Chapter 17
Chapter XVII.
On human piety with regard to spiritual works in three ways.
1. And he said to his disciples.
After having refuted the impiety of the Jews, he invited the disciples to piety according to corporal almsgiving; here follows the second part, in which he invites to piety according to spiritual almsgiving
. This part is divided into three, in the first of which he instructs the disciples by a reasonable teaching:
in the second he leads them by hand through a sensible example,
there: And the Apostles said to the Lord:
in the third he confirms by an admirable deed,
there: And it came to pass, as Jesus was going.
Instruction through reasonable teaching.
Concerning the reasonable teaching,
he first sets forth a dissuasion from spiritual impiety,
which consists in the scandal of neighbors; then he adds a persuasion to spiritual piety,
which consists in the remission of offenses, there: Take heed to yourselves: If he shall sin.
Concerning the dissuasion
therefore from scandalizing impiety,
he proceeds in this order, showing namely that passive scandal
is inevitable, active
scandal is damnable, and its punishment
is horrible.
2. (Verse 1.). First, therefore, with regard to the inevitability of passive scandal,
he says: And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come.
For this is not said of active scandal,
because that one can well avoid, but of passive
scandal, which is not in the power of any man, because it sometimes takes occasion not only from evil, but even from good, as is said of the Jews in Matthew thirteen: "Who were scandalized in him"; on account of which, Matthew eleven: "Blessed is he who shall not be scandalized in me"; because, First Peter two, "to them that believe not, the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal." But God permits this to happen by just judgment for the punishment of the wicked and the testing of the just; whence Matthew eighteen: "It is necessary that scandals come." And the reason is given in First Corinthians eleven: "There must be heresies, that they also who are approved may be made manifest." Although scandals come through the wicked and from the wicked, they ought nevertheless to be avoided by just men, as much as they can, while preserving the threefold truth. Whence Bede: "Note that insofar as you can without sin, you ought to avoid the scandal of your neighbor; but if it concerns the truth, truth ought not to be abandoned on account of scandals."
3. Now there is a threefold truth that ought not to be abandoned on account of scandal, namely the truth of life, of doctrine, and of justice.
Hence Jerome says: "Everything that can be done or not done, while preserving this threefold truth, should be set aside." But this is not a matter of necessity, but of perfect justice, according to which the Apostle said in First Corinthians 8: "If food scandalizes my brother, I will never eat meat, lest I scandalize my brother." Hence Romans 14: "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine, nor anything by which your brother is offended, or scandalized, or made weak." Hence if anyone is scandalized on account of works of perfection, these are nevertheless not to be abandoned; hence Jerome on the death of Blaesilla: "A darker garment scandalizes someone; John scandalizes, who was clothed in camel's hair."
But we have an example of setting aside indifferent things on account of scandal in Christ, Matthew 17: "But that we may not scandalize them, go to the sea," etc.; where he paid the tribute. And yet he did not abandon the teachings of truth on account of scandal; hence Matthew 15: "Do you know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized?" But he said: "Let them alone: they are blind and leaders of the blind," etc.
4. Second, as regards the damnability of active scandal, he adds: But woe to him through whom they come! that is, who actively scandalizes. Now those actively scandalize who through a word or deed that is less than upright provide an occasion of ruin. For the Gloss says on Numbers thirty-one at the beginning: "Scandal is when a deception unto sinning is placed before one who walks rightly," as Balaam did to the children of Israel. On account of which it is said in Revelation two: "You have those holding the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel," namely, to eat of the sacrifices, etc. This scandal is one of spiritual impiety, when someone by evil example kills the soul of his neighbor, and therefore he himself is rendered worthy of death. As a figure of which it is said in Numbers thirty-one: "Why have you preserved the women? Are not these the ones who deceived the children of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam and caused you to transgress against the Lord?" "Therefore slay all of them, whatever is of the male sex, even the little ones, and the women who have known men in intercourse, put to death"; and in the twenty-fifth chapter: "Let the Midianites regard you as enemies, and strike them, because they too have acted with hostility against you." For he acts most hostilely who extinguishes the spirit of life in the fountain of the heart; therefore Matthew eighteen: "If your hand or your foot scandalizes you, cut it off and cast it from you; and if your eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is better to enter life with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into the gehenna of fire." Now this is not to be understood of bodily members, but of friends, who as members are carnally joined to us, from whom, if they scandalize, we ought to be separated, according to that saying in Matthew ten: "I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies shall be those of his own household." Therefore Sirach six: "Separate yourself from enemies and be on guard against friends." Chrysostom: "Nothing is so harmful as to associate with the pernicious"; and therefore he himself says: "If we cut off members when they have become incurable and have harmed the rest, much more ought we to do this with friends."
5. (Verse 2). Third, as regards the horribleness of the punishment, he adds: It is more profitable for him if a millstone were placed around his neck and he were cast into the sea. Bede: "He speaks according to the custom of the province, where this was the punishment for crimes, that one would be plunged into the deep with a stone tied to him." This, I say, he calls more profitable than that he should scandalize one of these little ones: because this punishment is far less than that which he deserves by scandalizing his neighbor. Whence Bede: "Truly it is more profitable to end life while innocent by the gravest punishment than to merit perpetual death by harming a brother." And again the same author: "For it is more profitable to receive a brief punishment for a fault than to be reserved for eternal torments."
6. The reason, moreover, why so great a punishment is owed to the one who scandalizes is that he takes from Christ that which He loves most, namely the soul, according to that passage of Wisdom 11: "All things are Yours, O Lord, who love souls." Whence also the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 8: "The weak brother shall perish by your knowledge, for whom Christ died"; and there follows: "But thus sinning against the brethren, you sin against Christ." - Another reason is that, just as a great crown is owed to works of edification, so a great punishment is owed to works of destruction; Romans 14: "Let us pursue the things that are of peace, and let us keep the things that are of mutual edification: do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God." - The third reason is,
that, just as it is great cruelty to afflict the sick, so it is great perversity to seduce the simple; on account of which, Leviticus 19: "You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind"; and therefore He says pointedly: One of these little ones.
- The fourth reason is that the one who scandalizes is obligated not only to render his own soul, but also the scandalized soul; whence Exodus 21: "If anyone opens a cistern and does not cover it, and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the cistern shall pay the price of the animals." - This sin, moreover, is grave in all, but especially in those whose life is taken as an example, such as prelates, such as great clerics, such as also religious and renowned men; whence Malachi 2: "The lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth." "But you have departed from the way and have scandalized very many; you have made void the covenant of Levi. For which reason I have made you contemptible and base," etc.
7. (Verse 3). Take heed to yourselves,
etc. After He dissuaded impiety, which consists in the scandal of one's neighbors, here consequently He counsels spiritual piety,
which consists in the remission of injuries.
And since piety ought to be exhibited according to ordered charity, which consists in vigilance with respect to oneself
and in clemency with respect to one's neighbor,
therefore in this part He exhorts the Apostles to the vigilance of their minds,
to discipline with respect to those who err,
and to indulgence with respect to the penitent.
First therefore, as regards the guarding of their minds, he says: Take heed to yourselves: as if to say: you ought first to be watchful concerning your own correction rather than concerning the sins of your neighbor: Sirach thirty: "Have mercy on your own soul, pleasing God." This the Apostle taught in First Timothy four: "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you." And this especially belongs to prelates themselves, who ought first to be watchful concerning themselves: Acts twenty: "Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to govern the Church of God, which he acquired with his own blood." This order, however, is necessary, lest perhaps that word of Romans two be said to one who attends to the correction of others and neglects his own: "You who teach another, do you not teach yourself?" and that of Matthew seven: "Hypocrite! First cast out the beam from your own eye, and then you will see to remove the speck from your brother's eye." And therefore that good watchman said in Isaiah twenty-one: "I stand upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day, and I am at my post, standing through all the nights." He attended to his neighbor, not like Cain: Genesis four: "Am I my brother's keeper?" He also attended to himself, lest that word above in chapter four be said: "Physician, heal yourself."
8. Second, as regards discipline with respect to sinners, he adds: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him: and this through friendly correction, according to that of Second Timothy four: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and teaching"; and Sirach nineteen: "Correct a friend, lest perhaps he did not understand and say: 'I did not do it'; or if he did, lest he do it again." Whence this rebuke ought not to come from anger, but from clemency, not from the desire for vengeance, but from the love of justice: whence Gregory in the Moralia: "If we ought to love our neighbors as ourselves, it follows that we should be angered at their sins, just as at our own." Moreover, one is said to sin against us not only when he sins against our person, but also when he sins in our presence: whence Augustine, On the Words of the Lord: "A brother sins against us if he also sins with our knowledge," because, insofar as it lies in him, he corrupts us by his example, making us witnesses of iniquity.
9. And note that in this rebuke an order must be observed, which is expressed in Matthew eighteen: "If your brother sins against you, correct him between you and him alone." And afterwards he adds that witnesses must be brought in, then the matter must be told to the Church. For first the sinner ought to be recalled by love: which is done
when he is admonished in secret: Galatians six: "Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any fault," etc.
Second, by shame: which is done when witnesses are brought in, according to that of Leviticus nineteen: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but reprove him publicly, lest you bear sin on his account."
