Chapter 13
Chapter XIII.
1. And there were present at that same time some.
Above he rebuked negligence with respect to knowing grace; here he rebukes negligence with respect to doing penance.
And this indeed he does in three ways: first, by an example heard;
second, by an example taken up,
at the passage: As those eighteen
etc.; third, by an example devised
or thought out, at the passage: And he spoke this parable.
Concerning the example heard,
he proceeds in this order: first, the atrocity of the punishment is set forth,
second, the enormity of the offense is denied,
and third, the necessity of repenting is concluded.
2. (Verse 1.). First, therefore, the narration of the atrocity of the punishment is introduced,
when it is said: And there were present at that same time some, telling him of the Galileans,
namely harsh and terrible things, which are especially accustomed to be recounted; whence he also adds: Whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices,
according to the historical account. Josephus relates that there was a certain man in Galilee who made himself out to be the Messiah promised in the Law, and many of the Galileans followed him, to whom he had appointed a day on which he would ascend into heaven, in their sight, from Mount Gerizim. But Pilate, seeing that he had led astray many from the tetrarchy of Herod, feared lest afterward he might lead astray those who were of his own tetrarchy. When therefore the appointed day had come, and those whom he had led astray were worshipping him and offering sacrifice to him, Pilate suddenly came upon them and slew them amid their sacrifices; and among them he killed the one who made himself out to be the Christ. Whence from this can be understood that passage of Acts chapter five:
"Before these days rose up Theudas, saying that he was somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, consented, who was slain, and all who believed in him were scattered." "After him rose up Judas the Galilean and drew away the people after him, and he himself perished, and all, as many as consented to him, were dispersed." And thus the bitterness of the punishment was such, because suddenly, grievously,
and in great number
they were delivered over to a horrible death. 3. (Verse 2.). Second, as to the denial of a greater enormity of offense,
it is added: And he answering said to them: Do you think that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans, because they suffered such things?
For this is frequently believed by men who judge according to outward appearances; and yet it is not to be judged so.
Therefore he adds: No, I say to you,
that is, I assert that they were not sinners above all others. Therefore one must not judge rashly, but rather fear, because the judgments of God are secret: whence Ecclesiastes 8: "I saw the wicked buried, who, while they yet lived, were in the holy place and were praised in the city as if of righteous works"; and after: "There are just men to whom evils befall as though they had done the works of the wicked; and there are wicked men who are as secure as though they had the deeds of the just"; and again in the ninth chapter: "All things are kept uncertain for the future, because all things equally happen to the just and to the wicked, to the good and to the bad, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who offers sacrifices and to him who despises sacrifices." And therefore it is said in First Corinthians 4: "Judge not before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both illuminate the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts." For as Gregory says: "The judgments of God are not to be rashly examined, but to be venerated with fearful silence."
4. Third, as to the conclusion of the necessity of repenting,
there is added: But unless you shall have done penance, you shall all likewise perish.
Sirach 2: "They who fear the Lord keep his commandments and shall have patience until his visitation, saying: If we do not do penance, we shall fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men"; but, as is said in Hebrews 10, "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," because in the Psalm: "Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword" etc.; and Sirach 5: "Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer not from day to day. For his wrath shall come suddenly, and in the time of vengeance he shall destroy you."
5. And note that for twelve causes one perishes,
as is gathered from the Scriptures.
First, on account of a lack of penance,
as is had here: "If you shall not have done penance, you shall all likewise perish"; and Luke 15: "How many hired servants in my father's house abound with bread! But I here perish with hunger"; against which it is said in Second Peter 3: "God deals patiently on account of you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance."
Second, on account of a lack of foresight:
Job 4: "Because no one understands, they shall perish forever"; against which Sirach 23: "Hear the instruction of the mouth, O sons, and whoever shall keep it shall not perish by their lips" etc.
Third, on account of a lack of patience:
Matthew 26: "All who take up the sword shall perish by the sword"; the Psalm: "The sinner shall see and shall be angry" etc.; against which the Psalm: "The forgetfulness of the poor shall not be forever; the patience of the poor shall not perish forever."
Fourth, on account of a lack of innocence:
The Psalm: "The swords of the enemy have come to an end forever"; and after: "Their memory has perished with a noise" etc.; against which Job 4: "Remember, I beseech you, who ever perished being innocent, or when were the upright destroyed?"
Fifth, on account of the defect of clemency:
Psalm: "You have rebuked the nations, and the wicked has perished"; John 11: "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish."
Sixth, on account of the defect of wisdom:
Baruch 3: "Because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness"; against which, Proverbs 24: "When you have found wisdom, you will have hope in the last things, and your hope will not perish," etc.
6. Seventh, on account of the defect of belief:
1 Corinthians 10: "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished by serpents"; against which, John 3: "The Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
Eighth, on account of the defect of charity:
2 Thessalonians 2: "To those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved"; against which it is said, John 17: "None of them has perished except the son of perdition," etc.
Ninth, on account of the defect of truthfulness:
Proverbs 19: "A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish"; and 21: "A lying witness shall perish."
Tenth, on account of the defect of peace and unity:
1 Corinthians 10: "Neither murmur, as some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer"; and Numbers 16, concerning the schismatics who murmured against the Lord, "and they went down alive into hell, covered with earth, and perished."
Eleventh, on account of the defect of generosity:
Ecclesiastes 5: "Riches gathered to the harm of their owner perished in the greatest affliction," that is, they caused to perish; and 1 Timothy last: "Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and into many useless and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and perdition."
Twelfth, on account of the defect of humility:
Sirach 8: "The bold man goes according to his own will, and together with his folly you will perish"; against which, Matthew 18: "It is not the will before your Father that one of these little ones should perish"; John 10: "My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life, and they shall not perish forever."
7. (Verse 4). As those eighteen, upon
whom, etc. Here he reproves the negligence of repenting by an assumed example,
which is conformable to the example heard; in which the gravity of the punishment is set forth first,
and the depth of wickedness is denied,
and the necessity of repentance is concluded.
First, therefore, as regards the gravity and horribleness of sudden punishment, he says: Like those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. These eighteen were inhabitants of Jerusalem, who literally built a tower near Siloam, and were crushed by the collapse of the tower as if unexpectedly; and this by the just judgment of God, because Proverbs 17: "He who makes his house high seeks its ruin," etc. 8. (Vers. 4. 5.). Second, as regards the denial of the depth of wickedness, he adds: Do you think that they were debtors beyond all people dwelling in Jerusalem? because they alone were punished. No, I say to you, because certainly many others were sinners in it; Jeremiah 5: "Go about the streets of Jerusalem and look and consider and search in its squares, whether you find a man doing justice and seeking faith, and I will be merciful to it."
9. Third, as regards the conclusion of the necessity of penance, it is added: But if you do not do penance, you shall all likewise perish: likewise, not as regards corporal punishment, but as regards spiritual and gehennial punishment. For just as the tower fell upon these, so upon all the reprobate shall fall that cornerstone, of which Matthew 21: "Whoever falls upon this stone shall be broken; but upon whomever it falls, it shall grind him to powder." Now this stone, which grew into a mountain, is rightly called a tower on account of its strength and height; Proverbs 18: "The name of the Lord is a most strong tower." This tower shall crush these reprobate in judgment, according to that of Sirach 27: "The offense shall be crushed together with the offender," etc.; and then they shall perish with their sins; Jeremiah 10: "Their works are vain and worthy of ridicule; in the time of their visitation they shall perish." Such are those who neglect the works of penance and despise the cross of Christ; 1 Corinthians 1: "The word of the cross is foolishness indeed to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God unto salvation," etc.
10. Note moreover that man is customarily punished for ten causes, namely, for purification, as Mary, sister of Moses; Numbers 12: "Mary appeared white with leprosy as snow," etc. For testing, as Job; Job 2: "Satan, going forth from the face of the Lord, struck Job with a most grievous ulcer from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head." For humiliation, as Paul; 2 Corinthians 12: "There was given to me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me," namely, "lest the greatness of revelations exalt me."
For the glorification of divine power, as the man born blind; John 9: "Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him," etc.
For the commemoration of divine clemency, as was the father of John the Baptist; Luke 1: "Behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day," etc.
For the manifestation of divine justice,
as with Herod: Acts 12: "An Angel of the Lord struck him." "And consumed by worms, he expired"; and as with Antiochus, 2 Maccabees 10.
For the punishment of parents;
Exodus 20: "I am God, jealous, visiting sins" etc.: on account of which the children of the Sodomites were submerged, Genesis 19.
For the terror of others; Proverbs 19: "When the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become wiser." So also were those punished, of whom it is treated here, so that the rest might be terrified.
For the examples of posterity;
Tobit 2: "God permitted this trial to befall him, so that an example of patience might be given to posterity."
For the detestation of crimes,
as with Dathan and Abiron, Numbers 16: "The earth was rent asunder beneath their feet, and opening its mouth" etc. And so Gehazi, 4 Kings 5: "The leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your seed forever"; and so Ananias, Acts 5: "Why has Satan tempted your heart" etc. In which it is shown how greatly one ought to detest schism, simony, and apostasy: therefore they were immediately punished in this way.
