Chapter 14
Chapter XIV.
The refutation of those who slander the miracles, which takes place at a banquet, concerning which three things.
1. And it came to pass, when he entered into the house
etc. Above he refuted those slandering Christ's miracles in a council; here he openly refutes them at a banquet.
For in these two places especially detraction and scrutiny were accustomed to occur, namely in councils and at banquets. This part, which contains the present chapter, is divided into three parts. In the first of which he refutes the Pharisees who were watching;
in the second he instructs the guests reclining at table,
at that place: And he said also to those who were invited:
and in the third he teaches the crowds following after,
at that place: And great multitudes went with him.
First, the Pharisees who were watching are refuted, concerning which three things.
Concerning the refutation of the watchers,
he proceeds in this order: because first is set forth the watching of the Pharisees:
second is added the exposure of those observed,
at that place: And behold, there was a certain man who had the dropsy:
and third, the refutation of those exposed,
at that place: And he took him and healed him.
The watching
of the Pharisees,
by which they were watching Christ, is described with respect to two things, namely with respect to the kindness of Christ
and the malice of the Pharisees.
2. (Verse 1.). As regards Christ's kindness, therefore, he says: And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread,
in which Christ's wondrous kindness appears: great
in this, that he dwelt among mortal men, though he was God; Baruch 3: "This is our God, and no other shall be esteemed in comparison to him." "Afterward he was seen upon earth and conversed with men." Greater
indeed, because he dwelt among his own persecutors: whence was fulfilled in him that saying of Ezekiel 2: "Son of man, unbelievers and subverters are with you, and you dwell among scorpions." But the greatest
kindness, because he dwelt among them even to intimate fellowship, so that there might be fulfilled that saying of Revelation 3: "I stand at the door and knock: if anyone shall open to me, I will enter in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." In this, therefore, that he entered another's house,
Christ's humility
is commended: in this, that it was the house of a Pharisee,
his charity: in this, that he ate another's bread,
Christ's own poverty:
and in these things the supreme kindness
is shown, by which the Most High
willed to be humbled for us, the Most Just
to dwell among the impious, the Most Rich
to become poor among men: whence 2 Corinthians 8: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, that by his poverty we might be made rich."
3. Second, however, with regard to the malice of those watching,
he adds: And they were watching him.
The Evangelist does not say in what respect,
so as to intimate that they were watching both his words
and his miracles,
and they were watching in order to censure and accuse him; above in the eleventh chapter: "The Pharisees and the lawyers began to press upon him vehemently and to assail his mouth, lying in wait for him and seeking to catch something from his mouth, that they might accuse him"; whence also John 15: "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also." They were also watching his miracles,
according to what is said in Mark 3: "They watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him." Whence this watching proceeded from scheming malice,
against which it is said in Proverbs 24: "Do not lie in wait nor seek wickedness in the house of the just, nor lay waste his rest." But because it is most difficult for a malicious man to escape the scrutiny of his neighbor, therefore it is said in Proverbs 23: "Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods, because in the likeness of a soothsayer and a diviner he judges what he does not know. Eat and drink, he will say to you; but his mind is not with you. The foods you have eaten you will vomit up, and you will lose your fair words."
4. (Verse 2). And behold, a certain man who had the dropsy.
After having described the watching of the Pharisees, here secondly he describes the exposure of the observers;
concerning which three things are introduced, namely: The infirmity disposing toward the exposure, the question that exposes,
and the dissimulation that conceals.
First, therefore, with regard to the infirmity disposing toward the exposure of the observers,
he says: And behold, a certain man who had the dropsy was before him.
In the literal sense, this man with dropsy,
by his manifest and grievous infirmity, was providing a way to confute and expose the perfidy of the Jews. And since the time and place presented themselves, therefore he says: And behold,
as though the Lord had then brought him into their midst; whence Sirach 39: "The works of all flesh are before him, and nothing is hidden from his eyes." "Nor is it to be said: What is this, or what is that? For all things shall be sought in their time"; and afterwards: "All the works of the Lord are good, and every work he will furnish in its hour." Whence this bodily infirmity was effective for assailing and purging spiritual infirmity, because it was directly contrary to it. For this man with dropsy was before Jesus to implore mercy, which the Pharisees were opposing. For he was imploring the mercy of God because he was a man:
for Sirach 18: "The mercy of God is upon all flesh"; and because he was an infirm man,
according to that passage in Sirach 11: "There is a man who is feeble and in need of recovery, more failing in strength, and the eye of God has looked upon him for good"; and because he was before him,
because such persons have recourse to God, and to such persons God condescends: the Psalm: "For he has looked down from his holy height; the Lord has looked from heaven upon the earth."
5. (Vers. 3.). Second, as regards the question that uncovers, he adds: And Jesus answering said to the lawyers and Pharisees. He pointedly says answering, although no one had previously asked anything, because he was responding to their thoughts, which he saw and heard, according to that passage in Matthew nine: "When Jesus had seen their thoughts, he said: Why do you think evil in your hearts?" Whence the Gloss: "Jesus answering, the treacherous observers," because it is said in Wisdom one: "The ear of jealousy hears all things, and the tumult of murmurings shall not be hidden." And therefore he responds to their thoughts by posing to them the question which they themselves were also pondering, when he adds: Saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?
The Pharisees are read to have posed this question to the Lord, as is read in Matthew twelve: "They asked whether it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him." But Luke expresses their thoughts, while Matthew expresses the spoken word. The Lord was asking this of them because they professed themselves to be lawyers; whence the Gloss: "From the lawyers he seeks the judgment of the Law." On account of which, Malachi two: "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth"; and the Gloss on the same passage: "If the priest is questioned about the law, let him teach; otherwise he vainly boasts of a dignity whose function he does not exercise."
6. (Vers. 4.). Third, as regards the dissimulation that conceals, he adds: But they were silent. They were silent because, seeing themselves caught and exposed, they feared being confounded by their own response; whence the Gloss of Bede: "Rightly are they silent who see that whatever they might say would be said against themselves. For if it is lawful, why do they watch? If it is not lawful, why do they tend their cattle?" Whence by their silence they feigned ignorance, so as to cover over their malice. A similar instance is found in Matthew twenty-one, where, when the Lord had asked concerning the baptism of John, whence it was, they refused to answer, lest they be convicted of unbelief. Whence that passage of Sirach thirty-seven could be said of them: "O most wicked presumption! whence were you created to cover over barren malice?" But when the leaves of words failed them, they had recourse to the darkness of ignorance and the failure of words; whence they were silent not from prudence, but from ignorance, which has malice joined to it; whence Sirach twenty: "There is one who is silent, not having the sense of speech; and there is one who is silent, knowing the fitting time."
7. But he, taking hold of him, etc. After the exposure of the observers, there is added here the confutation of those exposed, which the Evangelist describes in three ways, namely as regards the magnificence of the deed, the efficacy of the word, and the evidence of the sign.
First, therefore, as regards the magnificence of the deed,
he says: But He, having taken hold of him, healed him and sent him away.
In this, that He took hold of him,
His humility is apparent,
because He does not disdain to touch infirmities in order to teach humility; on account of which the Apostle says in Hebrews 2: "Nowhere does He take hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham." In this, that He healed,
His power is apparent;
whence above in chapter six: "Power went out from Him and healed all." In this, that He sent him away,
His generosity is apparent,
namely to depart as a free man. For He did not reduce him to servitude on account of the benefit conferred, but sent him away to depart as a free man; the Gloss says: "He sent
him away bodily healed, so that he might turn himself to the salvation of souls." Whence above in chapter eight, to that demoniac whom He had healed, He said: "Go to your house and tell how great things God has done for you." And through this, Christ in the manner of performing that miracle, by humility
confounds the pride of the Jews; by power,
their sloth; by generosity
and kindness,
their faithlessness, since they themselves would neither deign to touch, nor were able to cure, nor were willing to set free.
8. (Verse 5). Second, as regards the efficacy of the word,
he adds: And answering them He said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit,
namely by a chance occurrence, because this possession of temporal things can be endangered and lost in many ways: sometimes from within,
through its own death, as we see every day; sometimes from without,
through the tyranny of others, as in Job 1: "The oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding, and the Sabeans rushed in and took everything"; sometimes from above,
through pestilence; Exodus 9: "Behold, my hand shall be upon your horses and asses and camels and oxen, a very grievous plague"; sometimes from below,
through a fall, as here. Whence these things are not to be greatly loved, which can be lost in so many ways.
9. And yet the Pharisees loved these possessions greatly; whence the Gloss says: "You are all alike in this avarice"; for love of ox and ass made them not care about the observance of the Sabbath. Therefore he adds: And will he not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?
by swift assistance; the Gloss says: "Not providing for the animal, but for his own avarice." And this indeed they considered themselves to do without offense to the Law. If therefore the welfare of a man is to be preferred to the welfare of an ass and an ox, it is manifest that in the healing of a man the Sabbath is not violated; and it is an argument from the greater.
For it seems more likely that the Sabbath should be violated by a more servile work,
because it is said in Leviticus 23: "You shall do no servile work therein"; but it is a more servile work to pull out an ass or an ox than to heal a man. If therefore he does not violate the Sabbath who pulls an ox from a ditch, much more neither does he who heals a man. For if a work of avarice
does not violate it, then neither does a work of mercy,
since a work of avarice belongs to servitude, while a work of mercy belongs to generosity.
10. (Verse 6). Third, as to the evidence of the sign, he adds: And they could not reply to these things. The Gloss: "Convicted." For then it is an evident sign that a man has been convicted, when every way of escape fails him. Nor is it a wonder if they could not answer the wisdom of Christ, since not even the wisest could resist his disciples; whence below in the twenty-first chapter: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist." And this was fulfilled in Stephen, of whom Acts 6: "Then there arose certain of the synagogue which is called that of the Libertines and Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those who were from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen; and they could not resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke."