Third, however, by fear:
which is done in the face of the Church—First Timothy chapter five: "Rebuke the one who sins before all, so that the rest also may have fear." This order, however, is one of fittingness, not of necessity, and especially if it is perceived that the neighbor is incorrigible by the word of a brother, but only by a strong hand, according to that passage of Proverbs chapter nine: "Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you." Hence Jerome: "To strive in vain and to gain nothing else by laboring than hatred is the height of madness." On account of this, holy Joseph also did not observe this order, of whom it is said in Genesis chapter thirty-seven, that "he accused his brothers before his father of a most grievous crime." From which a pattern is given, that to a prelate, who is a person able to be of benefit, even with no preceding correction, the fault of a neighbor can and ought to be accused—outside of judgment, if it is hidden, and in judgment, if certain proof is had. Hence Bede: "He who sees one sinning and remains silent sins just as much as he who does not pardon the penitent"; which indeed is understood when by one's word the neighbor can be corrected, and no greater danger is feared. Hence on that passage of Second Corinthians chapter six: "Go out from the midst of them," the Gloss says: "To go out is
to do what pertains to the correction of the wicked, as much as is permitted according to the rank of each one, with peace preserved."
10. Third, as regards indulgence with respect to the penitent,
he adds: And if he shall do penance, forgive him.
Bede: "We are not commanded to forgive indiscriminately the one sinning,
but the one doing penance.
First therefore is to rebuke the one sinning,
so that afterwards we may forgive the penitent.
" For the Lord established this law in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter six: "Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors"; and there follows: "For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will forgive you your debts. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your sins." Therefore it is said in Sirach chapter twenty-eight: "Forgive your neighbor who harms you, and then when you pray, your sins will be loosed. A man harbors anger against another man, and seeks remedy from God? He has no mercy on a man like himself, and yet prays for his own sins? He himself, being flesh, stores up anger, and seeks propitiation from God?"
11. (Verse 4). And since mercy ought to exceed the offense, therefore he adds: And if he sins against you seven times in a day,
through manifold injury. Bede: "Universality is customarily designated by the number seven," on account of which it is also said in Proverbs chapter twenty-four: "The just man falls seven times in a day and rises again." Moreover, through these seven occasions, sevenfold tribulations can be gathered by which someone injures a neighbor: by misleading
the intellect, by corrupting
the affections, by afflicting
the body, by taking away
his possessions, by denying
what is his, by mocking
his reputation with words, and by corrupting
his life through example; concerning which it is said in Job chapter five: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you."
And all these things must be forgiven to the penitent: And if seven times in a day he turns to you, saying: I repent,
through mental compunction; forgive him,
through merciful pardon, lest perchance that which was said to the wicked servant in Matthew eighteen be said to you: "Wicked servant, I forgave you all your debt because you asked me; should you not then also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I also had mercy on you?" Just as therefore God grants pardon to everyone who asks, according to that passage in Ezekiel thirty-three: "The wickedness of the wicked shall not harm him, on whatever day he turns away from it," etc.: so also we ought to forgive the penitent. Hence a finite number is put here in place of an infinite one; whence Chrysostom says: "Even if you forgive seventy times seven, nevertheless, as a drop of water compared to the sea, indeed much more so, your generosity falls short of the infinite clemency of God." Therefore all offenses, however great and however many and whenever and by whomever they were committed, must be forgiven, if pardon is humbly sought through true repentance; and the offense must also be forgiven to one who does not ask, but in one way to one who asks,
in another way to one who persecutes.
Whence the Gloss of Bede says: "We are commanded to grant pardon in one way to a brother who asks,
in another way to an enemy who persecutes.
To a brother,
having granted remission, we share in the fellowship of charity; to a persecutor
who wishes us evil, or, if he can, does us evil, we wish good things and do what we can"; and this by the example of Christ,
concerning whom below in chapter twenty-three: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"; by the example of David,
who said: "If I have repaid those who rendered evil to me," etc.; by the example of the protomartyr Stephen,
concerning whom in Acts seven: "And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice, saying: Lord, receive my spirit, and do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord."
A guiding by hand through a twofold sensible example.
12. And the Apostles said to the Lord.
After he instructed the disciples toward spiritual piety by a rational teaching, here secondly he guides them by hand through an example.
And since the root of spiritual piety is twofold, namely fervent faith
and reverent humility
, according to that passage in Sirach twenty-five: "The fear of God is the beginning of his love; and the beginning of faith is to be joined fast to it": therefore here he first proposes an example through which one is guided by hand to fervent faith;
and secondly, through which one is guided by hand to reverent humility,
at the passage: But which of you, having a servant.
Concerning therefore the example by which they are guided by hand to faith,
three things are suggested which contribute to the perfection of faith, namely the origin of faith, its progress,
and its power. The origin of faith
consists in the reception of the divine gift; progress
in the cooperation of free will; and power
in the execution of a wondrous command.
13. (Verse 5). First, therefore, with regard to the rise of faith consisting in the reception of the divine gift, he sets forth: And the Apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith. For the Apostles, seeing that they were not sufficient for those sublime works of piety, which consist in avoiding scandals and forgiving injuries, without greatness of faith, ask that faith be increased in them through the divine gift, from which faith has its origin, for it does not belong to man from himself, but from the gift and bounty of God. Whence 1 Corinthians 12: "To one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit." Moreover, they ask that faith be bestowed upon them by the Lord as a primary gift: Hebrews 11: "Faith is the foundation of things hoped for, the evidence of things not appearing," etc.; and afterwards: "Without faith it is impossible to please God: therefore he who approaches must believe," etc. They ask likewise as a gift commanding other gifts: James 1: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering"; Matthew 21: "All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive"; and Matthew 15: "O woman, great is your faith: be it done to you as you have asked," etc. They ask also as a gift safeguarding others: Ephesians 3: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," "that He may grant you according to the riches of His glory the power to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts." And therefore the Lord said to Peter below in chapter twenty-two: "I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail: and you, once converted, confirm your brethren." For this reason also it was said to Peter himself in Matthew 16: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church."
14. (Verse 6). Second, as to the progress of faith consisting in the cooperation of free will, it is added: And the Lord said: If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed. By the grain of mustard seed, which in itself is small in quantity, fervent in sharpness, and great in growth, we understand the cooperation of free will with respect to the captivation of the intellect, the enkindling of the affections, and the multitude of good effects. Whence the Interlinear Gloss specifies what kind of faith they ought to seek, namely a humble and fervent faith, for which what it has done well is never sufficient. For in the grain of mustard seed, on account of its smallness, is understood faith, in which there is the purification of the intellect: Matthew 13: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which is the least of all seeds." For no virtue so captivates the human intellect as faith; 2 Corinthians 10: "Bringing into captivity every intellect to the obedience of Christ," etc. — On account of the sharpness, however, is understood the enkindling of the affections: whence the Gloss: "He compares perfect faith to a grain of mustard seed, which on the surface is humble and appearing to have no strength, but when crushed by pressures, it will show how much it burns within." Whence concerning Apollos it is said in Acts 18: "He was instructed in the way of the Lord, and fervent in spirit, spoke the things that are of Jesus."
On account of the growth, is understood through this the manifold good effect, according to Matthew 13: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed; which when it has grown, is greater than all herbs and becomes a tree." In this is understood the multitude and heaped-up accumulation of good works; James 2: "Do you wish to know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Abraham, our father, was he not justified by works, offering Isaac his son upon the altar? You see that faith cooperated with his works, and by works faith was made perfect," etc.
15. Third, as regards the virtue of faith
in the execution of a wondrous command,
he adds: You shall say to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea: and it will obey you.
In this is given to understand the wondrous power of faith with regard to those things which are governed according to the course of nature
and according to the onslaught of sin
and according to the merit of justice.
For all these things are subject to the governance of divine providence and in a certain way to the command of perfect faith, according to that passage in Mark nine: "If you can believe, all things are possible to the one who believes." According to the literal sense,
indeed, through the command of faith over the mulberry tree that is to be transplanted, there is understood a command with respect to corporeal elements.
Whence the Gloss: "A species is placed for the genus, because consummate faith can command even the elements"; whence also Matthew twenty-one: "If you shall have faith and do not hesitate, and you say to this mountain: Take yourself up and cast yourself into the sea: so shall it be done." Whence in Hebrews eleven the Apostle gives examples concerning the Saints, saying that "through faith they conquered kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, and were made valiant in battle."
16. According to the tropological sense,
however, there is understood in this a command with respect to the devil and his temptations.
Whence Ambrose: "The fruit of the mulberry tree whitens in flower, when formed it glows red, when mature it darkens: so the devil, glowing with the flower of angelic nature and power, by transgressing became dreadful with the foul stench of sin, who is cast out through faith." Whence First Peter, the last chapter: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in faith"; and Ephesians six: "In all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you may extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one."
17. According to the allegorical sense,
however, there is understood a command with respect to the preaching of the cross
and the evangelical Sacraments.
Whence the Gloss: "Through the mulberry tree,
whose fruit and shoots flourish with a blood-red color, the Gospel of the cross is expressed, which through the faith of the Apostles was uprooted by the preaching of the word from the nation of the Jews, in which it was held as if in the stock of its lineage, and transplanted into the sea of the Gentiles." Its blood inflames us to the conflict against the monsters of vices: whence First Maccabees six: "They showed the elephants the blood of grape and mulberry," etc. This, transplanted through the faith of the Apostles both teaching and working miracles, was established in the Church gathered from the Gentiles. Whence John fourteen: "He who believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater things than these shall he do." As a figure of this, it is said in Hebrews eleven: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with the unbelievers." In this is understood the transplanting of the mulberry tree into the sea through the reprobation of the Jews and the election of Gentile sinners.
18. (Vers. 7.). Which of you, having a servant.
After the example leading to fervent faith, there is here subjoined an example leading to reverent humility
. In the description of this example, he proceeds in this order. For he sets forth
the obsequiousness of servitude, takes up the necessity of serving, and concludes with the humility of spiritual servitude.
