Chapter 4

Chapter IV.


Part II. The ministry of preaching is treated in two ways.

1. But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, etc. Above, the Evangelist has treated the mystery of the incarnation, or the nativity of Christ; in this part he treats the ministry of preaching, or doctrine. And since the work of the wise man is twofold, namely in teaching, "not to lie about what he knows, and to expose the liar," therefore this part has two sections. In the first he unfolds the truth; in the second he refutes falsehood, below in chapter eleven: Jesus was casting out a demon, etc.

First, the truth of doctrine is unfolded in four ways.

The first part, in which he unfolds the truth of doctrine, has four sections: in the first of which occurs the authentication of Christ's doctrine; in the second is treated the calling of the disciples, below in chapter five: It came to pass, when the crowds, etc.; in the third, the instruction of those called, below in chapter six: It came to pass in those days, etc.; in the fourth, the delegation of those instructed, below in chapter nine: And having called together the twelve Apostles, he gave them, etc. The order and sufficiency of the parts is self-evident.

First, the doctrine of Christ is authenticated through three things.

The first part, therefore, in which the authentication of Christ's doctrine occurs, comprises the present chapter and has three parts. Since doctrine is authenticated in three ways: either from the merit of life, or from the testimony of Scripture, or from the miracle of power: therefore in the first part is shown the authorization of Christ's doctrine from the merit of life; in the second, from the testimony of Scripture, at: Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit; in the third, from the miracle of power, at: And he went down to Capernaum, etc., where the miracles are treated.

The doctrine of Christ is authenticated from the merit of life.

Merit, however, consists in victory over temptations, because "the life of man upon earth is a warfare"; therefore the Evangelist describes how he overcame the diabolical temptation. For a complete description of this, three things are fitting, namely the occasion of the temptation; the manner of tempting, which he touches upon at: And the devil said to him; and the third, the consummation of the temptation, which he expresses at: And when every temptation was ended, etc.

The motive for tempting, however, the devil drew from four things considered in Christ: the first is the fullness of grace, the second is the solitude of the place, the third is the suspicion of Divinity on account of his wondrous abstinence, the fourth is the observation of infirmity on account of his apparent need. The consideration of the fullness of grace moved the devil's will to tempt through envy; the consideration of solitude furnished the malice for tempting; the suspicion of Divinity incited the curiosity for tempting; the observation of necessity provided the opportunity for tempting.

2. (Vers. 1.). He therefore introduces the fullness of grace in Christ, saying: But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, not because He was first filled there, but because then His fullness first began to appear, by overflowing unto others, according to that passage of John chapter one: "And we saw His glory"; and afterwards: "Of His fullness we have all received." Full, I say, not only sufficiently, but also superabundantly: whence Colossians chapter one: "In Him it pleased all fullness to dwell"; and chapter two: "In whom all the fullness of the Divinity dwells bodily".

3. Then he adds the solitude of the place, because in the desert: on account of which he adds: And He was driven by the Spirit into the desert so that he might test whether He was God or the Son of God, because perhaps he had heard that word: "This is My beloved Son." To be driven by the Holy Spirit belongs to benignity: whence Romans chapter eight: "Whosoever are driven by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Hence Gregory says: "It is fittingly understood that He is believed to have been led by the Holy Spirit, so that His own Spirit might lead Him there where the evil spirit would find Him to tempt Him." Whence He led Him into the desert, where God is accustomed to speak intimately with the soul, according to that passage of Hosea chapter two: "I will lead her into the wilderness, and there I will speak to her heart." And therefore the holy soul says in the Psalm: "I went far off fleeing and remained in solitude"; so also David, in First Kings chapter twenty-three, "dwelt in the desert and remained in the mountain of solitude."

4. (Vers. 2.). And the time is specified, namely forty days, so that thus the truth might correspond to the figure: so Moses, Exodus chapter twenty-four; so Elijah, Third Kings chapter nineteen, so that thus Christ's fast might have testimony from both the Law and the Prophets.

And lest you believe that Christ withdrew there for rest, it is added: And He was tempted by the devil, not interiorly, but only exteriorly. For as Gregory says:

"The delight of sin did not bite His mind"; Hebrews chapter four: "We do not have a High Priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, tempted in all things according to likeness, without sin."

5. And note spiritually, that here Christ is said to be driven by the Spirit, in Matthew chapter four He is said to be led, in Mark chapter one He is said to be driven out. In which it is signified that one comes to the desert of penance in three ways, namely by the fear of severity, whose property it is to drive out from evil to good: Ecclesiasticus chapter one, "The fear of the Lord drives out sin," etc. By the splendor of truth, whose property it is to lead: Proverbs chapter four: "I will lead you through the paths of equity," etc., says Wisdom. By the love of goodness, whose property it is to drive: Romans chapter eight: "Whosoever are driven by the Spirit of God," etc. Or through threats, admonitions, and promises, which three correspond in us to the three powers of the soul, namely the irascible, the rational, and the concupiscible.

6. Third, he introduces a wondrous abstinence, when he adds: And he ate nothing in those days, namely the forty days. From this the devil suspected him to be God, because he was fasting beyond human power, which commonly does not extend beyond three days; hence in Matthew 15 it is said concerning the crowds who had been fasting for three days: "I am unwilling to send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way." - And note here that the Savior fasted before the temptation and ate after the resurrection for our instruction. Hence Augustine: "Christ fasted before the death of the flesh, as if crying out: Abstain from carnal desires, while you are in the struggle. He ate after the resurrection, as if to say: while you have a mortal body, feed yourselves now on the hope of immortality, because while we travel the way of the Lord, we ought both to fast from the vanity of the world and to be refreshed by the promise of the future," so that we may always say: "I shall be satisfied when your glory appears."

7. Finally, he adds an apparent need, when he subjoins: And when they were completed, he was hungry. For he did not wish to abstain any longer, lest the devil be able to perceive it. Hence Ambrose: "He hungers, lest the sublime God be recognized; for the hunger of the Lord is a pious ruse, lest the devil beware of tempting him." And note that he hungered in the temptation, as is said here, and thirsted in the passion, as is said in John 19, to show that he had true humanity, and to invite to poverty and the painfulness of penance; hence the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 11: "In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in many fastings." Moreover, he hungered and thirsted not for himself, but for us, for whom he merited the spiritual refreshment of his body and blood, by which we are fed and given drink; John 6: "My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink."

8. But the devil said to him etc. After he described the occasion of the temptation, here he describes the manner of tempting, and this according to a threefold motive. Now the motive to sin is a changeable good, which exists in a threefold difference: either it is inferior, and this belongs to the flesh; or exterior, and this belongs to the world; or interior, and this is the excellence of the mind. From the first, a person is made voluptuous; from the second, curious; from the third, presumptuous. In the first way, the tempter brings a suggestion through the inferior good, which belongs to the flesh, to entice to gluttony; in the second, through the exterior good, which belongs to the world, to entice to avarice, and this is at: And the devil led him to a mountain; in the third, through the interior good, which is the excellence of the mind, to entice to pomp or pride, at: And he led him to Jerusalem etc. And these three correspond to the three things in which he tempted and conquered the first man, and these temptations follow an ordered progression from lower to higher: because by the first, one is assailed with respect to the act of the vegetative power; by the second, with respect to the act of the sensitive power; by the third, with respect to the act of the rational power.

As regards the first temptation, therefore, note the devil tempting, and then the Lord responding.

9. (Verse 3). He introduces the devil tempting, when he says: And the devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread, which he says so that he himself might gain proof concerning him and so that he might incite him to gluttony. For since you are a hungry man, command that you may be refreshed: not because the refreshment of Christ pertained to him in any way: Proverbs twenty-three: "Eat and drink, he will say to you, and his heart is not with you"; but if you are the Son of God, say this very thing, so that, if it comes to pass, you may be recognized as omnipotent: Ecclesiastes eight: "His word is full of power, and whatever he wills, he will do." Hence note the cunning of the devil in tempting, because, when he saw Christ's weakness and doubted his Divinity, he wished to guard against the Divinity by discovering it and to cast down his humanity by seducing it. In which there was at once deceit and pride, according to that passage of Job forty-one: "He beholds every high thing, and he himself is king over all the children of pride."

10. (Verse 4). But against this malicious and proud temptation stands the response of God, humble and discreet, because it conceals his Divinity and avoids carnality; whence it is added: And Jesus answered him: It is written, that man does not live by bread alone: Wisdom sixteen: "It is not the fruits of the earth that nourish men, but your word preserves those who believe in you." But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This is written in Deuteronomy eight: "He afflicted you with want and gave you manna for food, which you did not know, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"; whence John six: "The words that I speak to you are spirit and life."

And note that Christ defends himself through Scripture, in which he reveals his wisdom and conceals his power and preserves justice; and thus the devil's suggestion was entirely nullified, because he neither gained proof concerning God nor dragged man into gluttony. Whence that passage of Job twenty-six was verified: "His wisdom struck the proud one," namely the devil. And from this the nobility of Scripture is apparent, by which Christ in temptation defended himself as with a shield, according to that passage of Proverbs thirty: "Every word of the Lord is a fiery shield to all who hope in him"; whence also Ephesians six: "In all things taking up the shield of faith, by which you may extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

11. (Verse 5). And the devil led him. Here the second temptation is described, concerning which two things are to be noted. The first is the diabolical suggestion, and the second is the Lord's response, which is noted there: And Jesus answering said to him, etc.

Concerning the devil's suggestion, note the leading, the showing, the promising, the persuading.

The leading, however, is done as if to one who is powerless, although it is said in Wisdom 12: "Power is at hand for you whenever you will it." Whence he says: And the devil led him to a high mountain: he led, I say, as one who was weak, yet not unwilling, as Peter, of whom it is said in the last chapter of John: "When you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go"; but as one humbly permitting, after the manner of him of whom Isaiah 53 says: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer he shall be silent," etc. If therefore he endured this from the members of the devil, what wonder if he patiently endured it from the head of the wicked? And he led him to a mountain, because, being proud, he always seeks high places: Isaiah 14: "I will ascend above the stars, I will sit upon the mountain of the covenant"; and because in a place of eminence man easily falls: whence 3 Kings 22: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains."