11. Now, with these things having been treated according to the letter, three things present themselves for our consideration according to the spiritual understanding, which according to the Saints can be drawn from the aforesaid words.
The first is the disease of dropsy, whose property is, as the Gloss says, that "the more one drinks, the more one thirsts"; and in this it designates every concupiscence, which can never be satisfied, and especially avarice, according to that saying of Proverbs 30: "The fire never says: It is enough." Whence it should be noted that there are seven, according to the expositors, accidents of dropsy. — The first is swelling of the body, and by this pride is understood: Deuteronomy 17: "All the people hearing it shall fear, so that no one thereafter may be puffed up with pride," etc.
The second is compression of spiritual things, and in this envy is understood, which compresses spiritual things; Proverbs 14: "Envy is the rottenness of the bones."
The third is stench in the breath, by which wrath is understood, which causes one to burst forth into abusive words; the Psalm: "Their throat is an open sepulchre; they dealt deceitfully with their tongues."
The fourth is sluggishness of the feet, by which sloth is understood: Titus 1: "The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies"; and Wisdom 15: "Their feet are slow to walk."
The fifth is thirst in the appetite, by which avarice is understood; Proverbs 30: "The earth is not satisfied with water," that is, the earthly man with temporal opulence; and Ecclesiastes 5: "The covetous man shall not be filled with money." The sixth is swelling of the genitals, by which lust is designated; whence in the Psalm: "For my loins are filled with illusions, and there is no soundness in my flesh."
The seventh is infection of the skin or exterior parts, in which gluttony is understood, which is wholly concerned with caring for the skin: Philippians 3: "Whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."
12. The second thing, however, that we ought to consider is the work of virtue, in which is understood the healing of spiritual illness. Concerning this, three things are said, namely that he took hold of him, that he healed him, and that he sent him away. He took hold of him, namely through the infusion of grace: Isaiah forty-two: "I the Lord have called you in righteousness, I have taken hold of your hand and kept you"; Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high, rescue me and deliver me from many waters," etc. He healed him, however, through the expiation of guilt: Psalm: "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities"; and Matthew one: "He himself shall save his people from their sins." He sent him away, indeed, through the relaxation of punishment; Matthew eighteen: "The lord, having compassion on that servant, released him and forgave him the debt." And this we ask in the Lord's prayer: "Forgive us our debts," etc.
13. The third thing, however, that must be considered is the example of instruction, in which he sets forth a likeness concerning the ox and the donkey falling into a well, which are pulled out on the Sabbath. By the ox and the donkey is understood each people, namely the Gentile and the Jewish, according to that passage of Isaiah one: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey the manger of its lord." For so Gregory expounds it.
Or by the ox and the donkey is understood the wise man and the foolish; whence the Gloss on that passage of Deuteronomy twenty-two: "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together, that is, you shall not associate the foolish with the wise in preaching, so that they announce the word of God with equal authority." These therefore fall into the well of concupiscence through original sin, and then into the limbo of hell—and this universally before the coming of Christ. On account of which the Psalm says: "Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor let the deep swallow me up, nor let the pit shut its mouth upon me." Hence therefore Christ pulls them out on the Sabbath day, that is, on the seventh day, which is the day of Christ's burial, on which the rest of souls begins, according to that passage of Zechariah nine: "You also, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit in which there is no water."
Secondly, the guests are instructed regarding three things.
14. He spoke also to those who were invited, etc. After he confuted the observers, here secondly he instructs the guests. This part is divided into three according to a threefold instruction. For first he instructs those invited to the nuptial banquet. Second he instructs those inviting to the familiar banquet, there: He said also to him who had invited him. Third he instructs those to be imitated regarding the eternal banquet, there: A certain man made a great supper, etc. The first of these regards the banquet of grace; the second, of nature; and the third, of glory; the first, sacramental; the second, material; the third, eternal and spiritual.
Instructing therefore the guests at the wedding banquet, by which is understood the state of the present Church, he first censures vanity and arrogance:
second, he commends humility and reverence,
at the passage: But when you are invited. In censuring however arrogance, three things are introduced, namely the occasion introducing the parable, the persuasion rebuking pride, and the reason explaining the shame.
15. (Verse 7.). First, therefore, as regards the occasion introducing the parable, he says: And he spoke a parable to those who were invited: The Gloss: "A parable, signifying something else mystically." For since someone could refer that teaching of the Lord to these carnal weddings, therefore the Evangelist himself, directing the understanding of the expositor, wishes it to be understood parabolically. For this was the manner of the Lord and Savior in teaching, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter propositions from the beginning," etc. And because a parable has no force unless it is spoken at its proper time, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 20: "A parable from the mouth of a fool shall be rejected, for he does not speak it in its time"; and conversely, Proverbs 25: "Golden apples in beds of silver, he who speaks a word in its time"; therefore the opportuneness of place and time is added for the introduction of this parable about the wedding banquet, when it is added: Observing how they were choosing the first places, namely after the manner of the proud, which custom was indeed found among the Pharisees: Matthew 23: "They love the first places at feasts and the first seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplace"; and this as a sign of honor, according to that passage of Job 29: "If I wished to go to them, I sat in the first place." For the first and the highest are joined together; and just as pride and ambition is the disordered appetite for superiority, so also for priority. The proud seek things of this kind, who desire to be honored by others, after the example of Saul, 1 Kings 15: "Only honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel."
16. (Vers. 7. 8.). Second, with regard to the persuasion dissuading from pride,
he adds: Saying to them: When you are invited to a wedding, do not recline in the first place.
Although this could be understood of carnal weddings,
nevertheless the following text itself and the expositors wish it to be understood of spiritual weddings:
whence the Gloss: "When through the grace of faith, called by a preacher, you have joined yourself to the members of the Church: do not exalt yourself, boasting of your merits, as though you were higher than the rest." These nuptials,
however, are not just any nuptials, but the nuptials of the Lamb,
of which Apocalypse nineteen says: "The nuptials of the Lamb have come, and his wife has prepared herself." God the Father made these nuptials,
according to what is said in Matthew twenty-two: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who made a wedding for his son." These nuptials were celebrated in the bridal chamber of the virginal womb: the Psalm: "He set his tabernacle in the sun, and he himself as a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber." There the marriage between the divine and human nature was consummated, and consequently between Christ and the Church, according to that passage in Ephesians five; the Apostle, speaking of marriage, says: "This sacrament is a great one, but I speak in Christ and in the Church." The banquet
at these nuptials consists in the reception of the Sacraments of the Church and the teachings of Sacred Scripture: Proverbs nine: "Wisdom has built herself a house, she has hewn out seven pillars. She has slain her victims, mixed her wine, and set forth her table. And she has sent her handmaids to call to the citadel," etc. To this banquet are called
all who are called to the faith through the preaching of truth; Matthew twenty-two: "He sent his servants to call those invited to the wedding."
Those thus invited recline
and eat
through the searching out and rumination of divine and mystical words. As a sign of this, that heavenly food was called manna
in Exodus sixteen, which is interpreted: "What is this?" because it is necessary to understand what they receive. Whence also in Leviticus eleven it is said that the animal which "does not chew the cud is unclean."
In the first
place reclines
he who is preferred above others, whether in the office of dignity, or in the privileges of holiness, or in the magisterium of truth. And to this no one ought to ascend of himself, because it is said in Hebrews five: "Neither does anyone take the honor to himself, but he who is called by God, as Aaron was." And therefore Ecclesiasticus six: "Do not exalt yourself in the thought of your soul like a bull, lest perhaps your strength be dashed to pieces"; nor even before others:
whence Ecclesiasticus eleven: "Never glory in your clothing, and in the day of your honor do not exalt yourself."
17. Third, however, as regards the reason explaining the shame
he adds: Lest perhaps one more honored than you has been invited by him,
worthy of greater honor on account of interior grace; the Gloss: " More pleasing to the one who invited, even if he is hidden from others "; whence 1 Kings 16: " Do not regard his countenance nor the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; nor do I judge according to the sight of man. For man sees those things which are apparent, but the Lord beholds the heart ".
18. (Vers. 9.). And then he who invited both you and him, coming,
through the disposition of justice: Proverbs 16: " God is the weigher of spirits "; will say to you: Give this one your place,
on account of the preeminence of dignity: 1 Kings 15: " The Lord has torn your kingdom from you and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you ".
And then you will begin with shame to hold the last place,
through manifest abasement, according to that verse of the Psalm: " But having been exalted, I was humbled and troubled ". And therefore Sirach 13: " Take heed lest, being led astray in folly, you be humbled "; but that one is led astray by folly,
who considers himself something great: Galatians 6: " If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself ". And such a one is humbled by God in just judgment, according to that passage above in chapter one: " He has put down the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble. " Concerning this kind of judgment it is said in Sirach 11: " Many tyrants have sat upon the throne, and one whom no one would suspect has worn the diadem. Many mighty ones have been greatly oppressed, and the glorious have been delivered into the hands of others ". And therefore it is said in Sirach 7: " Do not seek from man a position of leadership, nor from a king a seat of honor "; because, Proverbs 20, " an inheritance to which one hastens in the beginning, in the end will lack blessing ".
19. (Vers. 10.). But when you shall have been invited.
After he has censured arrogance, here secondly he invites to reverence
; which indeed he does by persuading to perfect humility, by assigning the attendant benefit, by confirming through divine equity.
First, therefore, persuading to perfect humility,
he says: But when you have been invited,
to the wedding, go and recline in the last place,
that is, placing yourself after all others, according to that passage of Matthew 20: " Whoever wishes to become greater among you, let him be your minister. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your servant: just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve ". Whence He Himself sat down in the last place; Isaiah 53: " We saw Him the last of men, a man of sorrows and knowing infirmity; therefore His face was hidden and despised ".
