Church: that many, while they minister well the outward things which they receive, are through grace added to them led on also to the mystical understanding.

For to everyone who has shall be given, and he shall abound, and the rest. He who has faith and a good will in the Lord, even if as a man he should have something lacking in deed, it shall be given him by the good Judge; but he who has not faith loses even the other virtues which he seemed to possess by nature. These things can be interpreted in many ways, of charity and of talent and of knowledge.

But when the Son of man shall come in His majesty, and the rest. The same Son of God, who is also the Son of man, will then come in His majesty to judge, who is now. As if He said: since it is near at hand: He came in His humility to be judged; then the Lord shall sit upon the seat of His majesty; that is, He reigns over His holy and glorious Church, of which it is written: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.

And all nations shall be gathered before Him, and the rest. There are thus two orders of men gathered at the judgement, which nevertheless will be divided into four. Of the perfect there are two orders: one, which will judge with the Lord, and they are not judged, of whom the Lord says: You also shall sit upon twelve seats (Matt. 19:28); the other, to whom it will be said: I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat (Matt. 25:35); these will be judged, and will reign. Likewise of the reprobate there are two orders: one, of those who are to be found outside the Church; these will not be judged, and will perish; of whom the Psalmist says: The ungodly do not rise again in judgement (Ps. 1:5). The other order of the reprobate is of those who will be judged and will perish; to whom it is said: I was hungry, and you did not give Me to eat (Matt. 25:42), etc.

And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the rest. Understand right and left according to what you read elsewhere: The heart of the wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of the fool in his left (Eccl. 10:2).

Then shall the King say to those who shall be on His right hand, as far as and you came to Me. These words, according to the history, sound of the receiving of the kingdom, and of the munificence of benevolence by which the needy are provided for in the body. But according to the higher understanding, they show the perfection of charity, by which one hungering and thirsting for justice is refreshed with the bread of the word and the drink of divine wisdom; and by which one straying from the way of truth is led through penance into the hospice of mother Church; and by which one weak in faith is taken up; and by which one set in the prison of straits, of tribulations and of sadness is lifted up by the help of consolation.

Lord, when did we see Thee hungry? and the rest. They say it either marvelling at the glory of Christ, or because all the good which they did then seems small to them by reason of the greatness of the terror and the abundance of the recompense.

As long as you did it to one of these My brethren, and the rest. He seems to have said this of the poor in spirit, towards whom, stretching out His hand, He had said: These are My brethren and My mother, who do the will of My Father, Who is in heaven.

And these shall go into everlasting punishment. In vain does Origen promise to the ungodly, and to the devil as well, deliverance from hell after many courses of years, since the Lord proclaimed the punishment to be everlasting.

CHAPTER XXVI.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples: You know that after two days the Pasch will be.

After all the words, therefore, which from the beginning of His Gospel up to the time of the passion He had completed in the hearing of the disciples or of the crowds by doing and by preaching: from that day, then, on which He came to Bethany and that matter of the ointment took place, up to the day on which all these things were done and said. We understand also, though the Evangelists do not mention it, that four days were spent, so that the day might come which Matthew and Mark defined as two days before the Pasch. But mystically, after the two days of the most bright light of the Old and New Testament, the true Pasch is celebrated for the world. Now the Pasch, which in Hebrew is called Pesach, is named from passing over, because the destroyer, seeing the blood on the doors of the Israelites, passed over; or else the day of this solemnity was mystically called a passing over through the law for this reason, that on it the Lamb of God was either Himself to pass out of this world, or was to lead us by a saving passage, as it were out of Egyptian bondage.

And the Son of man, He says, shall be delivered up to be crucified. Let them blush who think that the Saviour feared the death of the passion: He foreknew it, and yet did not avoid the snares; He is neither terrified nor does He flee, so much so that, even when the others were unwilling to go, He goes on undaunted; when Thomas said: Let us also go, that we may die with Him.

Then the chief priests were gathered together, and the rest. They gather, entering into counsel how they might kill the Lord, not fearing a riot, as the plain wording shows, but taking care lest by the help of the people He be taken out of their hands.

Now when Jesus was in Bethany, and the rest. By way of recapitulation Matthew and Mark return to that day in Bethany which was six days before the Pasch, and relate what John reports of the supper and the ointment, from where Jesus was to come to Jerusalem; and so they return to the point from which they had digressed, to the Lord's discourse which He held two days before the Pasch. And the deed of Judas is joined to the counsel of the priests which they held, treating of the Lord's death. The Lord stays in Bethany, that is, in the house of obedience, which once belonged to Simon, formerly a leper but cured by the Lord, the former name remaining so that the power of the Healer may appear. Some wish to understand Simon the leper as the part of the people which believed in the Lord and was cured by Him. Simon also means obedient.

There came to Him a woman, and the rest. This woman was Mary Magdalen, who on another occasion, while still a sinner, bathed His feet, but now, made just, poured holy oil upon His head. Alabaster is a kind of very white marble, tinted with various colours, in which they say ointments are best kept uncorrupted; and it is found around Egyptian Thebes and Damascus in Syria whiter than elsewhere, but the most approved in India. Further, that ointment of Mary's, according to the other Evangelists, is said to be of nard, the chief tree among ointments, and pisticum, that is, faithful [i.e. genuine], because some physicians are accustomed to adulterate ointments with similar herbs; for faith is called πίστις in Greek, from which pisticum is derived; and by Mark it is called spiked, that is, not only from the root of nard, but also, so that it might be more precious, the grace of its scent and power was heaped up by the addition of spikes and leaves as well. Mystically, this devotion of Mary signifies the faith of the holy Church, which pours holy ointment on the Saviour's head when it confesses and proclaims the might of His divine power with worthy reverence. But when it receives the mysteries of His assumed humanity with unworthy reverence, the ointment of nard pisticum, that is, faithful and true, is surely poured out on the feet of the Lord.

But the disciples, seeing it, were indignant, saying: To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. Matthew and Mark put these things by synecdoche, that is, the whole for the part. John, speaking more distinctly, testifies that Judas said these things, whose habit of stealing he wished to make known on this occasion; but the others, what they said, they uttered out of care for the poor.

And Jesus knowing it, and the rest. He was saying that He would not always remain with the apostles in bodily presence, whom He never forsook by the power of His divinity, as He testifies elsewhere: Behold, I am with you, and the rest.

For she in pouring this ointment, and the rest. What you think to be the waste of ointment is the office of burial.

Amen I say to you, wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, etc. Not so much in the whole [world] that she buried the Saviour, as that she anointed His head; and mark His knowledge of things to come, that He, about to suffer and die after two days, knows that His Gospel is to be celebrated in the whole world.

Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, etc. This sentence is to be joined to that place above where he related the counsel of the priests concerning the slaying of Christ. In saying: One of the twelve went, etc., he shows that he was not invited, not constrained by any necessity, but entered upon the counsel of a wicked mind of his own free will.

And from thenceforth he sought an opportunity, and the rest. Many today shudder at the abominable crime of Judas, and yet they do not beware when for bribes they speak false testimony against anyone at all: surely those who deny the truth for money sell the Lord for money;

for He Himself said: I am the truth. When they stain the fellowship of brotherhood with some plague of discord, they betray God, because God is charity.