12. The showing is done as if to one who is ignorant, although "in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Colossians 2. Whence he adds: And he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And note that he is said to have shown him all the kingdoms of the world, not individually, but generally, as a certain author says, that is, all their parts. Or, according to Bede, "he showed all the desirable things of the world, in which men reign," whence it is pointedly said in Matthew 4: "He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." "He showed them, however, not in order to enlarge his sight, but, as Bede says, displaying the vanity of human pomp, which he loved, as though it were beautiful, he wished to make it be loved." And because these things do not endure but quickly pass away, therefore he showed them in a brief time; on account of which he adds: In a moment of time. Whence Bede: "Not so much the swiftness of sight is noted as the fragility of fleeting power. For in a moment all things pass away," according to that saying of Isaiah 40: "Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket and are reckoned as the turning of a balance"; because, Wisdom 11, "as the turning of a balance, so is the world before you"; "for in a moment, the nation that was most illustrious was destroyed," as is said in Wisdom 18, and in the Psalm: "I saw the wicked highly exalted, etc. And I passed by, and behold, he was no more."

13. (Verse 6). The promise, however, is made to him as if to one who is in need, although his is "the world and its fullness." On account of which is added: And he said to him: I will give you all this power and their glory, etc., so that you may have the dominion of power and the proclamation of praise, as though he were promising something great, although the power and glory of the world are as nothing, according to that saying of Isaiah 40: "All flesh is grass, and all its glory is as the flower of the field"; and 1 Maccabees 2: "The glory of a sinful man is dung and worms"; and that saying of Hosea 4: "I will change their glory into shame."

14. And to show that faith must be given to the promise, he adds: Because they have been delivered to me, and to whomever I wish, I give them; Job 9: "The earth is given into the hands of the wicked," that is, earthly power. But this is understood permissively, not absolutely, but for a time, as is said in Daniel 11: "The king shall do according to his will and shall magnify himself against every god"; "and he shall multiply glory and shall give power over many and shall divide the land gratuitously"; and in Apocalypse 13 it is said that "the dragon gave power to the beast." But God permits this by his just judgment. "He therefore transfers kingdoms and establishes them," as is said in Daniel 2.

Or, as Bede says, he says this out of arrogance, not because the whole world was his, since only the Son says truly: "All things have been delivered to me by the Father," Matthew 11; and again in the last chapter of Matthew: "All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth," etc. But because every disorder of power is ascribed to him, he, as one who is proud, ascribes the whole to himself. Whence every ordering of power is from God, as is said in Romans 13; but disorder is from the devil, because in First John 3 it is said: "He who sins is of the devil."

15. (Verse 7). Fourth, the persuasion is made as if to one who desires, when nevertheless he himself "gives to all abundantly," James 1. Whence he says: If you therefore, falling down, will worship before me, etc. In this persuasion he strives to incline toward true adoration on account of a false promise, whence that passage in Isaiah 51: "Bow down, that we may pass over." For he cannot ascend over man unless man falls down before him voluntarily. But he was demanding the honor of adoration, against that passage in Exodus 34: "You shall not worship a strange god."

And in order to drag him to unlawful service, he promises a false reward, when he adds: All things shall be yours. He pledges false power in order to drag to true servitude, because, in John 8, "he who commits sin is a slave of sin"; and he who is a slave does not have mastery of himself, and through this not all things are his, but he himself is subject to all things as a slave; and in Second Peter 2: "By whom a man is overcome, of the same he is the slave."

16. (Vers. 8.). And Jesus answering said to him. Here after the diabolical suggestion he subjoins the dominical response, which through the testimony of Sacred Scripture refutes the diabolical persuasion, when he says: It is written: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God. This, I say, is written in Deuteronomy 6. And rightly does the Savior recall this Scripture, because, according to that passage of 2 Timothy 3, "all Scripture, divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for arguing, and for correcting," and especially that Scripture in which divine worship is considered. Whence the Lord is also said to have written the Law with his own finger, Exodus 32, in which the precept of adoration is the first and the chief and most to be kept in mind. Whence Baruch 6: "Seeing the crowd of those adoring before and behind, say in your hearts: Thou oughtest to be adored, O Lord," namely thee and no other.

17. And therefore it is added: And him alone shalt thou serve, namely with the servitude of latria; 1 Kings 7: "Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him alone."

Alone does not there exclude every person with respect to any service whatsoever, since it is said in Galatians 5: "Through the charity of the spirit, serve one another"; but it excludes with respect to the servitude of latria, which is "worship owed to God alone."

Or it excludes services rendered to others not for the sake of God, but against God, as if to say: to him alone and not to idols: concerning which, 1 Corinthians 5: "If anyone among you is named a fornicator, or covetous, or one serving idols, with such a one not even to take food." Thus one serves the devil.

-- Nor indeed to sin, but to justice; Romans 6: "As you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members" etc.

Not to one's own belly: Romans 16: "For such do not serve Christ the Lord, but their own belly."

Not the world, because, below in the sixteenth chapter, "you cannot serve God and mammon." - But God alone, so that you may say with David: "For I am thy servant."

18. (Vers. 9.). And he led him to Jerusalem etc. Here the third temptation is described, concerning which two things are to be attended to as before. The first is the suggestion of the devil; the second is the response of Christ, at the passage: And Jesus answering, said. - Concerning the persuasion of the devil, attend to three things. For first, he chooses a fitting place for persuasion; second, he expresses the persuasion to cast himself down; third, through the authority of the Psalm he dispels the fear of harm.

Therefore, as regards the choice of a fitting place, it is said: He led him into Jerusalem, as to a famous and public place. He was led, however, by permission, not from weakness; whence Chrysostom says that "in Christ there was not weakness, but patience; in the devil, however, not power, but pride." And the Gloss on Matthew 4 says that "this vision was accomplished through the bodily senses"; Chrysostom, however, says that "the devil so took him up that he might be seen by all; but Christ, without the devil's knowledge, so acted invisibly that he was seen by no one." Whence, so that he might be better seen, it is added: And he set him upon the pinnacle of the temple. That was a high and prominent place, where doctors and priests were accustomed to speak to the people. And according to some expositors, it was the summit of the roof of the temple, which is called the upper floor, in 3 Kings 6. Or according to others, it was a certain gallery above the gate of the temple, where one ascended by steps. According to others, however, it is said that there was a roof there with a certain parapet of the wall, because in Palestine the houses have flat roofs, and the temple had a flat roof, like the tabernacle, and on such roofs doctors and preachers were accustomed to stand, according to that passage in Matthew 10: "What you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops."

19. As regards the urging of the casting down, it is added: And he said to him: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down. Because the devil had fallen downward, he would gladly drag all downward; below in chapter 10: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." But Christ could say to the devil and his angels what he said to the Jews in John 8: "You are from below, but I am from above"; whence it was not his part to descend, but to ascend. But the devil was suggesting this so that, by descending bodily, he might make him become proud spiritually, so that there would be at once a vain ascent and a true descent. In this we are taught that humiliation and exaltation are always joined together, according to that passage below in chapter 18: "Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted"; and Proverbs 18: "Before destruction the heart of man is exalted, and before he is glorified, he is humbled."

And note the manner of suggesting, when he says: Cast yourself down. Chrysostom: "He did not push, he did not touch, he did not approach, but only said: Cast yourself down, so that we may know that everyone who obeys the devil casts himself down." And Jerome: "He is sufficiently weak, because he can harm no one unless that person has cast himself down." And therefore the counsel is sound, in Ecclesiastes 10: "If the spirit of him who has power rises up against you, do not leave your place," neither by presumption nor by despair.

20. (Vers. 10.). As for the dispelling of fear, he adds: For it is written, that He has given His angels charge over you: this is written in the Psalm. He therefore cites Scripture because he saw that Christ always defended Himself through Scripture. Whence Pope Leo says: "He finds occasions for tempting where he has seen men more intensely engaged." Whence he asserts it is written, so as to induce credulity, and also adduces a Scripture that would exclude faintheartedness on account of the promise of angelic aid, both in prosperity and in adversity. - On account of aid in prosperity he says: That they may guard you in all your ways, that is, in your works: Exodus twenty-three: "Behold, I send My Angel, who shall go before you and guard you on the way." Thus the Angel guarded Tobias, as is said in Tobit twelve: thus also Judith, as is said in the thirteenth chapter: thus also they guard all just men, according to that passage in Hebrews one: "All are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister," etc.: and the whole Church, according to that passage in Isaiah sixty-two: "Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen." But Christ did not need guarding: and therefore the devil was perverting that authority and adducing it in a sinister manner.

21. (Vers. 11.). On account of aid however in adversity, he adds: And that in their hands they shall bear you up, as bearers, according to how it is read that an Angel carried Habakkuk, in the last chapter of Daniel. Lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone, that is, so that you might be harmed by no injury, as is said in Job five: "With the stones of the lands your covenant shall be, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you."

And note that the devil, being crafty, did not add what follows: "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample upon the lion and the dragon," because this was against him. Wherein it is shown that it is a diabolical vice to truncate authorities and draw them to one's own side: whence Revelation, the last chapter: "If anyone shall take away from the words of the prophecy of this book, God shall take away his part from the book of life."

22. (Vers. 12.). And Jesus answering, etc. Here after the pestilential persuasion, he adds the Lord's response, brief and efficacious, when he says: Jesus answering said to him: It is said, namely in Deuteronomy six: You shall not tempt the Lord your God: and Sirach eighteen: "Do not be as a man who tempts God." Whence the children of Israel are rebuked, in Numbers fourteen, to whom the Lord says: "They have tempted Me now ten times." Moreover, to tempt God, as Bede says, is, when a man has what he might do, to seek a test of divine power. And because Christ did not need this test of power, He was unwilling to tempt God or to consent to the devil, and through an authority He answered the opposing authority, so that a nail might be driven back by the force of a nail.