First, therefore, as regards the obsequiousness of servitude,
which by inquiry he sets forth,
it is said: Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending cattle,
through the labor of the active
life, which consists in working manfully:
and this is intimated in the act of plowing,
according to that passage in Hosea 10: "Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his furrows"; and above in chapter nine: "No one putting his hand to the plow" etc. It also consists in presiding solicitously:
and this is intimated in the act of feeding,
according to that which was said to Peter in the last chapter of John: "Feed my sheep." Whence the Gloss: "The servant plowing or feeding is a doctor of the Church, of whom it is said: No one putting his hand to the plow
etc.; and the Lord said to Peter: Feed my sheep
." — Who, when he has returned from the field, will say to him
: At once, pass over, recline,
through the sweetness of the contemplative
life, in which there is a return to the heart:
Ezekiel 1: "The living creatures went and returned in the likeness of a flash of lightning"; there is also a passing over to the banquet of delight,
according to that passage in Sirach 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my fruits: for my spirit is sweet above honey." But this refreshment is not immediately given to a person coming from the exercise of action; whence Song of Songs 3: "In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, and found him not"; because the Lord does not immediately offer himself, so that he may be sought more humbly and more vigilantly.
19. (Vers. 8.). Whence he adds: And will he not say: Make ready what I may sup on, and gird yourself, and serve me until I eat and drink,
namely through the groaning of interior compunction,
in which each one prepares
the banquet: Sirach 18: "Before prayer prepare your soul, and be not as a man who tempts God." He girds himself,
by restraining the wanderings of the mind: 1 Peter 1: "Having the loins of your mind girt up" etc. In this also he serves,
by casting himself down, and feeds and gives drink to God,
while he does what is most acceptable: Revelation 3: "If anyone shall have opened the door to me, I will enter to him and will dine with him." Whence the Gloss: "He ministers
to the Creator who, considering His mercy and fearing His judgments, humbles himself regarding his own virtues." And because after this compunction there follows devotion,
therefore he adds: And after these things you shall eat and drink,
through the taste of eternal sweetness.
Gloss: "After I shall have been refreshed by your preaching and compunction, then at last you will be refreshed by the eternal feasts of my wisdom"; Psalm: "My soul refused to be comforted; I remembered God and was delighted," etc.; and again: "My tears were my bread day and night"; and after: "In the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one feasting"; and again: "You have turned my mourning into joy for me," etc. But the Lord does all this for the preservation of humility, which is the root, preservation, and safeguard of the other virtues. Therefore even Paul, already perfect, said in Second Corinthians 12: "Lest the greatness of the revelations exalt me, there was given to me a thorn of my flesh, an angel of Satan"; and Sirach 3: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things, and you will find grace before God"; for Sirach 18: "When a man has finished, then he shall begin."
20. (Vers. 9. 10.). Second, as to the necessity of serving,
which he takes up,
he adds: Does he have gratitude toward that servant because he did what he commanded him? I think not,
that is, I think that he does not. Gloss: "What wonder, if a servant does what he owes, whose lot it is to labor and serve continually?" Sirach 33: "Continual labors bow down a servant."
And note that the Lord seems to say that the master does not owe thanks to the servant — not that he does not accept his works, since it is said in Sirach thirty-three: "If you have a faithful servant, let him be to you as your own soul; treat him as a brother, for you have acquired him with the blood of your soul"; but this is said because what the servant does is more a debt than a gift, more the justice of obligation than the grace of supererogation. And this is especially true with respect to God, whence Job thirty-five: "Moreover, if you act justly, what will you give him, or what will he receive from your hand?" Whence the Gloss says: "If a man demands from his servant not a single form of service but manifold service, and does not consider it a favor, how much more should you, who without me can do nothing,
not exercise the practice of one single work or labor, but always increase former things with new efforts?" For if this is true of a man who is the servant of another man — that his services are more owed than gratuitous — this is far more true of a man who is the servant of God, because all things are from him:
Isaiah twenty-six, "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord"; and First Chronicles twenty-nine: "All things are yours, O Lord, and what we have received from your hand we have given to you." "For it is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish according to his good will," Philippians two. Then because all things are under him:
Isaiah forty: "Who has weighed the mass of the earth with three fingers and balanced the mountains in weight and the hills in a scale?" "Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket and are accounted as the turning of a balance." "All nations are as though they are not, so are they before him, and they are accounted by him as nothing and emptiness." Likewise, because all things are for him:
Proverbs sixteen: "The Lord has made all things for himself." And therefore the Apostle says, First Corinthians ten: "Whether you eat or drink or whatever else you do, do all things for the glory of God."
21. Third, as regards the humility of spiritual servitude, which he concludes, he adds: So you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, through the completion of obedience: for this is true obedience, in which all commandments are fulfilled. For James 2: "Whoever keeps the whole law but offends in one point has become guilty of all"; and Deuteronomy 27: "Cursed is he who does not abide in the words of this Law and fulfill them in deed." And therefore the Lord says to Jeremiah the prophet, Jeremiah 1: "To all things to which I shall send you, you shall go, and all things whatsoever I shall command you, you shall speak to them"; and the Prophet in the Psalm: "Therefore I was directed toward all your commandments," etc. — He who is thus obedient in deed ought to be humble in self-regard, and therefore he adds: Say: We are unprofitable servants; what we ought to have done, we have done, through the recognition of one's own weakness: servants, I say, because bought, beyond what you are worth: 1 Corinthians 6: "You have been bought at a great price: glorify and bear," etc.; and 1 Peter 1: "You were not redeemed with corruptible gold or silver from your vain manner of life, but with the precious blood as of an immaculate Lamb," etc. Unprofitable, not because our good works have no reward or fruit, because they are useful to us, but because we confer nothing thereby upon the divine goodness; Psalm: "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for you have no need of my goods." — What we do is nothing in comparison with what we have received and owe to God; whence the Gloss: "He who came to minister and not to be ministered unto made us debtors to himself, so that, not trusting in our own works but dreading his examination, even when all things that are commanded have been fulfilled, we may recognize that we are imperfect." Therefore the Prophet said: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things he has rendered to me?"
Likewise, what we endure is nothing in comparison to what we await: Romans 8: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in us." Whence the Gloss on this passage: We are unprofitable servants, "because God has no need of our good works: or because the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in us." He therefore who humbles himself in this way is the one who disposes himself for perfect and eternal glory. Whence this humility, which attributes all to God and nothing to itself, will exist perfectly in the fatherland, according to Apocalypse 4: "The twenty-four elders fell down before him who sat on the throne and adored him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power," etc. And in the state of the way, this is found in perfect men, according to Daniel 9: "To us belongs confusion of face, to our kings and our princes and our fathers, who have sinned: but to you, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness," etc. Therefore we ought to say each day that word of 1 Timothy 1: "Now to the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
Confirmation through a miraculous deed.
22. And it came to pass, as Jesus was going, etc. After he instructed his disciples in spiritual works of piety by a reasonable teaching and led them by hand through a perceptible example, here now in the third place he confirms them by a miraculous deed, in which the disciples themselves, from the miraculous work they witnessed, are confirmed unto believing, and from understanding it are enkindled unto imitating. And therefore this miracle must be treated simultaneously in both its literal and spiritual sense.
In the description of this miracle, there is first set forth the healing of an incurable infirmity. Second, there is added the commendation of praiseworthy gratitude, at the passage: But one of them, when he saw.
Concerning the healing of the incurable infirmity, three things are introduced for the expression and commendation of the miracle and for the mystery of its signification, namely: the fittingness of the place, the calamity of the disease, and the ease of the manner of healing.
23. (Verse 11.) First, therefore, with respect to the fittingness of the place, he says: And it came to pass, as Jesus was going to Jerusalem: by which is signified a state of rest, for it is interpreted as vision of peace: the Psalm: "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, praise," etc.; and afterwards: "Who has placed peace as your borders."
He was passing through the midst of Samaria and Galilee:
by which is designated the course of the present journey. For Samaria
is interpreted as custody,
which ought to be present in action with respect to deed,
according to that passage of Ecclesiastes four: "Guard your foot when you enter the house of God"; likewise, with respect to affection:
Deuteronomy four: "Guard yourself and your soul carefully"; likewise, with respect to word:
the Psalm: "I said: I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue." Galilee,
however, is interpreted as transmigration,
which ought to be present in contemplation, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes two: "I passed over to contemplate wisdom," etc.; and in the Psalm: "For I shall pass over into the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even unto the house of God." — And note that he is said to pass through the midst of Samaria,
and afterwards Galilee is mentioned:
because one must first pass through the active life,
and afterwards through the contemplative life:
whence Jacob would not have had Rachel unless he had first had Leah. And he is said to pass through the midst:
for in action
the mean ought to be maintained, by avoiding the excessive and the deficient; in prelacy
likewise, by avoiding respect of persons: Exodus thirty-two: "Go and return from gate to gate through the midst of the camp," etc.; in contemplation
likewise the mean is maintained: as a figure of which it is said of the Seraphim in Isaiah six that "with two wings they veiled the face, and with two they veiled the feet, and with the two middle ones they flew."
24. (Verse 12.). Second, with respect to the calamity of disease,
he adds: And when he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers. In the literal sense,
leprosy is a disease of wretched calamity, because it takes away the remedy of medicine, deprives of the solace of companionship, and afflicts with the burden of infirmity.
And such desolate ones ought to have recourse to the Father of mercies; therefore he adds: Who stood afar off,
recognizing their uncleanness.