And on the first day of unleavened bread, and the rest. They call the fourteenth day, on which they were accustomed to kill the lamb, the first day of unleavened bread: because it ought properly to be named the Pasch, the day on which, held and bound by the Jews, He consecrated the beginning of His own immolation, although He was crucified on the following day.

Go into the city to a certain man, and the rest. Now the names, whether of the water-carrier, whom the other Evangelists insert, or of the master of the house, were left out by design, so that to all who wish to celebrate the true Pasch, that is, to be imbued with the sacraments of Christ, and who seek to receive Him also in the lodging of the mind, the opportunity to be given might be signified.

And the disciples did, and the rest. In another Gospel it is written: They found a large upper room furnished, and the rest. The large upper room is the spiritual law which, going out from the narrowness of the letter, receives the Saviour in a lofty place. The water-carrier is the herald of grace; whoever follows him into the house of the Church, he, by passing beyond the surface of the letter through the enlightening Spirit, prepares refreshment for Christ in the high upper chamber of the mind, because he knows that all the sacraments of the Pasch, or the other decrees of the law, are His sacraments.

And when evening was come, and the rest. Evening, then, had come when the light of the world, that is the true Sun, was hastening to the setting of death; and then the Lord reclined with the disciples, He Who prepared eternal rest for them.

Amen I say to you, that one of you is about to betray Me. He foretells concerning the betrayer, and yet does not point him out individually, lest, openly convicted, he become more shameless: He puts the crime among the number, so that the one conscious of it may do penance; and they, fearing their own frailty, trust the Master more than themselves.

Is it I, Lord? Sorrowful, they ask about a sin of which they had no consciousness.

He who dips his hand with Me in the dish, and the rest. Judas, while the others were saddened and drew back their hand and forbade food to their mouths, with the rashness and shamelessness with which he was about to betray Him, even puts his hand into the dish with the Master, so that by boldness he might feign a good conscience. Now a paropsis, as some say, is a four-cornered vessel for food, so called because it has equal sides [absides], that is, even sides; for which Mark put catinus, an earthenware vessel suited to holding liquid; and it may have been that on the table itself a four-cornered earthenware vessel held sauce, into which the disciple could put his hand with the Master: that the prophecy might be fulfilled: The man of my peace, etc.

The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. The punishment is foretold, so that the torments announced might correct one whom shame had not overcome. But morally, woe today to that man who, with treachery lodged in his mind, approaches the table in malice, and in the most holy

offerings of Christ's mysteries does not fear to share, betraying the Son of man not to Jewish sinners, but to sinners nonetheless, namely to his own members.

It were good for him if that man had not been born. He is not therefore to be thought to have existed before he was born, on the ground that it can go well with no one except one who has existed; but it is said simply that it is much better not to exist than to exist in evil.

And Judas, who betrayed Him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He says to him. He asks, lest by keeping silent he should seem to betray himself; and he calls Him not Lord, as the others did, but Master, as though he might have an excuse if, having denied the Lord, he betrayed at least a master.

You have said it. As if He said: For I have not said it.

And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, as far as this is My body. When the solemnities of the old Pasch were finished, which was kept in commemoration of the ancient deliverance of the people of God from Egypt, He passed over to the new, which He wished the Church to repeat in memory of its redemption, namely so that in place of the flesh and blood of the lamb He might substitute the sacrament of His own body and blood. He blessed the bread and broke it, because He deigned so to subject the manhood He had assumed to death as to show that the power of divine immortality was truly in it, and therefore to teach that it would be raised the more swiftly from death.

And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: Drink of this, all of you. He gives thanks, to show what each one ought to do under the scourge of his own fault, if He Himself bears with equanimity the scourges of another's fault; and what the subject should do under correction, when the Equal gives thanks to the Father.

For this is My blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. Since, then, bread strengthens the flesh, and wine produces blood in the flesh, the one is referred mystically to the body of Christ, the other to the true blood; because we must abide in Christ, and Christ in us. The wine of the Lord's chalice is mixed with water; for, as John attests, the waters are peoples.

But I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, and the rest. That is, no longer shall I take delight in the carnal ceremonies of the Synagogue, which is called the vine or vineyard of Christ, among which these rites of the Paschal lamb also held the chief place; for the time of My resurrection will come, that day will come when, set in the kingdom of God, that is, raised up in the glory of immortal life, I shall be filled with new joy together with you over the salvation of that same people, reborn from the font of spiritual grace. Otherwise, we ought to understand by the old wine the body which He had taken from the stock of Adam, and by the new wine the immortality of renewed bodies. But when He says: I will drink it new with you, He promises to them also the resurrection, for putting on mortality.

And a hymn being said, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Beautifully, the disciples imbued with the sacraments of His body and blood He also [commends] to the Father with the hymn of loving intercession

commended, He leads to the Mount of Olives, to signify in figure that we, through the working of His sacraments and through the help of His intercession, must climb to the higher gifts of the virtues and the charisms of the Holy Spirit, with which we are to be anointed in the heart.

Then Jesus says to them: All of you shall suffer scandal in Me this night. He foretells what they are to suffer, so that when they have suffered it they may not despair of salvation, but, doing penance, may be set free. And He pointedly added: This night you shall be scandalized, because those who suffer scandal endure it in the night and in darkness. But let us say: The night is passed, and the day is at hand (Rom. 13:12).

For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. This is written in other words in the prophet Zechariah. But the good Shepherd is struck, that He may lay down His life for His sheep, and that out of many flocks of strays there may be one flock and one Shepherd.

And Peter answering said to Him: Although all shall be scandalized in Thee, and the rest. It is not rashness, nor a lie: it is the faith of the apostle Peter, and his burning affection towards the Lord the Saviour. For he was carried away so far by both affection and charity that he did not consider the weakness of his flesh and the trustworthiness of God's words, as though His sayings were not to be fulfilled.

Jesus said to him: Amen I say to you, that in this night, before the cock crow, you will deny Me thrice. But Mark said: Before the cock crow twice, you shall deny Me thrice; and it appears that that threefold denial was begun before the first cockcrow, but completed before the second. Nor does it matter at what intervals of delay the threefold [denial] was uttered by the voice, since such great fear held his heart wholly before the first cockcrow that he could deny the Lord not only once, but when questioned a second and a third time.

Peter said to Him: Even if I should have to die with Thee, and the rest. Love is strong as death. Through the love of the mind they did not fear the loss of death; but human presumption without divine protection was vain, according to that saying of the Psalmist: Unless the Lord keep the city, etc. (Ps. 126:1).

Then Jesus came with them to a farm called Gethsemani. Not contrary to this statement is the fact that Luke reports that Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, John into a garden. For the place Gethsemani is shown to this day at the foot of the Mount of Olivet, where we understand that garden to have been of which John told. Nor is a church known to have been built over it. When the Lord prays on the mountain, He as it were silently admonishes us that we ought to pray for heavenly goods alone; but when He prays in the valley, and that in the valley of fat things, or of fatness, which is what Gethsemani means, He equally suggests to us that His humility, and the fatness of inward love, are always to be kept in prayers. Otherwise: the Lord, drawing near to death, prayed in the valley of fatness, plainly suggesting that it was through the valley of humility and the fatness of charity that He underwent death for us.