23. (Vers. 13.). And when all the temptation was ended. After he described the occasion of the temptation and the manner of tempting, here he describes thirdly the consummation of the temptation, concerning which three things are intimated. The first is the manifestation of perfection on the part of Christ resisting: with respect to which he says: And when all the temptation was ended, because, as was said before, every temptation is reduced to the three aforementioned: whence First John 2: "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh," etc. This he consummated, because by patiently enduring he overcame, according to that passage in Hebrews 2: "It was fitting for him who had brought many sons into glory to consummate through suffering," because it is said in Deuteronomy 32: "The works of God are perfect."

24. The second is the confutation of presumption on the part of the devil withdrawing; with respect to which he says: The devil departed from him: according to that passage in James 4: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." He departed, namely confounded: which was signified in the king of the Assyrians, Fourth Kings 19: "The king of the Assyrians Sennacherib departed and went away"; which is interpreted as taking away deserts, because the devil especially pursues those who live in austerity of life.

25. The third indeed is the predetermination of time on the part of God disposing: on account of which he adds: Until a time, namely "of the passion," he departed, because that malignant one is not permitted to do evil except for the time which God permits, although he always has an evil will; Ecclesiasticus 19: "If he finds a time to do evil, he will do evil." And therefore the counsel is in Ecclesiasticus 4: "My son, preserve the time and turn away from evil"; and Ephesians 5: "See how you walk cautiously, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Whence since the devil tempts in two ways: as a dragon and as a lion, first he tempted as a dragon to seduce, afterwards as a lion to break in the passion. For in the first he tempts to soften through blandishments, but afterwards, seeing that he has little time, he tempts to break through punishments: whence Apocalypse 12: "The devil has come down, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time." And therefore those did not arrive at the consummation of time about whom it is said below in chapter 8, that "they believe for a time and in the time of temptation they fall away."

The doctrine of Christ is authenticated by the testimony of Scripture.

26. And Jesus returned, etc. The Evangelist showed above the authority of the doctrine of Christ from the merit of life: here secondly he shows it from the testimony of Scripture. He therefore introduces first the testimony as authentic for the instruction of believers: secondly, the authentic testimony for the confutation of detractors, at the passage: And they said: Is not this the son of Joseph?

First the testimony of Scripture is brought forward for the instruction of believers.

In the explanation of the prophetic testimony, four things are introduced by blessed Luke: the first is renown in preaching; the second is opportuneness in testifying: And he came to Nazareth; the third is congruity in the testimony, at the passage: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me etc.; the fourth is belief among the people, and this is noted at the passage: And when he had closed the book etc.

As to the first, note that the renown of the preaching of Christ is gathered from four things, namely from the fullness of grace, breadth of fame, certainty of doctrine and greatness of efficacy.

27. (Verse 14.). As to the fullness of grace, it is said: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. He returned, namely to preach, because, as it is said in the Psalm, "The Lord shall give the word to those who preach the good tidings with great power." And although he had assumed weakness from us, he nevertheless showed power from himself, according to that passage of Wisdom chapter twelve: "For you show your power, you who are not believed to be perfect in power." And it is notably said: In the power of the Spirit. For such ought perfect preaching to be, that it be joined to spiritual power, according to that passage of First Corinthians chapter two: "Our speech and our preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

28. As to the breadth of fame, it is said: And the fame of him went out through the whole region, according to that passage of Job chapter twenty-eight: "With our ears we have heard the fame thereof"; he speaks of the wisdom of Christ, who is "the power of God and the wisdom of God." Another Evangelist agrees with this: Matthew chapter four: "His fame went out into all Syria." Now a figure of this preceded in Solomon, of whom it is said in Second Chronicles chapter nine, that "all desired to see his face"; of whom it is said in Sirach chapter forty-seven: "Your name was spread abroad to distant islands."

29. (Verse 15.). As to the certainty of doctrine, it is added: And he taught in their synagogues, not in secret, as do men who have suspect doctrine; John chapter eighteen: "I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together, and in secret I have said nothing." On the contrary, the wisdom of heretics is called "earthly, sensual, devilish," which is designated by the evil woman: Proverbs chapter nine: "Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant." Whence Christ fulfilled that passage of Proverbs chapter five: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and divide your waters in the streets." And therefore it is said in Proverbs chapter one: "Wisdom cries aloud outside; in the streets she utters her voice," etc.

30. As for the greatness of efficacy, it is added: And he was magnified by all, because all perceived the greatness of his efficacy to such a degree that they could say that word of the Psalm: "Your mercy is magnified even unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds," namely in preaching. Nor is this surprising, because he himself was the one designated by that Solomon, of whom it is said in 3 Kings 10: "King Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the whole earth in riches and wisdom," etc. Below in chapter seven: "A great prophet has risen among us."

31. And he came to Nazareth, etc. Here indeed is noted the opportuneness in testifying, which is observed in the circumstances concurring for Christ to read in the sight of the synagogue. Whence four things are noted here. For he is said to have entered, risen up, received the book, and unrolled what he received. These four are introduced for the fourfold instruction of those searching out the truth, namely, of leisure for meditating, of readiness for reading, of gentleness for learning, and of certitude for declaring.

32. (Verse 16). For the instruction, therefore, of leisure for meditating, he is said to have entered the synagogue, when it says: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he entered according to his custom on the Sabbath day into the synagogue. For this was a custom approved by the Law of Moses and the practice of Christ. Hence it is said in Acts 17 that "Paul according to his custom entered the synagogue at Thessalonica and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures." For that was the time when they ought to be free for the law of God. In this we are taught that when we wish to keep sabbath for God, we ought to be gathered inwardly and there find rest: Wisdom 8: "Entering into my house, I shall find rest with her." If therefore the Sabbath is kept only outwardly, it is a mockery of demons, according to that word of Lamentations 1: "Her enemies saw her and mocked at her sabbaths"; and such things do not please God, according to that word of Isaiah 1: "Your new moons and sabbaths and solemnities I will not endure." And the reason for this is that they did not enter inwardly but outwardly, and they understood in a carnal manner.

33. For the instruction of readiness for reading, it is added: And he rose up to read. This rising up implies readiness and vigilance, which is necessary for one searching out the divine words; whence it is said in Ezekiel 2: "Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you." Hence it is that it is said to the holy soul in Isaiah 60: "Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem," etc.; and the Apostle in Ephesians 5: "Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you." At the same time, together with readiness, it designates humility, because he rose up to read as a minister, so that he might also exercise the office of lector; whence Bede says: "He who had come to minister and not to be ministered unto did not disdain to take up the office of lector."

34. (Vers. 17.). For the instruction of meekness in learning, he adds: And the book of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, which indeed he received with meekness, not disdaining to use the testimony and authority of Scripture. So also John, Apocalypse ten: "I took the book from the hand of the Angel and devoured it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey." Now the book of sacred Scripture ought to have been handed to him, because, according to that passage of Apocalypse five, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive the book and to loose its seven seals," because no other could do so; and the book of Isaiah, because, as it is said in Isaiah twenty-nine, "the vision shall be to you as the words of a sealed book." And therefore it is pointedly said that the book of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him.

35. Finally, for the instruction of certitude in judging, he subjoins: And when he had unrolled the book: in which is signified a diligent inquiry of learning, which ought to precede certain judgment; on account of which it is said in Job eight: "Ask the former generation and diligently investigate the memory of the fathers." For one must not proceed abruptly to judgment, but with deliberation; on account of which it is said in Job twenty-nine: "The case that I did not know, I investigated most diligently"; and Second Paralipomenon nineteen: "Jehoshaphat, commanding the judges, said: Do all things with diligence." - And since he who diligently seeks finds, therefore it is added: He found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord etc.; this is found in Isaiah sixty-one. Nor is this surprising, because, according to what is said in Baruch three, "this is our God, and no other shall be esteemed in comparison with him; he has found out every way of discipline." Before him it was sought but not found; whence Job twenty-eight: "Where is wisdom found? And what is the place of understanding?" etc.

36. (Vers. 18.). The Spirit of the Lord is upon me etc. Here is noted the fittingness in the testimony. For it expresses four conditions of excellence that were in our Savior. For he is mediator, instructor, restorer, and rewarder: and these four are intimated in the passage set forth.

First, therefore, he is intimated to be mediator through the mystery of the incarnation, when he says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me: me — he indicates there the person of Christ in the assumed nature, upon whom the Holy Spirit rested, according to that passage of Isaiah eleven: "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; and John one: "Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is he who baptizes." And therefore it is said in Acts ten: "Peter said: You know what took place throughout all Judea, beginning first from Galilee after the baptism which John preached — Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit" etc. Whence this is the Holy of Holies, in whose anointing the prophecy of Daniel nine must be fulfilled: "Let vision and prophecy be fulfilled, and let everlasting justice be fulfilled, and let the Holy of Holies be anointed."

And note that human nature in Christ was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and through his grace was united to the divine nature. And on account of these two things he says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him and has anointed him.

Or indeed he is said to be upon him with respect to the superexcellence of singular grace, on account of which it is said in John 3: "God does not give the Spirit by measure." He is truly said to have anointed him with respect to the prerogative of priestly and royal dignity. These things regard the assumed nature in Christ, and this was prefigured in the anointing of kings and priests in the Old Testament.

37. Second, it is indicated that he is the instructor through the office of preaching, in what follows: He has sent me to evangelize the poor. The Gospel is indeed a good announcement; whence in our translation it is said: He has sent me to announce to the meek. And with this agrees that passage in Nahum 1: "Behold, upon the mountains the feet of one evangelizing and announcing peace"; and Isaiah 52: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of one announcing and preaching peace, announcing good, preaching salvation." Moreover, he is said to announce this especially to the poor, because he began his discourse to the poor: Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," and through the poor he preached poverty to others: Matthew 11: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them." Nor is this surprising, because it is said in the Psalm: "Because of the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor, now I will arise," etc. To these indeed he announces salvation, because elsewhere: "He shall spare the poor and needy, and he shall save the souls of the poor," etc. And on this account he is said to be sent by the Spirit and by the Lord: Isaiah 48: "As the Lord and his Spirit have sent me." "In this therefore we have known the charity of God," because "he sent his Son," 1 John 4.