In commendation of this humility, the seats of more excellent persons are farther from the altar, and in processions those prior in dignity are last, in imitation of Christ himself, who indeed invited to this humility when he washed the feet of all the Apostles: John 13: "If I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example," etc.: because "the disciple is not above the master," etc. And therefore the Apostle, First Corinthians 9: "Though I was free from all, I made myself the servant of all"; and again in the fifteenth chapter: "I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle"; and Ephesians 3: "To me, the least of all the Saints, this grace was given." And therefore the prince of the Apostles, Peter, said in First Peter 2: "Be subject to every human creature for God's sake." Recline
therefore in the last place,
esteeming yourself lower than all.
20. But you will say: How shall I truly reckon myself worse than all, when many are worse? To this Bernard responds in his homilies on the Canticles, homily thirty-seven: "For if we clearly knew in what state God holds each one of us, we ought to sit neither above nor below, acquiescing to truth in all things. But now, because this counsel has made darkness its hiding place,
and the word is hidden from us, so that no one knows whether he is worthy of love or hatred:
more justly and more safely indeed, according to the counsel of Truth itself, we choose the last place for ourselves, from which we may afterward be led up higher with honor, than presume a higher place, from which we must soon withdraw with shame. There is therefore no danger, however much you humble yourself, however much you reckon yourself less than you are, that is, than Truth holds you to be. But it is a great evil and a dreadful danger if you exalt yourself even slightly beyond the truth, and if in your thought you prefer yourself to one whom Truth perhaps judges your equal, or even your superior. Just as, if you pass through a doorway whose lintel, to speak for the sake of understanding, is exceedingly low, it does no harm however much you stoop; but if you stand even a finger's breadth taller than the measure of the door allows, you will strike and dash your head. So in the soul, no humiliation however great is to be feared; but even the least rashly presumed self-exaltation is to be dreaded and greatly feared. Wherefore do not compare yourself, O man, to those greater, nor to those lesser, nor to any, nor to one."
For what do you know, O man, whether that one person, whom you perhaps consider the most vile and most wretched of all, whose most wicked and singularly most foul life you abhor, and whom you therefore think should be despised not only in comparison with yourself—who perhaps already trust that you live soberly and justly and piously—but even in comparison with all other wicked persons as the most wicked of all: what do you know, I say, whether by the change of the right hand of the Most High he is not to become better than you and them in himself, and indeed already is so in God? And therefore He did not wish us to choose a middling place, nor even the next to last, nor even merely a place among the lowest: but sit down, He says, in the lowest place, so that you may sit as the lowest of all, and that you—I do not say set yourself before anyone—but not even presume to compare yourself to anyone."
21. Second, assigning the adjoined benefit, He adds: So that, when he who invited you comes, he may say to you: Friend, go up higher. He who invited us is Christ, who comes to us either through inspiration, according to that passage of John 14: "We will come to him and make our abode with him." Or He comes through death: above in chapter 12: "That when he comes and knocks at the door, they may open to him immediately." Or He comes through the final judgment: Revelation, last chapter: "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to each one according to his works."
He, coming thus, calls the humble friends. For Christ is a true friend, according to that passage of Proverbs 17: "He who is a friend loves at all times." And He acknowledges the humble as friends, because such persons obey Him; John 15: "You are my friends, if you do what I command you." And then He calls them not by the name of servant, but of friend: John 15: "I will no longer call you servants, but friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
To such a one He says: Go up higher, that is, to a higher honor and dignity: Psalm: "Your friends are exceedingly honored, O God."
And therefore He adds: Then you shall have glory before those who sit at table together with you, that is, before all: whence Proverbs 29: "Humiliation follows the proud, and glory shall receive the humble in spirit"; Psalm: "I am with him in tribulation; I will deliver him and glorify him. With length of days I will fill him and show him my salvation." And on account of this, Job 22: "He who has been humbled shall be in glory, and he who has cast down his eyes, he himself shall be saved."
22. (Verse 11). Third, confirming through divine equity, He adds: For everyone who exalts himself, through proud self-elevation, according to that passage of Job 15: "Why does your heart elevate you, and why do you have astonished eyes, as though thinking great things?"
He shall be humbled,
through judicial severity: Isaiah 2: "The lofty eyes of man shall be humbled." "For the day of the Lord shall be upon every proud and arrogant one, and he shall be humbled." "And all the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled." An example of this was manifest in Lucifer; Isaiah 14: "How have you fallen, O Lucifer, who rose in the morning? Who said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven." And therefore he fell, because he exalted himself: whence Ezekiel 28: "Because your heart was lifted up like the heart of God, therefore behold, I will bring strangers upon you, and they shall defile your beauty and shall slay you and cast you down, and you shall die the death of the slain." On account of which it is said to every imitator of Lucifer, to any proud person, Obadiah 1: "The pride of your heart has lifted you up, you who dwell in the clefts of the rocks, who exalt your throne"; and afterward: "If you be exalted as the eagle, and if you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down." Therefore the Wise Man counsels in Ecclesiasticus 6: "Do not exalt yourself in your thought like a bull, lest perhaps your strength be crushed, and you be left like a dry tree in the wilderness."
23. Thus divine justice humbles the proud, and on the contrary exalts the humble: therefore he adds: And he who humbles himself,
through voluntary self-abasement: the Psalm: "The Lord is the keeper of little ones; I was humbled, and he delivered me"; and 2 Kings 6: "I will play and become even more vile than I have been, and I will be humble in my own eyes"; shall be exalted,
through divine glorification. The example is in the Lord the Savior: Philippians 2: "He humbled himself," etc.; and afterward: "For which reason God also exalted him," etc. And therefore it is said in 1 Peter 5: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation." And concerning these two in the Psalm: "All the horns of sinners I will break, and the horns of the just shall be exalted"; and Ezekiel 17: "All the trees of the country shall know that I the Lord have humbled the lofty tree and exalted the lowly tree."
24. Now the reason for this justice and equity is that, the more one exalts
himself, the less he honors God
and the less he magnifies God, and through this the more he is turned away from God, and thus consequently the less he is: Ezekiel 28: "You have been brought to nothing and you shall not be forever."
Again, the more one exalts himself, the more he raises himself above himself, and thereby the more he vanishes; and the more he vanishes, the more he recedes from truth and the less he is; therefore the more anyone is exalted by himself, the more he is cast down: Job 30, "You lifted me up, and placing me as it were upon the wind, you dashed me violently." Finally, the more anyone exalts himself, the more he loves the glory of men, and the more he embraces it, the more he is subject to human praises, and on this account the more he is a servant of men and the more he is cast down: Psalm: "Indeed on account of deceits you set things for them; you cast them down while they were being lifted up."
25. But on the contrary, the more anyone humbles himself, the more he honors God; Sirach 3: "Great is the power of God alone, and he is honored by the humble"; and the more he honors God, the more he draws near to him, and thereby the more he is elevated to higher things. Furthermore, the more he humbles himself, the more he returns to interior things, and the more he is gathered inwardly, the greater his power becomes; therefore the more anyone is humbled, the greater he becomes according to truth; whence 2 Corinthians 12: "Power is made perfect in weakness." — Finally, the more he is humbled, the less he esteems earthly glory, and the less he esteems it, the more he tramples upon it and the more he is set above all inferior things, and thus the greater he becomes: Isaiah 60: "I will make you the pride of ages." Therefore everyone who exalts himself, the more he exalts himself, the more he distances himself from things above, and the more he distances himself from things above, the more he recedes from things within, and thereby the more he subjects himself to things below. Therefore the more anyone is puffed up, the more he is in truth cast down and according to divine judgment is to be cast down; and on the contrary, everyone who humbles himself, the more he humbles himself, the more he draws near to things above and the more he returns to things within and the more he tramples upon things below; therefore the more he humbles himself under God, the more he is exalted by divine judgment.
26. (Verse 12). He was saying moreover, etc. After he instructed the guests invited to the wedding banquet, here secondly he instructs those who invite others to a familiar banquet; in which instruction he first draws back those who invite from worldly courtesy, secondly he attracts them to divine charity, there: But when you make a feast.
Drawing back therefore from worldly courtesy, he introduces three things for this kind of withdrawal, namely the occasioning inducement, the instructing exhortation, and the persuading reason.
First therefore, as regards the inducing occasion, he says: He said also to him who had invited him. He said this to him because that man's invitation gave occasion to speak about the manner of inviting, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: "In the midst of the senseless, reserve your word for the proper time." Or he said this to him so that to one providing bodily sustenance he might repay spiritual instruction, that he might thus show in turn that divine gifts are to be shared, according to that passage of First Peter four: "Each one, as he has received grace, ministering it to one another." - Whence a pattern is given to the spiritual man receiving bodily food, that he should dispense spiritual food to his host, as is intimated above in chapter ten, that "Martha received Christ into her house, and her sister Mary, sitting at the feet of the Lord, heard his word." In designation of which, the Wise Man says concerning Wisdom, that is Christ, in Wisdom eight: "I purposed to take her to myself for companionship, knowing that she will share with me of her goods, and will be a comfort in my cares and weariness." In this also a pattern is given, that at the banquets of spiritual men spiritual words are to be intermingled; therefore it is the custom that in bodily refreshment spiritual reading is interspersed, on account of that word of the Lord in Deuteronomy eight and Matthew four: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."
27. Second, as regards the instructing exhortation, he adds: When you make a dinner or a supper: a dinner in the morning and a supper in the evening.
Do not call your friends, by reason of assiduity: Matthew five: "If you love those who love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even the heathens do this?" Because it is said in Ecclesiasticus thirty-seven: "A companion grieves with a friend for the sake of his belly, and against the enemy he will take up the shield." Nor your kinsmen, by reason of affinity: Ecclesiasticus eighteen: "The compassion of man is toward his neighbor, but the mercy of God is upon all flesh." Nor your neighbors, by reason of familiarity: against which, the Third Canonical Epistle of John: "Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren, and this for strangers, who have borne testimony to your charity." Nor your brothers, by reason of consanguinity, because it is said: "Forget your people and your father's house"; and Deuteronomy thirty-three: "Who said to their brothers: I know them not; these keep your law," etc. Nor the rich, by reason of pomposity: because it is said below in chapter sixteen: "There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day," and afterwards it is added that "he was buried in hell."