And Jesus said to His disciples: Sit here, and the rest.

In the house in which they were eating the Pasch, He bade the disciples wait a little for Him as He came back, showing that His prayer alone is the redemption of us all.

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. He began to be sad, to prove the reality of the manhood He had assumed, and He was truly made sorrowful; but lest the passion should master His soul, He began to be made sorrowful through a propassion. For it is one thing to be made sorrowful, and another to begin to be made sorrowful: He was made sorrowful not by fear of suffering, but on account of the most unhappy Judas, and the scandal of all the apostles, and the rejection of the people of the Jews, and the overthrow of wretched Jerusalem.

Then He says to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death. The Lord is not sorrowful on account of death, because it was the condition of bodily feeling, not dread of death, that afflicted Him. For He Who took a body had to undergo all the things that belong to the body: to hunger, to thirst, to be distressed, to be sorrowful; the divinity knows no change through these feelings.

Stay here, and watch with Me. He does not forbid them sleep, the time for which it was not with danger impending, but the sleep of their unbelief and the torpor of the mind. For He knew that, with the devil weighing upon them, their faith would be lulled to sleep: He commands a vigilance equal to His own on those over whom the same passion was impending.

And going a little further, He fell upon His face, praying and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. He falls upon His face, to show the humility of His mind by the posture of His flesh; and He asks that, if it be possible, the chalice may pass from Him, not from fear of suffering, but out of mercy for the former people, lest He drink a chalice handed to Him by them. Hence He pointedly did not say: Let the chalice pass from Me, but: this chalice, that is, of the people of the Jews, which can have no excuse of ignorance if it kills Me, having the law and the prophets, who daily prophesy of Me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Let not this be done, He says, which I speak with human feeling, but that for which I came down to earth by Thy will.

And He comes to His disciples, and finds them sleeping; and He says to Peter: So you could not watch one hour with Me? He rebukes Peter singly among the others, because he had boasted above the others that he would never be scandalized, [namely] that now he could not shake off sleep for the greatness of his sorrow.

Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation. That is: pray that the final temptation may not overcome you and hold you within its falls.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak. He shows two wills in Himself, namely the human, which is of the flesh, and the divine, which is of the Godhead: for to dread in the passion belongs to human frailty; but to undertake the dispensation of the passion belongs to the divine will and power. Otherwise: this saying is turned towards those who had promised that they would never deny; for their spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak, because they had not yet put on power from on high.

Again the second time He went away, as far as Thy will be done. He prays a second time that, if Nineveh cannot be saved otherwise than by the gourd's withering, the will of the Father may be done, which is not contrary to the will of the Son, as He Himself says through the prophet: To do Thy will, O my God, I have desired (Ps. 39:9).

And He came again, and found them sleeping; for their eyes were heavy. The Lord alone prays for all, as He also alone suffers for all; and the eyes of the apostles were drooping and weighed down, their denial being near.

And leaving them, He went away again: and He prayed the third time, saying the same words. As the temptation of desire is threefold, so the temptation of death is threefold: to the desire which lies in curiosity is opposed the fear of death; for as in the one there is avidity for knowing things, so in the other there is dread of losing such knowledge. To the desire of honours or of praise is opposed the fear of ignominy and insults; and to the desire of pleasure is opposed the fear of pain. It is therefore not absurdly understood that on account of the threefold temptation of the passion the Lord prayed three times that the chalice might pass, but in such a way that rather the will of the Father might be fulfilled.

Then He comes to His disciples, as far as Behold, he will draw near who will betray Me. It is understood that after what was said to them, Sleep and take your rest, the Lord was silent for a while, so that what He had permitted might be done, and then added: Behold, the hour will draw near. Therefore after those words, according to Mark, is placed: It is enough, that is, that you have rested. Now as to the fact that, returning to them and finding them sleeping, He first rebukes them, the second time is silent, the third time bids them rest, the reason is this: that first, after the resurrection, He reproved them scattered, distrustful and fearful. Secondly, when the Spirit Paraclete was sent, He visited their eyes, heavy for continuing the liberty of the Gospel. But the third time, that is, by the return of His glory, He will restore them to security and rest.

While He was yet speaking, behold Judas, as far as sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. The deed of Judas accords with the change of his mind: he who, having left the arms of life, goes against the Master with clubs, approached the Author of life with the design of death.

And he who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, and the rest. The wretch thought that the signs he had seen the Saviour doing were done not by divine majesty but by magic arts; and having perhaps heard that He had been transfigured on the mountain, he feared that by a like transformation He might slip from the hands of the servants: so he gives a sign, that they might know that He was the one whom he would point out with a kiss.

Hail, Rabbi, and he kissed Him. The Lord receives the kiss of the traitor, not to teach us to dissemble, but lest He seem to flee the betrayal, at the same time fulfilling that saying of David: With those who hated peace I was peaceable (Ps. 119:7).

Friend, for what purpose have you come? The word friend is to be understood by antiphrasis, or else according to that which we read above: Friend, how did you come in here?

And behold one of those who were with Jesus, stretching out his hand, and the rest. This Peter did, surely, with the same ardour of mind with which he did the other things; for he knew how Phinehas, by punishing the sacrilegious, had received the reward of justice and of a perpetual priesthood. But according to allegory, the savage servant is the people of the Jews, bound over in due obedience to the chief priests, because in the Lord's passion it lost the right ear, that is, the spiritual understanding of the law; yet content with the left, that is, with the profit of the letter; which ear, namely, fell by the sword of Peter: not that he takes away the sense of understanding from those who hear, but that he lays open to the negligent that it has been taken away by divine judgement. But that same right ear, according to Luke, in those of that same people who chose to believe, was restored to its former office by the condescension of divine love. Otherwise: the ear cut off for the Lord, and healed by the Lord, signifies the hearing renewed, the oldness taken away, so that it may be in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter; and to whomever this has been granted by Christ, it will be granted also to reign with Christ, which is what the servant's name Malchus means, which is interpreted king or one who will reign.

Then Jesus says to him: Put up again your sword, and the rest. That is, let vengeance cease, let forgiveness be bestowed.

For all who take the sword, and the rest. That is, they die in the soul by the very sin, who desire in the present to avenge themselves by way of retaliation.

Or do you think that I cannot ask My Father? and the rest. As if He said: I do not need the help of the twelve apostles, even if they all defended Me, I Who can have twelve legions of the angelic host. But otherwise this number signifies every kind of men together with the Roman empire; these are the angels of God who carried out God's judgement, when, in the forty-second year after His resurrection, sent by the Lord, they destroyed the wicked city.

In that hour Jesus said to the crowds, and the rest. It is foolish, He says, to seek with swords one who offers Himself freely, and to track down by night through a traitor one who is as it were in hiding, when He teaches daily in the temple; but you are gathered against Me in darkness for this reason, that your power is in darkness.