11. (Verse 6.). He spoke also this parable: A certain man had a fig tree
etc. Here thirdly is subjoined a parable devised
or fashioned concerning the unfruitful fig tree to be cut down; under whose metaphor three things are understood concerning the soul that neglects penance, namely the defect of negligence
in not bearing fruit, the rigor of the sentence
in threatening, and the utility of penance
in remedying.
First, therefore, with regard to the defect of negligence in bearing fruit,
he says: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,
namely for receiving fruit from it, which nevertheless negligence takes away.
Whence he adds: And he came, seeking fruit on it, and found none.
By the vineyard
is understood the ecclesiastical congregation: Isaiah 5: "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel." By the unfruitful fig tree,
yet full of leaves, is understood the soul that refuses penance on account of negligence; Joel 1: "He has laid my vineyard waste and stripped the bark from my fig tree; stripping bare, he has despoiled it and cast it away; its branches are made white." This fig tree is full of leaves
when it abounds in words for its own excuse: Genesis 3: "They sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths." And this is worthy of the Lord's curse; Matthew 21: "Seeing a fig tree, he found nothing on it except leaves only, and said to it: Let no fruit ever be born from you."
12. (Verse 7). Second, as regards the rigor of the sentence in threatening, he adds: And he said to the keeper of the vineyard: Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. By the three years are understood childhood, adolescence, and youth, in which one neglects to do penance, according to that passage in Job twenty-four: "God gave him a place of repentance, and he abuses it unto pride." The keeper of this vineyard is the preacher and especially the prelate, of whom it is said in First Corinthians three: "I planted, Apollo watered." Whence Augustine, Against Five Heresies: "Where are you, O good farmers, what are you doing, why are you idle? See how full the earth is of evils: here thorns, here thistles, here grass springs up. Burn the thorns, uproot the thistles, cut the grass, and scatter good seed. Let not winter frighten you: even if iniquity abounds, yet let your charity be fervent. Sow in winter what you may reap in summer," etc. — To such a negligent farmer it is fitting to threaten the severity of the divine judgment; on account of which he adds: Cut it down therefore; why does it even occupy the ground? That is, proclaim that it is to be cut down, according to what John the Baptist said in Matthew three: "Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance." "For now the axe is laid to the root. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire"; and Paul in Romans two: "Do you not know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God"; and David in the Psalm: "Therefore God shall destroy you forever, and he shall pluck you out and remove you from your dwelling, and your root from the land of the living."
13. (Vers. 8.). Third, as regards the necessity of penance in remedying, he adds: But he answering said to him: Lord, let it alone this year also, that is, in the time of old age, until I dig around it and put dung, that is, until I bring back to its memory its own frailty and its iniquity. For he digs who humbles himself: Isaiah 2: "Enter into the rock, hide in the pit dug in the ground from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty"; and 4 Kings 3: "Make the bed of this torrent ditches and ditches." Whence the Gloss: "For a pit is in the lowest place, and rebuke, while it shows the mind to itself, humbles it." He puts dung who brings sin back to memory; whence the Gloss of Bede: "I will put dung, that is, I will bring back to the mind the abomination of the evils it has done, and I will stir up the grace of compunction with the fruits of good work as if from the richness of dung." For sins are called dung; whence Joel 1: The beasts have rotted in their dung; and Lamentations 4: "Those who were nourished in saffron have embraced dung." The recollection of these things makes the soul fruitful: whence Isaiah 38: "I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul"; and Jeremiah 31: "Set up for yourself a watchtower, place for yourself bitternesses." But just as a tree bears fruit when dung is put around it, so also the soul, when it remembers its sins.
14. (Vers. 9.). Therefore he adds: And if indeed it bears fruit, supply: you will let it alone; and it is a figurative expression in which a necessary word is lacking, but nevertheless it is a common manner of speaking.
But if not, in the future you shall cut it down, namely in decrepitude by the sword of judicial sentence; the Epistle of Jude: "Unfruitful trees, autumnal, twice dead, for whom the storm of darkness is reserved forever."
Or you shall cut it down by death: Deuteronomy 20: "If any trees are not fruit-bearing but wild, you shall cut them down"; and Job 4: "From morning until evening they shall be cut down; and because no one understands, they shall perish forever."
15. And note that since there are six ages of man as if six years, namely infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, old age, and decrepitude: in the first age the Lord does not seek fruit on account of the lack of free will; but in the second he requires it in some way, namely in childhood, in adolescence more, and in youth most of all; yet he frequently waits for the negligent one until old age, and then at last in the end he brings forth the severity of sentence upon the negligent one.
16. Now this can be explained allegorically concerning the synagogue, in which the Lord sought fruit in the three intermediate ages of the world in which the synagogue flourished, and he still waits for repentance; or in the threefold time, namely of the Patriarchs, the Judges, and the Kings, and at last he waited in the time of the Prophets.
And because it was not converted at their words, therefore it was cut down
at Christ's coming.
Or these three years are referred to a threefold time of the law,
namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace: but these things are sufficiently expounded in the Gloss.
17. But according to the spiritual formation of morals,
it should be noted that an unfruitful tree is cut down,
especially one that does not bear fruit for three years: in which is rightly understood the person negligent in works of virtue. And indeed human negligence is rightly reproved by the unfruitful fig tree:
first, because the fig tree has many and large leaves, and in this is especially reproved the negligence of the one who has great words: Sirach 4: "Do not be hasty in your tongue and useless and slack in your works"; against which, Hosea 10: "Israel is a luxuriant vine, fruit is matched to it."
Second, because the leaves of the fig tree are similar to a hand: and in this is especially reproved the negligence of the one who invites others to work: Romans 2: "You who teach another do not teach yourself," etc.; against which is said, Acts 1: "Jesus began to do and to teach," etc.
Third, because the fruit of the fig tree is sweet: therefore the lack of it rightly designates negligence, and its presence designates the work of virtue, which is sweet and very delightful: "for he who is continent and rejoices in this very thing, he alone is chaste."
Now the works of the virtues are sweet to incipient virtue, sweeter to advancing virtue, but sweetest to virtue already perfected: on account of which, Judges 9: "How can I forsake my sweetness and my most sweet fruits and go, that I may be promoted among the other trees?"
18. Moreover the fig tree is said to have most sweet fruits
to designate a threefold kind of fruits. For some are sweet,
as the fruits of penance; some sweeter,
as the fruits of justice; but some sweetest,
as the fruits of wisdom. The Lord seeks these three kinds of fruits in three years, because in a threefold state. For the fruit of penance
is sought from beginners, the fruit of justice
from those advancing, but the fruit of wisdom
from the perfect.
First, therefore, in the first year
he requires the fruit of penance,
concerning which above in chapter 3: "Bring forth worthy fruits of penance." Now this fruit consists in three things: first, in the cutting away of superfluity:
Jeremiah 2: "I brought you into the land of Carmel, that you might eat its fruit and its good things." Carmel
is interpreted as the knowledge of circumcision and designates the cutting away of superfluity. - Second, in the mortification of the flesh:
John 12: "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground dies," etc.
Third, in the purification of the mind:
Isaiah 27: "The iniquity of the house of Jacob shall be forgiven, and this is all its fruit, that its sin be taken away."
19. In the second year,
that is, in the state of those making progress, the Lord seeks the fruit of justice:
concerning which, Philippians 1: "That you may be sincere and without offense, filled with the fruit of justice through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
This fruit concord initiates
or sows: James 3: "And the fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace"; Job 22: "Have peace, and through it you shall have the best fruits."
Clemency opens the way and advances it:
the Psalm: "He shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters" etc.; whence again in the Psalm: "By the fruit of their grain, wine, and oil they are multiplied."
Patience preserves it:
James 5: "Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, bearing patiently" etc.; and Hebrews 12: "All discipline in the present indeed seems not to be of joy but of sorrow; but afterwards it yields the most peaceful fruit."
But perseverance gathers it in:
Luke 21: "See the fig tree and all the trees: when they bring forth fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near"; Proverbs 31, it is said of the valiant woman that "from the fruit of her hands she planted a vineyard."
20. In the third year
He seeks the fruit of wisdom, concerning which,
Proverbs 3: "Her first and purest fruits." Now this fruit is most beautiful
for contemplating: Deuteronomy 33: "Of the blessing of the Lord is his land, of the fruits of the sun and the moon."
Most fragrant
for smelling: Ecclesiasticus 24: "I, like a vine, have brought forth the sweetness of fragrance, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and nobility"; Song of Songs 4: "Your shoots are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of fruit trees."
Most savory for tasting: Song of Songs 2: "I sat under the shadow of him whom I had desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate"; and Song of Songs 5: "Let my beloved come into his garden and eat the fruit of his fruit trees" etc.
Most precious
for possessing: Proverbs 8: "My fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my produce than choice silver."
Everlasting
for enduring: Wisdom 3: "Glorious is the fruit of good labors, and the root of wisdom never fails"; because wisdom is begun here and endures forever.
Since, therefore, the Lord seeks in the tree which He planted, in the first state the fruit of repentance,
and that is threefold;
in the second, the fruit of justice,
and that is fourfold;
in the third, the fruit of wisdom,
and that is fivefold:
He therefore seeks twelve fruits in the planted tree. As a figure of this, it is said in Apocalypse 22: "On both sides of the river, the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations."