38. Third, it is indicated that he is the restorer through the remedy of the passion, when it is added: To heal the contrite: which indeed liberates from the evil of actual and original fault, from blindness of reason and infirmity of will.

He indeed liberates from the evil of actual fault: on account of which it is said: To heal the contrite of heart, he sent, namely. For the cure of actual fault, contrition of penance is necessary together with the passion of Christ: the Psalm: "Who heals the contrite of heart."

Or this is said because actual fault itself breaks the entire strength of the soul: Lamentations 2: "Your destruction is great like the sea," etc.; and Proverbs 15: "The tongue that is immoderate shall crush the spirit."

39. (Verse 19.). He also liberates from the evil of original sin: on account of which is added: And to preach release to the captives. By reason of original sin the human race was deservedly held captive by the devil: Isaiah fifty-two: "Shake yourself from the dust, arise, be seated, O Jerusalem: loose the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Sion. For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money," etc.: whence Zechariah nine: "You also, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit," etc. And this is what is said in Isaiah forty-nine: "I have given you as a covenant of the people, that you might say to those who are bound: Come forth; and to those who are in darkness: Be revealed"; and afterwards: "Indeed the captivity shall be taken from the strong one"; because "Christ ascending on high led captivity captive," Ephesians four. And this release was prefigured in Cyrus, who released the captivity of the children of Israel: Isaiah forty-five: "He shall let go my captivity, not for a price, nor for gifts."

40. He also liberates from blindness of reason: therefore is added: Sight to the blind, he sent me, namely, to preach: which he also did, as is said in Matthew eleven: "Go, report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind see," etc.; in which is signified the interior illumination. Whence John nine: "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see," that is, the gentiles, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-nine: "I have given you as a light to the nations." And this is what is said in Isaiah twenty-nine: "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and gloom the eyes of the blind shall see." And this David was asking: "Enlighten my eyes."

41. He also liberates from infirmity of the will: on account of which is subjoined: And to set at liberty those who are broken, in release, he sent, namely. The broken are those whose will has been weakened toward the good through sin, as are foolish sinners: Sirach twenty-one: "The heart of the fool is like a broken vessel"; and Isaiah fifty-eight: "Let free those who are broken." This breaking, however, is reparable while we live here, but becomes irreparable in death, according to that passage of Isaiah thirty: "It shall be broken as the potter's vessel is broken with an utter breaking, and there shall not be found among its fragments a shard in which a little fire may be carried from the hearth"; because it will not be receptive of grace. And this will be at the judgment, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You shall rule them with a rod of iron, and you shall break them like a potter's vessel." But now he grants release, which was prefigured in First Maccabees ten, where it is said that under Jonathan, the brother of Simon, many releases were made to the Jews.

42. Finally, the rewarder is indicated through the judgment of retribution, in which there is made a universal conferral of good upon the good. On account of which he says: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord, namely to the good, concerning which in the Psalm: "You shall bless the crown of the year of your goodness," etc. This is the year signified in the jubilee; Leviticus 25: "In the year of jubilee all shall return to their possessions"; or also in the seventh year; Deuteronomy 15: "In the seventh year you shall make a remission." This year surpasses the year of merit, because the good shall be rewarded beyond what is condign; Sirach 33: "Why does one year surpass another, one day another day, one light another light from the sun?"

In this judgment also there is made an everlasting damnation upon the wicked; therefore it is added: And the day of retribution, in which he will repay each one according to his works; Isaiah 63: "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my recompense has come." Concerning this day it is said in First Thessalonians 5: "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night; for when they shall say: Peace and security," etc. This day, as Gregory says, we ought to fear with all the more solicitude, inasmuch as we cannot foresee it.

43. (Verse 20). And when he had closed the book, etc. Here in the fourth place, after the congruity in the testimony has been described, the belief among the people is noted. To express this, there is indicated maturity in the teacher, eagerness to hear in the people standing by, truth in the instruction, and belief in those instructed.

To express, therefore, the maturity in the teacher, it says: And when he had closed the book, he returned it to the minister and sat down. Previously he had read standing, receiving the book with humility; now he returns it and sits down with authority, for to sit is the mark of doctors and kings; whence Matthew 23: "The scribes and Pharisees have sat upon the chair of Moses"; and Job 29: "If at any time I wished to go to them, I sat first; and when I sat as a king, with the army standing round about, I was nevertheless the consoler of those who mourned." — And note: here by the closing of the book we ought to understand the concealment of divine mysteries, because not all things are to be revealed to all, according to what Bede says: "He returns the closed book to the minister, because not all things are to be communicated to all, but according to the capacity of the hearers he entrusts the word to the doctor to be dispensed"; Daniel 12: "Go, Daniel, for the words are closed and sealed until the appointed time."

Or he returned the closed book to the minister because, according to that passage of Second Corinthians 3, "even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil is placed over their heart."

44. To express the eagerness in the people, there is added: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, as though desiring to hear him as a wise man: in Wisdom eight the wise man says: "In the sight of princes I shall be admirable: when I am silent they will wait for me, and when I speak they will look upon me"; and Job twenty-nine: "Those who heard me waited for my judgment and, attentive, were silent at my counsel"; because, as is said in Sirach three, "a good ear will hear wisdom with all desire."

45. (Vers. 21.). To intimate the truth or firmness of the doctrine, there is added: And he began to say to them: Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Therefore that Scripture is said to have been fulfilled then, because, since those words pertained to Christ, no one in his own person could truly speak the aforesaid word except Christ, who read it in their hearing: below in the last chapter: "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me." Whence Christ fulfilled all justice with regard to moral uprightness, according to that passage in Matthew three: "Thus it behooves us to fulfill all justice." He also fulfilled all Scripture by pouring forth God's truth, as in Matthew five: "Do you think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets? I came not to destroy, but to fulfill." And therefore it is said in Ephesians one: "Because he fulfilled all things in all." Whence the words and signs of the old law, being empty, he filled with truth and grace. As a sign of this, in John two, in the first sign, it is said:

"Fill the water jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim."

46. (Vers. 22.). To denote the belief in the attending multitude, there is added: And all bore witness to him; all, that is, some from among all, bore witness to his holiness and innocence: Job twenty-nine: "The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me bore witness to me." — And since they could not express his grace in words, therefore there is added: And they wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, just as the doctors also wondered "at his prudence and his answers," above in chapter two. And they are called words of grace, according to that passage in Ecclesiastes ten: "The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace"; and especially of this one, to whom Peter said in John six: "You have the words of eternal life"; and he himself said of himself: "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." And therefore in the Psalm: "Grace is poured forth upon your lips, therefore God has blessed you forever."

Second, the testimony of Scripture is brought forward for the confutation of detractors.

47. And they said: Is not this etc. After he introduced the prophetic testimony for the instruction of believers, here he introduces an authoritative example for the confutation of detractors. And because detractors, when they are confuted, become worse, since they become persecutors, therefore in this part there are two sections. In the first of which is set forth the confutation of detractors ; in the second, the avoidance of persecutors, at the passage: And all in the synagogue were filled etc.

The first part has two sections. In the first are set forth the insults of the detractors; in the second are introduced prophetic examples confuting the detractors, at the passage: And he said: No prophet is etc.

48. (Verse 22). He expresses the insults of the detractors in three ways, namely by way of open reproach, by way of hidden irony, by way of explicit invective. - By way, I say, of open reproach he expresses it when he says: And they said: Is not this the son of Joseph? They called the Son of God the son of a carpenter; him who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and from a virginal womb they said was begotten by conjugal intercourse: whence in Matthew thirteen it is said that they were saying: "Is not this the carpenter's son?" Bede: "Great blindness, when him whom they recognize by words and deeds to be Christ, they despise on account of mere knowledge of his lineage." Something similar to this was said of Saul, in 1 Kings ten: "What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the Prophets?" and in 2 Kings twenty: "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse." These things, however, were said not by all, but by the wicked, namely the scribes and Pharisees: whence it does not contradict what was said before, that "all bore witness to him." A similar manner of speaking is found in Scripture: "When he slew them, they sought him"—not the dead, but others. This moreover is the custom of the wicked, that when they hear someone praised, they immediately oppose it: and if they cannot do so on the part of character and knowledge, at least on the part of birth, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus eleven: "Turning good into evil, he lies in ambush, and upon the elect he places a stain."

Or even those same ones who previously praised, afterwards despised, according to that passage of the Psalm: "They praised his praise. They quickly acted and forgot his works."

Or it can be understood otherwise, so that, although it is narrated here immediately, it did not however happen immediately, but after the fact.

49. (Verse 23). By way of hidden irony he expresses their reproaches, when he adds: And he said to them: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: for he saw them thinking this secretly. He said therefore: this you propose ironically against me, which you have secretly conceived in your hearts, because, according to what is said in Matthew twelve, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"; you propose this similitude, namely by irony: Physician, heal yourself: which is customarily said to physicians who are ailing, when they cannot help themselves, or do not know how, or are negligent: which is a mocking word directed at them. So also you, heal yourself, that is, the infirm one. Which they said rather out of unbelief and derision than out of humility and devotion, as is said in Matthew thirteen, that "he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief." Whence Bede says in the Gloss: "In vain do you await the help of heavenly mercy, if you envy the virtues bestowed on others. For the Lord is a despiser of the envious, and from those who persecute the divine benefits given to others, he turns away the miracles of his power."

And note that they ironically call him physician, whom they ought truthfully to confess as physician, according to that passage in Job five: "He himself wounds and heals." They despise him whom they ought to revere and honor, according to that passage in Sirach thirty-eight: "Honor the physician on account of necessity"; and afterward: "The Most High created medicine from the earth, and a prudent man will not abhor it."

50. But by way of explicit invective he expresses it, when he adds: How great things we have heard done in Capernaum, namely miraculous works: whence Matthew eleven: "Woe to you, Capernaum! For if in Tyre and Sidon the mighty works had been done," etc.

But how did they hear these things, since the Evangelist had not yet related that he had performed any miracles?