Now all this was done, etc. The Scriptures of the prophets, then, are: They have dug My hands, etc. (Ps. 21:17).

Then the disciples, leaving Him, fled. Mystically, as Peter, who washed away the guilt of the denial in tears and rooted it out utterly by the confession of the Lord's love, shows the recovery of those who fall in martyrdom, so the other disciples, who forestalled the moment of the arrest by fleeing, teach those who feel themselves less fit to bear torments, for whom it is much safer to seek the protection of hiding-places than to expose themselves to the hazard of the contests.

But Peter followed afar off, and the rest. He is to be marvelled at, and yet revered, who did not abandon the Lord even when he was afraid. For that he fears is of nature; that he follows, of devotion; that he denies, of being taken unawares; that he repents, of faith. Mystically, that to

the passion Peter follows that same Lord afar off signified that the Church would indeed follow, that is, imitate, the Lord's sufferings; but very differently, for the Church suffers for itself, but He for the Church.

And going in, and the rest. How Peter was able to go in John makes plain: either from love of the Master, or from human curiosity, wishing to know what the high priest would decide about the Lord, whether he would sentence Him to death, or let Him go after beating Him with scourges.

But the chief priest, as far as though many, etc. The high priest's name well suits the energy of his action: for Caiaphas is interpreted investigator, or shrewd, or vomiting with the mouth; for he was shrewd in carrying out the wickedness of his guile, but shameless in uttering a lie; and the Scripture was fulfilled: They have searched after iniquity, they have failed in their search: the arrows of children are their wounds (Ps. 63:7).

And last of all there came two false witnesses, and the rest. The false witnesses slander Him, either because they did not understand in the same sense in which the words were spoken, and by adding or changing a few things make, as it were, a just accusation, they alter them and say: I will destroy this temple made with hands; and the Saviour: Do you, He says, destroy it, not I, because it is unlawful for us to bring death on ourselves. Then they turn it: And after three days I will build another not made with hands, so that He might seem to have spoken properly of the Jewish temple. But the Lord, to show a living and breathing temple, had said: And I in three days will raise it up: it is one thing to build, another to raise up.

And the chief priest rising up, and the rest. Headlong and impatient anger, finding no ground for slander, shakes the high priest from his seat, so that he might show the madness of his mind by the movement of his body.

And the chief priest said to Him: I adjure Thee by the living God, etc. In adjuring Him he is shown up as condemning Him when silent, because he would not believe Him when He confessed.

Jesus says to him: You have said it. He used a like sentence towards Pilate, so that they might be condemned by their own sentence. Mark put: I am, to show that what Jesus says to him, You have said it, is worth as much as if He said: I am.

Nevertheless I say to you, as far as coming in the clouds of heaven. That is, you will find Him to be about to reign in everlasting happiness, and to come with majesty to judge in equity, Whom now, placed in weakness, you unjustly judge.

Then the chief priest, etc. It is the custom of the Jews, when they hear something of blasphemy and as it were against God, to rend their garments: which we read that Paul and Barnabas did. But mystically, in the Lord's passion the high priest himself rent his garments, to show that the Jews, for their crimes, had lost the priestly pontificate, its glory, and that their pontiffs held an empty seat: but that the Lord's tunic could not be rent, neither by those who crucified Him nor by the soldiers, signifies that the solidity of the holy and

of the universal Church, which is accustomed to be called the garment of her Redeemer, may never by any means be torn apart by disturbance.

And others struck His face with the palms of their hands, and the rest. He Who was then beaten by the Jews is now also beaten by the blasphemies of false Christians, and is beaten with buffets by those who prefer their own honours to Him. They spit in His face who spit out the grace of His presence. They strike His face with their palms who, blinded by faithlessness, affirm that He has not come, as though banishing and driving back His presence. The error of heretics concerning Christ is bounded by three kinds: for they are deceived either about the divinity, or about the humanity, or about both.

But Peter was sitting outside in the court. He did not draw near to Jesus' servants, lest any suspicion should arise.

And a maidservant came to him, saying: You too were with Jesus the Galilean. It is indeed a woman who first betrays him, so that this sex too might be seen to have sinned in the Lord's death, and be redeemed through the Lord's passion; hence she first receives the mystery of the resurrection, that she might abolish the old error of transgression.

And as he was going out of the gate. So after the first denial he went out before the court, and at once the cock crowed, which Mark records; and when he had gone back again into the court, what follows took place.

Another maidservant saw him, etc. Here he was accosted by two: namely by the maidservant, whom Matthew and Mark record, and by another man, whom Luke records. So after the first denial, coming back into the court, he stood, according to John, at the fire, and the maidservant noticed him as he rose up to go out, and said to those who were present at the fire inside the court, This man too was with Jesus of Nazareth; but he who had gone outside, coming back on hearing this, swears, as they press against him, that he did not know the man.

And after a little while those who stood by came, etc. Matthew and Mark speak in the plural number of those who spoke with Peter, but Luke and John in the singular. It is to be understood either that they put the plural for the singular by a customary turn of speech, or that one man in particular was affirming it as one who knew and who had seen him, while the rest, following his assurance, joined in accusing Peter.

For your speech also makes you manifest. Not that the Galileans spoke another language, but because each province and region, having its own peculiarities, cannot avoid its native sound of speaking.

And immediately the cock crowed. For that Peter denied before the first cockcrow signifies those who, troubled by His death, did not think Christ to be God before the resurrection. But that he denied twice before the second cockcrow is to be believed to have signified those who now err concerning Him, either according to the man or according to God, in both substances, and therefore deny the truth. For the first cockcrow is the resurrection of the head, that is, of the Lord Himself; the second is His also, but in the body of the universal Church. Morally, however, the cock [signifies] one of the teachers

signifies, if through the state of the times you wish to understand the merit of causes.

And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, etc. In another evangelist we read, The Lord looked upon Peter. It seems to me that that look was made divinely, so that it might come into his mind how many times he had already denied, and what the Lord had foretold to him; and so that, the Lord looking upon him mercifully, he might repent, and it might be done to his salvation, just as we say daily when placed in some danger or toil, Lord, look upon me, etc.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly. He goes outside so that, set apart from the council of the ungodly, he may wash away with free tears the filth of his fearful denial: so it is fitting daily for penitents to be separated from the company of the wicked.

CHAPTER XXVII.

And they led Him bound, etc. John makes clear that as soon as He was seized in the night they bound Him, and so led Him first to Annas, and so to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, and also to Herod, so that each of them might mock the Lord. For they had this custom, that whomever they had adjudged to death they handed over to be led bound.

Then Judas, who betrayed Him, seeing. What, they say, does the price received concern us? You had approved it; you do with it what you will. Indeed it profited the abominable traitor nothing to have done penance, through which he could not set right his crime. If ever a brother so sins against a brother that he is able to amend what he has sinned, he can be forgiven. But if the works remain, penitence is taken up in vain with the voice; this is what is said in the psalm about that same most unhappy Judas: And let his prayer become sin (Ps. 108:7), so that not only could he not amend the outrage of the betrayal, but to the former crime he also added the guilt of his own murder.