25. (Verse 13.). And they lifted up their voice,
expressing their misery: saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us,
imploring divine mercy, according to that which the Prophet says in the Psalm: "I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly; I roared from the groaning of my heart."
26. Spiritually,
however, by the ten lepers
is understood the universality of sinners
sinning against the Decalogue; whence the Gloss: "Those who sin against the Decalogue, neither loving God, about whom they think wrongly, nor their neighbor, from whom they are divided, cry out to God under the number ten." Now the universality of sinners
arises from four causes, namely from love that wrongly humiliates:
and thus it is designated by the leprosy of Miriam
in Numbers twelve, where it is said that after she murmured against Moses, "there appeared a leprosy shining white as snow."
Second, from love that wrongly inflames to the concupiscence of the flesh:
and this is signified by the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian,
of whom it is said that "he was a mighty and wealthy man, but a leper," in 4 Kings five.
Third, from love evilly inflaming to the concupiscence of the eyes:
which is understood through the leprosy of Gehazi,
Fourth Kings 5. For it was said to him on account of his covetousness and simony: "The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and to your seed," etc.
Fourth, from love evilly inflaming to the pride of life:
and this is understood through the leprosy of Uzziah,
of whom it is said in Second Paralipomenon 26 that when he wished to place incense in the house of the Lord and usurp the priestly dignity, he was struck with leprosy.
As a figure of these four causes of leprosy, it is said in Fourth Kings 7 that "four
leprous men were at the gate of Samaria," to designate the fourfold nature of the cause:
and here there are ten
to designate the universality of fault.
27. Spiritually,
however, by leprosy
is understood the vice against the Christian religion, which can come about in four ways; whence the Gloss: "Whoever, cleansed by the grace of God, has been freed from heretical depravity, or gentile superstition, or Jewish perfidy, or fraternal schism: it is necessary that he return to the Church."
Now by these four aforesaid vices the law of truth is especially assailed, which consists in the observance of the Decalogue: and therefore they are fittingly figured by four
and by ten.
Now sinners of this kind, although they walk through dark ways, according to that saying of Proverbs 4: "The way of the wicked is darksome; they know not where they fall," yet when the Lord enters the village,
that is, comes in the flesh, they are illuminated to see the way, according to that saying of Isaiah 9: "To those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, light has risen upon them." And they meet him,
through repentance,
which causes the face that was turned away to be turned back; Jeremiah 31: "Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted." "After you converted me, I did penance." Now this repentance causes one to stand afar off,
through the humility of self-abasement:
below, chapter 18: "The publican, standing afar off," etc.; it causes one to lift up the voice,
through the bitterness of compunction;
Habakkuk 3: "The deep uttered its voice," that is, the sinner; it also causes one to seek healing,
through the confidence of prayer,
according to that saying of the Psalm: "I said: Lord, have mercy on me; heal my soul."
28. (Verse 14). Third, as to the ease of the manner of healing,
he adds: Whom when he saw, he said: Go, show yourselves to the priests.
For the judgment of leprosy pertains to the priests, according to that saying of Leviticus 14: "The leper, when he is to be cleansed, shall be brought to the priest," etc., through the entire chapter. And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed,
namely by divine command, for whom to speak
is to do, Ecclesiastes 8: "His word is full of power"; and "whatever he wills, he shall do."
29. Spiritually,
however, the manner of curing from spiritual leprosy
is understood here, namely through the ministry of the priest; and he intimates this in what he says: Show yourselves to the priests:
Leviticus fourteen: "This is the rite of the leper who is to be cleansed: he shall be brought to the priest." Therefore Sirach seven: "In all your soul fear God and sanctify his priests and Honor God from all your soul and honor the priests and purify yourself with your arms." This honor, however, is through the accusation of oneself, according to that passage of Joshua seven: "My son, confess and give glory to God." Therefore Sirach seventeen: "Know the justices and judgments of God and stand in the allotted portion of the proposition and prayer of the most high God; go into the parts of the holy age with the living and those giving confession to God." Therefore he says: Show
etc.; Sirach eighteen: "In the time of infirmity show your manner of life."
He who thus wishes to confess already begins to be rectified in will; and therefore he says: As they went, they were cleansed,
according to that passage of the Psalm: "I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord" etc. From this there manifestly appears the efficacy of confession,
curing every disease and infirmity. There also appears the sacerdotal dignity,
which he who despises cannot be healed by the Lord. Whence Job thirty-four: "Can he who does not love judgment be healed?" There also appears the wondrous mercy of God,
which cures all who come to meet him, according to that passage of John six: "Everyone who comes to me, I will not cast out." There also appears from this how great the compassion in the ministers of God
ought to be toward the infirm members of Christ; First Thessalonians, the last chapter: "We beseech you, brethren, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all. See that no one render evil" etc. On account of this, the divine dispensation permitted the head of the Apostles to fall, so that in his own fall he might learn how he ought to show mercy to others.
30. (Verse 15.). But one of them
etc. After the cure of the incurable disease or infirmity, there is described here secondly the commendation of praiseworthy gratitude,
concerning which three things are introduced, namely the giving of thanks, the rebuke of ingratitude,
and the approval of gratitude.
First, therefore, as regards the giving of thanks,
it is premised: But one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed,
through the recognition, namely, of the benefit; Romans eleven: "See therefore the goodness of God toward you, if you shall continue in goodness."
He returned, with a loud voice glorifying God,
through the glorification of the benefactor, according to that passage of Tobit twelve: "Bless the God of heaven and confess to him before all the living, because he has shown his mercy to you"; and the Psalm: "I will sing to the Lord, who has bestowed good things upon me" etc.
31. (Vers. 16.). And he fell on his face before his feet, giving thanks to him,
namely through the display of reverence and honor: Ezekiel 2: "I saw and fell upon my face"; and Revelation 1: "When I had seen him, I fell at his feet as though dead."
And this one was a Samaritan,
to express the figure and signification. For this man, because he was a Samaritan and a foreigner, signifies the gentiles returning to the worship of Christ, just as that Samaritan woman, John 4. Moreover, he designates not only because he was a gentile,
but also because he was one:
in which is understood ecclesiastical unity. Whence the Gloss: "The one who returned signifies the devout humility of the one Church toward Christ." In designation of which, Song of Songs 6: "My dove is one"; and 1 Corinthians 9: "All indeed run, but one receives the prize." For this reason one is introduced here as having returned, just as in that multitude one is healed: John 5: "The water was stirred, and one was healed"; and Christ healed only one there, so that, as Augustine says, he might show that no one can be healed except within ecclesiastical unity: concerning which unity, Ephesians 4: "Being solicitous to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." "One Lord, one faith, one baptism," etc. But this one is said to fall on his face,
because the Church not only has unity
through love, but also humility
through gratitude and fear. This is what the falling on the face itself signifies: for falling on the face
signifies reverence,
according to that passage of Revelation 7: "And all the Angels stood round about the throne," etc.; but falling backward
signifies ruin:
John 18: "They went backward and fell to the ground"; and 1 Kings 4: "Eli fell from the seat backward." Whence the Gloss: "He who falls on his face sees where he falls; he who falls backward does not see. The good therefore fall on their face,
because they humble themselves in these visible things,
where they see what follows them, so that they may be raised to invisible things. The wicked fall backward,
because they fall in invisible things,
where they do not see what follows them." Moreover, one falls on his face
in the revelation of heavenly wonders,
as is said in Daniel 10: "I heard the voice of his words, and hearing I lay prostrate upon my face, and my countenance cleaved to the ground." In the petition for divine charisms:
Judith 6: "All the people fell on their face, adoring God, and with common lamentation and weeping poured forth their unanimous prayers to the Lord," etc. In the reception of benefits:
Genesis 17: "Abraham fell on his face and laughed," etc.
32. (Vers. 17.). Second, as to the rebuke of ingratitude, he adds: But Jesus answering said: Were not ten made clean, and where are the nine? He does not ask about the nine as though ignorant of the person of any one of them, but reproving the irreverence of ingratitude, just as the Lord asked in Genesis 3: "Adam, where are you?" Hence the Gloss: "He inquires where the ungrateful are, as though they were unknown"; so that in them is verified that saying of First Corinthians 14: "He who is ignorant shall be ignored."
33. (Vers. 18.). And therefore, to show that He said this by way of reproving, He adds: There was none found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger. In this the ingratitude of the Jews is manifestly shown, because, though they were nine, none of them returned, but only this Samaritan, who was the only one and alone. In this is understood the election of the Gentiles and the reprobation of the Jews, according to that passage of Ephesians 2: "You who were at one time Gentiles in the flesh, who were at that time without Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants, having no hope of the promise and without God in this world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were at one time far off have been made near," etc. A stranger is one who dwells in one place and was born in another: so it is with all who, born according to the flesh, pass over to the spirit, according to that passage of Romans 9: "Not the children of the flesh are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring"; because, as is said in John 3, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," etc. And therefore in the Psalm it is said to the Church: "Forget your people and the house of your father," etc.; and in a figure it is said to Abraham in Genesis 12: "Go out from your land and from your kindred and from the house of your father and come into the land," etc. And therefore in First Peter 2: "I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to abstain from carnal desires," etc.