On account of which it must be noted that the Evangelist does not follow the order of events as they happened, but the order of his own intention, and this indeed he does frequently; and therefore, when one Evangelist narrates afterward what another narrates before, there is no contradiction, because they do not intend to say that events occurred in the order in which they were written, as Augustine says in On the Harmony of the Evangelists. Moreover, Luke, together with the other two, Matthew and Mark, narrates nothing about the first coming of Christ into Galilee, but about the second; about the first, however, John alone treats. From the fame, therefore, of miracles performed in a foreign land, they reproached him because he did not perform them in his own land. - Whence is added: Do so also here in your own country; and this is to say: heal yourself, that is, heal those of your own country through miracles, as you have healed others, according to that passage in Sirach fourteen: "He who is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?" and First Timothy five: "If anyone does not have care for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith"; it is said in Sirach seventeen: "He gave commandment to each one concerning his neighbor."

51. (Verse 24.). And he said: Amen I say etc. Here, after the reproaches of the detractors, prophetic examples are added, confuting the detractors. For their full confutation, a general proverb is first set forth; second, a special example in Elijah, the most eminent of the Prophets; third, in Elisha, his disciple. The first is for admonishing, the second for confuting, the third for confirming.

Therefore he sets forth the general proverb concerning every Prophet and people, when he says: And he said, namely Christ: Amen I say to you, that is, with certainty, because amen is a sign of affirmation. And truly so, because, as he himself says in Matthew twenty-four, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

That no prophet is accepted in his own country, namely neither as regards doctrine nor as regards life, in which Prophets were accustomed to have excellence. And therefore it is not surprising if he does not work miracles in his own country, which are not to be done for the ungrateful and unworthy. This denunciation of the Savior is attested by the fact that Joseph is sold by his brothers, Genesis thirty-seven, and honored by the Egyptians, Genesis forty-one. So Moses suffers insult from Aaron and Miriam, Numbers twelve, and is reproached by his fellow tribesmen, Numbers sixteen. So Abraham suffers from his countrymen; whence it is said to him: "Go forth from your land and from your kindred," Genesis twelve.

Bede in the Gloss assigns the reason for this: "The other Prophets were less honored in their homeland than in other cities, because it is almost natural for citizens to envy their fellow citizens. For they do not consider the present works of the man, nor his virtue, but they recall his frail infancy, as though they themselves had not also passed through the same stages of age to maturity."

52. (Vers. 25.). He adds a special example in Elijah, the most distinguished of the Prophets, when he says: In truth I say to you: John 17: "Your word is truth." He spoke in truth, whom they ought to have believed, and yet they did not believe; whence that passage in John 8: "If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?" and that passage in Job 6: "Why have you detracted from the words of truth?" And this is a certain truth, because it is taken from Scripture. — Whence it is added: Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, who were placed in necessity on account of the lack of matrimonial companionship: Jeremiah 15: "Her widows are multiplied above the sand of the sea." — They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of heavenly rain: whence he adds: When the heaven was shut up and it did not rain for three years and six months: as the Lord had threatened in Leviticus 26: "But if you will not even so obey me, I will make the heaven above you like iron"; and Deuteronomy 28: "Let the heaven that is above you be bronze." And so it came to pass because of their sins: whence Jeremiah 3: "You have polluted the land with your fornications. Therefore the drops of rain have been withheld, and the latter rain has not come."

They were placed in necessity on account of the lack of earthly sustenance: and therefore it is added: When there was a great famine throughout all the land: as it is said in 3 Kings 18: "There was a severe famine," etc.; whence that word of the Psalm was verified concerning the children of Israel: "They shall suffer hunger like dogs and shall go about the city," because the king and the steward of his house went about to find pastures, 3 Kings 18.

53. (Vers. 26.). And although they were in such great necessity, it is added: And to none of them was Elijah sent, to relieve them by a miracle from the want of famine, so that the word of the Psalm might be verified in them: "Hungering and thirsting, their soul fainted within them." But he relieved a foreign woman, whence he adds: Except to Sarepta of Sidon, to a widow woman, according to what is written in 3 Kings 17: It was said to Elijah: "Arise and go to Sarepta of the Sidonians and remain there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed you" — nay rather, she herself through you.

54. (Vers. 27.). Another example for the confirmation of the aforesaid concerning Elisha is introduced, when he says: And many lepers were in Israel under Elisha the prophet: whence in 4 Kings 7 it is said that in the time of Elisha "four leprous men were near the gate of Samaria," and many others in similar necessity. And none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian, in 4 Kings 5, where it is said that Naaman at the word of Elisha washed himself seven times in the Jordan and was restored to full health — and this, by the just judgment of God, because they were not worthy. And by a similar argument and according to the imitation of their predecessors, he was showing that they were unworthy of the reception of miracles. Whence a similar passage in Matthew 23: "You are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who killed the Prophets: and you, fill up the measure of your fathers"; and Acts 7: "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did, so do you. For which of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute?" etc. And thus they are manifestly convicted, because the lack of miracles was not to be imputed to the powerlessness or negligence of Christ, but rather to their own envy and unbelief: whence they were worthy of being deprived of miracles, just as their fathers also had been deprived.

55. And note here spiritually that in these two examples he shows the unworthiness of the Jews in comparison with the Gentiles with regard to the universal lack of repentance and the universal contagion of malice, which remained uncured in the Jews but was remedied in the Gentiles through Christ. For the closing of heaven designates the lack of grace and doctrine: Deuteronomy 11: "Take heed lest you depart from the Lord"; and thereafter: "And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, and the rain come not down, and the earth yield not her fruit." Concerning which rain in the Psalm: "God shall set apart a voluntary rain"; and from this comes famine and want of every good: Job 18: "Let his strength be wasted with hunger, and let famine invade his ribs." — And note that the rain is said to have been withheld for three years and six months, because during the three and a half years in which the Lord preached, they did not receive the rain of grace, their sins requiring it. For although the rain came upon them, Judea nevertheless did not receive it so as to bear fruit: Hebrews 6: "The earth that drinks in the rain that comes often upon it and brings forth herbs meet for those by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God: but that which brings forth thorns and briers is rejected and near unto a curse."

In this time, however, the true preacher Elijah is sent to the widow in Zarephath of Sidon, who rightly designates the Gentile world, as Bede shows in the Great Gloss, and she was saved while the people of the Jews were abandoned, according to that passage in Acts 13: "Since you reject the word of God and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life: behold, we turn to the Gentiles."

56. But the infection of leprosy designates the corruption of malice, which was in all before the coming of Christ, according to that passage of the Psalm: "They are corrupt and have become abominable" etc. From this Judea was not cured: Ezekiel twenty-four: "I wished to cleanse you, and you were not cleansed from your filth; nor will you be cleansed until I cause my indignation to rest upon you." But Naaman is cleansed, who is interpreted as comeliness, and designates the people of the gentiles made comely by the Sacrament of baptism and purged of all foulness of mind and body. And Hosea eight: "How long will she not be able to be cleansed?" according to that passage of Ezekiel thirty-six: "I will pour clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your defilements."

And so according to both interpretations, this was a confutation of the unbelieving Jews.

57. (Verse 28). And all were filled etc. After the confutation of the detractors has been described, there is here subjoined the evasion of the persecutors. This part has two sections. In the first is described the persecution of the malicious; in the second, the evasion of the persecutors, at: But he, passing through, etc.

For the description of the persecution of the malicious, three things are introduced, namely anger of mind, violence of action, and perfidy on the part of the intended end.

He therefore intimates anger of mind in what he says: And all in the synagogue were filled with anger, hearing these things. Whence that passage of Amos five is verified: "They hated him who reproves in the gate" etc.; on account of which it is said in Proverbs nine: "Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you." Whence from the hearing of the truth they were not instructed, but rather blinded and angered; against which it is said in Ecclesiastes seven: "Do not be quick to anger, for anger rests in the bosom of a fool"; and Job five: "Truly anger kills the foolish man," because, as it is said in Proverbs twenty-seven, "anger has no mercy, nor fury breaking forth."

58. (Verse 29). He intimates, however, the violence of action, when he adds: And they rose up and cast him out of the city, as though a blasphemer; for so it was commanded: Leviticus twenty-four: "Bring forth the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all the people stone him." And so that parable of Matthew twenty-one is verified, in which it is said that the tenants "cast the son of the householder outside the vineyard; for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel," Isaiah five. So they did to Stephen, Acts seven: "They rushed upon him with one accord and cast him outside the city" etc. Whence the Savior could have said to them that passage of Judges eleven: "Are you not the ones who hated me and cast me out of my father's house?"

59. Their perfidy however from the standpoint of the intended goal he explains, when he adds: And they led him to the brow of the hill, as if to say: not through the gate, on which their city was built. They were leading him to a precipitous place to cast him down headlong: whence that saying of the wise woman in Second Kings twenty could be spoken to that insane people: "Why do you cast down the inheritance of the Lord"? In this, however, that they wished to cast him down headlong, "they were worse than the devil, as Bede says, because he said only in word: Cast yourself down: these attempted it in deed "; but they were not able, because he had the power to lay down his life, as is said in John ten. Whence Bede: " He wished not to be cast down headlong by the Nazarenes, not to be stoned by the Jerusalemites, not to be slain among the children by Herod; but to await the triumph of the cross. For the cross itself is the type of a singular monarchy, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow etc., Philippians two. And hence it is that the top of the cross points to the heavens, its base reaches to the underworld, and its horns cover the earth".

60. (Vers. 30.). But he, passing through etc. Here is noted the evasion of the persecutors perfect, because it was without detention, without impulsion, without portation whence they could not do violence to him, neither by dragging, nor by pushing, nor by carrying.

To show, therefore, that there was no violence of detention, it is said: But he, passing through: whence Ambrose: " What is captured by a few and held is of the will: what is not held by a people but passes through is of majesty". Whence nothing could retard the act of his power: Song of Songs two: "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills ". This passing through, however, was by his own power, but Peter's was by another's power: Acts twelve: " And passing through the first and second guard, they came " etc.

61. To show that there was no violence of impulsion, it is added: Through the midst of them, certain that he could not be overcome by anyone; whence he could say that word of the Psalm: " Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear". Something similar is said in John ten: " The Jews sought to seize him ", namely to stone him, " and he went out of their hands ". Through the midst he goes, because "the mediator of God and men " always loves the middle; whence John one: " There has stood in your midst one whom you do not know ".