Second, those who calumniate the miracles are refuted on the part of the circumstance of time according to a twofold occasion.
21. Now he was teaching in the synagogue,
etc. That part, in which the Savior refutes the deceitfulness of the calumniating Jews, was divided into two parts according to the twofold manner of calumniating the miracles of Christ, namely on the part of the efficient cause
and on the part of the circumstance of time
. The first part having been treated, here begins the second. And this part is divided into two according to a twofold occasion of time: in the first, he refutes those calumniating the miracles of Christ, because they were performed on the Sabbath, in an assembly;
in the second, he refutes at a banquet,
there: And it came to pass, when he entered,
in the fourteenth chapter.
The refutation which takes place in the assembly, concerning which two things.
The first part is divided into two. For first he refutes
those who said that miracles ought not to be performed on the Sabbath; second, however, having taken the occasion, he shows
that good works must be done without intermission, there: He said: To what is the kingdom of God like?
Concerning the refutation
of those calumniating the miracles on account of the Sabbath, he proceeds in this manner. First, the working of a wondrous healing is set forth. Second,
a rebuke of Jewish superstition is added,
there: But the ruler of the synagogue answering,
etc. Third, a refutation of the proposed objection is subjoined,
there: But the Lord answering him.
Fourth, the attainment of a glorious victory is inferred,
there: When he said these things, they were ashamed,
etc.
Concerning the working
of a wondrous healing,
three things are introduced, namely the solemnity of the day
and the gravity of the long-standing illness
and the power of the hastened miracle.
22. (Verse 10). First, therefore, as to the solemnity of the sacred day,
he says: Now he was teaching in their synagogue on the Sabbaths.
Note that the Lord taught on the Sabbaths either for the sake of preserving the custom of the Jews:
Acts 15: "Moses from ancient times has in every city those who preach him in the synagogues, where he is read every Sabbath."
Or also for the sake of the publication of doctrine,
because then, as on a solemn day, they were more commonly attentive to the word of God: John 18: "I always taught in the synagogues, where all the Jews come together."
Or because the Sabbath was a day of rest,
and he had come to announce peace and rest; whence Ephesians 2: "Coming, he preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near."
Or also because the precept concerning the Sabbath, which pertained to charity, was especially a figure of the time of grace,
in which it is commanded: "This is my commandment, that you love one another," John 15.
Or also for the sake of preserving the order:
because restoration ought to have begun where creation was completed:
in Genesis 2 it is said that "God completed on the seventh day His work which He had made." "And He blessed the seventh day," etc.
Or for giving instruction,
that one intent upon wisdom ought to cease from all occupations, according to that saying in Sirach 38: "Write wisdom in a time of leisure." — Or also for a seventh reason, that He might show Himself Lord of the Law and of the Sabbath
by working miracles on the Sabbath: John 5: "My Father works even until now, and I work. For this reason therefore the Jews sought to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath but also called God His own Father, making Himself equal to God."
23. (Verse 11). Second, as to the severity of the long-standing disease,
he adds: And behold, a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years,
as to the prolonged duration of the infirmity:
Sirach 10: "A prolonged illness burdens the physician; a brief illness the physician cuts short."
And she was bent over,
as to the severity of the infirmity,
according to what he lamented: "I am made wretched and bent down even to the end," etc.
Nor could she at all look upward,
on account of the unceasing nature of the infirmity,
according to that passage in Lamentations 1: "He has given me into a hand from which I cannot rise."
24. Moreover, by this long-standing curvature
can be understood the disease of avarice
and cupidity, which bends the heart toward temporal things; the Psalm: "They set their eyes to turn toward the earth." And this is what the demons seek; Isaiah 51: "Bow down, that we may pass over."
This bending infirmity lasts for eighteen years,
that is, through a threefold six, that is, through the whole time of life; because, as Jerome says, while other vices grow old in the elderly, avarice alone grows young; and in Ecclesiastes 2 it is said of the miser: "All his days are full of sorrows and afflictions, nor does his mind rest at night"; and Hosea 7: "Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knew it not; gray hairs also are sprinkled upon him, and he knew it not."
This infirmity also does not allow one to look upward:
whence it is said in Matthew 6: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also"; and the Psalm: "Fire fell upon them," namely of cupidity, "and they did not see the sun," lest they should remember, etc.
25. (Verse 12). Third, as to the power of the swiftly accomplished miracle,
he adds: When Jesus saw her,
namely with the eye of compassion:
the Psalm: "For He looked down from His holy height"; "to hear the groans of the prisoners and to set free the children of the slain"; and 4 Kings 20: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears."
He called her to himself,
through the affection of benignity:
In John eleven, Martha said to Mary: "The Master is here and calls you"; and in Fourth Kings four: "Call this Shunammite woman and say to her: What do you wish that I should do for you?"
And he said to her: Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity,
through the promise of truth:
whence, by reason of certainty, he puts the past tense for the near future: Numbers twenty-three: "God is not as a man, that he should lie"; "has he said then, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"
26. (Vers. 13.). And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God,
as regards the effect of power:
Ecclesiastes eight: "Whatsoever he wills, he shall do, and his word is full of power." Moreover, he lays on hands
to show that he himself is the hand through which the Almighty works all things and through which he restores all things: Isaiah fifty-nine: "Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened, that it cannot save"; and in Numbers eleven the Lord said to Moses: "Is the hand of the Lord weak? Now you shall see whether my word shall be fulfilled in deed." And therefore Sirach thirty-six: "Renew signs and change wonders, glorify the hand and the right arm."
27. And note that here he says four things about the bowing down of this woman, which the Lord exercises in the salvation of any faithful soul.
For first he sees
by predestining: Wisdom four: "His regard is upon his elect."
Second, he calls
by drawing outwardly: Matthew nine: "I came not to call the just, but sinners"; and Proverbs nine: "She sent her handmaids to call to the citadel and to the walls of the city." — Third, he lays on his hand
by justifying: Ezekiel three: "I went away bitter in the indignation of my spirit, for the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me"; and above in chapter one: "For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him." — Fourth, he raises up
by glorifying: First Kings two: "He raises up the needy from the dust and lifts the poor from the dunghill, that he may sit with princes and hold the throne of glory."
Concerning these four things it is similarly said in Romans eight: "Those whom he predestined, these he also called; and those whom he called, these he also justified; and those whom he justified, these he also glorified."
28. (Vers. 14.). But the ruler of the synagogue answering,
etc. Here secondly is added the rebuke of Jewish superstition. Concerning which, first is introduced the stirring of disordered zeal in the mind;
second, the pretense of ordered zeal in word.
First, therefore, as regards the stirring up of disordered zeal in the soul, he says: But the ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, as if to say that his response drew its origin from indignation of soul. This indignation, moreover, arose from a presumption of justice; whence only "true justice has compassion, but false justice has indignation." This false justice, moreover, was zealous for the Law with respect to the observance of the Sabbath, but with a foolish zeal: Romans ten: "They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for being ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God." Whence foolish presumption begets zeal, and zeal begets indignation, and indignation begets transgression of the divine law, according to that saying in Proverbs twenty-nine: "He who is quick to indignation will be more prone to sin." Whence the foolish zealot of the law is a destroyer of the law itself; on account of which, Galatians one: "Beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and laid waste to it"; "being more abundantly a zealot for the traditions of my fathers," etc.
29. Second, as regards the simulation of ordered zeal in word, he adds: He said to the crowd: There are six days in which one ought to work: behold, an allegation of truth: Exodus twenty: "Six days you shall do all your works. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord." - Come therefore on these days and be healed: behold, a simulation of piety, whence what is said in Second Timothy three concerning dissemblers applies to him: "Having an appearance of piety, but denying its power." When he says: And not on the day of the Sabbath: behold, an ostentation of holiness, because as a holy man he was showing that he wished the Sabbath day to be kept as holy, according to that saying in Leviticus twenty-three: "Six days you shall work; the seventh day, because it is the Sabbath of rest, shall be called holy." Whence the Jews said in John nine: "This man is not from God, who does not keep the Sabbath"; but the observance of the holy day in the ruler of the synagogue was rather for the simulation of justice than for its fulfillment, according to that saying in Isaiah one: "New moon and Sabbath and other solemnities I will not endure." "Your new moons and your solemnities my soul has hated." And the reason for this is that they kept them rather for superstition than out of devotion; whence Lamentations one: "Her enemies saw her and mocked her Sabbaths."
30. (Verse 15.). But answering him, etc. Here in the third place is added the confutation of the proposed objection, concerning which he first sets forth a sensible example, then draws out a rational argument.