He does not say this, however, because it is against the commandment to invite acquaintances, since it is written in First Timothy 5: "If anyone does not have care for his own and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever"; and of Joseph it is written in Genesis 43 that he made a feast for his brothers: but he says this because a man in such invitations, if he wishes to merit eternal life, ought not to have a carnal intention, but a spiritual one, not an earthly one, but a heavenly one, not a mercenary one, but a pious one.
28. On account of which, note that there is an indifferent feast,
which is indeed one of human familiarity, concerning which Job 1: "His sons went and made feasts throughout their houses, each one on his day."
And there is an evil feast,
and this is threefold, namely lesser, worse, and worst.
The first is of gluttony,
concerning which Romans 13: "Not in reveling and drunkenness," etc.; and Proverbs 23: "Do not be among the feasts of drunkards nor among the reveling of those who give flesh to eat, because those given to drink and contributing their share shall be consumed"; and James 5: "You have feasted upon the earth and nourished your hearts in luxuries."
— The second is of vainglory,
concerning which Daniel 5: "King Belshazzar made a great feast for all his nobles," etc.; and Mark 6: "Herod on his birthday made a feast for the princes and tribunes and chief men of Galilee." And at the first feast the vessels of the Lord were dishonored; at the second the forerunner of Christ was slain.
The third is of malice,
concerning which it is said in Second Kings 13 that Absalom invited his brother Amnon to a feast, where it follows that he slew him at the feast; and in the last chapter of First Maccabees it is said that "the son of Abobus made a great feast for Simon, and when he was drunk, he killed him and his two sons."
There is also a threefold good feast,
namely good, better,
and best.
The first is of piety,
concerning which below in the same chapter: "When you make a feast, call the poor and the infirm." The second is of charity,
concerning which Song of Songs 5: "Eat, friends, and drink, and be inebriated, dearest ones," etc. The third is of felicity:
Isaiah 25: "The Lord will make on this mountain a feast for all peoples, a feast of fat things, of marrow, of purified wine." The first feast is permitted, the second is prohibited, and the third is encouraged.
29. Third, as to the persuading reason, he adds: Lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and a recompense be made to you: because he who does works for an earthly reward has nothing but an earthly and temporal recompense. For the eternal reward is exchanged for a temporal one through love of glory; Matthew 6: "Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven"; whence it is said of hypocrites in the same chapter of Matthew: "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward." Through love of earthliness, whence on that passage of Exodus 1: "The midwives feared God, and he built them houses," the Gloss says that "their eternal reward was exchanged for a temporal one." Through love of carnality: Matthew 10: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." And this is because, as it is said in Matthew 6, "no one can serve two masters"; and "intention," as Ambrose says, "gives the name to your work." Therefore he who does a thing for a temporal reward is defrauded of the eternal reward, because heaven is owed to no work that is done for the sake of the world.
But on the contrary, those things which are done for the sake of God are worthy of both rewards: whence 1 Timothy 4: "Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come"; and therefore the Lord said in Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." But to the worldly man it is said below in chapter 16: "Son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented."
30. (Verse 13). But when you make a feast. After he drew back from worldly courtesy, here secondly he invites to divine charity. Which indeed he does in three ways, namely through the commendation of fraternal piety, through the assignment of the inductive reason, and through the approbation of the induced reason.
First, therefore, as regards the commendation of fraternal piety,
he says: But when you make a feast, invite the poor,
on account of their lack of exterior goods: Isaiah fifty-eight: "Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and homeless into your house," etc. And this was commanded in the Law: Deuteronomy fifteen: "The poor shall not be lacking in the land of your habitation; therefore I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother who dwells with you in the land." To this poor man you ought to open your hand, and especially to the just man; whence in Sirach nine it is said: "Let just men be your guests, and let your glorying be in the fear of the Lord"; and in Tobit two it is said: "When it was a feast day, and a good meal had been prepared in the house of Tobit, he said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe who fear God, that they may feast with us." Whence in Sirach twelve: "Give to the good, and do not receive the sinner; do good to the humble, and do not give to the ungodly." Nevertheless, it is not excluded here that alms should also be given to other poor people, and that they too ought to be invited, as Chrysostom sufficiently indicates in his commentary on Matthew, Homily seventy-nine, saying: "Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of these least, neither did you do it to me,
says the Lord, saying this not only of disciples, nor of those who have chosen the monastic life, but of every faithful person. For whoever is such, even if he be a slave, even if he be one of those who beg in the marketplace, yet believes in God, it is just that he enjoy the devotion of all. And if we despise such a man, naked or hungry, we shall hear these words," etc.
The weak,
on account of their lack of strength: Sirach seven: "Let it not irk you to visit the sick; for by these things you will be strengthened in love"; and Matthew twenty-five: "I was sick, and you visited me," the Lord will say, because he who condescends to another's infirmity, what he does for that person he bestows upon Christ. The lame and the blind,
on account of their lack of bodily members; below in the same chapter: "Go out into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the weak, the blind and the lame." And this indeed rightly, because mercy must be bestowed upon the wretched and assistance upon those who are in want; whence Mark eight: "I have compassion on the crowd, because behold, they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat."
31. (Vers. 14.). Second, as to the assignment of the persuasive reason, he adds: And you shall be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you: therefore it is necessary that another repay on their behalf: Proverbs 19: "He who has mercy on the poor lends to the Lord"; which is said on account of the immensity of the reward, concerning which he adds: For it shall be repaid to you in the resurrection of the just, that is, in eternal glory; concerning which resurrection, Apocalypse 20: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection"; and below in chapter 20: "Those who shall be accounted worthy of that age and of the resurrection shall be equal to the Angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection." In this resurrection the wicked shall rise to death, but the just to life: John 5: "Those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." In this, recompense shall be made to the merciful: whence Ecclesiasticus 12: "Do good to the just, and you shall find great recompense, and if not from him, certainly from God"; and especially regarding almsgiving: whence Matthew 25: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom" etc.; and afterward: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat" etc. And therefore Matthew 5: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Whence to works of piety especially is the recompense of blessedness rendered: on account of which, Ecclesiasticus 17: "The alms of a man is as a purse with him, and shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of his eye; and afterward he shall rise up and shall render them their reward, to each one upon his own head."
Now the reason for this is that no one is worthy of mercy unless he shows mercy: because, James 2, "judgment without mercy to him who does not show mercy." And no one comes to eternal blessedness except through mercy: Psalm: "Men and beasts you shall save, O Lord: how you have multiplied your mercy, O God"; and again, Titus: "Not by works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us."
32. (Vers. 15.). Third, as to the approval of the reason adduced, he adds: When one of those who sat at table with him had heard these things:
had heard, I say, not only with the ear of the body, but also with the ear of the heart, according to that of Apocalypse 2: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches." And since he who hears in this way believes, according to that of Romans 10: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ," that is, he who believes by hearing renders testimony by speaking and confessing; Job 29: "The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me bore witness to me"; therefore he adds: Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God, as if to say: the recompense that shall be in the resurrection of the dead is better than that which is in the present, because the latter is wretched, but the former is blessed; Psalm: "For better is one day in your courts than thousands." Whence Apocalypse 19: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."
33. And note that that food which will be in the kingdom of God will not be carnal food, but spiritual. And this bread is the uncreated Word and the incarnate Word: which bread indeed we eat on the way sacramentally,
according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 11: "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice"; but in the fatherland we shall eat spiritually,
seeing face to face: John 6: "If anyone shall eat of this bread, he shall live forever"; because, in the seventeenth chapter: "this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This bread is promised to us to be eaten after departure from this life: "when he shall have given sleep to his beloved, behold, the inheritance of the Lord, sons: the reward, the fruit of the womb." For just as no one comes to the sleep of rest except through the six-fold of labor,
so the eating of this bread is preceded by a six-fold of breads,
which are preparatory to that eternal food which we shall eat in the fatherland.
34. The first bread is that of the sorrow of penance:
Psalm: "My tears have been my bread day and night"; and again, Psalm: "Arise, after you have sat down, you who eat the bread of sorrow." Concerning this bread it is said figuratively in Genesis 21: Abraham gave Hagar "bread and a skin of water," and she went away into the desert. The second is the bread of the labor of justice:
Genesis 3: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread"; Psalm: "You shall eat the labors of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." — The third is the bread of the instruction of doctrine;
Matthew 4: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Concerning this it is said in Lamentations 4: "The little ones asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them." The fourth is the bread of the Sacrament of the Eucharist,
concerning which John 6: "The bread which I shall give is my flesh," etc.; and Matthew 26: "And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread." The fifth is the bread of interior consolation:
1 Kings 30: "They gave the Egyptian boy bread"; "and when he had eaten it, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed"; and Wisdom 16: "You provided them bread from heaven having," etc.
The sixth is the bread of supernal contemplation,
concerning which Genesis 49: "Asher, his bread is fat, and he shall provide dainties to kings"; Proverbs 9: "Come and eat my bread and drink the wine which I have mixed for you"; Ecclesiasticus 15: "He shall feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and shall give him the water of saving wisdom to drink."
35. Through these six breads one arrives at the seventh, concerning which it is said here: Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
But many are so wretched that they cannot pass from bread to bread; whence they do not arrive at the bread of that heavenly banquet, because they refuse to eat the other preceding breads.
In the figure of these seven loaves, Matthew fifteen: "Jesus took the seven loaves and blessed them." For beginning from the bread of the sorrow of penance,
one arrives at the bread of eternal refreshment,
which whoever eats will have no further want: John six: "I am the bread of life: if anyone comes to me, he shall not hunger"; because neither will he have weariness, according to that of Ecclesiasticus twenty-four: "They that eat me shall yet hunger, and they that drink me shall yet thirst: he that hearkens to me shall not be confounded," up to the passage: "They that explain me shall have life everlasting."
