Chapter 16
Chapter XVI.
The commendation and persuasion of human piety is described through teachings and parabolic examples with respect to two things.
1. And he said also to his disciples
etc. After the expression of Jewish impiety and the notification of divine piety, the Evangelist here introduces the commendation and persuasion of human piety
. And this part is divided into two. In the first of these, the disciples themselves are persuaded through Christ's teachings and through parabolic examples concerning human piety with respect to corporal works:
in the second, with respect to spiritual works,
below in the seventeenth chapter: And he said to his disciples
etc.
First, concerning human piety with respect to corporal works in three ways.
The first part contains the present chapter, which is distinguished into three parts. In the first of these is set forth a parabolic example of provident piety.
In the second is drawn out a teaching of perfect piety,
at that place: And I say to you: Make
etc. In the third is subjoined an example of punished impiety,
at that place: There was a certain rich man
etc.
The parabolic example of provident piety.
Concerning the example
therefore of provident piety,
which is set forth concerning the steward who was generous with the goods of his lord, it should be noted that it is partly an expressed example,
partly a parabolic saying;
for unless it were an expressed example,
there would not be subjoined at the end of the parable that "the lord commended the steward of iniquity, because he had acted prudently," etc.; but again, unless it were spoken parabolically,
a deed of such detestable fraud ought by no means to be set forth by the Lord as an example. On account of which it is necessary to understand that this example must be pursued partly according to the letter, partly also parabolically. For since both this parable and the one about the rich man who feasted have the character of both example
and parable;
this one nevertheless holds more the character of a parable,
and that one more the character of an example,
and therefore is understood more according to the letter; but this one must be understood partly according to metaphor, partly according to the letter.
For the elucidation of this parabolic example, it should be noted that something is set forth in it as to be reconsidered,
something as to be rejected,
something as to be dreaded,
something as to be endured,
something as to be provided for,
something as to be imitated,
and something as to be commended.
For the origin of human power
is to be reconsidered,
concerning which it says there: There was a certain rich man.
The abuse of entrusted power
is to be shunned,
which is intimated there: And this man was accused before him.
The strictness of supernal Justice
is to be dreaded,
concerning which it says there: And he called him and said to him.
The imperfection of human weakness
is to be endured,
which is intimated there: And the steward said within himself.
The discovery of faithful friendship
is to be provided for,
there: I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed.
To be imitated
is the display of generous clemency,
concerning which there: Having therefore called together each of the debtors.
To be praised
or commended is the discernment of sagacious providence,
concerning which there: The lord commended the steward of iniquity.
2. (Verse 1.). First, therefore, in this parable there is intimated the origin of worldly power
as something to be reconsidered by the disciples,
when it is said: And he said also to his disciples,
to whom he said above in the eighth chapter: "To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God"; and John fifteen: "But I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." He was speaking to the disciples
because, the Jews having been confuted, piety
ought to be urged upon them, to which the consideration of the origin of earthly power vehemently incites,
with regard to which he says: A certain man was rich, who had a steward. This certain
man, singular and singularly rich, is rightly understood as God, according to that passage in Romans ten: "The same Lord of all, rich unto all who call upon him." He alone is rich,
because he possesses all things and abounds: Psalm: "For mine is the world and the fullness thereof"; and again: "All the beasts of the forests are mine"; and again: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world" etc. The steward
of this rich man is any person who has some earthly power,
whether of dignity or of riches, to administer. Whence the Gloss: "A steward is one to whom God has entrusted some resources to distribute to the poor"; and as another Gloss says: "A steward
is properly the guardian of an estate, but is used here for an administrator, that is, a manager." Human power, therefore, since it exists only for a time and is conferred by another, is nothing but a certain stewardship and administration. Whence 1 Chronicles twenty-nine: "All things are yours, and what we have received from your hand we have given to you. For we are pilgrims before you and sojourners, as were all our fathers. Our days are like a shadow upon the earth, and there is no abiding." Whence also the Apostle did not wish to be esteemed a lord, but an administrator and steward, when he said in 1 Corinthians four: "Let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" etc. Job considered himself such a steward of present things, when he said in Job one: "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done."
3. Second, regarding the abuse of entrusted power, which is to be fled by all, he adds: And this one was accused before him, as though he had squandered his goods. For he squanders the goods of God who either wrongly retains these temporal things, or wrongly receives them, or wrongly distributes them. Hence the Gloss: "It is squandering when they are badly gathered or not well spent." And the reason for this is that temporal goods exist so that through them eternal goods may be acquired. When therefore these temporal things are so possessed that on account of them eternal things are lost, then without doubt they are squandered. Those therefore who so spend these temporal goods that they do not seek in them the merit of salvation but the comfort of the flesh do not dispense temporal things in the manner of a good steward but squander them in the manner of the prodigal son, of whom it is said above in the fifteenth chapter that "he squandered his substance by living luxuriously." Against whom the Lord says through the Prophet Hosea, Hosea 2: "I gave her grain and wine and oil, and I multiplied her silver and gold, which they offered to Baal. Therefore I will turn back and take away my grain and my wine in their season, and I will take back my wool and my flax, which covered her shame. And I will reveal her folly in the eyes of her lovers." Hence, because there are many squanderers and few faithful stewards, it is said in 1 Corinthians 4: "Here now it is required among stewards that one be found faithful."
But then these temporal things are well dispensed when they are distributed in works of mercy, according to that passage above in the twelfth chapter: "Who, do you think, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the Lord has set over his household," etc. Therefore the origin and mother of this squandering is mercilessness; on account of which, Proverbs 29: "The just man knows the cause of the poor; the wicked man has no understanding. Pestilent men destroy the city."
But then this steward is accused before the Lord when the cry of the poor ascends to the Lord; hence it is said in James 5: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you"; and afterwards: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped your fields, which has been defrauded by you, cries out, and their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." And since he is cruel who neglects his reputation, and every man especially dreads infamy, therefore such an abuse of goods is to be guarded against, lest from the squandering of goods the steward fall into reproach and public derision, according to that passage in Sirach 20: "The fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for his good deeds." "How often and how many shall mock him! For he does not distribute with right judgment what ought to have been given, and likewise what ought not to have been given."
4. (Verse 2.). Third, with respect to the severity of divine Justice, which is to be dreaded by everyone, it is added: And he called him and said to him: What is this I hear about you? The Gloss says: "He calls, when he strikes the fear of eternal damnation"; concerning which calling it is said in Ezekiel 3: "And I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place." By this voice he is called who is aroused to consider the future judgment, where he will be accused not only according to reputation, but according to conscience.
On account of which he adds: Render an account of your stewardship. For this voice ought to resound in the ear of everyone, because without doubt divine justice will demand an account of gifts entrusted, as is indicated in Matthew 18: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants." Of evils forgiven; Matthew 18: "And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents." "But the lord, having compassion on that servant, released him"; and afterward it is added that he demanded an account of this. Also of good deeds omitted; Matthew 25: "After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with his servants"; and he adds concerning the lazy servant that he was cast "into the outer darkness." Also of evils perpetrated; First Peter 4: "For the time past is sufficient to have carried out the will of the Gentiles for those who walked in wantonness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries"; "who shall render an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." And not only of great evils, but also of small ones, according to that passage in Matthew 12: "Of every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account on the day of judgment." From this steward, therefore, he demands an account of the stewardship with respect to all four of the aforementioned things, because, as Bernard says, "just as not a hair of the head shall perish, so neither does a moment of time pass for which an account is not demanded."
And after this exaction of an account, there will remain no possibility of meriting; therefore he adds: For you can no longer be steward, because it is said in Ecclesiastes 9: "Neither work nor reason nor knowledge nor wisdom shall be in the netherworld, to which you are hastening." Whence also in Proverbs 27 it is said to every steward: "You shall not have power perpetually"; and Sirach 10: "Every dominion is of brief life." On account of which the Prophet says in the Psalm: "Put not your trust in princes nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth; in that day all their thoughts shall perish," etc.
5. (Vers. 3.). Fourth, with regard to the imperfection of human weakness to be tolerated in the steward, it is added: And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord takes away from me the stewardship? For because the fear of judgment urges the mind to procure a remedy, therefore the steward, seeing that he is to be judged, seeks a remedy, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 18: "Before judgment prepare justice, and before sickness apply medicine, and before judgment examine yourself."
And because the perfection of penance consists in affliction and bodily labor and in humility and mental shame, and these two things the soul of a weak man refuses, therefore he adds: I am not able to dig, on account of the difficulty of bodily labor, because, as it is said in Proverbs 29, "he who delicately nourishes his servant from childhood shall afterwards find him contumacious." I am ashamed to beg, on account of the vileness of so contemptible an act; Ecclesiasticus 29: "Let the least thing be to you as something great, and you shall not hear the reproach of your sojourning"; and afterwards it adds: "These things are grievous to a man of understanding: the rebuke of the household and the reproach of the creditor." Therefore he who flees from the Cistercian order because they labor, or the order of Friars Minor because they beg, is like this steward. And yet this is tolerable, because it comes from weakness to flee from labor and shame—the former as unbearable, the latter as contemptible.
6. But although these things are difficult for a weak man, they are nevertheless easy for a Christian made perfect through Christ. For Christ, made poor for us and abounding in labors, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I am poor and in labors from my youth," makes labor desirable and mendicancy honorable, because "it is a great glory to follow the Lord," as it is said in Ecclesiasticus 23. But the Lord Himself says of Himself: "But I am a beggar and poor, and the Lord is solicitous for me"; which indeed is not said with regard to spiritual things, in which He abounds, but with regard to temporal things, in which He was made needy and a beggar for us, according to that passage of Second Corinthians 8: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for our sakes He became poor, though He was rich," etc. And therefore blessed Francis says in his Rule that his brothers "ought not be ashamed in begging, because the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world." Nevertheless, because to the steward as one imperfect there had not been given the grace through which he might be perfectly conformed to Christ, therefore as one weak he says: I am ashamed to beg; he does not say: I disdain to beg, because this would not be a weakness to be tolerated, but an impiety to be detested.