First, therefore, setting forth a sensible example,
he says: But the Lord answering said to him: Hypocrite
. As the Lord
responds, because it is said in Matthew 7 that "he was teaching as one having authority." And he did this especially when he rebuked others, as he calls this one a hypocrite,
because he saw his hidden things: whence 1 Corinthians 4: "He who judges me is the Lord." For he himself knows the hidden things of the heart, and especially hates the vice of hypocrisy. Therefore Sirach 1: "Do not be a hypocrite in the sight of men"; "lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the assembly," as he did to this one, whom he refutes and convicts by an evident and sensible example. Therefore he adds: Does not each of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it to water
? The Gloss: "Rightly does he call the hypocrites
pretenders, who, although they desire to appear as teachers of the people, do not hesitate to postpone the healing of men to the care of beasts." In these is fulfilled that word of Isaiah 57: "The just man perishes, and there is no one who considers it in his heart." And that also seems to be fulfilled today, according to that saying of Bernard: "A soul perishes, and there is no one who cares; a donkey falls, and there is someone to lift it up." Therefore he calls him a hypocrite
who, feigning zeal for the Law, cares more for livestock or money than for the soul.
31. (Verse 16.). Second, drawing out a rational
argument, he adds: But this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, for eighteen years,
to whom mercy is owed, both because she is a woman, weak by her sex; 1 Peter 3: "Bestowing honor as on the weaker, feminine vessel"; and because she is weak from the oppression of the devil: whence Matthew 15: "Have mercy on me, Son of David, for my daughter is grievously vexed by a devil"; because she was also of the seed of Abraham, whom God had chosen for himself: whence Matthew 15: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
From these fitting reasons, therefore, it is concluded much more strongly that the healing of the woman ought not to have been deferred on account of the Sabbath. Therefore he adds: Was it not fitting that she be loosed from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?
Indeed it was certainly fitting, because the opportuneness of the time required it: both because infinitely greater care ought to be given to the welfare of a human being than of a brute animal, on account of which, First Corinthians 9: "Does God have care for oxen?" Also because the Sabbath was not introduced to the detriment of man, but rather for the salvation of the human race; whence John 7: "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the Sabbath is not broken, are you angry with me because I made an entire man whole on the Sabbath?" Also because on the Sabbath all servile works are forbidden;
whence Leviticus 23: "You shall do no servile work therein," but not spiritual works:
whence Matthew 12: "Have you not read that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are without guilt?" Nor are divine and miraculous works forbidden:
whence John 5: "My Father works even until now, and I work"; and chapter 9: "I must work while it is day." Nor are works necessary for the preservation of health forbidden,
such as eating and drinking: therefore neither are those directed toward healing.
32. From this it is given to understand how great the solicitude and diligence of man ought to be that the sinner be absolved from the snares of the devil, so that, if it can be done, there be not even a slight delay; Proverbs 6: "Give not sleep to your eyes, nor let your eyelids slumber; run about, make haste, rouse your friend." As a sign of which, it is said of the prodigal son returning, below in chapter 15: "While he was yet a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and running to him, fell upon his neck and kissed him." And note that for a daughter of Abraham to be loosed from the bond of Satan is nothing other than for a soul to be loosed from the guilt of sin:
whence the Gloss: "A daughter of Abraham, that is, every faithful soul." Christ looses her through the ministry of priests: Matthew 18: "Amen I say to you, whatever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven." But it is necessary that man dispose himself, as it were, from within:
Isaiah 52: "Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Sion." And then God works from above:
The Psalm: "You have broken my bonds; to you I shall sacrifice a sacrifice of praise." Whence in this loosing, priests work
through the exterior dispensation of the Sacrament, and the sinner
through the interior detestation of sin, and God
through the superior infusion of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
33. (Verse 17). And when he said these things,
etc. Here fourthly he subjoins the attainment of glorious victory with respect to two things that are introduced here, namely the confusion of the rebellious
and the rejoicing of the faithful.
First, therefore, as regards the confusion of the rebellious,
he says: And when he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame;
the Gloss: "The adversaries,
the scribes and Pharisees, who can neither contradict the manifest truth nor are willing to believe on account of envy." Concerning such people, Job twenty-four: "They were rebellious against the light and did not know its ways." Such people are not instructed but confounded when the truth is made manifest; Isaiah forty-one: "Behold, all who fight against you shall be confounded and put to shame; they shall be as nothing, and the men who oppose you shall perish. You shall seek them, and you shall not find the men who rebel against you," etc.
34. Second, as regards the rejoicing of the faithful, he adds: And all the people rejoiced in all the glorious things that were done by him:
Bede: "The people,
that is, the simple and humble, who love the words of truth and miracles." These rejoice in the manifestation of divine glory; whence Isaiah twenty-nine: "The poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel"; they shall exult,
I say, in all the glorious things that were done by him:
Sirach forty-two: "The work of the Lord is full of his glory."
And note that the works of Christ were gracious
with respect to the condescension of divine favor,
and for these one must give thanks:
Tobit twelve: "Bless the God of heaven, and before all the living give praise to him, because he has shown his mercy to you." They were also glorious
with respect to the operation of power
and the manifestation of majesty,
and over these one must rejoice
and exult;
the Psalm: "Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; sing a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Say to God: How terrible are your works! In the greatness of your power your enemies shall lie to you."
35. Moreover, these things can be explained allegorically
concerning the Church gathered from the nations, which through a threefold set of six years was bent over:
that is, under the rule of the law of nature, the Mosaic law, and also of prophecy; in each of which the works performed pertained to the six days, that is, servile works, which were done out of fear. And these cannot raise the soul upward, because fear weighs it down, and love alone raises it upward; whence above in chapter one: "He has raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David"; and this is accomplished through the spirit of charity; Ezekiel two: "And the spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet."
This one is loosed on the Sabbath day,
just as an ox and a donkey
that are led to be watered, because this Church has been gathered from the Jewish
and Gentile
people, who are to be understood by the ox
and the donkey,
according to that passage of Isaiah 1: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey the manger of its master"; and 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, sending forth the foot of the ox and the donkey." But the Lord loosed both, both the Jews
coming to the Church from the burden of legal servitude, and the Gentiles
from the bond of idolatrous servitude: Ephesians 2: "He himself is our peace, who made both one and, breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh, abolishing the Law of commandments by decrees, that he might create the two in himself into one new man, making peace," etc.
By this loosing, however, the people of the Jews opposing Christ are confounded,
and the people of the Gentiles rejoices,
according to that passage of Matthew 8: "Many shall come from the east and the west and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob," etc. "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness," and this on account of their rebellion. Whence Acts 13: "It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first; but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles; for so the Lord has commanded us."
36. He said therefore: To what is it like,
etc. After he refuted those who slandered the miracles done on the Sabbath, here he shows secondly that good works are to be done without ceasing.
And first he urges this through the guidance of a natural example;
but secondly, through the manifestation of a divine decree,
at the passage: And he went through cities and towns.
He guides, therefore, by example
in a twofold manner: by the first of which we are instructed to advance continually in the knowledge of truth;
but by the second, to advance in the fervor of charity,
at the passage: And again he said: To what is it like.
First, therefore, he shows continual progress in the knowledge of truth
under the metaphor of the grain of mustard seed,
and this in a threefold manner, namely with respect to the properties
which the grain of mustard seed has in itself,
and insofar as it is sown,
and insofar as it is grown.
37. (Vers. 18.). First therefore, regarding the property of the mustard seed in itself, by which it is likened to the knowledge of truth, he says: Therefore he said: To what is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? The kingdom of heaven is here called the knowledge or doctrine of truth: whence Bede in the Gloss: "The kingdom of heaven is the preaching of the Gospel, concerning which it is said elsewhere: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-one." This knowledge is rightly called a kingdom, because truly the kingdom of heaven is nothing other than the perfect knowledge of divine truth; John seventeen: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
38. (Vers. 19.). And this knowledge in the fatherland is sublime and delightful, but on the way it ought to be humble and fervent, in designation of which he adds: It is like a grain of mustard seed. It is therefore likened to a grain of mustard seed, because it is small in size and great in power or fervor: in which it is intimated that our knowledge ought to be humble, according to that passage in Romans eleven: "Be not high-minded, but fear"; and twelve: "Not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think unto sobriety, and to each one as God has divided the measure of faith," because, as it is said in Proverbs eleven, "where there is humility, there is also wisdom," etc. It is also intimated that it ought to be fervent and burning: whence the Gloss of Bede: "The knowledge of the Scriptures is compared to a grain of mustard seed on account of the fervor of faith, or because it is said to expel poisons, that is, all doctrines of depravity." Therefore it is said below in seventeen: "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea, and it shall obey you."
39. Second, as to the property of it insofar as it is sown, he adds: Which a man took and cast into his garden. By this garden is understood the Church militant; Song of Songs 4: "A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed." This is the garden of delight, "where the seeds of virtues grow"; in which the seed of faith must first be sown. But this is done through a man, because the preaching of faith is sown through human ministry; as a figure of which, Genesis 2: "God took the man and placed him in the paradise of delight, to work it and to keep it." Such was Paul; 1 Corinthians 3: "I planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase." For it belongs to a man, that is, to one who is rational and prudent, to preach the teachings of faith; but the supreme sower of this faith was Christ, who is called Man par excellence, according to that word of the Psalm: "Shall not Sion say: This man and that man was born in her," etc. Whence he also calls himself everywhere the Son of Man, because humanity existed in him according to its fullest meaning, both as to perfection and as to infirmity; Philippians 2: "Made in the likeness of men and found in appearance as a man." And this man sowed this seed when he preached the doctrine of the Gospel; Matthew 13: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field." He who preaches falsehoods is opposed to this man. Whence it is added there: "But while men slept," that is, prelates, "the enemy man came and oversowed cockle in the midst of the wheat," etc.