36. (Verse 16.). But he said to him: A certain man
etc. After he instructed those invited to the nuptial banquet and those inviting to the familiar banquet, here he instructs those to be invited to the eternal banquet
through the introduction of a parable. In this parable, however, three things are introduced, of which the first is the invitation of the many;
the second is the excuse of those invited,
concerning which, at the passage: And they all began at once to make excuse;
the third is the rejection of the despisers,
at the passage: And the servant returned
etc.
Concerning the invitation of the many,
three things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely the preparation of the eternal refreshment, the calling of the multitude to faith, the arousing of the same to devotion.
First, therefore, as regards the preparation of the eternal refreshment,
he says: A certain man made a great supper,
that is, Christ prepared the eternal refreshment. For Christ is called a certain man
uniquely, conceived without the seed of man, born without pain to his Mother, free from all sin, and dead for the sin of men: concerning which man, in the Psalm: "A man is born in her, and the Most High himself founded her." He made a supper,
because he prepared the supreme and final refreshment; whence the Gloss: "This banquet is called not a dinner,
but a supper,
because after the dinner,
of which Matthew treats, the supper
remains, and after the supper
no banquet remains." Concerning this supper, Apocalypse nineteen: "Blessed are they who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." This supper is called great,
because it is beyond estimation:
whence Genesis fifteen: "I am your reward exceeding great"; because it is without end:
Baruch three: "O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession! Great and having no end, lofty and immeasurable." It cannot be estimated, moreover, because both the food and he who serves are God and the supreme good: below, in chapter twenty-two: "I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom"; concerning which, in the Psalm: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house, and you shall give them to drink of the torrent of your pleasure."
37. Second, with regard to the calling of the multitude to faith, he adds: And he called many, to the faith, because from every station and nation and age, according to that passage of Joel 2: "Sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the people, sanctify the church, bring together the elders and gather the little ones and those sucking the breast." Those who are thus called are consequently called to the eternal banquet; whence 1 Peter 5: "But the God of grace, who has called us into eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself perfect," etc. He calls many in order to show his supreme liberality and benignity; but he chooses few in order to show the severity of judgment; on account of which, Matthew 20: "Many are called, but few are chosen." Whence this calling of the multitude is compared to the casting of a net, which catches from every kind of fish; Matthew 13: "The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea and gathering from every kind of fish," etc.
38. (Verse 17). Third, with regard to the stirring up of this same multitude to devotion, he adds: And he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to tell those invited to come. "This servant, as the Gloss says, is the order of preachers," who, although they are many, are nevertheless understood under the name of one servant on account of the unity of office; concerning which sending, Proverbs 9: "She sent her maidens to call to the citadel and to the walls of the city." Concerning this servant, Isaiah 49: "And now the Lord says this, who formed me from the womb as a servant to himself: It is a small thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to convert the dregs of Israel. I have given you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation even to the end of the earth."
The hour of the supper is the end of the age, that is, the time of the sixth age, according to that passage of 1 Corinthians 10: "We are those upon whom the ends of the ages have come"; and 1 John 2: "You have heard that it is the last hour." These servants tell the invited to come to the supper; let them come, I say, through interior desire and devotion, according to that passage of the Psalm: "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" Those servants of God ought to preach, according to that passage of Isaiah 2: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of God and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us," etc., because, according to that passage of the last chapter of Revelation, "and let him who hears say: Come."
39. And because nothing so greatly excites the desire to come to God as the consideration of those rewards, he therefore adds: For all things are now prepared. For the dwellings
are prepared;
John fourteen: "In my Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again and will take you to myself." Likewise, the joys are prepared:
First Corinthians two: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him"; which is taken from Isaiah sixty-four: "Eye has not seen, O God, apart from you, what things you have prepared for those who await you."
Likewise, the table is prepared:
Psalm: "You have prepared a table before me against those who trouble me," etc.
Likewise, the bride is prepared
with those who are predestined to life; Revelation nineteen: "The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has prepared herself," because, as is said in Matthew twenty-five, "those who were prepared entered with him to the marriage, and the door was shut."
40. (Verse 18). And they all began together.
After the invitation of many, there follows here the excuse of those called, because many come to faith who nevertheless do not wish to arrive at charity on account of their proneness to vices, which they take up as a veil of excuse. And they all began together to make excuse:
The Gloss: "Everyone makes excuse who loves earthly things more than heavenly things, even if he says he is striving toward heavenly things." Since, therefore, there is a threefold root of all sin which draws us back from the charity of Christ, he therefore here introduces three kinds of men rejecting this summons, according to a threefold excuse. The first of these comes from the ambition of pride; the second, from the anxiety of avarice; and the third, from the lust of licentiousness.
41. First, therefore, regarding the first excuse, which comes from the ambition of pride, he says: The first said to him: I have bought a farm. This first one is the proud man, who always wishes to obtain the primacy: Sirach ten: "The beginning of man's pride is to apostatize from God, for his heart has departed from him who made him, because the beginning of all sin is pride." It is his nature to buy a farm, because he seeks nothing other than to dominate and to be in charge. Hence Augustine: "In the purchased farm, domination and pride are noted. For to have a farm, to subject men to oneself, first denotes the vice of pride." The proud man makes this purchase by giving his soul into servitude to the devil, because, Job forty-one, "he beholds every high thing, and he himself is king over all the children of pride." Hence while he wishes to be lord of men, he is made a servant of vices, and this is a very bad bargain.
Hence such a person confesses himself a servant, when he adds: And I must needs go out and see it.
This necessity
is induced by pride, which makes a person become vain and in a certain way go outside himself; Nahum 1: "From you shall go forth one devising evil against the Lord, pondering transgression in his mind."
And because vice conceals itself under the mantle of virtue,
since the proud person wishes to appear humble, therefore he adds: I pray you, have me excused;
the Gloss: "Pray for me, because I am a sinful man"; he humbles himself in voice, while he is proud in heart. Hence Gregory: "When he says: I pray you, have me excused,
humility sounds in his voice; but when he refuses to come,
pride is in his action." Such persons are signified by those of whom it is said in Matthew 27: "Bending the knee before him, they mocked him"; and of such it is said in Sirach 19: "There is one who wickedly humbles himself, and his interior is full of deceit." And of such the Prophet says in the Psalm: "Incline not my heart to words of malice, to make excuses for excuses in sins." And therefore, conversely, it is said of the just man in Proverbs 18: "The just man is the first accuser of himself."
42. (Vers. 19.). Second, as regards the second excuse,
which comes from the solicitude of avarice,
he adds: And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen.
For the solicitude of avarice causes one to seek nothing but to deal with earthly things; therefore it is compared to the labor of oxen, whose task is to furrow and work the earth. And they are called five yoke of oxen
on account of the five senses turned toward these earthly things. Hence the Gloss: "These are called yoke of oxen,
because through them earthly things are managed; for oxen turn the earth." They can also be called yokes,
because they bind the neck and tame the nape and press the whole person down to the earth and sell the soul for earth; Sirach 10: "Nothing is more wicked than to love money; for such a one has his soul for sale, because in his life he has cast away his inmost parts." For since, as is said in Matthew 6, "where your treasure is, there is your heart also"; and the treasure of the avaricious person is outside himself, namely in the earth: therefore the inmost parts of the avaricious person are cast forth into the earth. Hence it is necessary that he be oppressed by the yoke of servitude, because he has sold himself; hence Sirach 27: "In the midst of buying and selling he shall be afflicted with sins."
For avarice renders one anxious and inquisitive, therefore he adds: And I go to prove them,
because he has continual care for superfluous things. Hence the Gloss: "Rightly is curiosity signified by the five senses, which, while it outwardly investigates the life of one's neighbor, does not know its own inmost parts; and the mind of the curious person, the more skilled it becomes in what belongs to another, the more ignorant it becomes of itself."
And note that charity has but one yoke,
because it reduces every concern to one thing, according to that passage above in the tenth chapter: "One thing is necessary"; and Micah 6: "To walk solicitously with your God," etc.; and Matthew 11: "My yoke is sweet," etc.; and Lamentations 3: "It is a gift for a man when he has borne the yoke of the Lord from his youth." But curiosity has five,
with respect to the universality of sensible things, around which it revolves; whence Ecclesiastes 7: "God made man upright, and he has entangled himself in infinite questions." And since the vice of covetousness and avarice cloaks itself under the appearance of providence,
therefore he adds: I ask you, hold me excused.
But to such people can be said that passage from Jeremiah 2: "Why do you strive to show your ways as good for seeking love, you who moreover have taught your wickednesses to be your most manifold ways, and in your wings was found the blood of the souls of the poor and the innocent"?
43. (Vers. 20.). Thirdly, as to the third excuse, which comes from the desire of wantonness, he adds: And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. This wife is the concupiscence of the flesh, of which Ecclesiastes 7: "I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the snare of hunters, and her heart is a net." She is called a wife on account of the vehement clinging of desire; 1 Corinthians 6: "Do you not know that he who cleaves to a harlot is made one body? For they shall be, he says, two in one flesh." — And therefore he adds: And therefore I cannot come. Nor does he add: Have me excused, because the sin of the flesh alone is that which least cloaks itself under the appearance of virtue and is least excused; and yet according to truth it is more excusable on account of the greater proneness of concupiscence, according to that passage in Romans 7: "I find another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the servitude of sin." And for this reason he says: I cannot come, because, as Bernard says, "just as fire and water cannot exist together, so spiritual delights and carnal delights are not compatible in the same person." Yet this man lies, because such a one, even if he is a slave of concupiscence, can do that by the doing of which he may have grace, through which he may have the power of subduing concupiscence. Whence Romans 7: "Unhappy man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And he answers immediately: "The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord," because, Philippians 2, "It is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish according to his good will." — And note here that although a wife is lawfully had, yet on account of abuse and on account of the vice joined to it, through a good thing an evil is understood. On account of which the Apostle also says in 1 Corinthians 7: "It remains that those who have wives be as though not having them"; as also the Gloss says, that "many marry wives not for the sake of fecundity, but for the desires of the flesh. Therefore by this thing carnal pleasure is designated"; whence it is not unfitting that a wife by reason of the sacramental bond designates the Church, the spouse of Christ, and by reason of desire can designate the concupiscence of carnal pleasure.