And having taken counsel, they bought with them the potter's field, etc. The field, as the Lord interprets, is called the world; and our potter is Christ, Who first created us from the slime of the earth, and created us anew through an earthly body. The price of His blood was given for the burial of strangers; because we who were strangers to the law and the prophets receive their wicked endeavours for our salvation, and in the price of the blood possess eternal rest.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah, etc. This testimony is not found in Jeremiah, but in Zechariah a certain likeness is found; and although the sense does not differ much, yet the order and the words are different. There is in Jeremiah that he bought a field from the sons of his brother, and gave him silver; not indeed under this name of price, the thirty pieces of silver which is set down in Zechariah, yet the purchase of a field is not in Zechariah: and we ought to accept without doubt that whatever the Holy Spirit said through them, the single sayings belong to all, and all to each. Since therefore the things that were spoken through Jeremiah are as much Zechariah's as Jeremiah's, and the things that were spoken through Zechariah are as much Jeremiah's as Zechariah's, what need was there for Matthew to correct,

when, one name having occurred to him in place of another, he had read over what he had written, and [should] not rather follow the authority of the Holy Spirit, by Whom he surely felt, more than we, that his mind was governed?

And Jesus stood before the governor, etc. Luke explains this passage concerning their accusations more plainly, and the Jews are convicted of impiety, because in accusing the Saviour they find not even anything plausible, even falsely, that they could lay against Him; and therefore, as Mark says, their testimonies did not agree.

Jesus says to him: You say it. He so tempers His speech that He both speaks the truth and His speech lies not open to false accusation.

Then Pilate says to Him, etc. It is indeed a heathen who condemns Jesus, but he lays the cause upon the people of the Jews. See in how many things they accuse you: but Jesus willed to answer nothing, lest, by clearing away the charge, He should be released by the governor, and the benefit of the cross be put off.

Now at the feast day, etc. He certainly had this custom, he who delighted to please a foreign nation through such things.

And he had then a notable prisoner, etc. Barabbas, the son of their master, Luke reports had been thrown into prison for a sedition made in the city, and for murder. By whom anyone is overcome, his son he is called.

And as he was sitting on the judgement seat, etc. In the woman, moreover, is the figure of the Gentile people, which, now believing, calls the unbelieving people with whom it was living to the faith of Christ: and because she herself has suffered much for Christ, being destined for the same glory, she draws in the one with whom she was living. For at this time, and not before, the devil understood that through the death of Christ he was to be stripped bare, and was to lose the spoils of the human race, whether in the world or among the regions below: and therefore he busied himself, through a woman, through whom he had seized the spoils of death, to snatch Christ out of the hands of the Jews, lest through His death he himself should lose the dominion of death. Further, the tribunal is the seat of judges; the throne, of kings; the chair, of teachers.

But they said: Barabbas. Their petition clings to the Jews to this day, who in place of the Saviour chose a murderer, in place of the giver of life a taker of it, so that up to now they have not deserved to recover the freedom, whether of soul or of body, which they sold.

They all say: Let Him be crucified. How great the cruelty of the faithless, which desires to kill an innocent man by what seemed to them the worst kind of death! But it had been chosen by the Lord: for He was to have that very cross as His sign, and was to set it, the devil having been overcome, as a trophy on the foreheads of the faithful.

And Pilate seeing, as far as you see to it. Pilate took water, according to that prophetic word: I will wash my hands among the innocent (Ps. 25:6), so that in the washing of his hands the works of the Gentiles might be cleansed, and he might make us strangers to the impiety of the Jews, who cried, Crucify Him.

I am innocent of the blood of this just man. The judge who is compelled to bring sentence against the Lord does not

condemn the one brought before him, but reproves those who bring Him, pronouncing that He Who is to be crucified is just. You, he says, see to it; I am the minister of your laws, you shed the blood.

Then he released Barabbas to them. It is no wonder if the Jews cannot have peace, for whom the author of sedition was released, that is, the devil, who long ago, for the fault of pride, had been driven from the homeland of light and sent into the prison of darkness. But since Barabbas is interpreted son of the father, or son of their master, he can bear the type of Antichrist, whom those to whom it is said, You are of your father the devil, are going to prefer to the Son of God.

But Jesus, having been scourged, etc. First Pilate himself scourged Him, afterwards he handed Him over to the soldiers to be mocked, so that the Jews, sated with His punishments and reproaches, might cease to thirst any further for His death. Mystically, however, Pilate, who is interpreted the mouth of the hammerer, signifies the devil, who according to the prophet is the hammer of the whole earth, by whom the Lord strikes His vessels to be shaped for the use of His service, when He permits His elect to be tested by various temptations.

Then the soldiers of the governor, as far as Hail, King of the Jews. Whatever the soldiers did, yet they were furnishing mysteries to us who believe. In the scarlet cloak, which Mark calls purple, because a certain purple is red and very like scarlet, He bears the bloody deeds of the Gentiles, or it suggests His flesh, which He exposed to sufferings. In the crown of thorns He looses the ancient curse, or shows the taking up of our sins, for which He deigned to become mortal. In the reed He slays the venomous creatures, or He held the reed in His hand that He might write down the sacrilege of the Jews. In each garb of the Lord, shameful indeed in the judgement of His enemies, but most glorious by the Lord's own choice, the whole multitude of His elect, which is divided into the venerable martyrs and the rest of the faithful people, can be most plainly signified. For He is clothed, according to Luke, in a white garment when He is surrounded by the pure confession of the just. He is clothed in purple or scarlet when He glories in the triumph of the victorious martyrs.

And spitting upon Him, and the rest. Pagans and heretics do these things to this day, soldiers indeed of the devil; they strike the head of Christ as it were with a reed, who, contradicting His divinity, try to confirm their error by the authority of Holy Scripture. For writing is customarily done with a reed. They spit in His face who spit out the presence of His grace with accursed words conceived from the inner madness of a blind mind, and deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

And after they had mocked Him, and the rest. When Jesus is scourged, and spat upon and derided, He does not have His own garments, but those which He had taken up on account of our sins; but when He was being crucified, and the pageant of mockery and derision had passed, then He takes back His former garments, and assumes His own adornment.

And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, etc.

At first, according to John, He carried it Himself; afterwards it was laid upon Simon, which is interpreted obedient, coming from the city of Cyrene in Libya, which is interpreted heir; because, to be sure, Christ suffered for us, giving an example to the faithful that they should follow His footsteps. And Simon, coming out of the countryside, carries the cross after Jesus, when the people of the nations, having abandoned pagan rites, obediently embraces the footsteps of the Lord's passion.

And they came to the place which is called Golgotha, etc. For Golgotha is a Syrian name, and is interpreted [place] of a skull. Now this place is in Aelia, at that time outside the city, on the northern side of Mount Zion; and it is called [the place] of a skull not on account of the bald skull of the first man, whom some, erring, vainly suppose to have been buried there, but on account of the beheading of criminals and the condemned; and for that reason the Lord was crucified there, so that where formerly was the ground of the condemned, the standards of martyrdom might be raised. The Apostle also describes the moral figure of the cross where he says: Rooted and grounded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, etc. (Eph. 3:17–18).