7. (Vers. 4.). Fifth, with regard to the provision for finding faithful friendship, he adds: I know what I shall do, so that I may acquire faithful friendship. Whence the Gloss: "The steward is one to whom God has entrusted certain monies to be distributed to the poor: who, if he considers that such stewardship is to end with this life, concerns himself more with acquiring friends than with amassing riches." For he can rightly say: I know what I shall do, who intends to acquire the friendship of his neighbor, because conversely it is said in First John 2: "He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." But conversely, he who loves knows what he does; for he acts according to the teaching of Christ, by which he seeks a remedy against danger. On account of which he adds: So that, when I shall have been removed from the stewardship, by divine sentence, according to that passage in Revelation 2: "I will come to you and will move your lampstand from its place"; they may receive me into their houses, through friendly mercy. For this is the law of friendship: not to fail a friend in necessity; whence Proverbs 17: "He who is a friend loves at all times, and a brother is proven in distress,"
because, Sirach 6, "a faithful friend is a strong protection; he who finds him finds a treasure. To a faithful friend there is no comparison, and no weighing of gold and silver is worthy against the goodness of his fidelity." 8. (Vers. 5.). Sixth, with regard to the display of generous mercy to be imitated, it is added: Having therefore called together each of his lord's debtors, where literally the generosity of munificence and mercy in the steward is shown, both because he gives to many, and because he gives much, and because he gives moderately: to many, because to each of his lord's debtors, according to that which the Lord counsels above in chapter six: "Give to everyone who asks of you"; and Isaiah 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, sending forth the foot of the ox and the donkey." And because mercy ought to be expended on those in need, therefore he does not give to just anyone, but to debtors; according to that passage in Isaiah 58: "Set free those who are broken, and break asunder every burden. Break your bread for the hungry and bring the needy and wandering into your house. When you see one naked, cover him, and do not despise your own flesh."
Much, because he remits a great sum of the price; on account of which he adds: He said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? He said, I say, through familiar address; Sirach 4: "Make yourself affable to the congregation of the poor. Incline your ear to the poor without sadness, and repay your debt, and answer him peacefully," etc.; and Sirach 18: "Does not the dew cool the heat? So also a word is better than a gift."
9. (Vers. 6.). And he said to him: A hundred measures of oil,
through faithful acknowledgment of the debt.
For each person ought faithfully to acknowledge his own debt, lest perchance that word of Revelation three be said to him: "You say: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing; and you know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." Now the cadus
is a measure containing three urns; whence the Gloss: "Cadus
in Greek, amphora
in Latin, containing three urns." In this, moreover, is intimated the magnitude of the debt oppressing the debtor, because, Proverbs twenty-two, "he who borrows is servant to the lender." — And he said to him: Take your bond and sit down quickly and write fifty,
through liberal remission.
For he greatly relieves who bears half the burden to be removed; and in this the law of charity is fulfilled, according to that word of Galatians, last chapter: "Bear one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ."
10. (Vers. 7.). He also gives moderately,
that is, according to the requirement of the debt; on account of which he adds: Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? Therefore he inquires the measure, so that he may distribute in measured fashion, because Ecclesiasticus forty-two, "where there are many hands, lock up; and whatever you hand over, number and weigh; and describe everything given and received."
Who said: A hundred cors of wheat. Here he expresses a large measure, so that he may obtain a generous remission. "A cor, as the Gloss says, is filled by thirty modii," whence it is a greater measure than a cadus. And because in greater gifts the number ought to be smaller, so that due measure may be preserved, therefore it is added: And he said to him: Take your bill and write eighty; The Gloss: "He remits a fifth part." Although he may seem to remit less according to arithmetic proportion, because he remits only a fifth part for this one, but a half for the previous one, nevertheless he remits more according to geometric proportion, because twenty cors of wheat are greater in quantity than fifty cadi of oil. It is shown therefore in this that this steward generously remitted, because not only to many and much, but also moderately, according to that passage in Tobit 4: "However you are able, be merciful. If you have much, give abundantly; but if you have little, strive to share even that willingly." In this remission of fifty parts and twenty, there is rightly understood a full remission of the most generous piety. For the number fifty, which arises from seven multiplied upon itself, with one added, designates the remission of sevenfold mercy. In designation of which, in the jubilee there was made a full remission, according to that passage in Leviticus 25: "You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of the land. For it is the jubilee," "because the jubilee is the fiftieth year." This number, with twenty added, rises to seventy, where full remission is understood. As a figure of this, the people of the Lord, led into captivity, were liberated after seventy years, as is said in Jeremiah 29: "When seventy years shall begin to be fulfilled in Babylon, I will visit you and raise up my good word over you and bring you back to this place," etc.
11. (Verse 8.). Seventh, as to commending the discernment of providence, it is added: And the master commended the steward of iniquity, because he had acted prudently: The Gloss: "He praises him not for fraud, but for prudence, although he was sinning." Whence, although the steward has some blameworthy qualities in himself, nevertheless his manner of providing can be drawn as an example for the good. For just as the serpent is detestable in spreading venom, but in the prudence of guarding its head is worthy of imitation by perfect men — on account of which it is said in Matthew 10: "Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves" — so this steward is to be detested because he committed fraud, by reason of which he is called the steward of iniquity, and is to be praised because he prudently devised a remedy for himself against danger.
And because someone might wonder why the Lord drew such a steward as an example of prudence, the Evangelist, responding to this, adds: Because the children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their generation.
He does not say that they are more prudent simply speaking,
but more prudent in those things that pertain to carnal
generation,
just as the owl and the cat see more clearly at night than a man—not for reading letters, but for catching mice.
12. There is, however, a prudence of the spirit,
which is in the children of light, more excellent than the prudence of the flesh, which is in carnal men, according to that passage in Romans 8: "The prudence of the flesh is death, but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace." Yet this worldly prudence has something that arouses and instructs toward divine prudence, just as the diligence of a man seeking money is proposed as an example to a man seeking wisdom; Proverbs 2: "If you call upon wisdom and incline your heart to prudence, if you seek her as money and dig for her as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and will find the knowledge of God." Whence, because no vice destroys the last vestiges of nature, every vicious person has something that can arouse the just to good, just as from the consideration of a lascivious
man one can arouse oneself to love,
from the consideration of a miser
to diligence,
from the consideration of a proud
man to magnanimity. — Whence from this parable and example we are instructed not only particularly but also universally, so that from all things we may know how to draw out a lesson that arouses and forms us toward the good. For just as the Saints, by their excellent goodness, ought to have and do have testimony from those who are outside, so all base things bear some image of virtue and piety. Virtue is approved by all with a certain universal voice, but the impious man is condemned by all.
The instruction of perfect piety with regard to two things.
13. And I say to you,
etc. After the example of provident piety, there is added the instruction of perfect piety,
which is drawn from the meaning of the above-stated parable. First, therefore, the instruction is drawn for the formation of obedient disciples;
second, for the confutation of the rebellious Pharisees,
at the passage: But the Pharisees heard all these things,
etc.
Concerning the formation
of the disciples toward piety,
he proceeds in this order. For he invites them to mercy: first, by reason of the reward to be obtained;
second, by reason of the faithfulness to be preserved,
at the passage: He who is faithful in the least;
third, by reason of the duplicity to be avoided,
at the passage: No one can serve two masters.
By reason of the reward to be obtained,
he invites in this order, namely by setting forth an instructing exhortation
and adding a moving reason.
14. (Verse 9.). First, therefore, as regards the instructing exhortation,
he sets forth: And I say to you: Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity.
" Mammona,
as the Gloss says, in the language of the Syrians means riches: and they are called riches of iniquity,
because they frequently have iniquity attached to them, according to that saying in Ecclesiasticus eleven: "If you are rich, you will not be free from sin"; whence Augustine says: "Every rich man is either unjust or the heir of an unjust man"; or as Bede says in a homily: "Mammon,
mammonis in the Punic language means profit." Nor should it be understood that from what someone has acquired through robbery and iniquity and possesses by unjust title, he ought to give alms, because against this it is said in Ecclesiasticus thirty-four: "The Most High does not approve the gifts of the wicked"; and again in the same chapter: "He who offers sacrifice from the substance of the poor is like one who slays a son in the sight of his father"; but it is understood that from riches which are possessed by just title and yet beget iniquity unless they are distributed, according to that saying in Ecclesiasticus ten: "Nothing is more iniquitous than to love money. For such a one has his very soul for sale." From these riches, I say, friends ought to be made through the generous giving of alms, which manifest the affection of piety. For it is said in First John three: "He who has the substance of this world and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
And therefore Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "Lose your money for a friend and do not hide it under a stone to your ruin," because, Proverbs eleven, "he who hides grain will be cursed among the peoples," etc.
15. Second, as to the moving reason,
he adds: So that when you fail, they may receive you into eternal tabernacles.
From this it is understood why a gift must be given and what ought to move a man to give alms: not present advantage,
but eternal reward,
not for a passing tabernacle,
but an eternal one,
according to that saying in Matthew six: "When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do. Amen I say to you," etc.; and afterwards: "But when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does." These eternal tabernacles are the mansions of glory, about which Isaiah thirty-two says: "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in tabernacles of confidence, in wealthy rest." Into eternal tabernacles
others are received
by those who are so perfect that their merits avail even for others, and on account of whose merits they acquire eternal tabernacles for themselves and for others. Whence on that passage, "Make for yourselves friends," the Gloss says: "Not any poor persons whatsoever, but those who can receive you into eternal tabernacles."