62. To show further that there was no violence of carrying, it is added: he went, namely by his own power, like the living creatures of whom it is said in Ezekiel 1 that "they went and returned in the likeness of flashing lightning." He went, namely not headlong, but descended, as Bede says, beneath the cliff, the rock yielding to him and receiving him, so that they could not reach him; whence he could say that word of John 8: "Where I go, you cannot come." In this is shown at once the Lord's power, because they could not harm him, but even the stones obeyed him; and his patience is shown, because he withdrew and did not harm them, as it is said in John 8 that "the Jews took up stones to cast at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple."

63. Note here that in four ways was death threatened against the Lord Jesus. Some attempted to slay him by the sword, as Herod, Matthew 2; some by casting down, as here; some by stoning, as the Jews, John 8; some by crucifixion, Matthew 27. — Spiritually, indeed, Christ is crucified in our relapse into sin; whence it is said of those who have fallen away, Hebrews 6: "Crucifying again to themselves the Son of God," etc. He is stoned in hardening of heart: Matthew 23: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the Prophets and stones them," etc., where the hardening of the Jews is shown. He is cast down in despair: Jeremiah 22: "They shall cut down your choicest cedar and cast it headlong into the fire"; and this is in despair. But he is slain by the sword in blasphemy, according to that word of the Psalm: "The sons of men, their teeth are arms and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword."

The doctrine of Christ is authenticated by a miracle of power.

64. And he went down to Capernaum, etc. After he showed the doctrine of Christ to be authentic from the merit of his life and the testimony of Scripture, here he now shows it from a miracle of power, so that in the mouth of three witnesses the firm testimony of authority may stand. This part has three sections. In the first is set forth the communication of Christ's doctrine; in the second, the confirmation by the power of a miracle, at: And in the synagogue there was, etc.; in the third, the acceptance of the same by the multitude of the people, at: And when it was day, he went, etc.

Concerning the communication of Christ's doctrine, four things are expressed, namely place, time, effect, and power. From these four it is gathered that Christ's doctrine was humble and renowned, admirable and sublime.

65. (Vers. 31.). Humble, I say, he is shown from the situation of the place, which he notes when he says: He went down to Capharnaum, a city of Galilee. Descent in Christ is a sign of humility, just as ascent in the proud is a sign of exaltation; whence Song of Songs 6: "I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valleys"; to designate which it is also said above in the third chapter, that "the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form" etc.; and therefore he himself said in John 6: "I descended from heaven, not to do my own will." And this is a great humility, and this he taught by word in Matthew 11: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart"; in John 13 by example: "If I have washed your feet etc.; for I have given you an example." This also befits because that city was on the border of the Gentiles and the Jews, "in the borders of Zabulon and Nephtalim," so that he might thus show that he did not despise the Gentiles by reason of their guilt or idolatry; Isaiah 9: "In the former time the land of Zabulon and the land of Nephtalim was lightened, and in the latter time it was made heavy." To this is added that these two tribes had migrated before the rest, as is said in 4 Kings 15; and therefore as the despised they were to be visited first.

66. Moreover, the communication of his teaching is shown to be solemn from the solemn time; on account of which he says: He was teaching in their synagogue on the Sabbaths. For then the people came together for the hearing of the Law, because they ceased from all servile work, as is commanded in Leviticus 23. And therefore Baruch 1: "Read this book, which we have sent to you, to be recited on a solemn day and at an opportune time." So also Paul taught on the Sabbaths, according to what is said in Acts 15: "Moses from ancient times has in every city those who preach him in the synagogues, where he is read every Sabbath." In this we are instructed, according to the counsel of Ecclesiasticus 38, to learn and teach wisdom "in the time of leisure, because he who is less occupied in action will receive wisdom." And we are also instructed to attend especially to divine praises and preaching on solemn days and in the sight of the multitude; whence in the Psalm: "I will declare your name to my brethren, in the midst of the church"; and again: "In the churches bless the Lord."

67. (Vers. 32.). Moreover, he is shown to be admirable from the astonishment of the people, when it is added: And they were astonished at his teaching; and this, because they perceived something great and unaccustomed in it. So also in the teaching of the Apostles after the coming of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2, "all who heard them were astonished"; Job 12: "He leads counselors to a foolish end and judges to astonishment." Nor is it a wonder, because, as the officers said in John 7, "never has a man spoken thus."

68. Sublime indeed is shown from a singular power, and this he notes when he adds: Because his word was with authority: either because he spoke as the almighty Lord, according to that passage in Matthew 7: "The crowds were amazed at his teaching: for he was teaching as one having authority"; or because power working miracles was joined to his word, according to that passage in Ecclesiastes 8: "His word is full of power"; and below in chapter 24: "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man, a prophet mighty in work and word"; or also because his words savored of spiritual power, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He shall give to his voice the voice of power." Thus the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 2: "Our word and our preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of spirit and power." Nor is it a wonder if power was joined to his word, because he himself is "the power and wisdom of God," 1 Corinthians 1. And therefore in Hebrews 1 it is said: "Upholding all things by the word of his power."

69. And in the synagogue there was etc. After the communication of Christ's teaching, there follows here its authentication through the power of a miracle. This admirable power is shown in Christ teaching in a threefold manner: first, with respect to the male sex; second, with respect to the female sex, at that place: And Jesus rising; third, with respect to every sex and age, at that place: And when the sun had set.

Again, there is another difference on the part of nature, because the first consists in the liberation of a man from a demon; the second, in the liberation of a woman from a fever; the third, in the liberation from both indifferently.

Again, the first is in a place of instruction, namely in the synagogue; the second, in a place of refreshment, namely in the house of Simon; the third, in a place of rest, namely after the setting of the sun.

Finally, the first of these is shown to have been done around morning; the second, around midday; the third, at the end of the day. And through this, from all these things it follows that Christ has power over every person and over every nature and in every place and in every time; and through this, the authentication of his teaching through the power of manifold miracles is sufficiently shown.

Concerning the cure, therefore, of a man from a demon, four concurrent things are to be noted which serve to manifest the power of Christ: on the part of the demoniac, a condition of manifest misery; on the part of the demon, a perception of the divine presence; on the part of Christ, an operation of immense power; on the part of the people, an exhibition of due reverence — all of which are most fittingly described by the Evangelist for the magnificence of the present miracle.

70. (Vers. 33.). On the part therefore of the demoniac there is shown the state of manifest misery, when it is said: And in the synagogue there was a man having an unclean demon, because it appeared to all in common that he was possessed by a demon: whence he was in a common place, because in the synagogue, where many gathered together, according to that passage in John 18: "I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together." In this place there was a man having an unclean spirit, so called from its effect, because it makes one unclean: Zechariah 13: "I will remove the unclean spirit from the land." This spirit is called Unclean because it always suggests uncleanness: whence in Revelation 16: "And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits in the form of frogs."

71. On the part of the demon there is shown the sense of the divine presence, when it is said: And he cried out with a loud voice, so that by the force of the cry there might be shown in the demon the passion of pain: Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall praise from exultation of heart, and you shall cry out from pain of heart, and from crushing of spirit you shall howl"; whence it is gathered from the cry that in the demon there was pain and trembling from the sense of Christ's presence. Whence Augustine says: "Would that as the demons recognized God as judge, so men would recognize the Savior! The demons saw and trembled; men, however, saw and killed. O how great a misfortune, that men are found worse than demons!"

72. (Vers. 34.). Whence this very fear compelled him to confess the truth, namely, that Christ was the destroyer of demons and the sanctifier of men. On account of the first, it is added: Saying: Let be, what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? Let be, that is, cease from affliction and our persecution, because it is unbearable: Job 13: "Remove your hand far from me, and let not your dread terrify me." Or: Let be, that is, permit me to go far from you, because what have you to do with us? as if to say: there is no agreement, and therefore we cannot be together: Second Corinthians 6: "What accord has Christ with Belial, light with darkness, righteousness with iniquity?" And that there is no communion or accord, he shows when he adds: Have you come to destroy us? Proverbs 24: "Suddenly shall their destruction arise"; whence First John 3: "For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

73. And note that the destruction of demons is twofold: one, namely, on account of the sin of pride, by which they were destroyed from the beginning: Ezekiel 28: "I destroyed you, O Cherub, proceeding from the midst of the fiery stones"; the other on account of sins added thereto, by which they will be destroyed at the last judgment, when all power will be taken away and every penalty due will be inflicted: concerning which, Deuteronomy 32: "The day of destruction is near." And this destruction will not come about entirely before the day of judgment: whence Mark 1: "Have you come here before the time to destroy us?" But nevertheless it began from the time of Christ: John 12: "Now is the judgment of the world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out."

74. Moreover, he confesses him not only as the destroyer of demons, but also as the sanctifier of men, when he adds: I know you, that you are the Holy One of God—he indeed of whom Daniel 9 says: "The Holy of Holies shall be anointed." He did not know this with certain knowledge, since it is said in 1 Corinthians 2: "If they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory"; but he knew by conjecture: Proverbs 23: "Like a soothsayer and diviner, he estimates what he does not know." For he surmised this through the torment that he was experiencing.

75. (Verse 35.) But on the part of Christ, the operation of immense power is shown, when it is added: And Jesus rebuked him, saying: Be silent. For as the Omnipotent One, he imposes silence on the demon by rebuke alone; Zechariah 3: "The Lord showed me Jesus the high priest"; and it follows: "The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and the Lord rebuke you." Although he was speaking the truth, nevertheless he imposed silence, because, as it is said in Sirach 15, "praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner"; whence also in the Psalm: "God said to the sinner: Why do you declare my justices?"

Or he forbade it because the demon speaks deceitfully and frequently mixes falsehoods with truths: whence also in Mark 1: "He did not permit the demons to speak," the Gloss says, "lest, while they saw him speaking the truth, they would follow him when he led astray." And therefore in the Psalm: "Let deceitful lips be made mute, which speak iniquity against the just one." Moreover, he shows here that vainglory is to be avoided, so that we should not seek to be praised by the vain and the false. The example of Paul, Acts 16.