34. (Verse 19). Third, as regards the approbation of gratitude, he adds: And he said to him: Rise, go, for your faith has made you whole. Rise, through penitence: Ephesians 5: "Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead"; and Acts 12: "He roused him, saying: Rise quickly." Go, through justice: Matthew 8: "I say to this one: Go, and he goes," namely through obedience, which is the noblest part of justice, which was preeminently in Christ, according to that of Matthew 26: "The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of him," that is, to go from God to God and according to God and on account of God; John 13: "Knowing that he came forth from God and goes to God"; and [John] 16: "I go to him who sent me," etc. Your faith has made you whole, through confidence; Bede: "Which inclined him to give thanks"; for faith is the beginning of our salvation, which causes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be known, of whom Acts 4: "There is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved." But hope is the increase of this salvation, according to that of Romans 8: "By hope we have been saved"; but charity is its completion, according to that of the Psalm: "I am yours, save me, for I have sought out your justifications," etc.
And note that Christ attributes salvation to faith, which he himself had virtuously accomplished, so that from this miracle there might be a confirmation of the preceding things as regards the piety of soul in Christ showing mercy, the humility of homage in the one freed falling prostrate, and the firmness of faith in the leper meriting a cure: so that from the aforesaid miracle all the aforesaid things might be firmly confirmed. Whence the Gloss: "In the preceding parable it is determined that faith ought to be increased through humility; in this one it is manifestly shown by the things themselves that it is not merely the acknowledged principle of faith, but the exercised operation of faith, that makes the believer whole."
The curiosity of the Jews is refuted in two ways.
35. And being asked by the Pharisees, etc. The two principal parts having been concluded, in which the deceitfulness and impiety of the Jews has been refuted, and by way of contrast simplicity and piety have been commended: here follows the third part, in which curiosity is refuted. And since curiosity consists not only in the scrutiny of knowledge but also in the possession of wealth, according to blessed Augustine, therefore this part is divided into two: in the first of which he refutes curiosity in scrutinizing; and in the second, curiosity in possessing, below, chapter 18: A certain ruler asked him.
First, curiosity in scrutinizing is refuted by three things.
The first part is divided into three: in the first of which is introduced the reproof of Jewish curiosity; in the second, the assignment of the reason, there: For as the lightning that flashes, etc.; in the third, the persuasion to studiousness, there: And he spoke also a parable to them, etc.
On the rebuke of Jewish curiosity, three points.
In the rebuke
of the curiosity of the Pharisees,
three things are introduced, namely the censure of the curiosity of the Pharisees
who question, the commendation of the charity of the disciples
who desire, and the condemnation of the contrariety of the heretics
who deceive.
36. (Vers. 20.). First, therefore, with regard to the censure of the curiosity of the Pharisees who question,
he says: And being asked by the Pharisees: When does the kingdom of God come?
that is, through curious inquiry. This question was curious, because it concerned a secret matter, which God conceals in his own secrecy, according to that passage in Acts 1: "It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has placed in his own power"; and therefore Sirach 3: "Seek not the things that are too high for you, and search not into things above your strength; but the things that God has commanded you, think on these always, and in many of his works be not curious"; and Ecclesiastes 7: "What need is there for a man to seek things greater than himself, when he knows not what is profitable for him in his life, in the number of the days of his pilgrimage, and in the time which passes like a shadow? Or who will be able to tell him what shall be after him?"
37. (Vers. 20. 21.). And therefore he adds: Answering them, he said
: The kingdom of God does not come with observation: nor will they say: Behold here, or behold there,
through human comprehension. For human comprehension does not extend itself to knowing the time of judgment:
whence he says: It does not come with observation:
the Gloss: "Of time"; Matthew twenty-four: "But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the Angels of heaven, but the Father alone"; and First Thessalonians five: "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night." Nor does it extend itself even to knowing the place:
on account of which he says: Nor will they say: Behold, here,
etc.; the Gloss: "Nor will a determinate place be known." — But the contrary seems to be said in Joel three: "I will gather all nations and will contend with them in the valley of Jehoshaphat." But that is to be understood in the sense that Jehoshaphat
is taken according to its interpretation: for it is interpreted as the valley of judgment.
For the judgment will not take place with the Lord being on earth, but rather in the air, as Jerome says on this passage. — And since idle inquiry is not excluded except by diligent inquiry, therefore he adds: For behold, the kingdom of God is within you,
through the offering of divine grace, which indeed was made at the coming of Christ: concerning which John one says: "There has stood in your midst one whom you do not know." Whence Bede: "He calls the kingdom of God
himself placed within them, that is, reigning in the hearts of those who have believed." On account of which it is said above in chapter eleven: "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you," that is to say, that of which it is said in Romans fourteen: "The kingdom of God is not food and drink," etc. He wishes therefore to say that they ought to consider the first coming and cease to investigate the time of the second coming; whence Bede: "When it shall come can be observed neither by men nor by Angels, just as the time of the Lord's incarnation was foretold by the most certain prophecies of the Prophets and made manifest by the proclamations of the Angels."
38. (Vers. 22.). Secondly, as regards the approbation of the charity of the desiring disciples,
he adds: And he said to his disciples: The days will come when you will desire to see one day of the Son of Man,
namely days of tribulation, in which the desire for eternity is increased, according to that of the Psalm: "In the day of my tribulation I sought God, with my hands," etc. And that will be a day of the harshest tribulation, according to that of Matthew twenty-four: "There will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now."
39. And note that he says days
in the plural on account of the plurality of tribulations which the Church was to suffer after Christ's ascension. There are, however, four principal ones: the first, that of tyrants;
the second, of heretics;
the third, of false Christians;
and the fourth will be compounded from all of them,
which will be that of the Antichrist and his accomplices. And these were signified in the four beasts which Daniel saw, Daniel 7. The first was like a lion, the second a bear, the third a leopard; the fourth is not described, because in it there will be a convergence of all perversities. And this tribulation gives birth to a desire for the day of glory, concerning which Zechariah, last chapter: "There shall be one day, which is known to the Lord of hosts." And this day is desirable,
according to that word of the Psalm: "One day in your courts is better than a thousand." And just
men desire this, as Paul; Philippians 1: "Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is far better." The afflicted
also desire it, as the disciples; whence Bede: "After my ascension, you, groaning in this exile of the world, will desire to see me in my glory. This desire is to be praised, yet it is not to be fulfilled in this world."
And therefore it follows: And you shall not see.
Yet this will be fulfilled at some time, because, Proverbs 10, "the desire of the just shall be granted to them." Moreover, this desire is aroused by tribulation, both because this world is more despised, and because a stronger hope of eternal things is conceived, and because the fire of love is more vehemently inflamed. On account of which, 2 Corinthians 5: "We know that if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens. For in this also we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from heaven," etc.
40. (Verse 23). Third, as regards the condemnation of the opposition of deceiving heretics,
he adds: And they will say to you: Behold here, and behold there.
The Gloss: "Christ is in this person, or in this time."
For heretics have sometimes dared and will dare to say this, and especially that son of perdition. Whence Bede: "Many heretics have been and will be who assert themselves to be Christs, of whom the first was Simon Magus, and the last the Antichrist." Whence also he who was the leader of the Manichaean sect said that he was the Holy Spirit, as Augustine says. Whence, because heretics disagree—one says one thing, another holds the contrary—therefore he says that one says: behold here,
another: behold there.
Whence Matthew 24: "Many will come in my name, saying: I am Christ, and they will seduce many." Moreover, those are seduced who receive their doctrine and follow their way of life.
Therefore he adds: Do not go
with them: the Gloss: "So that you believe what they say"; Isaiah twenty-eight: "He who believes shall not hasten"; nor follow them:
the Gloss: "Their way of life"; Proverbs one: "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent to them." He warns so diligently because it will be difficult to avoid the deceptions of those false prophets and preachers; Matthew twenty-four: "False christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead into error, if it were possible, even the elect." Hence Chrysostom: "A man near death sees phantoms; so too the world at its end will suffer many errors."
Concerning the reason for this rebuke, three points.
41. For as lightning
etc. After the rebuke of Jewish curiosity, there is here added the reason for the rebuke,
which is taken from the manner of coming of the Son of God himself, who will not be able to be hidden when he comes, nor foreseen beforehand. This part is divided into three: in the first of which he treats of the manner of appearing;
in the second, of the manner of coming,
at the words: And as it was in the days of Noah;
in the third, of the manner of escaping,
at the words: In that day
etc.
Concerning the manner of appearing,
two things are introduced, namely the manifestation of Christ appearing
and the order of the appearing.
42. (Verse 24). First, therefore, with regard to the manifestation of the appearing,
he says: For as lightning flashing from under heaven shines upon those things that are under heaven,
namely swiftly and openly. Chrysostom: "Lightning needs no herald, but in a moment is made manifest in chambers and in houses and throughout the whole world." — So will the Son of Man be in his day:
the Gloss: "Sudden and flashing, so that no one may be permitted to hide in his own mind without being pierced by the splendor of the Judge." And note that the appearing of the Lord in judgment is compared to the flashing of lightning,
because it is manifest:
the Psalm: "God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence"; because it is terrible:
Ezekiel one: "This was the vision running to and fro, the splendor of fire, and lightning going forth from the fire"; because it is sudden:
Isaiah twenty-nine: "And it shall be suddenly; by the Lord of hosts it shall be visited with thunder and earthquake and a great voice of whirlwind and tempest and the flame of devouring fire."
Therefore, just as it is foolish to be anxious at night about the appearing of the sun — when it will appear — since its rising can in no way be hidden, and it is even more foolish concerning the appearing of lightning: so too concerning the coming of that day, by inquiring into the certain moment of time, since it will become manifestly known to all, according to that passage of Revelation one: "Behold, he comes with clouds, and every eye shall see him" etc. And from this we can manifestly distinguish Christ from the antichrist, because the antichrist will not be able to make himself manifest to all in a moment of time.