16. For such are not the involuntarily poor but the poor in spirit, of whom Matthew five says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It belongs to them, therefore, as kings and possessors of that kingdom, to introduce others into the kingdom of heaven. It belongs to them also as judges, according to that passage in Job thirty-six: "He will not save the impious, but he grants judgment to the poor"; to the poor, I say, who are perfect and voluntary, of whom Matthew nineteen says: "You who have left all things and followed me shall sit upon twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It belongs to them also as intimates and friends, on account of which James two says: "Has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom which God has promised," etc. Such introduce their friends and benefactors through that judicial law by which the Lord will pass sentence in the future judgment, according to what he says in Matthew twenty-five: "What you did to one of the least, you did to me," and through that other law which the Lord established, of which Matthew ten says: "He who receives a just man in the name of a just man shall receive the reward of a just man."
17. (Verse 10.). He who is faithful in the least, etc. After he has invited to piety from consideration of the reward to be obtained, here secondly he invites from consideration of the faithfulness to be preserved. For faithfulness is to be preserved in the dispensation of temporal goods, both on account of merit and demerit and on account of peril and loss.
First, therefore, as regards the consideration of the merit of faithfulness
in such earthly things, he says: He who is faithful in the least is faithful also in the greater;
as if to say: although these temporal things are to be despised as the least, nevertheless the faithful stewardship of them ought not to be despised, because faithfulness is the same in a great matter and a small one, and the faithful stewardship of temporal things disposes one toward the faithful stewardship and guardianship of spiritual and eternal things. Whence the Gloss: "He who is faithful in the least,
that is, in sharing money with the poor, is faithful also in the greater,
cleaving to the Creator." And therefore it is said to such a servant in Revelation 2: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life"; likewise in Matthew 25: "Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord." Whence faithfulness concerning small things establishes faithfulness also concerning great things; and conversely, unfaithfulness concerning the least things establishes unfaithfulness concerning greater things. 18. And therefore he adds: And he who is unjust in a little is unjust also in the greater. A little
is rightly said of everything that is temporally possessed, both because of its small quantity:
Wisdom 11: "For as a grain of the scales, so is the whole world before you"; and because of its small duration:
Wisdom 5: "All these things have passed away like a shadow"; and the Psalm: "They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands," etc.; and because of its small delight:
whence Gregory: "The goods of the present life are few, though they may seem many," because they are not without some admixture of trouble; but eternal goods are many, which are without all corruption. He therefore who is unjust in these things cannot have the charity of God, because for the sake of small things he despises the greatest. For he sells faith and justice for that which is worth nothing; whence Augustine: "Gain in the coffer, loss in the conscience: he took the garment and lost faith; he acquires money and has lost justice." By badly stewarding money, therefore, he loses happiness, he loses charity, he loses justice, which are the greatest gifts of God. Whence the Gloss: "He who does not well steward the temporal things he possesses empties out for himself the glory of eternal things, about which he boasts. For if he does not love his brother, whom he sees,
God, whom he does not see, how can he love? And if one having substance sees his brother to have need,
etc., how does the charity of the Father abide
in him"?
as is found in 1 John 3.
19. (Verse 11.). Second, as to the consideration of peril and loss,
he adds: If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you that which is true?
As if to say: the peril of badly dispensing these temporal goods is great, because through unfaithful dispensation one loses true riches. Whence the Gloss: "If you do not well dispense carnal riches, which slip away, who will give you true and eternal riches?" Now riches are called unrighteous mammon
because, as the Gloss says, "the unrighteous mammon presides over riches, so as to tempt through them"; just as he tempted Ananias, of whom it is said in Acts 5: "Why has Satan tempted your heart," etc. That temptation was about theft; similarly it is said of Achan in Joshua 7. But that good is called true
which always remains. For all these temporal things, because they pass away, are vain, according to Ecclesiastes 1: "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." But that which is true is the grace of God, or the glory of God, or rather God himself, who is the reward of the good; and therefore the Psalm says: "The truth of the Lord endures forever"; and again: "Your truth endures unto generation and generation." And in this truth beatitude consists, according to that saying of Augustine in the book of the Confessions: "Beatitude is joy in the truth"; for since "the true is that which is," he alone is pure truth, who says: "I am who I am," Exodus 3. And this true
is neither granted nor entrusted except to the truthful and faithful; whence John 3: "Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they have been done in God"; and John 8: "If you abide in my word, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Great, therefore, is the peril of unfaithfulness in these small things, because for what is vain
the true is lost, for what is small
the great is lost.
20. (Verse 12.). Nevertheless, because what is one's own is lost on account of what is another's, he therefore adds: And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, through the due dispensation of earthly goods; whence the Gloss: "Whatever belongs to the world is alien to us, because it is beyond our nature." These are indeed called another's goods, because we can neither bring them with us nor take them away: First Timothy, last chapter: "We brought nothing into this world, and without doubt we can take nothing out of it"; and Job 1: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there." - What is yours, who will give it to you? Through the attainment of the heavenly reward. For that is ours for which we were created and preordained, and which, once possessed, cannot be lost: whence Matthew 25: "Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you," etc.; and above, chapter 6: "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." But this kingdom is nothing other than God and the Lord Jesus Christ: whence the Gloss: "What is yours, that is, what is properly appointed for man — Christ is ours, because Christ is our life"; Colossians 3: "When Christ, your life, shall appear, then you also shall appear," etc.
21. (Verse 13.). No one can serve two masters - serve, etc. After the invitation to piety from the consideration of the reward to be obtained and the faithfulness to be preserved, here thirdly he invites from the consideration of duplicity to be avoided, because piety toward God and cupidity toward the world cannot be held simultaneously: which indeed he does in this order, namely by first setting forth the reprobation of duplicity, then adding the assertion of reprobation. First, therefore, with regard to the reprobation of duplicity, he says: No one can serve two masters. This proposition is self-evident; on account of which it is said in Sirach 2: "Woe to the double heart and to wicked lips, etc., and to the sinner who walks the earth by two ways!" And James 1: "A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways." And therefore it is said in Sirach 1: "Do not approach him with a double heart," that is, do not wish to serve two masters at the same time, because this cannot rightly be done. - Now the two masters divided from one another, whom one cannot serve simultaneously, exist in a fourfold distinction. For these masters are vice and virtue: on account of which, Third Kings 18: "How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal," etc.; and Isaiah 28: "The bed is made so narrow that one of the two must fall out, and the covering is too short to cover both." - These masters are also flesh and spirit: Galatians 5: "The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For these are opposed to one another, so that you do not do whatever things you wish." Therefore, Romans 8: "If you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live."
Likewise, these lords are Christ
and the devil:
2 Corinthians 6: "What accord has Christ with Belial?"; and 1 Corinthians 10: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and the table of demons," etc.
Likewise, the lords are God
and this world;
James 4: "Adulterers, do you not know that the friendship of this world is enmity with God? Whoever wishes to become a friend of this world is made an enemy of God"; and therefore 1 John 2: "Do not love the world, because if anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him."
And concerning these two lords he speaks by dissuading worldly cupidity and inviting to divine piety. Hence the Gloss: "Rebuking avarice, he says that lovers of money cannot love God; therefore let whoever loves God despise money." From which it is clear that whoever wishes to be a servant of Christ cannot be a servant of this world; hence Bede: "You ought to distribute these temporal things faithfully as lords of temporal things, not as servants."
22. Second, as regards the assertion of reprobation,
he adds: For either he will hate the one and love the other:
which is said with respect to charity,
which causes one to hate evil and to love good, according to that passage in Romans 12: "Hating evil, clinging to good, loving one another with the charity of fraternity"; and the Psalm: "I have hated the wicked, and I have loved your law." — Or he will cling to the one and despise the other:
which is said with respect to cupidity,
which clings to the world and the devil in contempt of God, according to that passage in Jeremiah 2: "My people have done two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."
23. Now the reason why one cannot serve the aforesaid lords at the same time is fourfold. The first, namely, the opposition of services.
For the service of God consists in the exercise of virtues,
according to that passage above in chapter one: "Let us serve him in holiness and justice before him"; and 1 Peter 1: "According to him who called you, who is holy, that you also may be holy," etc. But the service of the devil consists in the exercise of vices:
hence above in chapter fifteen concerning the prodigal son it is said that "he sent him to his farm to feed swine."
The second reason is the dissimilarity of ministers,
because the Lord wills to have sharp-sighted servants:
on account of which it is said in Revelation 4 that "the living creatures were full of eyes before and behind"; and Proverbs 14: "An intelligent minister is acceptable to the king." But the devil wills to have one-eyed servants;
whence 1 Kings 11: "On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes." The Lord also wills to have ministers who are well-composed and well-ordered:
whence 3 Kings 10: "The queen of Sheba seeing the dwellings of the servants and the order of those ministering," etc. But the devil wills to have those who are disordered and disfigured:
whence 2 Kings 10: "Hanon, king of the children of Ammon, cut the garments of David's servants up to the buttocks and shaved half their beards." The Lord also wills to have humble servants,
according to that Psalm: "He who acts with pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house, he who speaks iniquities," etc. But the devil wills to have the arrogant:
Job, the penultimate chapter: "He beholds every high thing, and he is king over all the children of pride."
- The third reason is the distance of places,
because the Lord wills to be in a lofty and pure place:
the Psalm: "To you have I lifted up my eyes, who dwell in the heavens"; and Song of Songs 2: "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills." But the devil, in unclean places:
Job 40: "He sleeps under the shadow, in the secret of the reed, in moist places." - The fourth reason is the indistinction of times,
because the devil wills that he
be served at all times: Jeremiah 16: "You shall serve strange gods, who will give you no rest day or night," etc. Similarly the Lord wills that he
be served at all times: the Psalm: "He shall meditate on the law of the Lord day and night," etc. Since therefore the Lord wills to have all time and the whole heart, according to that of Deuteronomy 6: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength"; and the devil and the world likewise will the whole: therefore it is impossible to serve both at the same time.