And they gave Him wine to drink, etc. The bitter vine made bitter wine, which they offer the Lord Jesus to drink, that what is written might be fulfilled: They gave gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Ps. 68:22). But what is said, When He had tasted, He would not drink, indicates that He tasted indeed the bitterness of death for us, but rose again on the third day. Mark, however, was silent that He had tasted; that He would not, he disclosed by saying, He did not take it: where Mark says myrrhed wine. He put gall for bitterness, and myrrhed wine is most bitter, although it could be that they made the wine most bitter with both gall and myrrh.

And after they had crucified Him, etc. John, however, explains more distinctly how this was done. The fourfold garment of the Lord figured His fourfold Church, spread, namely, through the whole world in its four parts, and distributed harmoniously through all those same parts. But that tunic allotted by lot signifies the unity of all the parts, which, because it is held together by the bond of charity, which has the more excellent way and is above all the precepts, is fittingly said to be the garment by which it is signified, woven from above. What in the lot, which is granted not to person or merits but by the hidden judgement of God, is commended, if not the grace of God, which in unity reaches to all?

And sitting down they watched Him. The diligence of the soldiers and priests profits us, so that the power of Him rising again may appear greater and plainer.

And they set over His head, etc. Beautifully the title, which bears witness that Christ is King, is placed not below but above the cross: because although on the cross He suffered for us in the weakness of a man, yet above the cross He shone with the majesty of a king. He Who fittingly also, since He is at once King and Priest, when He offered to the Father the excellent victim of His flesh on the altar of the cross, [displayed] the king's also,

because He was furnished with the title, He displayed the dignity. So that it might become known to all who are willing to read, that is, to hear and believe, that He did not lose His dominion through the cross, but rather confirmed and strengthened it. But as far as the letter goes, these three languages were there pre-eminent above the rest: Hebrew, on account of the Jews who glory in the law; Greek, on account of the wise men of the Gentiles; Latin, on account of the Romans, already ruling over almost all nations. Willing or unwilling, then, the Jews [must hear that] every kingdom of the world, all worldly wisdom, all the mysteries of the divine law bear witness that Jesus is [King] of the Jews, that is, the ruler, the God of those who believe and confess.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, etc. The robbers who were crucified with the Lord on either side signify those who, under the faith and confession of Christ, undergo either the contest of martyrdom or any rules of stricter continence. But whoever do these things for eternal and heavenly glory alone are surely signified by the merit and faith of the robber on the right. But those who renounce the world either with an eye to human praise or with any less worthy intention not undeservedly imitate the mind and acts of the blasphemer.

In like manner also the chief priests, etc. And so their own sentence condemns them as they confess these things. For He Who saved others could surely, if He wished, save Himself.

If You are the King of Israel, etc. A fraudulent promise. He has risen, then; even if He had come down from the cross, you likewise do not believe.

The robbers also [reproached Him] with the same, and the rest. Because, according to Luke, one did this, while the other rebuked him with a fitting reproof and entreats the Lord with faithful supplication, it could be signified by the plural number in a customary manner of speech. To this day we see these things done in the Church, when Christians true and false alike have been touched by worldly afflictions. Those indeed who bear the mysteries of the Lord's passion with a feigned mind desire to be freed by the Lord for the joys of the present life. But those who with single intention glory with the Apostle in the cross of our Lord choose rather to be rescued from present hardships in such a way that they commend their spirit into the hands of their Maker. Both peoples can be signified in the two robbers, because both blasphemed when they consented together in the death of the Lord. But the one, terrified by the greatness of the signs, did penance, and to this day rebukes the blaspheming Jews.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness, etc. What Mark, recapitulating, expresses is namely the hour at which the Jews most of all cried out that the Lord should be crucified. What therefore they least of all wished to be seen to have done, this he shows that they did at the third hour: most truly indicating that the tongue of the Jews was the slayer of the Lord rather than the hands of the soldiers, who crucified Him at the sixth hour. The order of reason, then, nay of divine goodness, demanded that at the same point of time at which He had once shut the gate of paradise to Adam in his transgression, the Lord should now open the gate of paradise to the penitent robber, and that at the hour at which the first Adam by sinning [brought] death into this

world, at that same [hour] the second Adam should destroy death by dying.

And about the ninth hour, etc. He bewails the misery of those whose nature He took up. For the very nature which He had taken up had been forsaken by the Father on account of sin, not the Son, Who is one with the Father. And He shows how much those who sin ought to weep, when He Who never sinned wept thus; and He shows how patient and hopeful among the scourges those who are sinners ought to be, when He passes to immortality only through death.

And some standing there, etc. These I think were Roman soldiers, not understanding the idiom of the Hebrew speech. But if you wish to understand that it was Jews who said this, they do this too in their usual manner, so as to defame the Lord with weakness, as one who begs for another's help.

And immediately one of them, running, etc. After they had accomplished everything, they gave what they themselves were. The Jews themselves too were vinegar, degenerating from the wine of the prophets and patriarchs, filled as from a full vessel with the iniquity of this world, having a heart like a sponge, deceitful with hollow, as it were, and twisting hiding places. The hyssop, around which they put the sponge, since it is a lowly herb and purges the breast, we fittingly take as the humility of Christ Himself, which they surrounded, and thought they had circumvented; whence is that in the Psalm: Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed (Ps. 50:9). But by the reed, on which the sponge was set, Scripture is signified, which was being fulfilled by this deed.

And Jesus, crying again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. After, having taken the vinegar, He said, It is finished, He uttered this [this thing] with a loud voice. What He said in it, Luke plainly indicates: Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. But that [the evangelist] said, He yielded up His spirit, shows that it belongs to divine power to send forth the spirit, as He Himself had also said: No one can take away the soul, etc.

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn, etc. Josephus too reports that the angelic powers, once the guardians of the temple, then cried out together, Let us depart from these seats. Mystically the veil of the temple is torn, so that the ark of the covenant and all the mysteries of the law, which were covered, may appear and pass over to the people of the nations.

And the earth was moved, etc. There is no doubt what the greatness of the signs signifies according to the letter: namely, that heaven and earth and all things should show forth their Lord crucified. But to me the earthquake and the rest seem to bear a type of the Gentiles, in that, the former vices of their errors and the hardness of their heart having been softened, they who were before like the tombs of the dead afterwards acknowledged the Creator.

And many bodies of the saints who had slept arose, etc. The bodies of the saints arose so as to show the Lord rising again; and although the tombs were opened, they did not rise before the Lord, so that He might be the firstborn from the dead. The holy

city, however, in which those rising again were seen, let us understand either as the heavenly Jerusalem, or as this earthly one, which before had been called holy on account of the temple and the holy of holies, to distinguish it from other cities in which idols were worshipped.