40. Third, as to the property of it insofar as it has grown, he adds: And it grew and became a great tree; which is said with regard to the progress of faith in the strength of its powers. Whence the Gloss: "It grows, not like herbs, which quickly wither and collapse, but like a tree, which rejoices in long age and unexpected fruitfulness"; Colossians 1: "In the word of the truth of the Gospel, which has come to you, as also in the whole world it bears fruit and grows, as also in you"; and a little after: "That you may walk worthy of God, pleasing in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God." But this knowledge grows so much higher through truth as its root descends more deeply through humility; whence Isaiah 37: "That which shall be saved of the house of Judah and that which shall remain shall send roots downward and shall bear fruit upward."
41. And because the knowledge of faith growing in itself overflows unto the salvation of others, therefore he adds: And the birds of the air rested in its branches.
By the birds of the air
are understood spiritual men: Isaiah 60: "Who are these who fly as clouds and as doves to their windows?" of whom Proverbs 1: "In vain is the net cast before the eyes of the winged." By the branches
of the tree are understood the teachings of truth proceeding from the mouth of the wise: whence in Sirach 24, Wisdom says: "I like a terebinth have spread out my branches, and my branches are of honor and grace." The birds
therefore of the air rest
in the branches of the growing mustard, because those who arrive at the knowledge of truth are quieted under the teaching of a faithful doctor. Whence the Gloss: "In its branches,
that is, in the diverse teachings, spiritual men rest, who ascend to the heights on the wings of virtues." As a figure of this, Daniel 4: "I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth." "Its leaves were most beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and food for all was in it. Under it dwelt the beasts of the earth, and in its branches the birds of the air abode."
Thus therefore a small seed grows into the greatness of a tree through continuous increase. He therefore who is small ought to labor continuously toward the advancement of merit, so that he may thus become a tree whose summit reaches to heaven through the hope and desire of eternal things.
42. (Verse 20). And again he said: To what is it like,
etc. After he set forth an example inciting to continuous progress in the knowledge of truth, here he adds an example inciting to progress in the fervor of charity,
and this under the metaphor of leaven,
from whose likeness he incites to continuous progress in charity with respect to its threefold analogous property, namely that which leaven has on the part of its own nature,
on the part of another's industry,
and on the part of both.
First, therefore, with respect to the property which it has on the part of its own nature,
through which he intends to arouse us to progress in charity, he says: And again he said: To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?
And here by the kingdom of God
is rightly understood the love of God, because God reigns only in those who love him: Colossians 1: "He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love"; because, as is said in Romans 14, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
43. (Verse 21). And since charity and joy dilate and warm the heart from within, and this is the outward likeness with leaven, therefore he adds: It is like leaven.
And note that by leaven
is sometimes understood the corruption of peace and unity, as above in the twelfth chapter: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy"; and this quite rightly, because leaven is old dough, corrupted by age and turned to sourness, which corrupts the remaining mass and turns it to sourness. Therefore it is pointedly said in First Corinthians five: "Purge out the old leaven." - Sometimes by leaven
is understood fervor and love, as here, because leaven heats the dough and induces a certain fervor as if from something hidden and interior: whence not unfittingly leaven
is charity. Nor is it contrary to reason that leaven
should be taken in this way and in that way by reason of diverse properties. Whence Augustine, in the third book of On Christian Doctrine: "Since things appear similar to other things in many ways, let us not think it prescribed that whatever a thing has signified by similitude in some passage, we should believe it always signifies this. For the Lord used leaven
both in blame,
when He said: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
and in praise,
when He said: The kingdom of heaven is like a woman who hid leaven in three measures of flour.
" Moreover many things of this kind, as he says, are similar in Scripture, just as "the lion
signifies Christ,
Apocalypse five: The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered;
the devil,
First Peter five: Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
etc.; and so also very many others." The cause of this diversity is the multiplicity of properties, from which the diversity of similitudes and representations arises in figures.
44. Second, as to the property on the part of another's industry,
he adds: Which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour.
According to the literal sense,
as Bede says, "a satum
is a kind of measure according to the custom of Palestine, holding a modius and a half."
And note that by this woman
is understood divine wisdom, or the Church: Proverbs last chapter: "Who shall find a valiant woman?" etc. The flour,
moreover, represents the faithful, who are ground between two millstones, namely the upper and the lower, that is, fear and hope: Deuteronomy twenty-four: "You shall not take the lower and the upper millstone as a pledge." From which flour is made one bread,
which Christ transforms into His mystical body: First Corinthians ten: "We being many are one bread in Christ."
But the three measures
are the three classes of the faithful,
in whom the wisdom of God hid love on the way, namely good prelates,
good contemplatives,
and good actives.
Whence the Gloss: "Three measures, three kinds of men: Noah, Daniel, and Job"; Ezekiel 14: "If Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of it, they shall be delivered by their own righteousness." This first exposition therefore accords more closely with the literal sense; Bede in the Gloss expounds it otherwise and in manifold ways, so that there may appear to him the "manifold wisdom of God," "which is hidden in mystery."
Second, by the three measures
are understood the three modes of loving,
namely with the whole heart, with the whole soul, and with the whole mind. Whence Bede's Gloss: "The Church hid the leaven of love in three measures of flour, because it commands that we love God with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength"; Deuteronomy 6: "You shall love the Lord your God," etc.; and Matthew 22: "You shall love the Lord your God," etc. "On this commandment," etc.
In the third way thus, so that by the three measures
are understood spirit
and soul and body,
from which man is made whole. The Gloss: "So that spirit and soul and body, brought back into unity, may not be at variance with one another," according to that passage of 1 Thessalonians 5: "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without complaint unto the day of the coming of the Lord," etc.
In the fourth way thus, so that by the three measures
are understood the three powers of the soul,
which are reformed by charity. The Gloss: "Let the three powers of the soul be brought back into one, so that in reason
we may possess prudence, in the irascible
hatred of vices, in the concupiscible
desire for virtues," according to that passage of Micah 6: "To do judgment and to love mercy and to walk solicitously with your God."
45. In the fifth way thus, so that charity may be joined and in a certain way mingled with faith in the Trinity,
so that one may not only believe in the true God, but also by believing tend toward him. Whence the Gloss: "The Church mingles man's faith in three measures of flour, that is, with belief in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Whence it is said of charity in 1 Corinthians 13 that it "believes all things."
In the sixth way thus: by the three measures, the threefold fruit
to which charity is ordered; whence the Gloss: "In these measures
can be understood the fruits of that dominical seed, namely thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold, that is, of the married, the continent, and virgins"; concerning which Matthew 13: "It bears fruit and yields some indeed a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold."
Seventh, by the three measures
of flour can be understood the three portions of the human race
dispersed throughout the whole world from the three sons of Noah; concerning whom Genesis 10: "These are the generations of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth."
In the eighth way, according to Hilary, by the flour is understood Scripture: by the three measures, the three parts of Scripture, namely the Mosaic, the prophetic, and the evangelical. And in these the wisdom of God hid charity, because, Matthew twenty-two, "on these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets."
In the ninth way, according to Ambrose, thus: "The woman is the Church: her flour is us: who hid the Lord Jesus as leaven in our inward parts, until the heat of heavenly wisdom covers them over."
In the tenth way, according to Bernard, thus: "The woman is the Virgin Mary: the three measures, the threefold nature or substance in the one person of Christ, namely flesh, soul, and Divinity. The first measure is ancient, the second is new, but the third is eternal. These, moreover, she mixed through the leaven of her faith and love." Whence Hugh: "Because love burned singularly in her mind, therefore he worked miracles in her flesh." As a figure of this it is said in Genesis eighteen: "Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said to her: Make haste, mix three measures of fine flour." And so did the blessed Virgin, because at the word of the Angel she immediately consented: "Behold," she said, "the handmaid of the Lord," etc.
46. From these things, therefore, it is apparent how from one small matter the Holy Spirit drew forth various understandings outwardly through his Saints, so that from this there might appear "the manifold wisdom of God," which after the manner of the woman hid leaven in the measures. For, as Dionysius says, the whole of mystical theology, "which is hidden in mystery," itself wholly consists in ecstatic love according to the threefold hierarchical power: purgative, illuminative, and perfective.
47. Third, as to the effect on the part of both, he adds: Until the whole was leavened: the Gloss: "Charity hidden in the mind must grow so long until it changes the whole mind into its own perfection, so that it loves nothing besides God." For just as leaven spreads more and more, so also does the charity of God. Whence Gregory: "The love of God is never idle; for it works great things, if it exists: but if it refuses to work, it is not love"; and Bernard: "Charity either advances or declines"; whence "Charity never fails," but converts the whole into its own nature after the manner of leaven and fire. Whence Exodus nineteen: "The whole of Mount Sinai smoked, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire."