44. (Vers. 21.). And the servant returned, etc. After the invitation of the many and the excuse of those invited, there follows here thirdly the rejection of the contemptuous. Concerning which three things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely the calling of the needy, the compelling of the negligent, and the rejection of the contemptuous.
First, as regards the calling of the needy, which arose from the contempt of others, he says: And the servant returned and reported these things to his master, namely the hardness and rebellion of those who were called. The servant reports this when the order of preachers does not seek its own advantage but the divine honor, so that, just as he was sent by God through the commission of authority, so he may return through the intention of purity. And of such it is said in Ezekiel 1: "The living creatures went and returned in the likeness of flashing lightning"; whence Job 38: "Will you send forth lightnings, and will they go, and returning will they say to you, 'We are here'"? There the Gloss says: "The lightnings go forth when preachers flash with miracles; returning they say, 'We are here,' when they attribute not to themselves but to God whatever they recognize themselves to have done powerfully." Or, they return to God through thanksgiving, according to that passage in Ecclesiastes 1: "To the place from which they go forth, the rivers return, that they may flow again." And because they cannot give thanks for the rebellion of their hearers, but rather groan from detestation of the fault, therefore they are said to report to the Lord: just as it is also said of the Apostles in Acts 4 that, when they suffered harassment from the Jews, "they lifted up their voice with one accord to God and said: 'You, Lord, who made all things, who said through the mouth of our father David: Why did the nations rage,' etc., 'now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness'"; and it follows that "when they had prayed, the place was shaken"; in which is understood the stirring of God's wrath against the rebellion of the hearers.
45. On account of which he also adds: Then the angry master of the house said to his servant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, that is, to public preaching, according to that passage in Proverbs 1: "Wisdom preaches abroad and raises her voice in the streets; at the head of the crowds she cries out; at the entrances of the city gates she utters her words." This going out is for the exercise of preaching, according to that passage in Matthew 13: "The sower went out to sow his seed."
And because, when the proud are rejected, the humble are accepted, therefore he adds: And bring in here the poor and the feeble and the blind and the lame: which according to the Glosses is to be expounded in three ways. In one way, so that these refer to natural defects, so that the poor are those who lack possessions; the feeble, those who lack strength; the blind, those who have a defect in sight; the lame, those who have a defect in walking, because even such persons are literally admitted to the kingdom of heaven: 1 Corinthians 1: "Consider your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many are powerful, not many are noble, but God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong; and God chose the ignoble and contemptible things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in his sight."
46. In another way it is read, so that they refer to vicious defects, so that the poor are those lacking grace; the weak, those lacking virtue; the blind, those lacking prudence; and the lame, those lacking good will. And yet God chooses and calls these, because, Matthew 9, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance"; whence also in Matthew 21 it was said to the Pharisees: "The publicans and harlots shall go before you into the kingdom of God."
47. In a third way it is read, so that they refer to virtuous defects, so that the poor and weak are so called with regard to their own self-estimation; and indeed we understand those as poor who do not trust in excessive wealth; of whom Proverbs 13: "There is one who makes himself poor, though he has in great riches"; and those as weak who do not trust in their own strength: 1 Corinthians 1: "The weakness of God is stronger than men"; the blind, who do not trust in their own knowledge, that is, who consider themselves blind; whence John 9: "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now because you say, We see: your sin remains"; the lame, who do not trust in their own uprightness: whence Jacob, after he saw the Lord, is said to have limped, Genesis 32. Such persons the Lord brings in, namely the poor through contempt of earthly wealth: Psalm: "He shall spare the poor and needy," etc.; the weak through contempt of self-confidence: Isaiah 40: "They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength"; the blind through contempt of their own industry: John 9: "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see," etc.; the lame through contempt of their own righteousness: Isaiah 35: "Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall be opened."
And concerning all these it is said above in chapter 7: "The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them"; because they themselves are brought into life and are called.
And this last interpretation seems more consonant with what precedes, because "God resists the proud."
48. (Verse 22). Secondly, regarding the compulsion of the negligent, which follows the calling of the humble, he adds: And the servant said: Lord, it has been done as you commanded, and there is still room: because there are not as many humble as there are predestined to life, nor are there as many willing for eternal life as there are predestined by God.
49. (Verse 23). Therefore he adds: And the lord said to the servant: Go out into the highways and hedges. By highways and hedges, which are outside the city, are understood sinners who are outside the ecclesiastical unity, and especially the gentiles.
Hence Gregory: "When he calls from the lanes and streets, he signifies the Jews, who knew how to keep the Law under an urban manner of life; but when he calls from the highways and hedges, he signifies the rustic people of the Gentiles." And by this same reasoning, other sinners can be understood, and especially the slothful, who are drawn to the good unwillingly. Hence he adds: And compel them to enter, namely by the threat of eternal punishments and the showing forth of present ones; because, as Gregory says, "the evils that press upon us here compel us to go to God"; on account of which it is said in the Psalm: "When he slew them, they sought him." Hence the servant of God compels these when he terrifies them with the threat of the severity of judgment, according to that passage in Second Timothy chapter four: "Preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke," etc.
And the reason for this is the completion of the number of the elect; hence he adds: That my house may be filled. The Gloss: "With the number of the predestined faithful, which number will not remain unfilled," concerning which number, Apocalypse chapter six: "Wait yet a little while, until the number of your brethren be fulfilled." This house, therefore, is filled when the universality of the elect is saved, concerning whom, Apocalypse chapter seven: "After these things I saw a great multitude, which no one could number"; and Apocalypse chapter fourteen: "I saw upon Mount Sion the Lamb standing, and with him," etc.; and in the Canticle of Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two: "He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel"; where Gregory says that "as many men will be saved as Angels stood firm." Whatever may be said about this, however, it is certain that the number of the elect will be perfect; as a figure of which it is said in Deuteronomy chapter thirty-three: "He appeared from Mount Pharan, and with him thousands of Saints."
50. (Verse 24). Third, with regard to the rejection of the contemptuous, he adds: But I say to you, that none of those men who were invited and excused themselves shall taste my supper; because no one attains to that supper except the humble: Matthew chapter eighteen: "Unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"; hence also it is said in the Psalm: "How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you"! For the Lord reserves it for those who fear him, but repels the proud. "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but with the chains of hell," etc., as is said in Second Peter chapter two; and afterward: "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from temptation, but reserves the wicked to be tormented"; and on account of this, Romans chapter eleven: "Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, lest perhaps he spare not you either." And therefore he says in Hebrews chapter two: "Therefore we ought more diligently to observe, lest perhaps we drift away. For if the word spoken through Angels was made firm, how shall we escape, if we have neglected so great a salvation"?
Third, the crowds following are instructed, concerning which there are two points.
51. (Verse 25.). Now great crowds were going.
After he confuted the calumniators and instructed the dinner guests, here now thirdly he instructs the companions.
This part is divided into two. In the first he instructs the companions through express words:
in the second through parabolic examples,
at: For which of you, wishing to build a tower
etc.
Instructing through express words
concerning those spiritually accompanying Christ, he proceeds in this order, namely by expressing the sign, principle, and complement of spiritual accompaniment.
First, therefore, regarding the sign of spiritual accompaniment,
he says: Now great crowds were going with
him, as a sign of spiritual accompaniment: whence the Gloss: "The crowds were going with him,
captivated namely by the sweetness of his preaching and miracles"; whence they could say that word from John 6: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." And note here that the Pharisees calumniated
Christ, and the crowds accompanied him,
because the one whom the proud despise, the humble accompany; whence John 7: "Has any of the rulers believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the Law, is accursed." Now the crowds were following Jesus as sheep follow a shepherd:
Matthew 9: "Jesus, seeing the crowds, had compassion on them, because they were harassed and cast down like sheep not having a shepherd." Likewise, they were following as peoples follow a king:
Matthew 21: "The crowds that went before and that followed were crying out: Hosanna" etc. Likewise, they were following as disciples follow a teacher:
above in chapter 5: "It happened that when the crowds pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret."
52. (Verse 25. 26.). Secondly, regarding the principle of spiritual accompaniment,
he adds: And turning, he said to them: turning,
I say, through benignity:
Psalm: "O God, you will turn and give us life"; he said,
through the truth of doctrine: If anyone comes to me,
through the supererogation of justice:
Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened." And does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own soul, through the mortification of carnal affection,
according to that word of the Psalm: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear" etc.: he cannot be my disciple,
through the assumption of evangelical perfection,
concerning which Luke 6: "Everyone will be perfect if he is like his master."
And the reason for this is that the principle of the spiritual life is to put off carnal affection, because, as First Corinthians 2 says, "the natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God: for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand" etc.; and Isaiah 28: "Whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand the message? Those weaned from milk" etc., that is, those separated from carnal affection.
53. Hence it should be noted here that he does not here command hatred of parents with respect to nature,
for this would be impiety, since it is said in First John 3: "He who hates his brother is a murderer"; but with respect to fault,
as Augustine says: "Men are to be loved in such a way that their errors are not loved." Concerning this hatred, in the Psalm: "Did I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and waste away over your enemies?" and after: "With perfect hatred I hated them," etc. Hence Gregory: "We can at once both hate and love, so that we love those joined to us by kinship from the divine precept, and those whom we suffer as adversaries in the way of God we disregard by hating and fleeing them." Hence that hatred does not come from cruelty but from charity, just as also the hatred of one's own soul, which we ought to hate, not with respect to salvation, but with respect to carnality. Hence Gregory: "Then we hate our soul when we resist its carnal affections." Concerning this hatred, John 12: "He who hates his soul in this world keeps it unto eternal life." Augustine: "If you have loved badly, then you have hated; if you have hated well, then you have loved. Happy are those who have so hated by guarding, lest they lose by loving." This is what is more expressly said in Ecclesiasticus 18: "Son, do not go after your lusts, and turn away from your own will. If you grant your soul its lusts, it will make you a joy to your enemies." Therefore, just as the beginning of spiritual life
is not to covet,
where all evil is forbidden, and to turn away from evil:
so the foundation of spiritual companionship
is to turn away from all carnality,
whether toward oneself or toward parents. On account of which, Ephesians 4: "Put off, according to your former manner of life, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of error."