43. (Vers. 25.). Second, as to the order of the appearing, he adds: But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. This is understood of Christ the head and the perfidious generation of the Jews, from whom he suffered many things, of whom Deuteronomy thirty-two says: "It is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children"; and Proverbs thirty: "A generation that curses its father, and that does not bless its mother." By this generation Christ suffered many reproaches, insults, blows, and torments, according to Isaiah fifty-three: "We esteemed him as a leper and struck by God and humiliated. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins."
44. Now this passion began from the head and descended into all the members of Christ; when it is consummated, then the end will come and the time of the second advent. Whence the Gloss: "He must be rejected by this generation, not only of the Jews, but of all the reprobate, from whom Christ daily suffers in his body"; on account of which Paul also says in Colossians one: "I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh for his body, which is the Church." - But when this passion in the body of Christ is consummated, nothing remains but glorification and full retribution; on account of which in Apocalypse six it is said to the Saints desiring the second stole: "Rest yet a little time, until the number of your brethren be fulfilled"; and Apocalypse seven: "Hurt not the earth nor the sea nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads." This is the sign of the living God, which is the sign of the cross, with which all the elect must be sealed; Ezekiel nine: "Mark thau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and mourn"; and after: "Pass through the midst of the city and slay." "But everyone upon whom you see the thau, do not kill." - And note that the passion of the just precedes the reprobation of the reprobate, because justice is stirred to vengeance on account of the perfidy of supreme iniquity; Isaiah fifty-nine: "Judgment is turned back, and justice stood far off, because truth has fallen in the street, and equity could not enter. And truth has been given over to oblivion, and he that departed from evil lay open as prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment." "And he put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance and was clad as with a cloak of zeal, as for vengeance," etc.
45. (Vers. 26.). And as it was in the days
etc. After he described the manner of appearing, here secondly he describes the manner of coming.
The advent of Christ is described as sudden with respect to sinners through a twofold comparison and example. First indeed it is shown through a comparison on the part of the inundating flood:
second, on the part of the consuming fire,
at the passage: Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot.
Concerning the comparison of the inundating flood,
three things are introduced, namely the flood's figure, cause,
and punishment.
First therefore, as regards the figure of the flood itself,
he says: And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
For this was fitting, because Noah bore the figure of Christ, who calls himself the Son of man: Noah
is interpreted as rest, and in Christ alone is rest and peace. For, in Ephesians 2, "he is our peace, who has made both one"; and John 16: "In the world you shall have tribulation, but in me peace." Whence Augustine: "Restless is my heart, O Lord, until it rests in you." Therefore he himself says: "Take my yoke upon you, and you shall find rest for your souls."
46. Not only by name
does he signify Christ, but also by deed.
For just as Noah saved the seed of men through wood, so also Christ through the gibbet of the cross; Wisdom 14: "The hope of the world, fleeing to a raft, bequeathed to the age the seed of generation, which was governed by your hand. For blessed is the wood through which justice is done." Whence he also states beforehand: "Men entrust their souls to a small piece of wood," etc. And just as Noah built the ark, so also Christ built the Church, which is constructed after the manner of the ark from smooth timbers joined together with the pitch of charity, having upper rooms and third stories on account of the diversities of offices, grades, and dignities; Ephesians 4: "He himself gave some as Apostles, some indeed as Prophets, others as Evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ"; in which, that is, the length, breadth, and height of the ark shall be most nobly brought to completion. Likewise, just as those who were within the ark were saved, so those who are within the Church are saved through water and baptism; 1 Peter 3: "In the days of Noah, when the ark was being built, in which few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. Which also now, in a similar figure, saves you by baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ." And just as those who were outside the ark were destroyed, so all who are outside the Church shall be condemned through the final judgment; in designation of which, Acts 27, "Paul said: Unless these remain in the ship, you cannot be saved."
47. (Verse 27). Second, as to the cause of the flood,
he adds: They were eating and drinking, marrying wives and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
that is, they were entirely devoted to the works of the flesh, and therefore were worthy to be corrupted and destroyed in their corruptible flesh. Hence the Gloss of Ambrose: "Neither marriages nor food are condemned, since in the former the supports of succession, and in the latter those of nature, are established; but the immoderate use of lawful things is reproved. For because by giving themselves entirely to these things they despised the judgments of God, they perished by fire or water." Hence in these acts their carnality is intimated, on account of which they were worthy of divine wrath; Genesis 6: "And when God saw that the earth was corrupt—for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth—he said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before me; the earth is filled with iniquity, and I will destroy them with the earth." But their principal fault came from carnality, and he intimates this in the four acts which he touches upon: they were eating,
that is, they were given over to feasting as gluttons,
and therefore worthy of wrath; the Psalm: "While their food was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God ascended upon them." They were drinking,
as drunkards,
and therefore worthy of wrath, according to that passage of Proverbs 23: "Who has woe? Whose father has woe?" "Is it not those who linger over wine?" etc. Isaiah 5: "Woe to you who are mighty at drinking wine and valiant men at mixing drunkenness"; and [Isaiah] 22: "Behold, joy and gladness, eating flesh and drinking wine"; "and this voice was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord of hosts." They were marrying wives,
as the lustful;
Genesis 6: "And when men began to multiply upon the earth and had begotten children, the sons of God, seeing that the daughters of men were beautiful, took for themselves wives from all whom they had chosen." And there follows: "The Lord said: My spirit shall not remain in man, because he is flesh." And they were given in marriage,
as the heedless,
and therefore disposed to destruction, according to that passage of 1 Thessalonians 5: "When they shall say: Peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." Hence whoever is absorbed in these vices, it is necessary that he be engulfed by the flood; on account of which, 1 Thessalonians 5: "You, brothers, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." "Therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober." But the manner is described in Romans 13: "The night has passed, and the day has drawn near. Let us therefore cast off" etc.; and after: "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness." "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ."
48. Third, as regards the punishment of the flood,
he adds: And the flood came and destroyed them all,
namely those who were outside the ark, immediately after the entry of Noah, according to that passage in Genesis 7: "On that very day Noah entered the ark." "And the flood continued for forty days and forty nights," "and all flesh that moved upon the earth was consumed." Whence also in 2 Peter 2: "He did not spare the original world, but preserved Noah, the eighth person, a herald of justice, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly." From this it is understood that the punishment of the future judgment will come upon those who are outside the Church of Christ, while nevertheless the few just are saved; for the Gloss says: "Noah builds the ark when the Lord gathers the faithful in the Church; which, once completed, he enters when he illuminates it by his presence on the day of judgment; but while the ark is being built, the wicked live in luxury, and when it is entered, they are punished with eternal damnation." Moreover, this is said to happen at the turning point of the day,
because at the beginning of the eighth resurrection; whence the Psalm: "In the morning I shall stand before you and shall see, for you are not a God who wills iniquity; nor shall the malicious dwell near you, nor shall the unjust endure before your eyes"; and in 2 Peter 2: "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from trial, but to reserve the wicked for the day of judgment to be tormented."
From this figurative example it appears, both from the allegorical signification and from the expressed similitude, that the day of judgment will come upon carnal and sensual men suddenly
and for the universal destruction
of those who are outside the unity of the Church; but to those who are in the ark, although it will come suddenly,
it does no harm,
because it finds them prepared. Whence below in chapter twenty-one: "Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with carousing and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly. For as a snare it shall come upon all who sit upon the face of the whole earth," etc.
49. (Verse 28). Likewise, as it happened,
etc. After the similitude taken from the flooding deluge, he introduces a similitude from the consuming fire;
concerning which similitude three things are introduced, namely the demerit, the punishment,
and the example of the Sodomites themselves.
First, as regards the demerit, he says: Likewise, as it happened in the days of Lot, namely, a just man. And note that in the description of the iniquity of the shameless people, the justice of the just man is set forth first, because from this their impiety appears more clearly, since a just man was among them; on account of which, Second Peter two: "He rescued just Lot, oppressed by the injury and wantonness of the wicked. For in sight and hearing he was just, dwelling among those who from day to day tormented his just soul with their wicked works." Whence, on account of the justice of the just man, the enormity of sin is aggravated in the impious. —As to which he adds: They were eating and drinking, namely the Sodomites, as wanton, like those of whom Exodus thirty-two says: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play"; and he does not add that they were marrying wives, as before, because they were not sinning according to nature, but against nature: Genesis thirteen: "The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners before the Lord"; and in Genesis nineteen it is said that "they surrounded the house of Lot, from boy to old man, all the people together, and they called Lot and said to him: Where are the men who entered your house? Bring them out here, that we may know them."
They were buying and selling, as greedy: Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: "He who seeks to become rich turns away his eye. As a stake is fixed in the midst of a joining of stones, so between buying and selling sin shall be pressed in." On account of which it is said against these in First Corinthians seven: "Those who buy, as though not possessing, and those who use this world, as though not using it; for the figure of this world passes away."
They were planting and building, as those who were secure, who expected to dwell in their houses and eat the fruit of their trees, like that rich man above in chapter twelve: "My soul, you have many goods laid up for many years." But the Lord said to him: "Fool, this night," etc. And therefore Amos five: "You shall build houses of hewn stone, and you shall not dwell in them; you shall plant most delightful vineyards, and you shall not drink the wine of them, because I know your many crimes." Therefore Isaiah five: "Woe to you who join house to house and unite field to field even to the end of the place!" Because therefore the Sodomites were both wanton and greedy and secure, therefore they were worthy of divine wrath: Ezekiel sixteen: "This was the iniquity of Sodom, your sister: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance, and the idleness of her and of her daughters; and they did not extend a hand to the needy and the poor."