24. And therefore he concludes: You cannot serve God and mammon.
Now he is said to serve mammon
in whose affection riches hold dominion, such that he may be called covetous,
because then he is a slave of idols. For, as is said in Ephesians 5, "covetousness is the servitude of idols." Whence the Gloss: "He does not say: to have riches,
but to serve.
He serves who guards riches as a slave; but he who has shaken off the yoke of servitude distributes as a master." And therefore the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians 7: "It remains that those who buy be as though not possessing, and those who use this world as though not using it," etc. But some wish to have God and the world at the same time, who are like those nations of whom it is said in 4 Kings 17: "The nations were fearing the Lord, and nonetheless serving idols." Against these it is said in Leviticus 19: "You shall not wear a garment woven from two materials," and against these the Lord speaks here, and against such Jerome says: "It is impossible that one should enjoy both present and future goods: that here he fill his belly, there his mind: that he pass from delights to delights: that here he rejoice with the world and there reign with God: that in both ages he appear glorious, first in heaven and on earth."
25. Now all these things they were hearing,
etc. After the formative instruction for the humble, there follows the instruction repressive of the rebellious.
And because the Pharisees were rebellious against the teaching of Christ the man on account of the pride which they had concerning their merits, and this pride came from the literal observance of the Law, therefore this part has two sections, in the first of which is described the repression of the arrogance of the Pharisees,
and in the second, the abrogation of the observance of the legal precepts,
at the passage: The Law and the Prophets were until John,
so that thus, from the demonstration of the abrogation of the Law, vain boasting may be taken away from the Pharisees.
First, therefore, the repression of the arrogance
of the Pharisees is described in this manner: for first is set forth the rebellion of the Pharisees,
then follows the reproof of the rebellion,
and then is added the reason for the reproof.
26. (Verse 14.). First, therefore, as regards the rebellion of the Pharisees,
by which they derided Christ, it is said: Now the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. They derided
him as the proud
regarding words of simplicity,
according to that passage of Job 12: "The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn: a lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich." And as the foolish
regarding counsels of usefulness:
Proverbs 15: "A fool laughs at the discipline of his father" etc. Or as the dull-witted
regarding admonitions of piety,
according to that passage of the Psalm: "Their fury is according to the likeness of a serpent, like the deaf asp that stops its ears"; whence the Gloss: "They deride the teacher of mercy and humility and frugality, as though he were harmfully commanding things less useful and never to be carried out." Or as the covetous
deride regarding praises of generosity:
whence the Gloss: "They derided,
understanding, namely, that the parable was spoken against them, and preferring present carnal things to future spiritual things as though uncertain." And this is what is said in Proverbs 18: "A fool does not receive the words of prudence, unless you say those things which revolve in his heart." Or as experts in the law
regarding commendations of poverty:
whence the Gloss: "They derided him arguing against love of money as though he were contrary to the Law and the Prophets, since in the Law many rich men pleased God, and since the Law promises the goods of the earth to its observers." Whence Proverbs 9: "And he who reproves a wicked man generates a stain upon himself." And all this came from a certain haughty and foolish rebellion.
27. (Verse 15). Second, regarding the rebuke of the rebellious,
by which Christ was pressing down their arrogance, there is added: And he said to them: You are they who justify yourselves before men,
through the display of your righteousness, by which you consider
yourselves righteous: Romans 10: "Being ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God." By which you also call
yourselves righteous, against that passage in Job 9: "If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; if I would show myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked." By which you also outwardly pretend
yourselves righteous, against that passage in Matthew 6: "Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them." — And since such self-justification gives birth to guilt, he therefore adds: But God knows your hearts,
through the detestation of pride: whence he does not know
so as to approve but so as to judge: Psalm: "The Lord is high, and he regards the lowly, and the lofty he knows from afar." Whence it is said in Proverbs 16: "All the ways of men are open to his eyes; the Lord is the weigher of spirits"; Jeremiah 17: "The heart of man is perverse and unsearchable, and who shall know it?" It avails you little, therefore, to be commended by human testimony, since you are to be condemned by the judgment of God, who is the searcher of hearts. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 4: "Judge not before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness." Whence, because that justice was not of truth but of vanity — not directed to the reality but to human opinion; not interior but exterior — it was rather a detestable fault than a commendable virtue, rather worthy of punishment than of eternal reward. Whence Matthew 5: "Unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 28. Third, regarding the reason for the rebuke,
by which he was expressing the divine judgment, he adds: Because that which is exalted among men is an abomination before God.
Note that he does not rebuke the height of perfection,
of which 2 Corinthians 8 says: "Their most profound poverty abounded unto the riches of their simplicity," etc. Nor the height of contemplation,
of which Romans 11 says: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments," etc.; and Sirach 24: "I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud." Nor the height of desire and expectation,
of which the Psalm says: "You, O Lord, are my hope; you have made the Most High your refuge." For these heights are before God. —
But there is another height,
which distances one from the Most High, and this is the height of presumption,
of which Jeremiah 48 says: "We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is exceedingly proud: his haughtiness and his arrogance and his pride and the loftiness of his heart I know, says the Lord." This is also the height of ambition:
Jeremiah 49: "Your arrogance has deceived you, you who strive to seize the height of the hill." This is also the height of ostentation:
Ezekiel 31: "Because he was exalted in height and set his top among the green and thick boughs, and his heart was lifted up in his height, now I have delivered him into the hand of the mightiest of the nations," etc. This height in the sight of men is an abomination before God,
according to that passage in Proverbs 16: "Every arrogant man is an abomination to the Lord; even if hand is joined to hand, he is not innocent." Now the Lord is said to abominate
this kind of height on account of its severe casting down, according to that passage in Isaiah 2: "The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."
29. Therefore this threefold height, as being abominable to the Lord, is discouraged: first, namely, the height of presumption:
Sirach 3: "Seek not the things that are too high for thee"; and Romans 11: "Be not highminded," etc. Second, the height of ambition:
Romans 12: "Not minding high things, but condescending to the lowly," etc. Third, the height of ostentation is discouraged:
the Psalm: "Lift not up your horn on high; speak not iniquity against God." Now the Lord abhors this height, because it is haughty:
1 Kings 16: "Look not on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him." Because it is feigned:
Daniel 3: "King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits," etc. Because it is ruinous:
on account of which, Proverbs 17: "He who makes his house high seeks ruin." And therefore it is said in 2 Corinthians 10: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, destroying counsels and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every understanding to the obedience of Christ."
30. (Verse 16). The Law and the Prophets were until John,
etc. After the repression of the arrogance of the rebellious Pharisees, there is here secondly subjoined a description of the abrogation of the legal precepts,
on account of which the Pharisees, raising their brow, were spurning Christ's teachings and cloaking their avarice. And since the Mosaic law has been abrogated through Christ, in such a way that it remains with respect to the spiritual understanding of the ceremonial precepts
and the literal observance of the moral precepts:
therefore in this part he intimates not only the abrogation of the Law itself
according to literal observance,
but also its fulfillment
according to spiritual understanding,
and its endurance
according to moral law and the conjugal bond.
First, therefore, as regards the abrogation of the Law
according to literal observance,
he says: The Law and
the Prophets were until John:
as if he were saying to the Pharisees: you ought not to raise your brow on account of the observance of the Law, because it has now ceased as regards the letter and the figure. And note that, although Christ could have said, until me,
because, Romans 10, "Christ is the end of the Law unto justice," etc.; he nevertheless preferred to name the Precursor as his own voice, because through the ministry of John himself the Lamb was pointed out with a finger: John 1: "Behold, the Lamb of God; behold, he who takes away," etc.; and he had already begun to show the open truth and thereby to abrogate the figure. For since the Law and the Prophets all promised Christ as yet to come, and John showed him as present, therefore "the Law and the Prophets were until John,
because that which is clear to have come by the testimony of John could no longer be prophesied as future
which is manifest to have come
by the testimony of John."
31. And because the end of the Law is through the beginning of the new testament, therefore there follows: From that time the kingdom of God is preached as good news,
that is, from him the Gospel of grace is begun. Whence Mark chapter one: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah: Behold, I send my Angel" etc.; therefore also blessed Luke took the beginning of his Gospel from the very conception of blessed John: above, chapter one: "There was in the days of Herod." Whence, so that his preaching might be shown to be new,
it is said in Mark chapter one that "he was baptizing and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." - And because John's preaching was about repentance, in which a person does violence to himself, therefore he adds: And everyone forces his way into it,
which is expressed more clearly in Matthew chapter eleven: "From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it." Now this is the violence by which one exceeds natural power:
whence Bede: "It is a great force when one born of earth seeks to possess heaven through virtue, who could not hold it by nature." This is also the violence that overcomes the curvature of nature:
whence the Gloss: "Let us do violence to nature, so that it does not sink down to earthly things, but raises itself to things above." This is also the violence by which one overcomes the torpor of sloth:
whence Bede: "Everyone who does violence hastens with vehement zeal, and does not grow sluggish with torpid affection. Therefore the violence of faith is devout; sluggishness is criminal." For it is a great violence when through the force and rigor of repentance one mitigates the severity of the divine sentence, when through humble prayer one bends the lofty strictness. As a figure of this, it was said to Jacob, that vigorous wrestler, in Genesis chapter thirty-two: "If you were strong against God, much more will you prevail against men."