54. (Verse 27.). Third, with respect to the completion of the spiritual companionship,
he adds: And he who does not carry his cross,
through perfect mortification of the flesh; and comes after me,
through right intention; cannot be my disciple,
through true imitation.
And note that here is the consummation
of Christ's discipleship and companionship, namely in carrying the cross, because there Christ brought all things to completion, as is said in John 19: "And bearing his cross, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull." In this cross of Christ there is the highest humility:
Philippians 2: "He humbled himself, being made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross"; the highest poverty,
so that Christ could truly say that word of Job 1: "Naked I came forth from the womb of my mother, and naked shall I return thither." Hence in John 19 it is said that "the soldiers, when they had crucified him, took his garments and made four parts." There is also there the highest austerity,
according to that word of the Psalm: "They pierced my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones."
55. To bear the cross, therefore, is to take up humility in the heart, austerity in the flesh, and poverty in suffering, against those three radical vices and against the threefold excuse of those who refused to come to the supper. This cross was Christ's, because Christ willingly took it up: similarly, whoever wishes to follow Christ must bear it willingly, so that he bears it as his own cross from his own will, not under compulsion as another's, and thus be not an imitator of Christ but rather of Simon, of whom Mark fifteen says: "They compelled a certain Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross." To this cross Christ especially invites us, who first bore it as a standard and royal sign: whence Hebrews, the last chapter: "Christ suffered outside the gate. Let us therefore go forth to him," etc. He therefore who does not wish to follow thus is not a disciple of Christ, because he does not wish to imitate him in that wherein he offered himself as an example and master to us; whence Galatians five: "Those who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences." On account of which, Second Corinthians four: "Always bearing about the mortification of the cross in our body, that the life of Jesus also may be made manifest in our bodies." Whence Chrysostom: "Let no one be ashamed of the cross; let us bear it about as a crown; for indeed all things that pertain to us are accomplished through the cross: regeneration, consecration. On account of this we inscribe it in our homes, on our doors, on our roads, on our foreheads, and in our minds." This therefore must be borne as the sign of the living God, of which Apocalypse seven says: "I saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, saying: Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we sign the servants of God on their foreheads," so that it may be known manifestly who is a disciple of Christ.
56. For which of you, wishing to build, etc. After he instructed those accompanying him, and this through express words, here secondly he instructs the same through parabolic examples. And since we ought to imitate Christ in actions and sufferings, in the first we are like those building, in the second like those waging war:
therefore first in this part he introduces the parable of the man building. Second, he adds the parable and example of the king waging war, at the place: Or what king going forth. In the third, he subjoins the application of both, at the place: So therefore every one of you who does not renounce.
Concerning the parable of the man building, three things are introduced, namely the conception of the plan to build, the provision of sufficient funds, and the avoidance of impending reproach.
57. (Verse 28). First, therefore, as regards the conception of the purpose of building, he says: For which of you, wishing to build a tower. By the tower, which is the loftiest building, we can understand the accumulation of the perfection of merits, which ascends step by step from the lowest to the highest, beginning from the foundation of fear and reaching up to the pinnacle of deiform wisdom. And first the tower of the gift of fear is to be built, of which can be understood that passage of Micah 4: "You, O cloudy tower of the flock, unto you shall it come," because fear makes one small through the consideration of judgment.
The second tower is that of piety, of which Isaiah 5: "He built a tower in the midst of the vineyard and set up a winepress in it," because piety arises from the consideration of the Passion.
The third is the tower of knowledge: Song of Songs 4: "Your neck is like the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks. A thousand shields hang from it, all the armor of the mighty," etc.: which is understood of the knowledge of Sacred Scripture.
The fourth is the tower of fortitude; Proverbs 18: "The name of the Lord is a most strong tower: the just man runs to it and shall be exalted"; and in the Psalm: "You have led me forth, because you have become my hope, a tower of fortitude," etc. The fifth is the tower of counsel, of which Song of Songs 7: "Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus"; because counsel is against the snares of the enemy.
The sixth tower is that of understanding, of which Song of Songs 7: "Your neck is like a tower of ivory: your eyes are like the pools in Heshbon"; where is given to be understood the purity of heart and the clarity of spiritual intelligence. The seventh is the tower of wisdom, of which Song of Songs 8: "I am a wall, and my breasts are like a tower"; which is said on account of the consolation that is in the tasting of the milk of the breasts of divine wisdom.
But before the height of this building is raised, the construction of the building of the seven virtues is necessary, of which Proverbs 9: "Wisdom has built herself a house, she has hewn out seven pillars." Moreover, of this building Christ is the founder and the foundation and also the completion. Nevertheless, the spiritual man is compared to this building: whence 1 Corinthians 3: "We are God's co-workers, you are God's husbandry, you are God's building." Therefore everyone who purposes to ascend to the pinnacle of virtue, this one wishes to build a tower.
58. Second, with regard to the provision of sufficient resources, he adds: Does he not first sit down and calculate the expenses that are necessary, whether he has enough to complete it? To sit is to consider within oneself the secrets of one's conscience: Lamentations 3: "He will sit alone and be silent." To calculate is to foresee through careful consideration: hence the Gloss: "Everything that we do, we ought to anticipate through the effort of consideration." And this is what is said in Proverbs 4: "Let your eyes see what is right, and let your eyelids precede your steps." The expenses, however, that are necessary are the sufficient efforts of the mind, by which one cooperates with the grace of Christ courageously, according to that Psalm: "Act courageously, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord"; profitably, hence 1 Corinthians 3: "But if anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, and precious stones," etc.; efficaciously: Hebrews 12: "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God," etc.; perseveringly: 3 Kings 7: "He completed all the work that Solomon was doing in the house of the Lord."
When this building is completed, the Lord appears to dwell therein: hence 3 Kings 9: "It came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord and the building of the king and all that he had desired, the Lord appeared to him." These expenses sufficient for completing therefore consist in the resolve of the will acting courageously, profitably, efficaciously, and perseveringly. But if anything is lacking, the Lord supplies it: hence Philippians 2: "It is God who works in us both to will and to accomplish according to his good will." Whoever wishes, therefore, to begin a lofty work ought to foresee whether he is willing to persevere: because, as is said above in chapter nine, "No one putting his hand to the plow," etc.
59. (Vers. 29.). Third, with regard to the avoidance of impending reproach,
he adds: Lest, after he has laid the foundation,
namely by undertaking a higher state in imitating Christ — and this is to lay the foundation:
First Corinthians 3: "For no one can lay another foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus." One begins to lay this foundation through faith and good works, according to Matthew 7: "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a man who built his house upon the rock." Upon this rock
he places the foundation of his dwelling who wishes to imitate Christ perfectly, according to Jeremiah 48: "Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab," etc. And is not able to finish it,
namely through perseverance, as are those of whom it is said above in chapter eight: "They believe for a time and in the time of temptation they fall away." Such are those who destroy by relapsing
whatever they had built up by beginning well;
Ecclesiasticus 34: "One building and another destroying, what profit have they but labor?" Such are the lax and remiss:
Proverbs 18: "He who is soft and lax in his work is the brother of him who squanders his own works."
All who see it,
by observing the perfection that was begun; First Corinthians 4: "We have been made a spectacle to the world, and to angels and to men." For what is placed on high is shown to all: Matthew 5: "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, that it may give light to all who are in the house."
60. (Vers. 29. 30.). They begin to mock him, saying: Because this man began to build and was not able to finish:
and this by inflicting insults and deriding, because it is greatly shameful for those who turn back and apostatize. For they are mocked by demons; Lamentations 1: "The enemies saw her and mocked at her sabbaths." The spiritual man abhors this mockery: the Psalm: "Neither let my enemies mock me," etc. These enemies mock the incompleteness, according to Nehemiah 4: "Tobias the Ammonite said: Let the Jews build; if a fox goes up, he will leap over their stone wall." Whence Ambrose says: "In everything we do, we ought to consider the hidden adversaries who lie in wait for our works, and unless we keep watch against them, we suffer as mockers those whom we have as persuaders to evil." But he who turns back from what he has begun is mocked for rashness
in presuming, for inconstancy
in pursuing, for faintheartedness
in desisting — and this not only by the devil, but also by the world: Ecclesiasticus 20: "The fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for his good deeds"; and further: "How often and how many shall mock him," etc.
61. (Verse 31.). Or what king going to engage etc.
Above he proposed the parable of the man building, here he proposes the parable of the king waging war;
in which part indeed three things are introduced, namely the proposal of war, the foresight of danger,
and the provision of remedy.
First therefore, as to the proposal of war,
he says: Or what king going to engage in war against another king. This king
is anyone who governs himself according to the law of God: Proverbs 20: "The king who sits on the throne of judgment" etc.; and Apocalypse 5: "You have made us a kingdom for our God, and we shall reign upon the earth." It belongs to this one to engage in war:
because, Job 7, "the life of man upon earth is a warfare." This, however, is to be understood in three ways: either that one engages in war with the king of pride,
of whom Job 41: "He is king over all the children of pride"; or with the king of justice,
of whom in the Psalm: "You shall rule them with a rod" etc.; or with the king of heavenly providence,
of whom Ecclesiastes 5: "Moreover, the king of the whole earth commands" etc.