Now the centurion, and those who were with him, guarding Jesus. Not the centurion alone glorified God, but the soldiers too. How great, then, the blindness of the Jews, who, after so many mighty works done by the Lord, and such great signs appearing at His death, refused to believe! Hence the faith of the Church is fittingly signified by the centurion, which, the veil of the heavenly mysteries having been opened by the Lord's death, at once affirms Jesus to be both truly a just man and truly the Son of God, while the Synagogue is silent. For the very number one hundred, which in the bending of the fingers passes from the left hand to the right, most plainly agrees with the mystery and faith of the Church: to which, in place of the law, the Gospel has been entrusted; in place of the riches of the earth, the heavenly kingdom has been promised.

And there were many women there afar off, who had followed, etc. They ministered to the Lord of their substance, so that He might reap their carnal things, of Whom they were reaping spiritual things: not that the Lord of creatures needed food, but that He might show a pattern for teachers, that they ought to be content with food and clothing from their disciples.

And when evening had come, there came a certain rich man from Arimathea, etc. He is reported rich not out of the boasting of the writer, as though he would report that a noble and very wealthy man had been a disciple of Jesus, but to show the reason why he was able to obtain the body of Jesus from Pilate. Arimathea itself is Ramathaim, the city of Elkanah and Samuel, in the region of Thamna near Diospolis.

And Joseph, having taken the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. By the simple burial of the Lord the ostentation of the rich is condemned, who cannot do without riches even in their tombs. But according to a spiritual understanding we can take this to mean that the body of the Lord is to be wrapped not in gold and gems and silk, but in pure linen; although this also may signify that he wraps Jesus in a clean linen cloth who has received Him with a pure mind.

And he laid it in a new tomb, etc. He is laid in a new tomb, lest after the resurrection, the other bodies remaining, it should be pretended that another had risen. The new sepulchre can also point to the womb of the Virgin Mary; and the stone set against the door can show that great stone by which the sepulchre could not have been opened without the help of very many. Concerning the tomb of the Lord, those who in the time of our age came from Jerusalem report that it was a round chamber, hewn out of the underlying rock, of such height that a man standing within could scarcely touch the top with his hand outstretched; it has its entrance from the east, against which that great stone was rolled and set; in the northern part of this tomb the sepulchre itself, that is, the place of the Lord's body, was made from the same rock, seven feet in length, and three

palms in measure, rising higher than the rest of the floor: this place, namely, is open not from above but from the southern side throughout, whence the body was brought in; and the colour of this tomb and of the burial place is said to be mixed of red and white.

And Mary Magdalene was there, etc. While all were returning to their own homes, the women alone, who loved more closely, having followed the funeral, took care to see how He was laid, so that at a fitting time they might offer Him the gift of their devotion. But to this day too holy women of the day of Parasceve, the preparation, do the same, when humble souls, the more conscious of their own frailty, the more fervent with love of the Saviour, diligently attend upon the footsteps of His passion in this world, in which the future rest is to be prepared; and, in case they may be able to imitate it, they weigh with pious curiosity in what order that passion was accomplished.

And on the next day, which is after the Parasceve. Since, then, on the sixth day man was made and the whole creation of the world was completed, and on the seventh the Maker rested from His work, whence He also willed this [day] to be called sabbath, that is, rest, rightly the Saviour, crucified on that same sixth day, fulfilled the mystery of man's restoration. And resting in the sepulchre on the sabbath, He awaited the event of the resurrection, which was to come on the eighth day; wherein shines forth the example at once of our devotion and of our blessed reward: for in this sixth age of the world we must suffer for the Lord and be, as it were, crucified to the world. But in the seventh age, that is, when one pays the debt of death, our bodies must remain in the tombs and our souls in hidden peace with the Lord, and rest after good works, until at last, the eighth age coming, and the bodies themselves now glorified by the resurrection, they receive together with the souls the incorruption of the eternal inheritance.

The chief priests came together, etc. Mystically, in the name of seducer and in the theft of the disciples, they prophesy the truth, though unknowing. For Christ was a seducer, not as they suppose, leading from truth into error, but from falsehood into truth; for just as the devil is a mediator, in leading men astray to death, so Christ too is a mediator to life, in reconciling the world to God. The disciples of the Saviour also were spiritually thieves, because they were carrying over to the uses of the Church the Scripture of the New and Old Testament, taken away by just judgement from the despisers and the ungrateful; and the Saviour, Who had been promised and sent to them, they had carried off while they were sleeping in the night, that is, sluggish in unbelief, and were handing Him over to the Gentiles to be believed. And to them unbelief in the resurrection was worse than the cruelty of the cross.

And they, going away, as far as sealing the stone with the guards. As far as in them lay, they would lay hands on Him as He rose, so that their diligence should profit our faith: for the more closely He was guarded, the more is the power of His resurrection shown.

And in the evening of the sabbath, as far as to see the sepulchre. They began indeed to come in the evening of the sabbath; but as the morning was dawning on the first [day] of the week, they arrived at the sepulchre,

that is, they prepared the spices in the evening, but brought them, prepared, to the sepulchre in the morning; which Matthew for brevity's sake set down rather obscurely, but the other evangelists show more clearly in what order it was done. For when the Lord had been buried on the sixth day of the week, the women, returning from the tomb, prepared spices and ointments for as long as it was lawful to work, and on the sabbath they kept quiet according to the commandment, as Luke plainly indicates. But when the sabbath had passed, and with the coming of evening the time for working had returned, promptly, in their devotion, they bought the spices they had not sufficiently prepared, as Mark records, that they might come and anoint Him.

And very early on the first [day] of the week, they came to the tomb. But it is asked how the evangelist says, In the evening of the sabbath, which dawns into the first [day] of the week, when the customary order of the times has the evening grow dark into night rather than dawn into day. But the evangelist, speaking mystically, was eager to suggest how much dignity this most sacred night received from the glory of death overcome. For from the beginning of the world until then the course of the times was so divided that the day preceded the night, according to the order of the first creation. But on this night, through the mystery of the Lord's resurrection, the order of the times was changed. For since He rose from the dead in the night, and on the following day showed the effect of that same resurrection to the disciples, most rightly was that night joined to the light of the following day, and so the order of the times was established that the day should follow the night. And indeed most fittingly night once followed day, because man, having fallen by sinning from the light of paradise, sank into the darkness of this world. Most fittingly now day follows night, when through faith in the resurrection we are led back from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death to the light of life, Christ bestowing it. The two women of one name and of the same love and devotion, who came to visit the Lord's sepulchre, signify the two peoples of the faithful, namely the Jewish and the Gentile, who desire with one and the same zeal to celebrate the passion and resurrection of their Redeemer.

And behold, there was a great earthquake. The earthquake signifies that the hearts of the carnal are to be shaken to penitence through faith in the passion and resurrection, and, moved by a most wholesome fear, to be raised up to life everlasting.

For an angel of the Lord, as far as And he sat upon it. The angel came to discharge the obedience of service which he owed to the Lord. He rolled back the stone so that it might give men evidence of the Lord's going forth, already accomplished. The angel who proclaimed the Lord's coming into the world appeared standing, so that by standing too he might signify that He Whom he proclaimed was coming to vanquish the prince of the world; this one sitting, so that by sitting too he might figure that He, the author of death having been overcome, had now ascended the seat of the everlasting kingdom. He sat upon the stone by which the door of the tomb was closed, to teach that He had overcome the bars of hell, cast down by His own power.