32. And note that blessed Bernard distinguishes four kinds of people possessing the kingdom of heaven: "For some violently seize it,
others purchase it,
others steal it,
others are compelled
to it." "For those seize it
who abandon all things and follow Christ," to whom can be referred that passage from the penultimate chapter of Genesis: "Judah is a lion's whelp; you have gone up to the prey, my son"; and again in the same place: "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall seize the prey, and in the evening he shall divide the spoils." - "But those purchase it
who give temporal things in order to receive eternal things"; concerning whom, above, chapter twelve: "Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old"; and above, in the same chapter: "Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of iniquity." To such people belongs that saying of Augustine: "I have something for sale—what? The kingdom of heaven. How is it bought? The kingdom by poverty, glory by lowliness, joy by sorrow, rest by labor, life by death." - "But those steal it
who do good deeds in secret, and avoiding human praise, are content with the divine testimony alone"; to whom belongs that passage from Matthew chapter six: "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.
" But the poor are compelled
to enter, whom here the fire of poverty, by God's dispensation, tests, lest in the future the fire of judgment damnably oppress them"; concerning these things, above in the fourteenth chapter: "Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to enter, that my house may be filled." Although therefore in the time of the Law it was a time of trading,
now after John it is a time of seizing.
For, just as then wealth was promised, so now poverty is urged.
33. (Verse 17). Secondly, as regards the fulfillment of the Law
according to the spiritual understanding,
it is added: But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away,
through the conflagration of the world: Psalm: "And you in the beginning founded the earth. They shall perish," etc.
Than for one tittle of the Law to fall,
through the frustration of any promise.
Rabanus: " Heaven and earth shall pass away,
by the change of renewal, their form being laid aside while the prior substance remains: but the words of the Lord shall in no way pass away without the effect of their fulfillment." Therefore it is said in Matthew twenty-four: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away"; because, as it is said in the Psalm, "forever, O Lord, your word endures." Whence although the old law may seem transitory, yet it is more abiding than worldly creation. It also abides through the spiritual understanding of the divine word:
whence Matthew five: "I have not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. For amen I say to you, not one iota or one tittle shall pass from the Law, until all things be accomplished."
And note that he says one tittle: for apex
properly refers to the topmost point of a letter, which is placed for the adornment of the letter itself and is, as it were, a very small thing. In this it is given to understand that nothing at all, neither small nor great, is in Scripture, nor anything whatsoever, that does not have its fulfillment. For all things are referred to human salvation, which shall have perpetual duration, even as worldly creation passes away according to its outward appearance; Isaiah fifty-one: "The heavens shall melt away like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, etc. But my salvation shall be forever, and my justice shall not fail." Whence the book of Scripture is nearer to the book of life than the book of creation, and therefore it cannot remain unfulfilled.
34. (Vers. 18.). Third, regarding the duration of the Law
according to the law of nature
and the conjugal bond,
he adds: Everyone who dismisses his wife and marries another commits adultery:
first, because he cannot dismiss the first except for the sole cause of fornication, according to Matthew nineteen: "Whoever dismisses his wife except for fornication and marries another commits adultery." Second, because for whatever cause he dismisses her, it is not lawful for him, while she lives, to marry another, and this according to the law of nature divinely instituted in the formation of man; Genesis two: "A man shall leave his father and mother," etc. And this is what dictates that "matrimony is the union of a man and a woman, retaining an indivisible manner of life"; which also dictates that it is an indissoluble bond. - And therefore he adds: And he who marries a woman dismissed by her husband commits adultery.
And the reason for this is that the wife belongs to him whose she first was, however much she may seem to be separated; whence the Apostle, Romans seven: "The woman who is under a husband, while the husband lives, is bound to the law. Therefore, while the husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress if she has been with another man." And therefore Jeremiah three: "If a man dismisses his wife, and she, departing from him, marries another man, shall he return to her again? Shall not that woman be polluted and contaminated?" - It should be noted, however, that although no mention had been made of wives, the Lord nevertheless, wishing to show the permanence
of the Law with regard to morals
and its passing
with regard to ceremonials
and judicials,
gives the example of matrimony, because in it the bill
of divorce was given. And the law of matrimony is confirmed in the Gospel as moral
law, and the bill of divorce is rejected; whence Matthew nineteen: "Moses commanded to give a bill of divorce and to dismiss. He said to them: Because Moses, on account of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to dismiss your wives."
From these things, therefore, it is gathered how the Law remains,
how it is abolished,
how it is fulfilled,
and nevertheless the arrogance of the Pharisees glorying in the letter of the Law is refuted.
An example of punished impiety, concerning which three things.
35. There was a certain rich man,
etc. After the example of provident piety and the instruction of perfect piety, there is here added an example of punished impiety,
which, as was said above, holds the character of an example
more than of a parable,
because literally this rich man was in delights and afterwards in torments. Whence the Gloss of Bede: "Against the avaricious scoffers, he establishes by example what he had proposed, namely that the rich man was tormented in hell because he did not make Lazarus his friend, by whom he might be received into eternal tabernacles. And it seems more a narrative than a parable"; whence also the Saints adduce the words of this parable as testimony concerning the state of the damned; and so that it may be shown that it was literally true, here the name of the poor man is stated.
To explain the exposition of this example, the Evangelist introduces three things, namely the cause, the fault, and the punishment of mercilessness. The cause of mercilessness was love with respect to oneself; the fault of mercilessness was lack of compassion with respect to one's neighbor, concerning which it says there: And there was a certain beggar; the punishment of mercilessness was casting down into the calamity of hell, concerning which it says there: And the rich man also died, etc.
Concerning the cause of mercilessness, which is the love of private good, he introduces three things concerning the rich man, for which he marks him, which are the concupiscence of the eyes, the pride of life, and the concupiscence of the flesh.
36. (Verse 19.). First, therefore, with regard to the concupiscence of the eyes, he says: There was a certain rich man. This man is called rich not only on account of his possession of riches, but on account of his love for them, by reason of which, First Timothy, last chapter, "those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil," etc.; because by reason of love for earthly things the spirit is fattened and weighed down, so that it cannot attain to the sublime kingdoms of heaven. On account of which, Matthew nineteen: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Explaining this, he says in Mark ten: "Little children, how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel," etc. Concerning such a rich man it is said in Sirach thirteen: "As the wolf will associate with the lamb, so the sinner with the just. What fellowship has a holy man with a dog? Or what good portion has the rich man with the poor? The hunting of the lion is the wild donkey in the desert; so also the poor are the pastures of the rich. And as humility is an abomination to the proud, so also the poor man is an execration to the rich."
37. Second, with regard to the pride of life, he adds: And he was clothed in purple and fine linen. Bede: "Purple is the color of royal attire, produced from sea shells cut around with iron; fine linen is a kind of white and very soft flax." But this man had beautiful and costly garments for vainglory; whence Gregory: "No one seeks costly garments except for glory, so that he may be held more honorable than others." And this indeed is reprehensible and sinful, on account of which Sirach eleven: "Never glory in clothing, and do not exalt yourself in the day of your honor."
38. But one sins in clothing in four ways: first, on account of costliness; whence Bede: "If the cultivation of costly garments were not a fault, the word of God would not so carefully express that the rich man clothed in purple and fine linen was irremediably tormented in hell." For it is greatly absurd that a putrid corpse should be adorned with costly garments, from which many poor could be sustained. But this is excused by reason of the dignity of the person, by reason of signification, and by reason of caution.
Second, on account of superabundance;
James 5: "Your garments are moth-eaten. You have stored up wrath for yourselves in the last days"; and this on account of injury to the poor; whence Job 24: "They send men away naked, taking away their garments, who have no covering," etc. Jerome: "He is convicted of seizing what belongs to others who is found to retain temporal goods beyond necessity." Third, on account of curiosity;
Matthew 6: "Why are you anxious about clothing?" And again: "Consider the lilies of the field: they neither labor nor spin. But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these."
Fourth, on account of indecency,
because it is not fitting for a cleric to dress like a woman or like an actor; Zephaniah 1: "I will visit upon all men clothed in foreign garments"; and Deuteronomy 22: "A man shall not put on a woman's garment."
But in all these ways men are accustomed to exceed in clothing, and by exceeding to glory, and by glorying to sin, and this glorying is vain and similar to the glorying of the jackdaw. For the sheep should glory in its wool and the worm in its silk; for "man is rottenness and the son of man a worm." 39. Third, with respect to the concupiscence of the flesh,
he adds: And he feasted every day splendidly.
The Gloss: "Behold, gluttony," which for the most part has lust joined to it; James 5: "You have feasted upon the earth and have nourished your hearts in luxuries." And note that there is splendor
in spiritual feasting,
which wisdom produces, and this is to be praised, just as also that feasting of which above in the fifteenth chapter: "Let us eat and feast, because the son," etc. This feasting is splendid,
because it has nothing of filth, but comes from the fountain of eternal light: the Psalm: "They shall be inebriated with abundance"; and after: "For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light"; and again: "For I shall pass into the place of the wondrous tabernacle; in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting." — Likewise there is splendor
in bodily feasting,
which mercy produces, and this also is to be praised, concerning which 2 Corinthians 9: "Not from sadness or from necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver." And this splendor consists in cheerfulness of countenance and generosity of almsgiving. Concerning this it is said in Sirach 31: "The lips of many shall bless him who is generous with bread, and the testimony of his truthfulness is faithful." — There is also splendor
in carnal feasting,
which wantonness produces; Zechariah 7: "Did you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?" And this splendor extends not only to dishes skillfully prepared, but also to silver vessels, to white table linens, to multiplied lights. Concerning this, Lucan:
O ambitious hunger for foods sought by land and sea, and the glory of the sumptuous table.
On this Bernard says: "Moreover, the pleasure of the throat, which today is so highly esteemed, scarcely occupies the space of two fingers. With how great a solicitude is so small a delight of so small a part prepared! How great a trouble it ultimately produces!" Now this abundance of feasting produces a poverty of wisdom and virtues, and frequently even of temporal goods; whence Proverbs twenty-one: "He who loves feasting shall be in want; he who loves wine and rich foods shall not grow wealthy."