50. (Verse 29). As to the second, regarding punishment,
he adds: But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom,
through the equity of divine justice that delivers: Genesis 19: "The Angels seized the hand of Lot and the hand of his wife and the hand of his two daughters, because the Lord spared them. They led him out and placed him outside the city, and there they stationed themselves beside him, saying: Save your soul," etc.; and below in the same chapter: "The Lord delivered Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he had dwelt." In this, Lot bears the type of the just, who go out from the midst of the wicked; whence the Gloss: "Lot, who is interpreted as turning aside,
is the people of the elect, who, while dwelling in Sodom, that is, among the reprobate, as a stranger, turns aside from their crimes as much as he can"; and this according to that passage in 2 Corinthians 6: "Go out from the midst of them and be separated, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a father to you, and you shall be to me sons and daughters." Therefore divine justice delivered just Lot, and on the contrary destroyed the impious people.
And therefore he adds: It rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all,
namely the Lord, through the severity of avenging justice: Genesis 19: "Therefore the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven from the Lord, and he overthrew these cities and the entire surrounding region, all the inhabitants of the cities, and everything growing from the earth."
And note that he says pointedly that the Lord rained from the Lord,
because, although all judgment is owed to the Lord the Son, according to that passage in John 5: "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son," "because he is the Son of man"; nevertheless the judgment of this sin is specially owed to him, because it is directly against the incarnate Word, and it makes the nature which the Son of God made heavenly, angelic, and divine viler than brute nature, by subverting the laws of nature which brute animals observe. And therefore this vice is punished not only with fire
but also with brimstone,
on account of the burning and the stench of most disordered lust. Concerning the burning,
Romans 1: "They burned in their desires toward one another, males working shame upon males"; concerning the stench,
Isaiah 34: "From their corpses shall rise a stench, the mountains shall waste away from their blood," etc.; and the Psalm: "They are corrupt and have become abominable," etc. On account of these things they were deservedly consumed by fire and brimstone; whence Bernard: "The flame of Gehenna, brooking no delay, came beforehand to destroy this accursed nation, and moreover fire and the spirit of tempests consumed the very earth itself, as being privy to so great a disgrace."
51. (Verse 30). Third, as regards the example, he adds: According to these things it will be, on the day the Son of man is revealed. This is the day of judgment, on which there will be a revelation of Christ himself as Savior with respect to the good: First Peter 1: "You are guarded through faith, unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." There will also be a revelation of Christ as Judge with respect to the wicked: First Corinthians 4: "Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both illuminate the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts." Concerning both, Isaiah 56: "My salvation is near, that it may come, and my justice, that it may be revealed." This day of revelation is similar to the burning of Sodom, because in that event its example preceded; in the Epistle of Jude: "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, having in like manner given themselves over to fornication and gone after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire"; and similarly Second Peter 2: "Reducing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them with overthrow, making them an example for those who would act impiously."
52. And therefore he says according to these things, so that the example may be similar as regards demerit, as regards the manner of judging, and as regards punishment. As regards demerit, because, just as in Sodom many were wicked and very few were good, so at the time of the final judgment,
according to that passage below in chapter 18: "Do you think, when the Son of man comes, he will find faith on the earth?"
Whence the Gloss: "He who in the meantime, not appearing, sees all things, will then, appearing, judge all things, when he shall have beheld all men, forgetful of his judgments, enslaved to this world, so that they deservedly ought to be destroyed along with the very world they inhabited."
According to these things it will also be with regard to the mode of judging, because the Lord is said to have descended: Genesis 18: "The Lord said to Abraham: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied, and their sin is aggravated exceedingly. I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that has come to me." So also the Lord will descend on the day of judgment: 1 Thessalonians 4: "For the Lord himself with commandment and with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God shall descend from heaven." Just as he also delivered Lot the just man, condemning the impious: Wisdom 10: "She delivered the just man from those who were perishing, when fire descended upon the Pentapolis, to whose wickedness a smoking wasteland bears witness, a deserted land, and trees bearing fruit at uncertain times, and a pillar of salt standing as a memorial of an unbelieving soul, etc.": so also will it be at the final judgment. Whence the Gloss: "When Lot departed, Sodom perished, because at the consummation of the age the Angels will go out and separate the wicked from the midst of the just and cast them into the furnace of fire," as is said in Matthew 13. Just as also the wrath of God came upon the impious suddenly, so also will it be at the final judgment: Isaiah 30: "Suddenly, when it is not expected, his destruction will come, and he will be shattered like a potter's vessel," etc.; and Matthew 25: "But while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered," etc.
According to these things it will also be with regard to punishment. For those were punished with fire and brimstone: Genesis 19: "Abraham rose in the morning," "and he saw the ashes ascending from the earth like the smoke of a furnace." So will it be in the punishment of the impious at the judgment: the Psalm: "He shall rain upon sinners snares, fire and brimstone and a blast of storms, the portion of their cup"; and Ezekiel 38: "I will rain fire and brimstone upon him and upon his army and upon the many peoples who are with him"; whence also Apocalypse 14: "If anyone shall worship the beast, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the sight of the holy Angels." "And the smoke of their torments shall ascend forever and ever."
53. In that day, he who shall be on the housetop, etc. After he described the mode of appearing and the mode of coming, here thirdly he describes the mode of escaping. This part has three parts: in the first of which the mode of escaping is described; in the second, the state of those escaping, at the words: I say to you: In that night; in the third, the end-point or place of escape, at the words: They answering say to him.
Concerning the mode of escaping, four things are introduced, namely the mode of fleeing, the mode of being in danger, the reason for the danger, and the reason for the remedy.
54. (Verse 31.). First, therefore, as regards the mode of escape, he says: In that day, he who shall be on the housetop, through the love of spiritual things; whence the Gloss: "On the housetop is he who, surpassing carnal things, lives spiritually as if in the free air." Upon this housetop the preacher of truth ought to ascend, so that he may do what he persuades others to do; Matthew 10: "What you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops." For in Isaiah 40 it is said: "Get up upon a high mountain, you who evangelize Zion," etc.
And his goods in the house, through contempt of carnal things; the Gloss: "His goods in the house are the carnal concupiscences which he had formerly loved, but seeking heavenly things, had left behind in the world," according to that passage of First Thessalonians 4: "Let each one know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, and not in the passion of desire, as do the Gentiles who know not God"; concerning whom Isaiah 65 says: "They eat swine's flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels." Let him not come down to take them away, through relapse into sin, as that man of whom it is said above in chapter 10: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves"; Isaiah 31: "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses," etc. And he who is in the field, through the exercise of virtues; the Gloss: "In the field is he who labors in the Church, planting and watering"; Proverbs 24: "Diligently cultivate your field, so that afterward you may build your house"; likewise let him not turn back, to the works of vice, because, as is said above in chapter 9, "No one putting his hand to the plow and looking back," etc. He wishes therefore to say that whoever wants to escape that day of judgment so as not to perish must, by despising worldly things, tend most perseveringly toward eternal things, as Paul both did and said in Philippians 3: "Forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press toward the mark, toward the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus." Although this perseverance is necessary for all, it is most especially so when the future judgment is imminent, when tribulations and many evil examples and teachings will press upon them; Matthew 24: "False prophets shall arise and shall seduce many. And because iniquity shall abound, the charity of many shall grow cold; but he who shall persevere unto the end," etc.
55. (Verse 32.). Second, regarding the manner of endangerment which must be avoided, he adds: Remember the wife of Lot, about whom it is said in Genesis 19: "The wife of Lot, looking back behind her, was turned into a pillar of salt." And the reason for this is that she acted against the command of the Lord, which is stated in Genesis 19: "Do not look back behind you, nor stand still in all the surrounding region, but save yourself on the mountain, lest you also perish together." In this it is understood that the entire danger to salvation in those converted to Christ consists in turning back; whence 2 Peter 2: "It is better not to know the way of truth than, after knowing it, to turn back." And he gives the reason for this when he states beforehand: "For if, having fled the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter things have become worse for them than the former." And therefore, for the detestation of apostasy and relapse and regression, the Lord placed that memorial about the wife of Lot; about whom Wisdom 10: "A standing pillar of salt, the memorial of an unbelieving soul." Therefore he says pointedly: Remember the wife of Lot. For she was turned into a pillar of salt so that by thus displaying her foolishness she might give others the seasoning of wisdom, so that no one would look back, according to what is said above in chapter 14: "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its savor, with what shall it be seasoned? It is good for nothing further," etc. Whence the Gloss: "The wife of Lot signifies those who in tribulation look back and turn themselves away from the hope of the divine promise; and therefore she was made a pillar of salt, because by admonishing people not to do similar things, she seasons their hearts, lest they be foolish." This, however, is not only an example but also a figure and a foreshadowing. For just as that conflagration signifies the final judgment that is imminent, so the wife of Lot looking back signifies effeminate and carnal souls who will turn back and apostatize in that tribulation.
56. (Verse 33.). Third, regarding the reason for the danger, he adds: Whoever shall seek to save his life, through private love; for soul is taken here for the carnal life, about which Leviticus 17: "The soul of all flesh is in the blood"; the Gloss there: "He called the life of the body soul — not the soul which departs from the body, but that which ends with death." He who loves it too much seeks to save this; whence the Gloss on whoever shall seek to save his life: "He who wishes to save his carnal life in the world by denying Christ."