For this fire and heat of charity is begun on the way, but it occupies the whole heart in the homeland: Isaiah thirty-one: "The Lord said, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem." Whence, just as from the heart, which is at the center, vital heat flows into the whole body, so from perfect charity all the assemblies of the works of the virtues receive heat and vigor, by which they tend upward. And just as it is said: "If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light," so, if your heart is burning,
your whole body will be made warm: if the heart is divine, the whole man is divine through deifying love, according to that word of the Psalm: "My flesh and my heart have failed: God of my heart, and God is my portion forever."
48. And he went through the cities
etc. Above he showed that good works must be done without ceasing, through the guidance of a natural example; here he shows this same thing through the manifestation of the divine decree.
Which indeed he manifests in two ways: first, with regard to the severity of divine strictness in judging;
second, with regard to the sublimity of the divine disposition in redeeming,
at: On that same day some drew near.
The severity of strictness in judging,
however, is shown in three ways: first, with regard to the difficulty in merit;
second, with regard to the rigidity in judgment,
at: But when the master of the house has entered;
third, with regard to the calamity in punishment, at: There will be weeping.
The difficulty
which is in merit
he shows in two ways, namely by example
in deed and by instruction
in word.
49. (Verse 22.). First therefore, with regard to the example
by which he shows the difficulty of entering into heaven, he says: And he went through the cities and towns, teaching and making his journey toward Jerusalem.
In this, that he went and went about,
it is clear that he labored without ceasing; whence he could say that word of the Psalm: "I am poor and in labors from my youth." And he gave an example
to others for laboring:
Proverbs six: "Run about, make haste, rouse your friend." But in this, that he was going to Jerusalem,
it is clear that he was hastening to his passion;
whence Matthew twenty: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn him to death." And in this he gave an example to others for enduring,
because, First Peter two, "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps." Whence James five: "Take as an example, brethren, of enduring evil and of long-suffering and of labor and of patience, the Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the end of the Lord."
From this example of the Lord, therefore, who endured so much labor and in the end his passion, it is apparent that the entrance to heaven is difficult: whence below in the last chapter: "Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer and so enter into his glory?" And hence it is that it is fitting to enter heaven through tribulations: Acts 14: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
50. And note that in these words three things are suggested to us by the example of the Lord, through which one arrives at the glory of paradise, namely good action,
true preaching,
and tranquil contemplation.
Work
is suggested in this, that he was going through cities and towns; preaching
indeed in this, that he was going teaching; contemplation
in this, that he was making his journey to Jerusalem,
which is the vision of peace,
according to the anagogical sense: Psalm: "Jerusalem, which is built as a city." "For there the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord." The first of these pertains to prudence,
the second to understanding,
and the third to wisdom.
Or the first to goodness,
the second to discipline,
and the third to knowledge:
Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge."
51. (Verse 23). Second, as regards the instruction in word,
by which he responds to the question about the fewness of those who are saved, he adds: And a certain one said to him: Lord, are those who are saved few?
This man asks this because he had not heard the divine saying, by which it is said in Matthew 20: "Many are called, but few are chosen"; as a figure of which it is said in Micah 7: "Woe is me! For I have become like one who gathers the clusters of the vintage in autumn."
Or he was posing this question in order to give an occasion for teaching by word what he was showing by example.
52. (Verses 23–24). Whence he adds: And he said to them: Strive to enter through the narrow gate:
Matthew 7: "How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leads to life, and few there are who find it!" This gate
is Christ: John 10: "I am the door"; he himself is the way;
John 14: "I am the way"; "no one comes to the Father except through me." This way is strait
and the gate narrow,
not on account of the smallness of power, but on account of the straitness of modesty and the rectitude of justice; whence Chrysostom: "The strait gate is Christ, not by smallness of power, but by reason of humility. Christ does not receive into himself except those who have stripped themselves of sins and laid down every burden of the world." And therefore Matthew 19: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Therefore the gate
of heaven is called narrow,
because unless one reduces himself to smallness and austerity, he cannot enter.
53. And because few are of this kind, he therefore adds: Because many, I say to you, will seek to enter:
Gloss: "Prompted by love of salvation and rewards"; and will not be able,
Gloss: "Terrified by the harshness of the journey," because they do not seek with a whole and full will. For they wish to attain Christ but are unwilling to follow him, according to that saying of Proverbs thirteen: "The sluggard wills and wills not." Hence Chrysostom: "Unless someone walks along the way, he will not be able to reach the gate. If you have not been and are not on the way of justice, and you think that you know Christ, you lie: just as one who hears that honey is sweet but does not taste it knows the name of honey but is ignorant of the grace and flavor of honey"; hence the slothful, who will and will not, cannot enter; likewise neither can those who desire both the present age and God, of whom Hosea five says: "With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, and shall not find him." And of such it is said in Matthew six: "No one can serve two masters"; "you cannot serve God and mammon." These do not go straight to heaven; hence 3 Kings eighteen: "How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him." 54. Because it is impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven with desires for earthly things, and it is difficult to lay these aside, therefore one must strive against appetite; and for this reason he says: Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
as if to say: it is impossible to enter with desires, which many seek to do; but at least strive, having trampled upon your desires. Hence also Matthew eleven: "From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Nor does it stand against this that it is said in the same place: "My yoke is sweet," because the gate and heavenly way is narrow for those beginning,
but is widened for those advancing,
and is broad for those arriving.
For the first the Psalm said: "Because of the words of thy lips I have kept hard ways"; for the second: "I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart"; for the third: "I have been delighted in the way of thy testimonies, as in all riches." For these three it is said in Proverbs four: "The path of the just, as a shining light, goes forward and increases even to the perfect day"; and again after: "I will lead thee by the paths of equity, which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and running thou shalt have no stumbling block."
55. (Vers. 25.). But when the householder shall have entered.
After he has aroused them to continual progress in good work on account of the difficulty in merit, here secondly he arouses them to this on account of the severity in the future judgment,
which he shows in two ways, namely, because he will reject the supplication of prayers
and the allegation of reasons.
First, as regards the rejection of supplication,
he says: But when the master of the house has entered and shut the door,
through judicial severity; Matthew twenty-five: "Those who were ready entered with him to the wedding, and the door was shut." And note that Christ is called the master of the house
in respect of the just:
whence Matthew twenty: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man, a master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard." He is called the master of the house
because he has a large household; in whose figure, Job one: "The possession of Job was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household."
He is also a judge
in respect of the wicked,
for whom he shuts the door of mercy: whence it is said in Deuteronomy eleven: "Take heed lest you depart from the Lord, and the Lord being angry shut up heaven, and the rains not descend." This gate is open throughout the entire span of the way, but is closed at the end: Ezekiel forty-six: "But the gate shall not be shut until the evening; and the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate on Sabbaths and on New Moons before the Lord."
56. And because the withdrawal of mercy leads man to the recognition of his own misery, and this in turn leads to the importunity of prayers, therefore he adds: And you shall begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
through belated penitence: Wisdom five: "Seeing this, they shall be troubled with terrible fear"; "saying within themselves, repenting"; and Hebrews twelve: "He found no place of repentance, although he had sought it with tears." Saying: Open to us, Lord,
through importunate supplication:
Matthew twenty-five: "Last of all the other virgins come, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us."
And he shall answer and say to you: I know you not, whence you are,
through final reprobation; Proverbs one: "Then they shall cry out, and I will not hear; they shall rise early and shall not find me, because they held discipline hateful and did not receive the fear of the Lord"; whence also Proverbs six: "The jealousy and fury of the husband will not spare in the day of vengeance, nor will he yield to anyone's prayers."
And note that the Lord is said not to know us,
not because he does not know us by simple knowledge,
since it is said in Job twelve: "He himself knows both the deceiver and the one who is deceived"; and in the Psalm: "In your book all shall be written"; but because he does not know them with the knowledge of approbation,
because it is said in Second Timothy two: "The Lord knows those who are his"; Job eight: "If it swallows him up from his place, it will deny him and say: I knew you not."
57. (Vers. 26.). Second, as to the rejection of the allegation of reasons, he adds: Then you will begin to say: We ate before you and drank: behold, the allegation of familiarity in life; and in our streets you taught, as to familiarity in doctrine. Or the first can be referred to the miracles which Christ performed among the Jews, when he multiplied the loaves, John 6, and changed water into wine, John 2: the second to teachings. For these had seen miracles and heard teachings: whence Matthew 11: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the mighty works that have been done in you, they would long ago have done penance in sackcloth and ashes." Thus they allege knowledge of Christ, because they knew his works and miracles, and they also knew his words and teachings. Such will be the wicked Christians at the judgment, of whom it is said in Titus 1: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him."
58. (Vers. 27.). And since the allegation of knowledge avails little without the allegation of imitation and work, therefore he adds: And he will say to you: I do not know you, whence you are. Chrysostom: "I do not recognize my image in you. You cannot receive the wages of my soldiers, you who have carried the banners of the tyrant." Chrysostom says this not with respect to the image of creation, of which it is said in the Psalm: "Man passes through as an image"; but with respect to the image of re-creation, of which Augustine says: "The Lord does not know them, since he does not find in them the mark of faith and love." Whence the denial of knowledge does not regard the strangeness of persons, against which they allege familiarity, but only the diversity of conduct, according to that saying in Habakkuk 1: "Your eyes are pure, O Lord, and you cannot look upon iniquity."