40. (Verse 20.). And there was a certain beggar
etc. After the cause of mercilessness, the Evangelist here introduces the guilt of mercilessness,
which he shows to be reprehensible from a threefold circumstance, namely on the part of the poor man, which rendered him worthy of mercy and consequently rendered that rich man merciless and impious. For he is shown to be merciless with respect to a poor man who was sick,
with respect to a poor man who was abandoned,
with respect to a poor man dear to God and just.
First, therefore, as regards the destitution of the sick poor man,
he says: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus.
And note here that while the rich man is designated by a common name, the poor man is named by a proper name, so that what is said in the Psalm may be shown: "He shall spare the poor and needy" etc.; and afterward: "And their name shall be honorable in his sight." Whence the Gloss says: "The humble poor man is known by approval through his name." Whence the Lord says to Moses, Exodus thirty-three: "You have found grace before me, and I have known you by name," and this indeed is a great thing. Whence although it is said of the rich in the Psalm: "They called their names upon their lands," to the poor it is said above in the tenth chapter: "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
41. And note that the mercilessness of the rich man is aggravated by the fact that that poor man was alone:
whence a certain Psalm says: "Look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor."
Because he was a beggar:
whence he adds beggar,
as if knocking at the door through the petition of alms; Sirach four: "Do not reject the petition of the afflicted, and do not turn your face from the needy."
Because he was visible:
whence he adds: Who lay at his gate,
so that he could no longer be excused on the grounds of ignorance; on account of which First John three: "He who shall see his brother in need and shall close his heart" etc. O how unlike this man was to Job! of whom it is said in the thirty-first chapter: "The stranger did not remain outside; my door was open to the traveler"; how unlike also to Abraham, who sat "at the door of his tent," so as to receive strangers at once, Genesis eighteen.
It is aggravated also because he was sick,
and therefore he adds: Covered with sores;
Sirach seven: "Do not be reluctant to visit the sick; for by these things you shall be strengthened in love"; whence he could say here: "I am poor and sorrowful" etc.
42. (Verse 21). Again it is aggravated, because he was famished;
whence he adds: Desiring to be filled:
Isaiah fifty-eight: "Break your bread for the hungry and bring the needy and wandering into your house," etc.; and Ecclesiasticus four: "Do not despise the hungry soul, and do not provoke the poor man in his want." - Again it is aggravated, because he was content with crumbs,
whence it follows: With the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table:
Job twenty-two: "You did not give water to the weary and you withheld bread from the hungry"; and Ambrose: "The rich, as though thirsting beyond nature, take from the miseries of the poor the incentives of their own pleasures." - From these six things, moreover, the destitution of this poor man is clearly shown, which made him worthy of mercy and showed the rich man to be reprehensible for his hardness of heart.
43. Second, regarding the abandonment of the poor man, he adds: And no one gave to him: whence Lazarus could say that word of Isaiah sixty-three: "I looked about, and there was no helper; I sought, and there was none to aid"; and Ecclesiastes nine: "No one thereafter remembered that poor man"; because, as is said in Proverbs nineteen, "the brothers of the poor man hate him; moreover, even his friends have withdrawn from him." Whence this poor man was truly abandoned, according to that word of the Psalm: "To you the poor man has been left"; because no one relieved his destitution, no one even tended his infirmity. — Whence it is also added: But even the dogs came and licked his sores. The Gloss: "He could not even drive these away from himself, nor was there a visitor who would drive them away"; from which it appears that the rich man was inexcusable, who saw the poor man thus abandoned. From this also the remarkable cruelty of this rich man can be perceived, because he was more generous to the dogs than to the poor man, and the dogs were gentler to the poor man himself than the rich man. Whence Peter of Ravenna: "The dogs tend the poor man's sores by the teaching of nature; the rich man neglects the poor man, while nature accuses him"; and this is against what is said in Job five: "Visiting your beauty, you shall not sin." Whence the same Peter of Ravenna: "Wretched rich man, if you did not give a crumb to the poor man, at least why did you neglect to drive away the dogs? But your dogs were gentler than you, nay rather you were more cruel than them, and you were gentler to your dogs than to the poor man; your dogs at times received rich food, but the poor man never received even a crumb from your table." From the greatness, therefore, of the poor man's misery, the mercilessness of the rich man is aggravated, and from the abundance of the rich man, the patience of the poor beggar is increased. Whence Gregory: "In one matter two judgments of God are fulfilled: both from the sight of the poor man
a heap of damnation is brought upon the rich man who shows no mercy, and again also from the sight of the rich man
the poor man, daily tempted, is proved"; Proverbs twenty-two: "The poor man and the rich man met one another; the Lord is the maker of both." 44. (Vers. 22.). Third, regarding the sanctity of the poor man,
he adds: Now it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham: from which it appears that this beggar was holy and good, because dying he is received by the Angels and carried to a place of peace: Wisdom three: "In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die"; and it follows: "But they are in peace." Such are carried by angelic ministry: whence Peter of Ravenna: "The Angels do not disdain to carry him whom they previously ministered to here; Hebrews one: All are ministering spirits
" etc.; and after: "Deservedly angelic offices are assigned to the poor man, to whom the services of humanity were so cruelly denied." Moreover, the Angels bear this beggar into the bosom of Abraham, that is, into a place of rest: which place indeed, before the opening of the gate, was in limbo and is called the bosom of Abraham, because Abraham himself was received there as into a bosom by the merit of faith, by which he was called father of many nations: and those who are received there are said to be received into his bosom. Whence also to him first was the promise made concerning the incarnation of Christ. Moreover, it is called a bosom, because, just as in a bosom a thing is hidden, cherished, and guarded as in a familiar place, so also the holy Fathers were preserved in that place; Isaiah four: "Over all the glory shall be a protection. And a tabernacle shall be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a hiding place from the storm and from rain"; and in the Psalm: "For he hid me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils he protected me in the secret of his tabernacle." In this bosom Lazarus was placed and freed from all evils by his death, according to that word of Job five: "In six tribulations he shall deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you. In famine he shall rescue you from death, and in war from the hand of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not fear calamity when it comes." "And you shall know that your tabernacle has peace."
45. And note that there is a bosom that is culpable, praiseworthy,
and desirable.
The culpable bosom
is threefold, namely of carnality:
Proverbs 5: "Why are you seduced, my son, by a strange woman and cherished in the bosom of another?" and 6: "Can a man hide fire in his bosom so that his garments do not burn?" etc. "So he who goes in to the wife of his neighbor shall not be clean when he has touched her." Of cupidity:
Proverbs 17: "The wicked man receives gifts from the bosom, to pervert the paths of judgment" etc. Of cruelty;
3 Kings 3: "She took my son from my side, while your handmaid was sleeping, and placed him in her bosom; but her own son, who was dead, she placed in my bosom"; and Job 31: "If I have hidden my sin as a man."
There is also a praiseworthy bosom,
namely of humility in hiding:
Exodus 4: "Draw back your hand into your bosom. He drew it back and brought it out, and it was like the rest of his flesh" etc. The bosom also of benignity
in nurturing;
Proverbs 21: "A hidden gift extinguishes wrath, and a present in the bosom, the greatest indignation." The bosom also of longanimity
in preserving:
Job 19: "This hope of mine is stored in my bosom"; and Ezekiel 43: "In its bosom was a cubit, and its border reached to the rim," namely the cubit of perfect reward.
There is thirdly a desirable bosom,
and concerning this it says here: "It came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the Angels into the bosom of Abraham," by which bosom is understood the rest of the blessed souls; Matthew 8: "Many shall come from the east and the west and shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
46. But the rich man also died,
etc. After the cause and guilt of mercilessness, he here subjoins the punishment of mercilessness,
which he describes in two ways: first, with respect to the misery inflicted;
second, with respect to the mercy entreated,
at the words: And Abraham said to him,
etc.
The misery
inflicted on account of the guilt of mercilessness is described in three ways, namely: with respect to the casting down into the place of miseries,
with respect to the removal far from the place of the just,
and with respect to the multitude of manifold calamities.
47. First, therefore, as to the casting down into the place of miseries, he says: The rich man also died, through the abandonment of temporal joys. And note that he uses the past tense to intimate that this wretched rich man died, not by one death only, but by a threefold death. The first is the death of fault, by which the soul is separated from God: by this death he had been dead even while he lived; First Timothy five: "The widow who lives in pleasures is dead while she lives": the widow is the soul separated from God. - The second is the death of nature, by which the soul is separated from the body: Ecclesiasticus forty-one: "O death, how bitter is your memory to an unjust man who has peace in his possessions"!
The third is the death of gehenna, by which the soul is separated from the blessed life: concerning this, Revelation twenty: "And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire." In designation of this threefold death, Revelation eight says: "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth," etc.
And he was buried in hell, through the casting down into the place of punishments; and this on account of the fault of pride: Isaiah fourteen: "Your pride has been dragged down to hell, your corpse has fallen"; on account of the fault of wantonness: Job twenty-one: "They spend their days in good things, and in a moment they descend to hell"; on account of the fault of mercilessness: Psalm: "Like sheep they are placed in hell: death shall feed upon them"; and again: "Let death come upon them, and let them descend into hell alive, for there are wickednesses in their dwellings," etc.
From this it appears how great is the difference between the parishioners of Christ and of the devil, because the former are exalted in heaven, the latter are buried in hell, where there is a very deep pit; Job seventeen: "All my things shall descend into the deepest hell," etc.; and in the Psalm: "They shall enter into the lower parts of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes."