And his countenance was like lightning, and [his] raiment

his [raiment] as snow. So that by his very dress and countenance also he might signify that the one who announced the glory of the resurrection was he who would be both terrible in condemning the reprobate and kind and gentle in consoling the elect.

And the angel answering said to the women: Fear not, you. As if he were to say openly: Let those be afraid who do not love the coming of the citizens on high, and who, weighed down by carnal desires, despair of being able to attain to their fellowship; not you, who see your fellow citizens.

For I know that you seek Jesus, Who was crucified, etc. I know, he says, that you have come to honour the Saviour's burial with the office of charity, but here you cannot see Him present, Who has already risen by His own power, although you will never feel Him absent in His majesty; and if you do not believe my words, prove the truth of the resurrection at least by the empty tomb; he added:

And going quickly, as far as There you shall see Him; lo, He has foretold it to you. Happy women, who, taught by the angelic oracle, were found worthy to announce to the world the triumph of the resurrection, and to proclaim overthrown the dominion of death which Eve, seduced by the serpent's breath, brought in!

He will go before you into Galilee. That is, into the wallowing-place of the Gentiles, where formerly there was error, and the slippery footstep did not set itself with a steady foot. For Galilee is interpreted "rolling", or "wheel", or "a migration made": morally, He is recognized in the mortification of the flesh, He is seen in the migration of the mind.

And they went out quickly from the tomb with great fear, etc. It rightly troubles one how Mark writes, And they said nothing to anyone, when Luke, agreeing with Matthew, says: And returning from the tomb, they told all these things, etc.; unless we understand that none of them had dared to say anything to the angels themselves, that is, to answer the things they had heard from them: or at any rate to the guards, whom they saw lying there.

And behold, Jesus met them, saying: Hail. They were the first found worthy to hear the greeting of the risen Lord, so that the curse of Eve might be loosed for women. Morally, Jesus meets them with a greeting, by giving help to all who are beginning the road of the virtues, so that they may be able to come to everlasting salvation.

But they came near, etc. These come near and hold His feet, because they worshipped Him. But she who was seeking the living among the dead, and did not yet know that the Son of God had risen, rightly hears: Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.

Then He said to them: Fear not. In both the Old and the New Instrument this must always be observed: that when some more awesome vision has appeared, fear is first driven away, so that with the mind calmed the things that are said may be heard.

Go, tell My brethren that they go into Galilee; there they shall see Me. This promise of the sight of the Lord, since it has been fulfilled in many, is to be taken as spoken prophetically. For Galilee is interpreted either "migration" or "revelation". For the grace of Christ had migrated from the people of Israel to the Gentiles, so that, as there preached

the Gospel by the apostles, it might prepare a way in the hearts of men.

There they shall see Me. That is, there they find My members, and recognize the living body in those who receive them: according to that sense in which Galilee is interpreted "revelation", it is to be understood no longer in the form of a servant, but in that in which He is equal to the Father; there will be the revelation, as it were the true Galilee, when we shall be like Him; there we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

And when they had gone, behold, some of the guards, as far as and we will make you secure. All therefore who misuse the offerings of the temple and the things that are contributed for the uses of the Church on evil things, with which to satisfy their own pleasure, are like the scribes and the priests who bought a lie, and the blood of the Saviour.

The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, etc. What then is it that Jesus goes before the disciples into Galilee, to be seen by them? They follow, so that seeing Him they may worship, unless it be that Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep; and those who are Christ's follow, and they too in their own order migrate from death to life, and there, seeing Him, they worship, because, contemplating Him in the form of His divinity, they praise Him together without end. To which vision that fits: For then with unveiled face, as the Apostle testifies, beholding the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the same image (2 Cor. 3:18), all of us who now reveal our way to Him and follow His footsteps with unfeigned faith.

But some doubted. They recognize the Lord, then, Whom they worship with faces cast to the ground; but there was in their minds a doubt not to be despised, because they thought they were seeing, not the body in which He suffered raised again, but only the spirit which He gave up when the Passion was finished.

And Jesus coming spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth. He says this of the humanity He assumed, in taking which He was made a little less than the angels, and in which, rising from the dead, He was crowned with glory and honour (Heb. 2:9), and set over the works of the Father's hands, and all things were subjected under His feet: and among all things, even death itself, which for a time seemed to prevail over Him, was put down under His feet.

Going therefore, teach all nations, etc. First, then, He commands them to teach the nations, that is, to instruct them in the knowledge of the truth, and so to baptize, because without faith it is impossible to please God; and: Unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5); and last of all He adds: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, because as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith also without works is dead.

And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. Mark says: And the Lord indeed, after He had spoken, was taken up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God; for since He Himself, God and man,

He was taken up into heaven and sat [there] in the humanity which He had taken from the earth; He remains with the saints on earth in the divinity by which He fills earth and heaven alike. Meanwhile it is to be noted that the divine majesty, present everywhere, is present in one way to its elect, in another to the reprobate: for to the reprobate it is present by the power of its incomprehensible nature,

THE LORD'S PRAYER EXPLAINED.

Our Father, Who art in heaven. In the evangelist Matthew the prayer is seen to contain seven petitions, in three of which eternal things are asked for, in the remaining four temporal things: which, however, are necessary for attaining the eternal. For when we say:

Hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth (which some have not absurdly understood as in spirit and body), these are things to be kept wholly without end, and they are begun here. However much we advance, they increase in us. But made perfect (which is to be hoped for in the other life) they will be possessed for ever. But when we say:

Give us this day our daily bread; and: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and: Lead us not into temptation; and: But deliver us from evil; who does not see that these belong to the need of the present life? In that eternal life, then, where we hope to be for ever, both the hallowing of God's name and His kingdom and His will shall abide perfectly and immortally in our spirit and body. But the bread is called daily because it is needed here, as much as must be given to soul and flesh, whether it be understood spiritually,

by which it knows all things, the newest and the ancient, understands thoughts from afar, and foresees the ways of each one. To the elect it is present by the grace of loving protection, by which it instructs them in a special way, through gifts or scourges present to them, as a father his sons, and by instructing brings them forward to the possession of the inheritance to come.

or bodily, or in both ways. Here too is the forgiveness that we ask, where there is the committing of sins. These are the temptations which either entice or drive us to sin. Here, finally, is the evil from which we desire to be delivered; but there, none of these things exists. The evangelist Luke, however, embracing in the Lord's Prayer not seven petitions but five, certainly did not disagree with this one. But by his very brevity he showed how these seven are to be understood. For God's name is hallowed in the spirit; but God's kingdom is to come in the resurrection of the flesh. Luke, then, showing that the third petition is in a certain way a repetition of the two above, made this understood rather by leaving it out. Then he adds those three: of daily bread, of the forgiveness of sins, of temptation to be avoided. But what the other set last, But deliver us from evil, this one did not set, so that we might understand that it belongs to what was said above about temptation; for that is why he says: But deliver, he does not say, and deliver; showing as it were that it is one petition. Not this, but this: so that each one may know that he is delivered from evil in this, that he is not brought into temptation.