76. Not only, however, does he impose silence by rebuking, but he also expels by commanding, when he adds: Come out of him. Now is fulfilled that word of Habakkuk 3: "The devil shall go forth before his feet." And therefore there follows: And when the demon had thrown him into the midst, he went out of him: in which is shown the wrath of the devil, because he went out unwillingly and with protest; whence also in Mark 1: "And tearing him, he went out of him." The devil does this when he sees that he is losing what he wrongfully possesses: Revelation 12: "The devil has come down to you, having great wrath," etc. But his wrath did no harm, the Lord preventing it; whence is added: And he harmed him not at all; Isaiah 11: "They shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain." — From this, moreover, it is gathered that the devil always has the will to harm, because this he has from himself; but he does not always have the power to harm, except insofar as and when he is permitted by God in a just manner; whence Romans 13: "There is no power except from God." And therefore 1 Peter 3: "Who is he that shall harm you, if you be zealous followers of that which is good?"

77. (Verse 36). Lastly, on the part of the people, there is shown the display of due reverence, when there is added: And there came fear upon all. This is said with regard to reverence according to the act of the heart. Nor is it a wonder, because, Job 26, "the pillars of heaven tremble and are afraid at his nod"; whence Job 4: "Fear seized me and trembling, and all my bones were terrified." And this at the sight of so great a miracle: Psalm: "I will praise you, for you are fearfully magnified; wonderful are your works"; and Jeremiah 10: "Who shall not fear you, O King of the nations?" — But with regard to the act of the mouth, there is added: And they spoke among themselves, namely, one conferring with another: What is this word? that is, a thing worthy of speech, as is understood in 4 Kings 20: "There was no word in my house that I did not show them."

For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits: with authority commanding, and with power effecting. Nor is it a wonder, because, Job 25, "power and terror are with him who makes peace in his high places." But this command is not human nor even angelic; whence in the Epistle of Jude it is said that "Michael the Archangel, when he disputed with the devil about the body of Moses, said only this: The Lord rebuke you, Satan."

78. (Vers. 37.). And because this was great and unusual, it was not to be kept silent but was to be spread abroad with reverence: therefore there follows: And the fame of him spread into every place of the region. So of Solomon it is said in Ecclesiasticus forty-seven: "Your name was spread abroad to far-off islands"; this was by reason of wisdom. This was prefigured in David, First Chronicles fourteen: "The name of David was spread abroad in all regions, and the Lord gave dread of him upon all his enemies"; similarly Second Chronicles twenty-six: "His name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt on account of his frequent victories."

Note that the name of David was spread abroad by reason of justice: the name of Solomon, by reason of wisdom; the name of the Romans, by reason of power: the name of Christ, by reason of all excellence and dignity or supereminence.

79. Jesus, rising from the synagogue. After the miraculous healing of the male sex from a demon, there follows here the miraculous healing of the female sex from a fever: which is described by the Evangelist in this order. First is noted the distress of the fever itself; second, the aid of intercession: third, the remedy of healing: fourth, the sign of perfect liberation. For these four things concurred in the demonstration of this miracle.

80. (Vers. 38.). As regards, therefore, the distress of the fever, which compelled Simon's mother-in-law to lie in the house, it is said: But Jesus, rising from the synagogue, entered into the house of Simon, so that his power, which had been publicly manifested before all, might be more secretly manifested in the house before the simple and before his followers. The woman was to be healed in the house, not in the synagogue, to intimate what is said in First Timothy two: "But I do not permit a woman to teach." - Mercy moved him to this entrance for the sake of relieving the woman's misery, which he expresses when he says: But Simon's mother-in-law was held by great fevers, in which is designated the gravity of the illness, which disposes to grace, according to that saying of Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "Grave illness makes the soul sober." But although it was grave, nevertheless that saying of John eleven could be said of it: "This illness is not unto death, but that the glory of God may be manifested"; which glory he was bound to show not only in one sex but in both, because, just as each had fallen, so each pertained to the redemption. Whence at the nativity of Christ, Joseph was with Mary; at the preaching of Christ, disciples and women, as is said below in chapter eight; at the passion, Mary and John, John nineteen; at the resurrection, the disciples and Magdalene, John twenty. Thus man and woman are healed for the showing forth of God's glory, and the woman from a graver illness than the man, because she is subject to more penalties: Genesis three: "I will multiply your sorrows and your conceptions; in sorrow you shall bring forth children, and you shall be under the power of your husband."

81. As for the aid of intercession, it is added: And they asked him on her behalf, the disciples and those who were present. For although the Lord wishes to give, he nonetheless wishes to be asked, according to that word of the Psalm: "In the day of your tribulation, call upon me: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me"; Isaiah fifty-eight: "You shall call, and the Lord will hear; you shall cry out, and he will say: Behold, I am here," "because I am merciful, the Lord your God."

82. And note that the Lord healed someone without prayers, as the demoniac previously; another by the prayers of others, as here; another by his own prayers, as below in the fifth chapter, the leper. In this it is signified that the grace of the Savior heals sinful souls in a threefold manner: now through the intercession of the sole benignity of his clemency; Romans two: "Do you not know that the benignity of God leads you to repentance?" Now through the intervention of the prayer of the Church: James five: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man." Now indeed through the intervention of one's own groaning: Exodus six: "I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel"; 4 Kings twenty: "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, and I have healed you." And therefore the holy soul said in the Psalm: "But I cried out to the Lord, and the Lord saved me."

83. (Verse 39). As for the remedy of healing, it is added: And standing over her, he commanded the fever, and it left her. He commands, moreover, as lord and king, as in Ecclesiastes five: "Moreover, the king of the whole earth commands the one who serves"; and because "no word is impossible for him," therefore "he spoke, and it was done." Whence at his command the fever departed, according to that word of the Psalm: "He established a decree, and it shall not pass away." Nor is this surprising, because "all things whatsoever he willed, he has done in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths"; and Jeremiah five: "Will you not therefore fear me, says the Lord, and will you not tremble before my face? I who set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree which it shall not pass beyond." Whence in a wondrous manner the obstinacy of the human will is hereby convicted and shown to be reprehensible, in that every sensible creature, and what is more, even penal affliction obeys the divine commands, which miserable man resists.

84. Finally, as to the sign of perfect liberation, there is added: And immediately rising, she ministered. For this is a certain sign of perfect healing, that no remnants of the illness remained, because she was immediately made capable of movement and capable of service. Whence she arose and ministered as a good matron and as another Martha, of whom below in the tenth chapter: "But Martha was busy about much serving." And such women merit the divine benefit: in Fourth Kings, chapter four, Elisha says to the Shunammite woman: "Behold, you have diligently ministered to us in all things; what do you wish that I should do for you?" The Apostle said that such a widow should be chosen, in First Timothy, chapter five: "Let a widow be chosen who is not less than sixty years old, having testimony in good works, if she has raised children, if she has received guests, if she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has ministered to those suffering tribulation, if she has followed after every good work."

85. Moreover, it should be noted here regarding the allegorical sense that the healing of the man from the demon signifies the healing of the gentile people from error; in figure of which it is said in Isaiah, chapter thirty-four: "Demons shall meet there; the onocentaur and the hairy one shall cry out one to another." This is said of Idumea under the figure of the gentile nations. This demon is cast out through faith in Christ, according to that passage in Mark, the last chapter: "In my name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak in new tongues, they shall take up serpents," etc.: those serpents spreading the poison of error, as the serpent of whom in Second Corinthians, chapter eleven: "I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your senses may be corrupted and fall from the simplicity which is in Christ."

By the healing of Simon's mother-in-law from the fever is signified the healing of the synagogue from the burning heat of carnal concupiscence, with which that carnal people burns: Hosea, chapter seven: "All of them committing adultery, like an oven heated by the baker." And therefore the healing of the man is placed first, because, as it is said in Romans, chapter eleven, "when the fullness of the gentiles shall have entered, then all Israel shall be saved."

86. According to the moral sense, the healing of the man from the demon signifies the healing from spiritual sins, according to what is said in 1 Kings 16: "An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul"; and below in the eleventh chapter: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks about" etc. - The healing of the woman from the fever is the healing of the soul from carnal sins; Ecclesiasticus 23: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched until it devours something." Whence Bede: "The man from the demon is freed when the mind is purged from unclean thought: the woman from the fevers, when the flesh is restrained from the heat of concupiscence." And therefore the man is healed in the midst of the synagogue, because he who is detained by spiritual sins needs to be humbled in the sight of men: the Psalm: "The Lord guards the little ones"; but she, with the Lord standing over her in the house, because together with divine grace the guardianship of discipline is necessary: Ecclesiasticus 26: "Over a daughter who does not turn herself away, set a firm guard, lest, having found an occasion, she abuse herself"; and therefore 1 Corinthians 9: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection" etc.

87. (Verse 40.). Now when the sun had set etc. Here after the healing of the male and the female sex is subjoined the universal healing with respect to every sex, age, and infirmity. In which the admirable power of Christ is manifested from four things, namely, from the variety of diseases, from the ease of the healings, from the confession of the demons, from the restraining of the unclean spirits.

First, therefore, the variety of diseases is introduced in what is said: Now when the sun had set, those who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him, that he might heal them: and rightly so, because, Isaiah 53, "truly he himself bore our diseases" etc.; and Acts 10: "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil"; and without distinction, because he had power equally over all things: whence Wisdom 16: "Neither herb nor poultice healed them, but your word, O Lord, which heals all things"; whence also in Matthew 4 it is said that "he healed every disease and every infirmity."

88. And note that they brought them after the setting of the sun, to show that Christ was not only by day but also by night solicitous and powerful concerning the salvation of the human race. This was prefigured in Genesis 31 in Jacob: "By day and by night I was scorched by heat and frost, and sleep fled from my eyes"; and in the last chapter of Wisdom: "In all things you magnified your people, O Lord, and exalted them, at all times and in every place standing by them."

Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to show that the glory of men is to be avoided: whence he rebukes the Pharisees in Matthew twenty-three, because "they do all their works so that they may be seen by men." — Or therefore after the setting of the sun, to signify that through the passion the universal remedy was to be obtained. For Christ is the sun, according to that passage in Malachi four: "The sun of justice shall arise for you who fear my name"; this sun set in the passion: whence Amos eight: "The sun shall set for them at midday"; and then more were healed, which was prefigured in Judges sixteen in the death of Samson, who is interpreted as their sun. Whence Bede: "The setting of the sun is the passion of Christ, through which more demoniacs and sick are healed than before."

89. Second, the ease of the healings is added, when it is added: But he, laying hands on each one, healed them all. He healed easily, because he healed without interruption, but by the laying on of hands alone. Nor is this surprising, because, as is said in Isaiah fifty-nine, "the hand of the Lord is not shortened, so that he cannot save." And he could not only do this by himself, but also communicate it to others, according to that passage in the last chapter of Mark: "They shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover." — And note that he is said to have laid hands on each one without exclusion, as is said in Acts ten: "God is no respecter of persons"; and therefore in the Psalm: "You open your hand and fill every living thing with blessing." And this is what is said in Wisdom six: "He himself made both the small and the great, and he has equal care for all." And therefore it is said: He healed all, namely those coming to him, because it is said in John six: "Everyone who comes to me, I will not cast out." Nor is this surprising, because "the same Lord of all is rich unto all who call upon him," Romans ten.

90. (Verse 41.) Third, the confession of the demons is added, when it is added: And demons went out from many, crying out, namely from pain and fear and astonishment, Isaiah sixty-five: "You shall cry out from pain of heart and howl from anguish of spirit." But their crying was in vain: Psalm: "They cried out, and there was none to save them."

Or crying out, on account of the public proclamation of the truth. And therefore the true confession is added: And saying: You are the Son of God. But they said this not from certainty, but from conjecture on account of the greatness of his power. And therefore the demon first said: "I know that you are the Holy One of God "; now, that he is the Son of God, because through greater proofs he had advanced in knowledge. But what they conjectured, they confessed not by saying it from the heart; concerning which First Corinthians twelve says: "No one can say: Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit"; to which to say corresponds the word which is "knowledge with love"; they did not confess with heart and deed: concerning which First John four says: "Everyone who confesses that Christ Jesus has come in the flesh is from God"; but they spoke only with the mouth and hated in heart and denied in deed: Titus one: "They profess to know God, but in their deeds they deny him." Nor is this surprising, because, according to what is said in the Psalm, "in hell who shall confess to you?" No one, namely with meritorious confession, but all with forced and compelled confession: Wisdom five: "Saying within themselves, repenting" etc.

91. Lastly is added the restraining of the unclean spirits, when it is added: And rebuking them, he did not allow them to speak, so that the words of the Psalm might be fulfilled: "At your rebuke they shall flee, at the voice of your thunder they shall be afraid." He did not allow etc., because frequently the Lord sets an obstacle against the wicked: whence Second Maccabees six: "Not to allow sinners to act according to their will is a sign of great beneficence."

Or he did not permit them because he did not wish to be made known through demons: whence it is also added: Because they knew that he was the Christ, that is, they conjectured with probability. "For he was not made known to the demons, as Augustine says, as splendor and light, but through a certain efficacy of his power." But the Lord did not wish the knowledge of his name to be spread abroad through demons, both because they were unworthy, and because they were hateful, and also because they were deceitful, and therefore such a confession neither befitted God nor was fitting for a demon nor was profitable to man. Bede: "The wicked teacher mixes false things with true, so that under the appearance of truth he may conceal the testimony of fraud." From which it is given us to understand that those who in preaching Christ mix false things with true are entirely to be restrained, as heretics: First Corinthians 5: "A little leaven corrupts the whole lump." But if some preach true things, yet not with right intention, they are to be tolerated: and of such it is said in Philippians 1: "Whether by occasion or by truth Christ is announced, in this I rejoice, and indeed I shall rejoice." But if they preach true and good things, and yet do not practice them, they are nonetheless to be heard: Matthew 23: "The scribes and Pharisees have sat upon the chair of Moses." And such were designated by that one of whom it is said below in chapter nine, that he was preaching Christ without following him; whom the Lord did not wish to be forbidden. From the foregoing it is clear that the power of the Savior has been manifested in every way.

92. (Verse 42.). And when it was day etc. After the communication of Christ's teaching and its authentication through the working of a miracle, there is here added thirdly the acceptance of the same by the multitude of the people. But in order that any teaching be duly accepted by its hearers, it is necessary that it be free from ostentation, from ambition, from flattery, and from respect of persons. For by these four ways the acceptance of teaching is customarily corrupted.

First, therefore, ostentation is excluded from the acceptance of Christ's teaching, when it is said: And when it was day, he went out and proceeded to a desert place, wishing rather to hide himself humbly than to display himself shamelessly, according to that word of the Psalm: "I went far off fleeing and remained in solitude." A figure of this preceded in Elijah, of whom it is said in Third Kings 19 that, leaving behind his servant, he went alone into the desert, after he had worked the miracle of the fire consuming the holocaust. A figure of this also preceded in David, who said to Jonathan in First Kings 20: "Let me go, that I may hide in the field until the evening of the third day," that is, until the resurrection. For which reason also he said to the disciples in Matthew 17: "Tell the vision to no one, until the Son of Man rises from the dead"; and John 12: "Jesus spoke these things and went away and hid himself."

93. Now that journey into the desert and departure from the city signifies the departure from secular life and the entrance into religious life. For the desert is a place of poverty, austerity, and lowliness, against the three things that are in the world, according to that passage of First John 2: "All that is in the world is either the concupiscence of the eyes, or the concupiscence of the flesh, or the pride of life." Against these the Lord established the desert of religious life, in which is noted a threefold good opposed to them, namely continence, poverty, and obedience; therefore it is rightly called the desert. In this desert John dwelt; hence Matthew 11: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments?" in which the austerity of poverty is evident; "a reed shaken by the wind?" in which is designated humility, which takes no delight in the wind of praises nor is cast down by the reproach of detraction and insults. In this desert was Christ, whose figure preceded in First Kings 23: "David dwelt in the desert, in the most fortified places, on the mountain of the wilderness of Ziph," because Christ held to the highest religious life. Hence Augustine in *On True Religion*: "Every sin arises either because we desire what Christ despised or because we flee what he endured. For the satellites of the devil desired riches, but Christ willed to be poor; they gaped after honors, but he refused to be made king; they craved pleasures, but he willed to be crucified."

94. Second, ambition is excluded in what follows: And the crowds sought him and came all the way to him. He did not thrust himself forward out of ambition; hence it is said in John 6: "When he knew that they were about to come to make him king, he fled." In this he taught that the office of honor is not to be assumed unless a man is sought out; hence Hebrews 5: "Nor does anyone take the honor upon himself."

95. In this also the devotion of the people is commended, because they sought him who wished to remain hidden, while there was time: Isaiah 55: "Seek the Lord while he can be found"; and Hosea 10: "It is time to seek the Lord, when he shall come who will teach you justice"; and the holy soul in the Psalm: "My face has sought you." And that they sought him devoutly is apparent, because they came all the way to him, according to that passage of Isaiah 21: "If you seek, seek; be converted and come"; hence Matthew 11: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened," etc. Hence because they sought devoutly, they found, according to that passage of Wisdom 1: "Seek him in simplicity of heart."

And because perfect devotion not only causes one to seek, but to hold fast to what has been found, therefore it is added: And they detained him, lest he should depart from them, according to that passage in Song of Songs 3: "I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and will not let him go," etc. Nor is this surprising, because, Proverbs 3, "she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, and whoever holds her fast is blessed." Whence they could say that word of the holy soul in the Psalm: "Do not forsake me, O Lord; my God, do not depart from me." In this it is shown that Christ neither sought honor before they offered it, nor even once it was offered, because he was detained as if by force. - The figure of this preceded in Genesis 32: "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking," which the Angel said to Jacob.

96. (Verse 43.). Third, flattery is excluded in that which is added: And he said to them: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God. He does not flatter them, but shows that he cares equally for all; whence he could say that word of 1 Thessalonians 2: "Neither were we found in words of flattery, nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others." For he did not seek to please men, but God; and therefore he says: I must preach the gospel, because this is the will of the Father; whence he adds: For therefore I am sent; Isaiah 61: "He has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor." And therefore it was necessary, because in John 14 it is said: "As the Father has given me commandment, so I do." Moreover he had been sent to preach the gospel to the poor, according to what is said in the authority cited above in Isaiah. He was also sent to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, as is said here. And therefore it is gathered that he had been sent to preach the kingdom of God to the poor. Whence Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"; and truly theirs, because, in chapter 19, "it is hard for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of heaven." Because no one can possess that kingdom unless he despises the earthly one, and riches are with difficulty despised by those who possess them, therefore they acquire with difficulty what has been promised to the poor.

97. (Verse 44.). Fourth, respect of persons is excluded in that which follows: And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee, namely to all without distinction: Matthew 9: "Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues." This it befits a good preacher to do, according to that passage in Proverbs 5: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and in the streets divide your waters"; and Isaiah 32: "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters." "The seed, however, is the word of God," below in chapter 8. Whence the good preacher, an imitator of Christ, ought to be a common person, as Paul says in Romans 1: "To Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish I am a debtor, so that, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also who are at Rome."

This was signified in Zechariah 6 by the horses bearing the chariot, that is, the evangelical law, where it is said that these are they whom the Lord sent to "traverse the earth"; whence at the end of Matthew it is said to the preachers: "Go, teach all nations"; and at the end of Mark: "Go into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature."

98. From the foregoing it is gathered that a good preacher, if he is accepted by men, in order that he may be accepted by God and His Angels, ought to be free from ostentation in outward sign, from ambition in spirit, from flattery in word, from respect of persons in deed or practice. And the Apostle touches upon these four in 2 Corinthians 2: "We are not," he says, "as many, adulterating the word of God"; which is done in the four ways aforesaid: "but from sincerity," without respect of persons, "as from God," without ambition, "before God," without ostentation, "we speak in Christ," without flattery: for Christ is the truth.