48. (Verse 23). Second, with respect to the distance from the place of the just, he adds: And lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, namely in the place of continual affliction; Apocalypse fourteen: "The smoke of their torments ascends forever and ever"; Isaiah thirty: "Topheth has been prepared from of old." "Its nourishment is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord like a torrent of brimstone kindling it." — He saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Truly afar off both with respect to position and with respect to state, because the rich man was in the lowest place, but he in the highest; Proverbs twenty-nine: "Humility follows the proud, and glory shall uphold the humble in spirit"; and Proverbs fourteen: "The wicked shall lie before the good, and the ungodly before the gates of the just." Likewise, the rich man was in affliction, the poor man in rest: Isaiah sixty-five: "My servants shall eat, and you shall hunger." Likewise, because the rich man was in want, and the poor man in abundance; above in chapter one: "He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty"; the Psalm: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied"; and elsewhere: "The rich have been in want and have hungered, but those who seek the Lord," etc. Moreover, it is said that he saw Abraham, and not for consolation, but rather for an increase of torments. Whence Gregory: "It must be believed that before the retribution of the last judgment the unjust behold certain ones in rest, so that, seeing them in joy, they may be tormented not only by their own punishment, but also by the good of those others"; the Psalm: "The sinner shall see and be angry, he shall gnash his teeth and waste away: the desire of sinners shall perish"; and Wisdom five: "Seeing, they shall be troubled with horrible fear," etc.
49. (Verse 24). Third, with respect to the accumulation of manifold calamities it is added: And he, crying out, said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me; so that from the cry the magnitude of sorrow might appear, according to that passage of Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall praise from exultation of heart, and you shall cry out from sorrow of heart and from contrition of spirit you shall howl." And this was indeed fitting for the rich man; Proverbs 21: "He who stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he himself shall cry out and shall not be heard." - And send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water: so that from the petition for a drop of water the multitude of want - might appear - Job 27: "The rich man, when he shall have fallen asleep, shall take nothing with him; he shall open his eyes and shall find nothing. And want shall cover him like water"; the Psalm: "They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands." Whence Chrysostom: "He who exceeded in precious things through guilt here petitioned for the vilest things in punishment"; and again, speaking to the rich man: "Once you did not deign to look upon Lazarus, and now you desire the tip of his finger?" And Bede: "That rich man, who was unwilling to give the least things from his table, placed in hell arrived at petitioning for the least things; for he who denied Lazarus a crumb of bread petitioned for a drop of water"; Proverbs 28: "He who gives to the poor shall not be in want; he who despises the suppliant shall sustain penury." - That he may cool my tongue: so that from the affliction of the tongue the rectitude of divine justice might appear. Whence Peter of Ravenna: "If already the fire of hell possesses you entirely, why do you desire that only your tongue be relieved from the burning? Is it because the tongue burns more, which insulted the poor man, which denied mercy? This proceeds first to judgment, which proceeded first to sin; this first tastes torments, which tasted precious foods and fragrant drinks," according to that passage of Wisdom 11: "By what things a man sins, by these also is he tormented." Whence also Bede in the Gloss: "Note that, as is the custom, amidst banquets he devoted himself to loquacity." On account of which, Proverbs 10: "In much speaking sin shall not be wanting."
Because I am tormented in this flame: so that the rigor of divine vengeance might appear: the Psalm: "You shall make them as an oven of fire in the time of your countenance"; and Deuteronomy 32: "A fire is kindled in my fury and shall burn even to the lowest depths of hell"; moreover Sirach 7: "Humble your spirit greatly, for the vengeance upon the flesh of the ungodly is fire and the worm."
50. And note that this flame was real, but the tongue was imaginary, because true fire afflicts spirits,
according to that passage of Matthew twenty-five: "Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire," etc. And the soul
is also afflicted in the images which it drew from the body, according to that passage of Wisdom seventeen: "There appeared to them a sudden fire, full of fear, and struck with the fear of that face which was not seen, they deemed the things that were seen to be worse." And afterward: "They therefore were to themselves more grievous than the darkness." Whence from this it is gathered that in the affliction of the reprobate there concurs at once both true and imaginary punishment, at once both natural and supernatural action, at once both intrinsic and extrinsic affliction, and at once both one's own and another's, so that thus may be fulfilled that passage of Wisdom five: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless." For the true flame was burning, and the imaginary and phantasmal tongue in the soul of the rich man was also providing fuel to that burning. But mention is made more expressly of the tongue than of any other member that is tortured and afflicted in the infernal fire, because in sins it is as it were the kindling of all iniquity: James three: "The tongue is indeed a small member and boasts great things: behold, how great a fire, how great a forest it kindles! And our tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is set among our members, which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the wheel of our nativity, being itself set on fire by hell. For every nature of beasts is tamed, but the tongue no man can tame"; for it is "a restless evil, full of deadly poison."
51. But this is said because the tongue itself assails the divine majesty, truth,
and goodness, mutual charity,
and all moral uprightness.
It attacks majesty
through words of boasting:
Psalm: "Who said: We will magnify our tongue" etc.; and therefore he sets forth there: "May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips and the boastful tongue." Likewise, through words of blasphemy;
Apocalypse 16: "They gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed God"; and Second Maccabees 15: "He commanded that the tongue of the impious Nicanor, cut off, be given piecemeal to the birds"; for he had blasphemed. - Truth,
through words of falsehood:
Proverbs 26: "A deceitful tongue does not love truth, and a slippery mouth works ruins"; Jeremiah 9: "They have bent their tongue like a bow of falsehood and not of truth." "They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood" etc.: Psalm: "They loved him with their mouth" etc. Through words of duplicity:
Psalm: "All day long your tongue devised injustice; like a sharp razor you have wrought deceit"; and again: "Your tongue fashioned deceits"; and Sirach 5: "Do not winnow yourself in every wind and do not go in every way: for thus is every sinner proved by a double tongue." - Goodness,
through words of flattery:
Proverbs 6: "That they may guard you from the evil woman and from the flattery of the stranger's tongue"; and Sirach 20: "The fool will have no friend, and there will be no grace in his goods. For those who eat his bread are of a false tongue"; Proverbs 28: "He who corrects a man" etc. Likewise, through words of detraction:
Wisdom 1: "Guard yourselves from murmuring, which profits nothing, and from detraction spare your tongue"; and Sirach 28: "Hedge your ears with thorns and do not listen to a wicked tongue"; and Proverbs 25: "The north wind drives away rains, and a sad countenance a detracting tongue"; Job 20: "When evil is sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue." 52. Mutual charity
through words of contention:
Psalm, "You will protect them in your tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues"; Sirach 8: "Do not quarrel with a man of tongue, and do not heap fire upon his wood"; and Sirach 4: "Do not be hasty in your tongue." Likewise, through words of provocation; Psalm: "Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows" etc.; and Jeremiah 9: "Their tongue is a wounding arrow; it has spoken deceit"; Psalm: "They have sharpened their tongues like serpents." - All uprightness of morals,
through words of impurity:
Sirach, last chapter: "You have delivered me from a defiled tongue and from the word of falsehood"; James 3: "The tongue is set among our members, which defiles the whole body and inflames" etc. Likewise, through words of fruitlessness:
James 1: "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue" etc.; and Sirach 19: "For who is there who has not offended with his tongue" etc. And therefore James 3: "He who does not offend in word, this is a perfect man"; whence it is said in Proverbs 16: "It belongs to man to prepare the soul, and to the Lord to govern the tongue"; Proverbs 18: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." And therefore Sirach prayed, 22: "Who will set a guard over my mouth and a sure seal upon my lips, that I may not fall by them, and that my tongue may not destroy me?" - On account of this, therefore, the rich man placed here in hell says, that he might cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame.
53. And Abraham said to him,
etc. After he described the punishment with regard to the misery inflicted, here he describes it with regard to mercy denied;
and this part is divided into two. In the first of which is expressed the denial of mercy
with respect to his own person,
in the second with respect to a related person,
at the words: And he said: I ask you therefore, father,
etc.
Concerning the denial of mercy
with respect to his own person,
three things are introduced, namely the dissimilarity of merits, the opposition of rewards,
and the depth of the divine judgments.
54. (Verse 23.). First, therefore, with regard to the dissimilarity of merits,
he says: And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that you received good things in your lifetime. He calls him son
not from imitation but from natural generation; the Psalm: "The strange children have dealt falsely with me, the strange children have grown old." Whence Peter of Ravenna says: "You call me father,
and I call you son,
so that you may grieve deeply at having lost what you were born to, what grace and nature had given you." To this son he says that he should remember the good things,
not for consolation, but rather for torment; whence Boethius: "The most unhappy kind of fortune is to have been happy." And this he received as the recompense for his good deeds; whence Bede: "Note that this rich man had something good, on account of which he received a transitory good in this life"; whence he was among those of whom it is said in Matthew six: "Amen I say to you, they have received their reward." This merit, therefore, was transitory and a prelude to punishment.
But on the contrary was the merit of Lazarus; whence he adds: And Lazarus likewise evil things;
for this means likewise in the contrary sense:
for Lazarus received evil things for a time in order to purge the evils of sin and to acquire the goods of eternal happiness. Whence Bede: "Lazarus had something evil, but the fire of poverty purged it"; and Gregory: "If we see anything blameworthy in the poor, we ought not to despise them, because perhaps those whom the weakness of their morals wounds, the medicine of poverty heals." And this is the way of arriving at the kingdom; Acts fourteen: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." Whence in this is verified that saying of Ecclesiastes eight: "There are just men to whom evil things happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked"; and not without reason, because Tobit twelve: "Because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that trial should prove you."