Therefore he adds: Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity: Psalm: "Depart from me, all you who work iniquity."
Now the reason for this departure is the distance between justice and iniquity; 2 Corinthians 6: "What participation has justice with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? And what agreement has Christ with Belial?" Since therefore the reprobate will be unjust and darkened and men of Belial; but Christ the judge will be just, will be the true light, will be supremely good: therefore he will compel the wicked to descend into hell through the final judgment, saying: "Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." Since therefore man will be judged not according to the greatness of knowledge, but the strength of work: one must continually devote oneself to good works: whence Romans 2: "Not the hearers of the Law, but the doers are just before God"; on account of which, in the Psalm: "God has spoken once: these two things have I heard, that power belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, belongs mercy, for you will render to each one according to his works."
59. (Vers. 28.). There will be weeping there.
Here now thirdly, after he has urged them to continual progress by showing the difficulty in merit and the severity in judgment, he urges the same by showing the calamity in punishment.
Which indeed he does in two ways, namely from the consideration of one's own abjection
and from the consideration of the glorification of others.
First therefore, as regards the consideration of one's own abjection,
he says: There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
as regards the punishment of sense.
And the punishment of heat is touched upon,
from which comes the weeping of eyes,
and the punishment of cold,
from which comes the gnashing of teeth. These two bodily punishments are more fully expressed, either because these two qualities are active and more afflictive: on account of which Job 24: "They shall pass from the waters of snow to excessive heat." Or because sin is committed in the body in two ways, namely through the concupiscence of the eyes and through the concupiscence of the flesh, whence they are punished in both: Wisdom 11: "By what things a man sins, by these also is he tormented." Or because weeping
comes from within, and the gnashing of teeth
comes from without: and in these is understood the totality of punishments, especially bodily ones. Whence the Gloss of Bede: "Note that by weeping,
which belongs to the eyes, and gnashing,
which belongs to the teeth, the true resurrection of the bodies of the impious is understood." This weeping, however, will not be a dissolution of moisture, but through pain and groaning: or if it will be, there will be a miraculous restoration of moisture, just as also miraculously in such great torments they will have bodies sustained by spirits.
60. And because the punishment of sense
is conjoined with the punishment of loss,
which will be the loss of the fellowship of the Saints in the glory of paradise; therefore he adds: When you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the kingdom of God,
that is, all the Patriarchs and Prophets. The former had been an example of living in life: whence John 8: "If you are children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham"; the latter in life and doctrine: 2 Peter 1: "We have the more firm prophetic word, to which you do well to attend." Or the Patriarchs
were those to whom the promise was made; the Prophets
those through whom the promulgation of the promise was made, according to that passage above in chapter one: "As he spoke through the mouth of his holy Prophets who have been from of old." And both the former and the latter urged and called men to enter the kingdom of God, which those who are children of the flesh and who refused to be imitators of the Saints will not enter, but will be excluded. Therefore he adds: But you will be cast out;
Revelation last chapter: "Outside are dogs and sorcerers and the unchaste and those who serve idols and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." As a figure of this, Genesis 21 says: "Cast out the handmaid and her son: for the son of the handmaid shall not be heir with the son of the free woman"; because John 8 says: "The servant does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever."
61. (Vers. 29.). Secondly, as to the consideration of the glorification of others, he adds: And they shall come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, that is, from the universality of the nations gathered from every part of the world. For when the Jews were rejected on account of their carnality, the Lord called the nations as spiritual children; whence it is said in John 10: "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, and those I must bring." These were gathered from every part of the world through the ministry of the Apostles, according to that of the Psalm: "All nations, whatsoever thou hast made, shall come and shall adore before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name"; and Isaiah 43: "From the east I will bring thy seed, and from the west I will gather thee: I will say to the north: give up; and to the south: do not withhold." Therefore they are said to be called from such distant parts on account of the diversity of customs, from which they are called to the unity of charity and felicity.
On account of which he adds: And they shall recline in the kingdom of God: Isaiah 25: "The Lord shall make for all peoples in this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of vintage, of fat things full of marrow, of vintage refined."
62. (Vers. 30.). And because this will be to the confusion of the reprobate and the glory of the elect, therefore he adds: And behold, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last. The first are last on account of pride, and the last are first on account of humility: because it is said below in chapter 18: "Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted, and he who exalts himself shall be humbled." Why is this? Because in the Psalm it is said: "The Lord is high and looks upon the lowly, and the lofty he knows from afar." The example of this appears most clearly in the twofold people, namely of the Jews, who are blinded, and of the Gentiles, who are chosen; Romans 11: "For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter, and so all Israel should be saved." The example of this also appears in Judas, who was an Apostle and was damned, and in the thief, who was saved, below in chapter 23. And by this example all are stirred to the fear of God, according to that of 1 Corinthians 10: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
63. From this consideration of the future judgment, therefore, we are led to persist continually in good works on account of the threefold reason set forth above: first, because it is difficult to be justified in the sight of the Lord on account of the difficulty in merit: whence the Psalm: "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for no one living shall be justified in thy sight"; and 1 Peter 4: "And if the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the impious and the sinner appear?"
Secondly, because it is impossible to be excused on account of the severity in judgment: Proverbs 28: "He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination"; and Job 41: "I will not spare him, nor powerful words, nor those composed for entreaty."
Third, because he must needs be afflicted on account of the calamity of punishment: Apocalypse twenty: "Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone"; Matthew twenty-two says of him who did not have a wedding garment: "Bind his hands and feet, cast him into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." — And therefore the counsel of the Wise Man is good, Ecclesiastes nine: "Whatever your hand is able to do, work earnestly, because there is neither work nor reason nor wisdom nor knowledge in the netherworld, whither you hasten."
64. On that very day etc. After he has stirred us to do good works unceasingly on account of the severity of strictness in judging, here secondly he stirs us to the same thing on account of the sublimity of the disposition in redeeming. Now this part has two parts, in the first of which is expressed the sublimity of the divine disposition in the redemption of the human race; in the second, however, in the reprobation of the rebellious people, at the place: Jerusalem, Jerusalem etc.
Now the sublimity of the divine disposition in redeeming is shown in three ways, namely because the passion of Christ before the time was attempted in vain by man; in the due time it was voluntarily undertaken by Christ; but from eternity it was infallibly preordained.
65. (Verse 31). First, therefore, the passion of Christ attempted in vain by man before the time is intimated, when it is said: On that very day certain of the Pharisees came, saying to him: Depart and go from here, because Herod wishes to kill you. This Herod was the son of the Herod who, wishing to kill the infant Jesus before the time, slew the children of Bethlehem, according to what is said in Matthew two: "Then Herod, seeing that he had been mocked by the Magi, sent and killed all the children who were in Bethlehem." So also this son, imitator of his father's crime, wished to kill him before the time, just as he had killed his forerunner, as is said in Matthew fourteen: "Herod sent and beheaded John in prison." So also he now wished to do to Christ already grown, and afterwards the grandson wished to do this to him already glorified; whence the first Herod was evil, the second worse, but the third worst. And all persecuted Christ, but in vain, because it is said in the Psalm: "The Lord scatters the counsels of the nations, and he reproves the thoughts of the peoples and reproves the counsels of the princes."
And note that the Pharisees reported this to Christ, either because some of them were perhaps good, or because they wished to frighten Christ and drive him away from themselves, or also because they wished to test him, whether out of fear he would desist from preaching the truth. And the latter is more credible, because they were accustomed to do this; whence Matthew twenty-two: "The Pharisees, going away, took counsel to ensnare Jesus in his speech, and they send to him their disciples with the Herodians."
66. And note here according to the mystical understanding that Herod is interpreted as "glorying in skins" and designates any proud and vainglorious person who glories in the outward display of works and words. And such a one persecutes Christ being born in Bethlehem, who is born as a pauper, because the vainglorious are accustomed to persecute the poor of Christ. Whence Bernard in a certain sermon: "It is clear how much unjust power harms, how an impious head conforms all its subjects to its own impiety. Truly miserable is the city in which Herod reigns, for it will be a partaker of Herodian malice. But the malice of Herod is to wish to extinguish religion at its birth. If therefore anything pertaining to salvation, if anything of religion arises, whoever resists it persecutes the newborn Savior."
67. (Verse 32). Secondly, the passion of Christ is intimated as voluntarily undertaken by him, when it is added: And he said to them: Go and tell that fox. He calls Herod a fox on account of his malice and deceitfulness, which nevertheless does not prevail against the wisdom of Christ; Wisdom 7: "Wisdom is not overcome by malice. She reaches therefore from end to end mightily."
And because the death of Christ was not to be consummated according to the machination of human malice, but according to the disposition of his own wisdom and will, therefore he adds: Behold, I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, through the working of miracles; Acts 10: "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil."