Concerning which he adds: He will lose it,
that is, by divine judgment; John 12: "He who loves his soul will lose it." And indeed this happens by the just judgment of God, so that he who by immoderate love of himself offends God loses at once both divine happiness and the salvation of his soul. And this is because, by loving the changeable good above the unchangeable, he loves iniquity; Psalm: "He who loves iniquity hates his own soul"; and truly, because, as is said in Matthew 16, "what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul?" The reason, therefore, for all that peril is the turning toward private good,
by which one loves himself too much, and by loving himself too much, is affected beyond what is due concerning private good—by hoping for and rejoicing at its presence, by fearing and grieving at its absence. And all this comes from the love of private good, which will reign most of all at the end of the world; 2 Timothy 3: "In the last days perilous times shall come, and men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, proud," etc.;
and by loving themselves too much, they will render themselves hateful to God; Isaiah 28: "The bed is narrowed, so that one must fall off, and the short covering cannot cover both," etc.
57. Fourth, as regards the reason of the remedy,
he adds: And whoever shall lose it,
through hatred of all carnality. For he is said to lose
his life
who pursues its carnality by crucifying it, as Paul says in Galatians 5: "Those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences." Therefore he himself said in Galatians 2: "I am nailed to the cross with Christ. Yet I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me." He showed an example of this in Acts 20: "Chains and tribulations await me at Jerusalem. But I fear none of these things, for I do not count my life more precious than myself, provided that I may finish my course and the word of the ministry which I have received." He therefore loses who exposes to destruction for the love of Jesus Christ; and concerning this it is added: He shall preserve it alive,
through the reward of eternal happiness: John 12: "He who hates his life in this world keeps it unto life eternal." And the reason for this is that he is worthy to be delivered by the Lord who loves Him even to the hatred of himself: Apocalypse 12: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even unto death." He who loves thus loves God supremely, according to that passage in John 15: "Greater charity no one has than that one lay down his life for his friends." And since he is thus loving, he is worthy to be loved,
according to that passage in Proverbs 8: "I love those who love me"; he is also deservedly worthy to be eternally given life
and to be delivered from every danger: Apocalypse 7: "These who are clothed in white robes, who are they and whence have they come? And he said to me: These are they who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God; they shall neither hunger nor thirst anymore, nor shall the sun fall upon them nor any heat, for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall rule them and lead them to the fountains of the waters of life."
58. (Verse 34). I say to you: In that night,
etc. After he has described the manner of escaping, here he describes the state of those who escape,
which he describes as threefold, namely of contemplatives, actives,
and prelates,
according to that passage in Ezekiel 14: "If these three men were in the midst of it — Noah, Daniel, and Job — they themselves shall deliver their own souls"; in whom is understood the threefold state of those to be saved, such that in Noah, who presided over the ark, prelates are understood;
in Daniel, contemplatives;
and in Job, actives.
In every state, however, there are some good and some evil, some just and some unjust, so that every state may be stirred by fear, "and the whole world may be made subject to God."
First, therefore, as regards the state of contemplatives, he says: I say to you: In that night there shall be two in one bed, as regards the state of those contemplating, which is rightly called a little bed, according to that passage of Song of Songs 3: "In my little bed I sought by night him whom my soul loves," etc. Moreover, by the little bed is understood the state of contemplatives, because it is a place of rest: Song of Songs 3: "Behold, the little bed of Solomon, sixty strong men surround it"; likewise, a place of solitude: Matthew 6: "But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber," etc.; likewise, a place of nuptial companionship: Song of Songs 1: "Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved; behold, you are beautiful, your eyes are as doves. Behold, you are handsome, my beloved, and comely. — Our little bed is flowering."
In this bed, therefore, both the elect and the reprobate are sometimes admitted; on account of which he adds: One shall be taken, namely to the divine fellowship. As a figure of which, Matthew 17: "Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart." Whence that holy contemplative said in the Psalm: "You have held my right hand, and in your will you have led me, and with glory you have received me"; and again: "For our assumption is of the Lord, and of the Holy One of Israel, our king."
And the other shall be left, namely to eternal punishment; Job 20: "A fire that is not kindled shall devour him, and he that is left in his tabernacle shall be afflicted."
And note that whereas he had previously stated in that day, now he says in that night: for the final tribulation is called day on account of the revelation of the judge himself, and is called night on account of the horror of the tribulations, according to that passage of Wisdom 17: "Nor could the brightest flames of the stars illuminate that horrendous night." Whence the Gloss: "in that night, that is, in that tribulation so dark that even the elect, if it were possible, would be led into error." And concerning this, the Psalm: "You have appointed darkness, and it became night: in it all the beasts of the forest shall pass through." In this, not only the simple shall fall, but also some contemplatives and great ones. As a figure of which it is said in Matthew 24: "The stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."
59. (Verse 35). Secondly, as regards the state of actives, he adds: Two shall be grinding together, through engagement in the active life, which is rightly understood by the millstone, because those who are occupied with the acts of the active life go around and run about in the manner of a millstone and do not stop at one work, as was said to Martha above in chapter 10: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things."
Or because such persons ought to be raised up
by the hope of eternal rewards and cast down
by the terror of punishments, namely by hope and fear, by which, as by millstones, the spiritual mill is moved; whence Deuteronomy 24: "You shall not take as a pledge the lower and the upper millstone." And since man is occupied with this with respect to the lower portion of reason, therefore he speaks in the feminine gender: Two women shall be grinding:
whence the Gloss: "'Two' signifies the differences of those following the circuit of changeable things, who are designated by the feminine gender, because they are governed by evil counsel, as women by men, who nevertheless grind as one,
insofar as from their affairs they serve the uses of the Church."
And because among these there are some who are good, therefore it is added: One shall be taken,
namely unto glory, according to that word of the Psalm: "He sent from on high and took me and drew me out of many waters." - And the other shall be left,
namely unto Gehenna; Isaiah 1: "The daughter of Sion shall be left as a shelter in a vineyard and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers and as a city that is laid waste"; and Matthew 23: "Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate."
60. Thirdly, with respect to the state of prelates,
he adds: Two shall be in the field,
through the guardianship of Churches; the Gloss: "'Two' signifies the differences of preachers laboring in the Church as in a field." Whence the Apostle also calls the prelate and preacher a farmer;
2 Timothy 2: "The laboring farmer ought first to partake of the fruits"; and therefore 1 Corinthians 3: "You are God's husbandry, you are God's building." On account of which it was said in Jeremiah 1: "Behold, I have set you over nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down and to scatter and to overthrow and to build and to plant." In this field of the Church grow the fruits of good works:
Genesis 27: "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field, which the Lord has blessed"; there grow also the flowers
of the Saints, namely the roses of Martyrs, the lilies of Virgins, and the violets of Confessors; the Psalm: "The beauty of the field is with me."
Among these farmers, however, some shall be saved, and therefore he adds: One shall be taken,
namely to the summit of eternal goods; Haggai 2: "I will take you, O Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and I will make you as a signet ring, because I have chosen you." - And the other shall be left,
namely in the calamity of infernal reproaches; Isaiah 27: "The fortified city shall be desolate, the fair city shall be left and abandoned like a wilderness."
From all these things it is gathered that in any state of those to be saved, some will be good and some will be evil; and thus all should fear, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes 9: "There are just and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God; and yet man does not know whether he is worthy of love or of hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the future." On account of which, if anyone wishes to escape the future judgment, there is necessary for him not only contempt of the world, but also divine fear, according to that passage of Isaiah 2: "Enter into the rock and hide in the pit of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His Majesty"; "for He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens." Therefore let each one, terrified, cry out with the Apostle and say: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments," etc.
61. (Verse 36.). Answering, they say to Him,
etc. After He described the manner of escaping and the state of those who escape, there is added here finally the terminus of the escape
and the place of rest, which the Apostles inquire about, when it is said: Answering,
namely the Apostles, they say to Him: Where, Lord?
namely, will one be taken up and left behind. Whence the Apostles inquire about both, but the Lord answers one expressly and hints at the other tacitly; whence the Gloss: "To those asking two things He answers one, namely that the Saints are to be taken up with Him; the other He hints at by keeping silent, namely that the wicked, repelled from Him, are to be damned with the devil."
62. (Verse 37). And therefore he adds: Who said to them: Wherever the body shall be, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
Note here a noteworthy example: the elect will be gathered to Christ as to the abundance of their refreshment, just as eagles are gathered to a body as to food. Job, chapter thirty-nine, speaking of the eagle says: "Wherever there is a carcass, it is immediately present." Whence Jerome says: "Eagles and vultures are said to sense carcasses across the sea." Moreover, they are gathered by a most keen sense of smell, a most sharp sight, a most swift movement, and a most avid appetite. So the Saints will be gathered to Christ, to the incarnate Word, by a most ardent desire,
a most clear gaze,
a most savory taste,
and by an excessive movement of love.
On account of which the Prophet David also, expressing the approach of these eagles to Christ, expresses in himself desire:
"As the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God"; gaze:
"For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light," etc.; taste:
"I shall be satisfied when your glory appears"; love:
"For my heart was inflamed." As a figure of these things, it is said in Job chapter thirty-nine: "Will the eagle be raised up at your command and make its nest on high? It dwells in rocks and abides on jagged flints"; "its eyes gaze from afar, and its young ones lap up blood," etc. Concerning the nature of the eagle, Ambrose says that the eagle seeks the heights, abandons lowly things, and is said to have a long life. So the Saints after the resurrection, renewed after the manner of the eagle, according to that saying of the Psalm: "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's," will both tend upward and live forever with the Lord, according to that passage of First Thessalonians chapter four: "Then we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."