He engages in war with the king of pride
when he dissents from him: Ephesians 6: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the world of this darkness." He also engages in war with the king of justice
when he wishes to justify himself in the sight of God, because it is said in Jeremiah 2: "Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: I have not sinned." So also Job wished to engage, who said in chapter 13: "I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to dispute with God"; and Jeremiah 12: "Indeed you are just, O Lord, if I dispute with you; yet I will speak what is just to you." He also engages in war with the king of heavenly providence
when he prepares himself for the struggle of patience, as it is said in Job 6: "Who will grant that my petition may come, and that God may give me what I await; and that he who has begun may himself crush me"? Thus in three ways war is waged with a king spoken of in three ways.
The first is waged by penance
for sins, the second by confidence
in merits, and the third by patience
under scourges.
62. Second, as to the foresight of danger,
he adds: Does he not first sit down and consider,
in order to take forethought, according to that word of Deuteronomy 32: "O that they would be wise and understand, and would foresee their last end"! On account of which, Ephesians 5: "See how you walk carefully, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not become imprudent" etc.
Whether he can with ten thousand meet
— namely, to resist — him who comes against him with twenty thousand,
to attack. And this admits of a threefold exposition, just as the preceding. For if it is expounded of the king of pride,
we meet him through the works of the virtues, which consist in the mean, and which are therefore called ten thousand
on account of the observance of the ten commandments; and the adversary comes with a doubled number, because to any virtue there corresponds a twofold vice from the opposite side, according to excess and defect. Whence, because there are more ways to go astray than to go straight, those in the army of the king opposed to us are said to be more numerous;
whence Judith 1: "He gloried as one mighty in the power of his army and in the glory of his chariots." But one must neither flee nor fear, because, as is said in 1 Maccabees 3, "it is easy for many to be shut up in the hands of few; and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver by few or by many, for not in the multitude of an army is the victory of war, but from heaven is strength."
63. But if it is understood of the king of justice,
we meet with ten thousand,
that is, with confidence in merits from the observance of the ten commandments; and He with twenty thousand,
that is, with the severity of judgments, in which there is an examination of works and thoughts. Whence Bede: "He meets with ten thousand who offers the works of the ten commandments, but God comes against him as if with a doubled number, when He examines one scarcely prepared in work alone concerning both work and thought together." From which it is given to understand that just as it is not safe with ten thousand
to assail twenty thousand,
so it is not safe to contend with that Judge. On account of which, Job 9: "Truly I know that a man is not justified when compared with God. But if he should wish to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one thing out of a thousand." Whence Malachi 3: "Behold, He comes, says the Lord of hosts; and who shall be able to think upon the day of His coming? For He is like a refining fire," etc.; and in the Psalm: "Thou art terrible, and who shall resist Thee?"
But if it is understood of the king of heavenly providence,
he goes with ten thousand
who wishes to endure great and many things for Christ, but He with twenty thousand,
because He endured incomparably more for us, since He Himself is "the giant of twofold substance"; on account of which, in the Psalm: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He has rendered to me?" And Micah 6: "What worthy thing shall I offer to the Lord?" etc.
64. (Vers. 31.). Third, as to the provision of a remedy,
he adds: Otherwise, while the other is still far off, he sends an embassy and asks for terms of peace,
namely, if he recognizes his own weakness with respect to this threefold battle, he labors to avoid that fight. The sending of this embassy is nothing other than the sending of prayer, which the Angels carry on our behalf before the sight of God as our ambassadors: Tobit 12: "When you prayed and gave alms and buried the dead, I offered your prayer before the Lord." This embassy must be sent for repelling the battle of temptations,
which come from the king of pride:
as Paul prayed, of whom 2 Corinthians 12: "There was given me a thorn in my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me: for which reason I three times besought the Lord," etc. — Likewise, this embassy must be sent for repelling the battle of divine contentions,
which comes from the king of justice,
as the Prophet prayed in the Psalm: "Enter not into judgment with your servant, O Lord, for in your sight no living person shall be justified," etc. The embassy must also be sent for repelling the battle of tribulations,
which comes from the king of providence,
as Jonah prayed in Jonah 2: "Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish and said: I cried to the Lord from my tribulation, and he heard me."
From which it is gathered that the consideration of danger stirs one to the procurement of a remedy: whence the Gloss: "We, attending to the insufficiency of our frailty, ought to send ahead an embassy of tears, good works, and pure affections to obtain peace from the severe judge." Therefore it is said in Sirach 18: "Before sickness apply the medicine, and before judgment examine yourself, and in the sight of God you will find propitiation. Before sickness humble yourself, and in the time of infirmity show your manner of life," so that thus through the embassy of priests you may find the King appeased.
65. (Vers. 33.). So therefore every one of you,
etc.
After he set forth the parabolic example of the one building and the example of the one waging war, here thirdly he sets down the application of both.
And since these examples were introduced to stir us to providence regarding what is opportune and to caution regarding what is harmful and to give spiritual understanding of both: therefore in this part the application of the aforementioned examples is introduced with regard to providence regarding what is opportune,
with regard to caution regarding what is harmful,
and with regard to the spiritual understanding of both.
First, therefore, as to providence regarding what is opportune,
he says: So therefore every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses,
through contempt of temporal things, cannot be my disciple,
through the perfection of spiritual things: as if to say: just as the builder cannot finish without resources, nor the one waging war safely undertake battle without soldiers, so no one can perfectly follow Christ unless he renounces all things.
66. And note that the discipleship of Christ is twofold: one of necessity, as is said in the ninth and sixth chapters of Acts, that those who are now called Christians were accustomed to be called disciples, concerning which discipline, Isaiah 1: "Cease to do perversely, learn to do well." The other is the discipleship of supererogation, by which one follows Christ in the evangelical counsels, concerning which, Matthew 5: "Jesus, seeing the crowds, went up onto the mountain; and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him." For the first discipleship it is necessary to renounce all things, as regards the contempt of earthly things; but for the second it is necessary to leave all things behind, not only as regards affection, but also as regards the thing itself. Whence the Gloss: "This is the difference between renouncing all things and leaving all things behind, because to renounce befits all who so licitly use the worldly things they possess that they nevertheless tend in mind toward eternal things. To leave behind belongs only to the perfect, who set aside all temporal things and long for eternal things alone," and this is necessary for the perfect disciples of Christ, so that they may be conformed to the poverty of the Master. Whence, on that passage of Matthew 19: "Behold, we have left all things and followed you," Bernard says: "Well said, Peter, and not to your folly, because you could not follow one who runs while burdened. He rejoiced as a giant to run his course." For since the first among the teachings of Christ is: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," whoever is ignorant of this consequently does not know "what are the elements of the beginning of the words" of Christ; and through this he is not a disciple of Christ nor does he understand him. And therefore Antiochus, who is interpreted as the silence of poverty, overthrew the foundations of Jerusalem, because he who despises the counsel of poverty cannot be a disciple of the poor Crucified One.
67. (Verse 34). Second, as regards caution against a harmful thing, he adds: Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor. By salt is understood every perfect disciple, who ought to season the hearts of others by example and word; whence Matthew 5: "You are the salt of the earth"; which is said because he ought to have the highest discretion in conduct, according to that passage of Colossians 4: "Let your speech always be seasoned with salt in grace"; because, just as food cannot be eaten unless it is seasoned with salt, so neither does the stomach of the heart receive an indiscreet word: Job 6: "Can that which is unsavory be eaten, which is not seasoned with salt?" He ought also to have wisdom in contemplation: whence in Leviticus 2 it is commanded that salt be offered in every sacrifice. And such a one, who is prudent and wise, is rightly the seasoning of the Church by word and example: whence the Gloss: "Salt seasons food, kills worms, dries flesh; so preaching preserves human nature unharmed from the worms of vices and corruption for its Creator."
But then the salt loses its savor
when a disciple of Christ becomes undevout in contemplation and indiscreet in action and in preaching, as is said of such ones in Romans 1: "They became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened," etc.; and this is the greatest danger.
Therefore he adds: With what shall it be seasoned?
As if to say: with nothing; whence Sirach 12: "Who will have pity on a charmer struck by a serpent?" As if to say that such a one is utterly contemptible and useless, both before God and before men, both in spiritual acts and in temporal ones.
68. (Verse 35.). Therefore he adds: It is useful neither for the land nor for the dunghill, but it will be cast out.
The Gloss: "Because he who goes backward is able neither to bear fruit himself nor to cultivate others"; indeed, what is more, he renders the land barren, because a perfect man who falls renders others useless for doing good by his bad example. And therefore the man who turns back is compared to the wife of Lot, of whom it is said in Genesis 19 that "looking back, she was turned into a pillar of salt"; and therefore Proverbs 6: "An apostate man, a worthless man, walks with a perverse mouth," etc. Just as therefore a building begun and not completed
is useful for nothing, and a man who began and did not finish is derided by all; and similarly he who is overcome in battle:
so also the apostate disciple
is despised as salt that has lost its savor:
whence Matthew 5: "It is good for nothing any longer, except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men."
69. Third, as regards the spiritual understanding of both,
he adds: He who has ears to hear, let him hear:
in which he invites to perfect understanding, so that the aforesaid words may be heard not only as regards their vocal sound,
of which it is said in Matthew 13: "The heart of this people has grown dull, and with their ears they have been hard of hearing"; but also as regards spiritual understanding,
according to that passage in Job, the last chapter: "With the hearing of the ear I have heard you, but now my eye sees you"; the Psalm: "I will hear what the Lord God speaks within me," etc.; and also as regards practical effect;
James 1: "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only." He therefore means to say that the foregoing words are parabolic:
and therefore they are to be heard and examined spiritually and not carnally, according to that passage in Proverbs 1: "A wise man hearing shall be wiser, and a man of understanding shall possess counsels: he shall perceive a parable and its interpretation, the words of the wise and their enigmas." Those who hear in this manner receive the word of God most efficaciously, according to that passage in Sirach 24: "Those who hear me shall not be confounded, and those who work in me shall not sin. Those who bring me to light shall have eternal life."