And the third day I am consummated, through the endurance of the passion, in which he said, John 19: "It is consummated"; and Hebrews 2: "For it was fitting that he, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, who had brought many sons into glory, should be consummated through suffering." Whence by these three days can be understood the three years in which the Lord preached and worked miracles, and thus that in the last year he suffered voluntarily and according to his own will; John 10: "I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it up again." Whence when he did not will it, no one was able to harm him, according to that word in John 7: "No one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come." Whence the fox-like malice was able to plot the death of Christ, but nevertheless was not able to accomplish it except as he himself willed; concerning which, Isaiah 53: "He was offered because he himself willed it."
And through this it is also spiritually understood that the mystical body of Christ does not suffer except according as God disposes, from impious heretics, whom Christ gives us to understand through Herod, attributing to him the name and the property of a fox.
68. (Vers. 33.). Thirdly, the passion of Christ is intimated as infallibly preordained from eternity;
whence he adds: Nevertheless, I must walk today and tomorrow and the following day.
This necessity was not from compulsion, but from a supernal disposition, according to that passage below in the last chapter: "O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which the Prophets have spoken," etc. For God had foreseen this, according to what is said in Acts 2: "Him, delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have slain, afflicting him by the hands of the wicked." The Prophets also foretold this, according to what is said in Acts 3: "But God, who announced through the mouth of the Prophets that his Christ should suffer, has thus fulfilled it." He himself intimated this necessity of the divine disposition in his passion, when he prayed, as is said in Matthew 26: "My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, let your will be done."
69. And because the divine disposition preordained not only the time, but also the place, therefore he adds: Because it does not befit a Prophet to perish outside Jerusalem: it does not befit,
"that is, it is not fitting," it does not befit prophetic Scripture,
or it does not befit divine providence.
This Prophet par excellence is Christ, who foreknows all future things; concerning whom Deuteronomy 18 says: "The Lord will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren like me"; and above in chapter 7: "A great Prophet has arisen among us." It was not fitting for him to die except in Jerusalem, according to the Scriptures, both because that was the royal, magisterial, and sacerdotal city, and because Christ was the supreme king, teacher, and priest. And therefore he ought not to have died except in that place; whence below in chapter 18: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished." For the Prophets universally foretold that the new law would come forth from Jerusalem; whence Isaiah 2: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"; and Zechariah 13: "In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner and of the unclean woman."
And note that Christ was condemned in Jerusalem, but suffered outside the gate; whence Hebrews 13: "Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate."
70. Mystically,
however, it is to be noted here that this three-day period is expounded in three ways according to different expositors: allegorically, morally,
and anagogically. Allegorically
thus: the first day is the law of nature,
the second is the law of Scripture,
and the third is the law of grace;
concerning which Mark 8 says: "I have compassion on the multitude, for behold, they have now been with me three days." Or, the first day is that of the passion,
the second, of burial,
but the third, of the resurrection;
John 2: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Or, the first day is the course of the sixth age;
the second, the rest of souls:
but the third, the resurrection of bodies,
which is in the eighth; Hosea 6: "He will revive us after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up." 71. Morally,
thus, so that the first day is of compunction;
the second, of confession;
the third, of satisfaction:
Exodus 5: "The Lord God of the Hebrews has called us: we shall go a journey of three days into the wilderness." — Or, the first day is good thought,
the second is good speech,
and the third is good action:
Jonah 3 according to the Septuagint translation: "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
Or, the three days are the threefold vow of religion, namely of chastity, obedience,
and poverty;
Genesis 40: "Three days remain, after which Pharaoh will remember your service and will restore you to your former rank." 72. Anagogically,
thus, so that the first day is purgation:
the second, illumination,
and the third, perfection:
above, chapter 2: "It came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple."
Or, so that the first day is the contemplation of God in his vestige,
the second is of God in the image
or in the mirror, the third, in himself:
Numbers 10: "The ark of the Lord went before them for three days, providing a place for the camp."
Or, the first day is the contemplation of the subcelestial hierarchy:
the second, of the celestial,
and the third, of the supercelestial.
In the first is the casting out of demons;
in the second is the perfection of health,
but in the third, the consummation of all good:
and concerning this three-day period, Joshua 2: "The scouts came to the mountains and remained there for three days." This ark
is Christ, who in each of these hierarchies is the highest hierarch and our leader, so that we may come to the land of promise pledged to us. In figure
of which he says that he walks for three days,
because he makes us through this threefold hierarchy always ascend upward, unless perchance we descend to actions. In figure of which it is said in Genesis 28 that Jacob saw "the Angels of God ascending
and descending
on the ladder"; no one saw them standing still.
By which is signified that one must always make progress in the good. For this is to draw near to the heavenly Jerusalem, to which we draw near not by steps of the body, but by the affections of the heart and mind.
73. (Verse 34.). Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
etc. After he manifested the sublimity of the divine disposition in the redemption of the human race, here secondly he manifests it in the reprobation of the rebellious people.
And first he indicates the rebellion,
then the hardening,
and thirdly the abandonment.
First, therefore, with regard to the rebellion of that people, he says: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the Prophets and stones those who are sent to you, Here the container is taken for the contained: Acts 7: "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit." "Which of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute?" Whence 4 Kings 21: "Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until Jerusalem was filled to the brim." And they did this because they hated the truth, according to that passage of Amos 5: "They hated the one who reproves at the gate, and they abominated the one who speaks perfectly." And this was because they did not wish to be reproved; "for he who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light." On account of which it is said in Ezekiel 2: "Son of man, I send you to apostate nations, who have departed from me: the fathers have transgressed my covenant, and the sons are stiff-necked and of untamable heart, to whom I send you." And the stoning itself signifies this.
74. Second, with regard to the hardening of that people, he adds: How often I wished to gather your children, as a bird her brood under her wings, and you were unwilling! In which their excessive hardening appears, because it refused to be softened by so great a kindness.
But Christ compared himself to a bird insofar as a bird has a manifold property with regard to the superabundance of tender love. He is compared to a hen in his manner of life, because a hen by her tender care and vigilance is moved toward her chicks and gathers them and defends them with her wings against the rapacity of the kite. So also Christ did, as long as he was in the flesh; therefore Matthew 23: "How often I wished to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling!" He is compared to the pelican in his passion, because the pelican is said to mourn her slain chicks for three days and afterward to pour forth her own blood with her beak, and thus to restore them to life. In this way Christ wept three times for the salvation of the human race: first over Lazarus, John 11; second over Jerusalem, below in chapter 19; third on the cross, Hebrews 5. And afterward he poured forth his own blood, by which he also gave us life: whence the Psalm: "I am become like a pelican of the wilderness."
Third, he is compared to an eagle
in the resurrection
and ascension,
which rouses its young so that they may strive upward and gaze upon the sun and fly to the heights. And so that they may be able to do this, they lick its blood: whence Job 39: "Will the eagle be raised up at your command and make its nest in the heights," etc., up to that place: "Its young lick the blood." This bird, moreover, although it is harsh toward strangers, is nevertheless greatly attentive to the care of its offspring; on account of which Christ, our Redeemer, is rightly likened to it. Whence Deuteronomy 32: "He led him forth and taught him and guarded him as the pupil of his eye. As an eagle provoking its young to fly and hovering over them, he spread his wings and took him up and carried him on his shoulders." To refuse this kindness is the mark of the utmost hardness of heart and faithlessness; on account of which Isaiah 1: "Woe to the sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, a wicked seed, criminal children! They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are alienated backward."
75. (Verse 35.). Third, as regards the abandonment
of that nation, he adds: Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate:
Isaiah 1: "Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire." "And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a shelter in a vineyard and as a hut in a cucumber garden and as a city that is laid waste."
And since, just as abandonment is joined to hardness of heart, so visitation is joined to devotion, therefore he adds: But I say to you: You shall not see me until it comes to pass that you say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord:
Psalm: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord; the Lord is God, and he has shone upon us." This, however, can be referred to the vision of faith,
by which no one sees unless he believes him to be true man and true God: John 9: "The Lord said to the man born blind: Do you believe in the Son of God? He answered and said: Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him: You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you. And he said: I believe, Lord; and falling down he worshipped him."
It can also be referred to the vision of direct sight,
to which no one attains unless he blesses with life and tongue: Isaiah 26: "Let the wicked be taken away, lest he see the glory of God," according to another translation; but according to ours it says: "In the land of the saints he has done wicked things and shall not see the glory of the Lord."
76. And note that, according to the exposition of the Gloss, he speaks here of the vision at the judgment,
because after the vision of Christ in humility nothing is expected except the vision in majesty, and this will be twofold: of the Divinity
and of the humanity: of the Divinity,
and this will belong entirely to the good, because it will have the greatest joy conjoined to it: Job thirty-three: "He shall see his face in jubilation, and he shall restore to man his justice"; and Isaiah thirty-three: "They shall see the King in his beauty," etc. The other is the vision of the humanity,
and this will be common to all. For all will see with certainty the power and dominion of Christ; Apocalypse one: "Behold, he shall come with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him." The Lord therefore means to say that that Jewish people will not see Christ unto their salvation unless they are converted to the faith and to his praise; which is at last expected in the final time after the fullness of the Gentiles; whence Romans eleven: "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter in, and so all Israel should be saved"; and Romans nine: "Isaiah cries out for Israel: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." And in this the depth of the divine dispensation manifestly appears, on account of which the Apostle exclaims in Romans eleven: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!"