55. Second, as regards the opposition of rewards, it is added: But now he is comforted here, while you are tormented. Here, I say, he is comforted for his tribulation: John 16: "The world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy"; whence Matthew 5: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." For as it is said in Second Corinthians 4: "That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, beyond measure," etc. And therefore James 1: "Count it all joy, brothers, when you fall into various temptations"; and afterwards: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation," etc. And therefore Chrysostom: "If we are sick, if we are poor, let us rejoice; let us receive evil things in our life, so that afterwards we may receive good things." For thus the Prophet says: "We passed through fire and water, and you brought us out into refreshment." And as a figure of this, in John 2, at the wedding feast of the chief steward, water was converted into wine. Thus therefore the poor man is comforted, and the rich man on the contrary is tormented: above in chapter six: "Woe to you rich, who have your consolation here"; and Proverbs 14: "Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning takes hold of the ends of joy." For this temporal delight gives way to eternal torment: whence Gregory: "Momentary is what delights, but eternal is what torments." Therefore by the just judgment of God there is a correspondence such that there is a passage from contrary to contrary, namely from tribulation to consolation and from consolation to everlasting affliction, after the manner of a certain cross. As a figure of which it is said of Jacob in Genesis 48 that in the blessing of the sons of Joseph he crossed his hands after the manner of a cross. 56. (Verse 26.) Third, as regards the depth of the divine judgments, he adds: And besides all this, a great chasm has been established between us and you: in which is intimated the impossibility of drawing near between the reprobate and the elect: Ecclesiastes 11: "If a tree fall to the south or to the north, in whatever place it shall fall, there it shall be." This impassability he calls a chasm, because neither can the good descend into the darkness of sinners, nor the wicked into the light of the good: on account of which it is said in John 12: "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you." Concerning this impassable breadth, Ambrose says in the Gloss: "Between the poor man and the rich man there is a chasm, because after death merits cannot be changed," and on this account neither can any mutual consolation be had.
And therefore he adds: So that those who wish to cross from here to you cannot, by offering the aid of piety, nor cross from there to here, attaining to the eternal reward. Whence Gregory says: "The souls of the just, although in the goodness of their nature they have mercy, yet then, joined to the justice of their Author, are bound by such rectitude that they are moved by no compassion toward the reprobate." The wicked indeed cannot go out from the prison of infernal Tartarus: Psalm: "They shall leave their riches to strangers, and their graves shall be their dwelling places forever." From this they cannot go out, because, Ecclesiastes nine, "neither work nor reason nor knowledge nor wisdom shall be in the netherworld, to which you hasten"; for they can neither go out from hell nor enter into the rest of the elect: Isaiah fifty-two: "There shall no more pass through you the uncircumcised or the unclean"; whence Revelation, last chapter: "Outside are dogs and sorcerers, the unchaste and those who serve idols," etc. The good, however, cannot cross over to help the wicked, yet they can cross over to behold them: whence Isaiah, last chapter: "They shall go out and see the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me: their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be unto the satiety of vision for all flesh."
57. (Verse 27). And he said: I ask you therefore, father, etc. After the denial of mercy with respect to one's own person, here is added the denial with respect to a related person. Concerning which four things are introduced, namely the petition for mercy with respect to a related person, the denial of the mercy requested, the reason for the petition proposed, and the approval of the response already given.
First, therefore, as regards the petition for mercy with respect to a related person, he says: And he said: I ask you therefore, father, that you send him to my father's house. Now this petition was carnal, because it extended only to his brothers.
58. (Verse 28). Whence he adds: For I have five brothers: Sirach eighteen: "The compassion of a man is toward his neighbor," etc. Therefore it was carnal, because it was for carnal brothers and those living according to the flesh. And the number five itself also suggests this, in which it is understood that they were devoted to the five senses of the body, according to that which is said to the Samaritan woman in John four: "You have had five husbands, and the one you now have," etc.; and above in the fourteenth chapter: "I have bought five yoke of oxen." Also carnal, because he did not do this in order to avoid the punishment of others, but lest his own be increased by their arrival.
Wherefore he adds: That he may testify to them, lest they also come
into this place of torments.
This indeed he said lest from their presence his calamity should increase through the multiplied torments of his kinsmen; whence Bede: "There is preserved for the rich man unto his punishment both the recognition of the poor man whom he despised and the memory of the brothers whom he left behind, so that he might be more greatly tormented by the sight of the glory of the one he despised and by the punishment of those whom he loved unprofitably." And this is especially true when imitators of others' crimes are sharers in their punishments; whence Gregory: "That sinners may be more greatly tormented in their punishments, they will see both the glory of those whom they despised and the punishment of those whom they loved unprofitably." — Moreover, this petition was not only carnal with respect to himself, but also cruel
with respect to his neighbor, because on account of love for his carnal kinsmen he wished that Lazarus should leave the bosom of rest and go to a place of perils, so that there might be verified in him that saying of Proverbs 12: "The just man regards the lives of his beasts, but the bowels of the wicked are cruel." Whence also Christ, who called Lazarus, the brother of Mary, back to life, is said to have wept, in John 11: "And Jesus wept."
It was also foolish,
because he believed that the word of a dead man availed more than that of the immortal God; whence is fulfilled that saying of Ecclesiastes 10: "But the fool walking in the way, since he himself is a fool, esteems all men as fools," etc. Whence the Gloss: "Too late does this rich man begin to be a preacher, when now he has time neither for learning nor for teaching."
It was likewise shameless,
because he had denied small things and now was requesting the greatest, contrary to that which is said in Sirach 4: "Let not your hand be stretched out to receive and closed when it comes to giving."
59. (Verse 29.) Second, as regards the denial of the requested mercy, he adds: And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. Moses, that is, the doctrine of the Law, which must be heard on account of the greatness of its authority. For, Proverbs twenty-eight, "he who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, his prayer shall become abominable." And therefore the lawgiver said in Deuteronomy thirty-two: "Hear, O heavens, what I speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth." "Give magnificence to our God: the works of God are perfect." And they also have the Prophets, that is, the doctrine of the Prophets, which must be heard on account of the certainty of its truth, according to that passage in Second Peter one: "We have a more firm prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." He who refuses to hear the words of this twofold doctrine, so authoritative and so certain, has absolutely no excuse. On account of which the Lord says through Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah twenty-six: "If you will not hear me, so as to walk in my Law which I gave you, to hear the words of my servants the Prophets, whom I sent to you, rising early, and you did not hear — I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse." If therefore those who do not hear the Law and the Prophets are without excuse, utterly without excuse are those who do not hear the Apostles and the Evangelists, indeed not even incarnate Wisdom itself. Whence she herself complains in Proverbs one: "Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was no one who regarded it"; "I also will laugh at your destruction and will mock, when that which you feared has come upon you." He who does not wish to hear this Wisdom, which "preaches abroad in the streets," is utterly without excuse, because the Law and the Prophets bear witness to her. Whence in Matthew seventeen: "There appeared to them Moses and Elijah, speaking with him"; "and a voice came from the cloud: This is my beloved Son; hear him." And therefore it is said in Hebrews two: "(We ought to observe what we have heard, 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?" And in Hebrews twelve: "You have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood speaking much better than Abel. See that you do not refuse him who speaks."
60. (Verse 30). Thirdly, as to the reason for the petition proposed,
he adds: But he said: No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.
In this he was showing the carnality of his brothers,
inasmuch as they would be moved more by a bodily resurrection than by a spiritual revelation. Hence these were of the number of those about whom Wisdom 2 says: "The impious said among themselves, thinking not rightly"; "There is no relief at the end of man, and there is no one known to have returned from the netherworld." In this he also showed the perversity of his brothers,
that they would prefer the testimony of a dead man to the witnesses of the living God, against that saying in Isaiah 8: "Shall not the people seek a vision from their God, for the living from the dead? To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they shall not speak according to this word, there shall be no morning light for them." In this he also showed the unbelief of his brothers,
that they would not believe unless they saw signs and wonders, like that royal official in John 4: "Unless you see signs and wonders, you do not believe." In this he likewise showed the foolishness of his brothers,
because they ought to be provoked to repentance more by the fact that they see men die than if they were to see them raised from the dead; Sirach 38: "Remember my judgment, for yours shall be likewise: yesterday for me, and today for you"; and Sirach 17: "Before death, make confession: from a dead man, confession perishes as if it were nothing"; Psalm: "The dead shall not praise you, O Lord, nor all those who descend into hell."
61. (Verse 31). Fourth, with regard to the approval of the response already given, he adds: But he said to him: If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, namely by obeying them: for thus they are to be heard, according to that passage in Revelation 1: "Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of this prophecy and keeps them," etc. He who does not hear such great witnesses despises the truth of God, according to that passage in Ezekiel 3: "The house of Israel will not hear you, because they will not hear me. For the whole house of Israel is of a hardened brow and an untamable heart." Whence, because they resist so great a truth, hardened and incapable of believing, he therefore adds: Neither will they believe, even if someone should rise from the dead. And the reason for this consequence is that he who does not believe the more credible testimony will not believe the less credible either. We have an example of this in Lazarus, another who was raised, whom the unbelieving Jews not only did not believe, but rather, as is said in John 12, "the Jews planned to kill Lazarus, because many on account of him were going away and believing from among the Jews." But the obstinate Pharisees not only did not believe, but even wished to extinguish the faith of those who believed. We also have an example of this in Christ, in whom, even when raised, the Jews refused to believe. Whence Chrysostom says: "Christ rose from the dead and announced what evils were in hell; he descended also from heaven and preached what good things were there; yet he was not believed." And this is because such men rejected the testimony of the Law and the Prophets; John 5: "If you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
From the foregoing, therefore, it is apparent that mercy was in every way denied to the unmerciful rich man by Abraham, the most loving father, so that that passage in Isaiah 63 might be fulfilled: "You, O Lord, are our father, and Abraham did not know us." And thus that passage in James 2 is verified: "Judgment without mercy shall be done to him who does not show mercy"; and Wisdom 19: "Upon the impious, wrath came without mercy even to the last." For to such as these is said at the judgment that passage in Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels."